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 Writers and Developers
E. Meritus
Ray Machuga

Editor
Emma Piper

Artists
Jason Moser
Jeshields
Misfit Studios
Culhain Games

Pretty Much Everything Else

Ray Machuga

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 A Higher Grounds Publishing Publication
www.highergroundsgames.com
feedback@highergroundsgames.com
@HGGamingStudio on Twitter
facebook.com/HigherGroundGamingLLC

Slasher RPG
Copyright © 2017 Higher Grounds Publishing, LLC
All rights reserved.

Fate Core System

Copyright © Evil Hat Productions, LLC
All rights reserved.

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 Introduction ..................................................................................1
Welcome ................................................................................2
Characters ..........................................................................4
The Director .......................................................................5
Survivor Creation .......................................................................7
Survivor Tropes ................................................................8
Survivor’s Skills ...............................................................16
Killer Creation .............................................................................19
Legend .................................................................................... 20
Anchor ................................................................................. 21
Weakness .............................................................................. 21
Killer Skills ....................................................................... 22
Killer’s Edge ....................................................................... 25
Director’s Chair .......................................................................... 31
Scale ....................................................................................... 32
Tropes .................................................................................... 32
Supporting Cast ................................................................ 34
Objectives ........................................................................... 35
Fate Points .......................................................................... 37
The Final Scene ................................................................. 37

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Markó Ádám (Order #16838118)
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 Your Own Slasher Film
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in a
horror movie? Do you find yourself watching scary movies and
yelling at the television about how stupid the main characters
are for running upstairs instead of taking the obvious exit out
the front door? Have you ever wanted to see if you and a group
of your friends could outwit the killer and escape? Have you
ever wondered what it would be like to play as the monster,
hunting down those pesky teens and murdering them in cre-
ative, bloody death-spree?

Then Slasher is for you.

Slasher puts you, as a player, right in the middle of a hor-

ror movie where you can play either as a survivor, attempting to
outwit and outrun the Killer and survive to see another sunrise,
or play as the Killer, taking on an agenda all your own in an at-
tempt to eradicate the survivors in creative and gruesome ways.
Slasher taps in to the tropes of all the great slasher films includ-
ing Psycho, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and Friday The
13th, and puts you in the middle of the action.

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 ASYMMETRY
Slasher is an inherantly asymmetrical game. Each side has
certain advantages and disadvantages during the story but the
Killer has the decided advantage even against an entire group
of capable Survivors. The Killer is an unstoppable, rage-filled,
solitairy monster. Killers see the world from a perspective of hate
and murder. They typically have heightened senses, deadly
weapons and unique powers that help them locate, chase, in-
jure, torment and finally kill the Survivors.
The Survivors can choose to cooperate or look out for
themselves, but anyone who has ever watched a horror movie
knows that there is often safety to be found in numbers. While
weak and vulnerable individually, they can use their small size
to move quickly through zones, avoid the Killer and find good
hiding spots. The Suvivors see the story through the lens of a
hunter’s prey, with survival as their main goal.

Goals
The survivor’s goal is to escape the story alive. In order to
do so, they must complete a set of objectives that the GM sets
that are related to the Killer’s Legend, Weakness and Anchor.
Once they complete these objectives, they must escape the Final
Showdown. The Killer’s goal is to find, catch and slay survivors
in the most cinematic, creative and most of all violently bloody
manner possible.

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 Survivors

The Hunted
Playing as a Survivor makes you a part of the kill count. It also
makes you the heroic underdog of this story. Whether you know why you
are being hunted, or if you’re just a hapless bystander who happened to
be in the wrong place at the wrong time, playing as a survivor places you
firmly within the grasp of the Killer.

You are being hunted.

Survivors start play with the normal character creation rules from
the Fate Core book, starting on page 29. In addition, they get a new Trope
aspect which helps to describe their role in the story and, best of all, how
they may die. While the cause of death is not necessarily determined by the
Survivor’s Trope Aspect, the aspect can be used when deathcomes knock-
ing at your door.

The Killer
A silhouette in the moonlit backdrop. A glint of a silver knife in the
dark. A drop of blood splashing on rotted wooden flooring. Playing as the
Killer makes you the terrifying, unknown psychopath that roams halls,
prowls streets and stalks shadows taking every advantage to slay the Survi-
vors in horrifically gruesome and ever more creative ways. As the Killer, you
almost always have an agenda, even if that agenda is simply to kill all the
Survivors. Your identity is almost always a secret and may never be fully
revealed. You will almost always have a hint of the supernatural, and your
mere presence will strike fear.
Character creation for the Killer is slightly different from the normal
character creation of the Survivors. Killers gain additional skills, their High
Concept and Trouble becomes Legend, Weakness and Anchor and, best of
all, they gain one or more Killer’s Edges which help to describe the addi-
tional power that the Killer has to assist him in his murderous goals.

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 The Director

Gamemastering Slasher
Playing as the game master in Slasher places you in the director’s
chair. You get to decide where and when the action will occur, as well as
the scenes in which your movie takes place.
Being the Director in a game of Slasher is a tricky proposition, per-
haps even tricker than playing as the gamemaster in any other RPG. This is
because you are overseeing a game where the at least one player is active-
ly working against the others withthe intention of actually killing them and
taking them out of the game. While the players should come into the game
with this knowledge well in mind, the Director must still be careful to ensure
that each player is having fun.
Working closely with the player of the Killer is important. Mechan-
ics exist within the game that will assist the Killer in making decisions more
cinematic, and allowing Survivor’s to (barely) escape and keep the game
going. Still, it is important to keep an eye on gameplay. Make each death
cinematic. Give the Survivors the advantage every once in a while.

Most importantly: HAVE FUN!

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 Character Creation
The Survivors
The best slasher flicks tend to have characters that have previous
connections. Long time friends, business acquaintances or students of the
same school have immediate connections that can help to give the story
feeling and emotion, especially when one of the survivors dies and is found
hanging from a meat-hook with his entrails spilling out onto the cold, stone
basement floor below. As a survivor, you should collaborate with the other
survivors to build a foundation of who your characters are and the rela-
tionships they have with each other.

You are encouraged to use the quick character creation process

during the character creation process in order to speed things along and get
right down to playing. Really, the only thing you absolutely should decide
before entering play is your High Concept, Trouble and Trope. You can fill
out your aspects, skills and stunts while you’re in play as described in the
Fate Core System book, on page 52.

The Trope
After high concept and trouble, one of the first things your charac-
ter should have is a trope. Your character’s trope will give you a sense of
how your character fits into the slasher story, how to build your character
as well as how to define high concept and trouble. Tropes act as an aspect
and can be compelled or invoked, and helps determines how the character
will die. This list is by no means extensive, and you are urged to create your
own Trope Aspects! Each trope also depicts a “death by” feature. These fea-
tures act as boosts that can be used one time per game session and can be
invoked like an aspect.

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 Alpha Bitch
Power Player: You know how to get people to do what you
want, usually by putting them down. You’re accustomed to
getting your way, even when you have to trample over others
to do it. You’re such a bitch!

Invoke: You can easily get people to do what you want them
to do by cut-downs, rude remarks, or aiming the group at your
target.

Compel: Your cutting tongue and bitchy demeanor underlies

an inferiority complex. You have to be at the top of the totem
pole. You suffer from incredible jealousy, particularly when it
comes to matters of popularity and power. Deep down, you
really are fragile. A kind or sweet gesture can completely break
down your defenses.

Death By: The Alpha Bitch gets what is coming to her. No

matter how endearing your last moments might be or how
good her intentions have been, whatever happens to you is
probably something that’s been a long time coming.

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 Cool Loser
Not Entirely Unattractive: You don’t dress poorly. You
aren’t a complete nerd. You don’t lack social skills and
seem to possess at least a modicum of charm. Still, you
just can’t seem to make friends. No matter where you
are, you always seem to be the odd man out.

Invoke: You have been alone most of your life, figuring

you’re better off that way. When you’re on your own, or
acting without the assistance of others, you truly shine.

Compel: While you’re no stranger to being a loner, it still

sucks when it’s pointed out that no matter how hard you
try, you just can’t seem to make friends. While your asso-
ciates may not actively dislike you, being left out can be a
severe blow to your psyche.

Death By: They like you, they really like you! The Cool
Loser may have felt alone for his entire life, but as it turns
out, people like you a lot more than you think. Unfortu-
nately, just when you start to feel included in everyone’s
reindeer games, the Killer ironically targets you. Tragic.

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 The Jerk
What An Asshole: You seem to go out of your way to
be a complete dick to those around you, including peo-
ple who consider you a friend. Egotistical and belliger-
ent, you seem to know all the right ways to show others
how much of a douchbag you really are.

Invoke: The phrase “might makes right” certainly

applies to your world-view, and you generally get your
way through physical intimidation and strength. You
inspire fear through toughness, and are often popular
because of it.

Compel: You can’t show weakness, and will lash out at

anyone who tries to stand up to you. Even so, you are
secretly very frail, and being seen as weak is your big-
gest fear. Your friends might turn on you at any mo-
ment, seeing you for the asshole that you are.

Death By: You really do have it coming. With how

many times you’ve bullied and picked on others, it’s ac-
tually kind of a surprise that no one took you out before
the Killer did.

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 Monster Magnet
Strange Attractor: For some reason, you’re
always in the center of all the weird shit that
happens. Between the strange and the bizarre
is where you always stand and, through no fault
of your own, the strange has its eye on you.

Invoke: You are rarely shaken by strange or

supernatural occurrences because you really
have seen it all. Due to your exposure to it, the
weird and sometimes violent things that hap-
pen around you really aren’t all that unnerving
in your mind.

Compel: Why do these things keep happening

to you? You can’t run from it and you sure as
hell can’t hide. No matter what you do, you
can’t help but wind up right at the center of the
action.

Death By: Knowing too much. You’re a verita-

ble font of information and lore about strange
happenings, arcane local history, secret societies
and just about everything else that goes bump
in the night. Unfortunately, you’ll probably
meet your demise right as you’re about to tell
the other survivor’s exactly how they can win.

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 The Stoner
Such A Loser: You’re lazy, even though you
have the brain to get you far if you could just
apply yourself. You tend to be a nice person,
but you just don’t seem to care all that much.
You’d much rather get wasted in your back-
yard, or get high and play video games than
form any sort of meaningful relationships or do
anything worthwhile.

Invoke: You make bad jokes and use drugs to

alleviate your stress and come to terms with the
world around you. Your intellect serves you well,
even under the influence. You can shrug off
even the worst of a situation by relying on your
drug of choice, or perhaps your simply flippant
and obtuse means of looking at the world.
You are able to see things in ways that others
haven’t, or simply can’t, and are able to work
outside the box with ease, and your intellect
typically backs up your creativity.

Compel: It’s hard to say no to anything, es-

pecially something that might make problems
easier to deal with. You are often seen as the
weakest link. Even if you have the smarts to
back up any claim you might make, others are
apt to disbelieve you, writing off your ideas and
plans as the work of a drugged up burnout.

Death By: Ostracized by friends.

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 The Minority
Alone In A Crowd: Whether you’re the only
woman in a group of guys, the only nerd in a
group of jocks, the only black guy in a group of
Caucasians or the only white person in a group
of Asian people, you are the minority within
your group. You exist as a representation of the
population at large, and typically have a very
different mindset than the majority.

Invoke: You’re determined to survive because

you’ve seen all the horror movies and you know
that the minority always dies first. This survival
instinct gives you an edge in almost every situ-
ation. You think clearly when everyone around
you is freaking out. You can clearly see when a
plan is going to get someone killed.

Compel: The supporting cast seems to always

single you out from among your group, even
if your friends always seem to back you up.
Others may find you off-putting or scary, or at
least a little odd. The killer may even single you
out as the weakest link, even if you’re by far the
strongest.

Death By: I told you so! You always seem to be

the rational one, thinking independently from
the rest of the Survivors. You’re always pointing
out how stupid the group’s plan is and the Killer
is happy to show them how right you really are.

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 TheSpecial
Final Girl
Trope
The Final Girl: Given to the last surviving
member of a group after the rest have been
killed off. You are the last character left alive,
and it is your duty to confront the Killer in a
final battle. After experiencing the abject terror
of realizing all of your friends are dead, you
have undergone an epiphany that exalts you,
toughens you and prepares you for the final
stroll through the valley of death. The Final Girl
aspect may only be given to the last Survivor
still alive after the others have been killed. Final
Girl replaces your previous trope completely, or
be added to your sheet as a secondary Trope.

Invoke: Because of your resourcefulness, you

always seem to have a weapon on hand. Your
intelligence matches or completely overshadows
the Killer’s own reasoning skills. You have be-
come a fierce predator, on the same level as the
Killer.

Compel: The Killer has it out for you. You can-

not escape the confrontation. It is destiny that
the two of you should meet, and only one of
you will make it out alive.

Death By: The Killer! While the Killer will find

your death no walk in the park, in this final
showdown between predator and prey, it is ulti-
mately the last battle that will decide your fate.

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 Suvivors Skills
Instinct
Sometimes in difficult situations, logic gets thrown out the window. The will
or the fear of the group can override common sense, and you find yourself
scrambling to make sense of the world around you or formulate a plan
within milliseconds. Unable to think logically or keep your wits about you,
instinct comes into play. Instinct is a skill that’s all about gut feelings that
can hopefully point you in the right direction. Taking the left fork in a road
without thinking about it, going into the basement instead of the attic or
grabbing the pitchfork instead of the machete.

O Overcome: Since you cannot always plan your next move,

instinct can be used to get a sense of the better decision when
multiple are available. Instinct does not give rhyme or reason,
and it may sometimes seem as though your instincts are leading
you astray. You may use instinct to overcome obstacles when
logic and reason cannot hope to prevail. You do not use instinct
normally to overcome obstacles, but often, instinct is used in a
reactive way. Knowing which weapon is best to grab, which path
to take or when to leave the water hole you’re swimming in. The
GM should call for instinct rolls when the character is unsure, or
unable to think logically and must make split-second decisions.

Create an Advantage: This is where instinct really shines. In-

C stinct can be used to create an advantage on just about any per-
son, place or thing by revealing if an option is “bad” or “good.”
While it will not give accurate, detailed information like Lore,
or help you read individuals like Empathy, it can give a general
sense of the outcome of a specific action, allowing you to create
aspects based on your instinctual knowledge and gut feelings of
a given situation.

a Attack: Instinct cannot be used as an attack.

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 D Defend: Instinct can be used in order to defend against deceive,
rapport and shoot actions. It can even be used against stealth if
someone is trying to ambush or otherwise get the drop on you,
but it cannot tell you if you are being observed, who is attacking
or give you any insight to the situation beyond a vague sense of
impending danger.

Instinct Stunts
• No, Not That Way!: Your gut serves you well in times of deci-
sion-making. You can use your Instinct skill to defend against the Killer’s
use of Route.

• Get Out Of The Way!: Without thinking, you instinctively move

away from incoming harm. By spending a fate point, you can either
shift an incoming attack down by one shift, or re-roll your defense roll.
The second roll must be taken.

• I Don’t Like That Guy: +2 on Empathy rolls. You can only use this
ability when you first meet a new person, or when you are defending
against a Deceive challenge.

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 Character Creation
The Killer
The Killer is a special case during character creation. Character cre-
ation for the Killer can take place at the same table with the group at the
same time or, for a bit more drama, mystery and suspense, the Killer may
be created apart from the survivor players. The Killer is naturally stronger,
faster and better prepared than the survivors and character creation of the
Killer is intended to reflect that. The Killer directly opposes and acts against
the survivors in an effort to slay them. The GM should make at least a min-
imal effort to ensure that the Killer knows more about the survivors than
they know about the Killer.

You are encouraged to use the quick character creation process

during the character creation process in order to speed things along and
get right down to playing, especially if the Survivor players use this method.
You can fill out your legend, weakness, aspects, skills and stunts while you’re
in play as described in the Fate Core System book, on page 52.

High Concept
Killer’s Legend
This may seem obvious, but all the best Killers have a secret agenda
that they follow. The Killer should not aim for a High Concept like “Killer”,
“Murderer” or “Psychopath.” Instead, the Killer’s High Concept should evoke
a sense of who the Killer is and why they do what they do. This is why the
Legend aspect replaces High Concept for a Killer. In the end, every Killer
in a Slasher game will be a raving psychopath hell bent on killing every
Survivor in the game, as well as anyone who gets in their way while they
attempt to do so. Great Legends for Killers include ideas such as “Avenge
my dead mother” or “Kill the teenagers invading my home.” Great Legends
explain why the Killer is after the survivors. Try to explain the story people
will tell about the Killer when she is done with her work.

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 Trouble
Killer’s Weakness
While it is often such a highly guarded secret that it may take five
sequels before a hint of it is ever revealed, a Killer always has a single de-
bilitating weakness. This weakness is always inexplicably and irrevocably
linked to their Legend. Once known, a Killer’s Weakness can be used to
put the Killer down for good. For a Killer whose Legend is to “Avenge my
mother”, his weakness may lie within any woman attempting to mimic her.
A Killer who wants to “kill the teenagers invading my home” might have
the weakness “The secret in the basement.”

Aspect
Killer’s Anchor
If a Killer’s weakness is his Achilles Heel, then the Anchor is the ar-
row. This should never be voluntarily revealed by the Killer without ex-
treme effort by the survivors, or discovered by the Final Girl or the Monster
Magnet. An Anchor depicts a physical item that holds the heart and soul
of the Killer. It is the reason the Killer is able to take such extreme amounts
of damage and rise again. It is the reason for their psychosis, damage
resistance and torment. To destroy the Killer’s anchor is to take all of those
things away.

An Anchor is a physical object that is directly linked to the Killer’s

Legend and Weakness. A good Anchor should not be obvious. It should be
something about the Killer’s Legend that isn’t immediately known. In fact,
the GM is encouraged to keep the Killer’s Anchor to themselves until they
near the end of the story, if they reveal it at all. For example, it might be
assumed that Jason Voorhees’ anchor would be his mask, but in reality, his
anchors are the belongings of his mother.

An Anchor is special in that it can only be invoked in conjunction

with the Killer’s weakness. When an Anchor is used or destroyed while in-
voking the Killer’s weakness, the Weakness cannot be ignored by spending
a fate point. An anchor can only be used once per story in this way. Once
the anchor is used to invoke the Killer’s weakness, it is lost or destroyed for
the rest of the story. Use it wisely, if you’re able to use it at all.

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Skills of a Killer
The Killer starts with a major advantage on the survivors, beginning
play with two +4 skills, three +3 skills, four +2 skills and five +1 skills. The Killer
also has access to a number of special skills that show off their nature as a
supernatural hunter.

Route
The Route skill is used to get people to go where you want them to
go. This can be due to pre-planning your attacks so that the Survivors seem
to wind up where you want them to wind up, or even acting the part of a
sheepdog, biting their heel (literally or figuratively) to get them to go in the
direction the Killer chooses.

O Overcome: Route can be used to overcome environmental chal-

lenges placed upon you by the survivors. It can also be used to
overcome the escape of the survivors that are trying to flee or hide.
Using route is always a challenge against the players. A route roll
can be resisted with any Skill the GM deems appropriate for the
Killer’s use of the Route skill. For example, if the Killer decides that
he will create obstacles that will direct the others where he wants
them to go, the survivors can use Athletics to overcome those obsta-
cles. Crafts may help to demolish furniture or other obstacles, etc.

C Create an Advantage: When you use Route to create an advan-

tage, you are able to create a dangerous zone aspect that applies
to the survivors in any zone on the map. Using Route in this way,
you can direct the survivors through difficult terrain while simulta-
neously taking a much easier path or know where the survivors are
hiding because you only left one spot to hide.

A Attack: Route is not used normally in conflicts (though stunts could

certainly change this). If you want to lead Survivors into a trap you
may be able to use Route as an attack.

D Defend: Route is not used to defend in conflicts.

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 Route Stunts
• Right Where I Want You: Whenever one or a group of survivors make
an effort to move into a zone, you can choose to create an advantage for
that zone.

• Where Am I?: When a survivor attempts to move from one zone to the
next, you can cause them to move to another zone instead.

• I Am Everywhere: The infamous “teleport” ability of a Killer to be any-

where he wants, with the use of this stunt, the Killer can literally be any-
where on the map that he wants to be.

Terror
The Terror skill is about inflicting fear into the survivors, and exists
for that sole purpose. By your mere presence, you are capable of causing
the survivors to lose their minds, fleeing in fear or cowering paralyzed in a
corner, praying it would all just go away.

O Overcome: You might use Terror to cause survivors to flee, or cow-

er in fear against NPCs. Against PCs, this requires a contest, which is
opposed with Will.

C Create an Advantage: You can create advantages regarding

emotionally charged responses such as paralyzed, trembling, hyster-
ical and shaken.

A Attack: You can make mental attacks with Terror, to do emotion-

al harm to your opponent. Your relationship with the target is not
applicable to this attack, and you may use it on strangers just as
well as close friends and lovers.

D Defend: Being good at terrorizing others doesn’t make you any

better at avoiding attacks, but stunts might create a method of
doing so.

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 Terror Stunts
• Absolute Terror: When you succeed with style on a Terror attack, you
can choose to reduce the result by one to gain a boost, you gain a full situa-
tional aspect with a free invocation instead.

• Provoke Flight: When you create an advantage on an opponent using

Terror, you can use your free invocation to cause that character to use their
next relevant action to attempt to move to an adjacent zone.

• Paralyze: When you use Terror to gain an advantage on a survivor, you

can use your free invocation to cause that survivor to plant where she is,
frozen in fear. This can be resisted with a Will roll.

Killer Stunts
The Killer begins play with three stunts and may sacrifice up to two
of your refresh to gain stunts on a one-for-one basis.

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 Killer Edges
In addition to the extra stuff your Killer gets from the Core Rules,
the Killer also has access to Edges. A Killer’s Edge can be something he is
particularly good at or even a paranormal ability or power that the Killer
is capable of bringing to bear during the story. Edges work a lot like stunts,
except they’re scarier and far more powerful. The Killer gets one Edge at
the beginning of play, but may trade out stunts for Edges. You may not
trade your Edges for stunts, only vice versa.

Deathless
No matter what, it seems like the Killer will never die. Taking the
Killer out of the fight and murdering him outright often feels like the end of
the story, but it is often just the beginning. Each time the Killer is taken out
due to filling stress and condition boxes, allow the survivors to do whatever
they like with the body. The GM will follow up by making a single roll. The
result of this roll determined how long it will take the Killer to rise again.
A successful roll indicates that the Killer may return during the scene after
next. Succeeding with style indicates that the Killer may return from death
with a Boost any time she pleases, so long as it is cinematic for the story,
makes sense and instills fear, or even an “Oh, shit!” moment. Each negative
indicates a number of scenes that the survivors are allowed to complete
before the Killer returns. In the end, this is up to the GM but, when it is all
said and done, the Killer always comes back.
This Edge is automatically available to all Killers, and does not count
against the Edge they get during character creation, or against their stunts.
If the Killer’s Anchor falls into possession of the Survivors or is destroyed, the
Killer loses the Deathless Edge immediately.

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 Edges
• Aura Sight: Your vision is altered such that you are capable of seeing
the auras of Survivors like a blood-red beacon of light. You gain a +2 bonus
when someone is trying to use Deceive, a +2 bonus to Empathy (this does
not stack with the bonus given for defense against Deceive) and a +2 to
Notice survivors regardless of distance or obstacles.

• Bloodhound: Your senses are acutely honed to scent blood, and your
body is geared to hunt it down. The Killer with this Edge gains a +2 bonus to
Investigate and Athletics against any Survivor who has at least one physi-
cal stress box marked, or any consequence gained from physical stress. This
effect stacks.

• Butcher: You know how to make the Survivors bleed. Any time you
inflict at least one stress box or consequence on a Survivor, you gain +2 to
Investigate or Notice against them. This effect stacks.

• Despair: You revel in the Survivor’s failure. Whenever a survivor fails a

roll and you are there to witness it, you may make a single roll. If you suc-
ceed, you gain a Fate Point.

• Devour Hope: The Survivor’s hope only fuels your rage, and you feed
on it. Any time a Survivor gains a sense of hope by healing their stress boxes
and you witness it, you gain a Fate Point.

• Dying Light: You become obsessed with a single survivor. You gain a +2
to each skill roll against that survivor. Once that survivor has died, or been
taken out, you suffer a -2 to your skills, instead.

• Insidious: You are particularly innocuous, able to stay in the shadows

and go unnoticed. You gain a +4 on Stealth skills and +2 on Deceive rolls.

• One Of Us: This Edge allows you to move among your enemies like a
wolf among sheep. Create a survivor character sheet per the normal sur-
vivor rules. Until you decide to shed your sheep’s clothing, you will use that
sheet for your rolls and story. After making your first aggressive act toward
a Survivor and one of them witnesses it, you lose the One Of Us Edge, and
replace your character sheet with your Killer character sheet.

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 • Play With Your Food: You are obsessed with one Survivor. Their scent
is enticing, and the taste of their sweat and blood is irresistible. You must
savor them. Any time you deal at least one consequence or stress box and
and willingly allow that survivor to escape, you gain a Fate Point.

• Psycho-Strength: Your madness has inured you to the pain you suffer
when you overexert your muscles and adrenaline constantly empowers you.
You gain a +4 to Athletics, Fight and Physique skill rolls but suffer a -2 to all
other skill rolls.

• Ritual Killing: The Killer’s murders are a part of a much larger plot
with a specific occult goal in mind. The Killer must dispatch the survivor’s in
a specific, predetermined way to gain this benefit, but each time the Killer
does so, he gains a +2 to a single skill or may take an additional stunt.

• Ruin: Your mere presence is enough to bring ruin to the Survivor’s en-
deavors. You may spend a Fate Point to cause a single roll made by any
Survivor to fail.

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Playing The Killer
It might seem that playing the Killer is purely antagonistic, as the
character’s goal is almost always to dispatch as many of the Survivors as
you can, usually in as short a time as is possible. The Killer is, after all, the
antagonist of the Survivors, and they actively work against each other.
That being the case, it is important to remember that the intention
of Slasher is to have fun. When playing the Killer, it is important that your
character’s actions are always working toward making the game fun for
everyone. It is the duty of the player of the Killer to work with the GM as
well as the other players to create a story that fits the themes of the game,
and makes every scene as horrific and foreboding as possible, even if that
means not killing a Survivor when you get the chance. After all, what
fun would a slasher movie be if the Killer just off’d all the teens in the first
scene? Instead, the Killer prolongs the carnage, creates plots and plans that
cause the Survivors to fear for their life. The Killer gives them moments
where they think they’ve won, only to stumble across the body of the police
officer they had called a few hours before.
Playing the Killer is a challenge. You will sometimes have to work
against your own character in order to ensure the most horrifying and
bloody experience possible. Don’t kill everyone at once unless it fits the sto-
ry. If you take a Survivor out, maybe she reminds you of your slain mother
so you lock her up in the basement giving her friends a chance to find her
later and ensuring an awesome chase scene later. If you catch a Survivor
in one of your well-placed bear traps, it would be easy to put a machete
through their skull, but why not knock them out and put them up on a
hook through their shoulder so that you can lure his friends in for a rescue,
giving them a good view when you finally decide to spill his guts on the
floor? Or maybe you just want to make some long-pig jerky?
The goal of the Killer’s player shouldn’t be just to kill the Survivors,
even if it’s the goal of the Killer to do so. Instead, imagine how a horror
movie might go. Have fun with your kills. Be creative. Help the Survivors
have fun, and make each death as meaningful as possible. Even if that
meaning is simply to scare the hell out of the other Survivors who are forced
to watch as you butcher their leader or savior under the moonlight. Instill a
sense of terror as their friend’s blood runs in tiny rivers of red over the floor-
boards, dripping through the cracks and drenching the onlookers’ faces as
they stare, wide-eyed and aghast from the basement.

Give them a show!

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 HORRIFIC Fate
Gamemastering Survival Horror
In Slasher, the Gamemaster is the Director. The first step in directing
your Slasher flick will be the set-up. You’ll get to decide not only where but
when your story takes place. Is this a typical suburban street in the mid-80s,
or will you decide on a more modern approach, placing the characters as
high school students in the 2010s? Decide the kind of movie you want to
direct. You can place characters in a completely new setting, or you can
pit your characters in a setting like any of the great slasher films or horror
novels that you’ve watched or read. In Slasher, the player’s FATE is literally
in your hands.

Scale
A typical Slasher game will take place in a small setting, such as a
street, a house, a school, abandoned hospital or even a ghost town or camp
ground. The setting will be the focus of where the player characters exist,
and whence they must escape if they wish to survive. If you choose, you can
expand the setting into a bigger area or allow your players to travel in or-
der to investigate the Killer. The choice is yours. It is recommended to keep
a small setting if you intend to run this game as a one-shot.

Setting Trope
If you’ve ever watched a horror movie, then you know that most
good horror films follow loosely along with one or more tropes. When de-
signing your game, you should choose one or two tropes around which to
center your game. These tropes act as game-wide aspects that are always
applicable and always present in the story. These tropes act as a catalyst
for the Killer, giving them a reason for their rampage, provide soil from
which to plant the Killer’s Legend and a location to put their Anchor. The
list on the next page is not an extensive or complete list of horror tropes, but
is included in order to help to give examples of common horror tropes you
might use in your own Slasher story.

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 Common Horror Tropes
• Adults Are Useless: In movies that revolve around teenagers,
children or young people in general, adults tend to be morons. Teachers
are annoying sticks in the mud (though exceptions exist), or disbelieve
everything the kids say as imaginative or simply statements of their youth.
Parents are clueless and either overprotective or neglectful. And authority
figures? Forget it.

• Dark Secret: Someone in the story has a terrible secret about

their past that relates to the issue of your story. The secret can belong to
one of the supporting cast, any or all of the Survivors or even the setting
itself. Whoever is keeping it thinks that it is vitally important that it stays
hidden, even if it could mean victory over the Killer. The secret tends to be
the reason that the Killer is going on their rampage.

• Deadly Prank: Some time in the setting’s history, there was a

prank that went horribly wrong. These kinds of pranks can be meant as
harmless, or intended to be cruel and unusual, but they always went too
far and act as a catalyst for the story.

• Death By Sex: If a character has sex in your game, rest assured

that they will die.

• Summer Camp: Backwoods, Forests and camps are popular

settings in horror films. Friday the 13th is a testament to this trope. Two or
more people, usually a group of teenagers, go for a casual hike or camping
trip somewhere away from civilization, and carnage ensues. The not-so-
happy campers get stalked through the woods, and picked off.

• Savage South: Crude language and inexplicable barbarism in

an inhospitable land with jungles full of wild beasts, lakes and rivers full
of sharks or piranhas and grasslands stalked by predators of all sorts. Who
needs a Killer, anyway?

• Blondes Have More Fun: It’s no secret that blonde babes in

slasher films seem to get offed a lot. If there is a blonde woman, it doesn’t
matter how bubbly or smart she is, she’s probably going to get picked off.
If the blonde-haired girl is going to have any hope of being a Final Girl, she
had better be a Power Blonde or Alpha Bitch.

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 ISSUES
Has there been a rash of murders in a small town where one of the
character’s relatives lives? Is there a local story exchanged around a camp-
fire about a psychopath stalking the woods? Was there a cave-in years ago
in the coal mines where the ghosts of miners are said to roam?
The setting you create will always have an issue of some sort that
will help to foreshadow the kind of Killer that the Survivors will encounter,
and give the characters something to investigate. As the Director, you will
take these issues and expand them into Aspects that will help expand and
flesh out what’s going on within your setting. Perhaps the campfire story
has a grain of truth, and once every ten years the psychopath hunts the
woods for hapless campers, playing out a killing spree that occurred all
those years ago. Perhaps the ghost stories surrounding the mines alludes to
a single miner that died in those mines, and now haunts the family he views
responsible, possessing the bodies of victims until he’s extinguished the entire
family line. These issues will be used by the Killer’s player to detail their own
character.

Cannon Supporting
Fodder Cast
Expanding further on the issues that surround the setting, you’ll
want to draw out at least a small handful of supporting characters that will
take part in the story along with the Survivors, helping or hindering them in
some fashion. Jot down anything that comes to your mind that might make
for interesting characters, and include Aspects for them about how they
relate to the setting’s issues. Perhaps there is a camp counselor who was
around the last time the murders took place, and is in a state of disbelief
about the Killer, believing that the murders he witnessed were a one-time
thing after seeing the Killer gunned down with his own eyes. Perhaps the
last remaining member of the family responsible for the cave-in knows who
the ghost miner is and where their grave is located.
When writing out these characters, make sure to keep their identi-
ties and Aspects a secret until discovered. Lore skill rolls are perfect for this.
Mystery helps to amplify the fear that the Survivors will feel when they
explore the surrounding setting, ever-unsure of when and where the Killer
will pop up next.

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 OBJECTIVES
The Survivor’s Goals
Intended to span one to three sessions of horrific, gruesome game-
play, the GM should set up the game so that players can and should discov-
er means of “winning” over the Killer. Whereas the Killer’s main goal and
sole purpose is to kill the Survivors for reason thats will likely never truly
come to light without a few sequels to continue the carnage, the Survivor’s
goal is in their namesake: to survive.
In addition to creating the issues of the setting, the GM should tie in
three to five actions that will allow the characters to overcome the Killer,
or at the very least survive the night. These actions are like special Aspects
that, once revealed, should become a goal for the Survivors or at least a
part of their plan. The Killer will actively attempt to dissuade and pre-
vent the Survivors from accomplishing these tasks, and will sabotage their
attempts at every turn. Sometimes, the Killer will even lie in wait where the
characters will go to attempt to solve the mystery or accomplish these tasks
in order to pick them off. Three tasks is considered to be of average difficul-
ty while five is incredibly difficult.
The GM should work with the Killer’s player in order to create these
tasks. Keep in mind that these are not required, but are a means to of-
fer the Survivors hope, and something to work for. They work like special
aspects. They may or may not have to occur in order for the Survivors to
succeed and survive the night. They may not slay the Killer, or even hinder
the Killer in any way, though they are certainly able to do so, if that is the
intention of the game you’re planning.
When creating Objectives, it is important to consider the setting’s
issues, as well as the Legend, Weakness and Anchor of the Killer. For the
Killer whose weakness lies in “the secret in the basement”, the objectives
may lead the characters to find what is in the basement and destroy it or
use it against the Killer. For the Killer who wants to avenge his mother and
has a weakness of any woman trying to imitate her, the survivor’s objec-
tives might lie in researching the story of the Killer, leading the characters to
find her grave and put on her clothing to attempt to dissuade the Killer or
confuse him long enough to land the deadly blow.
Each Objective should have at least two of its own Aspects. These
Aspects can be invoked or compelled for or against both the Survivor or the
Killer. When one Objective is completed, you may take one or all of those
Aspects away from the Objective depending on how the Objective was

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 accomplished, or failed.
For a quickstart game, if you want to get right down to it and the
Killer and Survivors are using the quick play rules as well, you can simply
determine how many goals you would like to have (which will help deter-
mine how difficult it will be for the players to “win” the game), and as the
Survivors make plans and proceed with their tasks, you can simply deem
that completed tasks contribute to those goals, leading to a successful fore-
stalling of the Killer.

Discovering Objectives
Objectives are meant to act as a path that the characters can take
during the story in order to create drama, unveil secrets to the Killer’s goals
and identity as well as to give the characters hope that they can survive.
The first objective should be discovered very early in the session, if not at
the very beginning as a catalyst for the story. Here, foreshadowing can go
a long way to getting the players started on their path. If the characters
need to get into the basement for the final goal, for example, the first thing
they might need to do is get the generator in the shed turned on. Discover-
ing goals in this way will give the Killer a chance to take their first stab at
taking out one of the Survivors, and the first Objective will probably lead
to their first true encounter with the Killer.

Completing Objectives
One Objective should almost always lead to another, and will
almost always be a double-edged blade for the Survivors. Turning on the
generator, for example, will cause all of the lights to spontaneously turn on
in the house, as well as the outside floodlights and perhaps even the interi-
or lights for the shed. This will immediately alert the Killer as to where the
Survivors are, as there is only one generator to power the home and might
even cause one or more of the Survivors to have a spotlight shined directly
on them. Due to the increasing difficulty of the tasks at hand as the story
moves toward a climax, each completed Objective will drop a new nega-
tive Boost or Aspect onto the entire group of Survivors, and give the Killer a
single positive Aspect or Boost on the Killer. For example, when the players
turn on the generator you might drop an Aspect on the Survivors called “I
See You”, whereas the Killer gains the benefits of an aspect called “More
shadows to play in” or “Gotcha!”

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 Economy of FATE
As the GM, it is your job to ensure that the story moves forward as
if the characters were the main characters in a slasher film. This is called
“giving them a show.” What this means is that the game should move as
any good, b-movie slasher film would. Build the suspense, emphasize the
gore and the horrific events as they unfold. Give the Survivors chances to
escape just as often as you set the Killer up with chances to slay them. In
order to encourage the players to give the table a show, characters can
earn Fate points and boosts in extra ways. The Killer can gain Fate Points
when they allow the characters to escape his clutches in a cinematic way.
The Killer can gain a Boost or Fate Point any time they take out a Survivor
and choose not to kill the survivor they’ve taken out. The Survivors each
gain a Fate Point when they’ve taken part or been otherwise instrumental
in completing an objective.

Survive the Night

The Final Scene
Once the Objectives have been completed, there is one last thing
that the Survivors must do to end the carnage and see the sun break on
the horizon. The Final Objective, not counted toward the original Objec-
tives that started the game, is to escape the Killer or bring in reinforcements
such as the police, military or a person who is able to destroy or stop the
Killer.
This Last Objective should be decided by the story, the GM and the
Killer. The Last Objective will be the defining line, pitting the remaining
Survivors against the Killer directly in some form or fashion. The Killer will
always attempt to get in one final flourish of death and carnage. Here, the
Killer has nothing more to gan or lose, and will try to kill them all without
pause or hesitation. The story should be set up this way. For example, if the
Survivors discover a means of getting out of the house, then the Killer will
be waiting for them in the yard, between the Survivors and their freedom.
If the police show up, then the Killer might lie in wait for the best time to
either kill the police or get in one final kill on the survivors.
The Final Objective will decide the victors. Either the Killer slays the
Survivors and lives to Kill another day, or the Survivors will make it out and
ride into the sunset and many thousands of dollars in psychiatry bills.

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