Lockridge
First Post
Hello all,
I just thought I'd write to let anyone interested know that I'm very pleased with Dread so far. After I read Piratecat's post a few months back I thought that Dread was made up of two innovative approaches to RPG horror - and thats all. So why order the book?
For anyone still on the fence, the book includes a lot of stuff that you don't think of at first and are not told in the preview. This would include such mechanical issues as what to do if someone topples the tower too soon in the game.
But what I really want to emphasize is that this book includes a lot of very useful advice on how to create atmosphere among a group of players. This isn't as obvious as it first seems. I've read some articles and sidebars in other books about creating a horror atmosphere but Dread seemed to include this information in a way that seems to be written by a drama or literary artist (I don't know anything about the author by the way). For example, most DMs/GMs typically describe an NPC in a simple style such as "the guy with tattoos". Very very few will go an extra step by making the NPC really memorable such as by describing a guy with a tattoo of "a monkey holding a knife" (my example, not the author's). Which is more memorable? Sometimes DMs will do this for only one NPC such as the big baddie but everyone else is just a name. I don't really have the writing talent to make this point so you'll just have to trust me.
Anyone running a horror themed RPG could take lessons from this book.
And finally, the book is well laid out. This is much better than expected. There are sidebars that expand or summarize points as well as to give examples. The writing flows and makes sense. The artwork is understated but good (black and white).
Anyway, anyone like me who was on the fence should go ahead and order it. You'll find much more than just how to stack the tower.
I just thought I'd write to let anyone interested know that I'm very pleased with Dread so far. After I read Piratecat's post a few months back I thought that Dread was made up of two innovative approaches to RPG horror - and thats all. So why order the book?
For anyone still on the fence, the book includes a lot of stuff that you don't think of at first and are not told in the preview. This would include such mechanical issues as what to do if someone topples the tower too soon in the game.
But what I really want to emphasize is that this book includes a lot of very useful advice on how to create atmosphere among a group of players. This isn't as obvious as it first seems. I've read some articles and sidebars in other books about creating a horror atmosphere but Dread seemed to include this information in a way that seems to be written by a drama or literary artist (I don't know anything about the author by the way). For example, most DMs/GMs typically describe an NPC in a simple style such as "the guy with tattoos". Very very few will go an extra step by making the NPC really memorable such as by describing a guy with a tattoo of "a monkey holding a knife" (my example, not the author's). Which is more memorable? Sometimes DMs will do this for only one NPC such as the big baddie but everyone else is just a name. I don't really have the writing talent to make this point so you'll just have to trust me.
Anyone running a horror themed RPG could take lessons from this book.
And finally, the book is well laid out. This is much better than expected. There are sidebars that expand or summarize points as well as to give examples. The writing flows and makes sense. The artwork is understated but good (black and white).
Anyway, anyone like me who was on the fence should go ahead and order it. You'll find much more than just how to stack the tower.
