Horror

[Anders]

One can run the game in many different modes. One mode I think that has not been considered much is horror.

2300AD/2320AD clearly has potential for horror roleplaying. The Nyotekundu adventure has many horror overtones, many of the Challenge adventures were based on the classic premise of technology or alien life misbehaving in frightening ways, the Nightmares are an obvious Alien steal and so on. Even the silly little adventure in Earth/Cybertech actually has a pretty impressive moment of horror, where the PCs see that the man killed by their bus has his internal organs replaced by a bomb.

One of the best things for 2300 as a sf horror game is that the technology and abilities of the PCs are not that enormous (which is often a problem in other sf settings): they can not easily detect evil, large lifeform detectors can malfunction, dead people stay dead and cortescans at best give a little information. Plus that there is a lot of frontier where the unknown or human evil has free play.

I spent a pleasant evening coming up with the following little scenario: "On the topology of the quantum Killing field near a Jerome Drive; Nonlinear Interactions" (pdf) It can be run as a one-off game, a weird incident in an ongoing campaign or as the start of a very deadly explanation of the Fermi paradox.

The Horror in Roleplaying page has some good theory for horror gaming.

 

[Waldemar]

One can run the game in many different modes. One mode I think that has not been considered much is horror.

Well, the Kafers can certainly be played up for horror effect. Especially when in smart mode they can be quite vicious and wiley.

The Pentapods' sheer alien nature can of course be played up for fear. Check out the adventure "Having seen the sky" on the 2300 AD CD-ROM from FFE (is that an "official" adventure?) to see a really fearful depiction of the Pentapods.

Then, if you are willing to twist the game, and let in some more supernatural aspects Event Horizon could be a good source of inspiration.

 

[aramis]

Moreover, certain kafers have been smart enough times to stay smart, and use their lessers as pawns...

Kafers can easily be run for a chilling intellect using mindless "zombies"...

 

[kafka47]

Certainly the feel of 2300AD is perfectly compactible with the Lovecraft in Space classic - Alien. Therefore, many of the Cthulhu Rising scenarios out there can be adapted. Cthulhu beasties were in fact just alien animals for the most part.

The whole thrust of the AGRA with their 5th Dimensional bodies protruding into N-Space reminded me of the classic BBC drama - The Invasion. There is no reason why that cannot be copted for a remote colony world with a supernatural (that is above the natural understandings of physics) menance slowly been carted down an Arm or Finger a la Devitt's Cosmic Balls pulled from star system to star system by the conduits created by shutterwarp.

I kinda long for a Hard SF group to form in my city and we could explore these things.

Horror is a delicate system to run. All to often it ventures into pulp and hence more akin to soapy SF. But, it shares much with Hard SF akin to hearing a pin drop in a silent room...although, in a horror game, you know that it is too late if you turn to look back.