Knicks & Knacks

On Horror (Continued)

Oh, you thought I was done? I'm not. This mindvirus will not leave me alone, so I'm not going to leave you alone. Tough noogies.

Anyways, further consideration has led me only deeper into the hole with less light and clarity at the bottom, but here I stand.

Another problem is that different folks find different things scary. I have a cousin who was absolutely petrified of dogs; I've never met a dog I didn't like. Except for those rats people call "dogs", like chihuahuas. One of the most common fears is the fear of public speaking; public speaking is my job. When I was a child, my greatest fear was heights. I still get uneasy high up; others rock climb without a harness.

Also, as an aside, if you are engaged in public speaking, just be confident and own it. Even if you are wrong, no one is going to stand up and shout, "Idiot!" or anything. Majority of the people clocked out 15 minutes ago, sadly.

This would be the same problem if trying to make a "funny" ruleset. You might put in some general humor appropriate to the culture that gets an exhale or even a chuckle if you're lucky, but not everyone will find it funny. Some people will completely miss the jokes; others will think it childish. Horror and humor both require proper build up for the "punchline", whether to laugh or scream. And both horror and humor are subjective, individual preferences or unpreferences.

Perhaps I am shooting for the moon and missing the stars while I'm at it. I don't want the ruleset to get them "shiverin' in their timbers", per se. Ideally I want the ruleset to add to the tension and atmosphere of the horror; at the very least, I don't want it to detract from the tension and atmosphere!

And the time period I'm looking at was filled with fear. Fear of sickness, fear of famine, fear of war, fear of death, fear of angering or upsetting a deity, fear of upsetting or forgetting a deceased family member, fear of witchcraft; it all exists in the time period. When your view of the afterlife is "dust their food, clay their bread" - a sad shadow of the former life - you really don't want to die. When an angry god can collapse your life, you really don't want to anger any of them and will profusely apologize if you fear you have. When a forgotten family member can become a ghost to torment you, you make sure you observe the ancestral cultic practices. When the neighboring kingdom is getting uppity, you consult the stars and the organs for insight into the near future to grant some peace of mind.

Divination, prophecy, magic, proto-science, religion, ritual, ceremony, tradition - all of these exist to grant peace of mind; they all exist to combat the greatest fear of mankind: the fear of the unknown. The future is the scariest thing which exists because you don't know if you've got 10 minutes or 100 years, but you do know eventually your number is called. And that is terrifying to mankind. Why do you think Gilgamesh sought Utnapishtim? Eternal life! And after his best friend Enkidu dies, no less!

But "the future" is neither a mechanic nor a monster. Nor is it really something considered within the medium of an RPG. The characters exist for a few hours, then real days/weeks pass, the game resumes, and the characters haven't aged or changed in any way. It is a rarity indeed to find an RPG character who has died of old age!

And don't even get me started on the "we both die here" mindset. You ever wonder how you'd react if you were locked in a building with murderous animatronics inhabiting the deceased souls of children? You ever wonder how you'd react if those clothes in the corner are actually a demon? You ever wonder how you'd react if the murderer is behind the shower curtain? Some would panic; some would freeze up; and some would fight. The mantra "we both die here" exhibits the willingness to fight the fear no matter the outcome, even if it is futile. Wherever fear is, so is courage, although one may have to rouse him first. Those who do rouse him find themselves able to fight the fear, to become the hero.

And when one rises up to fight the evil, when one courageously charges forward unto death, the most amazing thing happens - others follow them! The fear is overcome! If the players are given knowledge of the threat, it stops being as unknown. As it becomes less unknown, they can develop ways to fight it; to defeat it. The ability to fight fear is brought about by turning the unknown into the known. And eventually, even the best GM will run out of "unknown" for a threat or monster.

I'm rambling again, but this is my blog, so I'll ramble however much I want.
Some points:

This requires further consideration.

P.S. Completely unrelated to the above, but Prompts-Giving is still open to any prompts y'all would want to throw my way! I'd love to hear from any one of y'all reading this about what you'd like to see.