'Tis The Season

It’s been a busy time as EPOCH celebrates its 21^st;  that’s 21 scenarios of character-driven survival-horror published over the last two and a bit years.  These 21 scenarios have been written by 10 different authors and collaborators, and each has featured stunning artwork from Doug Royson, been carefully edited by Andrew Smith, and been fitted into the excellent layout template created by Marcus Bone.  I am very grateful to have worked with such talented folks, and I think the quality of the finished product is a good reflection of all the hard work that’s gone in behind the scenes.  Thank you all for helping to spread the horror.

 

Recently I published The Experiment Continues the companion to the EPOCH roleplaying game which has some new rules, more advice and also includes 4 new scenarios.  The companion had been in development for most of the year, and collects a variety of things drawn from my experiences in playing and facilitating the game, reports from others, and a collection of formal reviews.  Mostly this is in the form of advice, although one particular innovation I’m quite proud of are the Twist cards.  When I was first designing EPOCH there was some feedback that there should be more variety in outcomes for the characters, a degree of randomness which had a mechanical effect beyond the core outcome process.  At the time I stuck with the core idea of balance – that every player has an identical chance of  character survival, and that eliminations would be solely determined by collective decision making. 

 

However, the Twist cards add a layer on top of that mechanic, and have really enhanced the games in which I’ve used them.  There have been some extremely memorable plays of ‘Die Hard’, ‘Big Damn Hero’ and ‘In League With The Horror’.  One of my favourite plays was in a scenario which shall remain nameless. Igor had been dealt and then chose to play the ‘insight’ card.  Insight  lets the player look at one of the face down Horror Track Cards.  The card Igor peeked at read “Determine the entire town is gripped by homicidal mania’.  The look on his face was priceless, as were his characters, largely fruitless attempts to convince the others that they were in danger.

 

The scenarios are pretty fantastic as well.  My player were initially luke-warm about the premise of Donna’s scenario  The Tribute as they felt that playing characters in Ancient Greece would be tricky, but within a few minutes of getting started, they realised it was much more familiar setting than they had initially thought and they made it their own, invoking gods, heroes and pirates and having a great time.  Perhaps the best thing was hearing glowing reports of Donna’s run of the scenario at Fright Night, and seeing just how big the differences were between our respective facilitation of the scenario, but how both had delivered a gripping and entertaining experience for the players, despite being very different.

 

Mash’s scenario of gangster horror has an immediate and compelling setup, and I think it’s a scenario that will develop some very memorable experiences.  Our playtest was a lot of fun, and, as ever, the player stories were very memorable.  I was struck by just how many people have played some version of Death on the Streets when compiling the list of playtesters, it’s like a mini convention all by itself – which goes to show just how much thought and effort Mash puts into his craft.

 

Then there’s Liam’s scenario Slaughterhouse, which is deceptively simple, as the title would suggest, yet entirely perfect for EPOCH where character stories should be in the fore.  I had a great time playtesting the scenario, and I think Doug’s illustration perfectly captures one of the most dramatic moments.  Liam’s accomplishment is all the more impressive when you consider he wrote the first draft on an i-pad while overseas on a work trip in order to meet my deadline.

 

In addition to the Companion, I also recently released  White Wedding, the 2014 EPOCH Christmas Special.  Andrew pulled together this incredible scenario at short notice, which was amazing, as I was buried in editing the Companion for most of that time.  Andrew had a very clear vision of the scenario he wanted, and I think he’s created a really compelling and engaging piece.  Then there’s Doug’s stunning cover and fantastic interior art.  All in all, the twenty first published EPOCH scenario is one of the best yet.  If you haven’t yet, you should pick it up, and donate whatever you can afford to help children in need.   

One Year as a Micro-Publisher

This October marks the one year anniversary of my entry to the world of RPG publishing.  It has been an interesting 12 months, and I thought it might be useful for those interested in RPG publishing to post about what I did, what I didn’t do, and why.

To set the scene, my game EPOCH is about one-shot survival horror.  It is a traditional game (in that it has a GM and pre-written scenarios) but it doesn’t use dice, instead using a card based mechanism, controlled by the players, to determine character survival.  It doesn’t have a specific setting, rather it is a game about movie style horror.  A fuller description is here.  In addition to publishing in PDF form, the game also features print-on-demand softcover books and card decks. 

Things I Did

Regular Releases.  Taking a page from Fiasco, I wanted to maintain the momentum of EPOCH from the outset.  Therefore, I observed a fairly regular release schedule, which hopefully illustrated my commitment to the game and expanded the support to would-be purchasers, increasing the scenario count from 3 at launch, to 15.  Here is the schedule of the last 12 months:

• October 2012 – EPOCH PDF
• November 2012 – Fever Pitch Scenario PDF
• December 2012 – Road Trip Scenario PDF
• February 2013 – EPOCH Book and Cards Revised to include new art and formatting
• March 2013 – EPOCH Print on Demand Book & Card Deck
• March 2013 – Frontier of Fear Scenario Collection PDF
• April 2013 – The Cold Shore Scenario PDF
• June 2013 – Printer Friendly Cards Released for all PDF products
• August 2013 – Frontier of Fear Print on Demand Book & Card Deck
• September 2013 – War Stories Scenario Collection PDF
• October 2013 – Shadows of Yesterday Scenario PDF
• October 2013 – War Stories Print on Demand Book & Card Deck

Gave it away for free.  Right from the outset I wanted to give my rules maximum exposure and allow people to try them without having to pay anything.  Therefore, I released 3 scenarios, each with quick start rules and cards.  Did it work?  I really don’t know.  People have certainly been downloading the free products (free scenarios have been downloaded at a rate 3 times greater than EPOCH sales), but I haven’t heard much discussion of the free products, or received any reviews.  I assume people have downloaded them for a future rainy day…

Solicited Reviews.  Early on I identified independent and established folks who had reviewed other games, and approached a number to see if they’d be interested in reviewing EPOCH.  A number were and I was very pleased to receive some very positive reviews (collected here).

Talked about the game and why I created it.  I was approached for a couple of interviews (here and here), and had one of my posts on this blog about the creation of EPOCH incorporated into the RPG Review.

Ran my Game.  During this period I took EPOCH to local roleplaying conventions including Kapcon, Fright Night and Buckets of Dice.

Used the OneBookShelf.com Marketing Materials.  I fully availed myself of the publisher points and marketing options available via DriveThruRPG and RPGNow.  Most successful were sending out e-mails to customers about new releases and being featured in the e-mail newsletter.  Less effective (for me at least) were the banner and featured product options.

Discounted my game.  I took part in a number of sales during the 12 month period, and these did generate additional sales.

Maintained a web presence.  I have a simple blog website for EPOCH, and post regularly there.  As people have pointed out to me this is not exactly an elegant site, and I don’t even have a dedicated URL, but it is easy to maintain, free and updated regularly.

Submitted the game for awards.  Being nominated for a clutch of ENnie awards significantly increased sales in my products.  Obviously being nominated was hugely gratifying and as submitting an electronic product is free, this was a pretty great outcome.  The flip side, of course, is that given my following, relative to other nominees, winning an award was pretty much out of the question.  But a pretty dream nonetheless.

Things I Didn’t Do

Actively talked about my game in online fora.  I don’t have much of a profile in online RPG communities, and so have no reputation to speak of.  Talking about your game in a forum where you have no reputation, and have made no previous contribution is pretty poor form (in my opinion).  This means that in the majority of online RPG communities there has been no discussion about EPOCH, and without this word-of-mouth it is hard for any game to grow a following.

Made a video.  One comment I have received from several people is that they understand the game, but want to see how it actually works in practise and a video of a game session or similar could be a major asset.  I have thought about the idea, but video editing and appearing on camera is not something I am excited about, so it hasn’t happened yet.

Utilise social media.  I haven’t utilised Facebook for EPOCH (and only recently experimented with G+), and accept that this might be denying easy access and free marketing to interested folks.  Social media isn’t something I’m personally interested in.  I do use Twitter for regular updates about the game, although I’m not sure many folks beyond my immediate circle of friends pay much attention to my tweets.

Ran my game at major international conventions.  I would have loved to attend major ‘cons overseas to run sessions of EPOCH, and show off the game.  Unfortunately the cost of travel abroad is simply too high to justify such an extravagance.  I approached some Australian RPG conventions on Sydney and Melbourne to see if they’d be interested in having me attend and run games, as flights across the Tasman are more manageable, but my e-mails went unanswered.

Kickstarted.  A Kickstarter was not really an option for me (as it is not yet available to folks in Australasia) and I have no significant reputation or license to cash-in on.

Sold my game through other channels.  I have yet to branch out to sell EPOCH through other channels (including direct sales) and I’m not sure if it’s likely to have much impact considering the work involved.

State of Play

So, what next?  I have more EPOCH products planned, and have a lot of confidence in the quality of the game, and its ability to deliver what it promises.  I have yet to facilitate a bad session of EPOCH (although as Marcus has said, this may be because playing any game with its creator is likely to be fun, and is no guarantee that others can replicate the experience).

In terms of future sales, I am fairly sure that I have yet to break into the collective consciousness of the mainstream international RPG community.   My game is very specific, and tailored for a unique market (single-session non-traditional survival horror). Without influential folks who relentlessly champion your game online, to their friends and gaming communities, I don’t think it’s possible to make this leap, and I don’t seem to have reached many people who are active in this context beyond NZ.

Can I reach these folks?  Perhaps.  My game has a lot of moving parts, and unless you play or run it, I think it is hard to envisage how everything comes together. And it is hard for me to convince these folks to take the time to do this when I have no credible means to reach them - especially as there are so many other games out there. 

The flip side of this argument (evidenced by the reviews and award nominations), is that I think EPOCH is a strong enough offering that, if you do manage to play or run it, it will convince you of its merits.  So, perhaps there is some future potential to break into the mainstream market.  I guess time will tell.

Please feel free to post any questions or comments.

Pimp Your Game

The pitch is an important part of attracting players who want to play in a game that you facilitate.  Often we think about the pitch as essential for a convention game, where you are literally spruiking your game to strangers in the hopes that something about your description will appeal sufficiently for them to give you several hours of their time, and choose your offering over others. 

 

However, even when you are proposing a new game for your regular gaming group, a short, succinct and strong pitch will help focus attention on what you’re offering, and encourage the players to engage with that material.

 

In 2010 I wrote a post about The Art of the Pitch where I suggested that characteristics of a strong pitch are; a short and compelling piece of setting or fiction to pique the readers interest, and a description of what experience I might expect, as a player.  Both these pieces of information help potential players understand what is being offered, and ensure their expectations are closely aligned with those of the GM offering the game.

 

Bad Players or Bad Games?

 

Sometimes games fall flat, and the reasons for this are not obvious.  When this happens in a convention setting I’ve often heard the GM or facilitator complain about the players.  It’s a common response.  A GM has often spent hours carefully crafting a scenario, anticipating possible actions, and detailing characters – playtesting and preparing and so when the session falls flat, the variable over which the GM has had the least influence is the players, ergo, this must be the cause of the problem.

 

In EPOCH I argue there are no ‘bad’ players.  Only players that are not ‘activated’ and that it is possible for a GM to activate almost every player using a variety of techniques.  However, by far the most important technique is to ensure the players of the game are aligned with the style, an objective of the game that the GM wishes to run.

 

The most likely criteria for a such mismatch (in my experience) include:

• a game which features a strong investigative component
• a game which features a highly complex setting, characters or NPCs
• a game which relies on players absorbing significant amounts of detail, either character or system related to drive the action
• a game which requires the players to share narrative duties
• a game which has a strong combat focus.

This is not an exhaustive list by any stretch, but games which feature any of these elements strongly, and fail to communicate this to the players in advance, are more likely to fall at the first hurdle of player activation and result in a mismatch between GM and player expectations.

 

Pimping your game

 

So how to do it right?  Probably the most important tip for any game facilitator is to be honest about what the core activity of the scenario is.  What are you expecting of the players, and what is expected of their characters?  If you spell this out in advance, through the blurb or description of your game, then I think you are much more likely to find an audience that wants to play the same kind of scenario as you.

 

In my game, EPOCH, I provide 3 simple sentences for each scenario, after the blurb which provides the setting to help fulfil this criteria:

 

"EPOCH is a game of character-driven survival horror. The goal is to deliver a tense and scary experience in a single game session. EPOCH players are active participants in the creation of the game atmosphere and have complete control over the creation and ultimate fate of their characters."

 

However I was also very impressed with the description provided by venerable GM Marcus D. Bone for his Kapcon games here and here, which exemplify the kind of clear communication I'm proposing.

 

On the subject of good game blurbs, I'd also like to highlight the creative efforts of the grandexperiment who has adopted alternative media in lieu of text to create an arguably stronger initial impression with his potential audience.

Horror and Helplessness

A little while ago Lowell Francis, a blogger who has posted extensively on horror roleplaying games, posted that in his view,  "horror thrives on player uncertainty and lack of control”.  I thought about it a little bit at the time, but when he recently repeated the assertion that “most horror operates from threat, entrapment, and some degree of helplessness “ it helped me crystalise my own thinking about the nature of horror in roleplaying, and helplessness.

Helplessness is tricky in roleplaying games because of the question of trust.  Most traditional RPG’s are a shared paradigm where one individual has more narrative powers, and can set the stakes for most conflicts (as GM).  In this relationship, trust is essential.  Implicit in this traditional paradigm is the fact that the GM is not subject to any meaningful checks and balances beyond their social relationship with the players – and, therefore, can structure the story to kill, maim or incapacitate one or all of the characters (or place them in situations where the survival of their characters is unlikely).   But even if the stakes aren’t this severe, the players are effectively being asked to trust that the GM has the best interests of their characters, and their enjoyment of the game as players, at heart.  In a traditional roleplaying games, therefore, the players are largely helpless against the authority of the GM.

Nowhere is this paradigm more evident than in horror roleplaying games.  Many of these systems conflate character helplessness with player helplessness.  They use a mechanical system to establish norms, then ensure that exposure to horror will irrevocable and perpetually erode the characters mental wellbeing within those norms (a la Sanity points in Call of Cthulhu).  In this context the system is continually reinforcing to the player, that their character is helpless against the horror (in the case of Sanity points, they will almost always lose sanity points faster than they can gain them, and each loss is accompanied by periods of system dictated distress helplessness – temporary, permanent and indefinite insanity, often at critical moments in the action).

Other systems use similar mechanics.  In the Gumshoe system the characters spend from a wide pool of perpetually diminishing resources to investigate, encounter and attempt to survive their brushes with the horror.  In Dread, each pull of the tower brings the characters closer to their doom.  In Geiger Counter the horror increases its dice pool every test.

But, in my view, most horror isn’t actually about helplessness. 

Horror is about the intersection between character and something terrible (the source of the horror).  The essence of horror is not helplessness, but rather the human struggle against the macabre and inhuman.  The place where a protagonist tries to find the strength to struggle against forces that would otherwise eviscerate their physical or mental wellbeing.  Lovecraft’s Robert Olmstead escaped Innsmouth, Armitage dispelled the Dunwich Horror and Dyer returned from the Mountains of Madness intent on warning others.  Ripley ultimately defeats the Alien, Ben survives the horde during the Night of the Living Dead, MacReady bests the Thing and the Freeling family flee beyond the reach of the Poltergeist.

So, if you accept that horror is about the struggle, rather than helplessness, what does this mean for horror roleplaying games?

To reflect the way these stories play out, the GM should be continually exploring the impact of the horror on the characters.  The horror should have no independent motive or agenda – rather it exists entirely through the prism of the characters experiences.  That’s not to say all the characters must survive, or that there isn’t a broader story – but the experience of the characters should be the focus of the game.

But that’s not how many games play out.  This blog is called Total Party Kill because of precisely this tension.  The idea that GM’s sometimes violate the relationship trust – exploit the helplessness of the characters in their games.  Indeed many systems and scenarios are explicitly designed to create this experience, or will inevitably result in this outcome without modification.

Some players may accept, or even enjoy the helpless downward spiral of their characters.  Some may even embrace it – but unless you’ve had a conversation with your players about exactly how they enjoy interacting with the horror, its safest to assume that some players are looking to try and triumph against the horror like so many protagonists in horror movies and literature.

For these reasons, when I designed a horror roleplaying game, I put that conversation front and centre.  I also ensured that there would almost always be survivors of the scenario, just as there would be victims, and that the decision about which character survived, and which did not was an artefact of highly structured collective decision making, rather than putting the load on one individual – thus, the players are not helpless in a story that is all about their characters.  I designed a game that I believe exemplifies the struggle that I believe is central to horror.

Surviving EPOCH

Character survival is the aim of the game in EPOCH.  The scenario will remorselessly eliminate characters, so the pressure is on to make your character one of those that will survive the horror right through until the end scenes.  While is true that EPOCH is guaranteed to eliminate characters, it is equally true that there are guaranteed to be survivors so long as there is a basic level of engagement with the scenario.  So, how to make it through to the end? 

Because eliminations are the result of collective decision making, there is no guaranteed method, and every group will be different – but here are some methods I’ve observed as a GM that are often the hallmark of characters that go full distance:

1. Start with an interesting backstory 
Okay, this sounds like unhelpful advice because, of course, you are going to create an interesting setup for your character, but how can you get others to judge this as interesting enough to vote for your character?  Use the opening scene and consider some of the following:

• Introduce conflict, things aren’t going great for the character, be it relationship, career or otherwise.  You don’t need the detail yet, just establish that the character is feeling some pressure because of competing agenda.
•  Hint at something dark or secret.  You don’t necessarily need a lot of detail, but hopefully you might have an idea for a secret that you could hint at in the opening scene which you can develop later – or even ignore completely, but if you do some basic groundwork now you are likely to look clever later as you weave things together.
•  Embrace the conflict.  In the opening scene you should get an opportunity to show the audience how your character responds to some minor conflict or challenge.  Milk this camera time for all it’s worth and try and avoid ambivalent or run-of-the-mill responses.

2. Use the flashback for maximum impact.
As the scenario develops you will receive flashback cards – these represent a golden opportunity to have some dedicated camera time to develop your characters backstory.  I have observed that the difference between people who have played EPOCH before, and those who are playing for the first time, is the use of flashbacks.  Veterans understand that a well crafted, clever flashback is a major factor in deciding the winner of a ballot, and use them accordingly.  When using flashbacks: 

• Clearly establish the scene and time as it relates to current events as while it may be clear to you, the rest of the audience may be confused without this explicit framing.
• Use it to increase audience empathy, or intrigue about your character – ideally revealing more about the secret you have established, or a major motivation for your character.
• Again, be as clear as possible when framing this scene to avoid confusion.  Everyone needs to understand what the scene has revealed, and how it relates to the character in order for the flashback to increase your chances of survival.
• As the game goes on, play flashbacks sooner, and the time between challenge rounds is likely to diminish and you don’t want to miss an opportunity for that spotlight time.

3. Play your Hero/Zero card for maximum effect. 
The Hero/Zero card allows you to have an important and direct impact on another character.  If you do this in an interesting enough way, it may secure you some enhanced interest value.  This is particularly true if you Zero another character.  If you Hero another character, your chances of survival may be increased by a reciprocal act of heroism, but this is only likely to happen if you back it up with some bonding during the next tension phase.  Be sure to milk this for as much as you can to try and secure some additional support.

4. Play up your injuries or trauma. 
Be sure to emphasise the impact of the outcome card you played during the previous challenge round.  The more you emphasise the wounds, the more the other players are visualising the character, and the greater chance you have of making an impression in their minds when they vote. 


5. Add a twist 
Some of the most successful characters add a twist half way though the game.  Often this is something completely out of left-field.  A sudden agenda, secret or history which makes their character undeniably interesting.  The complication card deck is designed to offer a suggestion for this twist, if you are having trouble thinking of something (and it can be hard, once you have a clear idea about a character).  While a complication card often, at first, seems impossible to weave into your characters story – if you think about it laterally there is almost always a way to make it work.  This should instantly give you some new material for a flashback and enhance the interest level in your character.

EPOCH in Spaaace

Yesterday I released Frontier of Fear, a collection of 4 science fiction scenarios for the survival horror roleplaying game EPOCH.   It is the first of what I hope will be several scenario collections, and it’s been an interesting, and thoroughly rewarding experience.

For me, science fiction and horror movies have a natural synergy.  The central theme of many of these films is an exploration of the unknown, leading to the discovery of an otherness which may prove hostile, or simply ambivalent to the plight of those who encounter it.  Yet in both cases it is the very human nature of the protagonists which ultimately condemns and, upon occasion saves, the characters.  In these films the characters, their strengths and weaknesses, and their relationship with one another, adds the all-important context for an encounter with the unknown.

For me, the elegance of Frontier of Fear is that while, as a player, you will likely recognise very familiar and classic science fiction tropes present in these scenarios – the act of creating a character and developing and exploring relationships with the other characters, while also trying to ensure your character’s survival with an interesting back-story, will keep the experience fresh and enjoyable.  At least, that was my experience in the scenarios I playtested for this collection.

I’m very grateful to everyone who contributed to Frontier.  Igor Divjak, Liam Jones and Andrew Millar have crafted some fantastic EPOCH scenarios, applying their very considerable creative talents to create an experience which I think will deliver some very satisfying gaming.  Andrew Smith did some remarkable, and invaluable work editing on a tight timeframe, while Doug Royson breathed some real life into the collection, providing a series of fantastic and evocative pieces of art.

I’m also grateful to all the playtesters, who spent some time and energy helping us take the rough edges off these scenarios.  The final product, I think, speaks for itself.

If you'd like a copy to review, please drop me a line.

What's Cooking?

I've been fairly busy of late, doing layouts, formatting cards, writing and editing text and a variety of other small jobs in the service of my horror roleplaying game, EPOCH.  Other people have been busy too - folks have been contributing scenarios, editing, producing art and layout at an almost alarming rate!  My sincere thanks to everyone who's taking this journey along with me.

Below is a list of what's currently in the works for EPOCH (cross-posted from the EPOCH blog).  All dates are still fairly tentative:

• Revised EPOCH PDF including all new card art (Q1, 2013)
• Print on Demand EPOCH softcover book (Q1, 2013)
• Print on Demand EPOCH card deck (Q1, 2013)
• Frontier of Fear, a collection of 4 EPOCH sci-fi scenarios (Q1, 2013)
• EPOCH treatment of The Cold Shore a scenario of 19^th century shipwreck (Q1, 2013)
• As yet unnamed World War 2 EPOCH scenario collection (Q2, 2013)
• As yet unnamed collection of Boston Crime scenarios for EPOCH (Q2 or Q3, 2013)
• As yet unnamed collection of Haunted House scenarios for EPOCH (Q2 or Q3, 2013)
• EPOCH: The Experiment Continues, an EPOCH companion containing optional rules, scenario writing advice, mini-series rules, new cards and more scenarios (Q2 or Q3, 2013) 

Questions or comments welcome as always.

Player Stories

We just had an amazing game of EPOCH playtesting the new scenario, Road Trip (released in early December).  What was especially interesting; the scenario itself was only a small part of the game experience.  It was the story the players wove about their characters that was truly fantastic.  The players deserve all the credit.

A group of friends travelling to an isolated cabin for a getaway turned into a story about how two war veterans were failing to adjust to modern life, how their friend-of-a-friend who seemed to be a well meaning hippie, was a drug baron working with a major cartel, and how another of the friends was an undercover FBI agent sent to gain his confidence, obtain information and apprehend him.  In one scene we had four interwoven flashbacks leading to an inception style sequence where it turned out that the drug baron was also planning to eliminate the FBI agent via her old school friend. Meanwhile the micro-brewer, who used some illicit substances to spice up his products, revealed how a bungled robbery had turned him into a murderer.

This was a fantastic story – so funny in places it made people cry with laughter, and also fairly haunting and shocking.  It was entirely created by the players and far more interesting than the scripted scenario. This has been a fairly common experience in running EPOCH – so why does this seem to be the case? 

 

Here’s my theory.  The way that characters are created in EPOCH really allows the players the time and space to feed ideas off one another, and slowly bind things together into really tight, awesome character stories.  But it’s not just about the generation, it’s also about pressure.  The challenge round mechanic, which encourages people to strive to make their characters interesting, and then rewards one character each round, really drives character development.  It’s an extreme incubator process, and each player seems to draw energy and ideas from the others to make their characters story even better. 

The fact that voting for the most interesting character is anonymous seems to take the sting out of the contest element, but heightens competition nonetheless, manifested through ever more poignant and creative flashbacks.  Using the complications really seems to drive more outlandish stories, yet these are unarguably interesting – which makes me think  it would be interesting to experiment with other decks of complications.

These elements put into a framework of horror via a scenario, which threatens both the lives and sanity of the characters with regularity provides the necessary texture and the extreme circumstances to keep things moving for the characters, without forcing the players to step out of character and problem solve or investigate as they might in other such games.

I never designed the game to deliver this particular experience, but I’m hugely gratified that it has.  Of course, as I’m the common element at all the games I’ve run, it could just be me.  That said, I was extremely flattered, and honoured, to receive the following review from a complete stranger on DriveThruRPG.  This, for me anyway, is the kind of feedback that makes all the hard work worthwile:

“Played this for the first time last week. Amazing!!

As with the previous reviewers comments, the system really encourages over the top characters and roleplaying. It was my fault as GM, but the game did turn into a bit of a comedy horror extravaganza.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the game, though one player had a gripe with the rules ( maybe because he was the first to die. :-) )

This game has encouraged the players to roleplay more in our regular games ( Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green and WFRP), which makes it worth much more than $7.”

An Experiment in Horror Gaming

Today I published EPOCH on DriveThruRPG and RPGNow.  I thought I’d pause for a moment to reflect on the journey that led to this point (imagine some wavy lines on either side of the screen). 

It all began in February 2010 when I dived into a discussion on horror games on the venerable Gametime website.  In my righteous passion I said:

“My own philosophy is that if it is to be done successfully, we must take a page from horror movies, and try and employ similar techniques. Without going into too much detail I break these down into:

-Player buy-in and empathy (through a degree of shared narration)
-Visual and audio aids (not in a major way - just to cover learning bases)
-GM ground rules and time out zones
-Table discipline
-System reduction
-Shared Character development
-Identifiable setting
-Identifiable situations and choices
-Distance closing techniques
-Disruptive player techniques
-Increasing the stakes with (almost) every successive scene”

This list became the core of my Horror Manifesto, the techniques which I believed, if done properly, could deliver a genuinely tense suspenseful horror game in a single session ‘con environment.

So, why then did it take me nearly 3 years to draw this together into EPOCH?  Well besides all the real-life considerations, I needed to test my ideas.  Using different games and settings I started to experiment with a variety of techniques.  

I started with character creation.  I realised around 2010 that many of my pre-generated characters that I was so very proud of, used similar elements to stimulate conflict and drama.  Therefore, I wondered, could those elements be isolated, and assigned randomly to characters?  I tested this with the superhero genre first, and found that people readily grasped the elements, and wove them into clever combinations I’d never anticipated, but I also noted that the initial establishment of the character was particularly challenging for some players.  Players needed to ease into their characters, and allowed the space to weave the elements together. So that’s what's in EPOCH

My superhero games also helped me to realise that a story built around the characters is much stronger than a story which the characters encounter.  Ivan had previously helped me with this conclusion with my WFRP game, but seeing the elegance of concentrating a one-shot game around the way the characters develop and interact with one another, and the game environment helped me see the often competing agenda written into many scenarios.  Rather than have the players take responsibility for the story (as many indie games do) I wanted to bring the story to the characters as much as possible in a traditional format (without having pre-generated characters).  I tested this too, and while a little bumpy, it convinced me this was a viable proposition if the characters and players were on board.

Next I wondered just how much more immersion a game could have if I explicitly stated my aims to the players before the game, and sought their agreement to challenge each other to make for a more immersive game.  Again, I experimented and found that players were willing to embrace this concept, and when they did so, the game got that much better.  But I also found that it was very hard to sustain this concentration for prolonged periods.  Just as with a movie audience, concentration is often fragmentary and should be managed to allow natural relaxation.  So I added that to EPOCH as well.

I also pondered whether ‘combat’ really served much purpose in a ‘con game.  As GM I was usually much more interested in what the cost of a combat was to the characters, how they reconciled violence, or responded to injuries.  The mechanical resolution stole too much time from my one-shot sessions, and even the most basic system often served as a distraction from the game immersion.  So I decided I’d predetermine the outcomes of combat, but let the players determine what kind of injuries or psychological trauma their characters sustained, and when.

I had thought this alone was enough, but talking with people over the years, I discovered many players (although not all) really like to know during a scenario how their actions might have played out differently.  Players like to compare notes about how different groups had acted during a scenario – they liked to feel like there was meaning to their characters actions beyond the impact to their characters.  I wasn’t willing to walk too far down the path of investigative games – Gumshoe and Call of Cthulhu have trod this path enough – and in a ‘con environment investigative games can go very badly wrong.  So I used a simple mechanic which would dictate how happy, or otherwise the final scenes of a game were for the surviving characters.  Not all my early readers like this, but I was very taken with the symbolism of a GM literally laying all their cards on the table at the beginning of a game. 

Then of course I had to write some scenarios to illustrate how all these things would actually work in practise…

So that’s an overview of some of the major elements of EPOCH, and how they came to be included.  It is a game with a specific purpose.  It’s not a game for everyone.  It is an experiment in horror gaming.

Reaching the Summit

Last night we completed our twelfth session of Mountains, which is probably the most dramatic and poignant of the campaign. I am pleased to say that I think we all did it justice, no mean feat considering the prior eleven sessions had all been building toward this single, dramatic climax. I think this was reflected by the harrowed, tense play of the surviving characters and the grim decision making that followed. I have enjoyed running Mountains again, and also enjoyed the sharp contrast with Masks.

In other news EPOCH, my survival-horror roleplaying game is nearing publication. I hope to publish it this month, in time for Halloween and am busy putting the finishing touches on the 3 scenarios which are included with the game, and working my way through the list of minor revisions and editing generated by the folks who have reviewed the game thus far.  If anyone has any suggestions on tips for launching or promoting EPOCH these would be gratefully received.  I expect I'll be posting more here shortly, not just with more detail about the game, but also the expereince of putting it all together.

I’ve offered to run one of the EPOCH scenarios, Sunshine Falls, at Fright Night this year, so if you’re keen to try the game (or any of the other great offerings from this years 'con) now is a good time to get in and register due to limited places at this ‘con.

A New EPOCH Begins

I’ve finally got around to writing a first draft of EPOCH – my experimental horror game.  It is a game of 3 parts.  A Skeleton, which provides a framework for open dialogue with players, and which establishes the conceit of the horror genre, all driven around the concept of closing the distance between player and character.  Muscle, which provides a simple system designed to support and reinforce the skeleton, emphasising player choice, and the traumatic nature of being a character in a horror setting.  Finally the Skin, which is draws everything together into a single structure, and provides some tips and tricks to help the game  try and deliver on its potential.

Today I thought I’d raise the issue of player choice.  In EPOCH I decided I wanted the players to have complete choice over the range of outcomes that will befall their character.  There are no character sheets, no dice, no numbers.  Just a range of outcomes to choose from.

I wanted this more naked style of approach to remove some of places where players can hide from horror – the small abstractions and devices which can generate endless distraction – by removing these I hope to encourage players to close the distance between player and character for longer periods (I’m tentatively calling these suspense phases).  I wanted to emphasise the players choices would entirely dictate the fate of their character – the GM cannot ‘kill’ a character, every death, maiming or psychosis would be entirely the choice of the player.  These outcomes are known in advance, the same way an audience knows that most characters in a horror movie won't survive, and indeed many will meet a grisly end - but the specific details of who will survive, and how, remains a mystery.

Obviously this is just a teaser of what I’m working on building into EPOCH.  I’ll post more here in due course, as I get closer to a finished draft.  In the meantime, if you’d like to get an advance draft, or simply share your thoughts on this – I’d welcome any input.

Continuing the theme of horror games – I recently picked up Dead of Night (2nd ed.)  in New York.  The blurb made me think it was going to deliver a game along the lines of EPOCH:

"Dead of Night is the roleplaying game of campfire tales, slasher movies and b-movie horror. It is a game of screaming victims, unstoppable killers and slavering monsters, where the horror movie clichés flow thicker than blood and the only victory is survival.

Dead of Night is designed to be quick and easy to play, with rules that help you tell horror stories without getting in the way of the fun. The rules are simple and straightforward to learn, yet offer all the options and depth to allow you to customise the game however you like."

But I was surprised to find that the creators had concluded that monsters were the essence of horror movies.  That’s not the way I see it – character is king in horror.  Without character we care little for monsters, we lack a connection to this abstract fantasy and, therefore, we find it increasingly difficult to suspend our disbelief.  That’s why I am writing EPOCH to put the focus on character, and to try and really invest the players into the characters they create.  But Dead of Night is an interesting take nonetheless – Can you recommend any horror games (or even non-horror games) that emphasise character?

August Update

It’s been a busy August for me. This despite having a vacation from running Cthulhu, and skipping a session of Reverie due to player absence. So here is a short update of August happenings:

Fright Night
Fright Night, Wellington's one night of horror roleplaying, is looking for GM’s. If you’ve got a great idea for a scenario, drop Marcus a line right now. Time is running out!

As a tribute to the 30th Anniversary of Call of Cthulhu I’ll be running an original game (which I plan on writing up and publishing, in one form or other, later in the year), so I hope to see you there.

Confusion
I recently attended the first 2 rounds of Confusion, a small one-day Wellington ‘con. You can read my report on Confusion 2010 here. This year Fiasco and Monster of the week were popular, and the con featured a pre-booked LARP in Round 3.

Round One – Infinite Porticos
I’ve always loved Elric/Strombringer and enjoyed many of Moorcock’s stories, and while I’ve run a few games of this some years back (indeed it is my preferred fantasy setting next to WFRP)– I always found that knowledge of the setting was a significant obstacle for full participation for other people. Unfortunately this game was over-booked and feel bad that Ivan was ‘voted off’ in the early elimination (actually, he fell on his sword) but that’s never a good way to start a ‘con.


In this game I was allocated a slave pit-fighter character, and did my best to bring a degree of bravado and pragmatism to the game without derailing things. The setup was solid, although perhaps a little linear. Marcus later told us this was intended as an ice-breaker for a campaign – a way of introducing and bonding a new party of heroes with diverse backgrounds – and in this role I think it is a strong offering. Marcus did a great job with the NPC’s and I have provided him with my feedback on the scenario (from a playtest perspective) as I understand he soon plans to publish it online.

Round Two - Invasive Procedures
I had decided to run the new adventure for Fear Itself titled Invasive Procedures. There were a lot of elements I liked about this scenario, and I had done my best to anticipate how some handouts and props might enhance the experience (and thus lift some of the load from my GM’ing performance).

The beauty, and major drawback, of this scenario is that it puts the players in a very un-empowered position (I give nothing away to say they are patients in a hospital with limited mobility). This might be fine with a crew of players who all really enjoy rich character experiences, and will embrace the powerlessness of the character – but when you are running at a ‘con for people you don’t know (or rarely run games for) there is a danger that one, or all of the players, may get rapidly alienated and dissatisfied by what they may perceive as a frivolous, or unfair, constraint. Needless to say this tension increases dramatically through the course of the scenario.

Before I ran the game I had an open conversation with the players about this element and asked if they’d be willing to work with this element of the scenario, to generate a more memorable experience (an element of EPOCH). I was very gratified when they agreed, and we began. The scenario itself ran well – thanks largely to the efforts of the players who all did a really impressive job of embracing the setup and characters. I improvised a few elements on the spot – the mannerisms of the NPC’s, opening and closing the curtains in the room to give a feeling of time passing etc.

I found the scenario itself not especially easy to navigate, which meant I was sometimes left scrambling to find things, and I think that that tension of powerlessness is perhaps stretched too far with the full scope of the scenario – I can easily see the players becoming unhappy if the GM is not extremely careful about the setup and execution. However, I think there were some really great elements, which played out exactly as I had hoped and with the right kind of effect.

As a further experiment into some of the techniques I want to incorporate into EPOCH I think the game was a strong success, and reinforced my thoughts about the kind of system that a game needs to deliver on the key points of my horror manifesto. I should say, however, I don’t think any of the players were actually scared at any point, but there were some strong character/player responses.

You can read other reviews of Confusion from Jenni and Marcus.

5 Tips for Running Horror 'Con Games

Marcus is gearing up to run the next installment of Fright Night, and asked if I'd be interested in providing some advice on horror games. Looking at my previous entries, I am dismayed to see I haven't spent a lot of time on this subject, so without further ado I present my 5 tips for running Horror ‘con games:

1. Bring the description. As a GM you are the eyes and ears of the players. They depend on you, both for explicit and implicit queues about what is important, and to enhance and aid their visualisation. It is therefore critical that you spend as much effort as possible on your descriptions. As a general rule, there’s no such thing as too much detail. Layer it on. What does a place look like? What does it smell and sound like: what does it feel like? Many horror games take normality and add a fantastical element – be it monster, magic or madness. In order for the players to understand the full impact of this transition, they must first have a clear idea of the baseline. Draw on familiar tropes, or your own experiences – port this detail into your game. Establish the places and people of your setting clearly – it’s easy to get flustered or distracted when running a game. Try and take a conscious effort to stop, gather your thoughts, and then deliberately add details and descriptive elements. Ideally prepare maps or crib notes before a game to help with this– not necessarily to show the players, but so that you can be clear about the lie of the land, relative distances, specific details or even words that you might use. A few carefully chosen words can have a remarkable impact – even if the players don’t let on at the time.

2. Character is King. The essence of horror is the impact on the character. Try watching a horror movie halfway through, and you’ll likely be bemused rather than fearful or fascinated by the characters predicament. Context is everything, and if we have no reason to care about the characters – why should we care what happens to them? This problem is exacerbated by the nature of a horror ‘con. If you’re giving a player a disposable character for three hours, and at the end of that time they know they’ll walk away and, most likely, never think about the character again – what reasons does the player have not to treat the character recklessly? There is no easy answer to this problem. What you really want is for the players to agree to give their best efforts to ‘buy in’ to a character. You can do this explicitly – by asking the players to agree to this before the game, or using other techniques, like really ramping up enthusiasm, or descriptive elements (see above) and hope that the player is willing to ‘buy in’ of their own volition.

Ultimately, my view on the solution is more detailed than I have the space here to present, so here are some basic suggestions. Don't provide too much detail or be overly perscriptive with characters. Make sure you have considered your scenario from the players viewpoint. Try and let the players have the ability to embellish or add to their characters – encourage this. If your scenario is tailored to a genre (e.g. survival horror) communicate this explicitly so the players can get into the spirit of the thing. Always try and give the characters a reason to interact with one another, and the space to do so. Try and come up with roleplaying challenges of minor as well as major order to allow them to own the character (e.g. a grumpy motel clerk, a motorist in distress, someone who’s having a worse day than the characters). Try and leave enough room with for a chracter to fit almost any kind of player, and make sure the characters are linked in a way that leaves no-one out or marginalised.

Try and anticipate likely character actions - if they're confronted by something unnatural, scary, or dangerous they are likely to try and get weapons or flee. Or both. Make sure you've catered for this - ideally in such a way that the players don't feel railroaded or forced in their decision making. If you're going to have authority characters (e.g. cops) be prepared for a player to take this seriously, and assert authority - but don't count on it. Your players are likely to be smart, and well versed in the genre of the game you're running, and they'll be looking for clues all the time as to what the plot of the game is. Good characters, which are designed to support player 'buy-in' will hopefully keep the focus on the drama, and the horror and limit meta-gaming.

3. Pace it right. The pace of a game is important. Like a movie, you want to have a tempo that feels natural, and works to accentuate tense scenes, and allow for lighter moments as well. If you don’t make an effort to structure the pacing of your game, you may find these elements bleed into one another with undesirable consequences. I suggest starting slow, this is where the bulk of your descriptive workload lies. Let the players have some time and space to get into the skin of their characters. If you want to start “In media res” then you still need this space, but it comes later. Then, start moving the game in the direction you want.

Ideally you’ll want to have the pace build – the tension increase. Then perhaps a lull before another build in tension. If you’re using music or sound effects you can use these to give explicit queues to the players. If not, you may have to do the heavy lifting yourself, by increasing the cadence of your narration, the type of language you use or even the volume of your voice. Perhaps stand up to emphasise that this is an important scene. Maybe even mime the key elements, or even take the game in a semi-LARP direction.

If you’re going to use combat, even in the abstract sense then be sure to spend some effort bringing it to life for the players. Again, the more preparation you do, the better your game will be. If there’s some chance of someone being shot, you might want to look up real-life gunshot wounds, and be ready to bring some visceral detail to proceedings. Finally, give some thought to how you want the game to conclude. Is it a free-for-all with all the players involved, will there be a climactic final confrontation, or does it end unexpectedly? You might not want to script it too carefully, but having an idea about the way your game might end, and the experience you want to leave the players with, will help you during the rest to the facilitation. Finally pacing is important for real time. Keep track of the time as much as possible so you don’t run over your allotted slot – ideally you’ll have some optional material to add or jettison in order to fit the game to the time.

4. Don’t be a slave to system. Fairly simple this one - make sure any system you pick will work for the kind of game you want to run. I strongly suggest thinking about the kind of game you want to run first, then selecting a system which will support that vision – rather than picking a system then thinking up an adventure. Ideally you should be the master of any system you use, and be prepared to deal with questions and people who like to engage with systems. My rule is that it should be simple enough to be easily understood by all participants within 5 minutes, and ideally be well supported by game materials (perhaps double side the character sheets with a simple rules summary?). With the rise of electronic publishing there are thousands of systems out there, don’t be afraid to seek out something new.

5.Do the work. You can run great games on the fly. But you can’t trust to that – well you can, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The work starts with writing a great blurb that will attract the kind of players who want to share the kind of game you want to deliver. Spend some time and get a blurb that really captures the essence of the game, and levels a little with the players about what kind of experience they can expect (as players). Then take the time to playtest. A good game can become a great game through a strong playtest – especially if you playtest with people you don’t know or who are willing to give frank and constructive criticism. Every minute of a 'con game is precious, and you need to be sure each scene is fit for purpose - and frankly, by the time you're at this stage, you're no longer impartial. A second pair of eyes can help, and especially help you see things through the players eyes. Just be prepared to listen - and even probe for more detail, even if it's a little painful.

Finally spend the effort you need to be really ready for the game. The other points should give you some idea about what kind of thing I mean. In addition, it’s important that you have the plot – and the PC options – ready to explain to the players once the game is complete. People like to know the details, and they like to have ‘real’ choices in a game. To feel like the outcome of the game is a foregone conclusion can be disappointing to some players – so be ready to level with the players about the game, and how their choices made it a richer experience.