Does anyone know if this (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1672&it=1) book is any good? I am looking for a good horror ruleset that is not Call of Cthulhu and I stumbled across this one.
Is it another d20 derived ruleset?
Quote from: ggroy;468621Is it another d20 derived ruleset?
Yup.
Does the OGL Horror ruleset at least replicate stuff like madness, insanity, etc ...?
Quote from: ggroy;468623Does the OGL Horror ruleset at least replicate stuff like madness, insanity, etc ...?
It says it has rules for it, I have not bought it which is why I was asking.:p
I couldn't tell from your "not Cthulhu" if you meant no version of it or just not the BRP version. The reason that I bring it up is that the d20 Cthulhu book has received some positive reviews, so if you're interested in a d20 version of horror, you might check it out. I haven't read anything about the OGL Horror from Mongoose, so can't tell you about it.
Quote from: ptingler;468625I couldn't tell from your "not Cthulhu" if you meant no version of it or just not the BRP version. The reason that I bring it up is that the d20 Cthulhu book has received some positive reviews, so if you're interested in a d20 version of horror, you might check it out. I haven't read anything about the OGL Horror from Mongoose, so can't tell you about it.
I meant no version of Cthulhu at all. Unless I could tweak it to have the main threats NOT be Eldritch Abominations (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EldritchAbomination) or the cultists who worship them.
One of my friends had that book. If I remember correctly, mechanically it was a mixed bag, but it had some really awesome and creative bad guys/scenarios in the back. We never actually played those rules, but my friend used a lot of the ideas in his WW Ravenloft campaign to great success.
If I recall correctly, the game was horror in the mostly "Slasher" and "Omen" variety.
Quote from: KrakaJak;468631One of my friends had that book. If I remember correctly, mechanically it was a mixed bag, but it had some really awesome and creative bad guys/scenarios in the back. We never actually played those rules, but my friend used a lot of the ideas in his WW Ravenloft campaign to great success.
If I recall correctly, the game was horror in the mostly "Slasher" and "Omen" variety.
Ah, I see. I figured as much. I may pick it up sometime soon.
Quote from: Galeros;468626I meant no version of Cthulhu at all. Unless I could tweak it to have the main threats NOT be Eldritch Abominations (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EldritchAbomination) or the cultists who worship them.
Considering CoC D20 is a D20 game and compatible with most d20 stuff, I don't think that would be hard. The Investigator character class and sanity and fear rules are not directly tied to the meta setting of CoC. The rest of the book is all cultists and Cthulhoids though :/
Another question: What do you have in mind for your Horror campaign?
Quote from: KrakaJak;468633Considering CoC D20 is a D20 game and compatible with most d20 stuff, I don't think that would be hard. The Investigator character class and sanity and fear rules are not directly tied to the meta setting of CoC. The rest of the book is all cultists and Cthulhoids though :/
Another question: What do you have in mind for your Horror campaign?
One idea was to have the PCs start out trapped someplace by "monsters" (Be it the undead or a cabal of human killers) and they have to survive and escape.
Another idea is to have the PCs sent in to investigate a haunted house and contend with all of the threats an angry ghost throws at them.
Simple stuff, it would most likely be a one-shot since I can not get the people I play with together on a regular basis.
Quote from: Galeros;468626I meant no version of Cthulhu at all. Unless I could tweak it to have the main threats NOT be Eldritch Abominations (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EldritchAbomination) or the cultists who worship them.
You could always do that with CoC as well... I've run plenty of sessions that had no Mythos activity at all.
There are some good ready-made adventures out that don't involve the Mythos... such as Our Ladies Of Sorrow (http://www.flamesrising.com/our-ladies-of-sorrow-rpg-review/) (though it has some slim notes on how to tie it to the Mythos if you want to).
I think you still might be better off getting CoC D20.
RPGPundit
D20 Horror is cheap and easy to find. D20 CoC is very definitely not cheap. I've heard good things about both, though I own neither.
Quote from: RPGPundit;468794I think you still might be better off getting CoC D20.
RPGPundit
I will look into it.:)
Quote from: Galeros;468619I am looking for a good horror ruleset that is not Call of Cthulhu and I stumbled across this one.
Do you know Kult?
Quote from: Claudius;468851Do you know Kult?
Don't send someone searching for a game that's been OOP for years and is very hard to find. That's just mean.
Hmmm... I had no idea Kult had gone into the 'collectors' realm.
I can understand the desire to ditch the Mythos stuff, it's not everyone's taste... but I think a horror campaign benefits from some sort of cosmology to tie the weirdness together... otherwise you get the Kolchak/Scooby Doo 'monster of the week' thing going on which is kinda 'meh'.
Kult was a great option for that, as was the WOD stuff if that was more your speed... The Whispering Vault's setting might make for an interesting street-level game with human PCs (and a different system).
I know nothing of Chill or OGL Horror but I never had the impression that they had much of a cohesive reason for the monsters they present.
Quote from: danbuter;468825D20 CoC is very definitely not cheap.
There are good reasons for that.
RPGPundit
Quote from: Galeros;468634One idea was to have the PCs start out trapped someplace by "monsters" (Be it the undead or a cabal of human killers) and they have to survive and escape.
Another idea is to have the PCs sent in to investigate a haunted house and contend with all of the threats an angry ghost throws at them.
Simple stuff, it would most likely be a one-shot since I can not get the people I play with together on a regular basis.
I just flipped through my friends book again. It should be able to handle what you want. Mechanically it's somewhere between CoC D20 and D20 modern. A lot of the game is a simplified version of the Modern SRD (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/msrd).
There are 4 classes in the game. Combatant, Scholar, Investigator and Ordinary Person. The first 3 are more capable characters then Ordinary People. the difference between Scholar and Investigator is a Scholar is better with the optional Magic Powers in the book, the Investigator is more like a Rogue.
I imagine for your game, Ordinary Persons would be the classes you would want your players to use. They can customize characters with chosen skills and Feats just like most D20 games.
As far as scariness mechanics go. The game uses Fear Checks and Shock Points, scary things cause you to make different saves (Fear, Panic and Madness). Shock points make your fear saves harder.
Quote from: KrakaJak;468970I just flipped through my friends book again. It should be able to handle what you want. Mechanically it's somewhere between CoC D20 and D20 modern. A lot of the game is a simplified version of the Modern SRD (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/msrd).
There are 4 classes in the game. Combatant, Scholar, Investigator and Ordinary Person. The first 3 are more capable characters then Ordinary People. the difference between Scholar and Investigator is a Scholar is better with the optional Magic Powers in the book, the Investigator is more like a Rogue.
I imagine for your game, Ordinary Persons would be the classes you would want your players to use. They can customize characters with chosen skills and Feats just like most D20 games.
As far as scariness mechanics go. The game uses Fear Checks and Shock Points, scary things cause you to make different saves (Fear, Panic and Madness). Shock points make your fear saves harder.
Yeah, I am probably going to do with OGL Horror.
Although I may still see about CoC D20 anyways, if I can find it for cheap.
Quote from: danbuter;468825D20 Horror is cheap and easy to find. D20 CoC is very definitely not cheap. I've heard good things about both, though I own neither.
D20 CoC is very definitely cheap.
$17.99 new and minty-fresh cheap at Troll and Toad. Only a couple bucks more than new copies of OGL Horror are being sold for.
http://trollandtoad.com/p138792.html
They've gone from 71 copies to 54 copies in about a week, so if one is interested, they may want to snag it while they can...
Quote from: kythri;470909D20 CoC is very definitely cheap.
$17.99 new and minty-fresh cheap at Troll and Toad. Only a couple bucks more than new copies of OGL Horror are being sold for.
http://trollandtoad.com/p138792.html
They've gone from 71 copies to 54 copies in about a week, so if one is interested, they may want to snag it while they can...
Wow.. that's an insanely good deal based on what it's been selling at elsewhere!
RPGPundit
Quote from: RPGPundit;470970Wow.. that's an insanely good deal based on what it's been selling at elsewhere!
RPGPundit
Yeah, T&T has some hidden gems from time to time. They've actually lowered the price on it. I paid $27.99 for my copy from them in March of 2010. A friend had me order a copy for him, I decided to tack on another copy for myself at this price.
Ironically enough, I found a shop with a copy of OGL Horror on the shelf, but they wanted $60 for it. Amazon took care of me for that.
d20 CoC is definitely awesome. Highly recommended.
I hope you like d20 CoC better than I did!
And, just because it made me chuckle, may as well post the fact that, when I saw the thread title the first time, I thought it heralded a rant about "OGL horrors", of which there are many, let it be said. :D