I was quite disappointed with this purchase (EDIT: see below for my revised opinion). Overall, the compendia are lazily and incompletely constructed. A non-comprehensive list of examples of the frustrations I've encountered:

• When you add an Ancestry to a character sheet, it creates Features for that ancestry that don't have the actual description of the Feature built into the item... despite the fact that Features which include the full description exist in the compendia! Therefore, if you want your players to be able to see what their Features do from their character sheet instead of needing to look them up in the book, you need to manually delete the features that were automatically created and then drag the properly constructed entries from the compendium onto the character sheet.

• The Ancestries all use the same icon art, which is for a Dwarf. This is despite the fact that the directory from which the dwarf icon is pulled contains many other pieces of art, some of which are very suitable for the other Ancestries. But some of the Ancestries don't have any suitable art at all.

• The Human Ancestry has a size of "1/2, 1", meaning that by default, all human characters are created with both these sizes. Why require ALL human characters to go in and modify the pre-populated value, instead of making the default "1" and allowing those who want to play an unusually small Human to go in and make that modification? This is how it works for Clockwork characters.

• The character sheet includes icon art for the character's religion, but there is no unique icon for each in-game religion.

• Features which require any kind of choice or customization, such as the Dwarf's Hated Foe or the Clockwork's Mechanical Body, don't have any built-in way to select your choice of option. So even though you can import the Ancestry, you still need to go in and modify the Features to reflect your choices.

• When there are Features that share the same name across several Ancestries, but have different effects for each Ancestry, there's no way to differentiate them from the name alone. For example, you can't tell the difference between a Changeling's "Immunity" and a Clockwork's "Immunity" from their titles alone.

These are just some of the problems I've encountered during character creation. I can't comment yet on how useful the compendia are once a campaign is underway, but based on what I've seen so far, I'm not optimistic. The really baffling thing to me is that all these problems are fairly easy to solve, and if the creator had devoted just a few more hours to the product, its quality could have been drastically improved. The only real reason I see why anybody would purchase this is beacuse they want to save themselves the time required to manually create the compendia themselves, but in practice, they're almost going to need to do so anyway. In my opinion, $8 would be a much fairer price for what these compendia actually provide.

EDIT: I have added another star to my original review after the creator's prompt and helpful response, which was very appreciated. I had overlooked the instructions to manually import the compendia, and doing so did solve 2 of the problems I mentioned above. I still think the product could use a little more spit and polish, but I no longer regret my purchase.

I have read through a lot of the PDF, and the system seems so cool! I look forward to play this!

Excellent Dark Fantasy TTRPG system. Super fun, easy to learn, smooth to run!

Night Terrors is an excellent supplement that delves into the realm of horror and the supernatural. This supplement provides Game Masters and players alike with a wide range of terrifying creatures to challenge their characters.

The PDF is beautifully designed and well-organized, making it easy to find the information you need. The writing is clear and evocative, with vivid descriptions of the horrors that await your characters. The artwork is also top-notch, with striking illustrations that capture the feel of the horror genre.

Night Terrors is also very adaptable to any gaming system or campaign setting. The scenarios and creatures presented can easily be integrated into any game world, providing Game Masters with a wealth of new content to explore.

Overall, Night Terrors is a must-have supplement for any fans of horror and tabletop roleplaying games. It is well-written, well-designed, and packed with terrifying content that is sure to keep your players on the edge of their seats. If you're looking for a way to add some extra scares to your game nights, Night Terrors is an excellent choice.

I had spmehow never heaard of this, and that is aa shame. I was looking for something different, yet famiuliar. I found it here. Superb system and an interesting setting. Not only that - I ordered the soft cover book and it arrived within 3 days.

I have heard such great things about this game. Almost everyone who's actually played it gushes about it.

But the textured backgrounds behind all the text makes it such a chore for me to read that I couldn't get past the first few pages.

This isn't a review of the actual content. The way it's presented is simply not accessible to me.

First off, you don’t need this book. The goblin is a playable ancestry in the Core rulebook. It doesn’t offer a bunch of new power options. Snot and Stitches is a primarily a lore and background book. Here is what it this 17 page supplement has:

• Six goblin based art images. • Four page of expanded goblin lore. • One page of goblin ancestry with some minor additional options. • Eleven pages of background tables to make a goblin character unique. • One page of Devotee of the Goblin King Expert Path.

The lore section should have been in the core book. It does a really good job of giving the goblin race more background. From history to relations to the other races, we get to know the Goblin ancestry better.

The bulk of this book is made up of the background tables. These cover everything from breed and tribal homeland to hands, mouth, and distinctive growths. These tables are worth reading for the humor value alone and they can really enhance a GM’s use of goblins in their campaigns.

As a supplement to enhance the goblin, is it worth the $2 cost. Yes, if you are going to use goblins. As a GM, this supplement will make goblins more interesting in your games. As a player, this supplement will help make your goblin characters more unique.

I really liked it for what it was.

I feel every GM must make a decision when they look at books like this one. The core Shadow of the Demon Lord system is well written, well balanced, and has more than enough options for any player. The Demon Lords Companion adds some additional options that fit well within the core book and probably should have just been in the core book to begin with. But, when you add a book like this one to your game, you will need to consider that it isn't as play tested as the core material and can bring some unbalance to your game. Players will generally love having the additional options, but there are bits to be wary of before adding it to your game. I can't say that it doesn't have its uses however as some of these provide solid alternatives and they add a bit more theme and choice to the Warrior Path, which is the Novice Path that has the least amount of variation in the core rulebook.

This book adds new Novice Paths that are alternatives to the Warrior. They are more specialized in scope and could be compared more to specific fighting styles for a Warrior. Here are my thoughts on each.

Armiger - (3 of 5 Stars) - Every game system "splat"-book must have a mounted variant. Limited in scope, I find this Path of little value. It isn't broken however.

Barbarian - (5 of 5 Stars) - This Path makes sense and takes away some of the versatility of the Warrior and adds thematic alternatives. Neither stronger nor weaker, just different. This adds that wilderness or uncivilized changes without sacrificing core functions. Excellent design.

Brawler – (3 of 5 Stars) – This one is ok. It doesn’t bring any unbalance, but it isn’t particularly different either. The changes are there and could be used to match a character’s personality/backstory better.

Enforcer – (2 of 5 Stars) – This is the first of the Paths in this book where I question the balance. Against a heavy defense target, you have a strong method to bolster your offense. Against a weaker defense target, it doesn’t really suffer any limitations. It also has a notable impact on encounter design from a very early level. Any GM can work around this for sure but why add the headache.

Gallant – (4 of 5 Stars) – This Path uses a design that followed a very similar structure to how the Barbarian was designed. It fits a middle of the road niche between the Warrior and the Rogue, creating a few minor limitations that fit thematically without unbalancing either of its alternatives. Great design.

Hunter – (5 of 5 Stars) – This Path got some inspiration from the design of the Gallant but ramped up the thematic element similar to how the Barbarian was designed. It works and provides a ranged focused character a better starting point that is more representative of their style. Excellent design.

Monk – (4+ of 5 Stars?) – This one I’m not sure about. If I had a player interested in it, I would have to put more thought into it. One thing is for sure, it is significantly different than the core Warrior Novice path. The Martial Arts ability means you are going to see a lot of special attacks, and the Stunning Strike ability means there are going to be some crazy swings in fights. I’d have to see how it played but I think maybe I like it, maybe.

Soldier – (4 of 5 Stars) – This one takes the Priests Shared Recovery ability and then splashes on some teamwork and Tactical abilities, exactly what I would expect from something called Soldier. Well done mechanics make this one a plus in my book. Great design.

Spellguard – (2 of 5) – The problem with this Path is there really isn’t a reason to take the base Warrior over it. As has been said, it’s the min/max option of choice as it gives the best options from both the Novice paths (Warrior and Magician). As a player, hell yea, it’s the option of choice. At the cost of some health (which I realize isn’t nothing) but you can attack and cast a spell every round, and you get the same amount of power as a Magician. This one could be salvaged but really needs to be downgraded a little before it plays fairly with the others.

As with any supplement, you may get more or less value out of it depending on how you feel about these Novice Paths. For me, even without the ones I didn’t like, the others were worthwhile. Is it worth the $3 microtransaction, I hesitantly say yes, but grab it on sale if you can.

I really like this RPG quite a lot. It's like someone who was really good at game design took a long look at D&D 5e and then redesigned it to be much more intuitive and easy to learn. And the setting is quite well-developed and interesting as well. It's clearly very heavily inspired by Warhammer Fantasy, but it's still unique enough to stand on its own.

This core rulebook does pretty much everything perfectly. The graphic design is unique and yet easy on the eyes. The rules are very clearly explained with plenty of examples. There's a very extensive section on the history and geography of the setting. And the section for gamemaster is very lengthy and helpful, probably the most helpful of any GM section in any RPG book I've ever read. And the bestiary is lengthy and full of cool descriptive text. The only thing I wish this rulebook had was a starter adventure, though reading through the fluff sections will give you plenty of inspiration for adventure ideas.

I'm a Cancer. 10/10, would buy again.

In seriousness, it's a well-written, balanced supplement. Literal intelligent crab ancestry that's fully fleshed out with lore and tables. A Priest variant to crab deity. A new martial expert path based around making yourself the target of attacks over your allies. A new martial master path that... makes nets a badass weapon? Buy it even if you don't like crabs, but definitely buy it if you do.

Shadow of the Demon Lord is one of the best games out there. The rules are simple to understand, combat is quick and exciting, and the setting is modular simple to customize to the needs of your gaming group. SotDL is also well supported and has lots of adventures, class guidguideses, supplements as well as fan created content.

This is a small supplement, coming in at only 4 pages (3 pages worth of text). This allows a GM to add centaurs as a playable ancestry to their Shadow of the Demon Lord game. It features a bit of lore for Centaur characters. The Centaur is a more powerful ancestry than the core ancestries. However, it fills the Novice levels with Ancestry levels. Despite this, when compared side by side with the typical Ancestry / Novice Path combination, it still comes out a bit ahead. It's main balancing mechanic is going to be the cost of Armor for a larger creature, and its inability to climb. The relevance of this will depend on the GM but I didn't feel it was gamebreakingly strong.

The supplement finishes off with three sets of Centaur variants for GM's to use along with a Master Path, the Horse Archer.

Should you buy it?

If the GM is ok with Centaurs being a playable race in their game, I'd say this fits the bill well enough, just be aware of the slight power creep.

I don't usually go out of my way to review things I purchase on dtrpg. I've been a long-time DM of D&D since 2nd edition and every edition since (though I only dabbled in 4e). I've been a GM of Warhammer 2nd, 3rd (crazy dice and all) and 4th. I've dabbled in many systems but always returned to D&D. Even with my love of D&D, this game is a thing of beauty. It feels like the best aspects of D&D 5e and Warhammer 2e had a baby. My only regret regarding this system is that I didn't find it sooner. The following are just some reasons I now prefer this game to D&D.

1. Modifiers. This game has fewer modifiers as a whole. Magic items don't give out bonuses to hit. Attribute bonuses are more limited in what they affect. Str applies a bonus to hit but not damage, for example. The result is a system that scales incredibly well, meaning higher levels don't mean immortality.
2. Paths. Paths offer more diversity in character type than any Class (D&D) or Career (WFRP). Every character could start with the same Novice Career, but due to how the Expert and Master Careers stack, there would be a significant difference between them.
3. Lethality. The setting is more dangerous than 5e, and comparable, perhaps slightly less lethal, than WFRP. Permanent death in D&D is nearly impossible, so death is rarely a legitimate fear. Again, scaling comes into play here and higher-level characters are less complex than their equivalent in D&D. One additional note in regards to lethality is that healing doesn't rely on lucky or unlucky rolls.
4. System. Universal mechanics throughout the system. The game doesn't add complexity to every aspect. Special maneuvers are generally just a single Bane to complete. This isn't to say that 5e adds a lot of this, but there is a noticeable difference in implementation between the two. The only significant subsystems are corruption, which is a deterrent for murder hobos, and insanity. Challenge rolls, the equivalent of Skill checks, are adjucated quickly and with a set DC for all checks. The GM only determines the difficulty through the use of Banes/Boons.
5. Options. This leads to.....lots of options for attacks available to all characters. Driving attacks, charging attacks, guarded attacks, lunging attacks, shifting attacks, unbalancing attacks, feints, called shots, distant shots, and staggering shots. And, it's still true to point #4.
6. Traditions. The versatility of the magic system within the paths is great. The paths themselves already added a ton of uniqueness, but now you get to throw a bunch of traditions into the mix to specialize further. So many cool spells. There is some very disturbing stuff in this book so this game is not for the faint of heart.
7. Spellcasting can go wide or deep, and both are strong. And if you have spells, you will have some tough decisions ahead of you.
8. Rewards. The system rewards all methods of play by default, not just combat. You gain "XP" not through defeating creatures but by completing adventures or objectives. 5e has options for this but it isn't the standard.
9. Teamwork. The initial paths all have some thematic healing ability, and several of their initial abilities encourage working together.
10. Expansions. This item isn't about this book specifically, but the expansion material, which is usually relatively cheap, takes some aspect of the game and expands it while offering new features. Many games feature this, but this game does it well and allows you to pick and choose what you want to experiment with without a significant investment.

Not everyone will like all of these aspects, but if these things ring true, I highly recommend you check this game out. It's worth your time and investment. I only wish it received more coverage than it does.

I love the story and I'm adapting it for my own homebrew of a different game, but it certainly could have used some proofreading. The main problem I noticed is that, in the hook of the story (called "Screams in the Dark"), it says about the victim, "the hole in the body’s chest was made with surgical precision and the heart has been expertly removed." Later on, however, when talking about a red herring in the story, it says "...[the NPC] they just killed did very neat work... This contrasts with the ragged wounds on the first victim from 'Screams in the Dark'."

Some extra proofreading would have avoided this confusing mixup in the story. I'm assuming that the author changed his mind about the skill of the main antagonist while writing and forgot to make it all consistent afterward.

An impressive attempt at updating D&D 4th Edition's iconic warlord class to D&D 5th Edition. The base class is a definite success, operating something like a hybrid of fighter and bard. (They also address one criticism of the warlord by making most of the HP they grant temporary.) Things get slightly shakier once you get to the subclasses, however. For one, when you have six subclasses, they need to have a stronger individual identity than these have. Which isn't to say that they're bad; they just needed some key mechanics or flavor to really distinguish them. (The Hordemaster and Shrewd Commander are the chief examples, as their mechanics only vaguely connect to the name and premise.) Also, some of the mechanics are a bit hard to parse (Daring Gambler's Risky Gambit and Golden General's Rally the Troops in particular) and the resource management seems inconsistent (sometimes it's a flat bonus or number of uses, when it should probably be tied to the bonus die or a character stat). Still, all in all, this is one of the best takes on a D&D 5E warlord out there, and definitely worth checking out. (4E fans should also be on the lookout for a few extra hidden 4E mechanics: Resourceful Leader's Find a Way feature, for example.) $2.49 for 9 pages of material is a bit too high, however, so wait for a sale.