Halloween is a time where almost everyone dresses up and uses more of their imagination than usual; making it a perfect atmosphere for role-playing. As such I highly suggest getting some friends together and having a blast.

 

Want an easy night with little preparation? How about some easy to learn board games?  

Betrayal at House on the Hill is a semi-cooperative gameplay that is fun for the whole family. Players begin by exploring a creepy old house and encounter random events as they search. Eventually a haunt begins, and one or more players become the “traitor” and starts working against the player in one of 50 different possible scenarios. It’s very fun and every game is different and unique in its own way.

Do you have a big group of friends coming over? Ultimate Werewolf has players take on the role of Villagers and Werewolves as they try to hunt, deceive, and convince their particular team to victory. Every day Villagers vote on whom to hang and at night the Werewolves eat someone. It’s a thrilling game of secrets and lies. Works best with groups of 8 or more.

If you want a bit more roleplaying in your games then look into Dread. Players fill out little character questionnaires to give them an idea of who they are before playing. The GM comes up with a story or uses one of the premade ones. At the center of the game is a Jenga tower. Whenever a player wants to do something, the GM tells them to remove X number of blocks. More blocks for more difficult tasks. If the tower falls someone dies and is removed from the game. This forces the tension in the game play itself and makes the ending a horrifying experience. Can you survive?

Do you want a solid, very difficult, horror themed, purely cooperative game? Check out Ghost Stories. It’s a game for 4 players where each one takes on the role of a Taoist Monk defending their village from an ever increasing ghost army lead by Wu Feng. Each monk has its own powers and the village is randomly generated giving each play through a different feeling. It is though very hard, I mean like super hard, I play on easy and I think I’ve only won 20 percent of the games I’ve played.

For new people with twisted imaginations, “Everyone is John,” is always a good decision. Check out my full review for an explanation.

Many of you are likely already playing some RPG’s and this is possibly a gaming weekend for you. I suggest you take the time to do a fun horrific side quest. Break out and try something different for this weekend and let the creepy go rampant. This should start with the quest introduction.

Idea 1: There is knocking at your door. Initially slight, but it quickly gains in tempo and ferocity. When you open it there is no one there, but a strange orb resting at the base of the door. As you close the door the knocking begins anew.

Idea 2: You receive a call from your friend. They invite you to their place for a party. Upon arriving you find the house ransacked and your friend is missing.

On the other hand, if you don’t have time to prep, then search online for premade spooky adventures. There are a lot of free ones and I’ve had a lot of good success with them. Just read it over first so you know what you’re getting into. Running someone else’s premade adventure can also confuse your friends as they might come to expect certain things from your games.

Last but not least, have fun with the atmosphere of Halloween. Bust out some decorations, use candy instead of whatever for hit points, action points, fate points, creature tokens (let the players eat their enemy’s tokens), etc. Have fun with it!

Alternatively, you can take a break from all the gaming and just have a fun horror night with some friends. Rent a few scary bad movies, grab some drinks, order pizza and make a night of it. It’s sometimes good just to relax.

If you’re looking for something to do feel free to pop into my Silent Hill 2 stream this Saturday. You can probably view it here: http://www.twitch.tv/tinysandwich/. I rarely stream, but I’ll do my best. Keep tabs on my Facebook page (link below) for the final link.

Happy Halloween!

 

Do you have some fun Halloween gaming memories? Please leave a comment below or on my Facebook page! See you for the next blog. In the meantime, have fun adventuring!

“I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween.” -Author Unknown via quotegarden.com

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