Hey, thanks so much for reading these thus far. They’ve been fun to write. If you haven’t read the previous two blog posts, they covered building dread over time and consequences. Both of these things are important for a horror game.
Then again, you could just ignore them all together and still have a great horror game.
No, for real.
Some of the best horror games aren’t scary at all.
When a DM sets out to run a horror game, they will often fixate on getting the atmosphere just right. Hell, I know I do.
There’s nothing wrong with this! That said, many of us have groups where the best part of the game is getting together and making stupid jokes. Hey, if everyone is having fun, there aren’t any wrong answers. The genre of horror is big, and it’s large enough that it’s become satiric and self referential.
Vampires became popularized in the modern day with Dracula. Many cultures had their own blood sucker myths before this. They’ve outgrown those beginnings, however. I would not consider the film series “Underworld” horror. They’re action movies that just happen to have gun toting vampires fighting werewolves – and they’re a lot of fun. We all know the Count from Sesame street. Is anyone afraid of him?
Then there is What We Do in the Shadows, of course. A comedic vampire show (or movie, if you saw that first) that doesn’t mean to scare anyone. That said, it’s hilarious through and through. I would say it’s one of the funniest shows I’ve watched in the last decade.
Horror tropes are everywhere. Our fascination with the creatures of the genre have given us so much art that is meant to do anything but scare. There’s no reason our campaigns can’t be the same. If you’re running a “horror” game, and no one is getting scared, a good place to start is with a simple question to yourself – do they need to be fearful? Or is everyone having fun with things just the way they are?
Heavy Metal often exists in that area. Ya know Gwar? Over the top creatures and gore that put on a hell of a show, but I wouldn’t call them scary. I would say a lot of Mork Borg exists in that murky area as well. Controlling little freaks through a dying world and watching them die in the most ridiculous ways can be quite entertaining.
So here’s the deal – on February 1st, we’re Kickstarting a Mork Borg dungeon on a book mark. It’s gonna be $2. Seriously, that’s it. Shipping is going to be as cheap as we can get it as well.
You can follow the campaign here. Sign up and you’ll get notified as soon as it launches. It’s completely created – all we have to do is send it to the printer.
Let’s do this thing!
TAGS: Game Theory, Horror
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Four new sets of wooden minis are here!
Click below to get to the campaign. We’re giving away a bunch of minis and other things to our backers!
A light-hearted, demonic portal crawl between worlds for low level characters.
Grab the coolest wooden minis, dripping with old school cool. Live on Kickstarter!
Bones. So many bones. How many people have been buried here?
You find a rusty long sword and a small, golden vulture head worth 250 gp.
The sand here on the edge of the sacrificial ground is loose and looks recently churned.
The Vulture Priests are the enemy of knowledge and enlightenment. They seek to bring the eternal silence, the end of all things. Decay and obedience is their only god.
Armor Class 6 [13]
Hit Dice 1 (4hp)
Attacks 1 × Beak (1d4 or by weapon)
THAC0 19 [0]
Movement 120’ (40’)
Saving Throws D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (1)
Morale 8 (11 when at their temple)
Alignment Lawful
XP 10
Number Appearing 2d4 (1d6 × 10)
Treasure Type D
Immune to the Divine: The spells and powers of clerics and paladins have no effect on them.
Weapons: They frequently use wickedly curved daggers, which they use for sacrificial purposes.
Soul Clouders: There is a 10% chance that any Vulture Priest can use the sleep spell once per day. The targets are still awake, but they are beset by such a deep depression that it has the same effect as sleep. They may only watch what unfurls around them.
