How Horrible do you like your Horror? How Crazy your Cthulhu?

[Gomez]

What about it? Isn't that the primary goal of every GM for every game?

What? Isn't it?

I certainly think so! I consider it a job well done as a GM!

 

[Gomez]

I ran a 1920's Call of Cthulhu game set in San Francisco. One of my players who didn't know too much about Cthulhu mythos began to frequent a dockside speakeasy/brothel. Needless to say his character who happened to have a foot fetish (don't ask) decided to spend some time with one of the ladies at the club. She was a cute little Polynesian number with big eyes, a thin athletic build, and webbed feet. His character really thought that the webbed feet were a bonus!

When I plan on continuing the game, his character will have a nice visit from the above-mentioned lady with a bundle of joy in her hands. That’s when the real terror will begin.

 

[takyris]

My games lean more toward Hellboy, but I'm pushing them more in to the scared/functional.

Masada, not to pick on you, but why?

If your group wanted to play scared/dysfunctional, they'd probably be playing scared/dysfunctional. I'm not saying that it isn't a valid gaming style, but it doesn't seem to be what your group wants, based on what you've just written.

A viable solution, if you want more scared and they're giving you Hellboy, is to talk with them out of game or run a one-shot with PCs you've generated, letting them know that a) their PCs are everymen, not superheroes, and b) you'll be having them roll Will saves to avoid becoming Shaken or Panicked at various points in the game.

(That's what I did with a change-of-pace one-shot. Made 6th-level characters, many of whom weren't much good in a fight. A 6th-level hero with a BAB of +2 and 23 hit points is not going to stand near those zombies for long... but with her Will save of +6, she'll be much cooler under stress (if I call for DC15 Will saves against Fear, for example) than the gun-toting badass with the Will save of +1.)

For me, after trying faithfully to make horror stuff and having my players joke about tentacles and Cthulhu stuff even while their characters were being killed, I got the message that my players really didn't do horror.

And Cthulhu has sort of passed the point of horror and gone fully into camp, from what I've seen. If I really want to scare people, I make my own monsters and avoid conspicuous tentacles -- and in fact, don't let anyone see the thing until it's killing them.

One of the issues with d20 Modern is the lack of Horror type encounters--which is what I play most often. After years of D&D we tend to forget that if something as big as a house roar in anger right in our face... we'd prolly flood our boots and flee.

Agree there. After running my big D&D campaign, I wanted to switch to d20 Modern. I ran two one-shots -- the horror one I mentioned above, with Will saves and low-combat-utility PCs, and an all-combat free-for-all to show people how fast and ugly combat could be with the Massive Damage Threshold. After seeing his 10th-level guy killed on the first round by high damage and a low save, at least one player was all over the "seek cover and run away from big stuff" mentality in other d20 Modern games.

I'm all for "battle hardened" when it is due. But low level modern characters should still be affected by the grim and grizzly scenes.

Totally agree in the average game. Given how rarely the Will save comes up in non-magic-using games, I think simply adding a DC15 Will save in stressful situations (modified as the GM feels appropriate) to avoid becoming shaken for 2d6 rounds, or to avoid becoming panicked if already shaken, goes a long way -- and makes the Smart and Dedicated heroes a bit more relevant, even if they aren't doing tons of damage. It also makes the Daredevil class a bit more useful than "guy who boosts his ability scores", which is the only reason my players take it right now. (Re: saves: I usually go with "if you get 15+, you're fine, if you get 10-14, you're shaken, if you get 9 or below, you're panicked", and as a quick and dirty solution, it works well.)

 

[ragboy]

I prefer something in between Hellboy and UA when running or playing a horror game. I subscribe to the notion that your hero should be kicked in the teeth over and over until he cries: I'm fed up and I'm not gonna take it anymore!

The dark cloud of doom, insanity, and death should hang over their head until something they achieve gives them respite... that's my philosophy.

 

[Rafael Ceurdepyr]

We've played all of the above. CoC is really my favorite, although we've only ever fought cultists and mostly run screaming from stuff like Hounds of Tindalos. [Although there was that Buffy game I ran using the Shanghai section of the original version Masks of Nyarlathotep. The slayer, a 1920s Asian woman, and her watcher actually killed a shoggoth. Er, did I mention I screwed up and overlooked a lot of its abilities?? But I digress.]

And some of us in our group would prefer a higher level of horror than we ever play. The one time we played a UA campaign, two of the group didn't like it. OK, to be honest, my husband HATED it. Truth to tell, I don't think I could play it at the higher levels very successfully.

Er, did I have a point? Ah yes. Horror games are great, no matter what their level. The Hellboy one we played was lots of fun.

 

[Marius Delphus]

Ah, Ravenloft, we hardly knew ye...

I voted "Hellboy" but I like to get a touch more trepidation out of my players when I'm running Ravenloft. That and the sigh of relief when nobody's character is too severely hosed by the end of a session.

"Insert Druid Scream Here" and "So, You Touch It?" have come to refer to this style of gaming among Those Who Were There (and a Few Who Weren't but Are Still Amused by Certain Anecdotes of Fine Vintage). The heroes generally prevail, but only if they can hold it together (and their players can keep from fearing for their characters too greatly). Of course we're all aware it's just a game... but still.

I'm very much looking forward to running a Druid Scream game next weekend... assuming I can get the noteworthy stuff ready by then: a creepy kit-bash of Steam and Steel, d20 Past, Ravenloft, Libris Mortis, and a few other Kibbles of Terror.

 

[Wraith Form]

Somewhere between CoC and UA. I like the threat of characters losing it all, going insane, dying, and having their souls taken to be tortured for all eternity by some mind-blasting daemonic entity, but I don't want it to actually be a given that it will happen.

Exactly.

Once again, I find myself wondering how fun your game(s) would be, Josh! Seems like everything that you like/do in your games are stuff that I'd appreciate & enjoy..!

Would it be safe to assume that the "Hellboy" level is approximately equivalent to the "Buffy/Angel" level? I'm running a Angel/Unisystem-based game, and while I prefer my horror ratcheted up a bit more at least I'm gaming....

 

[radferth]

I voted for UA level, but keep in mind that's in my D&D game.

 

[The_Universe]

I prefer the Hellboy level - maybe a little bit darker than that, but not much more. I spend enough time feeling like a cog in an enormous and terrible machine that I don't particularly want it cluttering my fantasy/roleplaying. I prefer to imagine a place where the implacable horrors are defeatable.

 

[Desdichado]

Once again, I find myself wondering how fun your game(s) would be, Josh! Seems like everything that you like/do in your games are stuff that I'd appreciate & enjoy..!

If you're ever in the Detroit area, feel free to drop in!

Would it be safe to assume that the "Hellboy" level is approximately equivalent to the "Buffy/Angel" level? I'm running a Angel/Unisystem-based game, and while I prefer my horror ratcheted up a bit more at least I'm gaming....

I'd think so.