TheRPGSite

Pen & Paper Roleplaying Central => Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion => Topic started by: Ratman_tf on February 09, 2025, 01:43:08 PM

Title: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Ratman_tf on February 09, 2025, 01:43:08 PM
Re-reading Palladium Nightbane, I've thought about a campaign of paranormal investigators set in the kind of 80's horror/slasher films. But Palladium... eh.
What system would you use for such a campaign? Bonus points for the more "stuff" it has already done and ready. (Creatures, setting appropriate rules, etc)
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Vanadium Angel on February 09, 2025, 02:04:00 PM
In order of preference:

Eden Studios (AFMBE, Buffy/Angel) - does 80s/90s horror well

Chaosium (CoC, BRP) - lots of horror stuff, very adapatable to era

Pinnacle Entertainment (East Texas University, Savage Worlds) - love the setting, system is ok

Free League (Vaesen, The Walking Dead) - love the system, but would need to adapt era/genre
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: MerrillWeathermay on February 09, 2025, 02:24:36 PM
For 1980s horror involving vampires, monsters, and psychic powers, along with the Cold War atmosphere of the time, I would go with The World of Necroscope by West End Games.

another option is the Night Life RPG from Stellar Games

Call of Cthulhu always works, but would have to be adapted (I do this for my Cold War Cthulhu settings, such as "Reactor 4")

I have not played Palladium's Nightbane, but it looks really cool. Does anyone here have experience with it?

Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: jeff37923 on February 09, 2025, 02:59:54 PM
Quote from: Ratman_tf on February 09, 2025, 01:43:08 PMRe-reading Palladium Nightbane, I've thought about a campaign of paranormal investigators set in the kind of 80's horror/slasher films. But Palladium... eh.
What system would you use for such a campaign? Bonus points for the more "stuff" it has already done and ready. (Creatures, setting appropriate rules, etc)

I ran a short and sweet X-Files style campaign using Call of Cthulhu and the article series "Cthulhu Now!" from White Dwarf magazine. It wouldn't be a bad place to start.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: HappyDaze on February 09, 2025, 03:35:26 PM
Quote from: Vanadium Angel on February 09, 2025, 02:04:00 PMEden Studios (AFMBE, Buffy/Angel) - does 80s/90s horror well
If you're going for horror over action (and comedy), then a Classic Unisystem game -- such as Conspiracy X -- might be a better fit.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: David Johansen on February 09, 2025, 06:08:21 PM
GURPS and I'll tell them it's a campaign about highschool hijinks.  I really like GURPS for horror because it doesn't telegraph what the horror will be.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Chris24601 on February 09, 2025, 06:40:47 PM
Quote from: Ratman_tf on February 09, 2025, 01:43:08 PMRe-reading Palladium Nightbane, I've thought about a campaign of paranormal investigators set in the kind of 80's horror/slasher films. But Palladium... eh.
What system would you use for such a campaign? Bonus points for the more "stuff" it has already done and ready. (Creatures, setting appropriate rules, etc)
The designated mortal paranormal investigators setting for Palladium was called Beyond the Supernatural. It was the first setting to use PPE (Potential Psychic Energy); which had the primary use of being permanently burned to purchase psychic powers and was only secondarily used for magic spells... which is why it has its unusual name instead of something like Mana.

Also of note, children and especially teens have the highest PPE which is normally consumed as you enter adulthood and focus it onto learning skills and building up your attributes (one of the psychic classes is exclusively this, using their PPE to buy attribute and skill bonuses). This is why paranormal stuff is so interested in children and teenagers.

Also of note, they included rules for running mundane people, teens, and kids as PCs for horror campaigns.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Omega on February 09, 2025, 06:58:13 PM
The original Beyond the Supernatural can handle it if you curb the PCs to mere mortals and dont allow them near any of the superscience

Alternity and 3e's Dark*Matter setting can as well.

The old Cthulhu Now could. Theres even two module collections out about effectively playing monster and slasher movies.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: jhkim on February 09, 2025, 07:19:16 PM
Quote from: Ratman_tf on February 09, 2025, 01:43:08 PMRe-reading Palladium Nightbane, I've thought about a campaign of paranormal investigators set in the kind of 80's horror/slasher films. But Palladium... eh.
What system would you use for such a campaign? Bonus points for the more "stuff" it has already done and ready. (Creatures, setting appropriate rules, etc)

What are you looking for in "horror/slasher"? What I think of as 1980s slasher movies tend to not have investigators - they mostly have victims and a final girl.


The best-supported RPG I can think of that comes close to this is the Chill RPG, originally from Pacesetter games in 1984. I have the original PaceSetter edition, plus some sourcebooks for the 1991 2nd edition from Mayfair Games. It is centered more on classic monster movies - so vampires, werewolves, mummies, zombies, and such - as opposed to 1980s slasher villains which are more often maniacs or unique supernatural baddies like Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees.

If classic monsters are OK, Pacesetter published about a dozen adventures for 1E, plus a sourcebook and GM screen. Mayfair published a few dozen scenarios, but they are less distinctly 1980s.

More recently, there have been a bunch of slasher one-off RPGs, but as far as I know, they are one-and-done without any support or adventures. Of these, I've only looked into Dead of Night - which was interesting to read but I don't recommend it. These try to do slasher movies in that the PCs are the victims and the PCs are expected to regularly die off.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/81572/dead-of-night

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/60714/slasher-flick

https://slashrpg.com/

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/182628/the-final-girl

Do you want unique slasher monsters like Freddy or Jason, but the PCs are paranormal investigators who are expected to (mostly) survive?  Do you have any models for what you want the results to look like? Maybe the short-lived Friday the 13th TV series?
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Ratman_tf on February 09, 2025, 09:02:11 PM
Quote from: jhkim on February 09, 2025, 07:19:16 PM
Quote from: Ratman_tf on February 09, 2025, 01:43:08 PMRe-reading Palladium Nightbane, I've thought about a campaign of paranormal investigators set in the kind of 80's horror/slasher films. But Palladium... eh.
What system would you use for such a campaign? Bonus points for the more "stuff" it has already done and ready. (Creatures, setting appropriate rules, etc)

What are you looking for in "horror/slasher"? What I think of as 1980s slasher movies tend to not have investigators - they mostly have victims and a final girl.

Yeah. I usually think in campaign terms, where the usual slasher flick is very self-contained. (And the sequels usualy re-set the scenario and run it over again with new victims and situations.) So the idea I have is a paranormal investigation team (preferably amateurs) who go from horror "movie" to horror "movie", with maybe an underlying meta running under all the horror stuff going on. I'd mostly want to make it a "greatest hits" of 80's horror, with scenarios that hearken to stuff like Hellraiser and Puppet Master and all that good stuff.

QuoteDo you want unique slasher monsters like Freddy or Jason, but the PCs are paranormal investigators who are expected to (mostly) survive?  Do you have any models for what you want the results to look like? Maybe the short-lived Friday the 13th TV series?


The Friday the 13th series immediatley sprang to mind. I'd really have to re-watch it again. My memory is very hazy.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: weirdguy564 on February 09, 2025, 09:37:37 PM
If you don't like Palladium rules, then I'm going to suggest Mini-Six Bare Bones. 

Mini-six includes a paranormal extermination agency setting, but it's set in Victorian England rather than 1980's USA.

It shouldn't be hard to change the setting. 
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: D-ko on February 09, 2025, 10:49:08 PM
I've long wanted to brainstorm using Beyond The Mountains of Madness for a The Thing sequel. Really, not all horror applies to just one system.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: RNGm on February 09, 2025, 11:07:48 PM
Paranormal investigations would make me want to suggest either Call of Cthulhu as many have above as well as Free League's Vaesen as they both specialize in that the niche genre.  I've never actually played either though so I don't know how well they'd handle the horror/slasher part of the request though.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Quasquetonian on February 10, 2025, 12:18:16 AM
What tone are you going for?  What things from '80s horror movies do you want to emulate?  How do you want the horror elements to be mechanically expressed?  I think those things are important to think about when selecting a system.

In '80s horror movies, the protagonists are usually pretty resilient.  Whether dealing with demon-ghosts who invade their dreams, a coven of boardwalk-haunting vampires, or an unkillable mask-wearing revenant, even mundane suburban teenagers rarely lose their sanity.  They mostly don't go researching dusty tomes at the University library.  A lot of '80s horror movies end with some kind of head-on physical confrontation with the monster, usually employing some kind of guerrilla tactics.  That's almost the complete opposite of the kind of horror that Call of Cthulhu tries to emulate.

I have the 1984 version of Pacesetter's Chill.  It has a lot of material set in the '80s, but it doesn't really have an '80s horror movie feel.  It's more about classic monsters likes ghosts, vampires, and werewolves.  The default setting involves a secret society dedicated to hunting down monsters, with some agents having psychic or magical powers.  You could ignore the setting or the special powers, but the system is also kind of clunky, so I'm not sure it would be worth it.

I would recommend taking a look at Free League's Year Zero Engine (https://freeleaguepublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/YZE-Standard-Reference-Document.pdf) and tailoring it to your needs.  It's a pretty easy system to learn and teach, and it plays quickly.  You would have to come up with your own monsters and gear, but I don't think that would be that difficult since you probably wouldn't need a big monster manual to start.

The reason I'm recommending Year Zero is that the Stress Dice mechanic is a really good fit for horror (They use that mechanic for their Walking Dead and Alien games). 

In order to understand the mechanic, I need to explain how the system works.  It's built around a dice pool mechanic.  Anything that helps you adds a die to the pool, anything that makes a task more difficult removes a die.  You roll your dice.  Any 6 is a success, with a higher degree of success the more of them you get.  If you fail your initial roll, or if you want more successes, you can push the roll, meaning you can reroll any die that's not a 1.

However, if you push the roll, you get a Stress Die added to your pool, which you would use a different color die for.  Stress Dice build up until you alleviate stress in some way.  Whenever you make a check, you also roll your accumulated Stress Dice. Rolling more dice means you have more chances to succeed (your stress might make you sharper or more focused), but if you roll a 1 on one or more Stress Dice, then something bad happens (and if you roll a 1 on a Stress Die on your initial roll, you can't push).  This makes it possible to both succeed on a roll and also have something bad happen, which is thematically appropriate for a horror game.

The pdf I linked above contains a sample Panic Table for a horror game, but you could make your own table or choose something appropriate to the situation.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend buying an existing Free League game for your purposes, though.  They build their games up from the same core mechanic, but they tailor each game to the material.  For example, The Walking Dead is a horror game, but most of the material in the book deals with topics specific to the setting, like mechanics for dealing with groups of zombies, how communities work, and so on.  You'd end up paying for things that wouldn't be useful when they give away what you need to get started for free.

This turned out a little longer than intended, but I hope it's useful.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: jhkim on February 10, 2025, 12:37:05 AM
Quote from: Ratman_tf on February 09, 2025, 09:02:11 PM
Quote from: jhkim on February 09, 2025, 07:19:16 PMWhat are you looking for in "horror/slasher"? What I think of as 1980s slasher movies tend to not have investigators - they mostly have victims and a final girl.

Yeah. I usually think in campaign terms, where the usual slasher flick is very self-contained. (And the sequels usualy re-set the scenario and run it over again with new victims and situations.) So the idea I have is a paranormal investigation team (preferably amateurs) who go from horror "movie" to horror "movie", with maybe an underlying meta running under all the horror stuff going on. I'd mostly want to make it a "greatest hits" of 80's horror, with scenarios that hearken to stuff like Hellraiser and Puppet Master and all that good stuff.

Quote from: jhkim on February 09, 2025, 07:19:16 PMDo you want unique slasher monsters like Freddy or Jason, but the PCs are paranormal investigators who are expected to (mostly) survive?  Do you have any models for what you want the results to look like? Maybe the short-lived Friday the 13th TV series?

The Friday the 13th series immediatley sprang to mind. I'd really have to re-watch it again. My memory is very hazy.

If you want to adapt actual 80s movies like Hellraiser and Puppet Master, I'm pretty sure you're on your own as far as prewritten source material. There are some RPGs that draw from those - The Whispering Vault (1993) draws inspiration from Hellraiser, and John Tynes' Puppetland (1995) takes some inspiration from Puppet Master, but they're unique RPGs not suited to investigators.

Personally, I play a lot of Call of Cthulhu - but I would lean towards Unisystem for an 80s movie vibe. I only know All Flesh Must Be Eaten by reputation, but I know the standard Unisystem Witchcraft RPG and the Cinematic Unisystem Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG. I suspect AFMBE would be the best core book for your idea.

But you might have your own preferred system for horror - you might want just a universal system that you're familiar with. Unisystem is good, but there are lots of systems out there.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Ratman_tf on February 10, 2025, 02:17:45 AM
Quote from: Quasquetonian on February 10, 2025, 12:18:16 AMWhat tone are you going for?  What things from '80s horror movies do you want to emulate?  How do you want the horror elements to be mechanically expressed?  I think those things are important to think about when selecting a system.

I'm just starting noddling around the idea, so I'm not sure. I don't think I'd like to GM a game where the PCs are simply victims, so I first thought of making them paranormal investigators. The idea sprang from the Nightspawn setting where the character are all monster-ish, and fight the Nightlords. The Nightlords gain power from fear and suffering, so they do horrible things on earth. I was thinking about the various plots the Nightlords would be up to, and thought about the 80's horror films I love. It's easy to slot in the idea, since the Nightlords use all kinds of supernautural minions.
And then I remembered the kludgyness of the Palladium system and thought, can I get something similar but using a different system. And then I thought, why set it in that particular setting at all.
And so I came here and made a post about the idea to get some ideas about what horror type RPGs are out there besides Nightbane/Beyond the Supernatural. I only remembered Call of Cthulu and the WEG Ghost busters RPG, and both seem pretty off from the vibe I was thinking of.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: yosemitemike on February 10, 2025, 02:46:02 AM
There's a small press game called Dead of Night that I think does a really good job of genre emulation.  It's mainly geared for one-shots emulating movie but there's some support for campaign play.  The core system is pretty simple but there are multiple sliders for the GM to adjust to emulate different kinds of horror.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/81572/dead-of-night

Quote from: Quasquetonian on February 10, 2025, 12:18:16 AMI would recommend taking a look at Free League's Year Zero Engine (https://freeleaguepublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/YZE-Standard-Reference-Document.pdf) and tailoring it to your needs. 

There is a horror rpg that use the Year Zero Engine.  I own it but I haven't had a chance to play it.
https://dmdavepublishing.com/products/horror-a-roleplaying-game-pdf-only?pr_prod_strat=jac&pr_rec_id=a9a5f70f7&pr_rec_pid=8212860502305&pr_ref_pid=8212859224353&pr_seq=uniform
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: BoxCrayonTales on February 10, 2025, 08:09:07 AM
The 2004 reboot of World of Darkness, retroactively aka Chronicles of Darkness, had a "Slashers" book. It's the only rpg book I can find dedicated to slashers. You can buy it on drivethrurpg.

Aside from that, I agree that Chill would probably work. It has investigators and stuff. You can buy the 2nd and 3rd editions on drivethrurpg.

My advice would be to use Chill, and convert Slashers to it.

I was thinking of making my own game for the genre since everything else is decades old and doesn't do it exactly right.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: yosemitemike on February 10, 2025, 08:29:55 AM
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on February 10, 2025, 08:09:07 AMThe 2004 reboot of World of Darkness, retroactively aka Chronicles of Darkness, had a "Slashers" book. It's the only rpg book I can find dedicated to slashers. You can buy it on drivethrurpg.


I have a couple of games dedicated to emulating the slasher genre.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/60714/slasher-flick
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/457183/slash-the-horror-movie-rpg

They aren't all that suited to campaign play though.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Habitual Gamer on February 10, 2025, 09:40:40 AM
To me, a horror game is a bit of a hard sale as a large chunk of horror revolves around the idea of helplessness (either because you don't know what the monster is, or you lack the power to properly fight it once you do know what it is).  And -typically- players want to feel like their characters are powerful and becoming more powerful as the campaign continues.

However! 

There are plenty of players out there who enjoy games like Call of Cthulhu and Midnight, where the win conditions are less "save the world from monsters" and more "save your town for another couple of months, if you're lucky."  So I'd recommend against any "bait and switch" surprises, and just ask them if they'd like to run a horror campaign using X ruleset.  You explain to them though that you will not specify what kind(s) of horror, because the genre really is diverse with all the different things people can be afraid of, and ignorance is part of the genre! 

Now that that's out of the way, what system to use?

Truthfully, system is almost secondary.  I would recommend something with high lethality though, as that plays into the theme of helplessness.  If the party feels like they can bum rush a chainsaw wielding masked maniac because they get three Death Saves, you might want a different system.
   
* I'd recommend looking into Savage Worlds (and possibly the Horror Companion).  It's fast and furious, meaning PCs might get chopped up quickly, but it's relatively quick and easy to make a new character.  Hopefully, by the time you're sick of the system your campaign is coming to a close anyway.
* Hunter the Vigil would be my choice if I wanted something with a bit more meat on its bones mechanically to start with (you'll probably want to do auto-success on Damage rolls to make combat more lethal though).  But it also acts as a gateway drug to the broader Chronicles of Darkness lines, which are treasure trove of ideas to cherry pick from.  And Hunter has a pre-made faction devoted to dealing with Slashers if you want some ideas to play with. 
* GURPS gets my final nod.  I'm not a fan of the system, but I'll admit it can work, and it also has some neat and original ideas to explore if you dig into the vastness that is the 3ed supplement collection.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Theory of Games on February 10, 2025, 11:30:34 AM
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2JR8oCnGKUkLCl18k8-lsKp6M4CLSsTLbqyi_wPUSCUH9UZhaM4mObSYemDBtfYo9YKB6HiexQ9ZGrwtWwqfrCYoPxYG2y_uUzv8z9-rbmCFsFq2Y_4u-kK6dg8vqWyiS0NRe8xCgBU/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/GURPS+Horror.jpg)

Methinks GURPS is best because the 3d6 roll-low skill-based system is super-fast to play. AND, horror "protagonists" tend to be complicated characters, something GURPS can emulate easier than most ttrpgs. Plus GURPS has Fright checks and it isn't hard to butcher PCs when necessary.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: D-ko on February 10, 2025, 03:05:18 PM
Wasn't Kult specifically based on Hellraiser?
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: tenbones on February 10, 2025, 04:21:25 PM
NWoD Slasher is/was a great system. I actually *love* Hunters stuff from NWoD. Great material.

Could easily do any 80's/90's horror with great fidelity. Horror movies, to X-files type stuff with little problem.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: BadApple on February 10, 2025, 04:29:06 PM
Radical High.

I reviewed it a few month back.  The system is simple and clean but has enough depth for PC growth.  At the time I was baffled as to how I would use it but I'll be damned if it isn't perfect for just about any 80s horror.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Brigman on February 10, 2025, 08:29:23 PM
With what I've got on the shelf, probably Call of Cthulhu.

I've run some fun Horror games using the HERO system, and of course there's Ravenloft.  Heck, I ran a couple great Horror sessions using FASA's old Star Trek RPG, set in the TOS universe.  But CoC is the best thing I currently own for dedicated Horror, I think.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Philotomy Jurament on February 10, 2025, 08:38:39 PM
I'd probably use Call of Cthulhu (or "gold book" BRP with rules cherry picked for the setting/tone I had in mind). I might consider using Fear Itself.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: CorvusCarpus on February 11, 2025, 06:22:03 AM
I find the sanity system in Unknown Armies 2nd ed to be both quick and practical. It is adequate for a street level horror campain ignoring any supernatural element.
I really like Gavriel Quiroga's Hell Night for the feel of cinematic 80s, however the system would not fit the slasher genre.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: BoxCrayonTales on February 11, 2025, 10:07:21 AM
Has Monster of the Week been mentioned? It uses PbtA. It looks okay if you don't have anything specific in mind, but it doesn't have any decent settings that I could find.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Quasquetonian on February 11, 2025, 11:39:12 AM
Quote from: Ratman_tf on February 10, 2025, 02:17:45 AMI'm just starting noddling around the idea, so I'm not sure. I don't think I'd like to GM a game where the PCs are simply victims, so I first thought of making them paranormal investigators. The idea sprang from the Nightspawn setting where the character are all monster-ish, and fight the Nightlords. The Nightlords gain power from fear and suffering, so they do horrible things on earth. I was thinking about the various plots the Nightlords would be up to, and thought about the 80's horror films I love. It's easy to slot in the idea, since the Nightlords use all kinds of supernautural minions.
And then I remembered the kludgyness of the Palladium system and thought, can I get something similar but using a different system. And then I thought, why set it in that particular setting at all.
And so I came here and made a post about the idea to get some ideas about what horror type RPGs are out there besides Nightbane/Beyond the Supernatural. I only remembered Call of Cthulu and the WEG Ghost busters RPG, and both seem pretty off from the vibe I was thinking of.

You said in a previous post that you want the characters to be amateur investigators, so something like Fright Night, Lost Boys, Phantasm, and (maybe especially) Phantasm II?  I know that you referenced Hellraiser and Puppet Master, but I'm just thinking about how you're imagining the characters and party.  It seems like you're aiming for that place where '80s horror movies almost border on '80s action/adventure movies.

If so, I think you're right about Call of Cthulhu not being a good fit.  It's made to emulate a completely different type of horror.  That's true of Chill, too, or at least the Pacesetter version I've run.

The reason I asked you how you want things to work mechanically is because when you look at slashers, most of them wouldn't be as threatening to even minimally prepared adventurers as they are to their victims in the movies.  I was just trying to think of how you'd translate their abilities (errorless stealth, a teleportation-like ability to appear in the worst possible place for their victims, etc.) into game mechanics.  To find a game that does everything you want to do, it'll probably make more sense to build up from an existing base.

Quote from: D-ko on February 10, 2025, 03:05:18 PMWasn't Kult specifically based on Hellraiser?

Some of the aesthetics and monsters are inspired by Hellraiser, but it's more of an urban Gnostic dark modern fantasy thing.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Reckall on February 11, 2025, 02:45:16 PM
Call of Cthulhu published two collections of one-shots inspired by classic horror movies: Blood Brothers 1 & 2. The volumes were under the label "CoC - Non Mythos".

I have them here on my shelf. Some of the genres that inspired the scenarios are:

"Haunted Ghostly Places", "Vampires", "Theatrical Mad Men" (Phantom of the Opera...), "Land of Dinosaurs", "Mummies", "Killer Dolls", "Gremlins", "Mad Scientists", "Zombies" (classic ones, not the superfast contemporary ones), "Werewolves", "Fish People" (OK, here "It is not Cthulhu!" it is a bit of a stretch), "Pagan Cults" (the original Wicker Man), "Horror Planet" (Alien/Cyberpunkish), "Silent Horror Movies!" (the players have to write their dialogue in classic B/W cards and emote the rest!), "Hammer Horror Films", "Aliens from the 1950s", "Detached Body Parts", "Mexican Wrestling Horror Movies", "Horror Westerns" and others.

Each scenario is meant to be "A night at the movies", with pre-generated characters who can just die (and actually should). If you are creative, you can even mix genres, taking inspiration from the classic "College Girls & Jocks in a Cabin in the Woods, 1982" only to change Michael Meyers into the Alien (with facehuggers amid the trees and stuff).

There are even rules for "Horror according to Abbott and Costello" with stats for both if you are inclined to try that. However, I don't think that I ever played one of these scenarios the way it was written. I usually started with two rival bands of cowboys looking for gold in dead cities/cemeteries, Sergio Leone-like only to meet... well, the Alien (I was not that creative...)
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: jhkim on February 11, 2025, 05:43:02 PM
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on February 11, 2025, 10:07:21 AMHas Monster of the Week been mentioned? It uses PbtA. It looks okay if you don't have anything specific in mind, but it doesn't have any decent settings that I could find.

I love Monster of the Week - it's my favorite among PbtA games, and one of my favorite RPGs in general. However, it's specifically in the genre of _Supernatural_, _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, _Angel_, and similar episodic action shows with horror-movie monsters. My impression was that this wasn't what Ratman_tf was going for.

Ratman_tf, how close do you see your investigators being to something like the _Supernatural_ TV series? In some ways, _Friday the 13th_ the TV series was a predecessor of these. Monster of the Week is more heroic and actiony than what I see as the 80s slasher horror genre.

Call of Cthulhu is probably close enough, but I'd lean towards Unisystem like AFMBE or Witchcraft.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: the crypt keeper on February 12, 2025, 02:37:03 PM
The Mound in the Yard is a good 80's slasher module for BRP/CoC. Using CoC has the advantage of players trying to figure out what eldritch horror is involved, when in fact it is a maniac with a knife looking to get you alone from your group. Having your character shot to death is pretty electric in a game like this. And run someone over with a car/truck. Very psycho-slasher act.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Cathode Ray on February 12, 2025, 02:45:16 PM
Radical High, utilizing the combat rules in Bodacious Bestiary.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: JanDevries on February 13, 2025, 09:19:53 AM
Quote from: David Johansen on February 09, 2025, 06:08:21 PMGURPS and I'll tell them it's a campaign about highschool hijinks.  I really like GURPS for horror because it doesn't telegraph what the horror will be.

There's a podcast called The Film Re-Roll, that uses GURPS Lite to "re-play" classic movies. Strict adherence to the original isn't expected. Frex, they did The Goonies once, but the attic contained several different adventure seeds, instead of just the map. Anyway, to your point, the GM once told the players they were re-rolling an obscure 1983 teen sex comedy called Summerspell. In reality, he was running them through Friday the 13th, Part IV. The reveal was amazing.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: D-ko on February 13, 2025, 07:41:26 PM
Quote from: jhkim on February 11, 2025, 05:43:02 PM
Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on February 11, 2025, 10:07:21 AMHas Monster of the Week been mentioned? It uses PbtA. It looks okay if you don't have anything specific in mind, but it doesn't have any decent settings that I could find.

I love Monster of the Week - it's my favorite among PbtA games, and one of my favorite RPGs in general. However, it's specifically in the genre of _Supernatural_, _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_, _Angel_, and similar episodic action shows with horror-movie monsters. My impression was that this wasn't what Ratman_tf was going for.

MotW bills itself as good for X-Files style play, so I'm assuming it's talking about the more erm... monster of the week style episodes like The Host? Really not representative of the show as a whole, but it pioneered the idea and lead the way for the shows you've mentioned.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: LouGarou on February 14, 2025, 04:15:06 AM
Quote from: JanDevries on February 13, 2025, 09:19:53 AM
Quote from: David Johansen on February 09, 2025, 06:08:21 PMGURPS and I'll tell them it's a campaign about highschool hijinks.  I really like GURPS for horror because it doesn't telegraph what the horror will be.

There's a podcast called The Film Re-Roll, that uses GURPS Lite to "re-play" classic movies. Strict adherence to the original isn't expected. Frex, they did The Goonies once, but the attic contained several different adventure seeds, instead of just the map. Anyway, to your point, the GM once told the players they were re-rolling an obscure 1983 teen sex comedy called Summerspell. In reality, he was running them through Friday the 13th, Part IV. The reveal was amazing.

This is funny stuff. Good AP is the new radio drama.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Green Demon on February 16, 2025, 07:53:46 PM
I've not seen this product personally, but BLOOD! - The Roleplaying Game of Modern Horror (Second Edition) by Postmortem Studios

"Blood! is the unashamed and unflinching horror game for the horror aficionado who wishes to recreate the visceral, stomach-churning horror of the video-nasties of the 70s and 80s as well as their more modern imitators".

"The new edition holds over '150' pages of blood, gore, violence, psychopaths, insanity, zombies, vampires, chainsaws, belt sanders, gratuitous injuries and other material to help you create a suitably nasty atmosphere for any type of horror game."


Blood! By Postmortem Studios  (http://the%20new%20edition%20holds%20over%20'150'%20pages%20of%20blood,%20gore,%20violence,%20psychopaths,%20insanity,%20zombies,%20vampires,%20chainsaws,%20belt%20sanders,%20gratuitous%20injuries%20and%20other%20material%20to%20help%20you%20create%20a%20suitably%20nasty%20atmosphere%20for%20any%20type%20of%20horror%20game.)

Anyone played it? Looks like it's a game that is trying to do just what you're looking for.
Title: Re: What system would you use for a campaign based on 80's horror flicks?
Post by: Green Demon on February 16, 2025, 07:55:49 PM
Link didn't work

BLOOD! (https://post-mort.com/products/blood-the-roleplaying-game-of-modern-horror-second-edition)