#11: All Alone

[RPGnet Columns]

http://www.rpg.net/columns/thehorror/thehorror11.phtml

Summary:

The three ingredients for succesful horror.

Go to the column for more information.

[Lundse]

Regarding isolation, I just want to add a reminder that some (supernatural) threats can enforce it themselves. And in two ways:

The obvious: Cellphones stop working, lines are down, etc. This is easy and it does not even have to be a particularly supernatural thing (think 30 Days of Night, where a little preparation cuts of a town completely).
Closing roads, however, requires some work... And it gets old really quick.

The subtle: You call for help. Wait. No help comes. The 911 operator has no record of your previous call when you dial back... Or the rendezvous with the helicopter is ambushed. Or really anything which makes you distrust your ways out of isolation.
Of course, heavyhanded supernatural mojo could make the roads lead back into town, or to some other destination than intended...
This can make the game seem like a fate-controlled thing, though - if if the players are meant to be in a certain location to work something out.

Bonus: Maybe a player is working against the others. Or is just hypnotized or whatever to report a dead phone, while 911 is on the other end. Hilarity (and intra-party conflict) ensues when this is discovered.

[talien]

Agreed, and excellent examples to boot.

I personally prefer not doing the obvious (cell phones don't work) but having the supposed lifelines utterly fail in stupid, mundane ways. Lifes little complications can make emergency situations even more complex: traffic, operators who route the call incorrectly, suspicious authority figures who don't believe you, etc.

To me, that's more horrific -- using all the benefits of modern technology and discovering they still won't help you in world that simply doesn't care. We're more connected and lonelier than ever.