I did a review of Deathbringer for Independent RPG Month (2023), which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oea5RK7kzu0

I have run this game twice, once at a convention, and once with my home group when two of the regulars couldn't make it so we wanted a one-shot. I have seen all five character classes used, so I figured I can give a (somewhat) experienced review of the game. As it says in the description, this is a rules kit. Everything you need to play is definitely NOT included in here. But let's be honest, if you are rolling around this website you have lots of fantasy RPGs already, right? So all this little booklet gives you are what to CHANGE from your chosen rules set. This game gives you character creation rules, character advancement rules, basic combat rules, and rules for casting spells, which are not automatic in this game. The real "change" from other flavors of D&D-style fantasy RPGs is the use of "Deathbringer" dice to allow you to push your character, at a player's choice, to do cool things. How you use them, and when you use them, are up to the players. Other than that classes have a handful of special abilities but that's it. You don't gain new abilities as you level up, you just get more Deathbringer dice to do more cool things.

While the game has a default "low magic" setting (which will naturally appeal to some more than others), I can see the Deathbringer dice being the real dividing line with this game. If you like the concept, you'll like this game. If you don't, you probably won't. Personally, I am not sure I like them. If I was playing a PC, I think a would want more concrete abilities to define my character. Some of the players in may games really took to the idea, though, and found it easier to play with the Deathbringer dice as opposed to trying to remember the 17 special abilities their character had (in, say, 5e) and trying to select the optimum ability to use. One player at my convention game told me that he couldn't play 5e because it was too complex and overwhelming for him with options, but this was totally his speed and was very excited to introduce his friends to the game. So, your mileage will vary.

The game says that you can "import monsters and spells you like from 5e/OSR games" and provides some extremely brief guidelines for doing so. I have used both methods. For my convention game, I used monster stats and spells from the Basic Fantasy RPG. For my home group, I used 5e monster stats and spells. Both worked, though I feel like the hit dice that the character classes have map better to 5e stat blocks, so if you are using OSR or Classic D&D monsters the PCs might have a bit more hit points than expected for the monsters. Most players won't be bothered by that, though. a note on spells: Classic D&D spells that are direct attack spells either auto hit or require the target to make a save. Some 5e direct attack spells require an attack roll. Because Deathbringer requires a caster to roll to successfully cast a spell in the first place, using this kind of 5e spell requires you to make a successful spell roll AND THEN make a successful attack roll to hit the target. This was frustrating to the player that ran a caster in my 5e-based game. So players should probably avoid those kinds of spells and just spam magic missile all day long or something along those lines.

So, I mostly like these rules. Whether relying on 5e or Classic B/X D&D as a base, I would probably just use equipment from those rules and ignore the equipment here (which is so barebones I find it unusable for anything other than a one-shot game). I'm not sold on the Deathbringer die mechanic, but I have seen people really take to it and have lots of fun with it, so maybe I need to run a PC and not be a GM to really understand it. Plague Doctors are fantastic, probably my favorite class. Specifically plague doctors with bombs, those guys are no joke.

Sure would be great if there was a version of this that didn't involve needing to find some way to flip my display to read half of it with ease. There are also a couple confusing spelling errors. Otherwise, great product!

My go to RPG. Use these rules to mod your favourite game. They make things quick and cinimatic, while still keeping some tactical crunch!

Packed with a lot of modern inovations in an old school package.

I found that after a few Deathbringer games, i wanted to create my own RPG using Deathbringer as the core. Not hard to do, and its been very fun to play.

Highly recommended.

This is a kit to be used alongside another rules set, both 5e D&D or and OSR system are reccomended. The rules takes the basics of D&D and simpify them in a way that makes a lot of sense.

The bad:

• The layout requires you to print out and fold the rules are suggested to make a pamflet. The second page of the rules (actually page 3 as the first page is the cover and instructions) is upside down for 2 sided printing. Duplex printers allow you to choose to flip ont he long or short edge so this upside down layout isn't required (if you have a non-duplex printer you can put in the page any way up you like to get the correct layout). Even without the uside down issue the rules won't be in the right order unless you print and fold. I would like to see the layout modified so it's all the right way up. I'd also like a vlternative download for use on a screen / tablet (everything in the right order without folding).
• The game assumes the DM is experianced enough to understand the concepts of the game. It's a short document and there's not a lot of space to explain things for new DMs or players. I think this could be fleshed out into a full OSR game that was more beginner friendly, but that would be a whole new project.

The good:

• The abilities at profitionancy system is fantastic, it's simple, makes perfect sense and allows players to choose how their characters grow as thy level.
• The unified mechanic are a huge improvement over OSR multiple mechanics. Again easier to use and new player friendly.
• The game makes great use of advantage / disavantage dice to add class custionmisation with the simplest mechanic.

What I would change / add

• Seperate the mechanics from the grim dark setting This system is excellent and it would be awesome if it was designed in a way that allowed it's use in multiple campaign styles. Of course an experianced DM can do this themselves, but making the system accessable to newer DMs would be fantastic.
• I love how combat is simplified. I would take the additional step of linking weapon damage to hit dice, with a bonus for 2-handed weapons (+2 to hit / damage).

Over all this is a great base for a simpler, and in many ways superiour RPG system. You will probably want to build on the rules to fit them for your own game and as an experianced DM you'll have no problem doing so. Newer DMs will have a harder time, and I'd love if that problem was solved.

IMO this is one of the best OSR/5e games out there. The rules are clear, it is easy to modify for your group. The deathbringer dice are a great idea. I do allow my players to recharge a dice if they roll a natural 1, but if you want to run a game and already know your setting, This hack is wonderful. I cannot wait to see the newer version Professor DM has been working on.

TLDR: Slightly less than two pages of house rules to make D&D deadlier with an interesting, but also frustrating, layout.

I, like many others, bought the Deathbringer RPG PDF because I am familiar with, and rather enjoy, the author's YouTube channel. He is a vocal proponent of adding more lethality to D&D in an effort to recapture the sense of harrowing adventure he felt in the games of his youth. The principle idea being that a more lethality = higher stakes = greater tension and investment in the outcome of RPG combat.

This product attempts to distill this ethos into a package that, when combined with double-sided printing, will produce a single-sheet tri-fold paper pamPhlet. This document is 4 pages long. The first page describes the design goals for the product and how to fold it, pages 2-3 are the actual rules, and page 4 is a rather attractive looking full-page character sheet.

I'll cover the layout of this product first since that is most unusual feature of this product. Page 2 of this PDF is upside-down to help facilitate the intended print format. So, it is necessary to either print this product first to truly enjoy it, or to flip the PDF page somehow.

When printed and properly folded "page 1" of the rules has an attractive header graphic that consumes the top of the page. 5/6 sections of this pamphlet are rules and tables, the final section is a mini character sheet that is greatly condensed, but still usable.

The rules themselves are written in a way to condense as much information as possible into the meager space available. There are rules for converting the basic D&D stats into a different format, 5 character classes, Two tables for random character traits, and a handfu of other modifications/simplifications for existing D&D rules. Almost every element of the D&D core rules, with one exception, are covered here. And that is really the problem. This pamphlet attempts to cover so much in such a tiny space that it simply raises more questions than answers. There is no room in the pamphlet to provide additional examples or clarifications, and there are no extra pages to the document that provide this info as well.

Also, there are no spells. There are 4 sentences telling you to use OSR/5E spells.

What you have here is a product that presents a paradox. The target audience for this product is someone who knows enough about how the rules of D&D work that they can take a scantly worded outline of an idea like this and implement it in their game. However, if you understand D&D well enough to actually use this product then you have probably already invented house rules of your own that work just as well or better than these.

Ultimately, I bought this product because I got some entertainment value fromt he author's YouTube channel and wanted to express my gratitude with some form of monetary contribution. That said, I would not actually recommend anyone purchase this product based on its own merits.

P.S. I'd love to know who did these character sheet designs, they are pretty sick looking. Not form-fillable mind you, but they look totally metal.

This is a cool game, but it has a few problems. As others have noted, there is a typo in the corruption section, and it is missing info on what shields do. It’s also quite unbalanced.

Here are the problems I can see:

1 Dexterity is overpowered. It adds to ranged attack rolls, ranged damage rolls, stealth, lock picking, acrobatics, and defense. Compared with any other stat, this is simply amazing.

2 Constitution is weak. Since it doesn’t affect your hit points, it only gives a couple saves and bonuses to your carry weight, along with healing when you get bedrest. This is underwhelming, especially because healing potions made by the Plague Doctor are way better than bedrest.

3 Weapons are barely touched on, and lack sufficient development to even merit including in the first place. A little extra detail here would go a long way.

4 Shields are really good, if you use the rule that The Professor suggests of +2 defense. This is way better than the two handed options presented.

5 Finally, there are no spells included. That is ok, since you can use your imagination, but a few examples would be fun. Also, all spells have a DC of 10, which seems easy to me, especially if you put a lot of points into intelligence.

To fix the issues listed above, I have a few suggestions:

Dexterity adds to ranged attacks, ranged damage, stealth, lock picking, and acrobatics.

Constitution adds to defense and saves vs things like poison, disease, heat, and cold. Bed rest heals d6 hp, and constitution does not add to this roll.

Weapons: D2: Hand to hand combat D4: Dagger, club, whip, hatchet, light crossbow. D6: Shortbow (two hands only), rapier, staff. D8 (Requires strength 3): Longbow (two hands only), sword, battle-axe, spear, mace. D10 (Requires strength 3 and two hands): Greatsword, halberd. D12 (Requires strength 4 and two hands): Warhammer, heavy crossbow.

Shields add +1 Defense.

Spell casting rolls should have their dc determined by the dm according to the kind of spell being cast. Some spells should be harder than others, but stronger also.

I really like this product. I tend to be a cheap gamer, so I paused to see if I wanted to pay $4 for essentially a two-sided product, but IMO this is worth every penny. First, the brilliance of this product is just how compact it is. Sometimes, simple and streamline really is better. Plus, for such a compact package this exudes a lot of personality. Second, this product is a great extention to Professor DM's other online resources such as all the excellent "Dungeon Craft" video content YouTube.

Highly recommended! I just played my first (quick/solo) game of Deathbringer. It's great! All the rules of D&D condensed down to a single double sided pamphlet... to sum it up in three words: I love simple!