Sanity is to games like Buffy the Vampire Slayer what HP are to games like D&D; where you worry about your health in Dungeons & Dragons, you fear for your sanity in games like Angel RPG. This is not Shock nor is it Stress, as both of those are covered by Fright; this is pure, abject Fear that unravels your common senses and ability to deal with everyday situations - ergo, your mental health, or Sanity (SAN).Likewise, Investigating and Researching is to these games what exploring and combat are to AD&D. "Only fools rush in" is a wise adage to keep in mind when playing TTRPG in which the Occult is at-play all around you, all the time. Often, these attempts can be handled just like Combat is in games like D&D, but with longer stretches of time taking place between rolls. Although ample opportunity for roleplay exists, the long stretches of time needed to Research and Investigate are usually better handled by Skill checks.
For instance, it can take a few weeks to properly Research a book, and it might turn out to be the wrong book to Research - something you cannot know without spending the time to find out. One missed swing after another would tell you that you're not ready for that monster standing in front of you in a more combat-heavy game, and that would happen in a matter of in-game seconds. However, you are warned not to rush these things, as the center of attention is shifted from Combat to Investigation in games like Chill.
Horror and Investigation games are about solving puzzles: Investigating strange crimes because you have a hunch that there's something more sinister afoot. But, is there really or have your experiences just made you a jaded, paranoid Investigator who now sees the threat of The Dark in everything? There's no way to know without going through the motions.
Horror and Investigative games are primarily "theater of the mind," although many can be very tactical, especially once Combat begins. However, technicalities aside, the monsters involved outweigh the PCs by a lot, and are likely to wipe the floor with them unless they come overly prepared. Just imagine thinking you are facing a Demon and showing up with a lot of silver daggers and zero wooden stakes, only to encounter a cunning vampire! The best you can hope for then is an early escape...
In a more Combat-focused game, your crew is likely to have a good balance of Combat-oriented envoys with a myriad of contingencies either on paper or put together by the group. Games like Call of Cthulhu usually feature brainier, untrained PCs that fight only because they have to, knowing full well that any fight could be their very last - and probably should be, given the monsters' panoply of powers.
I try to run these games as though the Tomes to be Researched and the Crimes to be Investigated are the dragons of the scenario: The Big Bads to be defeated along the way to the Ultimate Bosses (the actual monsters they're likely to have to fight). The big rolls are not going to be Combat-oriented, but Skills and Abilities associated with Research and Investigation. And actions like going undercover, infiltrating the Bad Guys, and learning more about what they believe, how they behave, and what makes them do the things they do, replace buying better weapons and stacking bonuses for quicker, better kills.
Even the structure of rising action stays the same, as one book leads to another, one clue leads to the next, and the bigger picture slowly comes into focus; not unlike clearing-out low-level trash mobs in a dungeon to clear the path toward the BBEG at the end.
Although the flow and structure remain, at the foundation, largely the same, these are two very different styles of games for which not everyone is suited. Players of dark fantasy and horror games tend to have more tolerance of the gruesome and dark aspects of adult fare - of which Horror definitely is. You need to be an adult and behave like an adult to play in one of my adult games (in which romance and sex are almost never mentioned, but a lot of death and violence loom perpetually large).
The focus of the adventure might die before you can save her, or might already have died when the investigation started even if you don't learn that until the end. (Seemingly, at least) Supernatural complications arise all along the way as the Big Bads try their best to throw you off their trail, runaways and ne'er-do-wells make great victims because their disappearances rarely rouse suspicion except among their own kind, and having an affinity for Mystery and Horror entertainment tends to be a hallmark of the gamers who play these types of games.
Those who have only ever played D&D might not make the best fit for these types of games, as they often have trouble converting to the different style. So, I'm writing these as primers or guides to the games before you play, just so you can prepare for a different (although similar) experience.
And be aware that not everyone runs their games the way I do, so your mileage will definitely vary!
© The Weirding, 2025
