Now Properly Labelled! (Language warning)

[jaegamer]

My players, $deity love 'em, have a pet name for me.  The story (which I will tell beneath the cut) goes back a number of years, and I take great pride in my nickname.  I run horror, for the most part, and if they don't cordially hate me, I'm not doing my job.  The trick is to scare the jeebers out of them, but to make it so intriguing and so personal that they keep coming back for more. 

So... this is how I became the Evil, Evil, B****

I ran a monthly Chill game  from 1987 through 2000, with a year or so off near the end after I jumped the shark and had to take a break.  I was running "cliffhanger" style, ending each session just as something horrific was about to happen.  This, I reasoned, would keep 'em coming back each month (and, indeed, it did - or something did).

In this particular case, I'd been torturing one character, an archaeologist with the nickname "Dakota".  I'd killed her dog, kidnapped her husband, informed her that she was pregnant while her NPC husband was still missing, nearly killed him, blew up her house (twice - the second time was their own side, worse yet), and abducted, assaulted and nearly sacrificed her best friend. 

The party had rescued Helen, the friend, quite literally in the nick of time (she'd been drowned, the prescribed sacrificial method, but had been "dead" less than a minute), and applied CPR, rushing her to the hospital.

I glanced at the clock and noticed we were reaching the end of the session.  Dakota was in Helen's ICU room, and sensed that they weren't alone.  She nailed a "Sense Unknown" to the wall (01 - best possible roll) and realized that the Big Bad was right there in the room, invisible.

And I said... "The heart monitor goes beep... beep... beeeeeeeeeeeeep... And I'll see you all next month."

The player leaped to her feet and launched herself at me, shrieking "You evil, EVIL BITCH!"  Another player snatched her out of the air in mid leap while I ran for the kitchen and safety.  It took her a while to cool down.. but she stayed with my game till the end, and loved every minute of it.

This is why I run.  :: chuckle ::  It's a socially acceptable way to exercise my anti-social impulses.

PS: I got the badge made at Dragonfire Laser Crafts.

Comments

[jaegamer.livejournal.com]

:: shudder :: I do remember... and it's been QUITE a few years!

:: snerk ::