RE: [DL] Lisa's take on Horror vs Action

[Lisa Kenison <lisa.kenison@asu.edu>]

Bill pondered:

>I was wondering how other have dealt with keeping up the horror and fear
aspect of 
>the game with such a large posse. How did you keep it from becoming an
monster 
>hunting action adventure?
>My only thought is to constantly separate them and have them go on their
own 
>'mini plots' meeting up with one another periodically.

Lisa's take on running horror games that dont turn into monty python dungeon
crawls:

I personally hate separating my posse/group and the idea of running
different 'mini plots' sounds like a nightmare to me.  Mainly I guess I am
lazy and I dont want to keep getting up and leaving the room (another reason
I dont larp...I like my gaming lazy where I can lounge on my bean bags in my
living room and everyone can sit where ever in the living room).  The only
time I am willing to do separate them, and it is not a permanent or lengthy
one, is if it is not hot outside (I live in Arizona, so that is only like 2
months out of the year) and someone needs a smoke break as not all my group
smokes and there is nothing worse than a cranky smoker needing a fix, except
maybe the guy who needs mtn dew or cheetos.  I will go out and run the
separate little side thing then if necessary.  Otherwise, my group has
learned to differentiate quite well what they know and what their characters
know.  I guess at this point I figure I am a good enough gamer to keep it
separate and so is my group.  Besides what fun is it to use what you dont
know...about as much fun as being a munchkin and making uber characters is
to me I suppose.  And it is easier I think running games for people you
know...I mean I play with the same guys I did in highschool from many moons
ago and well I know what freaks them out and how to wig them out you know...

I have, however, never run a game with only one person so I am intrigued by
that.  I am not sure I would enjoy that though to be honest as I like the
social part of gaming and I personally love to run big games. 

And, from past Cthulhu games I have ran with my group, they NEVER EVER EVER
split up anymore for some reason.  When someone decides to do that, someone
usually comments "should we cue the scary music now?" hehehehe...I think
they have been scarred for life now and regardless of what game system I run
they all stay together.  "No, all nine of us go to the little hut in the
forest and question the gnome...yes we know we dont all fit in it but we all
go." hehehe

I run big games...I think at Origins last year I had 12 people on average
per cthulhu game.  I am not sure what the technique is that I use to keep it
from being a monster hunting adventure though.  I just run games in the Lisa
style I guess. I run my deadlands games very much like I run my cthulhu
games, with the emphasis on solving the problem not shooting it although
sometimes you have to shoot (and most of the time you have to run...hehe).  

Recently, in games I run at origins and gencon, I have begun using props,
such as handouts (which I guess are pretty normal for cthulhu) but we (the
guy I run games with) made creepy old smelly books (aka the necronomican
although i call it the stinky book someone peed on as it stinks from the
secret formula we used to make the pages old and stained looking and it is
quite enjoyable to watch the faces of the players at the game as it goes
around and the smell hits them..hehehe), some weird chinese compass thing
(we have some funky import stores here and I bought some weird little idols
and statues and bottles and jars and whatnot to use, some of the cthulhu
symbol necklaces, and we try to make our handouts authentic...we make weird
business cards for the NPCs and use old looking paper for maps and what not,
and things like that.  My partner also makes me cds with background music
(the relic soundtrack worked well and I have a few other creepy movie
soundtracks too, and there is the cool deadlands one as well and I know
there have been many posts over the several years that I have been on this
list about music to use... the good the bad and the ugly is another favorite
of mine) and I had never used that before but it went over well.  I was
worried about it being distracting but it was pretty cool and I got some
little portable speakers to use with laptops so it rocks! We also use our
laptops (bringing a whole new level to geekdom in gaming..hehe) and I keep
pictures of monsters we scanned in as well as a wide assortment of noises
and sound effects...we created one that the monster made right before it
appeared and all it took was playing it to freak everyone out as they knew
it was coming...And you can find tons of sound effects of screams and gun
shots and indian chants and what not.  In one game a few of the guys showed
me how they entertained themselves on the drive up to gencon (shame on you
gutterminds) by throat singing so we recorded them and used that as some
creepy cultist chanting.  I also like using minis although I hate painting
them so I have to use my feminine wiles to convince others I know to do it
for me...

One thing I think that works well too is to be vague in your descriptions of
monsters...not you are attacked by 6 ghouls but to describe how they look
without saying the word ghoul...

I also like to describe what the roll they made resulted in...not you hit
with your gun but you aim and pull the trigger and your shot goes off and
strikes the shambling figure approaching you in the shoulder blowing a chunk
of flesh off into the air and making it stagger as it continues to approach.
I figure I have uber control over everything and i guess for egomaniacs like
me I see it as a big stage for performing and all my personalities get a
shot.  

I think if you keep using lots of adjectives in your descriptions of events
to emphasize the creepiness and pay attention to the senses...smell and
sound are big ones that I find people dont always describe in games I play
in...

I think anything you do to add flavor is great...I found this really tacky
marshal badge in ohio a few years ago that I wear and I have a cool cowboy
hat too.  And I use this really gaudy green velvet sombrero I got in mexico
ages ago to hold my chips since no one wanted to stick their hands in my
spittoon I got at an auction...hehehe...I cleaned it though I promise...:)
I think that is why the props go over so well in my games...having physical
things to touch (gutterminds again) seemed to go over really really well in
my games.Once I ran cthulhu by candle light and that was cool as one my
house is haunted (no comments peanuts please) and too there is always a
draft so they flickered a lot.  For some reason andon and WC and gama wont
let me use flames..hehe. 

Okay so I have rambled enough here and I cant think of anything else to say
here for now...but I like hearing about things that people do in their games
so let me know too...:)

lisa