Boo! Did I Scare Ya..?
───────────────────⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺──────────────────
(TW! Mentions of murder, gore, general horror things, etc. You get the gist.)
Horror in TTRPGs is severely common. Whether the genre of the game itself is horror, like Call of Cthulhu or Vaesen, or when there are subtle hints of horror elements throughout your high fantasy or sci-fi campaign. It's only pertinent that horror will always be lurking around somewhere in the darkest corners of your game. Regardless of your awareness of it. Very in character, if you ask me.
In this blog, I'll mostly be analyzing horror that exists in TTRPGs and expressing my own opinion on how to deliver horror as a GM and as a player. Yes, that's right. The players can increase horror in games as well. It's a misconception that the burden of providing terrifying elements in a game falls heavy on the Game Master's shoulders alone.
I. Do You Even Horror, Bro? Forewarning, personally I've yet to try more TTRPGs where the genre itself is purely horror. Despite that, I have played a lot of Call of Cthulhu games and I'm a GM for CoC myself. On top of this, I'm quite a fan of the horror genre in general, from video games to movies. Slashers being a few of my favorite movie genres.
In TTRPGs, horror relies heavily on narration and exposition. Of course, you could provide illustrations and/or visualizations but the effectiveness of terrifying situations in roleplaying games lies in the art of discussing and describing just how horrific the situation is for the characters experiencing it.
How is it that narration plays a far more effective role than just seeing the illustration of a dead body? Well, scientifically your mind connects situations through distinct neurological pathways that trigger a reaction. Now, visuals do still trigger this! But it's fast-paced and happens in the subcortical areas of your brain. For those of you who have zero clue what that entails, it means it's only a fleeting moment of horror when you see a picture of an eldritch monster. Because eventually, your brain gets used to it by memory. It gets desensitized to seeing it.
Meanwhile, when it is described to you in a comprehensive way, your favorite auditory system, the ears, connect with your brain to create deeper, perception-based understanding. You begin to evaluate the description by yourself. The imagination begins to unfold, and you don't commit the picture to memory, you form the memory itself. It allows everything to be highly personalized to what YOU find horrifying. It allows you to immerse yourself by imagining the scenario. And the cherry on top? It allows creativity to reimburse the entire game. Players will start discussing the situation at hand with more levels of analysis because of the differing imaginations that exist in every mind at the table.
Combine auditory explanations and narrative situations with horrific visuals and images that are still relatively open to interpretation and BOOM! You've got effective, not boring, horror! With space to save for the table to add to the drama.
Now, one cannot rely on shock-factor alone. Sometimes, ambiance, tension, build-up, etc. must be used to provide the best fear one can attain. I'll explain more on how a GM may provide spookiness in their campaign/oneshot/adventure down in chapter 2.
II. So You Want To Scare Your Players? So, you're GM-ing your first horror TTRPG, and you're unsure how to actually go about scaring your players. Let's discuss exactly what makes GM-ing horror so fun to execute;
As I've mentioned before, horror in TTRPGs gets executed best through narration and exposition. But there are other aspects that make the scenario that much more fearful.
I might sound like I'm glazing myself (and I am), but I've been praised with my ability to create a scary ambiance. Something about unnerving tensions in the air being crafted through my very words. I found that the best tool to create tension is to use the surrounding area.
Flickering lights, swaying trees, and rustling bushes do help create an unnerving feeling. And it's even better if you have some sort of soundboard. But do you know what else creates a horrific ambiance when audibly describing a situation as a GM?
Do you? No?
Okay I'll spell it out for you, it's adjectives.
Well, okay, you caught me, it's more than that, but that's the start! When describing a situation, adjectives make for good mates. Now of course you could say; "You stand in an eerie, dark forest." But how about we add more adjectives? And make it... dramatic?
"You stand in an engulfing void... A void that staggers in comparison to the darkest pits of hell. The surrounding trees provide a sense of unnerving dread as you slowly feel your way out the forest. You swear you could see faces in the trees."
Being absurd and dramatic with your descriptions help create what's called "evocative language". Meaning your very words evoke feelings into your players. This is often seen in old horror tales like works of H.P. Lovecraft or even Grimm's Fairytales (yes, I know that technically that isn't horror, but it was WAY darker than it should be.)
H.P. Lovecraft is known for being excessive in adjectives. He's known for misleading the reader with his words. To write good horror, you need to stop asking yourself "Can the players visualize what I say?"
Ask yourself; "Can the players FEEL what I say?"
That very aspect you could use is inspired off of his real life quote;
“Never Explain Anything” ― H.P. Lovecraft
THAT! That right there. "Never explain anything" is the basic foundation of good horror. Let your players feel the dread of mystery. Let them question if what you said was for dramatic effect or if you were being serious as hell and it's apart of the game. Let them be confused!! That's apart of the fun in horror! Make them lost!
"The castle was large and built with black stones." Very descriptive, and very effective for visualization. But...
"Ink-dipped halls and deep, void towers rose against an empty sun like a corpse reaching out for a savior."
Notice how the second sentence gives less concrete information. You have no idea if it's a castle, it's really up to you to figure out. But the description itself is something H.P. Lovecraft loves to do, evoke imagination. To quote him again;
“Ultimate horror often paralyses memory in a merciful way.” ― H.P. Lovecraft, The Rats in the Walls
He basically says the best horror uses your humanity. Your humane, weak, pre-existing inability to comprehend the content of fear. And that inability is something you cannot change. That inability is mercy.
Use adjectives, use confusion, use ambiance, and create tension. You'll scare your players more effectively once you start questioning how they feel rather than what they see.
II. So You Want To Scare Your GM?!
You! Yes, you! You're a player now! And your GM is running a horror campaign or oneshot that you're very interested in! But you don't want to be a boring player right? You want to impress your GM right?! RIGHT?!
Of course you do, silly. I'll tell you how!
First thing I see in many players is that you might be tempted to find a solution to a situation immediately. Well I say, don't!
Sometimes teenagers run and fall and die. Sometimes people ignore scary situations due to anger, grief, etc. And die. Sometimes dying makes the story fun! Yes, you might be sad you can't continue playing as your character, but think of it this way, now you get to ask your GM if you can play a new character or even better; NPCs, BBEGs, etc.
Now if you don't want to die, okay, fair enough, here's a new tactic. Embrace vulnerability. And embrace ignorance. If your character doesn't know something, resist acting on out-of-character knowledge. Horror thrives on limited perspectives. Even if you know the monster can't enter homes uninvited, your character might barricade every window anyway because they're terrified.
Also! Roleplay consequences bro, if you lose 5 sanity, don't just say it, act it!
"My character stares at the mirror. I know my reflection blinked. I KNOW it moved."
Make it fun, make it tense. Your party will thank you.
I've not played enough horror TTRPGs as a player (#foreverGM) so I don't have too much to say here. I'll update more once I have! But for now, I hope these analyses and these tips help you build something horrific. Haaaave fun, everyone!