On Horror and Victims

I just wrote this for a thread entitled "Horror Needs Victims; Good PC Victims are Awesome" on the Wanton Wicked forums. I thought it belong here, as well.



We're playing a horror game, friends. If you are not hunting monsters, being hunted by monsters, being a monster, trying to stop someone from being a monster, or otherwise not feeling psychologically affected by the game you are playing, you are doing it wrong. Now we make some conciliations in chat RP, of course, we can't all be experiencing horror all the time. These games are written to be experienced in once-a-week (or whatever) sessions that essentially cover an episodes worth of a TV show. The persistent world setting is different because we experience more of our character's lives than just the horrific parts. Than just the plot-relevant parts.

In the tabletop, its up to the ST to make you feel horrified, but in this environment, its up to you to bring the horror to the online table.

When you're playing a vampire, don't be afraid to somehow show your character's struggle with their Beast. Can you feel the horror of the monster inside you, the monster you know you will inevitably become? Look up at those elders, see the madness in their eyes and the hunger in their limbs, and know your destiny. Vampires, you are victims.

Really think about what its like to know about the Spirit World, to know that every tiny action and emotion here in the Flesh World throws into existence new beings of terrible sentience in a place a hair's breadth away. The weight of that responsibility is horrific, yes, but what is most horrific is that you're starting to feel as connected to those alien beings as you are to the people on the subway around you. Werewolves, you are victims.

Learn that everything, everything around you is just a facsimile created to drag you into despair. Open your eyes to the tugging strands of fate while you talk with your girlfriend, and watch the strands between you begin to unravel. Taste the acrid winds of a foul world devouring our own, and know it was you who brought the winds there as you shatter the walls of this world before you. And sometimes, before you fall asleep, ask yourself if you've really learned anything, or if it is all another smokescreen. Mages, you are victims.

Lovecraft famously said that mankind's greatest and deepest fear is that of the unknown. And its true that staring into the spaces between the stars can frighten us, but the root of that horror isn't not knowing, I think. The root of that horror is helplessness; our deepest cores fear that what we do is meaningless. In life, you can not face this fear, but in these games, you can. You can live the character, face and drown in this horror, and though your character may not, you at least will survive it. Your character will always serve their purpose, if you let them: to be in a story.

Do not shy away from being the victim, from feeling the horror and the helplessness. You may not know it yet, but its why you're here.