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Overview and Disclaimers
This is my second comp product from Spectrum Games since I also reviewed the Slasher Flick RPG as well. I also contributed a little bit to the core rules, so I received a nod in their special thanks section. Finally, they asked me to review this product for them. I said yes and now I can write this capsule review with a clear conscience.
This is an adventure set up for use with the Slasher Flick rules by Spectrum Games. The copy I received was a 139 page PDF. However, they do the "2 of their pages equal 1 8.5" by 11" thing. Therefore, it will only take about 70 pages to actually print the product. Note when I say page after this, I mean one of their pages.
There is no ToC or index but there are handouts such as player maps and character sheets. The artwork isn't overabundant and what is there is line art. It suits the look and theme of the adventure and of the Slasher Flick line but it won't win any awards either. The book is divided into ten sections of varying lengths (which I'll get to in a moment).
I do not have a lot of bad things to say and what I do have is of the "nit" variety. There are a couple of typos in there. One of them was a missing article and the other was having a bit of Director (GM) text italicized as read aloud material. The only other thing I noticed was a tendency to see a paragraph with the last sentence having an extra half space between it and the sentence above it. It didn't happen all the time but it happened enough to be noticeable.
Section One: Flick Synopsis.
This is a one page overview of the premise of the adventure. Without giving too much away, the players are ghost-hunters investigating the abandoned Hotel Isherwood in Detroit. Of course, it wouldn't be an adventure if nothing happened. A killer is on the loose and the hotel is haunted...
Further sections allows the Director to customize the adventure for his or her players but the above is the default for the adventure, without giving away details. I mean, the section did its job and I have no complaints except to wonder if they couldn't have just merged it with the next section. I would have also added what rulebooks were needed since I noticed later on that some of the characters add special abilities that are not in the main rulebook.
Section Two: History of the Isherwood
This section is nine pages long, with three of them devoted to the history of the Hotel Isherwood and six pages to various descriptions of possible haunted rooms. The history was okay in my opinion but I like they would describe a haunted room and then rate the likelihood from 1 to 5. The rating is given by Barry Hampton (NPC ghost hunting professor) and the reason for the rating is also given rather than just putting an arbitrary number down. I think it's a good thing because it adds a bit more to the RP experience.
Section Three: What's Really going on.
The next four pages describe the killer, why he kills, the tactics he will use to kill his victims and his stats. I appreciate the fact that I have methods and a plan, if I am the director, of killing the players. Most games will give you stats, a bit of personality and a bit of a backstory but fail to give you any practical/tactical advise on how to use the NPC. The authors of Bloodbath Hotel did a good job in adding in the right information.
Section Four: Hotel Description and Key
The first two pages or so explains the conditions surrounding the neighborhood that the hotel is in and why the players are considered cut off from help. It can seem a bit like railroading but the nature of the game, geared about one-shots or short arc campaigns, makes it acceptable but I could see how it could frustrating to someone not used to the game.
Another idea I like was the idea of having danger zones in the hotel. Not only do players have to deal with the killer but the hotel itself can be a source of isolation (collapsed staircase) or slow them down. They have to deal with the cold as well since the hotel has suffered damage, which they take time to explain things like how derelicts would have stolen fixtures to sell or to burn during cold winter nights.
The rest of the sections are descriptions of the floors and various rooms of interest. They did a decent job of using the five senses but they also liked their graffiti. They also included any special features or danger spots.
Section Five: Equipment
This is a short (~4 page) section showing what equipment they would have as ghosthunters. They explained what some of it did but there were no special rules or advantages to having it. In my opinion, they should have just combined with section 6: Ghost Hunting since it was only 4 pages as well. It was a quick primer on the subject but I think anyone with even a casual interest in the subject would not have been really surprised by anything here. I didn't like or dislike it since it did the job but it didn't really go into great detail.
Section Seven: Running Bloodbath Hotel
A lot of useful information is packed into 10 pages. The action is broken down into three acts. The first one is centered around the characters setting up their equipment and exploring the hotel. The second act has the killer acting w/o the character knowing. The last one has the characters either trying to survive the night or finding an alternative exit. More killer tactics, inventive bits to make the game a bit scarier, interesting ways for characters to die...good stuff to help run a game.
Section Eight: Customization and Options
Don't like the time or place? The directors has three alternatives (each of which is a little over a page long). Need to describe a random room? Two pages of random tables help with that. Need a different type of killer or a variant of the original...they have that too. Without giving anything away, the customizations center around making the game even more supernatural in nature. Good ideas abound here. You could even use them for other games if you don't want to veer too much from the default layout for the adventure. It's almost like getting one to two additional full adventures for free or at least a huge head start to them anyway.
Section Nine: Timeline
It covers two days and has the regular unfolding of events or options if you choose to go with any of their other suggestions to the game. The use of a timeline can help organize the adventure but I think it could also have been merged into Section Seven.
Section Ten: Miscellaneous
Like the section says, it has a bit of everything in its two or pages. A random rule for exertion of the killer, description of game handouts and a list of websites for inspiration round out the list. By now, one can see a theme of usefulness but alternative ways of organizing could have made the sections/layout a bit more even.
Section eleven: Characters
Slasher Flicker has primary characters, secondary characters, and tertiary characters. They are centered around the idea of various stereotypes and there are instructions for what to alter depending on primary, secondary, or tertiary. For this type of game, they are perfect since their very stereotyped nature fits into the B-rated Slasher Film. The last section is various maps and other aids for the players. They are already in the book but it is nice to just print one section rather than print a page here or a page there. Of course, some might grip about inflating the size of the adventure as well.
Quick Opinion Summation
The Slasher Flick system is small but efficient...lean and mean or underdone depending on your style of game. Like the core book, they do quite a bit for the number of pages they have. It is definitely not for everyone since some people may not like the additional linear nature of the adventure. There isn't a lot of room or suggestions on how to make sequels to this adventure. There are a few small errors of a grammatical nature and it seems like a bit effort could have evened out the layout of the game. However, as I tried to illustrate here, I believe there is far more good than bad here.
Here is the blurb "If you ever wanted to run or playing in a B-movie adventure, then Bloodbath Hotel is not a bad way to go."
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