Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Best horror system you have used?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Gothmog" data-source="post: 4495969" data-attributes="member: 317"><p>Like the others, horror is about 80% due to your DMing style, and keeping the atmosphere of the game tense and mysterious. Never fully let the PCs know what they are dealing with, don't let them see it in direct light, and NEVER let them know the stats. Horror relies on uncertainty, isolation, and fear, and its much harder to fear something you know completely about than the unknown.</p><p></p><p>I ran a horror D&D campaign for a number of years, and one thing I did during that time was to keep all stats secret from the PCs. Yep, thats right- the only numbers the PCs knew were their level, and their ability scores. They didn't know their THAC0 (2nd ed), HP, AC, proficiency values, plusses on weapons, etc. At first, I encountered some resistance to this idea, but after a few sessions the players LOVED it, and to this day when I run games for that group, they want me to keep the numbers out of it. I can tell you that I've never had better luck running a horror game than that one, and its largely due to keeping the stats secret and in the background. I did the same thing with a CoC campaign, NWoD game, and a Kult campaign later, with very positive results. This is the one thing I feel is key, even more than Sanity or mental illness mechanics- keep the system transparent and in the background for a horror game. Too many numbers flying around pull the player out of the fictional world and make it much harder to do horror.</p><p></p><p>That said, there are four games that if you don't own them and enjoy horror, run out and buy them.</p><p></p><p>* Call of Cthulhu BRP- 'nuff said.</p><p>* Kult- probably the darkest and most disturbing of the horror games I've ever played and run. However, some people find the imagery and themes offensive, especially if they are very religious. Probably THE best horror setting out there though, but very dark.</p><p>* NWoD- the mortals line of books are especially good, and we've used them a number of times to great effect (the best being a Silent Hill-like setting for a mini-campaign).</p><p>* Crothian mentioned Dread- and that game works great for horror, simply because there are NO numbers in it. Its based on drawing pieces out of a Jenga tower. Fun game, especially if you have players who haven't roleplayed much or at all before. I've tried this twice with a bunch of non-gamers, and they loved it.</p><p></p><p>And if you don't have Nightmares of Mine by ICE, track down a copy ASAP if you're serious about horror. Its basically a DM's trick book for running horror, and has tons of great tips.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gothmog, post: 4495969, member: 317"] Like the others, horror is about 80% due to your DMing style, and keeping the atmosphere of the game tense and mysterious. Never fully let the PCs know what they are dealing with, don't let them see it in direct light, and NEVER let them know the stats. Horror relies on uncertainty, isolation, and fear, and its much harder to fear something you know completely about than the unknown. I ran a horror D&D campaign for a number of years, and one thing I did during that time was to keep all stats secret from the PCs. Yep, thats right- the only numbers the PCs knew were their level, and their ability scores. They didn't know their THAC0 (2nd ed), HP, AC, proficiency values, plusses on weapons, etc. At first, I encountered some resistance to this idea, but after a few sessions the players LOVED it, and to this day when I run games for that group, they want me to keep the numbers out of it. I can tell you that I've never had better luck running a horror game than that one, and its largely due to keeping the stats secret and in the background. I did the same thing with a CoC campaign, NWoD game, and a Kult campaign later, with very positive results. This is the one thing I feel is key, even more than Sanity or mental illness mechanics- keep the system transparent and in the background for a horror game. Too many numbers flying around pull the player out of the fictional world and make it much harder to do horror. That said, there are four games that if you don't own them and enjoy horror, run out and buy them. * Call of Cthulhu BRP- 'nuff said. * Kult- probably the darkest and most disturbing of the horror games I've ever played and run. However, some people find the imagery and themes offensive, especially if they are very religious. Probably THE best horror setting out there though, but very dark. * NWoD- the mortals line of books are especially good, and we've used them a number of times to great effect (the best being a Silent Hill-like setting for a mini-campaign). * Crothian mentioned Dread- and that game works great for horror, simply because there are NO numbers in it. Its based on drawing pieces out of a Jenga tower. Fun game, especially if you have players who haven't roleplayed much or at all before. I've tried this twice with a bunch of non-gamers, and they loved it. And if you don't have Nightmares of Mine by ICE, track down a copy ASAP if you're serious about horror. Its basically a DM's trick book for running horror, and has tons of great tips. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Best horror system you have used?
Top