These Campers Are Different!

These Campers Are Different is the companion book to Camp Blood. Like other "Bloody Horror Universe" books it features an awesome cover by Peter Frain. The killer is reminiscent of Samhain, one of my favorite Ghostbusters' villains. Phil Stone and Christopher Torres do all the interior art.

With a few small exceptions characters in Camp Blood are normal kids, teens, and young adults. The focus of this book changes that.  Instead of just playing a regular mortal you can be a human, a lineage human, or a doppleganger. There is a short discussion on Empowered characters and a new random background chart for them.

I don't feel like there needs to be much explanation about humans. Y'all know the spiel. Dopplegangers are a lot like their D&D counterparts except they don't have telepathy. Lineage humans are a varied bunch. You're human and something else, whether this be from genetics, curse, or experimentation. You create a character as normal but you have some new abilities and bonuses based on your lineage. You gain new abilities (and potentially drawbacks) at levels 3, 5, and 7. At 10th level you must decide if you embrace your human side or your other. If you stay human, you lose the non-skill boons granted by your inhuman heritage but gain other  attribute bonuses. You can also reject your humanity and become a full fledged member of your bloodline. The following lineages appear in the book:

• Angel
• Bigfoot
• Chupbacabra
• Demon
• Extraterrestrial: Grays
• Fairy
• Goatman
• Medusa
• Merman
• Mothman
• Vampire
• Were-beast.

There's a nice mix here and they'd fit into most SURVIVE THIS!! games. Goatman is particularly appropriate for Dark Places & Demogorgons given the setting. To be honest, I would have been disappointed had it not been included as an option. My other favorite is Merman which could be used to make a character who's family is from Innsmouth.

Five new empowered classes are presented. These are updates of classes from previous SURVIVE THIS!! books. There is a mix of sci-fi and supernatural. The classes are:

• Alien in Disguise
• Psion
• Dark Witch
• Earth Witch
• Light Witch

Most of the spells and psion abilities presented are features in Dark Places & Demogorgons Ultimate Edition so they are pretty familiar to SURVIVE THIS!! regulars.. There are two brand new Psion powers: Nature Manipulation and Phantasmogan. I really like the fear based Phantasmagon power and it would be great for a villainous camper. There are some quick rules for gaining a familiar and creating potions. Additionally. we're given a few pages of potions.

Finally the book gives us four new adventure hooks for Camp Blood. The Lost Cabin is an Evil Dead style scenario. Nature Trail To Hell is a reusable adventure hook that is randomly generated every time. Night of the Living Brats is The Fog but with zombie kids and teens. The Tower Lookout at Mt. Boone ads a bit of Firestarter or the Hawkins National Laboratory to your game via a couple young psions on the run.

The page count for These Campers Are Different! is lighter compared to other SURVIVE THIS!! titles (even expansions), but it still contains excellent supplementary material. Despite the overlap, I think it's an excellent expansion for Dark Places & Demogorgons in particular. Grab your hardcover here today.