A wonderful recourse for mutations or strange magical effects of all kinds. One of my favorites and great inspiration for me.

I wish I could give this product to different star ratings. A 5 for atmosphere and micro-fiction and 1 for everything else.

It really is great micro-fiction. There's not much here beyond that. If the authors had just stated up the fiction pieces this would be a classic. The actually stated "intruders" are, forgive me for being blunt, lame. There is no realm of being where a haunted calculator is going to scare me or anyone else. They do not feel like the subjects of full narratives. There's very little meat on the bone. These are add-ons and one offs that I don't feel I could ever use effectively.

I feel bad giving this such a poor review. Others obviously seem to enjoy this product and get value from it. I don't. The puzzles all feel very artificial. I have no idea in some cases how I would integrate these puzzles into any environment that is supposed to make any kind of sense. Some "puzzles" are banal or frustrating that I would be embarrassed to put them in front players, such as "Last Will and Testament" which is an unpleasant simulation of being an executor of a will to unreasonable specific family. Presented with a situation like that I would expect my players, or any players I have ever known, to cut the goods down the middle and be done with it, or starting trying to extort the heirs.

I found the formatting quite limited. I can't tell what any of the puzzles actually are or do without reading through them thoroughly. Their are headings on each puzzles that put them in general categories, but these are not relevant to how I would sort them at all. I find myself rereading large sections to even understand what they do what the effect is. All told, to me these feel like puzzles from a completely different style of game that has very little relevance to me.

One of my favorite micro-settings of all time. Very highly recommended. Great visual and sense of place.

As a free product, this is a must have for it's creativity and great themes. Some of my favorite entities or encounters of all time are in these pages.

Very original and truly great as a setting a premise, but not usable as written in some cases, such as the HP and stats of some antagonists being wildly misaligned with their purpose in the module. Still a modern classic in the OSR scene, though the art-punk sensibilities have not aged well.

Very fun as an art piece, but not easily usable at the table. I am very partial to this creator and his products, but there are portions of this piece that I find hard to read visually and would have difficulty using at the table. That said it is visually impressive and I can imagine it being source of great adventures even though it is tough to read in spots.

This is a great system addition. The alteration to spell casting is one I would use in my own games of OSE. It evens out the progression of magic-users and gives some great options.

It's a system so simple and stream-lined you will wonder why you never thought of it, but all the best ideas are like that. Yes, it's worth 4 dollars. Add it to your game now to incentivize exploration and affecting the world.

A collection of mostly good first draft ideas assembled in something that requires a lot of further input and work to run at the table. The low score is mostly a result of the poor formatting and typography, but also an unhealthy amount of elements I wouldn't know how to adjudicate at the table. How do you dis-entwine two lovers made of star light and moon light? |I understand creating problems you don't always know the solution to as a GM, but I don't even know how I would describe the problem to my players in a way their characters could understand through their senses. If this is a limitation within myself, so be it. There are some good ideas I would use, but this is a first draft, not a finished product in my opinion.

Fever Swamp has some interesting ideas, but it is reality an art project disguised as a functional game supplement. It has the appearance of a hex crawl, but closer examination reveals it's exceptionally thin on the ground. All but two or three hexes are nothing more than encounters. The few hexes that are more are either sketches waiting to be filled in by a competent GM who doesn't value his own time, or rely on zany energy to carry them, rather than sensible design.

The tables and "classes" have some originality, but I would be severely cautious about adding them as more than NPCs.

The bestiary has one or two good entries, but like the rest of the piece a lot to appear as more than it is. The creepy, evocative art is revealed to be rather empty of sensible mechanics or through-lines to bring it home.

Fever Swamp is short. I don't recommend it as more than an art book or to steal one or two elements for a better setting. Get it at 6 dollars if you must, not 16. I had read reviews and watched Youtube flip-throughs before buying, but was still surprised at the brevity other deficits. It's a book that does a lot to appear as more than it is.

This is my least favorite entry in the this authors herbarium series. I consider several of the small number of entries to be jokes, or simply have no real purpose. The Chelydran Mint and Twisthook Tree are particularly guilty in this regard, the former being an elaborate pokemon themed joke (The author in a in kind and thoughtfully worded message has informed me this is not a Pokemon joke. I stand corrected.) The later being a means of crafting moderately more valuable furniture. Neither are the subject of my D&D experience, though yours may vary. Cloud moss is the single entry I would consider usable as-written.

I found the Horrific Herbarium: Volume 2 even less useful than the the first volume. There are several interesting entries in the first, that, although not worth the price of admission, are usable as written. I don't find this to be the case with the second.

In volume 2 the Hemowort and Arcana-Devouring Hawthorn are the most interesting entries mechanically, but are unlikey to appear in my games. The rest fall into being random spell effects, traps or minor annoyances. The exeption is the Parasitic Birch, which does actually produce a gastly and interesting atmsophere, but is mechanically useless in its current form. I will modify it for my own uses.

The Horrific Herbarium (and Helpful Herbarium) series is tempting because it is very modestly priced and promises the perspective of a biologist. This conjures the image of detailed backgrounds and life histories. The title itself implies an insidious quality to the herbs and plants within. One might even imagine spawning whole adventures around these rare plants, but I was extremely disapointed by this product and don't feel that it lives up to that image.

The life histories of the plants are quite cursory. The entries are more interested in sounding like a biologist, than in providing information helpful to DMs and players in a gaming or story telling sense.

The magical or extraordinary effects of the plants are for the most part, lackluster. The majority of the plants described are no more than glorified nature themed traps, to be wandered into or avoided. I find very few of the entries to have anything exciting to draw players into a deeper sense of immersion.

I did like a couple of the entries and I will mention them to highlight what is lacking from the rest.

The Noxious Elm is interesting as a resource the player characters could use.

The Lighteater Hawthorn is thematically interesting, if lacking in background or imagery that would bring it to life as part of a world.

The Phosphorrel is by far the best in this installment. It recieves this title for me because it is, briefly, woven into the ecology of its surrounding, and provides a deeper explanation for why the animals in particluar areas would exhibit striking traits. I think players would love the imagery that comes from this entry. The mechanics of the plant are both useful to those who learn its properties, and dangerous to those who do not know them.

The rest of the entries are, to me, merely damage sources, lacking the world integration, or the mythic imagery, that would make this product worthwhile to me.

An example of a product that fullfils my desires much more is "Into the Weird and Wyld." Though that book is much larger, the magical herb section is comparable in size to the Horrific Herbarium and exhibits a remarkable creativity and sense for horror and imagery. The details are focused on either interesting game play, or imagery to tantalize the imagination. These qualities are what I find lacking in the Horrific Herbarium.

The Great: A very original, complete and evocative micro-setting. Massive amounts of inspiration, connections, original ideas. The way factions are organized and have their relationships mapped is an immense breathe of fresh air compared to most supplements.

The Good: System neutral, but gamed out in a very usable way with art and maps that are good enough.

The Bad: The twee tone and hipster politics inserted into a fantasy setting are a bit much for me, but it's a minor set of changes to fit it with my own settings.

I consider it a classic, despite any imperfections from my intended use case.