Fright Night Classics: Horror in Hopkinsville
Richard Ravalli
It can be purchased in pdf from https://www.drivethrurpg.com or directly from the publisher, in print. He can be reached on Twitter @chillcryptworld or elsewhere, I assume. I purchased from the author since if it isn't a physical product, it really doesn't exist to me,
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Horror in Hopkinsville is [I think] the first module in the Fright Night Classics line (product number 1001 is the lowest of the three I own). I don't actually know for which game system this module is written. I assume either Chill or Crypt World, based on Mr. Ravalli's handle, but as I don't actually own either of those two games, this is just a guess. The stat blocks are d% based, so it should be able to be used with any d%-based game with minimal conversion.
This is a very well-made product. The cover is glossy, but not too glossy and the paper is very thick. The module measures 24 pages long but the last page is blank, so in reality it is 22 pages of module.
The cover is very lovely and is from a chap named Frank Ordaz. The interior art pieces (all b&w) are drawn by Mac Teg and Eric Smith.
The inside cover is the layout for the Wright House, where much of the adventure takes place. Interestingly, the house has a Mudroom in the back of the house. I don't know if houses in Kentucky have these - I assume that this is a yankee thing. The map is very clean and neat, and it shows location of furniture, which might come in handy. The title page has a drawing of the house and it actually matches the layout, from what I can determine.
The Introduction gives a quick recap of the 1955 strangeness which is the basis for this adventure. I am fairly certain I saw some documentary or Ancient Aliens episode or something about the 1955 event. I've seen so many of those that they all sorta blur together in my head.
The module gives some reason why the PCs might arrive in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The events which are haunting the Wright family are described, as well as what the family believes is happening and what is actually happening.
Some notes on what happens when characters research the history of the 1955 event follow. The first bout of game mechanics occurs here and are useful, even if you don't own the actual rules, whatever they are. Characters who are skilled in history, journalism, or paranormal folklore will gather some information. One could fathom that whichever rules this is meant for includes success levels (low, medium, high, and complete).
The next two pages have stat blocks for the NPCs (the Wright family), rats, and the bad guys (name withheld in case any of y'all want to play the adventure). An annoyance of mine in regards the mechanics first rears its head here - the abilities. I don't know what they are. I quick glossary after the title page, or on the blank final page would have solved this issue.
Here are what I think are the ability scores:
STA - stamina
STR - strength
DEX - dexterity
PER - personality
WLL - willpower
PCN - perception
AGL - agility
CHN - no clue here. Since personality is a score, I suspect this is not charisma. Channeling, maybe?
Melee - obvious. I imagine this is the average of some of the above. Maybe DEX and AGL or PCN and AGL. I'm not sure.
Since these are all straight percentages, the game can be played with just the ability scores. Skills in whichever system this is for apparently have three levels, lowest, medium, and highest. David Wright (the dad) is a bad ass mechanic and pretty good with his shotgun. Julia Wright (the mom) is pretty good with water sports and swimming (I assume this is what aquatics means). Rats are pretty ratty, as expected, and the bad guys get two attacks, so characters beware!
Chapter 2 is all about the Wright house. Players are expected to do some roleplaying here, as well as gathering clues. The referee is going to have to think about why a party of randos shows up at a house in some town in Kentucky. The pre-generated characters have a reason to be there but no reason why they would all be together. UFO hunters or paranormal investigators are two of the potential hooks which are given.
At some point while in the house, the bad guys will attack. It is not a serious attack and it's mostly to keep the characters on their toes and to allow them to gain a clue as to where the baddies originate. There are a few potential attack locations mentioned. All of them can be used if the characters spend too much time dawdling around the house.
Another quick note on the art. The art appears to actually match up with the descriptions of both the house and the pre-gens.
Chapter 3 is all about hunting down the bad guys. The sewer map is very usable. I seriously doubt it is anything close to reality, though. With a quick internet search, Hopkinsville has a population of 31k people and the sewer map seems like something you'd find under a major city. Be that as it may, it is usable, which is the point. The characters are going to need light sources while traipsing through the sewers. Characters will run into rats and the bad guys. Since the players won't know how many bad guys there are, I would place a lair on the map. There is one place on the map which screams out "Place lair here!" to me.
Once the characters have eliminate the baddies the adventure ends. Players should realize that this adventure takes place in the modern times and characters blazing away with firearms in a residential area is definitely going to summon the po-po.
There are some rules for advancing skill levels and raising ability scores. This is useful if you want to use the pre-generated characters.
The final page of the adventure proper is a handout for the players for when they successfully research the 1955 event. The drawing of the monster is not so scary. Maybe it would have scared people in 1955 but it's kine of cute, I think.
Eight pre-generated characters finish up the book. There is a mix of professionals and teenagers and they each have a hook as to why they would be adventuring in town. Again, though, there isn't really any obvious reason why they would be together, but that is easily negotiated I suppose.
The inside back cover has an advertisement for another module - The Blood Countess.
I have two more of the Fright Night Classics modules that I look forward to reading. Oh, the author is a big Kolchak fan, which is how we virtually "met", which means he is probably a cool dude in real life.
⇒ GRIT: ★★★★☆: I wish I knew what game this adventure is designed for. The built-in mechanics and stat blocks are simple to follow. Since I don't actually have the game, I'm going to give this module 4 stars, under the assumption that it works well for the actual RPG. The module seems to be very useful and a competent Referee could easily use it for any other modern day game - I am one and I will use it.
⇒ VIGOR: ★★☆☆☆: I imagine that this adventure can only be played once in a campaign. Once it is completed, it can't be reused for the same campaign. While reading it, I decided that it would be a GREAT convention scenario. It can be played in a 3-4 hour time slot easily, the players would have a ball, and would then go about their business. Unless a few pages were added, describing Hopkinsville and the surrounding areas, including more adventure hooks and locations this is a "one and done" book.
⇒ GRACE: ★★★★☆: The book is very well put together. It is old school saddle stitching but the paper quality is much better than the TSR modules of yore. The art goes from adequate to good. Since the art actually corresponds to the adventure, it is useful, and not just "for looks". The layout could have been better, though it isn't bad as it is. Bullet points could be used for important details, and since there is an entire blank page (two sides) in the back, there is plenty of room for adjustments.
