Have you been playing Dungeons & Dragons for many years, and feeling a bit of “been there, done that”? Maybe you just finished Curse of Strahd, and are dying (no pun intended) for another horror campaign, but something a little…different. If that’s the case, then you may want to check out this new campaign setting from Somanyrobots.
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What Is Machines of Bone & Blood?
Machines of Bone & Blood is a new horror sourcebook for Dungeons & Dragons 5e and other compatible games, based in the Ivory Empire setting unique to this book. The book will be 300+ pages, and will be available in digital, PDF, hardcover, and VTT (virtual tabletop) formats. Machines of Bone & Blood is coming from Somanyrobots, who previously crowdfunded the 5e sourcebook Songs of the Spellbound Sea. Machines of Bone & Blood is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter with pledges starting with a PDF copy for $30. The campaign will end on July 9th at 2pm PDT, and at the time of this writing has raised over $90k.
It should be noted that Machines of Bone & Blood is written for the 2014 D&D 5e ruleset, but will have conversion information if you are playing with the 2024 5.5e rules.
What’s In Machines of Bone & Blood?
Machines of Bone & Blood is a sourcebook that contains both player and DM options for the Ivory Empire setting. This new setting is called the “Necroindustrial Revolution.” It’s somewhat analogous to our Industrial Revolution, but with a lot more necromancy and gothic mad scientists!
Two New Classes
Speaking of necromancy, one of the new classes is the necromancer. Playing as a necromancer, you’ll use a resource called spirit points to animate a variety of undead minions. There will be over a dozen subclasses for the necromancer, including:
- The Soul Master: the paradigmatic necromancer, combining minion commands and fearsome spells seamlessly.
- The Death Knight: An armored warrior in the frontlines, able to strike down a foe and raise their corpse mere moments later.
- The Galvanist: A science-obsessed necromancer who practices their art through electrical modifications.
- The Boneshaper: A dark caster who wields fearsome osteomancy spells and equips its minions with weapons made of cursed bone.
The second new class is the Abomination, a martial/support that becomes more and more frenzied until it transforms into a monster. Here are a few of the subclasses for that class:
- The Beast: The emblematic abomination shifts into a terrible beast, akin to the werewolves of folklore.
- The Flame: An abomination who sets themselves alight and lays waste to the battlefield.
- The Slayer: A whirling demon of teeth and claws, ripping through opponents.
In addition to these new classes, there will also be dozens of new, thematic subclasses for the existing D&D classes.
Four New Species
Four new playable species include:
- The Shadeborn lineage, individuals born under a black moon and with darkness entwined in their souls.
- Awakened Trees, mighty oaks inspired to march from their forests to tear down the belching factories.
- The Bonebound lineage, workers driven by desperation to necromantically augment their own bodies.
- Fenwyrms, bog-dwelling reptiles who take up arms after their homes are poisoned by soul-smoke.
Spells
Did someone say spells? There will be over 100 new spells in the book, primarily focused on necromancy, osteomancy (bone magic), and shadow magic.
Monsters
More than 40 new monsters are introduced, ready to help bring the Necroindustrial Revolution to life (or probably more appropriately, death).
The Ivory Empire Setting
The Ivory Empire is a powerful and reclusive island kingdom, its might is built on the back of naval power and far-flung merchant colonies. Today, its noble class is intoxicated with the possibilities of necromantic power—self-sustaining factories, autonomous machines, and no need to bother with pesky laborers ever again.
Machines of Bone & Blood will have mini-settings within the Ivory Empire, each coming with 2-4 page setting primers, with adventure seeds, key locations, prominent NPCs, and regional maps.
Why You Should Back Machines of Bone & Blood
So make no mistake: this is an adventure setting, not an adventure itself. Machines of Bone & Blood is a sourcebook for both dungeon masters & players, creating an evocative setting and providing plenty of tools for creating original adventures in the Necroindustrial Revolution.
Speaking of the Necroindustrial Revolution, it sounds like it will be a very interesting setting in which to place campaigns. The undead are replacing workers in the factories, much like automation was taking over in the actual Industrial Revolution…and how AI is replacing workers today. So the adventures should end up feeling very relevant to the players.
There is a 20-page playtest document that you can download and check out for yourself here. You’ll be able to take a look at the details of the Necromancer class, along with a couple of its subclasses, as well as a couple of subclasses for existing D&D classes. I particularly liked the Deathhunter Conclave Ranger, which gets special abilities to combat the undead. Which may not be of as much use in a more traditional setting, but in the world of the Ivory Empire, there’s plenty of undead to fight.
The playtest document and the Kickstarter page should give you a good sense of whether you like the setting and options for your playgroup. It’s certainly a bit darker than a lot of campaign settings out there, but if you (like me) dig horror, then there’s a lot to appeal in Machines of Bone & Blood. Somanyrobots’ previous campaign setting, Songs of the Spellbound Sea, was well-received, so if you’re looking for a different take on gothic horror, you should definitely take a closer look at Machines of Bone & Blood.
For more information or to make a pledge, visit the Machines of Bone & Blood Kickstarter page!
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