SCREAM!

The Schlock Horror

RPG

By Josh Clark, AKA dwarf 99 AKA steelsmiter

(picture credits inside)
Inspired by many, MANY hours on www.tvtropes.org
Viewer discretion is advised.
 Introduction
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. The last one I saw was It Came
From The Late, Late, Late Show. It wasn't very well conceived, but it backed a
great idea, and I had more than one fun (but nonetheless all incomplete) game with
it, and a few minor house rules. So I thought I might try to throw my own hat in
for making the game.

Thanks and Credits

To Alan1828 and Red-Draken of DeviantArt for the use and modification of their
images
To Benjamin Marcus Allen, Brandon Burnett, Chris Hearty, and Timothy Glen May
for looking over rules whenever I needed advice or opinions on them.
To Cassandra Peterson, who didn't have a personal hand in this work but
nonetheless was Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and provided the namesake of the
titular role of the person running the game, Dark Master/Mistress, AKA, DM. She
also provided the inspiration for me to cartoonize one of her famous pictures for
use in this book.
To Zach T Jordan for graciously providing his artwork nudes from the Hexx web-
comic

Disclaimer: This document contains (frequent and gratuitous) nudity, adult language (including
some offensive language regarding stereotypes), graphic violence, low brow “humor”, generally
politically incorrect discourse, and a bunch of other really cool shit that children shouldn’t
have anything to do with. I also use whatever pronoun I feel like at the time no matter what
anyone thinks about how frequently a given gender is represented. This is more a reflection on
horror movies from the 80s and 90s and less about my attitude toward gender equality, gender in
general, nudity, race, sexuality, or violence. In any case, if I know anyone who’s even stepped foot
in puberty territory, they’ve got all sorts of pent up aggression that probably could use some
healthy outlet. This game may or may not be what they’re looking for depending on the discretion
(or the ability to teach right from wrong) of their parents or other guardian figures. If you’re
not a raging teen, a reminiscent adult, or if you are an inept parent, or a good Christian opposed
to swearing and all that other shit, this game is not for you. I hope that you are not offended by
it, but if you are, feel free to send me your hate-mail, death threats, chocolate pies (see, that’s
funny because I’m diabetic), etc. This document is intended with a tongue in cheek tone. SCREAM!
gives full permission for DMs to hose whiners, rules lawyers, munchkins, meta-gamers, and just
about anyone who'd go as far as to claim that the point of playing games is to win. If a player's
need to win gets in the way of the goal “to have fun” especially at the expense of anyone else's
fun, they don't need to be playing the game. If winning and having fun are inseparable, they don't
need to be playing the game. Everyone else, enjoy the game. Fair Use: This document contains images
taken outside their original context, used to for the purpose of providing understanding of the
tone and intent of the work.
What is a Roleplaying Game?
You're on the internet or you wouldn't be reading this. Nonetheless, I suppose I
can't expect everyone to have Google Fu so:

{A role-playing game (RPG and sometimes roleplaying game) is a game

in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting.
Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a
narrative, through a process of structured decision-making or
character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or
fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. This is one
such RPG. No point writing about it if you're not going to include a
formal rules system (and to be clear, “No godmodding” is not a rules
system nor is anything “freeform”. People who disagree should
probably just stop reading now).

There are several forms of RPG, but we'll only be talking about one. The tabletop
RPG is conducted through discussion with a rules arbiter, while each of the other
players plays the role of a single character.

Playing SCREAM
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.

The Players should consider what the implications of their disadvantages are. For
example, the game will probably go OK if the character Compelled to be Macho
simply takes their Charisma penalty on interactions with nerds and other weaker
characters, but it would be more fun if it's reflected in the fact that he actively
makes fun of them. That being said if he does actively make fun of the nerd (or
whomever) the DM shouldn't make the Charisma penalty worse. Likewise, it's
perfectly acceptable Sassy characters to not be able to sass the Killer/Monster on
the spot and just get the +1d10 to his allies’ next rolls, but if he does it'll add to
the enjoyment of the game. In keeping with the spirit of a more interesting game,
players in both cases who offer particularly sick burns should earn bonus AP for
it.
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.

What You Need

A group of up to 10 friends, although probably 4-8 players and 1 to be the DM.
You should also have at least one copy of this book, character sheets, either in
electronic or paper form, and some way to edit them. If paper is used, that means
they should either use an erasable pen or pencil. If you are using electronic
character sheets, use whatever format the DM wants. Finally as many as 6 d10s per
player, but preferably no less than 6 d10s in total.

Glossary of Terms
Act: This refers to roughly a game session, but more specifically, the rate of plot
exposition within the current story arc, or Massacre. The DM should consider what
NPCs do and what world events happen, and when—provided the players don't
intervene—before the game.
Advantages and Disadvantages: traits possessed by Characters and Killer/Monsters
alike that define what they are capable of outside the context of the attributes.
Attribute: a representation, at a glance, of what your character can do. The
attributes are Strength, Charisma, Reasoning, Endurance, and Agility they allow
rolls a t 1d10 per point. Morale is derived from two of the others rather than
generated on its own, and you don’t roll tasks with Morale (those would apply to
Reasoning).
Character: an individual within the game world, is represented by numerical
statistics that represent its abilities, a name, demographic details, and
background. If it's played by a player, it's a PC, if by the DM, it's an NPC, which
mean Player Character and Non-Player Character respectively.
Damage Code: The shorthand version of the amount of damage a weapon deals.
Typically it's 1 plus the number of hands and any modifiers with an Attribute
multiplier or divisor. A weapon might deal E=3+1/2S, in which case, add half
strength to 3 points for the actual damage number, and apply that to Endurance.
Likewise a padded weapon might deal M=1+S, in which case it deals Morale damage
equal to 1+Strength. Typically, weapons that are thrown, or require finesse use
Agility while those that are swung use Strength. Weapons incorporated into traps
or demolition use Reasoning. In some cases, characters use Charisma to deal damage
based on their force of will.
Dice Notation: dice notation is a shorthand way of saying how many dice and what
type to use. Formatted as xdy where x is the number of dice, and y is the number
of sides. In this context, the lowercase d indicates dice.
Dice Pool: How many dice you can roll for an action. A dice pool is usually
calculated as (Attribute + Knack) d10s. This is subject to change depending on the
evolution of the rules though.
Difficulty: A word associate with a specific Target Number that is used in order
to quickly indicate how high a player needs to roll in order to achieve a given
task. The levels of difficulty are Mundane, Easy, Average, Hard, Very Hard,
Exceptional, Epic, and Legendary.
Gear Value: This is a point
value based on the total of
your Knack for Business and
the higher of Reasoning or
Charisma that determines the
most costly item the character
can possess, as well as the
total number of points they
can spend (GV2).
Gratuitous Nudity: Nudity for
no particular reason (except
perhaps fanservice). Often in
horror media, there is
superfluous nudity. Often more in B Movies. In this game, it actually has the
statistical effect of improving morale (except corpses, because that’s fucking
weird).
Infected: A player has been bitten by a creature that turns humans into itself,
such as a were, or undead, a creature that reproduces on human proteins (such as
an alien deposited egg), and so forth. The DM should have them roll Strength, or
spend Endurance (can't be Morale). At 0 Endurance, they convert to the creature, or
another similar creature.
Killer/Monster: The antagonist of the current Massacre; usually differs between
massacres. Although the Killer/Monster is usually slightly superhuman in its
capabilities, it would be wrong not to give the players a mundane way to kill the
foe. That doesn’t mean the players always know the foe’s weaknesses.
Locale: Usually horror themes involve being separated from safety in some manner,
or deliberately going to a place of rumored danger. A situation is often contrived
that keeps them apart from the outside world, or able to call the police. Such
places are ripe for horror games.
Knack: Basically, when a character Has a Knack for something, they get +1d10 to
dice pools related to the action. Typically a Knack will only grant +1d10 to a task,
but there is an optional rule DMs can use if he thinks that the players have
practiced something sufficiently enough to permit actual Talent.
Massacre: What most games might call an “adventure”, or “Story Arc” this game
calls a Massacre. It's all of the Acts spent trying to resolve the story of a given
Killer/Monster. Characters that survive (and ideally, more than one of them
doesn't) could potentially advance and participate in other Massacres.
Player: An individual playing a character.
RPG: Roleplaying Game. By extension, SCREAM!, the Schlock Horror RPG, and SCREAM
both refer to this particular RPG.
Scares: An Average or Easy roll on that fails doesn’t result in Endurance or
Morale loss. Instead this commonly represents a cat scare rustling leaves, or a
jump scare of some sort.
Schlock Horror: Schlock horror is impolite and distasteful, insane and untamed.
Often made by maverick meisters with miniscule means, their aim is to shock,
offend and delight in equal measure. Death by Sex, and Rube Goldberg Deathtraps
are common in Schlock horror. Certainly, horror relies on placing its characters in
terrible situations so that the audience can experience the shock, even the thrill,
of their peril. However, Schlock Horror isn't about the audience enjoying a good
scare. It isn't concerned with the protagonist's struggle to survive; It exists for
the sheer enjoyment of a plain old bloodbath.
Scene: A segment of an
individual Act characterized
by the resolution of a single
event, such as traversing from
a given point to another
within the locale, taking a
bath, having a fight or
argument, etc.
Target Number: The numerical
representation of difficulty
that a player needs to roll on
1 to 6d10 in order to achieve
a given task, this word is
often used interchangeably
with Difficulty although
opposed rolls are always
numerical unless the DM
decides NPCs don't roll, in
which case the difficulty
corresponds to a number
between Attribute x 3 and
Attribute x 7.
(The) DM: Dark Master/Mistress.
The arbiter of the story,
environment, NPCs and
adversaries... The Foil to the
PCs, who only control their
own characters.
 Character Creation
Attributes
As explained before, Attributes are your character's rough capabilities. They are
the absolute baseline of things you could feasibly do. You have more specific
things discussed later on. For the time being you have the following attributes

{ Strength: A measure of raw lifting or breaking power. Though “encumbrance”

won't be the big deal for this game, it can be assumed that a character with
1 strength can lift about 25 lbs. off the ground and carry it in both hands,
and double that amount for every additional point (so 25, 50, 100, 200, 400.
Since Killer/Monsters have scores beyond 5 points, it’s reasonable that they
also have additional carry weight following the above pattern

{ Charisma: A measure of the charm you have over others. Also possibly your
appearance if the DM wants to run it that way. If not, Agility or Endurance
wouldn’t be unreasonable. Monsters are prone to attack characters with
lower Charisma scores first, unless they have a reason to be otherwise
inclined

{ Reasoning: The more you know... the more you might be able to figure
out/explain what's going on, and do so quickly. Having a well-reasoned
argument doesn't mean anyone else will listen to you, that's really down to
Charisma.

{ Endurance: Not an attribute as such, Endurance is a resource you spend as a

consequence of, or to prevent significant failures rolled using other
attributes. Most tasks one thinks are appropriate for endurance revert to
Strength.

{ Agility: A measure of one's ability to move quickly, easily, and with

precision and a wide range of motion and articulation..

Now that you know your attributes, allocate 15 points between the
above attributes. None may be below 1 or above 5. Morale is derived
by adding Endurance and Reasoning, and multiplying by 5.

{ Morale: Like Endurance, this is also a resource to expend upon failure;

however, mental shocks can also lower Morale. For example, you should never
expend Endurance on a Reasoning roll, but Endurance would be feasible for
the others.
Description
This should include Gender, hair and eye color, and approximate age and build.
Although if you want to get specific, you can include exact age, birthday, height,
weight, hair, eyes, or even zodiac sign if you think it's important.

Age

18 U.S. Code § 2256 defines child pornography as any visual depiction

of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (someone under 18
years of age).

This is relevant because horror films often include visual depictions of sexual
conduct alongside all the murder and whatnot. Because horror films operate on
this requirement, this book will also operate on this requirement. Therefore,
characters have a minimum age of 18. This can be modified as follows (remembering
that adding a negative is the same as subtracting, and subtracting a negative is
the same as adding a positive):

{ Start at 18 { Add 8 years for Read Ancient

Texts
{ Add 1 year for each of the
following Knacks: Business, Cooking, { Subtract 2 years for Call Daddy
Leadership, Research, Science,
Seduction, Streetwise, or Teaching. { Subtract 2 years for Sassy

{ Add 1 year per level of Extra

Talented
{ Subtract 2 years for Takes the
Easy Way Out

{ Add 2 years
Experienced.
for Broadly { Subtract 4 years for Curiosity
(minimum 18)

{ Add 5 years for Battle Scars { Subtract 4 years for Overload of

Whiny Angst
{ Add 5 years for Has Seen Some
Shit { Subtract 4 years for Silver Spoon

{ Add 5 years for Hellfire and

Brimstone
{ Subtract 4 years for Throw a
Pigskin a Quarter Mile

{ Add 5 years for Snoop { Don’t subtract anything below

the age of 18.
{ Add 5 years for Well Off
Background
Tell the world a little about yourself, your upbringing, pivotal events in your
life, why you're here, and so forth. This can perhaps be discussed among the group
and left blank for the time being, but some details may influence Knacks.

Knacks
Name 3 things you have a
Knack for. You gain +1d10 with
attribute rolls using the
Knack. One or more of these
should tie into background
details discussed above.
Appropriate choices include:
Acrobatics, Alertness, Animal
Handling, Business, Carousing,
Childcare, Climbing, Computers,
Construction, Cooking, Drive
(Car or Watercraft) Electronics,
Etiquette, Fighting, Fire
Starting, First Aid, Gambling,
Intimidation, Leadership,
Lockpicking, Lying, Math,
Mechanics, Musical Instrument
(pick one), Navigation, Occult,
Persuasion, Photography,
Research, Riding, Science,
Seduction, Séance (Pic related),
Sign Language, Singing, Social
Studies, Sports, Stealth,
Streetwise, and Teaching.

Others may be made available

upon DM approval. Notice
there aren't any weapons or things a high school student isn't likely to be
practiced at by default. The DM should decide for himself whether to change these
assumptions (whether because the characters aren't high school students, or
whatever reason).
Advantages and Disadvantages
Characters can gain up to 5 points worth of additional advantages in exchange
for the same number of disadvantage points. Additionally, you can spend less than
15 attribute points in exchange for one or more advantage points. DM or Player
created advantages or disadvantages should be evaluated according to the
guidelines described below:

Pricing Guidelines for New Advantages and Disadvantages

 +/-1d10 is +/-1 point if it doesn’t affect a score
 +/-2d10 is +/-1 point for a narrow bonus or +/-2 points for a broad one
 A lower Charisma current or maximum is worth -1 worse than the total
reduction due to increased odds being targeted by monsters.
 A lowered attribute other than Charisma is worth -1 per point.
 Anything doubled is +2 points
 Anything +/-50% is +/-1
 Gear Value is affected at an additional +/-1. Free Modifiers add +/-GV.
 Requiring a Hard roll is -1, while a Very Hard roll is -2
 Cutting a roll off entirely is -4 points
 Making a roll Easy instead, is worth +2

Advantages
Access to The Good Shit (3)
This character (often a
retired cop or soldier) can
obtain one NFA weapon
without paying the extra 2
points (as requisitions from
his previous job). This does not
permit a character with a
Gear Value 6 to buy an 8-point
weapon on the logic that he’s
only paying 6.

A Sucker for a Pretty Face (1+)

Whenever the character
protects the preferred gender,
he gets +1d10. If the bonus
applies only to combat, it is
worth 1 point. If the bonus
applies to any roll (including
social rolls) add +1 to the cost.
If the Sucker gets +2d10, add
another +1
Big Breast Pride (2)
The character gains a +2d10
bonus to convince females to
initiate Gratuitous Nudity
although she herself isn’t
compelled to do so. If it
matters, your breasts are on
par with someone who got 5-
point implants. Decide on your
own whether they are natural.
Note that Charisma is 2 points
lower while engaging in
Gratuitous Nudity for the
purposes of being targeted by
the Killer/Monster, which
partially compensates for the
5 GV worth of freebies nailed
to your chest. Since other
social interactions could go either way depending on the NPC’s stance on nudity,
they’re a wash.

Blaze It (2)
The character can use this
ability to restore more Morale.
If he does so, he, and everyone
involved the blaze gets twice
the GV of the drugs back in
Morale (Normally only 1x the
GV is restored).

Broadly Experienced (2)

You gain 2 additional knacks.
If you’re purchasing this as
an advancement, you should
use it on something you used
untrained in the last
massacre. If your table is not
afraid to engage in stereotypes you need not have a reason other than race for
gaining a knack. If you add something(s) the character can’t do, you reduce the
cost by 1 for every -1d10 you would take to the task.
Bunker (3)
You have a bunker worth up to half of
your total GV (without having to spend GV
on it) with each room being worth 4-6 GV
based on what sort of things you would
reasonably find in it. Here are a few
example rooms:

{ 4 points
o Bookshelves
o Bunkroom
o Garage or Tool Shed
o Soup Can/Brake Drum Forge
o High School Chemistry Set

{ 5 points
o Armory
o Cozy but compact living quarters
o Infirmary
o Library
o Science Lab

{ 6 points
o Alchemy Lab (for games featuring magic, but not supernatural PCs.)
o Helipad
o Motorpool
o NFA Storage
o Spacious Living Quarters, at least as big as a dormitory

You can find something

previously unspecified in the
room worth 2 GV less than the
room for free up to 3 items,
provided that it would
normally show up in the room.
Anything worth less than that,
you can find up to 10 items.
Anything more and you can
pay for it in unspent GV.

Call Daddy (3+2 per level)

This character can call a
parent to get out of any
financial bind once per
session for each purchase of
this ability. The next Business or Finance roll is Easy as a result. Daddy cannot
get you off the hook with the Killer/Monster, but it will introduce an NPC that
will take the fall for you to prevent you from taking damage once.

Extra Talented (1)

Pick a Knack you already have. You roll +2d10 instead of +1d10 for that talent.
You can pick this up to 3 times, but each time it applies to a new Knack. If this is
an advancement, you should limit it to a knack that saw extended use in the last
Massacre.

Damsel in Distress (31)

Any time before Confrontation (4th Act), the character may choose to Get Lost
without a reasonable explanation. This is a guarantee that the Killer/Monster
won’t kill her (extra points to the DM for political correctness or irony or
something if it's actually a male. It may require careful adjudication on the DM’s
part though.

Fetishist Dress Code (2)

A Goth might have +2 Charisma against
anyone who likes Piercings in Interesting
Places, and Dark Colors. A Porn/Horror Film
Sycophant 2 /Stripper might have +2
Charisma vs. anyone who likes tube tops,
miniskirts, and obnoxiously long high
heels. A school based character might have
a cheerleader outfit, or Japanese School
Girl Outfit (or even a swimsuit) vs anyone
who likes the School Girl Dress Code. And
of course, a nun gets the bonus or anyone
who’s into habits.

Gay Bestie (2)

Engaging in Gratuitous Nudity in this male
character’s presence restores double morale
for both the character, and any females
involved (as a measure of trust, not
attraction).

Lovely Accent (2)

Characters attracted to your gender and
your accent gain double Morale when they
witness you engaged in Gratuitous Nudity.
If it’s difficult (Hard Reasoning Roll) to convey ideas under stress because of how
strong your accent is, it’s worth 1 less point.

1
Value is assumed to be 1 per act the character can disappear when others cannot.
2
This is any character in a film for no reason other than rising to fame.
Mentor (1+)
This character gets a bonus to all rolls made to Protect Their Charges. The base
value is a parent who only has 1-2 kids. Add +1 if the character is protecting a
larger group (potentially including NPCs from something like a school trip that
are impossible to protect entirely) and +1 for another +1d10

Read Ancient Texts (1)

The character can read things in inhuman languages, and dead languages like
Latin or forgotten languages in more mundane games.

Read the Script (2)1

Once per Act, he can make a Reasoning roll (Occult or Research) to deduce
something about the Killer/Monster or current dilemma without having to find a
clue related to it or he may gain +2d10 to that roll where he has adequate
reading material. The DM or the Act will dictate the difficulty of the roll.

Really Mellowed Out (2)

Really mellowed Out characters only lose or spend Morale at half the rate. If
they get another multiplier, such as by helping out the Mentally Handicapped
Sibling, the multiplier is additive, not multiplicative. That is to say that instead
of having Morale losses halved again for helping out the Mentally Handicapped,
the losses are two less than half (minimum loss is still 1 point however).

Sacrifice Clothes (1+)

Up to 3 times per Act (once per
point spent on this ability)
while fleeing the
Killer/Monster in exchange
for not taking Endurance or
Morale damage, the character
may destroy a Clothing Slot.
In addition, the character can
Sacrifice Clothes to heal
someone 1 Endurance point
without a Reasoning roll or a
First Aid Kit. Clothing Slots
are either upper body, lower
body, and underwear, or outer
layer, inner layer, and
underwear. Panties may be exempt from this ability in some games. Normally, the
character cannot Sacrifice Clothes when she is engaging in gratuitous nudity, but
lenient DMs may permit the ability if it manifests because the killer stopped to

1
This represents the character having a working knowledge of both horror tropes in general, and
rumors about the Killer/Monster specifically.
take a big whiff of some panties. He also may allow the ability to be reset if she
obtains new clothes.

Seen Some Shit (2 or 3)

He gains +1d10 for Reasoning
rolls associated with crimes,
or +2d10 for crimes involving
the Killer/Monster. He can
determine things about the
Killer/Monster that others
could not, such as where it
might strike next, and how it
operates. Perhaps even “what
kind of beast could do such a
thing?” For an additional
point, in games where the
government is aware of
monsters (whether the people
are or not) these rolls may
also identify actual monsters.

Screamer (1)
This character gets +2
Charisma on rolls to bring
nearby people to the scene by screaming. By default, this is a score modifier and
affects Killer/Monster targeting, however it’s worth an extra +1 if the bonus is a
dice bonus, and doesn’t affect being targeted.

Throw a Pigskin a Quarter

Mile (3)
Whenever this character makes
a Knack for Sports roll using
Strength or Agility to throw
an object into another, success
always allows him to knock
the target either a yard in
the preferred direction, or
strongly enough to trigger it
if it's a switch. This is
possible at a distance of
(Strength + Knack for Sports)x
30 feet for one handed objects,
half that for 2 handed
objects, and 1/4 that for huge
objects.
Well Off (3+)
These characters have twice as much gear as would be expected from their Gear
Value. For example, with 4
Gear Value the default points
to spend are 42= 16 points. This
character would gain 32
instead. Because you are rich,
you can spend some of your
extra GV on a plot centric
property.1 If you pay an extra
point, you don’t have to take
it out of your normal GV
budget, merely having a
building worth up to half of
your GV with the following
features:

{ 4 points
o Above ground
pool
o An extra
Bunkroom
o Garage or Tool
Shed

{ 5 points
o A Library
o A small guest
house
o A single Bowling Lane
o An in ground pool or lakefront
o Enough acreage for a great deal of privacy

{ 6 points
o An Arcade
o Bowling Alley
o Full Sized Movie Theater
o Helipad
o Motorpool
o Spacious Living Quarters, at least as big as a dormitory

1
Or at the 3 point level, you can ignore the plot details, and leave them up to the GM.
Disadvantages

Addiction (-2 or worse)

This character is addicted to alcohol, or another mind-altering substances
(Specify what it is when you pick this one up). In a more cerebral film, this might
provide context for a good bit of social commentary. For the purposes of this game,
in its presence, it’s a Very Hard roll not to consume it. For an additional -2 points,
you may take -2d10 on all rolls in which you aren’t buzzing.

Always Dies First (-1)

Such characters are aware of their fate, and gain +1d10 on Reasoning rolls
related to being Genre Savvy, but his paranoia causes him to have -1d10 on any
action related to evading the Killer/Monster once it has been revealed. Removing
the penalty makes it worth +1, and changes the name to Genre Savvy. Adding +1d10
to Genre Savvy rolls is also worth +1.

Angst Ridden (-3)

Sadly, this character is often expected to overreact to situations, even when they
aren't necessarily doing so. This gives them a maximum Charisma of 4. When they
actively are complaining, they take -1d10 to the roll

Battle Scars (-2 to -4)

The character must reduce any of Strength, Charisma, Reasoning, or Agility. Either
two Attributes by -1 or one Attribute by -2. So for example, he could limit one of
the scores’ maximum to 3, or two of them to 4. It’s worth 2 points if both scores are
not Charisma, worth -3 points
if one is, and -4 points if both
are.

Bespectacled (-1)
The character gets -2d10 to
Reasoning (+Alertness) rolls
using vision while either
glasses or contacts are
removed.

Can't Do Fighting (-2)

The character takes -2d10 to
any rolls to hit any aggressor
unless they are the last one
alive other than a potential
romantic partner. This ability
goes away temporarily at a
rate of +1d10 per party member that has been killed (but cannot become a bonus
except in comedy games) or can be bought off normally with AP.

Compelled to be Macho (-5)

Macho characters get -1 to Charisma against anyone who seems less strong, or more
intelligent (smart Killer/Monsters qualify) than he is, he gets -2 against people
who fit in both categories. In addition, characters who are Compelled to be Macho
are automatically afflicted by Curiosity. No need to take that disadvantage
separately, and you can’t really buy it off separately.

Curiosity (-2)
The character is prone to check out noises, buttons, levers, cracked open doors,
closets, fridges, and other curious things. Generally if the character is uncertain
of the function or details of something, it’s usually dangerous, and the character
wants to check it out anyway. The roll to resist is of course, Very Hard.
DTF (-1 or -2)
The character is compelled to engage in sexual intercourse (they are “down to
fuck"). Whenever someone of the appropriate gender attempts to charm your pants
off, it’s Very Hard to resist.. You don’t care about weirdo voyeurs. If you catch a
Pervert spying on you, you have a choice to either fuck with them or ignore them.
Either way, you get +50% to morale gains under these circumstances. It’s -1 if you
are attracted to one gender, or -2 if attracted to both.

Exhibitionism/Nudism (-3)
It's a Very Hard Reasoning
roll to resist initiating
Gratuitous Nudity for this
character. Whether because
they need to bathe
gratuitously, change clothes,
have sex, etc. they should
make this roll once per scene
they are not naked or
partially naked. You never
take a penalty to engage in
Gratuitous Nudity, even if a
Pervert is involved.

Hellfire and Brimstone (-2)

Proselytizing about End of
the World Scenarios, Dark
Secrets, and whatnot tends to
cause -2 to Charisma vs. anyone
who disbelieves him, and +1
Charisma vs anyone who either
agrees with the view, or seeks
to carry it out (including
Killer/Monsters).

Hydrophilic (-2)
For this character, it is a
Very Hard roll to resist
swimming, showering, hot tubbing, and so on. If they also have
Exhibitionism/Nudism or addiction to sex, they also have to contend with that
roll separately (or just assume a failure for 1 automatically instigates a failure
for another if the DM or player is so inclined).

Inability to Talk About Anything Else (-5)

The character’s single-minded focus on Survival, the Killer/Monster, the
Apocalypse, etc. pretty much limits their maximum Charisma and Reasoning to 3.
Klutz(-1 or -2)
Your maximum Agility is reduced by 1 or 2 depending on how severely klutzy you
are.

La Petite Mort (-4)

La Petite Mort (French for “The Little Death”) is more commonly used to refer to
an orgasm, but can describe a common trope in horror often called Death by Sex.
This trope often occurs by having the Killer/Monster kill the victim because they
had sex. Just as often though, Death By Sex occurs during sex, because someone
didn’t hear the Killer/Monster. For some characters, a little more sex is worth
dying for; others are merely unobservant. Either way, characters saddled with
this disadvantage cannot make perception rolls when they are engaging in coitus.
This does not mean they are completely defenseless however. They can still make
an Agility roll if one or more of the following occurs:

 Someone screams, fires a gun or firework, or otherwise makes very loud noise.
 The Killer/Monster passes through their field of vision before the attack.
 A rapid movement occurs within their field of vision.
Lost Arm (-3 or -4)
You have lost your main arm.
For -3 points, you’ve lost it
along the forearm, and can
still strap weapons and
prosthetics to it. Two handed
tasks are impossible, and one
handed tasks are at -1d10. For
-4 your arm was lost above the
elbow and serves very little
function. You can’t do 2
handed tasks and take -2d10
to one handed tasks with your
other hand.

Optional Rule-Dismemberment: If a character survives a wound worth

endurance equal to one of these disadvantages, the DM may offer
them a deal: Either they take the disadvantage, and half damage, but
gain half the AP back, or they take full damage.

Lost Eye (-1)

Your low depth perception resulting from this injury causes you to take -1d10 to
any attack rolls that use any kind of ranged weapon This penalty could be
eliminated in theory by the implementation of a range card (as a sniper might do)
but that requires a Reasoning based roll at whatever difficulty the DM thinks is
reasonable.

Lost Fingers (-1 or -2)

Pick a hand. For -1 point, you have lost a finger, or part of a finger on that hand,
and take -1d10 to tasks that feature that hand being used independently of the
other hand. For -2, you are missing 2-3 fingers on one hand and take -2d10 to such
tasks.

Lost Foot or Leg (-3 or 4)

If you lose or willingly remove a foot, but retain knee mobility, you take -1d10 to
Agility related tasks that involve movement speed, and reaching things with your
foot/leg (but not jumping or dodging ability or the like). A prosthetic can’t quite
eliminate this penalty but the difference is too granular for this game to
simulate so for these purposes if it’s well secured, it does. If you lose both legs,
or one up to the knee, it’s worth an extra -1 as you take -2d10 to those agility
related tasks, possibly needing a wheelchair.

Mentally Handicapped (-3)

This character suffers from a mental disability that is serious enough he Jock
doesn't pick on him, and he always has someone around to help him out whenever he
can. Sadly, the character’s Maximum Reasoning is 2. Endurance and Morale losses
are halved when Helping the Mentally Handicapped character (If something would
cause a single point of Endurance loss, it costs 3 Morale instead). Any time the
character is left alone, their own Morale losses are doubled.

Nerd (-5)
This character gets -2 to his Charisma vs.
anyone who isn't a Nerd or in an
academically inclined occupation. Being an
attribute modifier this affects the Nerd’s
likelihood of being targeted. He suffers no
greater likelihood against intellectual
killers like Mad Doctors/Scientists or the
like, but is more likely (by 2 points) to be
targeted by typical Killers/Monsters. A
Nerd is even more likely (total 4 points) to
be targeted by a Killer/Monster that
according to its back-story is actually a
Jock (or in this case, Compelled to be Macho).

Overweight (-1 to -3)

You carry around a little extra weight (or
perhaps a lot). Major roles in horror are rare for you, because you have a harder
time fleeing the Killer/Monster. This comes with advantages though. Your fat
helps you float, and shove aside the killer/Monster. Each level (up to 2) of fat
gives you -1d10 to flee your opponent (except swimming) and +1d10 to shove things
around. If your background or self-perception has hindered your confidence, you
have -1 to maximum Charisma

Sassy (-2)
This character can sass the
monster to grant all of his
allies +1d10 on their next
roll, but renders his
effective Charisma 0 for the
purposes of Killer/Monster
targeting for the entire Act.
(This assumes a maximum of -5
penalty, for a bonus of
around +3).

Silver Spoon (-4)

This character Must Have
Brand Name or Looks Good on
Camera on everything they
purchase. Furthermore, they get -2 to Charisma vs. those they perceive as “poor”,
including the Killer/Monster. This often means that characters other than the
Rich Bitch gains +1 Charisma against others, while the Rich Bitch neither takes a
Charisma penalty, nor gains a bonus with regards to anyone similarly decked out.

Snoop (-2)
The character generally has such a bossy
or morally stifling demeanor that they
effectively have -2 Charisma vs. Anyone
engaging in vices like drugs or sexual
activity.

Spends Too Much Money on Drugs (-2)

The Stoner's most expensive Starting
Equipment must be drugs. His second most
expensive equipment is a bong, pipe, or
whatever he uses to smoke them.

Takes the Easy Way Out (-1)

- This ability grants +1d10 toward any task
he has time to think about, but -1d10 to
any task he does not (such as fleeing or
combat). This is considered a disadvantage
because a sacrifice to combat utility or
escape seems more limiting than an equal
sized bonus to everything else in a horror
game. Removing the limitation makes the ability +1 (an advantage). To add an
additional +1d10 makes it worth 2 points.

Voyeur (-1)
Although the correct term is
“voyeur”, characters in any
horror film catching this
character engaging in their
perversion are unlikely to be
happy about it. They on the
other hand, gain double
Morale when they witness
Gratuitous Nudity from
anyone they’re sexually
attracted to, but take -2 to
Charisma vs. people who know
of or have caught them in the
act of engaging their
voyeuristic tendencies (other
than DTFs, Exhibitionists, Nudists, and other Voyeurs), in addition to causing them
to only gain half Morale.
Advancement
Sometimes characters survive the scenario. Sometimes the DM wants a long term
campaign with the same surviving characters. Such characters could feasibly reset
their Endurance and Morale, and have 1 or more “Advancement” points to allocate
to certain ends at the end of the Massacre:

Gaining Advancement Points Points

Losing a body part (if the DM is even using that rule) Varies
Earning a catchphrase.1 1
Expository or compelling dialogue. Character development dialogue.2 1
Falling victim to your Disadvantages without bothering to roll for it. 3 1
Genre Savvy3 1
Gratuitous Nudity (once per Act) 1
Use of Horror Stock Phrases, Final Speeches, and Stock Last Words4 1
Fanservice Death5 2
Advancement Type Points
Add a Knack 1
Gear for the next Massacre (per GV point, per item) 1
Add an advantage Cost
Eliminate a disadvantage |Cost|+16
Add a point of Endurance or Reasoning (This also increases Morale) no 3
higher than 5
Add a point other than Endurance or reasoning 1

In the case of character death, Advancement Points may be spent on the player's
next character over and above the starting value they would normally have. On
the off chance you do survive, you get to keep your old gear, and any gear you
accumulated, except weapons, which are turned into the police as evidence. That
last bit is subject to change in circumstances where the party is hired onto
federal agencies. In any case, they get additional gear points equal to their
Charisma or Reasoning (plus Knack for Business as normal). They do not get any
lower tier points.

1
This doesn’t necessarily mean just having a phrase you repeat all the time, but a phrase used in
a perfect moment that the group deems worthy to call a catchphrase.
2
Award frequency depends on whether the GM thinks the players are roleplaying sufficiently.
3
If it puts the players in danger. Potentially up to once per Act if the DM finds players aren't
risking enough.
4
One each for a Stock Phrase, Final Speech, or Stock Last Words. If your character dies, you get
the extra AP in a rewrite in addition to any you earned for the particular Massacre.
5
Points awarded to the next character. Essentially a combination of Genre Savvy and Gratuitous
Nudity. Not subject to the normal limitations on Gratuitous Nudity
6
Vertical bars indicate absolute value.
 Game Mechanics

Acts
SCREAM is run in steps. Other RPGs might liken them to times of the day, or hours,
but for SCREAM they are called Acts. One such Act represents a single session. It
may take 5-10 sessions to resolve what other games call ‘a single adventure’ which
SCREAM calls a Massacre.

Pre-game
This is the point where characters are discussed. DMs may wish to have players do
character sheets together. If the DM wants, he can have everyone come up with a
secret that nobody else knows, and also have someone come up with something they
know about another player that nobody else knows (although that is subject to
the other player's approval, and the other player also knows a secret about them).

First Act
Prelude/Prologue- This section details what happened before the Massacre took
place, and if the players were involved at that point, in what capacity. If players
discuss travel arrangements to the scene, that may be done at this point.

Arrival/Settling in- Typically traversing to the locale of the story involves

stock footage, and as a result, is likely to be glossed over, however it is not
unreasonable if everyone is traveling in the same vehicle for there to be
dialogue about the locale, or anything mentioned in the prologue. This portion of
the game may involve some Easy, Mundane, or Average rolls. Thus, this Act should
be low damage if any. It would not be inappropriate in fact, to represent non-
damaging failures as the ol' "cat in the closet" type jump scare or something
similarly padding. The party may find incidental clues that indicate a deeper
situation that they think. Looking around may cause the player(s) to take interest
in miscellaneous papers lying around, taped up, etc. voice recordings, turning on
the radio or TV to a news featurette regarding the previous incidents of the
locale.

Second Act
Exploration/Investigation- Clues about the prelude, or events occurring during
Settling In should prompt exploration. For example, if a door is frozen shut,
locked from the inside, etc., one guy might branch off to find an alternate way in.
If the power goes out, a generator outside may need to be started. Someone should
get attacked in this Act. If it's not a player, let it be an NPC. Typically, the rolls
in this Act are Easy, Average, or Hard (with the easy rolls representing scares).

Third Act
Introductions- It is at this stage that the Killer/Monster(s) make it/themselves
known. The easiest possible roll in this Act is Average (and as of this writing,
Monster Defenses are Hard or probably worse), so failure is more likely. At this
Act, characters now have to spend their physical or mental resources as a result
of failures, unless the DM feels the need to bring back Easy or Mundane rolls to
lighten the load. This should be done sparingly though, as it will lend to the
idea that players won't feel like their characters are under much if any threat,
which is counterproductive to horror gaming. Fleeing the adversary allows
characters to spend their points regularly, but actively engaging the
Killer/Monster runs the risk of them dealing full damage to the character.

Getting Lost- In any case, even if the party doesn't deliberately split up, a
failed roll most likely results in the party being split up anyway. A player may
opt to “Get Lost” instead of spending Endurance or Morale for failures during
this Act (Provided there’s an explanation). For example, Mike is chasing down
Jessica when she lands on top of a mine elevator that becomes knocked loose and
separates them. This could be attributed to Jessica failing an Agility roll. Hints
that there is something afoot involving one or more Killer/Monster(s) should start
showing up in this Act, typically in the form of background motion or noise. If a
player Gets Lost right in front of another player though, that counts as a clue.
All player actions should be hashed out by way of private messages/notes while
they are Lost.

Fourth Act
Confrontation- Most of the difficulties are directly caused by the
Killer/Monster(s) in this Act. As such, they are likely to be Hard or worse, while
Epic attacks aren’t unfair for the right adversary. The majority of this Act will
be either attacks on, or frantic fleeing from the Killer/Monster. If the players
haven’t already found all the information at this point, they are probably going
to find some in the occasional lulls between the action. The pace in this Act
should be frantic though. Any time any of the players tries to side track, or can’t
think of what to do here, bring in the baddies.

Fifth Act
This is the end game. Players should have already established who they need to
outlast/outwit/defeat in order to win the scenario. They may still get lucky and
end up with “The Dawn Option” named for the fact that vampire films without a
particularly satisfying ending invoked the weakness of sunlight as the only
reason the players get out alive. Sometimes this isn’t as much a function of the
time of day as it is a Helicopter Rescue or other more militarized response to
neutralize the threat. If through no fault of their own, nobody has survived this
far, well… it’s probably appropriate for a sequel.

Scenes
A scene is a short event that takes place within a given Act of the game. For
example, a character taking off her clothes, taking a bath, getting out, and
wrapping herself in a towel is a scene. A character going off from the main camp
to take a piss, and get killed is a scene. Traversing from one part of a locale to
another part is a scene. Recovering from becoming “lost” is a scene, even if the DM
switches back and forth between the party members who are not lost, and those
who are. A flashback (or premonition) is a scene.

Rolling Dice
Whenever a character attempts any action, they roll a Dice Pool with a number of
dice equal to the appropriate Attribute (one of Strength, Charisma, Reasoning, or
Agility-Endurance and Morale are resources to be spent. Tasks you might think
would be best rolled using Endurance roll Strength instead, and tasks you think
best suited to Morale roll Reasoning) plus a relevant Knack. Any of the things you
have a Knack for are usable with different attributes as the situation warrants.
For example, if you have a Knack for Acrobatics, normally you roll Agility, but
it's feasible if you're rock climbing that you're jumping with sufficient arm
strength that the DM requires Strength instead.
1
TN Difficulty Odds of rolling on...
...1d10 ...2d10 ...3d10 ...4d10 ...5d10
6 Mundane 50% 90% 99% 99% 99%
9 Easy 10% 72% 94% 99% 99%
12 Average -- 45% 83% 96% 99%
15 Hard -- 21% 64% 90% 98%
18 Very Hard -- 6% 42% 77% 93%
24 Exceptional -- -- 8% 40% 72%
30 Epic -- -- -- 9% 38%
36 Legendary -- -- -- -- 11%

1
This section shows the truncated odds of rolling a given number on a particular dice set as shown
by the At Least function on anydice.com.
Maximum Dice?
Lots of Advantages give +1d10 or
+2d10 (or modify the attribute by +1
or +2 in the case of rolls that
apply to a wide variety of
circumstances) to certain
circumstances or tasks. In all
respects, any time anyone has more
than 5 dice to a roll, for that roll,
they add +5 points for every 1d10
extra instead.

Failure
Whenever the risk of failure is
unacceptable, or the dice make you
fail, you suffer consequences. If
you'd rather avoid failure, you may
pay either 1 point of Endurance or
5 Morale to succeed. Paying
Endurance represents a serious
wound that probably needs serious
medical attention. Morale loss
represents being scuffed up, minor
cuts, and more psychological trauma
than anything else. In any case, if
you roll, then fail you pay both
the Morale cost, and the Endurance
cost, or damage appropriate to the environment or circumstance (such as being hit
by the Killer/Monster). Some of the more observant readers may have noticed that
Morale has Endurance as a partial basis, and they may come to the conclusion that
spending Endurance would reduce Morale. This is not the case.

Exceptions (these ideas are discussed in further detail below)

{ Mundane or Easy tasks never cause damage.

{ Friendly competition between players won’t cause damage, but an actual

fight will either result in physical damage or morale loss.

{ Equipment Failure breaks (or uses up) the equipment rather than the user.

{ Genre Savvy Scenery Breakdowns (such as a broken heel, doorknob breaking

off the door, someone else having the car keys, etc)
Equipment Failure

Instead of paying Morale or Endurance for failure, if the player already said
they were using particular equipment for a task, it either breaks or (if a firearm
or other expendable item) runs out of ammo, charges, or uses. They neither succeed,
nor fail, but the item is used up and you may or may not roll again, (depending on
whether the skill is usable without the equipment. DM’s call most likely).

It doesn’t matter if you just observed the first aid kit to be full. This isn't the
kind of game where a first aid kit can be counted on to have 10 uses or the
players can be counted on to reliably use exactly one use of a first aid kit to
bandage someone up, or one where you keep track of how much loot is weighing you
down. Likewise, it is the kind of game where you might shoot 15-20 Killer/Monsters
(or perhaps explodey bits of scenery) with a double-barreled shotgun and don't
have to reload on screen as long as you keep succeeding.

Genre Savvy Scenery Breakdowns

Characters attempting to flee the Killer/Monster can eke out one extra bit of
survival to avoid taking damage: the scenery. For example, it is fairly common for
girls to break their high heels, and if they’ve written a description, it’s fair to
say that if they had such breakable footwear that it is broken. Also if the
players can escape by a vehicle, it’s fair to say that either another player
outside the scene has the keys, or that the vehicle is broke down. If this situation
is used to evade damage, the player evades the damage this time but they miss
their next turn as they attempt to recover from the blunder.
Dead Characters

Face it: In this game, everyone dies, or at least that’s the hope. But it was noted
early in the development that the game would be less entertaining if players who
died didn’t get to do much. Someone suggested giving dead characters slight
narrative powers and it sparked a few ideas.

Dying Actions
Whenever a character knows they are going to die, they may go all out on the
cheese and really ham up the drama in the current scene by invoking Dying
Actions to allow the rest of the group guaranteed success in the effort of
escaping the monster. This is not without its own difficulties though. It requires
a Charisma roll to successfully pull it off that depends on the circumstances.

{ Normal circumstances allow a roll at the median difficulty possible for the
act (so in the 4th act, difficulty is Hard at minimum, so this roll would be
Very Hard)

{ If the monster is Easily Distracted by something else in the scene,

difficulty is one step harder.

{ If the monster is Easily Distracted by you or something you are doing, the
difficulty is one step easier.
Flashbacks
A dead character that had Morale when they died may impose their own will on
others through memories of themselves. The dead character is required to spend
Morale on the action, but it isn’t as reliable as Morale spent by the living.
Instead of a guarantee of a success, Morale causes +/-1d10 to the roll where the
flashback took place depending on the nature of the flashback. If the Flashback
qualifies as a Frightful Sight (or perhaps merely insulting to the character, and
leaving them to question whether the dead had negative thoughts about them), the
dice is subtracted, while if the flashback is particularly positive, such as
Gratuitous Nudity, the dice is added.

Frightful Sights
Seeing horrifying things can lead to Morale loss as well. Seeing dead strangers is
a Hard roll, and seeing dead friends is a Very Hard roll against Reasoning.

Event Witnessed Morale Penalty

Betrayal of yourself or a friend -1
Small amounts of blood, gore, or minor dismemberments -2
Corpse of a stranger or animal1 -5
Corpse is particularly mangled -10 instead
Personally witness a death -5 extra
Victim is your friend -5 extra
Repeatedly viewing the same corpse Half each time until 0

Perception?: Players might be wondering how they would go about

resolving whether or not they are aware of something, and
particularly observant ones might have noticed that Alertness is one
of the Knacks. As noted, knacks can be used with any appropriate
Attribute; however, there isn’t really a direct attribute designed
explicitly for noticing things. Reasoning—which is only appropriate
because it refers to cognitive function—is close. Someone who just
says “I search that chest of movie props for a hockey mask” is boring,
and only gets (Reasoning+Knack)d10s. A player might instead go into
more detail “I’m feeling around the lining of the chest for cavities
or false bottoms in case someone might have hid something. There’s
supposed to be spirits. Perhaps someone brought an Ouija board and
got a little freaked out so they hid it?” That will get you an extra
+2d10 if the DM doesn’t just allow you to find the item outright.
While Strength, and Agility are decidedly inappropriate, it should be
noted that loss of blood does have an effect on one’s perception. The
GM should feel free to assess a d10 penalty equal to lost Endurance
for the purposes of determining whether something is right in front
of them. This is especially relevant in Hard Mode.

1
If a corpse is naked, it doesn’t count toward Gratuitous Nudity morale gains.
Fight or Flight?
Unarmed Combat engaged in real
anger does Morale damage equal to
the attacker's strength if the
defender fails or forgoes defense.

Actively engaging in combat is more

deadly than regular failure, as a
failure against the opponent deals
their weapon’s damage to you in
full to Endurance (except in cases
of things like padded weapons, that
are explicitly Morale damage. Note
even those can have the padding
ripped off to become effectively
Cheap weapons). Generally speaking,
weapons deal 1+Hands + (some factor
of Attribute) + Modifiers. You can
buy a success instead of rolling,
which will net you less damage than
taking the brunt of the attack.

Bits of the environment also have

effects (The DM has a list of these
in Running the Game). For example,
if you shoot a propane tank, the DM might tell you all the monsters that were
chasing you took some damage (or perhaps died). Buying a success for 5 Morale or 1
Endurance means it was too close for comfort. You either saw your life flash
before your eyes as the scene plays out in slow motion or you took a little flak.

Quick and Dirty vs. Slow and Sure fleeing (Optional Rule): Characters
fleeing from the Killer/Monster are often confronted with a roll
depending on whether they are running or climbing. If running, the
roll is Agility, if climbing, it’s Strength. By default this roll is
(Attribute + Knack) d10. If going Slow and Sure, the character may
substitute (Reasoning – 1) d10. If going Quick and Dirty, they may
substitute (Agility + 1) d10. The monster is permitted an immediate
attack against a character that fails either roll, and you can’t buy
success in either case. You can however, roll normally for success. For
example, player A has 5 Reasoning, so he chooses Reasoning-1, while
player B has 3 Agility so he chooses Agility+1. They are being chased
by a Machete Killer and evasion is Very Hard. Player A rolls 29 using
4d10, while player B rolled 14. Since Player A won, he rolls no
further. B has the option of Equipment Failure but he chooses not to
take it. When this turns out wrong, B takes 7 damage and is killed.
R&R

Every Act, characters gain back either 1 Endurance, or 5 Morale, their choice.
Other than that, recovery happens by one of the following:

{ Endurance- If you are reduced to 0 Endurance, you die. Endurance is

restored by rest and food. In theory, overeating may cause -1 to certain
actions for about an Act due to a lack of motivation. They're most likely
actions tied to Agility, but not all of the actions based on Agility are
appropriate to penalize. 3 meals are good for 1 point of Endurance, and a
full night of rest (actual rest) is good for 1 point. Thus at E 5 with 1 left,
it takes 2 full days of food and rest to recover fully. First Aid is slightly
faster. You restore 1 point of Endurance per GV for every Reasoning Roll
made (by anyone) with a first aid kit (with failure exhausting it as per
equipment failure). You can tear a strip of clothing to make a bandage if
you take -1d10 to the roll. You can patch yourself up completely (although
if you have lost fingers and the like, you can't fix those) Failure indicates
the kit has run out.
{ Morale- Strangely, there's an obnoxious amount of sex/nudity in Schlock
Horror movies and games, and the only two reasons I can think of why that
could be are 1) Fanservice, and 2) it increases morale. So for the purposes of
SCREAM, a scene where the character changes clothes gratuitously, is worth
2 Morale. A scene featuring a bath, make out session, or photo shoot is worth
5, and a scene featuring sex is worth 10. If it is “tasteful” and features
Scenery Censorship (or doesn’t quite reach nudity), it’s only worth half. If
you make a point of driving home that your character is as immodest as
possible given the situation, it's worth double. This rule can be ignored if
you don't want to focus too heavily on the scenes and just want to fade to
black. Though discussion and depictions of gratuitous nudity are already
spread throughout the document to an extent that if you’re not ok with it,
why the hell are you still here? In any case, any kind of gratuitous nudity
restores both the Morale of the person engaging in it, and the Morale of
anyone witnessing it.

Gratuitous Nudity
There are some characters who will just
want to spend considerable time naked.
Perhaps because clothes will “hinder
movement”, or because they have fallen
victim to a sleeper hold and dropped naked
in the middle of nowhere to run for their
lives, or ya know... fanservice. In theory
this sort of passive nudity is worth 2
Morale as long as the nudity is ongoing
morale gains right? No, in the interest of
preserving something akin to game balance,
she should probably only gain back 2 per
scene. For example, let's say a girl has
been swimming naked in the lake and had
her clothes taken. She spots a hillbilly
that thinks she has a purty mouth. The DM
tells her he needs her to bypass 3
obstacles (slick feet, unstable rocks, and a
fence she needs to jump or fumble open all
of which are Agility rolls, but a case could
be made for jumping the fence with
strength) to get to the next scene, which is her cabin. She could stand to lose as
much as 15 Morale if she just buys the rolls. If she were to gain 2 ongoing, that
could be reduced to 9. Since the gains are per scene, she could only gain 2 back in
total. (DMs are free to interpret this rule the opposite way if they want more
nudity in their games).
Other Pros and Cons of Gratuitous Nudity
People in Schlock Horror movies tend to be strongly affected by nudity.
Oftentimes you see a sign on a local convenience/general/grocery store that reads
“No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service” only to be blatantly ignored when the group of
teenagers walks in and wants to buy provisions for whatever vacation venture
they happen to be indulging in. Such characters often tend to be difficult to say
no to. This may be represented by a boost on Charisma rolls by +2 dice (not their
score). This also tends to draw the ire of the Killer/Monster who often has some
sort of psychosexual problem in a Schlock Horror movie, because sex is a metaphor
for death anyway. The DM should give players a momentary snapshot of the
Killer/Monster any time gratuitous nudity occurs. Most likely, he/it is close
enough to see the scene. If the Killer/Monster actually is in the same area while
someone is engaged in Gratuitous Nudity of any kind, their effective Charisma
scores for the purposes of being targeted is 2 points lower.

Anyone involved in Gratuitous Nudity gets -2d10 to defend against the

Killer/Monster due to distractions such as focusing on the camera, getting
bath/shower temperature/bubbles right, listening to relaxing or romantic music
with head phones, sexual techniques, moans, or just about anything else that
would reasonably take attention off of the fact that there's a strange person
nearby.

Using Someone Else’s Shtick

There may come a time when a character has not purchased an advantage required
to do something.. The DM may forbid this outright, but it might be more
interesting to permit the player to try. In such cases, the DM may permit them to
make an appropriate roll (Such as Charisma for Sacrifice Clothing) that is Very
Hard. If they fail the roll to use the ability, the event resolves separately. For
example, if the Killer/Monster is attacking the player, they would normally need
to defeat its Attack with an Agility roll (or perhaps Strength to climb, or
Reasoning -1 to pick a safe escape route and take it). If they succeed at this
diversion they need not make the Agility Roll. If they fail, they must assume they
didn’t use the ability, and now roll Agility to defend against the Killer/Monster
as they normally would. This doesn’t work for abilities that don’t have an active
use, such as those that modify starting equipment.. In any case, if the ability
consumes items (such as clothing being sacrificed), they are lost whether the
character succeeds or fails.
 Equipment

Starting Equipment
Characters start with Gear Value points equal to the higher of (Reasoning or
Charisma + Knack for Business)2. You can spend GV any way you want, provided that
your most expensive item is no higher than the base Attribute + Knack for
Business.

Miscellaneous Equipment
1 point Junk food or snacks
2d10x50¢ in a wallet or purse Knitting Needles
A week worth of cheap clothes, or one Miscellaneous can of non-perishable
ordinary outfit food
Backpack Novelty Pocket Knife
Binoculars Periodical or Newspaper
Canteen Shovel
Compass Sleeping Bag
Cheap (Children's) Walkie-Talkie Surf Board
Cheap (Dollar Menu) Fast Food Meal Toiletries
Disposable Lighter Toy Musical Instrument
First Aid Kit Umbrella/Parasol
Flip phone (2 points in games set Used hardback or new paperback book
before the year 2000) Wind up radio
Flashlight
Improvised Fishing Gear
2 points 6 man tent
$2d10 cash A week of Clothes that Look Good on
2 man tent Camera
A week worth of ordinary clothes, or Butane torch
one set of clothes that Look Good on Canoe, Kayak, or Rowboat
Camera. Cheap (used) car
Brand Name Lighter Decent musical instrument
Case of beer High End First Aid Kit (Heals 3
Cheap R/C car or model airplane Endurance)
Cheap Smartphone Keg of beer
Crash Kit Laptop (used)
Cooler large enough for a case of Medium sized pet
drinks.
Decent Fast Food
Fishing Tackle
Flask
Functional Pocket Knife
Gallon of gasoline (extra)
Hammock
Harmonica
Inflatable Raft
Multitool Modest jewelry (silver)
New hardback book Modestly priced recreational drug, 1
Cheap recreational drug, 1 hit or hit, or 1d10 hits of a Cheap one.
joint Motorcycle
Rope (50 feet) Name Brand Smartphone or Smartwatch
Scooter Scuba Gear
Several spare tent stakes Silver or other specialized ammo
Toolkit sufficient for repairs in one
Knack or Talent

4 points
1d10x100 in a bank account
A week of Flawless Clothes that Look
Good On Camera
Airplane (Crop Duster or Seaplane,
Used)
Cheap new car
Expensive recreational drug, 1 hit, or
Ski set 1d10 hits of a modestly priced
Small Pet recreational drug.
Survival Mess Kit Flawless jewelry (Silver) or Modest
Walkie-Talkie (gold)
Gaming Console
3 points Hot Air Balloon
$2d10x10 cash Modest Flat screen TV
MP3 player 6 points
Jet Ski or Snowmobile $2d10x1000 in a Platinum Credit Card
Large or Exotic pet 1d10 hits of a designer drug
Laptop (new) Any clothing item you want.
Modest camera with both video and Breast Implants
photo capabilities
Speedboat
Van or RV (used)

5 points
$2d10x250 in a bank account
A walk in closet that is bigger than a
modest house.
Airplane (Vintage World War fighter,
or new Crop Duster or Seaplane)
Breast Implants
Dirigible
Designer drug, 1 hit, or 1d10 hits of Fuel Tanker
an expensive recreational drug. Private Jet
Expensive new car Yacht
Flawless gold jewelry Pony/Racehorse
Laptop (flawless)
Van or RV (new)

Miscellaneous Equipment Modifiers & Notes

{ Breast implants: Listed twice due to difference between the two. If you have
the 5 point version, you're as large as someone with Big Breast Pride, but
this expenditure doesn't automatically give you that advantage. The 6
point version is so large, any Agility roll you make must be made twice and
you take the lower roll.

{ Cheap: If someone cares about your clothes, you take -1 to Charisma. They
are likely to assume any nasty smells in the environment are coming from
you. A device's Gear Value isn't automatically a determiner of whether it's
cheap.

{ Improvised: You must roll twice each time you use the equipment. One to
perform the task, and the other to see if the device breaks or draws the
attention of the Killer/Monster

{ Looks Good on Camera: If a majority of a character’s non-weapon items Look

Good on Camera, they gain +1 Charisma with respect to those they aren’t
otherwise suffering a penalty toward. This often means that characters
other than the Well Off gain +1 Charisma against others, while the Well Off
 neither take a Charisma penalty, nor gain a bonus with regards to anyone
similarly decked out.

Armor
Armor worn by people is not as perfect as the armor that is part of a creature's
body. It prevents damage equal to its Gear Value before modifications.

1 point Kevlar
Buckler or improvised shield Shaped Wood Armor
Clerical Vestments (See Blessed Armor Tower Shield
Modifier below)
4 points
2 points Bone Armor
Kite or Heater Shield Heavy Cloth Heavy Leather or thick animal hide
Light Leather or animal skin clothes Riot Shield
Roman Armor
SWAT Armor

5 points
Chain/Ring/Scale
Modern Military Armor
Samurai Armor

6 points
EOD
Plate
Powerful/Legendary Monster Hide
3 points
Average Leather

Armor Modifiers

{ Blessed: Armor that has been blessed by someone temporarily gains +1 armor
(reducing damage by one point more) but only works on people the entity
providing the Objective Morality Damage to the priest doesn't find
abhorrent. It only lasts 1 encounter with a Killer/Monster (or even only one
successful hit if the DM thinks the game is too soft on players). This does
not cost anything extra, though priests may ask for a donation anyway.
More long term protection must be purchased at +1 GV

{ Bronze Age: For metal armor only, Bronze Age armor is 1 point lower
protection and Gear Value

{ Stripperific This armor trades the ability to show extra skin (Looks Good On
Camera) for -1 Armor. GV remains the same. Thus, an Average Stripperific
Leather is worth 3 GV but only has 2 armor and Looks Good On Camera.
Weapons
Strength
Boxing Gloves
Damage Code: M=1+S
Gear Value: 2 points
Modifiers & Notes: Always Padded

Chainsaw
Damage Code: E=3+S
Gear Value: 4 points
Modifiers & Notes: Always Looks Good
On Camera and Hyped (because in
reality a chainsaw would clog far too
easily to use for a weapon more than
about one time). This is reflected in
its stats. If it is also Brand Name, the
modifier is cumulative and its
multiplier is 2S.

Clawed Gloves
Damage Code: E=3+1/2S
Gear Value: 3 points
Modifiers & Notes : Always Looks Good
On Camera. This is reflected in its
damage code.
Flawless/Hyped Unarmed Attack
Dynamite (Thrown) Damage Code: 1+1/2S
Damage: E=3+S Gear Value: --
Gear Value: 3 points Modifiers and Notes: Is either
Modifiers & Notes: Blast Radius 30 Flawless or Hyped. Examples of Hyped
feet. Occasionally cheap, but Grenades Unarmed Attacks include Professional
can be emulated with NFA, and Looks Wrestlers' signature moves. Both
Good on Camera. modified forms of unarmed attacks
require the character to have a Knack
Felling or Splitting Axe for Martial Arts, Professional
Damage Code: 3+1/2S Wrestling, or other unarmed combat.
Gear Value: 2 points
Modifiers & Notes: Typically Cheap, Handsaw/Hacksaw
but a Broad axe, Halberd, or Scythe Damage Code: E=3+1/2 S
can be simulated with Looks Good On Gear Value: 2 points
Camera. Modifiers and Notes: Covers a variety
of saws that are used for lumber (or
small trees in survival situations.)
Hatchet
Damage Code: E=2+1/2S Hunting Knife
Gear Value: 2 points Damage Code: E=2+1/2S
Modifiers & Notes: Typically Cheap, Gear Value: 3 points
but Looks Good On Camera can be used Modifiers & Notes: Looks Good On
for sickles. Camera is fairly common for a Bowie
knife, but not all sheath knives are
Garden Shears Bowie knives.
Damage Code: E=3+1/2S
Gear Value: 2 points LARP/Practice weapon
Modifiers & Notes: Looks Good On Damage Code: M=2+S
Camera, Sometimes Cheap. Gear Value: 1 point
Modifiers & Notes: Always Padded.
Foils and other fencing practice
weapons are Finesse weapons (bringing
them to 2 points). In theory a two
handed practice weapon should deal
M=3+S, but that's a little much to
quibble over.

One Handed Sword

Damage Code: E=2+S
Hedge Trimmer Gear Value: 4 points
Damage Code: E=3+1/2S Modifiers: Just about any one handed
Gear Value: 3 points sword may also be Flawless. Fencing
Modifiers & Notes: Might have Brand blades are Finesse weapons. A Machete
Name and Looks Good on Camera is a Cheap one handed sword, unless
wielded by the killer. Kukris also
Hook Look Good On Camera.
Damage Code: E=3+1/2S
Gear Value: 2 points
Modifiers & Notes: Held in a closed
fist with the hook projecting between
two fingers. It may be called a box
hook, cargo hook, loading hook, etc.
when used by longshoremen, and a
baling hook, bale hook, or hay hook
in the agricultural industry. Other
variants exist, such as in forestry,
for moving logs, and a type with a
long shaft, used by city workers to
remove manhole covers. Always Looks Pitchfork
Good On Camera. This is reflected in Damage Code: 3+1/2S
its damage code. Hooks rarely have Gear Value: 2 points
any other actual modifiers, but they Modifiers & Notes: Always Looks Good
can catch and trip things. On Camera.
 shotguns are so old they're most
Pocket Knife likely Cheap.
Damage Code: E=2+1/2S
Gear Value: 2 points Staff
Modifiers & Notes: There are loads of Damage Code: E=1+1/2 S
Brand Names... far too many to count. Gear Value: 1 point
But Looks Good on Camera is more Modifiers: Often cheap, but not always.
appropriate for most pocket knives Long farming tools that aren’t
(Switchblades in particular). weighted, such as rakes and
pitchforks add a point to the damage
Power Drill they deal.

Two Handed Sword

Damage Code: E=3+S
Gear Value: 4 points
Modifiers: Katanas and Flamberges
Look Good On Camera, and although
Katanas aren’t necessarily Flawless,
their Hype suggests that they should
always be represented as such in
cinema in general. This makes them
worth an effective minimum of 7 Gear
Value.
Damage Code: E=2+1/2S
Gear Value: 3 points Unmodified Unarmed Attack
Modifiers & Notes: Sometimes Looks Damage: M=S
Good On Camera, and/or Brand Name Gear Value: --
Modifiers & Notes: None.
Reciprocating Saw
Damage Code: E=3+1/2S Other/Improbable Weapons
Gear Value: 3 points
Modifiers & Notes: Always Looks Good
On Camera. This is reflected in its
stats. Sometimes Brand Name

Shotgun, 10 or 12 gauge
Damage Code: E=3+S
Gear Value: 4 points
Modifiers and Notes: Normally
Typically, Improbable Weapons deal
firearms are Agility based weapons,
1+1/4S if they are one handed or
but shotguns are known cinematically
2+1/4S if they are 2 handed. They are
for their obnoxious recoil. Sawed Off
sufficiently poorly suited for this
Pistol Grip shotguns Look Good On
use that they are never Finesse
Camera, and they're almost always
Weapons. Objects that deal 2 handed
NFA items (if so, their damage code
damage are heavy enough that they
becomes 6+S). Double Barreled
can be set up to fall upon an
unsuspecting victim from a precarious for 2+R acts (can be resisted at the
high perch, or by triggering a string beginning of each act).
or other Rube Goldberg setup. Their
value is appropriate to their normal Scalpel (with Medicine Knack)
function. For example, knitting Damage Code: E=3+1/2R
needles are probably 1 point, while a Gear Value: 2 points
gaming console is probably 4 points. Modifiers & Notes: Always a Finesse
weapon (Cost accounts for this) that
Reasoning Looks Good On Camera. It has an
15 lb. Propane Tank, Planted obnoxiously sharp blade (It deals as
Damage: 4+R much damage as some swords). This
Gear Value: 2 points entry can also be used for giant
Modifiers & Notes: Blast Radius 100 syringes (possibly containing the
feet. Particularly dangerous poison previously noted).
chemicals or intricate time bombs can
be represented by NFA and Looks Good Agility
on Camera 15 lb. Propane Tank, Sniped
Damage: 4+A
Dynamite, Planted Gear Value: 2 points
Damage: E=3+R Modifiers & Notes: Blast Radius 100
Gear Value: 3 points feet. Particularly dangerous
Modifiers & Notes: Blast Radius 30 chemicals or intricate time bombs can
feet. Occasionally cheap, but Grenades be represented by NFA and Looks Good
can be emulated with NFA, and Looks on Camera
Good on Camera.
Dynamite, Thrown
Poison, 1 Dose Damage: E=3+A
Gear Value: 3 points
Modifiers & Notes: Blast Radius 30
feet. Occasionally cheap, but Grenades
can be emulated with NFA, and Looks
Good on Camera.

Hunting/Sniper Rifle
Damage Code: E=3+2A
Gear Value: 4 points
Modifiers & Notes: AR-15
Damage Code: E=2+R configurations always Look Good On
Gear Value: 4 points Camera, but aren't NFA unless they
Modifiers and Notes: Poison may be are configured for rapid fire. They
applied to another weapon, in which are Brand Name as well. Hunting
case, the weapon has an additional 3 Rifles almost always have Scopes. The
points of damage rather than the Barrett M82 series of 12.7x99mm
full damage scale of both the poison weapons is Brand Name, Looks Good On
and the weapon. A slow acting poison Camera, Magnum, and Scoped for a
might deal 1 point of damage per act total of E=(5+3A)x1.5 that can target
Weak Points and is worth a total of 8
Gear Value.

Pocket Knife
Damage Code: E=2+1/2A
Gear Value: 2 points
Modifiers & Notes: There are loads of
Brand Names... far too many to count.
But Looks Good on Camera is more
appropriate for most pocket knives
(switchblades in particular).
Modifiers & Notes: 1911s and Desert
Eagles are Brand Names. Desert Eagle
Scalpel (Without Medicine Knack) probably also qualifies for Magnum
Damage Code: E=3+1/2A and Looks Good On Camera. Even
Gear Value: 2 points though .357 Magnum is numerically a
Modifiers & Notes: Always a Finesse medium caliber, it qualifies as both
weapon (Cost accounts for this) that Large Caliber and Magnum. Is
Looks Good On Camera. It has an occasionally Scoped, but only for
obnoxiously sharp blade (It deals as aesthetics.
much damage as some swords). This
entry can also be used for giant Medium Caliber Pistol (about 9mm
syringes (possibly containing the to .40)
poison previously noted). Damage Code: E=2+1/2A
Gear Value: 4 points
Straight Razor Modifiers & Notes: Glocks are a common
Damage Code: E=3+A Brand Name, and they Look Good On
Gear Value: 3 points Camera.
Modifiers & Notes: Always Looks Good
On Camera. Small Caliber Pistol (about .22 to .32)
Damage Code: E=2+1/4A
Gear Value: 3 points
Modifiers & Notes: Typically Cheap,
but certain Target Pistols have
Brand Name.

Submachine Gun
Damage Code: E=5+1/2A
Gear Value: 4 points
Modifiers & Notes: ALWAYS NFA. this is
figured into the damage. MP5s and
Large Caliber Pistol Kriss Vectors Look Good On Camera and
Damage Code: E=2+A are Brand Name.
Gear Value: 4 points
Weapon Modifiers
Note: In theory, modifiers should
never exceed 6 points, but it is very
appropriate for say... the Barrett
M82 to have actual value more than
6 points. The DM should limit initial
purchases to things that would be
worth 6 or less Gear Value, so no
Barretts, Katanas, etc.

{ Blast Radius: The weapon

explodes in some increment of
15 feet. It deals multiples of
damage to swarm monsters
based on this increment. The
modifier itself isn’t worth
anything, but it is often on
either an NFA explosive, or
some other dangerous item,
such as a propane tank. Cheap
sometimes applies. An
appropriate modifier that
affects the damage multiplier
of an item with this modifier
also affects the radius at the
same ratio. Note that a
failure with a weapon with a
blast radius causes the user
(and any allies within) half
damage.

{ Brand Name/Hype: The weapon

has a cult following, such as the Colt 1911, Desert Eagle, Taurus Judge, or
the .454 Casull. It deals double the attribute modifier given in the damage
scale. If you're already multiplying the attribute modifier, add to the
multiple instead. Thus if a weapon does 1/2A or 1/2S, it does A or S instead.
This items is worth 2 extra Gear Value before multipliers

{ Cheap: Halve the attribute modifier. Thus if a weapon does 1/2A or 1/2S it
now does 1/4A or 1/4S instead. This item is worth half the usual number of
Gear Value points after adding Magnum if applicable. You cannot apply
Flawless, Looks Good on Camera, or NFA to a Cheap weapon.

{ Finesse: The weapon is normally Strength Based, but it is Agility based

instead. Don’t use this modifier for things that aren’t normally Strength
Based. This item is worth an additional Gear Value point before multipliers.
{ Flawless: Double the typical attribute multiplier given in the Damage Scale.
If you're already multiplying the attribute modifier, add to the multiple
instead. Weapons typically don't qualify for this modifier out of the box.
They need to be custom built and are worth 2 extra Gear Value points.

{ Looks Good on Camera: This modifier causes the weapon to be worth an extra
Gear Value point and do +1 damage.

{ Magnum: Pistol or Rifle rounds add +50% to damage. This sometimes applies to
a round with an extra number after the caliber. For example .454 probably
does more damage than a .45. This item is worth an additional 2 Gear Value
points before multipliers.

{ NFA: this modifier refers to licensing of certain types of weapon after 1934.
The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) defines a number of categories of
regulated firearms, which include the following: Machine guns, non-machine
gun that are “readily convertible”, Short-barreled rifles (SBRs, any
firearm with a buttstock and either a rifled barrel less than 16" long or
an overall length under 26"), Short barreled shotguns (SBSs, with either a
smoothbore barrel less than 18" long or a minimum overall length under
26"), Suppressors, Destructive Devices (such as grenades, bombs, explosive
missiles, poison gas weapons, etc.) Any Other Weapon (Zip Guns and firearms
that don't quite fit the other categories). An NFA weapon has a Minimum
Gear Value of 4 points or is 2 points higher than normal. NFA weapons also
do 2 extra points of damage.

{ Padded: These weapons are used for training. It deals Morale damage instead
of Endurance damage. Friendly competition with a padded weapon deals no
damage.

{ Scoped: This weapon can target a weak point on a Killer/Monster, such as its
brain. This amounts to +1 Gear Value per 5 points the creature's defense
doesn't increase. You could in theory put a scope on a weapon held out to
arm’s length but it's more for aesthetics than anything and uses the rules
for Looks Good On Camera instead.

Special Circumstances
Breaking and Entering- Most locks are realistically too sturdy to shoot through
as numerous YouTubers point out. Even a garbage Master Lock at least has the
ability to survive most small arms fire going for it. DMs can skip damage in favor
of having any success with a genre appropriate weapon destroy the lock or
barrier in question. Those wanting more granularity however, can read on.
Material Effective Endurance (at a given thickness)
Rope 1 per ¼ inch, up to 1”. Certain materials add +1
Steel Cable 3, +1 per ¼ inch.
Iron Bar 4, +2 per ½ inch. 4 per ½ inch for a wall.
Steel Bar 5, +2 per ½ inch. 5 per ½ inch for a wall.
Wood Pole 2, +1 per inch. 2 per inch for a wall
Red Brick wall 12 per 3 inches (up to a foot)
Concrete Block Wall 20 per 8 inches
Concrete Slab 40 per 6 inches (also applies to reinforced concrete blocks.)
Glass Window 1 per 1/8 inch (up to 3”), Double for polycarbonate or other
bullet resistant material

Called Shots- Targeting a specific area with a weapon has its benefits. Primarily
Killer/Monsters that have Achilles Heels take double damage to Achilles Heel
locations. For people, and locations that are not Achilles Heels, damage is +2, and
one point lost from an attribute determined by the location (Head is Reasoning,
Arm/Hand is Strength, and Leg/Foot is Agility). Calling shots increases the
target’s Defense. +5 if it’s an Arm or Leg (or a target 12-18" at its longest
dimension), +10 for Hand, Foot, or Head (Or a target less than 12" at its longest
dimension). Hitting the hand, foot, or head also cause the target to lose a turn
through either being stunned, dropping an item, stumbling, or similar).

Equipment Failure and Armor- Characters normally have the ability to destroy
equipment to get away from the Killer/Monster, or if they have the Sacrifice
Clothes Advantage. Those rules usually apply to things less sturdy than armor. If
the DM wants to have armor be less rugged, they can rule that an attack that
deals twice the damage the armor prevents or more, destroys the armor. Excess
over twice the armor damages the character.

Vehicular Combat- Vehicles probably deal (Speed/20)+ (Driver’s Agility + Knack)

before multiplying by the number of tons the vehicle weighs (rounded down, but
to a minimum of 1). As a bench mark, most cars are x1, Trucks may be x2-3, loaded U-
Hauls or other mail trucks may be x5-6, Busses around x17-20, Garbage and
Firetrucks between x20-30, Cement/Dumptrucks, x30-34, and a loaded semi is around
x40.
 Running the Game
The following section(s) should be for DM eyes only.

Random Title Generator

To generate random Massacre titles, consider rolling 3d6 anywhere from 2-4 times
on the table below. Common title formats (sometimes “The” is placed before these
titles):

{ Event/Link/(Optional Modifier) Object

{ Sequence/Time/Event of The (Optional Modifier) Object

{ Modifier(s) vs. Object(s)

{ Object 1 vs. Object 2

{ Spawn/Children/Daughter(s) occur sometime after the original, which is why

those are sequence selections rather than Object.

2d10 Time/sequence/event Link Modifier Object

2 Abduction vs. Summer Camp
3 Attack Stripper Cheerleader
4 Call Robot Dead/Death
5 Camp Psycho/Crazy Demon(s)/Satan
6 Child(ren)/Daughter(s) Psychic Enchantress/Sorceress/Witch
7 Cult Prim/al/ordial Evil
8 Dance of Naked Fear
(and/or)
9 Dawn/Day/Dusk Mutant Girl(s)/Wom(an/en)
the
10 Ghost/Haunt Master/Mistress (High)School
11 House Killer Killer(s)
12 Hunt Evil Massacre
13 Legacy/Legend Dread/Horror Molerats
14 Massacre Demon/ic Mutant(s)
15 Name(s) with (the) Decadent Ninjas
for (the)
16 Night Deadly Rit(e/es/ual)
17 (Re)Incarnat(e/ed) Dark(est/ness) Spiders
18 Rise Clone Stripper(s)
19 Seed/Spawn/Son(s) Bloody (Were)Wolf/wolves
20 Sorority/Sisterhood Abducted Zombie(s)/Vampire(s)/Undead
Killers and Monsters

SCREAM Killer/Monsters are most fairly designed with the same number of points
as the players, but they have a few other rules that only apply to them. Firstly,
they have no Morale, because they’ve already survived, or died from their life’s
worst moment, and as a result, have already passed the stupor stage of insanity
(Observant DMs will note that this means a player reduced to 0 Morale can in fact
be used as a Killer/Monster in a future game). This makes them less survivable,
since they can't spend Morale. To combat this, we look at an average character. If 3
points each are spent on the first 5 stats, that makes default Morale 30 (3
Reasoning + 3 Endurance x 5 is 30) That being said, regular people have about 33
points of survivability on average. Likewise a character with maximum statistics
has 5 Endurance and 50 Morale.

Secondly, experimentation with numbers suggests that multiplying Endurance by 5

puts an average Endurance Killer/Monster at 15 survivability, which is really sad.
Multiplying by 10 puts a character with human average Endurance at 30 points
and an upper end character around 50 survivability assuming a 5 point maximum.
Horror adversaries are supposed to be a challenge, thus their maximum Attribute
should be 10, which provides them with up to 100 points of survivability.

Attack and Defense

A Killer/Monster's Attack is 5x its appropriate attribute and its defense is 5x
Agility. The exception to these rules is if the Killer/Monster is exceptionally
good, or exceptionally bad at either, in which case the multiplier is x3 or x 7
respectively.
{ A bit of Badassery: It should be noted that 4+ is impressive, and if the
player didn’t beat the Defense of a Killer/Monster with such a score, it’s
quite possible, it’s because the monster did parkour. If a player rolls Epic
or Legendary (DM call which) and succeeds at attack or defense, then it’s
because they did parkour and should describe it suitably.

{ Unlisted attacks: If the Killer/Monster is capable of shoving (or otherwise

forcing) characters into scenery instead, use the damage listed in the
appropriate Death Itself entry, and the Attribute appropriate to the
Killer/Monster for the attack, but multiply by 3 instead of 5. So for
example, if a Machete Killer uses a noose on a player, damage is unchanged,
but Attack becomes 12 (Strength 4, x3 equals 12)

Knacks
Killer/Monsters can do things normal people can't. For starters, they have a Knack
for Weapons if they're humanoid. Perhaps they have a Knack for Martial Arts. This
may add +5 to their attack with a particular attack, but that's only if the DM
wants that kind of detail. They also have Abilities and Weaknesses. A
Killer/Monster can have up to 3 abilities and 15 points before needing to
purchase weaknesses.

Abilities
Alien Tech- Aliens sometimes have access to machines that do weird shit. And
sometimes they do things humans only wish they could do. While humans don't
build Alien Tech, those with a knack for it can use Alien Tech.

{ Cloaking- Aliens with Cloaking Devices can defend against being noticed.
Characters need to make a Reasoning roll with a TN equal to the enemy's
Defense before they can be noticed.

{ Control Weather- Alien spaceships have the ability to create weather

patterns to within a mile per point of Reasoning the crew member has. This
is usually 5 miles for Greys, though humans using Alien Tech can often
duplicate the effect to smaller degrees.

{ Hypnosis- The Killer/Monster not only has the ability to affect the target's
thoughts, it can alter their actions with an opposed Charm Roll (the
Killer/Monster is assumed to roll Scorex5) each round it attempts to force
an action.

{ Laser Weapon- This is equivalent to a Looks Good On Camera firearm with a

Scope. As a result, it always deals +1 damage and mitigates -5 in penalties
for Called Shots (unless otherwise noted)

{ Memory Wipe- Aliens and humans in Black Budget government programs don't
want the masses to remember encounters of the third kind. As a result, they
 often have devices explicitly for manipulating the memories of their
victims. The attack for this is equivalent

{ Oviposition- Aliens can implant their seed into unwitting (Calculate Attack
using Charm) or restrained victims. It takes at least 1 Act to grow to the
point where it can be birthed, at which point it exits the victim's body
dealing E=2xActs Embedded Within Victim.

{ Shielding- The alien has a force shield. If it's directional, use the lower of
the alien's Agility and Reasoning to determine how much damage is stopped.
If it's a field out to a radius around the alien from all directions, use the
higher of the two.
Armor - Beasts with thick hides, and people that are actually wearing armor tend
to be able to reduce damage they suffer. Each level of armor stops 2 points of
every kind of damage. Level 1 represents light armor, level 2 is medium, and level
3 is heavy armor.

Blend In- The Killer/Monster can

hide extremely well. If this is
attainable anywhere, the bonus is
only+5, but if environment is
specified the bonus is +10.

{ Shapeshifting to a specific
member of the same species as you is
the same as the +5 modifier if
they're the same gender, ethnicity,
and build as you, or equivalent to
+10 of they can be any gender,
ethnicity and build.

{ If you have Part Time (such as

because you're a werewolf) this
should also only apply part time.

Enhanced Attribute- The creature has more than 15 points in Attributes. If the
score is Endurance, it gets +10 Survival.

Gecko Grip- The creature can cling to walls (and ceilings if the ability is
purchased twice) as easily as a regular person can walk on the floor or ground.

Infectious- The creature has the ability to create progeny through its attacks on
others. Most typically, this is through a bio-hazard excreted by its saliva,
however if there are aliens in the scenario, they may have a sharp ovipositor that
inserts an egg into the victim. How humans facilitate this reproduction is too
weird to philosophize personally.
Immunity- Pick one type of damage, such as an elemental damage (Air, Earth Fire,
Water, Ice, Lighting, Objective Morality), a particular wound (bullet, crushing,
falling, slashing, stabbing), a particular bio-hazard (poison, radiation, disease,
suffocation, starvation); The creature is immune to the damage type.

{ Demon- Immunity to Acid, Fire, Poison, and Normal Weapons. Achilles Heel vs.
Objective Morality.

{ Immunity to Everything- This ability requires the exception of an Achilles

Heel, Autodeath, and/or circumstance that prevents Reincarnation. At the
very least, an Achilles Heel is necessary for this advantage, but other than
that one source of damage, the monster is basically immune to everything.

{ Mechanical- Immune to Biohazards plus Autodeath (Destroy Fuel Source)

{ Robotic- Immune to Biohazards plus Autodeath (Electrostatic Discharge)

{ Undead- The creature is

Immune to Biohazards; it may
have a phobia of priesthood
(or holy symbols) or an
Achilles Heel vs. Objective
Morality, or a particular
substance or damage type
listed in its profile. Spirits
often have an Achilles Heel
related to a Summoning Focus
or Materialization Focus

Modified Unarmed Attack- In theory

a person could do E=1+1/4S with a
regular attack instead of M=S. This
is typical of a person who has a
Knack for Martial Arts. A
Killer/Monster with a Flawless or
Hyped Unarmed Attack could do
1+1/2S, or it could change it to A
with Finesse, or add a point of
damage with Looks Good On Camera.

{ Spiky Bits- The creature is

using something like a horn, claw, hoof, etc rather than a fist or foot. It is
Hyped at the very least, and may also be a Finesse attack. A Monster with
Spiky Bits also has Red Flags.
Off-screen Teleportation- A Killer/Monster that goes off-screen for even a second
can instantly appear anywhere else, No matter how impossible it is for them to go
from Point A to Point B in the time given, much less doing so without crossing the
camera's field of view or making a sound, they will get there. The killer will know
exactly where his victim is running to and be waiting for him before he even gets
there. Mechanically, this means that during the Killer/Monster’s turn, it acts
normally, but may decide who he is adjacent to at the beginning of its next turn.
Whoever it is will need to Defend against an immediate attack. This is one of those
powers that the horror villain loses as he goes through victims and starts to
approach the final characters. Every foe the Killer/Monster has killed causes it
to have -5 to attacks that make use of this ability (although normal attacks
function normally). Players be wary: the DM can just say every Killer/Monster has
this one.

He can also teleport dead victims to a separate location of his choosing, for Cheap
Shots at another character’s Morale, provided that either the character didn’t see
the adversary kill the victim, or that the corpse hasn’t already lost its Morale
shredding potential. Zombies and other equally appropriate creatures don’t have
the ability to teleport corpses to that end, but their ability to infect causes
morale loss when a party member sees a fallen friend. Having to kill that fallen
friend invokes the Frightful Sight a second time.

Poison Attack- The Killer/Monster

has a slow toxin that damages its
victim at a rate of 1 point per Act
until it is either cured, or the
victim dies. The DM determines the
cure, and also may make poisons have
finite durations if this is preferred.

{ Rapid Poison- The poison works

fast enough to kill the target in a
single combat, and deals damage each
turn instead. The initial attack
takes -10.

Psychic Connection- The

Killer/Monster has an innate connection with the mind of the target. The
Killer/Monster may inject thoughts into the character's head, and even speak if
the connection is sufficiently strong.

{ Dream Mastery- The Killer/Monster has advanced control over the psychic
connection he has with the target, and can invade their dreams. He can
control others' perceptions, link dreams, possess people, control his own
healing rate, and theoretically, warp between the dream world, and real
world.
{ Gypsy Curse- Whenever one of the players causes a gypsy anger, she is
vengeful, attacking their very spirit. She doesn't cause them any harm
directly, but puts upon them a malign curse. Once per Act, she can make the
chosen character re-roll a roll they just succeeded and take the lesser
result. If this results in failure, the player can reroll, by paying both 5
Morale and 1 Endurance. A Gypsy Curse always has an Escape Clause. They
must tell the victim what it is, or else it is their deaths. Gypsies who have
made an Infernal Pact with a Demonic Entity live on, and their Escape
Clause must be something else.

{ Illusion- This is much like Dream Mastery, except that people's perceptions
of the real world are what's being controlled. The Illusionist may use this
to force the target to fall into real traps. .

{ Mesmerism- Equivalent to Alien Hypnosis.

Reincarnation- Once the Killer/Monster dies, it will come back for a sequel if it
hasn't been killed off in a particular manner noted in its description. This is
often an Achilles Heel, but not necessarily so.

Regeneration- Any Act in which the Monster/Killer is not killed off, they may
leave the scene. They can regenerate Strength number of Survival points per scene
since they left. If they can regenerate fast enough to do so in the same turn, then
they must have an Achilles Heel, which mitigates regeneration entirely.

{ Vampiric Bite- A different kind of regeneration, a creature with this

regeneration only regenerates from killing foes, and the rate is the damage
they deal (which is E=2+1/2S by default). It is not necessary for the
Killer/Monster to have Regeneration separate from Vampiric Bite, and
Vampiric Bite doesn't cost more points than Regeneration normally would.

{ Regrowth- The creature can restore lost limbs by sacrificing a turn of

Survival regeneration per limb

Sticky- When it attacks, you get Stuck and need to roll Strength to stop the
damage or attack from continually happening.

Swarm Combat- The monster fights in a group, but not effectively for every full
multiple of creatures the swarm has over the party (for example 12 would be a
multiple of 3 against a party of 4) increase their attack by 5. Creatures with
Swarm Combat also have the Strength in Numbers Weakness.

Telekinesis You can move objects with your mind and deal damage with your
Reasoning Attribute. This means that you can replace the attribute of the damage
equation for the weapon with Reasoning. You can also duplicate Environmental
Hazards as Death Itself. Damage is unchanged, but you can only create effects
that are within the scene (not avalanches and the like that start way up that
mountain over there)

Weaknesses
Achilles Heel- A Killer/Monster may have an Achilles Heel for any damage type
discussed above, plus unusual things that don't cause damage on their own, such as
silver, crucifixes, and holy water. If it already deals damage, double it. If not,
damage becomes E=2S or 2A per attack/round (Assume S=1 for environmental
hazards) as appropriate for the particular object.

{ Auto-death- The monster is automatically killed without any need to

calculate damage. Some Auto-deaths are obvious, such as the need to
decapitate a zombie. Others are variations on a standard theme. For example,
some vampires might have a Steak to the Heart as Auto-death.

{ Cold Blooded- Temperatures over 100 or below 40 deal E=1 per hour, and
actions you take in these conditions require you to make two rolls and use
the lesser. If you don't roll, use 3x Attribute rather than 5x attribute to
calculate static statistics.

Belief Made Manifest- The victim must realize they are imagining or dreaming
things in order for the Killer/Monster to die. Once this happens, the victim needs
to symbolically defeat the Killer/Monster in order to win the Massacre.
Furthermore, once this happens, the killer can't use any of its abilities on the
victim if it couldn't do so in the real world. A special form of this Weakness
exists that allows oppositional Objective Morality to banish the creature.

Can't Use a Sense- Often the creature's

inability with a particular sense empowers
another. This is still a Weakness even
though it provides an advantage.

Easily Distracted- The Killer/Monster has

a critical inability to focus on anything
else in a scene, which contains the object
of its obsession. Advantages or
disadvantages can qualify as Monster
Distractions. For example, a Femme Fatale
may make outright sexual advances with
the jock (character with the highest
Strength, or Throw a Pigsking a Quarter
Mile) rather than just winning him over
with subtle charms. The Machete Killer
might have had a real bitch for a mother
and want someone with an attitude problem
instead of the one that’s likely to be
captured, or perhaps both…
Keystone Army- A Killer/Monster may have been made by another Killer/Monster.
Killing the second may stall additional instances of the first. That is to say, if
you kill the leader, other monsters can't be produced. This may or may not prompt
the additional monsters to die on their own, or it may render them unable to act
on their own except in the fulfillment of primal urges.

Minion- The monster is controlled by another monster. It acts as though it has

been Mesmerized by either the wielder of a facilitating device, or by actual
Mesmerism of another Monster.

No Hands- the monster can’t do things that require fine control, such as opening
doors without ripping them off hinges. This doesn’t prevent them from grappling
their victims however.

Part Time- A Monster can sometimes be a transformed human. They must transform
in certain circumstnaces (like the Night of the Full Moon) and this transformation
takes up at least ¼ of their time. While not in their Monster Form, they don’t have
access to any attack that a normal human would not, and they don’t have any of
their special abilities, or attributes above 5.

Phobia- A Killer/Monster must make a Difficulty 10 Reasoning roll to approach

within 15 feet of something. If forced into contact with this thing, it must make
the same Reasoning roll to avoid becoming paralyzed by fear. It may be the case
that a creature with an Achilles heel is sufficiently resistant to other damage
types that they have the AH as a phobia as well.
Red Flags- A Killer/Monster that is trying to keep its identity secret has some
automatic red flags that identify it for what it is. Examples include No
reflection, No heartbeat/breath, No mortal-brain activity, being exceedingly pale,
having unusual eyes, fangs, and cold body temperature. Three red flags is worth 1
Ability.

Strength in Numbers- A monster may be part of a horde of creatures (1d10+Highest

Charisma creatures) that are not individually, very resilient. Their Survival isn’t
calculated by their Endurance, rather they have 1 point per member of the swarm.
There is a minor upside to this. Single target attacks deal 1/5 their damage
(rounded up) while attacks with a Blast Radius inflict full damage. If Blast
Radius exceeds 15 feet, damage to a swarm equals whatever multiple of 15 is
appropriate (rounded up)

Sample Adversaries
It should be noted that the examples listed below are exactly that... examples. The
DM should feel free to swap out anything he wants for something that better
keeps his image of the game/monster. Furthermore, he should not have a problem
simply adding things on to monsters in groups where the players are inclined to
read this section and claim “That's not the <monster> that's written in the book”.
In the words of Stephen Fry “Well, so fucking what?!”

Alien performing especially intrusive sexual

experiments is common. Mostly they will
not speak at all but they may be
telepathic.
Breeder
S: 3
C: 4
R: 2
E: 3 (Survival 30)
A: 3 (Defense 20)
M:-

Attacks
Claw: E=3, Attack 15
Grapple: E=0 but 1 target can’t do
anything except attempt to escape. Can
only grapple one target at a time;
Despite the fact that Earth is an Attack 15. Each turn, an Oviposition
Insignificant Little Blue Planet, aliens attempt is made
will be obsessed with us in any film Oviposition: E=2x Acts Embedded, Attack
they are involved in. They tend to come 10 (+3 per previous failed defense)
in Flying Saucers, and abduction is Slimy Tentacle: E=3, Attack 15
their primary modus operandi. What
they do with those abducted varies, but
Abilities
Gecko Grip
Regeneration (On Scene)
Knack for Seduction

Weaknesses
Achilles Heel (Something fairly common
on Earth, like water)

Grey
Greys have the same basic body plan as
humans, but they're grey (Sometimes a
muted blue, brown, or green instead),
shorter than an average adult human
with enormous heads with equally huge
black eyes resembling an upside-down-
raindrop. They usually either wear no
clothes or silver spacesuits. Greys are
just as likely to play the savior of
humanity against some other horror
instead of the actual horror itself.
S: 2 Incognito
C: 2 These types are often the kind of alien
R: 5 that results from Breeder or Grey
E: 2 (Survival 20) breeding programs to create
A: 4 (Defense 20) human/alien hybrids (or perhaps from
M:- an incredibly low filming budget).
Their cranial region is not distended as
Attacks other aliens, and they hide their eyes
Medium Laser Pistol: E=4, Attack 20 behind sunglasses. In fact, the
Holographic Display: Attack 25 vs. Incognito Alien tends to look something
Hidden Death Itself effect. like a stereotypical MIB/Federal Agent.
S: 3
Abilities C: 5
Knack for Flight R: 2
Knack for Alien Tech E: 2 (Survival 20)
Regeneration (On Scene) A: 3 (Defense 15)
Telekinesis M:-
Weaknesses Attacks
Achilles Heel (Something fairly common Use the attacks of the creature the
on Earth) Incognito is mimicking (such as Femme
Fatale or Killer Cop) recalculate
Attack and Damage as necessary.
Oviposition: E=2xActs Embedded in Fighter Jets. Unless it's protected by
Victim, Attack 25 vs. Reasoning or the mothership,
Strength (if restrained) S: 5
Telekinesis: E=Varies, Attack 10 C: -
R: -
E: 5 (Survival 50)
A: 5 (Defense 25)
M:-

Attacks
Laser Weapon: E=5, Attack 25

Abilities
Armor 2 (4 Damage)

Weaknesses
Mechanical
Attacks expose "fuel" source

Advancement/Other Info

Mothership
Abilities This houses several flying saucers, plus
Knack for Bluffing a Tractor Beam, and a program to
Knack for Seduction Control Weather.
Regeneration (On Scene) S: 5
Blend In: E=0, Attack 25 C: -
R: -
Weaknesses E: 5 (Survival 50)
Achilles Heel (Something fairly common A: 3 (Defense 15)
on Earth, often water.) M:-

Advancement/Other Info Attacks

It’s common for Incognito Aliens to gain Laser Weapon: E=5, Attack 25
human skills, which are represented by Tractor Beam: E=0, Pulls targets within
a larger list of Knacks. Like humans, 50 yard radius to ship at 5 yards per
they can also gain attacks in the form turn.
of mundane weapons. In theory they
could modify their genetics directly to Abilities
create some of the more unusual attacks. Armor 2 (4 Damage)
Control Weather (Radius based on Grey
Flying Saucer or Reptilian)
These ships are flown by aliens. Often
they're flown in a full on post
apocalypse, but perhaps just as
frequently they're easily taken out by
Weaknesses Angel
Mechanical
Attacks expose "fuel" source

Reptilians
Everyone who is anyone knows
Reptilians (also called reptoids, lizard
people, reptiloids, saurians, draconians,
etc.) are shape-shifting reptilian aliens,
hell bent on controlling Earth by
taking on human form and gaining
political power to manipulate human
societies. It's often stated that many
world leaders are, or are possessed by, Although it is quite rare for Angels,
so-called reptilians. who are traditional Servants of God to
S: 3 go bad, it can occur. Normally they
C: 3 degenerate into demons (such as Satan
R: 2 did) but a few remain angels despite
E: 5 (Survival 50) their fall from grace or may never
A: 2 (Defense 10) fallen from grace at all but serve some
M:- role that puts them in conflict with
the protagonists.
Attacks S: 3
Cloaking: Attack 10 C: 4
Grapple: E=0 but 1 target can’t do R: 3
anything except attempt to escape. Can E: 3 (Survival 30)
only grapple one target at a time; A: 2 (Defense 10)
Attack 15. M:-
Hypnosis: Attack 15
Memory Wipe: Attack 15 Attacks
Pitchfork: E=5, Attack 25 Lightbringer Sword Smite: E=10
Trip: E=0, but the opponent is knocked (Objective Morality: Good), Attack 20
down and must either spend the next (has Hype and Looks Good on Camera.)
turn getting up or fight prone. May be Holy Judgment: E=8 (Blast Radius 15),
combined with appropriate Death Itself Attack 20
Effects; Attack 15.
Abilities
Abilities Immunity to Everything (except
Knack for Alien Tech Objective Morality: Evil)
Regrowth Knack for Swordsmanship
Weaknesses Weaknesses
Cold Blooded Achilles Heel (Damage from Objective
Morality: Evil)
Butcher insects. The movie Cheerleader Massacre
2 features a few Robotic Critters whose
attacks are all Hyped by the robots
being government experiments. This
increases their damage by 2+1/2 S.
S: 1
C: 2
R: 2
E: 1 (Survival depends on Members)
A: 5 (Defense 25)
M:-

Attacks
Depends on the Critter. Critters all
have Swarm Combat, so they get +5 per
S: 6 multiple by which they outnumber the
C: 1 party.
R: 2
E: 4 (Survival 40) Abilities
A: 2 (Defense 10) Swarm Combat
M:-

Attacks
Cleaver: E=5, Attack 30
Meat Hook: E=6, Attack 30

Abilities
Armor 1 (2 points, Leather Apron)
Immune to Bullets
Knack for Butchery

Advancement/Other Info Weaknesses

A Butcher isn't necessarily a cannibal, Strength In Numbers
but is likely to be one. If this is the Rats
case, increase Strength by 1, and damage Bite: E=1, Attack 5 Possibly Infectious
for both weapons. A Lumberjack wears if it’s a were-rat, or a carrier for the
hides instead of a leather apron but Zombie Virus.
both stop 2 points of damage. Adding
either before the Butcher advances Scorpion
results in a weakness, which varies. Pincer Attack: E=1, Attack 5
Stinger: E=2, +1 per Act, Attack 3
Critter
This represents any number of little Spider
Creepy Crawlies, usually in Swarm Poison Bite: E=2 +1 per Act, Attack 5
formation, but maybe they are
encountered individually. They don’t
strictly have to be natural animals or
Death Itself Stuck, Attack (Difficulty of fleeing the
scene safely+5)

Deadfall
Ideally this attack is used for falling
from great heights like high up walls
or cliff faces. E=(Height/10), Attack
(Height/2). For Spikes E=(Height/5),
Attack= Height.

Defenestrated
This is defined by being thrown
through a window. However for our
purposes, it will work for being thrown
through any sort of glass panel and
being impaled by the shards. The
frequency of glass shard deaths in
Perhaps it’s better if death isn’t an horror indicates they should be
Entity with any attributes, defense, or difficult to avoid, and pretty much
survival ability at all, merely a list lethal. E=6, Attack 30.
of environmental circumstances
proposed as attacks, each with a varied Derailed
score depending on the likelihood of
evasion? These will be either direct
weapon attacks, or based on such, with
attacks resolved based on a roll of 3-7x
damage. Alternately as low as 1 point
for “Damage Per Round” effects

Attacks
Avalanche/Rock Slide
This represents an environmental shift
on a scale much greater than any
Whenever you are stuck on a train
common shifty rocks. The sheer area it
track, and you are about to get hit by
takes up makes it considerably
a train. If within a vehicle, divide
difficult to avoid. E=5, Attack 15 to
damage evenly amongst passengers the
start. Avalanches more than 50 feet
vehicle holds. If you’re inside the train,
across should probably add +1 Damage
only count those in your compartment
and +5 Attack for every +10 feet.
E=60, Attack 30-(Starting Distance/5)
feet
Bear Trap
No further damage, but roll Strength
Environmental Noose
each round to escape. After escape,
This attack is used for people who
victim is at -2 Agility until you splint
inadvertently get caught on or in
or put a cast on the leg (both reduce
something that restricts their
penalty to -1) and get crutches. E=1 and
breathing significantly, such as wires add huge amounts of damage (on the
or a shower curtain. E=1 or M=5 and order of 900 or so, divided among
Stuck (Attacks each round until escape everything in the area), and Blast
at the same difficulty), Attack 7. Radius, but it’s more interesting to just
change the Attack to 30.

Hung Out to Dry

General impalement; this is anything
from being speared by a tree to being
hanged on wall mounted deer antlers.
E=7, Attack 20. If you add a Deadfall,
add +10 to Attack, and +2 to damage.

Log Jam
This represents either having a huge
pole or tree fall onto you, or the
famous Final Destination scene of
A Deadfall or Slick Floor/Shifty Rocks having it slammed end first into you.
adds +(Victim Strengthx5) to Attack, and E=6, Attack 25
+(the higher of Victim Strength or
Endurance) to E Damage (but removes Scenic Pincushion
resistance per round).

Faulty Wiring
Any bare wire can cause a mean bite. E=2
Attack 10 for regular 110 volt wires,
E=2 and Stuck, Attack 20 for 220 volt
wires.

Add a point for partial submersion in

water (except explicitly distilled
water, which has little or no impurities
and pure water is actually dialectric).
Add 2 points for full submersion in
such water.

E=5 and Stuck for power lines and

stations, you never touch those
deliberately, so Attack would be based Circumstances where you would be
on whoever threw you into them. prodded violently with something in
Driving into a power pole and breaking the surrounding scene are rare outside
the line causes damage to be divided having it physically done to you by an
among everyone who is in the vehicle. individual with intent, but random
freak events can occur, and aren’t
Gas Grilled typically as bad as being Hung Out to
E=9, Attack 25, Blast Radius 90 feet. In Dry. E=4, Attack 15
theory, a tanker truck explosion should
Slick Floor or Shifty Rocks dreams into the physical world are
either Masters of Illusion or Reality
Warpers, depending on whether they
actually change things or just make it
look like so.
S: 2
C: 4
R: 2
E: 4 (Survival 40)
A: 3 (Defense 15)
M:-

Attacks
Clawed Glove: E=7, Attack 15

Abilities
Immune to Bullets
E=1 or M=5, Attack=5. Adding Scenic Psychic Connection with Anyone
Pincushion adds +10 to Attack, and +2 to --Dream Mastery
Damage. Agricultural Equipment such as Reincarnation
a Combine or Wood Chipper adds +25
Attack and +5 Damage. Porcelain
Furniture adds +4 damage, and +25
Attack, and is mutually exclusive with
Agricultural Equipment.

Viral Infection
E=1 per Act until either the victim dies,
or finds The Cure, Attack 7xAct. This
could be delivered by food, pollution,
or a deliberate act of terrorism. Other
times it may be the origin of Zombies or
other Infectious creatures. Though the
infection oftentimes has a mind of its
own, it’s not usually killable in the
traditional sense.

Dream Weaver
They can send you into Your Worst
Nightmare. They can trap you in a
Weaknesses
Dream Within a Dream, because dreams
Belief Made Manifest nullifies Psychic
are their domain. They are a Dream
Connection, Dream Mastery, and
Weaver.
Reincarnation for everyone who is a
Sometimes they can give prophetic
nonbeliever. His gloves also only do 4
dreams or act as a means of
points in the real world. (note that the
communication. Those who bring their
fact that all of his powers shut down
if no one believes in him is sufficient Hellfire: E=8 (Blast Radius 15)
cause for him to be a little OP when he
does have access to powers.) Abilities
Knack for Fighting
Demon Demonic Immunity

Weaknesses
Achilles Heel (Damage from Objective
Morality: Good)

Advancement/Other Info
The DM may represent a lesser demon
that can’t manifest physically by
giving them Mesmerism instead of
immunity. A particularly powerful
demon may have both. Lesser Demons can
be banished by significantly powerful
Demons, also called Devils or Daemons, Objective Good.
are malevolent spirits, normally
possessing supernatural abilities and Evil Clown
influence that originate from spiritual A truly good clown is supposed to be a
and/or alien realms. In some mythos, Friend to All Children. But for some,
they are created from corrupted human clowns awaken some primal fear.
souls that have endured extensive
torture in Hell other demons (who in
turn were tortured by others, and so on
until the first demon, which is often
either Lilith, or the Fallen Angel
Lucifer). In this process, they become
corrupted, extremely evil, and also
very powerful. Weaker demons require a
Vessel to walk the earth (functionally
equivalent to using Mesmerism to create
another kind of Killer/Monster)
S: 4
C: 4
R: 2
E: 3 (Survival 30)
A: 2 (Defense 10)
M:-
S: 3
C: 3
Attacks
R: 4
Demon Claw: E=3, Attack 25
E: 3 (Survival 30)
Demon Horns: E=4, Attack 20
A: 4 (Defense 20)
Demonic Pike/Trident/etc.: E=8 (Objective
M:-
Morality: Evil), Attack 25 (has Hype and
Looks Good on Camera.)
Attacks Femme Fatale is sexy and she knows it.
Acid Lapel Flower: E=2, Attack 20 Made famous by Film Noir and hard-
Butcher's Knife/Cleaver: E=5, Attack 15 boiled detective stories, she has a
Huge Mallet: E=5, Attack 15 place in Schlock Horror too.
Pie Bomb: E=4, Attack 20 S: 2
Razor Teeth: E=3, Attack 15 C: 4
R: 1
Abilities E: 3 (Survival 30)
Knack for Acrobatics A: 4 (Defense 20)
Knack for Cleavers M:-
Knack for Traps
Knack for Sleight of Hand Attacks
Switchblade Pocket Knife: E=4, Attack
Weaknesses 20
Easily Distracted (Other personalities) Derringer: E=3, Attack 20
A very famous one was Belief Made Martial Art: E=3, Attack 10
Manifest.
Abilities
Advancement/Other Info Knack for Martial Arts
The Evil Clown may transform into a Flawless Unarmed Attack that Looks
full blown Monster Clown. The most Good On Camera
common advancements are Psychic Sacrifice Clothing
Connection, and abilities derived from
it (particularly Illusion), but also Weaknesses
immunities, and potentially Easily Distracted (wants the Jock)
Regeneration and Reincarnation. Belief
Made Manifest, and Achilles Heels often Advancement/Other Info
accompany such advanced Evil Clowns. The Femme Fatale may not be able to do
Martial Arts, in which case she has a
Femme Fatale Knack for Poisons. If this is the case,
she has a poison in her lipstick: E=3
Attack 20.

Gender Roles for Killers: The

Femme Fatale represents a more
human foe that falls into a
somewhat narrow Niche. For those
where gender is a notable
distinction, the female variant of
a male adversary gains +1 Charisma,
but suffers -1 to Strength and the
male variant of a female
A beautiful, seductive, but ultimately adversary gains the opposite. If
villainous, woman… First, she turns you are offended by the idea of a
you on. Then, she turns on you. You know female not being afforded the
the type: Dressed all in black with legs same stats as a male, then I put it
up to here and shady motives. The
 to you: Why you haven’t already
been offended by everything else?
More to the point, most
levelheaded readers probably
understand that while they can
have the same stats as a man, they
usually don't.

Killer Cop
A member of law enforcement who also
engages in murder, this person's
motivations may range anywhere from Advancement/Other Info
monetary gain to exacting a form of Killer Cops often have Kevlar, SWAT, or
street justice. Either way, expect this EOD armor. They are most likely to buy
person to be much more dangerous than up Strength, Agility, Endurance, and
your average killer. Also, their murders Reasoning, not being overly concerned
are usually committed for a reason with Charisma. Typical soldiers and
other than to maintain a cover identity. federal agents probably have some 4s
(Well, at least one hopes an undercover in that mix. Elite units like SEALs and
officer doesn't go to those lengths.) government trained Assassins probably
S: 3 have at least one 5. Both have Knacks
C: 3 that regular people don't have access
R: 3 to.
E: 3 (Survival 30)
A: 3 (Defense 15) Killer Hillbillies
M:- Often they are so drunk that they can
just about shoot a shotgun or swing a
Attacks chainsaw, The liquor also makes them a
Submachine Gun: E=6, Attack 20 bit stronger. They swap their Weakness
9mm Pistol: E=3, Attack 20 for Easily Distracted (Sexual
Suppressor: +5 Attack with a firearm, -1 Perversity of all kinds). Their scores
damage. Causes Red Flag (Dirty Cop) if look like this:
witnessed. S: 5
Night Stick E=3, Attack 20 C: 1
Vehicular Combat: E=8, Attack 15 R: 1
E: 5 (Survival 50)
Abilities A: 5 (Defense 25)
Knack for Martial Arts M:-
Knack for Batons
Knack for Firearms Attacks
Immunity to Bullets (or sometimes Chainsaw: E=8, Attack 25
Undead) Sawed Off: E=8, Attack 30
Tacticool Hunting Rifle: E=13, Attack 30
Weaknesses Medium Caliber Pistol: E=3, Attack 20
Easily Distracted (People Committing Vehicular Combat: E=8, Attack 15
Other Crimes)
Abilities Machete: E=7 (Looks Good On Camera),
Knack for Firearms Attack 25

Weaknesses Abilities
Easily Distracted (Sexual Perversity of Immune to Bullets
all kinds) Knack for Swords
Reincarnation (Often stopped by Own
Machete Killer Weapon, Destroying Gear, or
Cremation/Fire)

Weaknesses
Phobia (Something from the past)

Advancement/Other Info
Having Reincarnation tends to permit a
Machete Killer to grow and evolve.
Typical advancements involve
additional immunities, Endurance, and
loss of his phobia. If a character
survived a previous Massacre with the
monster, they may gain a psychic
connection with that character. The
same goes for any descendants of the
character. Another variant of this type
of killer probably made possible by
The most noteworthy example is Jason people who wanted to avoid copyright
Voorhees, who is primarily motivated by infringement is the Chainsaw Killer.
his own mother's killing spree, and the Add a Chainsaw Attack that deals +1
fact that the camp counselors were too damage more than the Machete attack.
busy getting frisky to stop him from
drowning. Other such killers often have Mad Doctor
motivations similarly lacking in nuance.
S: 4
C: 1
R: 2
E: 6 (Survival 60)
A: 2 (Defense 10)
M:-

Attacks
Improvised Weapon (one handed shove):
E=As appropriate Death Itself option,
Attack 20
Improbable Weapon (two handed pin): There's just something inherently
E=As appropriate Death Itself option, creepy about medical doctors. Their
Attack 20 profession centers on offal, blood and
bones and they don't even flinch. This placed, what they're doing, or even
guy uses his knowledge of the workings simply how they're lit. They may even
of the body (or mind) to do evil, abuses be the antagonist or be used by the
the authority of his doctorate, and antagonist. Despite how ridiculous a
practices freakish and horrific doll trying to kill people should be,
experiments. it's still seen as quite frightening. A
S: 3 similar idea lies behind the Demonic
C: 2 Dummy and Scary Scarecrows.
R: 5 S: 1
E: 3 (Survival 30) C: 3
A: 4 (Defense 20) R: 3
M:- E: 3 (Survival 30)
A: 5 (Defense 25)
Attacks M:-
Scalpel: E=5, Attack 25
Sleep Syringe: E=1+Sleep, Attack 25 Attacks
Biohazard Syringe: E=1 per Act, Butcher Knife: E=3, Attack 25
Resistible, Attack 25 Tripped Up: Attack 25, or suffer damage
appropriate to a nearby environmental
Abilities hazard
Improved Attributes (17 points rather
than 15) Abilities
Knack for Medicine Undead Immunities
Knack for Poisons
Weaknesses
Weaknesses Subject to Exorcism
Easily Distracted ( Disfiguring Female
Characters, Gloating, and Motive Rants) Possessed Vehicle
All Possessed Vehicles are Subject to
Possessed Doll/Puppet Exorcism. Possessed vehicles don't
"advance" as often whenever their
purpose is served, whatever entity
possessed them just moves on. Sometimes
the entity uses the vehicle's carnage to
increase its own power.
Combine Harvester/Wood Chipper
S: 8
C: -
R: -
In horror, dolls are often used as part E: 5 (Survival 50)
of the scenery to help establish the A: 2 (Defense 14)
mood, even providing a theme for The M:-
Doll Episode. Like clowns, what should
be a silly, innocent bit of childhood
fun can make a scene ironically
unnerving, depending on where they're
Attacks Sports Car
Meat Harvest: E=8, Attack 6 (unless
someone else throws them in)
Mechanical Immunities
Up in Flames: E=5, Blast Radius 15 feet.
Attack “Kills” the vehicle, or happens
automatically if the target shoots the
Gas Tank

Abilities
Armor 3 (6 points) S: 5
C: -
Mower R: -
Combine Harvester/Wood Chipper E: 3 (Survival 30)
S: 4 A: 8 (Defense 40)
C: - M:-
R: -
E: 5 (Survival 50) Attacks
A: 5 (Defense 25) Hit and Run: E=8, Attack 24
M:- Mechanical Immunities
Up in Flames: E=3, Blast Radius 15 feet.
Attacks Attack “Kills” the vehicle, or happens
Meat Harvest: E=5, Attack 15 automatically if the target Shoots the
Mechanical Immunities Gas Tank.
Rock Toss: E=1, Attack 25. The mower can Windshield Cannon: E=9, Attack 40, but
toss things besides rocks, such as the seatbelt wearers suffer as Hit and Run
limbs of recent victims. instead.
Up in Flames: E=5, Blast Radius 15 feet.
Attack “Kills” the vehicle, or happens Abilities
automatically if the target shoots the Armor 1 (2 points)
Gas Tank Extra Endurance 1
Knack for Driving
Abilities
Armor 3 (6 points) Truck
S: 6
C: -
R: -
E: 5 (Survival 50)
A: 5 (Defense 25)
M:-

Attacks
Hit and Run: E=6, Attack 25
Up in Flames: E=5, Blast Radius 15 feet.
Attack “Kills” the vehicle, or happens
automatically if the target Shoots the
Gas Tank.
Windshield Cannon: E=7, Attack 30, but
seatbelt wearers suffer as Hit and Run
instead.

Abilities
Armor 2 (4 points)
Enhanced Strength 1
Attacks
Van/SUV Sickle: E=5, Attack 25
S: 7 Scythe: E=6, Attack 25
C: -
R: - Abilities
E: 5 (Survival 50) Immune to Bullets
A: 4 (Defense 20) Knack for Reaping & Sowing
M:- Mesmerism
Psychic Connection
Attacks Reincarnation (Destruction of an item
Hit and Run: E=7, Attack 20 which varies depending on folklore; If
Windshield Cannon: E=8, Attack 35, but players try to look at your notes, you
seatbelt wearers suffer as Hit and Run can always say its spirit is linked to
instead. theirs)

Abilities Weaknesses
Armor 2 (4 points) Achilles Heel (Fire)
Enhanced Agility 1 Red Flags (talking, moving human
shaped hay bale wrapped in leather
Scarecrow and burlap)
For the most part, scarecrows just stand
there and never cause anyone any harm. Vampire
Sometimes however, scarecrow is made Like zombies, only faster, stronger, and
into a Monster by sacrificing a human smarter. They suck blood, and may spend
to a nearby spirit that inhabits the a lot of time angsting about it. Usually
effigy. If the spirit gets powerful highly attractive, and both genders
enough, restless, and greedy, it may tend to be somewhat... festive. Dislikes
suddenly become ambulatory and seek holy stuff, bright light and pointy
suitable sacrifices on its own sticks.
S: 6
S: 4 C: 3
C: 1 R: 3
R: 2 E: 5 (Survival 50)
E: 4 (Survival 40) A: 5 (Defense 25)
A: 4 (Defense 20) M:-
M:-
Attacks
Vampire Claw (Unarmed Hyped Flawless for a vampire in a game that features
attack): E=7 Attack 30 Supernatural Advantages. This monster
Vampire Bite E=5+Regenerate or by default already runs that risk, but
5+Infection, Attack 30 luckily, it has loads of weaknesses.

Vengeful Gypsy
S: 2
C: 5
R: 3
E: 2 (Survival 20)
A: 3 (Defense 15)
M:-

Attacks
None per se... But she does have a
worrying habit of making the players
Abilities fail rolls and spend Endurance and
Immunity to Bullets except Achilles Morale.
Heels
Infectious Abilities
Undead Gypsy Curse
Vampiric Bite Knack for Séances
Psychic Connection (one of the meaner
Weaknesses characters)
Achilles Heels (Hawthorn Wood, Silver,
UV Radiation (E=2/Round),) Weakness
Auto-deaths (Decapitation, fire, wooden The Gypsy is a normal human with the
stake to the heart) allotted number of abilities before
Phobias (Garlic/Holy Symbols/Water) needing a weakness; therefore she
Red Flags (No reflection, No doesn't have any particular weakness.
heartbeat/breath, No brain activity, Her age and decrepitude are
being exceedingly pale, having unusual represented by lower physical stats
eyes, fangs, and cold body temperature.) and need no other such representation.
If she's young, you could increase those
Advancement/Other Info by 1, drop Charisma by 1, count that as
This is the bare bones “modern horror an extra Ability, and give her a
film generic” vampire. Named older distraction for particularly attractive
vampires probably have more powerful members of her preferred gender.
attacks, along with telepathy, shape-
shifting, limited flight, control over Wendigo
animals and the weather, the ability to A Wendigo is a half-beast creature
scale walls, and other gifts. Getting too appearing in the legends of the
magic happy with this monster already Algonquian peoples along the Atlantic
runs the risk of outstripping the party. Coast and Great Lakes Region of both
Mesmerism in particular is a risky the United States and Canada. The
addition to the template, but fitting creature or spirit could either possess
characteristics of a human or a monster Keystone Army (It may or may not be the
that had physically transformed from a case that killing the Wendigo that
person. It is particularly associated initiated the curse when there are no
with cannibalism. The Algonquian other Wendigoes will result in the
believed those who indulged in eating final defeat of all Wendigoes.)
human flesh were at particular risk;
the legend appears to have reinforced Advancement/Other Info
the taboo against the practice of This particular Wendigo is the one from
cannibalism. It is often described in Until Dawn, which strongly implies that
Algonquian mythology as a balance of The Makkapitew's presence propagates
nature. the curse. If the DM would like to draw
inspiration from elsewhere, he can vary
The legend lends its name to the the abilities as he wishes.
disputed modern medical term Wendigo
psychosis. This is supposed to be a Werewolf
culture-bound disorder that features
symptoms such as an intense craving for
human flesh and a fear the sufferer is
a cannibal. The Wendigo legend has
inspired a number of derived
characters commonly found in modern
horror fiction.
S: 4
C: 1
R: 1
E: 5 (Survival 50)
A: 4 (Defense 20)
M:-

Attacks
Claw/Bite: E=7, Attack 20 Far and away the most popular concept
is that a werewolf is a human who has
Abilities somehow acquired the ability to
Armor 2 (4 points destroyed by Achilles transform (willingly or otherwise) into
Heel) a wolf. Popular methods include a Viral
Hyped Claw Transformation after being bitten by a
Reincarnation (possess a cannibal. Death previous werewolf, but there are many
by Makkapitew stops it, as does killing possible causes, ranging from simply
Makkapitew) being born that way, belonging to a
Wall Clinging distinct species, infectious condition,
passed on to any surviving victim of a
Weaknesses werewolf attack, Black Magic, making a
Achilles Heel (Fire) Deal with the Devil, or a Curse.
Can't use regular vision (motion vision S: 6
only) C: 3
R: 3
E: 5 (Survival 50) Voodoo in older works and The Virus in
A: 5 (Defense 25) newer ones, all it wants to do is eat
M:- your brains. I mean, no one's gonna eat
your eyes.
Attacks Default Zombie
Werewolf Claw (Unarmed Hyped Flawless S: 5
attack): E=7 Attack 30 C: 2
Werewolf Bite 5+Infection, Attack 30 R: 2
E: 5 (Survival Based on Members)
Abilities A: 1 (Defense 5)
Immunity to Bullets except Achilles M:-
Heels
Infectious Attacks
Regeneration except Achilles Heels Bite: E=2+Infection, Attack 20
Claw: E=2, Attack 25
Weaknesses
Part Time (Only at night, must occur Abilities
during full moon) Immunity to Bullets (except Headshots)
Achilles Heels (Fire, Mistletoe, Silver, Infectious
Wolfsbane (E=2/round),) Swarm Combat
Auto-deaths (Decapitation, fire) Undead
Red Flags (No reflection, No
heartbeat/breath, No brain activity, Weaknesses
being exceedingly pale, having unusual Auto-death- (Head Shots)
eyes, fangs, and cold body temperature.) Strength in Numbers

Zombie Advancement/Other Info

A Smart zombie can open doors and
windows for sure, and if it drove a
vehicle or shot a firearm in its
occupation, it retains those abilities.

Not Technically Dead zombies may

replace inappropriate abilities with
Armor levels, each of which lowers
damage against it by 2 points.

Deplorable Zombie
(I had this idea while I was looking
Just ordinary, run-of-the-mill walking over a list of Stock Characters on
corpses. Slow (usually... see TVtropes and came across the Dark
Advancement/Other Info), weak Messiah. It could not be more
(comparatively...), mostly blind (unless appropriate now that Trump is the
they aren't), and stupid (at first...). President, that his supporters all
Surprisingly squishy, but they don't morph into zombies. They moan
really notice. Burn 'em if you can, and "Truuuuuuuuump" instead of brains,
don't get bitten. Made with Hollywood
and the worst part? They infect people
by grabbing them, and whispering part Smart Zombie
of a Stock Phrase into their ears. S: 4
“Blood coming out of her whatever." C: 2
“Build a Wall." R: 4
“Fake News!" E: 4 (Survival Based on Members)
“Grab them by the pussy.” A: 1 (Defense 5)
“I am the least racist.” M:-
“I like people that weren't captured."
“I love beautiful women." Smart, Fast
“It's gonna be yuge!" S: 4
“Let me tell you..." C: 1
“Long and beautiful..." R: 3
“My IQ is one of the highest" E: 3 (Survival based on members)
“They bring in crime." A: 4 (Defense 20)
“They bring in drugs." M:-
“They’re rapists."
“Two words-Big Business."
“We have stupid people."
S: 4
C: 4
R: 1
E: 3 (Survival based on members)
A: 4 (Defense 20)
M:-

Attacks
Mind Numbing Grapple: M=20 Mesmerism,
Attack 25. Victim transforms into
Consumerism Zombie.
Claw: E=2, Attack 25

Abilities
Mesmerism
Swarm Combat
Attacks
Weaknesses Bite: E=2+Infection, Attack 20
Strength in Numbers Claw: E=2, Attack 25

Fast Zombie Abilities

S: 5 Immunity to Bullets (except Headshots)
C: 1 Infectious
R: 1 Swarm Combat
E: 4 (Survival Based on Members) Undead
A: 4 (Defense 20)
M:- Weaknesses
Auto-death- (Head Shots or decapitation) Not Technically Dead zombies may
Strength in Numbers replace inappropriate abilities with
Armor levels, each of which lowers
Advancement/Other Info damage against it by 2 points.
A Smart zombie can open doors and
windows for sure, and if it drove a Sex zombies would be identical to Smart
vehicle or shot a firearm in its Zombies except for the minor quibble
occupation, it retains those abilities. that their infection is through their
sexual fluids rather than their bite.

Nameless Victims and other Extras

Victims in horror movies rarely have actual names as such, but are often
categorized by what they have a Knack for. Where Stats matter, they’re all 2,
except Morale, which is 10 unless otherwise stated (yes, they have half the morale
they should have by default. They're not heroes...). If they don’t have a have a
Knack for something, they effectively roll 6 (rolling 3 per dice) for those tasks,
if they do, it’s a 10 (5 per dice), Extra Talented roll 14 (rolling 7 per dice).

Absent-Minded Professor Blue Collar Worker Creepy Mortician

Extra Talented in relevant Knack for his occupation Knack for Funeral Prep
subject; ability to teach is Could be a coroner in a
not required. Hairdresser really small town
Knack for Hair
Accidental Pervert Creepy Twins
Knack for Stealth. Cheerleader Knack for Intimidation
Knack for Cheerleading
Angry Black Man Crusty Caretaker
Knack for Intimidation. Has Church Militant Knack for Groundskeeping
20 Morale. Knack for Religion
Dark Messiah
Antagonistic Governor Coroner Knack for Seduction
Extra Talented in Politics Knack for Surgical
Forensics Detective/PI
Asian Store Owner Knack for Interrogation
Knack for Math (usually Cowboy Cop and Extra Talented in
extra talented) Extra Talented in Firearms Firearms
Has 30 Morale.
Babysitter Doctor
Knack for Childcare. Cranky Neighbor Knack for Medicine and
Knack for Landscaping Pharmacy
Bartender
Extra Talented in Carousing Cranky Landlord Doting Parent
Knack for Streetwise Knack for Persuasion
Biker Extra Talented for
Knack for Motorcycles and Creepy Gas Station Persuading their Children
Melee Combat. Attendant/Mechanic (Rolling 10 or 14
Knack for Mechanics respectively)
Fanservice Extra Has 20 Morale. Is often led
Knack for Seduction. Inventor by a Sgt. Rock
Typically comes in the Knack for Engineering, and
following flavors: Mechanics. Sgt. Rock
Farmer's Daughter Never lets his men do what
Foreign Fanservice Lawyer he is unwilling to. Extra
Hard-Drinking Party Girl Knack for Law (usually Talented in Firearms
Lovable Sex Maniac telling players what they has 30 Morale.
Sexy Nurse inherited and so forth)
Southern Belle Reporter
Each might have some other Librarian Extra Talented in
knack or an advantage. Knack for Research and Persuasion
Federal Agent Alertness.
Extra Talented in Firearms Shrink
Has 30 Morale Old Timer Knack for Psychology,
Knack for Applied though even with collegiate
Forest Ranger Meteorology. Lower Agility training, skill level varies.
Knack for Firestarting and higher Reasoning (but
nobody ever listens anyway). Student
Gravedigger/Robber Up to the DM how much. Pick one subject they have
Knack for Excavation a Knack for
Open-Minded Parent
Haunted House Historian Knack for Carousing Surfer
Knack for History, though Knack for Surfing, possibly
usually only applicable to Pervert Dad also skateboarding
the haunted house. Knack for Seduction
Teammate
The Hermit Psycho Supporter Lesser skilled friends of
He probably has a Knack Knack for Religion or The Jock. Knack for Sports.
for any number of obscure Occult
things. White Collar Worker
Redshirt Cavalry Knack for something that
The Igor (Not usually wearing red, or requires lots of cubicle
Extra Talented in Surgery in the Cavalry) sitting.
Ugly Knack for Tactics and
Is exempt from Fear due to Firearms
being a Killer Underling.
 Alternate Rules and Modes of
Play
Character Creation and Dice Mechanics
Attribute Randomization
Instead of taking 15 points, players might start with 3d10 points, or roll 1d10/2
for each Attribute (other than Morale). In any case, starting attributes shouldn’t
go above 5.

Chilly Luck
If the DM and/or the players don’t like the lethality of the game, they may place
one more stopgap in the game where the party has a Luck pool of dice each session
equal to the number of players in the party when the game started. At any time, a
player may take any number of dice from the luck pool and roll them in addition
to what they already rolled. 1 dice may be added back into the pool upon a
character’s death, or a scene of Gratuitous Nudity (Perhaps 2 for a fanservice
death).

Resistance is Futile
This method is somewhere in between default play, and Hard Mode, in that using it
makes the game harder, but it doesn’t particularly go faster. The default rule is
that you can either spend Endurance or Morale (as well as having genre
appropriate mishaps) to minimize the personal risk of an encounter with the
Killer/Monster by temporarily bypassing the event in exchange for willingly
suffering physically or mentally. Normally this is at no additional consequence
to you, however with this mechanic in play, characters who suffer Endurance
losses will take -1d10 to rolls per point of Endurance lost, due to being hurt and
confused at the world.

Less Nuisance Rolls

If dice rolling for every Mundane or Easy task gets too tedious, the DM and
victims can bypass them with this rule. Whenever a player could succeed on a task
with a roll of all 3s, they can ignore the requirement for a roll. This can even
occur if another player rolls against them, and happens to roll less than 3x their
relevant score.

Modes
Death Itself
The Final Destination series centers on the plots of Death, the cosmic entity that
is a harbinger of a soul's life ending. Death always wins, regardless of what those
on Death's list do to spite it. Given that nobody lives forever, no survivor can
elude Death indefinitely. This type of game revolves around finding out who is on
Death's List at the time, and preferably in what order so that death may be
stopped… for a time. The primary reason to retain the Acts is because the
difficulty of evading maleficent environmental hazards is tied into what Act the
players are in.

Game Show
In the movie Slashers (2001), there was a dystopian scenario that permitted the
producers of a Japanese game show to sic serial killers on contestants. This could
potentially end up the same as or very similar to The Bad Guy Wins if the players
decide to turn on each other. This isn't necessarily the case, because there is no
predetermined sense of loyalty unless you are siblings, relatives, priests, other
mentors, or the like. Even then, there could be the possibility that the sibling (or
whoever) resents you…

Hard Mode a.k.a. In Media Res

Basically, you have introductions, and there is little to no need for exploration
or investigation. As soon as settling in gets boring, the killer makes himself
known. Players in this mode never have the option to Get Lost. If the
Killer/Monster is chasing two victims in the same scene, there is no set difficulty,
and the loser must immediately roll Agility to avoid its Attack score. The DM also
may require that GV not be spent on weapons.. This means that weapon related
advantages should be off limits.

Monster Ensemble
Every now and then you get a film that has a metric ass load of Monsters/Killers,
and not just zombies. There are several different types of adversaries in the
ensemble. A good example would be Trick ‘r Treat 2007. This is often used in
conjunction with Hard Mode, to throw the viewer right into the mayhem.
Possession Roulette
I wanna tell you about the time I almost died...
Like I said before, I was beaten. It's disturbing that you were alive
for a thousand years and you realize that you're actually going to
die, because some self-righteous douchebag thinks he’s gonna save the
fuckin' world. Yes, a demon can die, and he finally knew how to beat
me at my own game. Oh, I forgot. I was gonna tell you the time I
“almost" died, see ya 'round.
--Fallen, 1998. Exact attribution and quote tweaked in the interest of
preserving spoilers.

The Possession Roulette scenario involves a spirit that takes control over the
player's bodies one by one, pitting them against the others. This is difficult to
adjudicate however since a player who wasn't already inclined to infight might
not want to play the monster. For a more comical take, see Idle Hands (1999). Who
the demon possesses in the first place could be adjudicated one of several ways:

{ In order of Charisma, Lowest to Highest

{ In order of Morale, Lowest to Highest

{ Have each player roll Charisma d10s and possess the lowest roll.

{ Have each player roll Morale/10 (round down) d10s, and possess the lowest
roll.

If someone wants to step up and take one for the team, they should be rewarded,
perhaps with additional Advancement Points on their next character build. In the
interest of fairness, and in keeping with the Acts aspect of the game, the Acts
could be used as a benchmark for when the demon shifts to some other body to
possess. That is to say, the DM can allow the spirit to leave a body it grows bored
with, potentially allowing the character to remain alive if they can convince the
others that the spirit is gone.

Solo Round Robin

This type of game is especially good for one DM and 1 player. It’s probably not so
great for players who’ve invested a lot of time in character creation. So that
being said, if the DM only has 1 player and a number of pre generated characters,
he can have the player pick one, and he plays the rest until that character dies.
Then the player can pick another (Characters who have died in DM control can’t be
picked under normal circumstances), and play continues.
Sisterhood of the Rolling Heads
Every now and then, you come across a
slasher film that either involves a
sorority directly, or at least a group of
female friends that is very catty. Often
times these sorts of films don’t have much
in the way of artistic value, but they don’t
skimp on the Gratuitous Nudity. The story
could revolve around anything, such as a
sorority keeping a secret, a group of thots
holed up in a cabin, or perhaps some
friends staying in a house near a
massacred smut film set. In any case, the
story isn’t that big a deal, here’s what
does matter though:

{ Everyone is female

{
free.
Everyone has Sacrifice Clothes 3 for

Target Rich Environment

Sometimes you're on a movie set, or a yacht,
or even the busy streets of
Manhattan/Vancouver, and there are plenty
of people around for the Killer/Monster to
get distracted by. In such cases, you can
roll Charisma to flee the scene. On any
failure, you suffer the relevant normal
consequences. On any success, the
Killer/Monster murders an innocent
bystander. This is listed in Alternate
Modes of Play because not all games
feature it.

The Bad Guy Wins

In this mode, the players control the killers, most likely all Death Row inmates.
This set up may or may not involve faked executions, but escapes are equally
likely. Manhunt, for example, followed a guy who was spared the death chamber by
a disgraced Hollywood director who now makes his own "independent" (snuff) films.
There are many other possibilities to follow a group of killers on the rampage.

{ Likewise, sometimes the Final Girl wins, but the players have not
orchestrated a means to facilitate that. Don’t worry, it’s built right into
the genre. In horror, things go bump in the night. This may mean they can’t
exist/function in the day. Or it may mean the problem is temporarily solved
 by mooching the power of the sun, and something suggests a sequel will
occur.

Dabbling with the Supernatural

The game is intentionally designed such that survival is nice, but it isn't what
you might call expected. Sometimes the game takes a decidedly supernatural turn
the players aren't prepared to take. The following section entails supernatural
Advantages you might earn upon surviving your first movie, or entering one a
mundane character wouldn’t survive

Supernatural Advantages
Gypsy Curse (2)
The character can inflict the monster ability Gypsy Curse on a Monster. It costs 2
because it bypasses the requirement to make a psychic connection with the target.
The character may only have 1 Gypsy Curse active at a time.

Gypsy Boon (1)

The character grants her allies the ability to reroll once per Act and take the
better result. Requires Gypsy Curse.
Knack for Martial Arts (2)
Unarmed attacks, deal E=1+1/2S with
one handed, or E=2+1/2S with a two
handed unarmed attack. Improbable
Weapons deal a point more. A Knack
for Fighting is assumed in the cost.
Go ahead and roll +1d10 whenever
you fight. You can also be Extra
Talented for another +1d10.

Monster Ability/Weakness (varies)

The character has an ability
normally reserved for a monster. It
is most appropriate to couple
Monster Abilities with an
appropriate weakness, but that’s up
to the DM. Altering the cost of
monster abilities is also up to the
DM.

Monster Survival (5)

You are a Broken Bird, no longer having a Morale score. It is replaced by a
Survival score, which equals Endurance x 10, and no longer accounts for Reasoning.
Anything that would have targeted Morale won’t work on you, but anything that
would target Endurance now targets Survival. In order to gain this ability, you
must finish a Massacre alive and with less than 10 Morale.

Precognition (1)
The psychic has the ability to
determine who the Killer/Monster
will seek out next. Once per Act, at a
Reasoning Difficulty equal to the
Attack value of whatever attack is
relevant, the psychic can
determine—with perfect accuracy—
who the victim will be, and possibly
the nature of the attack. Failure on
this reasoning roll will reveal the
psychic’s own death, and cost the
psychic Morale as a Frightful Sight
involving a friend’s death. Success
has no such consequence, even though
success involves actually
envisioning his friend’s deaths.
Priest (3)
The character may force foes with either Achilles Heel or Phobia of Objective
Morality (or holy symbols) to stay away by 15 feet by making a Charisma roll each
round, and may not burn Endurance or Morale to bypass it. If they have an
Achilles Heel, the character may also deal damage (E=1+2C) to them, either
passively, or by attacking them. Characters may also exorcise spirits that are not
physically present, banishing them to their home plane or dimension. Because the
character is a living holy symbol, enemies who are subject to it will know on sight
and automatically attempt to kill you with no other recourse.