The party is held up in a village they spent the last 24 hours fortifying. Thanks to a Sarkic cultist they captured the day before; The party knows that tonight they will be attacked by an unknown and powerful enemy, but they don't know exactly when tonight.
The party will penitential be waiting for 7 hours. As the DM, how can I make the wait feel long and full of dread but not be dull and dry?
- if they stop to have a meal for the night, they then suddenly hear rumbles and feel the ground begin to vibrate but then upon investigation they just find out it’s large ballista equipment or something like that being moved about outside.
- have a coincidental roaming band of mercenaries or pirates invade the town before the actual attack.
- maybe one of the cultists they haven’t captured tries to sneak in the town to perform an assassination attempt on one of the players before this attack.
- citizens of the town start to panic and cause minor rioting or damage to the fortifications in their attempt to leave the town for safety.
- change the environment if it isn’t already, to a cloudy rain filled night, making it slightly harder to hear things/have animals fleeing the area.
I’m not really sure what else but I hope any of this helps. It is pretty hard to insight dread or fear in players that just need to wait around for something to happen.
Good luck.
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The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head. He went galumphing back.
You can always skip it. Use some of Doudomida's ideas and write a one-paragraph description of what the day was like while they were waiting for the attack. Read them that paragraph Then say roll for initiative.
Let them use time to plan, then change the environment and screw their plan (thanks to Doudomida for that idea)
Brilliant opportunity for the players to roleplay
Add a refugee or something that comes running out of the wood. Some-one with some information that might add to the tension.
Have a local coming to them with something, like soup, and some homemade arrows she hopes might help out. Good opportunity for roleplay, when the battle happens, put the poor character in danger.
Don't drag it out too long. Especially if what you want is tension. Filling the time with a lot of exciting incidents, will not bring tension, it will only fill the time. Rather have them roll for something. Constitution to stay awake, perception to see if somethings going on. Throw in a red herring. Sometimes having the players throw some dice (without any reason) actually builds tension: "Oh, roll perception.... Players roll. There is something in the woods. Players get ready. A couple of deers comes out of the forest to eat on the fields." Did anyone ready an action? Make them take it :-)
Bear in mind that suspense for the characters isn't the same as suspense for the players; the players are not in any legitimate danger. You can try to use the tools suspense movies, such as a sound track and a few false alarm jump scares, but I wouldn't bet on it working all that well for an RPG.
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The party is held up in a village they spent the last 24 hours fortifying. Thanks to a Sarkic cultist they captured the day before; The party knows that tonight they will be attacked by an unknown and powerful enemy, but they don't know exactly when tonight.
The party will penitential be waiting for 7 hours. As the DM, how can I make the wait feel long and full of dread but not be dull and dry?
Maybe throw in some red herrings?
- if they stop to have a meal for the night, they then suddenly hear rumbles and feel the ground begin to vibrate but then upon investigation they just find out it’s large ballista equipment or something like that being moved about outside.
- have a coincidental roaming band of mercenaries or pirates invade the town before the actual attack.
- maybe one of the cultists they haven’t captured tries to sneak in the town to perform an assassination attempt on one of the players before this attack.
- citizens of the town start to panic and cause minor rioting or damage to the fortifications in their attempt to leave the town for safety.
- change the environment if it isn’t already, to a cloudy rain filled night, making it slightly harder to hear things/have animals fleeing the area.
I’m not really sure what else but I hope any of this helps. It is pretty hard to insight dread or fear in players that just need to wait around for something to happen.
Good luck.
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head. He went galumphing back.
You can always skip it. Use some of Doudomida's ideas and write a one-paragraph description of what the day was like while they were waiting for the attack. Read them that paragraph Then say roll for initiative.
Some ideas:
Ludo ergo sum!
Bear in mind that suspense for the characters isn't the same as suspense for the players; the players are not in any legitimate danger. You can try to use the tools suspense movies, such as a sound track and a few false alarm jump scares, but I wouldn't bet on it working all that well for an RPG.