Making Modern Communication Work in Horror Games

[MGibster]

On the other hand, that also makes it feel ideal, to me, for running early 1990s-set games, which also gets us around the problems of the internet and cell phones that dog modern-day sci-fi, fantasy and horror.

Rather than hijack another thread, I thought this topic warranted its own discussion. As with most discussions on TTRPG, what's appropriate for one game might not be appropriate for another game. I might handle computers completely differently in Buffy the Vampire Slayer compared to Delta Green.

Horror stories very often rely on uncertainty and isolation to help create a tense atmosphere, which many people find difficult to maintain given the ubiquity of cell phones and the internet. How is tension maintained when a PC can call 911 at a moment's notice? How can anyone be uncertain when the internet puts information at their fingertips? How do you prevent these devices from ruining your horror game without relying on tired contrivances like dead batteries, no signal, or whatever will make the player feel as though the GM is cheating them? Rather than ruining games, I think modern technology can be used by PCs to enhance the game.

Instead of thinking of the internet as a way to circumvent challenges, use it as a way to move the plot forward by allowing it to be a useful resource for player characters. In many ways, using the internet is really no different from poring over documents at a library or an archive. Your PCs might very well find an internet article about Philemon Barrowe, a reputed warlock living in Massachusetts circa 1680, on Wikipedia or some regional historical site, noted for being lynched for "transgressions" against God and Man. PCs might look online to learn more about a historical home, find out it was part of the Underground Railroad, which could lead them to search for secret passages or rooms.

It's important to remember the internet isn't a series of tubes through which you can access the sum of all human knowledge. You might find a Wikipedia article about Philemon Barrowe, but you're unlikely to find his personal papers outside of an archive or in someone's personal collection. You might be able to hack Globicide, Inc's network from the comfort of a Holiday Inn, but you're unlikely to find much information about their black ops government projects that way. Everything hasn't been digitized, so your PCs are going to have to do some legwork.

Cell phones do make it much easier for people to communicate with with others which many see negatively. I simply view it as a way for the plot to continue moving forward and for all the players to be able to participate. The PCs can share information quickly instead of us having to take a break in game to meet up at a later time. But many do see it as a negative because why wouldn't the PCs just call 911 when their in trouble? 911. When seconds count, help is only minutes away." While you can communicate with others in real time, it might take minutes or hours for them get to to the callers location. A lot can happen in a few minutes.

Anyone have any ideas on how to make good use of the internet and cell phones in horror games?

 

[overgeeked]

This comes up pretty regularly. I know there have been lots of good ideas posted about this before. My quick searching isn’t working so here’s a few I can remember.

The web. It’s not always easy to find what you’re looking for. What you find isn’t always true…especially now with “AI”. Not everything is on the web. It’s easier to find generalities than specifics. It takes longer to find things than you want. Can be used against you in many ways.

Cell phones. Signal isn’t always great. Can be used against you (tracking, ringing when you’re hiding, etc). The bad guys can get your number and call you. Fed false info. Check your call history and track down your friends, family, and loved ones. Battery dies. Low power mode. Alarms goes off. Light from the screen gives you away.

911. The authorities won’t believe you. The authorities will treat it like a crank call. Non-emergency takes hours to show up. The cops arrest you for false complaints. You get busted for all the crimes you’ve committed during the adventure. The cops are corrupt, in on it, part of the cult, etc. They haul you away to the psych ward because you’re screaming about monsters. They haul you in on suspicion of murder because you have blood-covered weapons and clothes.

Assuming these are all perfect and good and can only help is a weird take. Modern tech is absolutely frustrating in horror and mysteries, but it can just as easily be used to increase the horror.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Anyone have any ideas on how to make good use of the internet and cell phones in horror games?

Excellent question!

The web. It’s not always easy to find what you’re looking for. What you find isn’t always true…especially now with “AI”. Not everything is on the web. It’s easier to find generalities than specifics. It takes longer to find things than you want. Can be used against you in many ways.

So much this. I ALWAYS get extraneous results, regardless of how specific I make my queries. In fact, I’ve even done searches that included results that I tried to explicitly exclude.

Battery dies. Low power mode. Alarms goes off. Light from the screen gives you away.

They did that in Jeepers Creepers.

911. The authorities won’t believe you. The authorities will treat it like a crank call. Non-emergency takes hours to show up. The cops arrest you for false complaints. You get busted for all the crimes you’ve committed during the adventure. The cops are corrupt, in on it, part of the cult, etc. They haul you away to the psych ward because you’re screaming about monsters. They haul you in on suspicion of murder because you have blood-covered weapons and clothes.

All classic.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Going further, as we’re all aware, disinformation is still a thing online.

In The Ninth Gate, there’s all kinds of disinformation on the form of simple mistakes to deliberate falsehoods meant to harm the unwary and incautious. Add AI and deepfake tech to the mix, occult charlatans spamming their ads, or even true believers seeking to gain followers by misrepresenting their goals & beliefs, and you’ve got more Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.

Want to go a bit more Lovecraftian? The very nature of the particular occult topic resists Man’s ability to accurately record anything about it. After centuries of writing and scholarship- all rife with errors, of course- modern occultists tried to digitize all of the known sources. But even those were vulnerable to eldritch corruption. No two files copied from the same pdf are alike. You might see a file glitch as you’re reading it.

I actually had something mundane but analogous happen to me while writing a 25pg history paper on Emperor Justinian in HS. After my final edit but before printing, I saved it…then noticed something odd on my screen. The letter “J” in Justinian had been replaced by something that looked like a Viking rune.

I tried reloading from my saved file, but it was still there. Then I realized that EVERY “j” in the paper had been replaced by that “rune”. It took hours to re-proofread the paper to replace words with those altered letters with synonyms.

The cause: a corrupted circuit on my computer’s motherboard.