sbloyd
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Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
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Horror
Mar 20, 2014 7:51:16 GMT -8
Post by sbloyd on Mar 20, 2014 7:51:16 GMT -8
How do you guys do horror? jazzisblues is fond of his water dripping bathhouse story. But a lot of GMs I used to know equated horror with just shitting all over the PCs.
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Post by Kainguru on Mar 20, 2014 8:28:24 GMT -8
'Shitting all over the PC's?' - nah, that's F.A.T.A,L . . . (Gimp suits have mouth zips for a reason) Aaron
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sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
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Horror
Mar 20, 2014 9:17:56 GMT -8
Post by sbloyd on Mar 20, 2014 9:17:56 GMT -8
ON. Not IN.
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Horror
Mar 20, 2014 12:29:58 GMT -8
Post by squeatus on Mar 20, 2014 12:29:58 GMT -8
Bath houses and scat...all the makings of a good horror story.
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D.T. Pints
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JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
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Post by D.T. Pints on Mar 20, 2014 13:58:40 GMT -8
Subtly or it doesn't work. Individual experiences, isolation, notes...lots of side bars. No one should know everything...the best horror games occur when the players get all wrapped up in their own heads.
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Horror
Mar 21, 2014 8:26:49 GMT -8
Post by Houndin on Mar 21, 2014 8:26:49 GMT -8
I am currently running a GURPS horror game with malifer gandalftheplaid snoman314 and moonday Over the years I've found that the best ways to generate a feeling of horror is to be descriptive and evocative in your monologues, use imagery and metaphors wherever possible. Don't forget people have more than 5 senses. There's that one that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up but you don't know why. NEVER pull back the curtain completely and let them know what's actually going on or what they're up against, let them speculate. The players should feel that for everything they find out, it's just the tip of the iceberg and there's a whole lot more they don't know. The most base fear humans have is that of the unknown, use it. Most of our other fears are either based on that (fear of the dark) or based on faulty knowledge ("That snake is poisonous!"). But the most important thing about horror games is that you can't have persistent tension. Just like a soldier on alert, nobody can maintain it indefinitely, and your game will break down into scooby doo. Tension needs to be cyclical, with each apex going up a bit more, and each trough going down a bit less until the climactic scene. Careful use of humor can relieve tension, as can mundane reasons for scary things. (i.e. That rotting smell that pervades the house, turns out to be a dead raccoon in the basement with it's paw stuck in a rat trap. Those bones on the side of the road? It's the remains of a road-kill deer after the vultures and other scavengers came by.) For humor, let the players do it, they'll know when they need to crack a joke, but have something ready to start ratcheting it back up before you lose them to fart jokes. If you want to see a GREAT use of cyclical tension, watch the original Alien movie. 90% of the time you see the alien on screen before it attacks, nearly every other "shock" has a mundane cause, like the cat. Now I just realized that this is a topic suggestion, but I'll leave my response as is.
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sbloyd
Supporter
WHAT! A human in a Precursor service vehicle?!
Posts: 2,762
Preferred Game Systems: Storyteller; Dresden; Mage
Favorite Species of Monkey: Goddamnit, Curious George is a CHIMP not a monkey! Stop teaching my daughter improper classification!
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Horror
Mar 21, 2014 10:11:46 GMT -8
Post by sbloyd on Mar 21, 2014 10:11:46 GMT -8
Yes, it is. But that doesn't mean you can't add fuel to the fire.
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Horror
Mar 21, 2014 10:25:15 GMT -8
Post by malifer on Mar 21, 2014 10:25:15 GMT -8
I feel like with anything it's about playing the role.
I don't expect the players to be scared, and when I'm player I wont be scared.
However like a Cthulhu game there is a bit of metagamey-ness too it.
If you don't open the book of unspeakable horrors then the game goes nowhere.
So we're telling a story if it's a scary story then we all try to keep it that way.
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D.T. Pints
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JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
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Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
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Horror
Mar 21, 2014 19:13:31 GMT -8
Post by D.T. Pints on Mar 21, 2014 19:13:31 GMT -8
I feel like with anything it's about playing the role. I don't expect the players to be scared, and when I'm player I wont be scared. However like a Cthulhu game there is a bit of metagamey-ness too it. If you don't open the book of unspeakable horrors then the game goes nowhere. So we're telling a story if it's a scary story then we all try to keep it that way. malifer and other Ice Men...Do movies ever scare you (or least tense you up a bit ?), what about vidja games ? books ? I know numerous people who just cannot be made to feel fear second hand. Me on the other hand...I am a giant fuckin' chicken. (Let that visual simmer a bit.) sbloyd just had a Mage game with worldseye and muntjack and as we walked into an abandoned building with rippling opaque plastic hanging down and "things" moving behind it a bit, I got a tad bit freaked. Than I think I made a dick joke or something...but that's my tension breaker. I do not ever want a GM to try to hold my character hostage and demand me to "Be Afraid!" But I do love those moments of immersion where I start to get a bit sweaty and tense and worry about me/my characters wellfare and the bizarre shit he/she might be experiencing. However, I don't think I've ever played in a game where everyone just tried to tell an around the campfire ghost story where you could just hear a pin drop in between the "as you step into the darkened room" during the entire game. SOMEBODY ALWAYS FARTS. And thats cool, its a game.
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Horror
Mar 22, 2014 11:14:32 GMT -8
Post by malifer on Mar 22, 2014 11:14:32 GMT -8
I feel like with anything it's about playing the role. I don't expect the players to be scared, and when I'm player I wont be scared. However like a Cthulhu game there is a bit of metagamey-ness too it. If you don't open the book of unspeakable horrors then the game goes nowhere. So we're telling a story if it's a scary story then we all try to keep it that way. malifer and other Ice Men...Do movies ever scare you (or least tense you up a bit ?), what about vidja games ? books ? I know numerous people who just cannot be made to feel fear second hand. Me on the other hand...I am a giant fuckin' chicken. (Let that visual simmer a bit.) sbloyd just had a Mage game with worldseye and muntjack and as we walked into an abandoned building with rippling opaque plastic hanging down and "things" moving behind it a bit, I got a tad bit freaked. Than I think I made a dick joke or something...but that's my tension breaker. I do not ever want a GM to try to hold my character hostage and demand me to "Be Afraid!" But I do love those moments of immersion where I start to get a bit sweaty and tense and worry about me/my characters wellfare and the bizarre shit he/she might be experiencing. However, I don't think I've ever played in a game where everyone just tried to tell an around the campfire ghost story where you could just hear a pin drop in between the "as you step into the darkened room" during the entire game. SOMEBODY ALWAYS FARTS. And thats cool, its a game. No movies don't scare me. Partially because I went to film school and it's very hard for me to constantly not be dissecting a film instead of watching it. And thrillers are especially easy for me to not get drawn into because when the tension is at it's highest it's because "nothing" is happening and since nothing is happening I start to pay attention to the camera focus, the light, actor performance, etc. I don't really enjoy video games. I would say the most "tension" I feel is from a book. Now why can't I translate that kind of narrative into one my PCs or games? Because I have no control over that narrative. Part of the reason I can not read Series Books is because it is unrealistic to me. For instance I got 6 books into the Dresden Files. I'm done. It wasn't bad, but after a while Harry Dresden should be suffering from some amount of PTSD and should either be a bit looney tunes or at least never want to leave his house again. On jokes. I think there are a large group of people that deal with stressful and terrible situations with Gallows humor or laughter in general. I am one of them. I may not always make a joke out of character, but sometimes my in character actions are quite funny to every else while being completely justified.
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maxinstuff
Supporter
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Horror
Apr 6, 2014 18:59:39 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by maxinstuff on Apr 6, 2014 18:59:39 GMT -8
This thread has taught me: If I'm scared I should get my cock out while farting.
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