Fu Manchu

[Dunefan]

JustinB, I'm thinking of basing my campaign on the Fu Manchu movies that came out in the 60s, with Christopher Lee (who is GREAT) as Fu Manchu. 

Fu's created a device that harnesses the glamour of the Fae to create an Earth where he is the Emperor of everything and Arcadia no longer exists.  He plans on using the Illusion creating ability to force permanent changes to the globe.  The players are going to each start as captured Fae, who have to use their wiles to escape the deadly trap that they begin in.  In the act of escaping, the players will run into each other, and will then have to stop Fu from destroying all that they know. 

If you can't tell from the description, I'd like Fu to have some horror traps set for the players to start with, kind of similar to the Saw series of movies, while the noir-ish theme of this grand crime scheme and the pulpy feel of the grandoise villain. 

Basically, I think I need help in importing some horror-ish aspects that may only last for the first few play sessions, but that I'd like to introduce at other stages of the game.  I'm not sure in what kind of context I'd introduce them, though.

[JustinB]

JustinB, I'm thinking of basing my campaign on the Fu Manchu movies that came out in the 60s, with Christopher Lee (who is GREAT) as Fu Manchu. 

Fu's created a device that harnesses the glamour of the Fae to create an Earth where he is the Emperor of everything and Arcadia no longer exists.  He plans on using the Illusion creating ability to force permanent changes to the globe.  The players are going to each start as captured Fae, who have to use their wiles to escape the deadly trap that they begin in.  In the act of escaping, the players will run into each other, and will then have to stop Fu from destroying all that they know. 

If you can't tell from the description, I'd like Fu to have some horror traps set for the players to start with, kind of similar to the Saw series of movies, while the noir-ish theme of this grand crime scheme and the pulpy feel of the grandoise villain. 

Basically, I think I need help in importing some horror-ish aspects that may only last for the first few play sessions, but that I'd like to introduce at other stages of the game.  I'm not sure in what kind of context I'd introduce them, though.

Can you be more specific about which aspects of the horror you're having problems importing? If it's the traps themselves, I think that could be worked out with straight mechanics and a good dose of atmosphere.
If you're more interested in some kind of fear mechanic, I'd probably just have the characters make Willpower checks against fear as a sort of save, with a table of penalties to character action if they fail the test.

[Dunefan]

Specifically, I'm having difficulties in coming up with traps that the players have to use some game mechanic (other than fighting) to escape.  As it stands now, the players can escape using logic, and they can do it almost without any rolling at all. 

I've got ideas for two traps so far.  The first places a player in a maze and they just have to find their way out, getting in a few battle along the way.

The second has a character being drugged and strapped into a chair.  They are stuck in an imaginary reality, and as soon as they figure it out they wake up will be able to free themselves. 

I've got another in the works where the player is placed in a cage where a series of trap doors are opened that will allow rats to enter. 

That fear mechanic is actually a great idea, and should go perfectly with this campaign.

[JustinB]

Hey, this was getting pretty far off-topic, so I gave it its own thread.

Well, those sound like some pretty effective traps.
As far as game-mechanical support for traps, there is already an Escape Artist skill and a Tinkering skill that would be appropriate for escaping/disabling traps respectively. There are also pretty complete rules for drugging characters since that's a staple of the genre.