[Rafael Chandler]

Hi, Thomas,

Thanks for the great review! I appreciate you taking the time to write it.

You noted that Dread "practically screams for hordes of mooks to be slaughtered, but it seems difficult to find a reason for the characters to fight anything but demons, unless you shoehorn some random drugdealers or crooked cops in to the mix."

My suggestion would be to focus on the patterns of each individual demon. For example, the Ravaqat demon creates conflicts between criminals and police, which usually erupt in the form of savage gunfights in the streets. These battles are great places for the player characters to rack up points of Fury (by rescuing civilians or helping the cops), and also good places to whittle them down (by fighting well-armed human enemies). Even a trio of well-trained Disciples is going to take some damage when facing off against a dozen gang members with submachine guns.

You might also take a second look at the Death Spiral in Chapter 13 -- it allows you to set up scenarios by introducing escalating threats that the players will then have to contend with (prior to taking down the demon).

If anyone has any questions for me, I'd be happy to answer them in this thread.

Thanks again, Thomas, and Happy New Year!

-- Rafael