I am sad to admit that I don’t run out and buy that many RPG products anymore. I think it’s a combination of getting a few things for free in exchange for a review, my general state of starving author, or that I can’t seem to get a regular game going. But something popped on my radar that I felt I had to shell out a couple of bucks for, and that was Kinks and Cantrips. Kinks and Cantrips is a supplement for 5E Dungeons and Dragons that brings the fetish scene into tabletop roleplaying. I have to admit that I was immediately intrigued by the cover art. I mean, let’s face it: a bound princess is kind of a long-standing trope in the fantasy genre, and I was very curious to see how they would take that to the next level.
I think the biggest surprise for me was how large of a campaign world they presented. Before I got the book, I had assumed that it was either going to be just a set of characters and mechanics or a small city-state where these practices flourished. Instead, they present a complete world with multiple continents, countries, and a rich mythology of gods and religions. That is actually the majority of the book. It presents a whole new world for people to explore, all the sights, sounds, and, most importantly, the feels.
The first thing that is presented after the world building is the new races and these are the things that would probably be the easiest things to transfer to another setting. These include the succubus-like Ziicubus, Cubelings who owe their genealogy to the oozes of the dark, and one of the best examples of a beast kin species for DND in the FurFolk, which lets a player choose a number of traits to customize the abilities they get from their animal characteristics. That is one I am thinking about including in any of my games going forward. The other thing that would be easy to put in any campaign is the escapologist class a path that is geared to stage magic and being able to slip out of chains and bindings.
The most notable addition to the rules is the concept of pleasure and pain. There are a variety of conditions that can result in a character gaining points in either of these states, and all of the classes have skills and abilities that trigger when certain levels are reached. There are also penalties for a person who exceeds their tolerance for either pleasure or pain. This is an interesting mechanic and is a great way to tie all the various choices of kinks that are covered.
The sub-classes, of which there are 26, exist sorely around the core principals of pleasure and pain; examples include the Slinglash Conclave Ranger, who uses her latex-like ooze as slingshot ammunition to ensnare her foes, and the Null Visage Rogue, who utilizes the faceless nature of gimp suits along with psychic prowess to get lost in a crowd. These are the most significant additions to the game, and I think they will probably be the most complicated to navigate. The creators of the book go to great lengths to include almost every kink that I could think of. This is a good and bad thing. I don’t want to yuck anyone’s yum, but there were some things covered that squigged me out (needles and such). So I think that there will have to be very comprehensive discussions about what things will be and won’t be included in the game. And in their defense the writer of the book goes to great lengths to explain about hard and soft limits as well as talking about tools that people can use during adventures to opt out of certain situations. The other thing I have to say I was glad to see is that before every class that deals with a kink, there is a discussion about what that fetish consists of. So besides as a game aide the book can serve as a starting point for people to explore BDSM and other past times.
The book also includes a host of spells, magic items, and monsters to complete the setting and make it cohesive.
The one thing I think it lacked was an actual sample module. At the same time, there were little adventure hooks included in the descriptions of major locations in the world. I would have very much liked an idea of what a dungeon crawl might look like in the world of Bundheim. (editor’s note: in December, they put out advanced kinks and cantrips that included a module, but I have not checked that out yet.)
The book is an interesting mix of concepts and ideas, some of which I thoroughly enjoyed and others that were more to the taste of different people. But all in all, it is a solid pick-up for anyone who wants to spice up their DND campaign.
You can pick up a copy at
Paper Phoenix ink 