I realize I'm a bit late to the party here, but having just gotten the Crooked Moon book set on D&D Beyond, I've been reading through it and absorbing the many elements.
Largely, the second book revolves around its adventure campaign, and all the monsters therein are used in that campaign, though it's a broad enough bestiary that I think you could certainly use a lot of its parts in other campaigns.
The first book, though, has a ton of species, backgrounds, feats, spells, and, of course, the most exciting thing: subclasses.
Let's address two things before we get into the specifics:
First, some of the subclasses are fairly setting- (and even campaign-) specific, such as the two Warlock patrons. That being said, the archetypes that the subclasses embody do feel pretty broadly applicable to any setting that shares vibes with Crooked Moon's Drustvald.
Second, I think you could argue that some of the subclasses are a little over-engineered. You often find this with 3rd party content, but I think that's largely because 3rd party content is trying to get at something a little more specific and also different than what you get out of WotC-developed stuff. Indeed, sometimes it feels like official WotC stuff is too conservative in its design, which can make certain options feel either underpowered or just kind of conceptually thin.
I haven't really formed an opinion on the power level of these subclasses. Naturally, we tend to want our characters to be more powerful, but I think the real marks of a good subclass are A: that the mechanics reflect the theme and concept of the subclass and B: you get to regularly do what the subclass does, allowing the subclass to really color your experience in play.
Unlike my WotC subclass reviews, I'm not going to go feature by feature with these. Instead, I'll just go through the subclasses and give a general sense of its vibe.
Barbarian Path of the Experiment:
We're starting off a little off from the broader Dark Americana vibe that seems the most prominent in Crooked Moon. This is a sort of Mr. Hyde-like, Gothic Horror subclass where you're transformed by weird science when you rage. I actually just designed an unarmed Barbarian subclass, which this can be (though it's not designed around it).
Bard College of Whistles:
This is the one that inspired me the most: it is the Hobo Bard subclass. Well, the Haunted Hobo Bard. A little like the Creation Bard, you can give those you give Bardic Inspiration to a helpful spirit, which have the wonderfully evocative names of "Grump," "Sad Sack," and "Scamp." You also get a magic Bindle that acts as a Handy Haversack (or Heward's Handy Haversack if you don't just want the SRD version). Best of all, you can call upon a ghostly train for you and your party to ride the rails and escape from dangerous foes or teleport back to a familiar location.
Cleric Harvest Domain:
Now, I think you could argue that a Harvest/Grain/Farming Deity could be represented by something like the Life or Nature domain, but this has an interesting mechanical idea, which is that you have different seasons that provide different features, including domain spells, and you can pick between Sowing, Growing, and Reaping.
Druid Circle of the Old Ways:
The Old Ways is one of the religious traditions of the Crooked Moon setting (there are I think five major traditions, which kind of take the place of its "gods," but aren't about worshipping a particular anthropomorphic figure). The Old Ways Druid is there for your to focus on Shillelagh and make a real melee combatant Druid who doesn't necessarily turn into animals.
Druid Circle of Wicker:
Ok, now, full disclosure, I'm usually not much of a Druid player, but I've generally thought that if I were to play a Druid, I'd want to go with a scary pagan Wicker Man vibe. While this could pretty explicitly link me to such an aesthetic, it perhaps goes in a different direction (honestly, Circle of Wildfire has tended to be the closest I get to it). Here, you can create effigies that you can place on the battlefield to create certain effects, and definitely has a kind of witchcraft/voodoo doll feel.
Fighter Barrow Guard:
There are elements of Druskenvald that, at least to my eyes, are a bit more dark fantasy than folk horror, much less the kind of Dark Americana that I think is its most distinctive feel. Barrow Guards give you a bit of that Death Knight archetype, and also gives you dice similar to a Battle Master's superiority dice to fuel certain abilities (though there is not some giant list of options for how to use them). A big part of the class is the ability to summon an undead Warhorse in combat to ride around the battlefield on.
Monk Warrior of the Pestilent Haze:
This is the "plague monk." Basically, if you liked all the necrotic and poison theming of the Warrior of Mercy Monk but didn't want to ever be asked by your party to heal anyone, this might be the one for you. You're basically a walking carrier of a deadly plague, and you use that as part of your martial arts.
Paladin Oath of Castigation:
Now, I think you could flavor a lot of Paladin subclasses as a kind of vampire/monster/witch-hunter (Vengeance certainly feels like an option for that) but this one leans in pretty hard to the "burn the witch" aesthetic, with prevalent fire theme. Such characters for sure work in Folk Horror, though it's a different vibe than the "Dark Americana" vibe that I'm kind of fixated on with these books. Mechanically, there are themes of battlefield control and fire damage.
Ranger Grim Harbinger:
This is built around summoning a Grim, basically a black dog that symbolizes and portends death. Mechanically, it works a bit like a cross between the Beast Mastery Hunter and the Xanathar's version of the Shadow Sorcerer's Hound of Ill Omen, summoning the Grim while dooming a particular creature, with the Grim vanishing if the creature is killed. The Grim has, I think, more scaling than the Beast Mastery companions do, but you have limited uses of the ability that summons them per day (though they come back on a short rest and can last up to an hour. Bizarrely, I think it might actually be reasonable to target an ally you don't intend to attack with the Omen of Doom feature that summons the Grim just to keep the pet around).
Rogue Sinner:
Giving a real Wild West vibe, or Riverboat Gambler, if you prefer, this Rogue can use some of its Sneak Attack dice (I think without reducing the damage they deal) to get a randomized additional effect when they deal damage. It is a limited-use feature (though comes back on a short rest).
Sorcerer Crimson Sorcery:
This is kind of your vampire sorcerer, which gives you a Blood Well that can be spent in various ways and regained in various ways. Among other things, you can turn into a pool of blood to creep around. You broadly get various ways to redistribute health, with some healing spells and health-draining spells.
Warlock Great Fool Patron:
Clown Warlock. Ok, specifically, the Great Fool is a fiend that features in the Crooked Moon adventure, but basically this is the creepy carnival warlock. Actually, this would make an excellent subclass for a Rakdos Cultist in Ravnica. Mechanically, the subclass allows you to inflict curses and otherwise punish foes.
Warlock Horned King Patron:
Again, a specific monster from the adventure. The Horned King is very clearly inspired by... er, to avoid spoilers I'll just say the figure who embodies the Devil in Robert Egger's The Witch (or the VVitch, if you prefer). In a lot of ways, this is kind of the classic "scary witchcraft" stuff, placing curses on enemies.
Wizard Occultist:
If you want some of that forbidden magic but want the mechanics of a Wizard, this might be the one for you, with a real kind of Lovecraftian vibe to it. Mechanically, you can Risk Intrusion by otherworldly entities to augment your spellcasting. Intrusions are randomized effects that are largely detrimental, though they can sometimes harm foes as well as you or even just wind up helping you.
Wizard Philosopher:
This is the classical esoteric alchemist subclass (which I'd argue the Transmuter also kind of gestures toward). While the Artificer Alchemist focuses on the protoscientific elements of Alchemy, this is the one that's all about grand, ambitious exploration of alchemy to fundamentally change reality. Mechanically, this means that you get a new resource called Quintessence that can be used to replace spell components or spell-copying materials (hey, are you sick of being constantly broke as a Wizard?) and such. Truly, this one might be really overpowered, because you could theoretically cast a spell at 6th level as early as level 7 (it'd still have to be a natively 4th level spell).
And there you have it. There's at least one for each class (except for the Artificer, still the non-SRD black sheep of 5E).
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