Monday 12 November 2018

Dark Decade: From Dust to Dawn Supplement

Welcome to the Dark Decade.
The 1980s were a dark time, with the shadow of nuclear annihilation, and the constant give and take of the Cold War, Central American Guerrilla Uprisings, corporate greed and the rise of MTV. There is, however, another danger, more evasive, but more immediate. There is a dark and supernatural subculture that lives parallel to our own, a world of vampires, ghouls, monsters, mad scientists and demons. Only the heroes—using their divinely inspired, sorcerous, or technological abilities—can keep these hidden, but deadly, forces of evil at bay. This adventure takes place in 1980s New York City, and enmeshes the players deeply into the modern horror genre as vampires and worse prey on the populace.
Includes new Dhampir and Werewolf heritages along with the Vampire Slayer, Demonologist, Exorcist, Guardian, and Sorcerer careers. 
The adventure From Dust to Dawn takes the characters from the streets of New York into a dark section of the New York Underground, a hidden corner of the world away from prying eyes, as they track down a dangerous new drug that transforms the youth of today into psychotic killers.
Requires the use of a What's OLD is NEW core rulebook.

This is the second of EN Publishing's alternative world campaign settings (the first being Xenomorphs) and this is set in the contemporary period of New York in the 1980's, so the N.O.W. rulebook will prove especially useful to run it. This setting is very similar to the ones found in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Being Human and The Vampire Diaries, where supernatural creatures like ghouls, vampires, werewolves and zombies exist but the vast majority of humanity are unaware of them. Only a small select few know the truth, and these include the player characters of this setting.
This 44 page supplement was written by Russ Morrissey, Osvaldo Oyola and Darren Pearce.  After the introduction, we get two new heritages (the Dhampir and the Werewolf), new careers (Demonologist, Exorcist, Guardian, Sorcerer and Vampire Slayer), rules on Sorcery in this setting, new items of equipment and a look at some of the key locations in New York as they were in the 1980's. This is followed by five short adventure ideas for the GM to expand upon. Next up is a bestiary of monsters and other opponents including stats for the three major villainous NPCs. Note that any one of these has the potential to be a total party killer, so if the heroes are to take them on, they should be well prepared. The chief villain, a vampire known as The Vampire Prime is rank 12d6, whereas the heroes all start at rank 5d6!
The main meat of this book is a long scenario called From Dust to Dawn, which takes the characters from the streets of New York into a dark section of the New York Underground, a hidden corner of the world away from prying eyes, as they track down a dangerous new drug that transforms the youth of the day into psychotic killers. The Dust, or Fang Powder as some of the pushers call it, is a powerful new narcotic that enhances the body, sharpens the senses, and drives the bloodlust of young people through the roof. Dust is made by killing vampires, either with direct sunlight or UV lamps. Written in three Acts, it runs to 14 pages and is an excellent adventure.
Finally, the supplement is rounded off with five pre-generated player characters for you to use if you don't want to design your own. My favourite out of these is Diana Dubois, a martial artist and nun who thinks she is the reincarnation of Joan of Arc.
Given my love of all things undead, this is a supplement I have been looking forward to getting my hands on ever since it was first announced. I would very much love to run a campaign in this setting, either with the five pre-generated characters or a team of my own. My character of Vampifan from my ATZ:FFO campaigns would fit in perfectly. So too, would Vampirella, if the party wanted some high powered help to take out The Vampire Prime. All in all, this is one of my favourite WOIN supplements. You can purchase the soft-backed book of it from Amazon UK for £8.99. See here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Decade-Dust-Russ-Morrissey/dp/1728767326/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542017608&sr=1-4&keywords=woin+rpg

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great expansion Bryan, can easily see why you would like this one with your love of the undead. Thanks for sharing

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    1. Many thanks, Dave. You'd almost think this was written with me in mind, chuckle!

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  2. Hi Bryan it sounds quite interesting, certainly up your street. :)

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    1. Hi John. Thanks. It very much is right up my street.

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  3. Sounds awesome dude, really tempted myself

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    1. Cheers, Andy. It is well worth buying, in my humble opinion, even though I am biased. :-)

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  4. Once again, you honor us all with your kind words :)

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    1. it was an absolute pleasure, Darren.

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    2. Wait until you see what I've been cooking up for Russ' next big book. Two sci-fi adventures, one of them is based on something I ran moons ago for my players using various sci-fi systems.

      I'm writing it at the moment.

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    3. Oh, this sounds really good. I very much look forward to seeing it. All the best, Darren.

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    4. Thanks! I just hope Russ digs them :)

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    5. I'm sure he will, Darren. I remember him gushing about your enthusiasm for the Judge Dredd RPG on one of the podcasts he did.

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    6. I try to be enthusiastic about a lot of the things I'm asked to write, it's the best way to make them shine I find.

      I enjoyed the podcast I was part of, need to do that again.

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    7. That's great to hear, Darren. Keep up the good work. I really appreciate your enthusiasm and receiving your comments.

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  5. Thanks! Folks like you keep me doin' what I do :)

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