Thusly, submitted for your consideration...
Running Horror Games
This is the 65th in our ongoing tips and tricks for GMs. Periodically we will send out these little nuggets written by Master GM Stephen Chenault.
Being a GM, DM, or CK is a tricky business. You must be able to think on the fly, keep people engaged and lead them down the path to adventure. Bogged down in the minutiae? Stuck in a dungeon? It's important to lead the players to the best game they can have. That's why our CEO and founder, Stephen Chenault -- a gamer for over 40 years and CK that can keep a game of 20 plus moving smoothly -- has put together another 5 gems guaranteed to give you your best game.
The trailer for the movie Gretel and Hansel was an eye grabber, the movie itself a visual extravaganza. The colors, the simple characters made complex by superb acting and a story that was just deep enough to plunge the viewer into the weird, drove my game table full on into the horror genre. It's something we've never really done at the table, and something I as a GM, have never done full on. Tomb of Horrors of course and Ravenloft, are classic horror adventures. Tomb of Horrors is a trap filled mad house where death lies in every step. And though scary in the sense that you don't know what random occurrence next is going to kill you, it's not mind fog inducing scary. Ravenloft has some great "Poe-esque" sense to it, unrequited love and the powers of darkness, and it still relies on malevolent forces beyond the character's control. These are good and crazy fun, but the mood captured in Gretel and Hansel and other movies like The Witch, is something entirely different. It seems, upon reflection, that true horror lies in the mundane.
It lies in our visual fields, when something that is, becomes something it should never be. The horror comes not in your ability to control it, but in your inability to understand it. Bringing this to table is fun and a bit challenging. Here are some of the things I did to run my horror game.
#1: Ease Into It. Make the first part, or several parts, of the game a normal encounter with just elements of the strange to it. Whatever it is, whether it is an orc band or manticore, bleed some small weird elements into it. They have plundered the manticore's lair but find the bones of what appears to be 7 dead birds around the lair entrance. This may or may not be connected to your overarching theme (haunted village, house, witch, whatever it is). Do this a few times. The purpose here is lay the groundwork for the unknown. You are seeding the field. After a few such encounters most of our players will begin to suspect that something is happening or going to happen. They don’t know what. Have no way of connecting the dots and with luck will begin to feel the sense of dread coming their way.
#2: Vibrant Colors. Avoid thinks like "dark" or "stormy" or "pitch"; any of those common tropes. These words are too heavy and laced with expectations. It's just heavy handed and triggers the same response we all have with jump scare tactics in slasher films. It's dark. I can't see. Bad things happen. Avoid that language. Go with drab, faded colors laced with crazy vibrancy. Looking at faded paint, or sun bleached book covers, or a dress that's lost its luster conjures the very real. It's something we experience every day of our lives. A fresh coat of paint is so much nicer than one painted years ago. Using drab colors in your descriptions makes it real. But you want to break that thought train by lacing it with something that is crazy vibrant. They've entered a room with a bath. The tiles are faded. The floor is stained yellow with water stains, the mirror is colored, but on the window seal is a snow globe whose bright red base stands out in sharp contrast to the room around it. Within are two tiny figures caught in the act of dancing, both decked out in wonderful bright blue and yellow clothing. You've made a nice contract with the drab, making it real, but suddenly a little strange.
#3: Use the Mundane. Decorate your game with the mundane. Make sure that you use normal things from everyday life. Describe them and make it part of the story. Tables of food. Kitchens with pots and pans. A horse in saddle. Whatever it is. Just bring the mundane into play. However, add a simple twist to it. The food is bland. The pots in the kitchen are pristine. The saddle on the horse is not buckled. Some of these strange things should be tied to your story, some should not. You've taken the mundane and made it seem just a little bit odd. This will play into the above tricks, and hopefully, build this sense of unease in the players. Something is up, they just don't know what and have no real way of finding out. Even if they investigate the saddle, there is nothing to find.
#4: Touch of Realism. Keep things grounded. Don't go overboard trying to describe some terrifying moment or encounter. If you drag them into the utterly unbelievable, you just shifted your game into high fantasy and they are shouting at the demon that none shall pass. Keep realism in play. This will transcend the character's concerns and play into the player's own fears. Describe the terrain, weather, or whatever, in concrete terms. Even in big battles with monsters they've encountered, try to keep it grounded in realism. It's best to do this through descriptions. They are sweating from exertions of battle. The monster's claw becomes lodged in the breast plate and snaps off at the quick. The sword is notched. Use the aforementioned vibrant colors, or a twist on the mundane to keep the strange lingering around the players. Keep them guesing.
#5: Red Herring Squared. Make every monster encounter, whether germane to the adventure or not, whether large or small, animal or mythic creature, strange. Paint it in such away that it is not normal. It is not what they expect from previous encounters and games. Some things that seem innocent are innocent. Some things that seem evil are evil. Some things that are evil and seem innocent are neither the above... they just are. Keep the monsters strange. Break with your rule book and expand the monster, giving it aspects that make it seem odd. All this will make the players question what is happening and when combined with the above, hopefully you have them in utter doubt and confusion as to what is reality in your very unreal world. With luck you'll have them jittery about everything because they are truly in the unknown.
Next week: Monsters in a horror environment.
Do you have a question for Steve? Comment? Shoot him an email at troll@trolllord.com and we'll get you an answer and it might just appear in an upcoming episode!
Follow these simple rules when interacting with your group and you will be assured a great game night, every night. [End of Article]
Cheers,
Wesley
