Saturday, August 18, 2012

Not so old school, modern horror rpg revival?


I made this comment on Lowell Francis’ blog back on June 2, "Is there a not-so-old-school, modern horror rpg revival coming along anytime soon?" I've spent the better part of this evening browsing the Internet looking for blogs that are mostly dedicated to modern, supernatural, horror rpg topics. I have got to say, the pickings are slim. 

The biggest search hit is FlamesRising.com. Matt and Monica have done a good job building their site and its Internet presence. However, it comes across more as a promotion website than it does a blog website. They also cover a lot of material that isn’t strictly role playing games. Still, they cover a lot of material.

Moving on, it becomes bleak very quickly. Blogs appear to either over-specialize or not be solely dedicated to modern, supernatural, modern role playing games. There are blogs dedicated only to the author’s favorite flavor of the World of Darkness, only Call of Cthulhu, only Delta Green, only The Dresden Files, etc. I guess that’s okay, but they seem overly anchored in those settings. If I cast a glance at blogs dedicated to fantasy settings, I see plenty of blogs that can be reviewed for use by a GM.

There are definitely blogs that have material I’m looking for:  Age of Ravens and Voices in My Head are a good start. Still, they both wander away from that material, as well. AoR dives into fantasy settings and TR delves into cyberpunk. I can’t fault them for it, I do the same here.

So, what am I missing? Are there blogs that are not overly-specialized that will allow me to Harvest their ideas and make them my own?

3 comments:

Lowell Francis said...

You're right- off the top of my head I can't think of any dedicated horror rpg blogs that offer substantive content. I've read some rpg blogs that touch on horror, but more often they're talking about weird fantasy or Call of Cthluhu. It would be interesting to see a blog which would begin to work its way through the mass or horror rpgs and their scattered sourcebooks to talk about what works or doesn't work in them- and give a retrospective on lines.

I don't think there's a lack of gaming publications on the genre/sub-genre, but a lack of focused discussions on those.

Off-topic but related then: this blog where the author's going to offer a readers' guide to the Hellblazer comic series: The Laughing Magician

thesethingsthatiwrite said...

Although not a dedicated horror blog, I do love that style of gaming, and touch on the subject on occasion, mainly through my love of having the CHILL game ran for me for a while by a great friend and Kick Ass GM, and also my own passion for an RPG called Unhallowed Metropolis. Feel free to take a look at what I've written on the subject, and I have another one coming Monday that touches on the topic of horror too.

http://shortymonster.co.uk/?p=165

Undeadhost said...

I like your second paragraph, Lowell. I think you are likely correct on this thought.

I'll take a look and keep you in mind, Paul. Thanks for dropping by!