Best System for Horror?

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Neo-Paladin
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Best System for Horror?

Post by Neo-Paladin »

What is, in your opinion, the best game system for horror that is NOT Call of Cthulhu? I am looking for alternatives.
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Ares
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by Ares »

The Uni-System used by zombie system All-Flesh Must Be Eaten was good for that kind of horror. There's also a game called Kult: Divinity Lost that's good for more Clive Barker/Hellraiser style horror. A lot of the Kult stuff goes really into the psychological horror.
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Neo-Paladin
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by Neo-Paladin »

I know, I own KULT and AFMBE.
Thing is, I want a system that can do low-powered superheroes and horror without combat becoming a slugfest like in M&M (don't get me wrong, I love the system, but I don't think it would do horror that well).
Main idea is that some invisible, insidious force is entering our world and slowly changing it, not just the present, but the past as well, creating monsters, seeding the world with ancient and dangerous artifacts etc. Only a few are able to remember the correct timeline and how the world was before and somehow, that has given them some slightly superhuman abilities.
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Davies
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by Davies »

... I'm hesitant to suggest it, because I have grown extremely ambivalent about its use for supers, but you did say low-powered, so ... GURPS? You're pretty much describing its Madness Dossier setting.
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Neo-Paladin
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by Neo-Paladin »

Yeah, I know Madness Dossier and I was certainly inspired by it, though the details, of course, vary.
Anyone got any experience with the Cypher System and horror? Recently, a supplement for Cypher horror gaming was published, I think..Stay Alive!
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Ares
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by Ares »

There's also Elder Godlike:

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Basically, it combines the relatively low-powered supers of Godlike with Achtung! Cthulhu's pulpy "Weird World War game. "

So if you're looking for low-powered supers fighting monsters, this could bear looking at.

If you want to throw some Weird Mecha in as well, Achtung! Cthulhu also did a crossover with DUST:

Image
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
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Neo-Paladin
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by Neo-Paladin »

Thanks :) What irked me about Godlike was how superpowers always tended to fail in the presence of other opposed
supers...where's the fun in that? Is Elder Godlike the same in that regard?
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by greycrusader »

Davies wrote: Thu Jun 30, 2022 8:52 am ... I'm hesitant to suggest it, because I have grown extremely ambivalent about its use for supers, but you did say low-powered, so ... GURPS? You're pretty much describing its Madness Dossier setting.
Yes, I haven't played GURPS since 2nd/early 3rd edition, so I can't speak to how the system handles supers now, but I remember reading the genre book back in the day and immediately realizing how ANYTHING above the 250-350 point level was WAY imbalanced, with all sorts of combos that would be game-breaking possible. "Super-normals" would translate into "dead really quickly in combat", and characters of approximately equal point value could be completely outmatched depending on the builds.

Savage Worlds also has a relatively low-powered system for building supers, with characters mostly being in the power range of the 1980s X-Men or Teen Titans. Not sure how compatible it is with horror genre though.

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Ken
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by Ken »

Reality
My Amazing Woman: a super-hero romantic comedy podcast.

When the most powerful super hero on Earth marries an ordinary man, hilarity ensues.
Neo-Paladin
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by Neo-Paladin »

Ken wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 6:49 pmReality
No thanks...that's why I am trying to stick to fictional horrors. Better to face an eldritch god than a planet who's just decided to go bonkers all on its own.
Superfanboy
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by Superfanboy »

It really depends on what you mean by horror. I like a lot of Lovecraft but I wouldn't exactly say it scares me, it's more like a metaphor for the decline of traditional religious views, and a merging of celestial mechanics and Gnosticism. You can do that in anything.
Horror and mystery often share elements, such as an unknown threat and the possibility of sudden violence from someone or something already nearby. In my experience it's hard to pull off this kind of tension, because not telling the PCs what's going on turns into a circus, and most rpg players shoot demons in the face and think possession is a temporary debuff.
You can certainly use scary monsters and eerie, dark powers but if Vampire is any indication horror in a game which is usually about fighting people very readily becomes camp.

I'm interested in any ideas on how to actually create horror elements in a game of any system experience, because I have never been scared while rolling dice.

Regarding the horror reality system, Reality is like a horror movie where everyone knows who the psychos are but are too afraid to admit to the people who might be his lackeys. Well, that's just the Matrix I guess. Real life is the Matrix as a boring horror movie.
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Ares
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by Ares »

Neo-Paladin wrote: Fri Jul 01, 2022 6:56 am Thanks :) What irked me about Godlike was how superpowers always tended to fail in the presence of other opposed
supers...where's the fun in that? Is Elder Godlike the same in that regard?
I'll give it another look. From what I remember, Elder Godlike had more simplified rules for powers and such for easier play, and I remember there being some unique ways the Mythos interacted with superpowers.
"My heart is as light as a child's, a feeling I'd nearly forgotten. And by helping those in need, I will be able to keep that feeling alive."
- Captain Marvel SHAZAM! : Power of Hope (2000)

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Darrin Kelley
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Re: Best System for Horror?

Post by Darrin Kelley »

Macabre Tales in the best Lovecraft styled horror RPG I have encountered.

Chill is the best investigative horror RPG I have encountered.

All Flesh Must Be Eaten is the best zombie horror RPG I have encountered.
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