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Horror Hero Without the Supernatural


bcaplan

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Has anyone ever run a Horror Hero game without any supernatural element? I ran a one-shot naturalistic horror scenario, and it worked very well. One player even said it was the most truly horrifying horror game he'd ever played.

 

But perhaps there's the rub. Naturalistic horror is just too scary. Supernatural stories play to our sense of "of course this could never really happen."

 

Thoughts?

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Re: Horror Hero Without the Supernatural

 

Yup. I ran a crime adventure once that was almost like a modern day Jack the Ripper. Creepy stuff :)

 

 

I had the joy of playing in this game. IIR, it was during late October a few years ago. It was truly scary. Speaking for myself, I remember trying desperately to find or add the "supernatural" angle to the story.

 

Alas, it wasn't there. There was no way for us to use the "of course this could never really happen" defense. The "naturalistic horror" was... naturally horrifying.

 

And of course, Sketchpad hadda set the story in our hometown. Nice touch, till your evening commute moves you through some key locations in the story. I went home that game night with the jitters. This town has not been the same for me since. Thanks for that, Sketchpad. ;)

 

There is definately something to be said for playing in a "naturalist horror" game. If you bring in all the realism... it'll leave a mark.

 

SLC

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Re: Horror Hero Without the Supernatural

 

I'd run a Horror HERO game that way. I think the realistic stuff is a lot scarier than the supernatural because it actually does happen in real life from time to time. Basing villains on Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez (The Night Stalker) or Jim Jones would make for a distubing campaign.

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Re: Horror Hero Without the Supernatural

 

I ran a very cool One-Shot (that turned into a two shot, but hey!) where the Characters believed they were turning into Werewolves. I did some research on various psychedelic drugs and various chemical compounds that could temporarily heighten senses—at some fairly high cost to the individual, health-wise, I mean.

 

It was a great game; most of my players are used to the supernatural element so it came as a shock to look for a scientific solution…

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Re: Horror Hero Without the Supernatural

 

I was a PC in one a long time ago... problem was that the GM, despite the best of intentions couldn't get his head around a 'non-supernatural' horror story. And he'd created it. It turned into a sort of police procedural drama and I re-learnt that valuable lesson once more; If you're fully not comfortable in the genre, don't play it.

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Re: Horror Hero Without the Supernatural

 

Sort of, I was in a horror game and the GM threw in a non-supernatural "demon", it was just a guy in a rubber suit. Being on edge from the real monsters we had dealt with in the past and thinking a demon must be pretty nasty, we unloaded on it with everything we had, guns, stake launchers, garlic spray etc. The characters ended up doing 20 to life in a mental ward but it did make us as players a little less shoot first and ask questions later with our replacement PCs. :o

 

 

I've seen a number of movies that would fall into non-supernatural horror, madmen, cults, and just plain evil people are pretty darn scary because they are not made up. Its easy to blow off the horror of a zombie but a crazy canniballistic devil cult is something I could read about in tommorrows paper (sorry online blog, I need to stay up with technology).

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Re: Horror Hero Without the Supernatural

 

I once ran a Call of Cuthulu game which turned out to be a Weird Mystery, all the non-PC supernatural aspects were faked. "And I would have gooten away with it if not for you meddling kids!" Worked by going against the player expectations, but doubt that I could have gotten away with it again.

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Re: Horror Hero Without the Supernatural

 

I did some research on various psychedelic drugs and various chemical compounds that could temporarily heighten senses—at some fairly high cost to the individual, health-wise, I mean.

quote]

 

Yeah, did the same once, too. But do you know how much time it takes and what the prices are for goo speed, acid and freebase over here in my part of Germany? And I still have this ticking of my right eye when I see red or blue.

 

Nah, it's just not worth it for a one-shot. A campaign - different story entirely ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:cool:

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Re: Horror Hero Without the Supernatural

 

You know everytime this subject comes up I keep remembering a certain X-Files episode. In this one Scully gets captured and terrorized by the bad guy of the week, except that this bad guy was just that.

 

A guy.

 

No monster, no alien, no government experiment gone wrong. Just a serial killer with no powers.

 

A yet that experience is what caused Scully to have a temporary breakdown forcing a leave of absence.

 

Sometimes real horror is more scary than the supernatural. And if you ask me I would rather have Dracula or Frankenstien after me that Hannibal Lector.

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Re: Horror Hero Without the Supernatural

 

 

Yeah, did the same once, too. But do you know how much time it takes and what the prices are for goo speed, acid and freebase over here in my part of Germany? And I still have this ticking of my right eye when I see red or blue.

 

Nah, it's just not worth it for a one-shot. A campaign - different story entirely ...

 

 

 

:cool:

 

 

*Chuckle*

 

So for a campaign of this type, do you make your players turn around randomly and scream "Stop following me!" to the invisible no-one?

 

:drink:;)

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  • 5 years later...
  • 3 weeks later...

If this were a full-fledged campaign I imagine the PCs would gradually get more and more deeply paranoid. A serial killer or slave-taker would look and act just like anyone else most of the time -- they wouldn't last very long, or be very effective, if they couldn't. And encountering evil of that sort is likely to shake a person to their very core.

 

If you're really sadistic, you can play up the seductive nature of evil as well. Giving in to your baser impulses can be fun -- until it drives you to deeper and deeper levels of depravity to get the thrill you have come to crave.

 

To my mind, the greatest horror novel ever written is Nineteen Eighty-Four. A revolution devouring itself, but inflicting massive cruelty and causing unimaginable suffering in the process.

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