This is our review of Creatures: Netherworld and we would like to thank Studio Agate for sending us a digital copy. It is a rich bestiary designed for Fateforge, a very successful setting created by the French studio in 2019. We are talking about D&D 5e, therefore a product under OGL. Fateforge introduces new mechanics and new approaches to the game. Creatures: Netherworld exploits them properly. Although it has original material that can also be included in other campaigns, it is highly recommended to use it after having at least explored the core manual of Fateforge.
This manual was born thanks to the great success achieved with a Kickstarter campaign, rich of ditigal stretch goals.
Review of the Creatures: Netherworld Manual
The volume is impressive. 399 pages, which maintain a good compromise between a legible layout and the attempt to recreate the look of an ancient tome. We’re talking about a bestiary, but the manual doesn’t focus solely on monster stats. On the contrary, it is full of suggestions on how to best use them and on what role to assign them in a campaign. There are also several lore insights. Many pages contain “inserts” from books that should exist in the setting; in this way they allow us to deepen what the characters can know as well as what the players can know.
Its artistic aspect is very satisfying. Joëlle ‘Iris’ Deschamp and Nelyhann, the authors, took care of the artistic direction together with Delphine ‘GinL’. The result is a manual that already speaks in pictures. The style of the vast audience of illustrators is extremely harmonious, and manages to give a “fairytale” touch to each page; at the same time Netherworld, the subterranean kingdom of Fateforge, is a place that is home to horrors of all kinds. And this horror imprint is very present.
An (Almost) Modular System
A rather interesting feature of Creatures: Netherworld is what the authors call a modular system. Perhaps this definition is a little too bombastic, but it is certain that they have created an interesting system. The manual has in fact ten different symbols, which can be found next to various text boxes. Each symbol indicates specific characteristics of that paragraph. Elements that can be integrated into the game or that you can choose to ignore, depending on the desired experience.
Whether it’s rules or setting elements, the symbols indicate whether using them will make the game more action or more horror; more challenging, focused on intrigue or mystery. In addition, some indicate more precise elements, closely related to Fateforge. Among them the Awakening, a prerogative of this setting; a kind of epiphany necessary to be able to use magic. Another one is the Corruption that can devour a character from the inside, and the Sublimation, a specular condition that we will explore further on.
Finally, the manual allows you to choose how much space you want to give to magic within your campaign. And one last symbol indicates what the original material created for Fateforge is. Many monsters have just been contextualized, but the adaptation work has been very precise and valuable.
Review of the Character Options in Creatures: Netherworld
The first part of the manual is dedicated to the fauna of the Netherworld. In particular, the first chapter introduces the playable races, specifying the peculiarities for which they differ from the counterparts of classic D&D 5e. The Drow are definitely an unmistakable trademark, although they differ greatly from the classic evil dark elf stereotype. Same goes for the Duergar; practitioners of forbidden magic and masters of technology, the two bloodlines they divide into are among the most advanced in the Netherworld.
The Sidhe of the Depths are creatures of fairy ancestry; sometimes born from the soil itself, they have a greater awareness of the world, more than of themselves. The Simmaiens, derogatory defined Grimlock, are instead the first inhabitants of the subsoil; accustomed to darkness like no other, they are blind but not to be underestimated for this. The Svirfneblin, the Deep Gnomes, are like Drow and Duergar natives of the surface. However, they have adapted to the subsoil to the point of becoming the best guides available.
The second chapter continues with useful resources for the Dungeon Master. The “tunnel fighters” are more in the perspective of a classic bestiary. We also find groups of NPCs belonging to the lineages presented in the first chapter, to be used as opponents in the underground.
Threats from the Underworld
Creatures: Netherworld continues with three chapters dedicated to the inhabitants of the underworld. The first two focuses on the creatures that originate from it. There are a lot of great classics such as slime, fungus and swarms. And in general a good amount of monsters adapted from D&D 5e. But there are also original creatures created specifically for the world of Eana, where the adventures of Fateforge take place. Among them we can find the Pale Dragons, creatures of enormous power, reduced to a kind of deformity by their underground “exile”.
The manual then continues with a series of creatures that can be summoned or created through rituals. Their presence in the Netherworld has now become common. In particular, the Shadow elementals have chosen it as their home. Here too we find a good mix of original and re-adapted creatures. The latter prevail, but always with excellent writing; you never get the impression that you are reading a copy and paste of the Monster Manual.
The first part of the manual ends with an overview of Blackwater, a plane partially superimposed on that of Fateforge from which the aberrations originate. The Aboleths are certainly the most “famous” monsters of this chapter. But in general there are many threats that should not be underestimated. Aberrations can have three different origins. They may have come from Blackwater, trying to spread into the Netherworld. They may be native to Blackwater but materially born on Eana. Or they may be the result of the manipulation of other aberrations and held at their service.
The Canker
The Canker is a force that deforms life itself. It is responsible for the corruption brought to Eana. More generally it is the main adversity in the world of Fateforge. The Canker destroys all that is alive. And where it fails, it corrupts it. The life forms corrupted by the Canker are deformed and monstrous. Above all, they are the prime vehicle for corruption itself.
The manual presents a first introduction to the Canker. But let’s not go into too much detail, to keep the review spoiler-free. The dynamics of the setting and the mechanics to interact with it are presented. Especially those who create the Ravagers; they are the servants of the Canker who spread its destruction in Eana.
The most traditional way Ravagers present themselves is as distorted and violent creatures. Beasts or so, their very shape reflects the suffering of corruption. This is a threat that far exceeds that of more traditional monsters. Between monsters, unique creatures and specific archetypes, you have a lot of choice. Of course there is always a focus on how the Canker uses his Ravagers as a conduit.
Sublimation
Sublimation is a process similar to that of corruption, but extremely rare. It happens only under certain conditions, and only on certain creatures. Here too, we don’t go into too much detail to avoid spoilers; in any case Sublimation is a much more treacherous and subtle process. The creatures that are victims of it do not in fact become deformed monsters. On the contrary, as the term sublimation itself suggests, they come out improved; a clear example are the centaurs, often allies of the peoples of the Netherworld.
The subtlety of Sublimation is exactly this one. Those who are victims are not aware of it, and are convinced that they are acting for the best. But their very existence is a subversion of the state of nature. Inevitably, Sublimation leads to the advance of the Canker, albeit with less clamor.
Conclusions of the Creatures: Netherworld Review
What Studio Agate proposed was not a simple project. A manual based mainly (but not only) on the revision of non-original content; all strongly influenced by the setting of Fateforge, which is not the simplest. It is a setting that brings very complex (and often potentially heavy) themes to the game table. The system of symbols certainly helps to modulate the experience, but always within the limits of its characteristics.
Creatures: Netherworld is a perfectly successful manual. The contents are abundant and always clear, and above all they never lose the focus of Fateforge. Surely these are contents that need the core manual of the setting; but for those who have already loved Eana’s atmospheres, it is an essential volume.