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<blockquote data-quote="Retreater" data-source="post: 9386026" data-attributes="member: 42040">So this is something I've struggled with since first attempting to run Call of Cthulhu 30 years ago. I have a classic example of trying to run a version of Shadow Over Innsmouth, and one of the investigators just walks into the center of town, calling out &quot;Come on out, Charlie Tuna!&quot;No horror. No dread. No sense of realism. Not even an appropriate cultural reference for the time period. I thought I had the wrong players (well, in the case of &quot;Charlie Tuna&quot; that was probably right.) Or that I was a bad Keeper/GM/etc. Then I came across something in the past week or so. I think it was a video about Call of Cthulhu or Mothership. Or it might have been in one of the books. (If I remember where I got it, I'll link it in this thread.) But it changed my whole outlook on horror roleplaying.The basic point is that you will NEVER get a group of players to experience real horror. You can mechanicise it for the characters with sanity checks and things, but it will rarely be actually scary. And this designer for Cthulhu or Mothership or whatever went on to say you can't even replicate the fear of watching a horror film or reading a scary book. Players sitting around a table with Doritos and Mountain Dew, looking down at character sheets and dice, they just can't get that immersed. And that's not a fault of the person running the game, the players, or the system.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Retreater, post: 9386026, member: 42040"] So this is something I've struggled with since first attempting to run Call of Cthulhu 30 years ago. I have a classic example of trying to run a version of Shadow Over Innsmouth, and one of the investigators just walks into the center of town, calling out "Come on out, Charlie Tuna!" No horror. No dread. No sense of realism. Not even an appropriate cultural reference for the time period. I thought I had the wrong players (well, in the case of "Charlie Tuna" that was probably right.) Or that I was a bad Keeper/GM/etc. Then I came across something in the past week or so. I think it was a video about Call of Cthulhu or Mothership. Or it might have been in one of the books. (If I remember where I got it, I'll link it in this thread.) But it changed my whole outlook on horror roleplaying. The basic point is that you will NEVER get a group of players to experience real horror. You can mechanicise it for the characters with sanity checks and things, but it will rarely be actually scary. And this designer for Cthulhu or Mothership or whatever went on to say you can't even replicate the fear of watching a horror film or reading a scary book. Players sitting around a table with Doritos and Mountain Dew, looking down at character sheets and dice, they just can't get that immersed. And that's not a fault of the person running the game, the players, or the system. [/QUOTE]

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