Heroes of Horror

[cignus_pfaccari]

I looked at it in the store, but didn't pick it up.

It looks like a nice treatment for a Horror game, but I don't typically play those, and don't have much of an interest in one. The crunchy bits either weren't interesting enough, or were too tied to the themes in HoH to be portable.

I'll probably put it on my Amazon Wish List for friends to get me for Christmas, though, since I don't dislike it, I just don't particularly need or want it.

Though did anybody else notice that the text and paper seem a bit...different? Like it's starker or something. Was I imagining that? If not, that was a neat touch.

Brad

 

[Joël of the FoS]

I have it and it is more of a combination of all kinds of horror books for D&D. Elements of BoVD, Ravenloft, CoC, and even OA are in it. I think it does more for horror in D&D than Ravenloft 3e ever did.

Wrong, if I may say!

Ravenloft has some similar mechanics but it is much more developped, and also has a long story of DM aids to enhance the horror atmosphere. There are what, 20 books of Ravenloft in third edition only, you can't compare to one HoH book and say it goes farther

This said, of course I ran to the store to get a copy of HoH, and I like it a lot.

It's fun to read and has plenty of good ideas. Well recommended for all D&D players.

There are a few elements here and there that will be included in my Ravenloft campaign, but on the other hand, many things similar are much simpler in HoH than RL (taints, nightmares, etc.), so possibly less interesting for a Ravenloft veteran.

Joël

 

[Laman Stahros]

Well, I have to admit that I only have the first 6 or 7 3e Ravenloft books, so maybe one of the later books had the info I was looking for. I just expected more of the type of advice that was in HoH to be in the 3e Ravenloft CS. It seemed to me to be awful thin on how to run a horror campaign. YMMV.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Well, I have to admit that I only have the first 6 or 7 3e Ravenloft books, so maybe one of the later books had the info I was looking for. I just expected more of the type of advice that was in HoH to be in the 3e Ravenloft CS. It seemed to me to be awful thin on how to run a horror campaign. YMMV.

A chapter of advice on such matters was written from the DM's supplement (Secrets of the Dread Realms), but cut for space reasons, and didn't see print until the RAVENLOFT Dungeon Master's Guide in 2003.

Matthew L. Martin

 

[DarrenGMiller]

I had a brief flick through yesturday and while it certainly looks better than Heroes of Battle (or whatever it was called) I wasn't sure about it. Too much looked like it was taken up with ways to introduce fear in a game, far more than was nessecary. I was also dissapointed over the few number of spells and monsters in the book.

I'll probably pick it up at some point but its not a high priority right now.

I really liked the sections on introducing fear and horror in a game and designing horror adventures, encounters and campaigns.

DM

 

[The Cardinal]

I bought it on the 15th at the Spiel '05 in Essen (Germany) - and I really like it! Both new core classes are great (the Dread Necromancer would be perfect for Hollowfaust-born PCs in the Scarred Lands - I think of it more like a disease or mutation than a profession or "normal" class), and this is the first WotC book since the "Complete" series that I've found good enough to actually buy!

 

[JoeGKushner]

I feel like a grongard for saying this but so far it's a big "m'eh".

Anyone seriously interested in introducing horror elements needs to hunt down Nightmares of Mine.

Part of the problem for me is that I've read so much that a lot of the material here seems redundant.

Heck, some of the material is fairly recent, like Taint, updated again. I like the mechanic and I've been using it from Unearthed Arcana to represent some demon worshippers of the Ebon Maw in my old Forgotten Realms campaign, but to see it again? Pass.

Creation of villains? Done better in Kenzer's book and the old TSR blue book. And Cas the moose headed god of strife? How about talking about the 'corrupt' sheriff in Unforgiven? Now I thought he was a bad man but I don't know too much about corruption. It's been a while since I've seen it though.

Interesting and unique monsters? Sorry if it offends but I think Dragon's had some better months in terms of monsters. Maybe it's just too close after Liber Mortis, another book with some great monsters?

I like the two new core classes, but grow excpetionally tired of the necromancer in any form.

It's just not grabbing me.

Review will probably be a 3.

 

[Cheiromancer]

I don't see many movies, so when a reviewer pans a film I have to check to see if it is because it is cliched and derivative. If so, I'll probably like it.

Likewise if a reviewer of D&D materials pans something, I have to check to see if it is because it is too similar to other stuff. If I don't own that other stuff, I might just like it.

Bottom line: if you give it a 3, please let us occasional buyers know what it would have gotten if you hadn't already read the other books on the same subject.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Bottom line: if you give it a 3, please let us occasional buyers know what it would have gotten if you hadn't already read the other books on the same subject.

I'd actually agree.

You know that I value your reviews, Joe. Heck, I send you Lion's Den stuff every chance I get.

But the simple fact is, horror is a very hard genre to run in a game, and we had to write the book assuming the readers didn't already have resources on how to do that. I'd very much like to see an opinion of the book on its own merits, rather than one tainted--if you'll pardon the pun --by the fact that you might have recently read a book on a similar topic, and therefore don't need the advice. Other people still might.

I'm also wondering... Did you notice that the taint system was dramatically updated and expanded from that presented in UA? If so, hey, no prob. But I'd hate for you to skip it since it's something you think you've already got, and miss the chance to make use of the new Corruption v. Depravity mechanics in your game.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Incidentally, that previous post is not intended to sound defensive. I've had stuff I've written receive 3s, 2s, and even a 1 rating before. So if you rate Heroes of Horror average, so be it. Ya can't please everyone all the time.

Just wanted to take a moment to explain where we're coming from, is all.