About ten years ago, I came up with an idea for a Ravenloft adventure. I've tinkered around with it in my head for a long time, but never actually used it--until now. I'm running the adventure as a PbP, and I'm having fun.
But now I've got influences from CSI, Silent Hill, Saw... stuff that didn't exist ten years ago. (Other influences have also been added: Prague, Venice, A Clockwork Orange, but they were already around back then, too.)
So, how has the changing face of horror over the years affected your campaigns? Do you find them, say, less Lovecraftian and more J-Horror? How about the changing face of Gothic? Are there recent elements that you've enjoyed adding to you games? Past elements that you would never change?
How has your game, and Ravenloft, changed over the years?
The Evolution of Horror
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InVinoVeritas
- Criminal Mastermind
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vipera aspis
- Evil Genius
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When i first got into Ravenloft(about ten years ago) i had just began to bud in goth/industrial culture. So alot of my inspiration came from dark music and artists such as Lord Byron, Skinnypuppy, bauhaus, Poe, das ich, Brom, Sydny Sime, Clive Barker, Goya and others. With horror by the likes of Steven King, Lucio Fuluci, Rodger Corman, Dean Coonz and Lovecraft. Very bleak, dark and gloomy with little to no survival and lots of undead. Not to mention very poor because i hadn't run very many games and couldn't roleplay to save my life. A lot has changed since then and now my games have more serial killers(though sometimes still undead), more realism, thicker plots and lots of politics. Very much still surernatural, but saved for the very end. Still very bleak but less of what you'd expect. J-Horror(Imprint was amazing) has changed my games as well as the infuence of the saw films, CSI, silent hill and some of the better lovecraft films. Reading wise, i write my own short horror and read mass amounts of short horror and slavic history which helps draw lots inspiration. So yes, the ebb and flow of horror has changed and so have my games.
Also the Masters of Horror intro movie and theme music always makes me want to write or work on horror gaming. It is so god damn good.
Also the Masters of Horror intro movie and theme music always makes me want to write or work on horror gaming. It is so god damn good.
my bones among the rocks and roots
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Dhampire
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For the most part, much of what has been passing for horror in television, books, and films has only convinced me not to do it that way. I spent my adolescence during the height of popularity of films like Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Hellraiser, and other buckets of blood films. I could see how the films were disgusting but, not horrifying. Eventually, when you see enough gore, you become desensitized to it. Given long enough, it becomes comical and dull.
Then I watched the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, John Carpenter's the Thing, and Ridley Scott's Alien. Those were films that frightened me. The dread at not knowing who you could trust, not understanding the threat, not being able to see the evil that threatened you. When something so simple as being sure your friend can be trusted put me on edge.
That is probably why I do allot with shape shifters and traitors.
Novels that really got to me and shaped me tended to be murder mysteries. The mind of the criminal element and the conflict of man against itself interested me and made me wonder on what it was that separated the criminal from the justice. That Moriarty was the equal to Holmes in so many ways fascinated me and it often made me think of how, in different circumstances, Hlomes could be a criminal. It prompts me to use humans more often as villians that to use monsters.
I like to toy with the ideas of how a great tragedy or ambition can drive a normal person to wicked ends. I like to write stories and adventures where someone goes 'Hey, that could be me doing those horrible things' or 'Would I have done any different? Can I truly condemn the villain?'. I always like to remind my players that, under different sets of circumstances, they might have become the very thing they fight.
Then I watched the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, John Carpenter's the Thing, and Ridley Scott's Alien. Those were films that frightened me. The dread at not knowing who you could trust, not understanding the threat, not being able to see the evil that threatened you. When something so simple as being sure your friend can be trusted put me on edge.
That is probably why I do allot with shape shifters and traitors.
Novels that really got to me and shaped me tended to be murder mysteries. The mind of the criminal element and the conflict of man against itself interested me and made me wonder on what it was that separated the criminal from the justice. That Moriarty was the equal to Holmes in so many ways fascinated me and it often made me think of how, in different circumstances, Hlomes could be a criminal. It prompts me to use humans more often as villians that to use monsters.
I like to toy with the ideas of how a great tragedy or ambition can drive a normal person to wicked ends. I like to write stories and adventures where someone goes 'Hey, that could be me doing those horrible things' or 'Would I have done any different? Can I truly condemn the villain?'. I always like to remind my players that, under different sets of circumstances, they might have become the very thing they fight.
Nothing convinces like proof.
Forgive me, Dhampire, but it struck me as awfully funny that you could decry gory horror films on one hand and then cite John Carpenter's version of The Thing as a good film on the other, as I remember there was a veritable sh-- ah, poopstorm when the film came out over how explicitiy gruesome it was compared to the 50s Thing From Another World....
(That said, I do tend to agree with you about finding suspenseful/spooky horror more effective-- though gore, like a really hot spice, can add a startling kick.)
(That said, I do tend to agree with you about finding suspenseful/spooky horror more effective-- though gore, like a really hot spice, can add a startling kick.)
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Dhampire
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Brandi, there is no need for forgiveness.
The horror films I decry have nothing to do with their directorial quality, cinematic expertise, or flawless plot lines. I simply turn away from the films that, for the majority, is nothing more than finding new and inventive ways to spray blood on the camera and eviscerate a human body.
While John Carpenter's: The Thing is not the best piece of cinematography available, it is the idea within the film that I am drawn to for inspiration. The film, once it gets moving, carries a sense of paranoia and fear over wondering who the Thing is impersonating and who it will strike next.
It is that inherent sense of not being able to fully truly trust your co-worker, friend, or even wife that I find appealing. When the monster could be the guy that 'has your back' it sends shivers down your spine and plays in your head. "Can I put my friend behind me with a gun and trust him not to kill me?" "What if he is not the monster and it IS in front of me?" "What if he thinks I am the monster?" etc.
It is the horror films that crawl inside you head to create their mystery, fear, and sense of foreboding that I look for. It matters little to me if the film was poorly written, directed, filmed, or acted. If I can get past the slop and find an idea that, even if not well developed, seems interesting; I will use it.
After all, DMs write stories. It is what we do.
Gamesmasters were the first people to re-make films and do it well.
The Beast Must Die is a mediocre, at best, piece of cinema. Even though the script is disastrous, the actors poorly directed, the direction off and the plot weak; the idea of someone with a gun holding people on a secure compound because he thinks one of them is a werewolf can be salvaged by a DM worth his screen.
You have to dig through the dirt to find the diamond.
The horror films I decry have nothing to do with their directorial quality, cinematic expertise, or flawless plot lines. I simply turn away from the films that, for the majority, is nothing more than finding new and inventive ways to spray blood on the camera and eviscerate a human body.
While John Carpenter's: The Thing is not the best piece of cinematography available, it is the idea within the film that I am drawn to for inspiration. The film, once it gets moving, carries a sense of paranoia and fear over wondering who the Thing is impersonating and who it will strike next.
It is that inherent sense of not being able to fully truly trust your co-worker, friend, or even wife that I find appealing. When the monster could be the guy that 'has your back' it sends shivers down your spine and plays in your head. "Can I put my friend behind me with a gun and trust him not to kill me?" "What if he is not the monster and it IS in front of me?" "What if he thinks I am the monster?" etc.
It is the horror films that crawl inside you head to create their mystery, fear, and sense of foreboding that I look for. It matters little to me if the film was poorly written, directed, filmed, or acted. If I can get past the slop and find an idea that, even if not well developed, seems interesting; I will use it.
After all, DMs write stories. It is what we do.
Gamesmasters were the first people to re-make films and do it well.
The Beast Must Die is a mediocre, at best, piece of cinema. Even though the script is disastrous, the actors poorly directed, the direction off and the plot weak; the idea of someone with a gun holding people on a secure compound because he thinks one of them is a werewolf can be salvaged by a DM worth his screen.
You have to dig through the dirt to find the diamond.
Nothing convinces like proof.
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InVinoVeritas
- Criminal Mastermind
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I just realized that my musical choices are also warping my game.
It's PbP, so I'm not actually playing any music, but I'm getting inspiration and feel for the game from Nine Inch Nails lately. Sure, good for horror, but it doesn't have the cool, damp, languorous feel of standard Gothic horror.
I do have a really fun villain now, though. He's going to have a gumfreddly good time.
(P.S. Malcolm McDowell is one of the best examples of a gnome.)
It's PbP, so I'm not actually playing any music, but I'm getting inspiration and feel for the game from Nine Inch Nails lately. Sure, good for horror, but it doesn't have the cool, damp, languorous feel of standard Gothic horror.
I do have a really fun villain now, though. He's going to have a gumfreddly good time.
(P.S. Malcolm McDowell is one of the best examples of a gnome.)
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vipera aspis
- Evil Genius
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- Location: Chicago
InVinoVeritnas,
Might i suggest some music? Most of it can be sampled on the myspace.
Bands: Abney Park(good steampunk)
Moi Di Moi(a goth jrock band fronted by Mana from Malice Mizer)
Nick Cave and the bad seeds(anti-christian folk/murder ballads)
and of course
select cradle of filth CD's namely Dusk and her embrace, Cruelty and the Beast and Midian.
Scores.
The Ninth Gate
Silent Hill(movie and games)
Interview With the Vampire
Candyman
Might i suggest some music? Most of it can be sampled on the myspace.
Bands: Abney Park(good steampunk)
Moi Di Moi(a goth jrock band fronted by Mana from Malice Mizer)
Nick Cave and the bad seeds(anti-christian folk/murder ballads)
and of course
select cradle of filth CD's namely Dusk and her embrace, Cruelty and the Beast and Midian.
Scores.
The Ninth Gate
Silent Hill(movie and games)
Interview With the Vampire
Candyman
my bones among the rocks and roots
I put a lot of realpolitik into Ravenloft now. There is no certainty of good or evil. Just motivations and justifications.
I draw a lot from a list of films (this was listed in one of the main forum threads, so please forgive me if you've seen this before):
Traffik - BBC 6-part series examining the heroin trade from Pakistan to Britain. Absolutely everybody involved has recognizable - even sympathizable - motives. Some are more evil than others, but everybody has something to count as a success, and everybody has something to count as a failure. Even the most high-minded of them all, a Scottish PM played by Bill Patterson, is brought down by the fact that his ideals and aspirations are largely unworkable in the scrum of Pakistani humanity.
Traffic - Hollywood's adaptation to the BBC series. I haven't seen it but I hear it's very good. This time the drug trade is cocaine, and it takes place across the US/Mexican border.
Syriana - American CEOs want Middle Eastern oil, badly enough that they'll lie, cheat, and steal to get it. Chinese companies want oil, and the easiest way to make sure they don't get it is to accuse them of being terrorists, communists, and warmongers. A Middle Eastern prince has liberal ideas of introducing democracy, giving women the vote, and bringing out a pluralistic society - but these plans will irrevocably change the country's reliance on American aid. The Committee for the Liberation of Iran, despite its rhetoric on exactly this sort of progressive change, recognizes the upheaval inherent in the prince's plan. One lone US agent sells two boobytrapped rockets to a terrorist group, then has a change of conscience when one goes missing. Later, the rocket is used in an attack on US oil facilities, by a Pakistani immigrant boy whose family was beaten in social unrest traceable back to American intervention.
Everything is connected, and the moment you start thinking you're on "the right side" is the moment you've truly lost your moral balance.
Blood Diamond - War is hell, and so is former Rhodesia. In a land blessed with resources and unimaginable natural wealth, the lack of a strong rule of law is lethal. Various factions vie for control, with the worst being led by a brutal colonel who indoctrinates youths to kill their former villages. For them, he is a symbol of strength and a man who will give them respect, training, and firearms. For the fisherman who loses his village and son to the colonel, he's the devil incarnate.
Yet watch for a surprisingly off-guard moment, when the colonel has his slave labor digging up a riverside in search for a treasured uncut diamond. The colonel takes off his everpresent sunglasses, revealing for a moment his puckered eye, blinded in the fighting and the chaos.
"You think I'm a devil," he says. "But I'm just trying my best to fly out of hell. Just like you."
Munich - The massacre at the Munich Winter Olympics drew a sophisticated and meticulous counter plan by Israeli officials. The plan: to decapitate the leadership of the terrorist group who ordered the killing. The intended result: the world would know that Israel could not be crossed without serious repercussions.
Somewhere, the plan went awry. As the individuals in the counter team progress through their work, they learn two lessons: First, like the heads of the Lernaean hydra, leaders of organizations based on terror will replace themselves as quickly as they are cut off. Second, for the work of a contract killer, no matter how lofty or justified the initial goal, once you get too good at it, little remains to differentiate you from the people you hunt.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - A novel by John le Carre, himself a former spy for the British. Also an excellent 6-part BBC series. Somewhere in the highest ranks of British intelligence is a mole, planted by the Soviets and slowly but surely unravelling the entire structure from within. Although this series is best when considered in the light of how to run (or not to run) a spy operation, it brings up a thorny moral question at the end, when the mole is finally unmasked and questioned.
When you're the head of an intelligence bureau for a small country trapped between two polar superpowers, it no longer really matters which one you work for. Although they may stand for very different values and ideals, the rigors of the game are such that they use very similar methods to achieve their goals.
My PCs now tend to deal with relatively few combat situations, and what they do deal with, is almost exponentially more deadly than usual DnD fare. (Healing magicks only convert permanent damage into temporary damage, so they can still be badly injured or knocked unconscious easily.) Furthermore, in their dealings in a role playing focus, it's hard for them to know what's good and what's not. I try to make it so their actions all have repercussions, both good and bad, so they have to think things through before trying them.
For instance, one of their first deeds in this campaign arc I'm playing (pre-GC) is to smuggle a certain Vistani seer out of Falkovnia. This will prove to be a "good deed" for sure, but it will lead to all sorts of problems in future, and each problem has ways they can deal with it that will lead to other knock-on effects. (A darkling assassination attempt, foretold prophecies that become self-fulfilling, etc.)
I draw a lot from a list of films (this was listed in one of the main forum threads, so please forgive me if you've seen this before):
Traffik - BBC 6-part series examining the heroin trade from Pakistan to Britain. Absolutely everybody involved has recognizable - even sympathizable - motives. Some are more evil than others, but everybody has something to count as a success, and everybody has something to count as a failure. Even the most high-minded of them all, a Scottish PM played by Bill Patterson, is brought down by the fact that his ideals and aspirations are largely unworkable in the scrum of Pakistani humanity.
Traffic - Hollywood's adaptation to the BBC series. I haven't seen it but I hear it's very good. This time the drug trade is cocaine, and it takes place across the US/Mexican border.
Syriana - American CEOs want Middle Eastern oil, badly enough that they'll lie, cheat, and steal to get it. Chinese companies want oil, and the easiest way to make sure they don't get it is to accuse them of being terrorists, communists, and warmongers. A Middle Eastern prince has liberal ideas of introducing democracy, giving women the vote, and bringing out a pluralistic society - but these plans will irrevocably change the country's reliance on American aid. The Committee for the Liberation of Iran, despite its rhetoric on exactly this sort of progressive change, recognizes the upheaval inherent in the prince's plan. One lone US agent sells two boobytrapped rockets to a terrorist group, then has a change of conscience when one goes missing. Later, the rocket is used in an attack on US oil facilities, by a Pakistani immigrant boy whose family was beaten in social unrest traceable back to American intervention.
Everything is connected, and the moment you start thinking you're on "the right side" is the moment you've truly lost your moral balance.
Blood Diamond - War is hell, and so is former Rhodesia. In a land blessed with resources and unimaginable natural wealth, the lack of a strong rule of law is lethal. Various factions vie for control, with the worst being led by a brutal colonel who indoctrinates youths to kill their former villages. For them, he is a symbol of strength and a man who will give them respect, training, and firearms. For the fisherman who loses his village and son to the colonel, he's the devil incarnate.
Yet watch for a surprisingly off-guard moment, when the colonel has his slave labor digging up a riverside in search for a treasured uncut diamond. The colonel takes off his everpresent sunglasses, revealing for a moment his puckered eye, blinded in the fighting and the chaos.
"You think I'm a devil," he says. "But I'm just trying my best to fly out of hell. Just like you."
Munich - The massacre at the Munich Winter Olympics drew a sophisticated and meticulous counter plan by Israeli officials. The plan: to decapitate the leadership of the terrorist group who ordered the killing. The intended result: the world would know that Israel could not be crossed without serious repercussions.
Somewhere, the plan went awry. As the individuals in the counter team progress through their work, they learn two lessons: First, like the heads of the Lernaean hydra, leaders of organizations based on terror will replace themselves as quickly as they are cut off. Second, for the work of a contract killer, no matter how lofty or justified the initial goal, once you get too good at it, little remains to differentiate you from the people you hunt.
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - A novel by John le Carre, himself a former spy for the British. Also an excellent 6-part BBC series. Somewhere in the highest ranks of British intelligence is a mole, planted by the Soviets and slowly but surely unravelling the entire structure from within. Although this series is best when considered in the light of how to run (or not to run) a spy operation, it brings up a thorny moral question at the end, when the mole is finally unmasked and questioned.
When you're the head of an intelligence bureau for a small country trapped between two polar superpowers, it no longer really matters which one you work for. Although they may stand for very different values and ideals, the rigors of the game are such that they use very similar methods to achieve their goals.
My PCs now tend to deal with relatively few combat situations, and what they do deal with, is almost exponentially more deadly than usual DnD fare. (Healing magicks only convert permanent damage into temporary damage, so they can still be badly injured or knocked unconscious easily.) Furthermore, in their dealings in a role playing focus, it's hard for them to know what's good and what's not. I try to make it so their actions all have repercussions, both good and bad, so they have to think things through before trying them.
For instance, one of their first deeds in this campaign arc I'm playing (pre-GC) is to smuggle a certain Vistani seer out of Falkovnia. This will prove to be a "good deed" for sure, but it will lead to all sorts of problems in future, and each problem has ways they can deal with it that will lead to other knock-on effects. (A darkling assassination attempt, foretold prophecies that become self-fulfilling, etc.)
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Dhampire
- Conspirator
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- Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 1:41 am
- Location: Grand Mausoleum in the Balinok Mountains of Barovia
The musical piece that inspires me the most is Alice Cooper's "Welcome to my nightmare". The imagery of isolation and dark asylums rings throughout. Nocturnal Vacation" - Nightmare Lands, "Unnecessary Sedation" - D'Honaire, and so forth. "Wind up toy" puts me to the House of Lament with a child-like ghost who suffered a dementia that the parents punished and is now manifest in the house driving visitors insane by accident more than design.
Failing that I find that most of the work by Midnight Syndicate also moves me with the chilling and slow build ups that never quite peak and always leave one of a suspenseful edge.
Failing that I find that most of the work by Midnight Syndicate also moves me with the chilling and slow build ups that never quite peak and always leave one of a suspenseful edge.
Nothing convinces like proof.
Well considering I've only been playing DnD for 8 years, all have been in Ravenloft, my view hasn't changed as much as others might have. I have definetely used Saw when I had my group encounter Sheriff von Zarovich's torture chamber.
I used Silent Hill, the video game, when the group was brought into Necropolis in a different game. I've also used Resident Evil for zombie invasions, and music such as Midnight Syndicate to REALLY get the mood I want across.
Oh, I also used the anime movie "D, Vampire Hunter" to create Jackonal(Snake) von Zarovich. Strahd's forgotton and abandoned son. Man I love the two D movies; very nice vampire movies.
And of course the Bram Stoker's Dracula movie helped to create a personality for Strahd.
I'm sure there are things I'm missing, but that's all for now.
I used Silent Hill, the video game, when the group was brought into Necropolis in a different game. I've also used Resident Evil for zombie invasions, and music such as Midnight Syndicate to REALLY get the mood I want across.
Oh, I also used the anime movie "D, Vampire Hunter" to create Jackonal(Snake) von Zarovich. Strahd's forgotton and abandoned son. Man I love the two D movies; very nice vampire movies.
And of course the Bram Stoker's Dracula movie helped to create a personality for Strahd.
I'm sure there are things I'm missing, but that's all for now.
Forgotten Son of Lord Vasili