Horror, Fear, and Games

[MedievalMan]

So talking about Ravenloft has got me thinking about horror and fear in games in general and I thought I would see if anyone had any stories to share regarding such things.

I have only played in a single horror-themed campaign. Luckily it was with a good DM and it was a blast to play. We never knew exactly what was going on, or more importantly who was on our side...

Also a question for all my GM and would be GM friends out there. If running horror do you prefer to use more generic rules or rules specifically made for horror gaming?

[SmootRK]

been a long time since I did anything really horror themed... as i usually game with my children/extended family. Back in the day, we would try to get a horror mood though.

Never really incorporated any specific Horror Rules, but I have done little things to help get the mood. Stuff like dim lighting, candles on the table, creepiest music I can find (usually of classical types - Pandora has a decent 'channel' of mostly movie soundtracks called "Spooky Symphonies" but the commercials can be aggravating if you are not a paying pandora person). It may even help to get everyone together beforehand to watch a movie or episode of something creepy in the mode of your game.

Taken together, you can build up that creepy horror mood in most folks, especially when they are receptive and wanting such a gaming experience.

It also helps to have your gamers understand that it will take their cooperation to set the mood too. Any contrary or difficult players whose typical aim is to lighten up moods, joke, or otherwise be a little obnoxious in most games should be counseled that you would like them to work very hard to help enhance the mood rather than disrupt. Seems there is one in every group that is not very cooperative without such a talk beforehand.

[MedievalMan]

I had one like that in my group. He didn't joke he just tried to remain as stone cold serious as he could. It was ok though since that was sort of the way his character was supposed to act. My character was written as a complete goofball and fun loving spirit. Lets just say he turned to alcohol very VERY quickly.

I don't normally incorporate rules to enhance the tone of a game but I have been thinking offhandedly about a rule I am calling "stress level". Its a bit like the fear factor rule in my current campaign, accrue enough stress points and you flee like a directionless maniac. I was also thinking about possibly tying said rule into some sort of madness/sanity system. Like when you flee from stress you have to make a save or lose a point of wisdom. Or maybe even 1d4 points temporarily but if you roll a 1-3 on your save 1 point is permanent. I might have to actually think about that, not much else to think about game wise now that my campaign got restarted.

Also anyone have any interest in a short game? I have an idea that doesn't fit my current campaign at all that I am itching to try.

[SmootRK]

I do wish that Fear worked differently in these related games.

A progressive state of Fear would be ideal, something that scales like ability scores. I guess it could be an attribute called Sanity, but fear/horror/depravity temporarily or sometimes permanently changes your score. As your Sanity gets worse, your saves vs. additional fear effects gets worse and worse. The modifier will also affect all other Ability Checks. Each Horrible Event (whether contact with monsters, horrific sites, or otherwise) requires a Sanity Ability Check (like all other ability checks) at current sanity level or lose the required additional amount of sanity (1 or more points according to GM). These are usually temporary losses, restored like other ability score losses over rest periods (see CON Losses), but may be permanent (again by GM decision for the situation).

Some Monsters may have the ability to directly damage one's sanity score. Some situations can ease sanity loss (effectively restoring points) such as exposure to a Holy Site. There may be spells or magical items to restore Sanity Points (like a Sanity Healing Spell or a Bolster Sanity Spell to temporarily give additional Sanity points).

Exposure to each horrible event reduces the character's ability to deal with any new events, getting progressively worse until either the character survives the 'adventure' or succumbs into permanent insanity or worse.

Base Sanity Rolled like any other ability score:

Code: Select all

Score   Mod.   Note
<3      -5     becomes NPC
3       -3     Fear Effects/Duration X4
4-5     -2     Fear Effects/Duration x2
6-8     -1     Fear Effects/Duration x1.5
9-12     0     Normal State
13-15   +1     Fear Effects/Duration x.75
16-17   +2     Fear Effects/Duration x.5
18      +3     Fear Effects/Duration x.25

<3 Psyche Permanently Damaged, Effectively Mindless with Delusions and Hallucinations, becomes NPC, violent like a trapped animal.
3 Insane, Detached From Reality, Extreme Paranoid, random violent outbreaks. Fear Effects/Duration X4
4-5 Paranoia, Stutters and Shakes in Fear, Difficult to Concentrate. Fear Effects/Duration x2
6-8 Mild Paranoia, Jumpy, Prone to Startle. Fear Effects/Duration x1.5
9-12 Normal State
13-15 Fear Effects/Duration x.75 Hard to Startle or Unsettle.
16-17 Fear Effects/Duration x.5 Courageous and level headed.
18 Fear Effects/Duration x.25 Steel Will, Nothing Seems to Faze character
19+ Effectively Immune to Fear or mild Sanity Loss except in extreme situations (such as a Monster that can directly damage one's Sanity Score)

[SmootRK]

Just whipped that up, but I like the idea that it works just like any other Ability Check that BFRPG uses (other than progressively getting worse with each exposure).

[MedievalMan]

I like it as well reminds me of the sanity system that was based off of Wisdom. It would be easy enough to copy/paste that system but instead of using Wisdom use Sanity instead. You could even combo in my stress system for double the fun.

Also maybe rename Sanity into Bravery? Or Stability?

Here is the sanity system I mentioned by the way.

Sanity:

Wisdom score as a measurement of his/her sanity. A character with a Wisdom score of 18 has a firm grasp of the nature of reality, considerable self-discipline, and remarkable strength of will. In contrast, a character with a Wisdom score of 3 is barely lucid, easily confuses reality with fantasy, and is on the border of lapsing into madness. Characters with Wisdom scores of 2 or lower are utterly insane, and must be treated as non-player characters. (If this Wisdom loss is temporary, as explained below, the character is under the control of the Game Master until he/she regains his/her sanity.)

If a character witnesses an unspeakable horror, the Game Master may require the player to make a saving throw versus spells. The saving throw should be modified by the severity of the horror in question. If the character fails his or her saving throw, he or she loses points of temporary Wisdom. The exact amount should be determined by rolling 1d6. If a ‘6’ is rolled, the character also permanently loses one point of Wisdom (i.e., one permanent point of Wisdom and five temporary points of Wisdom). Temporarily lost points of Wisdom may be regained at a rate of one point per day of complete rest.


I like the above system because its simple and easy to understand. Bad stuff happens? Make a saving throw! If and when I run a horror scenario I would most likely use a combination of stress an sanity. Stress to represent fear and sanity to represent true horror.

Man talking about this is fun. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed thinking about rules and gaming this much.

[SmootRK]

Yes, feeling a bit inspirational with the idea. Like your discussion of a Perception Ability, in a Horror Game such a Sanity Ability Score could be the 7th ability... for the most part working just like the other ability scores.

I think i would let Wisdom Modifier, Intelligence Modifier, or perhaps even Charisma Modifier affect any such Sanity Ability checks, dependent on the source of Horror. For instance, Reading from the "Necronomicon" might have an Intelligence Mod be an appropriate extra bonus, while Resisting the perversions of a Succubus might be a Charisma check (I try to use Solomoriah's method of CHA affecting how interpersonal checks might be made), or Wisdom in dealing with horrible sights/smells/situations (being a more common modifier for a lot of stuff).

As far as situations that might warrant such sanity checks. Any 'Fumble' (roll of 1) of a check means sanity loss is permanent.
Exposure to or finding a dead body: Sanity Check, failure = -1 Temporary Sanity.
Exposure or finding a horribly mutilated body: Sanity check at -2 penalty, failure = -1d3 Point Temporary Sanity.
Ghost, Spirit -2 penalty, -1d3
Struck by Ghost, spirit, wraith (in addition to normal attack stuff) lose 1 point Temp Sanity (without Sanity Check).

etc. Some of these Horror based games may have other situational ideas that could be used for checks.

[MedievalMan]

Yeah this has really got the mind juices flowing. I dug up a map from my one and only Pathfinder book and I am thinking about writing an adventure around it. Honestly with a name like Saffron House, its begging to be turned into a proper adventure.

I may just put together a short list of things that would call for a sanity check. Come here Call of Cthulhu you have a good list somewhere within you.

[Joe the Rat]

Well, we do have that Morale score thingy for Monsters and NPCs. Seems like a good base to play with. Start stacking modifiers (Your base score is modified by your attributes, Horrors essentially having a charisma-like impact on teh "roll"). Alternatively, use (or add) a savings throw for it.

Then all you need is a shock (temporary panic/withdrawal) vs. break (long term complications) mechanism.


The one problem with linking sanity to wisdom is that it makes awareness, willpower, and mental stability part and parcel of the same thing. Sounds good, right? So it's perfectly reasonable for a fragmented and deranged maniac to be more susceptible to mind-affecting spells, and easier to dissuade from doing something? He's crazy, so he should be easy to talk down.

Yeah, no. You can be aware of what's going on, have a solid sense of purpose, and be totally off your nut. Wisdom is a good fall back for mental resilience, but not a measure of crazy. Heck, you'd probably want to use it as your modifier for overcoming the impact of fear and horror ("Courage isn't a lack of fear, but being afraid and doing it anyway").

Try mining other sources. CoC worked well for a Lovecraft setting, but many of us have a working grasp of higher order number arrays and marine biology. Perhaps the downward spiral into uselessness isn't the right model here. Heroic Fantasy takes more towards fighting and overcoming mind-bending horrors, not succumbing to gibbering New Englander NPChood.

And don't force it. Stress them, make them jumpy, penalize rolls, and let them choose to take a "break" (panic, despair, psychotic rage, obsession - short or long term) to bring themselves closer to being mechanically normal (in a broad sense).

We're only afraid of two things here: petrification and energy drain. Try negative level mechanics for fear and stress. That'll get them moving.

[MedievalMan]

That's why I wholly support Smoots 7th ability score to represent sanity, whihc from this point forward I will call Stability (as in mental stability or will or bravery or whatever). It would be simple enough to apply the morale rules to PC's and using Stability as the modifying score.

PC Morale keys off anytime an ally goes down in combat to 0 hit points or less or whenever the PC is reduced to 1/2 hit points or less. They roll a morale check (PC morale would start at 8 and be modified by their Stability bonus) and if they fail the check they flee for like 1d6 rounds or something, maybe drop whatever they are holding. Nothing to bad and it fits thematically. You get scared, run, and then muster up your courage to return. Simple and effective.

As for Sanity, I will stick by the snaity rules I presented above except replace Wisdom as the primary score with Stability. However on the saving throw vs spells I would allow either your Stability bonus or your Wisdom bonus as a modifier to the save. Done and done, quick, and again, simple. Now you can have your horror and your heroism too.