Ch. 3: Domains of Ravenloft

PSYOHOLOGIGAL HORROR SLASHER HORROR

Psychological horror stories create suspense by heightening or calling into question characters' states of mind, emotions, and perceptions. They often highlight the d i fference between what characters think and how they behave. When creating adventures rooted in psychological horror, consider common fears and anxieties. These readily become metaphors for villains and monsters. Fear of being judged by one's peers might manifest as a jury of nothics, while fear of change could be represented by a medusa that petrifies those who threaten her community's status quo.

Uncertainty, paranoia, and blurred lines between reality and fiction also shape psychological horror stories. lo your adventures, this might take the form of unreliable information. Characters might experience a deadly encounter only to wake up at the end, not having previously realized they were asleep. Before undermining characters' senses, though, make sure you know what's driving these skewed perceptions and how characters might overcome them. The "Fear and Stress" section of chapter 4 provides options for dealing with the stress of adventuring. If some force is actively trying to cause stress for characters, this might lead to its own psychological horror adventure.

Be aware that some classic psychological horror tales stigmatize mental illness. Work to avoid such tropes in your adventures as you consider the following questions: • What are characters afraid of? ls a wizard afraid of losing their memory? Is a fighter afraid of grow• ing old? Does a cleric fear their god is a lie? If every monster is a stand-in for something people fear, what do your favorite monsters embody? • Can your adventures accentuate that? Why might a character think everyone around them is lying to them? M ight this be paranoia, an actual conspiracy, or both? Who or what could • pull the strings of such a plot? How can the environment change to undermine characters' sense of reality? The Mists already play into this, as could structures with no doors or stairs with no end, but what else might? Every monster is a story, and many of those stories are horror stories. This brand of horror contends with relentless killers, which might be people or monsters. These adventures revel in grisly details, the suspense of an impending showdown with a powerful foe, and the fear that death waits right around the corner. Adventures of this genre typically include one major antagonist that threatens a group. This might be a particularly large or cunning beast, a murderer who terrorizes a neighborhood, a monster stalking a town, or a supernatural menace who spreads a signature sort of death. When creating your own monster or slasher horror adventures, choose a creature with a challenge rating high enough that your party won't defeat it with a few lucky hits. Also consider foes with details you're eager to explore in various terrifying scenes. A medusa, for example, becomes all the more terrifying when it murders with petrified body parts or forces victims into unsettling poses before petrifying them. Also, consider who the villain's targets are and why the villain has chosen to prey upon that group. Is it out of hunger or for revenge, or does the creature have a more deep seated need to kill?

The relentless killers presented in chapter 5 provide perfect foes for adventures embracing this type of horror. Also, when creating adventures inspired by monster or slasher horror, ask yourself the following questions: • Who is the monster or slasher? How do they kill?

What has made them infamous? • Why is a community defenseless against the killer? • In what shocking ways does the killer use • its powers? How does the killer avoid capture? Where does it • hide from its pursuers? Does the killer think it's justified? Has the com• munity wronged it in some way? What characters in your story exist only to be victims? • What climactic event is sure to tempt the killer into the open?