by Demian Katz
Killer Thriller: The Goriest B-Movie Horror RPG Undead or Alive!
Published by Timeout Diversions (2010)
Designed by Tony Lee
25-page PDF document
2 or more players
$3
Horror movies have been adapted to role-playing games before with
varying degrees of success. As a general rule, the best offerings have
been light, fast-paced games that don't waste too much time trying to
shoehorn traditional role-playing features into a genre that doesn't
need them. Killer Thriller heeds this lesson, then distinguishes
itself from the crowd by focusing in on a particular subgenre –
the body-count or slasher film – and providing mechanics that help
motivate the players to create a story appropriate to the subject
matter.
Gameplay
Most RPG characters are defined by their abilities, but Killer
Thriller characters are defined by their failings. How else can you
rack up a good body count? Players have several attributes, called
Inabilities: Unwise (the character's likelihood of doing stupid things,
like wandering off in the dark); Unluck (the probability of things going
horribly wrong, like encountering a sharp obstacle while fleeing) and
Undone (the character's chance of becoming unhinged with terror). For
most in-game situations, players roll against their Inabilities and hope
to "fail" their rolls, thus momentarily becoming competent. Keeping
with the "Un" theme, the game's hit point equivalent is known as Unharm,
while characters can be customized with "Unreal" special abilities and
"Unthinkable" failings. Each character is also defined by a stereotype,
and characters get one free success per game when attempting an action
appropriate to their stereotype.
As game systems go, so far, so good... but pretty conventional. What
makes things interesting is the way slasher movie mechanics have been
imposed on the game. Each player starts with not one but three (or
more) characters. Whenever a character dies, its Unharm points get
passed along to a different character. Bonus Unharm may be rewarded for
particularly creative deaths or for voluntarily putting characters in
harm's way. It is in a player's best interest to kill off their
characters, since by sacrificing some, the rest grow stronger... until
it's down to the equivalent of a slasher's "final girl". Final
characters change the nature of the game. When a player has multiple
characters, they are all at the mercy of whatever murderous threats are
loose in the world. Monsters and murderers are automatically successful
in everything they attempt, and character skill checks are used
primarily to avoid death. However, when facing a player's last
character, the tables start to turn. Villains need to succeed at their
own Inability rolls to attack these powerful player characters, and
thanks to a special exploding dice rule, last characters can potentially
roll higher than normal characters. The system encourages the formula
of bizarre deaths leading up to a last desperate confrontation in which
good has at least a chance of winning... until the sequel, at least.
Presentation
Killer Thriller isn't going to win any awards for graphic design.
There only illustrations are clip-art pieces on the cover, and the bulk
of the text is in standard Microsoft Word default Times New Roman font.
However, that does not mean the game is completely without flair. The
text is wisely peppered with appropriate and amusing horror movie
quotes, and the writing style is light and humorous (though sometimes
grammatically awkward when it tries a little too hard). The lack of
design elements has the side benefit of making the game easy on the
eyes, and apart from the distraction of a handful of typos, you should
find this a quick and easy read.
Conclusions
Killer Thriller has a very narrow scope, but within its target
area, its design is clever enough that it has the potential to
practically run itself (there are two sample scenarios provided, though
they're hardly even necessary). Not everyone is going to appreciate a
game whose main purpose is to inflict gruesome, gratuitous death on a
series of two-dimensional characters... but for the right group of
like-minded players, this could be highly entertaining. If you're
looking to host an RPG on Halloween with little or no preparation, this
is a perfect choice. If things go well enough, you just might find
yourself with a new horror franchise on your hands....
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