Futuristic Gothic Horror

Bryan1108 · Post by **Bryan1108** » Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:45 pm

Has anyone tried a gothic horror game set in the future?
Possibly post-apocalyptic? Something like Chronicles of Ridick could work but to be honest, I was thinking of something more like Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust or maybe some imagery from Final Fantasy VII.

Coan · Post by **Coan** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:21 pm

First off: Final Fantasy 7 is awesome and for mentioning it you get bonus points.

Now about Gothic Horror in the future. It's possible to do but not well covered by others. In fact horror in general tends to drift off past the present age (there are a few exceptions but for some reason it doesn't happen to often).

I'd imagine the basic principles of gothic horror still apply though.

BigBadQDaddy · Post by **BigBadQDaddy** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:50 pm

A good example of this, not too fantasy-ish per se' but definatly futuristic would be Event Horizon.
If you have seen this it is a great example of sci-fi horror, and if you havn't it is definatly a great movie worth renting, if not owning.

Bryan1108 · Post by **Bryan1108** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:07 pm

I did see that. Great flick

ScS of the Fraternity · Wed Mar 01, 2006 11:11 pm

Indeed, gore seems to agree with space sci-fi - especially when its so brutal that the remains are more like wall stucco than bodies.

It really tapped into the fear of the unknown - what with a ship that went into the vas beyond - only to bring no clue as to what lies beyond - other than evil.

You know, you could probably do a House of Strahd thing in space.

BigBadQDaddy · Post by **BigBadQDaddy** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 7:04 pm

ScS of the Fraternity wrote:You know, you could probably do a House of Strahd thing in space.

Now that would be cool.
One game my friend ran was a Spelljammer game which climaxed with one of the party members being reveiled as a werewolf as this driftng ship we were all invesigating came upon a moon. It was amazing and nobody saw it coming.

Drinnik Shoehorn · Post by **Drinnik Shoehorn** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 8:14 pm

ScS of the Fraternity wrote:Indeed, gore seems to agree with space sci-fi - especially when its so brutal that the remains are more like wall stucco than bodies.

It really tapped into the fear of the unknown - what with a ship that went into the vas beyond - only to bring no clue as to what lies beyond - other than evil.

You know, you could probably do a House of Strahd thing in space.

Don't they say the ship went to a place of Chaos and Evil?

The Abyss, anyone?

ScS of the Fraternity · Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:13 pm

Indeed, the Warhammer 40 000 universe uses a similar cosmology. Ships travel by jumping into another dimension, known as the warp, This dimension allows them to skip through space, kind of like driving straight cross country rather than driving on a curving paved road.
The problem is that "The Warp", a place of... well, chaos and evil. warp demons escape into reality, bringing with them the influence of the chaos gods.

Bryan1108 · Post by **Bryan1108** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 6:59 am

I hadn't thought of it while writing the original message but Warhammer 40k has alot of the imagery I was thinking of for a setting. I have leafed through it and what with the Necrons, Inquisition, Chaos Space Marines and so forth, it seems like the perfect gothic futuristic horror.
Sdaly, I never got into wargaming.
I guess I could try to convert it all into d20

Bryan1108 · Post by **Bryan1108** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:12 am

Oh, nevermind
http://www.geocities.com/skrittiblak/

Scot Storm · Post by **Scot Storm** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:48 pm

I think that getting away from the past and having a future horror is taking away from the Gothic Ravenloft Medieval Theme. It presents a challenge to PC's to unfamilar territory. While We have to worry about space suits and laser guns, it takes the fun away from swords, arm to arm combat and even the plots that were laid before us. Death, Undead
Monster, evil war factions usurping a domain and the history make Ravenloft a unique experience.

ScS of the Fraternity · Sat Mar 11, 2006 11:02 pm

I'm not sure I see your point.

How does a futuristic setting mean that the players won't be in unfamiliar territory, or won't be subject to things like Plots, monsters, and "evil war factions"?
Or, why is it that you say the sword is so critical to the gothic atmosphere?

Could you elaborate?

Coan · Post by **Coan** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 3:03 am

Scot Storm wrote:I think that getting away from the past and having a future horror is taking away from the Gothic Ravenloft Medieval Theme.

I see your point here but I think you misinterpreted the question. The question was about Gothic Horror in the Future, not about Ravenloft in space.

Can you have Gothic Ravenloft medieval in space? Probably not as it wouldn't be very medieval.

However what makes Gothic Horror can quite easily be transported into a futuristic setting. It doesn't have to be Ravenloft to be gothic horror.

Scot Storm · Post by **Scot Storm** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 2:49 pm

I 'm sorry, when I think of the future I think of aliens and predators, spaceships and the like warp drive. That was the way I was brought up.
I think it contradicts Medieval Gothic Horror. While you can have future gothic horror I believe that to much is left unsaid of us defining the present and future. While I'm caught with the imagination of the Dungeon Master and PC's. Meaning utilizing their imagination. Iguessit has happened and would want to be apart of it if the Dungeon Master could convey a sense of a futuristic feel to it without it being overdrawn.
Storm

BigBadQDaddy · Post by **BigBadQDaddy** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 2:57 pm

OOOOH!(raises hand from the back of the classroom)
Another good example of gothic horror being applied to a futuristic setting would be the second or third episode of Firefly.
In that one the crew comes upon a supposedly empty ship full of all sorts of horrific things like dead former crew members and the like, plus one stark raving mad surviving crew member who went all stockholm syndrome and started acting like the people who killed his crew.
Also the freaky girl in the show with the third eye gets all these spooky visions the whole time.
Good stuff man.

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Futuristic Gothic Horror

Futuristic Gothic Horror