#Spenser is such a good horror GM

[centaurianthropology]

Late to the party for ‘Candela Obscura’ chapter 2, but wow. WOW. This is what I was hoping for from this series. I really enjoyed Chapter 1, but it was goofy spooky, more Haunted Mansion than real visceral horror. And that was fun! That was great! Robbie Daymond was especially great at grasping what being a cosmic horror protagonist was (goofy fun right up until he drilled a hole in his head to “expand his mind”), and Laura was fantastically weird. But Matt is, at his heart, an adventure GM. He’s the GM who wants you to walk away from the table feeling empowered and awesome. And that is why he’s such a great GM for D&D, but also shoots him in the foot for being a horror GM. Because horror at the table is about disempowerment. It’s about the players all buying in to not only being screwed over by the story, but to screwing themselves over with the story. It’s a nobody-gets-out-okay mentality. It’s the bloody grin through the damage as you face down a glorious no-win scenario.

And Spenser Starke is that sort of GM. He checks in with everyone. He makes sure that the pain is still fun. But he is going to put his players through the ringer. And his players are going to put THEMSELVES through the ringer. There are still fun and goofy moments. Brennan Lee Mulligan really exemplifies that type of play: he is goofy and funny and joking right up until his voice goes flat and dead and he says something like “It had been months since I saw Marion last. All my brothers were already dead, but I didn’t know it yet.” and takes a dramatic plunge into the horrors of war. Luis Carazo is one of the best in the business at dramatic improv, and throws himself into his RP fully, not afraid to bring himself to tears at the table. Travis and Marisha are fantastic as ever. And Zerah Fazal is such a fantastic new addition to the TTRPG space. She really dives in and embodies Dr. Basar, particularly as tie after tie to her old life are cut away. And Spenser is clearly dedicated to putting them all into that headspace. Into taking all those backstory characters and cutting them down. Not wantonly, but in a necessary way to make them all deeply unsafe.

And that’s the crux of personal horror at a table: a GM who understands what will horrify and make their players safely unsafe. It’s really digging into that part of fiction that lets you explore dangerous topics in a controlled way. It’s Luis screaming “THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME!” and sobbing, and Spenser checking in to make sure he’s still good, and Luis laughing through the tears and saying “Absolutely” because this is what horror is for: it’s for this catharsis. For digging into wounds and then cauterizing them in a place where you are cared for and safe, but allowing yourself not to feel safe for a while.

This is such good horror. Because it’s psychological and personal, and everyone came to the table ready to dig into that.

Anyway, just wanted to say that I am LOVING chapter 2.

[utilitycaster]

Who would you like to see as GM in the third chapter of Candela Obscura? I’m assuming it won’t be either Matt or Spencer again nor Brennan since he was just playing.

I am not the first to suggest this but I actually would prefer to see Liam as a GM than a player in Candela! While the idea of Liam as Tragedy Guy is reductive and irritating, it is I think entirely valid to point out that he embraces tragedy when it enters a narrative organically, and that he is adept at creating a mystery and a tense atmosphere within his style. I think he'd strike a happy medium between Matt GM-ing it as an introduction to the system, and Spenser pushing it to the limits, and because this will be the first season to come out after the full rulebook is published I think that style might be a particularly good fit.

I'd also love to see Jasmine Bhullar, who is just all around a strong and versatile GM; while Coffin Run was comedic, it was playing with the tropes of the horror genre and so I know she can pull it off.

Finally, Marisha mentioned she has ideas for Candela as a GM, and I really want to see that. I think it might be good to let that come as a later chapter just to give a bit of space between being a PC and GM, so this is more a GM for chapter 4, but like, won't be mad at all if she GMs chapter 3.

(To get the obvious out of the way: I will not be disappointed in the least if Aabria is a GM, but I have a strong preference for seeing her as a player first.)

[commiecricket]

Candela Obscura S2 - Thoughts So Far

Spoiler-Free!

i had the pleasure of seeing the premiere in theatres and it was PHENOMENAL. im gonna get right into it.

first off! you don’t necessarily have to watch the first season. i think you’ll have a bit of a better grasp on things and it’s also just fucking fantastic so i highly recommend. but no, you don’t have to in order to enjoy this campaign.

everyone embodies their characters so well. you can absolutely feel the love and detail put into them. you can feel them getting into their roles as the episode goes on and by the end, you’re completely attached.

it definitely starts off a lot quicker than season 1. we get right into the good stuff with a cold open directly to action. it starts off strong and ends with a bang.

HELL of a first episode, i’ll tell you that.

the vibe is definitely different from matthew mercer’s campaign. spenser has a unique GM style that took a minute to get used to. threwe off a bit at first, but i think it fits the narrative so far.

i pulled together an auggie cosplay just for the hell of it. did some makeup inspired by s1e3 and got dolled up in my best paperboy attire.

unfortunately i was literally the only one dressed up (+ my sibling in just general dark academia clothing). i also had to walk around a very busy store beforehand. so that was a bit awkward but honestly, i was so excited i didn’t care.

all in all, it was incredible. if you enjoyed the first season or are into any kind of body horror or thrillers, give it a try.

and now.. for the details.

SPOILERS under the cut!

i cant wait to see more of their backstories. im super happy with the amount of backstory we got this episode. not too much or too little. just enough to be intriguing and get you invested, while still leaving some mystery.

starting the episode into immediate action was a bit off putting, ngl. i was startled by the pretty significant difference in how spenser is GMs in contrast to matt. i adore his play style but it took a second to get used to. as the episode progressed i could tell it was working really well for this campaign, which is pleasing.

im immediately drawn to sean and marion. i loved auggie and have a fixation on newsies so i obviously have a specific character type i enjoy LMAO. their personalities and interactions with everyone are fantastic.

the PTSD-flashback-type scenes were a great addition imo. it added a lot to their characters. plus that interaction when marion gets his scar? 100/10, gorgeous, tore me apart. i will be watching that scene again when it gets posted and that is a threat.

marion’s breakdown shattered my heart and the other party members had such interesting reactions. im hoping we have more moments like that sprinkled throughout.

of course i love everyone so far. auntie b’s complex history with each party member, nathaniel’s bits of family history, jean’s struggle beginning to shine through, sean’s internal battle with trauma / vague history, marion’s conflict with his own abilities… its all so good.

needless to say i think we’re going to be fed well this season.

my sibling was crying during a few parts but i only really teared up when jean said goodbye to her dad. i knew it was coming but damn it still tugged at my heartstrings.

that entire last scene was just so. GOOD. the entire theatre was losing their fucking minds. you could hear whispering, gasping, nervous giggling. jean’s gilded 6 was wild.

my favorite part of the night was probably when jean was investigating the body and pulled an eye from his heart. as spenser revealed what she found, a loud cough/hacking sound came from the back of the theatre.

you could tell it was probably just a coincidence but after a few seconds of silence people started to laugh. it was just a silly moment that made me really appreciate the atmosphere. as someone who rarely watches films in theatre (or at all tbh), it was a pleasant experience.

anyway i fucking LOVE co and have not stopped thinking about it since the last season ended. so i am very obviously hyped. cant wait to see whats next!

spenser sparke, taliesin jaffe, chris lockey, shaun ellis, matthew mercer, the party members of both seasons, and everyone else who has had a hand in this series — thank you. youve created something viscerally beautiful.

[3pblueberry]

look, i need to say this somewhere or i'll explode. candela obscura spoilers kinda.

to say that i disagree with spenser's game decisions would be an understatement. in this essay i will,

(first off, don't read this if you liked the guy's style! i'm not about needless pettiness, i just need to get this off my chest so i can go to sleep tonight. i see you, and i respect you, and i'm genuinely glad you enjoyed something i wasn't able to!)

but anyway

two main things i disagree with:

he doesn't honor player choices, choosing his own narrative over the top of their actions every time

he doesn't honor player successes. even on a six (full success) he still deals out a frankly preposterous amount of damage. invariably, on a mixed success they also will ALWAYS take damage. this fucks up the statistics.

there's a bunch more little things (dodging player questions, refusing to allow clever tactics - general hallmarks of the frustrating gm) but these are getting into nitpicky territory so i won't go on.

my analysis of the issue boils down to this: spenser is a good horror storyteller. but he is a bad horror game master.

let's break that down. the point of a game is to be an experience. and the point of horror, as a genre, is to be scared in a safe environment. to have an outlet for rage, and fear, and all ugly emotions.

all games are concerned, at their core, with a simple question: what does this game choose to punish or reward? sometimes it's in the rules, e.g. 'killing monsters gives you loot'. sometimes it's an unspoken question, e.g. 'my gm likes when we think our way around things rather than fighting all the time'.

the way spenser runs his game - always punishing mixed successes, and sometimes even punishing full successes - he destroys the core of a punishment/reward system by reducing it entirely to a system of punishment.

this might sound fine for a horror game. (for some people, i bet it is). but as a person who enjoys playing punishing games (pathalogic cough) a great deal of the appeal is that your struggle has meaning beyond your own survival. when the struggle is simply futile no matter what, well... why bother at all?

in other words, when you punish everything your players attempt to do, you encourage them to do nothing. in real life, this is when people walk away from the table, or develop suicidal characters

so much for game design. here is how he fails on a storytelling level. his goal, in most scenes, is to kill his characters. so there's no wider stakes. oh, he creates tension, and frustration - sure. man knows how to ramp up a scene. good storyteller, remember? but it's not his story that matters to us. it's the characters.

spenser refuses to honor player choices in a meaningful, narrative way.

in fact, that is the exact cause of our frustration!

and as far as spenser would have it, the characters will die, or remain helpless, and so our frustration has no outlet.

still, having laid all that out, i wonder. maybe there is catharsis in this kind of hopelessness. to become so deadened by tension and rage that you slip into a darker mental space, and you begin to long for any escape at all... you long to utilise the only agency you possess: that is, where exactly you choose to die. is there agency in that? you have to believe it, right? otherwise, what's the point? yes - why bother at all?

and maybe the story could be something. if spenser engaged with this idea. if he let go of the need to punish. but when his characters die, i have no expectation it will be anything other than inglorious, and possibly even accidental. and we will have lost a valuable story in what they might have done, if he'd let them. what answers they might have found to that age-old question: why should we bother?

to reiterate: the point of a game is to be an experience. and the point of horror, as a genre, is to be scared in a safe environment. to have an outlet for rage, and fear, and all ugly emotions.

when the goal of the game is survival, and you create an environment so punishingly tense that your characters are no longer scared of dying, they lose interest in the goal. games kinda need goals, you know? anyway, this is the experience spenser fails to deliver

to quote marisha, s2 e2. 'throw the whole quickstart guide out! throw it all away!' or at least, get a better dm to try and sell it! because i've read the guide front to back, and it's not a hopeless game system. but having a hopeless dm... yeah, you couldn't pay me to play at his table lol

rant over, keep scrolling. if you're one of the people who liked his style, that's okay and i respect it! i wish i had half the masochistic streak you do ^^

[centaurianthropology]

Why Spenser Starke is a Fantastic Horror GM (and the Core Fantasy in Candela Obscura)

So, I have seen some rancid takes about Spenser Starke online. Less so on this webbed site, largely because people around here are not in a pissing contest to prove who’s the most cynical, superior, and dickish. But there have still been some mind-blowing ones, from “he says UM too much” (guess who else does that? Brennan, but I don’t see these people criticizing him), or “he describes scenes like shots in a movie and that’s BAD WRONG” (while you might not stylistically enjoy it, I for one adore seeing a new interpretation of how to narrate while GMing, and think he’s doing great).

But the two that rub me the wrong way most are that he “controls the narrative too tightly” and doesn’t allow the characters to meander too long before throwing them back into the narrative, and that he’s “too harsh” in that even mixed successes tend to net characters damage of some sort. I saw accusations of “GM vs Player” mentality, but everyone was clearly enjoying themselves and the experience.

And that, I think, highlights the fundamental disconnect between these complainers and what’s actually happening on the screen: they don’t understand the core experience.

They have likely never played horror TTRPGs. They may have never played TTRPGs period, and instead are armchair DMs based purely on how Matt and Brennan DM, not really understanding that there are a thousand other ways to DM. But if they have played TTRPGs, I would guess that they’ve exclusively played D&D or its ilk. And I say that because there’s a very clear belief here that empowerment and ‘winning the game’, as well as wandering about freely to create your own narrative at your own pace are all fundamental parts of the TTRPG experience as a whole. But they aren’t. They’re fundamental to D&D, yes, but this is not what players come to a game like Candela Obscura for.

Each TTRPG has a central fantasy playing out. In D&D it’s heroic empowerment. D&D is mechanically built around getting more and more power and eventually defeating the big bad. A good GM in D&D, like Matt Mercer, focuses on giving out challenges, but always helping their players strive to overcome and grow and become better. This self-actualization is at the heart of the experience.

Horror games are not about that at all. The closest to that fantasy is something like ‘Vampire the Masqerade’ or other World of Darkness games, which do feature power growth, but the core fantasy is actually about learning that you are a monster. And embracing power will lead to even greater monstrousness. The horror in games like this is both political and personal, and the system is mechanically built to accommodate that horror.

And if you watch LA by Night or NY by Night, you’ll actually see that Jason Carl employs a fairly similar narrative tightness to his storytelling as that of Spenser Starke. Because a huge part of horror is about establishing and maintaining a mood. To do that, a DM has to keep a tighter rein on pacing, cutting from scene to scene and moment to moment in a way that is more directed than in D&D, because that helps establish and maintain the vibe being created.

Candela Obscura plays, thematically, a lot like one of my favorite games to run: ‘Call of Cthulhu’. CoC is a game all about disempowerment. The power differential between the players and the monsters is vast. Combat is vicious, short, and deadly, and direct combat almost always ends badly for an investigator. There is an entire chapter devoted to running away for a reason.

Both CoC and Candela are built on danger, vulnerability, and a constant sense of tension. And Spenser is fantastic at all of these. He keeps his narrative laser focused, moving between moments rapid-fire to keep up that tension, and to introduce new dangers. He is a ‘vicious’ DM only in so much as even mixed successes hurt. But this also keeps the tension up by keeping the characters and players on the edges of their seats. They are almost never safe. They are almost never well. They are constantly juggling dwindling resources. They are underpowered, vulnerable, and afraid.

And that’s the core fantasy here: exploring fear in a safe way. Being stressed out in a way you can leave behind as soon as the scene is done. Constantly living on the edge, fighting the odds, and knowing that you likely won’t succeed or will only do so at great cost. And he is masterfully keeping that intensity running through each session.

He gives characters time to talk about themselves, time for scenes to play out, until he feels the tension begin to flag, and then he pushes on. He never lets the air go entirely out of the narrative sails. He has a great sense of when a character needs a moment (his use of the red PTSD lighting exemplifies how closely he’s paying attention to his players and adjusting the setting to fit their moods). He sometimes pushes on, gets pushback from a player who wants another beat, and is always happy to give that to them. He keeps the pace up, but is always very careful to make sure his players have what they need to still enjoy this particular experience.

All this is to say that Spenser is absolutely killing it at being an exemplary horror GM. His sense of pacing and tension, his ability to direct action while still always embracing player autonomy, and using the mechanics of the system to never allow them to feel entirely safe are all great tools in a horror GM’s toolkit.

Horror games are not for everyone. Certainly there are plenty of people who only ever want the hero fantasy of D&D, but I think it’s important to recognize what the goal of a game is, and what constitutes success within those parameters, rather than parameters that only exist in an audience member’s mind, because they don’t really get how horror games work.