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Author Topic: Favorite horror RPGs  (Read 3966 times)

Reefer Madness

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #30 on: March 08, 2006, 12:38:01 AM »
http://terror.snm-hgkz.ch/lovecraft/ (text and palm versions of stories)

and alittle bit easier to read here... http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/
Turning all of our children into hooligans and whores its Reefer Madness.
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Knightcrawler

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #31 on: March 08, 2006, 12:49:17 AM »
Very Nice Reefer!

Okay, stories to read.

  • The Call of Cthulhu
  • The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
  • The Dunwich Horror
  • The Haunter Of The Dark
  • Pickman's Model
  • The Rats in the Walls
  • The Shadow Over Innsmouth
  • Dreams in the Witch-House
Those should give you a good idea.
Knightcrawler

"I Am Become Death, Destroyer Of Worlds"

obryn

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #32 on: March 08, 2006, 02:30:40 AM »
Quote from: Knightcrawler
Its almost impossible to GM a CoC if you've never played.  The only way you could get away with it is if your really familiar with teh d20 system and have read some Lovecraft already.  The best book to get is The Best of H.P. Lovecraft - Bloodcurdling Tales of Horror and the Macabre, by Del Ray.  Its a paperback and is a collection of his best stories, plus its relatively cheap.  If you want to continue there's two more in the same series, The Transition of H.P. Lovecraft - The Road to Madness and The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft - Dreams of Terror and Death.

I agree with the materials above as references, but I think you can run CoC without playing in it if you read the d20 CoC book.  It has some fantastic advice for GMing a horror game.  It covers all the bases - from setting the mood to setting the play environment.  If you read those, you should be pretty set.

The biggest thing to remember is that it's NOT D&D.  Monsters can TPK a party very easily, the PCs combat skills probably suck, and magic items are more likely to fuck you over than help you.  Tension and terror should be built before the characters ever face the threat, and once they face it they should be awed and inclined to run away instead of stay and fight.

-O
 

Knightcrawler

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #33 on: March 08, 2006, 02:50:05 AM »
Quote from: obryn
I agree with the materials above as references, but I think you can run CoC without playing in it if you read the d20 CoC book.  It has some fantastic advice for GMing a horror game.  It covers all the bases - from setting the mood to setting the play environment.  If you read those, you should be pretty set.

The biggest thing to remember is that it's NOT D&D.  Monsters can TPK a party very easily, the PCs combat skills probably suck, and magic items are more likely to fuck you over than help you.  Tension and terror should be built before the characters ever face the threat, and once they face it they should be awed and inclined to run away instead of stay and fight.

-O

True, but if all your doing is reading the Coc d20 book then your going to need to really read it.  As if you were studying for an end of the semester final.  

Another difference your going to have to keep in mind is that the characters are going to die or go insane.  Not maybe, not get hurt and go to a hospital but will either be wiped off the face of the planet (literally) or be driven bug eating, blood drinking, foreign language babbling, batshit insane.  They don't even have to do anything stupid.
Knightcrawler

"I Am Become Death, Destroyer Of Worlds"

obryn

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #34 on: March 08, 2006, 02:57:55 AM »
Quote from: Knightcrawler
Another difference your going to have to keep in mind is that the characters are going to die or go insane.  Not maybe, not get hurt and go to a hospital but will either be wiped off the face of the planet (literally) or be driven bug eating, blood drinking, foreign language babbling, batshit insane.  They don't even have to do anything stupid.

Good point. :D  I'm fantastically pleased where my players' characters are in this process.  The two who have stuck around since the beginning (aka "the ones who run away first") are now down to around 30 SAN each.  They've gotten to 5th or 6th level, too, and their slow descent has been a real pleasure to watch.  Now, all it takes is 6 SAN lost in an hour, and they're insane for a few months.

-O