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This nifty little product for Old-School Essentials has quite the amount of content for its size: a whopping 18 classes packed into 44 pages! As its full name is "Fiendish Friends: Monster Go Adventuring Too," the idea is to present playable rules for some of the most common and iconic creatures in old-school D&D and fantasy gaming in general. That being said, this book is written with the perspective that the monsters within still adhere to their traditional alignments and nature, meaning that there are certain roleplaying restrictions for several. For example, ghouls will refuse to travel with Clerics and Paladins of Lawful alignment and cannot enter holy spaces, while gnolls' uncontrollable laughter and greedy nature can impose penalties on certain traditional Thief skills.
Additionally, in true old-school fashion, certain monster classes are more powerful than others, which is usually presented as having slower experience progression and/or the existence of ability score requirements. Of the monsters here, 9 are humanoid, 6 are undead, 2 are giants, and 1 is fey. And while many monsters here have supernatural powers or can replicate particular spells, only 2 get access to Vancian spell progression by default, Deep One and Satyr. Triton and Vampires can get equivalent spellcasting access, but are respectively based on certain choices for domain-level play and ability score requirements. Every class in this book only goes up to 8th level, but there's quite a few "domain-level play" capstones that kick in much earlier, with several as early as 4th level!
Dark Creeper is our first monster, being closest to the Thief in role. They have a more restricted weapon/armor list, being unable to use armor or shields and can fight only with daggers and slings. Combined with their d4 Hit Die, they should not be engaging in straight-up fights.
However, they are very good at being sneaky, with infravision to 90 feet, a 3 in 6 chance of ambushing enemies (5 in 6 in darkness), and upon death their body explodes in a bright light that destroys non-metal items on their body and blinds nearby creatures. The abilities they gain at higher levels center strongly around stealth and scouting, such as the pickpocket Thief skill, detecting nearby magic items and can eventually auto-identify them, magically extinguish all light sources in an AoE 3/day and cannot be relit for an hour, and conjure dark fog in which only their species can see in 2/day. Their capstone kicks in at 6th level where they transform into a dark stalker, growing in size and can spawn more dark creeper retainers from their bodies over time.
Thoughts: This class is a strong thematic fit for the supernatural skulker in shadows, to the point that it can easily be reflavored in representing similar creatures. In terms of role they are closest to thieves, even getting a few features to differentiate themselves such as infravision and magic item detection. That being said, there are some things a traditional Thief is still good at, such as opening locks, searching for traps, and of course the damage multiplier from Backstab, so I imagine that a party containing both classes aren't going to feel invalidated by the other.
A
Deep One is an amphibious humanoid created by Lovecraftian deities who at low levels can pass for human. Their role is closest to the iconic demi-human fighter, where they have a d6 Hit Die, can use any weapons, and can only wear leather armor and shields. At 1st level they have infravision of 90 feet and suffer -1 to attacks while in daylight, but as they level up get progressively more of that "Innsmouth look" such as growing scales that increase their AC, double normal movement speed when swimming, and immunity to a variety of effects such as poisons and illusion and charm spells. By 5th-level they gain access to 1st level Cleric spells and 2nd level spells at 7th, although the gods they worship are Chaotic in alignment. At 6th-level they can no longer be mistaken for human and thus suffer social penalties against Lawful creatures,* and their 8th-level capstone allows them to gather other deep one retainers who can raid sea traffic and bring back loot.
*Social penalties in this book are typically -4 to Charisma checks.
Thoughts: This kind of class is best suited to campaigns primarily set near bodies of water, as being able to swim faster and breathe underwater are rather situational. They feel like a poor man's cleric, not being able to wear heavy armor and only having a fraction of their magical power. Immunity to poisons and various spell effects are perhaps the most useful abilities, kicking in around mid-level and allowing the class to overcome some relatively common (yet quite dangerous) effects. But again, this class feels more like you'd choose it for aesthetic appeal more than anything.
The
Ghost is an ethereal undead of a deceased mortal. They cannot interact with the physical world due to their nature, although they can possess another creature of equal or less Hit Die who fails a save vs spells. This possession lasts indefinitely until the body is slain, magically dispelled, or the Ghost leaves the body voluntarily. On top of their d8 Hit Die and excellent progression in all saving throws, they are immune to pretty much all conventional dangers. However, the book calls out that they can be harmed by (non-mind affecting) spells, magic weapons, and silver weapons which deal double damage to them even while possessing a body. Unlike other ethereal beings they are not invisible and cannot pass through solid stone, and their primary attack is a life-draining ability that deals Constitution damage where foes slain this way cannot be revived. At 6th level they are so frightful that those who first see them suffer a Morale check and age 10 years if they fail a save vs spells. Their 8th level capstone lets them become invisible as per the spell 2/day, can interact with mundane objects including equipping them, and can gain a haunted house as a stronghold and attract 1d6 other ghosts.
Thoughts: Even without the traditional ethereal and invisible nature, the ghost class is incredibly powerful. In games where magic is very rare, they are at no real danger from most enemies who don't have silver weapons, and their ethereal and undead nature makes them excellent scouts for environments and hazards that would be deadly to flesh-and-blood creatures. Their possession ability is very strong as well, although the ghost still uses its own Hit Points, mental ability scores, and Thac0. I would be hard-pressed to allow this class for most campaigns.
Ghoul is another undead class, and the first one with a minimum ability score requirement: 9 Constitution. They are quite predictably closest to the Fighter type, along with the Hit Die and weapon/armor proficiencies to boot (but cannot gain their equipment benefits when they frenzy at one-quarter hit points or lower). They are an extremely front-loaded class: on the restricted end of things, they suffer social penalties when interacting with Lawful creatures and find holy/lawful divine casters and places anathema. On the positive side, they have the typical undead immunities,* have claws and teeth that deal 1d4 damage (can attack twice per round when frenzying), can spend 10 minutes eating a corpse to heal 1d6 hit points, and can gain Magic-User spells from such cannibalism until the next long rest** if they have at least 10 Intelligence and eat a Magic-User's corpse. Additionally, most other undead won't attack the ghoul unless provoked.
At 3rd level they can paralyze creatures with their claws for 2d4 turns unless they're elves or larger than ogres, and their capstone kicks in extra-early at 4th level. However, their "capstone" is rather weak, where they become a servant of a Cleric or Magic-User necromancer who is one level higher than the ghoul. In spite of their power, they view the ghoul as an expendable minion, as they "will function like a particularly stubborn and demanding retainer" and the ghoul "must simper and grovel for any help."
*In OSE this includes stuff that affects living creatures, plus mind-affecting spells such as Detect Thoughts and Hold Person/Monster.
**A 5e-exclusive term that doesn't exist in OSE.
Thoughts: A very strong class, the ghoul can easily heal their wounds as long as they have a fresh supply of corpses. Their social penalties are a bit situational, as the whole "cannot adventure with Lawful divine casters and paladins" isn't going to come up in play in most campaigns given that a party containing both types of characters would be very mismatched in theme by default. Their paralyzing claws are the most powerful feature, as they auto-apply with no save, and it can apply to a decent chunk of the default bestiary in Old-School Essentials. The capstone feels a bit weird to me: while the retainer is much stronger than most of their kind and effectively functions as a 2nd PC for the player, the mandating of poor treatment is the kind of thing that feels much more of a setback than a conventional benefit, unlike the other capstones.
The
Gnoll hearkens back to the very old days, when they were gnome-troll hybrids who somehow came out looking like humanoid hyenas. Otherwise this book's treatment of the species is pretty much the same as they are in conventional D&D. They're yet another "fighting man demihuman" in terms of role, although they have a d6 Hit Die which makes them closer to Elves than Dwarves in durability. Their initial features include gaining +1 to hit with crossbows at close range and can reload and fire them in a single action, can Climb Sheer Surfaces as a Thief at their normal movement but with 60% success, have 4 in 6 or 5 in 6 chance of ambushing foes if they have time to prepare and whether or not they have higher ground advantage, and have a 2 in 6 chance of pickpocketing but a 5 or 6 roll causes them to laugh loudly and reveal what they're doing.
Their higher level features include having the benefits of the Haste spell when chasing fleeing foes, a 3 in 6 chance of sneaking past enemies, and a permanent +2 to their Dexterity score. Their capstone kicks in at 4th level where they become an Alpha Gnoll of a pack of 2d6 gnolls who don't have to check for Morale when performing a dangerous action provided that they see the Alpha do it first. In terms of roleplay restrictions, gnolls attack fey and gnomes on sight due to being twisted mockeries of the fey, and are so easily distracted by treasure that they never succeed at detecting traps.
Thoughts: The gnoll feels like a Fighter-Thief hybrid in that they gain several features devoted to stealth and ambushes along with fast climbing. The ability to reload and fire a crossbow in the same round makes them great ranged fighters, while the situational pseudo-Haste is pretty neat and is one I can see triggering rather often for DMs who use the Morale rules. The auto-fail at detecting traps feels like it was put in to prevent the class from stepping on the Thief's toes too much.
The
Goblin is pretty much every 1st-level party's rite of passage, and thus needs no introduction. While they can equip any armor or weapon that fits them, they have a meager d4 Hit Die and their saving throws are poor across the board. Their height is their Constitution divided by 3, meaning that those under 4 feet (12 CON) tall cannot wield two-handed weapons. They also cannot use magical equipment, which makes them break out in painful rashes, and will refuse to cooperate with dwarves under any circumstances. The class' initial features include infravision of 90 feet, -1 to hit in daylight, and can ambush foes with a 3 in 6 chance provided they do so when approaching in darkness. Their higher level features center around being a "master of minions," including a wolf that can be used as a mount which becomes a Dire Wolf and Winter Wolf at higher levels, can auto-sacrifice a goblin retainer to avoid a single damaging source, and a Thoul bodyguard who can be replaced in 1d6 months if slain. Their domain-level play features at 4th level and lets them establish their own warren of goblins which attracts one goblin retainer per week, up to their class level.
Thoughts: Besides the 3 in 6 ambush chance, the Goblin has no real Thief-like abilities by default, and their Hit Die makes them poor warriors. This class takes a rather novel approach in being a pseudo-warlord whose best features come from centering around their use of retainers, two of which are unique monsters. The class has a bit of a rough beginning, but can look fun to use for a player who relies heavily on minions.
The
Gullygug is our copyright-friendly bullywug, humanoids who worship wicked frog deities who they sacrifice humans to in exchange for supernatural powers and insight. While they have a d6 Hit Die and can use shields and any weapons, they are quite fragile in being unable to equip any sort of armor. Their initial features include being able to hold their breath for one hour (they are not truly amphibious), can swim at their normal movement rate, can harvest a slain goblin's pineal gland and smoke it to restore 1d6 hit points and gain +4 Charisma for an hour, can jump up to 30 feet, and gain various buffs when making an attack after jumping this way such as double damage with impaling weapons. Their higher-level features include the chance of finding magic scrolls when cutting open frogs and toads, their skin can produce psychedelics which can coat weapons 2/day, and can naturally heal damage much faster over time and regrow lost limbs with rest. Their 7th-level domain play feature lets them send themselves and the rest of the party on a psychedelic vision quest, where the player and DM swap places to run the dream as a game session. The party keeps experience points and treasure accrued, provided it makes sense "within the bounds of psychedelic reason."
Thoughts: This class feels like it requires more DM Fiat than others. The psychedelic poison has no game mechanics for the effects itself, only for how long it can last and that it requires a save vs poison to resist. Similarly speaking, the ability to cut open frogs and toads is quite exploitable during periods of downtime, as the gullygug PC can declare that their PC goes out hunting for frogs or decides to raise their own "frog farm" for such purposes. The scrolls obtained this way can only be cast by Gullygugs, so it's not the kind of thing that can really beef up an Elf or Magic-User in the party.* The vision quest sounds quite cool, but as it is treated as its own separate game session, there needs to be an increased degree of cooperation and planning between the player and DM for who will run for the next session. Otherwise, the gullygug feels a lot like a glass cannon: they have the opportunity to deal lots of damage with a jumping attack, but their inability to equip armor means that they can find themselves in a hairy situation if they end up in the middle of a group of enemies.
*Unless you do the alternate race separate from class rules at the end of this book, at which point a Gullygug Magic-User is very powerful.
The
Kobold is our other 1st-level adventurer fodder class, and the book really plays into their weak nature. For one, their ability score requirement mandates that they have a
maximum Strength of 8, and while they can equip any size-appropriate weapon and armor up to chainmail, they are so weak that their carrying capacity is halved and they fail at even conventional feats of exertion, such as lifting the lids of large chests or even opening jars unaided. Furthermore, if they're ever fighting alone, they gain an uncontrollable urge to flee combat. Suffice to say, their Hit Die is a d4 and their saves are poor across the board.
So, what good things do kobolds get? Well, infravision to 90 feet, treat their AC as 2 better against enemies larger than humans, gain the benefits of Haste when running away at 2nd level, at 3rd level they have a 5 in 6 chance of setting up a successful trap that deals their level times 1d4 damage or other effects depending on DM discretion (failure causes the trap to affect the kobold), and at 5th level they can mimic the call of any monster which can be used to attract a specific monster within earshot or auto-trigger a wandering monster roll on a failed 3 in 6 roll. Their domain play capstone kicks in at 6th level, where they gain ownership of a dungeon populated by kobold retainers and 1 random 4 HD monster, and once per week the loot of slain adventurers is given to the PC in the form of a treasure table result.
Thoughts: This class is very close to the Goblin in being a squishy small humanoid who should be nowhere near the front lines. Unlike the Goblin, who at least can count on help from retainers, the kobold gets no such aid until 6th level, and otherwise their only other major class feature of note is their trap-making ability. While this last feature can be quite potent in the hands of a creative player, as traps take 1d4 turns to set up it's entirely possible that their project might be interrupted by a wandering monster roll. This class is a hard sell for most players save for those who want the novelty of playing a very weak yet crafty monster.
The
Lizard Man is perhaps the best-known low-level humanoid foe who isn't evil/chaotic by default. They occupy the "demihuman fighter" role quite well, having a d8 Hit Die, can equip any weapon or armor, and are a pretty front-loaded class. Their initial features include a slow metabolism which lets them only need to eat and drink 1/month and makes insta-death poisons take 1d4 turns to take effect, can swim at their normal movement rate, +1 AC when not wearing plate armor, have teeth and claw attacks that deal 1d6 damage with +1 to hit, and are immune to fear "and other similar psychological effects."
Their higher-level features include 5 in 6 chance of ambush when striking from water and dense foliage, increased bonuses to hit with spears and clubs, and can let out a roar which immediately provokes Morale checks from foes who hear it. Their 7th level capstone turns them into a Lizard Wizard with their own temple, where in addition to lizardmen retainers gain a giant flame lizard mount. Lizard Wizards can memorize a single 1st to 3rd level spell from any class' spell list, which can be cast once before needing to memorize another one which requires returning to the temple.
Thoughts: This class is pretty much a straight up martial one, where unlike the Deep One they have a decent amount of abilities that are doable in adventures not in traditionally watery environments. The immunity to fear and delaying instadeath poisons are pretty powerful defenses, too, and the AC bonus and natural weapons make them decent warriors even should they not start out with much gold. The capstone feels a bit off-beat and kind of jokey given the rhyming title, but the "memorize one spell" can make for a nice ace up their sleeve.
The
Orc is another 1st-level adventurer fodder, and similar to the Kobold its requirement is a maximum Intelligence of 9. The flavor text in the sourcebook is quite different from the D&D/OSE variety, where they are actually artificial creations of forgotten gods and their bodies are conglomerates of metal and meat. Predictably they are straightforward fighters, with d8 Hit Die, can equip any weapons or armor, infravision of 90 feet, and -1 to hit in daylight. Their nerve endings weren't put together properly at the time of their creation, imposing a -2 penalty on ranged attacks, and are easily frightened by larger foes which force them to flee combat if they fail a Wisdom check when fighting such a creature. Their size is uniformly 5 feet, but at 4th level onwards they grow 6 inches to a maximum of 7 and a half feet tall. Their higher-level features include a "blood rage" at 2nd level which grants increased damage and bonus attacks by shedding blood and killing foes in combat, can drink grog once per encounter to heal 1d6 hit points, and can equip a two-handed weapon in each hand at 7 feet tall and gain bonuses to hit with them. They also ignore the Wisdom test if their weapon is larger than the enemy they're fighting.* Their domain play feature kicks in at 6th level, where they can gain control of an orc tribe by challenging its leader to single combat, where the tribe members and possessions of the loser are bequeathed to the winner.
*unlikely, given that anything larger than a 7+ foot tall orc is most certainly larger than a greatsword.
Thoughts: Unpredictably, the Orc is built first and foremost as a melee warrior, and unlike the Goblin and Kobold classes they have decent saves. They still have a cowardly nature due to the forced Wisdom check when fighting larger foes, but otherwise they are decent frontliners for a party. I do like the call to Lord of the Rings where orcs have a special grog that increases their healing rate. That's not a feature you see in most non-Tolkien versions of orcs in fantasy.
The
Ogre is one of the two giant-kin classes in this book, and has the strictest ability-based prerequisites in requiring a minimum Strength of 15. They also have a stellar d10 Hit Die and can equip any armor or shields but can only use large weapons, so you know that they're meant to be a hulking brawler type. They are a front-loaded class, where they can wield a two-handed weapon in one hand and use ballistae and cannons as two-handed weapons. They auto-succeed when opening stuck doors and ordinary strength checks, ignore sources of damage that deal 1 hit points' worth, and can pick up and throw boulders as d10 ranged weapons with -1 to hit and whose range is 10 to 30 feet. They are ravenous and require ten times the amount of food and rations to eat per day, and suffer -2 on saves against mental effects.
At 5th level they add +2 to their Strength and can choose from one of three domain-play abilities: attract 1d6 ogre retainers, 1d6 1st-level adventurer retainers of various classes, or 3d6 orc retainers. At 6th level they automatically attract 1d6 goblin retainers, and the Ogre can eat one of them to counter the negative effects of a Morale test, as the goblins become more afraid of disobeying the Ogre than the original threat.
Thoughts: Ogres in D&D traditionally have a difficult time being different from Orcs and other strong, dumb humanoids in terms of mechanics and role. But this sourcebook manages to overcome this hurdle in that they can be quite decent ranged attackers with boulders and certain siege weapons, along with a surprisingly versatile domain-play ability where they can recruit different types of minions. Their need to eat ten times as much can either be a crippling penalty or a minor nuisance depending on the environment the PCs are in. Given that even low-level OSR adventures can get a lot of gold while adventuring, keeping the ogre fed on rations really only adds up over the course of a longer campaign, where money is tight (50 gp per week), or they cannot reliably forage for meals.
The
Revenant are literal self-made undead, defying true death through sheer will in order to perform a task they desperately wanted to accomplish in life. They have a minimum 14 Wisdom in order to play, and while they have a d6 Hit Die they can make for decent warriors in being able to equip all weapons and armor, very good saves across the board, and the traditional undead immunities plus ignoring all sources of damages that aren't silver, magical, acidic, or fire. Like ghouls, other undead won't attack them unless provoked, and they are obviously walking corpses which impose social penalties when interacting with Lawful creatures unless pains are taken to conceal their undead nature. If a Revenant would ever ordinarily "die," they can return to life in 1d20 turns if they succeed on a Wisdom check, provided their remains aren't burned/dissolved/etc. Their higher-level features include regenerating 1d3 hit points per turn and the ability to reattach severed limbs, can "throttle" a humanoid foe via an unarmed attack that deals 2d8 damage and holds them in place, and their 6th level capstone lets them declare an oath of vengeance against one or more specific creatures where they gain +2 on rolls spent in pursuit of this, but they die and move on to the afterlife upon achieving this goal.
Thoughts: The Revenant class is up there with the Ghost and Troll in being a monster who can shrug off most conventional assaults and/or has a reliable means of surviving otherwise-deadly threats. But unlike those classes, the Revenant doesn't have much in the way of attack-based or active features, where pretty much all of their capabilities are defensive in nature. That being said, they are perhaps a more "relatable" kind of undead than the others in this book, as despite the social penalties with Lawful creatures they don't have extreme mandates like "cannot enter holy places or work with paladins," and unlike ghouls and vampires they don't need to sustain themselves in socially taboo ways.
The
Satyr is the only fey creature in this book, and unlike the other classes is a primary caster and highly sociable in nature. It requires a minimum Charisma of 12 to play, has a d4 Hit Die, is proficient in no armor or weapons save bows and a 2d4 attack with their horns, has great saves across the board, and from 1st-level onwards gains access to Vancian magic in the form of Druid and Illusionist spells. They require a musical instrument in order to cast spells, and the maximum spell level they can cast are 4th-level spells. Their other initial features include a 5 in 6 chance of foreseeing an enemy ambush, can effortlessly move through mundane forest overgrowth and never get lost in such terrain, and can drink six times as much alcohol as normal before getting drunk. At 5th level they can cast two spells in the same turn* by taking 2d6 damage, effectively gains at-will Charm Monster at 6th level provided they word their charms via song, and their 7th level capstone adds +4 to all reaction rolls as monsters no longer perceive the Satyr as an enemy upon first impression. Their domain play ability kicks in at 4th level where they can hold a festival once per full moon. The festival's conclusion results in a 1d6 table of random consequences, such as 1d6 elf/gnome retainers who warmed up to the Satyr during the party, or the Satyr treating their AC as 4 better for the rest of the month as the moon blesses them.
*presume they meant round instead, as a turn is 10 minutes in OSE.
Thoughts: Given how common it is for monsters in both RPGs and folklore to have magical abilities or otherwise supernatural origins, it is a bit surprising that only one monster in this book is a "pure mage." They are closest to the Bard in being a socially-oriented spellcaster, and besides their horn attack are much more utility in nature than straightforward offense. Being able to draw spells from 2 different classes makes them very open-ended in the kinds of magic that they can use, and their ability to foresee ambushes roughly 84% of the time and finding their way around forests are extremely useful in most campaigns. While the latter is a bit situational, a huge amount of old-school adventures and settings (both official TSR and third-party) have forests as regions to explore, making this a very common terrain type. The at-will charm is potentially the most abusable feature, even if it does require a save.
The
Skeleton is the most common type of undead save for zombies, and due to their obvious deceased nature they can only have a maximum Charisma of 12. Like some other undead in this book they cannot enter holy places, travel with Lawful Clerics and Paladins, and other undead won't attack them first, but the clacking of their bones makes it impossible for them to be stealthy save when motionless. They have a d6 Hit Die, are proficient in all weapons and armor, have the typical undead immunities, and take half damage from slashing attacks (round up) and are immune to arrows and impaling attacks. Their social penalties are even more extreme, suffering a whopping -8 penalty, and most people will scream and run upon seeing them. The only abilities they get beyond 1st level include being able to separate bones and body parts to act and perceive independently at 4th level, and their domain play kicks in at 6th level where they gain either a nightmare or 6 Hit Die necrophidius mount, and can cast Animate Dead 2/day but only to create skeletons.
Thoughts: The skeleton feels rather lacking in truly unique features in comparison to the other undead classes. Suffering less damage vs slashing/impaling attacks doesn't have the sheer impact of immortality and immunity to mundane effects that the Ghost and Revenant have, and their ability to detach body parts is a bit more situational than the Ghost's ability to scout ethereally. Their Charisma penalty, combined with their maximum Charisma score, is even more deleterious than the other undead in this book. That being said, I imagine that it's easier to conceal their nature than the others, what with full-body clothes and armor or their lack of rotting flesh causing a stink. Their domain play feature can potentially grant them a veritable skeleton army over time, provided they have access to enough corpses, but otherwise that won't kick in until more than halfway through their level progression.
The
Troll is our other giantkin class in this book, and it also has a d10 Hit Die. They are much more endurance-focused than the Ogre, requiring a minimum Constitution of 12, which also makes it easier to qualify for in terms of dice probability than the Ogre's Strength 15. Trolls can use any armor or weapons, even smaller ones, and their Armor Class is 4 better vs slashing weapons, but due to their odd proportions all such equipment must be specially made. Their initial features include dealing 1d6 damage with unarmed attacks. Trolls automatically heal 1d4 hit points per turn and regrow lost limbs, and will automatically revive 1d4 days after death if killed by anything besides fire and acid (which deals double damage to them and suffer -1 on saving throws vs such sources). Their higher-level features include vomiting alkaline bile that deals 1d4 damage upon contact and 1d4 damage each round it's not washed off, enemies suffer -1 to Morale checks when they can see the Troll, and they can mold their body to disguise themselves as a non-specific tall, ugly human. Their domain play feature is at 4th level, where they can set up a Trollbooth on a bridge that collects 1d6 times 100 gold in tribute per week, as well as attracting 1d4 troll retainers to man the Trollbooth. Trolls also gain the ability to veto any new retainers from joining the party.
The book notes that while trolls are extremely resilient, this is partially made up for by the fact that their weakness to acid and fire is common knowledge, so enemies who are aware of a party with a Troll will usually deploy torches and other flammable sources if possible.
Thoughts: Fiendish Friends isn't the first sourcebook that tried its hand at playable trolls, and they're one of the tricker monsters in D&D and inspired systems for this. Chiefly due to the fact that the monster's rapid regeneration is incredibly hard to emulate without trivializing the resource management aspect of hit points. This book has the best such take on trolls that I've seen so far: first off, it reduces the regeneration to 1d4 hit points per turn, which isn't fast enough to matter in actual combat but in terms of dungeon exploration and natural healing (1d3 hit points for each full day of complete rest by default) is still significant enough to still feel good without being overpowered. The "per turn" mandate lines up nicely with light sources and wandering monsters, and interestingly this class doesn't have Infravision, so the Troll can't afford to just wait around to go back to full hit points in the dungeon. Additionally, they are actually less resilient than the Ghost and Revenant on account that their weakness is commonly known and conventional sources of harm can still deal damage to them and knock them out. I am not fond of the "can veto retainers from joining the party" part of their domain play feature, as it feels like it will lead to arguments and resentment among players.
The
Triton is our final aquatic class in this book, and is the most tied to oceanic adventures due to their class feature. They have a d6 Hit Die, can only wear leather armor and shields, and can only use tridents (1d6 damage), crossbows, and daggers. However, tritons have access to special versions of the latter two, of crossbows that function underwater and coral daggers that can harm creatures only vulnerable to magical attacks. Tritons can breathe underwater and swim twice their movement, but only move half their normal speed on land and take 1d6 damage for every 10 minutes they spend out of water without specially-enchanted "reverse diving gear." They can communicate with all sea creatures, and the Triton can command creatures with equal or less Hit Dice than their level as well as being able to summon a hippocampus or giant seahorse as a mount. Their higher-level abilities include a +4 bonus on saves vs magic, and 1/day can double the depth of a body of water up to 10,000 square feet for 10 turns. Their domain play feature is at 8th level, where they choose one of three options: the first is to Become Human, replacing all their levels and features with another class, but they can still speak with and command sea creatures; become a King/Queen, grow a coral castle and gain a magic conch which 1/day can summon hippocampi and giant seahorses or cause hostile marine animals to flee; or become a Priest, gaining access to spells as per an 8th-level cleric.
Thoughts: Even more so than the other aquatic classes in this book, the Triton is practically screaming "don't play this if the campaign is too far away from the ocean." But for the appropriate campaigns, their ability to speak with and command sea creatures can be very useful. Their 8th level capstone feels a bit weird to me. I feel that becoming a human non-Triton class is the kind of thing that would only work for particular character arcs, as I imagine that most players would pick the Triton because they're cool and attractive aquatic demihumans/humanoids in the first place. The magic conch doesn't feel as useful as gaining Cleric spells, making the Triton Priest option the best-looking one.
The
Vampire class is a broad class, acknowledging that the many folkloric interpretations cover a lot of ground, so there are many different bloodlines even within the same setting. They have a d8 Hit Die and can equip any weapons or armor, have undead immunities, and only take damage from magic weapons, spells, and their Varied Vulnerabilities. For this last part, vampires can be killed by a stake to the heart, and suffer 2d6 damage per day they cannot return to and rest in their coffin. They choose two other weaknesses from a list of 4, which beyond just being damaging sources include other penalties such as being unable to cross running water in most circumstances, being blinded in sunlight, and the like. They have no domain play features, but instead at 3rd level can turn into a giant bat at will and gain bonus supernatural powers if they have at least 16 in one or more particular ability scores: Charisma lets them cast Charm Person at will, Intelligence 16 lets them cast spells as a Magic-User of their level + 3, and 16 Constitution lets them heal 1 hit point for every point of damage they inflict.
Oddly, I spotted an error in their level progression table. At 1st level their saving throw values are 8/9/10/10/12 for the typical death/wands/paralysis/breath weapon/spells, but at 2nd level they shoot up to 12/13/14/15/16. I presume that all the table results from 2nd to 6th are meant to be 1 lower, with the 1st level feature being for 6th level. The values for 7th level are 8/9/10/10/11, and thus only the spells category is 1 value higher (or worse) than the 1st level lineup.
Thoughts: The vampire is a pretty potent class in being immune to most sources of damage, but is even more restricted than the Ghost and Revenant in that three of the four selectable weaknesses impose significant travel restrictions. They also need to lug around a coffin wherever they go in order to avoid taking damage (2d6 damage for every day they don't rest for at least 6 hours in a coffin). For the 3rd-level features, being able to turn into a giant bat at will gives them a potent means of continual flight, and each of the 16+ ability score requirements are pretty powerful features. The regenerating hit points via damage is pretty exploitable to the Bag of Rats trick, which combined with their immunity to most forms of damage may make the Vampire a tad too powerful to allow for most campaigns. I do wish that the vampire got a domain play feature, as characters like Dracula, Strahd, and World of Darkness coteries feel so iconic that not having them feels like a letdown.
The
Wight is our final class in this book, representing a variety of supernatural creatures who possess corpses. They are more evil than other kinds of undead as they sustain themselves via the suffering of others. They are sturdy like other undead in this book, having a d8 Hit Die, can equip any weapons and armor, have the typical undead immunities along with being immune to damage not originating from silver and magic weapons, fire, and spells. They can pass for living humans only if their Charisma is 15 or greater. Their higher level features include an energy drain unarmed strike attack that inflicts a permanent loss of 1 Hit Die/level per strike, can cause creatures slain via this attack to turn into wight retainers, and their domain level play lets them open a portal to hell in a graveyard and summon 1d6 wight retainers per week from it. They also halve the cost of construction projects in their domain of influence due to the efficiency of undead labor.
Thoughts: At first glance, the Wight's ability to level drain creatures and turn them into retainers looks very abusable. But as a PC can only have a maximum number of retainers dependent on their Charisma score, a character with this class cannot so easily make an army of loyal undead minions by hunting small animals and defenseless peasants. But with that being said, the permanent Hit Die/level loss feels too strong for a PC to have, as it effectively deals damage on top of being an overall debuff when it comes to other abilities dependent on it such as Thac0/saving throws/spell progression. I do like the domain play in emulating the feel of a typical evil overlord, which I can see being carried over to replace the domain features of Cleric and Magic-User for more villainous campaigns.
Advanced Rules for Race/Class is an alternate ruleset for those gaming tables that separate race and class. The class-free versions of monstrous races in this book have most of their iconic abilities, but do away with the class-specific stuff like Hit Die and domain level play features. In this variant rule, they all have ability score minimums (or maximums for the Kobold, Orc, and Skeleton), even if they didn't have them before, along with modifications to ability scores such as the Lizard Man gaining +1 Strength and Dexterity but -2 to Charisma.
The book notes that this isn't recommended, as the monsters here have quite a number of potent abilities which can end up with PCs who are too powerful when combined with standard classes. To partially rectify this, the book imposes XP Penalties for monsters in this book, ranging from 0% for ones in line with basic options, to -15% for the more powerful ones such as Ogres and Wights. The Vampire has a whopping -50%, however, with no other coming close. Some entries are surprisingly lower than I thought that they would be, such as the Ghost having -10% which is the same as a Dark Creeper, or the Ghoul having a -5% in spite of their very powerful paralyzing claw attack.
Overall Thoughts: Fiendish Friends is a very imaginative book, and the author managed to retain many iconic monstrous features while coming up with new ones that still feel thematically appropriate. I was pleasantly surprised by the large amount of undead options, which can make for interesting characters in campaigns that lean into dark fantasy and horror themes. Quite a bit of domain level play options come in very early, which I take is meant to make up for their low capstone at 8th level. But in a mixed party this may feel a bit "early" in comparison to classes that typically get such features at 8th or 9th level.
While the author acknowledges that the classes aren't intended to be balanced against each other, there are still some options that I'd be reluctant to allow for most campaigns. Even if they have some common weaknesses, certain monsters' outright immunity to most conventional sources of harm feels too strong and exploitable, and besides the troll and fire it may feel too artificial and disbelief-breaking if the DM starts making enemies with attacks tailored to their weakness in most sessions.
Between the amount of content you get and its low price, I definitely recommend Fiendish Friends for groups interested in playable monsters for OSR campaigns!
