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Kazou
2012-08-25, 05:54 AM
So what are your favorite Horror/Universal games? Also If I were to run a game inspired by something like Alan Wake, what system would you guys recommend for me to use?

P.S. What would be a good free game fitting into either category?

some guy
2012-08-25, 08:42 AM
It's always Call of Cthulhu for horror. Always. And its system is based on the Basic RolePlaying system, which is a pretty good universal system.

It's not free, but the quick start rules are (both for Call of Cthulhu and BRP), here's the link (http://www.chaosium.com/article.php?story_id=87) for the Call of Cthulhu quick start rules. Those rules don't cover everything, but it's enough to play a game with.

Kazou
2012-08-25, 08:59 AM
Hmm... I heard that you are playing as investigators who already know a bit about these stuff that are happening around the setting. Could you play as anything else in that game?

some guy
2012-08-25, 09:41 AM
PC's are usually reffered to as Investigators*, but they can be anything you'd like. Games are mostly set in 1920's, but I ran a modern day campaign and am planning a 70's game.
PC's start without any knowledge of the horrors they encounter**, they can learn about it, but that knowledge also drives them insane. It's kinda the point; first the PC's are blissfully unaware and just investigating a series of murders or the disappearance of a relative, but halfway through they might get evidence of the supernatural and encounter things that shake their worldview.
The pc's usually are dead or insane at the end.

*I think pc's are called investigators because games are usually a mystery investigation.

**Characters may start with occult knowledge, but this knowledge usually doesn't include knowledge of the things they encounter. It can however point them to new clues.

Kazou
2012-08-25, 10:55 AM
Cool... So I could make Chuthulu survival adventure making the main characters orphans Power of 5 style? Oh yeah, without super powers. :p

some guy
2012-08-25, 01:46 PM
I don't know what Power of 5 is, but after a quick scan of wikipedia, I guess that's a valid option. It seems that serie has a very Lovecraftian vibe.

Super powers could be reproduced by using CoC's spell system. Or you could use this option made by Zak S.:


Simple and effective Chill of Cthulhu paranormal ability mechanic:

1. Dream up an Abnormal Psych Textbook style psychic power ( Scrap Princess took Pyrokinesis, Migellito took Psychic Being Convincingness, Cole took Tactile Postcognition, and Ian took Heat Metal)
2. When you want to use it, decide the percentage chance you want to try to succeed at. Roll under and you get to do it.
3. Then roll the same percentage you chose again to see if you lose d6 SAN on account of you just opened your mind to Forces From Some ****** Place Your Head Goes When You Do That.

DeIdeal
2012-08-25, 02:51 PM
Hmm... I heard that you are playing as investigators who already know a bit about these stuff that are happening around the setting. Could you play as anything else in that game?

On the contrary, new investigators don't usually have any idea that there are mythos creatures, spells or anything like that. Some may have a few points in occult, but even they don't usually know anything about mythos. I guess you could make an adventure where the investigators already know stuff about the mythos, but I wouldn't recommend it for the very first scenario.

If you didn't know this for some reason, actually encountering the mythos has a good chance of driving people mad in CoC. In addition to the possibility of the PCs going insane, the game, especially some of its premade campaigns (such as Horror on the Orient Express, which is currently being Kickstarted) can also be very lethal. So beware of that, in case it isn't what you want.

EDIT: The above obviously holds for raw, but the rules can be modified if you want more powerful PCs.

Knaight
2012-08-26, 07:50 PM
DREAD and Trail of Cthulhu are my favorite Horror Games. Trail of Cthulhu is largely conventional, but is highly investigation focused from the ground up, rather than being adapted from a core system clearly intended to be combat focused like Call of Cthulhu is. DREAD is more unconventional - you have your characters, they are tied into the setting, and they have no stats. Instead, you have a Jenga tower that you pull from, and if it collapses, the character dies. Because of how Jenga towers work, there is a natural ratcheting up of tension, which is then released with a character death, which repeats a few times. Essentially DREAD models narrative tension in the horror genre, and it does so beautifully.

eggs
2012-08-26, 10:55 PM
My favorite games usually involve some sort of goofy take on the horror genre, but I'll assume we're talking about games played with a straight face. When I see a reference to videogame horror, the two things I think of are Unisystem and Fear Itself.

Unisystem games (Witchcraft, All Flesh Must Be Eaten) are usually safe calls for action-horror. They have relatively easy rules to use, a crunchy enough system for tactical play, fragile characters, splattery details built into the system itself and lots of support for different kinds of horror (typically zombie-focused, but pretty easily adjusted).

Fear Itself uses the same system as the Trail of Cthulu game Knaight mentioned, and does quite a bit to set up a survival-horror game well (throwing horror archetypes in players' faces, playing up a character's ties to the things that keep them sane and other plot-based character elements, and giving pretty extensive advice for both players and GMs). I can't speak for Trail, but Fear does a good job of setting up survival horror; either might be worth checking out.

ssming
2012-08-27, 01:04 AM
my favorite horror game is Silent Hill series,Kaijudo online (http://www.dotmmo.com/kaijudo-online-12528.html) is a free to play online trading card game. It features improved graphics and fun gameplay that has been used in Magic the gathering.

Kazou
2012-08-27, 01:32 AM
Hmm... Could I mod the zombies in All Flesh Must Be Eaten into the creatures from Alan Wake? :p

Inglenook
2012-08-27, 09:12 PM
Geiger Counter (http://bleedingplay.wordpress.com/geiger/) is an interesting (free) indie RPG. It's meant to emulate one-shot survival horror movies like Alien, Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead, etc. although it can be easily extended to stuff like Jurassic Park or Saving Private Ryan.

It's very much story-driven and there aren't many mechanics, so I'm not sure if it's what you had in mind. I've played it once, though, and had a blast.

BootStrapTommy
2012-08-28, 08:19 PM
GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System) is, imho, the best possible universal system. Whenever I run horror campaigns I always use it. The Advantages and Disadvantages system not only makes horror easier (phobias, addictions, and mental disorders are fun to exploit) but it also allows the players to build interesting characters which can be really fun to play in their complexity.

It's also one of the most balanced I've encountered.
And good for anything from fantasy to space cowboys to modern.
Its down side is that the rules can be complicated at times.