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The Shining and The Babadook are inspirations for this horror D&D supplement

Prepare to lend a hand.

Take a risk and cast a spell with The Book of Gaub, an RPG supplement for Dungeons & Dragons that’s inspired by the likes of The Shining and The Babadook.

The supplement introduces a collection of disturbing spells and magic into the fantasy roleplaying game, with players having to be incredibly careful whenever they attempt to cast them. Included in The Book of Gaub are 49 spells for players to add to their characters’ repertoire, which are subsequently tied to one of the fingers of the Hand of Gaub - a sinister artifact whose seven fingers each represent a forbidden school of sorcery.

From being able to force your victims to continue on their path without being able to turn back to enabling the dead to walk once again, The Book of Gaub features spells that are designed to invoke both awe and dread and are not necessarily always helpful. In a similar fashion to the Wild Magic feature that the Sorcerer Class can access in D&D 5E, there are a series of potential catastrophes linked to the spells included within the supplement which serve as dangerous consequences for dabbling in dark magic. Possible catastrophes include becoming “violently intolerant to literature,” having one’s blood be turned into ink and even having their skin morph into illuminated vellum.

The Book of Gaub page

Players can also expect to come across a collection of strange objects that can be found in all sorts of places, including abandoned homes and in the “pockets of cultists.” Though fairly mundane in nature, they offer plenty of opportunities to add flavour to the RPG - such as a ring of keys that turn into worms in order to open locked doors or a doll made of burnt matches that can put out fires.

Whatever the players happen to find throughout their journey may come in handy when encountering the terrifying creatures contained within the supplement’s bestiary. The twenty monsters included within The Book of Gaub are guaranteed to give the party varying levels of trouble, with each monster having their own list of stats means, wants and omens for players to deal with. There is also a way of turning each of these creatures into an item for the party’s own use, which entails the players capturing it inside of a vessel.

Cover image for YouTube video

Update: This article previously stated that the artwork was created by Paolo Greco, we have been informed that this is not accurate and the article has been corrected.

The lead writer behind The Book of Gaub was Rowan A, with additional writing from Charlie Ferguson-Avery, John Gregory, Evoro, Furtive Goblin and Isaak Hill. The artwork for the supplement was co-created by Rowan and Ferguso-Avery, as well as Trevor Henderson and Enoch Duncan also contributing to the book’s art.

The Kickstarter campaign for The Book of Gaub is live until August 11th, with a pledge of £20 ($27) getting backers a physical copy of the book. For a digital only copy, backers can pledge £8 ($11).

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Alex Meehan avatar

Alex Meehan

Senior Staff Writer

After writing for Kotaku UK, Waypoint and Official Xbox Magazine, Alex became a member of the Dicebreaker editorial family. Having been producing news, features, previews and opinion pieces for Dicebreaker for the past three years, Alex has had plenty of opportunity to indulge in her love of meaty strategy board games and gothic RPGS. Besides writing, Alex appears in Dicebreaker’s D&D actual play series Storybreakers and haunts the occasional stream on the Dicebreaker YouTube channel.

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