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100 Horror Adventure Seeds |
$7.50 |
Average Rating:4.2 / 5 |
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Lots of seeds for horror campaigns. You would still need to work out the details for whatever RPG system you are using, but if you are looking for more material for your campaign, this is a great place to start.
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Finally! Of the several "100 ___ Seeds" books I've picked up, one that is unashamedly useful! Despite the usual atrocious editing, the adventure seeds in here are useful, diverse (each with three "twists" in the plot that can be used alone or separately to complicate your adventurers' lives) and each also with an "epilogue" that suggests a way to continue to have the outcome of your adventure complicate the lives of your players long after the adventure is over. All in all an excellent book.
Pros: Excellent ideas (many of them done before, but here given new life); with complications in the form of the twists that can be used to tie into other thematic adventures you may already have in mind. The ideas are somewhat expanded on as compared to the normal "adventure seeds" you see, and are fleshed out enough to actually only require a few stand-by NPCs, some extra detail on the main "mystery" you elect to be the point of the story, a few monsters or ghosts or what have you and bang, you're there (though you may need a haunted house or something to work with as well).
Cons: The usual crappy proofreading and "spell-check" editing which can result in some amazingly inappropriate sentences and word choices that can lead to much inadvertent hilarity and unnecessary confusion. The constant misuse of commas (comma-spliced sentences like the author's would have gotten me kicked out of most of the classes I attended in college) is just simply annoying. The inclusion of a line drawing or two of the locales might have been nice too.
All in all, I found this one much more useful than the author's other endeavors, and it leads me to hope that he may continue to improve his work to this standard. My other hope is that he will find someone educated to send his drafts to for actual proofreading and editing. Four stars for the utility of the book!
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If your group is into horror games, THIS is the supplement to have. There are so many ideas, and it's very easy to adapt even the old classics to your own campaign. The ideas range from simple one-shot campaigns to extended session campaigns, and I've run at least one of each category.
I truly enjoyed this guide, cause even MY mind can't always come up with something new and exciting for my groups.
Definitely worth the price.
T.A.
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A very useful book, this one. Out of 100 adventure ideas, at least half were to my liking. Each adventure hook lists three twists, and in many cases not only did I find at least one twist to my liking, the other two are suitable for addition as further plot complications or as red herrings. Each hook also includes an epilogue to inspire sequel adventures from the consequences.
As much as I found it useful for my upcoming Dark*Matter D20 campaign, there are a few minor details that render it just short of ideal for intefrating into an ongoing campaign. For a start, there are a handful of hooks more suited for "Zombie Apocalypse" campaigns than contemporary horror/investigation. Second, about a dozen hooks are better as isolated one-off games, as they require the players to be escaped convicts, mental patients, dead before the adventure starts, figments of another character's imagination, or otherwise unsuitable for the use of their regular characters in a continuing campaign. Third, another dozen or so hooks seem repetitive, in that they deal with similar culprits committing similar nastiness: demonic cult/jaded rich people/serial killers murder folks, add players, and stir. That last complaint can be dealt with by combining the similar hooks into a single plotline, but the repetition is still mildly disappointing.
Also, be advised that Mr. Desborough is writing what he knows, and many of the hooks are set in the U.K. or based upon elements of European history that don't immediately translate well into a North American setting. If you're planning a U.S.-based campaign like I am, you'll have to work out reasons for your P.C.s to travel to Europe to find the adventure.<br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: Ideas by the duffel bag, and dry British humor in many hook titles and descriptions is always appreciated.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Roughly 25%+/- of the hooks are unsuitable for an ongoing campaign, slight repetetion of themes.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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This product delivers, and in a big way. There is no shortage of really good ideas. Each idea is fleshed out slightly more than a true adventure seed, with some good details and a few twists and variations, too. Overall, this is an excellent product, and a must-have for any horror GM.<br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: The variations provided with each seed expands the usefulness of the product.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I usually have some helpful comment to improve a product, but I can't think of a single thing I'd change with this one. Maybe more artwork?<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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100 Horror Seeds:
Focuses on "Monster of the Week" at the expense of exploring a horror mythos like Call of Cthulhu or the vampire, or themes like GURPS Dragons (dragons as gods, as kung fu metaphysics). However, author realizes the concepts of horror (isolation, identity, powerlessness, etc.) are slightly more limiting and compensates.
100 SF Seeds:
Great stuff. Slightly more geared toward cinematic planetary space opera or planetary romance. It could have used a few settings as well as plots (adventures in the Confederacy worlds of ... where space is very thin between alternate realities). That is not to say the many plots suggest settings, tone, power level, etc.
100 Fantasy Seeds:
Slightly geared more to heroic fantasy, but has enough other genres (realistic, magic realism, fantasy without magic, etc) to provide ideas.
Also does not solely focus on "the quest", but includes fascinating people as plot starters as well as non-standard items/places/times as plot triggers.
Overall: I can't wait until 100 Super Heroic Seeds or 100 Time Travel Seeds! And with all three PDFs you can mix and match between them (magical people and/or monsters in space? sure you can: "Lords of the Star Wars Rings").<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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When I picked up this title I was looking for ideas for a horror game but was not sure where to start. This product was the right place to start.
Each of the adventure seeds has options and these add depth or twists to the orignal plot.<br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: Each plot was on its own page.
Each twists is useful and enhances the plot.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Not sure, nothing.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Helped me no end fantastic product
now we wat the second 100 seeds <br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: everything<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: it was all good<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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The Meat
The core of this book is 100 horror adventure ideas, each taking up one page. It describes the situation, three twists and an epilogue ? what happens afterwards. There is a tremendous amount of material here, covering a wide range of horror movie plots without referring to any movie in particular. It is all generic and very usable in any campaign. While some seeds are inherently set in the modern day, a few changes can adapt them for any setting.
I like the material. It is a good source for ideas. Instead of watching a hundred horror movies, you can search from this material for the ideas. I?m really temped to go look at the fantasy and sci-fi adventure seeds.
Sprinkled throughout the book are words of wisdom in sidebars. They offer ideas on how to improve your game and where to look for additional ideas. They are good reminders for old game masters and great advice for new ones.
<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: It's a big book, full of useful ideas. Its great for a GM who did not have time or the inspiration to coble together an adventure or who wants inspiration doing exactly that.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I raised an eyebrow when the book opened with an accreditation for ?stress related illness? and ?sleepless nights? but after 100 pages, I can write that off as deserved author humor. I was a little put off, however, by the Word About Piracy section which says to the reader ?Odds are you do not really give that much of a crap?. It goes on to ask for donations. This should be reworded without the frustration.
The 100 Horror Adventure Seeds opens by commenting on how difficult it was to write and then puts down the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series. The author apologizes that the book is not as good as the other adventure seed books because his source material was not very good. This should be cut. Never put down your own product and just not a great idea to put down popular pop culture.
It can be frustrating to write and publish but the customers do not want to know about it. They want to just enjoy your book and appreciate your labors. Complain to your fellow authors and publishers because complaining to the customer just puts them off.
The writing is consistently possessed of a mild awkwardness. For example, grabbed at random:
?The child is the second coming of Christ. Well, perhaps not the second but perhaps the fiftieth. The powers that be on Earth like their positions and power a great deal and do not want to lose them in some religious upsurge or with the end of the world as we know it.?
Perhaps is used twice in the second sentence. In the third sentence ?them? refers to power (singular) and positions (plural). There are two clich?s in the third sentence ?powers that be? and ?(its) the end of the world as we know it?. These are minor problems. The material simply needs a good edit.
Although it would mean a tremendous amount of work, I would have like to have seen proposed solutions to the problems. Of course, many of use are well versed enough with horror that the solutions are common knowledge once the problem is established.
If there is a revision, give me a yell. I?d love to pull this stuff down. The book is very solid but it needs a little work on the polish. (I reviewed the 8/23/2004 version of the book ? perhaps there is already a new revision?)
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>
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Creator Reply: |
As usual the criticisms seem to be stylistic rather than content oriented and, as a later item in the line, this book was better edited than most. I think its a difference in style, I prefer a much more conversational and intimate with the reader style in my writing, which here is ascibed to be 'awkward'. As ever, I wish these reviews would be a little more useful to me in improving my work.
There is no revision but next year should see some more, or similar, in the line. |
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James Desborough, as promised, lists 100 story seeds, each occupying one page and accompanied by optional twists and suggestions of epilogues. Many of the story ideas seem familiar, touching on the plot of a story or movie before they diverge to something more original.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Not only does the book offer useful condensations of adventures, but it leads the reader to find inspiration in other media.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Can't complain. I can only wish Desborough comes up with more.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Creator Reply: |
Thank you for the good review.
Feel free to get in touch and tell me what you'd like to see :) |
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What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good product {see my entry for the 100 Fantasy Seeds}! 100 good and scary ideas. Who could ask for more?<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Lots of fun and definitely extensive. Great for when you can't come up with an idea all on your own
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Basically just a bunch of very simple one or two sentence plot seed. It is an iteresting item and it was any more expensive it wouldn't be worth it. However, for a GM that just wants a seed to start him off it isn't bad for the price.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Creator Reply: |
One or two sentences?
There's a hundred pages, each page with an outlined plot, several twists and a possible epilogue, much more than a 'couple of sentences'.
Are you sure you're not reviewing one of the Seeds knock offs in the wrong place? |
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Useful ideas that could be used in any system. It is what it says it is.
Note: I bought this along with the other two 100 seeds books, and considered them as a group. If you liked any one of these books, you'll like the rest.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Some very interesting twists on some old themes.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Needed more editing in spots. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Picked up this book in hopes of finding some good ideas to fill in sessions between major storylines in my horror campaigns. Well it's done more than that. A lot of this is easily built into major storyline themselves.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: PRO's - Good solid ideas to use. Well written and to the point. The various twists that you can give each seed is great. Several of them are pretty original.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: CON's - Nothing in the way of the actual meat of the product. On the cover they could've put a blank border or cut the image size down. As it stands it doesn't scroll well. That's about the only negative thing I have on it.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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