So, as someone who enjoys reading and writing within the horror genre why is it that horror RPs are not more common on the site? Is it because writing horror themes is more difficult in a group roleplay setting? Do you believe they are more difficult to do (successfully)?
ArenaSnow Devourer of Souls
Banned
Seen
3 yrs ago
I'd presume they are not simply a flavor. There is nothing particularly big or popular I know of that would contribute to a high amount of horror being attempted. Then, yes, I do believe horror is more difficult to attempt hosting. Of course, everything is easy if you have no standards, but to do it on a generally universal level of well, I can imagine it would be a bit more difficult to keep people hooked and keep things cohesive without making a story that looks open but actually just railroads you to an inevitable conclusion.
Still, I don't think it's impossible at all. I think it generally just falls by the wayside, and if someone wants to try it, they can probably do it and expect fairly average results compared to the rest of the guild.
Still, I don't think it's impossible at all. I think it generally just falls by the wayside, and if someone wants to try it, they can probably do it and expect fairly average results compared to the rest of the guild.
mickilennial is trying to survive
Member
Seen
5 days ago
I think there's a reason survival horror (such as Resident Evil, The Walking Dead, etc) is more prominent than psychological horror in terms of RPs on the site. Horror is very tricky genre to GM and requires a smaller, dedicated cast.
Squirrel98
Member
Seen
4 days ago
Well, I personally LOVE the horror genre and would love to do roleplays in that genre. The thing is that the ones I see are just other genres that have an element of horror in them, but aren't really horror. Or sometimes there are combinations with themes that I am horribly bad at (for example: medieval or others in the past).
If it would be pure horror, it would attract me more, but the ones posted are often fantasy, medieval or science fiction with a horror element.
If it would be pure horror, it would attract me more, but the ones posted are often fantasy, medieval or science fiction with a horror element.
SleepingSilence OC, Plz No Stealz.
Member
Seen
11 hrs ago
Things you usually need to allow/need to expect as a GM and player for horror genre RP's.
1. Your characters dying. (Knowing whether or not you can create a new one/or do you become something else?)
2. Luck (unlike adventure genres) should play no part. The GM has to let their players outsmart them. If they make smart decisions in the world you set up, you can't just have them fail anyway. The characters should have more of a direct role in decisions than the GM in many ways.
3. Characters should be able to severely hurt/turn on each other. No "you can't do anything to other characters, that's mean" thing. In fact all the best horror genre RP's directly set up and plan ahead for at least one character to play the traitor character. You allow off-screen collab/private roleplaying that's sent to the GM, to keep purposeful secrets. But it could also be smartly discouraged (troll/stupid-proof) through set-up in game mechanics.
4. Inactivity has to be actively discouraged within the plot of your story. The ones that do nothing should be the first ones to die.
5. Horror RP's often have more rules and individual parts to keep track of. Definitely not recommended for newbie's GM's or for lazy/casual barely-committed roleplayers.
Ignoring general inactivity that doesn't tend to work for any genre, since you kind of need active and engaging members to make nearly any roleplay to work effectively.
Horror probably doesn't work here well because how most people structure their roleplays in the first place. They have a limitless time period for character sheets and also have a limitless selection process. Making it completely ineffective for quick beginnings. Let alone making new characters, if previous ones die.
Nobody just has a "create a character and jump in" style of roleplaying. And very few people express time limits (or a first sheet, first served basis) for their interest checks. So people express interest than never post a CS and weeks for anything to transpire because of it. Roleplays should be posting all the rules and CS along with the IC and only care about people "interested" enough to post a character sheet for review. But responsibility goes both ways. If players are expected to post a completed CS in a certain time period. You should be able to tell them how long it takes to review them, because silence often is the politest/worst ways most RP sites imply that the sheet not accepted.
This relaxed aspect cannot work for horror roleplaying, where half the fun/tension is the chance that the character you made to perish. So that's very likely part of it.
I was apart of (or simply lurked my friends) multiple horror/thriller roleplays that were some of the most creatively run roleplays I've experienced. I've probably even forgotten some of the many I've done, but none of them were basic in structure. And because simply talking about problems is the easiest thing one can do. Here's a couple of solutions that I've seen implemented, and that I've implemented in the horror roleplays created. For anyone that wants to follow these rules, but feels timid and scared to break the "can't do anything to characters without their permission" (Basic b*tch/b*stard) roleplaying rules that do not belong in the horror genre.
Options/Brief Examples Of How They're Implemented
1. Anti-Violence Mechanical Devices: Some complicated (Saw-Like) device put on all the characters that kills them for committing acts of violence.
One example: A group was trapped in a highly booby trapped factory that was specifically created to test covert weapons for military purposes, to stop the problem of team violence/rape and potential malicious actions. Which becomes the back-up explanation for why all these abducted ex-military had helmet devices strapped to their heads, and seemed to be rigged to penetrate their brain if tampered with. Their sole purpose is to sense/monitor brain waves and immediately strike somebody down for true intent to kill or do harm to your fellow allies. Set up by somebody who wanted them to work together, and let them be lab rats to test all your weapons instead of all recklessly killing one another.
Preferences: It's a little hamstrung in my opinion. So though I haven't seen this done yet. I suggest that the best way to implement this is to put careful thought in how the devices are created, and how they actually can be disabled or removed. So the people smart enough engage/roleplay efficiently should have the advantage of removing them. Make people work for their cravings to be violent.
2. Dying To Be The Antagonist: Expect people to be psychos/assholes like real horror, and let those murdered get to have the most fun. Anyone that dies gets to become apart of the antagonists that try to kill the remaining survivors.
My Example: Some good ole medieval world-ending horror, several insidious factions amidst a war are suddenly forced to work together when the environment drastically changes and demons start pouring out from the earth. The demons are stronger than any mortals and nearly invulnerable, limited only by their own fears and ability to move and traverse. So the survivors move from one broken place to another, race against the clock to survive. The twist is that it was started by the wars in the first place, the dark magical atmosphere will cause those who are killed by their fellow man to turn into the same demons. (So it actively encourages team work and eventually competition on both sides of the coin. And it allows true death to occur usually for the least effective/disruptive members.)
Preferences: I'm biased because this is my favorite/chosen method. It can make people that learn to love dying. Aside from this working well with nearly any monster related horror genre. Think Zombie, Vampire, Werewolf related stories. You don't even need to directly state this in the rules for it to work either, merely tease idea that death will be handled by the GM/Player through private chat. Makes the surprise ever more effective. (At least the first time it happens. But the whole point is to dissuade assholes from stabbing their fellow innocents.)
3. Ghosting/Non-Perma Death: Death not actually being death, but instead turning you into a ghost (usually still an ally to the team) able to now do different things that make them still feel apart of the experience and even potentially give them a chance to resurrect.
One Example: (I don't remember this one too well.) A group of haunting experts travel to a haunted island where people keep disappearing and its rumored to be haunted. They travel by ship that goes haywire, malfunctions and crashes then sinks. So the group woke up on the island stranded, some of them awaken in the sand and some awaken with their bodies floating in with the tide. But learn quickly they can see clearly their fellow experts ghosts. The people able to interact with the dangerous world with the antagonist/deadly environment and the ghost able to see the supernatural beings and traps that the people need to avoid. But can't directly interact with. There's some kind of parallel world thing going on, which is how so many people have been trapped/disappeared. Not all entities are even harmful, nor out to get them and actively help to put the evil ones to rest so they can live peacefully without being disturbed. Some locations can't be accessed by one particular group, sometimes communication between the ally ghosts and experts will be cut off. Eventually they'll find some kind of machine that allows them to go back to being mortal as long as the body is still intact/the correct soul is present.
Preferences: This idea really only works well for paranormal/haunting horror ideas. The roleplay I saw it in had plenty of extra parts, like having multiple maps made. But this idea still really only works if you plan to give the "ghosts" something important to do. Don't do this idea and have them just be ineffectual onlookers. This one also needs to made crystal clear to the players before the game begins. Since it allows/starts with people who are "dead".
4. Dark Souls Style/Save Point Immortality: Make death impactful. But not actually take you out of the RP. It tends to require you to lose something else instead. Progress/Equipment, something tangible.
One Example: Unsurprisingly, it was just literally just a demon souls-ish RP. But the idea was you started out with money, equipment (like everyone started with like a safety flare, which was your 'get out of your screw-up free' card.) and the group worked through several different "levels"/acts by defeating monsters and solving puzzles. I think the "levels/stages" were specifically all teased from the very beginning and most of the items were created/in an excel spreadsheet. Seemed a little complex and it certainly wasn't very fun to die. But people who would willingly join a RP like that should be expected to feel the pain of death.
Preferences: Obviously takes a GM willing to do some groundwork/set up and high dedication and good roleplayers. Might even be better to implement inside a D&D style campaign. But hey, get some trusted players together and actually put some effort in and you may have fun. I personally don't like keeping track of equipment/chart in my roleplaying. Doesn't feel as free-form as I tend to be and enjoy.
5. Friendly Omnipresent Evil: Have the evil (whether creature or environment) be basically omnipresent and stop players from killing one another. Which also plays on the idea that the horror is out to get you and basically forces cooperation.
One Example: (Might be butchering this plot a bit.) From a non-specific future timeline where space travel is more commonly done and massive well stocked/fueled spaceships are deployed by the government to find a new earth/planet because its feared to be running out of resources and there's strange calls the government picks up that indicates theirs life outside trying to contact us. A small hired crew of explorers and scientists are sent into space on one of these large ships only to find themselves getting pounded in an asteroid field with many objected embedded in their ship that seem to come from nowhere, and they eventually notice that they somehow went through a wormhole and ended up in the middle of nowhere with seemingly no way to get back home. So the end goal is to find a way back home. They discover the asteroid field was actually alien ships/that carried strange goo-like lifeforms that are now abroad the ship. These creatures can phase through solid matter and have like unlimited 360 vision. They can only communicate through their electronic equipment/through the radio where they begin explaining their situation and saying their collision with the ship was accidental, and they mean no harm and they needed to work together for either of them to go back to their home planets. All that they ask is for them to follow their orders and not mind their quiet observations. Some private conversation happens were (NPC) characters get angry that some choose to blindly trust/follow the orders and starts shoving/pushing the GM's character. In turn the creatures phase through the wall, grow to a threateningly large size, grab them and violently smear the NPC against the wall. Coldly explaining that it is a fragile species and extremely cautious, any sign of a potential predator/violent species gets immediately eliminated. I believe it gets more and more complicated as the sensible and weird demands it gives the characters. (Travel here. Don't go inside this part of the ship. Strip naked.) Turns into worse demands. Etc etc.
Preferences: This one had NPC's to show, don't tell the rules of the RP. Which is something you can do. Though I remember my friend complaining/telling me how goddamn convoluted the plot actually got. So this wasn't an example that panned out well. It certainly will take some creative GM's and players as well as plot to keep this idea/gimmick entertaining. It certainly stopped people from being dicks to one another. And it can be used to be pretty clever plot-wise. Again this one requires a more dedicated group to even attempt, let alone pull off successfully.
(Lesser/Still Viable Options)
6. Play-Safe Zones: Just create a situation where nobody has access to any real weapons and/or can't really kill each other, perhaps by making the characters children or fragile. Make it horror in aspect/atmosphere only basically. If you want more subtle, and less exciting horror. I've seen people do this, so it has to be appealing to somebody.
7. Require Multiple Characters: This one is self-explanatory. Basically make players create a back-up character. But it gives your players a lot of work and it's more of a safe guard for the (filthy-casuals) players that join horror RP's but cry when their characters are killed. Doesn't really stop dick players from being dicks though, in fact it only gives them more characters to be dicks with.
8. Life Point System: Just be a video game and give people a certain amount of lives. Maybe have people record and show how much health/lives they have left in their posts so its easy for everyone to keep track of. Seen this one done in video-game/virtual reality/mmo horror style roleplays. A little lazy and yet also often too much work even for lazy people. But it can maybe add an extra layer to the roleplay and make it at least feel different.
Hope that explains my thoughts and helps somebodies interest in creating/partaking in their own horror RP. ;D
1. Your characters dying. (Knowing whether or not you can create a new one/or do you become something else?)
2. Luck (unlike adventure genres) should play no part. The GM has to let their players outsmart them. If they make smart decisions in the world you set up, you can't just have them fail anyway. The characters should have more of a direct role in decisions than the GM in many ways.
3. Characters should be able to severely hurt/turn on each other. No "you can't do anything to other characters, that's mean" thing. In fact all the best horror genre RP's directly set up and plan ahead for at least one character to play the traitor character. You allow off-screen collab/private roleplaying that's sent to the GM, to keep purposeful secrets. But it could also be smartly discouraged (troll/stupid-proof) through set-up in game mechanics.
4. Inactivity has to be actively discouraged within the plot of your story. The ones that do nothing should be the first ones to die.
5. Horror RP's often have more rules and individual parts to keep track of. Definitely not recommended for newbie's GM's or for lazy/casual barely-committed roleplayers.
Ignoring general inactivity that doesn't tend to work for any genre, since you kind of need active and engaging members to make nearly any roleplay to work effectively.
Horror probably doesn't work here well because how most people structure their roleplays in the first place. They have a limitless time period for character sheets and also have a limitless selection process. Making it completely ineffective for quick beginnings. Let alone making new characters, if previous ones die.
Nobody just has a "create a character and jump in" style of roleplaying. And very few people express time limits (or a first sheet, first served basis) for their interest checks. So people express interest than never post a CS and weeks for anything to transpire because of it. Roleplays should be posting all the rules and CS along with the IC and only care about people "interested" enough to post a character sheet for review. But responsibility goes both ways. If players are expected to post a completed CS in a certain time period. You should be able to tell them how long it takes to review them, because silence often is the politest/worst ways most RP sites imply that the sheet not accepted.
This relaxed aspect cannot work for horror roleplaying, where half the fun/tension is the chance that the character you made to perish. So that's very likely part of it.
I was apart of (or simply lurked my friends) multiple horror/thriller roleplays that were some of the most creatively run roleplays I've experienced. I've probably even forgotten some of the many I've done, but none of them were basic in structure. And because simply talking about problems is the easiest thing one can do. Here's a couple of solutions that I've seen implemented, and that I've implemented in the horror roleplays created. For anyone that wants to follow these rules, but feels timid and scared to break the "can't do anything to characters without their permission" (Basic b*tch/b*stard) roleplaying rules that do not belong in the horror genre.
Options/Brief Examples Of How They're Implemented
1. Anti-Violence Mechanical Devices: Some complicated (Saw-Like) device put on all the characters that kills them for committing acts of violence.
One example: A group was trapped in a highly booby trapped factory that was specifically created to test covert weapons for military purposes, to stop the problem of team violence/rape and potential malicious actions. Which becomes the back-up explanation for why all these abducted ex-military had helmet devices strapped to their heads, and seemed to be rigged to penetrate their brain if tampered with. Their sole purpose is to sense/monitor brain waves and immediately strike somebody down for true intent to kill or do harm to your fellow allies. Set up by somebody who wanted them to work together, and let them be lab rats to test all your weapons instead of all recklessly killing one another.
Preferences: It's a little hamstrung in my opinion. So though I haven't seen this done yet. I suggest that the best way to implement this is to put careful thought in how the devices are created, and how they actually can be disabled or removed. So the people smart enough engage/roleplay efficiently should have the advantage of removing them. Make people work for their cravings to be violent.
2. Dying To Be The Antagonist: Expect people to be psychos/assholes like real horror, and let those murdered get to have the most fun. Anyone that dies gets to become apart of the antagonists that try to kill the remaining survivors.
My Example: Some good ole medieval world-ending horror, several insidious factions amidst a war are suddenly forced to work together when the environment drastically changes and demons start pouring out from the earth. The demons are stronger than any mortals and nearly invulnerable, limited only by their own fears and ability to move and traverse. So the survivors move from one broken place to another, race against the clock to survive. The twist is that it was started by the wars in the first place, the dark magical atmosphere will cause those who are killed by their fellow man to turn into the same demons. (So it actively encourages team work and eventually competition on both sides of the coin. And it allows true death to occur usually for the least effective/disruptive members.)
Preferences: I'm biased because this is my favorite/chosen method. It can make people that learn to love dying. Aside from this working well with nearly any monster related horror genre. Think Zombie, Vampire, Werewolf related stories. You don't even need to directly state this in the rules for it to work either, merely tease idea that death will be handled by the GM/Player through private chat. Makes the surprise ever more effective. (At least the first time it happens. But the whole point is to dissuade assholes from stabbing their fellow innocents.)
3. Ghosting/Non-Perma Death: Death not actually being death, but instead turning you into a ghost (usually still an ally to the team) able to now do different things that make them still feel apart of the experience and even potentially give them a chance to resurrect.
One Example: (I don't remember this one too well.) A group of haunting experts travel to a haunted island where people keep disappearing and its rumored to be haunted. They travel by ship that goes haywire, malfunctions and crashes then sinks. So the group woke up on the island stranded, some of them awaken in the sand and some awaken with their bodies floating in with the tide. But learn quickly they can see clearly their fellow experts ghosts. The people able to interact with the dangerous world with the antagonist/deadly environment and the ghost able to see the supernatural beings and traps that the people need to avoid. But can't directly interact with. There's some kind of parallel world thing going on, which is how so many people have been trapped/disappeared. Not all entities are even harmful, nor out to get them and actively help to put the evil ones to rest so they can live peacefully without being disturbed. Some locations can't be accessed by one particular group, sometimes communication between the ally ghosts and experts will be cut off. Eventually they'll find some kind of machine that allows them to go back to being mortal as long as the body is still intact/the correct soul is present.
Preferences: This idea really only works well for paranormal/haunting horror ideas. The roleplay I saw it in had plenty of extra parts, like having multiple maps made. But this idea still really only works if you plan to give the "ghosts" something important to do. Don't do this idea and have them just be ineffectual onlookers. This one also needs to made crystal clear to the players before the game begins. Since it allows/starts with people who are "dead".
4. Dark Souls Style/Save Point Immortality: Make death impactful. But not actually take you out of the RP. It tends to require you to lose something else instead. Progress/Equipment, something tangible.
One Example: Unsurprisingly, it was just literally just a demon souls-ish RP. But the idea was you started out with money, equipment (like everyone started with like a safety flare, which was your 'get out of your screw-up free' card.) and the group worked through several different "levels"/acts by defeating monsters and solving puzzles. I think the "levels/stages" were specifically all teased from the very beginning and most of the items were created/in an excel spreadsheet. Seemed a little complex and it certainly wasn't very fun to die. But people who would willingly join a RP like that should be expected to feel the pain of death.
Preferences: Obviously takes a GM willing to do some groundwork/set up and high dedication and good roleplayers. Might even be better to implement inside a D&D style campaign. But hey, get some trusted players together and actually put some effort in and you may have fun. I personally don't like keeping track of equipment/chart in my roleplaying. Doesn't feel as free-form as I tend to be and enjoy.
5. Friendly Omnipresent Evil: Have the evil (whether creature or environment) be basically omnipresent and stop players from killing one another. Which also plays on the idea that the horror is out to get you and basically forces cooperation.
One Example: (Might be butchering this plot a bit.) From a non-specific future timeline where space travel is more commonly done and massive well stocked/fueled spaceships are deployed by the government to find a new earth/planet because its feared to be running out of resources and there's strange calls the government picks up that indicates theirs life outside trying to contact us. A small hired crew of explorers and scientists are sent into space on one of these large ships only to find themselves getting pounded in an asteroid field with many objected embedded in their ship that seem to come from nowhere, and they eventually notice that they somehow went through a wormhole and ended up in the middle of nowhere with seemingly no way to get back home. So the end goal is to find a way back home. They discover the asteroid field was actually alien ships/that carried strange goo-like lifeforms that are now abroad the ship. These creatures can phase through solid matter and have like unlimited 360 vision. They can only communicate through their electronic equipment/through the radio where they begin explaining their situation and saying their collision with the ship was accidental, and they mean no harm and they needed to work together for either of them to go back to their home planets. All that they ask is for them to follow their orders and not mind their quiet observations. Some private conversation happens were (NPC) characters get angry that some choose to blindly trust/follow the orders and starts shoving/pushing the GM's character. In turn the creatures phase through the wall, grow to a threateningly large size, grab them and violently smear the NPC against the wall. Coldly explaining that it is a fragile species and extremely cautious, any sign of a potential predator/violent species gets immediately eliminated. I believe it gets more and more complicated as the sensible and weird demands it gives the characters. (Travel here. Don't go inside this part of the ship. Strip naked.) Turns into worse demands. Etc etc.
Preferences: This one had NPC's to show, don't tell the rules of the RP. Which is something you can do. Though I remember my friend complaining/telling me how goddamn convoluted the plot actually got. So this wasn't an example that panned out well. It certainly will take some creative GM's and players as well as plot to keep this idea/gimmick entertaining. It certainly stopped people from being dicks to one another. And it can be used to be pretty clever plot-wise. Again this one requires a more dedicated group to even attempt, let alone pull off successfully.
(Lesser/Still Viable Options)
6. Play-Safe Zones: Just create a situation where nobody has access to any real weapons and/or can't really kill each other, perhaps by making the characters children or fragile. Make it horror in aspect/atmosphere only basically. If you want more subtle, and less exciting horror. I've seen people do this, so it has to be appealing to somebody.
7. Require Multiple Characters: This one is self-explanatory. Basically make players create a back-up character. But it gives your players a lot of work and it's more of a safe guard for the (filthy-casuals) players that join horror RP's but cry when their characters are killed. Doesn't really stop dick players from being dicks though, in fact it only gives them more characters to be dicks with.
8. Life Point System: Just be a video game and give people a certain amount of lives. Maybe have people record and show how much health/lives they have left in their posts so its easy for everyone to keep track of. Seen this one done in video-game/virtual reality/mmo horror style roleplays. A little lazy and yet also often too much work even for lazy people. But it can maybe add an extra layer to the roleplay and make it at least feel different.
Hope that explains my thoughts and helps somebodies interest in creating/partaking in their own horror RP. ;D
Lady Absinthia ⚘ Blossoming ⚘
Member
Seen
3 mos ago
@Heat O.o There are a lot of horror Rps on the forum. Granted the Physical Horror ones are more common but I currently host 2 Psychological Horror Rps and the rest are mixes of different types of horror. I don't tag them mostly as such because it is up to the Rper to let themselves get pulled in, so I tend to focus on other tags and let the everything else come in time. On the surface they might not appear as such but ones that involve the psychological side are more focused on each individual Rpers PC - their fears and using those against them. So for most people it wouldn't appear like they are anything special but to the rper they are aimed towards at the time they can be rather traumatic.
They are a delicate type of Rp to pull off. It takes time to get the Rper sucked into the Rp, attached to the character and then whittle away on them like you are molding clay. Took nearly 6 months in one Rp to that hook fully into most of the rpers, another has just started as it is not even 3 months old yet.
Horror are also very complicated because you have to be willing as a GM to really get into the heads of the character, constantly setting the tone for each character individually while still maintaining an overall plot arc. They really don't work well for people that aren't going to stick it out through the slower moments because that is where the build is. Best horror RP I ever hosted was elsewhere long before here. It took one full RP as the set up and then another 6 months on the second one following it to get everything in order. I was lucky, I had very dedicated Rpers that stuck it out and were willing to put their characters through everything. (Which is another big issue - an Rper has to be willing to get sucked in and stick out their characters instead of just sitting there skimming things.)
They are a delicate type of Rp to pull off. It takes time to get the Rper sucked into the Rp, attached to the character and then whittle away on them like you are molding clay. Took nearly 6 months in one Rp to that hook fully into most of the rpers, another has just started as it is not even 3 months old yet.
Horror are also very complicated because you have to be willing as a GM to really get into the heads of the character, constantly setting the tone for each character individually while still maintaining an overall plot arc. They really don't work well for people that aren't going to stick it out through the slower moments because that is where the build is. Best horror RP I ever hosted was elsewhere long before here. It took one full RP as the set up and then another 6 months on the second one following it to get everything in order. I was lucky, I had very dedicated Rpers that stuck it out and were willing to put their characters through everything. (Which is another big issue - an Rper has to be willing to get sucked in and stick out their characters instead of just sitting there skimming things.)
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