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🍒🧊⚰️ Semi-Review: Scarlet Heroes
Feb. 1st, 2026 12:30 amSemiReview: Scarlet Heroes
First, a trigger warning.
Previously, I have skipped over horror games because I don’t do horror. This is a dark fantasy game (post-apocalyptic within its world: a lot of bad stuff happened, lands were overrun, they had to settle in one small corner of the world) and like a lot of old-school games, it’s dark.
This one is extra dark, and after reading the built-in scenario I decided not to play within this world and I will skip the provided starter adventure. I am also not going to use the provided monsters because while some of them are your standard scary things, one random find was decidedly icky, I’m not going to give you a precise trigger warning because that would give the game away and spread the ick.
Mechanically, there’s a lot to like about Scarlet Heroes. From a setting point of view, I see no reason to choose this over a thousand other heroic fantasy settings.
( Game Description )
All in all, I like this much better than Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC); I want to try these rules to try and convert an existing adventure; I can see myself using the tables and the DM advice; I can see myself using the character I rolled up in a world where they aren't doomed to fail right from the outset. (I would not have created this character if I'd known more of the backstory. I thought I was creating an outsider, not someone who will be killed on sight in most of the setting.)
Reading this book has given me a much better understanding of how old-fashioned DnD worked in principle/game loop; I now have a better idea on how to create magic items for games that just say 'the gamemaster will make everything up, have fun', and I've taken a lot of notes on various aspects of adventure design, loot distribution, etc.
I can also see using the tables provided to spark inspiration; there's just enough content without, for the most part, being too restrictive.
The Scenario Table (3x 20 different scenarios for Urban, Wilderness and Dungeon settings) looks to hit the sweet spot for me, for instance: there are enough details in the description that something is likely to rattle something loose in my brain without feeling constrained by them, and while I am not interested in running crime adventures (most of the Urban tables are full of crimes), I want to try the game loop since it sounds super useful; I think it will solve one of my problems with how to set up adventures (but that, I think, will have to wait for another post).
All in all, I don't regret buying this, I just wish it was kinder.
(And yes, this is complex enough that a new tag was born, the semi-review. This is far more than first impressions, but it's also not a full review as I haven't actually played anything yet.)
First, a trigger warning.
Previously, I have skipped over horror games because I don’t do horror. This is a dark fantasy game (post-apocalyptic within its world: a lot of bad stuff happened, lands were overrun, they had to settle in one small corner of the world) and like a lot of old-school games, it’s dark.
This one is extra dark, and after reading the built-in scenario I decided not to play within this world and I will skip the provided starter adventure. I am also not going to use the provided monsters because while some of them are your standard scary things, one random find was decidedly icky, I’m not going to give you a precise trigger warning because that would give the game away and spread the ick.
Mechanically, there’s a lot to like about Scarlet Heroes. From a setting point of view, I see no reason to choose this over a thousand other heroic fantasy settings.
( Game Description )
All in all, I like this much better than Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC); I want to try these rules to try and convert an existing adventure; I can see myself using the tables and the DM advice; I can see myself using the character I rolled up in a world where they aren't doomed to fail right from the outset. (I would not have created this character if I'd known more of the backstory. I thought I was creating an outsider, not someone who will be killed on sight in most of the setting.)
Reading this book has given me a much better understanding of how old-fashioned DnD worked in principle/game loop; I now have a better idea on how to create magic items for games that just say 'the gamemaster will make everything up, have fun', and I've taken a lot of notes on various aspects of adventure design, loot distribution, etc.
I can also see using the tables provided to spark inspiration; there's just enough content without, for the most part, being too restrictive.
The Scenario Table (3x 20 different scenarios for Urban, Wilderness and Dungeon settings) looks to hit the sweet spot for me, for instance: there are enough details in the description that something is likely to rattle something loose in my brain without feeling constrained by them, and while I am not interested in running crime adventures (most of the Urban tables are full of crimes), I want to try the game loop since it sounds super useful; I think it will solve one of my problems with how to set up adventures (but that, I think, will have to wait for another post).
All in all, I don't regret buying this, I just wish it was kinder.
(And yes, this is complex enough that a new tag was born, the semi-review. This is far more than first impressions, but it's also not a full review as I haven't actually played anything yet.)
