Whether it's a traditional fantasy dungeon crawl or an eerie delve into the mythos of H.P. Lovecraft, it can be really fun to add elements of horror and suspense to your pen and paper adventure. Of course there are certain types of spookiness that are more appropriate to the atmosphere of the game table. Knowing how to implement the right tone of fear is key to getting your players invested in the environment of a truly creepy horror themed game.
Firstly, remember that jump scares don't work here. Having a monster run around a corridor unexpectedly is an effective technique in movies, where the creature can appear before your mind has time to recognize it. But in a tabletop RPG, by the time you finish describing the monster the player knows just what to expect. Yelling "Boo!" at your players is not going to work, and is going to annoy them more than anything.
The kind of fear you want to cultivate among your players is a creeping sense of dread. And the way to build that dread is through evocative description. Slow down your rate of speech, have a lot of prepared notes, and describe the eeriness of the environment in lurid detail. Set the scene like you would imagine in a creepy novel or scary movie. Let the players immerse themselves in shrouded fog, shadowy corridors, or a cursed temple.
Creative and unique scares are also more effective than cliches. The fear of the unknown is the most effective means of creating fear in your players. Vampires and werewolves can be scary, but their ubiquity in mass media means that most players will be savvy to their usual tricks and traits. Using monsters and hazards that the players have never heard of before will be more likely to bring out the unease and tension you are shooting for.
This fear of the unknown means that a threat is most effective when it is at its most mysterious. A glimpse of something slithering in the shadow, a rock face covered in bloody etchings, these are hints towards the true nature of a hidden danger that don't immediately reveal what it is. The build up toward a reveal is even more important than the reveal itself, and vital to making a scene truly scary.
Use every one of the five senses in your story when describing something suspenseful. Think about what a room smells like, what a monster sounds like, what the edge of a jagged blade feels like . And don't forget the sixth sense, the sense of the player characters' minds. Scary stuff can have a straining effect on a character's subconcious, so let that play itself out in your narrative. Describe a sickening sensation in a character's stomach, an instinctive feeling of being watched, or a sharp migraine headache when stepping on an altar. Get inside the character's head for a moment and let the player know how a scene is effecting them, through either supernatural influence or just their basic impulses.
Ambient sound and music can really heighten the mood of a scene, so look for some cool effects or sound generators to match the setting's atmosphere. Eerie sound effects can be especially effective, like scraping chains, dripping water, or insidious whispers. Soundtracks from classic horror and suspense movies make for effective musical cues at the right moment. Spooky art and imagery is also good for enhancing the mood. If you can find a photograph or piece of artwork that has a great ambiance, you should definitely bring it to the table!
Finally, remember not to overdo it. If you keep the fear factor cranked up to its highest level at all times it will lose its impact. The players will become numb to the effect, and will cease responding to it. Allow for lulls in the action, for peace and quiet to set in so that it will be more disturbing when the spooky bits arrive. Following a scary scene with a tranquil scene will often underscore the horror in any case, so don't be afraid to include these rest breaks in order to achieve better effects from your scares.
In fact, another way to keep the players scared is by including enough tranquility that the players don't know when to expect danger. When they are lured into a false sense of security after a series of peaceful interactions with townsfolk, they won't be prepared when a wild beast lunges upon them. If you can keep the players uncertain as to when a threat might appear, you can keep that sense of gnawing concern going for the entire session.
Scares and horror are a great addition to any campaign's tonal palette, so feel free to work them into your next adventure, and enjoy the tension and intensity it brings to your own play group.
Happy ventures!
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