Fantastic cover art with a professional looking layout. I had a little trouble reading the text with the dark red overlay, but there’s a non-overlay version. The only tradeoff to using the non-overlay pamphlet is losing out on some of the cool aesthetic.
This supplement will play well with folks that want more crunch in their game or want damage types (e.g., bludgeoning vs piercing) to mean something.
Mechanically, there’s a blood-based stat that functions like exhaustion in other systems. Got all your blood? You’re ready to rock. Lose some of your blood? It’s harder to do things (e.g., take a -1 to FORCEFUL & REFLEXIVE checks).
Implementing this material requires a bit more record keeping, because not all damage results in blood loss, and I could see some edge cases that would require negotiation – e.g., normally katanas (most slashing weapons) don’t cause a >PUNCTURE wound and blood loss, but if I managed to get stabbed with a katana, I think it’s reasonable to say I’m losing blood. Conveniently, there’s a fillable PDF or a cool print & play option for tracking blood levels.
The real gem (in my mind) are the different types of blood you can choose to pump into your merc or drink if you opt for the Vampire TRAIT. For example, Fireblood is mixed with plasma and adds fire damage to your melee, while Gumblood makes you sticky. Mostly in a good way. Even if you choose not to implement the blood tracking option, you’ve still got a convenient table for rolling up a variety of boosts (potions, cocktails, etc.) that you could serve up to your mercs in some other format.