Sunday, January 16, 2022

Dark Places & Demogorgons Class Compendium Review

SURVIVE THIS!! Dark Places & Demogorgons Class Companion is the latest Kickstarter from my friends at Bloat Games. It launches Tuesday and you can help by going to the above and clicking "Notify on Launch." Eric was cool enough to give pdf previews for reviewers. The book/pdf is massive for a DP&D book, coming in at 212 pages. It is a compilation of every class released for the game thus far. Not only does it bring them all together, it updates and streamlines them, in addition to taking every class to level 10. Early classes only had five levels, so there's a lot of extra goodies. In addition, there are a ten brand new classes! The character creation rules have also been given a handy quick guide. The skill rules have been clarified and updated. All skills from previous releases have been included (including martial arts skills from Martial Arts Mayhem). There is an updated gear list, with  equipment, weapons, and armor. Finally the Otherside is given several rules and charts. 

Being the Class Compendium that is the bulk of the book. Most of the classes fall in the standard class section. There are 53 classes in the basic class section. Eight of ten new all-new classes are here. Of these classes, I think it's pretty obvious the Horror Connoisseur is my favorite, since I used it to stat myself out for the Character Creation Challenge this year. The Sweet Baby is probably my other favorite new class. This class lets you play a kid that's truly wholesome. They are so wholesome that the world doesn't affect them like it does everyone else. Their innocence must be protected. I think this sounds like a really fun class to play. 

Seven magic classes are presented. These are some classic tropes here. White and black witches, nature witch, teen wizard, and voodoo practitioner. Mechano-Mage and Mystical Ghost Hunter also appear for something out of the norm. Twenty familiar options and rules for potions are also included. Finally this section includes 18 new minor spells and 11 major. Some (probably all) have music related names. Of these my favorites are Cherry Bomb, Madhouse, Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, and Under Pressure.

The last class section details Psion Classes. Rules for manifesting psionic abilities are given (with obligatory chart. There eight classes in this section, including two all-new ones. The Animal Wrangler is a new class uses their mind powers to speak to and control animals. The other new class, The Forgotten, has a strange psychic phenomenon that causes others to forget them.

If you play Dark Places & Demogorgons I would say that this and The Cryptid Manual are the first books you need to grab after you pick up the core book. I already own most of the content, but I love having it all streamlined and collected in one place. Plus the new stuff is great too. If I had any critiques its that the layout is kind of boring and artwork isn't too common. However, these aesthetic things don't bug me because this book is more of a tool that something to just sit and flip through. The kind of boring style makes it a lot less distracting and easier to use. Again, if you play DP&D, back this one when it launches. 

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