rythm_rampage said:
The kind of Horror I'm looking for is a subtle kind of horror including weird rituals, gore and very few magic sources.
Unknown Armies, Street Level Campaign would fit.
Or pick up Ghost Stories for nWoD and adapt the adventures there to d20M. I really think its exactly what you are looking for.
You asked for books, but perhaps a little free advice woudl serve just as well?
- One of the keys to creating a feeling of subtle (or really any) horror is to introduce the abnormal into the normal. Start slow at first and build. Making the PCs, and players to a degree, at first uncomfortable and then frightened and then truly terrified.
- Key the sense of somethign odd happening with repeated themes such as colors, words, numbers, smells, etc Find one or two simple triggers that you can easilly remember and are common enough that they wouldn't normally be note worthy and insert them whenever possible. Horror movies make use of lighting or angles, this is the GM version.
- Have the players create detailed backgrounds and use them against the PCs, a rich and detailed reality can help highlight the darkness of your horric elements. It doesn't have to be overt, but something as simple as having a serial killer always hum a PCs mother's favorite song can add an element of horror to the game. Not to mention the possiblity of actual threats to the PCs normal world.
- Use this sparringly, but find out what scares your players and use it. A player is always worried about ID theft? Use it. Afraid of personal violence, home invasion, guns? Use it. Spiders, snakes, amputation? Use it. But carefully.
- Also use the hammer sparingly. The hammer being the overtly obvious horror -whether it be an inhuman creature or violence or gore. The more careful and precise you are in using it the mor effective it will be.
(Example: In game describe a normal day to one of the PCs. Allow the PC to notice that he seems to frequently see the same strange figure out of the corner of his eye in several places. The figure doesn't seem to be following him, but by some astronomical coincidence he seems to be seeing the same image over and over again in ordinary places where he lives and works. In conjunction with that he also notices the number 3, on a sign, in an overheard conversation, etc. One night, around 3:33 AM he thinks someone is in his house. He goes to investigate or calls the police or whatever but there is no sign of a break in. However, in the middle of the floor in the living room is a childs toy. Upon inspection it is beloved toy that the PC lost as a child. The next day there is envelope taped in a public place at work with his name on it, or this could be for a different PC, and no one saw who put it there. It contains a picture of the PC as an infant in his mother's arms. The next day one is under his door mat. In this one he is a toddler. After a few days he notices a strange smell in his house. Its a shoe box containing a dead cat under his bed. The cat is identical to one he owned as a child. Why? Strange ritual? Ghostly unborn twin wants the life of its living sibling? PC going crazy, possessed, or something worse? All depends on your PC, and your player.)
- Thats all in the game. While running the game control your enviroment at the game as best you can. Table talk, breaks, other activities, lighting, background noise, all of it can have an impact on the mind set of the players. If possible, you may want to choose who you invite to this kind of game, and tell them what kind of game you plan on running and how you plan on running it a head of time.
Hmmm...I am sure there is more advice that I or others could give. Maybe later.
(Oh, and Heap - I have mentioned your name to a few people I know who are in publishing in B'ham. I don't know of anything right now, but I will let you know if/when I do.)