Best Horror Role Playing Game

[MGibster]

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

I specifically said I didn't have any beef with that opinion which must mean I don't find it unreasonable. One of the scariest games I've ever played was Enfocers (1987) which required complex math like calculating square roots (that was complex when I was in 8th grade) to get some derived statistics. The rule book included a spreadsheet for Lotus 1-2-3 to aid in character creation. If I were to suggest a game of GURPS to my players they'd flee in terror but Call of Cthulhu or Kult? Sure.

I guess my point is that the best horror game might not be the scariest. We don't typically say the best fantasy game is the most fantastic or the best science fiction game is the most, uh, sciency. When we talk about the best game in any genre most of us point to the rules and/or the setting as what makes it so great. In the broadest terms, maybe scariest is about the setting?

 

[MGibster]

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)

Esoterrorist really reminded me of Delta Green. If your bosses in Delta Green gave a damn about collatoral damage. Yeah, it's a good game. There was a whole line of Gumshoe games in the same setting including Fear Itself.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Dread (the Jenga tower game). Never has there been a more genius union between game mechanic and emotional tone.

 

[Thomas Shey]

The one I found best put together was Chill 3e. (Note: there are issues with the authors for that game, but I don't think it harms the game itself at least in this case).

 

[Thomas Shey]

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

Depends. It can hit the right vibe but still play badly overall.

 

[jdrakeh]

Over this past year, I've been having a tremendous amount of fun with Vampire 5e and, at least from a mechanics standpoint I feel that it better reinforces the personal horror (particularly the nature of hunger and the beast) than all previous editions of the game. It's really fantastic and I'm glad that the reins were finally handed to a company who knew what to do with it.

 

[GrimCo]

WoD, CoC, 10 candles, for more survival horror- All flesh must be eaten.

D&D in Ravenloft can be good if done right.

From personal experience, how good horror is relies heavily on GMs skill.

 

[Clint_L]

I've played a ton of horror TTRPGs. Dread is not only my favourite, it is my favourite TTRPG overall. I even use it in my creative writing classes to emphasize the importance of building rising tension in a narrative.

10 Candles can be great but I've found it only works with a really experienced group that totally buys into heavy role-playing.

Are we counting Monsterhearts? It's fantastic but plays more like a high school game than a horror game...though I suppose that in itself can be a fine line.

Has anyone here played the new Arkham Horror TTRPG? I absolutely love the Arkham Horror/Eldritch Horror board/card games - is it similar? Although I love CoC and recently ran a campaign, I feel like this might be even better. Plus, I've recently painted up a ton of miniatures from the Cthulhu Death May Die KS, so I think I wanna try this new TTRPG.

 

[dbolack]

Alien is very strong.

And although everyone involved denies it up and down, it's hard to not see True Blood ripping off Vampire: The Masquerade and the rest of the WoD off, left, right and center.

The late 80s one from the Phoenix command folks? Bughunters was also decent at this.

 

[Clint_L]

The late 80s one from the Phoenix command folks? Bughunters was also decent at this.

I played through a short Alien campaign. I didn’t love it; character death was so frequent that it was hard to care much and the options felt very constrained. I found that it played almost like a board game with RPG elements.