#RPGaDay2023 - Day 28 - Scariest Game I've Played

 Day 28 of  #RPGaDay2023 and there's a light at the end of tunnel.  Hopefully it's not an oncoming train or something equally terrifying.

An easy segue into  Day 28's prompt: "Scariest Game I've Played" 

For each day I'll be answering the question provided, and for fun, review how I answered a similar question during #RPGaDay a decade ago.  Scout's Honor, I have not peeked at the older answer.

As a rule, I try to avoid scary things and horror in general.  The traditional slasher/jump scare fest is usually relegated to films like Alien and Aliens.  It may seem odd, given the amount of Call of Cthulhu I run, but I think I can separate the cosmic horror and the horrors of humanity from the actual guttural emotion of fear.

My only choice I can think of is a Lafayette College student in a 1920's one-shot. 

I don't remember why are group was joy riding the back roads between Bethlehem and Easton but a few miles shy of Easton, we got caught up in an absolutely terrible storm.  Our car barely drivable, and providing minimal protection from the winds and hail, we pulled off of the road and dash 50 yards to an older house up a hill.  We were hoping for any better shelter, even if we initially met the business end of a shotgun by the local yokel living there. 

The real alternative was not something the 'investigators' were prepared.   

The door unlocked, we went inside.  Things looked normal to start, but with the sudden appearance of a local hobo through the backdoor, things showed their true nature, and the regular assortment of skulls,  unidentified vials, and skin-covered books.

Then, something began moving around the house, and it was NOT a second hobo.  There was some confusion, a possible melee, and our decision to flee.   My buddy Wooly's character made it to the grill of the car.  Jenny, his wife, had her character make it inside the car (a hardtop) but she fumbled the keys and got pulled out of the drivers side window.  

Feeling the entity following us to the car, I veered off, slid down some rocky hills, and made it through the main road.  The rain was just a horrible downpour at this time, but my adrenaline (and time on the rowing team)  allowed me to keep running. The true outskirts of civilization were only 15 minutes of running away, if I could keep going.  

I thought I was safe, until the creature leapt out of the trees to the right of me, pounced on top of me, and the momentum pushed us off the road and into the canal below. 

And for those of you keeping track at home, the hobo had ninja-like reflexes and fled in the opposite direction, far away from the marauding ghoul the lived in the house.

This one-shot was run by our Master Keeper "Dr Bob" as a Cthulhu primer for some new players.  He was using this to kick off his attempt at running Masks of Nylarathotep.  My successfully got through New York before real life got in the way of gaming... HARD, but this roughly 20 years ago.

Ten Years Ago Today:  This one I punted on.