Review: DFRPG Companion 2

This is a review of the latest Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game book, Companion 2.

For more of my reviews, see my reviews page.

Dungeon Fantasy Companion 2
by Sean Punch
Published 2020 by Steve Jackson Games
64 pages

Dungeon Fantasy Companion 2 contains:

- 16 full-page magic items
- 6 monsters
- 14 NPCs

Each in turn:

The magic items are clearly the ones that didn't make it into Magic Items 2 due to missed stretch goals. Like those magic items, they're full page, with a large illustration. They each have a vignette, a description, power write-up, suggested placement, and cost. They're interesting, like all of the ones in Magic Items 2. The only ones that really leaped out to me were the mask Oudou and the Buccaneer's Band. They're all potentially useful, though, for the right sort of game.

The monsters are also clearly the ones that didn't make it into Monsters 2. There are six, including a version of the harpy I think is nastier than mine (from DFM3.) There are also centaurs, war boars for your orcs to ride on, and three other unique-to-DFRPG ones. The art on all of them is excellent and evocative. They also have adventure seeds, detailed box-outs for needed game information, and in some cases variants.

The NPCs are probably the most interesting. They're well-designed, and powerful enough to be a threat to a group of PCs, either directly or indirectly. Those of new races come with stats for those races - such as dark elf - or template - unholy warrior and evil cleric. The art on NPCs is excellent, although I found a couple lame - like Lady Aimara, who is a long-hair Asian woman in a silk gown . . . depicted from behind. Okay, great, so I know she has long black hair, that's it. Compare it to the evocative Mictecoix or King Scrogo the Munificent and it's very disappointing. Out of the entire book, this is the most fun section to read.

Overall: For someone exclusively playing the DFRPG, with no add-ons from DF, the added templates, advantages, and options make this hard to live without. For those playing with add-ons, you've probably seen most of those before. Still, if you need pregren unique bad guys, more magic items, and a few more monsters, it's valuable to have.