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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2009497" data-attributes="member: 18387">When I buy an RPG product, my cardinal concern is how balanced it is. I don't care how creative your little rule supplement is if it's to knock my game into munchkinland or rip my players apart through challenge rating miscalculations. I'm also a fairly anal retentive wargamer, and I like rules that are as close to flawless as possible. That's why the sheer number of errors i found in DoD knocked my proverbial socks off.Almost every other page in this collection of dark, Gothic creatures has at least one error on it, be it inccorect damage ratings, attack bonuses, saves or skills. The number of typos to be found is equally impressive (one recurring fault is the way the "-" symbol somehow became the "1/2" symbol, making advancement ranges an amusing pain to read). A further annoyance is the way the book was built with the Ravenloft setting's "Fear, Horror, Madness" system in mind. Many of the creatures' abilities refer to the core RL book's section on that mechanic, an irritating assumption for those who don't own it or would rather not use such rules. Denizens of Darkness could have very easily stood on its own, as those familiar with the "Fear, Horror, Madness" rules will realize that refering to them was unecessary. Rule and formatting shortcomings aside, the creatures presented are actually quite decent, managing to be creative without being too outlandish. Most of them can function as entire adventures in themselves, a plus for those DMs with time constraints. It carries its dark theme very well, managing a degree of subtlety that puts the similarly inclined Creature Collection II to shame.As for appearance, the exterior is elegant simplicity that looks good on any game shelf. The interior art is a mix of new pieces and older ones collected from the Ravenloft setting's illustrious history. Individually many of the pieces are quite effective (I especially like the "inkstain" style of one particular artist), but the whole is an unappealing visual mishmash.I caution once more, don't buy this product if you are not willing to put in time and effort to clean up its rule gaffs.</blockquote>

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