This is a rather small book, but trust me when I say that every page is worth it.
Implementing Horror Elements into a heroic, powered-up game like Pathfinder is a challenge. I, like many GMs, have tried and failed on plenty of occasions, but it wasn't until I read this book that I realized what I had been doing wrong all along.
Jade is a game designer who I've often turned to for wisdom on how to run unconventional games or scenarios, and the first chapter is a fantastic example of why I trust his insight. The advice here for building, developing, and running slasher-based games is detailed and effective, running through everything that makes a slasher story work and how a GM can get the most of each of these elements at their table. The advice here is tailored towards horrific adventures in Pathfinder, but it can be extrapolated to writing adventures in any system and to writing horror in a variety of mediums. I particularly like the sense of player agency which this book advises be maintained, as horror adventures so often forget that a game is meant to be played and enjoyed by everyone at the table.
The book has less crunch than fluff, but the mechanics listed in the book are once again very effective and widely applicable. Several troublesome monster abilities have been reworked in this book to provide more player engagement at the table (the most obvious example being the replacement of grappling with Fool's Errand's Lock mechanic), and the resulting fixes do a great deal to streamline combat and make sure that everyone can get in on the fun of a slasher game. The two new templates (Slasher and Grim Slasher) are powerful in addition to being flavorful, with a variety of customizable abilities which allow for GMs to tailor their Slashers to their campaign (these templates also have some unique abilities that elicit a genuine "whoa" reaction from players). The numerous artifacts in the book provide some great plot hooks for Slasher villains and can once again be implemented into a variety of campaigns with relative ease (although they each can do very nasty things). The four sample Slashers provided in the book are all unique and incredibly flavorful without sacrificing much of their versatility.
The biggest crunch highlight of the book has to be the Massacre system, however, a mechanism which allows Slashers and boss monsters to become much, much more of a threat to a coordinated group of PCs. This system is rather simple but is broadly applicable and does a great job of improving the threat of individual creatures in combat. This is definitely a mechanic I will be implementing in many future games.
Overall, Hatchet Men: Slashers in Heroic Horror is a fantastic book with many applications beyond the advertised subgenre of Slasher Horror. If you are interested in running a Slasher Horror game in Pathfinder, I don't think you could find a more thorough and perfect guide to the subject.
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