Mystery/Horror

Zak over at [his blog] illustrates how to avoid railroading in mystery investigations by following a hunter/hunted structure. It's good because that's what most mysteries and horror movies really are: a string of scenes where either the protagonist is moving closer to the antagonist, or the other way around. If the balance is clearly in favor of the protagonist finding the antagonist first, the film or story is more action/thriller, while if the balance shifts the other way, it's survival/horror. You can also shift the balance between lots of clues (mystery) or lots of challenges (adventure.) And it should go without saying that there's more than one way to do hunter/hunted by introducing twists to what each side is hunting for:

• Mutual Hunt (as Zak describes): Find how to kill Freddy Kreuger before he kills you.
• Escape: Find the way out of Westworld before the robot gunslinger finds you.
• Protection/Rescue: Find Dracula before he turns your girlfriend into a vampire.
• Justice/Vengeance: Find and stop Jack the Ripper before he kills again.

The last two, of course, depend on the PCs caring about whatever it is the antagonist is going to harm or steal. Many fantasy/sci-fi stories (and D&D scenarios) use a cop-out and make the final result "the end of the world" and thus indirectly the protagonist/PCs, to force everyone involved to care about the stakes. However, a better solution is to just postpone those kinds of stories until the characters have grown a bit and acquired "stuff" to care about. For one-shots or new campaigns, escapes and mutual hunts work better.

Now, my main reason for writing this post wasn't to break down all the variations on this idea, but to point out that it works great for improvised mystery (InSpectres) as well. In InSpectres, your job as GM is to come up with an opening scenario (the characters are here, this stuff happens) and a few possible explanations for what it all means, but nothing is set in stone; what the players do determines what the solution to the mystery actually is. For example, when I ran the Lovecraftian variant (UnSpeakable) at a con,  my idea was to do a Lovecraft/Supernatural (TV series) crossover set in the '20s. I started the PCs as random customers at a roadside diner who see a car roaring past; there's a woman struggling to get out of the car and a creepy-looking driver. I had a historically-accurate road map and some ideas of what might be in different locations.

The players, as completely new players sometimes do, ignored the bait and just kept sitting and eating.

I didn't have formal guidelines like Zak's, but instinctively I knew that if the PCs refuse to go towards the adventure, the adventure should come to the PCs. I had an identical car with identical driver and female victim roar by. And another. And another, and so on, shifting the focus from "should we rescue the girl?" to "why are there all these creepy duplicates driving by?" The PCs go outside, other stuff happens there involving hell-hound-ish creatures, there's a brief moment where they barricade themselves inside the diner, they kill the creature, then they head into the wooded area behind the diner to investigate, discovering a stone slab that seals the entrance to a mysterious underground chamber.

None of this was planned. The "map" of the area was just "there's a diner here on the road, and most of the rest of the scenery is the town where I went to high school". All the other details were invented in response to what the players did; when they went to investigate stuff, they found stuff; when they retreated, stuff found them. Standard InSpectres die rolls determined whether these events were good or bad.

The reason why the players enjoyed the game and didn't feel railroaded was because they could change the way events unfolded; even if they didn't know that all the details were improvised, they still knew that they could choose where to go, what to do, and their success was determined by die rolls, not GM fiat.

And, although they may have been lost at the very beginning of the scenario, once things started rolling, they became less lost, even when things looked bad. That's because it felt like a familiar horror-movie pattern, and in fact was a familiar horror-movie pattern. Everyone knows what to do if you get trapped in a diner surrounded by monsters, because they've seen it several times already (figure out a way to kill 'em or distract 'em while you escape, or figure out a way to call for help.)

So the conclusion is: if you need to improvise (whether or not you planned to,) the hunter/hunted pattern works great for investigations.

Hole In The Ground

One of the other games I mention very rarely on this blog is InSpectres (and octaNe, which I consider practically the same game, or at least steal bits of one to put in the other.) I like the system a lot for really quick, loose play intended to be an evening's entertainment. And occasionally, I think about doing a D&D-ish mod of the system.

The games's creator, Jared Sorensen, has done a little brain-storming on just such a mod, which he calls "Hole in the Ground" for now. It's definitely leaning towards InSpectres, with players designing a team of explorers/adventurers who can hire employees and purchase equipment; individual characters apparently don't keep treasure, but instead the loot found is fed back into the team's resources. This is different from the approach I was considering, which is more like octaNe, but with as many of the basic D&D game terms kept the same, just with different functions; for example, the six standard attributes would be styles, replacing the standard octaNe styles.

Jared's posted a random dungeon design technique for the game: roll 2d10 for x/y coordinates for several rooms, then roll 3dF for each room's size. This creates a partial map of rooms in the dungeon; corridors aren't included, but must be discovered during play. I'm not entirely sure about the room placement system, though; it seems it could be done easier.

InSpectres Note

This blog is 99% D&D lately, but I do have a couple other game interests, which eventually I have to get back around to. For example, while recommending InSpectres to someone the other day, I just happened to check the store page for it, and I noticed that Jared has added a link to Legion of Superscience: "A Venture Bros.-inspired hack of InSpectres". Oops! I guess I better get back on the ball in the next month or two and finish the revised and expanded rulebook for that game.

Millennium The RPG

Along the lines of "Lost the RPG", here's an adaptation of another TV series with Terry O'Quinn in a major role: Millennium, the series about a group that appears at first to merely be consulting on serial murder cases, but turns out to be an ancient conspiracy obsessed with a coming apocalypse. Again, use either JAGS Wonderland or port it to InSpectres (or some other system.) If you are using InSpectres, you should probably use the "multiple franchises" rule I described before. If using JAGS or another build-points game, you buy a relationship or other link to a group.

Characters start in a law enforcement franchise of some kind, with no dice/points invested in the Millennium Group. They can be either uninfected or have low Unsanity. However, they usually have some minor talent similar to magic: they can catch glimpses of things on lower chessboards, or get warnings from a "guardian angel". This is what interests Millennium in the characters and triggers contact.

Characters investigate mysteries -- crimes, usually, and often violent ones -- on Chessboard 0. At first, they use their gift (and, eventually, physical resources of Millennium) for insight into horrific but otherwise mundane Chessboard 0 events. Millennium seems like just an ordinary group with extraordinary resources and a belief that the world is really getting worse, so someone needs to stop things from getting worse.

Many of the mysteries being investigated are being influenced by reflections on Chessboard 0 of things from a far deeper level. After solving several mysteries, the characters will begin to encounter these beings directly, always mistaking them for ordinary serial killers or corrupt officials (The Judge, Lucy Butler, Mabius, and other instruments of the demon Legion.) These beings can perform limited breeches of natural law and thus will usually lead to infection or trigger episodes, sending characters down to Chessboard 1.

However, in addition to individual mysteries, there's a big meta-mystery, the Conspiracy. The real explanation of what Millennium is up to. This is tracked with a separate Conspiracy score that starts at 0 points (or dice, in InSpectres terms.) Although mundane mysteries and even mundane conspiracies can be solved on Chessboard 0, the big Conspiracy can only be solved by having episodes. Investigating Millennium on Chessboard 0 results in inexplicable discoveries; investigating on a lower chessboard earns points/dice to add to the Conspiracy score. When it reaches a GM-determined level (usually 10,) the Conspiracy is mostly solved.

Episodes are limited to Chessboard 1 until the Conspiracy rating rises. In general, characters can descend one chessboard deeper every time the Conspiracy rating doubles. The deeper the episode, the shorter it lasts; Millennium focuses mainly on the effects of the deeper levels on Chessboard 0.

Once Conspiracy reaches 1, characters will notice that fully-made Millennium members have more control over episodes than most infected. They all have at least Advanced levels of Mastery, up to full Master level for characters like The Old Man. They also have access to "magic" based on shadow control, generally expressed as prophetic knowledge, clairvoyance, or seeming control over coincidence and probability (witness the "accident" that kills Frank Black's friend from The Trust, or Lara Mean's obsession with rolling dice when she becomes a full member.)

As Conspiracy rises, characters will become aware of factions within Millennium (Owls versus Roosters, for example,) schisms (The Family,) and rivals (Odessa.) The game will change from simple criminal investigation to a war over the future of mankind.

Lost: the RPG

I and a couple other people have said on several occasions that JAGS Wonderland can be used to recreate a number of novels,.movies, and television shows featuring a multilayered reality that causes the main characters to question their sanity or understanding. For example, the TV series Lost. Here's how you could run a Lost game using either JAGS Wonderland or InSpectres.

Whip up some characters involved in a plane crash. Each player details one character, but there are several other survivors who can be left faceless/nameless or given just a one-line description, to be expanded as needed or turned into replacements for retired or deceased PCs. None of the initial PCs is infected, but they may have had borderline experiences in their past.

Unlike the rest of the world, any stress on the island could cause infection, as long as it occurs when a character is isolated. Once infected, characters can have episodes even when in someone else's presence, and this can potentially infect others.

Forces or beings on a deep chessboard are present on the island. For the most part, their actions manifest as coincidences on chessboard 0. Thinking too hard about these coincidences can potentially lead to Unsanity.

Some regions of the island have even weirder manifestations of the actions of these deep forces and creatures. The Smoke Monster would be one example; it only rarely appears, and then only in the Dark Territory. Richard would be another deep-chessboard inhabitant, although his chessboard 0 appearance seems almost normal.

The island is also inhabited by infected people -- the Others. These people are aware of at least the first and second chessboard and exploit it to move unseen, speak a previously unknown language, find unexpected resources, or learn information about castaways. In game terms, they are "normal" people who have Mastery and one or two "magic" talents.

If using InSpectres, confessionals would be a great way to handle flashbacks and flashforwards.

It seems best to disregard most of the "facts" of Lost and instead, make up mysteries as needed, and improvise answers (that always lead to new mysteries.)

Blog Carnival: Carnival of Souls The RPG

I decided to try joining the Blog Carnival for the first time. The topic is "festivals and carnivals". Since I've been writing about InSpectres recently, the only game I ever ran at a convention, and since I've also been writing about surrealism and "eerie gaming", I thought I'd combine the three ideas into "Carnival of Souls The RPG".

Carnival of Souls is a semi-obscure horror movie from the '60s. It looks and feels a lot like a Twilight Zone episode: the sole survivor of a fatal car crash tries to forget about it and get on with her life, but weird things begin to happen to her... This game starts with the same basic concept: the characters have all been involved in a catastrophic accident and escaped.

The base rules are the UnSpeakable variant of InSpectres. Disregard the "UnSpeakable Skills" (they're too Lovecraftian.) Keep Sanity. Each character has one talent, something they care deeply about, either their job ("church organist") or a hobby ("mystery novels") or activity ("chatting up strangers".)

Start with a Pit of 10-20 dice. In addition to the Pit, there's another pool of dice that starts out empty, called The Carnival. Every time a character loses Sanity, add one die to The Carnival. A high 1 roll for physically dangerous actions means death, but only if the character's Sanity is lower than the Carnival dice. Otherwise, the character nearly dies, but miraculously survives; the unsettling nature of their escape from death requires a Sanity roll against Dark Despair.

There is also a real abandoned carnival or amusement park at the outskirts of town. It, too, is unsettling, and requires Sanity rolls: 1 die for first daytime and nighttime encounters, half Sanity dice for actually entering the carnival, further rolls for unsettling events that occur there. Any time the character walks, runs, or drives anywhere, roll at least 1 Sanity die. If they lose a point of Sanity, they somehow wind up at the abandoned carnival.

Any time a character uses their talent (plays the organ, for the church organist,) they are in danger of entering an eerie trance. Roll a Sanity die; the character is entranced on a 1; they will behave oddly or even sinisterly while ignoring their surroundings. Any PC who witnesses an entranced character must also roll for Sanity.

If a player needs an extra die to roll for an action, they can use one Carnival die. However, any high 1 or 2 result when using a Carnival die means that The Man shows up. He is a mysterious, sinister-looking figure who cannot be seen except by the PCs. His appearance always requires a Sanity roll against Dark Despair, at the very least. He will not communicate or interact directly with the characters the first time he appears, just stare. He becomes more direct each time he appears; if he appears when there are at least 3 Carnival dice remaining, from now on he will pursue PCs when he appears. The first time he appears at the abandoned carnival, he will begin to openly communicate. A roll of 6 on any action will cause him to disappear.

When a character loses all Sanity, the Man appears again. From that point on, he can be temporarily evaded like any other pursuer, but he will mysteriously catch up any time a 1 or 2 is rolled on an action. Remember, rolling a 1 on a dangerous action at this point will mean death.

The PCs are supposed to be dead, of course, but something is keeping them in the world of the living unnaturally. For one, their dead bodies weren't recovered. There may also be something they need to finish. The exact task is left open, to be investigated like a mystery. Every roll of 6 while investigating the mystery earns one Mystery point. Once 10 points are earned, any characters who are still sane get a second chance on life, while those who have lost all Sanity vanish; their dead bodies are then found, and their spirits join The Carnival.

Eerie Gaming III: Unsanity

In the previous post on using InSpectres to play JAGS Wonderland, I described what happens when Stress is higher than Unsanity, but I didn't describe how Unsanity increases from its starting level (0 for ordinary people, 1 for those already infected.) That's because there are several options, each with a different feel.

The simplest is: Unsanity equals the highest Stress level the character has ever had. If a character gains 3 Stress, Unsanity becomes 3 as well. If the character heals the stress, then gains 2 Stress, Unsanity is still 3. If the character then gains 2 more Stress without being healed, Stress and Unsanity are now both 4. This is pretty simple, but very hard on characters. Pretty much everyone would wind up infected if the universe worked that way.

Option 2: if Stress increases while being exposed to unreal or fantastic elements or events, Unsanity goes up by 1 point (and Sanity therefore goes down by 1 point.) Once infected, any kind of stress can trigger an Episode, but only the five triggering events previously listed can cause an increase in Unsanity. With this option, only the mentally ill and hallucinogenic drug users are likely to become spontaneously infected, with occultists coming in second. Other people become infected when exposed to those already having Episodes.

Option 3: players choose when to become more infected by buying off high levels of Stress with Sanity, perhaps at a 5:1 ratio. This has the benefit of giving players more control, but risks having no one becoming infected unless the GM rides the characters hard, hitting them with high stress rolls. The GM can also lure characters to the dark side by having a lot of NPCs with Wonderland-inspired abilities; in order to defeat the NPCs, the players may have to give in to Unsanity.

Eerie Gaming II: Using InSpectres

In my previous Eerie Gaming post, I talked about how great JAGS Wonderland is, but mentioned I wouldn't run it with JAGS. These days, I prefer games that I can make quick rulings on without consulting rulebooks. So what would I use? I have a couple ideas. Here's one I've suggested before: InSpectres. I originally posted my ideas for running Wonderland in InSpectres on Story Games, but I can't find a link to my post and I think you'd need to log in to read it, anyways; this post will cover the basics of how I'd do it.

Characters: either build 'em with 9 dice as in standard Inspectres or with just one skill as in the UnSpeakable variant for a grittier feel. There are two additional skills, Sanity and Unsanity. Split 10 points between them; if Sanity is 10, the character is uninfected. Cool is renamed to Mastery.

Franchises: standard rules, but keep the starting dice small; instead of representing the franchise's total resources, the dice represent how much the characters can get from that franchise without giving anything in return. Also, it's possible to have multiple franchises or join new franchises during play; these can be support groups, rebel networks, investigative groups, or government agencies.

Plot Points: you do not earn mission dice, you earn plot points; one point on a skill roll of 5, two points on a 6. You can spend plot points to renew Cool/Mastery, invest in a franchise, or make a Wonderland advantage permanent ("bring something back", get a beneficial mutation, etc.)

Stress: if you accrue more stress than your Sanity score, you have an Episode. If your stress drops below your Unsanity, the Episode "thins out" and will end soon, the next time you roll a 5 or 6 while performing an ordinary action. In addition to the common forms of stress, make stress rolls for triggering events as well:

• watching or reading surreal or fantastic media, daydreaming: 1 die
• witnessing or interacting with someone having an Episode: 2 dice
• letting curiosity about the unexplained draw you in: 3 dice
• major mind-altering effects, like taking drugs: 4 dice
• witnessing the impossible: 5 dice

Episodes: if Stress is more than Unsanity, a character can only end an Episode by spending Cool/Mastery to roll dice (5 or 6 ends the Episode, 4 reduces Stress by one level.) A character can also force an Episode by spending Mastery to roll dice.

Dissociation: your reflection is another character with no dice to roll. To affect dissociation, use the aiding/teamwork rules to lend a die result to your reflection. If you are only rolling 1 die, you can opt to describe what you are trying to do in Wonderland, roll the die, and then take the automatic 1 in Wonderland, using the die result instead to describe what your reflection does in the real world. If you have more than one die to roll, you can use one result for your Wonderland action and one for your reflection's action. The standard InSpectres die results correlate to the Wonderland Dissociation levels:

• 1-2: Total GM control = Complete Dissociation. The GM describes what the reflection does.
• 3: Partial GM control = Major Dissociation. The GM describes what the reflection does, but the player can suggest a minor effect of the Wonderland events on the real world.
• 4: Partial player control = Moderate Dissociation. The player can describe a limited effect of Wonderland on the real world.
• 5: Player control = Minor Dissociation. The player's action succeeds in the real world, too, but without any impossible effects.
• 6: Total player control = Complete Association. The impossible happens.

There will be more on this later, as well as ideas for adapting JAGS Wonderland in other ways.