Best Horror Role Playing Game

[Micah Sweet]

D&D ran as an actual horror game.

Not many know how to pull it off, but when they do...it's probably one of the better ones.

It helps to have a critical injury table that's more open though (roll a 1, there's a critical injury...whether in combat or not...though you could make it so that the atmosphere can ramp up the criticals...so then it's a roll of 1-2, or then worse as it doubles to a 1-4...etc).

Critical injuries are where you lose a limb, lose an eye, etc. If players didn't know it was possible, they may be a little upset...and then the true horror begins.

Break out a Rolemaster set of critical tables (I was always fond of MERP). That's get some attention.

 

[Micah Sweet]

FASA Star Trek (1983) was the first licened Trek game, and one of the first licensed games
WEG Star Wars (1987) literally took over the canonical setting from 1987 to 1996...
The authors of the Robotech novels were told to use Palladium's Robotech RPG as the sourcebooks for the novels.

All of those were common gateway games.

WoD was good, but not the only cultural impact games. It's probably the biggest change to gaming culture, and it reached well beyond gamerdom.

Every group I got to listen to, however, treated VTM as a supers game.

I've played Chill, run Buffy, GURPS Horror 1e, Alien (Free League), Aliens (LEG), Traveller using certain horror adventures, Tales from the Loop, Vaesen. A single session of Bureau 13.

Of those, Alien (FL), Vaesen, and TFTL are the ones I recommend. If a GURPS player wants horror, GURPS Horror is worthy.

Note on TFTL: It's not billed as a horror, but some of the adventures in the core and first module book have very strong body horror themes for the PCs, who are kids 10-15 YO, to find the source of.

As far as cultural impact goes, I would put R. Talsorian's Cyberpunk games right up there for the era as well. Played a ton of 2020 back in the 90s, and still have the whole series on my bookshelf.

 

[pemerton]

Break out a Rolemaster set of critical tables (I was always fond of MERP). That's get some attention.

I've never found RM crits to produce a particularly strong horror vibe.

But I have run this old Shadow World module - The Orgilion Horror 6006 « ICEWEBRING

In my memory at least, it has a horror vibe.

Spoiler

I don't remember all the details, but there were weird illusions/hauntings that got some player attention. And one of the PCs did lead his troop of men-at-arms in pursuit of the doppelganger. In the library, he told the soldiers to "wait here" while he went in to deal with the creature. When he came back out from behind the shelves and told his men the creature had been defeated, of course that was the doppelganger, not the PC!

 

[Committed Hero]

Dread just works, even though/because you're not trying to get frightened by an in-setting element.

My vote is Fear Itself, assuming the mystery you are solving is a good reveal.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

10 Candles. Should get a mention here.

Agree one million percent.

Done correctly and with group buy-in, 10 Candles is the most devastating game that you can play in terms of tragic horror. I have run it with different scenarios that have really lingered for a long time.

I'd also put in a nomination for The Shab Al-Hiri Roach, which is .... just look it up. It's a game that if you really get into the vibe, can be terrifying as well.

 

[Arilyn]

My favourites are:

Trail of Cthulhu: I really like the investigative system in Gumshoe games

Old Gods of Appalachia: I have some qualms with the Cypher system but this game is packed with awesome lore and game hooks

Vaesen: I love the folklore horror in this one and the art is fantastic

The Esoterrorists: Another great gumshoe horror game

 

[ruemere]

In no particular order:

Kult

Pelgrane Press GumShoe games: Nights Black Agents, Trail of Cthulhu, The Yellow King, The Fall of Delta Green, The Esoterrorists, Fear Itself

Invisible Armies

Nephilim

Silent Legions

Achtung! Cthulhu

 

[MGibster]

I've got no beef with any of the opinions expressed, but I couldn't help but notice quite a few of you are of the opinion that best horror game means scariest.

 

[Celebrim]

I've got no beef with any of the opinions expressed, but I couldn't help but notice quite a few of you are of the opinion that best horror game means scariest.

Well, yes. Could you explain why that's not a reasonable thing? Like, shouldn't a good comedy game be the funniest?

 

[Bedrockgames]

The Esoterrorists: Another great gumshoe horror game

I forgot to include this in my list. An outstanding horror game (and I particularly like the presentation of ideas in Esoterrorists compared to later Gumshoe material)