Venture In If You Dare!

"The Dread House" by Danny O'Neill.

Printed and Distributed by Hammerdog Games.

ISBN-10: 1-59180-057-9 -- 288 pages.

In the darkness, an old ruined manor house sits -- waiting for its next victim.

In "The Dread House" book are rules for 5th Edition D&D, Pathfinder 1.0, and, believe it or not, "Call of Cthulhu"!

I cannot think of any other product that claims the distinction of having D&D, Pathfinder, and Call of Cthulhu in the same tome. Given this, there is a very real possibility of being able to have player characters cross over from one system to another system to yet another system!

There are only three sections in the book:

1) "The Time of Myth and Magic: The Dread House in Medieval Times"

2) "The Time of Mythos and Machine Guns: The Dread House in the Roaring 20's"

3) "The Time of Connected Dependence: The Dread House Today and Tomorrow".

There are dozens of full-color maps of the manor, including a master map on pages 54 and 55. Each section of the house is then broken down into smaller, but no less valuable, pieces, each appearing in an appropriate section of the book. The marvelous map of the area beneath the manor should drive prospective players who map insane, for tunnels twist and turn, frequently overlapping one another. The chosen artists have been selected well. All of the included art matches the tone of the setting.

"The Time of Myth and Magic: The Dread House in Medieval Times" - Storyline One: "The Dread Wedding" concerns itself with what happens that makes the Dread House so Haunted. This is a section that occurs in a Medieval setting. "The Dread Wedding" is presented as it happens. Characters might try to stop this from happening, but this is very difficult, since the Dread House also exists in the 1920's, and the modern day, and even possibly, in the future! In addition, in order to truly end the reign of the Dread House, they must complete the second part of the story that is also set in Medieval Times.

"The Time of Myth and Magic: The Dread House in Medieval Times" - Storyline Two: "Scions of Solaria" is also about the house, but the characters are led to find eight different parts of the prequel to the "Dread Wedding" and can take beginning Pathfinder or D&D characters from Level One to Level Six. In this chapter there are references to "Solaria", Goddess of Life and Light. Complete information about her is found in the back of the book. Copying the single page about Solaria might be a good idea, since at least one, if not more, party members should worship her.

Both of these sections includes info about 5th Edition, Pathfinder, and Call of Cthulhu. These sections, like the rest, can exist in multiple timelines simultaneously.

"The Time of Mythos and Machine Guns: The Dread House in the Roaring 20's -- Storyline Three" makes up the Call of Cthulhu section of the book, but includes options for 5th Edition D&D and Pathfinder. It consists of six parts:

1) "Piercing the Veil"

2) "13 Ghosts"

3) The Tome of the Dead"

4) The Machine Man"

5) Ghostcatchers

6) "Dread Secrets"

This part of this book can span a time of sixteen years! There is also a small piece of fiction about each of the six parts. Each of the six scenarios may also be run as a stand-alone adventure!

"The Time of Connected Dependence: The Dread House Today and Tomorrow".

Because of (I believe) the Call of Cthulhu material, the manse can also exist in modern times, and even in the future! The storyline here is broken down into two parts: "Stay the Night" and "Geist in the Group".

At the end of the book are good appendices, which include optional rules, Dread Ghosts, and the Arcane and the Eldritch. A GM toolbox has a nice summary of effects. An advertisement for their other mega-dungeon, "The Grande Temple of Jing" ends the book. There is no index, but a fairly good Table of Contents.

I was reasonably impressed enough by "The Grande Temple of Jing" to seek out any other products Hammerdog produced. This book even exceeded that book! If you like Pathfinder 1.0, and/or, if you like Fifth Edition Dungeons and Dragons, and/or you if like Call of Cthulhu, I think you almost can't go wrong by picking this book out! I now believe that this book is in my top 10 gaming books of all time!.