I have once again come to the world of Bundheim. After I did my review of Kinks and Cantrips the great people at Stellara books were nice enough to send me a copy of their next book aptly titled Advanced Kinks and Cantrips. The name on the cover does not lie, as it contains rules to accommodate virtually any fetish or kink. Stellara does this by adding 26 new subclass options, 10 races, and a host of new magic items, spells, and feats. They also put in something I was looking for in my review of their first book, A Couple of Adventures.
So, what are my thoughts on the new inclusions? Once again, I think it’s a mixed bag, but I think that is the nature of the beast. There are always going to be things that you feel are spicy and others believe are weird. In this case I think there were a lot of class thrown in that seemed hard to integrate into a RPG campaign. Then again, there was a lot of stuff that I thought was really fun; the College of Courtesans and the College of Spectacles Bard look really fun (though I am not sure they eclipse the brat bard from the last book; I really want to play one of those.) The Hedonic Wizard is also a great choice for anyone who wants their campaign to crossover with the Cenobites from the Hell Raiser movies. Once again, they also have some classes like the pretender rogue, which could be slotted into any party regardless of the other rules being used.
The next thing I turned to in the book was the adventures. I was really not sure what a Kinks and Cantrips campaign might look like. The book includes 2 complete adventures and a large amount of encounters that one could slot into any dungeon.
The first offering was Ropes and Rabbits, designed to introduce a group to the general concepts of the world. The party had to rescue a group of villagers who were kidnapped while celebrating a holiday that had inhabitants tied up in various compromising positions. I found the concept amusing, but the adventure had only three steps. I was not expecting the tomb of annihilation, but I would have appreciated a little more meat on the bones.
The second module, Skyclad, and Suspects, deals with a dangerous artifact being stolen and the group having to discover who had taken it. The various possible criminals do offer a wide variety of different interactions and would be great for a party who likes the more social side of gaming. This one, too, felt a little lackluster being a matter of you talking to a bunch of people and then a climactic battle.
They both have one thing going for them: I think you could run either as a single session and give people a taste of what they might expect from a full campaign. Basic introductory adventures are some of the hardest things to pull off. I think I just wanted more of a view into how all the pain and pleasure elements might integrate into a longer story.
The included encounters are good resources, though, as they could be slotted into almost any adventure and give it a real Bundheim feel.
Like the first book, I think this one works best as a way to find all the stuff you and your group are interested in and maybe leave some of the other stuff behind. The book is quite comprehensive, so you should be able to find something for everyone. If you enjoyed the first book even a little, I think you need to pick this one up, too.
It is available by a late pledge on kickstarter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kinksandcantrips/advanced-kinks-and-cantrips/description
or coming soon to Itch.io
https://stellarabooks.itch.io/
Paper Phoenix ink 