If a PC metagames and builds a flamethrower, they’re in for a rude surprise. It’s only vacuum that can kill them, because their cells are unable to maintain cohesion without the pressure of an atmosphere. In your game, shoggoths could draw strength from heat, converting its energy into more shoggoths. When players see a shoggoth, they either metagame and start building flame throwers, or get bored waiting for that information to be revealed to their characters. The shoggoth’s only weakness is fire, but it’s a well known weakness. For example, the shoggoth is a favorite of the Cthulhu Mythos, a shapeshifting predator of black slime, nearly invincible to conventional weapons. Plan your horror assuming the PCs know about it, and then make that knowledge detrimental. When you can’t control the spread of knowledge, subvert it. In short, controlling the flow of information is difficult. Then there are settings like Legend of the Five Rings, where the main horrific entity * is well understood. Since many campaigns take place in established settings, players may read up on the horror ahead of time, or know it because they’ve played the game so many times before. Dice rolls happen, and sometimes we let information slip. In roleplaying games, we don’t always have that luxury. In prose, authors tightly control the flow of information to both reader and characters, making sure both know as little as possible until the big reveal.
Even if the threat is of gargantuan proportions, it loses something by becoming known.
PCs can assess it, adapt to it, deal with it. Once the threat is revealed, it’s less scary. That’s why good horror movies don’t show you the monster until the end. Our brains are wonderful at scaring themselves, and when we lack information, they conjure images more terrifying than any truth. Horror is more frightening when it’s mysterious. Don’t be taken unawares! Keep a lookout for these red flags in your game, so you can quash them before they become problems. * So many little things can upset the mood, and it’s impossible to get back. Horror is a tried and true genre of roleplaying, but beware: it’s also one of the most difficult. As Halloween approaches, the time of horror is truly upon us! Gather your friends round the gaming table and roll to be scared.
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