Widow's Bay and Horror Campaigns

[Reynard]

And, to follow this on into the central topic of the thread, this is why horror is difficult in TTRPGs. Inducing an actual fear reaction in players - who are archetypically sitting around a well-lit dining room table with dice, snacks, with enough times between turns to futz on their smartphones - is hard. Maintaining fear over the course of a session, or a campaign, is even harder.

Not impossible, but harder.

Which is why I think pushing the kind of psych horror we see in WB might work better. Asking players to make THOSE choices will affect them, not just the characters

 

[JConstantine]

And, to follow this on into the central topic of the thread, this is why horror is difficult in TTRPGs. Inducing an actual fear reaction in players - who are archetypically sitting around a well-lit dining room table with dice, snacks, with enough times between turns to futz on their smartphones - is hard.

It's just like watching a horror movie: one needs to want (or at least be willing) to be scared. If you sit down in a brightly lit room, joking with friends and checking your phone, the movie is not going induce fear either. So draw the curtains, put the phones away, and settle in.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Does horror have to come with a body count?

No, there are much worse things than dying.

 

[dbm]

We’re on holiday in Cornwall this week and today there is a sea fog overlapping the shore.

Very evocative of Widow’s Bay!

 

[Reynard]

We’re on holiday in Cornwall this week and today there is a sea fog overlapping the shore.

Very evocative of Widow’s Bay!

Years ago we took the kids on a Maine vacation and when the fog rolled in -- which I had never seen before, being from the midwest -- I immediately thought, "Oh, that's why Stephen King is the way he is."

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Speaking as someone who grew up near the sea: "you guys never seen this?!"

The best one though, was the first time I visited Whitby. You couldn't sea your hand in front of your face when the fog covered the town.

 

[dbm]

Today we went to Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, which were amazing…

And even had a way point in them…

But on the way back that sea fog still loomed large!

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think Cornwall is a little to bright for horror. Oh, wait a minute, The Plague of the Zombies, City Under the Sea, Enys Men...

 

[VashVet]

Growing up in Northern California near the coast meant being very familiar with fog, and foggy nights were the absolute best when we’d play CoC or a Ravenloft adventure!

 

[Maxperson]

existential is potential body count.
Psychological horror, without a body count, is just suspense

No. Suspense is just uncertainty about what is going to happen. You can terrorize someone with images, sounds, threats, and more, which would be psychological horror, not mere suspense.