More ways to instill Horrors.
A notification from a Discord server stole my attention. A blog post, published at night, titled "Mini notes on how to describe things better in horror TTRPG sessions" by Roseline. Read it here
And it flung me back to moments way back in my past where I also experienced the same phase of running horror-themed DnD for months. Back then, I tried to research what horror is and how to instill more horror into my games.(Mind you, this is a phase where I ran a paid DnD session for a Bar every Friday night, so the “bar”(get it?) is quite high). And being a kinaesthetic person who learns more by doing rather than reading, this became quite an insurmountable task to document and research. Everyone knows what horror is. But to analyze and put it down to words is quite a challenging task.
But nevertheless. Here's an attempt at me analyzing my findings from the past on how to instill more horror in TTRPGs. These are “macro-focused”/Bigger picture tips on what I found successful and got positive results from my tables. Use these techniques so they can help you and your games!
1. Get to know your horror.
We all understand horror, or rather, our body understands it. But it can be quite hard to pinpoint what makes it scary. What makes something horror . . . horror? And there are actually many answers to this. You can pick your favourite titles, and one of the answers will probably be there, you just need to dissect it.
If you google "what is horror" you'll get these as the result: "an intense reaction to something that feels deeply wrong." But what is that something that feels deeply wrong? Well, you can rely on your primordial brain, because that horror you feel is tied to your sense of survival.
This horror of "survival" ranges from the mundane of receiving a "We need to talk" text from your partner. and "A Child in the middle of a dark hall, giggling". But these ranges are quite wide and diverse. So it's better to understand what type of horror you will deliver to the table. List it out, and work out which one works best for the adventure you'll run (like the last point of Roseline's blog. Less is more)
To give you a better example, these are some examples of horror that I mentioned: The feeling of being powerless, the dread of being hunted, the creeping sensation of being stalked, the terror of being unable to escape, the shock of being ensnared in a trap, the horrifying truth of the situation, the panic of an alarming situation, the sinking feeling that you only have one way to go, and many more
Notice that I don't put anything specific into the examples above. I don't mention a being, a monster, a ghoul, or anything like it. All of the above are situations. The horror comes from the situation, not from the "thing" itself. Which kind of horror situation do you like the most? What kind of horror situation do you want to bring to the table? Which one works out the best?
Now let’s say that Horror is an apple, and you want to give your tables the best experience of Apple for them. What kind of apple will you give them? Do you mindlessly pick them from your nearby market? are the apples green? Are they sour? sweet? How is it presented? Are they cooked? baked? Are the apples big? small? round? mushy? Knowing the details of the apple helps you give them a better experience with said apple.
Understanding the horror that you'll bring to the table will bring you clarity on which tools and tricks you can employ to deliver the best result (the monster, the source of terror, the tension, the system, etc.). Different horror requires a different approach, and that brings us to the next point, which is:
2. Set the players up
Like I previously mentioned in the first point. Horror comes from a situation, and situations can be rigged to deliver certain feelings that you planned. You can condition the players so that they are more inclined to be terrified. And framing, as a tool, can be used even before you start the session. Use the session zero to frame your players so that they are more inclined to be terrified. Use the icebreaking phase before the session to reframe your players so that we’re going to play a horror session.
This behavioural technique called Framing can be used to achieve your desired result. You can frame your players so that your players will behave/feel/act a certain way. It is, in a way, a manipulation technique. And you're using this technique to instill fear into their games. You can look up "Framing" or “Framing Effect in Psychological Behaviour to find out more.
You can use this technique even before the start of the session. For example, in session 0, a simple sentence such as “Of course we all want to experience the horror of …, and perhaps explore the terrifying emotion within us” can set the players into the mindset of “Oh yeah! We’re playing a horror session, and I DO want to be terrified in this session”. This technique helps your players' mindset be reframed from “I am playing a horror session” into “I want to be scared in this session”
You can frame your players so that the feeling that you want to experience are delivered at the approximate time. This includes the jump from the feeling of safety into a feeling of dread. The creepiness that stalks you, etc
For example. If the horror session is about being shocked and situation reversal. You could do the following:
- Before the session starts, get them comfortable, talk about warm and cozy things, something like a heartfelt experience, show them a photo of a cute animal, etc. This puts them in a “safe” situation.
- At the start of the session, start in a safe situation. Talk about the safety of the environment, the warm village, the friendly grandma, the lovely kid that came up to the players' characters.
- In the middle of the session, you could inform them that something is going to be very wrong, very fast. The start of the shock. This could come in the form of. Finding a bloodied weapon in a peaceful village. A document that challenges the known facts, illness and symptoms of a curse settling in. This prepares the player to be in a state of “Oof, I don’t like this, something is wrong”
Framing techniques can set you up for success even before the session starts.
Now with an apple analogy. Say that you want to give your table a great apple experience. Set them up into the mindset frame that you want them to be. Frame them verbally at session 0, say “We all want to experience a memorable apple together in this session”. Frame them through situations in the sessions. Present that apple in how you see fit that will set their mind into the state you want them.
There are many techniques for framing. It’s a technique that is closely tied to user experience. If you didn’t notice. the reels/shorts/etc. that you watched are products of framing. That hook on every reel? Those are framing. It frames you so you are more inclined to watch until the end. Try to remember which kind of framing technique works on you, which one is the most effective for you?
“Bah, those reels don’t have an effect on me, you can’t frame me to what you desire.” And the answer to this statement is in the next point, that is:
3. Involve the Player
We all experience horror differently. What makes me terrified maybe doesn’t terrify you. No matter how you frame the player. If that player thinks it isn’t scary. It will not be scary to them. It’s like saying “apples don’t taste good” to a number 1 apple fan in the world, you will fail. If a person doesn’t like brainrot reels. They will always skip it. But there are ways so that the person can be conditioned to be terrified, and that came from their own volition.
Just like reels on social media. It is fine tuned to the content that YOU like. And this algorithm adjusts it based on your response. In your TTRPG session, you can do this by involving the players and looking at their response in the session. What are their quips mid-session? Do they give any clues on what scares them? And what seems to get the best reaction from your players?
And the best way to get them more terrified. Involve them. Ask them, involve their imagination, get them to conjure the image that terrifies them in their head. Terrify them through their own description. Amplify, enhance, multiply it. Find the common ground that ticks the horror box for the players.
You can do this even before the game starts too! Ask about their favourite horror titles. Ask what do they expect from the tables, use what they told on the thing that terrifies them. It’s a TTRPG. The experience is something that you craft together, be scared together. Explore that emotion together at the table. You’re in this together. You’re not the sole purveyor of horror. The players have the power to terrify the tables too.
A sidenote
I do believe that the second technique on manipulation can be quite dangerous if you also practice it in real life. I hope you, dear reader, don’t use the framing technique for malicious intent in real life. You can use it for good in TTRPGs to deliver the best experience that you and the table envision.
Peace! And hope this blog helps!