Subscribe to download
Somber - HBM

Here Be Monsters is one of my favorite monster mods thanks to the generous amount of creatures included, all of which I find very lore-friendly and well executed. However, being the product of a big team effort, it's normal and expected to see some visual inconsistencies here and there, which I hope to help address.

My "Somber" series aims aims to adjust mods that are already phenomenal and that I personalluy play with, with gragphical tweaks to make them more cohesive with the vanilla visuals, and my preference for more brooding friends and menacing enemies in this game.

This mod makes edits to about a dozen creatures in this pack:

Main changes:

• Brigand Looter: Added cast shadows and noise to better match vanilla. Made the chest silver to match the curio found in game. Greatly exagerated his gold tooth, as it was barely noticeable.
  
• Cicada: I absolutely love this design. I basically just made the wings semitransparent to match the psychophant's wings for consistency's sake.
  
• Frog: Added noise texture.
  
• Grot: This is a stonework monster, but each sprite had a different eye color. I made them all red with reflected lights to match the vanilla design. Also added noise texture and some cast shadows. A small tweak that I think paid huge dividends.
  
• Isopod: Increased the saturation to better match Cove creatures. Some shading to give it more dimension. Completely redrew its eyes in the style of vanilla fish folk.
  
• Marine Mini Boss: Another of my favorite designs. Just needed a little bit of noise texture.
  
• Pelagic shark: Added color saturation, cast shadows, noise texture, and completely redrew its eyes in the style of vanilla fish folk.
  
• Satyr: Added saturation and some cast shadows.
  
• Swine: Kinda funny, but this guy was missing nipples. Hopefully I drew them tastefully in the manner of the vanilla designs. Also added a lot of cast shadows to make him look more threatening and better match vanilla visual language.
  
• Swine Ram This is the summoned swine skeleton. This one perhaps has the most dramatic rework. It needed color adjustments, coloring and shadows, and noise to make it look less flat and more intimidating.
  
• Skeleton Gaoler: Made it slightly brighter, added noise, and some cast shadows.
  
• Swine Forger: Added more cast shadows in key areas and reflected light from his burning coals.

---

Since this mod is only a visual update of some of the creatures, on its own it does nothing and it's completely dependent on Here Be Monsters.

Place this patch above any HBM related mod This will only overwrite some visual assets and has no effect on gameplay or mashes.

Credits to the many contributors to the original mod, a full list can be found over in the original mod's page.

Thanks to some of the fine folk over at the PiC and Official Discord server for their encouragement: nothing motivates me more than a preachy and paranoid clique. Thanks in particular to Woona, Zot, and Iris for their conniving and heavy-handed moderation.

---

The Chalice of Tears
You know the drill. If you can't contain your loathing and rage, go pour it over in the appropiate discussion section. Keep the mod page free of rage bait please.

---

"Somber HBM" is not an official Red Hook Studios product or product modification, and Red Hook Studios Inc. is not responsible in any way for changes or damages that may result from using the mod. Furthermore, “Darkest Dungeon” and the Darkest Dungeon logo are trademarks of Red Hook Studios Inc. All content in the game is Copyright Red Hook Studios Inc. All rights reserved.

The reworked artwork in this mod builds on assets originally created from another fan-made mod. I’ve made visual changes to better match the gritty, stylized world of Darkest Dungeon and reflect my own personal aesthetic. These edits are transformative, created for non-commercial, and expressive purposes under the principles of fair use, as defined in 17 U.S. Code § 107.
This mod functions as a visual patch—it does not replace or interfere with the availability, distribution, or integrity of the original work. Credit goes to the original creators—no infringement is intended, only creative respect and reinterpretation.

Important: If you abuse Steam’s DMCA policy by reporting this mod for copyright infringement despite its clear fair use basis, I will formally challenge the claim through the appropriate legal channels.