{"id":1339,"date":"2019-06-12T12:00:41","date_gmt":"2019-06-12T16:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/?p=1339"},"modified":"2021-11-16T00:38:45","modified_gmt":"2021-11-16T05:38:45","slug":"five-or-so-questions-on-grimmerspace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2019\/06\/five-or-so-questions-on-grimmerspace\/","title":{"rendered":"Five or So Questions on Grimmerspace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hi all! Today I have an interview with Rone Barton on <\/strong>Grimmerspace, which is currently on Kickstarter<\/strong><\/a>! It sounds pretty cool so I hope you enjoy Rone’s responses below!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell me a little about Grimmerspace. What excites you about it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grimmerspace is a Starfinder compatible sci-fi horror setting. It allows you to game through a gritty brand of sci-fi wherein the concepts are mind-bending and terror is outright palpable. I’m darkly zealous for the chance to raise the bar on these two genres that Brundlefly together so harmoniously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While success in all genres hinges on achieving certain desired instant reactions from an audience, such as romcoms that always end with one lover leaving the other for good but it all gets turned around because of an impassioned and revealing speech that leaves us misty and full of hope for a more positive tomorrow, or a tearjerker that absolutely requires our investment in the story’s characters enough that we genuinely find it sad when the crops die and the family bloodhound contracts dropsy, the horror genre is actually more like the humor genre in that there is a binary pass-fail with no shades of gray between. You somehow conjure a primal fright or a laugh or you do not. And there is the\u00a0expectation to create that effect many times in a row, which is demanding. But if you fail to\u00a0deliver memorable terror or a symphony of giggles, it just wasn’t that good, was it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grimmerspace is a chance to pull upon ten thousand threads of speculative wonderment and dread from films, books, TV shows, graphic novels, daydreams, and true life experiences from my past leading all the way back to childhood and then tangle them together to form a web that traps your imagination. It’s an\u00a0artistic holy mission to create something next level for gamers. That’s ambitious sounding, but that’s who I’ve always been. If brass rings were five feet off the ground we wouldn’t ever mention them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In
The MinoThunk from the Abattoir 8 adventure, available from DriveThruRPG for free<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What does horror mean in Grimmerspace? What do players encounter that can shake them to the core, giving them memories turned to nightmares? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horror is as widely sourced in our science fiction setting as it is in any Earth-based fiction. While you could play a game that’s entirely along tonal lines of say, Alien or Event Horizon, those films merely scratch the surface of the dread storytelling possibilities we left in the GM\u2019s toolbox. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grimmerspace horror is like any horror fiction that ever shook you, regardless of where it was originally set. We’ve excised the quivering heart of such tales and placed them on distant worlds and in the cold and deadly space between them, and woven science fiction inextricably throughout them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lou Agresta and I identified fifteen subgenres of horror we’re working with in Grimmerspace, and when Iron GM Games designs an adventure we look at which subgenres were present and then label them according right up front so GMs will know what they’re in for, be it any particular combination of the following horror subgenres: Apocalyptic, Body, Comedy, Cosmic, Crime, Dark Fantasy, Erotic, Gothic, Occult\/Religious, Psychological, Rural, Splatter, Surreal, Survival, and War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t find horror merely in having beasts and monsters, and the darkest natures of people on display. It\u2019s in how you frame a scene. That\u2019s where the terror comes from. An excerpt from my essay About Horror in Grimmerspace (which is what I hand out to our writers to orient themselves in my idea of storytelling) goes like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A vampire skulking around a gloomy castle in D&D can provide fun at the gaming table, sure. But do you find that vampire inherently scary? In D&D, a vampire is usually just viewed as a potential level drainer and you already have a pretty good idea of how to kill the thing (if not, you\u2019ve really got to step out of the sensory deprivation tank). However, if a GM had a flair for inspiring dread or put in a solid amount of work, they could make that vampire the most chilling encounter the players ever experienced. That same GM could also spend that very same effort to make Keep on the Borderlands scary, right? But that\u2019s a lot to ask from a GM. Grimmerspace is there to make it easy by offering the recipe for effective horror right there on the page, so just follow our suggested directions.<\/p>

Let\u2019s get back to that vampire (not that there are traditional vampires in Grimmerspace). What if we wanted to make a vampire that was actually scary? How about one that, once surrounded by a party, spins growling to face each of the PCs one by one in preternaturally quick jerks that cause one NPC ally\u2019s dead lover – dangling by his\/her neck in the vampire\u2019s maw – to sway like a broken mouse? The vampire isn\u2019t all that scary on its own. But the dominance of its prowess certainly is. The loss of a loved one is. The NPC couldn\u2019t save the lover\u2026 the person who just before had so much light in their eyes is now but a sad, limp prop who only moves when their devourer makes them move, and in a horrid way you\u2019ve never before imagined. Humans are supposed to be exalted beings but clearly, we are animal prey just like any other beast of the field. Ta-da. Genuine discomfort!<\/p>

Our adventures can’t be horror just because maybe you saw a corpse or spines removed from bodies. Not that these gruesome sights don\u2019t help establish horror. They most certainly do. But horror also has to be baked into the plot itself, not superimposed ala \u201cWell\u2026 maybe this could be scary if we made the monsters gooier.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p> About Horror in Grimmerspace by Rone Barton<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The Butcher from the Abbatoir 8 adventure, available on DriveThruRPG for free<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Very cool! When you talk about a horror sandbox, just how\nbig is that box? If someone\u2019s hanging by the tether of their spacesuit, what\nare some examples of horrors they might witness before they feel the sudden\njerk of the limit?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sandbox is as wide as a galaxy and then some, and rife with locales that each engender particular blends of horror subgenre. This particular question offers a serious challenge to my desire to be pithy because you have me wanting to essay here. Worry not, I\u2019ve been court ordered not to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are remote planets all around the less explored edge of the G-Rim, and each of them has individual characteristics that make it unforgettable and unique. The ineffable locha trees of Paravesh that exude chaos itself. That which lies dormant under the sands of Tarmire but will come alive with your sweat. That which beckons to and changes you on the ocean world of Sensica V. The City of Morn promises the chance to speak to the dead, but Grimmerspace is a ravenous place that often takes more in return than is deserved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while unthinkable threats in remote zones are solid choices, we\u2019re not limited to them. For instance, the planet of Attien Prime is studded in eight mega-arcologies, each reaching from the ground to well past the clouds and each huge enough to house a billion person nation. That set-up precludes certain types of horror tales because a blade-wielding maniac with the Friday the 13th<\/sup><\/em> ch-ch-ch-ah-ah-ah soundtrack playing behind him would be taken down in a heartbeat by a law enforcement drone. But there are horror stories that ideally<\/em> pop off in overcrowded places. In a tightly contained realm full of rich and poor, segregated into separate cities and work areas, you can imagine how any outbreak or revolt could turn into something quite ugly. All those people packed in with no way out. All of that bubbling resentment or screaming panic. So while you won\u2019t see the lone and wordless slaughter lovin\u2019 maniac in the woods who proves so effective in rural horror, you might witness a swarm of mayhem gush across a city like a tsunami wave of blood ala World War Z<\/em>. One minute of that might have you wishing you were taking your chances back at Camp Hockey Mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, what horrors might you find in the killing space between the stars of the G-Rim? Well, we’ve made space less empty than most would like. There are things that can get you out there. Things outside your ship. Things within it. Thing is, Grimmerspace offers heroism in the face of all of that horror. Our heroes have been through too much to let the monsters win, and they battle on even if it costs them their sanity or their life. Same goes for the villains. One example, there\u2019s a predator that floats through interstellar space on cosmic wind, waiting to feed upon the energy of the passing ships it ensnares. However, the Shung Corsairium, a deeply evil and dangerous pirate organization, capture and weaponize these creatures, using them to immobilize other ships in electro-absorptive netting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this to say that when you first experience things that go bump in the night or that scratch at the ship\u2019s hull, it ought to raise the hairs on the back of your neck. But like Ash and the Evil Dead, eventually, you\u2019ll been pushed past the edge and you resign yourself to fight back until you’re strong enough to overpower your monsters. Our setting is grim, to be sure. And horror can certainly be disempowering. But in Grimmerspace you can and likely will become the very thing that makes the boogeyman lose sleep at night. Fear is something to be confronted. It asks you questions that you can answer if you try hard enough. Fear can be beaten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally,\nhow does Grimmerspace work within, or defy, the confines of the Starfinder\nmechanical structure? How might players who like Starfinder be drawn in, and\nhow might they be pleasantly surprised by new elements?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horror gaming is often best served with a narrative touch,\nand so our challenge at Iron GM Games is to gently add that touch to Starfinder\nwhich is an inherently crunchy system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We offer tips throughout our adventures for how to convey and maximize the effect of horror. How NPCs are developed and used is a major part of this. Foreshadowing. Explaining the nature of why things frighten us and why we want them to. An optional sanity system that is ideal for the cosmic horror subgenre (or any other subgenre in my opinion). There are so many more tricks up our sleeves than what I’m alluding to, but when the book release, you will see what we\u2019ve done. You will see and despair. The darkness will come for you and you will become the darkness. But hey, in a FUN way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

—<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you to Rone for the great interview! I hope you all enjoyed it and that you’ll <\/strong>check out Grimmerspace on Kickstarter today!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi all! Today I have an interview with Rone Barton on Grimmerspace, which is currently on Kickstarter! It sounds pretty cool so I hope you enjoy Rone’s responses below! — Tell me a little about Grimmerspace. What excites you about it? Grimmerspace is a Starfinder compatible sci-fi horror setting. It allows you to game through … Continue reading “Five or So Questions on Grimmerspace”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[390],"tags":[20,10,4,17,43,25,8,15,12,23,18,56],"class_list":["post-1339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive","tag-five-or-so","tag-game-design","tag-games","tag-gaming","tag-horror","tag-interviews","tag-roleplaying-games","tag-rpg","tag-rpgs","tag-tabletop-games","tag-tabletop-rpgs","tag-worldbuilding"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Grimmerspace-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paHOcG-lB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2355,"url":"https:\/\/briebeau.com\/thoughty\/2021\/01\/approachable-theory-defining-game-genres\/","url_meta":{"origin":1339,"position":0},"title":"approachable theory: Defining Game Genres","author":"Beau J\u00e1gr Sheldon","date":"January 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Genres always have soft edges, and any given work may fit into multiple genres (e.g., NYPD Blue is a drama, a police procedural, and arguably a modern noir, but it is not a crime thriller in the way that fellow police procedural Law & Order: Criminal Intent is). 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I'm not very far in, but I've found some stuff I wanted to talk about (which I recorded the audio of while playing but the file corrupted or something).I want to make a horror tabletop RPG at some point. 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