Suspenseful Disinformation (TCG)

__TOC__
Acting can also be used to create suspense. There is nothing more frightening to a player than a DM's secret chuckle. This knowing laugh implies that the DM knows what is going to happen next and that it won't be pleasant. The chuckle's effect is enhanced when the DM combines it with rolling several dice and flipping through manuals or notes. It's amazing how quickly inattentive players are suddenly searching the room or guarding the door to prepare for whatever nasty creation the DM has summoned. Of course, he may not have summoned anything, but the players don't need to know that.
When the players ask what they see during a situation, simply answer, "The hallway seems to be empty at this time."
Always leave a shred of doubt. The players never really know if the hallway is actually empty or if they simply cannot see what is coming. Maybe they should have searched more or even not searched at all. Doubt and uncertainty are the building blocks of suspense. Use them to create an adventure in which anything is possible.
==Misperceptions==
Try to phrase responses to player questions about what they see, hear, taste, smell, or feel in terms of what their characters could actually perceive. Omit information or details that the DM feels a character would not detect through his senses or have the presence of mind to be aware of. Adapt information to fit the characters' (or players) preconceived notions about their world, including any rationalizations about why things might happen or exist.
Consistently use suspense-creating words or phrases when giving answers to your players questions. These include: it appears, it seems, presumably, apparently, possibly, supposedly, most likely, in al1likelih~ or (my personal favorite) as far as you can tell.
These phrases emphasize that the character cannot know if anything is in the room, only that they don't see anything. After all, it would be impossible for a character to know anything with absolute certainty.
Vague phrases will drive the players crazy if used properly. For example, when characters are walking down a deserted hallway. tell them that they "perceive nothing out of the ordinary." This does not mean that there actually is nothing out of the ordinary, only that they see nothing unusual. If a DM gives answers like, "nothing is in the hallway," or "the room is empty," he is giving too much infomation. The player should not know if the room is really empty. They only know that, with their five senses and any magical aids they are using at the time, the room "appears empty."
Players eventually learn to "read" their DM (especially true for players married to their DM). They will learn to pick up clues about dangerous places or situations without the DM consciously giving any. If a DM states that a room is "empty" one time and that they "see nothing" another, sharp players will know that something hidden is there. Keep the level of doubt constant.
Another good tactic for fooling your players in this situation is to say outright "the room is empty". With a sigh of relief and an inner feeling of great self-confidence, they walk in and are ambushed by a handful of invisible monsters. If you think that you are being read by your players, simply take note of your own keys and then use them to your own advantage. In the end, the players may well decide that you aren't so easy to read after all.
==Loose Lips Sink Ships==
The old "dice rolling and evil chuckle" trick is particularly useful if the game has slowed down due to idle chatter among the play ers. Of course, excessive talking is likely to bring wandering monsters to the area to investigate, so make some of the rolls bring actual monsters. This will keep the players on their toes in the future, especially if the DM wiped out half the party the last time they were not paying attention.
==Messy Maps==
Exact room dimensions are another type of infonnation that DMs should not give out freely. How many characters adventure with a yard stick in hand? Take a good look at the players maps. If they are as precise as the DMs, then he must presume that the players are either professional surveyors or, more likely, that he is giving out way to much dimensional information. The best that a character would know under most adventure game conditions (i.e., bad lighting, imprecise measuring tools, and the constant threat of swift, violent death) is that they are in a "small" "medium" or "large" room. The DM may wish to relate an area's dimensions to something with which the characters (not the players) would be familiar, such as a hut, a temple, a tavern common room, and so on.
If someone wishes to take the trouble to pace out the room for more accurate measurements, then he must state that he is doing so and taking the time to do it. Unless the character has brought a measuring stick, a knotted cord or similar device, divide the room dimensions by 2V2 feet for paces. Remember that dwarves, halflings and other small folk will have shorter strides, but probably make notations in the same scale as a human would (imagine a mighty warrior trying to pace off a treasure map prepared by a halfling). If the DM is not careful in the dimensional information he gives out, the location of secret rooms or passages can be unintentionally given out through overly accurate measurements.
==Magical Misinformation==
While this might sound like the sort of thing you receive at a White House press conference, it is actually a wonderful tool for spicing up your games which involves the distribution and description of magical items. The rules provide a rich selection of useful magical objects. Without a detect magic spell, characters will not be able to distinguish between a sword + 1 and a normal one (or worse yet, a cursed one). In fact, even if the character knows that the item is magical, he will not be aware of its precise abilities until they are used. Yet, once the players think that they have a magical item, they begin to dig into their rule books to rapidly narrow down the possibilities of what they have found. For example, a character will know that he has a sword + 1 the first time he uses it in combat, but any other abilities, like detection of secret doors, will remain unknown unless activated.
The DM may wish to limit some abilities further (even if the rules do not specify any other constraints), so that detection of secret doors might be restricted in some way. This can be done through limiting the number of times a power will work in a given day, or forcing the owner to point the object at the secret door location before it will alert him to it, or even making it functional only during certain phases of the moon. Whatever method is used, limit it in some way so that it will not be too difficult to handle in the future.
Encourage the players to keep their noses out the Dungeon Master's Guide, especially during actual play. Be sure to inform them that magical treasures may not appear or function as described in the DMG. Even if the DM has made no changes to the appearance or function of his magical items, this always keeps the players guessing.
Magical items are made by individual wizards or priests either for their own use or for sale to clients. Remember that these people are craftsmen who have both researched the creation of the item and shaped its final form. Each item is made by hand. While a wizard/alchemist may be able to produce large batches of simple potions, no factories exist to grind out clone copies of figurines of wondrous power or medallions of ESP. Each magic item will be as unique as the man or woman (or thing) who made it.
To reflect this, many DMs will take care to make sure that no two magical objects are very similar. While the dreaded Bloodblade of Aahg might only be a +2 sword, the clever DM will go to some length describing the "pulsating runes of power" which decorate its length. Thus, this weapon is a well known object now which will instantly be recognized by others as magical in nature. Such descriptions are a good way to add to the feel of a game.
The magical items listed in the DMG, for example, should not be discarded, but may appear in different forms. A wand of polymorph may not always take the shape of a traditional wand. Perhaps it has been built to resemble a jewelled scepter. Maybe a helm of telepathy will appear as a knitted stocking cap. The old maxim, "Things are never as they appear," should remain true.
Another way to alter magical items would be to devise a random chart of possible results of using the item if the user is not fully versed in its secrets. For example, if the characters manage to find, borrow or steal the personalized wand of a high-level sorceress, any attempt to use the wand might produce random results.
For proper identification of treasure in hand, a high-level bard might be the most likely source. Unfortunately, high-level bards do not grow on trees and those few of sufficient power are probably also too important to deal directly with adventuring nobodies. Therefore, the players will usually be left to discover the properties of a magical item by trial and error or through the use of spells like identify. Sometimes, the players attempts to discover just how an item works leads to a whole new campaign.
==You Talk Too Much==
A DM can also inadvertently reveal too much information while playing the part of an NPC. Just because an NPC is a resident of the DM's fantasy world does not mean that he will necessarily have access to every secret of the land. Rare will be the townsman who knows the happenings in the next village, let alone the activities of the prince in the neighboring land. People usually reminder things that are personally important to them, and discard the rest. On the other han~ unusual events will be talked about for years, even generations, to come.
Keep in mind what the NPC could actually know, and don't be tempted to act or speak based on information the character would not have. Furthermore, most NPCs will tell the truth (if it suits their purposes) as they believe it to be. A particular bane of law enforcement officials is that each person who witnesses an event will tell a unique version of what they have seen. The events are colored by the person's general level of perception, his preconceived notions, his personal prejudices (likes and dislikes) and interests.
For example, an alchemist may have overheard two strangers discussing the hazards they suffered obtaining a particularly rare potion. Like fishermen, adventurers will often embellish the tale of their latest catch. What starts out as the ambush of a small party of goblins that yielded them the unusual find of a magic potion, may end up being told as an epic where evil wizards and deadly dragons were demolished to discover a hoard of lost formulae. In order to make a sale, the alchemist would naturally exaggerate the story even further to whet the characters' appetites and lure them into spending more in his shop.
Thus, much of the information gained from such sources should be treated as unreliable and grossly exaggerated from actual fact. The important thing is to be careful not to allow the DMs "inside information" to color the alchemist's words or actions. The DM knows the truth about the phony formulas, but the alchemist doesn't. The alchemist might exaggerate to the characters the importance of the find, or go off to search for it himself.
==Fear and Loathing==
It can be said that players (and humanity in general) are not afraid of what they know, but of what they don't know. When the DM places a familiar name on a monster, the players instantly pigeonhole the beast. Unless the monster has been specially created by the DM. the players will either immediately know all there is to know about it or will know it out to nine decimal places as soon as they grab a monster manual. The solution that usually occurs to DMs is to constantly make new monsters. Designing monsters is great fun, but also a time-consuming process.
As an alternative to developing vast hordes of new monsters, consider describing creatures (and NPCs) in ways that disguise or at least cast doubt on their true nature. Remember that the characters will usually only catch brief, often dark and shadowy glimpses of their foes. The word 'humanoid' covers a broad range of creatures, from kobolds to storm giants.
Again, rely on the perceptions of the characters. Describe what seems to be seen, what may have been heard, or a faint odor in the air. Let the players draw their own conclusions. When the players don't know what their characters are up against, they begin to feel the creeping chill of fear. Under such circumstances the players suddenly become keenly aware of what it must be like for real people to be in the situations that their characters are experiencing. The DM may find that his players have become more concerned with discovering the nature of their unknown foe than they are with learning how much treasure it is hiding.
Keep the players guessing, keep them on edge, even make them afraid-they'll love you for it.