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4 Tips For Creating A Horror Adventure in D&D
Whether you're a seasoned GM looking to try something new or a complete newbie, horror can offer a unique and thrilling experience for both players and DM.
In this post I'll break down the essentials of running a horror adventure. I’ll be covering everything from creating a terrifying atmosphere to crafting spine-chilling encounters. So, grab your dice, dim the lights, and let's get started!
Table Collaboration
Before running a horror game or a game with horror elements, work with your players on the kind of game they want to have and what are the boundaries. DMs who include horrific elements in there game for shock value only are missing an opportunity to establish trust at their table.
Give players choices of fun characters classes to play that would fit right into a horror story, are they all Vampire Hunters like Van Helsing or maybe they’re all Clerics whose goal is it to fight demons and devils. Are they a mixed bag of adventurers who fall into a paranormal situation and have to figure out how to deal with it? Great, just give your players some options so they don’t feel like the adventure is them vs the DM.
A Note About Safety Tools
I’m not a huge proponent of safety tools, except when it comes to playing with a mixed group of teens and adults, let’s say at a Con game. Adults can, occasionally, be a bit much, so I give teens veto power if an adult crosses a line.
If all your players, and you, agree upon the game being played, then carry on.
Setting and Atmosphere
The setting for your horror game should invoke feelings of dread and uneasiness. Here are 3 elements you should consider while planning your adventure.
Location: Choose a dark, foreboding setting, such as a haunted mansion, a cursed forest, or a forgotten city. Locations like Ravenloft’s Domains of Dread or The Shadowfell, a reflection of the Prime Material Plane but decayed. The Underdark is certainly designed for discovering the horrors of Lolth.
Mood: Create a tense and unsettling atmosphere with eerie music, spooky sound effects like the dragging of a chain when something malevolent draws near. Use foreboding language to describe what is seen or felt when the party enters a room.
Secrets: Introduce secrets and mysteries that gradually unfold throughout the campaign. Is there a twist? Cabin in the Woods is a great example of a fun and terrifying twist. If you seen the movie, you know. If you want the spoiler watch here
Choosing A Horror Theme
Choose, as a group, the theme you want to go with. There are plenty of horror themes to choose from, here are just a few.
Psychological Horror: Explore the characters not the players' fears, anxieties, and traumas Invisible Man, Silence of the Lambs or Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Body Horror: Introduce grotesque mutations, diseases, or body swapping such as in Hellraiser, Event Horizon or Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Supernatural Horror: Incorporate ghosts, demons, and otherworldly creatures like in Insidious, the Exorcist or Poltergeist.
Cosmic Horror: Reveal the existence of incomprehensible and terrifying forces beyond human understanding using Lovecraftian beings like Cthulhu.
Classic Horror - Werewolves, Vampires, Mummies, etc.
Scooby doo horror or comedy horror - Use movies like Ghostbusters, Shawn of the Dead, Tucker and Dale vs Evil or Ready or Not as examples of horror made fun.
Encounter Design
Environmental Hazards: Use environmental hazards, such as traps (like in the Saw movies), hazardous terrain like mud, or weather conditions like constant rain or a plague or frogs to increase the sense of danger. Maybe the trees of the forrest are bleeding a black ooze making the ground sticky an impairs movement or making things so slick it’s hard for PCs to hold on to their weapons.
Timers - Timers are a great way to induce more character anxiety. If you are using zombies, are they the kind that bite and can infect the PCs? If so, how long before a character turns? Do character need to put together a puzzle, quickly before the wall of spikes close in on them? Timers are great to get the players moving.
Chase/Hunted - Could it be that one of your characters is marked and has something evil following them throughout the adventure? This could be set up, privately, and then the twist revealed at the end.
Overwhelming Odds - Sure, you can have a few zombies your PC’s can slaughter at the beginning, but what happens when hordes of zombies roam the land and give the players little rest? Call of Cthulhu is about stopping terrible events by unstoppable forces knowing that insanity can and will happen along the way.
Tension/Mood - The beginning of World War Z is a great example of how to build tension, starting slow and ramping up. Brad Pitt’s character is having breakfast with his kids and then they are in a car, in traffic, when things start to turn chaotic. Maybe you can start your adventurers in a tavern but the undead start to surround it breaking windows and grabbing NPCs otherwise known as zombie snacks.
Resources/Adventure Ideas
What is in your mental catalog of horror?
Horror Movies and Novels - What horror films, books or tv shows kept you up at night?
Mythology and Folklore: Explore myths and folklore from different cultures for inspiration. How about the Chupacabra from Spanish lore.
Personal Fears: Tap into your own fears and anxieties to create a more authentic experience. Are you afraid of heights? Get anxiety over isolation? Tap into those emotions to create a more intense scenario.
Here are some other resources I recommend
Curse of Strand (Death House) (Free Adventure)
Van Richten’s Guide To Ravenloft
Flip through a monster manual for inspiration like this one or this one
Frozen Sick is, in my opinion, a pretty good horror adventure from Explorers Guide to Wildmount.
Mothership is a sci-fi horror game worth looking at.
Shadowdark is a great game filled with fun tables and you have the option of turning the darkness up or down.
The Return of the White Wizard (free) which I will be running for 3-4 of my members on my Youtube channel.
Hex Crawl of Horror tool set to create your own hexes of terror.
My hope for you is that these guidelines help you create a memorable and terrifying D&D horror campaign that will keep your players on the edge of their seats.
Do you like running horror themed games? Do you have a favorite genre of horror you like to run? Let me know.