TTRPG I would describe a couple stories from my decade plus of ttrpg playing; and what better place to start than my first ever character?
I was maybe 14-15 and my cousin was staying the night. He was describing for me some pretty ahem ridiculous stuff that can be done in this game he was playing, and I HAD to play it. I asked so many questions and eventually had an idea about my first character as an imaginative young egg.
They were a wood elf, simply enough. Roughly 150 years of age and spent all that time, apparently as a thief. They were lithe and had skin like chestnut bark with hair like autumn maple.
He was called Ari, and my character had a bit of an uchiha type edginess that in hindsight played well into wood elf lore. It wasn't surprising, though, as I was watching Naruto at the time.
Most times, the horror story goes as expected. My edgy character doesn't vibe with the party and goes off alone to get killed or mercy killed to save the party some annoyance. However, this was my family, and the DM and I found ways to make myself feel included in the story. The early days of playing until exhaustion still call to me even now, and I'll always love my first campaign and my first character.
The horror story starts with me returning to school. I could no longer go to my cousin's house on Sunday nights for 8 hour sessions of cooperative imagination, and it was disappointing to say the least. However I was crushed to find out from my cousin three years later that the game continued without me. What's worse, is that my character was played by someone else, and in the final battle at level 20, he fell a hero leaving only the barbarian to bury the rest of the party.
Normally, a DND Horror story that played out in 4e happens at the table. Weird mechanics, new edgy players, and strange table habits all came together to brew the perfect storm of a horror story, but the fun was there; however the terror of being left behind doesn't discriminate.
I learned a lot from this game, but the most important lessons I got were:
1: Communicate with your players- if you want to play, let them know! They probably do, too!
2: Involve the PC's in the world. My DM had the genius move to have all his players create 3 NPC concepts to drop in the world and have the world effect them.
3: Don't leave a player behind. It feels awful to have your character played without you; and even worse to learn of it after your character died without you dropping a single d20 to stop it.
As a DM I rarely continue a session if even one player cannot make it, (although my players often call this one of my DM flaws) but if you must, involve them somehow! Ask your players if they want to play, and if they cannot, ask what they would like their character to do while the party adventures! It gives the player an opportunity to keep connected with their character and excited to come back to the table to role play the stories of their own adventures or show off the loot they picked up.
With about 15 years of hindsight I am no longer angry about my dead 4e thief that I didn't play from levels 10-20. I'm proud that Ari the edgy elf left such an impression on my party that they couldn't play without him. I hope everyone's first game feels as magical as my first sessions, and I hope you all take from this that even the perfect storm of horror story games can have potential for fun.
With love and blessings on your dice,
Bard