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Author Topic: Favorite horror RPGs  (Read 3967 times)

ColonelHardisson

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #15 on: March 01, 2006, 05:09:47 AM »
Quote from: Nicephorus
I have CoC D20 but haven't played it.  It seems to do some things better than the BRP version as long as you can get past the fact that it doesn't have to play like D&D.


I played in a d20 CoC campaign. Any notion that it could be played like D&D quickly went out the window. In fact, having played both versions, I can say that the d20 version may be even more effective than the original. Here's how: in the original, the PCs just never seemed all that effective, ever, no matter how much they improved. In the d20 version, as characters increase in level and seem to become more effective, the players begin to believe they can handle just about anything. The lie was put to this as soon as we confronted anything Mythos-related. All the carefully-cultivated levels and accompanying abilities proved pretty much useless.
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4e definitely has an Old School feel. If you disagree, cool. I won't throw any hyperbole out to prove the point.

kryyst

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #16 on: March 01, 2006, 06:27:05 AM »
Original CoC is probably my favorite, followed by Kult which is a game that could be king if the mechanics didn't occasionally get in the way.  Then there is always Chill a rare game that spoke of death and despair like few others.  Lastly there is SLA Industries, which even though it's Sci-Fi is at it's heart a horror game.  It's unfortunate the mechanics are soooo terrible in that game.  Apparently they are doing a revamp of the system which could be a good thing. They'd be hard pressed to make it worse.
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P&P

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #17 on: March 01, 2006, 07:19:56 AM »
Nother vote for BRP COC here.
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Bagpuss

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #18 on: March 01, 2006, 07:54:51 AM »
Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium's edition), All Flesh Must Be Eaten and Conspiracy X (if it counts), Vampire (with the right GM).
 

Nicephorus

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #19 on: March 01, 2006, 08:37:57 AM »
Quote from: ColonelHardisson
I played in a d20 CoC campaign. Any notion that it could be played like D&D quickly went out the window.


The big problem with D20 CoC is getting people to try it.  They see D20 and think they're too mature to play D&D, thinking it's going to be monty haul horror.

The reality is it's easy to control advancement so that they neve get beyond level 3-5.  And, as you said, being able to deal with Deep Ones just makes the big stuff that much more impressive.

Hmmm.  I could make a pulpy horror game by taking D20 Modern but adding in D20 CoC magic and Mythos creatures.  The players would have a few more tricks up their sleeves but it would still be rough.

Bagpuss

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #20 on: March 01, 2006, 08:54:04 AM »
I didn't like D20 because at level 3-5 the players didn't seem like experts in their fields, because of the skills cap, which they tend to be in CoC BRP edition right from the start. But if you went any higher they grew not to respect normal cultists in combat.
 

Nicephorus

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« Reply #21 on: March 01, 2006, 09:01:37 AM »
Quote from: Bagpuss
I didn't like D20 because at level 3-5 the players didn't seem like experts in their fields, because of the skills cap, which they tend to be in CoC BRP edition right from the start. But if you went any higher they grew not to respect normal cultists in combat.


That's a problem with expertise in all D20.  It's hard to make someone really good at a skill who isn't also at least decent at combat.  But it's easy to fix - just drop or modify the skill cap.

Bagpuss

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #22 on: March 01, 2006, 09:14:03 AM »
Even easier to fix by not using D20 in the first place, considering there is much more material for the Chaosium game anyway. :rolleyes:
 

ColonelHardisson

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #23 on: March 01, 2006, 11:38:53 AM »
Quote from: Bagpuss
Even easier to fix by not using D20 in the first place, considering there is much more material for the Chaosium game anyway. :rolleyes:


There are plenty of people who won't try it. The group I gamed with had to be cajoled into playing CoC by way of the d20 version because they simply didn't like the idea of learning a new game system. They were a D&D group, first and foremost. For many people, RPGs are simply a hobby. The people I gamed with came in straight from work on a Wednesday evening, and made it clear that learning new games was not something they were interested in. They also made it clear that they had outside obligations like careers and family which were a better way to spend their time than reading new game books.
"Illegitimis non carborundum." - General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell

4e definitely has an Old School feel. If you disagree, cool. I won't throw any hyperbole out to prove the point.

Xavier Lang

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #24 on: March 06, 2006, 02:22:48 PM »
I don't have a favorite horror RPG.  I have trouble with most of them.  I do have favorite horror ST's though.  Some people can pull off horror.  I am not one of them.  I game with so many smart alecks and jokesters it can be a bit of work on the GM's part to keep us involved.

I played old style Call of Cthulhu.  I like being a hero enough this didn't apeal to me.  You can't ever make a difference.  You save a town here or burn a cult there but nothing you can ever do has an real lasting significance.  I've enjoyed myself in some one shots and in the actual campaign, but it didn't last and I didn't want to play again.

SLA Industries - I really like this game.  The rules are terrible in almost countless ways but I enjoy reading the book enough I'm always willing to play, despite that.  I may not enjoy a long campaign but I've never been one to judge.  To me a dozen sessions isn't a campaign and that's about the longest I've ever gotten to play.

Witchcraft - I think we tried to play a horror game with this rule system.  It started off well and then real life grabbed the Storyteller and drug him away. :(
 

Limper

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #25 on: March 06, 2006, 02:53:28 PM »
Quote from: obryn
I'm running d20 CoC and it's more effective than you might think in capturing the feel and genre of Lovecraft's stories.

Good, solid game.

-O


Statisticly its much more deadly than the BRP version of the game.

No amount of dodge can save you in d20.

Oh and to topic... CoC.
 

obryn

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« Reply #26 on: March 06, 2006, 05:36:58 PM »
Quote from: Limper
Statisticly its much more deadly than the BRP version of the game.

No amount of dodge can save you in d20.

Oh and to topic... CoC.

Yep, that massive damage threshhold of 10 really ups the lethality...

Since I'm using VP/WP I've nuked that (otherwise genre-appropriate) rule.

-O
 

Mcrow

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« Reply #27 on: March 06, 2006, 05:44:15 PM »
I'd have to say that it is a toss up between CoC,AFMBE, and Shades of Earth.

CoC- the BRP system is cool and HP Lovecraft's fiction just rocks.

AFMBE- I love zombie movies and such, no other game does zombies as good as AFMBE

Shades of Earth- Depending on how you play it is a horror RPG. Set around the time of WWII, there are plenty of ways to go Horror with this game.

Dire Wolf

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Favorite horror RPGs
« Reply #28 on: March 08, 2006, 12:13:35 AM »
So like, I have never actually gotten to play a Horror RPG.  I own AFMBE and d20 CoC but have never gotten to play either of them.  

Would it be possible to run a CoC game having never played one?  What is the best material to read in order to understand what is behind the game, the background and whatnot?

I plan on having a gaming weekend soon and would like to try and run a horror game, hopefully I pick a good one.

What about setting the mood for a horror game?  I am sure music is a must be do people go beyond that, dimming the lights, using candles and stuff?
 

Knightcrawler

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« Reply #29 on: March 08, 2006, 12:21:57 AM »
Quote from: Dire Wolf
Would it be possible to run a CoC game having never played one?  What is the best material to read in order to understand what is behind the game, the background and whatnot?

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.
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