horror games that you love (that aren't 'world of darkness' or cthulhu related.)

[heks]

looking through my old copy of the 'chill' rulebook and remembering how much affection i have for it (even with its flaws) has led me to wonder: what horror rpgs have you loved that aren't explicitly derived from hpl and company or 'world/chronicles of darkness?'

 

[MGibster]

You've reminded my of just how few horror games I've played over the years.

Esoterrorist from Pelgrane Press- This is a lot like Delta Green if Delta Green were actually good guys. You're members of an organization whose tasked with stopping and keeping secret incursions of the supernatural from the Outer Dark. I remember one game we played where we had to wait for the supernatural entity to kill three more people before we could stop it. I mean we knew the murders were coming, and there was literally nothing that could be done until they happened.
Fear Itself from Pelgrane Press - This has the same setting as Esoterrorist, but your characters are normal people isntead of highly trained agents. This is a great system for running more intimate horror type games like teenagers spending time at the Camp Crystal Lake or something.

Beyond the Supernatural from Palladium Games - It's been more than thirty years since I've actually played it, but I remember having a lot of fun with it back in the day. It was first released in the 80s, and it has a very 1970s In Search Of.... vibe to it. And if you don't remember In Search Of... on television, man, I feel old.

Nightlife by Stellar Games - This little gem was released very shortly before Vampire the Masquerade was published. In Nightlife, your character could be a vampire, demon, a ghost, a Frankenstein like monster, an Inuit (Native American spirit and, oh boy, that name wouldn't fly today), or a werewolf. You prey on humans, live in secret in New York, dress real cool, listen to awesome music, and you can even join factions. Again, another game where it's been 30 years since I've played it.

Chill from Mayfair Games - I don't remember anything about this game, other than you had to find a monster's particular weakness in order to defeat it. And someo of them were crazy. There was one that you had play a song on a flute created from the wood of a particular type of tree that was X years old.

 

[John R Davis]

Chill I'm a big fan of ( and have multiple copies of many editions).

Dread Jenga is a good tension builder.

Ocean is a good downward spiral survival-horror.

Casting the Runes models M.R. James ghost stories very well.

 

[overgeeked]

Alien RPG. All Flesh Must Be Eaten. Cryptworld. Demon Hunters. Dread. Everyone is John. Fate Horror Toolkit. Fear Itself. Ghostbusters. GORE. GURPS Horror. Hellboy 5E. InSpectres. Kult. Kult Divinity Lost. League of Gothic Horror. Macabre Tales. Monster of the Week. Monsters and Other Childish Things. Mothership. Nightbane. Nights Black Agents. Outbreak. Over the Edge. Something Wicked. Stay Alive. Stories from the Grave. Tales from the Crypt. The Laundry. The Whispering Vault. Unknown Armies. Vaesen. Victorian Gothic. Weird War (SaWo). Zombicide Chronicles. Zombie World.

 

[gamerprinter]

I'm very biased, being one of the authors, developer and kind of a co-publisher (published as an imprint under Rite Publishing, but I share in copyright, own the IP, and split the profits...), is the Kaidan setting of Japanese Horror (PFRPG) - a more authentic feudal Japan setting steeped in ghosts and spirits. Almost a cross between OA and Ravenloft, though not quite - it's brand of horror is unique to it.

 

[MGibster]

Alien RPG. All Flesh Must Be Eaten. Cryptworld. Demon Hunters. Dread. Everyone is John. Fate Horror Toolkit. Fear Itself. Ghostbusters.

I didn't even consider Alien, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, or Ghostbusters even though I actually own two of those and have played all three. I was thinking Ghostbusters was getting in as a technicality, but I've tought of it more as a comedy for so long that I often forget there were some genuinely scary things in the original. Sure, Slimer wasn't all that scary, but that cab driver sure was.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I didn't even consider Alien, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, or Ghostbusters even though I actually own two of those and have played all three. I was thinking Ghostbusters was getting in as a technicality, but I've tought of it more as a comedy for so long that I often forget there were some genuinely scary things in the original. Sure, Slimer wasn't all that scary, but that cab driver sure was.

Likewise. Only one or two items on that list are remotely horror.

 

[Blue Orange]

Anyone mention Don't Rest Your Head? I actually have the book of short fiction somewhere.

 

[Tonguez]

Vaesen - I really enjoy its Nordic folk horror vibe
FATE Horror Toolkit - FATE lets you run anything
Lost Souls (by HauntedAttic) - you play a ghost (or other undead)
English Eerie - an MRJames inspired journalling game

 

[aramis erak]

looking through my old copy of the 'chill' rulebook and remembering how much affection i have for it (even with its flaws) has led me to wonder: what horror rpgs have you loved that aren't explicitly derived from hpl and company or 'world/chronicles of darkness?'

I'm only including ones I'm very familiar with...

• Buffy/Angel... two RPGs, one setting. Unisystem Light
• Army of Darkness ... Also Unisystem Light,
• Ghosts of Albion. 19th C buffy without the overt sexism, Also Unisystem Light. Forward by Amber Benson, who played Tara on BTVS...
• Vaesen (Year Zero Engine)
• Alien (Year Zero Engine). Runs well, plays equally well in one-shot cinematic play and campaign mode play. And the aliens are, just barely, beatable.

Of those, I've not run AoD nor GoA, but since the mechanics are 98% identical to BTVS...
Then, the biggest, "We're not open about it, but yeah, HPL was an inflluence:

• Warhammer FRP (and the other warhammer lines) are obviously (but not explicitly) derived in part from HPL; If one isn't clued in to HPL, and avoids the chaos cults elements, the Cthulhu elements are inobvious.

I've not run it as intended, but Sorcerer by Ron Edwards is technically on the edge of horrorl