Official ICE Forums
Systems & Settings => Rolemaster => Topic started by: Druss_the_Legend on October 06, 2017, 01:00:18 AM
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My campaign is poised to launch into a horror style theme soon.
Vampires. Werewolves. Evil Cult. Lich Necromancer bad guy.
Has anyone else run a horror themed rolemaster campaign before?
There is a pc in the party who is afflicted by a vampire curse. He is slowly becoming a vampire himself.
Also 2 NPC allies were recently attacked by a werewolf and barely survived the encounter. I plan to have them recover and later turn into werewolves themselves.
The party will soon be swept up in an epic plot to destroy a cabal of vampire lords.
I plan to use creepy music and stormy weather to set the scene in the beginning.
The dark sewers and caves they encounter should help provide the right vibe of fear.
Some npc's they meet will be loyal to the evil cult and suitably creepy.
Any other input from GMs or players would be great.
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The secret to a horror game is to keep everything hidden from the players. They will not fear things they understand. As soon as there is a 'monster' they will know they can kill it.
Gore is not scary and not is violence. You want to strip everything away from the characters without giving them a chance to hit back. Have NPCs vanish when every they are alone, have they characters 'think they saw something' but not give them and hard facts. You want them reacting and always half a step behind.
PCs thrive on taking the fight to the enemy and killing first and to help with the questions. Turn that around and leave them with loads of questions and nothing to kill but at the same time something killing them and theirs.
I prepared handouts of nightmares characters the characters had during the night and drip fed them out over the session. I kept limiting the characters options and at the same time pulling them in more directions.
My game ended with all the PCs hiding in the attic waiting for dawn so they could run away. They had solved most of the underlying evil and learned what they had to learn but to them it didn't feel that way. They just wanted to survive.
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Sounds like the game Paranoia (or Paranoid) I forget. The group I gamed with in college had to retire that game because real fights and arguments were breaking out from it. The game really got to them. I guess they played it really well.
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Take the stats of a monster you like, change the description to some thing more twisted add some small flair. This way monsters that are introduced are new and strange. I don’t hisnin my regular campaigns not just my horror ones. This keeps them wanting more and then giving them something different. Don’t just sink into the old monsters. Twist the world to your new vision.
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Take the stats of a monster you like, change the description to some thing more twisted add some small flair. This way monsters that are introduced are new and strange. I don’t hisnin my regular campaigns not just my horror ones. This keeps them wanting more and then giving them something different. Don’t just sink into the old monsters. Twist the world to your new vision.
nice, like it.
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Have you seen the "Nightmare's of Mine" source book? Unfortunately I don't think it's widely available anymore:
http://www.icewebring.com/ice-products/product_page/?product_id=199&product_title=Nightmares%20of%20Mine%205704 (http://www.icewebring.com/ice-products/product_page/?product_id=199&product_title=Nightmares%20of%20Mine%205704)
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Shades of Darkness (http://www.icewebring.com/ice-products/product_page/?product_id=306&product_title=Shades%20of%20Darkness%205702) might also be worth a look for some ideas on how to take things forward.