Whispers in the Dark

Whispers in the Dark: Quickstart takes the 5e rules and uses them to let players take the role of supernatural investigators in the late 19th century.

You can grab the pdf or POD here. The book is 75 pages and uses quite a bit of public domain artwork (which is appropriate). Unlike most 5e games, you don't actually need the core books to play Whispers in the Dark. Everything you need can be found in the Basic Rules. Half of the book is setting rules and the other an adventure.

Before I get into the actual rules and adventure, I want to talk about one thing this book does masterfully. Thought it's a small sidebar, the book does an amazing job of calling out Lovecraft for his despicable ideas. However it also says Yog-Sothothery belongs to all of us now and is more than it's original creator's ignorance and hate. I took a pic and posted it below so you can read the author's words yourself.

Instead of your traditional fantasy races, characters choose an ancestry. This is because all characters are fundamentally human. You can be a normal human (which grants you a feat), Lengian, or Deep Blooded. Unlike standard 5e, you don't pick a class. This makes Backgrounds extra important.  There are eight to choose from. In addition, you differentiate characters by choosing from the 13 Feats. I would have liked to seen more, but this is technically a Quickstart and definitely gives you enough options that party members shouldn't overlap too much.

Of course, the book provides new period appropriate equipment. In regards to those new weapons and things, damage and healing are different. Short and Long rests are much longer and magical healing isn't a thing. That makes combat much more deadly. In addition, when you drop to 0 HP, you potentially gain a lingering wound. There is a short chapter that discusses magic's existence, but that it is beyond the scope of the quickstart. The final rules chapter is an extended look at sanity and madness in the game. Anyone familiar with cosmic horror rpg's know this is a staple of the games.

As mentioned earlier, the latter half of the book is an adventure. While I won't go into too much detail, the adventure is set in New Orleans and requires the characters to stop a horror summoned by an eldritch ritual. The adventure contains two setting specific magic items, which I dug. There is also an appendix that gives an overview of New Orleans. There are seven monster/npc stat blocks that accompany it. The book ends with pregens, handouts to photocopy, and a two page character sheet.

I picked this up because of a recent fiction and setting book released by the publisher, Saturday Morning Scenarios. I'm happy I did. While I know there are other Yog-Sothothory games, I'm a big 5e fan and I think the game adapts the system to the genre nicely.

There are two further adventures and an Investigator's Companion that I will review soon (or at least briefly discuss).