|
|
|
Artmeister
 
Group: Rule7 Team
Last Login: Saturday, November 08, 2008 12:05 AM
Posts: 251,
Visits: 876
|
|
| So imagine you are an organiser of a horror game of your own divising, fear is the key, and you want to scare the shit out of your unsuspecting players. What limits do you go to to freak the sweet bejeezus out of them? Buckets of gore? Prop corpses crawling with maggots? Offal from the local butchers? Real chainsaw wielding maniacs (If you think I'm taking the piss, believe me it has been done before, fortunately with the chain removed for safety, but the players didn't know that!) What so is going too far? Psycological torture and pressure? Making things too close to the bone and too realistic? Or is that what players of a horror game should expect? After all if they don't want a cardiac arrest, they should be going to play "Fluffy Bunnikins LARP"?
There is no way you can disprove to me that all reality we percieve, was concieved in the mind of a plastic troll. Now hand me my pills.
|
|
|
|
|
Wag
Group: System Moderators
Last Login: Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:39 PM
Posts: 1,141,
Visits: 3,626
|
|
Whatever you do to scare your players, if you do intend to scare them for real then you have to make sure that you mention it in advance so they know what to expect. I suppose in that context it comes under 'full contact combat' in that people will complain if it is there and they don't expect it. Also acts as a good advertising point  Once you have the disclaimer in place, there is a lot more you can get away with.If you don't have the disclaimer then there is less you can do without someone complaining. I think psychological horror works best - make the players feel utterly scared rather than gross them out. Even the most effective special effect looks unreal and so will not work as well but a good bit of psyching them out will always work. Things like strange noises (scratchings, whimperings) in the background, lots of dark shadows and so on.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Whispering God is your friend... trust the Whispering God... Ruins of Empire 1st - 3rd Feb, 2008, Gladstone scout centre, Chester
|
|
|
|
|
Knight
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Friday, September 26, 2008 9:30 AM
Posts: 76,
Visits: 230
|
|
It's cheap. and I'm not sure how well it works yet (I'll know after Sunday), but giving one or two fo the crew dictaphones with sound effect tapes should work.
----
Power Corrupts.
This is only a problem for the powerless.
|
|
|
|
|
and Minimeister
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Sunday, April 06, 2008 8:31 AM
Posts: 960,
Visits: 1,402
|
|
| I think that if you want to scare your players, you definitely have to mention some specifics of the mechanics, like if I thought you were going to cover me in real blood, I wouldn't play in your game and I would f*&^ing kill you if you did without my knowledge. Also, don't forget that you need something for your players to do during the day. That's traditionally the time they want to try and mitigate the doom heading their way with darkness.
There is only overconfidence and terror.
|
|
|
|
|
Heroic Knight
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Thursday, November 27, 2008 9:36 PM
Posts: 234,
Visits: 357
|
|
Some really good advice I was once given, the way to get them IC is to get them OOC.
"Remember if you feel uncomfortable about any of this just say and we'll stop."
"If any of you are pregnant or have heart difficulties do not attend."
"Your OOC safety is more important than your characters."
Also limiting resources such as bullets, cricket bats and the like always works. There's nothing puts a player group on edge more than only 20% of them being able to defend them.
__________________________
"Plan B is we swear fealty to the Dark Lord."
|
|
|
|
|
Wag
Group: System Moderators
Last Login: Thursday, August 21, 2008 11:39 PM
Posts: 1,141,
Visits: 3,626
|
|
| Limiting resources is a different level of 'scare' altogether. The knowledge that combat is deadly, that the 'monsters' can kill you really easily and there is nothing you can do about it unless you get hold of the ONE gun (which may not even work against the monsters). Seeding the site with lots of 'improv weapons' is a good idea and one which I would like one day to have the resources for. Things like modern day tools (spades, powertools, hammers etc), planks of wood, bits of body (bones, skulls, fleshy bits) and so on are great to use in modern horror along with one or two guns and limited bullets (a revovler with a full chamber of 6 bullets, a shotgun with two shells). And make sure the players are aware that they are here IC with no weapons at all... Riftworld did a good job of limiting resources. If you buy a gun at character creation (all equipment must be bought with character points) you get one clip of ammo for that gun. Extra clips cost the same as a full new gun (very expensive). Things like grenades are worse - you buy them with character points or XP, use them and then they are gone. You need to buy them again... Limiting medical supplies and other forms of healing is another tactic in this vein. Sound effects are useful. Have a CD player in the background playing random noises - creaks, howls, dripping water etc (depending on the situation) ona continuous loop. With modern CD writers it is easy to sort this out.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Whispering God is your friend... trust the Whispering God... Ruins of Empire 1st - 3rd Feb, 2008, Gladstone scout centre, Chester
|
|
|
|
|
Heroic Knight
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Thursday, August 07, 2008 5:26 PM
Posts: 135,
Visits: 279
|
|
I think the key to generating real IC fear is to use your players' imaginations against them. Give them glimpses of the awful doom to come but never ever let them see the whole picture. Once the players know what they are facing, they'll trivialise it: "Oh, it's a Hound of Tindalos, ok make sure all the corners of this room are rounded". So let their imaginations do the hard work, with the help of a couple of well-placed effects, and keep poking till hysteria sets in.
"When I want your opinion, I'll read it from your steaming entrails"
|
|
|
|
|
and Minimeister
Group: Basic Members
Last Login: Sunday, April 06, 2008 8:31 AM
Posts: 960,
Visits: 1,402
|
|
Binidj (5/24/2006)
I think the key to generating real IC fear is to use your players' imaginations against them. Give them glimpses of the awful doom to come but never ever let them see the whole picture. Once the players know what they are facing, they'll trivialise it: "Oh, it's a Hound of Tindalos, ok make sure all the corners of this room are rounded". So let their imaginations do the hard work, with the help of a couple of well-placed effects, and keep poking till hysteria sets in. That's the best example I've seen so far. It's like the two versions of "The Thing" one was unable to show the monster due to budget constraints the other had plenty of money. The remake was just laughable. Apprehension and fear are much better than waves of seven monsters coming out of the dark and doing crush. The latter is more "scary" from an "oh sh!t, I'm gonna need more kit" point of view, but is a bit... bleurgh. Also, I've been to a horror game where I covered the entire site about twice looking for stuff and my mates rattled the NPC's by the ankles for plot. This was during the day, at night, the NPC's "remembered" the complex and elaborate ritual that had to be performed. It really cuts into your IC bravery if your OOC mind is making snarky comments in back.
There is only overconfidence and terror.
|
|
|
|
| | |