This article first appeared on Steve’s Blood Work blog on September 19, 2012.
One of the things I really wanted to put into Specimen is the horror flavor. This is the hardest thing to incorporate into a horror game. I mean, really, how scared is a gamer going to be sitting in their well lit home, with their friends, playing a game? Let’s face it, the “I’m scared” factor in a board game is always going to be low, but I still wanted to try.
The Panic Chart in Specimen.
One of the things I came up with is PANIC. It always happens in the classic horror stories that some of the characters just lose it when they confront the monster. To simulate this, I came up with the Panic check. I decided that after three of the seven crew members have been killed, the survivors would start to realize that their odds of making it were not good. From that point on, whenever the monster attacks, each crew member in the combat has to make a Panic check. If they roll their panic number or lower, they pass and can fight as normal. If they blow it, they don’t fight and instead just stand there, frozen. Some crew members are cooler under fire than others. Captain Tyler has the best panic number, while Whitaker (poor Whitaker!) has the worst. Does it give the Specimen an advantage during the later stages of the game? Absolutely! But at that point in the story, the monster should have an advantage.
Oh, and don’t worry, crew players, there are several events you can play to help your guys pass their panic check…
Specimen 