Dark Place & Demogorgons Ultimate Edition

Been planning this review for a while, but considering the teaser for Stranger Things Season 5 dropped a few days ago I think the timing for it is great.  The Ultimate Edition of Dark Places & Demogorgons is a gorgeous full size hardcover (not the digest size of the original). It takes the original DP&D SURVIVE THIS!! core book, adds a lot of great new content, new art (which is fantastic), and cleans up/clarifies the original. While most of this content has appeared in various Bloat Games releases, it's awesome having all of it in one (gorgeous) spot. I won't go into the rules of the game because I discussed them in my original review, which can be found here.

Most of the classes from the original book are here, as well as some new ones. I appreciate that they classes are just listed in alphabetical order instead of in archetypes. Teen Heart Throb and Bully are dropped. However the following classes are now a part of the core rules: Final Girl, Horror Connoisseur, Most Excellent Dude (or Dudette), Party Animal, Performer, and Snoop.  Additionally the optional Psion classes are now just the Psion (and the original class archetypes are Psion powers along with several additional powers). The original DP&D supplements included a few different magic using classes. Like the Psion this has been simplified and now there is simply a Mystic class.

 

While the original core book included some information about Jeffersontown, it's greatly expanded in the Ultimate Edition. While not as extensive as the Jeffersontown Setting Guide, there is nearly 60 pages of setting material here. I really appreciate the rumors for each of the locations. These are all excellent adventure hooks. Speaking of adventure hooks there are thirty two more fleshed out ones included in the book. Many of these have appeared in previous DP&D releases, but it's fantastic having them all in one location. 

Whether you already own Dark Places & Demogorgons or not, this is a fantastic book to pick up. It has everything you need and then some. It's also fully compatible and fits thematically with Camp Blood, These Campers are Different, and Greasers & Ghouls (which is also set in Jeffersontown and is essentially a prequel game). It's also compatible with The Dead West, Bloody Appalachia, and Beware the Locals, though those games are much more adult in nature.

You can get the pdf here and print copies from the Bloat Games store.