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View Full Version : 1001 Slasher Movie Villains: Creeping The PCs Out, One Psycho At A Time



Leliel
2009-09-14, 01:14 AM
Well I read the World Of Darkness forums with some regularity, and a Mr. TechnocratLT has started a thread where people throw ideas for Slashers-supernaturally powered serial killers-at each other.

I must say, it has a lot of potential story hooks, and not to mention it can apply to any game if a DM wishes to cop that "Creepy Stalker Who Wants To Kill You" feeling.

His are, in his own words:


(1) Kafuka Fuura does not really want to kill you. At the very least she does not think she does. She wants to help, to show you the wonderful world and all the great things in it. The sharp peppery taste of rat poison in your coffee. What a good night’s sleep you can get if you take 30 of those pills. This knife that is so sharp it cuts without even any pressure.

She is inspiring and (quite) terminally good natured.

She can, and will, talk you into anything. And the light behind her eyes is pure blood red.


(2) Chiri Kitsu would very much prefer you qued in order of your height. That your clothes matched, were in style and had no lose threads. That you did not take a breath quite so unevenly like that, and waited five seconds like you did last time. That your heartbeat was more regular. Precision and order are simply the way things should be.

Dead things are simply so much more orderly and quite frankly anyone who would not be precise in all their actions deserves to have their heart carved out and shown to them anyway.

Stand up straight. And don’t scream in a way unsuited to your position in life please.


(3) Harumi Fujiyoshi knows what a lovely couple you two would make. She can see it, it would be so wonderfully sexy if you only understood this yourselves. Really, only a kojin circle can see the matches that make the most sense and the perfect posing that goes along with it. Actually explaining to the people involved takes away the spontaneity.

So after you stop moving she can pose you both. And of course working from real life models is always helpful.

You will be famous come Comiket.

She has a deadline to meet.


(4)Kiri Komori finds the world rather scary. It is so large, and so very intimidating. The sky itself is a swirling void that eats into your soul. The closed places, the tight places where light does not disturb are safe and welcoming. In dark closed spaces she can hide there and not have to worry about anything.

In the dark tight spaces it is safer. And now that your in here.

You should stay.


(5)Nozumu Itoshiki is going to kill himself later this morning. The modern world is such a cause for misery. People talk on phones constantly. Nobody communicates anymore. People never slow down. Nobody respects a deadline. People eavesdrop. Nobody takes an interest. So little information. Too much static. So much noise. Too quiet. He is in despair.

Why would anyone want to live in this world? He certainly doesn’t.

And why would you?

He has the rope knotted and ready, carried snuggly in his kimono for just the right moment. Come to think of it, he brought an extra.


(6)Nami Hitō has shot three people to death. She has stabbed people, beaten them to death with a baseball bat and even once drowned someone. She once ran over someone with her car. She kills quite a few people, more then she can count at this point. The news calls the murders rather ordinary.

She has no real MO, but not for lack of trying. No flair to her kills, no real affectations.

She just kills people the normal way.

It is so annoying.


And here's my own entry. Note the lack of a Japanese name:


(7)Melinda Weaver loves you. True, she's had many lovers in the past, but each one is something new, something special. She takes good care of them, making sure they never get hurt-or can.

That mean old traffic cop who gave you a ticket? He'll be run over with his own squad car. That boss you hate? He'll find that the ten or so medications he takes every morning are exchanged with cleverly disguised overdoses of sleeping pills. That ex-girlfriend who honestly is beginning to worry about you-she seems to believe your new one is "psycho", perish the thought-she'll get bitten by a cobra hidden in her bed.

Come to think of it, all of Mel's lovers have had one thing in common-they all committed suicide.


So, post the creeps if you got them-not necessarily fitting of D&D or WoD or any other setting, just killers with something to prove.

taltamir
2009-09-14, 01:22 AM
a psychopath isn't scary, you just kill it...

UNLESS the said psychopath is politically untouchable, perfect in covering its tracks, and only you know that s/he is really a villain and cannot expose OR kill him. But I don't think that will be a fun game.

My current DM has us scared by making us face higher level CUSTOM monsters and tough encounter... Our number 1 reaction has been to leg it... And quite honestly, I am having a blast. Beats the heck out of facing an orc and his goblin/kobold minions.

Leliel
2009-09-14, 01:45 AM
They're supposed to be creepy on a psychological level.

Sure, Chiri seems harmless-what good is an extreme obsessive-compulsive in a fight-but you won't think so when she's strapped you to an operating table and removing the parts that she thinks are out of line.

As for a more physical threat, Kiri has spent her entire life in shadows-she's gotten adept at hiding, stalking, and most of all, escaping. You know she's there, but not where, and she's just waiting for the moment to jump-and if you fight her off, she just vanishes, patches her wounds, and starts it all over.

Tyrmatt
2009-09-14, 01:46 AM
I'm sure that somewhere there is a list of statted out slasher villains for the likes of Jason and Freddy so I'll just leave this quick idea.

Joey MacIntyre was a skinny little kid who just wanted to be friends with the cool kids. But they told him he wasn't like them. They had something he didn't.

So Joey decided the best way to be like them was to take parts of them. When Joey turned up at the Spring Fling dance his freshman year wearing the skin of the school's star quarterback, people panicked.

After spending the last six years in a mental institution, he's now been released and he's feeling the pressure again. Inside, he was king. High functioning and affable, he didn't feel uncomfortable as the best and brightest amidst his "peers". Now there's a lot of people who are "better" than him and Joey craves to be number one again. Armed with an array of knives and six years reading anatomy books in the library, Joey once again stalks the night, looking for the certain "Je ne sais quoi" that will make him the object of the world's affections.

Well, at least the San Francisco Tribune loves his latest style. They put it on the front page...

This is a villain who can be entirely mundane or could even develop supernatural shapeshifting powers as he flays more and more people and adapts their skin for himself to wear. He's even particularly likely to go after PCs, particularly the All American male style of character. After all, who wouldn't want all that attention and respect.

@taltamir: You say that now, but when you're hanging from a meathook in some guy's basement...well I know I'd change my tune.

random11
2009-09-14, 02:16 AM
They're supposed to be creepy on a psychological level.

Sure, Chiri seems harmless-what good is an extreme obsessive-compulsive in a fight-but you won't think so when she's strapped you to an operating table and removing the parts that she thinks are out of line.

As for a more physical threat, Kiri has spent her entire life in shadows-she's gotten adept at hiding, stalking, and most of all, escaping. You know she's there, but not where, and she's just waiting for the moment to jump-and if you fight her off, she just vanishes, patches her wounds, and starts it all over.

Movie slashers are scary because we watch them as viewers.
We see the slasher prepare, we see him sneak on his victims, we understand his twisted logic and motivation.

But in an RPG game, the roles are limited to either the intended victims, or the ones who need to hunt him down. Either way, the ways you can really freak them out are limited.

Leliel
2009-09-14, 02:24 AM
Movie slashers are scary because we watch them as viewers.
We see the slasher prepare, we see him sneak on his victims, we understand his twisted logic and motivation.

But in an RPG game, the roles are limited to either the intended victims, or the ones who need to hunt him down. Either way, the ways you can really freak them out are limited.

See: World Of Darkness.

You don't need a TV screen to scare the crap out of yourself.

It's why we like ghost stories after all.

random11
2009-09-14, 02:39 AM
See: World Of Darkness.

You don't need a TV screen to scare the crap out of yourself.

It's why we like ghost stories after all.

I think you missed my point.

It's not because of the movie screen, it's because as viewers, we see all the details that the actual characters in the story miss.
The characters in the story/movie are afraid because something is trying to kill them, but the fear that comes from the psychological things is usually reserved to the people outside of the story who only observe or listen to what happens.

Think of a disturbing scene where the killer kills the victim in a strange horrific way.
Usually, the characters in the story will not witness the entire scene. They will either not be there, or try to stop it.
To make a character watch such a thing while unable to react requires some railroading which might take the fun out of an RPG.

Jalor
2009-09-14, 04:37 AM
Part of it is setting up the encounter with your slasher villain properly. Your PCs should stumble upon the killer and begin to discover her motivations and previous killings, and then she tries to kill a player.

lord_khaine
2009-09-14, 05:36 AM
The problem is that most adventures are more than a little insane themself, and would proberly not feel as much fear as a desire to hunt down the villain and empty his/her pockets.

SparkMandriller
2009-09-14, 06:00 AM
Using characters from an anime in my games.


Noooooooooooot feelin' it.



PS Chiri murders people with a shovel where is harmless coming from

Yora
2009-09-14, 09:10 AM
Movie slashers are scary because we watch them as viewers.
We see the slasher prepare, we see him sneak on his victims, we understand his twisted logic and motivation.
There are slasher movies and there are horror movies.

Of course, art is in the eye of the beholder, but many people consider the art of horror fiction to lie in the ability to only hint at things which you can neither see nor explain, and have the audience come up with the weirdest ideas what's going on.

Well, and then there's the stuff where some guy is slattering everything with blood for no reason. Yeah...

arguskos
2009-09-14, 09:19 AM
@taltamir: You say that now, but when you're hanging from a meathook in some guy's basement...well I know I'd change my tune.
Heh, meathooks, heh. Just you wait taltamir, just you wait. :smallwink:

Anyways, I am watching this with baited breath. Let's see what folk come up with.

Leliel
2009-09-14, 09:43 AM
Huh.

I was just informed that the OP on the White Wolf boards stole his character ideas from Sayonara Zetsobou Sensei.

Given how they act in a given episode of that show, it isn't a stretch.

Tengu_temp
2009-09-14, 10:06 AM
Bah, ninja-ed by 20 minutes. After reading the original post I was about to say that this sounds suspiciously like the cast of Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei - and no matter how creepy a villain is, once the players realize it's a carbon copy of a character from a comedy show, the whole suspense is gone forever.

Leliel
2009-09-14, 10:17 AM
Bah, ninja-ed by 20 minutes. After reading the original post I was about to say that this sounds suspiciously like the cast of Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei - and no matter how creepy a villain is, once the players realize it's a carbon copy of a character from a comedy show, the whole suspense is gone forever.

Well, it was news to me.

At least my idea was halfway original, right?

SparkMandriller
2009-09-14, 10:20 AM
S'even worse when you consider that pretty much every character in that show is moe in one or two ways. I mean seriously how could you even think about killing Kiri? Come on. Girl's like a puppy or somethin'.

Yukitsu
2009-09-14, 11:17 AM
Much better anime for creepy psycho yet adorable peoples is Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, or something to that effect. Characters are creepy (for the arc where it's their turn to be the killer) and not at all comedic.

A character I'm playing is based on that sort of thing. Young appearing girl who knows far too much, and has a deep grudge against the establishment. Always seems to be sleeping during adventures (because night is when she goes off to terrorize the populace) and gives answers that are as short and uninformative as possible. Once followed a man for 6 hours while singing a song about stalking him before sneaking into his house at night and killing him.

Kulture
2009-09-14, 11:36 AM
I think I'll give this a shot, I've seen enough films in this vein to atleast try.

Bill is a less then confident young man.
He's no good with women, because he hasn't got the courage.
He's reclusive, but sells himself as comic relief.
All those years of trying to get people to like him, and he can't even be himself anymore.
But there's a light at the end of that tunnel.
He's in love.
That girl with scarlet hair.
A friend of a friend, but so very detatched.
She's hardly ever in class, and he worries about her.
He can't even get her to acknowledge his existance, but he cares for her more then anything.
That's why he's doing the things that he is doing.
Wouldn't you do anything for the happiness of your one true love?
Bill may not be a great romancer, nor is he the most handsome.
But there's one thing he is good at.
He's a crack shot with that rifle.

The trick is taking a normal person, and putting them in that extreme situation.
Make them somewhat likable, give them a cause to fight for and watch the body count skyrocket.

Realms of Chaos
2009-09-16, 12:14 AM
I for one believe that serial killers can work in DnD and can actually evoke a variety of responses. There are several ways to run one effectively.

1. In horror movies, we normally see the brutal murder of protagonists. As viewers, this honestly creeps us out more than the hero simply finding a dead body. However, there is a great way to use the absence of such a scene to your advantage.
In reality, there are only so many ways that you can deliver a killing blow with a medieval weapon. If the murderer gets time to prepare their victim, however, things can get alot more freaky. For example, take the example from heroes of horror of a serial killer who drains the blood of victims through two small holes. Now imagine a killer who cuts off the top of their victim's skulls, scoops out the brain, and runs away with their victim's scalp, and brain. What on earth would a party think if the entrails of a serial killer's victims were dragged from the body and wrapped around nearby objects to keep the victim in a standing position? This type of thing breeds horror. Not knowing what on earth kills in the way that people have been killed is horrifying.
2. Another good way to spread horror is to keep people guessing as to how they died. When otherwise undamaged bodies start showing up dead, things don't look good. It doesn't sound easy but there are ways to get it done. One favorite includes poisoning a target into unconsciousness, burying them underground, and unearthing them a minute or two later (or even easier, smother them with a pillow).
3. One good way to bring horror to a killer is to make the situation personal. Start killing people whom the PCs know or putting bodies where they tend to hang out. Write messages to the PCs on the bodies of victims, suggesting that the PCs are being watched. Alternatively, you can have the killer start killing people who have harrassed the PCs, letting them know that the psycho thinks s/he is doing them a favor.
4. Many a good murder mystery have been ended prematurely with a scroll of speak with dead. There best way to overcome this is to keep the victim from knowing how they died. This can be accomplished through nonlethal damage, sleep spells, poison, or waiting until a target dies. Alternately, just cut off the victim's head (or lower jaw).
5. Ambiguity is good and is really easy to obtain. Cloaks with hoods, stooped postures, and the cover of darkness all make it hard for a party to identify a person that they catch a mere glimpse of. Similarly, you can use creatures that look like humanoids in place of the real article (such as doppelgangers, shifters, mongrelfolk, or any creature with the disguise self SLA or 1 level in wizard).

The scariest thing about DnD serial killers.
6. The scariest (or perhaps most frustrating) part about killers in DnD is that they can do their job so incredibly easily and efficiently. Any commoner with martial weapon proficiency (heavy mace) can walk into the slums at nightfall, avoid guards in the alleyways (hiding far enough that a hide check is not necessary), bludgeon a sleeping vagrant to death with a coup de grace, and drag them back through alleyways and onto a street before heading back home (via more alleyways) to take a bath. If the killer in question has a decent chance of getting into locked homes (Such as a rogue 1 with skill focus [lockpicking] and masterwork lock picks), over 80% of a town's population just became fair game for them (perhaps more like 40% if s/he only attacks people living alone or down to 20% once people start moving in together for safety). Even with just 20%, that is a huge number of people in a metropolis and there simply aren't enough guards to pick up the slack and wizards to set up patrols of prying eyes.
Considering the huge amount of people at risk from this homocidal level 1 rogue most metropolises would be forced to take drastic measures such as closing off alleyways and imposing a cerfew. The problem is, homocidal level 1 rogue doesn't care. Although, s/he likes killing, s/he isn't addicted to it and actually has some common sense (not hard to have 10 Wis even when using the NPC ability array). If a killing opportunity comes along, homocidal level 1 rogue will take it. Otherwise, s/he will wait it out.
If you ever want to teach your PCs a lesson in humility, face your party against such an enemy and wait for them to realize that not only must they split up by necessity but that it is all in vain. Crimes always conveniantly occur where they are not, witnesses are few or none due to the late hour of the crimes, and any rangers lose the trail when tracks lead to some form of water line. Even better, when a party member does find the killer hunched over their victim, they have to choose whether to contact the party or go face-to-face against whatever has been ripping off people's head and dangling them by their entrails like puppets.

ScreamingDoom
2009-09-16, 12:59 AM
It's not because of the movie screen, it's because as viewers, we see all the details that the actual characters in the story miss.
The characters in the story/movie are afraid because something is trying to kill them, but the fear that comes from the psychological things is usually reserved to the people outside of the story who only observe or listen to what happens.


This could be easily done, really. Just give one PC (or, hell, all the PCs) horrifying psychic visions of the killings. Write them down in detail and allow the PCs to read them.

Actually, that could be an excellent way to start a modern horror campaign: a group of otherwise complete strangers are all getting the same visions of a serial killer. The only way to stop the visions is for the group to track said killer down and stop them.