Just a great set of sheets and pregens for one of my favorite games.

I like the book and I think that for a game master how you build SAVE i going to determine the flavour of the game. IN reading about this idea that save takes some fairly strong stances for moral behaviour including turning in rogue agents to civil authorities etc or having what amounts to a off book prison come asylumn wasnt what fitted my game. I did like the 3 option model of large organisation or cell structure or no save/lost HQ this allowed me to build a setup not unlike that found in eden studios conspiracy X> this is a fun exercise for players especially the gear head in all of us.

Its a good book has new scenarios monsters etc and I think has something to offer the game master.

I've had this for a while and as a horror option it has some tough compeditors however It shines for a couple of reasons not the least is that it takes a number of ideas found in other games and puts them in one game; 1) It has an original mythos that allows for real surprises for the characters who dont really know what to expect which is great 2) The lay out and game rules are simple so it has the percentile dice but is has a token system which allows the player to swing the narrative and avoids the blocks often found in mechanics without system for the PC to influence the world via a cost. It also allows for high and low range success, then is has crits and fumbles so the drama is there and graduated success. The fact that the categories are set out offsets the lack of normal distribution in outcomes. 3) There are good layout the comics and examples put the feel and ideas in the mind of the GM 4) it is well supported for such a limited product run with a library of one sheet adventures similar approach to savage worolds. 5) It has a trauma (sanity) system that ties into drives and to some extent this binds the character to the real world. 6) It has a free quick start (try it, its worth it)

Cons; well there isnt a lot of them and I had to stretch 1)It wears its politics on its sleave this can make it a little jarring on occasion, small thing and I think its done for inclucivity anyway. 2)It still runs a percentile dice as resolution. 3) There is plenty of material but the GM is going to have to go home brew at some point if campaigns are long term as it doesnt have the giant back catalogue and (for understadable reasons) not much new material is around although of late I've seen a new product from salt circle games.

Subjectivly for me I like that I have a lot of creative agency as a GM as it doesnt have a cannon to worry about, but it has a framework for setting up a personalised "SAVE" and this allows for a wide application of game types from a scoody gang to almost delta green agents so it works well at customisation. The books are quality and are part of my keep pile of materials. I like the one shots and tend to comfortably be able to pad them to 3 or four sessions.

"The Last Stop Boys" is one of those special products which are designed for one system, but with a lot of potential for other ones as well. A supernatural intrigue working nicely in most modern systems with such themes, it tells the story of a grisly murder spawning several ghosts. They're spectres of the street youths cut before their time simply because the high and mighty of their favela found them undesirable, with no justice done as their murderers were acquitted, and angry. Very angry. Now, they're out for blood.

By default, "Boys..." had been written for the Chill game. I'm going to run it in Shadowrun 5E. The story is written well, with a lot of drama and unforced horror. Investigations are the kind of missions which take more to pull off well. They're even harder to write as premade modules, yet the author manages to do so with a lot of skill. The cast of NPCs is plentiful, each of them a solid character to drop into your game as-is or develop further. Everyone has believable motivations. The adventure is open-ended, with focus on why things are happening, without any railroading.

Something I feel worth mentioning is that "Boys..." is definitely a module for a mature group. It deals with child homicide, the victims' restless spirits seeking bloody vengeance, and the many abuses slum inhabitants suffer every day. Those are all difficult topics. Yet "Boys..." handles them with subtlety and much empathy. It is hard to believe such a well-written and well-formatted product is a freebie.

Finally, it seems the author offers excellent customer service. Initially as I downloaded "The Last Stop Boys", the file included only the cover art. A few hours after messaging Mr Caron and the PDF was made available. I look forward to converting "Boys..." into Shadowrun. It is a very fine adventure with much potential, whether in Chill or a different system. My players will certainly enjoy solving the mystery and facing off the ghost collective.

Great story, very well received by my players. The horror mounts as the truth is slowly uncovered. I would definately run it again.

Huge Chill fan since 1st edition. I was actually a convention Chill master for Mayfair Games when 2nd edition came around and one of the platesters for Lycanthropes, and the Apparitions source books. So I was eager for this one.

I really like it. Tokens system is great.

That being said... there are some issues. Book layout : Its awful. Very, very difficult to get through. Flow is incomprehensible. Nothing is linear. It's gonna drive you nuts with the flipping back and forth. Look... Explain the setting and what an RPG is, what the dice are for, explain the characters, explain the abilities,, explain the skills, explain the character generation, give an example of what using those skills and attributes will look like in actual game play, then tell me about the magic systems and combat systems. Once you have that give me another tutorial about using these in an actual game. This needs to be handled in about 75 pages max. Then, by all means, blather on about your back story and histories etc... give me an equipment list of some kind. A few pages of collected charts and rules and initiativesetc.... and for Godsakes, get some freaking artists! I've given growling door in the past year, more money than I've given Wizards of the coast. Between PDF and books and kik starters it's been a bit. Some artwork is awesome. Some just outright suck and are laughable. Good editing could have made this so much of a nicer book! I do want to say that I am determined to have a campaign with this system, and I'm very pleased with the free content on Growling Doors website. The free cases are great. Please please please..... put a live play video up on YouTube! People need to see a new system being played to grasp it completely! I'll be your biggest advocate if Iknow how to run the game correctly. Hell, I'll run it every new England convention. Take this as constructive criticism, please! I love the game and want it to succeed!

Readers here will know of my love for Chill. It was one of the first non-D&D games I ever played and to this day I have a soft spot in my art for it. So it was with great pleasure that I backed the Kickstarter for the 3rd edition of Chill last year. Chill may not be the grand-daddy of horror games (that really is Call of Cthulhu) but it is certainly early in the parentage of all horror games. Chill was doing things with monsters in the 80s that White Wolf would later get so much credit for in the 90s. Unlike CoC, the characters of Chill had reasons to believe that they could defeat the monster. There was more hope in Chill.

So what can we say about this new edition?

Let's start with the basics. I am reviewing both the PDF and the Hardcover book. The books are 288 pages with full-color covers and full-color interior art. The art is great mixing in photographs with art for full creepy effect. This is the "real-world" only beset by monsters. The art has always been a central feature of Chill and this edition really has some great art. Even my wife, who is not really a gamer, was looking at and said it looked cool. The hardcover is a nice hefty tome that would also look good on the coffee table, but the real fun is when it is on the game table. (Note: This is another book where I would have liked a cheaper "spiral-bound" copy to lay flat on table) The PDF is fully bookmarked and comes with a printer-friendly character sheet. Though I prefer the heavy art sheet because they look so good.

The Forward details a little history of Chill. Nothing new to longtime readers of my blog. This is followed by a comic. This gives an example of the Chill world. It's not bad, but I usually skip over these sorts of things. Besides, Chill and I are old friends.

Introduction is the obligatory "this is a roleplaying game" bits, but it also gives you a brief overview of the game system.

If you are familiar at all with Chill then the system here is very familiar. Percentage dice roll, roll under a target number. This number is usually a function of attributes, skills, and edges or drawbacks. Rolling doubles "33" or "55" is a really good or a really bad thing, depending on whether or not it was under the score you needed. The more you roll under the better. This gives the game a different feel than most. There feels like there is more randomness (even though there isn't) and more drama (and there is). This is a crunchy "cinematic" game. IF there can be such a thing. There are simple, pass/fail tests, and tests that have levels of success. There are also Tokens that can be used that represent tempory states. These are used in a similar fashion to other games "drama points" but have a more game-mechanical focus here.

I like that this information is right upfront and read first. It sets the tone for the game to come.

Chapter 1 deals with Character Creation. This is important because Chill is a character focused game. In some games you fight monsters because they have the treasure and XP. In Chill you fight the monsters because ever since you were a child you saw ghosts. You thought they were harmless till one of them killed your older brother... There three character creation options. First pick a pre-made character, many are provided. Secondly you could pick a template such as "Anthropologist", "Detective" or "Thief" and modify them. I expect to see more templates in future books. Third, is of course, roll up your own character. Roll up your attributes, skills and pick any Edges or Drawbacks you want. Note to players of the 1st and 2nd editions. There are some changes here. Among other things the Luck attribute is gone.

There is a discipline known as "the Art" that gives some characters a magical edge, but don't expect to play someone of Harry Dresden's ability here. This is more Sam & Dean Winchester levels. Which is perfect in my mind.

Chapter 2 covers SAVE. SAVE or the Societas Albae Viae Eternitata, or The Eternal Society of the White Way, named for their dedication to the good “white” force and opposition to the evil “dark” force. SAVE is a central focus of Chill and all characters are considered to belong to it. There is a lot of history here, both in the game world and in the real world. There are even subtle nods to the history of the game itself here. "1990: Going Dark" is as much about SAVE as it is the Chill game itself. "1998: The Renaissance of the Art" reflects also the growing popularity again of modern paranormal fiction in books, TV and movies. For me I'd also add in some failed attempts at getting SAVE up an running again to parallel the failed attempt of Chill 3.0. I love how the communications SAVE sends out adapt to the times. Hand written letters give way to typewriters to early emails to modern texting and chat software. While the system maybe the heart of Chill, this is the soul.

Chapter 3 is dedicated to The Art, or is simple language Magic. Given here are the different schools of the art and their disciplines. While Chill 3rd Ed has more Player Character magic than the previous versions, the characters are still not going to be at the levels of say "Mage" or "WitchCraft" RPGs. But this is fine really. These are supposed to be normal humans for the most part. Also unlike CoC the Art here is mostly harmless. Note I say mostly, there are still dangers and magic always has a price.

Chapter 4 covers the Game System. This details the material from the Introduction. If you have played Chill before you will find a lot here that is familiar and somethings that are completely new. There are plenty of good working examples. This is the clearest version of the Chill rules to date.

Chapter 5 is for the Chill Master. This covers how to run the game, setting the mood and tone of the games. If you have played any horror game before there is a lot here that is familiar, but there is also plenty that is new. My own 2 cents here: Don't run Chill like you would run D&D or even Call of Cthulhu. This game has it's own feel to it. Yes the stories you tell and the adventures you run can be done under a variety of systems and ways. To get the most out of Chill, play it like Chill.

Chapter 6 is a favorite of mine, Creatures of the Unknown. I will admit that when I picked up my copy at Gen Con last year I turned right to this chapter first to see if all my old favorites made the cut for the new edition. Not all of them did, but there are plenty of old faves and new monsters here to keep any CM busy. The "Mean Old Neighbor Lady" is now properly a Hag, but most of the Vampires made it over including the "North American Vampire" and it's representative Jackson Jammer. This chapter also includes the monster version of the Art, the Evil Way.

Finally, we end with Kickstarter backers.

Chill 3rd Edition is a great game and an improvement in pretty much every way over it's predecessors. The book is great to look at, great to read and easier to play. While parts of Chill still feel like they are stuck in the 80s or 90s in terms of tone and game design, there is enough new material here and enough refinements to bring this game into the 21st century. Will it repalce Chill 1st Ed and 2nd ed in my heart? No, I don't think it will. Will it replace Chill 1st Ed and 2nd Ed on my game table? Absolutely! I'll use these rules from now on and supplement older material until Growling Door gets around to replacing them. Though I have my doubts they will replace Chill Vampires in my heart!

Time I think to dust off my "Spirit of '76" game.

Full disclosure: All links are affiliate links. I bought both the PDF and Hardcopies of this game. No free copies were given and no reviews were solicited.

M love for Chill is WELL documented. When everyone else was playing Call of Cthulhu (and watching their characters go mad or die) I was playing Chill (and watching my characters die). Or more to the point I was creating elaborate scenarios involving SAVE. I loved Pacesetter Chill and even drove out to the old Mayfair Games warehouse to score a brandnew hardcover a few years back. I own pretty much everything for Chill and even Rotworld/Cryptworld/Majus.

On to the product as hand. Chill: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors is a 46 page "Quickstart". It has everything you need to play the game now except for people, dice and some tokens. Don't have 10-sided dice? Fine, get a deck of cards, remove the royals, put all the black suits in one deck and all the red in another. Shuffle them. When you need to roll choose a black card and a red card. Count tens as "0" and aces as "1". Save the face cards, the royals, for your tokens.

With this Quickstart author +Matthew McFarland has distilled Chill down to it's essence. It's a game about fighting the Unknown. There are a couple of pages devoted to the mechanics of the game; find a target number, roll that or under. Avoid botches (doubles over) but hope for a Colossal Success (roll doubles and under). Tokens are also covered.

An overview of the character sheet comes next breaking down the Attributes, Skills, Edges, Drawbacks and where you record damage. There is also a spot for The Art, or some magical/psychic abilities. This edition seems to focus a bit more on this than the previous, normal-human-centric point of view of the previous, but that will wait for a full reveiw.

This makes up the first half-dozen or so pages. The next dozen covers Combat and The Art. Combat is just another type of test/roll and The Art are "fancy" skills. The nice thing is when one system is learned the rest are easily picked up.

The rest of the book is the adventure. I don't want to give out any spoilers for potential players, but the adventure is a classic one for Chill. What kind of adventures are good for Chill? Well anything you might see on "Supernatural", "Grimm", "Kolchak" or "The X-Files" would make for a great Chill game, but also the stories you told as kids about the haunted house, or the mean old neighbor lady or the monster in the sewers.

The quickstart includes some characters to get you up and running fast. There are maps, artifacts and investigation sheet to make this feel like a real investigation into the paranormal, or what Chill calls The Unknown. Enough background is given on SAVE to make it interesting and to make you want to know more.

For the price you can't beat it. If you ever told a scary story to others with a flashlight under your chin, dared a friend to go into a "haunted house" or watched a Hammer Horror film then this is a great game for you.

Appreciate the separate insert to download for free. Very helpful.

Excellent condition. Excellent price. Cannot say enough good things.

I backed Chill 3rd Edition on Kickstarter, and found my first chance to run it three weeks ago, at IndieCon gaming convention on the south coast of England. Each game was going to be with players who had no experience of Chill.

To set the scene; when I run a game, I tend to come up with a plot first, and then find a system that'll match it and use that game's setting to fill in any blanks. I wrote two games - an action / investigation horror scenario named Mountains of BLOOD and a pure investigative horror scenario named The Haunting of Goldbrook Bridge. Having recently received my hard copy of Chill, and finding the rules remarkably easy to understand, setting intriguing, and artwork fantastic, I decided this was the game to use to make my scenarios unfold.

The first thing to note was that for a game none of the players in either group had played before, they picked up the system and setting incredibly swiftly. The % dice mechanic, gradients of success and failure (colossal, exceptional, and low), and light and dark tokens system really grabbed them. They also liked the idea of playing genuine "good guys" who weren't useless in the face of Unknown adversity.

Chill's not a game as punishing as similar % systems, such as the 40K RPGs, and Call of Cthulhu. With the possibility of colossal failure and success on double digits (rolling a 66 when attempting to score below a 60 is very bad indeed, while rolling a 44 is fantastic), the party were more interested in roll results than in a standard target number game. Atop that, the ability to flip a light token dark to increase your target number by 10 (thus turning your 60 to a 70, after rolling 66) is an excellent mechanic that really ups the ante. With players knowing that more dark tokens = more Unknown powers to be utilised by the GM, they really had to weigh up whether they'd rather fail, or succeed and give the GM more oomph to use later. In one game the players burned through their light tokens rapidly, and the scenario following showed the cost of doing so. In the second, I had an incredibly conservative group who accepted failure regularly, just to de-power my monsters. I tried every trick in the book to get a dark token from their line-up of light ones, only occasionally being able to sneak a power through. It was great fun!

I used monsters from the book for my game, and had briefly detailed the Denver SAVE HQ using the rules from the book. Both were simple to incorporate. I rarely had to refer to the book for complex mechanics, the situations in-game being resolved easily each time.

I always make an effort to run or play a game before I review it. I was able to run this game on two consecutive days having only read the book once, and the players raved about it to the point of some of them backing the Chill Companion Kickstarter that weekend. I don't know if there's higher praise. I look forward to the next time I run this game, and hopefully I'll get a chance to play it at some point!

A very neat and easy to read sheet. The few changes to the sheet are barely noticeable.

A fresh look at an old classic. A few minor changes from the older versions but still very enjoyable

CHILL RPG is a great game and I love having the introductory insert for new players. However, since I am one the dinosaurs of roleplaying (I still play with pen & paper and with real people sitting across the table from me) it does bother me that the pre-generated character sheets are scanned in such a way that they can not be cut out and used (they are not lined up correctly so when you cut one out you cut through another on the other side if you print them double sided.) I eventually solved this by printing double copies and cutting them out and then pasting (with glue) the back of the sheet to the front of the sheet. Still it makes me wonder if the other books have this problem in .pdf format. Luckily I own print copies of all the books (oddly I did not have the introductory insert as that I bought the books used). Anyway, great game with minor .pdf scanning problem.

I've been playing Chill since the first edition published by Pacesetter. While the second edition had some improvements, I thought it turned what was a system with simplistic elegance into a system that was unnecessarily complex.

Third edition has found that excellent balance, between improving on the first edition rules, while not overburdening players with the excessive rules found in the second edition.