I was looking to run an event at Vengercon or another convention in the next 6 months.
I was thinking about an atmospheric horror scenario, and while I typically run Call of Cthulhu for things like that, I feel like doing something different.
I was looking at a few other RPGs out there, and want:
1. Something that is rules-lite and fast --players can quickly figure out the game and dive into the scenario. PC stats should fit on one sheet of paper.
2. A game that lends itself to atmospheric, spooky stories, without over-the-top, fantastical elements, or superheroic PCs. Think Kolchak, Nancy Drew, or horror movies like The Conjuring or Under the Shadow
Chill is one possibility, although I am not crazy about it
I have Ghostories and Unbidden, and those look pretty cool. They might work--has anyone played these?
or if anyone can recommend other games ...?
Blood: The Roleplaying Game of Modern Horror is relatively rules light. I've barely touched my copy, so I can't tell you much. From the marketing it looks like it's aimed at grindhouse/splatter stuff, so might not be to your taste.
Dungeoncraft/ProfessorDM has his Eldritch Hack which is billed as rules-lite horror, but I know even less about that.
Triple Ace Games' All for One: Regime Diabolique and Leagues of Gothic Horror are on the lighter side as well, if you want historical horror.
Quote from: MerrillWeathermay on January 11, 2023, 10:26:26 PM
I have Ghostories and Unbidden, and those look pretty cool. They might work--has anyone played these?
Both can be very atmospheric, but I'm a bit biased :) I would suggest looking at my latest creation, Spooked, Inc. (https://www.pigames.net/store/default.php?cPath=155) I included info on using elements of horror, as well as elements of humor, so you can take it very different directions as needed. It is rules-lite, but the default motivation for characters is that they work for Spooked, Inc, an app-based investigation service (it's like the horror private eye version of Uber).
I did a Google and found this thread on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/ufigim/call_of_cthulhu_style_osr_game_recommendation/ which might be helpful
Silent legions ticks all those boxes.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145769/Silent-Legions
Quote from: brettmb on January 11, 2023, 10:49:01 PM
Quote from: MerrillWeathermay on January 11, 2023, 10:26:26 PM
I have Ghostories and Unbidden, and those look pretty cool. They might work--has anyone played these?
Both can be very atmospheric, but I'm a bit biased :) I would suggest looking at my latest creation, Spooked, Inc. (https://www.pigames.net/store/default.php?cPath=155) I included info on using elements of horror, as well as elements of humor, so you can take it very different directions as needed. It is rules-lite, but the default motivation for characters is that they work for Spooked, Inc, an app-based investigation service (it's like the horror private eye version of Uber).
Brett: I also have genreDiversion 3e --does Ghostories use that system or the first edition?
I noticed that there are some rules like "padding" and armor based on fitness that are different than those in Ghostories
Quote from: danskmacabre on January 11, 2023, 11:23:14 PM
Silent legions ticks all those boxes.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145769/Silent-Legions
that looks pretty cool --hadn't even heard of it
Quote from: MerrillWeathermay on January 11, 2023, 11:28:22 PM
Quote from: danskmacabre on January 11, 2023, 11:23:14 PM
Silent legions ticks all those boxes.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145769/Silent-Legions
that looks pretty cool --hadn't even heard of it
Same guy who Makes Stars without number and many other RPGs.
I have never played it myself, but there are many reviews singing the praises of Dread, which is pretty rules-light and has one of the more innovative resolution mechanics I've ever come across: you need a Jenga block tower to play, and successfully pulling out a block is the equivalent of the "test roll". Thus the farther along you are in the story the more is riding on each test and the higher the chance of catastrophic failure each time. Available at DTPRG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/83854/Dread).
Quote from: MerrillWeathermay on January 11, 2023, 11:27:35 PM
Brett: I also have genreDiversion 3e --does Ghostories use that system or the first edition?
I noticed that there are some rules like "padding" and armor based on fitness that are different than those in Ghostories
Ghostories uses GDi, the previous version, but you can adapt it to GD3 using the guidelines provided with the GD3 Manual.
Black Books: Tomes of the Outer Dark is the one you want ;)
(Currently on sale at Drivethru too)
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/125474/TACK-Crawlspace-Deluxe (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/125474/TACK-Crawlspace-Deluxe)
PCs in Crawlspace are actors stuck in horror movies that are actually real and they can't ever leave, they just get stuck into the next horror movie.
I am a fan of the adventure https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/381434/TerrorHog (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/381434/TerrorHog) TerrorHog. A large boar has gone nuts and is killing people. The PCs are trying to film a movie but get targeted by the TerrorHog instead.
Tiny Cthulhu by Gallant Knight Games could be a nice lite replacement for your usual.
Another possibility, although a little different than traditional RPGs is LIMINAL_ by Alexei Vella & Willow Jay. It's a bit more of a map crawl horror game. PCs find themselves trapped in some backrooms/between realities space. They move from room to room, mapping it as they go. They have to keep track of fatigue while fighting off entities and collecting items that may help them find a way out.
I second Tiny Cthulhu. The Tiny D6 is quick, simple, minimalistic, and can be taught very quickly.
Cthulhu Dark.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/341997/Cthulhu-Dark (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/341997/Cthulhu-Dark)
I'm a huge horror fan and own a ton. The best rules-lite one that is actually robust and is now one of my favorite games is Shiver by Parable Games.
https://www.parablegames.co.uk/ (https://www.parablegames.co.uk/)
Dave Thaumavore review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1TwWu6-hJs&t=4s&ab_channel=DaveThaumavoreRPGReviews (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1TwWu6-hJs&t=4s&ab_channel=DaveThaumavoreRPGReviews)
Review and Page-Through by The Gaming Gang:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GbuLn_N4Ts&ab_channel=TheGamingGang (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GbuLn_N4Ts&ab_channel=TheGamingGang)
Shiver YouTube Channel with Game Tutorials
https://www.youtube.com/@shiverrpg (https://www.youtube.com/@shiverrpg)
If it's Vengercon, may I suggest his own The Outer Presence?
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/154781/The-Outer-Presence?manufacturers_id=5876
Quote from: Batjon on January 13, 2023, 05:05:47 PM
I'm a huge horror fan and own a ton. The best rules-lite one that is actually robust and is now one of my favorite games is Shiver by Parable Games.
https://www.parablegames.co.uk/ (https://www.parablegames.co.uk/)
Dave Thaumavore review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1TwWu6-hJs&t=4s&ab_channel=DaveThaumavoreRPGReviews (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1TwWu6-hJs&t=4s&ab_channel=DaveThaumavoreRPGReviews)
Review and Page-Through by The Gaming Gang:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GbuLn_N4Ts&ab_channel=TheGamingGang (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GbuLn_N4Ts&ab_channel=TheGamingGang)
Shiver YouTube Channel with Game Tutorials
https://www.youtube.com/@shiverrpg (https://www.youtube.com/@shiverrpg)
ah yes, forgot about Shiver
One game I was intrigued with, though never ran, was a small rpg called Slasher Flick. While designed to mimic horror films from the 80's, it's easy enough to switch out tropes for what you desire. Players have a character, but can also take turns playing secondary characters and victims of the Big Threat.
There's a survival mechanic that determines whether you survive an attack from the threat. No one is overpowered, and no one can just kill the villain in the first encounter. I thought it was an interesting take on adapting horror films to a tabletop rpg.
I'd suggest reading some reviews to get a better idea if it fits what you need. Rules light, but there's stats and abilities. It's not just a simple Fiasco story game bullshit.
Quote from: Itachi on January 12, 2023, 04:06:27 PM
Cthulhu Dark.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/341997/Cthulhu-Dark (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/341997/Cthulhu-Dark)
I'll second this game. Fantastic.
Still pretty fond of Cryptworld, Rotworld & Majus. Played a long-running combo game with those.
But my favorite was always Mayfair Chill 2E.
I put out a rules light Chinese horror RPG called Strange Tales of Songling: http://www.bedrockgames.net/Strange-Tales-.html
Definitely rules light and I even timed character creation during playtest to make sure people could jump into the game quickly. Not sure if it has too many over the top fantastical elements for you (it does have a lot of supernatural and quite a bit of stuff you might expect from a movie like A Chinese Ghost Story).
If you were looking for space horror I'd say In Those Dark Places is worth a go. Mainly because the rules are very light but are also pretty flexible. It's quite sparse in detail so you can customize the setting very easily.
Cthulhu Dark is very cool as was already mentioned.
Quote from: danskmacabre on January 11, 2023, 11:23:14 PM
Silent legions ticks all those boxes.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145769/Silent-Legions
I absolutely and most highly recommend SILENT LEGIONS.
Even if you never the game. It's the best Horror RPG supplement I've ever read.
For decades, I ran Chill 1e at cons. Extremely easy for noobs to grasp and play.
Cryptworld is the retroclone, but I haven't played it.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/118860/Cryptworld (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/118860/Cryptworld)
The Cthulhu Hack, unless the publisher is considered problematic for some reason.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/182803/The-Cthulhu-Hack
I'm familiar and have played or ran a lot of the games mentioned in this thread, including Chill 2e, Cryptworld, Slasher Flick (so much fun), etc.
The best is Shiver, hands down.
Mothership ticks every box, as long as you're down with space horror: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/245017/Mothership-Players-Survival-Guide
It's rules light, fast, simple, and very atmospheric. Character generation is fast and the character sheet itself contains instructions on how to make a character.
The player's guide is also 'pay what you want' right now, though the GM's book isn't available yet.
Quote from: phydeaux on January 16, 2023, 09:59:26 AM
Mothership ticks every box, as long as you're down with space horror: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/245017/Mothership-Players-Survival-Guide
It's rules light, fast, simple, and very atmospheric. Character generation is fast and the character sheet itself contains instructions on how to make a character.
The player's guide is also 'pay what you want' right now, though the GM's book isn't available yet.
Mothership is awesome if you want space horror ala Alien or Event Horizon. I'd wait for the new first edition, though, that was recently Kickstarted. I backed it and it is great.
Shiver can do all genres of horror, btw, from Gothic to Lovecraftian to Stephen King to Zombies to space horror to psychological, etc.
Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on January 15, 2023, 11:42:05 AM
If you were looking for space horror I'd say In Those Dark Places is worth a go. Mainly because the rules are very light but are also pretty flexible. It's quite sparse in detail so you can customize the setting very easily.
This game looks incredible (full discover, I also have a book published by Osprey). I haven't had a chance to run it yet so I can't speak to actual play but I was very impressed reading the book and it felt like a game that I could easily run (and I agree with the sparseness being a plus here, as it is where he chose not to create mechanics that it seems to open up more freedom to adapt to the genre). Also the system itself is quite clever and the book is a very fast read. It is not a game where you are going to have to sink in tons of time reading and re-reading the book. I think you could probably read it just before a session and start without much of an issue.
Quote from: Bedrockbrendan on January 16, 2023, 10:59:47 AM
Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on January 15, 2023, 11:42:05 AM
If you were looking for space horror I'd say In Those Dark Places is worth a go. Mainly because the rules are very light but are also pretty flexible. It's quite sparse in detail so you can customize the setting very easily.
I think you could probably read it just before a session and start without much of an issue.
Indeed... Character prep is a snap and it's very hackable. If you wanted to add some more to the setting you could easily pick up some material from Zozer like 'Hostile'.
But as you say it's sparseness is an advantage. :)
Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on January 16, 2023, 11:09:07 AM
Quote from: Bedrockbrendan on January 16, 2023, 10:59:47 AM
Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on January 15, 2023, 11:42:05 AM
If you were looking for space horror I'd say In Those Dark Places is worth a go. Mainly because the rules are very light but are also pretty flexible. It's quite sparse in detail so you can customize the setting very easily.
I think you could probably read it just before a session and start without much of an issue.
Indeed... Character prep is a snap and it's very hackable. If you wanted to add some more to the setting you could easily pick up some material from Zozer like 'Hostile'.
But as you say it's sparseness is an advantage. :)
It is one of those things you don't realize you don't need till it is absent. I had a similar response to the Esoterrorist RPG (very, very different system and approach but similar in that it really took a minimalist angle on certain things but in a way that enhanced your ability to be creative with making adventures and threats)
I know I'm late to the game here, but I've been putting out rules-lite horror modules which are essentially 3rd party Chill 1e/Cryptworld adventures since last year: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/23052/Yeti-Spaghetti-amp-Friends
We just got our fourth adventure out there, The Nightmare, written by Timothy Brannan.
Mothership and Trophy Dark
Just released our latest adventure, Ancient Terrors: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/437495/Ancient-Terrors?src=hottest_filtered
We did a playtest for Barbaric! 2nd Edition, and it worked really well for horror.
They're doing a Kickstarted for the 2nd edition either June or July 1, I forget which. New rules will be CCAv4 if I recall correctly.
Version 1 is on DTRPG https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348272/Barbaric (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348272/Barbaric) It's pretty inexpensive.
Quote from: Batjon on January 13, 2023, 05:05:47 PM
I'm a huge horror fan and own a ton. The best rules-lite one that is actually robust and is now one of my favorite games is Shiver by Parable Games.
https://www.parablegames.co.uk/ (https://www.parablegames.co.uk/)
Dave Thaumavore review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1TwWu6-hJs&t=4s&ab_channel=DaveThaumavoreRPGReviews (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1TwWu6-hJs&t=4s&ab_channel=DaveThaumavoreRPGReviews)
Review and Page-Through by The Gaming Gang:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GbuLn_N4Ts&ab_channel=TheGamingGang (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GbuLn_N4Ts&ab_channel=TheGamingGang)
Shiver YouTube Channel with Game Tutorials
https://www.youtube.com/@shiverrpg (https://www.youtube.com/@shiverrpg)
The last Horror session I ran at a convention was SHIVER. I carry the game line, bring it to cons and help get it in Canadian retailers: https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/shiver-rpg (https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/shiver-rpg)
It does use custom dice (though you can lookup the d6 skill dice and d8 talent dice on a table or an app). The faces of the d6 map to the skills and one Archetype is best at each. It's very straightforward to teach+run at the table, and there's some interesting ways you can interpret rolls.
It has "achetypes": Warrior, Maverick, Scholar, Socialite, Fool, Weird, Survivor that work a little like classes.
Each is best at one of the Core Skills - Grit, Wit, Smarts, Heart, Luck, Strange (survivor is more well-rounded.)
The 6 skills are on the d6 dice. Any rolls with Strange results tick up the "Doom Clock." So a level one warrior has 5 Grit and facing a challenging to be overcome by grit would roll 5 d6 (skill dice) and likely 1 d8 (talent die).
Great for one-shots, though you can certainly do "sequels" to your films. Seems viable to levelup during a session.