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The following review was originally posted at Roleplayers Chronicle and can be read in its entirety at http://roleplayerschronicle.com/?p=35342.
Are you considering an Eastern Campaign? Well Heroes of the Jade Oath, is a supplement that allows players to expand on Eastern-style Pathfinder options already provided through products like Jade Regent, and Ultimate Combat.
OVERALL
Heroes of the Jade Oath, is a different look into the lifestyles of the Eastern lands. It is a nice change of pace from a lot of the current themes going on in the RPG community. It’s a good buy for those who are looking for something new to add to their Eastern Campaigns.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 9 out of 10
Publication Layout: The layout of this adventure is clean and colorful. There is very little space wasted and the artwork is definitely of the best quality. This product is definitely built for print, and it shows!
Ease of Mobility: What kills me about this product, is that it is 80MB in size. Paizo’s core book PDF’s are not even this size. As a result, it makes transferring and reading this on a mobile device a total lag. Going forward I would like to see publishers consider a “Mobile friendly” PDF along with the high resolution. I see quite a lot of publishers do this, so it is hard for me to believe that it’s not possible.
Also, because there is so much in this book, it would have been nice to have a chapter by chapter downloadable content as well. It would have been helpful for those who like to reference certain sections when they are in game, or to allow the GM the opportunity to reference the item.
Mechanics: 10 out of 10
Mechanically, the product is fairly sound. I don’t see anything that makes me go: “Whoa buddy” on the imbalance table. But there are some nice new additions that do compliment the rules already in place for Pathfinder. So I have no major complaints.
Value Add: 10 out of 10
I spoke earlier about there being quite a lot of quality value in this expansion, and there is. They expanded on a lot of the mythos that is the Eastern culture and lifestyle. When this is tied into the other products, like Kaidan, The Way of the Samurai, and even other products like Jade Regent, they can all be interwoven, and that’s not an easy thing to do. Products that allow versatility between homebrews and published adventures is a quite hard, and so I tip my hat to the team in that respect.
Overall: 10 out of 10
Overall, this product is quite well done! It has compatibility with other products, as well as stand alone as a great supplement product. Although I personally do not have any plans on running an eastern based campaign any time soon, it’s good to know that there are amazing products that keep the games alive, and provide new options to gamers no matter what their needs are.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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What an exceptional or should I say FANTASTIC map. It will defiantly get heavy use in my campaigns.
AND NOW WITH A HI RES PIC!
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Like is says on the tin. 101 Variant monsters (44 pages), ordered by CR for Pathfinder.
Takes the normal monster from the Pathfinder Bestiary and provides an alternate or variant version. Perfect to spring a little new life into that standard monster (some of which have their roots in the game going back 30+ years).
Sure you can come up with all of this on your own, but there are lot of clever ideas here and for $6 you get 101 "new" monsters. Not a bad deal at all really.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Do you have those annoying sort of players who seemingly have memorised every monster and so as soon as the first few words of description pass your lips they rattle off the name and known weaknesses of the critter before a single die is rolled?
(If not, you've never had me at your table, a side-effect of an eidetic memory & reading a LOT of RPG books means I have to be very careful not to be so annoying...)
A common tactic, especially if you do not have the time or inclination to make up hordes of original opponents for your characters, is the so-called 'reskinning' of monsters - changing enough of a standard monster so that he's mechanically the same but looks and feels like a wholly new critter. Even that can be quite taxing and requires a good understanding of the game mechanics underlying monster design.
So here, nicely ordered by CR, are a host of variant monsters all ready to line up against your characters. Each entry gives the name of the new variant with the original monster in brackets - you'll need to use this book in conjuction with the Bestiaries, because the core statistics are not given here. The rest of the entry covers what is different about the variant monster, but gives you both evocative descriptions to help you paint the scene for your players as well as apposite game mechanics, new abilities and so on.
A valuable resource if you like a bit of variety at your table!
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
The latest installment of Rite Publishing’s FREE E-Zine Pathways is 41 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page ToC, 10 pages advertisement, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 28 pages of content, so let’s take a look!
After David Paul’s editorial, in which we get an inside glimpse at the things to come from RiP, we delve into this issue’s template by Steven D. Russell, the despiser creature, which clocks in at CR +2 and boy is this template EVIL: Geared towards planar weirdness, despiser creatures are essentially harbingers of madness and doom – they have a madness-inducing aura (including a new type of madness), can fold space and teleport others offensively into solid objects and also get a gaze attack that makes those meeting it suicidal. Worse yet, these creatures are nigh indestructable, rejuvenating unless killed in a rather cool and specific manner that makes them prime candidates for recurring villains. I love this template – even more so due to the cool CR 11 sample creature and Dallas William’s awesome artwork.
Raging Swan Press’ mastermind Creighton Broadhurst has two fully statted mysterious travelers to drop into your game – a doppelgänger-spy and an aasimar-bard (At CR 6 and 4, respectively), providing hooks, background and mannerisms as well – A cool article to supplement modules, travels or simply scavenge the statblocks.
And then, Steven D. Russell gets EVIL. You might know I consider the Joker to be the coolest villain EVER and that I considered Stephen King’s “It” at the tender age of 12 once a thoroughly disturbing book. The Blood Bayou’s Jack of Tears still features in EVERY ONE of my campaigns. Well, there’s no a rejuvenating whole damn species of this kind – Demon Clowns. At CR 20. When I first read this, I started laughing maniacally – acidic flower squirts, suffocating pies, shocking grips – and nigh indestructibility in the vein of liches. Yes, please, especially when supplemented by the 4 monster feats the build uses!
Next up is a preview of May’s upcoming 101 Variant Monsters-book in which classic creatures are modified in rather unique ways – take a peek, for I know it got me anticipatory regarding the release.
This issue’s interview is with Sneak Attack Press’ Matthew J. Hanson, who brought us not only the ennie-nominated, superbly useful Terrain Toolbox, but who is also busy crunching away at the Broken Earth post-apocalyptic sandbox he successfully kickstarted – upon release it might just be the thing Warlords of the Apocalypse-fans might use as a first module…
The issue closes with a massive array of different reviews of some of the finest pdfs out there by Megan Robertson and yours truly.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn’t notice any significant glitches, though the formatting of the reviews could be a bit better – there are a lot of textblocks and one highlighted sentence (in the puppetmaster-review) doesn’t make that much sense to me. Layout adheres to RiP’s 2-column full color standard, and as mentioned, I really like the cover artwork. The magazine also comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.
This issue of Pathways hits the nail on the head for me – whether it’s the demonic clowns or the template – I really, really like the twisted, evil glee the creatures evoke and the other articles don’t fall behind in quality. Since this pdf is FREE, I can only urge you to download it, read it and cackle with glee at the twisted prospects this issue offers. That being said, it’s a very creature/NPC-centric issue with no article useful for players, so that’s a minor detriment, but none that would make me deviate from a final verdict of 5 stars – well worth the space on your HD.
Endzeitgeist out.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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This pdf is 61 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page author's note/dedication, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 55 pages of content, so let's take a look!
The first of Michael Tumey's Haiku of Horror series of supplements details a bath house and as such, since in Western culture they are not that common, we kick this supplement off with an introduction on the concept of bath houses that essentially takes the basic concept from Japanese culture and introduces the audience to Kaidan's particular take on the concept as well as providing concise lists of prices. Throughout the supplement, terms ranging from the distinction between "onsen" and "sento" as well as "tatami" are explained in concise boxes that not only help immerse into the given setting while providing some additional knowledge and bits of trivia that may broaden your horizon if you are not that familiar with Japanese culture.
Now this does not mean that this is some dry textbook, mind you - instead, we are introduced to the Autumn Moon bath house, fully mapped in gorgeous full color on 4 full-page maps. The house itself gets a room by room description and after that, a fluffy summary of the current servants/attendants introduces us to a basic net of allegiances that represent the social dynamics of the house.
Here are some SPOILERS. Players should jump to the conclusion.
A tragedy has befallen the bath house and ever since then, the place is haunted: An attendant called Kana has met an end most foul: The young beauty (and secret witch-in-training) sought to escape the bonds of her servitude and find love in one fell swoop. Enjoying a secret wedding ceremony with her betrothed, the chaste maiden set out to commemorate her marriage with her beloved. This act was, unfortunately, misinterpreted by the bath house's mistress and former proprietor of Kana. Thinking her subordinate was conducting prostitution under her roof, the rage at the humiliation and loss of face prompted her to use her brush and drown both poor Kana and her beloved. Said dread secret is still tied to the place, Kana's pillow book (=diary) is still hidden in the bath house and at night, her ghost is still roaming the place.
Speaking of ghost: We don't get only one incarnation of her, but rather a massive array of 5 (!!!) versions of the build, spanning CRs from CR 6 to a whopping CR 22. Beyond that, she is not a regular ghost, but rather uses the new, also featured Yurei no kami (grappling hair ghost)-template, at CR +3 and even 4 new haunts (one of which has a very minor formatting glitch) as well as a new curse, the Ju-on - a grudge, in case you're not familiar with the movie. We also are introduced to traditional Kaidanese marriage gifts, since they are relevant for properly dealing with the spirit.
/SPOILERS
In addition to the content, we get 33 pages featuring the map of the bath-house to cut-out and use with miniatures as well as high-res versions of the gorgeous maps.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, though not perfect, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to Kaidan's bamboo-lined 2-column full color standard and Mark Hyzer's stellar b/w-artwork complements the excellent maps well indeed. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.
This essentially is both a map, a mini supplement of a nice location, some complex stats and finally, a sandboxy mini-adventure/ bare-bone-style red herring to be inserted into a campaign, all in one - whether you want to use it as a diversion, blow it up to full-blown adventure-status or just use it as a backdrop, this bathing house has something to offer - and at a very fair price to boot! That being said, as the first installment, I think there's some room for improvement, namely the environment of the place - whether it is the hardness of the wall, slippery floor or similar minor DCs and details that make places come to life - the bath house, as awesome as it is, could use some small bits and pieces like this to make it feel a bit more organic: Locking doors, vortexes (including swim checks) etc., perhaps a page from the pillow book - in short, some action for the skills (perhaps using one set of DCs for each intended level range) would have made this even better.
As written, we still get a cool location oozing flair and some VERY creepy imagery and crunch for a very fair price. Nevertheless, I feel like this misses the highest echelons by a slight margin, making me settle for a final verdict of 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 for the purpose of this platform - still, a recommended purchase if you're looking for some easily inserted horror, though!
Endzeitgeist out.
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The following review was originally posted at Roleplayers Chronicle and can be read in its entirety at http://roleplayerschronicle.com/?p=35034.
Welcome, weary traveler, to our humble Bath House. You will find that we will do everything in our power to help you wash away the wariness from your long pilgrimage. Yes we provide many services here, but if you choose to stay the night I recommend you stay in your sleeping area… Oh no, we have not had any major problems, but your safety is important to us. There will be no problems, I assure you, please come in!
OVERALL
Rite Publishing has taken its oriental setting to a much higher level of quality than most other, much larger game production companies out there. Most people would be offended to see that this 61 page product only has 9 pages of content, and as many pages of maps and map segments, but I can assure you none of it is wasted space.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 9 out of 10
Kaidan is a haunted land, and the cover of all of the products looks like it is right out of any Japanese horror movie. If you know anything about some of the horror mythos in the orient, you know how creepy and disturbing they can be. The transparent black background sets off the already creepy penciled art. Add some white lettering with red borders and there is no doubt about what this supplement is about. The interior layout is great; nothing innovative or special, just solid layout that makes this a very useable product. The bamboo borders on the pages is appropriate for the setting and adds to its overall feel. The use of traditional Japanese prints is handled well and is a great contrast to some of the black and white art that makes this feel like a horror filled setting. There was a small disconnect in one of the creature descriptions dealing with hair color. A minor problem, but after you read this particular creatures description you will see why it is mention worthy. There are some good high quality maps in this book and the addition of printable map sections that allow the use of miniatures is sheer genius. Sure those map sections take up quite a few pages, but to have that in your GM kit is huge!
Mechanics: 10 out of 10
Autumn Moon Bath House is one of those supplements that isn’t mechanic heavy. It isn’t to say that there are not mechanics, just not too many of them. The creature/creatures are interesting and one has an interesting attack mode. Pathfinder encourages the use of miniatures and the included map sections help the GM run the game correctly if they include minis in their games.
Value Add: 10 out of 10
The adventure in Autumn Moon Bath House has an intriguing plot that could be dropped into almost any setting with very few problems. One additional factor that really adds value to this product is the kind of min culture lesson that you get. Michael K. Tumery takes the time to introduce the reader to the proper Japanese names of some items and explains their uses. The maps have a dual purpose, first they make the adventure come alive for you if you choose to use minis, but this bath house could be a bath house in any oriental adventure. The other purpose is that with enough supplements like this one, with the maps it has, you could quickly produce a high quality village with mapped out buildings, to scale.
Overall: 10 out of 10
There is so much Rite, I mean right, I mean, well you get the idea. There are a lot of great things about this product: the art is good, the layout is great and the maps are well done and usable. The resolution to this haunted Bath House is interesting and just challenging enough to keep players engaged.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The following review was originally posted at Roleplayers Chronicle and can be read in its entirety at http://roleplayerschronicle.com/?p=34283.
Buddy is only part of the word, and Khufusiris the Crooked Sleuth of Unfathered Sin knows how to complete the rest of that statement. Actually, if there was ever an NPC designed to better screw their allies over, I’ve never seen them!
OVERALL
Even when the folks at Rite Publishing go for some really obvious troupes, they still make their NPCs feel fresh. Who hasn’t seen the scruffy criosphink who comes off as really loveable and seems almost cuddly, who turns out to be a raging a-hole who screws his buddies over at the worst possible moment?
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 10 out of 10
Even though the art in this supplement doesn’t take any risks or blaze any new paths, it works and it works well. Rite Publishing stuck with the art style from other supplements to depict some of the templates. While not all of that art was groundbreaking, it re-enforced those templates the second time I saw them. Layout in this supplement is standard for Rite publishing as well as the supplements for the Faces of the Tarnished Souk series. I do think Khufusiris, the Crooked Sleuth of Unfathered Sin could have looked a bit more friendly and approachable but his depiction wasn’t enough to deduct points for.
Mechanics: 10 out of 10
I rarely have any complaints about Rite Publishing’s ability to produce top-notch products that are mechanically sound. The addition of several templates will cause a GM to have to do some homework to run this NPC correctly, but that is to be expected with products that cover higher-level creatures. Rite Publishing isn’t afraid to get complicated, and they do a great job when they do it.
Value Add: 8 out of 10
The main reason that Khufusiris, the Crooked Sleuth of Unfathered Sin got dinged is because, lets face it, in most settings other than the Tarnished Souk, a criosphink just wandering around, even in the largest hives of scum and villainy, sticks out. Even when he is described as friendly and affable, he is still a criosphink! If disguised as something else he becomes more useful, but part of the appeal is that he is a criosphink.
Overall: 9 out of 10
I have never ever seen a creature who was so specked for betrayal, and I love it. I do feel that if played as written, Khufusiris, the Crooked Sleuth of Unfathered Sin and his true colors will show way too soon. Any characters that have spent time in the Tarnished Souk and survived should very easily see through his guise as a loyal friend. Smart players know not to trust anything in the Souk and they know that nothing, and I mean nothing, is as it appears. Khufusiris is best used as a long time ally so that if the players let their guard down, the betrayal will hurt that much more. When you feel that knife twisting in your back, you, as a GM, will know where it came from.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This massive book is 175 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 3 pages ToC, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 168 pages of content, so let’s take a look!
First of all, let me tell you about the genesis of the project – HotJO has been in the making for what seemed like forever and was originally the first BIG project of Rite Publishing, intended to be released as a supplement to Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved. When the Beta-version of the book was released, the content was fresh and interesting in style and flavor. Now, with the advent and influx in popularity of PFRPG, people on the RiP-boards, yours truly included, started to ask about a conversion and the pdfs released so far in the line were used to get more artwork and even better production values for the Omega-version and the book this review is all about, the very first iteration of Heroes of the Jade Oath for PFRPG. Why is this important? well, because it explains some of the design-decisions made as well as all the races introduced – AE doesn’t feature the standard races as prominently and thus, this book has a LOT of ground to cover in a scarce few pages, even at its length.
Now that doesn’t mean that this book is all crunch and indeed, it begins by introducing us to the very concepts that define social structure in the setting of the Jade Oath: Favors, Family and Face. The importance of (extended) family structures, clans and the value of face are all concisely and easily understandable to western audiences as relayed herein. Thankfully, the done-to-death cliché of Seppuku is also addressed and put into a valid cultural perspective that shows that author Frank Carr has a firm grasp on social strata and cultural concepts. If you’re looking for an almost historical level of detail regarding customs like in the release of the German old-school setting Midgard’s (NOT the one by KP) KanThaiPan, though, you won’t find that level of detail here, with e.g. the making of appropriate presents, food and medicine not covered, but chances are you probably are not reading this review to know about the likes anyway. That being said, the map of the lands of the Jade Oath should be commented on – made by cartography-legend Jonathan Roberts (now of “A Song of Fire and Ice”-fame), the 2-page spread is eye-watering in its gorgeousness – and it is my pleasure to report that the locales featured in the gazetteer-style gloss-over of the lands provides places that stand in no way behind the quality of the map:
The respective regions not only include massive amounts of write-ups for covenants, societies and clans (all with their respective symbols and tokens), but also contains areas like the undead-hampering “Fallen Pillar of Heaven”, the gorgeously-illustrated city of Xinmar in the Heaven’s Reach Mountains, the floating garden or the crawling dragon mountain, which is in fact the world’s oldest dragon, slowly winding its ways through mountainous ranges. Now if the extensive gazetteer-section with all its pieces of information on culture, produce, locations etc. has not sparked some sort of great idea for an adventure, I’m not sure your imagination can be helped. The Lands of the Jade Oath feel very distinct and there is no way they could be mistaken for any other Asian-themed setting. That out of the way, let’s take a look at the chapter on races and their mechanics, shall we?
Now first we get pronunciation-guidelines for races and an entry on the breeds of human (the discovery of the eight will usher in a great doom, by the way!) before delving into the Bakemono. A metal-eating, goblinoid race, their males are small, horned almost goblinoid looking beings that get +2 to Con and Int as well as -2 to Cha, slow landspeed, darkvision 60 ft., light blindness, a bite that is devastating vs. objects and undead, +2 to saves vs. poison and +2 to craft-check relating to metal. They also have slow speed and count as evil goblinoids and get full spell-progression. Their females instead get +2 to Wis and Cha and -2 to Str. They also can take levels in the Bakemono-Paragon-class, which spans 6 levels and gets d8, 4+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression and good ref-saves. The class also improves bites by granting improved sunder to the bite and allowing bakemono to eat magical items as well as continuously detecting magic. The class also allows them to gain the shapeshifter-subtype as well as turning into large size, the form corresponding to their chosen totem or even into a swarm. And also minor attribute enhancements depending on the gender of the bakemono as well as attribute bonuses over the levels, something that almost each of the paragon-classes grants.
The towering, ponderous Dahren can either gain +2 to Str or +2 to Con and Wis, low-light vision, +2 to intimidate and sense motive and craft as well as the giant subtype, in spite of their medium size. The race also gets its paragon-class, spanning 20 levels and having them grow to up to colossal size (the additional sizes also being covered in the height & weight-table, btw.!) – the class is essentially a revised variant of the Jotun Paragon-class featured in RiP’s “In the Company of Monsters“, but allows the character now to multiclass as soon as they have passed 6th level. The class offers d8, 4+Int skills, 3/4-BAB-progression, good fort-saves, up to +13 natural AC and improving slam-attacks (up to 4d6) as well as rock catching skills and a selection from a wide variety of elemental-themed talents. Now, it would have been easy to just cut-copy-paste the class, but there actually are new talents in here and since the original class is elemental in its theme and HotJO uses the eastern system of elements, the respective abilities have been modified, which is nice to see.
Next up are the agile Faen, who get +2 to Dex and one mental attribute of your choice, are small, gain their own fey-related subtype, slow speed, low-light vision, +2 to perception, stealth and proficiency with bows and faen-weapons as well as a reroll 1/day. They may replace latter luck with minor spell-like abilities or the run-feat and +1 to initiative. Their paragon-class gets d8 HP per level, spans 6 levels, 4+Int skills per level, 34 BAB-progression, good ref-saves, 3 levels of spell-progression and an interesting idea: Depending on the racial trait chosen, the paragon-class expands the options, gaining either more spell-like abilities, more luck-based options or more quickness-based options. Cool! The most important thing, though, is already known to people familiar with Arcana Evolved: Faen may undergo a metamorphoses at 3rd level of the paragon-class, going into chrysalis and emerging as a full-blown fey, a so-called sprite. These sprites threaten regular 5-foot squares, gain +2 to Dex and -2 to Str and also wings, which allow them to fly at 30 ft. It’s also nice to see that the conversion adds fly to the list of class skills upon the transformation.
The Garuda should make for an interesting class you almost assuredly haven’t seen before: Partially scaled and feathered, this race resembles a badass-version of a humanoid archeopteryx with a stronger lean towards colored feathers. Story-wise, they are the hunters of the tainted, created by the dragons to stem the tide of the infernal dragon’s taint. They gain +2 to Dex and Wis, -2 to Cha, +1 natural armor, low-light vision, may glide up to 100 ft. with their wings, gain +2 to perception and may cast detect evil 1/day as a spell-like ability. Their racial class grants d8, 2+Int skills, 3/4 BAB-progression, good fort-saves, up to +3 dodge-bonus to AC and also increasing flight capabilities as well as bites, claws, spell-like abilities and finally even pounce.
Now if you’re more a fan of canines, the goushen-race has you covered. The race is descended from the foo dogs of legend and get +2 Con and Wis, -2 to Int, low-light vision, +2 to survival, scent and their 6-level paragon-class gets d8, 2+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good fort and ref-saves and up to +2 natural armor. Their paragon-class provides them with bite attacks, grab with their bites and also massively improving grapple-capabilities.
For more feline-affine people, the Hushen-race would be what you’re looking for – essentially a tiger-faced class of proud feline humanoids, they gain +2 to Str and Cha, -2 Int, low-light vision, +2 to intimidate, stealth and perception and suffer from blood frenzy, requiring a save to break from combat once blood has been spilled. Their 6-level paragon-class comes with 3/4-BAB-progression, d8 HP, 2+Int skills per level, good ref and fort-saves, +2 natural AC, scent, bite, claw and even rake and pounce as well as the option to run while using stealth, making them rather lethal with their natural attacks.
Now, the Kirin Shen-race is interesting in that it essentially is an acquired template that can be taken by taking a single-level as a Kirin Shen racial paragon. Kirin Shen are the chosen of the Kirin, gain +1 to BAB, ref and will, 6+Int skills and d10. The template they gain requires them to be of at least 6th level and is provided for the DM’s convenience with all the tools necessary to add it to respective creatures (it’s Cr +1 if you don’t take levels in the racial class, btw.) and allows it to use a healing touch that improves with HD as well as overland flight, ethereal jaunt and finally immortality at the highest HD.
Perhaps the most far-out and interesting race of the setting, at least for me, would be the Mandragorans: Mandragorans are essentially humanoid plants with alluring bodies that feature long vines instead of hair. They may manipulate objects and taste via these vines and they gain +2 to Wis and Cha, -2 to Str, low-light vision, +4 to stealth in forested and marshland areas, 1/day roll a will-save twice and take the better result, full spell-progression, + HD on saves vs. poison and their spores grant them +1 to diplomacy, handle animal and bluff, but also make hiding harder. Mandragorans may also heal a limited amount of damage via spending time in the sunlight and resting at night as well as communicate basic emotions via spores. They also get 5 alternate racial traits that feature magic abilities, desert and water-dwelling mandragorans, mandragorans with a mild poison and those with thorns. Their racial paragon-class gets 3/4 BAB-progression, d8 HP, 2+Int modifier skills per level, more spell-like abilities, woodland stride, the option to regrow from being torn to shreds and plant-like immunities. The racial paragons may also change gender in a week-long ceremony, which emphasizes their alluring strangeness as well as providing for interesting roleplaying options.
The reptilian Nagaraja, genderless asexually-reproducing humanoids are the stewards vs. the infernal taint introduced by the dragons, but many think they are shirking their racial duties. They gain +2 to Int and Dex, -2 to Con, 60 ft. darkvision, +1 natural armor, gain a limited array of spellcasting abilities, +2 to acrobatics and swim as well as linguistics and may opt to chose from two alternate racial traits, one granting a hood and a charming gaze attack, while the other replaces legs with a tail they may use as a natural weapon vs. foes. Their 6-level racial paragon-class offers them 3/ BAB-progression, good will-saves, 5 levels of spell-progression, d8 HP, 2+Int skills per level, blind fight an improved detect magic per will and up to +2 natural armor as well as increased casting prowess.
The Qahngol, a variant half-orc-race, once conquered the empire, only to ally with their subjugated race to vanquish an undead dragon. They gain +2 to one ability score of their choosing, count as orcs, gain low-light vision, +2 to ride and handle animal and an interesting racial curse: The Qahngol get a name mask upon their coming of age and upon removing/losing it, they run the risk of being targeted by their ancestral curse, which turns them into infernal cannibals – the simple template is provided as well as rules for the creation of name-masks and the simple-template. Their 6-level racial paragon-class gets d8, 2+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good fort and will-saves, 2 levels of spellcasting progression, rather massive attribute bonuses, a limited synergy with the fighter and barbarian classes when determining bonuses for feats, rounds of rage etc. as well as keen scent and wild empathy.
Ruishishen are essentially the HotJO setting’s Litorians, i.e. Lion-like humanoids, this time descendant from the celestial lions and massively decimated by traitorous groups. They gain +2 to Dex and Int, -2 to Wis, low-light vision,+2 to perception, intimidate and survival, count as one size larger for effects based on size and their 6-level racial paragon-class gets d8, 2+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good fort- and ref-saves, up to +2 natural AC-bonus, bite and claw attacks (the latter counting later on as ghost touch weapons!), scent, faster movement, a fear-inducing roar and may as a capstone temporarily turn incorporeal.
The variant dwarven race, the Sanesaram, get +2 to Con and Wis, -2 to Cha, slow speed (and no encumbrance speed modifiers), +4 dodge bonus to AC vs. gainst, +2 to appraise, +2 to saves vs. spells and spell-like abilities, + 1 to atk vs. goblinoids, +4 to CMD vs. bull rush and trip as well as clan-dependant bonuses, 8 of which are provided. Their racial paragon-class spans 6 levels, grants d8, 2+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good fort and will-saves, 3 levels of spellcasting progression , stonecunning, may add their class-level to craft-checks, further increase their resiliency to detrimental effects and improve their distinctiveness by gaining more abilities depending on the clan they belong to. At highest levels, they also get minor bonuses to atk and damage whenever someone hurts them – a Sanesaram’s grudge is a force indeed.
The Shenxue are the descendants of spirits and mortals, being thus native outsiders that can be influenced more with their truenames. Since the term shenxue thus applies to a vast variety of combinations of races and spirits, they come with information on racial traits for all the core and HotJO-races as well as a rather large array of different aspects that offer access to snow, panda or mountain spirits, to name just a few. Each aspect has its own penalties as well as different penalties to balance their benefits. Since they are born from such a cosmic union, the shenxue are required to adhere to a certain obeisance chosen at character creation, prohibiting them from for example sealing them from private dwellings, crossing rivers and cool, unique ones: Wandering Eyes for example, makes it only possible for the shenxue to see through the eyes of a chosen host. The shenxue paragon-class develops these further by modifying the class-skill-list according to aspects and providing highly versatile spell-like abilities and unique options depending on the aspect you’ve chosen. Like most paragon-classes, they span 6 levels and also gain d8 HP, 2+Int skills per level, 5 levels of spellcasting progression, 3/4 BAB-progression and also an ability that lets them see the presence or absence of all the spirits inhabiting everything, making for an interesting story-telling device. The racial paragon class suffers from non-standard save-progression for all 3 saves: They cap at +3 at 6th level instead of +2.
The penultimate new race we get would be the Verrik, another familiar face from Arcana Evolved, who gets +2 to Str and Wis, -2 to Cha, blindsense, the option to shut down senses (making them temporarily immune to gaze attacks, language-dependant effects etc.), minor spell-like abilities and may opt to be born with a magic-discerning third eye. Their 6 level paragon-class nets them 3/4 BAB-progression, good ref-and will-saves, d8 HP, 2+Int skills per level, 5 levels of spellcasting progression, improved sell-like abilities and as a capstone even get blindsight. All in all…I honestly consider the Verrik overpowered. Blindsense alone is powerful Combined with all the sense-turning of-options, the race becomes a bit too strong for my tastes.
The final new race would be the Yueyangren and Yueyinren, the moonfolk, which are essentially variant elves. Regular elves, moonlight elves are the Yueyangren and get +2 to Dex and Int, -2 to Con, low-light vision, +2 to perception, elven immunities and bursts of speed for 3 rounds. The dark-skinned moonshadow elves, are closer to high elves in mentality than to drow, in spite of their appearance. They get +2 to Dex, Int and Cha, but -2 to Str and Con, count as elves, gain darkvision 60 ft., elven immunities, +2 to perception, +4 to CMD vs. trip and bull rush, light blindness and both types of moonfolk may take the Yueren paragon-class, which gets d8, 2+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good ref-saves, 5 levels of spell-progression, improved spell-like abilities, may walk on walls and ceilings 1/2 character level rounds cha-modifier times per day (cool!), gain superior vision with different effects depending on sub-breed, and gain movement-bonus-feats as well as the option to charge through difficult terrain.
Now that we’ve covered all those new races and their respective classes, let’s take a look at the new base-classes in the pdf, starting with the Demon Hunter. But before I get on to that, let’s quick classify that “Demon” does not mean only chaotic evil outsiders in the context of the lands of the Jade Oath – it means undead, goblinoids, fey and aberrations just as much as demons and similar outsiders – they essentially hunt the supernatural. The class gets d10, 2+Int skills per level, full BAB, good fort-saves, spellcasting of up to 4th level. They gain the ability to detect infernals via their powers, gain ranger-like specialization versus foes and may at higher levels even delay taking damage (including attribute damage) for 1 round cha-mod times per day. They may later also craft iron flasks and gain a cool capstone that allows them to change creatures into their servants, elevating them from their tainted being to celestial heights. There are also 6 different suites of abilities available to the Demon Hunter-class, including one that grants infernal companions that improve over the levels, improved ofudas and boons for wooden swords, the signature weapons of the immaculate exorcism-tradition.
The enlightened scholar gains 3/4 BAB-progression, good will-saves, up to +4 AC bonus, up to 2d6 unarmed damage (better damage when ch’i-focused), d6 HP, 6+Int skills per level and may also chose from a variety of talents from varying paths, that set them upon track for becoming immortal, allow them to create strange contraptions etc. The Folk Magic-table (which allows minor spellcasting) is now also included, as is the immortal knowledge-table (though that mentions “monk” when “scholar” is meant). The class per se is truly unique with its wide array of options and the complexity of rules for contraption-creation etc.
Similarly, the Kusa-class predates the Ninja-class from UC, getting unarmed strikes and sneak attacks as well as 3/4 BAB-progression, d8 HP, 6+Int skills per level, up to +7 insight bonus to AC, good ref-saves. The Kusa also gets a Ki-pool as well as multiple talents, grouped in three general level-classes, providing access to new talents at higher levels. Again, the class feels like it should have been converted to options for the Ninja-class, especially since the Kusa is not half as complex as the abilities of the enlightened scholar.
Speaking of archetypes: The other classes also get a variety of options – Barbarians may now for example take totem rage powers that correspond to specific animals like centipedes and mantises. There are multiple powers assigned to each totem and for barbarians wholly committed, there’s an archetype to gain a totem-related animal companion. cavaliers may now chose from 2 new Xia-orders, which are also available to samurai, btw., one devoted to the ancestors and one to protecting the chosen organization’s land and people. We also get an array of different monk-archetypes, which range from the kensai with their living weapons to the grapple-focused Thaskalos, the armored sohei to the spellcasting, lawful good yamabushi. Witches get perhaps one of the coolest option in the book – 4 new patron-spell-lists and a bunch of hexes. What’s cool about these hexes is the factor that the hexes come with descriptors that mark them as particularly appropriate for the respective patron. At least in my opinion, as long as the choice of other hexes is not penalized, this is a great idea to enhance flavor.
The next chapter introduces us to the new Feng Shui-skill, which allows you to improve the regenerative boons of resting by properly aligning the area and even the time required to rest. It should be noted that a bunch of the mechanics to come make use of the arcane focus and ki-focus (interchangeable as term with Ch’i, btw.). Gaining focus in either, much like gaining psionic focus, is a full-round action that provokes AoOs. Arcane Focus requires an arcane pool to be used (problematic, since the magus’ arcane pool and this one’s is different -I’ll get to that in a second), while ki-focus needs at least 1 point of ki in your reservoir. You may expend either focus to take 15 on a concentration check.
Among the different feats included in the chapter, we are introduced to a variety of feats with the new (Arcane)-descriptor. In order to make use of them, you have to take a feat that grants two points of arcane points, which do NOT stack with the magus’ arcana pool. Substituting “Arcane” with “Eldritch” or a similar word would have GREATLY helped to avoid confusion here. A botch, in my opinion, since while the non-stacking is mentioned, I consider two pools with the same name problematic. (Arcane)-feats usually grant you additional points of arcane pool and allow you to do uncommon things by expending your focus: Arcane Dodge, for example, grants you a stacking dodge-bonus of +1 to AC and allows you to expend focus as an immediate action for an increase to +4 to AC versus one attack as an immediate action.
Ki-focus works much the same way and feats from other sources now retroactively get the ki-descriptor. It gets more complex, though: There is a subset of Ch’i-feats (or Ki-feats, whichever spelling you prefer) called chakra-feats. These feats require the character to be ki-focused to work. Characters may invest ki-points into chakras when ki-focused and there’s a limit depending on level on how many points can be invested into a given chakra. Much like other points, these allocated points on the chakra allow the character to do uncommon things while focused and grant additional options via expending them. Moreover, each chakra has 3 different sets of potential ways to invest ki: Ki can be invested in Balanced Ki, Yang Ki or Yin Ki, granting different benefits for being focused or expending the aligned ki. A total of 7 chakra are provided – and that’s before the additional options via chakra-feats come in!
Speaking of complex options: Want a lesser version of the gestalt idea that is not as unbalancing and allows you to play essentially two characters in one body? The Ancestral Possession-feat allows you to do just that, giving you a second set of mental ability scores and actually a second class – problem is: The change of personality in command is disorienting and happens EVERY time you roll a 1 on a d20. Yes, that can lead to some VERY awkward roleplaying situations and while it may save you, it may also doom you. Especially for a group low on players unable to cover all fields a great feat.
Regarding enhanced options – several of the feats deal with yet another concept integral and iconic in lore: Sutras. While some brackets still point towards the single-pdf-release, rest assured that Sutra Magic is also within the pages of this book, allowing e.g. divine casters, demon hunters etc. to gain access to the iconic ofudas and providing guidelines on creating new sutras as well as a bunch of them for your immediate perusal.
Beyond the vast array of feats that use these new and complex mechanics, we also get short suggestions for cinematic houserules à la damage-based knockback, improvised weapons for everyone, the option to throw foes in grapple, a new use for hero points and (Chinese) Zodiac Signs: These work essentially as traits, but come as a double-edged sword: While being stronger than your average trait, they also come with drawbacks, which might make for truly intriguing roleplaying opportunities. I really like the approach to traits, though you should be aware that they make HEAVY use of hero points, thus, if you don’t play with them, you will get less of this chapter. (But when playing a WuXia-style setting, why not use hero points? Oo)
It should also be noted that we get an array of new exotic weapons (that are not that exotic in the HotJO-setting), most of which actually come with neat artworks, as well as new alchemical gear. Thankfully, the rather complex ch’i-mechanics come with a cheat-sheet in the section on magic that also details aforementioned sutra magic and closes the book.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting. Well. If you take a look at the credits, you’ll see that beyond being a patron, I also helped proof this book. But just a couple of pages. Without wanting to harp on my fellow proofers (after all, it was a non-paying gig) – some glitches slipped past us. Some that shouldn’t have. The Enlightened Scholar is still violating PFRPGF-design with its +9 ref-save progression and lacks its capstone ability. The Kusa should have been upgraded with regards to the Ninja-class. There are still multiple references to Arcana Evolved classes like the Magister (full-blown arcane caster) and the Mage Blade (Gish-class) and similar classes in here: Not in any rules-context, mind you, but they still are there.
While MOST (about 90%) of the conversions are successful and awesome, the rest could have been caught with more proofing and more care. I noticed multiple instances of non-italicized spells, a lack of uniform italicization regarding the terms “ki” and “ch’i” etc. And we also get some pages that clearly show that different people have been at work here – while many pages are free of glaring glitches, there also are some pages in this pdf that feature several.
Layout…is GORGEOUS. Paizo-level and beyond beautiful. Two-column standard, green highlights, golden kanji-borders, Wayne Reynolds-cover and interior artwork that more often than not is on the level of the cover. That is: Up to the very most beautiful you’ll ever see in any publication. The pdf also comes with extensive, nested bookmarks. As per the writing of this review, no printer-friendly version is included.
This is a crunch-monster and perhaps the one pdf that took me longest to review so far. So much math to do. More, in fact, than in just about any product I’ve reviewed so far. The races with their racial paragon-classes should definitely prove to be a boon for fans of the Diamond Throne-setting that have since the Arcana Evolved-days switched to PFRPG and concept-wise, the Mandragoran is perhaps one of the coolest plant race I’ve seen in ages.
I really like the Arcane Pool-idea – but why not rename it? Why make it ambiguous and easy to confuse with the pool of the Magus?
Mechanically, Sutra Magic, Chakras etc. are bold, exciting and cool and speak of a solid grasp on rules by author Frank Carr (for AE) and Timothy Wallace (for the PFRPG-conversion) as well as something only seldom seen: Boldness in design. these options marry cultural fluff with solid rules and uncommon design-choices, making them a joy to behold, at least for me.
The cultural fluff of the book of the book speaks not only of a knowledge, but of an understanding of cultures and myth and offers fresh and exciting vistas on eastern roleplaying that could work together with established setting like Rokugan or Kaidan, but still brings its extremely distinct flavor to the table and can easily stand on its own. Distinctiveness and modularity are well-mixed in the options provided herein. The writing per se ranges from extremely evocative…to. Well. Not so evocative. When proofing my chapters, I continuously stumbled upon instances when multiple sentences started the same way in a quick succession. There were paragraphs containing what I call “no conjunction-disease” – something that ruins the reading experience of any given text by providing essentially a quick succession of basic subject-verb-object-sentences sans prepositions, conjunctions and subordinate clauses. I tried to correct that, but overall, when the book is concerned, I have to say that generally, HotJO cannot be considered a universally great reading experience. When the writing works, it works well, but these sometimes cropping up accumulations of bland, boring sentences, while conveying information, still tug at what would otherwise be a universal sense of wonder and awe at these intriguing lands.
As much as I’m loathe to say it, since I really, really like the book. It feels like it has been pushed out slightly too fast.
Yeah. I know. Get the pitchforks and torches ready.
The book’s been in the making for very long, postponed etc. – but after such a long wait, I think that a flawless quality should have been of tantamount importance. Perhaps giving each of the chapters to two proofers minimum would have been the prudent thing to do. I don’t know. What I do know is that with just one or two more months of proofing and editing, this pdf could have been a new benchmark for crunchy-setting books, a hallmark, a legend.
Now, with all the glitches still here and there in the pdf, some of which actually impede the rules, this pdf feels like it falls flat of its own potential. Not all of it, mind you, and the glitches are nothing that can’t be potentially fixed/errata’d.
This book could have been my number 1 of 2012 or 2013- it had all the potential, all the right ideas. And, again, generally, they do work. But those that don’t combined with an amount of editing glitches/conversion relics make it impossible for me to unanimously recommend. I can’t rate this 5 stars, though I so want to – for the sutras, the demon hunter, the ideas herein, for the imaginative pieces of crunch and fluff. For the well-done conversions of spellcasting, which is hard to do indeed. But the quality of the writing fluctuates hard and there are quite a few relics here. This conversion had the chance to set right all the small (and large) glitches from the HotJO-pdfs and let the chance slip. The thing is: I really, really liked this project. I put $60 down for the patronage, tried to help with the conversions as much as my schedule allowed. I proofed as much as I got, chapter-wise, and as much as my time allowed. I’m dedicated to this project and it could have been one of the best Pathfinder-releases ever.
It could have.
But as a reviewer, I have never let the likes of such problems slip and won’t start now, no matter how I’d want to. As much as it pains me, in spite of the glorious ideas, in spite of all crunch that teems and bristles with ideas, I can’t rate this higher than 4 stars – with seal of approval, though.
Endzeitgeist out.
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This installment of the FoTS-series is a whopping 29 pages long, 1 page front cover (with a stunning artwork by master of the macabre Mark Hyzer), 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD and 1 page advertisement, leaving us with a whopping 25 pages of content - quite a bunch, so let's check this one out!
Following my format for FoTS-reviews, let's first take a look at the supplemental crunchy material provided herein: We get the alterable and Greater Alterable weapon qualities that allow the transformation of weapons into others and a special slotless ring (that can be worn with two others!) that nets the wielder access to the Toppling Spell [Metamagic]-.feat. Template-wise, we get 6 different templates, ranging from CR +2 (Apex Predator template) over the Accelerated Creature template (CR +1), Advanced Creature template(CR +1) to the Young Creature (CR -1) and Locomotion-handicapped Creature template, which clocks in at CR -2. On the spell-section, we get a force-based subduing ray that deals non-lethal damage and a spell to grow more arms. 2 Traits (one related to the dremaburning mechanics of Coliseum Morpheuon),as are 8 feats, three of which are devoted to the Kirin Style and its derivatives, whereas the others allow for firearm creation and knowledge-themed abilities. One wildblooded sorceror-bloodlines also features herein, the Sage (derived from the Arcane bloodline) and additionally, we get the Rakshasa bloodline.
We also get two archetypes, first of which would be the smuggler (based on the rogue) and the second being the crossblooded sorceror, who gets less spells, but the abilities of two bloodlines - intriguing and rather cool!
The 3 incarnations of Ur-Shogga come as CR 7, 14 and 21, with especially the latter build being AWESOME - here, the creature is an advanced cunning locomotion-handicapped intellect devourer crossblooded wildblooded sorceror 16. Now, usually I'd go all "Beware of SPOILERS" now, but honestly - the cover already shows what Ur-Shogga is about - character-wise, this creature is not dream-scarred as you would expect and rather has dreams - terrible, disturbing dreams, for the creature has infiltrated the souk after escaping from the Khan, being the dread result of the Coliseum's master's experiments. As the hyper-intelligent (Int 44!!!!) quintessential schemer, Ur-Shogga is a dreadful grey eminence and an impressive build, but what sets this pdf truly apart would be the sheer amount of additional material.
What additional material? Well, we get 4 CR 13 host-bodies, characters in their own right, 4 CR 9 Host-bodies (2 of which are actually different creatures than the CR 13 ones!) and 3 CR 4 host bodies - Ur-Shogga's favorite host-body featuring in all three versions, while ALL the other host bodies are different. That is 11 additional statblocks, 9 characters - in addition. Wow.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RiP's 2-column b/w rune-covered old standard and the artwork of Ur-Shogga is awesome, the other artworks also being nice for the very fair price-point. The pdf is extensively bookmarked for your convenience.
WOW. Ever since Nameless Nil, my gold standard for ANY NPC-build, I didn't expect this series to again reach this level of complexity and sheer material. While character-wise, I still prefer Nil, Ur-Shogga offers A LOT bang for your bucks - far more than it needed to and oh boy is it better off for it. Disturbing, genius-level schemers are hard to pull off and this build with all its supplemental material makes at once for a truly terrifying and yet beatable adversary/manipulator. Ur-Shogga ranks as one of the finest installments in the series that has set the gold standard for NPC-builds and time and again upped the ante, not resting on its laurels. This is a superb offering indeed and thus scores easy 5 stars + seal of approval for its very fairly-priced, superb content.
Endzeitgeist out.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The following review was originally posted at Roleplayers Chronicle and can be read in its entirety at http://roleplayerschronicle.com/?p=34250.
He’s just a good ole’ boy never meaning much harm… A Dwarf Bard, this is the Souk, you shouldn’t be surprised, a Dwarf Bard that parties hard and drinks too much; no surprises there. His mood swings range from jubilant to destructive and he does it all with aplomb.
OVERALL
While not many think Dwarf Bard, it has been done before and it will be done again. Where the folks at Rite Publishing did this take right was making him a singer and a dancer – sure he is a drum beater, but I’m glad he wasn’t a one trick pony.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 9 out of 10
No surprises when it comes to this supplement’s layout, print quality or formatting. The Faces of the Tarnished Souk supplements are a very established brand, and while some would ding Rite Publishing for not changing things up, I commend them. They are a small company who knows how to stretch their dollar and still put out a high quality product. I enjoyed the cover art, it let me know who Balduros Thundrsen is with one look. In past reviews I have asked Rite Publishing for additional pictures of the character the supplement is covering and they did, well they did or they used the picture of another similar looking Dwarf, but I think they went the extra mile and included a picture of Balduros Thundrsen wielding a hammer. The rest of the stock art didn’t feel cohesive, but it is stock art.
Mechanics: 10 out of 10
Balduros Thundrsen is no push over, but he felt like he would not be difficult to run as an NPC. Even at level 16 with very minor preparation, a GM could improve any game with the inclusion of Balduros Thundrsen.
Value Add: 10 out of 10
Bards tend to be a polarizing class; people love them or they hate them. If run properly, Balduros Thundrsen could be that NPC that might bring a few players to the bard side. Outside of the Souk he would be a powerful warlord, who happens to have musical talent, but in the Souk he is just right.
Overall: 10 out of 10
Even with some of the typical elements that are included in the Balduros Thundrsen, the Roaring Hammer he is still a really well executed and realized NPC. His templates are not too complicated and his backstory is interesting. Some of his motivations and reasons for his actions are diminished when he is out of the Souk, but lets face it, artsy folks tend to be eccentric so some of his normal behaviors in the Souk wouldn’t be too far off in other settings. As an NPC, Balduros Thundrsen brings the noise!
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This installment of Rite Publishing’s free e-zine is 41 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page ToC,11 pages of advertisement and 1 page SRD, leaving us with 27 pages of content, so let’s take a look!
Dave Paul’s editorial this time around is all about tricksters and Steven D. Russell’s creature also complements well this April’s fool’s theme – at CR +3 we get the deadly prankster who can make floors slick, create deadly, obscure booby traps, curse beings to suffer when kicked throw burning hot pie at foes, curse foes with diarrhea (players will HATE creatures that do that to their characters!), curse inappropriate beings to fall in love and finally, make people run into damaging walls. The template is deadly and will be LOATHED by players – nice job! The sample faerie dragon creature also fits in nicely with this template.
Thomas LeBlanc has a short, but oh so sweet article for us that features 11 non-magical weapon qualities master blacksmiths may add to your weapons, including an easily navigated, comprehensive table of prerequisites, cost and DC-increases as well as a feat to become a master weaponsmith. A glorious article, especially for people like yours truly who prefer the grittier side of fantasy and don’t use that many magical items. Two thumbs up – I hope to see more!
Creighton Broadhurst, mastermind of Raging Swan Press has something different from the usual go-play encounters this time around and features an article based on camping in the wilderness. A total of two tables with 50 entries per table provides dressings and minor complications around campfires and sites and makes for a nice little mini-dressing installment. My one gripe here being that the first table, due to some weird reason, is really pixelated and not exactly crisp – no idea what happened there, but printing it out resulted in quite a smudgy end-result as well for me.
Now Rite Publishing’s lord protector Steven D. Russell has more up his sleeve and provides DMs with a list of new abilities for zombies, each of which increases the CR of the base creature by one. Unless I’ve miscounted, a total of 23 of these await us – from leaving a bloody trail that makes combat slippery, but the undead also easy to track to limited energy drain, channel resistance,turning channel energy back upon the foe and faster spawn generation – there are some nasty surprises here and if you want some quick modifications to e.g. Raging Swan Press’ “100% Crunch: Zombies/Zombie Lords”-pdfs, then this article is a great way to fix one of the weaker spots of the two books. Nice to have indeed!
After that, we’re off to this issue’s interview, with perhaps the man who provides one of the most useful services I ever encountered – John Reyst, the owner of d20pfsrd.com. If you ever used this extremely useful site, do yourself a favor and read this interview as a minor means of thanking the man.
Finally, we have a rather big array of reviews by yours truly, featuring the highest rated pdfs of the last month.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn’t notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to RiP’s 2-column standard and the cover artwork is rather appropriate for the issue – I’m quite a fan of the gimmicky way the faerie-dragon has messed up the logo. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.
This issue was a surprise to me – I didn’t expect the template to be this maliciously deadly. I didn’t expect to like yet more mini-adjustments for zombies. And most of all, I didn’t expect to like the article on weapon qualities – but that one is my favorite for this issue – elegant, simple and yet so damn cool. Two thumbs up for Thomas Leblanc! Creighton Broadhurst’s article comes in as a close second – though I hope the table gets fixed with a crisper version. All in all, an enjoyable, nice issue for a price of…diddly-squat! It’s hard to beat this content as a non-existent price-point and hence, I’ll settle for a final verdict of 5 stars, omitting my seal only due to the strange pixelated page.
Endzeitgeist out.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 43 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 2 pages advertisement, leaving us with 38 pages of content - quite a massive bunch of content, so let's take a look!
After a short framing narrative we waste neither time nor space to delve into mystic site qualities. I'd like to go on a tangent here: Iconic battles and modules are not necessarily defined by the adversaries faced or brilliant builds of the foes you pit against your players. As much as these things matter, what makes combats and adventures more exciting even would be often overlooked component - the terrain. Using tables and ravines for tactical advantages makes your world feel more alive and immerses your players more in a cohesive world. Fighting a duelist is cool. Fighting a duelist on a shaking precipice of a grumbling volcano is awesome and so much more memorable. Sneak Attack Press' Terrain Toolbox did a great job of providing a toolkit for mundane types of terrain to make your campaign's encounters more memorable.
Rite Publishing's offering, then, is going one step into the magical world - instead of repeating mundane terrain customization, we get mystical qualities - essentially, these special qualities can be applied to just about any area: From small towers and groves to huge swaths of land, these site qualities modify the basic terrains and can change the way combats play out.
Each of the sites in this product comes with an effect as well as an evocative short example of an application of the respective site that can be considered an adventure-hook in its own right, offering inspiration to use the respective sites. Of course, I can't go through all of the sites contained in this pdf without bloating this review beyond usefulness, but I'll try to give you an overview. Now if you're familiar with Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed/Evolved, you'll, like me, consider the first site a blast from the past: The Akashic Node - a kind of collected storehouse of knowledge into which creatures may tap to increase your knowledge. Nice to see the cool concept disassociated from the Arcana Evolved base-class and transported into PFRPG, readily available for any class.
Arboreal Home is also a VERY interesting quality that e.g. I'd add in a limited manner to the Margreve: Elves, gnomes, fey, native magical beasts, and native animals in an arboreal home gain a climb speed of 1/2 their base land speed. There are more exotic ones included, like the astral chain - when you enter this site, the respective creatures subject to the site's effects may not leave more than 75 ft. from those linked to them. AWESOME! Of course more common sites are also included - blessed sites, places that induce nightmares, areas that bleed dry those bleeding on the territory, gaining access to spell-like abilities like acid arrows, sneak attack-enhancing sites are part of the deal just like the giant-infested cloudlands known from "Jack and the Bean-stalk", places to establish covenants with otherworldly powers (crossroads demons, baby!) etc.
Or take a site where a powerful servant of death itself was vanquished, resulting in Finger of Death becoming readily available. OUCH! Ethnicity-specific sites grant benefits to chosen peoples and there are even areas, where water can be treated as air and vice versa, allowing for underwater adventures sans the issues of requiring spells to dive into the depths. Some sites are saturated with magic to the point where subjects may tap into the powerful energies of that spot, gaining massive benefits from the sites or even changes the way DCs for your spells are calculated to include a d20, making magic that much more unpredictable.
If you're more inclined to include a mythic Hyperborea-style site, you might wish to check out the endless summer mystical quality and for those who enjoy a little humor, there also is fodder in here: While by no means exemplary since most of the qualities are rather serious, "Everybody was Kung-fu fighting!" is interesting: It makes all non-Asian/monk-weapons miss automatically , but grants people at the site access to monkish abilities - something e.g. the casting classes will quite probably enjoy as a nice change of pace. Wonky? Yes, but some slight humor, as long as it does not get overbearing, is welcome in my game.
One of the most interesting sites would be Fate's Web - it links all members of a group and evenly divides damage between the recipients, necessitating a massive change in tactics. Speaking of tactics - the PCs will need a lot of tactics and survival-knacks when e.g. visiting a site always haunted by massive amounts of violent weather like storms, earthquakes etc. Infinite Spaces are also part of the deal, as are morphic geographies for unstable locales, sites that prohibit healing, sites that allow you to create druidic cocoons, sites to travel the planes - the possibilities are almost endless.
As another concept I really liked, we also have the sites that actually reward the rightful rulers of a respective area, as is the massive d%-table included for wild magic, which should also work well in combination with SGG's stellar Chaos Magic-supplement. The pdf closes with a sample complex mystical site, including lore-sections and a sample story as well as a new sample curse.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RiP's 2-column full-color standard and the art-selection deserves special mention: While stock, the artworks are mind-bogglingly beautiful and evocative of the high-concept crunch contained herein. The pdf comes bookmarked.
Once in a while, a DM comes across a pdf that enriches massively one's campaign for ages - there are some pdfs that fall into this category, but honestly, not that many. This is one of them. Providing an awesome amount of evocative sites, this pdf provides us not only with sites and rules - it inspires. It inspires the DM to mix up the rules. To take these site-qualities and use/combine them to make locales stand out. Fighting in the accursed tomb of Grythax the Reaper will feel distinctly different than a battle in the primal heart of the Kelissara-jungle now - I took multiple qualities from this pdf, added them to the locales and suddenly, these places got completely different, inspiring, smart - requiring the players to use different tactics, offering new options and adding not only story-telling, but also tactical depth to any location. This pdf is one I absolutely loved reviewing, for it is chock-full of gorgeous and wondrous options that belong into the toolkit of any DM. Much like the Terrain Toolbox or Raging Swan's Dressing-line, this pdf is guaranteed to enrich your campaign for years to come. There are not many pdfs out there right now that will provide as much joy for 6 bucks as this one. Whether to add spice to modules lacking the je-ne-sais-quoi or to just make your locations more iconic - this is the universally-recommended toolbox for me and one of the scarce few files I'd rate 6 stars, if I could. This is an all-but required purchase for any PFRPG-DM looking to spice up their areas and well worth extremely easily-awarded 5 stars + seal of approval.
Endzeitgeist out.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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This pdf is 7 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD and 1 page advertisement, leaving us with 3 pages of content, so let's take a look!
Kicking off with a nice, short paragraph of introductory fluff in the high quality we've come to expect from Rite Publishing, we are introduced to the oracle-themed magical items - kicking off with otherworldly disfavor, an armor/shield quality that allows the wearer to 1/day use a spells/he has access to that has the curse-descriptor to inflict it as a reaction to being successfully damaged in melee - one a successful save the ability use is conserved and since the quality is powered by the oracle's spell allotment, the quality actually scales with the curse-spells the oracle acquires. Nice scaling-method!
The Mystical Favor weapon special quality allows the oracle to exchange the enchanted weapon 1/day for a spiritual weapon, whereas the Amulet of Enigmatic Alacrity comes in 3 versions and allows the oracle to activate revelations with activation times of less than a round as a a swift action a limited amount of times per day - nice, also to see the different power levels.
The Gloves of the Sin-Eater allow oracles to expel possessing spirits and break curses via cha/oracle-level checks and aasimar oracles of the purifier archetype benefit even more from their use - something I really love Rite Publishing doing here - support for archetypes. I often wonder why there's not more archetype support out (instead of creating x ones that do similar things...) there and this is a step in the right direction. Good to see the notion used via feats etc. expanded further.
Harbinger's Hood increases the effective level of an oracle's curse and the mantle of mysterious metamagic reduced the metamagic-increase of mystery-spells and the greater variant even grants a metamagic feat that can exclusively be applied to bonus mystery spells. And there's a third, even better mantle here as well...
Rings of Revelation's Eyes also come in 3 versions and oh boy, touch spells get nasty, as these rings expand their range to a limited, yet significant range and allow oracles to use their spellcasting ability modifier as an insight bonus to touch attacks - this would be completely and utterly op, were it not balanced via X/day formulas that render it a powerful, yet cool choice to have. Sandals of the Oracle allow for the retrospective addition of a dodge-bonus to their AC and for additional 5-foot-steps (again, in 3 versions of different strengths).
The Seer's Lenses enhances or gives access to the seer archetypes gift of prophecy revelation or enhances it - cool item. Finally, we have the Vestment of the Divine Prophet, in 3 iterations, which grants resistance against ALL energy types - but no AC/DR. Interesting concept and surely a nice robe.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RiP's 2-column full color standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked - cool to see, as it makes navigation, even in such a short pdf, easier.
What can I say, I liked all of the items in this pdf, none struck me as unbalancing or too weak - they all have something going for them and the support for the archetypes and fact that you actually get, with the variants, much more than the advertised 10 items means that this is a great buy for a low and fair price-point. While not reinventing the wheel, it doesn't have to and can be, in the end, considered a more than solid, nice pdf that deserves a final verdict of 5 stars and my wholehearted recommendation.
Endzeitgeist out.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The following review was originally posted at Roleplayers Chronicle and can be read in its entirety at http://roleplayerschronicle.com/?p=33921.
Trader’s Wharf is perfect for a fantasy encounter by the sea or the river. The depicted terrain includes a small merchant ship docked on the shore next to a nice little warehouse, with quality terrain features for fantasy encounters. This battlemap is perfect for some serious medieval mayhem!
OVERALL
This is a beautiful battlemap. The art is excellent and the terrain allows the characters or their antagonists to approach the dock from land or sea with equal facility. What players get, once the sheets are assembled, is an artistic depiction of a medieval or renaissance private dock with suitable surroundings.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 10 out of 10
Jonathan Roberts has done an excellent job with this publication, which includes a square-grid depiction in full color as well as one in printer-friendly greyscale. The panels are sized such that they can be printed on both letter or A4 paper. Owners of this product should print this at actual size, with no scaling. There are complete instructions, and the panels are set with an overlap for precise positioning and taping. The white edges can be entirely removed and the pieces will combine seamlessly. One excellent way to make this last is to get adhesive lamination sheets from an office supply store and cover the sections, cutting the plastic to fit. Alternately, a print shop can easily laminate the sections. Either way, once assembled and taped together using the slight overlap provided, nothing shifts or stains when players get excited and spill their beverages during a hasty boarding action or while attempting to pillage the warehouse.
Visual Appeal: 9 out of 10
If you’ve been spoiled by multiple-layer PDF renditions, be aware that this is a single-layer file, so what you see is what you get. In my opinion, this map is perfect. The debris and stacked items inside the warehouse are well-depicted, as is the dock and surrounding terrain. The color selections are beautiful, and they give this battlemat a realistic appearance. The ship at the dock is well-rendered. If you’ve seen the Princess Bride movie, this ship is very close to the size and shape of the ship operated by Vizzini the Sicilian villain, roughly 60 feet from bow to stern, and is fully detailed in another product: Fantastic Maps – Merchantman. If you want internal details of the lower decks or would like to float off in the ship after leaving the dock, pick up that product as well.
Desire to Use: 10 out of 10
As a high fantasy genre gamer, I’m using this! I’ve already laminated my set and will be enjoying it at the next gaming convention. This battlemap perfectly depicts a shoreline haven for characters or their foes. Whether the characters are armed with swords, crossbows, or magic wands, this is an excellent product for the ragged edge between the land and sea!
Overall: 10 out of 10
Trader’s Wharf is a high-quality addition to your fantasy environments and another fine product from Rite Publishing. Trader’s Wharf allows the Game Master to establish a rich tactical shoreline situation that is visually appealing.
| Puntuación: | | [5 de 5 estrellas!] |
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