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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This installment of the Village Backdrop-series is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page advertisement, 2 pages of editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword, 1 page advice on how to read statblocks for novice DMs, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 5 pages of content, so let's take a look!
Hosford is the second village located in the FREE Lonely Coast mini-campaign-setting by Raging Swan Press, which I'd wholeheartedly recommend you check out - I never regretted downloading that one.
Location-wise, Hosford lies between the village of Swallowfeld (also available) and the as-of-yet not covered town of Wolverton, the largest settlement of the lonely coast.
Hosford once sported a mine, but careless digging (or something less savory) saw the mine collapse and create a cove, which created a natural harbor for the now thriving fishing industry - not all is well in the little town, though, since recently a couple of villagers have gone missing without a trace. A sense of palpable fear has prompted the villagers to act and appoint a rogue (investigator) (with full stats) as reeve to get to the bottom of the weird disappearances - and while the pdf gives you the culprit (again, with full statblock), I won't spoil the reasons for the disappearances or the true culprit here - you'll have to get the book yourself in order to find that out.
Beyond these recent disappearances, we get a full settlement statblock, a list of notable folk and notable locations in the village, a selection of magic items for sale in town and, of course, village lore and 6 rumors. Beyond that, the pdf also provides multiple write-ups of the respective locales, 6 events to spring upon your PCs and information on local nomenclature, dressing-habits and the law.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RSP's 2-clumn b/w-standard and the pdf comes in 2 versions, one optimized for print and one for screen-use. Both are extensively bookmarked. It should be noted that the beautiful b/w-map of the village can be downloaded as a web-enhancement sans the annoying map-key on Raging Swan Press' homepage, something I'd suggest you do.
This village backdrop has probably the most ingrained adventure cut out of any village backdrop I've seen so far - all the pieces are in place and it requires at best a moderately talented DM to craft a nice short investigation from the content provided herein - one that does not sport a traditional villain and where the distinction between what's right and wrong and the culprit's peculiar situation mean that the PCs will have, if you so choose, a moral dilemma at their hands. If you so choose, that is - the component can be downplayed easily or just dropped alltogether if you happen to have other plans.
All in all, Hosford is a great locale with a stunning, uncommon layout and map and some expert-writing to back it up - one of the best installments in the series so far and one well-deserving of a final verdict of 5 stars + seal of approval. Congratulations to author John Bennett!
Endzeitgeist out.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Thank you very much for this review. I'm delighted you enjoyed this village so much! |
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 4 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 2 pages of content, so let's take a look at what new tools the Vishkanya get!
We kick this pdf off via 4 new racial feats:
-Blowgun Spittle: Add your natural poison to blowgun darts as part of shooting it. Great way of making the otherwise rather weak weapon shine more.
-Caustic Poison: When a foe takes ability damage from your poison, s/he also takes 1 point of acid damage. Too weak for the investment of a feat, imho and more in line with a trait/alternate racial trait.
-Serpernt's Slink: Count as one size smaller for purpose of determining stealth-bonuses. Somewhat of a lost opportunity there: The feat would be even cooler if the Vishkanya could actually hide in spaces only accommodating smaller species, but that might be just my idea and won't fracture into the final verdict.
-Venom Sense: Detect Poison 1/hour as a spell-like ability at HD caster level.
The 4 new traits make you more resilient versus fascination, 1/day net you Spell Focus (enchantment) or (illusion) (but only for spells with material and somatic components, respectively - which is a great design-choice to limit traits and keep them still relevant) and make it easier for you to antagonize others.
The two alternate racial traits allow you to be scintillating and thus more beautiful (bonus to social skills), but also makes disguising yourself harder, whereas the second allows for a very cool faster escape from bonds - this one really drives the race's flair home. Neat!
This installment's archetype is the Venomous Disciple for the Monk, who combines monkish discipline with sleeping venom and Adder Strike as potential bonus feats and may opt to create poison that can affect creatures immune to poison - but balances this with the DC requiring to surpass the target creature's SR - an uncommon and cool mechanic. At higher levels, these monks may purge poisons and absorb poisons from others and at high levels make their toxins lethal on a secondary save. Two thumbs up for this neat archetype - the so far best take on the serpentine monk I've seen so far!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to Abandoned Arts' no-frills two-column standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
This installment of the Amazing Races-series is one of the better ones - from a compelling archetype, cool feats, an interesting trait-mechanic, this is definitely a pdf I'd also recommend to DMs who want to add some additional oomph to reptile/serpentine foes beyond the obvious target audience of Vishkanya-players. While not all individual pieces are awesome, I'll still gladly settle on a final verdict of 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This installment of the Treasures of NeoExodus-series is 5 pages long, 1 page editorial/SRD, leaving us with 4 pages of content, so let's take a look, shall we?
When a great warrior and his best druid friend were stranded on an island and the foolishness of said warrior cost the life of said friend, the legend of grasscutter was born - a blade of wood, by now infused with the intelligence of a guardian spirit that has since become a legend. Rules-wise, the blade is a +1 club - unless wielded by a fighter, in which case it turns into a +2 impervious keen longsword of speed that compels its wielder to never use another weapon again. Rather cool: If you happen to belong to the great swordsman's bloodline, you may call upon the blade's guardian spirit that functions like a summoner's eidolon.
Full stats for said guardian spirit are provided as well, though sans a CR. The pdf also features item-cards.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any significant glitches this time around. Layout adheres to LPJr Design's drop-dead-gorgeous full-color two-column standard and the pdf comes with a second, more printer-friendly version. The artwork for the weapon is, as always in the series, beautiful. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
Coming with a compelling, yet not brilliant story and solid rules, Grasscutter is a great blade that is further enhanced by the guardian spirit and his stats - the one thing I would have loved to see how this item and it's eidolon influence the CR of NPCs. Apart from this - nothing to complain about. Final verdict: 5 stars, just slightly short of the seal of approval.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 5 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 2 pages of content, so what do we get?
If you do have the Supporting Roles: Tinker-pdf by Amora Games, you'll know the Breaker already - this PrC is essentially an excerpt of said parent-pdf
The Breaker gets d10, 2+Int skills per level, full BAB-progression and 1/2 fort and ref-saves. The class's idea is that of a more melee-focused tinker and its design shows, providing a controlled form of rage similar to the one of the barbarian, netting +4 to Str, Dex or Con, splitting them as he deems fit for 4+Con-mod rounds.
They may also use intimidating boasts and single out opponents, which they may charge dealing additional damage. As a cool synergy of abilities, foes targeted by their intimidating boasts cannot execute AoOs versus the Breaker. The breaker may 1/day charge a foe within sight as a swift action, dealing additional damage.
The Backswing Push-ability, which allows the breaker to make an additional attack at his/her highest BAB to push foes 5 ft. (10 on a crit) without said movement enforcing AoOs. The Hit and Run-feature is also interesting, allowing the breaker as a full round action to move up to his movement rate and make a full attack action for a -2 AC. That one is rather powerful.
When missing foes with their attacks, breakers may also make a sunder-attempt as an AoO 1/round and follow up with a 5-foot step towards or around the opponents. Finally, at 10th level, the Breaker may divide weapon damage and edifice recognition damage between the sundered weapon and the foe wielding it.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres toa 2-column full-color standard that is relatively printer-friendly and the pdf comes without bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
While you obviously don't need this pdf if you already own the parent-pdf, the Breaker remains an interesting sunder-focused PrC with some powerful, unique non-magical abilities to supplement the class. The PrC is solid and there's nothing particularly wrong with it - hence, I'll settle on a final verdict of a solid 4 star-rating.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 34 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page hyperlinked ToC, 1 page SRD, leaving us with a whopping 31 pages of content, so let's take a look!
So, what's up with the Tinker-class? He gets d8, 4+Int skills per level, proficiency with simple weapons, light armor and shields, 3/4 BAB-progression, good ref-saves - and that's where the basic components stop. Tinkers get access to so-called inventions. In order to use inventions, a tinker needs an int-score of 10+ the invention level. In contrast to spell-DCs, DCs, when applicable, for inventions, are 10 +1/2 class level + Int-mod.
Tinkers also get 1+Int/3 blueprints and each blueprint and each blueprint contains class level times build pool points, with 5th level and every 5 levels after that offering an additional blueprint beyond those granted by the Int-score formula. The tinker can deploy automatons 1/day/level.
Beyond that, the Tinker gets an invention-book, which is somewhat akin to a wizard-book in how it works regarding copying from it etc. Tinkers start with 3+Int mod inventions at first level and get +2 inventions per level, of any available level - for depending on the level of the tinker, inventions of up to 6th level are available. Scribing these for other tinkers to use also works akin to scribing scrolls. But that's where the similarities with spellcasting ends.
Tinkers also create so-called automatons, at 1st level he creates the first and then at 7th and 13th level additional automatons. These automatons can be directed via (Surprise!) so-called Directives, which can be deciphered via Spellcraft. A total of 8 directives from attacks to support and idle and following is covered and issuing these directives is a standard action, but shutting these automatons down to an idle state is a free action. Automatons get up to 7 HD (at 20th level, though information for further progression is present) and may at this Tinker-level, have +2 saves , Str and Dex 14 (starting off with 10) and 47 HP. Automatons are created much like spells are prepared
At 4th level, the Tinker also gets a special automaton, the Alpha, who may use untrained skills in contrast to regular automatons and which may actually make its own decisions, including AoOs. Alphas may get up to 12 HD (again, with information to transcend the 20th level cap, if need be), up to +4 to saves, Str and Dex of up to 20 (starting at 12) and 90 HP as well as feats on every third HD. At higher levels, the Alpha may issue directives autonomously and at 19th level, even temporarily replace the tinker's abilities in commanding his/her automatons while s/he is incapacitated. Also, in contrast to losing automatons, losing an alpha s actually penalized, costing the Tinker quite an array of GP to rebuild his crowning achievement, should it ever be destroyed.
Abilities? Yes - for when looking just at the basic table, the automatons are WEAK. Which is by design - from the 1st level on, the automatons get the tinker's BAB as an insight bonus to atk, AC and CMD and may use the tinker's BAB to calculate their CMB and additionally may add their creator's saving throws as insight bonuses to their ridiculously low own - but only when within 30 ft. of the Tinker, 60 ft. at 9th level. This is an interesting balancing take indeed, as it makes the automatons and creations much more susceptible to being destroyed when sent on errands and used haphazardly and provides a nice rules-justification for the tinker to actually maintain proximity to his creations and not use them (exclusively) as expendable trap/ambush-bait.
Of course, bonuses to crafting, as were to be expected, are also part of a tinker's array, as is a rather cool idea - at 11th level, the tinker essentially gets a swarm of nanite-style constructs that can act as a mage hand and comes with 3 charges that allow the swarm to use fabricate once per charge. Starting at 14th level, tinkers may use disintegration via their swarm on living targets, fabricating duplicates of their dissolved bodies and later even break down walls of force and similar magical effects.
Additionally, at 2nd level and every 4 levels after that, the tinker learns an innovation and at 5th, 10th and 15th a greater innovation. Unless I have miscounted, tinkers may select from a total of 21 innovations to add to their automatons - and they are interesting indeed: For example, you may opt to grant your Alpha +2 to Str and Dex and +1 HD at the cost of one less regular automaton deployed at any given time, enhance the range in which your Alpha benefits from your Master's aura, add a charge to your swarm's charge pool etc. or increase the durability of your constructs, available blueprints or an addition invention with a limited build pool for your Alpha - permanently - unless you take a second innovation, that is. There are also innovations here that allow you to make your automatons capable of aiding others and one to make your automatons go kamikaze in a limited radius. Among the Greater Innovations, we get the options to rebuild your Alpha from scratch, enhance the physical prowess of your constructs and swap out deployed automatons 3/day with other blueprints you may have prepared. I have already mentioned the option to create massive, over-sized automatons or deploy your swarm not as a spell-like non-magical ability, but as a type of swarm-automaton. It should also be noted, that a certain innovation, designer, is required to get access to certain inventions, so you might want to fracture that into your contemplations.
The class comes with favored class options for the core-races as well as 4 new feats, one of which nets you an extra innovations. One lets you give directives as if a tinker/command unsupervised other automatons, retaliate for the destruction of your automatons or (and that one is AWESOME), share your teamwork feat as a swift action with your automatons.
The pdf also features inventions - vast, vast arrays of inventions. Inventions span 6 levels and the maximum available level of invention is based on tinker-level. Beyond this straight balancing, the respective inventions also have build pool point-costs ranging from 1 to 4, acting as a second means of balancing the respective inventions for the respective automaton-builds your tinker may devise. They come with a nice, concise list that provides you an overview and spans multiple pages (yes, that many inventions!) as well as prerequisites, when applicable.
And oh boy - they are rather versatile: From allowing your automatons to make the total defense action or repair oneself, reload ranged weapons etc. Supplies etc. need to be replenished and even riding the automaton via saddles becomes possible, as is the option to add catapults to hurl flasks. Have an alchemist-buddy? Well, your automaton can act as a minelayer, apply poisons, inject multiple potions at once or create a static shield of electricity that surrounds the automaton - which is btw. massively upgradeable. Have I mentioned the glorious one that lets the invention of a high-level pugilist move up to its speed and trip and sunder everything in its path 1/day, combinable with other inventions for even more pain and insult to injury?
The pdf also provides us a short FAQ as well as some sample invention-progressions.
As I'm seeing myself often complaining about the lack of support for 3pp-classes, sometimes in their very own books, this massive array of customization options is a joy to behold and makes for some massive options.
Have I mentioned the three exceedingly cool capstone abilities?
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any significant glitches or typos while reading this pdf. Layout adheres to Interjection Games' elegant 2-column b/w-standard and sports some nice, thematically fitting b/w-artworks. The pdf is fully bookmarked for your convenience, though not with nested bookmarks.
These are good days to review classes, it seems. I'm quite impressed with this tinker - author Bradley Crouch has created a delightfully complex class with multiple checks and balances that does some actually UNIQUE things - it's not just an alternate summoner or akin to the machinesmith - it gloriously does something different and shows that is a labor of love, oozing excellent ideas and allowing a staggering array of customization options for your perusal.
One minor gripe I have would be that inventions that net proficiencies are supposed to net the respective items as well - something I consider slightly problematic in games where the money is tight - requiring the tinker to provide at least one base weapon (e.g. one bastard sword that can be used again if the automaton is destroyed) to be integrated into an automaton might be more prudent for certain groups, though I can see that being best house-ruled.
Let's do the run-though, shall we? All in all, we get a VERY complex class with options galore, something to tinker with and create, a class that does not just copy existing builds but dares to do things differently. It's funny, really - after Purple Duck Games' Covenant Magic, I did not expect to soon give ANY class such a good verdict - the offering just upped the ante that far. But this tinker here actually manages to climb to the highest echelons with a combination of great fluff, nice humor and most of all: Solid crunch galore. Reviewing it was a nightmare, though - it's been ages since I had to do this much math to check for average damage etc. - mind you, the implementation when playing/building works much easier, though. While the first iteration suffered from some oversights, these have by now been mostly rectified and thus I feel justified in rating this 5 stars + seal of approval - well worth your money and definitely an advanced class that feels very unique and exciting.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 23 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page advertisement, 2 pages editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 16 pages of content, so let's take a look!
First: Read the foreword - after that, we're in for a table that features modifiers for available settlement lore by size, a d8-table to determine the category of rumour gleaned and a table of miscellaneous lore-modifiers when gathering information. After that, we kick off this pdf with 4 different rumormongers, i.e. short fluffy descriptions of the characters that include mannerisms, hooks etc., but not statblocks. Nice indeed!
The first table, ranging from -11 (possible via locations/modifiers) to 29, we get a massive list of rumors related to free booters and adventurers, including snakeoil salesmen and adventurer-parties and even half-fiendish pilgrims redeemed. (Though rumors describing a group as "fiendish-looking" is not one I'd use, preferring euphemisms...)
The next massive table, covering Events & Festivals from -11 to 29 is next and I LOVE it - "Every day is all souls night here, my friend." -That's one entry. Chilling! Awesome! Monthly town meetings, soothsayer traditions, days devoted to local saints, lotteries - this table is GLORIOUS.
The table on legends & lore, again covering this many entries, kicks off with a rather lam "This land is cursed"-rambling, but goes on to become much better, telling local stories of famous grand-fathers, apothecaries selling narcotics to an elite clientele or exciting us with the mystery of a missing bronze statue.
Of course, a massive table containing gossip on lords and ladies - new wings for mansions, scandalous behavior and secret tunnels as well as art competitions are all over the place - in a good way. Where the high and mighty get their table, so do the scum & lowlifes, providing rumors for the less prestigious and shady facets of life before we delve into yet another massive table on rumors, this time dealing with magic and wonders, mentioning a wide variety of items and spells, like an e.g. hidden universal solvent bottle, an option to complete the research of a mad wizard to create the new Troglodyte Stench-spell and there's also a nice little new cantrip.
The final table covers marauders and dangers - goblin armies as well as escaped convicts that had their gallows burst into flames should make for cool hooks - including an easteregg tying e.g. rumor to the Brethren of the Crimson Altar. Nice!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RSP's 2-column, printer-friendly 2-column-b/w-standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked and in two versions, one optimized for screen-use and one for print.
Eureka! Raging Swan has with this first offering a VERY HOT iron in the works - Landon Bellavia's collection of whispers and rumors not only brings inspiration galore and hooks in abundance, but can add depth and a sense of organic feeling to any campaign - these tables are varied, useful and a godsend of details for any DM. Useful and oh so nice, this series, if its first release is any indicator, has the potential to become one of my favorite ones yet - superbly useful, nice and all-out awesome, I'll happily rate this 5 stars + seal of approval and heartily recommend it to any DM seeking to add a little spice to his/her campaign.
Endzeitgeist out.
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Publisher Reply: |
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I'm delighted you enjoyed Whispers & Rumours. Rest assured there are more in the pipeline! |
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 4 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 2 pages of content, so let's take a look at what new tools the Oread get!
The pdf kicks off with 3 new feats:
-Blood like Mud: Halve bleed damage you receive to a minimum of 1.
-Grip of Granite: As an immediate action, gain natural armor bonus to atk to one unarmed attack for 1 round.
-Volcanic Temper: When dealing acid or fire damage via elemental rage, you can choose the lesser elemental rage to deal acid or fire damage con-mod times per day in addition to the elemental rage power, but it needs to be a different energy than the one of the elemental rage power. I like specific feats like that that expand some of the more specific class options, though the wording of that one could be slightly tighter..
Oreads may also choose from 3 new traits:
-Sentinel of Stone: +1 to initiative and perception and when initiative is tied, you act first.
-Stoenbreaker: Ignore 1 point of hardness.
-Strength of Earth: +2 Hp.
Racial trait-wise, Oreads may get +2 to checks overcoming caster level checks as well as substitute earth for inexpensive material components or gain stone cunning.
The racial archetype provided for the Oread surprised me - we get the Alchemical Geologist, an alchemist archetype who may grow crystalline bombs that always deal half piercing damage and may plate themselves in crystalline armor, camouflage fleshgems and lichen and improve their crystalline plating with their mutagens. A nice, uncommon alchemist archetype.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to Abandoned Arts' no-frills two-column standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
While neither feats, traits or alternate racial traits really blew me away, I did quite enjoy the racial archetype, leaving us with a solid, nice little offering at a fair price. Hence, my final verdict will clock in at 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 11 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page advertisement, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 6 pages of content, so let's take a look!
Arborlings as a species are humanoid plants. They get +2 Con and Wis, -2 Dex, have the arborling subtype, low-light vision, +2 to Knowledge (Nature) and Survival, +2 to saves vs. mind-affecting spells and effects, paralysis, polymorph, stunning and fatigue/exhaustion-effects, +4 versus bull rush and trip when on at least two inch of soil, a non-proficient slam attack at 1d4 and take 1 point constitution damage per day sans 2 hours of sunlight - polar nights and the underdark are not places for arborlings. At 9th level, they grow to large size, including +2 to Str and natural armor and -2 to Dex.
They come with 6 alternate racial traits that include a +8 stealth in forested areas, dealing piercing damage with slam attacks, +2 to heal and sense motive instead of their regular skill bonuses, alternate attribute-modifiers (+2 Dex and Wis, -2 Str, at 9th level +2 Int, Wis or Cha), subterranean, non-sunlight dependant arborlings that are dazzled by light and +1 natural armor bonus.
They also come with favored class options for barbarian, bard, druid, fighter, oracle, Ranger and Witch-classes as well as the Root-bonded witch archetype that gets a topiary familiar, plat form, 2 new hexes, 1 new major hex and 1 grand hex - all plant-themed. E.g. expand your reach by 5 foot, animate plants to make terrain difficult or make roots grow from the soles of your victims - disturbing!
3 new alchemical items allow arborlings to enhance their bark, provide oxygen or seek water. 4 new feats are included as well:
-Branched Fighter: Proficiency with slam and make it count as off-hand when dual-fighting. Nettled arborlings increase damage-dice.
-Improved Branched Fighter: +1 slam attack.
-Lightning Rod: Attract electricity effects.
-Treespeaker: 1/day speak with plants.
On the magical item front, they may engrave glyphs upon their own bark or other plant creatures as per scribe scroll and there is also the new anywood, which can be shaped into just about anything imaginable from wood - a kind of malleable material.
The final page deals with 3 new spells especially suitable for arborlings - bladed leaves for plants, provide 4 hours of rest or attack foes with sprays of needles.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to an easy-to-read two-column full color standard and the full color artworks are nice indeed. The pdf comes in two versions, one art-free and more printer-friendly and are both fully bookmarked. The pdf is extensively hyperlinked to d20pfsrd.com for your convenience.
So. Mike Welham delivers a solidly-crafted plant-race. Yet another one. After Alluria Publishing's Oaklings, Rite Publishing's Mandragorans, LPJr Design's Dalreans, Headless Hydra Games' Gaiants and Purple Duck Games' Xhesa or Jon Brazer Enterprises' excellent Seedlings. And while the race per se is well-crafted, it can't hold a torch fluff-wise to the great Seedlings, the weird Xhesa or the fully campaign-setting integrated Mandragorans or Dalreans. Add to that the race lacks the crucial age, height and weight-tables and quite frankly, I'm left with a race that lacks the reason to be integrated into my campaign - society, structure, everything is simply not compelling, not unique enough to stand out among all the other plant races and especially the Seedlings, Xhesa, Mandragorans and Dalreans mop the floor with the arborlings since they all are more distinct, feel more interesting than the arborlings.
Hence, while solidly crafted, I can't really recommend this race, in spite of its virtues - my final verdict will reflect this at a final verdict of 3 stars.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
The latest installment of Rite Publishing’s FREE E-Zine Pathways is 41 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page ToC, 10 pages advertisement, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 28 pages of content, so let’s take a look!
After David Paul’s editorial, in which we get an inside glimpse at the things to come from RiP, we delve into this issue’s template by Steven D. Russell, the despiser creature, which clocks in at CR +2 and boy is this template EVIL: Geared towards planar weirdness, despiser creatures are essentially harbingers of madness and doom – they have a madness-inducing aura (including a new type of madness), can fold space and teleport others offensively into solid objects and also get a gaze attack that makes those meeting it suicidal. Worse yet, these creatures are nigh indestructable, rejuvenating unless killed in a rather cool and specific manner that makes them prime candidates for recurring villains. I love this template – even more so due to the cool CR 11 sample creature and Dallas William’s awesome artwork.
Raging Swan Press’ mastermind Creighton Broadhurst has two fully statted mysterious travelers to drop into your game – a doppelgänger-spy and an aasimar-bard (At CR 6 and 4, respectively), providing hooks, background and mannerisms as well – A cool article to supplement modules, travels or simply scavenge the statblocks.
And then, Steven D. Russell gets EVIL. You might know I consider the Joker to be the coolest villain EVER and that I considered Stephen King’s “It” at the tender age of 12 once a thoroughly disturbing book. The Blood Bayou’s Jack of Tears still features in EVERY ONE of my campaigns. Well, there’s no a rejuvenating whole damn species of this kind – Demon Clowns. At CR 20. When I first read this, I started laughing maniacally – acidic flower squirts, suffocating pies, shocking grips – and nigh indestructibility in the vein of liches. Yes, please, especially when supplemented by the 4 monster feats the build uses!
Next up is a preview of May’s upcoming 101 Variant Monsters-book in which classic creatures are modified in rather unique ways – take a peek, for I know it got me anticipatory regarding the release.
This issue’s interview is with Sneak Attack Press’ Matthew J. Hanson, who brought us not only the ennie-nominated, superbly useful Terrain Toolbox, but who is also busy crunching away at the Broken Earth post-apocalyptic sandbox he successfully kickstarted – upon release it might just be the thing Warlords of the Apocalypse-fans might use as a first module…
The issue closes with a massive array of different reviews of some of the finest pdfs out there by Megan Robertson and yours truly.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn’t notice any significant glitches, though the formatting of the reviews could be a bit better – there are a lot of textblocks and one highlighted sentence (in the puppetmaster-review) doesn’t make that much sense to me. Layout adheres to RiP’s 2-column full color standard, and as mentioned, I really like the cover artwork. The magazine also comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.
This issue of Pathways hits the nail on the head for me – whether it’s the demonic clowns or the template – I really, really like the twisted, evil glee the creatures evoke and the other articles don’t fall behind in quality. Since this pdf is FREE, I can only urge you to download it, read it and cackle with glee at the twisted prospects this issue offers. That being said, it’s a very creature/NPC-centric issue with no article useful for players, so that’s a minor detriment, but none that would make me deviate from a final verdict of 5 stars – well worth the space on your HD.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This installment of the Dungeon Dressing-series is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover,1 page advertisement, 2 pages editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword,1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 6 pages of content, so let us take a look, shall we?
As with many installments of the dungeon dressing-series, we kick this one off with an array of basic stats that provide us with hardness, AC, HP etc. of varying types of portcullises, covering this time around even adamantine, mithril, stone and similar exotic materials as well as the more common wooden versions. Oh, and necromancers will want to take a look at those made of bone. Further modification of these basic characteristics is possible via 5 conditions and 3 mechanisms,rope/chain pulleys, the winch and the weight-based mechanism to lower and raise them.
So far, so good, let’s look at the tables! Unless I miscounted, we get 46 entries on the first table and includes basic twinned portcullises, surrounding dressings in the shape of demonic maws and even being made of magnetic ore (which is twisted and a VERY cool idea) – there are also portcullises made from mildly poisonous tropical wood and some additionally secured with bolts. While some of the dressings are cosmetic, e.g. said bolts actually modify the portcullises rules and thus make them more versatile also on a mechanic side.
The second table of the pdf provides us with a full array of 100 different entries that cover being half open, dripping with ooze-like substances or being rusted into place. Again, the massive amount of entries here and there features entries that influence the respective rules.
The final two pages are devoted to 3 sample traps involving portcullises – from teh CR 4 basic falling portcullis to ones that also topple (whether by intention or neglect) as well as a deadly CR 15 portcullis that has the spirit of a banshee (!!) bound to it – with deadly consequences. It should be noted that we get these via multi-rounds effects, variants and an extremely handy sidebar that covers being attacked by a portcullis depending on size – can the hardy dfwarf survive being squashed by it?
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch as we’ve come to expect from RSP, I didn’t notice a single glitch. Layout adheres to RSP’s elegant 2-column b/w-standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked and in two versions, one optimized for screen use and one to be printed out.
Portcullises are one of the most underused features in any roleplaying-game fortress and dungeon – they are iconic and foreboding and provide some nasty tactical advantages when used properly. Hence, I was rather glad to see this particular installment of the line come out and what can I say – author Aaron Bailey delivers with a great installment that should have you all covered regarding teh defenses of your structures. One of the finest installments before RSP made it free – and even FOR FREE NOW??? An easy, no-brainer candidate for 5 stars + seal of approval – congrats to the author!
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This free pdf is 7 pages long, 1/2 page editorial/logo, 2 pages SRD, leaving us with 4 1/2 pages of content, so what do we exactly get?
Well, we get one short encounter for EL 1, which is based on a hilarious assumption – set in the seeding season, a generic village (with statblock) has had its local doom-spouting madmen tell of a vision of dread horned ones and scales. No horror to be found, though – in fact, a bunch of goatmen herding flying koi (!!!)via specialized fish-whistles (!!) are just en route towards a place where they can sell their animals. Unfortunately, said fish are ravenous and would spell doom for the upcoming harvest as the fish’s path would scour the seeds of the future harvest. It’s up to the PCs to negotiate a solution for both factions and avert hostilities.
The product also features full stats for the doom-sayer, the town’s cleric, the goatmen and their flying koi as well as 5 low-level spells to help herding animals. We also get racial characteristics for the goatmen.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn’t notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to PDG’s printer-friendly 2-column standard and the b/w-artwork is nice. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length, but comes with hyperlinks for your convenience.
This encounter is weird in all the right ways and especially when used to foreshadow fey hijinxs or just change the tone after a particularly depressing/dark adventure, this weird encounter will provide quite some enjoyment – for diddly-squat! As a FREE offering that features some neat, far-out ideas, I’ll gladly rate this 5 stars + seal of approval – well worth your bandwidth and HD-space!
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This FREE pdf is 14 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page back cover, 1 page editorial, leaving us with 11 pages of content, so let’s take a look!
Th pdf kicks off by introducing us to a new magical quality called “mirrored” that does not increase an item’s magical bonus, but only its base price. For every plus the weapon has, it gets 13 charges and upon using a spell-like ability, the weapon loses one of said charges. Every 13 charges that are depleted cost the magical item one of its +1 enhancements. This additional power is considered as being an item incorporated into the weapon price-wise. Furthermore, when two mirrored weapons clash, both abilities are activated without depleting a charge – otherwise, the activation is dependant on activation triggers that vary by weapon. Finally, mirrored weapons net bonuses when nearby allies also wield mirrored weapons and count as cold iron for the purpose of DR.
The first item provided is Cyrekksi’s Mirrored Spear, a +2 spear that protects the wielder with 1d4+2 mirror image upon botching an attack. These duplicates last 8 minutes or until hit.
Marizz’s Mirrored Club is a +2 club that may, upon striking a foe with a DR of a specific type, up to 2/day cast versatile weapon with a duration of 8 minutes – per se a cool idea, but does versatile weapon apply to the strike that prompted it or to the next one? Also, the charges of this one are unrefillable in contrast to the mirrored spear – a somewhat odd decision: Either make them all unrechargeable (would make sense to me) or make them all rechargeable.
The final weapon provided is the shortsword of enlarging diminishment, a +1 keened[sic!] shortsword (should be keen) – when wielded by a gnome or halfling, the sword may 1/day affect foes subject to a crit with reduce person, while the wielder benefits from an enlarge person. Unfortunately, the DC of this very specific ability is fixed at DC 14, meaning that the weapon will stop being useful fast.
The final 6 pages are devoted to providing versions of the items for 3×4 index cards and 4×6 index cards.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting is good, but not perfect – I noticed a couple of different minor glitches. Layout adheres to a full color standard with a parchment-style background that renders the pdf not particularly printer-friendly. Each weapon comes with its own artwork – and when taking into account that this pdf is FREE, the quality of them is actually rather nice. The pdf has no bookmarks, but at this length needs none. More significant is the absence of a proper SRD, which might prove to be problematic in the long run for the company.
This pdf actually offers some nice magical weapons with uncommon mechanics and solid fluff to back them up, though the club could use some minor clarification and the short-sword’s fixed DC and very specific activation conditions mean that that one becomes mostly useless fast, though it’s concept is ok. Personally, I prefer scaling DCs that keep items relevant.
That being said, while not perfect, author Mike Myler has created a solid pdf for FREE and even if you don’t use the items, at least you get some artworks to show players – all in all, this is a solid offering that is FREE and as such is definitely worth a read and the space on your HD. My final verdict will clock in at 4 stars.
Endzeitgeist out.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Thanks EZG! We're still working out the kinks and will continue to try our best to comply to the proper licensing rules, In the future we'll get the hang of full compliance with every publication and now that my team's workload has shifted (my chief format designer is nearly done with an update to our first book, The Clockwork Wonders of Brandlehill) I'll crack the whip and make sure the SRD makes it into this document correctly. Your critique is excellent (as always) and we love the feedback! Thank you for taking the time to give us a review, we really do appreciate it! |
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This supplemental pdf for the Machinesmith-class is 9 pages long, 1 page editorial/SRD, 1/2 a page advertisement, leaving us with 7 1/2 pages of content, so let's take a look at this!
This pdf kicks off with two new types of greatworks, the first being the converter, which fluff-wise converts latent energy into effects that duplicate a limited array of spell-like abilities. Converters get 1 +1/2 class level + Intelligence charges - at least that's what the pdf specifies. Which makes me doubt whether this is correct - usually, we'd be looking at an addition of the intelligence MODIFIER - adding the whole stat is something completely different and hopefully just a glitch. From at will powers that don't use charges to those taking up 3 at the fourth and final greatwork update, the converter allows for access to spell-like abilities running the gamut from dancing lights at will to implosion for 3 charges. What's rather odd is that implosion takes up as much charges as telekinesis and reverse gravity, two power-wise rather inferior spells. Also, getting telekinesis at 20th level is too late. On a nitpicky side, the spell discordant blast has not been italicized in the pdf. I don't know, the curve at which the powers become available feels a bit off.
The Converter also gets 4 new augmentations that allow converters to assimilate limited amounts of energy, increase DCs by 1 and may, as the coolest of the abilities, shape one 10 ft. cube per two levels, allowing for really cool ways of modifying non-instantaneous energy effects - walking literally through forest fires, for example or creating holes in roaring blizzards conjured by hostile forces. The final one allows that at 12th level even as an immediate action for double charges.
The second Greatwork would be the Mobius Suit, which is obviously inspired by one particular Mr. Tony Stark - based on an armor, the suit grants armor-bonus and can use its charges (of which it gets 1/2 class level + int modifier) to gain either DR 1/- or energy resistance 5 to one chosen energy for int-mod rounds - essentially, the suit has charge-powered abilities that become progressively more versatile. More's the pity that the basic ability of the suit fails to specify whether it can be used multiple times at once - could e.g. a machinesmith grant him/herself 5 resistance to fire for 4 rounds and on the next round also get 5 resistance to cold for a second expended charge or can only one effect be in place at once? This becomes especially relevant on the first upgrade, which suddenly nets DR 2/- and energy resistance 10. Does the Machinesmith still have to specify which type of energy? I assume so, but the wording is ambiguous. The suit also grants proficiencies with armors and up to 4 integrated gadget-slots as well as the option to retain its AC versus firearms, increase AC versus crit-confirmation rolls and use swift actions to temporarily gain access to evasion for a ref-save.
The Mobius Suit also gets 4 new augmentations, which allow for enhanced str-and dex-based skill checks, lift as if under the ant haul spell (which the pdf fails to italicize), supercharge the suit for a massive +6 bonus to Str and Dex at the cost of 1 hour of not working (cool) and use charges to extend the duration of integrated gadgets.
After that, we're off to 14 new gadgets. We get one to launch snapdragon fireworks over multiple rounds (again, lacking italicization), create temporary Resilient Spheres, Defensive Shocks, temporarily suppressing machinesmith gadgets and dazing constructs (sans save), add firearms to turrets and create a power gauntlet-like device -at least in theory. EDIT: I botched. Impact Knuckles do specify what they're supposed to do, though the entry lacks italicization of the spell effect they duplicate
He may also duplicate the Polypurpose Panacea-spell via an injector, create proximity mines that duplicate blast glyphs and shout non-lethal restraining cables at opponents, enhance the invisibility cloak to follow up with displacement (Imho a great idea!), duplicate excavations via sonic diggers, the battlemind link-spell via tactical communicators (though construction options to widen the network from two presumed participants would have been nice), get a beacon that makes hitting illuminated foes via turrets faster and more reliable (nice!) or suspend him/herself in temporal stasis.
We also get 4 new tricks (though the header faultily calls them techniques): Caustic Refuter stuns those affected by Axiom or counter-science, Drone Expert improves all created constructs (including the pocket army), increase your to-hit prowess with your tools and recycle prototypes (i.e. his/her spells): Upon using a prototype, the machinesmith may for one round change one of his prepared prototypes of the same or higher level into the one he just used.
Next up are two archetypes: The Gadgeteer, who sacrifices his/her greatwork for more spells and a focus on being faster at creating magic items and commanding/enhancing drones. The second one, the Wonderbuilder, does essentially the exact opposite, sacrificing part of his prototype spells for a secondary greatwork (and later even a third one), but at the cost of never having his primary greatwork reach upgrade 4.
The pdf also provides us with 6 prototypes to revisit the topic of drones, which had been scrapped from the original class-pdf. Two of the prototypes allows you to grant limited mobility to your turrets or grant them climb speeds respectively, while the other 4 create small assisting drones - at level one drones sans combat capabilities, at 3rd level conjure up swarms of nauseating drones, create at 4th level spying drones to track foes and provide visual feedback and at 5th level finally create deadly extermination drones with melee and ranged attacks. My only gripe with this one being that it does not specify what action a reload of the ranged weapon is and how much ammo the drone gets. Other than that, the concept of drones has been quite adeptly been salvaged.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are not that great - apart from nitpicky issues like non-italicized spells, the pdf also suffers from a missing sentence in one of its gadgets. All in all, this feels like it could have used another pass at editing in order to properly unleash its potential. Layout adheres to LPJr Design's beautiful two-column standard for NeoExodus and we also get an additional version that is slightly more printer-friendly. The pdf features a beautiful new piece of full color artwork and is fully bookmarked for your convenience - nice! The pdf also comes with spell-deck cards of all the new prototypes - very nice if you use them, especially for the very fair price!
I love the Machinesmith-class to death - it has seen some justified support by Super Genius Games and Rite Publishing and deservedly so - the class rocks hard and is a great treat to play. Unfortunately, much like the first iteration of the class it's based on, this expansion by Wendall Roy suffers from several issues - nothing too significant, but quite enough to drag down the actually REALLY cool, glorious concepts. Without glitches, I'd gladly give this 5 stars - but as provided (and I didn't mention every glitch), I can't for the life of me, rate this higher than 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3. I'm hoping for a revision I can rate higher and truly recommend.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 6 pages long, 2/3 of a page front cover, 1 page editorial/SRD, leaving us with 4 1/3 of a page content, so let's check this out!
The SGG-take on the Fighter with talents is justifiable popular and this pdf essentially offers NEW fighter talents (versus those based on archetype-abilities) for the talented fighter - talents, which, btw. you could relatively easily convert into feats.
Unless I've miscounted, we get 23 new basic talents for the fighter, which include several talents that come only into play on a critical hit: Much like 3.5 Sword & Sorcery Advanced Player's Guide's extensive critical hit tables (oh, how I love them!), these talents allow you to reduce the critical hit multiplier by 1 (e.g. from double damage to only regular damage or from triple damage down to double) and apply a secondary effect to your attack, with e.g. Fat Lip providing a hefty fort-save or a chance to lose any verbal component featuring spell following the hit, dealing damage to both foe and armor, temporarily exhaust foes, forgo a crit to net +4 to crit-confirmations for a minute (high crit-builds will like this) or make the target provoke an AoO from all creatures threatening it.
Gaining access to a cleric/oracle orison (and as a follow-up, 1st level spell), +2 to atk for AoOs and number of AoOs per round, using dirty tricks 1/round in place of a regular melee attack, getting a better aid another, gain nice bonuses to CMB when using Stand Still or a physis that keep the fighter in shape at advanced age categories as well as increased healing and stowing items more efficiently.
13 advanced talents allow you to gain evasion, punch foes into the throat or disable limbs(on crits - no speaking for 1 round/penalties depending on the limb), answer grapple, disarm and sunder attempts with AoOs, demoralize foes when using a firearm for the first time in combat, may use a melee weapon attack in lieu of an acrobatics-check to move through threatened squares or get improved accuracy when handling siege engines.
Finally, we get 3 new grand talents: An advanced rogue talent, regular damage in addition to combat maneuver-effects and the chance to sever limbs on crits make for three interesting potential capstones.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch; I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to SGG's 3-column full-color standard and the artworks featured are nice. The pdf comes fully bookmarked with nested bookmarks by page - nice to have, even at this relatively short length.
There's a reason why I dubbed Owen K.C. Stephens "Grandmaster Crunch" - and this pdf is a great example why. The man delivers. Where my one gripe with the talented fighter essentially was that I would have loved more unique talents, this delivers. While organization of the respective talents is still a matter of tastes, these talents are glorious additions to the talented fighter, at a price that is more than fair. Combine that with the fact that none of the talents feel unbalanced or too weak and we have a straight recommendation at 5 stars plus seal of approval.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 4 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 2 pages of content, so let's take a look!
The Universalist Wizard has always been problematic - they have gotten the short end of the stick for quite a long time and this pdf seeks to remedy that via 4 options, all of which come with a short fluffy introduction before getting into the crunchy bits.
The first new option would be the Arcane Researcher: Replacing Hand of the apprentice with the ability to research spells much faster makes for a nice first ability - especially if you e.g. feature categories of spells that require research because they simply are not openly available. Metamagic mastery is replaced with a rather AWESOME ability that will provide a godsend for some wizards - spells the arcane researcher has researched himself can be prepared by him/her without having access to a spellbook. Some nasty surprise for authorities/slavers who thought that keeping the spellbook away would be enough to neutralize the caster... Finally, at 13th level, they get +1 DC for their researched spells.
The Beastbonded Arcanist can inscribe a limited amount of spells on to the hide of his/her familiar, making the familiar a type of backup spellbook. Beyond that, the familiar can aid you for +4 instead of the regular bonus and at higher levels automatically succeed at helping you. At the higher levels, as long as your familiar are with 30 foot and conscious, neither you or your familiar can be flanked/flat-footed. Neat one!
The Bookbonded Arcanist gains a spellbook that never runs out of blank pages as a bonded item, but requires bonus spells you have to be inscribed in the pages of the book and not some other spellbook. Furthermore, the bookbonded arcanist may ignore the cost of sepia snake sigil when casting it on the book and the book ignores damage caused by runes on the book itself, rendering it impervious to the deadly security measures you may wish to implement. At higher levels, the arcanist may even teleport the bonded spellbook to the hands of the arcanist - awesome!
The final new option would be the Spellweaver - nimble fingers allow the spellweaver to add his dex-modifier to Spellcraft DCs, increase the casting time to also increase the caster level a limited amount of times per day and later even the DC of your spells.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, though there's an instance (Aforementioned Sepia Snake Sigil) of a spell not being properly italicized in the text. Layout adheres to Interjection Games' elegant 2-column b/w-standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length. The artworks included are thematically fitting stock-art.
This pdf is interesting in that it FINALLY offers some unique options for universalist wizards - all too long we had no cool distinct options for them and this pdf remedies this short-coming rather well, with especially the Bookbonded Arcanist and the Arcane Researcher feeling VERY wizard-like in style, marrying great crunch with good ideas - and the former WILL be popular at my table, since I'm one of the bastard-DMs that like to target Wizard spellbooks - and drench them, burn them, cut them to pieces - you get the idea. The only one of the options that slightly falls behind its potential is imho the slightly unfortunately named Spellweaver (there's already a skill-based casting-class by Misfit Studios...) - while solid in its approach and featuring an elegant, easy to grasp mechanic, this one feels like it could have used an additional ability, something slightly more distinct.
Since this is complaining at a high level and since this pdf comes with a very fair price-point, I'll settle on a final verdict of 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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