Have I mentioned how much I love this thing?

Let’s start off by discussing the Nightkin. These are Goblins, Orcs, Hobgoblins, and Ogres. They’re all nocturnal in nature and take damage from sunlight. All four of these Kin may be used as playable characters should the group agree to do so.

Disclaimer: This is not a review copy. I came into this book using the meager lawn mowing money I earn and digging through the couch cushions. I will admit I am a bit biased toward Free League Publishing. They were the ones who got me interested in Dragonbane and several other RPGs that they make. We have lots of reviews yet to come. I have become a bit of a Dragonbane fan, however. (Thank you again Boel, Arcane PR Wizard at Fria Ligan!)

The PDF is available on DriveThruRPG on my Affiliate Link Here. It’s also on the Free League Website.

Nightkin are an interesting lot compared to the way other RPGs treat these four kin. Usually they are the stereotypical “evil” races who rampage and kill innocent Humans, Halflings, Elves, and Dwarves. That is not entirely the case in Dragonbane.

Goblins are known to do a little raiding. They have loyalty to clan and cause. Hobgoblins are painted as hard working, zealous and smaller than we’re used to in other games. Orcs are often oppressed, suppressed, and denigrated by other Kin. The art for Orcs is unlike that of other games.

Ogres are their own special lot. Large sized, fairly intelligent, brutish bullies. Someday I will publish my Ogre book. There is so much room to grow in that category. These Ogres are a bit oafish and can serve a beatdown when necessary. PCs beware. I feel like having one of these guys in the group is like hanging out with Grog from Vox Machina. It might be fun to have as a kin, but it’s also kind of a headache for the Game Master.

Now we come to the Rare Kin.

Frog People.

I think the best description I have for Rare Kin would be the Fae in other game settings. They tend to be elusive, tricky, and sometimes magically overpowered. They can be fun and playful or an absolute nightmare if enraged. (Fairy swarms… <shudder>) While there are a few playable Kin in this chapter, we finally come to things with actual monster stat blocks.

That having been said, I think the art and the lore behind Frog People makes me want to play one. If nothing else, we get Kermit references, right? I am anxious to cook up encounters with these little guys and the artwork for them is outstanding.

There are a lot of creatures in the Rare Kin chapter I’m anxious to run at least one encounter with. Harpies have an attack on the table where they barf and fling poo. Fairies are just straight up obnoxious the way one would imagine and Minotaurs charge and chop things to pieces. Tree Kin are a Disney character gone full nightmare mode.

Swan Maidens almost made it into one of my old campaigns as a playable character. I’m glad Dragonbane didn’t do that, but instead made them fabulous for encounters. One of the things I love about the game in general is there’s no moral/ethical “alignment” system. None of the creatures I’ve named in this section are inherently good or bad. No creature is blindly following any deity and every encounter is a chance for interesting dialogue instead of characters creatively dying. Swan Maidens are the epitome of this type of encounter.

Insectoid Section is going to be brief.

I know a lot of us aren’t big fans of bugs. Some of us definitely aren’t down with two and a half meter tall ants or beetles that look like they mutated out a Pixar movie. Then there are Spider Kin who I will gladly write up the rest of my spider-themed dungeon around. It’ll be cool as long as everyone is okay with spiders. Otherwise we’ll put a pin in that project and do snakes or something.

Next time we will get to that discussion about Trolls. Being a Swedish game, there is a lot of folklore and mythology around Trolls, and it warrants a detailed discussion. Then we’ll talk about Giants and Beasts. I think we’ll save Undead for the last article because I’m a sucker for undead and I want to discuss them a lot. Lastly, somewhere in here, we’ll discuss Dragons and Demons. (That is the original name of the game after all.) Imagine a game about dragons where they rarely mention them… No worries here. Free League Publishing has us covered.

Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.