How do you play a character's who's literally so intimidating that he's scary?
Think about it... in literally every war movie ever, who's the scariest guy? The gelato guy. He literally stares into your soul... and once he know's who you are, and he WILL know... that's when you literally drop dead on the spot...
Stop playing DnD and play a system with actual social engagement rules.
>be intimidating by rolling dice
D and D already does that, OP is asking about roleplaying.
Are you describing Barnes?
Talkin' bout killin'?
Y'all experts?
like ta hear it
>Barnes ain't meant to die
>gets Krieg'd by the new guy
Being intimidating in a game in such a way where the players feel the tension requires buyin from the GM or the other players that this guy is scary. You or your GM can pull off the most intimidating performance in the world and it doesn't mean shit if the other guy isn't willing to immediately flip the scene's tone instead of acting smug, wienery or whatever else a lot of people default to. That isn't necessarily their fault, it's just that a lot of players aren't experienced enough in making their characters actually, legitimately intimidated rather than dismissive, rising to match the occasion or otherwise 'overdoing,' it and going full high energy screamer.
The reason why Barnes or Landa are scary is because the scene allows them to be - you feel the tension from the other characters just as much as the scary guy himself.
t. has played and GM'd multiple scary guys and been completely shut down not by the intimidation not working, but by the responses the GM or players give completely botching the response.
Literally take away stats and LOOT... to scare players.
Yes, pretty much, you can only hope people get into kayfabe an pretend to be intimidated if the roll check is done, otherwise most people will just act like smug buttholes.
This anon has it pretty much; you have to make a character scary by setting a scary scene. If you want players to fear for their characters and know a guy is not to be fricked with, you can't just build it up in one liners or one line of narration.
First give them history that hints at them. Don't have characters tell the PCs about him, have them not want to talk about him. Have them warn them off of him or her subtly, like they don't want to be caught badmouthing him. Less is more at this point, you don't want to build them up too much.
Then introduce them, keep it brief and keep it planned. Your best tool at this point is 'oh he's not so bad' or 'what's the big fuss'. Keep it subtle, don't tip your hand. Give the players details, 'their side of things' for example, but ensure npc reactions from people that know are subtly on guard.
Then after the players know who they are and what their reputation is, you show it to them. Not moustache twirling or cackling or anything like that, set the players up. For example if you want to establish a dangerous sociopath, if the PCs are doing a job/on a quest to bring someone to them, have the players get to know the NPC, then when they arrive have your scary dude thank them, and then kill their charge in cold blood. If pressed, just have them explain that it was always the plan and that their job is complete. Make the players feel grimy for working with them, but don't give them a good opportunity or reason for reprisal, not yet. The goal here is just to establish that his reputation is earned. What you've built can then be cashed in wherever and whenever you like: When PCs see the person they'll be on guard, when the person has work for them or if someone's working for them the PCs will be rightly concerned. You can establish various motives or even roles to the character, but they will be remembered by the players as a damning presence whether they be villainous or some kind of terrible ally.
>Gelato powers the world's largest print on demand network of local print providers for ecommerce sellers.
>Gelato is the common word in Italian for all kinds of ice cream. In English, it specifically refers to a frozen dessert of Italian origin.
Friendly reminder that the main problem of that guy was NOT being intimidating. In fact, he was so annoying, they've break the masquarade out of annoyance. Good job, getting shot and stabbed to death due to being an annoying c**t, very intimidating.
He was literally the scariest guy in a warmovie...
>the scariest guy in a warmovie
He isn't even the scariest person in "his" scene.
Wait, did you mistake this guy for Hans Landa?
The King Kong guy was scarier.
>t. only watched one movie in his entire life
> be associated with a powerful evil group
> have a crew of evil dudes closer and bigger than the crew you are talking to
> be physically dangerous / have a reputation as a distant third
> anything you are thinking of as a very distant 4th
Very few people are personally initimidating.
Intimidation works through fear, thus you must make your players feel afraid. It is considered taboo in most cultures to draw a weapon on your players or release a king cobra onto the gaming table, thus you must make them feel mechanical fear.
This can be accomplished various ways, but as other anons have said, your players MUST buy in to the game and they MUST care for their characters as one cares for their own life, or at least be able to act like someone who cares for their life.
Genuine intimidation is hard to pull off in a game like DnD because of high HP and numerous abilities which all provide a sense of comfort. In "Fistful of Dollars", Blondie is never intimidated because he always either has a trick up his sleeve or knows he is simply the better gunfighter than his opponent.
The solution is to play a game with low HP and minimal abilities, and to have enemies that can kill or critically injure the characters in one or two shots, while the characters have little recourse against it. The enemy must hold all the cards. Hans Landa was only scary when you had no ability to fight back against him, at the end, when the protagonists have him at gunpoint and he is now powerless, he isn't scary at all
The most intimidating people you’ll come across are unpredictable stupid people with nothing to lose.
Why is this guy scary? Think of that when making a your character
Think about this hard... look at this ROCK HARD! If you were a bunch of adventurers in the exact same position... I don't care who you are, you'd be literally pissing and shitting everywhere in TERROR!
OP, there is no fricking way in a gorillion years you will ever have the charisma top pull this off. pic related, this is OP
Who the frick is the gelato guy?
I'm only spoonfeeding you because it's important, but the character in question is Helstrom from Inglorious Bastards, the scene referenced in the OP is him inserting himself into a game playing with the protagonists undercover as german soldiers. It's a bit of cat and mouse as he suspects them of being spies, though really the good part of the scene is the classic Tarintino black comedy of having them blunder through allaying his suspicions, only to have one of their experts trip at the finish line and make a violent confrontation inevitable. I digress.
Honestly he's not that good of a character except in contrast to Hans Landa. Whereas Helstrom is a stereotypical SS caricature who is rough and crude but pretends at sophistication and intelligence to try and impress others, Landa is affable and charismatic over a truly monstrous personality. They're excellent foils to each other, not only in their personalities but in their arcs during the film. Helstrom's "cleverness" and maliciousness may have thrown a wrench into the "heroes" plans, but it ultimately gets him killed in a very foolish fashion. Landa on the other hand maneuvers through the entire film with an adept psychopathy that nearly has him walk away unharmed were it not for the surviving protagonists recognizing this and defying orders to give him an appropriately karmic punishment.
Both are characters that can be strong inspiration for NPCs, but it's important not to mistake the two. Helstrom is menacing and builds tension, but he doesn't have the chops to make more than a passing final villain; if you want someone to challenge players, and be someone they are going to talk about and plan around, you need a Landa, and you need to build him up carefully.
Don't put the fricking monster on the screen. Nobody is inherently scary, no matter how good they are at influencing and manipulating people, or filling a room with their presence. So don't put them in the room at all until you absolutely have to. Stop being in such a rush to have your GMPC interact with the players. Let them see the bodies left in his wake. Let them hear about the consequences for defying her. Connect other lesser threats to your villain. The more trouble the players have with the lesser threat, the more the villain takes note. The harder they have to work to win, the more of the mask they get to pull off as a reward. Map out an entire fricking conspiracy theory rabbit hole in your notes with him or her at the center of it all.
NTA, but I'm gonna steal some of these ideas.