A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement Gregorius21778: Dark Doom 13

Gregorius21778: Dark Doom 13 is a role playing game supplement written and published by Kai Pütz a.k.a Gregorius21778 for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess. As such it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. The supplement is intended for use with Veins of the Earth and is adapted from the original Dreaded 13.

The supplement is available as a four page Pay What You Want PDF from DriveThruRPG. One page is the front cover, half a page the front matter and one page the Open Game License.

The opening paragraphs explains that the supplement essentially brings misery and failure and it starts with the first 13 rolled on a d20 after “the Happening” which is the event that kicks this off and ends with the thirteenth. GMs are advised to give extra experience to characters who succeed under these adverse circumstances.

The primary page of content essentially recaps some of the opening paragraphs to start with; the first natural 13 after the triggering event caused the 1st happening.

The 1st Happening just triggers the echo of a bell and raises the hackles. Following this, every natural 13 rolled is an automatic failure and triggers an event.

The Eleven Misfortunes In-Between are the events that happen in order following the triggering after each subsequent 13 is rolled. These aren’t generally fatal, but they aren’t good.

The 13th and Final Misfortune is the last event and could kill the character that rolled the final 13.

Gregorius21778: Dark Doom 13 in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and at this length doesn’t need them. Navigation is fine. The text maintains a two-column format and a couple of minor errors were noticed. There is no art bar the cover. Presentation is okay.

Though the suggestion is to use this with Veins of the Earth, and underground, it could be used anywhere. However, it should probably only be used in grimmer campaigns, given the problems that it could cause, and only with players who are expecting this sort of thing. Dropping a series of misfortunes like this into some campaigns would not go down well. Gregorius21778: Dark Doom 13 is a rather nasty little supplement and it can be found by clicking here.