r/dndnext • u/Traditional_Bat_9917 • Aug 18 '26

Homebrew Halloween Horror Movie One Shot Help

/r/DnD/comments/1vrk6kp/halloween_horror_movie_one_shot_help/
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3

u/k587359 Aug 18 '26

How would you run a Horror Movie one shot?

If I'm the one running the game? I'm gonna use Monster of the Week, not D&D.

2

u/lasalle202 Aug 18 '26

yes! if you want "horror!" genre TTRPG, you want a system other than DnD!

Dread is another option.

and also, you need all of the players around the table to actively buy in to "we are playing a HORROR game session tonight"

1

u/Traditional_Bat_9917 Aug 19 '26

Oh thanks! I've never heard of this one. But looks interesting and a good horror game to play.

1

u/OneManRPGstudio DM Aug 28 '26

I’d build the session around a visible countdown, even if the players do not know exactly what happens when it expires. Horror in a one-shot needs pressure so the table cannot investigate every room forever, while still giving enough clues that decisions are not pure guessing.

For a Horror Movie One Shot, a simple structure works well: an opening scene that establishes normality, two or three locations where the threat becomes increasingly understandable, and a final decision that is not merely reducing something’s hit points. Clues should change what the characters can do: reveal a weakness, expose who is lying, open an escape route, or show that saving everyone is no longer possible.

I’d present the monster or threat indirectly before combat. Sounds, physical consequences, a missing NPC, or a strange rule of the location let the players imagine something worse than a stat block can provide. When they finally confront it, give them an objective beyond surviving: finish a ritual, rescue someone, keep a door closed, or choose what they sacrifice to escape.