The horror that grows and grows
Co-creator of horror RPG franchise SHIVER Barney Menzies spills his guts
Greetings, Barney! How would you like to introduce yourself to RPG folks who might be reading this?
Hi Everyone, I’m Barney, I’m one of the creators of the SHIVER RPG as part of Parable Games (@GamesParable)
For anyone who doesn’t know, SHIVER is an award-winning horror RPG that was published after a successful Kickstarter in 2020 and has spawned a couple of expansions, including SHIVER: Gothic, which brings classic horror tales to life, as well as the currently running Gamefound launch for SHIVER: Double Feature. What were the origins of the concept and development of SHIVER?
SHIVER emerged from my brother's [Charlie Menzies] attempts to hack together various rpg system to try and play his favourite B-Movie on the tabletop with his friends. He then showed SHIVER to me and I joined in to help develop it. From there SHIVER evolved to be a more setting neutral system that allowed players to tell any story that was strange or scary. The idea was that players could re-create their favourite movies, make their own sequels, or even create unique stories of their own based on their favourite pieces of film and T.V. pop culture.
We had been developing it for a couple of years to the point where it was nearly ready to be released just as COVID hit. Lockdown gave us the additional time we needed to get the first Kickstarter ready and so we managed to get everything ready for a Halloween launch in 2020!
I found the mechanics for SHIVER to be familiar, yet still original enough to be notable and distinct. [Here’s my video review] Where did you guys draw inspiration from on the game design side of things?
So we knew when we set out to design SHIVER we wanted it to be accessible to players who had maybe never played an RPG before or who had only limited experience. There were two main things we wanted to focus on with that aim in mind, PLAY & FEEL:
1 - PLAY: Making the rules as condensed and easy to pick up as possible for new players
2 - FEEL: Making sure that we managed to strike a balance between rules which could cater to any setting whilst also gave players and GMs the feel of SHIVER as a horror/strange/mystery rpg.
There are parts of RPG design which are mainstays that feature in most games e.g. check resolution methods, character creation or combat. We approached each of these elements individually and looked at how other games both in and outside the TTRPG space had tackled these problems, seeing what solutions we thought were best suited for our goals for SHIVER.
Taking ‘Character Creation’ as an example we knew we wanted it to be fast, and something a new player could grasp really fast. So for levels and abilities we chose to draw from Video Games as something new players might recognise. SHIVER’s Ability Trees in the Core Book mimic a point buy style tree you might see in a Video Game with similar progression elements. This visual style also allowed us to provide graphical prompts to help players build their characters quickly.
Another key element in SHIVER’s design was the attempt to reduce mental arithmetic and try to keep the language of the game as visual as possible. We had several dyslexic and dysnumerat playtesters who had been turned off other RPGs in the past due to their text dense books or arithmetic heavy rules sets. This is what prompted the use of SHIVER’s unique dice system as well as an attempt to keep the design of our books clean and easy to read.
Every time I review a game that uses specialty dice, there are people with the knee-jerk reaction of rejecting the game in its entirety. But the unique dice used in SHIVER are a lot of fun and very functional! What factors brought you to the conclusion that specialty dice were the best design choice for SHIVER’s underlying resolution mechanics, and was there any concern that such dice would turn some people off of your game?
So we think special dice have a bad rap. They developed mostly out of a need for a resolution mechanic that was disnumerate friendly. We also really liked the idea of the dice acting as a role-playing aid to make the system accessible for players new to RPGs. This was also something completely unique that we hadn’t seen in other systems to the same extent.
We were definitely aware that there would be some people who would immediately knee jerk against SHIVER because of the unique dice. This is why we did as much as we could to show player’s that the reason the dice were in the game was because it made the game better (not because we wanted to sell some dice). Hence why we created a free dice app on our site, provided roll tables for regular dice in the book, and have now started on VTT integration to make sure that everyone can play SHIVER even if they don’t want the physical dice.
Classy move with the free dice app. It’s hard to be cynical when a creator does something like that with their specialty dice. I want to talk about your latest Kickstarter for SHIVER, but before that, I’d like to ask a little bit about your previous project SHIVER: Gothic, which funded in March 2022. What were your three favorite things about that expansion that emerged through playtesting?
So SHIVER Gothic actually emerged out of the world Charlie had built for our longest running playtest group. We'd been playing games in the city of Spireholm pretty much since SHIVER’s inception, testing out new rules ideas and most importantly making sure that SHIVER had the capability to run long from campaigns/stories as well as one shots.
In terms of some favourite parts from Gothic, I think top of my list is the setting for the stories themselves. The giant gothic walled city of Spireholm and the world surrounding it are something we put an inordinate amount of time into adding detail upon detail to the locations, characters, intrigue, that make it such a rich horror sandbox to play in.
Second I think would have to be The Obscured ability tree. SHIVER Gothic lets players become gothic monsters themselves so you’re player character can become a vampire, Frankenstein’s monster, or other Gothic monstrosity. The Invisible man and other similar concepts have always been one of my personal favourites in film and literature so being able to don some bandages and jump into a story as a character has been a real treat.
My third pick would probably be the amount of fun we had developing the additional undercity setting of Dregstone for the second SHIVER Gothic book, Disciples of Dregstone. We had a lightning bulb moment during playtesting which led to us drawing a lot from the history of revolutions (a theme that features heavily in the story). In particular I loved working with Ben on the art for this section of the project and it stemmed some of my favourite pieces we’ve produced for SHIVER thus far including this one of ‘The Barricades.’
Ben Alexander’s (@DrawsAlexander) mesmerizing and voluminous illustrations have made everything SHIVER instantly recognizable and distinct. What was the process like working with Ben to get to that particular “look”?
Working with Ben is a real treat. We spent a long time as a team trying to develop a style that would be able to illustrate every possible setting imaginable for a horror ttrpg as well as draw from our inspirations in Film, TV, and other story mediums. The amazing work that Ben has created has in our view encapsulated everything we aimed for with high contrasts and shadows which really help to evoke the mood and feel of SHIVER whilst also leaving space for the reader's imagination to add in details.
Since developing the initial style we’ve been working on creating variations on it to best represent each of the horror sub-genres. Gothic for example is illustrated with an extremely limited colour palette with splashes of vibrancy (mostly red) to convey the contrast between the bleak environment and the contrasting horror. Similarly this is another effort we’ve made for our latest release. SHIVER Blockbuster is much more colourful in style to represent the big screen genre, whilst SHIVER Slasher makes use of effects like VHS distortion to represent the history of horror on the screen.
This latest project, SHIVER: Double Feature, is a massive amount of content. As you mentioned, it’s offering both a “blockbuster” movie as well as a classic “slasher” movie framework. But one notable thing about this project is that Parable Games has launched it on Gamefound instead of on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. What factors went into deciding on using Gamefound for your latest project? And what have been the pros and cons as you’ve experienced them so far?
There are starting to be more and more options for crowdfunding platforms as time progresses. We used Gamefound as a pledge manager for our first Kickstarter and found it very user friendly. There are definitely some elements to Gamefound we much prefer but I think each of the platforms offer different benefits and drawbacks. At this early stage in SHIVER’s existence we wanted to make sure we were getting a feel for the full crowdfunding world and not just limiting ourselves to one platform.
I’d say primarily Gamefound’s main benefit is that the pledge manager is integrated directly into the platform so backers don’t have to move from site to site when completing their pledge. One of the main downsides, however, is that as Kickstarter is still the giant in the crowdfunding market. Most backers already have accounts set up there so there is less of an initial hurdle to back compared to Gamefound.
We’ve also really enjoyed some of Gamefound’s unique features. In particular be able to give people who follow the project before launch a free gift has been a great way to communicate to backers about the project before launch.
Competition is good. Let’s hope these other platforms gain traction and force Kickstarter to up their game! So, between the SHIVER core game, Gothic, and now this Double Feature, that’s a lot of coverage of the horror genre. How much more ground is there to cover in the genre, as far as RPG design is concerned?
The great thing about Horror is it encompasses a huge swathe of the stories we tell. Being scared is an integral part of what it means to be human and also it can be fun, that’s why horror stories around the campfire have survived for so long. As a result there is still so much room for us to explore both in terms of mechanics and rules for specific sub-genres but also narratively in new and exciting worlds for players to dive into and create their own stories in.
We have so many horror sub-genres we’re excited to explore in detail with rules expansions as we have done with both Gothic and now Slasher and Blockbuster. We are also thrilled to start expanding the story worlds we created to give players some amazing sandbox settings for their tales, be that sprawling gothic metropolis like Spireholm, or nefarious modern & corporate horror in our Cornwell continuum. Players can also expect to see some more short form digital content which we’ll be releasing in between our larger expansions.
I think a lot of horror classics are associated with U.S. filmmakers and creators, and certainly a growing number from South Korea in recent years. What are some of the best horror works from your neck of the woods (the U.K.) and what do you think differentiates them amongst creators from around the world?
The UK has some pretty rich history in the world of horror, Hammer in particular springs to mind. I think what makes horror in the UK interesting in part is the link between horror and humour. British humour definitely plays a role in adding a unique feel and tone to the genre and cutting away from some of the more dour and bleak portrayals that horror can also achieve.
I think also 1961 Jack Clayton’s ‘The Innocence’ is a great example of the way British literary history within horror is translated in a unique way to the screen. This is particularly true also in Gothic adaptations which draw not only on British literary history but on cultural themes like industrialisation, and inter-class tensions.
Nothing gets more British than folk horror for me though, with films like ‘The Wickerman’. These films bring out the terrifying elements of the British countryside in which I grew up.
Yeah, and just for the record, Lord Byron (The Vampyre) and Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) were both English! While we’re on the subject of horror media, I’d like to run a little Barney Awards…
What are your three favorite works of horror originating from the U.K.?
28 Days Later (Danny Boyle Film)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Alan Moore Comic)
The Collected Works of Francis Bacon (Art)
What are three scariest moments of horror you’ve ever experienced in SHIVER?
Trying to escape from a slasher dressed as a school mascot in a high school full of SAW-esque traps
Investigating the abandoned library in the city of Spireholm
Trying to save a scientist only to realise they were merely part of a horrific Cronenbergian nightmare which then tried to eat me.
What are the three scariest moments of horror you’ve ever experienced in horror media?
The toilet scene in the movie Dreamcatcher
The entire movie Jaws which I watched way too young (I’m still scared of open water to this day).
The earlier parts of my first playthrough of Dead Space. I can remember playing it exclusively in the dark and loving it despite the terror.
What is the best horror film of all time and why?
Let the Right One In (2008 Film). It’s an absolute masterpiece with horror mixed perfectly in with romantic and human elements that really cuts in deep at what it means to be human and what it is to be a monster. I really enjoy films that try to use Horror as a device to tell a much more complicated story and really dig deep into interesting themes, the classics of Gothic literature paved the way for this with books like Frankenstein telling a different story but exploring very similar themes of social exclusion, the responsible use of power, and what it means to be.
Have you ever found SHIVER to be capable of that kind of storytelling you’ve described?
Absolutely. With SHIVER being so versatile in the ways in which you can play it you can really delve deep into whatever themes you want to engage with. The ‘IT LIVES!’ story which was the early bird reward for SHIVER Gothic which eventually made its way into the book via stretch goals illustrates the ‘range’ of SHIVER’s storytelling capabilities. One moment you’re scared, the next moment you are laughing, and at the end you could be weeping. We’ve definitely seen this change in emotions across players caes when we’ve run that as well as a number of other stories that pose moral quandaries or create tragedy in unique and often horrific ways.
So I have a confession. When I saw SHIVER: Double Feature, I felt a bit overwhelmed at the amount of content. It’s really like two crowdfunding projects being run in one. Can you indulge me and unpack the selling points for each one here in turn?
Absolutely, we toyed with the Double Feature idea for quite a while so I’ll give you a bit of an insight into our thought process on the design. Our aim with Double Feature is to give people an option at each end of the horror spectrum. For those who like their horror really scary we have SHIVER Slasher. Whilst for those who prefer a story that has horror themes but are much less scary we have SHIVER Blockbuster. This also kind of emulated the original use for some Double Features when they existed in cinemas with a variety of genres on display.
Once we’d settled on those two genres at the opposite poles of scariness we then wanted to make it really easy for players who wanted to dip their toes into SHIVER to be able to do so, this is where the starter boxes for each of the genres comes in. They have a starter version of the rules, a themed adventure, some dice, character sheets, so in all, everything you need to start playing.
We also wanted to make sure we also created content for existing SHIVER fans to go alongside these starter boxes as well as something for players who are invested in one of the particular genres. The two hardback books SHIVER Slasher: Generation Murder & SHIVER Blockuster: Legends of the Silver Scream scratch that particular itch. These books both provide a unique way to link stories together with Generation Murder helping you to create your own movie franchise, whilst Legends of the Silver Scream helps you play through an actors careers across multiple stories in which they have starred. Both books also have a collection of 6 stories which illustrate how you could create a multi story narrative played across several one shots using the new rules.
We will likely be returning to the single genre releases for SHIVER after Double Feature. We’re happy to have been able to provide this swath of horror options for SHIVER fans both new and existing but are really excited to do some more larger single genre projects. With the Parable Games team expanding at such a fast rate we're super stoked for the future of SHIVER and have so much cool stuff in development that we can’t wait to show everyone!
Thanks for talking, Barney! Here’s a link to SHIVER: Double Feature in case anyone’s missed it.
Wasn't there an RPG titled _Shiver_ in the late 1980s or early 1990s? I recall it as a softcover rulebook with an arm thrust out of a grave. However, I never owned it or played it. I only read it in my local gaming store.