Somewhere between Bloodborne and Dishonored lies the aspirations of Beadle & Grimm’s new Skullduggery—an Urban Fantasy 5E Companion.
Urban fantasy means many things to many people. So when Beadle & Grimm’s launched their new Skullduggery Kickstarter campaign, crowdfunding for an “Urban Fantasy Companion” you could be forgiven for taking it many different ways. After all, Urban Fantasy comes in a lot of flavors. It could be our world but secretly in the shadows there’s werewolves and vampires and fairies. Or it’s our world but there’s a secret sexy world of monsters and fae.
For some, Urban Fantasy means it’s a big oppressive city and everything there is spooky (and Victorian). For others it’s a big oppressive city run by an evil overlord and you’re just trying to stay out of the way of the underlings of said overlord. In Beadle & Grimm’s Skullduggery: An Urban Fantasy Companion, it seems to lean more towards the third option. A dark fantasy city, full of chimney sweeps and lamplighters and magic item shops. But in its shadows, rampant corruption, abuse of magical powers, and creatures that exist between life and undeath. Your classic spooky fantasy city.
Beadle & Grimm’s Skullduggery: An Urban Fantasy Companion
So what is Skullduggery: An Urban Fantasy Companion anyway? It is a one-stop shop for both Players and DMs looking to add a little bit of gritty, urban fantasy to their games of D&D. This means it’s got both new player options and a lore section and adventure section.
Players will be excited by the new subclasses, backgrounds, species, feats, spells, and gear. All of which as been tooled for the 5.5E ruleset (so you don’t have to worry about updating). There’s a ton here, including at least 15 new original Subclasses. Possibly more, depending on stretch goals.
You might play as a Path of Metamorphosis Barbarian and use experimental alchemy. Or a College of Poison Bard who puts the poison in poison pen. Be a Duelist Fighter and see if it actually makes you feel like a Swashbuckler. Or delve into the more occult-flavord magic classes, like the Grim Reaper Warlock or the Spiritologist Wizard. Either way, these subclasses are kind of the starring attraction:
“[Beadle & Grimm’s is] designing these Subclasses to be evocative and powerful enough to be VERY attractive to players, while avoiding game imbalance. All of these subclasses are created to feel at home in and around major cities, but can certainly hold their own in any setting.”
On the GM side of things, you’ll get a new series of interconnected adventures that take characters from levels 1-9. Which is a solid campaign—or if you’re real ambitious, the start to a whole new flavor of campaign that really gets going once you hit level 9. The adventure is called the Oppression of Blood, to give you an idea of what exactly you’re in for.
And then on top of that, you get a guide to at least 16 establishments and organizations. As well as other locations and academies and other exciting things to make your city feel like a living place. This is key for a lot of DMs, because consistency is a big trick. If you can make a city you can make a world. But boy is it hard—and that’s where titles like Skullduggery: An Urban Fantasy Companion come in handy.
The Kickstarter runs for the next 23 days!
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