8: Dealing with Dread

Dread is a hard emotion to pull off in a roleplaying game though you'll have an easier time of it than trying to pull off a Cat Scare in a storytelling medium (unless you're good at making sudden loud noises). The trouble is that dread is also a discouraging emotion. It's that feeling you get when you don't want to take a step further. That sensation that whatever you'll find behind the door is really not what you want to find. Some people revel in that sense of dread, loving the anticipation of something wicked about to happen, but even so, consistent and long-lasting dread is actually quite draining.

So how do you evoke it?

Basically, find ways to convince your player characters (and hopefully your players) that something terrible is about to happen and slowly build up to it. Use plenty of foreshadowing. Keep them guessing. Generally, once they know what they're up against they can steel their resolve against it or react emotionally to it and that may lead to fear, sorrow, anger, or simple dedication. You can't really control which, though you may be able to predict it.

Keep them hanging on to your every word like the next hint might just clue them in to just what they'll face. Make sure most of the clues are a 'bad sign' and try to start off with clues that are ambiguous. "Oh, the front door to my house is open, maybe my wife is home?" And slowly build up to more nasty seeming ones. "Is that blood spatter on the ground? Did she get a blood nose?" Be aware, though, that once they find the corpse the tension is blown as the player character now reacts (unless you also seed in hints that they're not alone in the house and the killer might still be here).

Be aware that if the players can predict you, that if its a foregone conclusion that there's always going to be a worst case scenario like a corpse, then the dread vanishes as the players now know what to expect and will be starting to build a plan in their minds. This will allow you to build up other emotions, potentially, but we're not covering other emotions just yet. Just dread.

So play up the unexpected. The blood spatter is because the wife got startled by a noise and cut herself while chopping the carrots and when she went outside to take a look she noticed that something had burrowed a rather large hole in the back yard. She hasn't gone down there to look just yet but she's planning to because she thinks that the neighbour's kid has gone down there.

Or perhaps it's there because they were robbed and his wife was injured but is otherwise safe. Not everything has to end in death.

Just be sure that when you raise the dread there's generally a negative outcome at the end. Very occasionally it's okay to have it be a prank or a surprise birthday party but don't make too much of a habit of it. It's good if the players assume that something terrible will happen. That'll raise the tension.

Whether it's a single session adventure, a multi-session adventure, or a campaign, it's important to have 'brake pads' to the dread and action sequences. These 'brake pads' should vary in size depending on the length and needs of the game. Basically, they're calm and safe moments that diffuse the tension, allow a rest, and help people get back into the swing things. This is important both because dread is draining AND because humans habituate to constant stimuli. Just as you'll stop smelling that funky stench if you're stuck in a room with it for hours, so will you get used to dread, or just get over it. So give them funny moments. Give them safe moments.

You don't have to puncture the dread entirely with something wacky. It often works better to keep it low-key. Dry humor. A safe light-filled bar where they can steal a few hours before heading out into the darkness to face those light-sensitive beasties. An interesting NPC that steals the show for a short while. Things that inspire other emotions - and incidentally also inspire attachment, which ramps up the tension later on.

So there you have it. My tips on dread. Do you have any of your own?

See the rest of the articles in this series over here!

For Players: Motivated Player Characters

A motivated character is a compelling character to watch. They know what they want and they have the drive to achieve it. This is especially important in sandbox games, whether LARP or table-top, where the Storyteller isn't going to spoon feed you plot. If you want to get involved and lay your stamp on the world you're going to have to figure out what your character wants. And yes, that does involve inventing conflicts for yourself that would make sense for your character. So, where do you go from here? What do you do?

Firstly, design your character. Figure out who they are and what their likes and dislikes are. Then you can brainstorm a list of optional goals that someone like that might want. A romantic Daeva might want to schmooze the harpy into a date, own a romantic hot spot like a nightclub, undermine a romantic rival, learn Majesty like there's no tomorrow, catch the attentions of a young kine woman who's the Next Big Thing, and learn the piano so that he can better serenade his targets.

These are all 'mights'. You don't have to accept all of them, or any of them, at this stage, but it does suggest other ideas. A romantic rival suggests an external conflict, which is good, as it gives you something to do. You could either generate this by talking to the Storyteller or, if they're not keen on taking suggestions from players, you could simply have your character fall for a potential romantic interest who already has an admirer. Internal conflicts could be raised if your Daeva is too prudent or principled to try to actively disrupt an existing courtship and therefore he just waits at the railing, hoping and dreaming. Perhaps another vampire, hoping to get in your good books, might assist you unawares. How would your Daeva react to that if she doesn't believe in undermining others in their romantic interests? Some nice internal conflict there.

The quest to own a nightclub could also be a nice external conflict, especially if you lack the Resource dots to simply purchase it, as you'd need to raise the income, find the right place, convince the owners to sell it to you, and then renovate it to fit. Then there's also the process of luring in the right clientele. Depending on the game world, this might all give you plenty to do in Downtimes, and a lot of opportunity to lure in other player characters to get involved. Internal conflicts here would likely revolve around how low your character would stoop to get the necessary funding.

Then there's the quest to learn Majesty. The main external conflicts here would involve 'time'. Are you spending too much time on other things? Do other training needs keep interrupting? But internal conflicts are where it gets juicy. What if he wonders whether it's rape to use Majesty to seduce women? What if he needs it so he can get easy feeding in a hard part of town? What if he doesn't care about the moral implications of seducing women with Majesty but does worry about what might happen if it becomes too easy but still needs it to eat well?

All good questions and plenty to create further conflict, further motivations, and inspire further stories. And that's the main reason why it's a good idea to pick apart the potential goals and look at their other motivations and the barriers in place. Because that can inspire further, smaller goals (raise money, for example) that require their own preparation that may take your character into all sorts of interesting places.

So the next time you're not sure what your character could do, or if you're generating a character and want some motivations, brainstorm a goal list and then see what works, discarding the rest.

My Solo Demon Game Character

Well, Adam ran me another session of a Cyberpunk Demon: the Fallen solo game and boy was it awesome! I'm playing an Eminence 5 Radiance Devil called Shaitan. Infamous, as you'd imagine, though he was never as important as the Koran would later make his namesake out to be. S/he was originally the only Namaru who wasn't given any piece of God's plan and instead wandered around, double checking other Fallen's work and making suggestions about whether, maybe, God's plan could be interpreted like this.

Generally, his assistance wasn't needed and a lot of the other angels were, obviously, a bit disturbed by his presence as it implied the possibility of failure on behalf of the First House. Anyway, the Fall happened and Shaitan joined the Silver Legion but in a goody two-shoes way that, alongside with previous history, meant s/he was annoying a Malefactor Overlady who decided to try an experiment with several fallen (Shaitan included). Shaitan was the only one who survived the process (that s/he's aware of) which involved embedding weaponry ripped from a Devourer into her body so s/he'd be a better military asset. Pre-abyssal torment was the glue as it meant s/he resonated with the Devourer's maddened, agonised state better so they forced her to sin until they were all nice and cemented.

S/he rebelled the first moment s/he got and joined the Ebon Legion as they were the only ones who'd have her. S/he then cobbled together a band of misfits, worked for the Ebon Legion, was unpredictable and bucked orders on occasion (getting busted down to Fell Knight) and then made great successes on occasion (getting raised back up to Lord / Lady). Her particular pecadillo was to make the Silver Legion suffer. Anyone s/he could get her hands on would suffer horribly if s/he had the chance. S/he would also set people against each other or trick them so that they commit a sin that would undo them in the end. Such as tricking one person into betraying their liege in such a way that the liege would find out and punish the underling.

A big part of it was a suicide wish but that aside ... there's a lot of people who hate her. Ordinarily, she'd be a little too large to fit into a host at the time she came out but Lord Grifiel had previously torn off her wings so she fit just fine. So she comes out in 2010 as a low-torment Ravener, gets quickly recruited and hidden by Gipontel until she officially joins the Cryptics and cements her low-torment attitude, goes through some merry adventures, ends up Tyrant of the city and playing some pretty high-level politics (as Eminence 5 characters are wont to do), and then gets bumped out of space and time with her two changeling pals (nWoD changelings, it's kinda a mash-up) for 50 years.

In the present day, it's a post cyberpunk world (not quite as much of a crapsack world) where a war between Fallen and Mages set the Mages into exorcising an entire city (Washington) which weakened the pit walls enough with all those returning fallen that the gravity isn't so strong as to prevent the Lords and Ladies from walking the land. The trouble is that they still barely fit, so their minds are still rattled by oodles of Torment with maybe only the lowest of the Lords and Ladies having a chance to come out at Torment 8. They make a concerted effort to scatter the existing Infernal Courts and then take up their own personal tyrannies of the fallen who were fool enough to pledge vassalage to their old liege lords. The remaining free fallen (of Fell Knight and lower status) are now in hiding.

So now my infamous Lord Shaitan (who's form used to fluctuate between a youthful male and female visage, hence my gender trait shifts) is now in a world that alternately fears and hides from those of his standing -- or currently serves other Lords and Ladies who are oodles more powerful than him because of the very thing that keeps him human (dilute and diffuse memories, loss of an additional trait). While he's managed to pay off his infamy to some extent by some lucky pushes for Cryptic projects that helped the faction survive the LoLa (lords and ladies, see what I did there) such as a giant Cryptic University bastion; he's still technically a LoLa and there's loads of people with grudges who can now kill her off for her rank and say they "didn't know he wasn't like the other LoLa's". Oh yeah, and there's no way s/he could fight off LoLa attention as they're more badass than s/he is.

Thank goodness for Augs, as the only thing that currently lifts me up from the usual Hunter masses is my Faith-powered healing, immunity to mind control / possession, and ability to use the few relics in my possession (sneakers that flash a bright pulsed light designed to dispel creatures disrupted by light; an enhanced knife; enhanced riot armour; a ring that can pop me from the Realms into the Living World but not the other way around; a ring that lets Belphigor find me {long story}; and a rod that records up two different bodies and lets me change my form to one or the other).

Adam has ruled that as I have a new host so long as I don't use any Lores or my Apocalyptic Form, I don't have that Demon Smell about me to Awareness. Of course, certain mage sights could still figure out what I am, among other things, but it's not as obvious. Talk about deep cover! And I'm a merc, to boot.

I've gotta admit, it's really tricky playing a supernatural character and using bugger all of their powers. There's always that temptation especially after two years of playing the same character. The trick, I think, is to simply put all those extra goodies out of mind. Of course, due to my Eminence, once it gets out, everyone will know about it, but preventing that until I get some tasty, tasty Augs will be vital.

I'll let you know about the really cool ways Adam has blended Cyberpunk with Demon: the Fallen with what is largely new World of Darkness later on. The last adventure was really neat, involving me taking out five gangers with cheap, chop shop augs (one of whom was Claimed) with nothing but sedative needles, the Transfiguration Rod, and a stolen pistol.

Interview with a Changeling LARP Storyteller: Andrew Watson

This time I'm going to interview a long term LARP player in the Camarilla who was once upon a time a Camarilla Changeling LARP Storyteller and who is now a Camarilla LARP Domain Storyteller (he manages the local game storytellers). He's pictured to the left in a character he played at a Noctis game. I've playing in a few games he's run and I've always enjoyed his fresh and insightful style. Since he's an old hat, I've focused my questions on LARP in general with a few questions directly about his Changeling experience.

Shannon: "So, what on Earth convinced you to run a LARP?"

Andrew: "Well, I spent all this time playing LARPs and watching LARPs and talking about them so I figured it couldn't be all that difficult. I was kinda wrong. But basically the opportunity came up. Nobody else was going to do it. So I thought I'd give it a shot. Also, I just like telling stories."

Shannon: "So what's the difference between running a LARP and a Tabletop? I mean, you've done both, but how do you do a LARP well?"

Andrew: "Well, the differences are scale and chronology, I reckon. So you've got a generally much larger group of players and the game's a whole lot less linear so to a larger extent what you have to do is create the playing field and then watch as the players do horrible things to it. So part of doing it well is actually accepting that but I think that applies to storytelling and running games in general."

Shannon: "Changeling must make that all the harder, too. Trying to double guess where changelings are going is ... well, an exercise in futility."

Andrew: "Yeah, when I was running changeling I probably never got the double guessing down pat and so I made things a lot more open-ended than I otherwise would have done. So sometimes people would approach a problem and say "I do X" which is completely outside what I would've considered. When that happens, you've sort of got to have some openings in the plot for that sort of thing to happen. Since Changeling is a pretty crazy game and characters tend to be pretty eccentric that can certainly become interesting.

I guess one of the important things is to have them bounce things off each other rather than just the world around them because that's one of the main aspects of the game is the personal, almost introspective, self-psychoanalysis. Because, you know, it's Changeling it's all about loss and how you deal with it and how you cope when you can't necessarily get back the things that are gone. And honestly players are better at helping each other figure that out than NPCs."

Shannon: "What's one thing you would different?"

Andrew: "Something I could've done better was being much more willing to say no you can't play that character concept. Every game has kooky character concepts but in Changeling that can get extreme. And so if someone actually creates a character about being kooky than that can get pretty extreme."

Shannon: "What's your favourite parts of a LARP?"

Andrew: "Character development, probably. And the really intense emotional scenes that you just don't get to the same extent in tabletop, at least not very often. I've played LARP games where there's 3 - 4 characters shouting at each other, someone's breaking down crying, and it's just really rewarding and it's cathartic as well. LARP actually encourages people a lot more to think about their character as a person because it has much more of a focus on socialising and the social aspect. Even just little quirks of personality or mannerisms are much more important because they have to be displayed rather than you mention it now and again."

Shannon: "Anything else?"

Andrew: "I love the politics. I know it's not everyone's thing but the alliances and the back stabbing and the scheming.... Two of the ideal situations for a LARP is when you have a group of up to 4 players doing a really intensely personal scene or when you have 100 players who all have their own individual goals and schemes. It's just being able to go between those two extremes just allows for a huge amount of diversity that tabletop just doesn't have access to."

Shannon: "What's the three tricks you'd wish every player remembered when playing in a political LARP?"

Andrew: "Do what you're meaning to do. Don't come up with a plan or intend to do something and then don't actually follow through on it because if everyone does that it's just really boring because it's easy to go 'I'll go do this and this and this' and then not do anything.

Don't be afraid to be nasty to characters but never be nasty to players. I mean, it's politics, people do terrible things to each other but everyone's there to have fun. There's no reason why you can't create an awesome story together rather than against each other.

And be a gracious loser. It's probably the most important one. Like be prepared to lose, to fail, and rather than be bitter about it when it does happen actually figure out ways to make it a better and more enjoyable story. Say your character has been foiled in his plans to take over the city well, maybe, he's had enough and he's going to completely change his tactic and try to support the city. And in losing, you can compromise with the other players. Maybe if you're going to lose out on something maybe there's some story element where you can realise some part of your character's personal story. Say they're betrayed by an ally, maybe it actually gives them the opportunity to re-connect with an old friend whom they've become alienated from. Basically, it all comes down to work with people, not against people, but work against their characters."

"It's not actually about winning or losing so it doesn't actually matter if you lose. And if you're not having fun, take the time to step back, take a break, and calm down, perhaps for a couple months if that's what you need."

Shannon: "What's the worst thing a LARP ST can do?"

Andrew: "The thing that's specific to LARP that I'd probably say is: Don't let the characters and the players do whatever the want. There has to be some guidance. Otherwise it does just get silly. Especially when you have 20 people in the room you need to exert some control. If there's a big combat happening you need to make sure people are not chatting, that they're paying attention, and that extends to disallowing problematic character concepts as well.

And stay organised. Don't let the paperwork and the people calling to talk about their characters get on top of you. Have assistants if you need them. It's a big undertaking. And more generally, for storytellers, don't just shoot down players whenever they try something even if it's something that's outside the character's experience. It's just really frustrating if players are failing at everything they try. There does need to be a ray of light, there needs to be some hope, and not just everything going bad constantly, otherwise people don't have fun, and that makes them put less into the game."

Shannon: "All right. That should be a wrap. Thanks!"

Well, there you have it. Some advice on LARP games from an old pro. Hope you enjoyed it!

WoD To Do With Luciferans, Part 1.

Luciferans are an interesting faction in Demon: the Fallen. They're all about re-forming an army and looking for their general - Lucifer - wherever he may be so that they might serve him once more, have another shot at Heaven, and finally have some meaning back in their lives. They're divided into three sections: the Legion of Stark Defiance (logistics and supplies), the Legion of Glorious Victory (section focused on the actual war duties) and the Legion of Majestic Liberation (focused on finding Lucifer). They're not so keen on Reconcilers (who want to befriend God) and Cryptics (too contemplative and with no drive) but are cool with Faustians (driven, at least) and Raveners (one day destruction will get old and they'll rejoin the military).

Themes: Army Without Purpose; Defiance Toward God; Subservience Toward Luciferan Authority; Weight of Authority; Us vs. Them.

Moods: Expectant Anticipation; Compliance; Obedience. Think of War Movies and Survivalist tales where the only people you can trust are meant to be those in your bunker.

Plot Hooks:

1. A Research Facility has been established in partnership with the Cryptics. There's a need for scientists, researchers, capture teams, and security personnel.

2. A pack-less werewolf has offered his services as a drill sergeant to get the team to work together. His price is the destruction of those who killed off his pack. He refuses to name them until after the deal is done.

3. An ancient bastion is discovered and, while it is small, it's heavily secured with Fallen traps and strange creatures. If you've ported Demon into nWoD, it might not be a bastion at all and may instead be an Atlantean ruin.

4. A ranking Luciferan has gotten himself into some trouble and the Reconcilers have him in their iron sights. It's rumored they've even gone against their usual scruples and hired Raveners to assault him. Is this true or just a Luciferan effort to knock off an obnoxious Fallen and darken the Reconciler's good name at the same tiem? One way or the other, the PCs are the bodyguards.

5. The PCs are ordered to extract a Luciferan from the Legion of Majestic Liberation who stumbled a little too far into Cryptic business and is currently being held hostage in a bastion.

6. A Reconciler witnessed something terrible conducted by the Faustians and the Luciferans need her alive and ready to testify at the local Infernal Court. The trouble is keeping her safe and protected when all she wants to do is get back to her own faction.

7. A trio of Raveners have thrown themselves onto Luciferan mercy in a bid to join their faction. Are they telling the truth or are they trying to insert themselves as double agents? The risks are high and the PCs are responsible for figuring out the truth of the situation.

8. A museum has a rather interesting meteorite that has come into its collection. The truth is it's not iron at all, or anything similar, but syr metal. The Luciferans must steal it for the Legion of Stark Defiance.

9. There's a need for skilled help and humans have better skills than some of the Fallen. Enthrall a team of experts (SWAT, Spetsnaz, etc.) to teach the Luciferan the tricks of the trade and to provide assistance.

10. An important ritual is going down in town. It's important to keep it from being interrupted lest all the Luciferans involved get wiped out by the dangerous elements. It's also vital to keep the nosy Cryptics from learning how to use the ritual. Unfortunately, ritual magic of that calibre leaves quite a mystical footprint and any Fallen in a several mile radius.

11. The Minister of Aurochs wants assistance in setting up security over a couple of strategic infernal court locations. By assistance, he means that he wants to pass the buck onto the PCs.

12. Strategic Retreat. The city is under attack and the Minister of Lions calls upon the resident Luciferans to help all the Fallen retreat outside of city limits before the calamity occurs. The trick is to find and extract the hidden members of the other factions.

13. The Raveners are getting uppity and verbal against the Luciferan Tyrant and the Faustians are jumping on the band wagon. It's important to intimidate the rebels into submission ... but how do you intimidate someone with nothing to lose?

14. A Luciferan Historian has been chronicling the history of the world so that they can come closer to locating Lucifer. Unfortunately, that means delving into some very strange places and she needs support. Guess who has to provide support as she conducts her investigations within the city?

15. There's a nest of strange vampiric creatures deep within the Undercity and they're causing trouble on the local level. The Minister of Lions wants them gone and wants them gone now. He turns to the PCs to get it done.

Next up will be Goals and Daily Activities.

7: Will you let them rest?

This is always an important one in a Survival Horror (or any horror game) that lasts for long enough. All of that running, jumping, climbing and fighting is quite tiring, as are the emotional stresses of facing your Best Friend who is now the Infected Monster. But will the player characters try to sleep? And, more importantly, will you let them?

A lot of games have a few penalties that crop up the more exhausted the player characters get - and it can be fun to unleash them - but in most games increasingly irritable and tired characters can lose their lustre. There is, of course, a compromise. If they barricade themselves in tightly enough and take enough precautions (thus respecting the danger they're in) then it makes sense to let them sleep off some of them penalties.

It can also up the tension whenever a period of Nothing Bad Happens occurs and can boost the unpredictability factor of your game if they manage to get a good night's sleep in. Heck, one trick is to see just how much they're taking their nap time for granted. The more they anticipate a good night's sleep, the less likely you should give them one.

In my caving game, there was actually an easily defended cul-de-sac built into the caving structure not far from the actual temple. It was perfect for them to sit down, eat, and nap enough to remove their penalties. It also kept them distracted while the Enemy collapsed their escape route so that they could only move forward. It worked out quite well and certainly gave them enough time to really get into that survivalist mentality.

Of course, in the end, it's all up to you, the pacing of your game, and the length of the survival horror. If it's only meant to be a few hours in-game, or a single night, this may not come up whereas in a game that spans multiple nights it's more likely to become an issue.

See the rest of the articles in this series over here!

Using Forums In A Tabletop / LARP

I've used forums several different ways in roleplaying games and I've found it to be a deeply rewarding experience.

I once created a forum with about a dozen different accounts that were all mine which was a bit of a prop / plot hook generator that was called Paradelaide and was focused on several paranormal investigation groups in Adelaide. When the vampires in the then Camarilla game stumbled across it, they got to register an account and either investigate it, encourage it, or put up misinformation, as they so chose. It allowed the chance to select interesting ghouls as well as help them find out about masquerade breaches in a more organic and interesting way.

Forums can also be used to add some between-session consistency in a game that has frequent downtime periods. I created one for my Vampire: the Requiem LARP game with a News section so I could let them know what was going on; a section for the Court to disseminate information / misinformation and chat to each other; a section for each Covenant to have a chance to get their group politics on and make plans for the future; a section for each Clan to do much the same (was less well-used) and a Your Forum for each player so that they could do their downtimes, chat to NPCs, and follow Personal Plots. It worked out brilliantly well and had a great uptake. The game only folded because of the general LARP attrition rate competed with the low recruitment rate of a personal game.

Then we have a forum for the Demon: the Fallen game which is divided into Court, Faction, and Your Forum. It's less well-used than the Vampire one but that's partially because there's fewer players and partially because, well, it's not a political game. It's an episodic investigative game and thus most of the meat is during session time. Really, the forums here are more about keeping everyone up-to-date on the occult information found in downtimes or chewed over between sessions. Adam and I are working on making the Faction sections more interesting by using multiple NPC accounts and we'll see how that goes. It may encourage more globe-trotting and will certainly give the players a greater chance to pick and choose their leads, but I'm pretty enthusiastic about it.

So there you have it. Some information on using forums in such a way. If anyone's interested, I can link you to the old Vampire forum so you can take a look around. Just leave your email address in the Comments box and I'll send you the link and Register you a Take-a-Look account.