Style and Influences [Anomalous]

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===== Style and Influences ======

//Anomalous// is a horror game with elements of sci-fi and urban fantasy, set in early 1990s Britain. Characters are employees of the Cross Foundation, a secretive institution with Victorian origins which aims to study, categorise and, where possible, contain Anomalies -- entities, objects, locations or phenomena which defy human comprehension.

As a game about paranormal events happening in a world largely unaware of the existence of Anomalies, Players can expect much of the game to engage with themes of horror and mystery. For more information on the narrative themes that may and may not appear in //Anomalous//, please see our [[Acceptable Themes]] page. We also advise reading some of the tenets of our game philosophy below for some pointers on how we intend to use these themes during the game and what sort of tone you can expect.

=== Shock and Suspense ===
There are plenty of ways to build an unsettling or frightening atmosphere in a LARP game. Some of these methods rely on shock: sudden camp attacks, lights cutting out, and monsters jumping out from the darkness being just a few examples. //Anomalous// will not avoid encounters that induce fear through shock in this way, though we will always aim to balance these with encounters that rely instead on suspense.

We believe that while shock can be a useful tool to create atmosphere for a horror game and keep Players alert, suspense leads to richer gameplay with more impactful choices. When a monster leaps out from the shadows, the shock is likely to generate an immediate response: attack the monster or run away. By contrast, a monster that approaches slowly but inexorably creates suspense and leads to the kind of problem-solving and high-drama roleplay that we want to encourage in //Anomalous//. Rather than the choice of fighting or fleeing, the questions Players face become more complex: //When will we run out of time? What will we do when the monster reaches us? What are we prepared to sacrifice when it does reach us?//

Shock elements, when they do occur, will never rely on Players being misled or deceived by any Out Of Character information written by the Game Refs, including the list of [[Acceptable Themes]], our notes on [[events#accessibility|Accessibility]], or the content of this Style page.

=== Highs and Lows ===

We believe that fear needs room to breathe in order to be effective. Fans of horror should be familiar with this concept: when things are going well for a horror character, you can expect something terrible to follow close behind -- and the more dangerous a threat, the greater the emotional high feels when the character survives it.

With this in mind, we want the mood of //Anomalous// to remain varied. Players will not always "win" -- their plans may be thwarted by forces beyond their control; they may be lied to by people they trusted; they may find their actions leading to unexpected and drastic consequences. However, //Anomalous// is not intended to be a non-stop misery fest. Game Refs will use conflict and challenge to drive plot forward rather than to punish Players for taking action, and there will always be a way for Players to ultimately succeed -- it might just take them along a more roundabout route than they initially expected. A variety of NPCs and plot threads will be written to allow moments of triumph, hope and humour alongside the tension, fear and despair. In this way, we aim for the highs to complement the lows and vice versa, and for Players to feel safe buying into the horror elements of //Anomalous// as and when they appear.

=== Mystery and the Unknown ===

The Cross Foundation gathers data on and categorises Anomalies, but that doesn't necessarily mean they //understand// them. Even characters with all possible research abilities at their disposal are unlikely to be able to grasp the full scope of an Anomaly, and there will be mysteries that can never be fully solved. That doesn't mean that Players will be kept in the dark to the point where they cannot meaningfully interact with the game or make reasonable assumptions about the outcomes their actions could lead to. Instead, we want to encourage an attitude to mystery and problem-solving that looks less like "How exactly does this work?" and more like "If I do //this//, what will happen?"

=== The World is Weird ===

There are parts of the world of //Anomalous// that are drenched in conspiracy and watched over by phenomenally powerful entities. There are also parts that are just a bit odd. The Cross Foundation itself represents these extremes: an employee might find themselves spending a morning covering up an Anomalous incident for the safety of the general public while thwarting sabotage efforts by the Foundation's enemies, then spend the afternoon mediating an interdepartmental conflict about the use of an anomalously efficient stapler. Players are encouraged to find the place on this spectrum of weirdness that best suits them and to expect both the existentially horrifying and the slightly silly.

==== Media Influences ====

A few inspirations behind //Anomalous// are:
  * //SCP Foundation//
  * Specific works written in the SCP universe such as //There Is No Antimemetics Division// by 'qntm'/Sam Hughes   
  * //Control//
  * //The X-Files//
  * //The Magnus Archives//
  * //Men In Black//
  * Eldritch Days LARP
  * Eternal Fire LARP