How do I make my CoC game SCARY?

[JesterPoet]

Well, I'm a newbie here so forgive me if this question has been posted many times over...

I'm going to be starting a d20 Call of Cthulhu game as soon as I get the book and have it read. I've played old-school CoC a couple of times and really enjoyed it. But I have never run the game before.

I am looking forward to running a game that will scare the bejeezus out of my players, but don't really know where to begin. My experience is with running D&D (2e&3e), 7th Sea, Deadlands, Vampire, etc... Vampire can be scary, but not Lovecraftian scary.

I have reasonably good players, so that shouldn't be too much of an issue. But once I learn the system, where do we go from there? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

>Jester<

 

[Eben]

Well, as I pointed out in another CoC thread, Lovecraft is not BOO scary, but WOOHOO scary.
Work a lot with suggestion. Don't throw a lot of monsters around or have hordes of cultists assault your players.
But suggest you might do it. Suggest they might be followed. Suggest it might be something that's not quite human.
And yes, let them see a glimpse occasionally.
Example: a party enters the coastal city of Insmouth. It seems to be a quit out-of-the-way town. Play up the forboding atmosphere that seems to emmanate from the ocean. Casually mention an NPC with slightly bulgin eyes.
Eventually your players will try and do something scenario-wise and this might result in a minor encounter with a lesser deep one. (Who preferably chases off the PC's.)
From that moment on, the smel of fish will be scary!

 

[kengar]

Good suggestions on Jesters part. It has been said the best way to scare someone is let them do it themselves. Their imagination is their own worst enemy.

 

[Illrein]

I've never read anything by Lovecraft, but both of my brothers have, so I know bits and pieces about it. I thought I'd go ahead and give a suggestion. Horror games are easy to run if you know what to go for. You just need a specific goal. Environment is one of the best things to create that is scary. If you've ever played "Silent Hill 2", you know that it isn't what you see that scares you, it's what you don't see. Clive Barker, writer of books such as "Weave World" and "The Inhuman Condition", created the basis for the "Hellraiser" series. The latest edition to it, "Hellraiser: Inferno", was very scary (at least to me it was) and they didn't have to use the over-abused frightening tactics that horror movies have today. They used the fear that we already have. The greatest fear of all is the fear of the unknown.

 

[cybernetic]

Here's a thread I started a couple days ago about setting the the mood for Cthulhu games....

http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8778

and also try reading some of Lovecraft's works to gather inspiration....you can read many of his stories here online for free.....
http://www.gizmology.net/lovecraft/works/index.htm

 

[jkantor]

Following up on what Eben said: The same way you make any game scary, wondrous, or just plain interesting - don't use anything in its plain vanilla form from the books.

Every npc, creature, and encounter needs to be unique - and in Cthulhu - potentially deadly. Players should never know quite what they are up against.

Of course, Cthulhu is based around the premise that NPCs don't kill characters - Elder Gods do. (Smart PCs run from Elder Gods.) The essence of a Cthulhu adventure is figuring out how to defeat the minions - while avoiding a gruesome death at the hand of things "man was not meant to understand."

So actually I think it's easier to create a scary Cthulhu scenario than a D&D one. In D&D everyone knows that anything can be killed given the right combination of levels, magic items, etc. The problem with D20 Cthulhu is that a lot of "hack-and-slashers" are going to try - with explosives, artillery, poison gas, tactical nukes or whatever else you allow them to get their hands on. So watch what you give them. They should feel like the soft pink (or brown, yellow, red, etc) and squishily vulnerable things they are.

 

[Darklance]

Did Monte write an article about this? I think he did. Anyone have the link?

 

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

Suggestiveness

I once had my players come across a dining room table in a haunted house. They shone a flash light on it, and found long grooves lengthwise in the table. As they ran their light along it, they saw blood pooled here and there along the grooves. Finally, as they got to the end of the groove, they saw finger nails torn off. Apparently, whatever had dragged off that person, he had grabbed the table so tightly that his nails were torn off.

Half the players on the table looked like they were about to get sick.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Bring a gun, and shoot one of your players in the leg. Then smile. I guarantee you that your players will be scared sh*tless.

However, if you are simply intrested in creating a horror atmosphere, the technique is not too difficult to master. Simply create events that are completely inexplicable but internally consistent within the game. Have them find a baby laughing playfully as it plays with the exposed organs of its mother. After developing some nasty stomach aches, inform them that there is a small blood red fish in the toilet simming among their excrement after they use the toilet. You can even get a pretty decent reaction from your players by mentioning a yellow cat every time something bad happens, and then having them come across a yellow cat.

And that technique has the advantage of not violating any firearm control laws or causing bloodshed.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

3 Sure-Fire Ways to Run A Successful Horror Adventure!

This is so easy, and works every time...

1) Whenever a player asks you a question and you want to throw them off-balance (engendering feelings of fear and confusion), simply answer them with "appears to be," "seems to be" or "you think it is." This freaks people out, because they think you are holding back some vital piece of (dangerous) information. Be sure and grin evilly if they demand a more specific answer, then say nothing or repeat your previous answer.

Ex.: "The eyes in the portrait don't appear to be moving..."
Ex.: "Everything seems to be normal..."
Ex.: "You don't think the substance is blood... at least not human blood."

2) Describe as much of the setting as possible to create atmosphere.

Ex.: "The slime-dripping walls are cold to the touch, as if they were blocks of ice trapping all the evil of a thousand years in their terrible embrace."

Ex: "Just ahead, Jill stops rather abruptly as she is about to turn the corner. At first, you think she is turning around to say something to you, but then you notice the gaping red slit in her throat. She tumbles to the ground as a cadaverous-looking man steps into view, holding a scalpel. Behind you, the sound of the door locking from the other side reverberates like thunder in your head. You are trapped! The grinning madman creeps slowly toward you..."

3) Be sure and throw in "red herrings" and "bump in the night" noises. These scare the hell out of players.

Ex.: "Lightning rips the sky. In the sudden flash of light, you think you see a gnarled figure crouching near the base of the old tree on the hill, like some ghastly gargoyle atop a cathedral... (if players advance) But when you reach the spot, there is nothing there. Perhaps your eyes were playing tricks on you. Old Charlie, the gnarled gravedigger, went home hours ago... or did he?"

Ex.: "You step out into the impenetrable blackness of the hall, feeling for the railing to the stairs... As your hand clutches the bannister and you begin your descent to the mansion's ground floor, an ominous creaking seems to follow you. Could someone--or something--be following you? You stop moving, and the noise stops when you do. It is then that you feel the cold breath on the back of your neck, covering your flesh in goosebumps of terror!" (a window was left open and a chill breeze is blowing in... there's no one behind the player, but they will probably be convinced there is a ghost stalking them!)

That's it. 3 simple rules to follow for a ghoulish good time Game Mastering! Enjoy.