S.C.R.E.A.M: The Horror is a mini RPG where players are encouraged to act foolishly and put themselves in danger, just like characters in a horror movie, but this time, death is not the end! Whenever a character dies, they join the GM in being ‘The Horror’ and everything gets more dangerous for the surviving characters.

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It’s your favourite Slasher movie come to life – take on the role of doomed characters and make every mistake in the book.

Go off alone, tell your friends you’ll ‘Be Right Back’, investigate that spooky sound, engage in vices, do all of the stuff you’d scream at the Characters on-screen for doing in real life.

Be brave. Be sexy. Be dumb.

There will be blood. Your blood.

How To Play

To play, each player will need a copy of this sheet, with The Horror rules printed on the back.

The game begins with one player taking on the role of The Horror and all the other players taking on the role of Characters. The player who starts as The Horror also acts as the GM and interprets and adjudicates the result of rolls throughout the game. Players who are Characters should not look at the back of their sheet, labelled ‘The Horror’.

When a Character attempts something where the outcome is in doubt, or which involves an above average amount of effort, the player acting as GM chooses the most appropriate SKILL to be tested and asks the player to roll 2d10, adding their relevant SKILL modifier.

On a 13 or above, they achieve what they set out to with no issue. On a 12 or below, the general intention of their action is realised, but something goes wrong, there is a price to pay, or it has an unfortunate side-effect.

Whenever a Character rolls below 13, The Horror also gets to take a MOVE. If The Horror’s MOVE would prevent the Character’s action from succeeding, then The Horror’s MOVE takes precedent over the Character’s action.

In SCREAM – The Horror Becomes You, death is not the end. When a Character dies, The Horror becomes more powerful. A player whose Character dies flips their character sheet over to reveal The Horror and joins the GM in acting as The Horror. They work with the GM to hunt the rest of the Characters. When more than one player is The Horror, each player acting as The Horror takes a MOVE when a Character rolls below 13.

Create A Character

To create a Character, pick a name and allocate the following modifiers to the SKILLS below: +2, +1, +1, 0, 0, -1

SPORTS		Physical acts like lifting, running, jumping etc. when not in danger
COOL		Keeping a level head when things get scary, acting under pressure
READ		Checking out a situation, investigating, understanding someone’s intentions
ESCAPE		Avoiding immediate danger or harm, running for your life
ATTACK		Fighting for your life, harming another Character
MEND		Fixing broken items or healing another Character

WOUNDS

Characters have capacity for 5 wounds

Throughout the course of the night, Characters will take WOUNDS from The Horror.

When Characters take WOUNDS, they mark off a box. When Characters have filled in all 5 WOUNDS boxes, they die and join The Horror.

When Characters use MEND to heal another Character, the Character they are healing removes 1 WOUND.

HOPE

HOPE is a resource that characters can spend to prevent bad things from happening to them. When Characters spend HOPE, they remove the COST of the HOPE MOVE from their current HOPE value. Characters can have a maximum of 5 HOPE at any one time. A Character can only spend HOPE that they have, they cannot go into negative values of HOPE.

HOPE

Characters earn HOPE when they:

Engage In Vices / Go Off Alone / Say ‘I’ll Be Right Back’/ Ask ‘Who’s There?’ When They Hear Something

Investigate Disturbances / Mess With Something Supernatural / Try To Scare Other Characters With Practical Jokes

HOPE that influences the result of a roll or taking a WOUND is applied after a roll is made, or after a WOUND is given by The Horror. Each HOPE MOVE can be used only once.

HOPE MOVE	COST		RESULT
Hope For The Best	1	Get a +1 on the roll
Hope For Better	2	Get a +2 on the roll
Better Together	2	Get +1 on another Character’s roll if you are with them at the time
Resilient	3	Avoid taking WOUNDS from The Horror (The Character avoids the immediate WOUND effect from The Horror)
Lucky	3	Turn a roll below 13 into a 13
A Fighting Chance	4	If more than one player is The Horror, remove an option from The Horror’s list of MOVES (Roll a d10 – the GM removes the corresponding MOVE from the highest level of available Horror moves)
Not Today	4	Avoid death when The Horror would have killed you (if you would have died from wounds, you go down to 4 wounds)
Just When You Thought It Was Over	5	Switch back from being The Horror to being a Character at just the right moment (The GM will help work this into the narrative)
Get Out Of Here!	6	The last two Characters left alive can pool together their HOPE to give one of them the chance to get away…

THE HORROR

Almost everyone is going to get a chance to be The Horror at some point. The idea is not to gang up on the Characters, but to create an escalating narrative.The Horror

Have fun and remember – games (especially Horror games) are only fun if everyone taking part is enjoying themselves – make sure you are all aware of what you consider appropriate content in your games and DO NOT overstep that line. Have X cards on the table, so you can cut away from or remove a scene if someone is uncomfortable.

Playing The Horror

The Horror can take whatever form you feel is best to suit your group and scenario.

It could be a single assailant with unnatural powers, like Jason or The Shape; it could be a growing horde of Zombies or a group of killers who have targeted the Characters; it could even be an Eldritch being from beyond the stars capable of manifesting in unimaginable and horrifying ways. Whatever you choose, take your time revealing it, then go all-out.

Horror Moves

Your MOVES are designed to give the feel of a Horror Movie style antagonist. They’re there to give you the option to have something appear in a cupboard, even if there was no chance to be in there previously, or to rise up from death when the Characters think they’ve defeated it.

The Horror takes a MOVE whenever a player rolls below 13 when attempting to use a SKILL. When a Character dies, their player joins The Horror and takes MOVES alongside any other players currently taking MOVES as The Horror. Remember to try and take moves that push the narrative, rather than simply aiming to kill the Characters as soon as possible.

When one Player is The Horror, they may only choose from the first column in the table, when two or more players are The Horror, they may choose MOVES from the first two columns in the table. When more than half of the players are The Horror (including the GM), they may choose moves from all three columns in the table.

	WHEN ONE PLAYER IS THE HORROR
1	Do something beyond human ability
2	Hint at The Horror
3	Inflict up to 2 WOUNDS to one Character
4	Make the world sinister
5	Move an object from one place to another
6	Reveal The Horror
7	Temporarily remove something useful from a Character
8	Temporarily block an entrance or exit
9	Temporarily remove an avenue of escape
10	Temporarily incapacitate a Character
	WHEN TWO OR MORE PLAYERS ARE THE HORROR
1	Appear in two places at once
2	Appear somewhere unlikely
3	Do something beyond human comprehension
4	Inflict wounds to one or more Characters (MAX 3 per MOVE)
5	Make the world scary
6	Temporarily debilitate a Character
7	Permanently remove something useful from a Character
8	Permanently block an entrance or exit
9	Permanently remove an avenue of escape
10	Separate the Characters
	WHEN MORE THAN HALF OF THE GROUP ARE THE HORROR
1	Appear behind a Character
2	Appear in multiple places at once
3	Appear somewhere impossible
4	Inflict WOUNDS to one or more Characters (MAX 4 per MOVE)
5	Kill a Character
6	Make the world horrifying
7	Mark a Character for death
8	Move a Character from one place to another
9	Permanently debilitate a Character
10	Trap a Character

The Horror also has a number of FREE MOVES that they can use at any time. Use the FREE MOVES to build tension when things are going well for the Characters. These are:

Turn Out The Lights / Make A Noise / Knock Over An Object / Slam A Door / Open A Door / Make The Lights Flicker/ Send Shivers Down A Character’s Spine / Lower The Temperature Of A Room / Create An Eerie Silence / Make The Horror Vanish

The End Of The Night

As with all great Slasher Horror films, it’s a good idea to leave one person alive, who gets away at the end. Or, if you prefer, to let them think they’ve got away and then have them realise that their torment is only just beginning. You may want to leave someone’s Character alive for a sequel next Hallowe’en.

Once you are down to your final Character and have reached a point in the narrative which feels appropriate to do so, with no players acting as The Horror being able to switch back to being a Character, you should decide as a group how your story ends. Remember to respect the narrative influence that HOPE has. If a Character spent HOPE to get away, then work this into the narrative.