A lone RPG-er....

[matthais-mouse]

Howdy everyone,

First thing I should say is if this should not belong here i do not mind it being moved, however you should be able to tell why it is here.

Well this will sound very odd, but although I do a lot of miniature making and painting, I do not actually play any games at the moment. Now this is for the that the people i used to game with became complete 'not nice people' and so I have stopped gaming all-together.
What I am wondering is the following few questions.
A) Is there any horror RPG's that one can play alone?
B) Is there any horror RPG's for mulitple players that you would personally recommend? and why?

The reason being is because I do believe a few of my friends would like to to do get involved with a RPG but they are horror orientated instead of fantasy/sci fi which is what I have played before. Now i would not mind doing something like call of cthulhu but I was told that it is an 'impossible game so there is no point playing it' by one of the people mentioned earlier here who turned me away from gaming.

I am thinking of getting in touch with a local gaming group but not 100% sure as I am a very shy person until i get to know a group....

All help here will be much appreciated.

[Cherno]

First of all, I think Two Hour Wargames has rules for Vampires & Werewolves in one of their games, probably All Thing Zombie. These games can be play solo, cooperatively, Versus, or any mixture.

For "real" RPGs, there are of course the classic Storyteller games like Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and so on. Then, there's GURPS with a host of horror add-ons, and also All Flesh Must Be Eaten which is Zombie-centric but fairly popular anyway.

Edit: The name of the Zombie RPG is "All Flesh Must Be Eaten"

[matthais-mouse]

Ill check out those two hour wargames for some alone gaming and vampire the masquerade will be one to look into for the 'new potential group' haha.

[Cubs]

A little off target, but I fondly remember playing 'Fury of Dracula' at the old club I used to attend. It's a board game with a roleplay vibe, for 2-4 players (if less than 4, the 'hero' player/s take more than one character).

One player is Dracula and the rest of the players can choose from Van Helsing, Dr Seward and Lord Godalming. Van Helsing is most powerful against Dracula and other supernatural enemies, Lord Godalming is best against corporeal enemies and Dr Seward is a mix between the two.

The board is a map of Western Europe and Dracula's job is to go scuttling about his own mini-map (hidden behind a screen) secretly creating new vampires. The players' jobs are to search the map looking for signs of his passing and guess where he will turn up next. They have to fight various beasties in Dracula's thrawl (rats, wolves, vampires, etc..) and of course, the man himself.

It's a really good fun, tense game with cards determining events and advantages for both sides. I don't know if it's still in print, but you might be able to get a second hand one somewhere.

[krieghund]

If you're interested in solo Rpg's it might be worth checking out the Mythic set of rules.

[Gundamentalist 5.56]

Now i would not mind doing something like call of cthulhu but I was told that it is an 'impossible game so there is no point playing it' by one of the people mentioned earlier here who turned me away from gaming.

Why are you believing the opinions of a person you appear to have fallen out with? Call of Cthulhu is a fantastic game, literally a game of ordinary heroes fighting overwhelming odds. Yes, according to the game's background humanity loses eventually, so you celebrate the small wins and the staying of the inevitable for a little longer. Don't listen to doomsayers who hate CoC, the game is scaleable for all tastes from pulp to purist Lovecraft. And CoC has massive back catalogue of scenarios and a new edition is coming out in May/June this year.

[Mr. Peabody]

Don't listen to doomsayers who hate CoC, the game is scaleable for all tastes from pulp to purist Lovecraft. And CoC has massive back catalogue of scenarios and a new edition is coming out in May/June this year.

This.

Call of Cthulhu is quite simply a gem of a game. The simple mechanics of Basic Roleplaying allow you to get on with the story and with having some good old-school RPG fun.

Just like any other RPG, the game will be as deadly as the GM decides to make it, so focus on a long story arc, vary the pacing and provide suitable amounts of adventure! That'll keep'em coming back to roll more dices.

[Cubs]

I would certainly recommend reading a few Lovecraft tales (very cheap on Kindle) if you haven't already, to get a feel for the Call of Cthulhu world. It's not absolutely necessary, but will probably enhance the experience. I tried to play CoC as a kid and enjoyed it, but I missed an awful lot in hindsight through ignorance of the universe it was set in.

[Plynkes]

Call of Cthulhu an "impossible game?"

What complete shite, if you'll pardon my French, as we say. I don't even know what that is supposed to mean. It's one of the best, most atmospheric and immersive RPGs ever made. It can also be used to do more traditional, "straight" horror, if you are not into the Cthulhu Mythos. The first CoC game I GMed (in fact it was the first game I ever GMed) had the players investigating a pack of werewolves. There wasn't a tentacle in sight. 

And personally I don't think ignorance of the Mythos (by the players) is a drawback. It is a great way to be introduced to it, to discover it in the same way as the characters in the stories do. After all, none of them know anything about it until bad things start happening to them. If anything, lots of outside meta-knowledge on the players' part is counter-productive to creating a good scary atmosphere (i.e. immediately recognising what something is, and knowing its stats and all, when their characters wouldn't know this stuff).

If by "impossible" they mean "impossible to beat the bad guys with bullets and brute force", then perhaps horror isn't actually the genre they want to play, even if they think it is.


We had some very scary games. I felt I had succeeded in creating the desired atmosphere when my players, when faced with the entrance to the subterranean lair of a lone worshipper of some unimaginable horror, just flat-out refused to go in. They poured as much petrol as they could gather down the hole, threw a match after it and ran away. All my preparation for the lair was for nothing, but I considered the game a success.

[thebinmann]

A little off target, but I fondly remember playing 'Fury of Dracula' at the old club I used to attend. It's a board game with a roleplay vibe, for 2-4 players (if less than 4, the 'hero' player/s take more than one character).

Classic GW boardgame, one of thier best!

[ZenWired]

...but I was told that it is an 'impossible game so there is no point playing it...

As others have said, that's a bunch of poppycock.

But it's not the first time I've heard that sentiment from players. My own group won't play CoC because two of the players feel similarly. The problem is, CoC - as mentioned above - has as its default conceit normal people versus cosmic horrors; that's just not everyone's cup of tea. (I say "default" because I see no reason that conceit can't be altered by the GM to up the power levels of the characters. The core system - the BRP system - is very simple and thus takes well to tweaking.)

Some players who claim to like "horror" really mean they like supernaturally themed games. But they don't want to feel weak - they want to play heroes who crush evil, without any real threat of their heroes being crushed in return.

You have to figure out what your players want.

If CoC isn't the vibe your players want, you could go with something more in a monster-hunting vein, such as MWP's Supernatural RPG (based on the TV series).

Or, if your players want to be proto-super heroes who fight monsters, you could look to Palladium's Beyond the Supernatural ("BTS"), which is really better described as a supernatural-themed game of contemporary fantasy. (If you go with BTS, though, you may want to avoid the current edition and look to the previous one - the current edition is really only half a game, as it's missing the magic section. The previous edition, with the nifty Corben cover art, is 100% complete - and has rules for playing "victim class" characters, if you want to tone it down to a more horror-themed game.)

If you're really adventurous as a GM and want to go old-school, you could even track down a copy of TriTac's Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic (my group's go-to "horror" game), which is in a similar vein to BTS. But it's really an old school game, with a very crunchy system and toolbox-like structure and not a lot of the modern sensibilities you'll find in later games. In short, it's an acquired taste.

Regardless of what system you choose, the key is knowing what sort of game your players want. Any system can be tweaked to meet those desires once you've identified them.

We had some very scary games. I felt I had succeeded in creating the desired atmosphere when my players, when faced with the entrance to the subterranean lair of a lone worshipper of some unimaginable horror, just flat-out refused to go in. They poured as much petrol as they could gather down the hole, threw a match after it and ran away. All my preparation for the lair was for nothing, but I considered the game a success.

Plynkes, this is brilliant!

And, in my mind, it's what horror RPGs should really be about. Don't get me wrong, I love the monster-bashing slugfests my game group gets out of BTS and B13, but you seldom get scenes like the one you described from those sorts of games. (They do happen, they're just not as frequent.) CoC just brings out that sort of fear of the unknown.

[thebinmann]

It's one of the best, most atmospheric and immersive RPGs ever made.

I'm sure you can take out "one of"...

[matthais-mouse]

First off, thanks all for the replies 

Why are you believing the opinions of a person you appear to have fallen out with? Call of Cthulhu is a fantastic game, literally a game of ordinary heroes fighting overwhelming odds. Yes, according to the game's background humanity loses eventually, so you celebrate the small wins and the staying of the inevitable for a little longer. Don't listen to doomsayers who hate CoC, the game is scaleable for all tastes from pulp to purist Lovecraft. And CoC has massive back catalogue of scenarios and a new edition is coming out in May/June this year.

I think this may have been perceived incorrectly, although I believed him in the sense you can not actually 'win' the game, this is what made me want to play it more and one of the reasons we fell out as he would not set up a game (him being the DM at the time and only one to have read some of lovecrafts works) Its in a setting I love the sound of and has a mystery kind of feel to it too. It actually sounds like I may be able to summon enough to play this game if I can get my rules back. I have the first edition rules with loads of maps and stuff  even had a zeppelin layout haha.
(hopefully I will be able to base a game on board a train  )

As players, me and my cousin (one of the other players) really like the idea that our characters are not invincible and can be killed just as easily as the enemies we would face, it means that we really have to think what we want/need to do as characters. The one that we fell out with was the opposite, he was a power gamer to the core and even though he was the DM (for DND) he always had a character that he played and over powered at every stage.

I am going to have a deeper look at call of cthulhu as it definately sounds like it is worth having a jolly good go, even if I dont get many players together.

[blackstone]

For a solo rpg style experience I'd recommend Arkham Horror boardgame

[matthais-mouse]

For a solo rpg style experience I'd recommend Arkham Horror boardgame

Funny you should say that, a friend of mine and I were talking about this yesterday at work. He has always wanted to play it so he is going to make the first move and purchase the starter set...