Bloody Appalachia Review

 

Intro and Overview

I want to start with a full disclaimer and admission. When Eric and Josh decided to do this one they brought me on as an additional writer. I love horror and love Appalachia. I am credited with additional writing in the book, but to be honest, I just helped out with ideas and inspiration. I definitely supported this one, but I don't feel I deserve writing credits. 

If you've played  any SURVIVE THIS!! game, Bloody Appalachia is a game you know how to play. You have familiar attributes, a race, class, and roll a d20 and add your modifiers.  Everything is compatible with other ST content which allows for maximum awesomeness. 

Character Creation

Unlike What Shadows Hide and We Die Young, players in Bloody Appalachia are human. There are no races presented, though we do get an outsiders occupation table. All of the classes presented are mundane (no magic or psionics) and are designed to represent outsiders that would come to the region. They are:

• College Student- this is the classic horror victim and fits perfectly; there are 5 subtypes to choose from
• Emergency Medical Technician - the field medics are invaluable when you trying to stay alive
• Film Maker - what better place to film your indie masterpiece than the deep dark woods?... Eric mentioned he was inspired by watching the movie X, which explains this one.
• Final Girl - this might be the most iconic horror character archetype, it's fitting in pretty much any modern-ish ST horror game
• Folklorist - some folks head to the hills to learn more about rich history of Appalachia and its culture while others are more interested in cryptids and legends
• G-Men - a rookie government agent sent to the holler to investigate, they folks are definitely distrusted by the locals
• Paranormal Investigator - like the Final Girl, this one fits into most modern-ish horror ST games
• Police Officer - a local cop investigating something in Bludworth Hollow, they have several different subtypes (including CPS)
• Private Investigator - an independent investigator 
• Pusher - the pusher sells illicit substances, whether they be weed, meth, or moonshine
• Songcatcher - these skilled musicians seek to learn the music of the people to preserve it.
• Weekend Warrior - office workers and such during the week, these folks dream about their weekends in nature

Because of the lethal nature of the game, it's recommended to have back up characters ready. The skills section looks pretty similar to other ST games. The same can be said for the equipment. There is a small section on improvised explosives and quick and dirty drug creation. There's a full page of drugs, costs, and effects.

Rules For Play

This section includes standard ST rules. This is the general how to play section. There is a Madness and phobia section. 

Game Master Section

The setting of Bloody Appalachia is the focus of the latter half of the book. It isn't era specific. It works perfectly if you want a game set in the 60's to day. Just change some equipment and tech and you're good. A conceit of the setting is that characters never leave. Even if they survive a horrid event... the just stumble into another. The setting is Bludworth Hollow. Just off a highway, the area is controlled by two cannibalistic families, the Lee's and the Hooper's. We're presented with several pages that highlight various locations in the area and a brief discussion of nearby Aviation Hill. There's an extremely useful "Basic Hooks That Could Bring You To Bludworth Hollow" table.

This is followed by Advanced Bloody Appalachia Hooks. These are similar to the Adventure Seeds present in most ST games. If Bloody Appalachia was a franchise, these advanced hooks would be the individual films. There's a wide variety here. We've got crazy religious leaders, cursed undead, aliens, slashers, and more. There are several plot hooks/points for each and related stats. If that wasn't enough, there's also 20+ pages of additional beasts, humans, templates, and monsters. 

The book ends with some useful charts and GM References. 

Final Thoughts

Bloody Appalachia is a game for adults. Its a game that contains extreme violence, cannibalism, gore, and other strong subjects. It also deals with drugs and other substances. It's a game for folks that love rural horror movies. This game plays into tropes of the horror genre and such. There's a lot here that plays to the negative stereotypes of the region. I can see that upsetting some folks sensibilities. However, I can attest that you can be a proud Appalachian and still enjoy some mindless hillbilly slashers.  

This book is pretty brutal. Peter Frain did an fantastic job on the cover. The interior art is done by Christopher Torres and a lot of it reminds me of stuff you'd find in the Black Dog Game Factory imprint of White Wolf back in the day. There's a lot of horrific gore and tits. This isn't a complaint, because it fits the theme of the book well. 

The game pairs well with What Shadows Hide and if you don't run it as a stand alone game, is a nice subsetting for that one.  While they don't mix well thematically, there's definitely some crossover potential with We Die Young. If you want to expand the character creation possibilities, I'd say the following classes from the latter could work in Bloody Appalachia:

• Papal Pursuant - while they have some supernatural connected power with their anti-undead abilities, but the Vatican could definitely send someone to investigate a demonic phenomena in the holler. 
• Riot Grrl - while there's no direct hook for a Riot Grrl, they'd be an appropriate addition to a group and would probably challenge local opinions on what's appropriate behavior for a lady
• Rock Star - a rock star's bus could get lost and end up in Bludworth Hollow, they could also be connected to a Songcatcher
• Serial Killer - the class fits right in, you can actually set up a nice hunter hunted scenario if you allow a serial killer
• Street Bard - like the Riot Grrl, a street bard could be traveling with friends, they could also be connected to a Songcatcher or Rock Star
• Street Fighter - a street fighter could head to Bludworth Hollow looking for a challenge among the local backwoods wrestlers.

Preorder Link