Some background...
I'm making a turn based RPG/strategy game. It involves a girl who gets trapped in a mansion-maze with some creepy dolls. In every level, she finds a key somewhere and needs it to defeat the big doll boss.
Combat is similar to D&D 3.5. Square grid, 8 dir movement. Mostly melee attacks, with a few projectiles, like some dolls throwing rocks/knives/needles. Main damage type is psychological/sanity where the girl loses the will to keep going and game over. There's still physical damage, dolls will try to break her limbs, stab her, etc, but to prevent the game from getting too gory, physical damage is mostly used to increase the helpless feel.
The feel of the game is to make the player feel like a trapped rat. Unlike in most RPGs, the default stance is to escape, while fighting is used when running is not an option. Many enemies will be sort of undefeatable, like cloth puppets, which can be knocked around with a baseball bat or thrown, but won't be neutralized.
It is a turn based game.. I want to have it feel like X-Com. End turn, pray that no enemies are around the corner, pray they get unlucky and miss you. Start turn, keep running or fighting and try to end turn in a location where they can't get ganked.
Surprises are a core part of horror, but the player should be able to anticipate a surprise. A seemingly dead doll might rise and grab her, might jump out of a box, might break down a door, or run from around a corner when you hear footprints earlier. But shouldn't pop out of nowhere and the players would learn possible hot spots early in the game.
Difficulty is mostly so that the player can get through intuitively, without having to repeat and memorize the level. Deaths should feel deserved, as in the player did something stupid or made wrong assumptions on the level/enemy behavior. The player should die very rarely, but the threat of dying/losing should feel real enough. I don't like a savescumming level of difficulty as it ruins the atmosphere, and goes against the "you can still survive" feel of the game.
So, on to the main point...
It looks like a large segment of the game depends on the level design, so I want to take it quite seriously. There isn't a lot of manuals and examples on the TBS horror genre, so looks like I'll have to make something up. I've brainstormed sort of the following elements in a level.
Damaging trash: An encounter designed to weaken, but not kill the character. Not really for any tactical purpose, but it's sort of to get the character at a moderate health level to make them worried. And to discourage people from being perfectionist savescummers.
Mobs: Weak encounters, mostly harmless, but they keep her from getting through. Might be combined with a tough encounter as some sort of artificial wall, might just be there to give the player something to hack and slash and burn through.
Chase: I like chase encounters in horror games. It would probably involve a highly damaging or undefeatable creature. The player would be running into a place they can't follow, desperately trying to open doors or crawl into things. But not certain how it could be done in turn based games without being annoying.. run, end turn, run, end turn.
Entrapment: Enemies try to trap the character in a position where she can't fight and would be whittled down.
Treasure: Often combined with entrapment encounters, would be the key, save point, or something like a weapon. Usually well guarded, the player is made aware of the risks and a possible treasure.
Decoy: Acts like a Treasure but turns out to be nothing, or something very minor. Less damaging than an actual treasure encounter.
Surprise: Often used to spark Entrapment encounters. Or to ruin some kind of plans, like make a Treasure encounter tougher than the player expected. Can't really think of a good use for them, aside from giving an "Oh shit" feel.
I haven't really figured how and where I'd use them. If anyone has any extra ideas, suggestions, tips, or a good article/book on it, I'd be very interested.
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