How to scare the **** out of your players - D&D / TTRPG

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It's Halloween! Perfect time for creepy horror one shots and scenarios! And I have some tips to build dread and make our games as terrifying as they can... Hope that helps!
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Music used (RU-vid Audio Library License & Creative Commons):
Tragic Story - Myuu
Kindergarden - Coyote Hearing
Infados - Kevin MacLeod
Mars Cantina - The Whole Other
Assembling - Asher Fulero
Down - Joey Pecoraro
For We Are Many - Cooper Cannell
FairyTale Waltz - Kevin MacLeod
Infados by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
FairyTale Waltz by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
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Timestamps
00:00 Intro
00:52 The Origin of Fear
01:46 Creating Cues
03:34 Creating Mirrors
04:48 (CW: animals getting hurt) Making Horror Unspeakable
05:34 Breaking the Pattern
06:36 Making it last
08:03 Outro

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Опубликовано:

20 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 120

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

Hi all! Apologies for how long it took me to get a video out, I got banished into the real world for a bit and tied up with this strange thing called “work”. But I have returned unscathed and with news of a discord server, and hope to see you there! This’ll just be a place for us to meet up, hang out and talk TTRPG. The link is right there: discord.gg/EwkMDPaG

@TheAgony94 6 месяцев назад

I came late to the party and it seems the link does not work anymore..is there a way to get another one?

@corkboardsandcuriosities 6 месяцев назад

@@TheAgony94 oh i'm so sorry! I forgot these expire after some time, here you go! discord.gg/GnTQtXvW

@carlswan8005 6 месяцев назад

@@corkboardsandcuriosities that invite has expired as well :(

@Albelius 4 месяца назад

Is there a possibility to get a new invite link again? ^_^

@Ctrl_Shift_ 8 месяцев назад

Monsters as an aesthetic first and a creature second is something I never would have thought of. But now that I know, it makes so much sense. It's exactly the kind of thing that turns a walk in the park at night, into a tense and creepy experience. A silent night is much scarier if you occasionally hear the growls of something nearby, but never see it.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

yes! and i feel like that can inform so much once you actually start building the monster! It makes all their abilities, goals and methods so much more cohesive (if that's what you're looking for) and using these aesthetic elements really provides great inspiration for how to flavour the more concrete details that you as the GM are privy to

@Insanalyst 6 месяцев назад

“Plagued with empathy” is my new favorite phrase.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 6 месяцев назад

oh yeah, it's a whole _lifestyle_

@MarkoSeldo 3 месяца назад

I needed this. I'm running a campaign in a world shrouded in magical darkness. The players aren't afraid of the dark anymore. Chapter 3 of the story begins next month, and it's time to make them scared again. **evil laugh** **rubs hands together maniacally**

@IndentYourCode 3 месяца назад

I've been on the prowl for other Horror TTRGP/Call of Cthulhu inspiration channels for a long while now and just wanted to say I really appreciate your channel so far. Discovered it today! You clearly put a lot of work and thought into your videos and it's mostly genre neutral advice that is applicable everywhere. Great content!

@Pupcan 4 месяца назад

I appreciated your phrasing of, "Don't think of a monster as a creature but as an aesthetic." THAT really got me thinking.

@jasonlee6062 3 месяца назад

You only need to break an established rule once to forever keep players on edge every time they go through the same scenario. The one time Kratos pushes a boat in to the river and gets knocked back out by a giant crocodile, or Isaac getting in a lift and an enemy pulling the doors open, someone ambushing you at the top of a ladder (or quickly passing the top as you descend), or I hear maybe Mr X can actually enter safe rooms now. Only has to happen once and now I'm on edge every time.

@DangerDurians 8 месяцев назад

When players no longer fear the dark And respond with "i have dark vision" Turn to some other scary ways limit their vision (or knowledge) Magical darkness is easy but natural obscurations are harder to manage Mist, smoke, and fog all limit vision, and more directly communicate that something could be hiding right next to them

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

love that! def useful for games like dnd where darkvision is so common. playing around with things like invisibility or etherealness where the creature could pop up from anywhere is an option too. TTRPGs in which characters are heroes and have a lot of magic, resources and abilities at their disposal makes horror a little harder since you can't play up the powerlessness on that front, but it's very much not impossible when being a little creative with it!

@Imperiused 6 месяцев назад

On the part of Making It Last, a great example can be found in the Saga of Grettir, where the eponymous hero defeats a draugr that, in its final moments, curses him; tormenting the character with visions of its nighmarish eyes for the rest of his life.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 6 месяцев назад

YES! I don't know the saga of Grettir, but this is exactly the kind of vibe!

@Imperiused 6 месяцев назад

@@corkboardsandcuriosities Overly Sarcastic Productions did a cliff notes version of the Saga a little while back here on RU-vid!

@jllav8214 6 месяцев назад

Yes! Well done. These scary points are exactly right. "Signs of the Monster", scary bread crumbs and fear in your mind (specific to you). Thats how you do it!

@tamhujin456 8 месяцев назад

Honey wake up, Corkboards & Curiosities just drop a new video

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

you had me cackle

@dilly2760 8 месяцев назад

I struggle with spooking my players but I think this video will help out, particularly the idea of making animals and the environment behave in strange ways. Thanks for the tips!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

I'm happy that helps! the environment thing is one of my faves tricks tbh, once had a modern day demon hunting session in a household and I for sure had tons of fun with the daughter's hamster standing completely still on its hind legs looking at one corner of the room

@chromemaskqurae1222 8 месяцев назад

' A darkness where dark vision or any spell that is to do with lighting up the darkness won't work, night vision goggles would make it easier to see in the darkness except the absolute nightmare fuel of a monster is invisible when the party is all together... But will strike once a party member splits from the party. ' - Chrome

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

oh I started building a puzzle idea around that kind of vibe a few months back, but never got back to it hahaha, i should, because this idea is such an awesome theme

@such_a_dork 8 месяцев назад

Trophy Dark's ring structure is a really good way to kind of bootstrap yourself into this. It feels a bit formulaic at first but it really does a good job of guiding you from cues to mirrors to shrieking terror.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

I... had never heard of trophy but just took a quick google and although yeah for now i'm not grasping much of it, i see "cthulhu", i see "psychological horror", i'm hella down

@melissa2074 8 месяцев назад

I love the idea of changing up the cues and of making the landscape and animals react to the monster. The idea that the natural landscape could tell us what is wrong if only we could hear it really gets my imagination firing! I'm definitely going to use that. Thank you!!!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

I really love playing with that one haha, i'm glad it resonates, although being among my favourites it almost didn't make it into the final video hahaha

@namelessspook7987 8 месяцев назад

Once again, you have swooped in as I was planning a game with the exact video to help push it all in the right direction. I do enjoy how you keep everything general so it can apply to any system.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

If the video comes right when you need it, it is not by random... I HAVE EYES E̶̹̻͆V̶̬̳̋E̷̹̎R̴̻̠͛Y̷̘͒W̵̞͝H̵̙̍Ẻ̶͕̺͛Ŗ̶͎̋E̷͔͗ More seriously, happy to hear that! And yeah! Aside from some adventure walkthroughs I'm hoping to keep everything rather system neutral. Glad to hear it's helpful! Will keep at it!

@TheADHDM 8 месяцев назад

The section on Mirrors is amazing! Once again just in time for a one shot I must prep. Also your audio sounds good as heck in this one, and the new animations are super cool. Thanks for another banger

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

thank you 💚 I think this is the one I had the most fun editing (but also the one that my laptop is probably mad at me for hahaha)

@feildpres 8 месяцев назад

OH BOY ANOTHER CORKBOARDS AND CURIOSITIES VIDEO what a way to improve a monday!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

this enthusiam makes me so fucking happy

@feildpres 8 месяцев назад

@@corkboardsandcuriosities Well its deserved, I am being 100% serious when I say this, but I would consider your channel a sleeper hit on youtube, one of the few amazing hidden gems, especially for D&D/TTRPG GM focused content. You provide genuine and specific advise, tips, tricks, and tropes to improve games in tangible ways. Your videos are well thought out and entertaining. Best of all I have actually used your advise in games to the improvement of my DMing. Please keep doing what you're doing!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

@@feildpres this is honestly so lovely to hear. I'm just starting out and getting acquainted with the whole youtube thing, but this makes me so hype to keep going, you've no idea

@shelby142 3 месяца назад

These videos are so good! I'm baffled they don't have more views. So many great tips, an engaging presentation that's clear and consise...You even have a nice voice! The RU-vid algorithm is the real unknowable monster 😭

@fynnkwast2745 3 месяца назад

Favorite quote of the month, maybe for longer: "all we need to do is to exploit that." 😂

@elmarcezen 8 месяцев назад

Your videos are always thought provoking. Thanks!!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

thank youuuu c: This one was really, really, really fun to make ngl

@marcopagnini1349 8 месяцев назад

Always a pleasure to receive a notification of a new video by your channel, and as always it's top quality and very well put together. You definitely made my day!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

haaaaaa and you just made mine by saying that !!

@brandonm.4966 6 месяцев назад

I've actually utilized this tactic in real life against people who I fear. And it's helped tremendously.

@_tbg 8 месяцев назад

Great video as usual, I really liked the portion about creating and suddenly breaking patterns, it's a very effective method of creating tension and fear.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

yaaaay, happy you enjoyed it! breaking the pattern is really good to escalate the dread, tbh that time in the labyrinth will always be one of my treasured memories at the table

@darcyw156 4 месяца назад

So glad RU-vid put this channel in my feed. Great content. Am running call of Cthulhu and these tips are going to be fantastic, thanks!

@apophatos824 3 месяца назад

Fantastic ideas; the monster as an aesthetic, building and subverting expectations, and the idea of the broken witness are quite inspired. Thanks very much!

@the_beast_among_sheep 3 месяца назад

My homebrew world is a combination of Robert E. Howard's Hyborea which is heavily influenced by the works H.P. Lovecraft. The Old Ones & their cultists permeate everything. It's still in its infancy stage. It's a work in progress that I have to keep secret even once I start running sessions in it because fear of the unknown is powerful.

@mikesands4681 6 месяцев назад

Glad to see you contributing to community dialogue.

@FiddleForge 6 месяцев назад

I've now got an idea to run a session in which the characters are stalked by something and see recurring hallucinations of someone shouting at them, only to discover they have been captured already and were stuck in a trance with the hallucination being a companion that was trying to wake them up. I could work a lot with that. Thank you for the inspiration.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 6 месяцев назад

oooh i could really see that kind of scenario working well in Mothership, do you know of it?

@FiddleForge 6 месяцев назад

Sadly, no. I don't get to try new systems in practice. Not enough players comfortable with branching out. Tough teaching people a whole new set of rules, you know?

@CyberianWaste 8 месяцев назад

This is perfect, I was thinking I need a horror event in my game. I've never been very good at horror games though, too often my attempts to create atmosphere result in jokes 😅 I love your videos!!!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

haha someone else mentioned the joke thing in the comments, and to be honest, jokes in a horror games are not bad! Horror shouldn't be a constant dread, it should go up and down, only to come back up again! moments of joking and feeling safe are necessary to contrast with the horrifying things that are coming ;)

@magoschonkers711 8 месяцев назад

How to make your players scared: scale up a leech. Videos of small leeches are terrifying, they suck things up like a capri sun

@corkboardsandcuriosities 6 месяцев назад

oh wow, i just looked it up. Gorgeous beings.

@ElysiumFields306 8 месяцев назад

Thank you so much for this explanation, I was stumped on how to screw with my players this nerdoween and the whole part of Eldrich power gave me 100s of ideas.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

NERDOWEEN. I had never heard that phrase. I love it and I am unapologetically going to start using it all the time

@gaelickledoher4773 3 месяца назад

Thanks for reminding these easy ways towards horror and terror.

@takethewinwargames 3 месяца назад

Great tips. I'm about to prep a horror adventure for L5R and I will be sure to try them out.

@einheit02 3 месяца назад

This is great advice! Good job😊

@jllav8214 4 месяца назад

Just seeing you on Roll for Combat, good interview! Nicely done, RPG needs your style of play. I think Shadowdark would be a great RPG for your style, its old D&D with a 5e node to some mechanics. Its simplified and made for characters that are grim and not all powerful. I switched from 5e after 6 years of playing that system and am super glad I did! Never going back.

@NyctophileXIII Месяц назад

Love your videos, they're brilliant! 🖤

@christopherlansdowne1295 6 месяцев назад

I hold myself fortunate to be the sixth hundred and sixty-sixth like of this video. 😈 That aside, I want to compliment the creator of this video for illustrating so many wonderful, classic horror elements as a frame work for DM's to create their own thematic tales of dread.

@RVR121 6 месяцев назад

"I have darkvision" - Worst phrase ever.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 6 месяцев назад

hahaha it definitely makes things harder, but hey it's a cool opportunity to get creative with redefining being "in the dark", darkness isn't the only thing that can keep things out of our sight. I think that's why creatures that can go invisible or ethereal freak us out so much hahahah

@hillt.j.2101 6 месяцев назад

Dude! That the human mind is already so good at developing its own fear. And the “night”, the “unknown”. Wow…really good game running advice. Please keep at it, lass.

@danrimo826 6 месяцев назад

Huh. This is really good. Thank you :)

@Lerbia 6 месяцев назад

This is fantastic advice for running horror games.

@sebbonxxsebbon6824 3 месяца назад

Making the landscape and animals react to the monster is brilliant!

@imscary2 8 месяцев назад

i have found that rust monsters send my player's characters running for the hills

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

hahaha understandable! funny enough, the first adventure I ever wrote for publication was centred around a rust monster, so these will always have a special place in my heart

@yvesabdurahman5045 3 месяца назад

This was an excellent video. Well done, less is indeed more with our minds filling in the blanks. Inspirational for story writing & telling.

@komakon 8 месяцев назад

I'm spooked! Your videos are the best

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

haaaaa thank you 😭

@bombkirby 8 месяцев назад

Breaking the pattern reminds me of Kane Pixel's The Rolling Giant. The Giant seemingly turns and flees whenever the protagonist runs up stairs. It has wheels, so it cannot climb stairs. Until the final encounter where it breaks this pattern.

@rangleme 8 месяцев назад

So good - always happy to watch one of your videos.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

thank you :) i had a lot of fun making that one so i'm happy to hear it!

@michael1567 8 месяцев назад

Another Fantastic video!!! This advice is great and I can't wait to use it in my halloween games

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

yay! and we've got a friday the 13th this month too, double the horror games!

@joolsgrommers1466 8 месяцев назад

Also, production has ramped up, psyched on what's coming next from your channel. Keep it up!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 6 месяцев назад

thank you! i've been having fun with editing, still kinda trying to figure out visuals i like, but i'm having fun exploring !

@magoschonkers711 8 месяцев назад

Great video! Heard the same advice for writing horror stories. The same advice can be used for a mixture of awe and horror to build up a "boss." Like in a world that's pseudo-medieval and always full of life, a quieting and abscene of most life then a very sharp purple triangular pyramid poking over the tree line is going to be terrifying.

@grahamshepherd1944 8 месяцев назад

I have been trying to make a terrifying encounter, and this video really helped! Thank you so much, and keep it up!!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

haaa awesome! happy that helped!!!

@canalz8661 8 месяцев назад

Amazing content! Just subscribed for more 🤩

@corkboardsandcuriosities 6 месяцев назад

happy to have you! welcome aboard!

@khrowv 8 месяцев назад

Excellent video, lots of good info I'm dying to try out one day. Never really thought about breaking up the cues and patterns, but I love the idea of it. Great stuff as always!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

thank you so much! i've been wanting to make a video on horror for a while, and this month with both halloween and friday the 13th it just HAD to happen haha

@BeInspiredwithDominic 6 месяцев назад

After the first video I was hooked. Awesome content, and it makes me want to add all the things to my game. And you break it down so well! Thanks for sharing!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 6 месяцев назад

thank you so much! Really appreciate that! i'm always worried whether i'm being concise enough haha

@soren9780 6 месяцев назад

Very underrated channel

@darktom9067 8 месяцев назад

This channel is too underrated. I'm glad this video popped up on my RU-vid page.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 6 месяцев назад

haha, i'm still a very young channel! glad you found your way here!

@nicmast982 8 месяцев назад

Oh I'm in love.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

👀

@lazygurps 8 месяцев назад

I so do like your videos! You basically tell about things I try to tell to my friends! It's not hard to scare people, they are ready for it already. Just show them it's dangerous here, but don't show the monster. Show them it is near, it can grab them at any moment. Show them that gun is near to nothing for this being, make them understand that it can kill - use your NPCs for that, making them victims. And there is a little hint for the Game Master - if your players start to make stupid jokes, that means stress is so high, they just need to relieve that tension. That is true, of course, if it's not the first 10 minutes of the game:)

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

oh I love that making jokes thing! I remember once in a facebook group telling people about a fun moment we had in my curse of strahd campaign at the time, and a bunch saying that in horror you shouldn't make jokes... On one hand, it's absolutely true that it's a great indicator of stress and trying to relieve it, but also, since horror is tension and release, you do need moments of relief. They need to know what "safe" and "light" means in order to truly feel the impact of scary and dark!

@santiagotorresolmos9360 8 месяцев назад

Deperately need a Halloween one shot with these elements

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

the season has come! do it!

@cadenceclearwater4340 6 месяцев назад

Okay, this is the business ❤

@jamesrizza2640 6 месяцев назад

I have just started watching your channel, very interesting concepts. I have always had the hardest time using horror in a game. Since the players are heroes it's hard to make them scared of anything. However, I can limit how much they know. Your ideas seem to reflect this. Do you have a game you can show us that shows how you do it in your setting, That would be great.

@gegegebebebe5087 8 месяцев назад

Uuuuh, nice, so many good ideas (=

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

thank you! hope it can be useful!

@joolsgrommers1466 8 месяцев назад

Great advice! Will have to rewatch a few times. Last night there was a bow wave in the swampy river the PC's were moving along. Some sticks were thrown at it, and it went away. Will it come back?

@phoenixdzk 8 месяцев назад

I love your 'Fear of the dark' advice! I usually Nerf or disable Darkvision in my games and make gurgling /rasping noises whenever my players are in dark locations, also try my best to put encounters & chases in tighter locations or underground so the environment & its instability adds to the horror. If it's a sci-fi/ non magical campaign I add Armor Classes & HP to their survival equipment so now there's more incentive to run than engage!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

ooooh yes, weird noises in the darkness is a great move. When it comes to tight locations, one thing that really scares me is the idea of getting stuck in tight spaces and not being able to move (Lost John's cave from the magnus archives was brilliant), but i've still no idea how to properly convey that kind of thing in a make believe kind of context, hopefully some day i'll find the way!

@phoenixdzk 8 месяцев назад

@@corkboardsandcuriosities I absolutely LOVE your advice on breaking the pattern too, it's got that feeling of uncertainty in there, I've never tried that before but I will now!

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

@@phoenixdzk yesss! it can be so fun to play around with! and i tend to run very slow burn games, so this helps a bit the players who tend to be more fast paced and like seeing faster development

@JValerianS 8 месяцев назад

Darkvision is something I've really struggled with, and will probably have to nerf just to give darkness back some of the power that I feel it should hold narratively. But I did just realize that tight, claustrophobic places with visual obstructions can facilitate creating some of the same lack of knowledge.

@brandonm.4966 8 месяцев назад

I'm hecka scared of you. but I like the dots under your eyes. looks very cool. #torn

@corkboardsandcuriosities 6 месяцев назад

thank you, I take a lot of pride in being scary

@diegosanches430 8 месяцев назад

Awesome video as always! I was wondering, where are you from? Your accent is so interesting, but I can’t identify it.

@corkboardsandcuriosities 8 месяцев назад

haha, from what I heard it's always a bit tough to identify my accent (and it keeps changing too!) I'm originally from France, but learned english in an international school, with kids from like 40 different countries, so it kind of ended up being a mix of a lot of things, and changes from time to time haha I wish I could use switch it more purposefully, that would come in handy in ttrpg, but alas, I can't stay consistent to save my life haha

@diegosanches430 8 месяцев назад

@@corkboardsandcuriosities That’s amazing! Yes, it would be an amazing ability to be able to change accents so easily, I think that with practice, it could be achieved