Advice for a Low-Power Dark/Creepy Game

[Septimus Faber]

Pretty much what the title says. I plan to DM a game of the aforementioned style, not gory (at least not overly so) but fundamentally unnerving, which will be quite low-power and low-magic. Does anyone have any advice on what houserules to use, what classes to ban, what to use to evoke an atmosphere, how to creep out players, or general anecdotes on experiences with similar games? I'm not looking for specific advice on making a setting (I know how to do that) but help on anything else would be, well, helpful.

Also, advice to buy extra books is redundant. I'm going to be using what I have (all of Core, XPH, Complete Arcane and Psionic, and Eberron Campaign Setting).

Many thanks,

SF

[JusticeZero]

How do you plan to do "Low-power"? Most people who I see try this flub it disastrously. 3.x/pf aren't very good at it as written.

[Septimus Faber]

Low-power probably means low-level with few magic items available and a little below the wealth by level guidelines. I don't plan to ban full casters, but I feel the need to to something about them, since I can imagine that "Bam! Magic! Problem solved!" could completely ruin the atmosphere. Of course, partly why I posted this was for advice on precisely how to do low-power.

(And yes, I get that I'll have to be a little judicious about the CR of monsters I use. No-one likes a TPK, even if it fuels the plot.)

[JusticeZero]

Well, in a campaign where there aren't a lot of magic items, spellcasters are the one-eyed man in the land of the blind. Full listers have both eyes open. EVERYBODY uses magic - either you make it, or you grab it off the rack and go.

That aside, i'd start by forcing every caster to be crimped down as far as having only a few spells known - and don't give them more just from leveling. Yes, even clerics and druids. Make them go find and copy the things down.

And don't have them be some nice ordinary sort of copying. I remember AD&D 1's description of spells. You copy the things onto your spellbook, sure. Then maybe you copy it onto a scroll. And you read the scroll and the words would vanish. You memorize the spell and when you said the spell, the words would vanish. Fit with Vance, pretty creepy, but there are better ways to communicate caging a bunch of energy. Maybe every time you memorize a spell, something has to die. Maybe just a bug or a bird, but something dies. Bring it back from the dead and you lose the spell. When the spell goes off - it can't be raised. eep. Or maybe something else. in any case, whenever you set up or use magic, something is expended, destroyed, or defaced, and it does it in a way that isn't... normal. Like the modern mage casting a spell with an expensive material component. She scoops up a handful of ornate gold coins, there's a flash, and a handful of featureless metal slugs clatters to the floor.

Don't just do 'ooh Lovecraft spooky insano tentacles woo'. Lovecraft is overdone, and frankly, a bit eyerolling because lots of people who obsess over Lovecraft don't understand Lovecraft. Lovecraft isn't that creepy. If you want to truly understand HP Lovecraft, watch The LEGO Movie. Best way to communicate the underlying meaning of Lovecraftian horror I have ever seen.

[Taveena]

Have you considered E6? It tends to end up with a rather less... overwhelming power level.

[Septimus Faber]

*Lovecraftian snip*

I think I'm with you on that. Quite a lot of Lovecraft I don't find even vaguely scary (with the exception of Pickman's Model - that really got to me for some reason). If I were to go down the inhuman creature stalking the PCs route, I was planning something rather more like a cross between the Alien xenomorphs, Slenderman, and the creatures from China Miéville's short story "Details" (which is excellent, by the way, if you haven't read it).

@Taveena: Concerning E6, I wasn't planning to, but I'll look into it and see if I can find any good mechanics to steal and use "behind the scenes".

[Taveena]

... Related to Slenderman, check out the Murderjack (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040828a). Slenderman and The Rake's bastard child.

[Septimus Faber]

... Related to Slenderman, check out the Murderjack (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040828a). Slenderman and The Rake's bastard child.

Hmm.

"You gradually awaken, the mattress of twigs and leaves shifting under you, and catch a glimpse of a thin figure in the trees on the edge of your vision..."

Just off the top of my head, but I am using that monster. Especially since the players don't know about it. Maybe I could take it down in power a bit, since it hunts in packs and I don't want it to be a TPK, but equally they never have to defeat it or know what it is...

Muahahaha.

[JusticeZero]

There really isn't much to cannibalize out of E6, it isn't a new system or anything like that. The core rules of E6 are "level advancement stops at 6. 5000 xp per feat after that." It has a variant LA system that didn't much inspire me and doesn't matter in my games since i'm using PF and restrict races by setting anyways. That's IT. There's nothing that can be pried off and used behind the scenes.

[daremetoidareyo]

Hmm.

"You gradually awaken, the mattress of twigs and leaves shifting under you, and catch a glimpse of a thin figure in the trees on the edge of your vision..."

Just off the top of my head, but I am using that monster. Especially since the players don't know about it. Maybe I could take it down in power a bit, since it hunts in packs and I don't want it to be a TPK, but equally they never have to defeat it or know what it is...

Muahahaha.

And after the long campaign of tracking and killing it in a clearing in the woods on a foggy day, the "mist subsides a little, revealing a dozen or so more of them, just watching. You have no idea how long they have been there. They then silently walk away and disappear into the fog."

[Septimus Faber]

There really isn't much to cannibalize out of E6, it isn't a new system or anything like that. The core rules of E6 are "level advancement stops at 6. 5000 xp per feat after that." It has a variant LA system that didn't much inspire me and doesn't matter in my games since i'm using PF and restrict races by setting anyways. That's IT. There's nothing that can be pried off and used behind the scenes.

Whoops, right. My bad. My logic-fu is weak.

EDIT: I've looked through the E6 pdf now, and it looks perfect for the game I plan to run. Many thanks to Taveena for suggesting it and JusticeZero for clearing up my assumptions about it...

Now, atmosphere. Will the creepy-monster-person-stalking-you format actually work, do you think?

[XionUnborn01]

I know you said you didn't want to ban casters but I would seriously consider using only short list casters, or making the casters more like medicine men/witch doctors. They have a lot of divination type stuff but not the super powerful spells that they have now. I would say that any spell that can instantly solve a problem should be out.

Regarding the creature-that's-totally-stalking-you-for-not-plot-reasons, I would look into adding in a fey related backstory for one of the character's families. Maybe it's there because you're the generation that owes it something.

[Jigawatts]

Dont forget about the all-mighty Ravenloft. That place is always a good time waiting to happen.

[Calimehter]

Heroes of Horror had a "dread" mechanic for reflecting horror-inducing circumstances that PCs get exposed to in that sort of campaign. It basically required a WIL save vs. a DC of 10+party level to avoid working your way down the fear chain (shaken, frightened, etc.) whenever you encountered such situations. It would be a fairly easy house rule to add to your campaign if you wanted to add some "mechanical" dramatic tension to a creepy monster or situation.

[herrhauptmann]

For a creepy game, you need storytelling.

If there's a fight, it has to be a short and simple one. Busting out the tactics for flanking and whatnot will ruin immersion.

[JusticeZero]

Making characters make saves isn't scary. "You see a goblin." "Oh yippie. A mook." "the goblin giggles. Roll versus horror!" "...seriously? whatever. can we hit it now?" Creeping them out requires removing their understanding or control over something that isn't quite normal.

[Calimehter]

Making characters make saves isn't scary. "You see a goblin." "Oh yippie. A mook." "the goblin giggles. Roll versus horror!" "...seriously? whatever. can we hit it now?" Creeping them out requires removing their understanding or control over something that isn't quite normal.

Well, used in that fashion it is a bad idea. I didn't specifically elaborate it, but yes, the DM needs to be judicious about using it in appropriate situations.

I used the rule in a Dresden-in-medieval-Europe setting, and I only found the need to make the check every other session or so. Really, just knowing the rule was there helped set the flavor/tone of the campaign more than they actual use of the rule did.