My first review is of Mongoose Publishing's OGL Horror.
Alright, let's get to it;
Chapter 1 is Horror Roleplaying and the basics of d20. Okay, we get it, all you guys know how to roleplay, we know the six ability scores, let's just skip it and get to character creation.
Chapter 2 is character creation, and borrows heavily from d20 Modern. Now, if your game involves a high body count, then you will be displeased, as it is just as long to create a character in this as d20 modern is. Okay, so the first thing to do is choose your occupation, all of which are from the MSRD, except that they offer lower wealth bonuses, and some give you reputation bonuses that didn't in the MSRD, like Law Enforcement. Then, for rolling ability scores, you either do 4d6 and drop the lowest, or you use a 25 point buy.
Next part is the character classes. Instead of copying, Mongoose decided to be original and make up their own classes: Combatant, Scholar, Investigator, and Ordinary Person. The maximum level in this game is 10, but unless you are running a long game, do not expect to hit that point anytime soon: you gain 500-800 experience points every game session, and everybody starts out at level 3.
No special class features, just a list of bonus feats, 1 per level for each class, except for level 4 and 8, where you don't get any bonus feats. The exception is the Ordinary person, who gets 2 bonus feats at level 3. Overall, the classes don't get anything that really stand out, unless you're a Scholar, who has no rank caps for Intelligence-based skills, or Ordinary People are less likely to develop mental disorders for no real reason.
In addition, all characters start with Ties. Your Ties are your bonds to something or someone. If you lose all your Ties, you become an incurable sociopath, you know, instead of trying to find something else to cope with or something else to live for. The only good side is that if your Tie is in danger you get a +1d10 bonus on attack rolls, saves, and skills made in order to help get said Tie out of danger. Numerical bonuses, or risk becoming a psycho who cannot empathize with his fellow human? I think the answer of whether or not it's a good mechanic is obvious.
Also, characters are a lot more destitute in OGL Horror; Wealth is generated the same way in d20 Modern except that you don't roll 2d4 and add to your Wealth score. And the only occupation that gives +5 to Wealth is Dilettatnte, which gives the highest bonus to Wealth.
Skills are the same, and so are the feats, from d20 Modern, which means that Dodge still sucks. Some of the new feats are: three (Ignorant, Calm, and Fearless) that give bonuses to your Horror saves, and Windfall gives you +1 Wealth, making it even worse than Dodge unless your entire character concept is based around being rich. Also, there's just Light and Heavy armor, no medium. And nobody starts out with Weapon Proficiency, they have to be bought with feats. This looks all good compared to the feat, Loner, which makes you suffer no penalties on Horror checks for being alone or with one other person, but you lose two of your precious Ties! This should be a character option, not a feat! It penalizes a vital game mechanic, although you have nothing to worry about if your GM does not use Ties.
The really original stuff comes in Chapter 8, Fear and Loathing, which gives you Horror Saves. They are based off of your Will Save, and there are three kinds: Panic (for immediate physical danger), Fear (for creepy or disturbing situations that pose no immediate threat), and Madness (for Lovecraftian, belief-challenging goodness). It is both good and bad; it throws roleplaying out the window and makes game mechanics determine whether or not your character is scared. Two all classes but the Investigator get a -4 penalty on one type of Horror Save: Fear for Ordinaries, Panic for Combatants, and Madness for Scholars. However, Combatants, when put in the fight or flight response, always choose to fight. Well, you ARE a Combatant, so it is what you do best. Unfortunately, it makes the Investigator class look awesome compared to Ordinary and Scholar, where you have no penalty. The Scholar's special trait is that he has no maximum ranks in Intelligence-based skills. Hooray, you can be an awesome Scholar. Of course, Combatants and Scholars are good for only a certain type of horror gaming, but Investigators can do well in any arena. Unless you are playing a mindless slaughterfest, or the entire game session is full of library research and summoning rituals, play an Investigator. Whatever an Ordinary Person can do, another class can do better.
Oh, and Shock points. When you fail Horror Saves, you gain these points, which make you more likely to become chemically imbalanced; every point gives you a cumulative -1 penalty on Horror saves, making it easier and easier to go insane from the exact same event. Then, you buy off Shock points for mental illnesses. If you don't have enough points to purchase a mental illness, you take Wisdom damage. And the Ordinary Person's only redeeming feature, they lose two Shock Points when buying them off. Of course, you can't just buy off Shock Points whenever, it is either two weeks of downtime, when the adventure ends, or when you gain a level.
Then there are monsters, which can either make or break your party in combat.
Then, there are sections for magic systems:
There are Rituals, which are one-use, time-consuming plot devices. The only game mechanics needed are casting time and stuff to make the Ritual work. Oh, and you need to roll a Knowledge (Occult) check.
Then, there is Spellcasting, which is like standard d20 magic, but instead of Vancian, you take damage, ability score or hit points. Unless you restrict it to "vague, rarely-working divinations and rituals," expect to see a Wish Economy, but with ghouls and ghosts instead of dungeons and dragons.
Then, there is Psychic powers, which are like spell casting, but all the powers are feats, and it has less to do with blasting, and more to do with "psychic residue" and "sixth sense" stuff.
Then, there is Faith, were you roll a Wisdom or Charisma check to have something good happen, but it requires a feat.
Now you can pray the bad away! Obviously, not for all types of horror.
Final Score: Overall, for a d20 product, not bad, but not very good. Not worth the money, unless you get it for cheap. Has all the pitfalls and choices of crappy/good feats, but has some fresh ideas. It's major flaw is that it borrows too much from d20 Modern. 2 out of 5.
No gamer can deal with there NOT being monsters out there. 