Well, I was always fan of Dark Fantasy and other type of Dark themes RPG.
I would like to make a thread about it, hidden gems, nice stories and rich scenarios do play Dark Fantasy or just Dark "whitewolfish" games.
Since I wasn't born in a speak-english country, my english sucks and I also lost many many cool books and games. So...
Please, let's talk about grim shit.
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That's the spirit!
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Hell, you speak better English than many Muricans do.
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Since I love to read, this type of comment is like a gift.
By the way, anyone can recommend some RPG books ?
Long time ago I heard there is a underrated book that was called something like "7 hells" or something. Pretty dark stuff, scary and shit. Never get the book myself, but it was a hidden gem I want to read anyday.
Book people, adventure, horror, madness!
You know, I all ways personally saw him as a tragic more than a grim figure. A non-malevolent tricky forest spirit turned sour.
I mean, he is tragic. He's a monster whose life relies on a lantern yet he remains in the dark to hide his ugly form. When the woodsman shines light on him he seems legitimately distressed at being exposed.
but he does enjoy his job
youtube.com
I picked up a PDF from a share thread a while ago called Danse Macabre that looked pretty interesting. I'll see if I still have it and post it once I'm not on my phone but until then has anyone played it or know if it's any good?
bump.
OP, you should read up on Dark Souls lore, it's right up your alley.
There's a whole setting full of tragic fallen gods, failed monstrous experiments, powerful sorcerors, unspeakable secrets, nameless monsters, foul undead and the mystery of just what the Dark Soul itself actually is.
I like Dark Fantasy and especially Gothic Horror, but have found it difficult to bring to the tabletop, as the setup of friends sitting around a table controlling self made characters very easily breeds joking around, zany scheming, and it's a difficult medium to inspire fear with, making the desired atmosphere difficult to establish and maintain.
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Ran a homebrew Dread game for a one shot competition. Was awesome.
Made it in two games. 3/4 characters are dead. Game is over, the mysteries are not. If you guys care I can shoot the questionnaires and I'm available to answer questions.
He/it doesn't seem to show any remorse over leading people to despair so the woods can transform them into trees to burn in his lantern and he deceives the woodsman to do his dirty work for him.
He's basically a lich.
I interpreted his recoiling from the light more being him not wanting to reveal his monstrous form built out of human agony because that can make it harder to get people to work for you.
I think that's why gothic horror works better actually. Most of gothic horror and it's pulp equivalent is focused on finding the things that go bump in the night and fighting back. Typical RPG insanity and scheming works hand in hand with a genre where every plot is usually "mad man/clergy/scientist/hermit finds dark secret now it must be stopped"
You just need to realize that "horror" doesn't mean it has to be scary. dread,disgust, sadness, revulsion, etc. are all part of horror. I think a lot of genre specific games (PnP and vidya) could do well to not be shackled to "well it's a horror game but it's not scary so it's terrible"
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No, that's a goblin.
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How about this then?
What is this from?
It seems interesting
"Over the Garden Wall". It's a short (10 episodes IIRC) Cartoon series with a very old school dark fairy-tale feel. It's pretty damn good.
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Currently I'm reading Lamentation of the flame Princess modules and the most of them have interesting dark/creepy vibes in them.
>tfw when drawn and quartered
Yes my brother, I have you.
Symbaroum. Zweihander. Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing Game. Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
These are all dark fantasies gafantasy es that you may enjoy.
Isn't Dread horribly generic to play though?
Use music, lower the lights, have some candles. A bit of ritualism can really help with horror.
Also, this depends a lot on the kind of horror you're going for. Modern examples of Gothic Horror would included Hannibal for example. You're dealing a lot with emotions, thoughts, feelings. Also, how exactly ARE you structuring your horror?
Conflict based? Investigation? Survival? I'll assume conflict, because you said dark fantasy, and if you focus your game on conflict it becomes that much harder.
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anyone ever make a campaign set in any of the dark souls settings with similar mechanics?
Don't ring the bell. Nice idea for an item summoning a monster.
Most unsettting thing I ever read where the spider enemies from Werewolves books. They enter in your ear at night and slowly eat your brain, turning you into a puppet.
>Gothic Horror
Do you want to build a setting? It doesn't have to be a setting...
Just a tiny module, a little one.
Underused concept.
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Damn dude. This fucks me up for some reason.
If you want to do horror, you have to get initial agreement and buy-in from your players, or else it'll fall flat. Like other anons said genres like gothic horror and monster hunting campaigns aren't so bad, jokes won't hurt those.
If you want a real horror campaign, you need a few things past the initial agreement to take the horror campaign seriously. The player characters must be fragile, the enemies must be monstrously strong, violence from the players should be a last resort, and you might want to model a sanity system of some kind. I like the system from Nemesis.
Like other anons said, settings where the PC's have the power to defeat threats are scary and creepy in their own right, but if you want a scary and tense atmosphere like in a horror movie, it takes some legwork from both the GM and players.
What's the matter user? Can't live with the sorrow and regret of what you did?
In the usual pulpy storytelling that usually accompanies RPG's, it seems like nobody explores the humanity and reality of their character's actions. The artwork hit me like a pillowcase full of bricks for whatever reason.
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Do it! Ran a game of Dread recently too and my players loved it so much. I'm always up for some inspiration.
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Would you prefer a gothic horror campaign where players are normal humans, or the one where they are lycantropes adn vmapires supernatural mix and have to fight stuff more horrible then themselves?
Definitely normal humans. The true gothic part comes from being thrust into a realm of unknown horrors, stuff you never would have imagined while you went on with your normal life.