I have an idea for a game I’m running, where the party is currently (unbeknownst to them) being hunted by a particular demon’s hounds. I’m borrowing from Hounds of the Morrigan, but initially the hounds will be disguised as people. But I want to introduce it in a way that would reflect the characters catching a glimpse, but if they do a double-take, it seems like nothing was there.
An example could be
GM: “You look around the marketplace, you see stalls selling various wares and tools, the odd imported spice or fruit send unfamiliar scents through the air. Behind the well you notice a small man in a black cloak watching you intently. There are people listening to a preacher near the Temple of Fire. What do you do?”
Player: “What’s the man in the cloak doing?”
GM: “What man in a cloak?”
Player: “You said there was a man by the well”
GM: “There’s nobody by the well…”
My concern is that this would look like I messed up as GM, and would be (deliberately) confusing for the players. The first time. But when the second or third figure is caught ‘out of the corner of the eye’, the players might cotton on?
Am I expecting too much, or could this work?