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Iron Nugget
I love that Super Genius has continues to play with time. #1 With a Bullet Point: 7 Time Thief/Time Warden Feats is Super Genius doing what few publishers do, continuing to support their previous content.
This splat book provides 7 feats to strengthen the Time Thief. I was very happy that sneak attack was finally added to the Time Thief ability list, making it a much stronger offensive tool. There are also feats that diversify the character, further broadening the class.
The Iron Word
The continued support of the time line of books is very impressive from a publisher dealing with a subject that is very difficult to master. There are two feats that don't feel all that strong holding the rest down. Still, a great supplement if you own either Time Thief or Time Warden.
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Iron Nugget
Succeeds at
Time Travel and any narrative medium is always a going to be a tricky subject. One of the ways I keep My Dming iron is by incorporating some element of time travel into any campaign. It is not easy. Which is why Time Thief by Super Genius is such a successful accomplishment.
Time Thief is a short class PDF that provides a variant roguish type class that bends time to her advantage. The design of the character is very template with Super Genius’s other genius class books. Though the flavor is heavy, the flavor is an illusion to the mechanics of the class. Simple things that belong to any class such such as a +1 here or a haste spell meld well are reflavored to be associated with stopping and bending time. Classes receive time talents, advanced time talents and then powerful aevum, each progressively a larger chunk of time the thief is stealing to perform their tasks. IN the end the character is very well balance.
Failed
Without additional help, I had to really on the feats too much to create offensive for my Time Thief. Some abilities appear to be slightly off balanced with others, but this is fixed with later supplement books.
The Iron Word
Because I feel the core rogue is so one dimensional, I enjoy roguish offshoots that feel like they have gotten it right. Super Genius does another superb job of including strong flavor with basic game design.
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10 Subschool Augmentation Feats focuses on those spellchuckers who choose to focus on a specific subschool, and giving them a reason to do it. Following in the pattern that is the Bullet Point series, we've got a 4 page, 3 column layout with 3 pieces of B&W art...and that second piece of art, truly cool piece.
So, what are we talking about here when we say subschool augmentation feats...well, for example, let's take for instance the school of Conjuration...now under it we have several subschools, but for the purposes of this example, I'm going with Calling. So, very first feat in the PDF is Augment Calling, which has as a pre-requisite Spell Focus (conjuration)...now, benefit of said feat goes as follows...use a conjuration (calling) spell to call a creature, and you grant them eldritch protection against an energy type of your choosing. Augment Creation grants a bonus to Strength and Constitution for creature's you create, and a Hardness and hp bonus for items. Augment Polymorph allows for the ability to leave targeted points on a target out of a polymorph effect, allowing for abilities keyed to these targeted areas to remain in effect during the polymorph...hands to cast, mouths to speak, etc.
The school breakdown covers the spread for schools with subschools, and gives some interesting perks to these specialist spellchuckers. Of the set I found only one that felt kind of phoned in, and I say that not because it isn't good, but in comparison to the others in this product, this one felt...less. Augment Healing comes down to a roll twice, take the better roll. Yes, technically it is a sound mechanism and works, but it is also highly over-used and pretty utilitarian.
Now, before we wrap this up, we have teleportation to cover...or more specifically Augment Teleportation. It is mentioned here in this PDF with an explanation for why it is omitted from this collection, as it is in fact included in another Bullet Point, 6 Teleportation Spell Feats. Where as the idea of reprinting material is becoming more and more common for the sake of inclusion, I applaud the SGG crew's decision to not include this feat within this product, as we are talking about the #1 With a Bullet Point series. This series sticks with a small handful of material for a very small price, and I don't think reprinting material in a product of that nature would be well received.
So, final thoughts and wrap-up. 9 out of 10 impress me with their design, hands down. 1 struck me as perhaps not so much. Editing was excellent as usual, but I expect nothing less from the Bullet Point series. Am going to go with a 4.5 rating on this Bullet Point, only because the one feat just fell short for me. But, for the sake of this forum's rating system, I will be rounding up to a 5, because my problems with the feat are not it's mechanics, which are still sound and useful.
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12 Alternatives for the Rogue's Trapfinding Class Feature....wow that is a mouthful. OK, the basics when it comes to the Bullet Point series are this, an idea, focused, and presented via small handful of mechanics. Be they feats, spells, traits or in this case class ability variants. Usually 3-4 pages total, with the material actually taking up 1 page most of the time. Beauty of the one page layout concept is that a 3 ring binder filled with print outs is easy to organize and keep track of in case you are one of those who likes a physical record of their game material.
Now, layout follows the standard Bullet Point landscape, with a 3 column format, and excellent editing and grammar. Artwork is all B&W, with the best piece being the cover image. One of the easiest things for a player to do to differentiate their character from the pack is the swapping of class features, so products like this become a trove of importance and wealth, in that they offer more variety, and variety is always a good thing in my mind.
Of the 12 presented here, there are a few that really stood out for me. Harass being the first. A perfect feature to use in combination with a playgroup during those all out attacks on the BBEG that really helps to utilize the rogue as a crucial part of the martial battle itself. Harass allows you to trade off sneak attack HD for negatives to your foe, to be applied to a variety of things. Pair this with good timing in combat, and you could cripple the opponents ability to do nearly as much damage to one's allies.
Black Marketeer gives a nod to those rogues with a mind towards business and value by adjusting the concept of price and worth accordingly for those who know what they are doing. Chink in the Armor is another one of those every given Sunday concepts. By that I mean this, anyone, can beat anyone, given the right circumstances. This class feature would allow for a rogue who has succeeded at a sneak attack, only to watch their damage be nullified (by, say fortified armor) still apply some of that damage. Remember folks, no matter how all-powerful one may think they are, every dog has their day.
Turn the Knife is for those players with a malicious streak, lol, granting extra damage per HD on a successful sneak attack. And Poison Use operates just as the Drow ability, just another route to get your hands on it.
I like options, I always have. Yes, it makes character creation longer. Yes, it makes a GM have to learn even more to run their game...and yes, I think both of these things are a good thing. Options are how we manage to never contain our imaginations within boundaries. And products like this help to keep adding solid, quality concepts to the pile. An easy 5 star rating to yet another stellar addition to the Bullet Point series, and well worth the price of admission.
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The Genius Guide to Horrific Haunts, man....the title says it all, doesn't it? Haunts are one of those oddities for me in the realm of gaming, as they can be so many things depending upon how they are handled. The rules with which they were presented were, as often happens, truncated. I don't say that as a slight to Paizo in any way at all, it is merely the way of things. When new rules are presented one of the first things that happens is someone else looks at them and instantly sees room for growth, and expansion. Which is always a good thing in my opinion, as I like more options, and the concept of the haunts is a good one that needs more...lots more.
So, what does Owen have for us here...New rules to allow for several variations to give your haunt more of a personalized feel to it....and a great mechanic to make sure that a great haunt never gets old. Let's start with the advice on how to make the most out of your haunts in your campaign, as Owen has a few thoughts on this, and they are sound ideas. First up is the idea that a haunt makes a perfect companion piece in an encounter for a freaking encounter people...what do I mean by that? How about pairing a haunt, with a critter? Or perhaps a band of highwaymen, taking advantage of a haunted coach's midnight run down an old roadway by ambushing the victim's as they run...A gelatinous...well, anything...paired up with a haunt born of the agony underwent by the victims who died a slow, painful death by digestion to said gelatinous years ago...Seriously, lots of options here.
Second up in the advice category, take advantage of foreshadowing. It's a great story tool in the first place, and here it allows you to throw a great deal of misinformation. Letting the PCs hear tales of a great creature with abilities witnessed by survivors is a fantastic way to keep your PCs guessing when the list of abilities they are hearing are from both the creature, and the haunt. Last up, and I can not agree more with this tidbit of advice, use haunts sparingly...they should not be so humdrum and common that they are just another day at the office. It takes away so much of the mystery and the excitement.
Modifiers to Haunts would be where we get into new rules, with things of the nature of Location, Trigger, and HP Variables. We're not going to get into the specifics of the math behind any of this, as I think Owen explains his rules far better than I do, but I will touch on the ideas. Expanded locations gives us the idea of a haunt taking up more room than usual, with appropriate adjustments to CR accordingly for larger amounts of space. Object Location gives us rules for a haunt tied to a specific thing, not a place. This, of the three location variations, is easily my personal favorite. The idea of a haunt following an item appeals to me, and makes for great story telling, as haunts are a different issue all together in how they are dealt with. Most any PC worth their weight has dealt with cursed items or foul magic, but haunts...now there is a horse of a different color. Lastly for the location rules we have Wandering Locations, which allows for a haunt to shift where it manifests. Several examples to help understand the scope here would be a haunt that manifests up and down a river, one that is tied to several points within a jungle or woods, or a wandering haunt within a castle or keep, as opposed to stuck in one hallway.
The Trigger Variables cover the idea that perhaps a haunt doesn't go off every time it is encountered, and that there might be more than just the presence of someone required, such as a Cyclic Trigger Variable. With the cyclic variable, the haunt is tied to an anniversary, perhaps of the haunts creation, or the day of the week of the original tragedy...perhaps the birthday of the person who's pain caused the haunt to be created. A Random Trigger Variable is exactly that, and can be a great means of aggravation for a group of PCs attempting to glean information from interacting with the haunt, since the manifestation's triggering will have no discernible pattern to judge anything useful from. The Reactive Trigger Variable is perhaps the one we are all most familiar with, and I feel is defined here more so because variations are now being defined, henceforth a baseline must be as well. The reactive trigger responds to specific stimulus, each time, every time. Usually this is tied to the haunt's creation, but can be as varied as the haunts themselves.
Finally, the HP Variables, two options to increase the difficulty in dealing with a particularly difficult haunt. Resistant and Tough, giving resistance to channeling damage and/or an increased hp total along with a higher effective caster level.
So, armed with new options to pimp out our haunts, we come to the new haunts. First up, the Bruja Cauldron. A witches/hags cauldron for a coven, the bodies of their fallen members end up in the pot for soup, literally, infusing their souls into the cauldron. The energy of the witches/hags cooked into the cauldron gives us a specific item haunt, in that the coven can utilize this item to call upon their dead members and tap into the power contained by this item.
A Drowned Doxie, second up for new haunts, is essentially formed when an innocent is drowned and weighted down. The manifestation takes on both a cyclic and a wandering variable, in that it appears at various points upon the river within which the victim was drowned, and only when the moon is in the same phase as the night of the original murder....and only when male humanoids enter the area...This one could be excellent for seriously screwing with a playgroup, as the physical manifestation could be so drastically different from the original victim and reason for the haunt as to have a group chasing their tails for quite some time trying to deduce what exactly is going on.
And lastly, and before I go into any more words of review, I must say...Owen, you're an evil evil man....lol.....and we must talk, soon.....OK, lastly we have what I can pretty much bet will be my playgroup's new nightmare...the Unending Laboratory. Here's the scene...alchemist or spell-chucker spends their life crafting golems within their laboratory only to finally pass from this world, leaving all of that raw spirit harnessing essence going still...awakening the lab and it's tools to continue his work. Yeah, let that sink in for a second. This haunt is a freaking monster factory...the creation numbers are low enough to not make this insane, but still more than adequate to screw with a countrysides ecology.....best part? Every golem made is animated with no master, no instructions....just cut loose as if berserk (as per the flesh golem ability).....Mwahahahahaha....um..eheh..sorry there. And, if all of that just made your eyes light up a little, wait until you see what happens when folks actually make it to the laboratory itself....
OK, time to tie it all up and stamp a rating on this. I wasn't sure what to expect when I grabbed this, a book of rules, a book of new haunts....a grab bag. The balance is a good one, as the rules are logical and work without making anything feel broken, and the new haunts are all interesting. OK, there's one particular haunt that won't get out of my head...but that is the mark of a good design, is it not? To inspire others to run with an idea and create, to game, and inevitably to enjoy.
This is an easy 5 star rating, well worth the price of admission, and a perfect example of what one can do with a haunt.
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This pdf is 14 pages long, 2/3 of a page front cover, 1 page SRD/editorial, leaving us with 12 1/3 pages of content, so what exactly do we get?
Well, first, let's talk about what we DON'T get: In contrast to the very first installment of the series, the second one has found an identity wholly distinct from Raging Swan Press' "So what's..."-series: Instead of providing a list of short items that can be found, we get a section of 31 different items that all come with a price and many of them can be considered minor wondrous items that range from a carry around retractable podium to hold books and a mechanic toy that rolls around for some feet before starting to shriek. It should be noted that in the case of wondrous items, construction rules and information is included as well.
Another distinction is that each of the items herein comes with a story-seed for enterprising DMs. The pdf also includes items that e.g. make locating objects via the spell of the same name easier and orbs that allow you to record a message of up to 20 words, needles that thread themselves and similar curiosities, interspersed with a bland copper chain that is an utter filler - I honestly don't get why this break from the usual format has been included - it's neither required, nor does it feel appropriate. Even the shaving kit and gaming tiles (also rather mundane) are somewhat original in that they haven't been done. Better yet, many items take nice twists on everyday items and even toys and could be seen as representations of items that feature in our everyday lives.
The pdf also features some tricks for DMs that are mostly useful for novices à la tracking which items you've already used, different magic item sources and a short discussion of Clarke's Third law, which states that sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic and thus makes modern items possible sources of inspiration for magic items and on how to handle players treating magic like technology, which is doubly important when taking into account that many items herein might be also created via steampunk/science. Nice for novice DMs, but nothing new for me there.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I noticed no significant glitches. Layout adheres to SGG's 3-column, landscape-standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, which is a pity and a minor gripe I have with this pdf - at this point, all but Bullet point-pdfs should be bookmarked.
Now this book is markedly different from the previous one and is better for it, making this pdf even a viable purchase if you already own the "Genius Guide to what's in my Pocket" and Raging Swan's "So what's that Shiny Object like, anyways?". In fact, I'd go 5 stars for this pdf, were it not for the relative brevity of the pdf (about +20 items would have been nice) and the fact that this pdf has no bookmarks. I gave the predecessor of this file 4.5 stars, but since I wrote that review, the standard has been set even higher - while this pdf one ups its predecessor, it doesn't do so in the extent that would see me rate this the full 5 stars, so what's a reviewer to do? In the end, I'll rate this 4.5 stars and round up in contrast to its predecessor to drive home that this is imho the superior file.
Endzeitgeist out.
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This pdf is 3 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/SRD, leaving us with 1 page of content for 5 variants of the handy haversack!
-Handy Holster: Add a weapon belt to the sack, allowing you to draw it as a swift action if your BAB is 1 or more.
-Hasty Haversack: Sack catapults the item in your hand, drawing is a swift action.
-Haversack of Holding: 4 types, all allowing the haversack to hold as much as a bag of holding of the respective type.
-Horrific Haversack: Comes with a command word and turns into a haversack-wood-golem if it is used sans uttering it.
-Homogeneous Haversacks: Set of haversacks that share the same extradimensional space - if you can't craft a great smuggling plot from these, I can't help you. These are awesome!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to SGG's 3-column landscape-format and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length. The haversacks herein are smart, balanced and while the extradimensional haversacks should remain rare in order to not upset your campaign's economics. That being said, the haversacks herein are solid, cool and provide you with tools to make good stories. The Bag of Holding-haversacks are lazy in my opinion, though. Thus, I'll settle for a final verdict of 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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All right, you know the drill - 3 pages, 1 page cover, 1 page editorial/SRD, 1 page content, so let's take a look at 5 feats to modify mount spells!
-Aethon: This feat allows you to extend your harmless, personal ranged abjuration spells that specify a number of targets to the mounts the characters are riding, but only while they are riding. Not sure about this one: I usually handle riding animals as separate targets. The limitations help, though.
-Buraq: When casting healing (conjuration) spells on characters, their mounts are healed as well while they're in the saddle.
-Augment Steed: This feat enables you to forgo one or more of the steeds you conjure in order to improve your steed by granting the conjured, foregone steed's abilities like AC, movement etc. to the your regular steed. Additionally, your steed is not considered to be exerting itself while under the effect of the spell. An interesting and rather cool buffing-option for the spells, though one that has to be read very carefully by both players and DMs to avoid confusion.
-Heighten Steed Spell: By making the spell-level higher, you also improve the movement, AC and HP of the steeds. I think this feat is supposed to be a metamagic feat and lacks the [Metamagic]-descriptor, but I might be wrong here, since it actually increases the effective level of the spell it modifies. It depends on your perspective, I guess.
-Summon Steed: Each creature you summon with a summon spell can also come equipped with tack and saddle, willingly serving you or your allies as your mount. On the one hand, I really like this idea, on the other, the potential for goofiness is VAST - riding chokers and gibbering mouthers would e.g. also be possible, as would be riding elementals. A caveat that the creature has to have a place o actually sit on and be able to carry you would probably be in order.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, though not perfect - the wording of augment steed could have been slightly more precise and the yes/no-fringe regarding whether Heighten Steed Spell is [Metamagic] or not make it hard to judge. Layout adheres to SGG's 3-column standard and the BP comes mostly as no-frills and has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length. I'll just come clear - I'm not comfortable with Aethon and Buraq. Not because of their effects, but because of the internal logic of the world they tend to wreck: So casting the spell on dismounted beings make them count as two, but casting them on mounted beings makes it count as one? Can you see sick people being lifted up on sick horses during plagues to conserve both resources and money? I can and it's not a pretty sight. What I' m trying to go at - I think the feats herein NEED a closer definition on what constitutes a bond between rider and mount and limit the spells to respective teams. All in all, this BP provides ok feats, but I'm not truly sold on any of them apart from the Heighten Steep Spell- (metamagic?)feat. All in all, this BP feels slightly less polished than similar issues of the line and probably would have worked better as a full-blown mounted magic genius guide. My final verdict, thus, will be 3 stars - If you're like me and very keen on the consistence of the internal logic of your campaign, detract a star. If my gripes don't faze you too much, add one.
Endzeitgeist out.
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Like most sex-themed RPG products, this feels kinda squicky, and the material is of dubious usefulness. But it's short, cheap, and has the SGG's good production quality. And really, if you're like me, you bought it out of curiosity more than any intent on using it, so it did its job.
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This booklet is 11 pages long, plus, the cover and license. It describes six variant forms of harpy, and a range of magic items, spells, and feats for use by that race. The production standards are good and the art is functional line art, reasonable in quality, but not spectacular.
The harpy variants range from CR2 to CR14, and cover a range of themes, although tied to the central concept of the d20 harpy. One is fairly basic, a relatively minor tweak that assigns harpies bat-like, rather than bird-like features, another is a giant form, another a demonic variant, and so on.
Those further from the core idea are, to my mind, the most interesting and useful. One is a non-evil variant with power over the weather, probably best used in combination with something else (a link with pirates is suggested, which makes sense). The CR2 variant is sophisticated, with a culture that might make it difficult to pop down into an existing campaign world, but which does have a great deal of potential. That their 'captivation' attack is visual, rather than sonic, also makes them different from regular harpies in a not-insignificant way.
The pestilence harpy is the one that borrows the most from the classical harpy myth, resembling the originals far more than the standard d20 version does (the latter, of course, borrows at least much from the myth of the sirens as it does from that of the harpies). These are good, horrific, creatures, just what harpies should be.
There are five magic items, five spells, and seven feats for use by harpies included. I'm not entirely sure how they get to use/make these (other than the feats, obviously), since there's no clear indication that any of the harpy variants can become wizards or clerics. I guess the glory harpies might, since they're clearly intelligent enough, but it's not stated. Many of these are associated, as one would expect, with harpies' captivation powers, or with pestilence, while others are associated with winged flight and aerial combat. They all look pretty good, and not over-powered.
In general, this is a good resource, expanding on a classic, but not over-used monster from the d20 canon. It presents some good variants, including more powerful versions that can be challenging to those expecting more traditional fare.
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This pdf is 4 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/SRD, leaving us with 2 pages of content for 5 new magical properties that can exclusively be added to silver weapons, making the material matter more than for bypassing DR.
It should be noted that the enhanced power of these properties comes at a slightly reduced damage. The materials are:
-Argentum: Healer's silver, these items help you cure diseases, not be afflicted by them and also can suspend the disease of foes and learn their respective natures.
-Frostscale: Etched with the symbol of a dragon, these weapons allow the wielder as a full round to make a melee attack against a foe at 25 ft. 5 ft. per 2 BAB-bonuses that exclusively deals cold damage. Very cool!
-Mirrored: Temporarily disable gaze attacks with these nice toys.
-Scrying: Help against illusions and enable you to potentially even hit invisible foes.
-Shapebinding: Help against transmutation spells and temporarily suppress shapechanging of hit foes.
The pdf also provides a form of bonus content that enables an alchemist silver weapon to be made a subtype bane weapon against shapechangers.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, though I noticed some minor glitches. Layout adheres to SGG's 3-column standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length. I really like the idea of this pdf to make material exclusive enchantments available and the execution, although not always wholly innovative (shapebinding, srcying and argentum using slightly similar mechanics), remain an excellent buy that provides enough innovation and nice content to warrant the low price. Now I'd love to see more in the style and once the basics have been covered, perhaps even ones for Rite Publishing's recently released "101 Special Materials and Power Components". My only gripe with them is aforementioned minor repetition and the fact that they are all similarly balanced, resulting in a final verdict of 4 stars.
Endzeitgeist out.
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This pdf is 4 pages long, 1 page front cover (featuring the model Jenny Pousin in a rather erotic pose), 1 page SRD/editorial, leaving 2 pages of content for 7 lust-themed feats, so let's check them out!
The first feat, which is the prerequisite for a multitude of them would be
-Lustful: This feat enables you to seduce foes via diplomacy and use of your good looks and sexy wiles. If you indulge in carnal activities, you also get to experience an afterglow and add 1 to Con, cha or Dex-based checks, caster level or damage.
-Brazen: When wearing revealing clothing, you can add a bonus to initiative and cha-based checks.
-Masochist: When a crit is scored against you, when you're damaged while grappled, pinned, affected by a pain effect or helpless etc., you can gain the benefits of the lustful feat. You also get a minor bonus to concentration and endurance-based checks.
-Sadist: When you crit against a foe, when you damage a helpless target or use a pain effect on foes, you gain the lustful bonuses. Also, your pain effects and weapon damage are improved slightly.
-Wanton: Any effect to have you engage in carnal activities via magic, diplomacy etc. is considered as passing a simple message. Creatures that control you have to succeed a will-save to take an act that would cause you serious physical harm and get a massive bonus to talk others into following you to a secluded place.
-Wriggle: Distract a creature grappling you and inflict massive penalties on it. Better, teh effects stack depending upon your charisma - great design on this one!
-Writhe: 10 to concentration while being grappled.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to a 3-column landscape format and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length. I am generally wary of lust-themed material, as it often devolves into being cheesy. These feats don't, though. While I did enjoy the presentation of them, all but wriggle and wanton felt a bit on the weak side. There's also a minor pet-peeve of mine: While lustful feats are not evil per se, they draw upon the deadly sins and Masochist and Sadist both have the feat-type, making them both tainted. I've written it before and I write it again: I'm sick and tired of the "BDSM is evil" sentiment and representation thereof in RPGs and while THANKFULLY the feats don't require the characters to be evil, the taint of lustful feats leaves a slightly sour tinge in my mouth, though not one half as bad as I've seen in other publications over the years. Generally, I'd consider this collection to be well worth the low price of admission and thus my final verdict will clock in at a solid 4 stars.
Endzeitgeist out.
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7 War Master Feats continues the summer of Bullets with another addition to the series. This time around Owen took aim at the War Master or, for those campaigns not allowing this SGG class, classes receiving bonus combat/teamwork feats as class features, or barring those two options characters that have the Leadership feat. So, now that we've covered that pretty much anyone can benefit from these feats designed for the War Master, lol, lets take a look.
Advance in Ranks lets you direct additional 5 ft. movements amongst adjacent allies. Formation Fighting lets you designate groups as formations, and thereby grant them all the benefits of an aid another. Mixed Order lets allies within range treat their weapons as if they shared specific features with a weapon you are wielding. Overwatch gives you the potential to essentially block AoOs against your allies by warning them. Set to Receive lets you direct allies such that they can deal braced weapon damage during the first attack of opportunity.
Tactical Commands[b] gives you multiple options when commanding your allies upon the field of battle, opening possibilities to them that they would otherwise not have available. [b]War Signals allows you to utilize feats and class features using time honored means of communication upon a battlefield that allow one to stay in contact with troops who may be able to hear them, but not see them, or vice versa.
Collected, whether these feats could be used by more than a War Master or not, that's where they belong, on a battlefield, in the hands of a character designed to be using them. Does that make them bad? No, it makes them specific. All in all nothing here truly jumps out as being anything more than utilitarian in design, but as I have stressed many times before, until utilitarian bones are laid, many things we take for granted as should be there are not actually there within a game's design. So, useful? Yes. Exciting? Not so much. I'm settling on a three star for this one, as it is good design in that the mechanics work, and everything here is useful, it just didn't grab me is all.
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OK, I'm going to ahead and state it...I know why the thumbnail covers for the Bullet Points now seem to have two covers, but it really sucks when the art for the preview on the site is awesome looking, and then that piece is not included in the actual PDF you get.
Now, back to business...This particular Bullet Point is 4 pages, with some very nice art pieces from Toby and Tamas...and of course there is that gorgeous Redpeggy cover that looked so great on the website...ok ok I'll stop harping about it, lol...maybe. Formatting follows the standard three column approach with embedded artwork, and deals with magic properties for silver weaponry. So, let us take a look and see what we see.
Argentum turns your weapon into the ultimate disease divining rod, letting the bearer of the weapon detect and suspend disease within his targets. All around an interesting idea, but I am left wondering why the ability to cast ice storm matters in the creation of this weapon...perhaps this is a copy/paste relic from the next offering, Frostscale. With a minor editing mishap of its own within the grammatical structuring, this weapon property puts some serious firepower at your disposal, in the form of ice that is. Mirrored is an excellent magical property for anyone facing gaze attack creatures, as it allows you to negate their gaze attacks by turning the attack back upon them.
Scrying weapons aid those fighting their way through illusions, and Shapebinding weapons not only help when dealing with trans-mutational magics, but have the added benefit of being able to lock shape-changers to one form for a time. As an added bonus Owen tossed in the Bane magic weapon quality for the alchemical silver weapons. There really isn't enough written up to tell you much more without giving it all away, so you'll have to read this one yourself. I can say that this entry gives us the largest amount of editing mistake, as an entire line is missing the spaces between words.
So, 6 for the price of 5, with more SpaG issues than I am used to seeing out of the SGG camp...now, there weren't that many, but we're only talking two pages of material here...from the guys who set the bar of excellence in the first place. So yeah, it matters. On the upside, Everything here is cool...yes, I was brief in discussing a few of them, but what can you say when Owen has already detailed the material in the synopsis for the product, lol. Settling on a 4.5 for a product that should have been a 5 due to the editing issues solely, and yes, I am rounding down.
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7 Shield Spell Feats takes the standard Bullet Point format of 3 column landscape orientation and adds what I can only describe as really sub-par artwork. I know I know, art is just icing in a product like this, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't state my opinion, now would I?
OK, by now I think everyone alive knows what the Bullet Points are, but just in case...a quick and easy handful of material designed around one central theme, contained in the barest amount of page count possible. Got it? OK, let's move on...
This time out we are treated to a collection of feats intended to enhance the classic [i[shield[/i] spell. Covering Shield starts us off, giving us a feat that allows you to extend the benefit of the shield spell to an adjacent comrade. OK, kind of boring, but practical...and the practical stuff is at the end of the day the bones upon which the entire system is built, lol.
Elemental Shield allows you to attune your shield vs. a specific elemental attack, giving your elemental resistance a boost. Force Shielding is easily the first true feat to shine for me, as it turns this defensive spell into something far more offensive. Allowing for the casting of this spell upon a physical shield, it transfers the normal AC bonus into a force effect instead...which can then be utilized in touch attacks...yeah...let it sink in.
Reactive Shield lets you use this spell to affect your CMD as well, Shield Spell Bash allows you to use the field of force that is manifested by the spell to perform shield bash attacks, which could present some interesting group tactics on a battlefield to say the least. Shield Properties allows you to trade a percentage of the AC bonus of the spell for magical shield properties to enhance the shield. Tower Shield Spell lets you gain a higher AC bonus by stretching your shield to the sizes of a tower shield at the cost of a negative to attack. The spell may be weightless, but the sheer size of this thing leaves it in the way for attacks to some degree. As an added benefit, you gain a degree of coverage thanks to the sheer amount of space this thing will take up.
Tallying it all up, where-as there were a few that didn't ring any bells for me, everything here is useful, and makes sense. I saw nothing wasted in the designs, nor any “bad” feats here. I did stumble across a few grammatical missteps, but not enough to create confusion or misunderstanding. In the end I am going with a solid 4 star rating for this Bullet Point.
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