Halloween '21 Part 3: Cryptworld

 

Ah 2014

 

Daniel Proctor and Tim Snider must really be fans of TV-style monster of the week scares. In the shadows of supernatural works like Chill and Call of Cthulhu and Beyond the Supernatural and Vampire/Werewolf/... and Kult and ... and... and... a whole lot of others, these guys went for it. Another rules system to help the tabletop gamer get some horror roleplaying into their lives. Of course, I had to have a copy.

In the work's 89 pages the reader gets everything they will ever need to run a campaign set in modern times where the PCs encounter and hopefully overcome creatures like werewolves (refer to the cover because Jim Holloway does repeatedly), vampires, ghosts, and zombies. Adding extra spice there are newer creatures possessed dolls, serial killers, and creepy neighbors along side stuff from the zeitgeist of the 20-Teens like chupacabra and sasquatch.

In the tradition of Stalking the Night Fantastic, from the Way-Way Back times, combat and combat situations are highly detailed. the mechanics Speaking of which two D10 are the system's drivers. They can be added together as well as used to indicate percentages. The Characters are defined by their Abilities (Stats) and their skills. The world notes are fairly complete-- a lot of animals listed as well as mentions of organizations that can be encountered during the adventuring. At the end there are Character sheet and a few "Things" (encounters) sheets. 

The art on the inside is wonderful. Hollway, Tim Tyler, and Brian Thomas imbue the pages with very action-packed scenes, which helps out a bit too much dry details in the text. It is black and white and the artist's techniques are not enhanced by graphic art programs, so today's hyperactive RPG reader might not be used to it.

The introductory scenario "Red Eye" is a nice little jot into the "on an airplane" subgenre of modern horror. 

Overall, I'd rate the book a Big Foot on the scale of Smurf to Godzilla. As a guy that has read the horror game that started it all as well as the X-Files TV show, Stalking the Night Fantastic, there isn't much ground that hasn't been covered elsewhere. The read feels like it's updating Chill with some timely mentions. That new material if gone more into would've helped the game standout more in this very populated field of RPG.