I'm wondering if anyone has experimented using matrix games for horror scenarios?
I have been thinking of a scenario that draws on the movies 'Alien' and 'Pitch Black' for inspiration, but this might work well in any setting where the characters are isolated by movement/communication barriers (for example the haunted house during a midwinter storm when the phone lines are down).
A key idea is that there are a few more characters present than there are players (to act as spear carriers or 'red shirts'), and that each turn the players make an independent argument as to which of them is eaten or otherwise horribly injured or killed by the 'monster' (or monsters). If at least one character is killed off each turn, then you also have a good idea how long the game will last.
At the start of the game the 'horror' is undefined and needs to be created by the players through their arguments. The players will probably be concentrating on ways of defeating the monster or on securing a method of escape. The former requires the players to build up clues that they can investigate and analyze to determine a weakness. The latter requires the players to get the characters to explore their environment, searching for useful stuff that they can use. Of course you could have a character like Burke (no relation) in Aliens.
Another trouble mechanic that I would think of throwing in is a 'fear check', looking for reasons why a character is not afraid of the horror, or why they don't panic, or why they are displaying courage in the face of certain death.
I see the referee as having a role in pacing the game, if an early argument details the horror completely I don't think it would be as satisfying as having it revealed bit by bit over several arguments. So I would see the referee as weighting argument strength towards incremental outcomes.
Comments?
In part this idea was triggered by whoever made the comment about matrix games developing through a couple of phases, one where you expand out, the second where you close options off. Then I went and reread 'Global Dispatches', which is an anthology of short stories set in HG Wells 'War of the Worlds'. So I'm also wondering if anyone has experimented using matrix games for an alien invasion/first contact scenario? A similar template to the 'horror' one above can be used where the characters are trying to analyze the alien menace and find their weakness (country & western music?), while surviving in a world plunged into mass destruction (trouble arguments as the Tripods walk up the Thames).
I have a copy of Herowars, only given it a cursory glance so far. I like the scalability of the mechanics and the ability to focus on detail or pull back for quick resolution. I don't think I'll be giving it a whirl until after my PhD thesis is handed in.
COMMENTS FROM OTHER PEOPLE
PAUL HAYES
I did once do some preliminary work on a game tentatively entitled "Zombies in the White House". My homage to the works of George Romero. Can the President get to the helicopter on the lawn as the zombies overrun the gates? Will the veep take over? How many will the secret service men take with them? and what will happen to the lovestruck intern the president *promised* he was going to leave the first lady for...
All this and brain eating too!
CHRIS ENGLE
Horror is one of the games one can do with the Classical Matrix Game rules. I lump them in with science fiction games under the title "Mysterious Encounters". "Dark Portals" (the fully commercial game) is a horror game as well. In a way, horror games are very reminiscent of mystery games. At the start, no one knows what is going on. Players find clues (often a trail of corpses) and slowly figure out what is going on. If the story involves a plot (as they often do) then players can use the "Plot" or "Quest" rules from the Classical Rules. There is a lot of room for scenario writing here!
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