How do you run an effective horror campaign?

[Ghostwind]

Here's one for the old discussion boards (I've posted this to a couple of other websites so those that frequent those boards also may recognize this thread). Given that horror campaigns are most effective when done with small gaming groups at night in someone's house, how do you go about crafting an effective campaign where the gaming group meets in the middle of the day at a gaming store? I want to get something going but here are the hurdles:

*Can only be run in the middle of the day on Saturdays.
*Group meets at a gaming store.
*Other games are going on at the same time, so there is a noise level and other distractions to contend with.
*Creating the proper atmosphere is difficult at best.

I've got folks interested in playing a d20 Modern X-Files type horror game but I am at a loss on how to be able to create the setting where the players can suspend belief given the conditions. So what do the horror professionals on this board think? What would you do?

Note: moving the location is not an option.

 

[jaerdaph]

I think the key will be keeping people focused, keeping everyone busy as much as possible, and using the environment to your advantage.

You're going for a modern X-Files style campaign rather than a traditional Gothic theme (with desolate moors, crumbling castles etc.), which implies more "action" and more public, "normal life" scenes interspersed with the scenes designed to provoke horror. To take advantage of the noisy, busy environment you will be playing in, consider including lots of scenes that take place in public places - malls, subway stations etc.

Avoid situations where the party splits up for long periods of time, or one player ends up separated from everyone else. That way other players don't get distracted during their "down time." While being isolated is an important trope for creating the mood in a horror game, it might have to be sacrificed in this environment and other horror tropes emphasized to compensate.

Pick a table as far from the other games as possible. Suggest everyone show up early to get the prime real estate. If there are lulls in the other games going on around you, take advantage of that - don't use plots that are too linear so you can juggle the order of things as needed to adjust to the changes in the environment that might work to your advantage.

Keep everyone focused on the table with lots of props, and I don't mean plastic skulls and candles. Use lots of props even for mundane things. If somebody hands the PC a matchbook with a phone number on it, hand the players a matchbook. Visiting a psychic? Use tarot cards. If the PCs find the body of a police detective, hand them her notebook.

Also, consider using miniatures or counters too to keep people focused on the table.

 

[greywulf]

Yeh, what he said.

Also, I'd be inclined to think about the type of game too. Dark gothic horror might not work too well given the surroundings, but a load of Zomies raiding a Mall in the middle of lunch hour would grab their attention

Think "Horror in Daylight" rather than darkness - at least, to set the scenes and hold the attention at the start. An example:

"The players are directed to the scene of a grisly murder. The half-open apartmentdoor is ajar, though there's no sign of the attending officer who should be standing guard. Daylight streams through the corridor window, throwing a bright edge to the viscuous liquid that's pooled underneath the open doorway. It looks like blood, it's settled on the floor like blood, but........."

Remember, the shadows are darkest in bright sunlight.

Enjoy your game!

 

[diaglo]

split the party up.

tell one half of the group one time to meet and the second half of the group a different time. give them both different background information.

timing of course is key.

the second group needs the information the first group has and vice versa. but the first group needs to get to the key point in time.

obviously this is an event based scenario.

edit: kind of like a night and day shift....

 

[Janx]

Good suggestions.

Keep things moving. Have lots of "random" encounters to throw in when the party slows down. Traffic encounters. Civillians encounters, difficult police. whatever.

A time limit might also help. Players have 5 real hours to solve the mystery of the disappearing dead people before "something bad happens" Kinda like those shows with the clock ticking. 5 hours might represent 24 hours of game time (or whatever conversion rate you need). Obviously somethings the players do is slower than real time (combat), others are faster (like driving to a crime scene).

Props are good. Since it is a modern game, making props is a lot easier. Get some cheap brownish red acrylic paint (<$1) and splatter things with dried blood. Mostly anything you've got lying around works. You can make simple web-pages to represent computer files and such (if some one has a laptop, they can "hack" the site). Once you figure out the javascript to make a fake login page that accepts a hidden password, then redirects to a new page with the real clues, you can reuse it for lots of sites.

Minis usually draw the eye to the table. More so than an plain table with no props or minis. Even if players attention wanders, they'll snap to your game faster when they can glance at the layout and quickly figure out that the previous player just killed 2 goons, and there's only 2 left, instead of them having to ask for a status update from you. Buy some simple HO scale (or larger) minis from the local train store for people and the like. You should easily be able to get cops, civilians and people in suits.

To increase tension, learn to run jump-cut scenes where the split parties (solo, pairs, etc) get only a few minutes to be told the scene, ask a few questions and give a few actions before you cut to the next party. Always be sure to cut right as they start an action that would reveal something (they just open the door to the next room, or the phone rings and they answer it). You can split parties up, but the trick is to not focus on any one group too long. Also, like the X-files, make sure everyone has cell phones/radios. This allows the players to share info readily, even when they're split up and reduces the split-up factor.

Keep the player count down. More people => more lag => more boredom and wandering attention which feedsback into lag.

Janx

 

[tuculus]

The first thing that comes to mind is a scenario where the investigators are in a public space (mall, city park, zoo, airport) searching for a baddie. They must locate and neutralize the threat without endangering the mundanes. This type of thing should account for the noise in the game room.

Kenneth Hite wrote a book called 'Nightmares of mine.' If you can find it I strongly recommend getting it. A quick read and gives major suggestions on running horror games.

Both Unknown Armies and the D20 Cthulhu give excellent tips on running icky genre games.

The best tool you as a game master can use is your players imagination. The art is finding the right balance of detail in descriptions. I tend to give very specific details regarding sensory data (sight, smell, touch, sounds, even taste occasionally) and very general qualitative descriptors.

"You hear what sounds like dragging foot steps coming down the hallway. You see what appears to the outline of a hunched man coming towards you, but it is hard to make out from where you are because the sunlight streaming in behind him is blinding. A rancid extremely sour odor is becoming stronger. "

1. Roll dice occasionally for no reason.
2. Use "it seems" or "it would appear to be" to answer questions.


Example: A PC just unloaded a pistol into some frothing man-thing.
"Is it dead?"

"Seems like it."

Here's one for the old discussion boards (I've posted this to a couple of other websites so those that frequent those boards also may recognize this thread). Given that horror campaigns are most effective when done with small gaming groups at night in someone's house, how do you go about crafting an effective campaign where the gaming group meets in the middle of the day at a gaming store? I want to get something going but here are the hurdles:

*Can only be run in the middle of the day on Saturdays.
*Group meets at a gaming store.
*Other games are going on at the same time, so there is a noise level and other distractions to contend with.
*Creating the proper atmosphere is difficult at best.

I've got folks interested in playing a d20 Modern X-Files type horror game but I am at a loss on how to be able to create the setting where the players can suspend belief given the conditions. So what do the horror professionals on this board think? What would you do?

Note: moving the location is not an option.

 

[Altalazar]

Keep a lot of layers of mystery. Don't explain things. Don't really let there ever be explanations that the players can completely figure out. It is the unknown that is most scary of all.

That's why the x-files lost alot of its zing in later seasons - all the creepy stuff from earlier was now all explained in some vast conspiraccy - the audience knew too much, and then it was just typical sc-fi, not horror.

Always make the players feel they only know about 1-3% of what is going on, at best, and then they will constantly be on their toes.

 

[diaglo]

find out when mail is delivered to the store.

have a package arrive for you during play.

set it to the side.

don't take any questions or delays from the group about opening it. just leave it in view.


build on the suspense. and their curiosity.


edit: this is inspired by the movie Seven

 

[Desdichado]

Buy the d20 Call of Cthulhu book. Read the chapter on Gamemastering. Great reading for any horror GM, of any game. Really; some of the best advice I've seen.

 

[jaerdaph]

Yeah, there's great advice on running horror campaigns in d20 CoC, and Kenneth Hite's Nightmares of Mine mentioned above. I'd also like to add Gareth Hanrahan's Turning the Screw chapter in OGL Horror (Mongoose Publishing) to that list.