Pathfinder chars in horror film scenario - how well would they fare?

[Amiel]

How would a bunch of Pathfinder level 5 characters fare against Sadako from the Ringu saga? Or fare in a horror film situation in general?
Would they survive reasonably well or get slaughtered?
Possibly assume sanity mechanics are inherent in such a scenario.

[Shoat]

Regardless of how well-armed/powerful the subjects of horror films are, they NEVER properly use the tools at their disposal to save their lives (let alone the lives of others) and they make the worst possible decision at every opportunity. It's as if being in a horror film lowered the INT&WIS of characters to 4.

In short: Horror films are garbage.


If we ignore that fact and assume characters act reasonably, the big bad monster would probably get killed the instant it approaches the party for the first time (or the evil phenomenon discovered and solved, or the evil mastermind would get found out and thwarted, or the party recognizes the location as dangerous and turns around to leave instead of having a sleepover there).
Horror Film scenarios are not very dangerous if approached by anything other than incompetent idiots.

[Novawurmson]

As someone GMing a horror-themed campaign, it's all about the setting and the difference in power between the protagonists and the danger at hand.

The players were stuck in a prison camp in the middle of the woods being hunted by murderjacks (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040828a) and other evil fey (along with other antagonists, but I digress). No level 3 party can really expect to deal with something with 100+ HP, 7d6 sneak attack, free action movement, bard spellcasting, and plenty of defensive goodies. Instead of a straight battle, the party found other prisoners stripped of their skin in the woods, people forced by the fey to commit suicide (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/psionics-unleashed/psionic-powers/d/death-urge), and had violent pranks played on them by a fey actor amusing himself.

The horror effect lessened as they gradually leveled and developed the power to fight back, but now they're stuck in a political game of cat and mouse against Rakshasas that are trying to wipe out their closest allies.

- - - - - -

If you put a party of level 5 characters against a CR 5 creature, they will stomp it without flinching. If you put a party of level 5 characters against an intelligent CR 15 creature with an array of CR 3-12 minions, you're in for a rough but potentially very rewarding campaign.

[Kudaku]

I think the traditional slasher horror movie plot won't really work if you transfer it into a Pathfinder game:

* Unlike horror movie characters, players are genre-savvy. Whereas movie characters will gladly ignore all the nagging clues that something horrible is about to happen, the players are sure to pick up on everything and usually react accordingly. For example, say a character hears a suspicious noise coming from the basement right after he got a creepy phone call: The movie character will explore the basement extremely slowly while carrying a flashlight that will inevitably go out at just the wrong time - a RPG character will equip himself with enough flashlights to showcase the Washington monument, and probably bring a chainsaw to boot. Never Split The Party (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NeverSplitTheParty) is a trope for a reason.

* Gradually killing off the cast works for ratcheting up the excitement in the movies, but killing a PC one hour into the game makes for a really awkward experience for that player - unless you have a way to introduce new characters, his play session ended really suddenly. Conversely only killing NPCs can give the PCs a feeling of "invulnerability", which really undermines the tension.

* Movie characters tend to be facing an overwhelming enemy or an opponent they have no real defense against. RPG combat tend to assume the exact opposite, ensuring that characters have access to the resources needed to let them overcome opposition.

That's not to say you can't run a horror campaign, but they tend to turn out a little different from horror movies. I've run a few horror campaigns, primarily one-shots for Halloween. I did one based on House on Haunted Hill (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051744/?ref_=nv_sr_2) and one based on Deathwatch (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286306/), both using variations on the Call of Cthulhu rules set - I quite like Call rules for horror because the characters feel vulnerable - pathfinder doesn't really capture that feeling. One thing that's important is to make sure that the players understand they're going to be playing a horror game and behave accordingly - joking around or quoting Monty Python is well and good for a normal game but can really ruin the atmosphere in a horror story. Other key elements are to keep the players guessing, keep them invested, and make damn sure they can't quote the stat block of whatever they're fighting.

The 3.5 book Heroes of Horror has lots of tips on how to run horror campaigns, while the Pathfinder adventure path Carrion Crown is a great example of a campaign written by and for horror fans.

[Psyren]

Most RPGs are about empowerment and most horror is about disempowerment. I have a hard time envisioning how this would work, especially once you start bringing in divine casters and all the baggage they entail.

[Raven777]

Sadoko behaves like a pretty low CR undead. Probably some kind of Human with the Ghost (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/ghost) template, or maybe a refluffed Attic Whisperer (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/attic-whisperer) or Drekavac (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/drekavac). Against 5th level adventurers, she's getting her ass handed to her within two rounds, tops. If she's a Ghost, she'll keep coming back within a few days until some arbitrary task gets completed to put her to rest, but she'll just be an annoyance, not an actual combat threat.

[sakuuya]

That's not to say you can't run a horror campaign, but they tend to turn out a little different from horror movies. I've run a few horror campaigns, primarily one-shots for Halloween. I did one based on House on Haunted Hill (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051744/?ref_=nv_sr_2) and one based on Deathwatch (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286306/), both using variations on the Call of Cthulhu rules set - I quite like Call rules for horror because the characters feel vulnerable - pathfinder doesn't really capture that feeling. One thing that's important is to make sure that the players understand they're going to be playing a horror game and behave accordingly - joking around or quoting Monty Python is well and good for a normal game but can really ruin the atmosphere in a horror story. Other key elements are to keep the players guessing, keep them invested, and make damn sure they can't quote the stat block of whatever they're fighting.

Do you have a writeup of the House on Haunted Hill one? That's pretty much my favorite movie ever, and I'd love to see how you translated it to a TTRPG.

[Kudaku]

Do you have a writeup of the House on Haunted Hill one? That's pretty much my favorite movie ever, and I'd love to see how you translated it to a TTRPG.

Sorry! Those notes are long gone, I ran that game as a one-off eight or nine years ago. It was actually incredibly fun - we played it from 8 PM to 8 AM on Halloween in a meeting room in an actual psychiatric hospital. Here's a picture of the hospital. :smallbiggrin:

http://bilder.vgb.no/29724/3col/img_48d9605f7e957.jpg

[Pex]

The rogue dies first because s/he's not a virgin.

The druid tries to understand it and willing sacrifices him/herself to the horror.

The cleric disbelieves everything because it's against faith. Is killed without knowing it.

The bard cracks jokes thinking everyone else is crazy and stupid. Separates him/herself from the party for some stupid reason. Gets killed.

The wizard is absolutely certain s/he knows how to save everyone. Prepare for the final confrontation. Doesn't work and dies.

The fighter protects everyone as best he can. Manages well fighting against the horror. Not defeating it, but enough to survive and keep everyone safe for that much longer. As the horror is about to kill the paladin, the fighter interposes himself to save her. He fights the horror one-on-one. Just as it looks like he's about to win the horror kills him. He's satisfied he saved the paladin.

After the fighter is dead, the virgin female paladin figures out the horror's weakness. She uses it against the horror, killing it.

If the game is popular enough, another party learns the paladin only temporarily dismissed it. It's back and no longer vulnerable to what the paladin did.