Fantasy horror setting help

[Rechan]

I am looking at running some short (1-5 session) horror games and I was thinking of setting some or most in the same world, but I haven’t really nailed much down. But I’m trying to think of a fantasy world / situation that would lend itself to horror. And each game, while it might be unconnected, explores and shows what happened on this world.

What I’ve kind of been pondering is a sort of a fantasy post apocalyptic situation. Kind of like Earthdawn, where you have a typical fantasy world until the Far Realms-like dimension breaches reality, and people have went underground, but also here they’ve turned to various dark forces to hold it back, so you have towns/individuals turning to the undead or Hell, etc, just to not be rent asunder.

Unlike most games, the PCs are not heroes, they are not trained combatants. This is not Aliens, where marines with heavy fire power encounter nightmare monsters. Instead the feel I’m going for is Alien, blue collar non combatants with no real means of defense get thrust into terrible situations and must avoid and run from things that attack them to survive. The main thrust of the game is exploring spooky places, seeing creepy things, and trying to survive it/solve the situation narratively (bury the ghost on holy ground, etc). Sort of like 1e adventures, but without fighting or emphasis on traps

Which makes writing adventures kind of tough because the characters need motivation to go forth, to put them in the situations in the first place, when they are woefully unequipped. Why they aren’t staying on their relative “safe haven”, etc.

One adventure I’m thinking of is the PCs wake up with no memory inside an underground lab. So the plot is just escape the lab and figure the mystery of who they are. I’m thinking they wed test subjects, some group trying to create bodies to jump into, or experiments to resist what was coming, until the lab was overtaken.

Another maybe the underground haven collapses from an earthquake, and they are forced to venture into the unknown to find a new place to live. Or their haven is running out of a crucial resource, which means looking for more.

Anyways, just looking for ideas/flesh for this skeleton

 

[Nagol]

There's the game Desolation, which is a high-magic post-apocalyptic game. I thought the premise was OK, but the game engine was meh.

For your specific requirements though, you're creating a motivation conflict that isn't necessary. People don't search for horror: horror finds them. The time people encounter horror in new situations is when the situation is expected to be mundane or at worst exceptional, but not particularly unusual... but this time it isn't. If the protagonist is seeking danger, finding it isn't horrific, generally -- it's more survival action-adventure.

So what this means don't look for proactive actions from the players. Either insert them into a situation in media res or at a bare minimum frame the initial scene in a way that the fateful decision to enter the realm of terror is already made. This should work fine for a short (1-5) set of sessions or adventures. Your initial scene of waking up in the lab is a good example of this.

If you want to get really fancy, depending on GM style, have the solution to a particular scenario force the PCs into the next. This would tend to work reasonably well once, but gets old pretty quick and, again depending on style, runs serous risk of TPK, adventure derailment, and more especially of player exhaustion.

As for flesh on a skeleton: it needs a lot more bones first. Decide the style of horror, pick an appropriate antagonist/motivating force, That'll probably give you an 'natural'/appropriate setting.

Isolation is a common theme for horror scenarios -- both to place strong limits on player action/resources and to ramp up the helplessness angle.

Common isolation tropes
Mysteriously brought to a sealed environment -- initial motivation investigation/escape
Castaway/shipwreck survivors -- initial motivation exploration / basic survival
Imprisioned -- initial motivation escape
Investigating a remote locale -- initial motivation exploration / investigation (typically more 'professional' characters)

 

[Rechan]

I don’t know what you mean by pick an antagonist. For the entire setting? Because I want to do different things. I don’t want the same monster/threat from one campaign to the next. One may be the ghost adventure and the next a freaky body horror adventure. No setting I can think of has a singular antagonist for every confrontation.

And I don’t understand your point about going to horror when your examples—castaways, going to investigate a thong, being imprisoned—is all about going to the horror, not it com in g to Th em. They are changing locations are they not? And I don’t see much a difference between “you are shipwrecked” and “your coven home collapses, you must find somewhere else to live”; “you are sent to investigate” vs “you are sent out to find a new food source before everyone starved”. They all are starting, as you say, after a choice has been made.

Horror isn’t solely the mundane and expected becoming subverted. It’s also the unknown. The characters are forced to venture into places they have no idea what to expect, against their will, into places they know are dangerous, because they have no choice. That’s not “action adventure”, that’s a disaster movie, where survivors have to scrape by and struggle to get out of the disaster.

Besides, the mundane expectations will be when what they find Appears normal and familiar.

 

[Nagol]

I don’t know what you mean by pick an antagonist. For the entire setting? Because I want to do different things. I don’t want the same monster/threat from one campaign to the next. One may be the ghost adventure and the next a freaky body horror adventure. No setting I can think of has a singular antagonist for every confrontation.

1-5 sessions in my universe is 1-3 adventures, tops. It's be easy to present a singular antagonist in an opening adventure and then a 'sequel' or secondary encounter with the same foe (or the one in charge of the initial antagonist). But if your universe is closer to 1 session == 1 adventure then sure pick a few antagonists and run independent sessions.

And I don’t understand your point about going to horror when your examples—castaways, going to investigate a thong, being imprisoned—is all about going to the horror, not it com in g to Th em. They are changing locations are they not? And I don’t see much a difference between “you are shipwrecked” and “your coven home collapses, you must find somewhere else to live”; “you are sent to investigate” vs “you are sent out to find a new food source before everyone starved”. They all are starting, as you say, after a choice has been made.

They aren't seeking it or adventure of any type. It is being thrust upon them regardless of their choice. Shipwrecked / home collapses are effectively identical, but 'go out and find..." isn't. The expectation of danger and the implied ability to fight it off are different. It's why the movie Predator is often considered less a horror than Alien despite having near identical plot arcs; the team in the jungle is there looking for trouble, the team in the spacecraft is not. But you do you; it's not going to affect my sensibilities one way or another..

Horror isn’t solely the mundane and expected becoming subverted. It’s also the unknown. The characters are forced to venture into places they have no idea what to expect, against their will, into places they know are dangerous, because they have no choice. That’s not “action adventure”, that’s a disaster movie, where survivors have to scrape by and struggle to get out of the disaster.

Besides, the mundane expectations will be when what they find Appears normal and familiar.

I agree there are a bunch of aspects to horror. I'll just note you described a whole raft of non-horror plots and many D&D modules. Venturing into places with no idea what to expect they know are dangerous because they have no choice is a pretty common riff for action-adventure and even some heavy drama.

But whatever you like. You seem to have your own preferences already.

 

[Rechan]

1-5 sessions in my universe is 1-3 adventures, tops. It's be easy to present a singular antagonist in an opening adventure and then a 'sequel' or secondary encounter with the same foe (or the one in charge of the initial antagonist). But if your universe is closer to 1 session == 1 adventure then sure pick a few antagonists and run independent sessions.

Oh. I guess I wasn’t clear.

I meant a single adventure, then new characters, new location. I just don’t know how long that one adventure may take, so I’m leaving room. But the last thread I did here, folks assumed I meant long campaigns.

They aren't seeking it or adventure of any type. It is being thrust upon them regardless of their choice. Shipwrecked / home collapses are effectively identical, but 'go out and find..." isn't. The expectation of danger and the implied ability to fight it off are different. It's why the movie Predator is often considered less a horror than Alien despite having near identical plot arcs; the team in the jungle is there looking for trouble, the team in the spacecraft is not. But you do you; it's not going to affect my sensibilities one way or another..

I define “going looking for trouble” as in going out with he intention to fight someone or take their stuff. Treasure hunting. Foot natives. “Get natural resources” is not looking for trouble any more than going to the store is. It is Riskier, but the group is not rubbing their hands together saying “can’t wait to mix it up”.

Anyways. I’m looking for details to put in the setting, and scenarios to put The PCs in that danger. In line with what I’ve outlined.

 

[generic]

I love your setting idea.

As for a suggestion, I would recommend, having run a few horror games in my day, that the motivation of the players might be one given to them by a questgiver, perhaps, a local lord, shaman, or demon/undead overseer who took them in after they escaped the underground laboratory compound. Maybe, if the players want to earn their way into an infernal guild which guarantees safety for its members, they have to close rifts or retrieve ancient relics for their infernal questgiver. The culmination of the adventure could be the party finally gaining access to the guild, and retiring in perfect safety, protected by the strength of the guild.

There are many other routes which could be explored, but this is what came to my mind as I was typing this.

 

[Rechan]

Hm! I had intended to retire those lab characters once they escape, but giving a second mission with that incentive makes some sense.

Especially because my intention is to use the blank slates with no memory as a way to introduce the world without foreknowledge. So then going to a town, seeing the stage, and earning their entry makes sense.

I haven’t quite nailed down the experiment being done with them yet.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Just thinking of some familiar movies from which you could draw inspiration (besides Alien):

Tremors
30 Days of Night
Night of the Living Dead
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Day of the Triffids
5 Million Years To Earth
The Naked Prey
The Mist
The Monster That Challenged The World
Cabin Fever
Friday the 13th
The Thing
The Intruder Within (made for TV Alien ripoff)
It Waits
Jeepers Creepers
Blair Witch Project
Deep Rising
House on Hunted Hill
Westworld (the original movie)
Logan’s Run
Most episodes of Doctor Who*

All of them- and a host of similar movies/knockoffs- have elements you’re looking for, like non- or semiheroic main characters who find themselves in terrible circumstances.

Several could be mined for repeated adventures with different characters.





* if you just use the plots and edit out the Time Lord

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Why they aren’t staying on their relative “safe haven?

In these kinds of scenarios, there’s always some kind of time pressure. Whatever it is, it gives the players a ticking clock in their brain.

There aren’t enough resources to wait out the threat.

Help won’t arrive in time.

The safe haven is only safe for a certain amount of time, because it will either be breached or destroyed in some way. Perhaps the safe haven can be returned to safety, but doing so requires someone leave its protection to make it so.

There is a traitor in the group’s midst.

 

[Imaculata]

One adventure I’m thinking of is the PCs wake up with no memory inside an underground lab. So the plot is just escape the lab and figure the mystery of who they are. I’m thinking they were test subjects, some group trying to create bodies to jump into, or experiments to resist what was coming, until the lab was overtaken.

I'm going to play the part of devil's advocate here a bit, and say that I'm not a fan of this trope. I don't like the memory loss plot device. It is in my opinion a bit cheap and unoriginal, no offense intended.

I feel it robs the players of a bit of grounding and control. Rather than throwing the players straight into situation where they have no control, I prefer it when a horror campaign starts with the players being in control and gradually losing it. Speaking as both a DM and a player.

Another maybe the underground haven collapses from an earthquake, and they are forced to venture into the unknown to find a new place to live. Or their haven is running out of a crucial resource, which means looking for more.

I like this concept better. I think you'll want to combine an original theme with an original objective. In horror it is the unknown that often forms a fantastic source of suspense. In that respect, maybe a mystery is at the heart of the objective. Maybe their sudden lack of resources is unexpected and sudden, and ties directly to the main plot. Maybe something strange has happened to motivate them to find a new safe haven. Maybe they've received a mysterious message that motivates them to go on their journey.

I'm currently working on a plot for a future horror game, that takes place in 1930's London. The initial catalyst to the adventure will be a strange house with a troubled history, that suddenly started emitting loud and terrifying noises. The players are sent to investigate, but other parties are also interested and will interfere with their plans. As the players explore the house, they learn more about its bizarre and terrifying history, and a mysterious world opens up to them beyond their imagination.

Thus a spooky mystery is at the heart of the plot and the reason for the adventure. The adventure starts fully grounded in reality but slowly unravels into a situation where the players are starting to lose all control.

What you could do, is give the players a simple angle (such as, you are a part of a secret organization), and allow them to write how their character fits into it all. Or alternatively, give them a list of plothooks that they can choose from, to determine how their character fits into the plot. And then of course keep those plothooks a secret and let them be revealed by the players over time.

Another thing I like to do, is give the players a bunch of black envelopes, containing a list of possible secrets for their characters. They pick one spooky secret that they find interesting, and it is then up to them to keep that secret or there will be a penalty. But of course the plot will touch upon each of these secrets, which puts the players in a situation where they obviously have secret knowledge but can't tell their fellow players. This creates a feeling of paranoia among the players, because their lives may depend on the secret information that they are keeping from each other.