Horror/Vampires

Horror, I've come to appreciate, is about what's missing. 1984 was so difficult to finish because the ending we were all looking for never happened. Signs was a masterful piece of storytelling, and choosing to show the antagonist as little as possible was a very clever move. In a similar vein, the original Silent Hill games were good because of the hardware limitations. That omnipresent fog was not designed to begin with- it's necessary to hide the load/unload areas.

Similarly, as graphics become more intense, it becomes much more difficult to scare anyone. For example- Bethesda's new game, The Evil Within, didn't do anything for me. I watched the trailer, and had a reverse excitement curve. It started edgy- a man in a bleak warehouse, collecting bits of evidence. Intriguing! Who is he, why is he there? Does his family know he's there? Then, a large sack of flesh walks around to examine a few things. The man dodges behind a wall, and my heart sinks. "Oh, there it is. There's the horror. Nothing we haven't seen before." The character makes a dash for a stairwell, but too late- the blob saw him. Now, there's a cutscene of him running up the stairs, furious footsteps making a heavy contrast to his stealth-oriented approach earlier. The screen shakes, and the blob is chasing him! A shrill sound fills the air, and the blob is closing with a chainsaw! I drink some more soda. Before he can reach the next door, our hero is splayed into pieces- gory, HD-rendered body parts spill on the floor; exactly like I expected. Nothing scary whatsoever, just some things that are mildly startling.

As a contrast, I looked at some screenshots of the first Half-Life. Specifically, a few of the bosses. I nearly crapped myself; it was horrifying! The shapes and textures were extremely primitive, which left so much more room for my imagination. Is that a large blood vessel, or a hydraulic line on the... whatever that limb is? Is it smiling? How many eyes does it have? These questions pecked at me, and I left the page a few seconds later to go hug my pillow.

In a similar vein, I have trouble taking Dead Space seriously. It is a little bit scary- you're alone, your light is absolute crap, and you're not sure if you're really shooting xenos or people.

But, almost all of the game is jump-scares. They're not even scary, just startling. The player flinches, pulls back, and five seconds later has their crap together again. And then, until they forget about it, that's not going to work again. Similarly are the drawn-out quicktime events. He's dangling on a ledge, above a giant saw...

... What else is going to happen? We all know how that's going to end, and we revel in our deathly prophecy.

Fortunately, jump-scares are extremely difficult in tabletop RPGs. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places, but the GM jumping up and yelling something doesn't sound very feasible, or frightening.

So, the only true horror is a subtle, creeping kind. Introduce little questions that grate on player's minds (and whatever you do... do NOT answer if they ask you). Make them question their own choices.

Lovecraftian horror is great for this. Less about grotesque and depraved acts, it has a focus on the unknown- one of the most relevant. Aliens? Bigfoot? Cloning? All have a serious potential to be a horror story.

~

The vampire's bite eludes me. The human body creates its own blood, in the marrow. So why suck blood?

Unless if, of course, the bite is to introduce something into the victim's blood. Pheromone-receptive cells seemed the obvious choice; either as a form of attraction, or to mark territory. Or both.

It's a popular joke that nerds are effectively vampires: Both shun sunlight, drink fluids most other find unnatural, and read books of strange arcane language. I might make this my basis, though I'm undecided yet. I like the idea of an amateur vampire, who hasn't gotten swept up into a coven yet- he'd effectively be a basement dweller minus the skin condition.

Certainly a lot to ponder. :F

Bite-sized thoughts 8

-Childhood XP

One thing I wanted to do for the Spectrum RP was have a section where the players- as children- go to a carnival. They meet each other there, become friends, yadda yadda.

Of course it would be a series of mini-quests. Dunk the clown. Win at the claw machine. Don't flinch in the haunted house, etc. It would be the makings of a good childhood memory, in gameplay format.

Then I realized something. Our childhood years are very formitive- more than teenage years, and certainly more than adult years. What we do then shapes who we are in our futures... just like in an RPG. This explains why people with more major events in their lives tend to be more mature at a younger age, etc. They have more encounters in their life, and have more XP as a result.

As people "develop-" spend XP on levels- they become more defined (unless if they evenly distribute, to be average at everything). So, the gameplay of RPGs very, very closely resembles that of real life. Hostility encourages growth. This is why someone only gets, say, ten levels in their childhood- and several dozen of the course of their harrowing adventure.

At some point, I will do this in an RPG. I'm a huge fan of Fallout 3's backstory (Sorry New Vegas, but the Lone Wanderer actually has history, and some characterization). It was immersive, informative, and fun. It would be much harder to do with multiple people, so I don't plan on copying the formula exactly... but I will try to get the same effect. Find who's strong, who's smart, who's quick... all the essentials of being a teenager.

-Paladins vs Clerics

I loved DnD. Still do, to an extent. But one thing that always baffled me was the difference between a cleric and a paladin. Where is the line? And is a Druid just a nature cleric?

They both come from the same principle- a person is tasked (by themselves, the church, or the deity itself) to be a deity's presence in the world. For good gods, this means feeding orphans, turning undead, and keeping your prayers strong. For evil gods, it usually means starving the orphans, raising the dead, and spreading the vile sacrament of your god on the quivering minds of those below you.

"Paladin" conjures images of helmeted crusaders, mulching through bodies with holy symbols brazed onto their equipment. It's obviously someone strong, someone driven- almost like a Fighter, but they give praise before and after battle.

"Cleric" seems more laid back. Perhaps a temple priest, or a ritual herbalist. Obviously nothing dangerous here... until that large, iron-bound book comes out, to be greeted with the wails of "Rez Plz" by fallen comrades.

As an interesting dynamic, paladins usually get access to low-level healing and buffs, while clerics can cast high-damage spells occasionally. So, they are united in purpose- representation of gods. The difference is how much testosterone they put into their "worship."

KISS

Out of context, that title could be very misleading. Fortunately, nothing that sexy happens on this blog.

Maybe I should switch that up in the future?

For now, Hacktest is on. I have an ideal plot (short and kinda funny), basic gameplay principles, and two ideal testers.

The testers are actual computer nerds, which will help me greatly in terms of feedback. As long as it's not unrealistic (usually by being vague, sorry real-life hackers D: ), I'm happy.

Only basic rules yet, and they don't appear to violate my three tenets (Simple, usable, fun). We'll see how they hold up in an actual gameplay environment.

I have a bit too much fun, at times... =D

Frickin' Progress

There's a gameplan, now.

Hacktest, Locktest.

I'm actually glad the Hacking is the first thing I'm working on- it's a personal message of sorts, and one of the more complicated bits. It's certainly lacking the "fun" part so far, but it appears simple and usable. Dice save us all.

The bit in the nuclear reactor is going to be Locktest. I've got a basic outline for it, but it has to wait. Just like EVERY other test I've proposed, it needs to be shelved for a bit.

-Spectrum is still on
-Project Ascension is still on
-Project Sunburn is still on
-Project Elvis is still on

Just a matter of time. And I should have some more mythological creatures soon, right after I spend a few hours thinking about zombie sex.

...

... This is why no one takes my hobby seriously.