How to Run D&D Horror | Icewind Dale Horror DM Tips + Description Examples

[@TheDungeonCoach]

What do you plan to do with these Horror Tips? How have YOU scared your players before? Check out my Patreon here: www.patreon.com/thedungeoncoach

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Ethan Aldrich it has interested me more than anything I’ve seen so far! I wanna runnit!!

[@braynechylde4982]

Being that I am the horror DM of my group of DND players, horror really is a matter of managing tension and expectations. The best way I have found to implement tension for a horror themed campaign is attacking the character resources and senses. They’re in a frozen wasteland attack their food and and ability to stay warm. They all have dark vision? Make the enemies stay just outside of the range of what they can see or add other obstacles like the fog, mist, snow, wind, rain or sand. They rely heavily on the rest mechanic ? Take away the shelter or implement a ticking clock. They use spells to solve the problems? Add wild magic zones, null magic zones, monsters that have magic resistance. Do all of these things and you start taking the feeling of invulnerability a lot of players have in DnD. The key to success is similar to weight training, time under tension. The right amount and it’s a success, too little and you haven’t accomplished anything, too much and you wind up with too much hopelessness and you hurt your game.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Hays Mag Aoidh the weighty training analogy... NEEDED to be in this video! Well said!

[@BobWorldBuilder]

Absolutely chilling, coach! Thanks for the shout out ☃️ and seriously this video has a lot of great points- a few I was already planning to go over in a horror video of my own, so I’ll be sure to give this a plug too!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Bob World Builder we gotta keep the combos coming or we’ll lose our multiplier!!

[@Mayoh-WTP]

Came here because of Bob’s recommendation. Subscribed! Thank you both for all of the hard work and inspiring information, it’s taken my dm abilities to the next level for sure

[@TheDungeonCoach]

@@Mayoh-WTP welcome then! Yea it’s been great Collabing with bob! Great dude!

[@umbra4729]

He's already started with the dad jokes - means he's leveled up in the father class!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Feodor Romanenkov hahaha the powwweeeerrrr!

[@esperthebard]

Fantastic tips here for horror themed games. Thanks for the shout out man!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Thanks for all the bad ass vids you’ve made!

[@gcampoverde]

All these cold-related one-liners are giving me the chills! (particularly the "Boo!" at the very end!)

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Lol “cold one liners” glad someone appreciates the humor too!! 💜

[@laugechristophersen9913]

In regards to jump scares, Phil - a friend of Matt Colville, had a really cool way. As a context, the players were walking in some fairplay dangerous woods. One of the devises to play the bagpibe. The players laugh about it, and roleplay on this bagpibe-music. Suddenly Phil almost out of nowhere asks for initiative. (I might not have remembered it correctly, see the “In the Bowls of Valenquar part 1” video on Matt’s second channel) I later used this myself when I ran a two-shot. The players where sitting around the campfire roleplaying some story moments off of each other without anyone keeping watch. I was rather quiet and the suddenly asked for initiative, as I put a giant snake on the battle map. In both instances it seemed to me to work rather well. Players know initiative is dm-code for “Now begins combat”. The idea of a jumpscare is that the danger comes out of nowhere. The players are here the ones getting ambushed and they a getting jumped and scared. This works as sort of a meta-jump scare. It is not the sudden burst of words from the dm, that scares the players. It is the content within. Phil did it one better. He wanted to svare his players. There was no combat. But just his “Roll initiative” scared his players enough that the bagpibe was put away Again, I don’t do Phil’s genious justice with my describtion, it is really a Great in-game meta-jump scare trick that isnt a real (and lame) jump scare

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Lauge Christophersen oooo that’s great! A quick initiative roll out of nowhere! BOO!! Nice!

[@jamesyoung643]

Listen man, I’ve been on KZbin for several years watching DnD videos and I gotta say that you are one of the absolute best out there. I’ve never made a comment on a KZbin video but really just wanted to encourage ya that your content is truly awesome. I think the biggest thing is that you’re just a great educator. Hopefully when the economy gets better I’ll jump on your Patreon. Seriously dude, keep it up, love all your stuff.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

James Young wow thank you so much for that! I put a lot into this one and am glad to hear the appreciation! I want to do this full time so I am trying to have it truly be professional! Your comment made my day!!

[@MykeDiemart]

I watched / listened to a few of your videos, this one was really good. It takes a lot to evoke horror in a tabletop game and you have some good tips. Professor DungeonMaster would be proud. You earned a sub.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Myke Diemart heeeeey thanks Myke! I love the proud part! I hope so! Welcome to the crew!

[@stonerocks0]

You really nailed this one - really clear structure, thorough treatment of the topic from multiple angles, and next-level puns :) Great work!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Stone Rocks woah thank you for that, video is actually doing way worse than normal but I felt pretty good about it! So I appreciate that!

[@alamos52]

Superb job. I've watched a handful of videos on this same topic on other channels, yet your advice goes that extra mile in terms of explanation and example while still keeping concise and practical.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Domenick Poster concise and practical is the best compliment there! Thank you for that!

[@alamos52]

@@TheDungeonCoach I'll be using Mothership to run a sci-fi horror one shot soon and pretty sure everything you said is applicable to this different setting and system. In fact, the Mothership designer's biggest piece of advice is only roll when absolutely necessary, so you definitely know what you're talking about

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Domenick Poster o awesome! That sounds super fun and thank you for that, glad to know when I’m on point or not 💜

[@steverennie5787]

@The Dungeon Coach Fantastic video... easily one of your best. Production value was fantastic and your plethora of tips are strong and useful. Can't wait for more...

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I was really going for it on the production value side! I finally figure out how to edit solid and now I go get an editor... gonna make sure they are legit though

[@Elkay_J]

Im normally not the biggest fan of running modules, and hearing how to run them, but some of those new video ideas did sounds real interesting to apply to other concepts! Id like to see the weather and horror mechanics!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Honestly I am in the same boat as you! I have still never full ran a module, but I kinda wanna run IWD now... OBVIOUSLY with a LOT of homebrew injections, but YES that video is in 2 weeks! Stay tuned!

[@timothymcallister7230]

I just started my Rime of the Frostmaiden game! You always seem to upload at just the right time :D

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Timothy McAllister it’s a 6th sense of mine really 🥶💜

[@ReplicatorFifth]

Yay! I needed this! First campaign I run as DM is going to be Rime of the Frostmaiden!

[@Piqipeg]

Awesome video! Gave me a lot of things to consider when I do Curse of Stradh later!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Yeeeessss CoS could definitely benifit from these horror tips for sure! Thanks man!

[@jonwooldridge3766]

Ok, the last jump scare made me laugh. Well done.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Jon Wooldridge hahaha I had an extra take of me doing that so I slapped it on there!

[@jozcofoz8560]

On all honesty, one of my favorite vids. The tip of giving the monster some human characteristics was ingenious. I've been waiting for a well thought out vid like this for sometime. Thanks man, and props to you

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Thanks dude, put a lot of hours on the back end writing this up and researching etc! So thanks for that!

[@nicolasvillasecaali7662]

There is nothing more terrifying than the knowledge that some monsters are capable of equal or greater displays of malice and brutality than the ones we see from humans, for they are the most vicious we know... so far...

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Nicolás Villaseca Alí ooooo well said! Couldn’t agree more, especially if the party thought the creature was just a “feral beast”

[@BionicPerry1970]

Lol! Totally called the last scare! So good though. Great vid! Lots of great tips. Yes, music is huge for atmosphere. I've used it for years and years. I find the silence loud without some music these days! Really LOVED the Player Huddle! More of those for sure. And yeah, needing to get the players invested is a big part of enjoying the game. Looking forward to your icewind dale vid!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Perry Grosshans I’ll have to do more player huddles! Should have done one in the video I filmed today! Dang!’

[@samchafin4623]

More puns please. Thanks for the video, as always. Especially good point reminding DMs not to try to do too many new techniques at once.

[@sillymonger]

Hell yeah, this is the first module I've been really excited about playing. MORE RIME

[@TheDungeonCoach]

sillymonger I got you! 2 weeks will be HUGE! I wanna play it too now!

[@wyattwear815]

Good morning coach! I can't stay rn but I just wanted to stop by.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Thanks Wyatt! I’m sure I’ll see ya around!

[@holden426]

I would definitely love to see more Icewind Dale content! I'm getting ready to start a fresh campaign and I'm looking for every bit of info I can find.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

NateTheGringo get ready for NEXT week! I got some HUGE stuff for you!

[@scatterbug]

Dang it! I missed the premier! :( Double sad, 'cause it was so good! I really wish I'd seen this last year when I ran a series of horror one shots.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I'm one year to late lol, and did you see the sneak peek of the cover art?? (no purple)

[@scatterbug]

@@TheDungeonCoach OMG YEESSSS...

[@_knoxxis]

Late to the party, but goodness this video has been helpful! I'm running two different IWD campaigns and I'm excited to dig into some more horror themes.

[@mattalford3862]

I LOVE this! Some great tips for horror and tension. I plan to use some of this in my current campaign and then again when we run RotFM. Keep this content coming!

[@snobgoblinDK]

Any chance of a PDF version for this video? There's so many cool things here :)

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Aedan Blounsø hmmm was too busy with the PDF for next week that I didn’t do this one 😆 So much to do lol, sorry bro! 💔

[@snobgoblinDK]

@@TheDungeonCoach No worries, I got it scribbled down eventually :)

[@Fatat18]

I would absolutely love to watch more icewind videos :)

[@dylancox631]

Love this video. Ravenloft is my favorite setting so all of these ring very very true. Can't wait to try some of these.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Dylan Cox rave loft would be perfect for these too!!

[@wunksta]

Terror is the build up, the feeling of dread and apprehension that precedes a horrific event. Horror is the realization and revulsion that comes from witnessing or understanding the event. Terror is not knowing what happened to your friends, horror is the realization that they were cooked into the meal you were served.

[@Volrych]

Awesome tips! I use many of these and they are highly effective! What song did you use when you started going over the horror description? Because that - plus the way you changed your tone and wording totally drew me in!

[@haroldhughes977]

I'm absolutely using this in my game.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Let me know when you scare those players!!

[@LawofOne222]

great video man thank you so much!

[@akashambatwamiller6924]

The final Boo ! was a good one.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Akashambatwa Miller BOO! Haha Figure is give it a shot

[@Mistshock]

First time playing d&d and dming for this campaign. This is amazing. Im just having difficulty planning for all the eventualities for player choices.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

That’s one of the biggest lessons I learned... players will ALWAYS surprise you! Thanks man!

[@akashambatwamiller6924]

Spiders. Just yesterday my party was attacked by a Drow Retrieval team. the party had just gotten together after a downtime (PC going to different parts of my homebrew world). A happy reunion dinner table moment broken by a knock at the door. The conversation that follows reveals an overly creepy gnome. so creepy that i saw my players (via ZOOM) lean in towards their cameras. Watching the players body language I kept the conversation going until they were all focused. text chats from multiple players asked questions about the gnome, "What's he doing? What is he wearing? Is he an illusion? Is he magical etc..." Finally the players could not take it, they just attacked the gnome. I gave the surprise round on the gnome but it was then that I revealed the gnome was the trap. A single swarm of spiders for each player ( while distracted the spiders crawled along the ceiling to get into position. And 4 Drow had stepped inside the door of the building (The PC never noticed that the gnome never closed the door behind him). So combat began the Drow won initiative and nearly every player said “Oh s***” PS the home brew on my spiders was pretty scary two.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Akashambatwa Miller Hahahah “Oh Shit” that’s when you know you got em! Good stuff dude!! 👍🏼

[@tarrasquescroll9385]

Can you do a video on how to homebrew monsters to make them harder to metagame, and more scary?

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Tarrasque Scroll DUDE! In 3 weeks that’s the EXACT video I’m making! Let’s goooo!

[@drewpydrewdrop3841]

How do you balance atmosphere and player agency? I think it would be hard to keep the scene up while also letting players ask questions/do things

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Drewpy Drewdrop you’ll find that there’s a balance there and I always try to make sure I know what they are doing so I can say what they do as I describe what’s going on. Ya know, you don’t want to say they do something then lead em right into somethig bad. So I try to give them checkpoint moments to interject and do things For the story I gave it would be one moment to find entrance “what do you do” one moment after finding bodies, then again at the intersection

[@beowulfsss]

You could do little clips with "Player talk" so people would send it in Discord for their players and would help you with subscribbers.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Nicolas Lima yea I’m trying it out this video and see if that helps woth the “share ability” of my videos 😆

[@tangodeltacharl1e]

Send me more of that ice wind goodness, boss. I’m about to DM the campaign and can use the help.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Thomas Cumby ooooo then next week I got you covered!! 💪🏼🥶 thanks man

[@prtwriter4660]

I need this for a Haunted Mansion X Scooby Doo game

[@TheDungeonCoach]

PRTWriter hahaha scooby doo game! Let’s goo!!!

[@prtwriter4660]

@@TheDungeonCoach Yup if you want to collabe. Hit me up 👍

[@TheDungeonCoach]

PRTWriter gotta keep up the grind 👌🏼 I got my first Collab at 300 subs. Keep refining the craft 💜

[@sulaas]

Right now my group doesn't even Trust any of the people in the Party.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Hahahah PERFECT you got em right where you want em!! 💜💜💜

[@TheBoundBowman]

Saw you on reddit, good content, but just know you don't have to be 110% "ON" the entire time, looking for comments, subs, likes, pateron, kickstarters, meming... You can relax a little man. Believe in your content, cause it is good.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

The Bound Bowman ya know... that’s great advice, that’s what I used to do... man... this really was great advice. So for real, thank you

[@jordanflutes]

Lol frosty tips. Nice 90s reference.

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Jordan Fultz o got frosty ripped hair, took me a bit to get that joke but I got it! Lol

[@devildog2023]

I wish I could super like this video!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Devil Dog haha! Thanks! A lot went into this one!

[@drewtube8971]

More icewind Dale plzzz

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Coming right up!! (I’m 2 weeks) lol

[@TheAlcalic]

The true horror is the barrage of dad jokes we're getting. Good video tho!

[@TheDungeonCoach]

TheAlcalic hahaha were they... HORRIBLE?? Get it like horror??

[@AGASHBAALAH]

Lmao u tell ur friends to wear their winter clothes in the middle of summer and then put the ac at 50 degrees

[@Boylodge1990]

Do more and maybe a theros campaign

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Chaz Hooker theros has horror??

[@Boylodge1990]

No um i worded that wrong I should of worded that better lol... No so watching this video helped me plan out a horror campaign buuuuuut could u do like a video on running a gods campaign something based out of theros. Cause my best friend he always talks about becoming a god in d&d if u want to make that happen in content

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Chaz Hooker ahhh I see! What a cool idea!

[@akashambatwamiller6924]

DC... "North Pole" ohhh my

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Akashambatwa Miller I’m rasing the DC on these jokes!

[@akashambatwamiller6924]

@@TheDungeonCoach they need put in laugh emojis

[@onurs6848]

Amazing

[@mcbunson]

Best rule of horror. You always loose. Things might look up, you may triamph in adversity but at cost or for an even darker future.

[@phantom_of_romance1945]

another rule of horror is to never show/say your monster until it comes

[@timothyhanna6304]

Ooh I love horror

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Timothy Hanna I have loved running it too! So fun to see them get so into it!

[@dizzysnakepilot]

No Icewind Dale specific content, decent general horror tips

[@jayteepodcast]

Play Dread. The end

[@TheDungeonCoach]

JON THOMPSON that a TTRPG??

[@jayteepodcast]

@@TheDungeonCoach yes it has no stats or math. D&D is one of those games that can't be scary

[@jayteepodcast]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpCvo5uZrLyBhK8

[@TheDungeonCoach]

I watched that video for sure, love Prof Dungeon Craft, I even reference that video in this video 👌🏼 But I’d disagree that you CANT make it scary, definitely harder to do than other systems, but I’m just trying to give advice on it for people who do want to go for it in D&D 👍🏼

[@vernonhampton5863]

Who the hell gave this video a thumbs down? What's wrong with you?

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Vernon Hampton hahaha sometimes id love to ask them why they hit that button lol, thanks Vernon!

[@vernonhampton5863]

@@TheDungeonCoach Thank you, this video is very helpful. I will be part of a Halloween charity game at my local story this month, running a homebrew mashup of Rime with a splash of survival horror. The table will curse your name when I'm done with them.

[@levismith1719]

Hey guys let me explain this.....Doesn’t explain anything. Just repeats the same thing over and over 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@TheDungeonCoach]

Im confused, what part did I not explain and just repeat myself on?