IC: Paranormal/Haunted House Horror Game
Over the last several days, I have been outlining a horror scenario and wanted to inquire if there would be any players here on RPOL that would be interested in taking part in it.
The proposed game is a haunted house tale. The story involves an estate on the east coast of the United States, specifically in Maine, that has recently come into the possession of a respected college. The sprawling home, constructed by a wealthy and influential financier in the late 1800’s, has been unoccupied for decades. The financier, a widower, had no readily apparent heirs and did not leave a will. Although discovered correspondence indicated the financier’s intention was for the house to be given to the academic institution, the property became entangled in a long series of legal challenges by alleged relatives of the owner.
Now, with all court matters finally resolved, the house has been awarded to the college. The college, in turn, plans to send a small group of students and faculty to survey the property and its contents during the first week of the midwinter break, to determine its historical and architectural value as well how it might best be used to serve the college's academic mission.
Obviously, the group that performs the survey slowly learns that the estate is not as unoccupied as it appears.
When one discusses horror games, the term “horror” can mean wildly different things to different people. In this case, it might be helpful for me to name off a few literary and cinematic inspirations, to help prospective players better understand the tone of the game. With regard to books, I would be drawing inspiration from the classic ghost stories of M.R. James and Algernon Blackwood. More contemporary influences would be Richard Matheson’s Hell House, Ramsey Campbell’s Nazareth Hill, Sarah Langan’s Audrey’s Door and, most recently, Jennifer McMahon’s outstanding novel The Winter People. With regard to film, I would point to The Awakening (2011), The Innkeepers, The Blair Witch Project, and Session 9.
Hopefully, the above will help make clear that the game would be more focused on suspense and atmosphere, as opposed to action and gore. In many ways, it would be an investigative endeavor, where the focus of play becomes peeling away layer after layer of the estate’s secrets to discover the truth behind the terror that dwells there.
In terms of system, I would utilize Savage Worlds, incorporating some of the rules and additions contained in the Savage Worlds Horror Companion. Savage Worlds is a very flexible system that can handle a wide variety of genres and seems to be easy to pick up for players who are new to it. To that end, I wouldn’t insist that participants be familiar with Savage Worlds. I would be happy to guide players through the mechanics of character creation and gameplay.
Judging from my notes and the themes I anticipate exploring, the game will probably carry a MATURE rating.
As it stands, I probably have a week to a week and a half of writing ahead of me before I could create the game on RPOL. So, before committing myself to the work needed to finalize everything, I thought I would gauge possible interest here first. If there is enough, I will dutifully notify any interested participants once the game is constructed and ready for applicants.
This message was last updated by the user at 22:05, Sun 19 July 2015.
