More Tentacles than you can shake a Fist at

Characteristics in Horror Genre Gaming
More Tentacles than you can shake a Fist at
There are five main genesis points to the modern horror genre in gaming, as far as monsters as protagonists are concerned. They are illustrated below with details to follow. This refers to the protagonists/threats distinction made already. These are the easiest to find examples of, to use and implement in your own gaming as well. Several of these fall or cross over with the Grotesqueries category of protagonists as well.

So the 5 main starting points are as follows:
Point 1 are Mythological Creatures such as The Medusa, Werewolves (also present in Point 2), The Kraken, etc.

Point 2 are the examples that come from the Gothic Novels. This includes the traditional monsters of Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, Jekyl and Hyde, Jack the Ripper, The Invisible Man, etc. These will often overflow with the Grotesqueries form of the protagonist.

Point 3 are the works of HP Lovecraft and to a lesser extent Edgar Allen Poe (Who can fall into the Gothic perspective at times easily). These are the things man was not meant to know or understand, aliens, things from other places in many instances.

Point 4 is the modern slasher/gore/madman/monster type. More than the others these will often overflow with the Grotesqueries form of the protagonist.

Point 5 are the modern monsters classification. The prime examples of these are the 1950s monster movies, the Aliens from the movies by the same names, all the things that are found in outer space, etc. Also aliens and abductions fall into this category while things like giant mutant crocodiles also fall into this distinction, which is mostly time based (more recent) than anything else. This is to separate out the axe wielding inbred family monsters from the giant crocodile monster or the alien space virus that creates shambling hordes of brain eating things from each other.


Of course there are variations to all the themes.

Characteristics

Good Day // Good Evening, as it will pertain to the kindly reader

Next I would like to discuss what I see as some of the salient characteristics of the genre as it pertains to Roleplaying Games only. Naturally there is cross-over, between literature, films, stage, and RPGs, no denying this. I am going to talk about my own perceptions of it, from over 30 years of being a gamer.

Characteristics in Horror Genre Gaming
Protagonists / Threats
These come from 3 main areas. There is a natural overlap, none have only a single one that I can see.
That said there are 3 main types:
• Psychological
• Monsters
• Grotesqueries (Macabre/Surreal/Unnatural)
So in example in the fiction of HP Lovecraft, he has all three at one point or another. Psychological is in the Rats in the Walls story, Monsters are all over the place naturally, while Grotesqueries show up in the Dream Stories of Kadath that I have noticed. The line between Monsters and Grotesques is tenuous and thin at best. That distinction is more evident in Film I think than RPG settings.

Psychological:
This is more terror than horror, the fear of the unknown, the uncertainty of what is happening. It is often a component leading up to the climax and battles with monsters and grotesqueries.
The scary elements, the clues, the hidden messages in ancient tomes, all part of this element.

Monsters:
These are the staples, the things that go bump in the night. These are the elements most often found in a non-horror genre game system or setting. One example is Vampires in the Victoriana Game Setting of Gaslight (Both the Savage Worlds and OGL editions). It is not a horror game setting per se, but with Vampires and Monsters in it, drawing from the literature of the time, which lends to Horror like elements included.

Grotesqueries:
These are often monsters themselves, or the changed and strange. Examples would include hunchbacks, circus performers, sideshow freaks, the misshapen from birth, those are the grotesque things. Sometimes they are monsters; sometimes they are simply misunderstood to the point of turning them into monsters. Also these include those that appear normal, but in their heads they are not. So an example of this is that Jack the Ripper would fall into the Grotesqueries category, while Werewolf or Spring Heeled Jack would fall into the monsters category.

These are the three main elements to Horror Gaming and what sorts of challenges are encountered. It of course has omitted traps and natural disasters. Those do not fall neatly into these categories. So with these elements in mind, you the person running the game can see which you prefer to use in your game. A later article will start discussing the stock versions of these elements.


So it has come this point, here is a master / consolidated listing of extant Horror Genre Roleplaying Games, being as inclusive as I can make it. I am sure there are many others I am missing, small and obscure ones I have not heard of, or ones in progress I am unaware of. So this list will expand as time permits.

Master List of Horror Genre Roleplaying Games
All Flesh Must Be Eaten
Beyond the Supernatural (Palladium)
Call of Cthulhu®
Chill
CJ Carella’s WitchCraft
Code Black (BTRC)
Conspiracy X
Cyberpunk 2020 Alternate World (R Talsorian)
Dark Conspiracy (Far Future Enterprises)
Dark Heresy (Fantasy Flight Games)
Dark Matter (Alternity Edition and d20 Editions)
Dread
EABA Code:Black
Etherscope (Goodman Games)
Feng Shui®
GUMSHOE System (The Esoterrorists, non-mythos Trail of Cthulhu)
GURPS, GURPS Horror, GURPS Undead, GURPS Spirits
Kult (Unknown as of this time)
Little Fears
Little Fears Nightmare Edition
Monte Cook's World of Darkness
Nephilim
Nightbane (Palladium)
Nightlife (BKM)
Over the Edge®
Ravenloft (AD&D)
The Hunt: Rise of Evil (Mystic Eye Games d20)
The Mutant Chronicles (Target Games and CMG version Fantasy Flight Games)
The Whispering Vault (I forget right now)
Torg (West End Games)
Unhallowed Metropolis
Unknown Armies®
World of Darkness (especially Hunter: The Vigil)

Relaunched

Ohh how long has it been since the darkness was last pierced with clarity and insight into the inner workings of depravity. Well something like that, and now for a change in direction. Originally this was intended to touch on the larger aspects of horror in life, literature, film and other activities. But that is a total waste. My interest in horror is much more focused, sharper, more piercing than an overreaching view will encompass. So instead, the foci have altered. No longer the big view, instead it is time to narrow it down, bring it into a gun sight focus on a few areas of the horror genre.

Welcome to the varied worlds of Horror Tabletop Gaming, or Horror Roleplaying Games and Gaming. Horror RPGs have a wonderful history in the overall hobby of Tabletop Gaming. There is a nice wide assortment of products still in print, with new ones coming out every year. Oftentimes in fact a non-horror game will have nice facets of the horror gaming genre in it making for plenty of choices to pick and chose (and borrow) from for the gaming enthusiast.

Now for purposes of this writing, the genre includes the weird, paranormal, macabre, occult and the conspiracy oriented genres as well. Often these are essential elements in addition to the horror factors, so no need to exclude them now is there. I might add in Urban Fantasy and some elements of SF gaming, often there can be an element of horror (See the movie Alien for a prime example) included in those. The initial focus is on the core elements though.

Starting off is a list of the titles I personally own, which are the ones I have experience and most of my interest falls into. I then go on to some other very arbitrary distinctions about the games and settings. I am going to focus my writing and support efforts on the systems and settings I have and are the most acquainted with.

Ones that I still possess
Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium)
Dark Conspiracy (Far Future Enterprises)
Kult (Unknown as of this time)
Dark Matter (Alternity Edition)
The Mutant Chronicles (Target Games and CMG version Fantasy Flight Games)
Dark Heresy (Fantasy Flight Games)
Unknown Armies (I forget right now)
The Whispering Vault (I forget right now)
Code Black (BTRC)
Ravenloft (AD&D)
Etherscope (Goodman Games)
Nightlife (BKM)
UnHallowed Metropolis (I forget right now)

Others I know of and want to get
Little Fears Nightmare Edition

Others I know nothing about
Dread
Chill

In Production (that I am personally aware of) Includes
Dark Days RPG (George Cotronis)

Related to the genre are the following
Eclipse Phase
Capacity (my own product in production have to plug my own items)

Most of the various generic game systems have horror based settings as well. GRUPS has the GURPS: Horror and GURPS: Screampunk setting books, Hero Games has the Horror Hero sourcebook (a perennial favorite of mine ideal to mine for sources and material). The d20 OGL world has the d20 editions of Call of Cthulhu, Dark Matter, and the more Urban Fantasy Urban Arcana (which can have horror elements and in fact it incorporates ideas from the old Rising Tide AD&D setting as well). Some of these are a bit more peripheral.

So time to embark on the weird and wonderful world of Horror Gaming