Psion
Adventurer
I actually rather like Heroes of Horror.
There is some good stuff in Darkness & Dread. I am just not interested at all in the first "Warhammer d20" section of classes in the book. I am not interested in redefining my d20 play experience to have horror. AFIAC, D&D is so rife with Horror elements anyways, I don't feel that a drastic rules alteration is needful or desireable.
I really dig the stuff about unkillable entities in Darkness & Dread. That is a perfect illustration of the right sort of tool to instill more of a horror feel.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that redefining character creation to make wimpy characters works counter to the purposes of horror. Because AFAIAC, horror comes best when it stands in stark contrast to the world at large. Redefining the whole game world to be all about horror IMO takes away from the emotional impact of horror elements when they do appear.
Even inasmuch as I might wish to entertain a campaign in which general play is not horrific but less fantastic characters are desirable for other reasons (again, because I wouldn't want horror in every session), Grim Tales seems a better solution to me than the inflexible character design rules in Darkness & Dread.
There is some good stuff in Darkness & Dread. I am just not interested at all in the first "Warhammer d20" section of classes in the book. I am not interested in redefining my d20 play experience to have horror. AFIAC, D&D is so rife with Horror elements anyways, I don't feel that a drastic rules alteration is needful or desireable.
I really dig the stuff about unkillable entities in Darkness & Dread. That is a perfect illustration of the right sort of tool to instill more of a horror feel.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that redefining character creation to make wimpy characters works counter to the purposes of horror. Because AFAIAC, horror comes best when it stands in stark contrast to the world at large. Redefining the whole game world to be all about horror IMO takes away from the emotional impact of horror elements when they do appear.
Even inasmuch as I might wish to entertain a campaign in which general play is not horrific but less fantastic characters are desirable for other reasons (again, because I wouldn't want horror in every session), Grim Tales seems a better solution to me than the inflexible character design rules in Darkness & Dread.