Chill (role-playing game)
| Designer(s) | Gali Sanchez, Garry Spiegle, Mark Acres, Louis J. Prosperi, David Ladyman, Jeff R. Leason, Matthew McFarland |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Pacesetter Ltd, Mayfair Games, Growling Door Games |
| Publication date | 1984 (Pacesetter Ltd), 1990 (Mayfair Games), 2015 (Growling Door Games) |
| Genre(s) | Horror |
| System(s) | Percentile based (d100) |
Chill is a role-playing game that captures the feel of 20th-century horror films.[1] Players take on the role of envoys,[2] members of a secret organization known as S.A.V.E. that tracks down and eliminates evil in the world.
Setting
Chill is a horror role-playing game inspired by Shelley, Stoker, and Poe, where usual foes are vampires, werewolves, mummies, ghosts, goblins, and ghouls.[3] Players take on the role of envoys,[2] members of a secret organization known as S.A.V.E. that tracks down and eliminates evil in the world.
Editions
The game was originally produced by a company called Pacesetter Ltd.[1] Once Pacesetter ceased operations in 1986, Chill was bought in 1990 by Mayfair Games. At Mayfair, the game was published until 1993, when the executives of the company decided to no longer publish RPGs and instead focus on board games. Martin Caron still keeps the second edition of the game available in PDF format.
A total of 23 official modules (adventure packs and rules companions) were released by Chill's publishers between 1984 and 1993. Chill and some modules were translated into Swedish and published under the name Chock between 1985 and 1987 by Target Games.
Several years ago a third edition was announced by Other World Creations[4] but never was released.
At the end of 2012, Mayfair Games Inc. sold all intellectual property rights pertaining to CHILL to a Canadian couple named Martin Caron and Renée Dion.
In June 2014, Growling Door Games announced the acquisition of the license to publish a new edition of Chill.[5] The game was released in electronic format in April 2015.
Reception
Receiving 7 out of 10, the first edition of the game received a mixed review in issue 61 of White Dwarf magazine. The gameplay was felt to be fairly slow and lacking in scares; furthermore, Chill's significance was lessened as Call of Cthulhu had already paved the way for horror-based role-playing games.[6]
The new third edition has received polarized reviews, with both strong praise[7] and strong criticism.[8]
S.A.V.E.
In Chill, S.A.V.E. (Societas Argenti Viae Eternitata, or, The Eternal Society of the Silver Way) is a secret society that is dedicated to protecting innocents from the creatures of the Unknown.[9] Agents of SAVE are called envoys.[1] The symbol of S.A.V.E. is the Indalo.[1]
Products
Numerous products were published for the first two editions of Chill.
Pacesetter edition
- Chill: Adventures into the Unknown (box set)
Game tools
- Chill Master's Screen (included Castle Dracula scenario)
Sourcebooks and scenarios
- Blood Moon Rising (scenario)
- Creature Feature (sourcebook)
- Death on Tour (scenario)
- Deathwatch on the Bayou (scenario)
- Evenings of Terror with Elvira (book of scenarios hosted by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark)
- Haunter of the Moor (scenario)
- Highland Terror (scenario)
- Isle of the Dead (scenario)
- Things (sourcebook)
- Thutmose's Night (scenario)
- Vampires (sourcebook)
- Vengeance of Dracula (scenario)
- Village of Twilight (scenario)
Board game
- Black Morn Manor, a board game based in the Chill universe, was published by Pacesetter Ltd
Mayfair edition
- Chill Core Rulebook
Game tools
- Chill Accessory Pack
Sourcebooks and scenarios
- Apparitions (sourcebook with scenario) "The Visitation" pg.96
- The Beast Within (sourcebook)
- Chill Companion (sourcebook)
- Horrors of North America (sourcebook with scenario) "Once Bitten" pg.81
- Lycanthropes (sourcebook with 2 scenarios) "The Beast of Exmoor" pg.84, "Long Hot Summer" pg.111
- Things (sourcebook)
- Undead & Buried (scenario)
- Unknown Providence: SAVE in New England (sourcebook with 4 scenarios) "Weekend in New England" pg.30, "Death's Head Revisited" pg.47, "Bitter Remnants" pg.81, "Dark Providence" pg.93
- Vampires (sourcebook with scenario) "Vengeance of Dracula" pg.97
- Veil of Flesh (scenario)
- Voodoo (sourcebook with scenario) "Drums in the Night" pg.93
Fiction
- Chilled to the Bone - anthology of short stories
Growling Door Games edition
- Chill 3rd Edition Core Rulebook
Sourcebooks and scenarios
- Cold Dark Earth (free scenario)
- Sunshine in Maine (free scenario)
- SAVE: The Eternal Society (sourcebook with 4 scenarios) Coming soon
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ RPG Archive: Chill
- ↑ Other World Creations News
- ↑ PRESS RELEASE: GROWLING DOOR GAMES TO PUBLISH NEW EDITION OF CHILL
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
