Darkness & Dread

Darkness and Dread
From: Fantasy Flight Games
Reviewed by: Bill Perman

Darkness and Dread is a new Handbook from Fantasy Flight Games. Darkness and Dread, the latest in Fantasy Flight’s Legends & Lairs series, brings the element of horror to your fantasy game. The game uses the D20 open license and requires the Players Handbook published by WotC, and is fully compatible with the 3.5 edition.

From the back cover
“The definitive d20 System resource for dark fantasy and horror campaigns.
Following in the tradition of SORCERY & STEAM and PORTALS & PLANES, this indispensable volume offers players and DMs everything they need to incorporate elements of horror into their traditional fantasy games.
New guidelines for existing character classes and a broad selection of new classes specifically designed for a dark fantasy campaign.
Comprehensive rules for fear, madness, and corruption.
New rules and guidelines for dark pacts and black magic.
A complete, ready-to-use mini-setting customized for horror and dark fantasy that can be easily incorporated into any campaign world.”

Darkness and Dread is certainly not the first sourcebook to combine the genres of horror and fantasy into a dark and dreadful setting, but it certainly stands out on its own. Ravenloft has explored this type of setting before, but there are enough differences in style and mood that make Darkness and Dread an ideal handbook if your setting is anywhere outside Ravenloft’s domains.

One major difference is the games lethality. Without the fear of death, it isn’t a horror game. Your 10th level fighter may be willing to take on a zombie hoard because he knows he has a lot of hit points to spare. This doesn’t hold true for Darkness and Dread. This handbook makes use of what it calls, “The Health System.” Essentially, it is meant to give characters far fewer hit points as they advance in level. This requires players to rely on their wits and cunning, rather than their ability to take a lot of hits as they hack away at the enemy. I don’t want to give away their formula for determining health points, but suffice to say that a 15th level barbarian should have less than 20 health points more than his 1st level counterpart.

Of course, the game offers advice to GMs on how to augment basic classes for insertion into a dark fantasy game. Most notably is the Paladins ability to turn undead. Zombies aren’t scary if you can wave your hand and make them run for the hills. The game gives various options on how to overcome such obstacles. More important still, are the games new classes, or professions. Be warned, players looking to take levels in Demon-Slayer, Vampire Hunter or Night Stalker won’t find them here. Instead, less heroic classes like Merchant, Sewerjack, Thief, Grifter and Beggar are included. These professions may not sound very heroic, but that’s the point. In standard fantasy games, a player’s character actively looks for trouble, wanting to amass wealth and fame, or simply test his skill against the forces of evil. In a horror game, characters need to be more realistic. They should be just average Joes trying to get by in life and suddenly must face the darkness and horrors that their world has to offer. They are the reluctant heroes. They fight because they have to, not because they want to.

The chapter on monsters is very short, only a few pages, and actually doesn’t include monsters. This is forgivable, considering the overwhelming amount of Monster Manuals and such currently on the market. Main horror monsters like the Vampire, Werewolf, Mummy, Ghost and Hag have been written about ad nauseam. Instead, the monster chapter in Darkness and Dread goes over creating unique monsters on your own. There are two major types you can create, Abominations and Godlings. GMs looking to insert Lovecraftian-like monsters will want to take advantage of this.

page #114
“Building Tension: The characters might face a time limit on when they must complete some action. When time expires, something nasty happens or they lose their chance to gain an important advantage.”

Chapter Six offers a wealth of ideas on running a horror game, from one night adventures to ongoing chronicles. Other chapters cover magic, black magic and its corrupting ability. Another chapter offers a unique setting from which to launch your story, complete with charts, maps and illustrations. At the end of the book, there is a 6-page preview for a new game called, “Grimm.” It’s a d20 mini-game about role-playing children trapped in a world of twisted fairy tales.

In conclusion,
Darkness and Dread is ideal for players and GMs wanting to explore dark fantasy. Unlike Ravenloft and Elric which has its own established atmosphere and theme, the generic setting allows you to apply this to any of your Dungeons and Dragons games. GMs especially will enjoy watching their players think and plan around each encounter rather than charging headlong into danger.

For more details on Fantasy Flight Games and their new Handbook “Darkness and Dread” check them out at their website http://www.fantasyflightgames.com, and at all of your local game stores.

(Product Summary)

Darkness and Dread
From: Fantasy Flight Games
Type of Game: Handbook
Written by: Mike Mearls
Developed by: Greg Benage
Cover Art by: Brian Schomburg
Additional Art by: Steven Bagatzky, Andy Brase, Mitch Cotie, Jesper Ejsing, Cos Koniotis, Jim Nelson, Torstein Nordstrand and Tyler Walpole
Number of Pages: 157
Retail Price: $ 27.95 (US)
Number of Players: 2 or more
Item Number: DD47
IBSN: 1-58994-158-6
Website: www.fantasyflightgames.com

Reviewed by: Bill Perman

Added: July 30th 2004
Reviewer: Bill Perman
Score:
Related Link: Fantasy Flight Games
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Language: eng