Having not long ago complained on these very boards about my lack of gaming, I now find myself GM'ing Call of Cthulhu (7th ed) tomorrow.

So, interested to hear your tips and tricks for refereeing CoC/horror well!

You need buy-in from the players. They must want to be scared. It's no different than watching a horror movie. If people are sitting at home with the lights on, half-watching the TV and jabbering to each other or staring at their phones, there is ZERO chance of that movie (regardless of how amazing) is going to scare anyone. It's why people CHOOSE to go into the dark theater, to STFU for 2 hours, and stare into the screen with the willing choice to immerse themselves in an obvious fantasy. Movies are just still pictures moving at 24 frames per second. Nothing there is real and nothing there can scare you...UNLESS you want it to.

As for concrete actions at the game table? Cellphones off. Distractions muted. Door closed. Lights dimmed. Total focus on the game as not a game, but as an immersion into something else. And on the GM side of the table? Minimize system interference. Minimize use of dice. Don't let game mechanics distract from the immersion.

Suspension of disbelief is everything. It begins with player choice and gets enhanced (or damaged) by the GM's actions to concentrate on immersion.

Great stuff, keep it coming lads; otherwise I'll just have to fall back on impersonating the Gatekeeper

ROLL THE DICE, MAGGOTS!

Being afraid is a form of sensitivity.  The people who loudly claim they can't be scared are scared to be seen being scared and can be scared fairly easily if you can get them to stop disrupting the game to avoid being seen being scared.  One more reason I prefer a generic game and a bait and switch to a labelled horror game with built in expectations.  Even superheroes can be a horror game.

So it went pretty well I think. I downloaded a scenario pack that had pre-gens on a simplified character sheet that helped people get straight down into action. I ran Dead Light which is straight survival horror, which I think helped everyone get on board. Players noted low skill values and hence whiff factor; they were also atrociously unlucky with their rolls. But all in a success.

Great responses!

About the whiff factor, remember these are values when under duress. Normally you as GM will be helping adjust their rolls so as to be pertinent to the task at hand. So punching and kicking default at half or quarter because they are assuming gritty struggle. Similarly raw Library Use or Credit Rating values for when you are pushing time limits and social cred. Otherwise bump them up by several 10s of percents (+10%).

7e has some advice and guideline for that, as well as Luck pushing if you prefer some player-side stress tools. But good ol' "If it doesn't really matter, it succeeds!" is also solid play.

CoC's best stress comes from Average Joe's knowingly and deliberately walking into death's maw because that is what saves humanity... for just one more day. That's not a dice thingie, that's a meaningful player choice thingie. The flub-tastic rolls often get in the way to that set-up and make players turtle in fear prematurely.

Glad to hear it went well.  I always thought that character incompetence was one of the important horror factors in CoC.  "How are we going to defeat the Great Old One when we can't even hit the rabid dog or open the rusty door?!?"  You're not.  You may just glimpse Him in your final screaming moments, but best case scenario is that you get away alive.  At least that was my way to run things.  Some people like a more pulp-tone, in which characters are more like heroes in other RPG's.  Whatever floats your boat, but it might be good, if you haven't already, to discuss those expectations with your players.

Do your own research on the historical period, places, cultural environment and so on. Look for photos or other interesting pictures. Think of anything that helps the immersion of the players in another time/place. CoC is not only horror but also the opportunity for your players to "visit" other times and locales.

My last campaign started in Boston in January, 1920 (with a flashback set in 1918), and I researched the daily life in the city for the various social strata and ethnic groups, had a folder on my PC full of pictures from the era (from building interiors, to markets, to ads), a reference about main historical events and so on. The horrific parts will be even more stark if grounded in realism.

Just don't overdo it. Be natural. An American soldier who fought alongside Theodore Roosevelt and now fighting in France in 1918 who grumbles about how President Wilson managed the war goes a long way to immerse your players in that historical moment - more than tons of boring exposition.

I had a series of "suggestions" for a group of players who came to CoC from D&D - so to underline the difference between the two games. I lost it, but I still remember some of them.

- Don't bring weapons with you: you could be tempted to use them.
- A single exception: bring an handgun. When everyone is running away in panic from the Local Horror, fire at an other character's legs. With a bit of luck, the monster will be distracted for a while.
- You can't board a commercial plane with dynamite in your pockets. Don't even try.
- Employing nuclear weapons against Ancient Old Ones, should you get your hands on them, only generates radioactive Ancient Old Ones.
- If you receive a letter from "an old acquaintance", don't open it. Burn it at once. Disperse the ashes into the sea.
- Always research in depth local legends, rumours and folktales. When you have finished, publish a book about them, enjoy the royalties and forget about doing anything else.
- Don't spend time and energy looking for monsters: the monsters will find you all by themselves.
- "Bibliophobia", the fear of books, is not listed in the manual, but you will develop it anyway. Just wait.
- No matter what a magic ritual does for you, it will do twice against you.
- Latin is evil.
- Classical Greek is evil and dead. There is a reason for this.
- When the Keeper says "You see..." it is already too late.
- If some dude just repeats "Hastur, Hastur, Hastur..." he hasn't OCD or PTSD. Run!
- If a theatre manager announces "The representation of a just rediscovered, long lost play!" burn the theatre down as fast as you can - possibly while the actors are rehearsing.
- Never say "This is the fourth time that I surprise a monster devouring the rests of a dear friend: the thing doesn't touch me anymore!" It doesn't work that way.
- "Dimly lit" places are much worse than totally dark ones.
- For the "getaway car" to work you must not exit it in the first place.
- "Water puddles" are always the harbinger of something dire.
- The " Look" is not a fashion statement.
- "Hiding in Antarctica" is inherently delusional.
- If you discover an "unspeakable cult", consider joining it. Why not? The annual fee will usually be lower than the asylum fee.
- A single, lower-circle, cultist with a rifle won't be impressed by your stats and achievements.
- Don't try too hard to "solve the case": fumbling the investigation and opening the wrong tomb can save your life.

Excellent suggestions that should be taken to heart.
Then disregarded, like being warned not to wander off by yourself in a Slasher movie.

It's already been mentioned sort of but Player buy-in is really important for Horror games.
It's just a game, but people cracking out of context jokes really ruins the mood.

I would add that 7th ed adds a fair amount of complexity to the rules, but in my experience with CoC in general and with 7ed ed in particular, don't get hung up over the rules. A lot of the mechanics can be handled with RP and the GM just making judgement calls.
IMO, 7th ed is not my favourite edition. It seems to create unnecessary complexity.
The Keeper and Investigator books are beautifully produced though and capture the mood well.

Quote from: Marchand;1119861Having not long ago complained on these very boards about my lack of gaming, I now find myself GM'ing Call of Cthulhu (7th ed) tomorrow.

So, interested to hear your tips and tricks for refereeing CoC/horror well!

Don't punish your PCs for engaging in combat, outside of the natural consequences of the context.