[RPG]: Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium (Unrated Edition), reviewed by David Artman (4/4)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/13/13783.phtml

David Artman's Summary:

<i>Heavy Metal</i> meets <i>Friday the Thirteenth</i> meets <i>Fallen</i>. You like gore, wild stunts, fast action, and killing demons while dodging the mundanes? Then get <i>Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium</i> and a pile of d12s!

Go to the full review for more information.

[Rafael Chandler]

Hi, David,

Thanks for the great review! That session was a blast for me. The poor mayor...

Originally Posted by David Artman

For those of you with short attention spans: it rocked!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by David Artman

This showed me that blocking isn't a part of investigation, in Dread: sure, go on ahead, nothing to be gained by thwarting a PC with some random extra.

Yeah, I'm a firm believer in keeping the action moving forward. The GM's job is to give the players the rope, and presumably they're going to loop it around their necks as gameplay progresses. That is, their role is to deliberately provoke a confrontation with a supernatural entity, which will probably end in injury or death. Why would the GM try to prevent them from moving towards this goal? Naturally, there will be obstacles, but the players have numerous solutions at their disposal, such as impersonation (which you pulled off) or violence (you could have just knocked the cop out, but then you'd have had to deal with the other policemen at the scene of the crime) or magic (someone could have incapacitated all of the cops with a spell like Dresden). Point is, once a solution has been decided on, I say full speed ahead. If it's combat, roll initiative. If it's subterfuge, role-play it out -- which you did. The world-weary crime reporter schtick worked really well, I thought.

Originally Posted by David Artman

There was no railroad, no bullet list of events and hoops through which we had to jump to win our prize (final showdown). Rather, he kept careful notes on each sheet, to remind him of what we narrated into the game world, what clues we'd uncovered and where, and how the demons were reacting to our sniffing around their new lunchroom.

Yeah, I call that the Death Spiral (because 'that Visio-looking grid of information' just doesn't have the same ring to it). I am a firm believer in nonlinear scenarios -- once the players realize that it's a (relatively) open world that they can explore without screwing things up, the situation becomes very interesting. It requires the GM to stay on his/her toes, but that's what the paperwork is there for. I'm glad you dug it!

Originally Posted by David Artman

Dread is METAL, like the incarnation of classic 80s and 90s heavy metal album covers.

Hell yes! I listened to a hell of a lot of old-school metal while working on this new edition. Some more recent stuff, too, like Dark Tranquillity and Behemoth. Throw up the horns!

Thanks again for the review.

If anyone has any questions about the game, I'm happy to answer 'em here.

You can also download a lot of PDF resources here: http://www.dread-rpg.com/downloads.html

[David Artman]

I'm glad to do it. And I am BEGGING the RPG.net folks to edit my misspelling of your name.

Maybe it will help if you Report this post? (I can't report my own post, for some reason.)

[Rafael Chandler]

Naw, it's no big deal. Raphael is an angel, a ninja turtle, or an Italian master painter. Getting associated with any one of them dudes is a plus in my book.

-- Raffish

[remial]

it sounds to me like this game is very much a Hunter the Reckoning clone without the suck.

as soon as I have more then 2 coins to rub together consider yourself having sold me a copy of the game.

quick question tho, what is the difference between the unrated edition and the non unrated edition?

and why the change in cover art?

[Rafael Chandler]

Hi, and thanks for your interest in Dread!

I never did get a chance to check out Hunter, but I hear there's a new edition coming out soon, so I might just have to pick that one up.

The first edition was released in 2002, so I was going to call this new (2007) edition the Second Edition or the Revised Edition... And then I noticed that a number of DVDs were being released as the Unrated Edition (featuring an extra seventeen seconds of footage!), so I figured that would be perfect for Dread. So the difference is, the Unrated Edition is better-looking, 100 pages longer, and features revised and expanded rules (based on five years of continued play since the release of the first edition). Also, the only way to get your hands on a copy of the first edition is to buy one off someone, as it went out of print in 2003.

The cover art that I was using, which featured a screaming face, was put together by the same talented artists who executed Dread's layout. However, after publication, I learned that they image that they'd used was a stock photo with certain restrictions attached to it. For example, I was unable to produce posters, mousepads, or other promotional items that featured this image. That was kind of a letdown, as I had plans to use such items at conventions and gamedays.

In the end, I commissioned an artist named Tariq Raheem (who previously worked as a concept artist on TV shows like Farscape) to create a new cover, which I would then be able to use to promote the game as I desired.

Make sense?

-- Rafael

[arete66]

Damn!! How many reviews of this game are going to get posted to rpg.net? It might be great, but it's beginning to seem like the new viral thread...is Rick Astley far behind?

Cheers,
Tom

[Hybban]

Excellent Actual Play/Review.
Playing with Rafael is a blast and your game seemed very interesting. I loved your answer at what was in the bath room

Hyb'

[Rafael Chandler]

Originally Posted by arete66

Damn!! How many reviews of this game are going to get posted to rpg.net? It might be great, but it's beginning to seem like the new viral thread...is Rick Astley far behind?

When every man, woman, and child has immolated a loved one atop a bonfire stoked with burning copies of Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium, then I will bid my minions to cease their exaltation of my work. And the Last Day will come, and the sun will burn black with dark fire, and the moon will drip red with blood that is of a crimson hue, and the goat with a few dozen young will dance the hideous dance that is forbidden to goat and man alike, and I shall vow unto my worshipers that we will never cease to wage our infernal war. "Never!" I will scream. They will raise their fists and scream in response: "Never!" And I shall say unto them, "This will not end! I will not surrender! I'm never gonna give you up! Never gonna let you down! Never gonna run around and desert you!"

... I got nothin'.

[Rafael Chandler]

Originally Posted by Hybban

Excellent Actual Play/Review. Playing with Rafael is a blast and your game seemed very interesting. I loved your answer at what was in the bath room

Hey, Hybban!

Yeah, that kind of took me by surprise, too. David looks like such a normal, peaceful dude. And then -- it's human skin! Woohoo!