Killer Ratings | Trick or Meat: A Halloween Special
Youโre the desperate cast of a failing ghost-hunting show. Stir up real spirits, spike the ratings, survive the night . . . and make great TV.
TYPE
SYSTEM
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
Free
Details
1 player following this game
Once / Saturday - 7:00 PM UTC
Oct 31
Session Duration / 3 hours
2 / 5 Seats Filled
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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About the adventure
๐ This Halloween, your terrible ghost-hunting show has one last chance to stay on the air. ๐ป๐บ You are the cast and crew of a third-rate paranormal reality show desperately chasing a ratings bump. The network has scored you a live season finale from โthe most haunted location in America.โ ๐ฏ๏ธ๐๏ธ๐ Thereโs just one problem: It really is haunted. ๐ฑ๐ป๐ฉธ Explore the location, invent its creepy history, provoke the spirits, manufacture drama for the cameras, and do absolutely anything necessary to keep viewers watching. ๐นโฐ๏ธ๐ As the night gets darker, the haunting gets stronger . . . and eventually the ghosts stop being good television and start becoming a serious occupational hazard. โ ๏ธ๐ชฆ๐ธ๏ธ Killer Ratings is a rules-light, zero-prep improv horror-comedy about obnoxious reality-TV personalities making catastrophically bad decisions in a genuinely haunted place. Characters are created together at the table, and the mystery of the haunting emerges through play. ๐ป๐ฒ๐ช No experience with the game is necessary. Just bring your best bad reality-TV persona, your Halloween spirit, and a willingness to make terrible choices for excellent ratings. ๐๐บ๐ Survive the night. Get the footage. Go viral. And remember: dead cast members are still great for ratings. ๐ป๐ฉธ๐น
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Theater of the Mind
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
About me
Collaborating with players to create background and backstory is what I enjoy most. Creating a great character-driven narrative that we will tell for years is my goal. My preference is for RPG systems that support the story and also allow for players to have the option to succeed at a cost, driving the story to a climactic finish where all those checks must be paid. RPGs work best when it's like a jazz ensemble, where the whole group plays together most of the time but everyone gets a chance to step forward for their solo from time to time. I'm available for a custom session or campaign. I can put together a quality one-shot in a few days if it's a system on my list. If itโs not on my list, it may be similar to something I already know, so please feel free to ask anyway.
View Profile โCharacter creation
Creating your character
๐ญ Creating your paranormal TV disaster is fast, easy, and gloriously ridiculous. ๐ป๐บโจ First, pick your role on the show. You might be the spotlight-hogging Face ๐ค, the long-suffering Camera Person ๐น, the completely fraudulent Charlatan ๐ฎ, the Faceโs parasitic Buddy ๐คก, or the broke-and-regretful Academic ๐. Doubling up is fine, and the game encourages broad, colorful characters over detailed backstories. Next, give your character a suitably terrible reality-TV name. ๐ ๐ถ๏ธ The sillier, tackier, or more shameless, the better. If someone at the table laughs at the suggestion, youโre probably on the right track. ๐ Then weโll invent your wonderfully awful ghost-hunting show together ๐ป๐บ, establish a few relationships between the cast ๐๐ค๐ฅ, and divide 5 points between PROVOKE and SURVIVE. PROVOKE measures how good you are at stirring up dramaโand possibly the deadโwhile SURVIVE measures your occasional ability to make decisions that wonโt get you killed. ๐ฒ๐ Each stat gets at least 1 point. Thatโs it! No homework. No lengthy character builds. No agonizing over equipment lists. ๐๐ธ๏ธ Just show up ready to become the kind of paranormal reality-TV personality who sees a blood-covered door marked DO NOT OPEN and immediately says: โGet the camera. Weโre going in.โ ๐น๐ช๐ฉธ๐ป
What to expect
Preparing for the session
๐ To join the hunt, youโll need: A free Roll20 account ๐ฒ๐ธ๏ธ - weโll use Roll20 for the virtual tabletop, character information, dice rolling, and any spooky visual aids the spirits decide to provide. ๐ป Discord ๐ง๐ - weโll use Discord for voice chat during the game. Please make sure your microphone is working before we go live. ๐ป๐ช You do not need to own the rules or prepare a character in advance. Weโll create our terrible paranormal-TV personalities together at the table. ๐บ๐ค๐ฎ A desktop or laptop computer is strongly recommended for the smoothest experience. Before game time, make sure you can log into both Roll20 and Discord and that your audio is behaving itself. ๐ฆ๐ฅ๏ธ Then dim the lights, ignore the scratching from inside the walls, and get ready to make some killer television. ๐๐น๐ฉธ๐ป
What Ukulele Mike brings to the table
๐ Iโll bring everything you need to stumble confidently into the haunted darkness. ๐ป๐ฏ๏ธ๐บ Youโll get: A ready-to-play Roll20 game ๐ฒ๐ธ๏ธ with everything set up for the session. Character materials and rules support ๐๐ - no need to buy the game or study anything beforehand. Guided character creation ๐ญ๐ฎ so we can quickly build a cast of unforgettable paranormal-TV disasters. Atmosphere, visual aids, and spooky surprises ๐๏ธ๐ฉธ๐๏ธ to help bring our Halloween special to life. A Discord voice channel ๐ง๐ฆ for the session. Clear rules explanations as we play ๐ฒ๐ป - this is a simple game, and Iโll teach you everything you need to know at the table. A safe, welcoming table ๐๐ค with Lines & Veils, the X-Card, Open Door, and breaks as needed. Most importantly, Iโll provide the haunted location, the escalating paranormal chaos, and every opportunity for your terrible reality-TV personality to make an absolutely catastrophic decision on live television. ๐นโ ๏ธ๐ฅ You just bring the willingness to provoke the dead. The ratings will take care of themselves. ๐ป๐บ๐ฉธ
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Ukulele Mike creates a safe table
๐ฏ๏ธ Safety & Table Comfort Weโre here for spooky fun, ridiculous reality-TV drama, and the occasional screaming ghost . . . not for making anyone genuinely uncomfortable. ๐ป๐๐ฉธ Before we begin, weโll establish Lines & Veils ๐ซ๐ธ๏ธ so everyone knows what content should stay completely out of the game and what can happen only off-screen. Horror can get intense, but nobody needs to prove anything by pushing past their own limits. During play, weโll use the X-Card โ๐ if something needs to stop or change immediately, and the Open Door ๐ช๐ฆ means you are always free to step away from the game for any reason, at any time, with no explanation required. Weโll also take breaks โ๐ during the session so everyone has a chance to recharge, stretch, grab a drink, and make sure the shadows in the hallway are still where you left them. At the end, weโll use Stars & Wishes โญ๐ to talk about what we loved and what weโd like to see more of in future games. The goal is simple: scare the characters, not the players. ๐ป๐บ๐ช We can make the haunted house dangerous, the ghosts horrifying, and the reality stars absolutely unbearable . . . while still keeping the table respectful, comfortable, and fun for everyone. ๐๐ฏ๏ธ๐
Content warnings
Safety tools used
