Hogshead Publishing: Fright Night Adventures - any good?

[crazy_cat]

I'm looking for some materials to help prepare some one shot horror games - to be run using the D20 Modern system (or possibly CoC D20) and I came across this series of adventures from Hogshead Publishing: website

There is a single review on this site of one of the series found here but it leaves me not really any the wiser. The reviewer liked it, but didn't seem to be able to specify why particularly.

I'm intereted in the adventures based in the Arctic (Polar Terror), on a submarine (What went down), and on a missing WW2 warship (Ghost Ship) and would be grateful for any opinions or reviews anybody can offer (and if they suck bigtime some suggested alternatives wouldn't go amiss! )

Thanks in advance for any and all help.

 

[Masada]

I like Hogshead as a publisher. I own The Mob, The Feds, and The Police. I found all of them to be well written and good with the background information they provided. They are d20 compatible, but not based on the MSRD (based on the SRD instead). But that's a very minor tweak. I never picked up Fright Night.

To me, the best horror genre publisher is 12 to Midnight (www.12tomidnight.com). They have a handful of horror based modules and a campaign setting. They don't have an artic adventure to recover a lost WWII vessel... But it sounds cool. Altho with a little work you could mod "Weekend Warriors" to it.

 

[Prest0]

Thanks for the kind words, Masada.

Weekend Warriors could indeed be moved from a remote base in New Mexico to a remote base in Alaska or the Arctic without much difficulty. However, it *does* tend to have a high death rate (by design). So you'd need to consider how to give the heroes a fighting chance.

Crazy_cat, I know you were looking for info on Hogshead (sorry, can't help you there), but let me know if you have any questions about WW or any of our other titles and I'll be glad to help.

 

[Masada]

I was thinking you could have a small naval fleet locked in the ice of the Artic... frozen zombie-ness ensues. That way you could have the various buildings of Weekend Warriors represented as ships in the ice. A destroyer with a troop carrier or something.

 

[crazy_cat]

I'm intereted in the adventures based in the Arctic (Polar Terror), on a submarine (What went down), and on a missing WW2 warship (Ghost Ship)

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough trying to explain this part - I'm looking at 3 seperate modules by Hogshead, one set in the arctic, one on a salvage submarine etc etc..

That said, if anyone has a module set on an abandoned WW2 submarine (that needs salvaging) and is in the arctic I'm defintely interested

Weekend Warriors could indeed be moved from a remote base in New Mexico to a remote base in Alaska or the Arctic without much difficulty. However, it *does* tend to have a high death rate (by design). So you'd need to consider how to give the heroes a fighting chance.

Fighting chance? This will be a one shot game (hopefully spread over a few sessions - as we rotate GM'ing from time to time) so actual PC survival at the end isn't actually a requirement - if the build up has been good and tense and the ending is dramatic enough a TPK isn't necessarily a problem

I've got Weekend Wariors and your website bookmarked as a possible option as well, alongside the Hogshead modules. The main reason they aren't top of my list is that they are set in the USA and we have already played some Delta Green CoC set in the US (different GM) and I dont want to be going over the same old ground if I can set something up elsewhere. Also, WW looked potentially combat heavy (not necessarily a problem in itself) whereas the Hogshead games looked to have a slower build up, and less combat focus.

Any further advice or suggestion gratefully received, and thanks for the replies so far.

 

[Jon Potter]

To me, the best horror genre publisher is 12 to Midnight (www.12tomidnight.com). They have a handful of horror based modules and a campaign setting.

I second that opinion.

 

[Prest0]

Fighting chance? This will be a one shot game (hopefully spread over a few sessions - as we rotate GM'ing from time to time) so actual PC survival at the end isn't actually a requirement - if the build up has been good and tense and the ending is dramatic enough a TPK isn't necessarily a problem

[snip]

Also, WW looked potentially combat heavy (not necessarily a problem in itself) whereas the Hogshead games looked to have a slower build up, and less combat focus.

WW can be combat heavy if the group isn't careful. However, they're severely outnumbered and under-armed, so the wise group uses stealth over confrontation. If they walk down the street banging on a drum, they're in for a world of hurt. That being said, WW is pretty much a straightforward zombie-fest. For more build-up, something from Hogs-Head may better suit your purpose.

It sounds like you're looking for nautical-based adventures, which sounds like a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Pinebox is land-locked. I don't know what kind of CoC/Delta Green stuff your other GM ran, but if moving to a rural setting would sufficiently shake things up then another option might be Brainwashed. If you're tired of adventuring in the US, you could set it in the UK. It can be played in a night or two, depending on how much roleplay your players do. Same goes for Chickens in the Mist. You may laugh, but the people who have played it absolutely loved it.

 

[Prest0]

And thank you Jon for the vote of confidence.

For the record, I think the Hogshead games look really interesting. Although I'm talking up our own games, I am impressed by the little bit I've read about the Fright Night series and am curious to hear from anyone who actually owns them.

 

[crazy_cat]

For the record, I think the Hogshead games look really interesting. Although I'm talking up our own games, I am impressed by the little bit I've read about the Fright Night series and am curious to hear from anyone who actually owns them.

Still looking for info on the Fright Night series of modules - particularly the three I mentioned above. A review or some comments from sombody who has GM'd them would be really appreciated....

That said, Prest0, I've been looking at your website again, and whilst I don't think WW is for me quite honestly, I am now planning on picking up the PDF of Innanas Kiss - should be easy to adapt to the present military and political situation by the look of things and it sounds as though mayhem aplenty awaits the players! (I think the main change I'll make is to have the PC's drawn from US and UK forces, possibly with a local translator or guide as well to give them some intra party dynamic and potential mistrust to help them as they face up to whatever they find out there)

Any more recommednations out there?

 

[PosterBoy]

I have several of the Fright Night adventures. Nothing in them wow'd me, but they were complete and good if you don't want to create your own. Some might require some work to insert into your compaign as some felt like one shots and are located in far away spots (like polar regions).

I'll add my voice to saying 12toM does the best Horror in d20 modern. I've played most of their adventures. And they were easy to adapte to my Blood and Relics game.

-chris