TCR: Other Unique Challenges & Interactions

Other Unique Challenges & Interactions

Horror scenarios are full of strange and unpredictable situations that go beyond standard combat and exploration.
This section covers special cases and offers guidance for handling them within the Thriller system.
Game Masters are encouraged to treat these as flexible frameworks—unusual problems often call for creative solutions.

Supernatural Influence and Possession

Not every threat can be fought or fled from. Some horrors invade the mind or body.
A character possessed by a ghost, demon, or other entity presents a unique challenge.

Possession Mechanics:

The GM determines when a possession attempt occurs.
The target character typically makes a Willpower (WIL) save against a set Difficulty Class (DC) or opposed roll based on the entity’s strength.
Success: The character resists but may lose Sanity Points (SP) from the mental strain.
Failure: The entity takes control of the character.

While possessed, a character may act under the entity’s influence—sometimes gaining unnatural abilities but losing autonomy.
The GM temporarily directs the character’s actions, though players should still experience tension and consequence rather than outright loss of agency.

Dealing with Possession:

Allies may attempt restraint rather than violence.
Exorcism or purification may be attempted through Faith, Arcane, or Ritual skill checks.
An exorcism can be treated as a skill challenge: several successful rolls versus the entity’s resistance. Failed rolls may cause SP loss or harm to the victim or exorcist.

Witnessing or experiencing possession is itself terrifying.
Nearby characters must often make Sanity Checks, and the possessed individual may lose additional SP afterward, especially upon realizing what they have done.
Prolonged possession or extreme trauma can leave a lasting mental scar—potentially resulting in permanent madness if untreated.

Curses and Occult Afflictions

Not all supernatural harm takes the form of direct attacks.
Curses, hauntings, and occult afflictions are lingering supernatural effects that defy physical solutions.

A curse may cause:

Persistent penalties to certain rolls.
Ongoing supernatural phenomena (whispers, shadows, strange coincidences).
Random Sanity Checks as dread builds.

The GM should clearly describe symptoms so players understand the weight of the curse while still giving them agency.

Lifting a Curse:

Requires investigation and role-play.
Common approaches include Knowledge (Occult) checks, Faith-based rituals, or quest objectives such as destroying cursed objects or appeasing a restless spirit.
Mild curses may be lifted by a single successful ritual check; powerful ones might demand rare components or multiple steps.

Ensure that cursed characters have leads or clues to pursue—the horror should come from the struggle, not from aimlessness.
Even after a curse is broken, its psychological mark may remain, reinforcing the atmosphere of lasting dread.

Illusions and Hallucinations

In horror, the boundary between reality and delusion is often blurred.
Illusions may arise from supernatural powers, psychic manipulation, drugs, or madness.

Identifying Illusions:

The GM may call for Perception or Insight checks when characters encounter questionable phenomena.
Success allows them to sense inconsistencies (“the walls seem to flicker unnaturally”), while failure causes them to accept the illusion as real.
Characters cannot simply “choose” to disbelieve illusions; their senses dictate their reality.

Illusory effects usually do not deal real damage, but the mind’s belief can cause psychosomatic harm or Sanity loss.
If a character genuinely believes they are injured, the GM may impose temporary penalties or SP loss.

Hallucinations from Madness:

Treated narratively rather than mechanically.
The GM may describe false events or whispers to the afflicted player.
Other characters may attempt Psychology or Insight checks to help them distinguish reality from delusion.

Illusions and hallucinations serve as powerful tools for tension and mistrust—encouraging paranoia and uncertainty among players.

Interactive Puzzles and Strange Devices

Sometimes horror arises from mystery rather than menace—locked tombs, runed altars, or cursed mechanisms that must be understood to progress.

Approach these challenges through player reasoning first, with skill checks to support discovery when appropriate:

Knowledge (Occult) to interpret runes.
Logic or Investigation to deduce patterns.
Mechanics or Dexterity to manipulate physical components.

Collaborative play enhances engagement: one character’s success may reveal clues others can act upon.
If time pressure is present (such as a monster approaching), treat the puzzle as a turn-based challenge where each attempt consumes actions or rounds.

Failures can trigger:

Trap mechanisms or curses.
Time penalties or alarm triggers.
Additional Sanity Checks from tension.

Players may spend Cinematic Points (CP) for insights or lucky breakthroughs, allowing momentum to continue without frustration.
These interactions should feel tense, dangerous, and rewarding when solved.

Psychological Warfare and Social Horror

Horror often emerges not from monsters, but from human cruelty and manipulation.
Social encounters can be as terrifying as combat, especially when minds, faith, or morality are tested.

Use the Social (SOC) attribute and related skills—Persuasion, Intimidation, Deception, or Insight—to handle psychological conflict.

Examples:

A cult leader attempts to indoctrinate or break a character’s will.
An interrogator uses intimidation or psychological torture.
A player character bluffs a horror into hesitating or fleeing.

These can be modeled as Opposed Checks:

NPC’s Manipulation vs. PC’s Willpower or Insight.
Failure may inflict Sanity loss, self-doubt, or emotional collapse.
Success can shift the balance of power or restore morale.

Players should be encouraged to use creativity—intimidating a ghost through knowledge of its past, turning an enemy’s fear against them, or rallying bystanders through sheer conviction.

Mechanically, apply common-sense modifiers and use the existing skill system to reflect dramatic tension.
If a moment feels climactic or narratively strong, lean toward allowing a roll and resolving the outcome through cinematic description.