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How do you make your players fear the night when 3/4s of the

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How do you make your players fear the night when 3/4s of the party has darkvision

>inb4 don't play d&d
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>>53317844
Somehow make them reliant or dependent on solar energy/light.

Or make their enemies more powerful and/or numerous at night.

Make any local population hugely suspicious of any who are about after dark.
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>>53317844
describe it as scary
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>>53317844
Have threats which approach the party from more than 60' away. Why is this even a question?
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>don't play d&d
this
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>>53317844
The way the world is made. The truth is all around you, plain to behold. The night is dark and full of terrors, the day bright and beautiful and full of hope. Your players do not fear the night much like a madman does not feel fire. It will burn him nonetheless.
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>>53317844

Monsters that have adaptive camoflague to dark vision. Predators evolve to combat prey's evolutionary advantages and if Dark vision is prolific then they'd definitely be countering it.

Have it be a clear thing as well where the Dark Vision races literally can't see the thing due to it's skin while the non-dark vision players can.

Make it so it also has some weird skittering as well.
>>
You make dark vision work as intended.

Most people think it gives you perfect vision in the dark, in reality it just makes you able to see out to your dark vision rating as if the light is dim.

It is like the character is a cat, they can see better than others in the dark but absolutely not perfectly and not to great distances. Dark vision is not omni sight
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>>53317844
Mess with their perception. Sure they can see something, but who's to say what that something is? You only saw it for a second, or it seemed to change shape, or it vanished into thin air.
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>Alright, everyone with Darkvision go ahead and give me a Will save.
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>>53317844
OP can't inb4. Don't play d&d.
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>>53317844
The beasts fight harder in the dark.
Give them higher damage bonuses, initiative bonuses, maybe a crit boost if you're feeling sadistic.
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>>53317844
Terrify effects and things like >>53318020 suggests; otherworldly horrors that inspire fear or cause other effects on sight.

Alternatively, have the real frightening beasts of the night utilize Darkness - as the spell - as either a SLA or some kind of passive aura, carrying an air of supernatural darkness with them that can't be penetrated by mere Darkvision (which will still be useful in dungeons and other dark environments where these creatures aren't concerned).
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>>53317844
the problem isn't that they can see your monsters so they can't fear them. The problem is making your monsters so utterly alien and terrifying that they wish they couldn't see them. Blindness is a blessing, sight is a curse.
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>>53317844
Remember that the only one who can make your players fear IS your group of players.

If they decided that they aren't going to be scared, you might call for willpower checks and tell them their characters are frightened and such, but they won't be, really.
>>
Photophobic (or vampiric) Medusa.
>>
Stronger entities that have noctural habits.
Entities that get stronger during the night.
>>
This is scarier in black and white, and darkvision doesn't discern colour or go out to a distance of normal vision. Describe it as such.
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Savage mole people that are nocturnal and come from underground, making their Darkvision worthless.
Darkvision BTFO
>>
atmosphere, you dope.
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>>53317844
To the only player without darkvision:
>You see a shady figure up the road.
To the rest of the players:
>You look to where Nondarkvision stares, and see nothing.

Alternatively:
>You see absolute void in the shape of a figure where Nondarkvision is staring at.
>>
Between stuff like Dark Vision, Identify and Detect Magic being easily available on early levels I can't help but feel that D&D is just not meant to present mysteries to the players.
It is more meant to present mysteries to the NPCs of the game world that the players then solve to be heroes
>>
>override the specific abilities just cause you want to!
This thread is pure cancer.
>>
>>53317844
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/fey/lurker-in-light/
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/hellcat
Have them fight the reverse of something like that. An enemy that's completely invisible when out of bright light.
>>
Dank debuffs
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>>53317844
Don't play D&D
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>>53317844
Why does any race besides Drow and Dwarves have Darkvision?

Don't play DandD
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Make it a foggy/rainy night.
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>>53319087
This
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>>53317844
Make it a FOGGY night.
>>
DESU your players with darkvision are clearly already the sort of creatures that rule the night. While >>53318498 is a good option, the other approach I could suggest is to be in a situation where they are heavily reliant on huge numbers of regular joes who can't see in the night, like say they are functioning as scouts for an army.

The night is still a bad place because their backup, the safety blanket of having hundreds of dudes who can dogpile anything spooky, is essentially non-functional, and in fact they've made themselves high priority targets for anyone or anything that attacks at night.
>>
>>53317844
Idiot. If only 3/4 has darkvision, then they still need light. Light can be seen at much farther distances then darkvision. Describe the shit reacting to the light, beyond the range of the darkvision.

Shit is even scarier when it is just beyond your range of sight.

Also, give it some ranged attacks, or the ability to close in a single round and rip things apart. Like a tiger.

Or use devils. They have darkness that blocks even darkvision.

Tons of ways man, just start using your fucking brain.
>>
>>53317844
They don't have nightsmell
>>
>>53317844

Have them constantly see things, like eyes and movement in the distance.

>Never make it actually be anything.
>As soon as they stop being scared jump them with an ambush, then have them dissipate after the 1st round of combat
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>>53317844
Total darkness? Players have to rely entirely on their other senses between two "oasis" of light sources.

Or more originally, overwhelming light. The place is so bright you can't see shit, especially if you're used to darkness. Here, it's shadows that are precious and welcomed.
Replace creatures of the night by "lovecraftian" (you get what I mean) angelic creatures.
Will the players be able to escape their inhumane gaze and leave this desolate desert where mortals are not to live?
>>
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>>53317844
Elder evil from Far Realm, Father Llymic, makes darkness impenetrable by darkvision, like Darkness spell.
>>
>>53317844
>don't play dnd
How is this a solution to the problem? Going by this you shouldn't also play shadowrun cause trolls and dwarves can see heat sources, or Rogue Trader/ Dark Heresy cause photovisors are easily available. Oh, and don't play VTM, and of course ban also even GURPS book that gives access to anything similiar to darkvision.
>>53317942
>>53318163
>>53319432
Well memed, everyone. Way to miss the point.
>>
>>53317958
>>53318909>>53317955
Goodu
>>53321731
Dickish but can work
>>
>>53321749
>How is this a solution to the problem?
OP wants his players whose characters can see in the dark to be scared of the dark, but he's using a system that's built around heroic combat which makes the players confident and unafraid of monsters lurking in the dark.
>>
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Instead of the darkness just coming due to lack of sun, have it so instead of a moon, there's a negative sun of sorts.

Instead of radiating light, it radiates darkness. Magical darkness. Darkvision can still work fine in caves and dungeons and whatnot, but you do NOT want to be caught out after the dark sun rises and all the magical dark critters creeping out.
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>>53317844
Darkvision can't pierce magical darkness. Nothing is scarier than suddenly finding darkness so deep even them can't see within.
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>>53321806
The same can be said for half the games, again. OP asked for ways to do it in dnd (which are many, after all darkvision is 60 feet at best), not for a good horror system. As such the old "don't play dnd" meme is not the answer.
>>53317844
Sound clues without anything to be seen work wondefully, especially in tight corridors or cramped forests.
>>
You put spooky shit in trees and bushes. Or you make the trees and bushes the spooky shit.
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>>53318262
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyPdjvRQbY8
Darkness closes in, haunting the hearts of men.
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>>53321749
>ban also even GURPS book that gives access to anything similiar to darkvision
Because something is the book does not mean you can use it freely in the game. Just saying "nobody buys Night Vision, or Dark Vision" solves the problem.
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>>53321864
>Darkvision can't pierce magical darkness

"Wow what a killer DM, playing Mother May I with our abilities. Fuck this guy, let's let Bob DM."
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>>53319813
>>53319825
Yeah, I had the same problem. I used fog to good effect.
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>>53317844
just make them fear the day.

A sun the cooks where it touches. If God sees you from heavens he will send angels to rape your ass.

The probelm is not that the enemies have troubles hiding in daylight, the problem is that YOU can't hide from them.
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>>53317844

Oh, I removed darkvision from every playable race. Darkvision is stupid. I gave dwarves and elves lowlight vision but that only gives 30 more feet of vision if you have some other source of light.

But as far as making them fear the night, well, that's a setting problem. There are lots of options.

But the real issue is that modern players seem to think they can kill anything they encounter and therefore they're not really afraid of any encounter. They think of traps as a simple hp tax for poor perception rolls. Before you can make them fear the night, you need to cure them of this first.

It's about getting them to take the world seriously.

If you want the players to take something seriously, you need to be thorough. Think about a setting where it is common knowledge that if you aren't with at least ten other people at nighttime, not only would you usually disappear never to be seen again, but sometimes worse: your body would often be found wandering around, mangled and soulless, attacking the living. Or even worse than that, sometimes these missing persons would show up, looking and acting somewhat normal, and try to lead others astray.

And then you tie this into every aspect of the setting, because this is a pretty huge deal. Because of this everyone lives in large communal halls, merchants travel in large convoys, and groups under 10 people are treated with maximum suspicion and not let into settlements unless they're very persuasive.
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>>53318883
>for a minute I was thinking what you have to do with the planet atmosphere to make the night scarier.
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>>53317844
Darkvision has limited range usually. 60 feet isn't that far when the darkness is everywhere and there's obscuring terrain to begin with.
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>magical darkness

I play a dwarf with darvision and laste session an enemy cast magical darkness on us. None of us went "man I have darkvision and you thrw magical darkness, so cheap."

Darkvision is relatively low tier stuff. If players had Blindsight and you threw stuff that routinely blocked it I would get annoyed.
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>>53324012
>They think of traps as a simple hp tax for poor perception rolls. Before you can make them fear the night, you need to cure them of this first.

You mean gunpowder tripmines causing serious harm to one player, and cutting the group in two due to the dungeon partially caving in?
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My first time dnd game 3.5 Ravenloft with noe power players in our midst the NIGHT had us shit bricks.

We never ventured into the night unless heavily pressed.

Mostly cause overpowered vampires went around at night-
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>>53317844
Darkvision is limited to 60 feet or 120 feet for drow. Make them paranoid about what they can't see.
>Perception check
>You hear the sound of movement just beyond your view
>You hear a twig snap behind you
>You notice it is completely quiet, you can't even hear crickets
>>
Send Thulsa Doom after the infidel defilers.

Alternately, other good suggestions people made with fog, camouflage, stealth abilities. Perhaps nocturnal creatures with very specific vulnerabilities, massive hordes that never cease but only come out at night, or something that can't be stopped by simple combat.
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>>53324236
You've got the right idea. Traps should fundamentally change something, not just increment a number one way or another
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>>53321749
>53317955

Well, yes, exactly.

You should know bazillions of other RPGs where you can't see in the dark. Right? You do know more than literally 5 games, right?
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>>53326004
that nobody plays
Thread posts: 59
Thread images: 9


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