Heroes of Horror (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) [Hardcover]

James Wyatt (Author), Ari Marmell (Author), C.A. Suleiman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2005

The essential handbook integrating fear and horror into Dungeons & Dragons® play.
 

Heroes of Horror provides everything players and Dungeon Masters need to play and run a horror-oriented campaign or integrate elements of creepiness & tension into their existing campaigns. Players can develop heroes or anti-heroes using new feats, new spells, new base classes and prestige classes, and new magic items. The book presents new mechanics for different types of horror, including rules for dread and tainted characters, as well as plenty of new horrific monsters and adventure seeds. Different types and genres of horror are discussed in detail.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James Wyatt won an Origins award for the City of the Spider Queen™ roleplaying game supplement. He also wrote the Oriental Adventures™ roleplaying game and co-authored numerous roleplaying game products, including the Eberron™ Campaign Setting, Sharn: City of Towers™, Draconomicon™: The Book of Dragons, and Book of Exalted Deeds™.
 

Ari Marmell has contributed to over 40 RPG and fiction products. Heroes of Horror is his first roleplaying product for Wizards of the Coast.
 

C.A. Suleiman has written numerous roleplaying supplements for various companies. Heroes of Horror is his first product for Wizards of the Coast.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786936991
• ISBN-13: 978-0786936991
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #197,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I haven't seen a supplement this good in years..., December 18, 2005

By 

Leighland Feinman (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Heroes of Horror (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) (Hardcover)

The only thing that I could say is a drawback of Heroes of Horror is that it's too short.

This book was clearly written by people who know how to do Horror; some of the examples that they give had my pulse going up, and they're just suggestions!

The main thing that I really like about this book is that the writers took many, many examples from pop culture and related them to their suggestions, breaking them down to core themes and explaining how those themes can be related to each other. It provides the important basics of horror writing (for short stories, scripts, or an RPG) without going into horrible technical terms because the writers knew they were writing to an audience that aren't pro writers. It's this down to earth, no-nonsense explanatory style that really makes Heroes of Horror a winner for a DM looking to add horror flavour to their campaign, or to write an entirely horror-based campaign.

From a rules standpoint, this is how it breaks down:

A lot of the material has been seen in 3.0 materials, and so it's really nice to see these things updated for 3.5.

The classes and prestige classes are really quite useful as well- the Archivist is a brilliant adaptation of Divine casting, and the Dread Necromancer is long overdue; a base-class necromancer was needed in this game. The spells and feats sections are also rather good, so overall the book is a great opportunity.

I was considering a four-star rating because of its shortness, but I then reread the sections on horror writing and it just so outshines other sourcebooks that it deserves the five-star rating.

Most importantly, it doesn't take the need for Horror in your campaign to use this sourcebook. This is really a guidebook to making your villains epically and cinematically *evil*, and any DM can use that to good effect. The supernatural evil effects might be creepy for a horror setting, but any DM can use the tips in this book to make his or her normal villains much more sinister and chilling.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasant Surprise, April 19, 2007

By 

Maryann E. Simpson "tennyo_celestia" (Centreville, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Heroes of Horror (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) (Hardcover)

I honestly wasn't expecting too much from this book when I originally looked at it. I was expecting the caliber of the not-so-"Complete" series... Boy, did that get shot in the foot. This is probably one of the best supplements released in the past three years. It's very comprehensive with very little useless, extraneous information and is organized well. The sections written to be helpful to the DM are actually helpful to the DM- not just a bunch of 'no duh,' common sense information like many of the other new supplements.
The new classes are actually interesting- not merely spinoffs or mixes of other classes, and the Taint tables offer a really interesting new idea. The new creatures are also very intriguing, again, not just spinoffs. Take the Grey Jester: a humanoid that basically eats the laughter and happiness out of peoples (and PCs) to create mindless drones to do its bidding. There is also a little speckling of possible mini-adventures that help you get an idea of how to employ the concepts introduced into a campaign. While the book is really designed for a horror-oriented campaign, it would be very easy to adapt some of these ideas into a brief adventure, even just one dungeon. Pages and pages aren't wasted on new magic items or overly extensive info on adaptation into Ebberon, Faerun, etc. There's just the right about of info on both.

It would be worth the money for a one-shot Halloween adventure. It's very original, very creative, and a great buy. It would be a perfect match for anyone intending to run a Ravenloft campaign.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hero's of Horror brings a new depth to the game, June 18, 2006

By 

Na'Rue, the Goblin Necromancer (Olive Hill KY, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heroes of Horror (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) (Hardcover)

Long have I played the wizard specialist necromancer, always slightly underpowered and unable to truly maximize on the feel of the character. After picking up this supplement, all that has now changed. HoH is the best supplement from wotc in a long time, yes it is too short, but what the book does contain can really impact your playing experience in a positive way. I personally dont use the taint system when I run a game, but when I use the Dread Necromancer as a PC it truly captures the spirit of the game. Yes it is a powerful class, but it is NOT overpowered, and it encourages true role playing. "dread necromancers, no matter how neutral, are not welcome in any place, so beef up those bluff, intimidate, and disguise skills" The Archivist is literally the most interesting interpritation of divine spellcasters I have seen since the... Cleric/Druid, and is easily role played. The dread witch is long overdue, and as a 5 level class is very cool. The new monsters are great "my personal favorite being the Bog Imp, and the Phantasmal Slayer. Some new neat spells line these pages as well, and they are almost all scary. There is a lack of items/weapons, and I would have loved to see more horror related ones, but we have enough in all the other books. Will I use a tainted scholor, purifier, corrupt avenger, death delver, or fiend blooded? no, but someone will enjoy these classes. DnD is much richer for these and all the other options presented here. Adding horror to your campaign, whether it be a touch or the total immersion, brings a touch of reality or at least a flair for the dramatic. I highly encourage someone interested in this to check this out!