 |
This pdf is 4 pages long, 1page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving 2 pages of content for 18 new hexes, 5 of which are major hexes for the witch, so let's check them out!
Abeyance is the first hex and it is already an interesting one - by pronouncing a curse on an area, you reduce unattended objects to half hit points (netting them the broken condition) and make structures appear more fragile, whither plants and strip corpses of their flesh and turn bone to dust - essentially the quintessential curse effect known from fairy-tales. And much like this curse, it can be broken, the affected structures, objects etc. regaining their former glory. AWESOME! "But this is not too useful in combat!" So what? This hex is iconic, can work as a great roleplaying catalyst for players and even determine some nice tactics and add a more pronounced distinctiveness to a witch's arsenal. Two thumbs up!
With "Bewitch", you can pile a dominate on your charm-hex and "Dance with the Dead" is also rather stylish: Granting you Perform (dance) as a class skill, it lets you detect undead at will while dancing and even command mindless undead and later animate them as part of your dance. Seeing how much enamored I am with the concept of the Danse Macabre, this hex is right up my alley and the dance restriction keeps the witch from spamming annoying amounts of detects, while still being useful - well done!
Where the Doom Hex first looks like a cheap duplication of the doom spell, it has a nice caveat - once the target creature is damaged, its wound turns accursed, necessitating a caster level check to heal it. Again - cool and a nice design choice. Why then there's a hex that just mimics the alter self-spell without any additional cool effect, I don't know.
Mostly for NPCs (or players of Fire Mountain Games Way of the Wicked) is the "Evil presence-hex, which makes you detect as a cleric/(anti-)paladin for purposes of detect spells and stuns or nauseates those do-gooders trying to sniff you out. That ought to teach them detecting all the time...
The Heartstone Hex, taking an Andersen-trope, creates a stone that not only grants you a bonus on saves, but into which you may also transfer diseases you catch -cool! If you're more into spreading pestilence yourself, take the "Pestilence" Hex, which not only empowers your disease-spells, but also makes beasts affected by your blight contagious.
The "Pinch" Hex can also be considered iconic - deal 1 point non-lethal damage (unless you have nails...) as a touch attack and potentially transfer touch spells as part of the pinch. Granny told you to clean the bath... In direct comparison, the ability to create dancing witch lights that fascinate the onlookers feels almost bland - almost: Lead them into the swamp, come to me...
The Major Hexes are nothing to be laughed at either, especially the "Last Laugh" hex, which lets you place a sickening curse upon those who reduce you to -1 hp and which has to be chipped away at slowly by the afflicted. When you bluff via the new "Lure" hex and try to tempt others with something they desire, you may roll two dice instead of one and take the better result. With "Torment", a witch now may enter a creatures mind as per detect thoughts, but also heap the shaken-condition on them for the duration - another staple of fiction, well-converted to rules.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I noticed no significant glitches. Layout adheres to the 2-column standard with a parchment-like background and the pdf has no artworks or bookmarks, but needs none of the latter at this level. The Class Acts-pdf by Daron Woodson have been a mixed bag for me so far - great designs alongside some filler and minor problems. It is with the utmost pleasure that I can announce that this installment of the Class Acts series is AWESOME. While there are some hexes herein that are not up to the coolness of the others, most of the content herein is simply awesome and iconic. In fact, the rules and ideas used are often not only viable options, but rp-catalysts in their own rights. That being said, there still are some hexes that don't hold up to this standard (e.g. yet another cauldron-scrying hex), but these are relatively few and far in-between, making this pdf mostly a winner. My final verdict will, gladly, be 4.5 stars, just short of the full 5.
Endzeitgeist out.
|
|
|
Log In 
.png)
