Ghosts 'n' Stuff: Horror Games for Spooky Season
10/12/20263 min read
Ghosts, skeletons, werewolves and vampires: they’re the reason for the Halloween season. If you’re like me, pumpkin spice month (known to some as October) means running some freaky horror tabletop RPGs for my players. In part one of this two-part article, I'll start by discussing player safety tools, choosing a horror game, then advice for creating a horror atmosphere.
The first thing to note before you start to look at game selection is player safety, especially if you're running a game at a convention or for players you don't already know. Most modern RPG books, particularly if they deal with difficult topics, have a section about safety tools. I'll include a link below that describes some of the basic ones, such as Lines and Veils, and the X-Card, but the long story short is that as a Game Master, you're responsible for your players feeling safe at the table. No one can truly know what another person has been through or experienced, so having those tools available if your players need them is an important way to not only make sure everyone is having fun, but that everyone feels safe at your table. Just because the characters aren't safe doesn't mean your players need to feel that way.
You may also have a different idea of what constitutes horror than your players, which is why it's important to communicate the overall theme of the game before you start. For example, if I was describing The Last Voyage of the Charon to players, I would say something along the lines of "this adventure is set in the far future, where your characters are sent by a corporation to investigate a crashed ship. This adventure contains themes such as body horror, psychological manipulation, and several common phobias." I include this because honestly, I forget to include this information ahead of starting my games, especially at conventions, so it's something I need to work on myself. You don't have to give away the whole plot, but even a high-level look at what themes you're including in your adventure helps your players make an informed decision if a particular game is for them.
Speaking of informed decisions, there are a plethora of horror-themed roleplaying games to choose from, and finding the one that's right for you and your group can be difficult! Here are some of my favorites, but there are plenty more out there. Each one has a short description you can use to pitch to your players.
Deadlands: A pulpy, genre-mixing game set in the Weird West where you fight evil with six-shooters and supernatural powers.
Call of Cthulhu: A gritty setting where you play as ordinary people investigating the sanity-draining evil of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Fear Itself: An occult investigative game where you face extradimensional terrors from the Outer Dark.
Mothership: A game themed after classic sci-fi/horror movies where you play as archetypal characters similar to those in the movie Alien.
If your players are seasoned (read: jaded) horror movie fans, they'll be very difficult to scare. You might not be able to scare them, but you can certainly try. Many of these tips are almost impossible to use at a crowded and noisy convention, but whatever you can do helps.
Creating ambience is a good way to start. If you're running a game in the 20th century (like the early 1900s, not the '90s…), consider lighting candles, battery-powered or otherwise, to bring your players into the moment. Modulating the volume and cadence of your voice helps too. For example, when players are opening a door and expecting something scary to be behind it, lean in a bit and speak very slowly, and build some suspense.
Personally, I think the most effective horror movies are the ones that don't show the monster until the last moment. When you see what you're facing in the first part of the adventure, it's not as scary. The best way to do that is to describe around the monster using sensory details. Let's say your players are tormented by a chainsaw-wielding maniac. When they enter his family home (possibly located somewhere in Texas), describe the rotting odor of carcasses as they open the door. They hear the creaking of footsteps somewhere in the house, maybe the dull roar of a chainsaw motor outside.
Then, when the killer strikes, be dramatic! Raise your voice (within reason, especially if you're a convention), use sound effects! Make it big, make it dramatic, and make it memorable! If your players are gonna die, at least they'll die in an interesting way. I'm big on letting players make a heroic sacrifice so the others can get away, and it's definitely a trope of the genre. But let's be honest: if your players are stuck in a house with a maniac, they probably weren't all gonna survive anyway.
Hope this helps you plan a fun horror game for Halloween, and hope to see some of you at Gamehole Con this weekend!
- Tanner
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