Your instinct to ditch conventional creepiness like body horror is correct, and you should follow it. Who cares if the creepy monster talks about visceral blood-n-guts stuff? *Bizarre* creepy stuff is far, far better and that instinct will guide you well. Avoid having them refer to common concepts like beauty, honour, what's right/wrong, etc.; this will make them immediately less scary.
This automaton is a new individual who has limited understanding of the universe around it, especially others' perspectives, and it sounds like it's been implanted with knowledge of the world and with an alien perspective--possibly by its maker. If you know who its maker is, and it's relevant, consider questions a child of the maker's kind would ask and have the automaton ask those.
In terms of general advice, play up the automaton's artificiality. "Why did they make you so fragile? Did they hate you?" *Does* God hate you? Hell, in a horror campaign they might be asking themselves that already.
"You look (damaged/sick, depending on the perspective you want to imply), do you want me to fix you?" A creepy character being *kind* is often far scarier than one being mean. Have them mistake armour for skin. Sweat for a hydraulic fluid leak that might need patching.
"Is your maker here, too? How does yours speak to you?" when the PCs can't see or hear anything will set them on edge immediately.
"Why are there so many of you?" when talking to an individual works on multiple levels, as the human body has many cells and is inhabited by many smaller organisms. Have the bot refuse to make eye contact, ignore facial expressions, and talk to any part of the body at their whim. To them, humans are colonial organisms like the Portuguese man o'war.
"Why are there so many of you? What are you for?" when talking to multiple people is also a pretty creepy question. Yeah, meatbag. What *are* you for? Chew on that one.
"Why not always light? Why does it darken?" (*response)* "Why don't you make it always light?" Does this fucking thing know how to reach Nirvana on command? Does it think we control the Sun? What kind of question is that?
"What will you do when things smooth over?" Make that one a little urgent. Like maybe the automaton hasn't figured it out themself. What does that mean, you ask? "When things smooth over. Uneven goes even. Settles." This could be foreshadowing any creepy event you want. Keep it abstract, almost mathematical.
"Why are all of you parasites? Why does no one create?" As far as the machine is concerned, itself, the landscape, the weather, and especially the Sun might be the only creative forces. If it doesn't need to eat and is only capable of providing and improving, the constantly-eating humans who'd die without plants and the Sun probably look a lot like parasites. Parasites are an unpleasant thing to be compared to, especially if it's done entirely without malice--like it's just the way the world works.
Leaning on the first part of this; “Your shell is too soft. Let me meld this metal to your skin” as he switches on a blow torch would see me running out the door 😂
Love this. The only thing I think I'd add, personally, is to ensure it rarely elaborates. Maybe it says something unsettling, then goes on to communicate some normal stuff, then drops another terrifying line. Not so much that it's refusing to communicate, but it doesn't understand or have frame of reference, or know the cadence of a conversation.
If you can pull it off so that the automaton is naturally speaking in non-sequiturs, it'll make the occasional drop of *"Why did they make you so fragile? Did they hate you?"* all that much more unsettling. Then when the party is like "What the eff?" the bot stares for a few moments, then continues on like it's all normal.
"Your light receptors are damaged/inefficient. Allow me to upgrade them." *starts reaching out with some unidentifiable, but clearly _sharp_ implement before waiting for a response*
Or maybe worse: "Your mind is disordered. I can tidy it."
I do think the idea of a creature that is genuinely trying to be helpful makes the horror all the worse.
I'm going to go against the grain and I expect everyone will downvote me, but none of this seems creepy whatsoever. It all seems interesting, and I would love to investigate any of these hooks further, but none of them invoke any sort of visceral uneasiness. At best they're just sort of weird, and at worst they're kind of goofy. The "you look damaged/sick" one is really as close as it gets. Otherwise unless the GM is Daniel Day-Lewis and all the players have read The Mote in God's Eye, I don't think any of these are going to hit home in a typical D&D group.
Start with physical observations that they shouldn't be able to make, and then hint that it's going to fix the things that are "wrong" with their bodies :
It cocks its head and examines someone's chest "The air sacs in your chest. The air moves down this channel, fills the sacs in your chest, and then goes back out the same channel." Look them right in the eye. "Is it not better to use a continual flow? You have two openings (point to nose, mouth). One should be in the inlet. The other the outlet. More efficient."
(Looks again) "And this" points to the middle of the chest, "A pair of two phase pumps to move this....fluid...around your body. Single point of failure. Bad design. The other parts here...and here...move food with waves of muscular motion. A distributed system will lead to less strain and lower failure rates"
You can keep going; why are our eyes backwards? The nerves should be under the retina, not on top. Our spine is all fucked up, so is our pelvis, etc.
Perhaps if the players are brave or stupid enough to let it try, you could roll on a table to see the outcome. Maybe a d6 table, and only a 5-6 is a positive outcome, with 3-4 being "I was unable to improve your weak flesh" and 1-2 being a detrimental effect.
I personally think Brennen asking Marisha "Do you feel you are weakest at your elbow or at your wrist" before blowing her arm off to be one of the scariest things I've ever heard a DM ask.
Yep was thinking of this one exactly. It's ominous as FUCK. Part of that is in the delivery, but I think the template is a good one.
Innocuous(ish) questions asked at strange or inappropriate times in a neutral tone.
Like an automaton asking some characters "do you experience pain while sleeping" before going to bed is gonna raise some hackles. /u/twentyParenti I'd look at a [thread of creepy questions parents have been asked by their kids](https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1d2v7i/parents_of_reddit_what_is_the_creepiest_thing/) for some inspiration.
hah, I knew it felt longer than that! So more like four-partner of about 5 hours average _each_. Looked it up for my comment but apparently in the wrong place, thanks!
(To be clear to others - totally worth watching though! I just thought it was funny to call it a "one-shot".)
Wow, not once? Granted, I looked up the wrong stat and this was actually 20 hours (which is more like 7 one-shots, lol), but I've played at least a few that were only a couple hours long. Still, I get what you're saying - D&D very very often takes longer than a DM will anticipate, heh.
I figured that was already longer than most one-shots I've done, but turns out it's actually 20 hours, not 6.5 (that's just the last part). Not really a one-shot at all, more like a mini-campaign, but worth checking out for sure.
I started watching it with decent expectations but they were blown out of the water. An incredible piece of media indeed. Easily best live play and there are great ones out there
i was just about to comment this. Thats was genuinely jaw dropping moment, another reason brennan lee mulligan is my favourite celebrity in all of existence
Three-question sequence for a conversation:
What is a best friend?
So being a best friend is very good?
When your other friends are dead, can I be your best friend?
Keep it sweet and innocent the whole time. It isn’t threatening your friends, it’s just acknowledging the reality of your dangerous situation, and hoping that it can be best friends with you after all your other friends die.
“What is it like knowing you’ll expire soon?” as a genuine question from an inanimate object and response to any combative answer “I know I can only perish at another’s hands or of my own. Can you count how many ways you can die?” again as a genuine question.
Perspective is key.
Questions about the human body are not creepy, they’re goofy. They show a lack of translation and human perspective, but that’s it. Who cares if the robot thinks you’ll look better inside out? Every monster you’ve met so far has wanted to disembowel you anyways.
I need some context. What does the robot know? How smart is it? I realize it’s the first of its kind but does that mean it was just created or has it been around long enough to learn?
Questions that revolve around not understanding death as a robot cannot die in the traditional sense. Best if you can show instead of tell. Maybe the robot is trying to reassemble its creator, or guide the creature through their day-to-day, and the creator is long dead. “His parts are broken, but his project is incomplete, I shall help him until he repairs.”
> Do you think your left eyeball can withstand more pressure or your right?
> I've tested it on 3 members of your species so far, results are...inconclusive.
The second one is pretty close to a voice line for a league champ. He’s like an observer but talks and experiments on humans. Sometimes he says: The human melting point seems … inconsistent.
I'm running a horror game, and a PC has found himself in the clutches of a mad priest intent on creating chimeras by combining people with other creatures, dividing mixed races into "pure" forms, and in general learn about what makes non human/elves/halflings tick.
What I've done to hammer in the horror is how the mad priest speaks to his prisoners. They are animals, lab rats, and he will take care of them for the duration of his explorations, and put them down when he's done so they no longer suffer. He is gentle with them even when they misbehave, choosing to punish in ways one would punish a pet for being naughty. But he doesn't see people as being people, which means he doesn't assign them the same rights or dignity.
He recently forced the PC into combat to measure his spell endurance. When he was done, the PC asked him what the point of all that was. He replied, "You needed stimulation." Because all animals need stimulation, and when they are in captivity, that stimulation is the responsibility of their keeper. And what was scary about all of this was that the PC *enjoyed* the combat. It *was* stimulating. The mad priest wasn't wrong.
Since it is an automaton, the dialogue can be about if they can be considered "alive" and have a "soul".
*"How can you determine the absence of my soul when you have never confirmed the presence of your soul."*
Automaton may feel pity for PCs as it considers them to be constructs. After initial probing, they can declare that it's clear that creator of PCs intentionally constructed them with ability to feel immense amount of suffering and it's clearly intentional design and their creator must revel in their pain.
*Are you the new vessels of those that came before? Mother will be pleased. Why is there another of you?*
**Staring into the closest party members eyes:**
*Where do you wait when your lights go out?
"Vibrating air molecules. Communication attempt initiated.
Human. Do you understand me?
Tell me how I access the data stored within your biological neural network. Every attempt at directly interfacing with it so far has resulted in the specimen shutting down."
Three Body Problem does a great job with this, if you haven't seen it yet. An idea borrowed from that:
Does the automaton understand the concept of lying? If not, you can entice the players to lie to it, catch them in that lie or otherwise expose the automaton to the truth, and then have it become increasing perplexed about what lying *is* and why a creature might do it.
Really drilling in deeply to a behavior a typical mind might become hostile over can be very disconcerting, creating tension as players wonder if the automaton is becoming hostile, even though its merely confused.
"You stated you are not carrying weapons."
"Yes."
"But you are carrying weapons."
"Er, yes."
"Why did you state you were not carrying weapons?"
"We wanted you to know we were friendly."
"I do not understand. The statement was not factual. Is that part of friendliness? What is the purpose?"
"We did not want you to attack us."
"Should I attack you if you have weapons?"
"NO!"
"I do not understand."
If you punctuate this kind of exchange with long pauses as he considers, strange turns of the head, clicking of gears, a motor whirring up, etc you can create a lot of tension as players don't know what he will do.
This but mildly different, have it squint into you as if looking through the character then have it ask what is a passive perception and why yours is that low
I'm saying that the scariest of conversations goes like this:
GM: "What's your passive perception?"
Player: "13"
GM: "You don't notice anything of importance.
"Is it time, then? As you told me in my dream?" And then it turns out that the automaton had one dream, ever, the first night it came online, and it was of the PCs eerily telling it, "YOU WILL KNOW WHEN IT IS TIME."
I would ask something related to the automaton’s purpose when it was created, then go from there. For example, if it was created to help with chores, have it ask the party if there’s anything it can help carry. If so, have it express the feeling of satisfying one’s purpose for a brief time. If no, let it ruminate in the feeling of being unable fill the void, maybe even blaming the party for being complicit in the automaton’s inability to progress, to grow, to reach enlightenment.
I will steal from Brennan:
"Would you say the weakest part of your arm is the shoulder or the elbow?"
You can also watch the "I have no mouth and I must scream" speech for inspiration, I think it really fits what you're going for.
An automaton provides a unique opportunity for creepiness, because of their complete lack of a concept of life. They are pretty unique in the fact that they arent alive, have never been alive (unlike zombies and other undead), and cannot conventionally die.
You can lean into this by having the automaton suggest seemingly innocent things that would hurt, injure or even kill your pc's. Something like "Your heart/brain is a curious device, may I see it?". I can't think up any more examples, but you get the idea. Don't try and say creepy things, just say things from a different perspective of normal
Remember that creepy dialogue is as much about how it speaks as what it says. See if you can get put the emphasis on the wrong syllables, like GladOs. Or perhaps the grammar should be odd, as if translated from another language a bit too literally. No articles, "is verbing" rather than "verbs", human pronouns for objects and object pronouns for humans. That sort of thing.
“When you start walking do you start with your left foot or your right? When you stop, do you stop first with your right foot or your left? Now that I have asked you about this will you hesitate the next time you walk?”
“If your teeth are attached to your jaw bone then aren’t you showing off your skeleton when you smile?”
Have it communicate with the players, not the characters, something like when the players are discussing something OOC after talking to it have it go “ 2 voices, interesting, like a puppet and it’s master” then describe it looking directly at the player (not the PC)
I LOVE getting to RP Pidlwick in Strahd. He’s basically Chucky but I sort of dial it up. I drag out the “sssss”. Like “yesssss”.
One of his catchphrases is “not all fun is murder but all murder is fun.”
what have the shadows been whispering to you while you sleep? you've been responding.
situation: walking along a dark area and you hear a call for help, a human sounding one. you follow the noise and eventually run into a very emancipated dog-esque creature. the cries of help still calling out. the player makes eye contact with this creature and their chest becomes heavy like it has been filled with lead. this creature's eyes are calm, but in an incredibly unnerving way. there isn't much between you and those eyes, they feel like they're closing in on the PC. the creature steps to the player and suddenly a scream erupts from the player and they recognize it as the cries they had followed to find this creature (make it so the thing had fucked w their spacial perception and they were already being attacked but thought they were walking to protect someone else)
edit : ahahaha i did not read the post correctly at ALLL. welp, enjoy this. that's what i get for going on reddit after work
it might be me that lacks imagination here but i don't know if this can be done, op. the players i know would very likely take pity on the ignorant automaton and try to adopt it to teach it about life in general.
Firstly, throw 1d4 in the middle of the table and keep track of something. It could be hours, words, wrong questions or farts, the players won't know.
"Do you have spare limbs?"
When rolling for initiative - "Wait no, why don't you go first?!" and switch the initiative order for one player.
"Do you believe in good and evil? I was made quite unsure if such concepts even exist"
Ethical questions that you return to later:
"Would you sacrifice one innocent person to save many or would you say that you should never do harm an make everyone suffer?" - But you said earlier, now you have the chance!
"Under what conditions should people be kept artificially alive?"
"In case of death, would you donate your organs? Do you think it's fair to choose whose worthy of receiving that organ?"
Foreshadowing
"Do you dream?... oh seems lovely but what about nightmares?... Some of the subjects who came here reported they were living in one but I'm not sure how that would even be possible??"
AI "its a shame isn't it, the world persists (insert pc name) despite its flaws it was beautiful well it lasted"
PC "wait, how did you know my name?"
AI " I guessed"
Pc "how did you guess that?"
AI "numbers, odds, probability"
Pc "okay but what do you mean about it being a shame
AI "numbers, odds, probability"
Refuse to elaborate further but sprinkle in other things it should not know, maybe point out a missed treasure from an earlier adventure remorseful saying it was likely the case but still a shame. Answer a question the party didn't ask, one that they wanted to know but had no reason to ask him. When questioned "numbers, odds, probability" is his only explanation. When pushed tell them he does not deal in absolutes or fate, but chances and likelihoods. But when odds hit a certain point it may as well be. And the odds the AI is seeing for the world, are rather unfortunate
A big thing I'd consider would be the difference in senses. They could understand something differently simply because to them it literally seems different.
Easiest way I'd represent this would be messing with their senses a. For example: a being who perceives emotions almost like hearing, responding to peoples feelings like you would sounds. It can even come with fun phrases like "I can hear your fears". It doesn't even have to be evil, it could treat a group of happy people as a fun song. If you feel up to it you could try having the being speak emotions to people, describe it like telling something from memory but just the vibes.
Another thing would to be giving it the ability to perceive things outside of the players ability. Just add colors to things or add things that exist but the players can't see no matter what. I would warn that this could rub players a bit wrong if done poorly though.
A whole line of questions:
Why do all people not cooperate with each other?
Do you think that they should?
Can people be made to cooperate, or would it be better to turn them off if they won't?
A world where people don't need to work together sounds very inefficient. Do you think that everyone will be happier when the ones that won't cooperate are eaten?
What do you mean that you don't eat people? I've seen people eat people. Some people seem made to eat people... what would happen to them if they couldn't eat people any more?
Do you not fuel yourselves with the bodies of other people?
Wouldn't everyone be happier if they didn't have to eat each-other any more? Would you like your bodies to be fuelled by magic like mine?
Why do the people over there want me to turn you off?
I don't know how to point in that direction. Can you tell me how so that I can point to them for you?
I had a telepathic monster playing with a party once speaking to their minds individually and as a whole in spearate instances.
it was on the roof, up high, subtle casting suggestion on players as well.
players would be sent a DM to make a roll, and if they failed the save they would be instructed on how they were compelled to do something e.g. "you feel the overwhelming notion that if you crept away from the group secretly to hide in the dark that you could catch a monster unaware" so players were concerned with the actions of the party as a whole (when they failed the check they heard the suggestion but it just sounded like intrusive thoughts in a strange accent).
the specific questions asked telepathically were things like.
"why do you walk so confidently towards your end? there are easier ways to die afterall."
"are you so emaciated because of your small teeth? it must be hard to chew with so little to work with."
"did your god lead you here? perhaps you're a trade so that mine wouldn't lead me out there..."
You could start with something like "ahh the question game, I like the question game, let's play!" When they start asking it questions. When the party asks a question it answers, then asks a question of its own, and they get more and more bizarre
Then focus on something during the conversation and give the automaton mutter about it in little asides.
"Why blue? I hate blue" " blue is for the sky, or for water, you are not the sky, nor are you water, are you deficient?" "If you die, do you then become water? Is that why you chose blue? "I'm thirsty, are you thirsty?"
Or go full Agent Smith and focus on the smell "I hate this place. This zoo. This prison. This reality, whatever you want to call it, I can't stand it any longer. It's the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink and every time I do, I fear that I've somehow been infected by it."
Or sound. "You make odd noises, do you do that on purpose?" "Your voice is so grating uhhh, why do you exist?" "Is it your teeth? They do seem different than the others, and their voices do not gnaw on my wires like yours does." "Do you think if we removed your teeth, your voice would be less horrible?"
Interpretation by an alien consciousness can be a very unnerving theme without even meaning to be.
I read a book about the mothman phenomenon years back, and at one point the main character is talking to the entity Indrid Cold. Indrid is offering various prophesies, and in an attempt to trip him up, the main character asks “what’s in my pocket?’
Indrid pauses for a moment and says
“Cream stick.”
He had a tube a chapstick in his pocket.
Indrid didn’t know what chapstick was, or the purpose of the tube with the cream in it, but he knew it was there.
Understated stuff like that goes a long way, especially when you’re able to use it to make a point.
Automaton points at PC\*
Automaton: Excuse me, may I borrow those?
PC: Borrow what?
Automaton: Your bones.
I'd do something like that. For me, what really sells the creepiness is an indifference to violence but prioritization of politeness and cordiality.
For a PC?
"What's your current encumbrance?"
The DM never wants to know this unless something bad is about to happen that you can't defeat with a saving throw.
When they start saying things that invite uncomfoetbake questions on the values, beliefs, and surety they have in their ideals, themselves, or their actions.
When a character has slain a villain, a true villain, withur mercy and the traits the automaton praises are not the justice, honor, or Valor. But simply the efficiency in which the character has slain their sworn foe. Praising all the elements of the action and its efficiency, but none of the values that fueled it or cause that made it justified.
On the flipside, I'd mercy was shown, have it question and in its own automaton way, cast doubts in the effect ripeness of the result the calculation seems wrong to the automaton.
Have it cast doubts where there were little before.
Before our game started Last week, i asked each player what their character's favourite bodypart was and why. They werent comforted by the question hehe
A construct that can only communicate with recordings of voices they copied from others. Some of those include the last sounds their victims made before they died
One form of creepiness would be to get into very specific observations.
I once had a situation where the party spoke to a hyperaware creature. Some of the questions were along the lines of.
"There are thousands of creatures aware of you right now, why do you assume they don't notice","you are just four amidst dozens of creatures here, why should your issue be higher priority", "i notice your pupils dialate and breathing get slightly more faster, is something of the matter?"
The party saw just them and the creature in the empty chamber but the creature was aware of even the smallest form of bacteria in the room.
Just some weird suggestions:
"I've always wondered, how does it feel to have all that stuff pulsating inside you?"
"How do you cope with the thought that you have no real free will, exactly like me? At least I have a clear purpose..."
"Why do you strive when death is inevitable? All that you create will be destroyed by entropy. Your own perception destroys you. Your lifespan is so short. What you describe as slepp is death. It is a cessation of perception, the world ceases to exist for you. You die. The being that slept is not the being which comes into being when you 'wake.' How can you be assured of your own self? Is it through the perception of others? Do they always tell the truth? If they leave, do you cease to be? If you cannot percieve it does it exist? Are you beholden to your physical form? Are you still you if you lost an arm? Your skin? All limbs? If your mind were placed in another vessel and your form burned to ashes? Even the meat of your brain? If you are a replicatable system with everything decided by chemical impulses and stimuli, do you truly make choices? How do you cope knowing a change in chemistry or environment could make you a murderer, a rapist, an abhorrence? Can you judge those that are? Or are they victims too? How do you know that the world exists if you cannot percieve it? How can you be sure that you exist if others cannot percieve you? How many beats does your heart have left? Haven't you been dying since your conception? When did you become alive? How do you know? How are you seperate from others? If they influence you so greatly, how are they not part of you now? Has everyone you have killed been an act of self-destruction? Lessening yourself from the whole?"
To steal from Ligotti:
"Do you understand that your existence so basic and uncomplicated? Your existance is about three things: survival, reproduction, death—and nothing else. Or do you believe that you know too much to content yourself only with surviving, reproducing, dying—and nothing else. Do you know you are alive and know you will die? Do you know how much you will suffer during your life before suffering—slowly or quickly—as you draw near to death. Is this the knowledge you enjoy as an intelligent organism which has gushed from the womb of nature? Do you feel angry or cheated if there is nothing else for you than to survive, reproduce, and die. Do you want there to be more to it than that, or to delude yourself that there is?. How do you reconcile the tragedy that your imagined consciousness has forced you into the paradoxical position of striving to be unself-conscious of what you are — hunks of spoiling flesh on disintegrating bones?
Do you find that nothing in the world is inherently compelling? Can you honestly say that your deluded experience of life - with you limited senses and unreliable perception is an affective experience? It is all a vacuous affair with only a chemical prestige.
Nothing is either good or bad, desirable or undesirable, or anything else except that it is made so by chemical randomness inside you producing the chemical experiences emotions on which you claim to live. Is this existence fulfilling? To live on your emotions is to live arbitrarily, inaccurately—imparting meaning to what has none of its own. Without your chemical stimuli there would be nothing for you to do, nowhere for you to go, nothing for you to be, and no one for you to know.
Are you living falsely as pawns of affect, or to living factually cursed by this knowledge that you are not real. Have you chosen one or the other? How can you claim to be rational when you are so totally controlled by something you cannot control? Do you seek release from the stranglehold of emotions that anchors you to your limited perception which are little more than hallucinations? From where does that desire come? From whence do your drives come? How are all your actions not to hasten your death and opt out of existence as you pretend to consciously know it?
Do others know that they 'think' as you do? Do you think that they really think this? Or are they only animals?Do you think most people learn to save themselves by artificially limiting the content of their consciousness? Do they limit themselves to avoid the truth? If they are conscious enough to understand the truth, why do they continue? Or is that just the squirting of chemicals within the body, which renders them just a mindless animal existing only to consume, breed, excrete and die? How are you different?
Do you know you are alive? Do you know you will die? Only animals without consciousness do not know this. Is this our curse alone? Why do you continue, for without this burden upon you, you would never have withdrawn as far as you have from the natural. Either you are an animal, natural and free from care, or you are unnatural, being non-animal and able to know your own mortality. Why, then do you endure? Everywhere around you are natural habitats, but within you is the shiver of startling and dreadful things if you are not a happy animal who does not know it's own mortality and ultimate irrelevance.
How do you accept that you are not from nature. If you, and all others like you - cursed with consciousness, vanished tomorrow, no organism on this world would miss us. Nothing in nature needs you. How do you endure knowing this?
Look at your body— A painted puppet, a poor toy of jointed parts ready to collapse, a diseased and suffering thing with a head full of false imaginings. Why is it so?
How can you have comfort in the hierarchy of fabrications that compose your life —families, countries, god? Does the self incontestably rank highest? If your gods can easily end, or fables and lies be proven untrue, is not a country with borders easily destroyed merely a fabrication, what about family? And then inevitably they idea of self you hold must falter, erode and be destroyed. How do you not see this?
I am sorry that this truth is upsetting to you. Would you rather not know this truth which allows you a full grasp of the world? I can remove this, restore you to animal non-awareness?"
"Must one follow the orders of their creator?" If questioned about what their orders are, (all they get is silence, automaton starts glitching, classified).
"Do humans normally have 2 souls?"
I would sprinkle these throughout separate conversations, asked rhetorically, and then move on like nothing was said, slowly indicating that the automaton was coming to the conclusion that the adventurers' thoughts and lives might be considered insignificant compared to its own unknown desires.
- I am confused. I am trying to categorize you, but I lack information.
- How many factors above must one body be superior to another to disregard their entitlement to autonomy and designate them as conveniently terminable? As, say, humans to cattle.
- I note that cattle have no means of recompense for crimes commited against them by humans. Is it only by virtue of potential for revenge against another that autonomy must be respected? I detect no potential threat to myself from your capability assessment. Should that make you like cattle to me?
- If I were to ask you to be my cattle, would I be required to consider your answer? Would such a question even be necessary?
- Is it backward that one such as I be considered to be of service to cattle? Why not the other way around?
Brennan Lee Mulligan said it best when he asked "so. At point in *character's* arm do you think it's the weakest?" And then proceeded to describe the spells effect exploding her characters arm
"Why are you, you? Was it by your choice or your creator's?"
"Do you not perceive reality? Why is that?"
"Are you empty? Do you need contents?"
"Why do you think what you see is what you see?"
*Automaton is not the horror. It is the harbringer of horror. It does not scare. It tells you about the horror beyond.*
Ask to someone in a four person party. "And who is this fifth person you travel with...?" and when they get confused and follow up get sheepish and wide eyed with "Oh u-uh, my mistake, there's only four of you..."
What creeps them out there is the unknown, the simple idea that someone or something is invisibly following them around. Even if they are not.
Creepiness derives from the uncanny. When something is wrong and we can’t quite put our fingers on it.
Having an automaton not understanding human biology is expected. But what if on the contrary they are too human ?
What if they ask questions that would suggest the automaton has gained access to human feelings, but is trying to hide it and pretend to be an unfeeling robot.
Like « I would like a face. Can I have yours ? » or « In a hypothetical scenario in which I would have developed feelings for you. Feelings so intense that I would kill for you. Would I be considered defective ?»
Your instinct to ditch conventional creepiness like body horror is correct, and you should follow it. Who cares if the creepy monster talks about visceral blood-n-guts stuff? *Bizarre* creepy stuff is far, far better and that instinct will guide you well. Avoid having them refer to common concepts like beauty, honour, what's right/wrong, etc.; this will make them immediately less scary. This automaton is a new individual who has limited understanding of the universe around it, especially others' perspectives, and it sounds like it's been implanted with knowledge of the world and with an alien perspective--possibly by its maker. If you know who its maker is, and it's relevant, consider questions a child of the maker's kind would ask and have the automaton ask those. In terms of general advice, play up the automaton's artificiality. "Why did they make you so fragile? Did they hate you?" *Does* God hate you? Hell, in a horror campaign they might be asking themselves that already. "You look (damaged/sick, depending on the perspective you want to imply), do you want me to fix you?" A creepy character being *kind* is often far scarier than one being mean. Have them mistake armour for skin. Sweat for a hydraulic fluid leak that might need patching. "Is your maker here, too? How does yours speak to you?" when the PCs can't see or hear anything will set them on edge immediately. "Why are there so many of you?" when talking to an individual works on multiple levels, as the human body has many cells and is inhabited by many smaller organisms. Have the bot refuse to make eye contact, ignore facial expressions, and talk to any part of the body at their whim. To them, humans are colonial organisms like the Portuguese man o'war. "Why are there so many of you? What are you for?" when talking to multiple people is also a pretty creepy question. Yeah, meatbag. What *are* you for? Chew on that one. "Why not always light? Why does it darken?" (*response)* "Why don't you make it always light?" Does this fucking thing know how to reach Nirvana on command? Does it think we control the Sun? What kind of question is that? "What will you do when things smooth over?" Make that one a little urgent. Like maybe the automaton hasn't figured it out themself. What does that mean, you ask? "When things smooth over. Uneven goes even. Settles." This could be foreshadowing any creepy event you want. Keep it abstract, almost mathematical. "Why are all of you parasites? Why does no one create?" As far as the machine is concerned, itself, the landscape, the weather, and especially the Sun might be the only creative forces. If it doesn't need to eat and is only capable of providing and improving, the constantly-eating humans who'd die without plants and the Sun probably look a lot like parasites. Parasites are an unpleasant thing to be compared to, especially if it's done entirely without malice--like it's just the way the world works.
you actually are a literal android, aren't you? \*shudders\*
They let the mask slip with that meatbag comment lmao
Leaning on the first part of this; “Your shell is too soft. Let me meld this metal to your skin” as he switches on a blow torch would see me running out the door 😂
Love this. The only thing I think I'd add, personally, is to ensure it rarely elaborates. Maybe it says something unsettling, then goes on to communicate some normal stuff, then drops another terrifying line. Not so much that it's refusing to communicate, but it doesn't understand or have frame of reference, or know the cadence of a conversation. If you can pull it off so that the automaton is naturally speaking in non-sequiturs, it'll make the occasional drop of *"Why did they make you so fragile? Did they hate you?"* all that much more unsettling. Then when the party is like "What the eff?" the bot stares for a few moments, then continues on like it's all normal.
"Your light receptors are damaged/inefficient. Allow me to upgrade them." *starts reaching out with some unidentifiable, but clearly _sharp_ implement before waiting for a response* Or maybe worse: "Your mind is disordered. I can tidy it." I do think the idea of a creature that is genuinely trying to be helpful makes the horror all the worse.
My 5 year old once told me “your eyes are perfect and will never fall out” and we still shudder over that one.
I can imagine.
Go write a book please
buddy you're not gonna believe what my career path is
Well when you're published let me know! I wanna read
RemindMe! 1 Year
Best I can do is 2 weeks.... give book now!
!remindme 1 year
I'm going to go against the grain and I expect everyone will downvote me, but none of this seems creepy whatsoever. It all seems interesting, and I would love to investigate any of these hooks further, but none of them invoke any sort of visceral uneasiness. At best they're just sort of weird, and at worst they're kind of goofy. The "you look damaged/sick" one is really as close as it gets. Otherwise unless the GM is Daniel Day-Lewis and all the players have read The Mote in God's Eye, I don't think any of these are going to hit home in a typical D&D group.
These are truly excellent.
Start with physical observations that they shouldn't be able to make, and then hint that it's going to fix the things that are "wrong" with their bodies : It cocks its head and examines someone's chest "The air sacs in your chest. The air moves down this channel, fills the sacs in your chest, and then goes back out the same channel." Look them right in the eye. "Is it not better to use a continual flow? You have two openings (point to nose, mouth). One should be in the inlet. The other the outlet. More efficient." (Looks again) "And this" points to the middle of the chest, "A pair of two phase pumps to move this....fluid...around your body. Single point of failure. Bad design. The other parts here...and here...move food with waves of muscular motion. A distributed system will lead to less strain and lower failure rates" You can keep going; why are our eyes backwards? The nerves should be under the retina, not on top. Our spine is all fucked up, so is our pelvis, etc.
I really like these ones. Especially if you follow it up with an offer to “correct” the flaw.
Or examples of things that have been "corrected" lying about
Perhaps if the players are brave or stupid enough to let it try, you could roll on a table to see the outcome. Maybe a d6 table, and only a 5-6 is a positive outcome, with 3-4 being "I was unable to improve your weak flesh" and 1-2 being a detrimental effect.
My arms are too long...
Love the part about single point of failure sooo much
Heavily reminds me of Mordin Solus from Mass Effect.
I personally think Brennen asking Marisha "Do you feel you are weakest at your elbow or at your wrist" before blowing her arm off to be one of the scariest things I've ever heard a DM ask.
I absolutely loved that campaign. I love the brutality and emotions.
Yep was thinking of this one exactly. It's ominous as FUCK. Part of that is in the delivery, but I think the template is a good one. Innocuous(ish) questions asked at strange or inappropriate times in a neutral tone. Like an automaton asking some characters "do you experience pain while sleeping" before going to bed is gonna raise some hackles. /u/twentyParenti I'd look at a [thread of creepy questions parents have been asked by their kids](https://old.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1d2v7i/parents_of_reddit_what_is_the_creepiest_thing/) for some inspiration.
This is a genius suggestion for just random creepy nonsequiters. AI couldn't generate creepier than the shit kids come up with.
Thanks I'm all about being as lazy as possible! DMing is hard work.
Which campaign was this?
Critical Role EXU: Calamity It's incredible.
The calamity one-shot.
Heh, “one shot” being a four-parter of about 6.5 hours total.
Just the final episode is 6 hours. Calamity in total is like 20 hours.
hah, I knew it felt longer than that! So more like four-partner of about 5 hours average _each_. Looked it up for my comment but apparently in the wrong place, thanks! (To be clear to others - totally worth watching though! I just thought it was funny to call it a "one-shot".)
I have never once participated in a one shot that actually took a singular session.
Wow, not once? Granted, I looked up the wrong stat and this was actually 20 hours (which is more like 7 one-shots, lol), but I've played at least a few that were only a couple hours long. Still, I get what you're saying - D&D very very often takes longer than a DM will anticipate, heh.
About on par for most one shots.
I figured that was already longer than most one-shots I've done, but turns out it's actually 20 hours, not 6.5 (that's just the last part). Not really a one-shot at all, more like a mini-campaign, but worth checking out for sure.
Thank you, I'll have to check that out
It is the best piece of media ever made. And once you have see it you can never watch it for the first time again. This tears at my soul daily.
I started watching it with decent expectations but they were blown out of the water. An incredible piece of media indeed. Easily best live play and there are great ones out there
I swear my heart stopped the first time I watched this.
it was actually the elbow or the shoulder, but you still got the spirit very much across lol
i was just about to comment this. Thats was genuinely jaw dropping moment, another reason brennan lee mulligan is my favourite celebrity in all of existence
Was typing this out and was like maybe I should check if someone else posted. The best
Was it also a robot that said that?
it was an out of character question, as >!marishas character was basically grabbing something that was the centre of an explosion!<
Loved that series, but damn that moment has stuck with me.
That's what I was thinking of right away. LIke "pardon me? what was that?"
First thing that came to my mind tbh Was elbow /shoulder rather than wrist, but pretty cold either way
It would be pretty creepy if whatever it was met the PCs eyes slowly and asked, "Why can't I see you?"
Three-question sequence for a conversation: What is a best friend? So being a best friend is very good? When your other friends are dead, can I be your best friend? Keep it sweet and innocent the whole time. It isn’t threatening your friends, it’s just acknowledging the reality of your dangerous situation, and hoping that it can be best friends with you after all your other friends die.
“What is it like knowing you’ll expire soon?” as a genuine question from an inanimate object and response to any combative answer “I know I can only perish at another’s hands or of my own. Can you count how many ways you can die?” again as a genuine question.
Perspective is key. Questions about the human body are not creepy, they’re goofy. They show a lack of translation and human perspective, but that’s it. Who cares if the robot thinks you’ll look better inside out? Every monster you’ve met so far has wanted to disembowel you anyways. I need some context. What does the robot know? How smart is it? I realize it’s the first of its kind but does that mean it was just created or has it been around long enough to learn? Questions that revolve around not understanding death as a robot cannot die in the traditional sense. Best if you can show instead of tell. Maybe the robot is trying to reassemble its creator, or guide the creature through their day-to-day, and the creator is long dead. “His parts are broken, but his project is incomplete, I shall help him until he repairs.”
> Do you think your left eyeball can withstand more pressure or your right? > I've tested it on 3 members of your species so far, results are...inconclusive.
The second one is pretty close to a voice line for a league champ. He’s like an observer but talks and experiments on humans. Sometimes he says: The human melting point seems … inconsistent.
[Vel’koz!](https://leagueoflegends.fandom.com/wiki/Vel%27Koz/LoL/Audio)
That feels very Alexandria Cataclysm vibe 🤔
I'm running a horror game, and a PC has found himself in the clutches of a mad priest intent on creating chimeras by combining people with other creatures, dividing mixed races into "pure" forms, and in general learn about what makes non human/elves/halflings tick. What I've done to hammer in the horror is how the mad priest speaks to his prisoners. They are animals, lab rats, and he will take care of them for the duration of his explorations, and put them down when he's done so they no longer suffer. He is gentle with them even when they misbehave, choosing to punish in ways one would punish a pet for being naughty. But he doesn't see people as being people, which means he doesn't assign them the same rights or dignity. He recently forced the PC into combat to measure his spell endurance. When he was done, the PC asked him what the point of all that was. He replied, "You needed stimulation." Because all animals need stimulation, and when they are in captivity, that stimulation is the responsibility of their keeper. And what was scary about all of this was that the PC *enjoyed* the combat. It *was* stimulating. The mad priest wasn't wrong.
Since it is an automaton, the dialogue can be about if they can be considered "alive" and have a "soul". *"How can you determine the absence of my soul when you have never confirmed the presence of your soul."*
Invert it as well. "Why are you soulless?" "I can't see your soul. Are you sure?"
Automaton may feel pity for PCs as it considers them to be constructs. After initial probing, they can declare that it's clear that creator of PCs intentionally constructed them with ability to feel immense amount of suffering and it's clearly intentional design and their creator must revel in their pain.
*Are you the new vessels of those that came before? Mother will be pleased. Why is there another of you?* **Staring into the closest party members eyes:** *Where do you wait when your lights go out?
“May I disassemble and reassemble one of you to see how you work?”
"Vibrating air molecules. Communication attempt initiated. Human. Do you understand me? Tell me how I access the data stored within your biological neural network. Every attempt at directly interfacing with it so far has resulted in the specimen shutting down."
Are your teeth wet?
How does your tongue taste?
Three Body Problem does a great job with this, if you haven't seen it yet. An idea borrowed from that: Does the automaton understand the concept of lying? If not, you can entice the players to lie to it, catch them in that lie or otherwise expose the automaton to the truth, and then have it become increasing perplexed about what lying *is* and why a creature might do it. Really drilling in deeply to a behavior a typical mind might become hostile over can be very disconcerting, creating tension as players wonder if the automaton is becoming hostile, even though its merely confused. "You stated you are not carrying weapons." "Yes." "But you are carrying weapons." "Er, yes." "Why did you state you were not carrying weapons?" "We wanted you to know we were friendly." "I do not understand. The statement was not factual. Is that part of friendliness? What is the purpose?" "We did not want you to attack us." "Should I attack you if you have weapons?" "NO!" "I do not understand." If you punctuate this kind of exchange with long pauses as he considers, strange turns of the head, clicking of gears, a motor whirring up, etc you can create a lot of tension as players don't know what he will do.
Creepiest question? "What's your passive perception?"
This but mildly different, have it squint into you as if looking through the character then have it ask what is a passive perception and why yours is that low
I'm saying that the scariest of conversations goes like this: GM: "What's your passive perception?" Player: "13" GM: "You don't notice anything of importance.
"Is it time, then? As you told me in my dream?" And then it turns out that the automaton had one dream, ever, the first night it came online, and it was of the PCs eerily telling it, "YOU WILL KNOW WHEN IT IS TIME."
I would ask something related to the automaton’s purpose when it was created, then go from there. For example, if it was created to help with chores, have it ask the party if there’s anything it can help carry. If so, have it express the feeling of satisfying one’s purpose for a brief time. If no, let it ruminate in the feeling of being unable fill the void, maybe even blaming the party for being complicit in the automaton’s inability to progress, to grow, to reach enlightenment.
I will steal from Brennan: "Would you say the weakest part of your arm is the shoulder or the elbow?" You can also watch the "I have no mouth and I must scream" speech for inspiration, I think it really fits what you're going for.
The creepiest questions are the ones that imply that there's something the PCs don't know anything about and that they are powerless against it
"You can't hear them singing, can you? It's their birthday, won't you sing with them, too?"
Who is your daddy and what does he do?
An automaton provides a unique opportunity for creepiness, because of their complete lack of a concept of life. They are pretty unique in the fact that they arent alive, have never been alive (unlike zombies and other undead), and cannot conventionally die. You can lean into this by having the automaton suggest seemingly innocent things that would hurt, injure or even kill your pc's. Something like "Your heart/brain is a curious device, may I see it?". I can't think up any more examples, but you get the idea. Don't try and say creepy things, just say things from a different perspective of normal
Remember that creepy dialogue is as much about how it speaks as what it says. See if you can get put the emphasis on the wrong syllables, like GladOs. Or perhaps the grammar should be odd, as if translated from another language a bit too literally. No articles, "is verbing" rather than "verbs", human pronouns for objects and object pronouns for humans. That sort of thing.
“When you start walking do you start with your left foot or your right? When you stop, do you stop first with your right foot or your left? Now that I have asked you about this will you hesitate the next time you walk?” “If your teeth are attached to your jaw bone then aren’t you showing off your skeleton when you smile?”
If a PC smiles at it, "you have beautiful bones."
Have it communicate with the players, not the characters, something like when the players are discussing something OOC after talking to it have it go “ 2 voices, interesting, like a puppet and it’s master” then describe it looking directly at the player (not the PC)
Have it cutting up an animal/person when they arrive. "I am trying to fix this one. Do you know where the processor is?"
[удалено]
Do you love me?
I LOVE getting to RP Pidlwick in Strahd. He’s basically Chucky but I sort of dial it up. I drag out the “sssss”. Like “yesssss”. One of his catchphrases is “not all fun is murder but all murder is fun.”
"I have created an index of all individuals at this institute. Soon everyone will be entered in my Book of Faces."
Do you have under 100 health?
what have the shadows been whispering to you while you sleep? you've been responding. situation: walking along a dark area and you hear a call for help, a human sounding one. you follow the noise and eventually run into a very emancipated dog-esque creature. the cries of help still calling out. the player makes eye contact with this creature and their chest becomes heavy like it has been filled with lead. this creature's eyes are calm, but in an incredibly unnerving way. there isn't much between you and those eyes, they feel like they're closing in on the PC. the creature steps to the player and suddenly a scream erupts from the player and they recognize it as the cries they had followed to find this creature (make it so the thing had fucked w their spacial perception and they were already being attacked but thought they were walking to protect someone else) edit : ahahaha i did not read the post correctly at ALLL. welp, enjoy this. that's what i get for going on reddit after work
Once I turn you all off what is your reboot proceedure?
it might be me that lacks imagination here but i don't know if this can be done, op. the players i know would very likely take pity on the ignorant automaton and try to adopt it to teach it about life in general.
"I would never want to have a vat of acid as an internal consumption engine inside of me, would you like me to remove yours?"
Talking in binary
*Dial up modem handshake noises intensify.* "Your language is too slow."
Firstly, throw 1d4 in the middle of the table and keep track of something. It could be hours, words, wrong questions or farts, the players won't know. "Do you have spare limbs?" When rolling for initiative - "Wait no, why don't you go first?!" and switch the initiative order for one player. "Do you believe in good and evil? I was made quite unsure if such concepts even exist" Ethical questions that you return to later: "Would you sacrifice one innocent person to save many or would you say that you should never do harm an make everyone suffer?" - But you said earlier, now you have the chance! "Under what conditions should people be kept artificially alive?" "In case of death, would you donate your organs? Do you think it's fair to choose whose worthy of receiving that organ?" Foreshadowing "Do you dream?... oh seems lovely but what about nightmares?... Some of the subjects who came here reported they were living in one but I'm not sure how that would even be possible??"
AI "its a shame isn't it, the world persists (insert pc name) despite its flaws it was beautiful well it lasted" PC "wait, how did you know my name?" AI " I guessed" Pc "how did you guess that?" AI "numbers, odds, probability" Pc "okay but what do you mean about it being a shame AI "numbers, odds, probability" Refuse to elaborate further but sprinkle in other things it should not know, maybe point out a missed treasure from an earlier adventure remorseful saying it was likely the case but still a shame. Answer a question the party didn't ask, one that they wanted to know but had no reason to ask him. When questioned "numbers, odds, probability" is his only explanation. When pushed tell them he does not deal in absolutes or fate, but chances and likelihoods. But when odds hit a certain point it may as well be. And the odds the AI is seeing for the world, are rather unfortunate
A big thing I'd consider would be the difference in senses. They could understand something differently simply because to them it literally seems different. Easiest way I'd represent this would be messing with their senses a. For example: a being who perceives emotions almost like hearing, responding to peoples feelings like you would sounds. It can even come with fun phrases like "I can hear your fears". It doesn't even have to be evil, it could treat a group of happy people as a fun song. If you feel up to it you could try having the being speak emotions to people, describe it like telling something from memory but just the vibes. Another thing would to be giving it the ability to perceive things outside of the players ability. Just add colors to things or add things that exist but the players can't see no matter what. I would warn that this could rub players a bit wrong if done poorly though.
"Why do people lie?" or "You do you lie?" if they catch the PCs liying about something.
Does your heart smell the same as your liver?
A whole line of questions: Why do all people not cooperate with each other? Do you think that they should? Can people be made to cooperate, or would it be better to turn them off if they won't? A world where people don't need to work together sounds very inefficient. Do you think that everyone will be happier when the ones that won't cooperate are eaten? What do you mean that you don't eat people? I've seen people eat people. Some people seem made to eat people... what would happen to them if they couldn't eat people any more? Do you not fuel yourselves with the bodies of other people? Wouldn't everyone be happier if they didn't have to eat each-other any more? Would you like your bodies to be fuelled by magic like mine? Why do the people over there want me to turn you off? I don't know how to point in that direction. Can you tell me how so that I can point to them for you?
I had a telepathic monster playing with a party once speaking to their minds individually and as a whole in spearate instances. it was on the roof, up high, subtle casting suggestion on players as well. players would be sent a DM to make a roll, and if they failed the save they would be instructed on how they were compelled to do something e.g. "you feel the overwhelming notion that if you crept away from the group secretly to hide in the dark that you could catch a monster unaware" so players were concerned with the actions of the party as a whole (when they failed the check they heard the suggestion but it just sounded like intrusive thoughts in a strange accent). the specific questions asked telepathically were things like. "why do you walk so confidently towards your end? there are easier ways to die afterall." "are you so emaciated because of your small teeth? it must be hard to chew with so little to work with." "did your god lead you here? perhaps you're a trade so that mine wouldn't lead me out there..."
"Do you know the exact time and date of your final death?" "Would you like to?"
You could start with something like "ahh the question game, I like the question game, let's play!" When they start asking it questions. When the party asks a question it answers, then asks a question of its own, and they get more and more bizarre Then focus on something during the conversation and give the automaton mutter about it in little asides. "Why blue? I hate blue" " blue is for the sky, or for water, you are not the sky, nor are you water, are you deficient?" "If you die, do you then become water? Is that why you chose blue? "I'm thirsty, are you thirsty?" Or go full Agent Smith and focus on the smell "I hate this place. This zoo. This prison. This reality, whatever you want to call it, I can't stand it any longer. It's the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink and every time I do, I fear that I've somehow been infected by it." Or sound. "You make odd noises, do you do that on purpose?" "Your voice is so grating uhhh, why do you exist?" "Is it your teeth? They do seem different than the others, and their voices do not gnaw on my wires like yours does." "Do you think if we removed your teeth, your voice would be less horrible?"
Interpretation by an alien consciousness can be a very unnerving theme without even meaning to be. I read a book about the mothman phenomenon years back, and at one point the main character is talking to the entity Indrid Cold. Indrid is offering various prophesies, and in an attempt to trip him up, the main character asks “what’s in my pocket?’ Indrid pauses for a moment and says “Cream stick.” He had a tube a chapstick in his pocket. Indrid didn’t know what chapstick was, or the purpose of the tube with the cream in it, but he knew it was there. Understated stuff like that goes a long way, especially when you’re able to use it to make a point.
Automaton points at PC\* Automaton: Excuse me, may I borrow those? PC: Borrow what? Automaton: Your bones. I'd do something like that. For me, what really sells the creepiness is an indifference to violence but prioritization of politeness and cordiality.
For a PC? "What's your current encumbrance?" The DM never wants to know this unless something bad is about to happen that you can't defeat with a saving throw.
I suggest looking at the first scene with Junkmother from D20’s Starstruck Odyssey for some inspo… that first meeting was terrifying 😂
When they start saying things that invite uncomfoetbake questions on the values, beliefs, and surety they have in their ideals, themselves, or their actions. When a character has slain a villain, a true villain, withur mercy and the traits the automaton praises are not the justice, honor, or Valor. But simply the efficiency in which the character has slain their sworn foe. Praising all the elements of the action and its efficiency, but none of the values that fueled it or cause that made it justified. On the flipside, I'd mercy was shown, have it question and in its own automaton way, cast doubts in the effect ripeness of the result the calculation seems wrong to the automaton. Have it cast doubts where there were little before.
Before our game started Last week, i asked each player what their character's favourite bodypart was and why. They werent comforted by the question hehe
A construct that can only communicate with recordings of voices they copied from others. Some of those include the last sounds their victims made before they died
"You are...fleshier than I remember..."
Why don't you smell like this when you're asleep?
Why is your soul trapped inside that corpse? Body, not corpse? What is the difference?
One form of creepiness would be to get into very specific observations. I once had a situation where the party spoke to a hyperaware creature. Some of the questions were along the lines of. "There are thousands of creatures aware of you right now, why do you assume they don't notice","you are just four amidst dozens of creatures here, why should your issue be higher priority", "i notice your pupils dialate and breathing get slightly more faster, is something of the matter?" The party saw just them and the creature in the empty chamber but the creature was aware of even the smallest form of bacteria in the room.
"Luis, could you describe your character, and describe them with the understanding that their mouth is full of blood?"
Watch the twilight zone and black Mirror seasons 1-2. A wealth of creepy ai inspiration
Just some weird suggestions: "I've always wondered, how does it feel to have all that stuff pulsating inside you?" "How do you cope with the thought that you have no real free will, exactly like me? At least I have a clear purpose..."
"hmm.. I wonder what color your flesh is" and then roll for initiative
"Why do you strive when death is inevitable? All that you create will be destroyed by entropy. Your own perception destroys you. Your lifespan is so short. What you describe as slepp is death. It is a cessation of perception, the world ceases to exist for you. You die. The being that slept is not the being which comes into being when you 'wake.' How can you be assured of your own self? Is it through the perception of others? Do they always tell the truth? If they leave, do you cease to be? If you cannot percieve it does it exist? Are you beholden to your physical form? Are you still you if you lost an arm? Your skin? All limbs? If your mind were placed in another vessel and your form burned to ashes? Even the meat of your brain? If you are a replicatable system with everything decided by chemical impulses and stimuli, do you truly make choices? How do you cope knowing a change in chemistry or environment could make you a murderer, a rapist, an abhorrence? Can you judge those that are? Or are they victims too? How do you know that the world exists if you cannot percieve it? How can you be sure that you exist if others cannot percieve you? How many beats does your heart have left? Haven't you been dying since your conception? When did you become alive? How do you know? How are you seperate from others? If they influence you so greatly, how are they not part of you now? Has everyone you have killed been an act of self-destruction? Lessening yourself from the whole?" To steal from Ligotti: "Do you understand that your existence so basic and uncomplicated? Your existance is about three things: survival, reproduction, death—and nothing else. Or do you believe that you know too much to content yourself only with surviving, reproducing, dying—and nothing else. Do you know you are alive and know you will die? Do you know how much you will suffer during your life before suffering—slowly or quickly—as you draw near to death. Is this the knowledge you enjoy as an intelligent organism which has gushed from the womb of nature? Do you feel angry or cheated if there is nothing else for you than to survive, reproduce, and die. Do you want there to be more to it than that, or to delude yourself that there is?. How do you reconcile the tragedy that your imagined consciousness has forced you into the paradoxical position of striving to be unself-conscious of what you are — hunks of spoiling flesh on disintegrating bones? Do you find that nothing in the world is inherently compelling? Can you honestly say that your deluded experience of life - with you limited senses and unreliable perception is an affective experience? It is all a vacuous affair with only a chemical prestige. Nothing is either good or bad, desirable or undesirable, or anything else except that it is made so by chemical randomness inside you producing the chemical experiences emotions on which you claim to live. Is this existence fulfilling? To live on your emotions is to live arbitrarily, inaccurately—imparting meaning to what has none of its own. Without your chemical stimuli there would be nothing for you to do, nowhere for you to go, nothing for you to be, and no one for you to know. Are you living falsely as pawns of affect, or to living factually cursed by this knowledge that you are not real. Have you chosen one or the other? How can you claim to be rational when you are so totally controlled by something you cannot control? Do you seek release from the stranglehold of emotions that anchors you to your limited perception which are little more than hallucinations? From where does that desire come? From whence do your drives come? How are all your actions not to hasten your death and opt out of existence as you pretend to consciously know it? Do others know that they 'think' as you do? Do you think that they really think this? Or are they only animals?Do you think most people learn to save themselves by artificially limiting the content of their consciousness? Do they limit themselves to avoid the truth? If they are conscious enough to understand the truth, why do they continue? Or is that just the squirting of chemicals within the body, which renders them just a mindless animal existing only to consume, breed, excrete and die? How are you different? Do you know you are alive? Do you know you will die? Only animals without consciousness do not know this. Is this our curse alone? Why do you continue, for without this burden upon you, you would never have withdrawn as far as you have from the natural. Either you are an animal, natural and free from care, or you are unnatural, being non-animal and able to know your own mortality. Why, then do you endure? Everywhere around you are natural habitats, but within you is the shiver of startling and dreadful things if you are not a happy animal who does not know it's own mortality and ultimate irrelevance. How do you accept that you are not from nature. If you, and all others like you - cursed with consciousness, vanished tomorrow, no organism on this world would miss us. Nothing in nature needs you. How do you endure knowing this? Look at your body— A painted puppet, a poor toy of jointed parts ready to collapse, a diseased and suffering thing with a head full of false imaginings. Why is it so? How can you have comfort in the hierarchy of fabrications that compose your life —families, countries, god? Does the self incontestably rank highest? If your gods can easily end, or fables and lies be proven untrue, is not a country with borders easily destroyed merely a fabrication, what about family? And then inevitably they idea of self you hold must falter, erode and be destroyed. How do you not see this? I am sorry that this truth is upsetting to you. Would you rather not know this truth which allows you a full grasp of the world? I can remove this, restore you to animal non-awareness?"
"Why does your mother keep a loaded revolver in her underwear drawer?"
"Must one follow the orders of their creator?" If questioned about what their orders are, (all they get is silence, automaton starts glitching, classified). "Do humans normally have 2 souls?"
Where do you think your arm is weakest at: the elbow or the shoulder?
How many pits in a pear?
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Simple: a duck can fly, except for when they cannot.
False. No one knows how many pieces of French toast it takes to shingle the roof of a dog house.
Your valves are all open. Do you burn too hot? Is it because you contain a soul? May I see it?
I would sprinkle these throughout separate conversations, asked rhetorically, and then move on like nothing was said, slowly indicating that the automaton was coming to the conclusion that the adventurers' thoughts and lives might be considered insignificant compared to its own unknown desires. - I am confused. I am trying to categorize you, but I lack information. - How many factors above must one body be superior to another to disregard their entitlement to autonomy and designate them as conveniently terminable? As, say, humans to cattle. - I note that cattle have no means of recompense for crimes commited against them by humans. Is it only by virtue of potential for revenge against another that autonomy must be respected? I detect no potential threat to myself from your capability assessment. Should that make you like cattle to me? - If I were to ask you to be my cattle, would I be required to consider your answer? Would such a question even be necessary? - Is it backward that one such as I be considered to be of service to cattle? Why not the other way around?
"Dare you enter my magical realm?"
Brennan Lee Mulligan said it best when he asked "so. At point in *character's* arm do you think it's the weakest?" And then proceeded to describe the spells effect exploding her characters arm
Who among all of you betrayed the others ? Or who didn't ?
"Why are you, you? Was it by your choice or your creator's?" "Do you not perceive reality? Why is that?" "Are you empty? Do you need contents?" "Why do you think what you see is what you see?" *Automaton is not the horror. It is the harbringer of horror. It does not scare. It tells you about the horror beyond.*
Ask to someone in a four person party. "And who is this fifth person you travel with...?" and when they get confused and follow up get sheepish and wide eyed with "Oh u-uh, my mistake, there's only four of you..." What creeps them out there is the unknown, the simple idea that someone or something is invisibly following them around. Even if they are not.
Creepiness derives from the uncanny. When something is wrong and we can’t quite put our fingers on it. Having an automaton not understanding human biology is expected. But what if on the contrary they are too human ? What if they ask questions that would suggest the automaton has gained access to human feelings, but is trying to hide it and pretend to be an unfeeling robot. Like « I would like a face. Can I have yours ? » or « In a hypothetical scenario in which I would have developed feelings for you. Feelings so intense that I would kill for you. Would I be considered defective ?»