Are "High-Powered" and "Horror" compatible?

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by RogerBW

It Came From The Late Late Late Show may be what you're thinking of; you don't necessarily have replacements ready to go, but you can call for a stunt double to take damage for you, or in extremis invoke a film break which lets you skip forward to the next scene having effectively resolved the previous one off-camera.

That does sound like a similar idea. I vaguely remember seeing that game displayed in a store, probably back in the early 90s, but I don't remember much besides not being impressed enough to buy it.

[LemmingLord]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

*Idea* What if you played horror the same way you played Paranoia? Characters die off quickly and easily, but you have replacements ready to go, and the whole thing is treated less seriously than is typical for the genre... It has already been done, right? What was the name of that game?

That's it exactly!! I put together 12 male characters and 12 female characters...usually characters from popular television or movies... and I rate them in advance...

[pieclone]

I'm nearly finished running a series of Vietnam era MACV-SOG/Mythos sessions. Being one of 12 guys in a C&C SF team in Laos in a jungle with no backup, surrounded by enemy with only a radio and the hope of decent enough weather for an air strike is scary enough. Horror is about atmosphere and the PCs were bricking it already before I brought out the heeby-jeebies.

My first ever Mythos reference in game and none of them were expecting it. When the "local tribesmen" working as mercenaries were described as having sharpened teeth a couple of them got it and immediately you could see the "Oh God, my character is going to die or go insane" in their expressions.

Luckily they didn't share the insight and when the faecal matter/fan interface took place everyone immediately lost it. It was almost exactly like the joke about running away from the man-eating beastie: you only have to be faster than the slowest member of the team.

Having several hundred CP and several hundred rounds of 5.56mm are of no consequence at all when the creature you are shooting at is regenerating as fast as you can knock off HP.

Ideally my next idea for a short run is a series of MH mashed up with "The Madness Dossier" - I've no problems having 400pt martial artists with magical tattoos wielding enchanted Kukris since they will be up against creatures with an equivalent CP cost. It also gives me the opportunity to roll out the Augmented Reality goggles that can block out Sedu glyphs in realtime (it's like the reverse of They Live!).

It's mostly going to be MH/Action but every so often something really bad is going to come along and the correct response will be to run away. The whole "Last line in the defence of life as we know it so yeah, sometimes you really do have to firebomb the tenement building, people and all" is also pretty damn horrifying. A couple of the folks I'm hoping will get involved almost always choose "Reluctant Killer". Sorry in advance guys...

[D10]

Players shouldnt be fearing their foes, they should be fearing the consequences of their actions

[pieclone]

Originally Posted by D10

Players shouldnt be fearing their foes, they should be fearing the consequences of their actions

Why can't they do both?

In my MACV-SOG example above they were running scared from something MWNMTK and at the same time I can guarantee at least one player was considering wounding one of the team's Nung mercenaries to slow up the creature. In retrospect I should have wounded one of the PCs to really stick it to them. That would have created a suitable amount of anguish as they decided whether to leave them behind. Damn. Missed a trick.

In my other example the team will often have to deal with murdering innocents in order to protect "the greater good". There will be plenty of psychological disadvantages doing the rounds in that series. That horrific side of the game doesn't preclude the players from wanting to run very quickly away the first time they face one the big bad.

[Pmandrekar]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Whyever not?

How can point level have anything to do with whether something is horror or not?

Strong, healthy, agile and intelligent people with wealth, position in society and networks of friends and allies can also be threathened with horrible fates. Indeed, it would seem that their fear would be all the greater, as they have more to lose.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series), Season 7.

Or, playing High point PC rivals (humans) in a Vampire:The Masquerade campaign where the masquerade is lifted...

-P.

[knarf]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

*Idea* What if you played horror the same way you played Paranoia? Characters die off quickly and easily, but you have replacements ready to go, and the whole thing is treated less seriously than is typical for the genre... It has already been done, right? What was the name of that game?

There was also a game called Slasher Flick by Cynthia Celeste Miller.

[Þorkell]

High point totals + horror? How about Aliens? Or indeed that whole series of films.

[Crakkerjakk]

Originally Posted by Þorkell

High point totals + horror? How about Aliens? Or indeed that whole series of films.

Predator, too.

[roguebfl]

Originally Posted by Þorkell

High point totals + horror? How about Aliens? Or indeed that whole series of films.

Alien was Horror, Aliens was a Thriller.