Peter Rudin-Burgess

The reason I suggest overmatching your characters is that horror is not about a fair fight or balanced encounters. The big boss fight should be something that makes fleeing the sensible thing to do. I was in my regular 5e game a couple of weeks ago and the party was facing some ghouls and ghasts. … Read more

Using the authorities, the town guard, or local lord in a fantasy setting, the police or government in modern-day or sci-fi, is another way of isolating your characters and cutting them off from help. You can go further, telling the police may be informing the villain of how much the characters have learned. It is … Read more

Isolating one character from the party lets you play to their weaknesses. As the party is strong and balance each other out, a lone character has fewer options. It is also an opportunity to put an unwanted spotlight on a character. Looking to Hollywood for inspiration there are three versions of this. Looking for the … Read more

These tips are aimed at both solo players, and regular GMs wanting to run better horror-themed games. The basic dilemma is a choice between two equally undesirable outcomes that cannot be avoided. It is not a railroad, you are presenting the characters with two options, they are free to come up with a third way … Read more

Player characters like to fight fire with fire, and most often with a preemptive attack. Subtle violence takes that option away, puts your players and their characters on the back foot, and forces them to think more, before grabbing the dice and selecting a target. The horror comes from playing on your players’ feelings of … Read more