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Spite: the Second Book of Pandemonium is a stand-alone sequel to Dread: the First Book of Pandemonium. While the two are compatible mechanically and thematically, you don’t need Dread to play.

In Spite, players take on the role of Zealots, normal people who have been chosen (often at death’s door) to help in a war against Angels. And these aren’t your standard “harp and wings” Angels; they’re hideous, remorseless, inhuman creatures intent on punishing sin and saving the virtuous. Either of which results in lots of dead people, these Angels are an extermination force after all. And the beings that chose the PCs to fight in this war are a rival faction of Angels called Monitors (who have come to Earth and forsaken their immortality to aid mankind), making this a civil war of God’s servants. But to help you out, your Monitor has given you access to spells, powers, magical weapons, and really big spells for the war. Pity it won’t be enough.

Chapter 1: Pandemonium is an introduction to the setting of Spite. On August 8th, 2008, Angels entered our world and killed over a million people in North Carolina. Beyond that, and the setting is left up to the group define. How much does the average person know about Angels? How well known are the Zealots as monster hunters? How many Angels are there? And so on, etcetera etcetera. Without spoiling anything, the default assumption of the game (based on reading later chapters) seems to be that the average person knows nothing of what’s going on and accepts the government’s report that terrorists unleashed a nuclear weapon across the area. The government certainly knows something is up at least, making for a nice change of pace from the usual “shadowy monsters hidden in mystery” type of games. Also covered is a very broad look at the types of Angels active, along with a look at the (loosely defined) culture of the Zealots. But really, the setting (like everything else in the game) is pretty easy to tweak and customize to your heart’s content.

Chapter 2: Overview is a quick, brief look at how to roll dice. Basically, you have a pool of twelve-sided dice, and you (almost) always have at least one die to roll and no more than twelve. One interesting quirk though, is that if you roll multiple (say three 6’s) you can add the number of multiples to the multiple number; in other words 6 (the number you rolled) + 3 (the times you rolled it) = 9. Of course, if you roll a number higher than that on one of the other dice, you don’t get any extra bonus (an 11 still beats that 9). Resisted checks are easy enough to resolve, each player rolls their dice pool and the winner has the highest roll, with ties ignored (and multiples counting as a single die, so those three 6s aren’t available except as a single 9, if you take the multiple). The only thing that the rules weren’t clear on was non-resisted tasks. An easy task may have a target number of 5, but I couldn’t find whether you need to at least match the number or beat it. I assume you have to beat the number, since resisted rolls favor beating your opponent’s numbers, but I hate having to assume how a game’s rules are meant to be played. Wrapping up the chapter are some tools to help players get to thinking about what kind of game they want to play, and who their characters are.

In Chapter 3: Characters we get to the meat of making Zealots. Each Zealot has a Persona, basically an outlook of how the character approaches the war. Each Persona can chose one of a couple of different special powers, ranging from taking damage for other Zealots to instantly killing (or knocking unconcious) a normal human without having to roll. Next up are attributes: Strength (a measure of physical features), Sense (measuring mental features), and Soul (willpower and spiritual fortitude). Each is rated from 1 (below average) to 6 (superhuman); PCs have 9 points to buy their attributes, and have to put at least 4 points in one attribute. Each character also has a class: Fighter (gets a bonus to their combat dice pools), Investigator (can perform Analysis), and Sorcerer (has a greater range of spells). Each class also offers its own powers as well, of which players can choose one. Honestly, as presented the Investigators feel a tad bit weaker than the other classes, but their Analysis power can give the whole party more information, combat bonuses, and extra dice (provided they don’t take one of the other powers available instead of Analysis). It’s a case of the class seeming weak, but having one “must have” power to compensate, and it doesn’t work too well.

The player then picks skills, which are basically learned knowledge that isn’t covered by attributes. There’s only a handful, and they’re meant to be used in a pretty broad manner. Players then pick their Drive, something that motivates them to action (and is an excuse to roleplay for an extra die). Each character starts with two contacts. PCs also have a stat called Fury, which they use to magically heal wounds, purchase re-rolls, amplify damage, and so forth. The character’s Fury starts at (and is capped at) 12 points, with characters regaining it for achieving secondary goals, like saving innocent lives. Equipment is handled slightly differently from most other games. Each character has a Cash stat (which starts at 1 and can be raised through in game events). At the start of an adventure, they roll a number of dice equal to cash; this gives them a number of points to buy gear and equipment with (with costs listed on a table that follows). It’s fairly random, and I can see it working well to reflect the finances of Zealots who lack steady incomes.

It was in Chapter 4: Magic that my eyes glazed over a bit. Every character starts with a number of spells equal to twice their Soul stat, and can cast a number of spells equal to their Soul per adventure. There are 71 different spells that all Zealots can use (called Sacraments). Effects range from turning the caster’s arm into a cannon and rooting him to the ground, to stealing memories, to jumping. Almost none of them last very long, with most of them transforming the caster into something monstrous for the duration of effect. Each spell also has a bit of in-setting description, to better show how the spell might appear or be used. I should’ve enjoyed this chapter, but really it’s a lot to digest and it all felt kind of bland in a weird way. I think the short durations of the spells, combined with the somewhat repetitive nature of simple mechanics (normally a feature) left me bored with the Sacraments. “You can do this really cool, horrible thing, but only for a couple of seconds per adventure! And it’s only slightly different from what the other PC can do. Now go pick a couple from this big list of seventy or so.” That said there’s a handy reference page that lists all the Sacraments in a one-sentence form. Also, characters of the Sorcerer class have access to Anathemas, spells that let them exorcise Angels from possessed victims. There’s only seven Anathemas, which makes it easier to keep track of them and make them seem a bit more special.

Next is a really neat, if somewhat limited, set of related ideas called Imprecations, consisting of Blasphemies, Maledictions, and Desecrations. See, some of the Angels are really, really big. City stomping big. And each class of Zealot has access to numerous Imprecation spells that let them grow in size and scope to challenge these giant Angels. But each of these spells also cause problems for the people around them; and the more powerful the spell, the worse its side effects. Plus, each drains the life of the caster (potentially permanently), and takes several rounds to cast. Blasphemies let Fighters grow a small suit of power armor around themselves; Blasphemies are of short duration, but they tend to only inconvenience the innocents in the area. When Investigators cast Desecrations, they channel the essence of the people or land or unrealized destinies around them, and personify it and send it against the Angel. Desecrations appear more impressive than Blasphemies, but are also of short duration and tend to be more harmful to those drained for the casting (killing people in some cases, killing towns in others, depending on the Desecration used). Sorcerers cast Maledictions, channeling the energies they steal and rend directly through themselves. Maledictions create (weaker) Angels from the devastation they are powered by. Imprecations are neat, offering various types of power at great cost, making them magical weapons of mass destruction. However, they all have such short durations that it plays out like an episode of Voltron or Power Rangers, where the heroes all come together to unite to deliver their one and only blow to the giant monster and kill it. And if you can’t kill it in one blow? Well, you can always risk more health loss and collateral damage. Honestly, I’m not sure if my problems with the short duration of the spells in Spite are an actual flaw in the game, or a case of personal preference on my part. Maybe it’s that I like apples, and instead got close to a hundred oranges?

Chapter 5: Combat is about the “vivid and cinematic” style of combat that Spite aims for, and it lives up to its goal. Most of it is fairly straightforward stuff, but there’s a few stand out bits. Armor is ablative, absorbing damage meant for its wearer while degenerating in quality. Range is abstracted, broken down into three categories (hand-to-hand, medium range, and long distance). Ammo is a measure of how many conflicts a weapon can be used in before needing a reload (and reloads are pretty expensive). There’s even a section on vehicular combat and ramming attacks (which can come in handy when dealing with giant Angels). One nice touch however is the idea of Retirement. See, when a Zealot reaches zero Life Points (the measure of how much damage they can take) instead of dropping dead they are Retired. They get a surge of energy and health, and go out in a blaze of glory like a good action hero should.

Experience points and improving your character is covered in Chapter 6: Advancement. In a nutshell, it’s slow and expensive to advance your character. This chapter also introduces how characters can create magical weapons, and purchase combat-modified vehicles (making the vehicle combat rules seem just that much more interesting). I’m skeptical that players will be creating lots of magical weapons however, as they have to essentially spend a lot of experience in creating one-shot items. They’re handy tools, but exceptionally (and perhaps excessively) costly.

are a collection of pregenerated characters, contacts, Monitors, and headquarters for the party. Nothing exceptional, although it’s nice to have been included and it can help speed game play for people just wanting to run a quick little game.

Chapter 8: Quickstart is essentially a condensed, rules free repeat of Chapter 3. I think its purpose is to help new players get a Quickstart on the game, but it feels a bit too repetitive for people who’ve already read this far into the book and a bit too sparse for someone who hasn’t.

Chapter 9: Appendix should probably be titled “Player’s Appendix”. It has a glossary of terms used so far, slang used by Zealots, and a pronunciation guide for the spell names. All of which is a pretty handy inclusion really, although I wonder if presenting the glossary sooner wouldn’t have been a better idea.

Okay. We’re almost half way through the book, and this is just the Player’s section. And, as of the writing of this review, these chapters that comprise the Player’s section are all available online for free (at ). I really do commend the decision to put this much online, as it gives potential customers a chance to look at the mechanics, presentation, and access to a great idea mine in those yummy, yummy Imprecations.

From here on out we’re in Director (a.k.a. Gamemaster) territory, and this is the stuff you have to pay to see.

Chapter 10: Direction is a random assembly of notes and ideas for running the game. It’s fairly standard stuff, although it introduces the concept of the Death Spiral. Despite the ominous name, the Death Spiral is merely a tool for Directors to keep track potential scenes and how they relate. As a tool for novice Directors it looks to be fairly handy, but more experienced Directors may not get much out of it. Personally, I’d like it to place more emphasis on how the locations and related contents within the Spiral might interconnect; perhaps the sewer links the Hospital and the warehouse, but not to anything else. Still, as a reference tool it’s not a bad idea. What did strike me as odd however, were the role-playing tips on Angels in this chapter. The information is good, but it seemed like it should have been placed in the chapter on Angels instead.

Okay, there’s a big setting secret in Chapter 11: Setting. Despite this being a review, I don’t want to give it away. I will say that at first it kind of bugged me, but I quickly grew to like it; it’s very fitting for a horror game and makes for some interesting role-playing possibilities in a long term game. The chapter also explores the themes of the game, along with some notes on making Angel-Demon hybrids (again, this might have been better placed later in the book).

And now we come to the bestiary, Chapter 12: Angels. I won’t try to cover this all, partially to keep it a surprise, partially because it’s huge (it takes up over a quarter of the book). I’ll just say that Spite is well on its way to creating an original horror-based classification system of angels. The chapter covers all sorts of angels, of various powers and goals, as well as their special abilities and the kinds of clues each might leave behind. I really, really enjoyed that there is a hint of an utterly alien reasoning to the Angels and that everyone is guilty of something to some Angel, even if society doesn’t consider that something to be wrong. It’s as if the Angels exist to make mankind say “who are you to judge” or “that’s not fair”. It feels as if it’s an atheist horror fan’s take on angelology perhaps? On the flipside, it seems that Angels either have completely inhuman forms or else incorporate a woman’s body to some degree. I wouldn’t mind that if a reason was given in the setting for why so many Angels look (roughly) like women, but none is given.

The chapter finishes up with a collection of more “classical” monsters, like werewolves, zombies, and even some invading aliens. The author admits they’re out of place and mainly included for fun, but personally I thought their addition was a great way to help Directors use the game to run more generic horror scenarios (like zombie scenarios, or vampire hunts, or whatever). Besides, they only take up a few pages anyway. The only real problems I had with this chapter overall was that it made Angels out to be… nothing like any religion ever imagined. Put another way: one of the Angels is a flying cybernetic shark. This chapter really feels like a grab bag of art that somebody decided to write up as a scourge of sin and innocence. Surprisingly enough, it tends to work, and even a cybershark Angel ends up making sense. Sorta’, kinda’.

Anyway, despite having all sorts of horribly awesome monsters to fight, some gamers want humans to be the big bad and focus of their games. I don’t get it, but Chapter 13: Humans has you lot covered. Whether you want ideas for Zealots gone bad, crooked corporations, or government conspiracies, there’s probably something in here that’ll give you a few ideas. I don’t want to give away too much, because there are some really neat surprises for Directors to throw at their players here, but Zealots aren’t the only ones interested in fighting Angels. And some of these folks have been at it for some time. Seriously, a fun chapter, and it makes me want to incorporate some of it into other games.

Chapter 14: Scenarios is a misnomer since it’s just one scenario. The scenario isn’t bad, but not all that inspiring either. It’s something short and simple to help players learn the game. Of course, by this point I already had ideas as to how I’d approach the material and what kind of campaigns I’d run. Still, some more scenarios showing different approaches to the game might have been nice.

Chapter 15: Appendix (the second one for those keeping count) is a collection of tables to help Director’s randomly roll up scenarios, determine some spell results (if you wanted a table to roll random stuff up on), a pronunciation guide for all the Angels and such that wasn’t in the Players’ section, and some story hooks. It’s basically a grab bag of cool random brain starters for the game. A rather short index, a large section on contributor’s bios, and some ads (including one for a gamer friendly health club), round up the chapter and the book.

For Style I’m torn. Over a dozen pages have landscape orientations instead of portrait (easy but annoying to fix in a PDF, frustrating if you’re reading a book), sentences get repeated at times, some of the rules aren’t very clear, the presentation is really bland (whereas the first game, Dread, had much better presentation), and Spite generally feels like it needed another editorial read through. But the writing is highly evocative, and the organization is easy to navigate. Art ranges from amateurish to really good. That said if pictures of naked monster women (occasionally with tentacled or fanged vaginas) offend you, then you may not like Spite. It’s not tentacle porn, but I wouldn’t want to show it my grandmother either. I look at it as somewhere between a modern take on the classic “AD&D Monster Manual demon boobies” and true horror squickiness. That said, where are the dude Angels with evil combat genitalia? I don’t think it’s subconscious misogyny on anyone’s part, but I think Spite missed out on even more squick than it already has. Still, the problems for outweigh the good too much for me to give it higher than a high 2. Fixing the orientation of the few odd pages, clarifying the rules just a little bit more, maybe reusing Dread’s layout would, and maybe reorganizing a few sidebars would bump that up to a high 3 or low 4. As is, even with strong writing and good art, it looks pretty average; and the shift in layout orientation bumped it down in my opinion.

Substance gets a solid 5, which is kind of odd for me. A lot of the setting choices are up to the players to establish themselves, and the game seems to focus on a standard investigative/monster hunting approach without regard to the other styles it hints at. And this is a rare game where I think there’s actually too much going on. Too many spells, too many unique setting terms on top of unique names, too many player options, etc. etc. But there’s no way I’m going to punish a game for having too many neat ideas; the classifications just overwhelm my poor brain is all. As is, the game is pretty inspiring. While the book assumes a certain style of game play, it hints at all other kinds of campaigns through Impactions and giant Angels, or classic monsters being stated out. And while there are lots of mechanical elements I don’t care for, the rules are so simple that it’s easy for me to tweak them to my liking. But between the vast amount of options and resources in the book (which takes an average game and bumps into up into high 4 territory) is the ease with which I can tweak and customize everything I don’t like. Remember when I said I wanted apples instead of oranges? Well, I can turn all the oranges into apples without any effort whatsoever. And that’s worth bumping it up to a solid 5 for substance I think.

Who should get this game? Players wanting a rules light game about hunting and killing sadistic monsters should be really happy. Those looking to get away from the standard Cthulhus or vampires or even classic angels should also be happy. Finally, those just looking for an idea mine for other games are likely to find something worth using.

Who shouldn’t get the game? If you can’t roll with vague rules, stay away. If you can’t handle Angels that may as well just be alien monsters for all their religious relevance, stay away. If you’re easily offended by naked demon women bordering on hentai, stay away. And if you’re not interested in wham-bam-think-about-it-later action gaming, then by all means stay away.

In Conclusion, Spite is a beer-and-pretzels kind of game about hunting monsters and making the world a better place. But it’s also a very open and welcoming game, easy for groups to shape and tweak to their tastes, and easy for Directors to mechanically alter and expand on (or ignore). It really reminds me a lot of ParanoiaXP, and I mean that as a compliment. A slightly more serious, more violent, more apocalyptic ParanoiaXP, but still. Both are games that focus on action over thinking, fun over rules, and crazy gonzo ideas existing to encourage players to come up with their own. In a nutshell, Spite’s a fun little game about kicking Angelic ass.

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