From: ted4646@zeus.tamu.edu (kid eternity)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Chill request...
Keywords: Chill, Reviews
Date: 9 Apr 92 05:31:00 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Texas A&M University, Academic Computing Services
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <35032@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>, spp@reef.cis.ufl.edu (Stephen Potter) writes...
>My big turn off to the game was it's price.  I wasn't going to shell out $45
>(original price, when it came out I think) for a game.  And, when I looked at
>it, I thought it was another CyberPunk type game.  I mean, the name "Chill"
>coupled with that bright neon cover just does not make one think of horror.
> 
Whoa!  Is this the same Chill horror rpg that everyone else is talking about?
I got my copy at Hasting's Books & Records for $16.95, less than the $20 sticker
price.  My book is black with the word "Chill" on the cover looking as if the
individual letters (except for the "Ch" combination) were cut out of newspapers.
There also is a sketch of a masked (?) face underneath the word "Chill" 
(personally, I would have gotten rid of the face and put a scantily-clad
female occult investigator with large clevage...oops, wrong thread).

The game itself looks very well thought-out.  Everything (but the d10s) you
need is included in the one book.  The artwork inside the rules manual is
very loose, very sketchy--I wouldn't change anything inside (art-wise).

The bbok itself is hardbound, and printed in duo-tone (violet), although at
times, the violet splatters on the pages make some pages hard to read.
(The violet splashes represent either spilled blood or ink).

The player creation section goes through different generalizations of what
each attribute does, the skill listings, then a listing of the mental powers.
After this (on about page 50, i think) is a listing of various character types.
the listings are things like Homeless, Professional Theif, Teacher, Doctor, etc.
after this section are the rules to create a character along with an example
of a character made using the Professional Thief template.  IMO, the rules to 
design your own character (If I recall, about 9 or 10 steps) could have been
placed at the beginning of the player section.  This would allow the reader the
ability to read through the player skill and template listings and understand 
a little better what actually was going on.  This is not to say that the rules
are complex.  They don't really seem to be.

All things you do in CHILL is rolled on d% and compared with the appropriate
score.  The lower you roll, the better the sucess.  If you roll within 10% of
your score, you barely succeeded.  It would be better to illustrate thusly:
Your score in X skill is 60.  If you roll 01-06, you succeeded incredibly--
damage on weapons moves up, you dechipered the old testament from hebrew to 
russian, whatever.  If your roll was 07-30, you succeded in a good way--
something more than just a normal success.  For 31-53, you just plain old 
succeded, and for 54-60, you just barley lucked out.  CHILL gives rather scary
formulas for determining the success number break-off points, but also provides
a table in the back of the book for the success numbers of every possible 
skill score (01 to 100).  This seems to be one of the best action resolution
systems that I've seen, possibly second only to West End's skill system (STAR
WARS, GHOSTBUSTERS, and others).

Inside the back cover is a READ ME FIRST pamphlet.  It's not the "What is a 
role-playing game?" stuff we've all seen.  By all means, read it.  It gives
a very good overview of CHILL, which the main hardcover book expands greatly
on, and also includes an introductary adventure for first time players and 
CM's (ChillMasters,  CHILL's GM term).  In certain rooms where combat occurs,
it gives the CM a step-by-step description of what to do and how to handle
what the players may attempt.  Very user-friendly.


Disclaimer:
All of the above stuff comes from memory, so bits of it may be wrong (the last
time I skimmed thru my CHILL book was over a month ago).  I have not yet played
the game, but tried to run the adventure against myself, seeing as how I am The
Eternal GameMaster of our little gaming group.  Nor have I played any other 
horror genre rpg.  

In a few days, I'll try to post a REAL review of this system.

The main reason why CHILL isn't selling is because nobody knows anything about 
it.  I just stumbled across it in a bookstore, not a gaming store.  

I've flipped thru the CHILL COMPANION at a gaming store and from what I've seen
it goes like this:  fluff, new skills, and stats for Frankenstein's Monster,
Count Dracula, and more fluff.  The only reason to buy the companion, it seems,
is to get the new skills.  If CHILL ever does go into another printing, it
should include the new skills.

-thomas




>Steve
> 
>-- 
>"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning.  The sea's asleep, and
>the rivers dream.  People made of smoke and cities made of sound.  Somewhere
>there's danger.  Somewhere there's injustice.  Somewhere else the tea's getting 
>cold. 	Come on Ace, we've got work to do." -Dr Who, spp@reef.cis.ufl.edu