Dread is not a roleplaying game; this isn't me doing the identity politics here, its "ravachol", the author of the game.  You see, its hardly unfair of me to say that Dread isn't an RPG, if the term "roleplaying game" never appears anywhere in the book, is it? In fact, if I'm not mistaken, the very term "roleplaying" doesn't appear anywhere in the book. Instead you hear stuff like "dread is a game of horror and hope", or that "its a mutual telling of an original macabre tale".  I guess it would be a "storygame", except I don't believe that term appears anywhere in the book either, for that matter.

So what the fuck am I doing reviewing this thing? Well, it was sent to me.  It was also very likely that the authors sent it to me knowing that I would hate it, and that my hatred for this game would generate good interest among people who hate me.  It worked very well, apparently for Spirit of the Century, a game I gave a medium-to-negative review of. But hell, Spirit of the Century is miles and miles above this thing.

Anyways, as Dread is not actually an RPG (again, by the will of its own authors, nothing to do with my own judgements here!), I will not be bothering to give it a full on review.  However, at the same time it would be unfair of me to have received this book and not say something about it, and I'm sticking to my guns on that I will write about every book I receive. So here are my thoughts about Dread.

First, the basics: Dread is a book that is published in a small format (Ie. closer to novel sized rather than regular-RPG sized). Its 168 pages long; and its well put together by the looks of it. The book is entirely black and white (other than the bright red "bloody fingerprint" on its front cover), and has relatively few pictures (though the ones that do exist are of a suitably creepy nature for the subject matter of this game).

The game itself consists of creating a story, I guess, with the themes of horror and suspense.  Technically, again from the authors point of view, there's no GM; instead there's the "host" who's "another player". While each player does have a particular character, those characters have NO stats, not even descriptor style stats like you see in more artsy RPGs. Instead a character is simply "described" by a questionairre created by the Host.

Nor are there any dice in this game. Instead, in a typical gimmicky fashion among "Storygames" desperate to be fashionable, the mechanics of the game are resolved using a Jenga-tile game (note: not included with the book, obviously).  Basically, anytime one of the characters does something risky, he has to move a block from the Jenga tower (just like you do in regular Jenga).  If the tower collapses, that character is out of the game. Note that, obviously, not every action that might make you move a block is particularly life-threatening, so sometimes the Host might, in a burst of absolute inanity, have to "remove" you from the game in some utterly illogical deus ex machina kind of way (examples include "being suddenly called away to visit a sick relative", "getting called in to work a double shift", or "leaving town to find a better career").

I don't know about you, but this sort of thing really doesn't sound like very good "story creation" to me.  I mean, in what kind of normal story will a major character suddenly be written out of the story for no good reason?! One second Professor Plumb is investigating the mysterious disappearances of schoolchildren, and the next he's off to visit Aunt Ida at the nursing home and you never see him again in the novel!? I mean, what the fuck is this shit??

Frankly, I think that means its not even much of a Storygame. Though I don't know; storygamers are a weird bunch, and this might all just be part of what they consider "good stories", since they tend to mangle definitions of everything else they use in their jargon, maybe their definition of story includes "unbelievably stupid plot twists that write out major characters for no apparent reason". Then again, I was under the impression that this was their major complaint about RPGs inability to "create story", when a PC suddenly dies from a kobold or whatever.

Anyways, I'll leave it to the Storygamers to decide whether Dread is a good Storygame. Its obviously not a good RPG. One of the major problems I see that it might have as an RPG is that the Host is FORBIDDEN from writing out a character in any other way than by having the tower fall down, and he can't actually FORCE a player to pull a block from the tower. Instead, a player can ALWAYS refuse to pull a block, in exchange for something really bad happening to him. However, this really bad thing can NOT write him out of the game.

So here's what I see happening in a typical session of Dread:

Host: Bill, your character is trapped in a burning building! The only way for him to get out is to jump out the window; would you like to draw a block to try that?
Bill: No, I don't think so, I'll just walk out the door instead.
Host: You can't, the entrance is engulfed in flames. I mean, you can try to run past, but you'll have to draw a block too.
Bill: Nope, no drawing blocks for me, I think I'll just sit here and relax.
Host: well, ok, you catch fire then! Do you try to get out now??!
Bill: Nope.
Host (increasingly annoyed): Ok, but you'll probably die if you don't try to get away!
Bill: Nope, you can't kill me off unless the tower falls, and if I don't draw from the tower, I can't die.
Host: Ok, FINE. Some firefighters come and rescue you, but you have MASSIVE burns all over your body. You're in the hospital recovering.
Bill: Ok.
Host: Meanwhile, Brad and Amy, you guys are investigating... blah blah blah
(some time later)
Bill: What about me?
Host: Huh? You're recovering.
Bill: Yes, but I'm not out of the game, right? So you've said what everyone else is doing; its time to cover my part of the story now.
Host (sighs in frustration): Ok, ok fine. You're in the hospital, horribly burned. What do you do?
Bill: I breathe.
Host (thinking): ...ok. Suddenly, the nurse comes in. Only you realize that the nurse's eyes are glowing red, like those possessed humans you had seen earlier.
Bill: Yikes!
Host: exactly. She's coming toward you with a big carving knife! What do you?
Bill: Can I try to run away?
Host: Well, you're in massive pain, but you can try! Pull a block from the tower.
Bill: Oh, in that case never mind, I lie there and see what she does.
Host: She's coming toward you with a fucking carving knife!!
Bill: is there anything I can do that DOESN'T involve pulling a block?
Host: No, not really, other than screaming...
Bill: Doesn't seem worth it. What does she do.
Host: Ok, fuck it. She stabs you.
Bill: Ok, but I'm not dead, right? I can't die unless the tower collapses.
Host: FUCK'S SAKE!! Ok, fine, she chops off both your arms and legs. You're a stumpy now, ARE YOU FUCKING SATISFIED?!
Bill: But I'm still in the game, right?
Host (sobbing): yes, you're still in the game Bill.
Bill: Cool.
Professor Plumb: Being a stumpy is still fucking better than having been forced to leave to visit fucking Aunt Ida.

And, to top it all off, I can't even see Dread being a fun experience. I'll grant you that the above scenario depends on the players being willfully obstinate; but you might want to be willfully obstinate too, when you find out about the "no chatter" rule.  Yes, on page 45 it clearly states that the Host should forbid all out-of-character conversation during a game. No talking, no idle chit chat, none of the regular socialization that, at least in my games, tends to be a common feature of the social part of getting together with your buddies to roleplay. According to the rules, "if you aren't telling the host what your character is doing, then your character is also saying what you say". In other words, no distracting chitchat about anything while this very serious game about facing unknown terrors and being forcibly sent away to visit sick relatives or to find a better job is going on.

I mean really, what a load of crap. Is this the kind of shit that Forgies really like?

In conclusion:

The Good: Not fucking much.  The book does come with a lot of examples about how to make a variety of different horror stories, but nothing I haven't seen done elsewhere, and better, in various real RPGs.

The Bad: Just about everything. The fucking Jenga-resolution-system, the host being an utter eunuch unable to even impose risk on the players, and the way that the imposed consequences of having to justify a tower-collapse could sometimes lead to situations that wouldn't even make for doing a good job at what the game is supposedly meant to do: creating a good story.

The Ugly: The fucking no chatter rule. This was the moment where I realized that I didn't just think this game was unbelievably lame; this was where it went beyond that to be one of the worst set of rules I'd ever seen. Not on the level of mechanics, but on the level of utterly failing to get the whole point of why people get together to play games, even (at least I hope and pray) really stupid pretentious people getting together to play fucking pretentious story games.  I mean shit, if they can't pat each other on the back about how deep and sophisticated they are for playing the game, what would be the fucking point, even for them?

Out of all the games I've received since I started doing these reviews, Dread is the only one that I am so utterly convinced will be of no use to me ever, that I will be giving it away. Every other game I've gotten to review, even ones that I found not much to my liking, I've kept for myself after reviewing them.  I'm quite the game-packrat, and this because I've learnt over time that you never know when you might find something useful. I could certainly think of stuff in Conspiracy of Shadows that was cool enough that I might use someday. I could conceivably make use of something like Spirit of the Century, even though it didn't appeal much to me, and I thought they missed the point of what Pulp was meant to be about. But Dread; I can't possibly imagine any scenario where absolutely anything about Dread might be of use to me; I have no reason to keep this game.

I've always tried to be as fair as possible in reviewing games, always trying to find things I could say that were good about the game, even if my overall feeling of the game was that it was bad or boring or ill-conceived. I've tried to point out the redeeming qualities of every game, including Forge or Storygames games. But I really hit my limit with this one; there's nothing nice I can really say about Dread.

RPGPundit

I played Dread with a crew of people who were up for the game and didn't try to ruin the atmosphere. It was...okay. My beefs were that having answered the GM's questionnaire (and getting an enthusiastic thumbs-up for it), the answers themselves meant pretty much nothing in play. And while the Jenga tower is a cute gimmick, there's an inevitability about it that could be seen as building tension or could just be seen as inevitable. And there really isn't anything to govern when a pull is made except the whim of the GM.

I'd have to play it some more to be sure, but those were my impressions.

Quote from: RPGPunditThe Ugly: The fucking no chatter rule. This was the moment where I realized that I didn't just think this game was unbelievably lame; this was where it went beyond that to be one of the worst set of rules I'd ever seen.

That actually reminds me of the Second Rule from Puppetland: "What you say is what you say." That is, as long as a player is sitting at the table, everything that she says is spoken by her character. It works rather well for that game, and not only sustains the mood but also keeps unnecessary chatter from taking up the already limited duration of the session.

Pundit and Droog agreeing on something? A sign of the Apocalypse, I tell you!

How much does a set of Jenga blocks cost in the US? I'm betting "not much", but it's still a hidden cost of the game (whatever the book's price is).

I kinda want to like this game, but it doesn't seem like it'd be my thing. Like, the Jenga tower might be a lot of fun, but if the rules are set up like Pundit says, even following the rules in spirit as opposed to the letter might easily make for a less-than-bumpin' time.

I don't know if pulling blocks makes for much of an RPG resolution mechanic, really. A fun game? Yeah, ok. An rpg? I dunno. It's hard to say what it represents. It doesn't seem like it aims to be an rpg though, so even if it's not really an important distinction, I don't think it'd supplement RPG time with my friends.

So what happens if you don't have a Jenga set? Better yet, how would the game be (or be perceived) without using Jenga? It this {rather silly} novelty central focus to the game, or just a secondary feature?

Quote from: JongWKPundit and Droog agreeing on something? A sign of the Apocalypse, I tell you!

Oh, we've agreed on things before. If he'd get the stick out of his arse, I'm sure we'd agree on even more.

Brett--the Jenga tower is absolutely central to Dread if you ask me. There's nothing there without it.

Quote from: droogBrett--the Jenga tower is absolutely central to Dread if you ask me. There's nothing there without it.

So the whole point of the game is the funky system? Is there nothing else to redeem it?

Quote from: pigames.netSo the whole point of the game is the funky system? Is there nothing else to redeem it?

It's difficult for me to point to why Dread was particularly disappointing for me. The idea is that the growing unsteadiness of the tower helps create that ratchetting of tension you get in horror, and the fall of the tower is one of those moments when something really bad happens.

Now, okay--when the tower fell the first time, one of our players actually gave a cry of shock. It was a bit of fun to craft bits of story around a pull, especially when the tower wobbled. But basically, play breaks down to bladibladiblah*pull*bladibladiblah*pull*CRASH.

I was interested in the chargen questionnaires, but they turned out to be irrelevant in play. They didn't feed into what we were playing in any game-meaningful way.

That's a shame, because I really like the idea of all that tension coming to a climax in one big crash. If it had some form of structure as a meter and die mechanic, it would probably be pretty cool.

Don't take my word for it. You're the game-designer dude. Maybe there's something you can get out of it.

While I like RPGs where probabilities change during play I think it could have been done better than resorting to a contrived and transparent mechanic like Jenga ( I also *hate* games, that rely on manual dexterity, because I have no chance in hell of winning them, but thats on another page).

The no chatter "rule" is something that happens anyway, when you have a very good GM and isn't something you should force down the throat of the players.

If the player doesn't care for the game (like the stupid example in the "review") it doesn't mean jack if the GM has the power to kill his character. The potential for character loss is not something that will make a player care any more or about the game.

Could you elaborate a bit on the "models for horror stories" presented in the book (I'm considering buying the book for these parts, but am unsure if I might not already know most of the stuff described therein).

First off, a big thanks to RPGPundit for reviewing the game despite it clearly not being your cup of tea. You are absolutely correct on my reasons for sending it to you. Or rather, I sent it not knowing or caring if you would love it or hate it. Either way puts the game in front of many more eyes than it would have if I just reserved my review copies for people guaranteed to enjoy it. For the same reasons I'd like to thank you for deciding to give Dread away rather than let it rot on a shelf.

There are a few misconceptions in your review that I'd like to address. Most of them are probably my fault. Dread was my first foray into the realm of game writing, and I've learned a lot since then. There are concepts in the game that I could have explained more clearly, and I try to use opportunities like reviews to clear them up.

The first, and probably least important, thing I should mention is that Dread is not affiliated with the Forge. The design of the game predates the Forge, and while I did go to the Forge for some advice several years ago, nothing came from it. It is currently sold through Indie Press Revolution which carries several games created by Forge members, but that's pretty much where its Forger pedigree ends. The only reason why I mention this is because much of your review is colored by the assumption that Dread is a reaction to the things in traditional role-playing games that Forge members tend to disparage. It's not.

As far as inane ways to remove characters from the game, I agree with you. It would make for a horrid game if one of our battered heroes is called away to visit an aunt in a nursing home, never to be heard from again. The example I use on page 18 is an unfortunate one. I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking, except maybe I was trying to present an absolutely worst case scenario. Truth is, to my knowledge, no one has ever had to resort to poor Aunt Ida as a way to prematurely remove a character from the game. A far more appropriate example of what happens when the tower falls unexpectedly would be that scene in the early part of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre where Kurt steps into the foyer asking if anyone is home. A metal door slides open. Leatherface swings his hammer. Kurt falls and twitches. Body is dragged off and door slams closed. Sudden, brutal, horrifying, and chases the mood from creepy straight into panic. That's the sort of example I should have used.

As you admit, your example of play is a bit disingenuous, but it does raise a legitimate concern. And in fact one I shared when the game was first developed. However, the player in your example would have to be extraordinarily "willfully obstinate" in order for anything remotely like that to happen. It would be the rough equivalent of a barbarian in D&D using his fast movement class feature to flee from every battle rather than charge into it. It could happen, but if you didn't want to fight orcs, why are you playing D&D? By the same token, I would hope that if you are going to play a horror game you want to do some scary things. The guidelines present in the game on how to encourage players pull are not meant to strong arm folks who don't want to play. Rather, they are there

And finally the "no chatter rule" is not a rule at all and I'm sorry that it came across as such. It was something requested by a friend of mine who was playing in a Chill game I was running way back in the earliest 90s. He was getting irritated by the jokes and distractions at the table during a scene that was supposed to be particular somber. After the session he asked that we try the no-chatter rule, and it worked wonders on us. So when it came to writing the game, I decided to put it in a sidebar as a tip for groups that might be experiencing the same problem. You can certainly play without it and I'm confident that the vast majority of Dread players do.

Once again, thank you for giving Dread the review and giving me the opportunity to address these concerns. If you have any other questions, I'd love to answer them. I'm trying to compile a FAQ and the more diverse opinions and insights I get on the game, the more effective it will be. In the meantime, if you are looking more of these clarifications, please check out the Dread forum, and this particularly insightful thread on ENworld.

Quote from: pigames.netSo what happens if you don't have a Jenga set? Better yet, how would the game be (or be perceived) without using Jenga? It this {rather silly} novelty central focus to the game, or just a secondary feature?

Jenga is definitely the central focus of the game. There are things you can extract from the game without it. And we do have an appendix with alternatives to Jenga (all of which still involve stacking or some sort of physical element). But in the end, the game cannot be played without physical interaction that Jenga provides so well. Which, I guess, makes it slightly more central than dice are to most games.

This RPG.net post goes into a little more detail as to why I think Jenga is more than just a novelty in this case.

Quote from: droogI was interested in the chargen questionnaires, but they turned out to be irrelevant in play. They didn't feed into what we were playing in any game-meaningful way.

I'm curious about this. Do you mean that the answers on the questionnaires did not alter the number of pulls you had to make? Or that nothing on the questionnaires came up in the game at all?

Because if either of those are a yes, then I haven't conveyed the rules well enough to your GM, and that may be the problem right there. But if your questionnaire answers did come up and had an affect on the number of pulls, then I'd like to explore that more to see if I can make the game fit better for you and folks that share your tastes.