Nyarlathotep
Explorer
Okay I'm interested in checking out this Dread game....where can I find it?
Best horror RPG, bar none!
- Thread starter Calico_Jack73
- Start date
), though Dread sounds interesting....
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Here's my review of it, along with links and some interesting commentary from both players and the author.Nyarlathotep said:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=194714
I have to echo many of the sentiments already expressed here. A good horror game really depends more on the person running it than the system. I've seen truly excellent Ravenloft, Call of Cthulhu, and Vampire: the Masquerade games (that even had horror elements). I've also seen many that have been cartoony and boring.
Now, if I had to pick one and only one system in which to run a horror-type game, I'd almost certainly go with Wraith: the Oblivion. Having the player characters as ghosts themselves the way the system is designed forces players to actually design characters beyond numbers on a sheet. They have to have passions, fetters, regrets- in short, a motivation to do things beyond a desire to gain XP and loot.
Now, if I had to pick one and only one system in which to run a horror-type game, I'd almost certainly go with Wraith: the Oblivion. Having the player characters as ghosts themselves the way the system is designed forces players to actually design characters beyond numbers on a sheet. They have to have passions, fetters, regrets- in short, a motivation to do things beyond a desire to gain XP and loot.
Nyarlathotep
Explorer
Okay I just ordered this. Looking forward to seeing it when it finally arrives. So aside from the book, I just need the Jenga game?
Gothmog
First Post
As much as I love BRP Call of Cthulhu, it never has captured the sheer horror of Kult. I've played and GMed all 3 editions, and the latest is the best rules-wise. Kult is the only game I've ever run where players called me a day or so later having had nightmares, and one girl with an axiety disorder had panic attacks from it. 
I tend to specialize in running horror-themed RPGs- even my D&D games and Paranoia games tend to be laced with horror. Call of Cthulhu is more fantasy than horror, and the Cthulhu mythos doesn't quite pack the same punch nowdays, because we realize the universe is a lot bigger and more impersonal than it was thought to be in the 1920s. So hands down, Kult is the big winner of horror RPGs.
That said, I've run and played in quite a few disturbing Deadlands games. Even though Deadlands is geared towards the campy fun of the Evil Dead movies, with a good GM it can become a surreal horror game that can be very good. Deadlands is my favorite RPG of all time- nothing else even comes close for the amount of sheer fun I've derived from a game.
I tend to specialize in running horror-themed RPGs- even my D&D games and Paranoia games tend to be laced with horror. Call of Cthulhu is more fantasy than horror, and the Cthulhu mythos doesn't quite pack the same punch nowdays, because we realize the universe is a lot bigger and more impersonal than it was thought to be in the 1920s. So hands down, Kult is the big winner of horror RPGs.That said, I've run and played in quite a few disturbing Deadlands games. Even though Deadlands is geared towards the campy fun of the Evil Dead movies, with a good GM it can become a surreal horror game that can be very good. Deadlands is my favorite RPG of all time- nothing else even comes close for the amount of sheer fun I've derived from a game.
Celebrim
Legend
Call of Cthullu. Simply put, it is the only one that moves beyond fear or even terror to real horror.
I would also like to put in a good word for Chill 2nd Edition. The great strength of CoC is that the monsters don't care any more for you than you care for a roach. But this abstract alien horror is also a weakness at some level. In Chill, the evil is personal.
I've seen Kult, but never played it. I don't see the attraction. It's not really what I would call 'horror'. If I didn't take the game and its content seriously, then it would seem to be comic nonsense worth at best a few laughs - like say X-Files or Silence of the Lambs. If I did take the game or the questions it raises seriously, then I simply wouldn't play it. Beyond that I can't say much, because we start shading into peoples real world religious beliefs.
There is more than one RPG by the 'Dread' name. The one I was familiar with is much along the lines of Kult. But I gather that the one everyone is praising is the one with the 'Jenga' resolution system. It sounded silly at first, but all these good reports is making me reevaluate it. I'll have to pick up a copy and give it a try.
I would also like to put in a good word for Chill 2nd Edition. The great strength of CoC is that the monsters don't care any more for you than you care for a roach. But this abstract alien horror is also a weakness at some level. In Chill, the evil is personal.
I've seen Kult, but never played it. I don't see the attraction. It's not really what I would call 'horror'. If I didn't take the game and its content seriously, then it would seem to be comic nonsense worth at best a few laughs - like say X-Files or Silence of the Lambs. If I did take the game or the questions it raises seriously, then I simply wouldn't play it. Beyond that I can't say much, because we start shading into peoples real world religious beliefs.
There is more than one RPG by the 'Dread' name. The one I was familiar with is much along the lines of Kult. But I gather that the one everyone is praising is the one with the 'Jenga' resolution system. It sounded silly at first, but all these good reports is making me reevaluate it. I'll have to pick up a copy and give it a try.
Nyarlathotep
Explorer
Piratecat said:
Is there a thread over on Circvs that expands your review? I've read a few comments about it but can't find it...
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