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« on: July 11, 2013, 10:14:47 AM »
I think an idea of horror going "too far" in tabletop RPGs is difficult to address, specifically because of the biased nature of the experience. Creating horror in a tabletop RPG is an extremely abstracted endeavor: there are no visuals (or if there are, they are limited and static), immersion is easily broken based on the simple fact that the environment can only be described to the players, and it is difficult to establish a sense of threat or fear without quite a bit of leg-work being done to immerse and invest players in their characters.
It's been said before, but horror as a concept falls into and is made up of three areas:terror (the suspense), horror (the shock value/jump scares), and revulsion (torture, gore, etc.). With videogames for example, all three are easy to create. Amnesia creates suspense through bizarre visuals, strange environments, and excellent sound design, creates horror in the interactions with the unbeatable monster, and revulsion through the environment and the player's broadening understanding of the true nature of what is going on -- all of which are rooted in the player seeing and experiencing the game from a first person perspective. Tabletop RPGs simply don't have that.
What they DO have is a massively skewed bias towards working with the horror branch of revulsion. Revulsion of a monster, revulsion towards the idea of a monster, towards something that threatens cultural, religious, or human norms, etc. etc.
The Amante is a perfect example of this. It's a well balanced monster across the three branchs: horrifying in its appearance and actions, terrifying in its ability to create a threat from many different angles (the hidden seeker threat, etc.), and revolting and repulsive in its "sexual" desires and behaviors as compared to human norms. However, because the tabletop setting prevents the audience from completely being scared by its horror qualities, the focus gets shifted towards what the Amante represents: its revulsion qualities.
Skip Mill's home is horrifying (I was probably the one person who always wondered what was up with the body on the bed) and terrifying (the sudden realization that this man who was behaving only slightly oddly was actually hiding such disturbing desires), but the porn and fluid plastered all over his walls is what sticks (forgive the pun.)
A lot of RPG scenarios in general, and Hebanon Games in particular, seem to skew towards this idea of revulsion as the core tenet of horror in tabletop gaming. There's good reason: it's incredibly effective. But the brand of horror that revulsion represents has a much broader experience for the audience, and so opinions and tastes are going to differ.
That said; Lover in the Ice is brilliant. It's well written, it's grounded in all three branches of horror, it is engaging, and it's memorable.
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Good job! I like the album title, btw.