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2017-09-25, 11:15 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2007
- Location
- Canada
- Gender
Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
Hi all,
What are some good systems to play for a horror-themed Halloween one-shot? We will be playing over Skype so things like Dread are not an option, unfortunately.
I know about Call of Cthulhu, but that's pretty much where my knowledge ends.
Bonus points if you also recommend a good one-shot that can be completed in 3-4 hours.
CheersRules that supersede Rule 0:
Rule -1: You're all there to have fun. The GM and the players should never do anything that would limit people's fun, for any in-game or real-life reason.
Rule -0.5 (corollary): That means that if someone's fun is getting in the way of other people's fun, that person needs to change how they're playing.
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2017-09-26, 05:54 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2011
- Location
- Germany
- Gender
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
I've heard only the best things about Dread.
It's a system where checks are resolved by taking moves on a Jenga tower. Toppling it is a death sentence (though the DM doesn't necessarily have to kill the character right away).
As the story progresses the tower naturally becomes less stable, making the tension rise as everyone knows something bad will happen soon.
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2017-09-26, 10:39 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2011
- Location
- Nottingham, UK
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
Dark Heresy? There're a bunch of pre-made scenarios, both fan made and officially published many of which should be playable in your window. It's quite horror-ish, like Call of Cthulhu set in the Warhammer 40k universe and with a slightly higher expectation of survival. Either 1e or 2e, but most of the scenarios are for 1e I would expect. The adventure in the back of the 1e rulebook should be completable in 3-4 hours, though I've never attempted it myself.
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2e? Again, lots of pre-mades. Lots of horror. Quite lethal, but pretty simple mechanics.
Can link you to some of the fan-made adventures for both, if you'd like.
There's also things like World of Darkness for horror, but I'm not familiar enough with it to recommend any pre-made scenarios I'm afraid.
Other suggestions:
All Flesh Must Be Eaten (never run, played or read - merely heard of it)
Unhallowed Metropolis (Neo-Victorian zombies)Amazing Banshee avatar by Strawberries. Many, many thanks.
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2017-09-26, 11:42 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2010
- Location
- Beyond the Ninth Wave
- Gender
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
Having recently discovered Blades In The Dark, I'll give it a plug. In it, you pull off heists in a haunted Victorian city surrounded by lightning walls powered by demon blood. Rather than planning your heists and gear in advance, you can call flashbacks to have done plan stuff already. While geared for campaign play, maybe 1/2 of the character choices fit naturally for a one-shot.
It is a very light, very narrative-driven system - most of its rules work more as categories to help make judgment calls. You only need d6s.Last edited by gkathellar; 2017-09-26 at 11:55 AM.
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2017-09-26, 12:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2015
- Location
- Right behind you!
- Gender
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
I'll second Dread. It's great for a quick one-shot in a new system because there isn't really a system to learn (a bit for the GM) so you don't have to spend time explaining and/or looking up the rules.
Others are good if you're planning to use them semi-consistently, but I wouldn't want to have to learn Dark Heresy for a single session.
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2017-09-26, 03:26 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2014
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
Fleshscape is a game set in a world where everything is made of flesh, sinews, and organic fluids. Everything is alive. It's brilliant, and weird, and gross, and brilliant. And the whole of the system (rules and setting) fits on the inside of a GM screen.
Fate / Fate Accelerated are great systems for a one shot.
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2017-09-26, 07:34 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2017
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
Call of cthulhu?
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2017-09-26, 08:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2006
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Gender
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
The "Jailbreak" one-shot for Unknown Armies was one of the single best, most tense/creepy gaming experiences I've ever been involved in. Take one batch of escaped convicts, one group of nervous hostages from the prison, and one pair of homeowners they've burst in on to take shelter from a storm. Only the crooks aren't all friends, and the house and its inhabitants aren't remotely what they seem to be. Add in a healthy mix of conflicting player goals, sanity rules, and paranoia; shake well, and apply directly to your group.
Hill Giant Games
I make indie gaming books for you!Spoiler
STaRS: A non-narrativeist, generic rules-light system.
Grod's Guide to Greatness, 2e: A big book of player options for 5e.
Grod's Grimoire of the Grotesque: An even bigger book of variant and expanded rules for 5e.
Giants and Graveyards: My collected 3.5 class fixes and more.
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2017-09-26, 09:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2012
- Location
- Spring, TX
- Gender
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
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2017-09-27, 08:38 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
Yeah, Dread.
Blades is a great system and all, but it's not super one-shot focused, nor is it particularly Halloween-y in my book.
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2017-09-27, 08:46 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2006
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Gender
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
Hill Giant Games
I make indie gaming books for you!Spoiler
STaRS: A non-narrativeist, generic rules-light system.
Grod's Guide to Greatness, 2e: A big book of player options for 5e.
Grod's Grimoire of the Grotesque: An even bigger book of variant and expanded rules for 5e.
Giants and Graveyards: My collected 3.5 class fixes and more.
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2017-09-27, 09:16 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2010
- Location
- Beyond the Ninth Wave
- Gender
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
Originally Posted by KKL
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2017-09-27, 09:42 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2011
- Gender
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
A list of games not already named which can fit:
Monsterhearts : To play monster teenagers, Apocalypse world system (Simple, good for one shot)
Monster of the week : To hunt monsters, Apocalypse world system (Simple, good for one shot)
Hunter : The Vigil : To hunt monsters, New World of Darkness (Not so simple system)
Wraith : The Oblivion : To play ghosts, Old World of Darkness (Not so simple system)
Changeling : The Dreaming : To play fearies, Old World of Darkness (Not so simple system)
Kult : A lot like Cthulhu, but different
Little Fears : To play young kids facing their fears and fighting really bad monsters, very horrific (simple system with one d6)
Ravenloft : D&D/Pathfinder in a demiplan of Death
Numenera : Futurist horror game in advanced civilisations ruins.
My Life with Master : To play the minion of an horrible master (like Dracula or Frankenstein), good for one shot
Don't Rest Your Head : (d6 system)Last edited by Pilo; 2017-09-27 at 09:59 AM.
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2017-09-27, 10:04 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...on.jenga&hl=en
=)
That said, Monster Hearts and Monster of the Week are both good too.Last edited by Airk; 2017-09-27 at 10:05 AM.
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2017-09-27, 10:07 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2008
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
The Final Girl is designed exactly for this: it's one-shot, no prep required, and emulates high-casualty slasher films. You use a pool of characters, none of whom are strongly tied to a player, which makes them all somewhat disposable--a clever conceit that works with the genre.
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2017-09-28, 02:36 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2006
- Location
- where the wind blows
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?
Check Cthulhu Dark, a rules light system specifically for short horror game. There aren't really combat mechanic, the mechanic for when you're caught by a monster is simple: you die.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/98137/Cthulhu-DarkYou got Magic Mech in My Police Procedural!
In this forum, Gaming is Serious Business, and Anyone Can Die. Not even your status as the Ensemble Darkhorse can guarantee your survival.
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Awesome Elizabeth Shelley by HollamerSpoiler
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2017-09-28, 05:04 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2010
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2017-09-28, 08:58 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2011
- Location
- Germany
- Gender
Re: Good systems for a Halloween one-shot?