RPGaDay 2015 Day 20: Favorite Horror RPG

Like Super Hero RPGs, I have very little experience with horror RPGs. The only horror RPG that I have any real experience with is WEG's Bloodshadows, and I am not sure that counts. Bloodshadows was part of WEG's Masterbook line. Masterbook was an odd duck generic system that used custom cards in conjunction with dice for the core mechanic of the game. It was interesting, but on the clunky side in actual play. You had to roll dice, consult a chart, and play cards. If I remember correctly, you also had to know what "stymied" meant. Bloodshadows was also an out-of-the-ordinary setting. It mixed '30s-'40s noir with hammer horror monsters and spellcasters. To be honest, the setting was not a great match for the rules.

We generally did not play this game as real horror, our sessions tended more towards campy action. I think this was mostly driven by the artwork in the books, which had a very pulpy feel to them. The game hardly qualifies as horror from a thematic standpoint.

I did run one adventure that legitimately creeped out two of my players, to the point where they still bring it up today, 20 years later. In the first several sessions they tracked down some monster and killed it. They spent the rest of the campaign being stalked by its crawling, severed hand. I am not sure why that was so disturbing, but it was.

So, by default, Bloodshadows is my favorite horror RPG.

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