Your Guide to Creating an ALIEN-Worthy Horror Experience

Building the horror in a virtual environment requires you to pay careful attention to the atmosphere you build before the game begins. Luckily, VTTs offer their own tools for building tension and dread – if you know how to use them to your advantage.

Dynamic Lighting

The darkness of space feels more real when players can only see what their characters can see. Roll20's dynamic lighting isn't just a neat feature - it makes for the best horror storytelling tool. Here are a few tips for using lighting to create a perfect ALIEN experience:

• Using gradual light falloff to create uncertain shadows
• Placing light sources strategically to create long shadows and dark corners
• Having lights malfunction during key moments (use the tint feature to create emergency lighting effects)
• Creating areas of total darkness where xenomorphs might lurk

Audio Engineering Matters

When the lights go dim, you need to rely on your ears to make your way through the dark, necrified corridors of your ship. Online play requires a different approach than simply playing background music:

• Layer your audio and combine space ambiance with specific sound effects
• Use motion tracker beeps sparingly - they lose impact if overused
• Consider creating "audio zones" for different areas of your map
• Keep a folder of quick-access sound effects for emergencies, vents, and alien shrieks
• Remember that less is more - silence can be more terrifying than constant noise

Use Visual Assets That Tell Stories

Your maps and tokens should do more than just show position – they can actually play a key role in helping create environmental storytelling. 

Use blood trails and signs of struggle to build tension. Prepare an “alternative” version of maps for when systems fail or damage occurs. Have tokens ready for different states of the same area (intact or damaged.) There are plenty of ways to use small visual assets to set the scene.

Handouts as Horror Props

Documents, images, and other handouts aren't just for information - they're tools for building dread. You can create damaged or partially corrupted logs or use security camera footage (static images) to hint at threats.

Get creative with "classified" documents with redacted sections that help spark imagination in your crew, and prepare emergency bulletins and warning messages to push the story along.

Remember: The goal isn't to overwhelm players with effects but to create an atmosphere where anything might be lurking in the digital shadows. Use these tools sparingly and strategically - horror is often about what you don't show as much as what you do.

Making Stress and Panic Shine Online

The Stress system is the heart of horror in ALIEN RPG - but online play offers ways to make it even more intense. Here’s how to turn virtual limitations into advantages.

Create a shared stress tracker in Roll20 that all players can see. 

Use token markers to show stress levels on character tokens so everyone can see the pressure building. The built-in jukebox can help amp up the tension as stress rises. Don’t forget your NPCs - have them break down as their own stress builds up.

When that dreaded 1 comes up on the Stress die, make it count. 

Pause for dramatic effect before revealing results. Describe the personal horror in private messages to other players while the mechanical effects are visible to everyone. Have prepared descriptions ready for different panic results - the personal experience should be unique, but the mechanical consequences clear to all.

Remember – the VTT itself can help with stress moments. 

Reveal parts of the map as the players explore. Move NPC tokens in unexpected ways to create uncertainty. Use the fog of war to hide creature movements. Drop ominous messages in chat at key moments to hint at danger looming.

The quiet moments between stress peaks are key to the pacing. 

Create clear "safe zones" where players can try to reduce stress but never let them feel completely safe. Use these moments for character development in chat. Let players role-play their coping mechanisms - these breaks in tension make the horror more intense when it returns.

Embrace The Darkness – and Make It Your Own

Running horror in ALIEN RPG online isn't about perfectly recreating the tabletop experience - it's about embracing the unique opportunities that virtual play offers. Use the distance of online play to your advantage; let the digital barrier become part of the isolation and uncertainty that makes ALIEN's horror so effective.

Remember that players are at the table for the horror experience. Give them the tools to engage with the terror, let the stress system do its work, and use the virtual tabletop's features to enhance rather than replace good old-fashioned storytelling.

In the end, the most important tool isn't dynamic lighting or sound effects - it's your ability to read your players and adjust accordingly. Keep your focus on their experience, use these tools thoughtfully, and you'll create memorable moments of horror that work brilliantly in the virtual space.

Ready to start creating cinematic horror in your own virtual ALIEN RPG game? Create a free Roll20 account today and explore the tools that will help bring your terrifying adventures to life, or check out our collection of ALIEN RPG content in the marketplace to get started even faster.