Is horror possible in a tabletop game?

I substitute horror by ending the session at high tension moments, giving players secret notes for no reason. Besides that I find the gateway to horror is paranoia, and paranoia is easy, so easy it happens unintentionally. The unknown is the back door, or rather the unknown (tiny clues)

>>54382128
With a good setting and GM to run it, I don't see why not.

Literally the only medium where it works for me but you have to get in character.
I usually make child characters for those kind of games and let other players do the zombie hunting.

>>54382202
Are you on the spectrum?

>>54382128
Yeah, the players just have to want to be scared.

>>54382727
>gm is going all-out for a horror game
>constantly playing sound effects, messing with lighting and using tense music to great effect
>player's gf starts getting too scared, demands the light stay on full brightness
>she constantly plays cutesy animal videos at full volume, because it stops her from 'freaking out'

I have never been so mad at another player before.

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>>54382889
Holy shit wow friendo, that makes me legit angerie. Did he take her home, flog her, and apologise for her autism?

>>54382779
I think that is the right answer.
Recently I ran a Cthulhu Dark game. We started at thirteen on a sunny day, in my living room; I wasn't looking to make it scary, I envisionned it more as a collaborative thing where together we would try to build a Lovecraft-ish story.
But my players were passive, so I had to push them the whole game. To me it was a failure: once more, my players relied on me alone to create the story, only reacting to what I gave them. But after the game they told me I managed to make them spooked and uneasy, in a good way.
I didn't want to scare them, but they expected and wanted to be and so they were.

>>54382128
No. It lacks sufficient ambiance.

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>>54382128
Depends. In character, it's very difficult to pull off, unless your players are good RPers and take the time to think about how this situation would affect them.
OoC it's a little easier, but still requires some setup.
>mfw the player with the most setting lore knowledge finally figured out just what the scrolls they had been smashing actually held back, and how close they came to unleashing the literal AntiChrist on the world.

I need opinions on this.

>Write a 2 sessions horror game for my 3 players
>Research a bunch on how to scare players and horror in general to do this right
>A often make jokes and talk of shit outside of the game
>B is the kind that mostly stay silent and follow when not specifically asked what he does
>C is alright although a bit cringy sometimes
>I talk to them multiple times before and between the two sessions to make sure they get the mood
>Knowing them, to make sure they roleplay properly going crazy, I add a Dakest Dungeon like mental health mechanic
>Bar builds up with events, you roll how much stress you get
>When a third the bar is full you get a light affliction like insomniac or cowardly that's supposed to make you play differently
>When two thirds the bar are full you get a strong affliction like violent or depressive and start handicaping progress
>When the bar is full you go mad and turn against everyone
>Since I know I'm bad at improvisation I write everything in details to make sure I don't get cornered

>>54388614
>First session starts
>At first they are layed back and crack jokes but when we get to a part where they're trapped in a gaz chamber with chindren and everyone starts agonizing around them they get in the mood
>First session goes alright, the scary parts worked and they were on edge during the whole thing, one got spooked by curtains when going to the bathroom
>I'm worried because A and C got tier 1 afflictions and B got to tiers 2 but only C was doing anything with it.
>When we get to session 2 I explain to them the system again, they say they got it
>First half goes like session one, they're into it but as A and C get to tiers 2 and mostly act the same way I start to get worried
>Last part was supposed to be using the system to get them to argue and start doubting the others while they go mad
>B who was already silent for the last hour gets a full bar and continues doing nothing until the end of the session
>A who has not slept for two days and is depressive is carrying the group with his logical thinking
>A makes sure to shoot the unknown abomination that's holding onto C with a slight angle so he doesn't get hit (the sight of the creature didn't make him flinch either)
>I'm starting to panic as I'm running out to things to throw at them
>Pause the game and go talk to C who had caught on to what I'm trying to do and ask him to start shit
>Confront them with the corpse of a dude they saw in two different places already
>As usual A stay composed and B is silent
>It gets C to maximum stress, he throws a cheezy one-liner and start attacking the other two
>They kill each other
>Session ends with everyone angry and frustrated

What did I do wrong /tg/ ?

>>54388633
If a player's character is rendered uncontrollable by them, their actions should be controlled by you.
For the character trying to communicate despite being extremely tired, I would suggest having a penalty like "you can only talk to everyone with both hands over your mouth." Mirrors knowing what you're trying to say but being too tired to explain it properly, everyone has to work to understand what you're saying.
You should tell him that the creature is in some way disgusting for him to look at, and if he does shoot, give him a penalty and describe how his character struggles to do what he's attempting.

>Be playing Shadow War
>Very well painted Chaos terminator is ripping his way through my wolf scouts in melee and I can't do anything to stop him. He wipes 3 of my melee build scouts in multiple combat and continues forward.


I felt the horror vibe and dread after becoming invested in my team that I had built up over multiple games.

>>54389258
Thanks man, that makes sense.
I have trouble knowing what I should be in control of without my players thinking like I'm playing for them.
Another problem through is that my players never really communicate with each other in game. I tried telling them but it didn't work. Any idea how to compel them to do it with narative or mechanics ?

>>54382889
if I was that GM I would be proud

>>54389563
You're going to have difficulty tone-policing like that because you can't control it. Like if you have a player whose character is an ordinary human with no magical powers, and he says "I'm going to grow ten feet tall at will," that's not okay. You can tell him, "No. That's not what we agreed your character can do. You can find something else to do, or stop playing." I would tell them that they're your friends, you love them and you enjoy their company, but this game would be a lot more fun if they could act in-character, and if they don't want to do that, you would all probably have more fun doing something else.

>>54356982

TL;DR: Yes