SCREAM! Playtest
So it goes that I occasionally become inspired to write a game based on a premise that I never really saw fulfilled. In this case, it's in the Schlock Horror genre. Horror games are about a dime a dozen, but it's not very frequently that you see one about being normal horror movie characters.
SCREAM! is a game of Schlock Horror. The characters will be put in the situation of normal people hunted by one or more monsters or psychotic killers. More like in Until Dawn than Left 4 Dead. For those of you more familiar with games, think Shaun of the Dead instead of Resident Evil. This game is not about badassery, it's about regular people who happen to go somewhere they don't belong. They may find themselves in or around some old, abandoned structure or group of structures, such as a cabin, summer camp rife with a treacherous history, an old hospital or asylum, or even a town or city in scenarios such as a zombie apocalypse (although this game favors not going for dime a dozen scenarios). They will have to conquer their own fears and fight for their lives when they become involved in stories related to the supernatural (or just plain crazy) In order to survive, they will need weapons, wit, talent, and a little luck won't hurt. SCREAM! stories may also involve smaller scale “First contact” scenarios with aliens, but nothing on the level of War of the Worlds.
Scenarios you should not expect are anything involving a monster that is a metropolis level threat, but I also extend it to Lovecraftian or other cosmic horrors, because they focus on the insignificance of humanity. While I’m not saying that those kinds of stories don’t an altogether different sort of legitimacy on their own, it just happens to not be one I’m particularly interested in writing about. Also other games have really done Lovecraftian rather well.