The latest addition to the psionic items of legend-series is 5 pages long, 1/2 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 3.5 pages of content for Severis, so what is this one about?

After the obligatory introduction that explain what legendary items are (and if you don't know by now and deem yourself a good PFRPG-DM, go and buy the Purple Duck Games-series. All of them.), we delve right into the background of Severis.

Phrenic Scourges are the new Illithids and as such, the tale of the axe called Severis is one of woe - the axe, while superbly suited to cull the ranks of the tentacled beings (gaining the new scourgebane property) is also a burden - the Scourges seek the axe. Whether it is true that the key to unlocking vast power for the scourges lies in the axe or not, it is a potent weapon against their devious machinations, being able to locate the presence of them, but also being a mental beacon for the scourges..

Wielders of Severis gain new fortitude saves every round to kill off phrenic scourge larvae to keep them from reaching the wielder's brain, psi-like abilities etc., culminating in a capstone ability that allows a wielder of Severis to hit a thrall of the scourge without damaging the person, redirecting all inflicted damage on the controlling scourge, even if far away.

The term "Phenc Scourge Ilk" is also defined in the pdf for purposes of clarifying the new phrenic scourge property, which also is fully detailed.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to DSP's no-frills b/w-2-column standard and the artwork of Severis is nice, though not too exciting when e.g. compared to LPJr Design's Treasures of NeoExodus line. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length. Severis is a cool weapon with a nice and exciting background, some heretofore unseen qualities and a cool new property - what more to ask for in a legendary weapon? Final verdict: 5 stars + seal of approval. Now does this axe show up in the Third Dawn AP? It would fit...

Endzeitgeist out.

The latest installment of the Psionic Bestiary-subscription is 4 pages long, 1 page front cover/editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving two pages for the creatures, so let's check them out!

The first new creature would be the Pyn-Gok (CR 3), a race of regal avian humanoids with the power to bat foes around with id insinuation and masters of polearm-combat. Rather disturbing, actually, that the beautiful b/w-artwork makes the Pyn-gok actually look cool and badass! I think these will see some use in my game!

The second new creature is the T'artys (CR 5), a type of psionic fey that delights in causing mischief and dissent among humanoids via its psionic and spell-like abilities, while looking like a pearly version of grey men. Their artwork unfortunately does not hold up to the Pyn-Gok's, but their signature ability, which disrupts manifesting and spellcasting is nice.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are not perfect: I noticed a couple of minor glitches ranging from a missing preposition to capital "b"s after feats that should be superscript etc. - all in all quite a bunch of glitches that need to be addressed, especially in such a short pdf. Layout adheres to DSP's 2-column standard, is b/w and rather printer-friendly. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length. Artworks range from good to ok. The creatures are nice, but the artwork drags down the T'artys as much as it elevates the Pyn-Gok. Also, the latter feels oddly generic in its fluff: Yet another mischievous fey, only this time with psionics? Not very exciting. The T'artys should get some unique identity beyond sowing mischief, especially since it's a fey and thus should have some kind, any really, association with nature/elements/people- something that makes it feel mystical rather than mundane. I also don't get why the Pyn-Gok don't get some peacock-like abilities that blind/dazzle/fascinate foes - the connection is so obvious and the race could use a second signature ability. All in all, I feel that this is the weakest offering of the subscription so far. My final verdict will be 2.5 stars, rounded down to 2 for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.

The third installment in the psionic items of legend-series is 5 pages long, 1 page editorial/introduction and 1 page SRD, leaving 3 pages for the dancing robes.

We start with a short introduction on the rules of legendary weapons, which means that these items scale in power with your PC's levels and thus remain useful throughout their career. If you're looking for more of these very cool items, check out Purple Duck Games' excellent Legendary-series.

Now that's out of the way, what are the dancing robes? Sharatwan was a dervish of unparalleled prowess who wore these robes not only in battle, but also when on her numerous diplomatic peace-missions, the robes working not only as a gorgeous gown that might be worn in higher social echelons, but also as a powerful enchanted padded armor that gains the new determination-quality (which casts breath of life 1/day when the wielder is dropped to 0 or fewer life) as well as multiple abilities that make the wielder faster, better suited for diplomatic missions and enhances their prowess in combat, especially with dual-wielding mind blades - which can btw. also be turned into pure lightning if neither the glowing hands or the aura of peace of the wielder suffices...

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, though the last page of the write-up is rather empty - a tad bit more detailed fluff or a lore-table would have been nice to fill the blank space. Layout adheres to DSP's 2-column standard, the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length and the artwork of the robes is nice indeed. Of all the psionic items released so far in the series, this one is my favorite, its abilities unique, its background history generic, yet intrigue-laden enough and best of all: It's innovative. I can't recall ever seeing a well-made write-up of a mere padded armor that would make for a tool a PC wants to use and the dancing robes actually fill that niche, setting the standard for future releases in the series higher. Due to the lack of a lore-table/wasted space, I'll omit my seal of approval, but still remain with a definite recommendation and a final verdict of 5 stars.

Endzeitgeist out.

This pdf is 6 pages long, 1 page front cover/editorial/artworks (which are repeated in the respective entries), 1 page SRD, leaving 4 pages for 4 monsters, so let's check them out!

The first creatures are the so-called Ir'Llanthaal, CR 3 merfolk-like beings with sound-creating abilities as well as an affinity to dolphins and whales. Especially for e.g. Alluria Publishing's Cerulean Seas campaign setting very cool - I'm looking forward to reading their book on underwater psionics.

After that, we get the CR 6 Khurduzal, the so-called ID shambler is much more interesting: The strange plant cannot only engulf and constrict foes, it is also resistant to psionics and draws strength from powers of the mind hitting it. Furthermore, via its mushrooms, it emits constantly a strange kind of psychotropic aura. This being is so awesome - details like the mushrooms growing on this mass being able to be made into a drug add further to the critter's awesomeness. I just wished that stats for the drug had been provided as well...

The third creature then would be the CR 8 Saurood, a triceratops-headed humanoid can be considered an homage to Forgotten Realm's Saurian leaders, who were known to be contemplative, yet physically imposing. This being can use psi-like abilities that duplicate hammer and stomp as well as being able to emit a devastating sonic bellow. Neat take on the "good" reptilian race. Fans of the Third Dawn-setting should also enjoy the link of the race's fluff with the ophidians.

The final new critter, the Thercias Hound clocks in at CR 6 and should be considered a six-legged canine being with a powerful bite, predatory psionic powers like chameleon and a hide that makes it naturally invisible and a nice deadly hunter in the tradition of the good old displacer beasts.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to a printer-friendly 2-column standard and the b/w-artworks provided for the monsters are original and nice. The pdf has no bookmarks, which is a minor bummer at this length. Following the tradition of the psionic bestiaries, the creatures herein can be considered high-quality critters, with this installment feeling distinctly like a grand homage to monsters of old that have been absent to one reason or another. The monsters herein all have some kind of signature ability and seem to fill their respective niches. On the other hand, while this closeness to classics makes them feel nostalgic, they could, with the exception of the stellar ID shambler a tad bit more originality. Usually, this wouldn't bug me that much, but due to e.g. the fact that the drug-information is missing as well as the fact that the Ir'Llanthaal could be a tad bit more original, I'll settle for a final verdict of a solid 4 stars - a good mini-bestiary at the low price.

Endzeitgeist out.

The second installment in the series is 5 pages long, 1 page front cover/introduction, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 3 pages of content, so let's check this out!

After an introduction to the concept of legendary items, we get the Helm(s) of the Hydra - created once by the dreaded cabal known as metabolic masters, these helms enhance the collective powers and get additional powers when linked to bigger collectives as well as the ability to meld with others into an effect duplicating the form of doom-power. The item has 5 power levels and the pdf also includes the rules for having a collective.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to a 2-column standard with no frills and the pdf has no bookmarks, but a cool piece of original b/w-artwork. This item is mechanically much more interesting and cooler than the first item and the narrative is also more complex and has the superior hooks implemented in the background. However, the Hydra Helmet only has 5 levels of power progression compared to the disruptor's 10 levels, making the item slightly less versatile. This remains my only gripe, though, and thus I'll settle for a final verdict of 4 stars for this rather good installment of the series.

Endzeitgeist out.

This pdf is 5 pages long, 1 page editorial/introduction, 1 page SRD, leaving 3 pages of content, so let's take a look!

Taking the awesome concept pioneered by Purple Duck Games, his supplement provides us with a legendary weapon, i.e. a weapon that improves with the level of the wielder and requires the wielder to have certain requisites. The shield is a crystalline shield that makes the wielder a deadly force to be reckoned with and a bane to other manifesters - blocking rays, evasion, even absorbing powers that hit the wielder and even spontaneous dispel psionic assaults on the wielder every 3 rounds.

The pdf also features the crystalline grip armor quality.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to a 2-column, no-frills b/w-standard and the one piece of b/w-artwork depicting the shield is nice. The pdf has no bookmarks, but at this length doesn't necessarily need them. This micro-pdf provides us with a nice legendary weapon that transforms one of my favorite concepts to the realm of psionics, so what could go wrong? Not much, but honestly, I'm somewhat disappointed. The theme of the anti-psi-item is rather old and the disruptor does not necessarily bring something truly ingenious or new to the table. The item and its clichéd backstory are rock-solid, even mechanically sound, but it just failed to touch me when compared to some of the narratives Purple Duck Games' recent installments offered. Since there is nothing wrong with the pdf per se, I'll thus settle for a final verdict of 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 for the purpose of this platform and hope for more courageous and unique items in the series.

Endzeitgeist out.

The second installment in Dreamscarred Press's all-psionic AP is 48 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 2 pages plot-synopsis of the whole AP, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving a total of 42 pages of content, so let's check this out!

This being an adventure-review, the following text contains SPOILERS. Potential players might wish to jump to the conclusion. Still here? All right!

After putting down a puppeteer-hive-mind in "Uncertain Futures", the new-found peace in the twon of Arbil turns out to be short-lived - contacted by Sudas, Ophidian captain of the guard, the PCs are tasked to find out the reason for a sudden exodus of Orcs from their city of Gyroth. Better yet, for Sudas, jealous of the favoritism the PCs receive from Mospehi due to the first adventure, this is a win-win situation - if the PCs succeed, great. If they fail, no harm done - at least in Sudas' mind. It should also be noted, that, as in the first installment of the AP, a rather significant amount of boxes adds little side-quests to the adventure, adding depth and potential immersion for the PCs as well as the opportunity to earn additional treasure and XP. And indeed, the overland trek turns out to be rather lethal: While the initial orcish scouting party, hunters and trappers the PCs will encounter should not prove to be a significant challenge for the party, they aren't intended to be, but more on that later. In a nice encounter that hearkens back to "Uncertain Futures", the PCs can also encounter puppeteer-dominated duergar, if only to remind them of the fact that this particular horror is not yet over. Among the other encounter, there is a coven of psionic hags (including a mini-dungeon)and even a cyclops loosening up the continued skirmishes with orcs. Once the PCs had enough, they'll find and hopefully parley with the leader of the scouts, Frag'Goth and learn the reason for the orc's exodus - it turns out that the green-skins have been besieged by lizardfolk and whether the PCs try to infiltrate the orc-camp, all-out attack it or even recruit the orcs as allies (which may be the smartest move in the overall campaign arc), the advance of the green-skins is stopped. Also rather nice: Though the adventure doesn't tell you so, the lizardfolk spy might make for a nice assassin to be thwarted by the PCs if they royally screw up or if you want to give them a second chance at parlaying.

The problem seems to only have been moved, though, and thus the PCs are back on the trek, hopefully preventing a lizardfolk wilder from instigating a forest fire and fighting against scaled raiding parties. Again, there's a mapped mini-dungeon, this time containing multiple trolls as well as a phase spider and after the Pcs have tested their mettle against the superior, psionically-active lizardfolk a couple of times, they'll find the temple of Gyroth still standing amidst a charred wasteland and here, the exploration of the dungeon starts to become interesting: Here, the PCs will face off against "Form", a blob of dissected arms and hands and similar strange and unique beings - in order o reach this, again, mapped dungeon's boss, the mad lizardfolk shaman Urchag, the PCs will have to fool a wall that they are him and in order to do so, they will have to encounter 3 unique aberrations, which have been born from the discarded remnants of Urchag. While 2 are hostile, the third, Urchag's reason, might make for a disturbing, but honest ally and might fill in some details for the PCs. Once the players have vanquished the grisly mutation that once was Urchag (a phrenic aberrant shaper 6 - CR 8), they will not only find a chiseled map, but also find a hint to the source of the incursions and the lizardfolk's sudden appearance.

Back in Arbil, the PCs can hire a captain (who will return for a favor in a future AP-installment) to take them to the island of Less-World, where the PCs will be greeted as gods by the lizardfolk - who only speak draconic. Shasara, if spared, may serve as a recurring character and interpreter. Contacted by the Infellium Feather, a nature spirit and beseeched by the lizardfolk, the PCs will have to trave to the temple of the priesthood for two purposes: First, to complete the rite that makes them priests and eligible to lead the lizardfolk and secondly to execute the "Deep Masters" that have enslaved the scaled lizardmen, fed tales of the world beyond the island to them and made them the deadly aberrant mockeries the PCs had encountered earlier. Thus, the PCs face the trials of the temple and interesting they are - from a tile-based, simple puzzle (including a graphic representation of the tiles) to a rather cool corridor of whirling blades that can only be disabled once the trap has been crossed to withstanding the psionic onslaught of an unbodied for 5 rounds, the challenges are neat indeed and serve as a nice progression towards the showdown with the first of the "Ruling Three" aboleths, who guards the spiraling descent into their true dominion.

In these caverns, the PCs will have to square off against the aboleth's lackeys and in a climactic final battle vanquish the two remaining ancient aberrations. The map is once again in full color and depicts 3 different shades of blue for water-depths and honestly, this is also one of my gripes with this final section of the dungeon: While the different water levels are covered, I would have preferred the environmental information to be covered in the respective room-descriptions, as it makes the DM'S job slightly easier. Another wasted chance is that the tides (since these caves are supposed to be connected to the sea) don't fracture in at all - think about it: Aboleth caves some, of which are slowly flooding... That would have been so awesome.

On the bright side, the PCs can potentially recruit two groups of humanoids in this module for the sequels - let's hope that there'll be consequences for the PC's actions, as has been hinted so far.

The module also includes a 2-page article on Lizardfolk in the World of Ksaren by Jeremy Smith and a two-page mini-gazetteer of the shorelines of the protectorate by Michael McCarthy before we get to the new creatures in the bestiary section:

We get the Infellium (CR 5), psionic spirits of nature (fey) that are created from an animal or plant, a bestiary-entry for the race of Maenads (be sure to check out the alternate KQ-history for the race, btw.), the phrenic aberrant template (CR 1 to 3, depending on HD) and a sample creature and the Phthisic, Puppeteers, Temporal Filchers, Thought Eaters and the Udoroot (most of which will be familiar to you from other sources) as well as a two-page campaign-overview.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting in the revised version are good. Layout adheres to a printer-friendly, full-color 2-column standard and the full-color artworks by Rick Hershey and Tsailanza Rayne are awesome. The pdf comes fully bookmarked, but without a printer-friendly version.

Oh, From The Deep-AP, how nice are your ideas: The option to acquire multiple allies for the future AP rocks and hints at the epic things to come - the variety of approaches is awesome, from extinction to helping, the choice is all yours. The side-quests prevalent in the module make for a cool way to add an organic feeling to the world and immerse the players further in the world and generally, I love the mini-dungeons in the overland sections, but they do offer a problematic vista: The general adventure feels cut-down, as if the random, unrelated sidequests chomped away some vital fractions of the main adventure. Compared to the other dungeons, the final cave level (which had a massive glitch the nice guys of DSP have thankfully quickly taken care of) feels bland - After the stellar two first locations of the module, the finale feels somewhat loveless and generic. The first two dungeons are absolutely awesome - the confrontations in Gyroth and the priesthood's temple in Less-World are stellar examples of supreme design and honestly, while I like the additional material, I think that this module would have massively profited from cutting the content in favor of a properly developed climax and final dungeon. As written, the abruptness and bland finale (fighting that particular creature type in half-submerged caves? Never done that before... -why not make the final level easier, but add interesting environmental factors instead?) somewhat detract from what would otherwise be a very good module.

I really enjoyed Ruling Three due to one leitmotifs that shimmers through both installments of the AP so far: Consequences and Freedom of Choice. The PCs can strike alliances, they can recruit tribes, they can help all the people with their side-quests. They don't have to do so, but they CAN. Much of the coolness of this module derives from its far-out ideas and the options and consequences hinted at in future installments of the AP. That being said, I still maintain that the finale of "Ruling Three" feels a bit jarring and abrupt and that the final dungeon-level represents quite a significant drop in quality when compared to the first two major areas. It is due to the lack of truly interesting environmental complications and a slightly clichéd final dungeon level that I will settle "only" on a review of 4 stars, though the rest of the module could easily be considered great and worthy of 5. I am looking forward to the third installment of the all-psionic From the Deep-AP!

Endzeitgeist out.

Psionics Expanded: Advanced Psionics Guide is a great continuation of Dreamscarred Press' psionics line. This book is both imaginative and consistent. It's consistent in that the Advanced Psionics Guide mimics the format of Paizo's Advanced Player's Guide, which is a great design choice, considering both books have a similar niche. The book is wildly imaginiative in that it adds dozens of new Psionic powers and classes, some of which seem familiar to fans of 2nd and 3rd Edition D&D Psionics, many of which are completely new. The classes are amazing, and easily the strongest part of the book. The Aegis (who manifests ectoplasmic armor) and Aegis-related content is almost worth the book's purchase price by itself. The Aegis is just one of the classes I can't wait to play- this from a gamer who never really liked the standard OGL psionics system. Good job, Dreamscarred Press. CHRIS

The final installment of the Psionic Expanded-pdfs is 52 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving 49 pages of content, so let's check out this final installment of DSP's series!

Following the format of the series, we get a short introduction to the serialized release that is Psionics Expanded and then delve right into the new Core-class, the Cryptic. Crunch-wise, the class gets d8, 4+Int skills, 3/4 BAB-progression, up to 128 Power Points and access to up to 20 powers of to 6th level. But what are they about? Cryptics harness the hidden patterns of reality and manipulate them by having them show up as tattoos - their manifesting is harder to identify by other classes, but they can't suppress the additional manifestation of the pattern that accompanies their casting. They can use the mastery of the pattern to improve their defenses a limited amount of times per day and also gain e.g. trapfinding, trapmaking and similar roguish abilities. When the cryptic focuses, she can also disrupt the pattern of foes of a type she chooses at the time of focusing via a black ray. Cryptics, due to their insights in the patterns of reality, also get special talents called "insights", one at 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter, of said talents a total of 26 different ones are provided, lending to quite a variety of choices. While the obvious enhancements of the ray they can shoot are there, the cryptic also gets some rather intriguing abilities that distinctly set the class apart from its brethren - one of the insights, e.g., lets the cryptic and his allies temporarily bypass traps without setting them off - now if you don't get some rather cool tactical ideas for that one, I don't know what will - imagine the dastardly trap-cluttered bases an NPC (or the players!) can easily create or a chase of a cryptic through a trap-riddled dungeon. One of the very intriguing options also halves the healing foes hit by your ray receive. Oh, have I mentioned that cryptics may fold traps into small patterns an throw them into unoccupied spaces of up to 30 ft. away or even redirect a trap's effect at foes and repair teh damage done to the pattern of allies, granting them minor healing capabilities adn at 16th level even the ability to bring back the dead. Of course, they can also opt to learn ranger traps and a whole page is devoted to them. It should also be noted that the class has not one or two, but a selection 8 different capstone abilities to choose from - now if that's not nice, what is?

After this new class, we are introduced to new options for the core psionic classes: Psions get the mindbender advanced discipline bent (haha) on enthralling and subjugating foes via Telepathy. Wilders get the new chaotic surge, which may provide power, but also weaken the wilder and prove a quite high chance of enervation, while the Efficient surging option reduces the amount of power points a power costs instead of increasing the level or augmented output. The warping surge can increase allies' caster level and decrease the one of the foes close to it.

Psionic archetypes are also part of the deal and the very first one is already a winner: If you've read my other PE-reviews, you'll know how much I loved the reimagination of the Aegis and the first archetype makes me happy indeed: The Aberrant does not use an ectopic suit, rather modifying and mutating the body into new forms - eyestalks, stingers, poison and even a protective shell are part of the 12 new customizations for this creepy archetype. The ectopic artisan on the other hand blends the powers of the shaper and artisan, manipulating ectoplasma and creating astral swarms to do his bidding at the cost of less power for the astral suit. The Trailblazer, in comparison, is rather boring - it provides 2 new customizations to reflect ranger abilities. The Cryptic gets the pattern breaker archetype which focuses on improving her ray and intimidation. The stellar Dread-class also gets a supplement, the Fear in Flesh archetype, which lets the Dread use the claw/bite powers on a more or less permanent basis and enhance these attacks to carry the powers of fear. The Marksman gets the Kaigun archetype, a kind of psionic gunslinger that has some rather interesting options, like spending power points and expending the focus to gain grit. The Shroud in contrast is a hunter focused on staying hidden while sniping. Two new psionic deeds are also included. Psions can use the new archetypes herein to throw exploding stones, access two disciplines and become better creators. Psychic Warriors get a complex archetype that uses kineticist powers and marries it with martial prowess. The Meditant can be considered a monk/psychic warrior crossover, including increased unarmed damage, while the Protector can be considered a psionic bodyguard. The Soulknife-cutthroat is gets sneak attacks and the nimble blade is rather finesse-focused. 5 talents for the soulknife let the class wilder in the rogue's territory via evasion, trapfinding etc. and a 1-page comprehensive list of weapon abilities is included for your convenience. Quite cool, the Tactician gets the battle medic archetype, which gains limited access to some of the Vitalist's tricks and the Vitalist gets the Life Leech, which can share and shift debilitating conditions, while the Miasmic delight in causing sickness rather than curing it. The combat and blasting wilders can enhance their physis via surges and chain their surge blasts respectively.

Core-classes also get psionic options: From the Enlightened Monk to the cerebral infiltrator rogue (who gets 3 new talents and 2 advanced talents to take psionic feats, powers etc.) and then there are the 15 new feats: While some of which, like "Unwilling Participant" overlap with other PE-releases, especially the "Cushion the Blow"-feats rock: As long as an individual is part of your collective, you can hamper the respective attacks on your allies to make them count as if the foe has rolled 1s on the damage dice via an immediate action and even reduce them further by expanding your focus.

After that, we get the cryptic's power-list as well as a revised vitalist-info - good to see the terminology with knacks etc. streamlined. The powers per say are top-notch and include with everyman one of my player's favorite powers ever. Special mentioning also deserve the ectoplasmatic grapnel that lest you do batman/spiderman-style moves to move enemies and objects to you and can be used in a myriad of ways - the power is longer than a page! From special hiding powers and the ability to launch across the battle-field, the new powers herein are generally well-conceived and none of them felt unbalancing.

Racial favored class options for blues, dromites, elans, half-gaints, meanads and xephs as well as human are covered for the cryptic class and we also get PrCs:

The Body Snatcher (d6, 2+Int skills per level, 6 levels, 1/2 BAB progression, 4 levels of power progression, medium will-saves) ffocuses on mind switches and may retain some sort of muscle memory and retain some of the host's capabilities - a godsend class for recurring villains or great infiltrators and they may even switch minds with their killers, thus granting them one last chance to escape death's clutches. The Soul Archer (10 levels, d10, 4+Int skills, full BAB, medium ref-save, 9 levels mind blade progression) is essentially a ranged version of the soulknife, complete with arrows that may phase through nonmagical terrain like trees, walls etc.

The 16 new psionic items are solid, and especially steampunk-fans and aficionados of victorian aestehtics will be delighted by the new enchanted monocles. Cryptics get some neat tools of the trade to enhance their own pattern-related abilities.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to DSP's printer-friendly 2-column standard and the interior artwork is full-color and both nice and coherent in style. The pdf comes fully bookmarked. After having delivered two of the best and in my opinion coolest classes for PFRPG in the last two installments, I was somewhat dreading the release of this installment. The Cryptic could have easily fallen into the bland concept of "He's a rogue psionics". I'm happy to report that that's not the case. Instead, DSP managed to create a class that is distinct and has a whole unique identity and fluff - ever wanted to create a character that can calculate terrain and use freak "accidents" and traps to his/her advantage? The Cryptic might do exactly that for you. And yes, they can fill the rogue's role, but much like the Vitalist for example, the class feels wholly distinct not only in its mechanics, but also in its fluff and strategies. I'm also delighted to report that the majority of new archetypes ROCK. If you're following my reviews, you probably know that I'm all for complex archetypes and e.g. the Aberrant and the Kaigun rock! The powers and PrCs are also nice and offer a vast array of new storytelling devices and options. In the end, I'll settle for a final verdict of 5 stars and omit the seal of approval only because I would have loved to see more options for the Cryptic and Dread-classes. (Hopefully in the compiled book?)

Endzeitgeist out.

This pdf is 4 pages long, 1 page SRD and 1/2 page editorial, leaving 2.5 pages of content for two monsters:

The CR 8 Cerebremorte - a blackened, undead, lower jaw-less thing with a remnant of its spine wreathed in purple flames - its darkfire shaking the resolve of mortals is one of its attacks, the other being a ray that drains PSP or mental attributes.

The second creature herein is the CR 12 Cognition Devil, a being not only shrouded in an aura of deadly hellfire, but also psionically endowed to reduce mortals to their violent base instincts and desires via their psi-like abilities.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to a 2-column standard and both new creatures get their own unique piece of full-color artwork, which is nice. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length. What can I say about the two creatures apart from that they're nice, provide signature abilities, come with neat artworks and at a very fair price. While they did not blow me utterly out of the water, I enjoyed them and thus will settle for a final verdict of 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.

This pdf is 5 pages long, 1/2 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving 3.5 pages of content, so let#s check this out!

This pdf provides us with 3 automata of the inevitable subtype:

The CR 4 Alpha-scouts are skilled in hunting their quarry and are preternaturally quick. The CR 8 Betas come with broader training and an enmity-field and its defensor shield and blast batons interact in a rather cool and unique way with this signature ability.

The final automaton is the CR 14 Gamma can be considered as a specialized inevitable to hunt down psionically active individuals and is immune to psi-powers as well as capable of emitting a dispelling pulse - a nice alternative to psi-killers.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to a two-column standard and each of the inevitables herein comes with its own nice b/w-artwork. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length. The overall quality of the inevitables herein is top-notch and personally, I love the concept of them - having finally also inevitables to mercilessly police psionicists is neat indeed. Especially the cool interaction of the Beta's leech field with its equipment is nice indeed - I hope to see more of the kind in the future. On the down-side, the Alpha is not as awesome and rather mundane. But then there's the almost unbeatable price - for this low price, I think you'll definitely enjoy the file. Thus, I'll settle for a final verdict of 5 stars for this micro-bestiary.

Endzeitgeist out.

The fifth installment of DSP's "Psionics Expanded"-line is 45 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving 42 pages of content, so let's check out what this installment has to offer!

After the by now obligatory one page of introduction, we're introduced to the new base-class of this installment, the Dread. I have to admit something here. I'm a bit biased with regards to this class. Its 3.5 predecessor, the Morphean, was one of my all-time favorite psionic classes and the PC in my Ravenloft-campaign one of the most iconic ones to ever be created. But can the new incarnation hold up to this expectation? Well, the Dread gets d8, 6+Int skills per level, proficiency with light armor, simple and martial weapons, but not shields, 3/4 BAB, good ref- and will-saves, up to 128 PSP and learn up to 20 powers of to 6th level. But that's not what they're about: The very first level provides them with a touch attack that deals 1d6 + class-levels damage against living foes by channeling FEAR. Dreads are about TERROR and harnessing powers other would consider dark, but without necessarily being evil. Every even level, they can choose from a list of so-called terrors, essentially dread talents. A Dread can use a total of class-level + cha-mod terrors per day that range from keeping enemies from retreating to gaining concealment and even striking creatures at high levels dead with fear! The obvious options like striking someone with fear, shaken them etc., are of course also covered, as are more exotic abilities like the power to gain hp when dropping foes and even drain power points and spells from the victims of the terror-attack. One of the more intriguing options is the mindlock, which enables the dread to hit the mindlocked target without fail with his touch and intimidate the target, even without line of sight. The usages of the ability and its story-telling potential is vast. Also intriguing: The option to teleport short ranges via shaken targets.

If you're thinking: "Who cares, too many foes are immune to fear." - enemies within 10 ft. of a 3rd level Dread lose that immunity! Ouch! The dread has another iconic ability available at 11th level: The Shadow Twin! Essentially, the shadow twin and the dread are one person and can flank etc. - if one is healed, so is the other, but if an area-effect hits both, only one is hit. Otherwise, detrimental and beneficial effects that affect one also affect the other. The higher the level, the farther away an the twin go. If this does not fill your head with all kinds of neat strategies, especially when combined with the fear aura and the shaken teleportation, then I don't know what will. All in all - vastly superior to the 3.5-iteration and one cool, iconic class with truly ingenious signature abilities.

Following the format of the line, we also get new options for the core psionic classes with the new soulknife archetype "Armored Blade", which replaces enhanced mind blade with the option to get a soul-armor much like the knife. The "Deadly Fist" is essentially a soulknife-monk channeling his powers into his unarmed strikes, while the "Shielded Blade" gets a mind shield. With 34 new blade skills to choose from, the soulknife can be considered a definite winner of this pdf and is developing into one rather versatile class - from additional stored soulknife configuration at your beck and call to absorbing lesser powers and spells by expending the psionic focus, imposing penalties instead of damage on foes and even several blade skills for the archetypes, this selection is guaranteed to be enjoyed by fans of the class. Psychich Warriors also get new material: The agile Dervish and Interceptor paths, while wilders get the new Pain surge. The fighter gets a new archetype, the psionic fighter, who gets access to psionic feats. A bit wonky, though, as to take psionic feats, one needs PSP or the ability to manifest powers.

EDIT: The archetype GETS Wild Talent as a bonus feat. My bad. BUT: The bookmark for the archetype, at least in my version of the pdf, doesn't work.

After that, we are introduced to 39 new feats, of which a significant selection deals with advanced version of psychic warrior paths and options to enhance the usability of the new Dread-class via e.g. "Broken Dreams Style", which lets you deliver your wracking touch attack via unarmed attacks - neat and oh so painful for your foes! Psionic improved versions of several combat maneuvers like shield bash, trip etc. also ensure that your psionic fighting character won't be restricted to bashing at the foes via regular attacks.

The section on new powers includes a new descriptor, the [Trigger] - powers with that descriptor go off once a specific set of criteria is met. After full power-lists for Dread, Gifted Blade, Psychic Warrior, Marksman and similar classes, we are introduced to a total of 44 powers, which range from a temporary banishment of the subconscious to overloading a foes senses with sensorial cascades to swapping positions with the next foe you hit with a melee attack. Many of the powers gain additional benefits and cool second effects depending on the triggers. I love the descriptor and frankly, I think that more powers/spells should provide tactical options like this. While there are some powers I can recall from other PE-installments, the majority is new and more importantly: Exciting.

Racial favored class-benefits for the Dread are covered next for 2 psionic races from PU and 3 Core-races.

This installment provides us with 2 PrCs, the "Adaptive Blade" (10 levels, d10, 2+Int skills, )/10 manifester-progression, good BAB, medium fort-and ref-saves) is truly intriguing - being able to analyze foes while focused, they can not only find holes in the fighting styles of their adversaries, but also mimic skills, proficiencies, block attacks, mimic feats etc., making this the first truly interesting super-analyst defensive fighting-PrC I've so far read for PFRPG. And we know the type from literature and personally, I love it! The Second PrC, the "Telekinetic Weaponmaster" is only 5 levels long, comes with d10, 2+Int skills, 4/5 manifester-progression, medium ref-saves, good BAB and the ability to add telekinetic reach to his weapons, throw them, block attacks via force and, at the peak of its mastery, telekinetically wield a weapon in addition to his own and make improved telekinetic whirlwinds!

Finally, the pdf provides us with a new psionic weapon quality as well 5 new crystalline focus items.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are good, though not perfect: I noticed an instance of a superfluous "x" as well as the lacking information in the archetype. Layout adheres to a beautiful full-color 2-column standard that remains printer-friendly and artworks present a concise style. This pdf is on par with its predecessor in that it is a must-have - the new class is stellar, the PrCs rock, the descriptor is genius and all the feats and new tools for soulknives are awesome as well. In fact, I loved just about everything herein apart from the few glitches and will thus settle for a final verdict of 4.5 stars - as soon as they've been taken care of, I'll gladly round up to 5 and add my seal of approval.

Endzeitgeist out.

This pdf is 45 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving 42 pages of content - so far the best bang-for-buck ratio in the series, so let's check this out!

After the by now obligatory introduction-page, we are introduced to the new Aegis-base-class. The Aegis gets d10, 4+Int skills per level, proficiency with simple and martial weapons, light armor and shields, up to 70 PSP, full BAB, good fort-and will-saves and up to 26 customization points. What is the Aegis? Essentially, the Aegis is a tank-class that is similar to the soulknife in that it takes psionic powers to construct something, in the Aegis' case, a custom suit of armor. The astral suit can be customized via a vast variety of customization options that include extra arms, wings, adhesive feet and similar goodies. Sounds familiar? Yeah, the closest analogy I can come up with is being a fighter who pilots his own, mindless eidolon, but without needing to play two characters. The Aegis' suit also grants improving DR, can be customized faster at higher levels etc. Sounds like a cool, balanced class? Yep, it is. Nothing to complain about. Great customization-options, versatility, iconic imagery, cool artwork.

Two psionic disciplines are introduced as per the other pdfs - this time, though, they are slightly more complex: The Maestro is an expert in astral constructs and can construct astral swarms instead (CR 7, statblock provided). The erudite-discipline offers us the options to manifest a minor amount of powers sans paying the power point cost when being focused. The soulknife gets the gifted blade archetype, who can also manifest a limited amount of powers, 7 total of up to 4th level (this time, the power list is included in the pdf). The pdf also includes 3 new blade skills. This installment of PE also includes 28 new feats for your perusal that range from improved advanced constructs and include a massive slew of metapsionic feats that include dealing subdual damage and similar effects. From elemental effects to the ability to exclude allies from your area-effect powers, the selection is rather useful for aspiring manifesters, especially due to the inclusion of feats that let you dip into psionic powers without belonging to the psionic classes.

The new powers include the now (with the advent of rogue talents) unfortunately-named talents, which essentially are a psion's cantrips and include information on how to implement them in your game for the different classes. More interesting, knowing certain 1st level powers grant access to certain talents - a smart method of rewarding smart choices.23 powers are included, some of which overlap or are talent-versions of 1st-level powers. The classes from PU get a very detailed treatment in this installment - alternate racial traits and favored class options are included for them and favored class options for the core-races are part of the deal as well. That's not where the trait-extravaganza ends, though - psionic traits for psionically active characters and non-psions are introduced as well as psionic traits specifically designed for the PU-races. Commendable and always cool to see extensive support for new content.

In contrast to the other PE-releases so far, this one actually contains two new PrCs instead of one. The first one is the Metaforge (d10, 4+Int skills per level, full manifester progression, full BAB, medium will-save), a variant that enables access to an Aegis' suit and a soulknife - very cool psionic knight! The second is the Psicrystal Imprinter (d6, 2+Int skills per level, bad BAB, medium will-save, 9 levels of manifester-progression) on the other hand is a specialist who manages to imprint and store powers in his psicrystal. Interesting PrC with regards to crunch, but I'm a bit torn about the classes iconicity. Apart from that, nothing to complain about with these PrCs.

The pdf closes by providing 5 new psionic items, including boots that grant/improve the nomad's step ability. Neat items, nothing to complain here either.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch this time around, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to the 2-column standard and the artwork is mostly b/w and again, inconsistent in style - the aegis is by far the best piece of artwork herein. The pdf is fully bookmarked. Of all the pdfs from the PE-line, this one not only provides the best bang-for-buck-ratio, but also includes the best base-class in terms of design and iconicity. The Aegis is iconic and, while not subtle, very cool and something that has not been done before. The rest of the content, including the archetype, is up to the standard and no botches in design would detract from the content. Add to that the talents, traits and the very cool Metaforge-PrC and, apart from the inconsistent art-styles, I have nothing to truly complain about. Thus, I'll settle for a final verdict of 5 stars - well done.

Endzeitgeist out.

This pdf is 33 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving a whopping 30 pages of content, so let's dive in!

After the by-now obligatory introduction to the series and basic concepts, we are introduced to the new base-class, the Tactician. The class gets d8, 4+Int skills per level, medium BAB, good will-save, up to 343 PSP and access to 20 powers of up to 9th level. The Tactician utilizes a similar mechanic as the Vitalist in that the class designates members of a collective who then benefit from the abilities and powers of the class. Where the vitalist focused primarily on healing/support, the tactician's focus is on coordinating allies, granting them bonuses and providing help with so-called strategies, which essentially are talents for the class. 12 strategies are provided. That's not where the lass stops, though: Much like the Inquisitor, 6th-level tacticians get a teamwork feat and are better at using it. However, they can essentially change their teamwork feats via a paltry hour of meditation - all of them, not just the latest. While he does not get solo-tactics, this ability essentially grants him a multiple selection of ALL Teamwork-feats in one.

I don't like that. One bit. The most interesting ability of the Tactician, though, at least for me, is that starting at 8th level, they may echo spells and powers cast on members of their collective for a cost in PSP. If you're already thinking about how broken this ability is by my description, fret not, for actually there are a number of restrictions on this supernatural ability that make it actually work at the table without unhinging your game.

Following the format of the Psionics Expanded pdfs, this one also features more crunchy bits for the psionic base-classes, to be precise the Insight and Jaunting disciplines for the psion and the new Gladiator Psychic Warrior path. Especially the latter is rather bland, though. To make up for that minor shortcoming, psychic warriors gain the new Traceur-archetype, a fighter centered on agility, movement and acrobatics. A valid and interesting choice for those of you who would love to make a swashbuckling psychic warrior...after all, up the walls is twice as cool when you use it to run up to a chandelier and let it crash down.

8 feats are included in the deal, most of which expand upon the collective. There are some overlaps with the other Psionics Expanded-books here. The new powers are prefaced by a complete powers-list for the Tactician, as well as lists that denote the place of the new powers on the grid for the psionic core-classes. If I haven't miscounted, you'll get 33 new powers from this pdf, including, again, some overlap with "Mind over Body" - "brutalize wounds", one of my favorites, is included in this pdf as well. It should also be noted that there's a variety of "Distract" included in the count and some others like "Conceal thoughts" as well, which have been modified. It should be noted that there are several powers included that share the [Network]-descriptor, just like for the vitalist. The tactician offers the more compelling usages of [Network]-powers, though - via combinations of character strengths and weaknesses, plain old buffs and repositioning allies, the powers and class offer a neat array of options to strategically help your allies and pool their strengths.

In contrast to the first two PE-pdfs, this one also includes favored racial class options for the tactician-class for both the PU-races and the core-races.

This installment's PrC is the sighted seeker, who gets d8, 6+Int skills per level, medium BAB, medium ref-and will-saves and minor (up to 86) PSP, access to powers of up to 4th level and can learn 12 powers from the sighted seeker powers-list...which is now part of the deal. This is very good, as the PrC ROCKS incredibly hard - essentially, the sighted seeker is an urban ranger with clairsentient powers and superhuman analyzing abilities. The only way that could have made this PrC even cooler, would be synergy with SGG's stellar Investigator-class (which admittedly had not yet been released when this pdf came out).

Finally, we get a headband that can mindlink a bunch of people.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are very good - while I did not notice any major glitches. Layout adheres to the two-column standard and the full-color artworks are, for the first time in PE, consistent in quality and rock. Their unified style lends a sense of wholeness to the installment that has been absent from the first two. The pdf comes fully bookmarked.

In contrast to the first two PE-books, I have nothing major to complain about with regards to the base-class apart from it being slightly more linear in its abilities than I personally prefer. However, the overlapping of content is a minor downer. Content-wise, this is my favorite of the first 3 PE-books, but in execution I'll have to detract stars for the lack of bookmarks and the missing list as well as for some balancing concerns. I'm also not entirely sure how the class holds up when directly compared to Tactical Archetypes, the War Master from SGG or similar classes and soon will know more about that, as a player of mine wants to play a tactician. I'll keep you updated. In the end, I'll settle for a final verdict of 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4. Endzeitgeist out.

This pdf is 25 pages long, 1page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving 22 pages of content, so let's check out what we get this time around!

After a short introduction to the concepts at hand, this pdf kicks off with the new Vitalist-base class: The vitalist gets d6, 2+Int skills per level, bad BAB, good fort and will-saves and up to 343 PSP and access to 11 powers of up to 9th level. Vitalists are interesting in that they may forma collective between willing individuals and redistribute/divide up healing effects. Thus, if you for example heal 18 points of damage, your vitalist may redirect (your willingness provided) e.g. 5 to himself and 6 to another of your comrades, leaving you with 7 HP healed. The vitalist also learns from a selection of 6 knacks with which to inflict negative effects on his foes. More importantly, the vitalist may transfer wounds from his allies to himself and suffer the transferred damage as subdual damage. At higher levels, the allies of the vitalist can request healing and receive it without using up the vitalist's actions via telepathy.

3 different methods are detailed, which essentially constitute bloodline-like sub-professions. The Guardian (2 additional knacks) centers on keeping his allies from being harmed, the mender (1 additional knack) improves healing capabilities and the soulthief gets 2 soulthief talents, which is a bit confusing - while vitalists get knacks and knacks essentially ARE talents, the name should stay consistent to avoid confusion. Soulthieves focus on transferring the wounds to their foes and leeching HP from foes subjected to their offensive powers. The methods are all quite detailed and provide different abilities and cap-stone abilities for the class, which is nice to see.

Next up is more support for the base-classes, starting with the Transmogrifist discipline for the Psion, the Infiltrator and Survivor paths for the psychic warrior. I have a problem with the survivor path: It uses "Mettle"(Ex). If you expend your focus, you're treated as having the ability until the next round. Mettle always was and still is broken. It's essentially evasion (and at later levels, improved evasion) for fort- and will-saves combined. SICK. Ever since the introduction of this ability in 3.0, I HATED it. Let it die. Even the limited access to the ability, which somehow balances it, does not make this a good design choice. Just my 2 cents, though. Wilders can now use healing and raging surges.

After that, we get 9 new psionic feats, most of which deal with expanding the options available to vitalists via their collectives/method-abilities.

The new powers-section of the pdf is prefaced by the vitalist's power-list (as well as extensions for psions/wilders and psychic warriors) and includes 17 new powers. And boy, what powers! Some of my group's psion's favorite powers from 3.5 are included - from the awesome buff "battle-sense" to the curse-like compulsion "brutalize wounds" and the last-resort save "deferred fatality", these powers are excellent. Seriously, they include some of the most innovative and iconic powers.

The pdf also includes a new PrC, the Metamorph (d8, 2+Int skills per level, medium BAB, medium fort-save, 9 levels of manifester-progression), which is centered on manifesting metamorphosis-powers. Surprise. They get 7 additional menu choices to choose from when using respective powers and may even modify their changes on the fly. While the PrC is rather linear and usually, I don't like PrCs that are too tightly focused, I actually love this particular one. With one catch: The artwork for it is downright horrendous and features an obviously evil lady grinning a shark's grin. She does not look cool or threatening. She looks stupid. The class deserves better.

Seeing that Psychometabolism is the focus of this pdf, the grafting special quality for items should come as no surprise. And come on, who doesn't consider equipment temporarily fusing with you cool? The gloves of the beast, which grant you natural claw attacks and the mender's vestments, which improve a vitalist's ability to transfer wounds make for the final bits of content we get in this installment.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are quite good, though not perfect - soulthief talents, e.g., should be renamed knacks. Layout adheres to a 2-column standard that is easy to print out. The artworks follow no consistent direction and I hope that in the final book, we get one coherent style, preferably not the one of lady shark-grin. The pdf features extensive bookmarks. I'll come right out and say it. I don't like the vitalist. There. I don't think psions should be able to heal others. The transferring wounds-trope fits, at least in my book, better with shamans and mystics than with adepts of the mental arts. That being said, the class is actually well-constructed: While not as efficient a healer as divine casters, their ability to split healing and heal allies without using their own actions is innovative and should lead to the class being appreciated in game while avoiding the heal-bot trap. Design-wise, this class is smart. However: I would have loved to see some clarification on whether e.g. a summoner's eidolon or similar being (familiars) constitute one member of the collective (and thus take up a slot) or are members by proxy. The material herein is very much geared towards the supportive psion and thus I was rather surprised to not see an adaption of the 3.5-power Sudden Shield, especially for the Guardian as a knack, a special kind of shield would have been cool - and more balanced than the 3.5 sudden shield and its greater variant.

The powers within, as already mentioned, are excellent and the feats are ok - IF you're looking for more options for the vitalist. If you're not intrigued by the class, you won't be able to use most of them. The PrC is excellent, though the artwork is...well, I'll stop my rant.

How do I rate this, then? For me, personally, this pdf was a dud. I don't like the concept of the Vitalist. However, in a world without clerics like the Third Dawn setting, the class SHINES and if you're sick and tired of healers having to be a heal-bot, this might very well be a godsend. The design per se is excellent (and probably better than for most divine healing classes) and feels quite different from the standard divine healer-tropes. The additional content is more tightly geared towards the new base-class than in "Find the Mark" and, while I would have preferred a larger selection of powers for the vitalist, I get the design-rationale. How to rate this, then? In spite of disliking the concept of the base-class, I like its execution and while there are some rough edges here and there, the overall content of this installment of Psionics Expanded is quite well-written. Not as consistent or generally useful as in "Find the Mark", though. If you look at this pdf as a class-book, I'd recommend it to you as a 3.5 or even 4-star file. If you're rather looking for some additional options for other classes, this might be less useful, but is still worth the low asking price. My final verdict will thus be 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3.

Endzeitgeist out.