Somnambulism 101 // GM'ing for Psychomortis 001
Somnambulism 101 // Pre-Session Advice
I've become aware of the possibility of the struggles of playing Psychomortis. I have also become aware of the possibility of the struggles of RUNNING Psychomortis. One of these activities is much harder than the other. Despite the reputation that Psychomortis strives for; one of brutality and hostility, I do intend my game to be played.
Here I plan to collect a variety of potentially short-form or potentially long-form writings on the subject. I have run a weekly game of Psychomortis for well over a year now, and I feel as though I have learned how to wrestle with this unruly beast of a game quite well.
While Psychomortis is indeed a struggle to learn and truly adapt to, it is immensely rewarding in its gameplay and narrative constructions. Games will often be naturally multi-layered and characters will naturally grow, change and go through arcs as enforced by organically flowing mechanics, which provides a huge amount of depth to the characters and the experience of the game if ran right.
It's that final key phrase // if ran right. It's a lot harder done than said.
The Basics //
- Do not enter this experience expecting a "traditional" dungeon crawler. Psychomortis expects a lot from its players, and it expects even more from you. Perform well and you will be rewarded with some of the most satisfying mechanically-driven narratives you can find. Enter this experience with an open mind.
- Do not play this game like it's static. The setting of the game // Pandora's Labyrinth, is a living, breathing space. Not only do the creatures of the space move and act independently of the players, so do the NPC's, the Geometry, and even the Goals and Narratives of the space.
- It is your job as the GM to create nigh impossible obstacles in front of your players. It is your job to strive to defeat the players in their pursuits without playing so unfairly that the game stops being fun.
- Design your maps and gameplay with what I'll call "well intentioned malice". Only include Evil where it absolutely must be. Otherwise, fill that space with this "well intentioned malice"
- As a GM, it will be your job to judge and adjudicate moral actions done by the characters. Be a fair and honest judge, always and without fail. If you must, pretend as though you are a benevolent Angel inflicting these judgements.
- Understand that a narrative only exists as the characters care for it. The grand majority of story content that will be found within Psychomortis is interpersonal, and can exist separated from an outside story. The world exists outside of the PC's.
- If you are a kind GM, prepare yourself for the struggles of the necessary hostility you must engage in to make the game satisfying. If you are a malicious or hostile GM, then prepare yourself to give purpose, context, and meaning to that hostility. Failure to do either of these things will result in a bad gaming experience for yourself and your players.
- Remember that this is a game about surviving a life with trauma. Remember that this is a horror game made to frighten, confuse, terrify and cause discomfort.
//
Elaboration //
1. Psychomortis is a game designed to support exclusively survival-horror dungeon crawling gameplay. However, the grand majority of that gameplay is structured around the players and their characters. The way their characters act and behave, as well as how their pasts and emotional struggles affect that behavior. This functions at its best with a group of good roleplayers. Broadly, it is your job as the GM to create a simulated environment that will cause these characters to
suffer through that trauma, force them to face it without fear, and overcome that
inner Demon.
The purpose of your duty is to create an immersive, fun experience, yes, but in the broadest sense imaginable, you are forcing these characters to purify themselves in the fires of pain and agony, to find true peace as the resolution of their character.
However, this judgement is dual-bladed in nature. Just as you must help them purify themselves on their journey by providing Evils to defeat, you must be equally accepting if they wish to simulate a descent into madness or horror, or if they want a more material goal to accomplish. As the hammer falls, it is ultimately your judgement that dictates what this game is about.
But it IS ABOUT something.
2. Do not play the game like it's static. Do not assume that a dungeon's walls end where the map says they do. Do not assume that because something is written in the keys, that it MUST be like that. This game is at its best when the dungeon and the environment is shifting around the party as they shift around it. Drastic, unplanned changes to the space // an entire floor being filled with toxic water?
That's not a "game gone wrong", that's a game gone right. Now, certain loot in the space must change to accommodate this new development. Just like how the players are expected to adapt their tactics and strategies to the circumstances, you must as well.
This game is just as much a test and challenge for you as it is for them.
3. If a party is building their characters and their composition properly, and they're being armed properly with fun items and equipment (like they SHOULD BE), they will inevitably become VERY difficult to defeat. Traditional combat methods will become unwieldy or outright impossible, as drowning them out with numbers will result in an inevitable, unfun defeat for both sides, and simply spawning huge bosses to kill them is obviously targeted.
It is important to think strategically when trying to defeat your players. Use as few monsters as you can, identify weak points, character flaws or anchors of the team that you can take advantage of. Identify those, poke at them, prod at them, and leap for the kill. Do not defeat them merely with overwhelming force unless that is tactically and narratively satisfying; rather, always use tight scenarios and the environment to your advantage. Create devious traps and ambushes that can be survived. As a general rule, avoid instantaneous full TPK's or instant one-shots, always. Especially if the party never had the opportunity to see it coming, or prepare for it. If a team is well compositioned and you're playing fairly, they will win // barely.
4. "Well intentioned malice" in this context means that you must design the content for your game in such a manner that it is unfair, and brutal, painful, and hateful. But, at its core, YOU must not be unfair, brutal, or hateful. YOU must design with the greatest of intentions // for the party to overcome your challenge and for them to find the great treasures at the end. It is GOOD to wish for their success, but what they truly want is to STRUGGLE. Feed them that struggle, but do not bully them into endless failure without any reason to keep playing with you. Design the world, the monsters, the scenarios, the Labyrinth to be hostile, but never be as such yourself. Only be fair, and only be firm.
5. Consider for a moment that people rarely like to be judged. It is part of your duties that inevitably, you must give out things such as Guilt or Illius or Dread in scenarios where only your judgement is a factor, and mechanics can no longer help you. It is very important, in these moments, to learn how to judge such things fairly and within the spirit of the game, Psychomortis, and your game, the one that you're running. If you search for it somewhere inside yourself, you'll find that inherent line of emotion and feeling. Alternatively, imagine yourself as though you are a benevolent Angel watching over the party and passing judgement with their best intentions in mind // judge impartially and fairly, but do not tip the scales in their favor. Understand that Evil is Evil, and Good is Good.
6. Within many games of Psychomortis, the "plot" will devolve beyond comprehension. Any original quests will be forgotten in favor of the immediate thoughts and goals of the participants. This, while not ideal, is quite natural, and the game expects you to adapt to it.
The "breaking away" of the group from an original agreed upon goal is a side effect that the setting has upon the characters and the players. It can warp their objectives and their right minds. It is important to be willing to simply slide with this, and only gently push people towards that agreed upon goal so far as they decide to follow you towards it. If their instincts take them elsewhere // that is simply where the Labyrinth pulls them.
The narrative of a game of Psychomortis is inherently not about what the characters are "doing", but rather what they're feeling, and how that changes their world. Follow that, instead of any concrete goals or objectives. Even if it means the entire party eats each other alive // it's what those people wanted. If all else fails, you can roll up a new group of hopeless souls.
7. Psychomortis, as an entity, exists to rip apart the outer layers of its participants // if they so allow it to. It will pull off masks and make apparent reflections. This is a natural process, and one that must be engaged with willingly. Know that, as a GM, this rule applies to you as well, and if you seek it, you will find a lot about yourself in how you choose to run this game.
Know that it will not be immediately "easy" for most people, and that adaptations will need to be made. Kind and gentle GM's will need to learn how to love with cruelty and pain. Ruthless and brutal GM's will need to learn how to motivate that cruelty with love and care. As both are equally necessary to run the Labyrinth in the most fun way.
8. Despite everything spoken about above, this IS still a horror game. It is about discomfort and fear, it is about instilling that discomfort and fear into the players. Find and equip yourself with the "Tools of Fear" to regularly inflict these sensations on your players. Part of their test is seeing how far they can face that fear before breaking down and giving up.
Create the most bone-chilling and horrifying scenarios you can. Stalk them with tall shadows in the dark, slamming and screaming from behind walls, impossible mounds of flesh that shift in the corners of their eyes.
Create fear, and then reward them for overcoming that fear.
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//
Recap & TL;DR //
Psychomortis is a game about the minds of men and the traumas they endure. This goes for the GM as well. Adjudicate the space of Pandora's Labyrinth with fluidity, kindness and love and cruelty and a firm hand. Accept that the world exists outside of the characters, and accept that the characters exist as part of that world. They are merely the protagonists of their own stories, and little else.
This game is a proving ground for GM's and players alike, but do not be afraid of trying it yourself.
To gain access to the current version of the rulebook, it is free to download on the game's Discord server;
https://discord.gg/cyqYQt7Cgr
Alternatively, contact me on Bluesky;
@calicovisions.bsky.social
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