So, I saw the video on TableTop for the game Dread.





I was wondering if anyone else had tried out quick single session games like this before and if they were successful or not. I like the base idea, but my friends have hesitations that the horror genre shouldn't be a quick story, but more long and drawn out.

It's difficult to properly pace significant risk over several sessions, at least if you are dealing with crippling conditions like death. There's less tension if the games are certain to go over a longer period of time with the same cast of characters. I believe most horror games I know of are primarily meant for one-shots (Call of Cthulhu, Don't Rest Your Head and DREAD.)

Not that you can't do it. I'd love to participate in a downward spiral rpg.

I haven't gotten to do a horror style game as of yet. Really want to, though.

~SE++

I once organised a 24 hour single session delve into the Tomb of Horrors. It was epic and awesome.

You really love that module. It's kinda awesome to see someone with so much dedication to a module written about 40 years ago.

~SE++

I really do. The story behind its creation, the player pitfalls (pun intended), the atmosphere, everything about it appeals to everything I want out of a D&D game, as player or DM alike.

It's truly a shame that I wasn't able to inspire the same sense of urgency, and terror that I was able to inspire in real life running the module. When I ran the game for a weekend I had organized it months in advance. People showed up at my place on Saturday in the morning, we played for 12 hours. Paused for Pizza and sleep. Played for another 12 hours on Sunday. At the end of which I gave out some pretty epic prizes that I acquired on my own dime that were given out based on who had the most achievements (I created PS3-like achievements for the module) and so on and so forth. Everyone had a great time. It was the coolest thing I'd ever done in my several years as a DM.

I think I have more passion for this one module than I do for the entire D&D game as a whole.

But yeah, thanks for the compliment.

Are there any other modules that strike a similar, if not inferior, chord with you? I have almost zero experience with modules, so I truly have no idea.

~SE++

Well, I had hoped this would have, but it failed to live up to expectations.

White Plume Mountain did evoke a similar feeling, albeit nothing nearly as intense. But then, WPM was also written by Gary Gygax so it is natural that it would share some common themes.

Of "newer" stuff, The Shackled City also really captivated me, but that was a series of twelve+ modules that were put together into a massive campaign all centred around one city, so I dunno if that counts. I did run Shackled City with my group for over a year, though.

Over the years though nothing has come close to the appeal of the Tomb of Horrors. I think the part that appeals most to me is that a majority of the puzzles are fashioned in ways that test the player's minds as much as it tested their characters abilities, often with fatal results. In all other games death is meaningless, because they either spring for a resurrection or get excited about building a new character, but in the Tomb death holds a new meaning because the players feel like the lives of their characters relies on their ability to outwit the Tomb's traps...and if they fail, their character pays the price. It's an interesting dynamic to put your players through.

Only single session game I've played is Fiasco, which is definitely worth it.

I saw the TableTop episode with Fiasco, which was pretty cool. Meant to pick up the book, but I always forget to look for it when I'm at a game store or book store.

~SE++

I think it might be hard to find Fiasco in print, but there is a pdf version. Also, if you enjoy the game, you might want to check out the podcast "The Tilt" (NSFW), which is just people playing a game of Fiasco every week. It is usually quite entertaining, if you don't mind crude humor.

Mind? I prefer!

~SE++

Then I feel entirely justified in recommending that podcast to you.

Some friends and I played Dread at a convention about six years ago. It was so much fun that we went out and bought a new Jenga set and tried some games at home. It's painfully easy to get a Dread game going as you pretty much just outline a bad SyFy original movie and then get some character questionnaires made up to pass out to your players.

I find that one-shot RPGs like Dread are a great way to introduce new people to RPG gaming. There's no dice, the system revolves around a game most people are familiar with already, and the game has an eventual end built into it.