Heroes of Horror

Heroes of Horror goes beyond whatever you can think of what you would think you need for that horror element in your adventures. What I like best about this book is not just that it is so information rich, but that it is written intelligently in a no-nonsense style; often the writers go into a sort of 'behind the scene' mode where they talk to you directly in a real way, without romanticizing the subject and avoiding references every day life. Another great aspect of this book is that it describes in much detail how horror elements can be used in single encounter events, single stories, a number of adventures or entire campaigns. The book begins with the basic concept of horror and how fine grained it really is (it is not just blood 'n guts, which is a optional means to an end). It describes how you don't always need alien aberrations or headsucking monsters to convey fear to your players; the book teaches you how to work your players psychologically through subtle buildup in tension and the unknown. That also contributes to my conclusion that the book is written intelligently, because it is written from a psychology point of view (though never explicitly as to refrain from becoming a schoolbook). The book also describes how player characters can be evil or how something evil can use a player character without them knowing to suprise them nasty, still always with subtle approach. Then there's the taint system, more refined from the existing earlier versions in Oriental Adventures. I'm not going into that or the feats/classes/spells related to it. Suffice to say that it's a system you can adopt and adds a lot of new options to the game. The book also explains how horror adventures could be used with very good example storylines and maps to go with it. In addition there's a major chapter about horror based campaigns and possible settings that make them possible. A less interesting topic was that of the dream/nightmare adventures. This is such a specific type of environment, with its own feats and spells you would hardly every use those. Unless your player characters know they're going into a dream/nightmare based campaign, they won't pick a feat that reduces the random element from spellcasting in a dreamscape. ----- I enjoyed reading this book very much and that alone says something. There's a lot of small subjects in the book that I didn't mention such as the various possible types of (super) villains and lots more, but suffice to say this book will hold your attention with its great detail for the horror subject.

I honestly wasn't expecting too much from this book when I originally looked at it. I was expecting the caliber of the not-so-"Complete" series... Boy, did that get shot in the foot. This is probably one of the best supplements released in the past three years. It's very comprehensive with very little useless, extraneous information and is organized well. The sections written to be helpful to the DM are actually helpful to the DM- not just a bunch of 'no duh,' common sense information like many of the other new supplements. The new classes are actually interesting- not merely spinoffs or mixes of other classes, and the Taint tables offer a really interesting new idea. The new creatures are also very intriguing, again, not just spinoffs. Take the Grey Jester: a humanoid that basically eats the laughter and happiness out of peoples (and PCs) to create mindless drones to do its bidding. There is also a little speckling of possible mini-adventures that help you get an idea of how to employ the concepts introduced into a campaign. While the book is really designed for a horror-oriented campaign, it would be very easy to adapt some of these ideas into a brief adventure, even just one dungeon. Pages and pages aren't wasted on new magic items or overly extensive info on adaptation into Ebberon, Faerun, etc. There's just the right about of info on both. It would be worth the money for a one-shot Halloween adventure. It's very original, very creative, and a great buy. It would be a perfect match for anyone intending to run a Ravenloft campaign.

Long have I played the wizard specialist necromancer, always slightly underpowered and unable to truly maximize on the feel of the character. After picking up this supplement, all that has now changed. HoH is the best supplement from wotc in a long time, yes it is too short, but what the book does contain can really impact your playing experience in a positive way. I personally dont use the taint system when I run a game, but when I use the Dread Necromancer as a PC it truly captures the spirit of the game. Yes it is a powerful class, but it is NOT overpowered, and it encourages true role playing. "dread necromancers, no matter how neutral, are not welcome in any place, so beef up those bluff, intimidate, and disguise skills" The Archivist is literally the most interesting interpritation of divine spellcasters I have seen since the... Cleric/Druid, and is easily role played. The dread witch is long overdue, and as a 5 level class is very cool. The new monsters are great "my personal favorite being the Bog Imp, and the Phantasmal Slayer. Some new neat spells line these pages as well, and they are almost all scary. There is a lack of items/weapons, and I would have loved to see more horror related ones, but we have enough in all the other books. Will I use a tainted scholor, purifier, corrupt avenger, death delver, or fiend blooded? no, but someone will enjoy these classes. DnD is much richer for these and all the other options presented here. Adding horror to your campaign, whether it be a touch or the total immersion, brings a touch of reality or at least a flair for the dramatic. I highly encourage someone interested in this to check this out!

After buying the lackluster Heroes of Battle, I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical about picking Heroes of Horror up. However, I'm glad I did. It's hands down one of the best (perhaps the best) supplement that Wizards of the Coast has put out recently. HoH offers both players and DMs plenty of options. With new base classes, prestige classes, feats, spells, monsters, and alternate rules, you get your money's worth. A few people have complained that the book is too short, but I really can't think of anything else that should have been added. This is a supplement, after all, not a revision of the core rules. Personally, my favorite feature is the revision of the Taint mechanic that first appeared in the 3.0 Oriental Adventures. HoH shows DMs how to easily utilize taint in a non-Rokugan (the setting released in OA) campaign. The overhauled system makes managing Tainted characters much easier for DMs, since one dice role tells you exactly how the Taint will progress. The addition of mental symptoms of the Taint is a very nice touch. HoH does have a few downfalls. The Dread Necromancer base class introduced is slightly unbalanced (the small spell list doesn't offset the damage reduction). A few of the new prestige classes seem pointless, namely the Purifier of Sacred Doctrine and the Tainted Scholar. The Purifier has such a small set of abilities that it almost penalizes players for taking levels in it, as they're only useful when facing Taint. The Tainted Scholar is essentially an evil version of the Loremaster with a different set of Secrets. Neither adds much to the book. Finally, HoH includes feats that allow characters to bypass the Taint mechanics, making them almost pointless. As a result, DMs need to be selective and carefully consider exactly what material to include in their campaign. However, none of these issues seriously detracts from the book. It's far superior to Heroes of Battle or any of the Complete Series and is worth picking up, even if you can't see yourself ever running a completely horror-based campaign.

The only thing that I could say is a drawback of Heroes of Horror is that it's too short. This book was clearly written by people who know how to do Horror; some of the examples that they give had my pulse going up, and they're just suggestions! The main thing that I really like about this book is that the writers took many, many examples from pop culture and related them to their suggestions, breaking them down to core themes and explaining how those themes can be related to each other. It provides the important basics of horror writing (for short stories, scripts, or an RPG) without going into horrible technical terms because the writers knew they were writing to an audience that aren't pro writers. It's this down to earth, no-nonsense explanatory style that really makes Heroes of Horror a winner for a DM looking to add horror flavour to their campaign, or to write an entirely horror-based campaign. From a rules standpoint, this is how it breaks down: A lot of the material has been seen in 3.0 materials, and so it's really nice to see these things updated for 3.5. The classes and prestige classes are really quite useful as well- the Archivist is a brilliant adaptation of Divine casting, and the Dread Necromancer is long overdue; a base-class necromancer was needed in this game. The spells and feats sections are also rather good, so overall the book is a great opportunity. I was considering a four-star rating because of its shortness, but I then reread the sections on horror writing and it just so outshines other sourcebooks that it deserves the five-star rating. Most importantly, it doesn't take the need for Horror in your campaign to use this sourcebook. This is really a guidebook to making your villains epically and cinematically *evil*, and any DM can use that to good effect. The supernatural evil effects might be creepy for a horror setting, but any DM can use the tips in this book to make his or her normal villains much more sinister and chilling.