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Shadowrun: Shadow Cast (Runner Resource Book)
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 06/15/2023 19:09:18

Shadowrun: Shadow Cast is a runner resource book, providing character ideas and suggestions for ways to use the characters providing both roleplaying suggestions and adventure seeds. It is a useful resource book for both players and game masters and a fun read but not a vital addition to your Shadowrun library.

Shadowrun: Shadow Cast is a Runner Resource Book for Shadowrun, Sixth World Edition, providing a variety, that is twenty, character archetypes, allowing for a wide set of ideas and options for players (and Game Masters as well) to explore different sections of the Sixth World and the people who live there.

It begins with an introduction, then the required fiction piece, and then onto the archetypes of which there are twenty covering a wide variety of character types, some magic, some tech, combat and social oriented, something for everyone.

Each is organized with an introduction to the archetype, several variations on the theme (listed under backgrounds), a set of plot hooks and adventure ideas, and most have a quality path (or two) that tie into the archetypes and lastly, some roleplaying advice for the archetype.

Quality paths were first introduced in the Sixth World Companion and are a chain of qualities that are opened, or reduced in price as the case may be, by certain actions taken by the characters. In some cases, the paths have negative qualities included that provide points that can only be used to buy positive qualities with the path. It is an interesting idea and I have yet to see it in play but the concept is solid. Many of these quality paths are opened up by specific adventures for the archetype.

I am not going to run through every archetype and critique it, that way lies madness, but I will make some general comments:

>While aspects of builds (minimum attributes, skills, qualities) are suggested, the way to get to them through the priority system for character builds (the default system for character creation) is not suggested.  >As this is explicitly a sourcebook for player characters it normalizes the playing infected (i.e. vampire) and blood-magic using player characters. Both of which are . . . problematic at best. The infected character must literally destructively feed on other members of metahumanity which the blood magician has to inflict pain and death on the same to fuel their magic. Is this the sort of thing that we should be encouraging? Yes, Shadowrunners are, by definition criminals partly that is because the system is corrupt, but they do not have to be sadistic murderers as well adding to the misery. ?It brings back one of the most unique archetypes, the burned-out mage, the magic user who has been seduced (or forced) down the road of cyber-replacement and implanted technology.

The book ends with four pages wasted advertising Mug Book, a deck of Shadowrun NPCs and showing six character cards whose achetypes are drawn from the Shadow Cast list. And a two-page index to all of the qualities and quality paths published so far and where to find them which is actually helpful.

Overall, a useful book for character inspiration and to be commended for its roleplaying suggestion and wealth of adventure seeds and plot hooks. But not for its normalization of infected and blood magic users as acceptable character types.

You can read more of my articles and reviews here: https://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Shadowrun: Shadow Cast (Runner Resource Book)
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Bad Girl Blowout: PL6 Femme Fatales
Publisher: Aegis Studios
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 03/18/2023 18:41:46

While there are the core idea of some interesting characters here they are not fully fleshed out. They could use more background, some adventure seeds, maybe some normal people they are tied to. And, since you have all of these characters in one product, why would you not suggest some ties and confliects between them to spur ideas for the GM?

The character sheets are bare bones and could also use some additional details to make them easier to use.

But if character descriptions appeal to you and you are willing to put in some extra work to flesh these characters out, and fit them into your game world, it may be worthwhile picking up as it is not too expensive.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Bad Girl Blowout: PL6 Femme Fatales
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Shadowrun: Hack and Slash (Core Matrix Rulebook)
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 01/05/2023 13:49:48

Shadowrun: Hack & Slash is a sourcebook, specifically a “Core Matrix Rulebook” for the Sixth World Edition of Shadowrun covering, well, the Matrix and computer system in general as well as how to mess with them. It contains much useful information and the Matrix and those who use it and some of those who try and defend it from hackers. Players of hackers and, especially, technomancers will want this book and GM should have it on their to acquire at some point list as well.

Shadowrun: Hack & Slash, is the Core Matrix Rulebook for Shadowrun, Sixth World Edition, providing a look at the wonderful world of computers, telecommunications and hacking, as well as the more mystical parts of the Matrix for technomancers and their friends.

It begins with an introduction, as expected, this one talks about how the book is organized. One of the ubiquitous fiction sections follows then we begin with the actual material with a section called Wild & Free, which talks about what the Matrix is from an in-game perspective. The answer to that is a bit of a mess as they have decided the divorce the Matrix from anything resembling a technological underpinning and making it all technomanctic woo instead. Not a decision I agree with and it does not make a lot of sense, totally a violation of the law of conservation of energy as well as creating a host of other issues. That being said, it is a good attempt to try and make some sort of sense of it and provide both context and potential adventure ideas (the section on Virtual World Disney is quite good for example).

Next is a Field Guide to Hacking, which talks about what hackers do and how their do it (from an in-game world perspective) and then a bunch of new and clarified rules about how to do so. With some mention of the value of working with a team for various ends, especially for social engineering, as it is almost always easier initially to hack people than systems. There are new matrix actions, including fairly absure “cinematic” ones which I am sort of surprised were not better constructed as option edge actions rather than just randomly tacked on at end. There is also a glossary which is interesting and amusing, as among other things it defines “brick” only as “slang phrase for an optical chip stack” even though it earlier books it is used in the modern way to describe a piece of electronics made inoperable. Well, I found it amusing.

Gadgets & Gizmos follow providing new, well, gadgets and such. It starts with cyber-heck, an attempt to get some of the functionality of a cyberjack implant without all the messy surgery. New rules for building custom cyberdecks and having them built in all sorts of things to carry it in (including building your deck into a keytar!) which is fun. I think they could have done more with how to make interesting runs about getting vital components and materials for building decks but it is a useful enough chapter. There are also new ways to tap into systems, new uses for RFID tags and how to make your comlink better. All good things and allow more variety but expect it to become more difficult to hack that executives comlink, I bet the corp has installed the latest securelink on it.

Elegant Architecture looks at hosts in the Sixth World, which, just as in today’s world, hold all the tasty data that criminals want. It explains the game rules and prices to build various aspects of hosts, which are interesting but more examples would have been good also with advice for how various corporations use these in practice. It ends with a section on ultra-violet hosts which create a specific new reality more real than real to those plugged in, so if you want to play another genre within Shadowrun, here is how you do it.

Digital Toolbox looks at the wonderful world of writing your own code and programs. After setting some basic ground rules it moves into new Commlink Apps, which has some fun things and helps commlinks be more than just phones and Ids. Next, new cyberprograms including a bunch that do there thing and then crash and must be reloaded before using them again, which is an interesting idea. Lastly, there are rule for programing agents and how they work, a useful tool but potentially a lot to keep track of for both the GM and player. It interesting subcase of agent in the ‘cyberkit’, an agent loaded into a portable device and usable as a limited plug and play ‘hacker in a box’.

Techno Tools looks at new tricks for the technomancers, all rules, no world explanation, starting with new complex form, many of these are new ways to act as a team and support player, ways to manipulate programs and hardware to help friends. But also some that will, in all likelihood, annoy and frustrate a GM, forms that get around data bom book. Lastly, there are data structures, which are in essence, foci for technomancers because technomancer bs, negate encryption and lock down IC, and even one that lets them take control of another’s cyberware and use them as a puppet. The new echoes primarily build and expand on the existing one in the core did not already have enough advantages over decker, why not give them more? If you get the impression that I am not a particular fan of the data structures section of the chapter, you would be correct. Unlike magical focis they do not scale in cost with usefulness and you get to bond (sorry “integrate”) with them for free if you are the one who made them, oh, and you do not have to have any special skill, it uses Tasking to make them. There are no limits on the number of data structures a technomancer can have, no NuYen cost if you make your own, nor is there an equivalent of foci addiction to worry about, all the bang for none of the bucks.

Points of Sprite covers, you guessed it, new sprites: Assassin, probably unnecessary. Defender, sure, this one makes sense. Modular, for flexibility when you do not know how the situation will changes. Music, for creative pursuits, an especially nice add. And Primal, chaos manifested and often uncontrollable. Ther are new ways to use spirits, new commands and the addition of Sprite Reputation to mirror how spirits feel about their summoners. Also rules for free and ally sprites, just to make the sprite equals spirit formula complete.

Quality Hacking covers new qualities, both positive and negative. There are twenty-three new positive qualities unsurprisingly almost all are tied to the Matrix, a few are only usable by those using a cyberdeck, but a few can be used by all, such as Data Haven membership. Good to see Online Fame back as well. Overall a good selection and incorporate some interesting new ways to gain Edge, tied to specific actions, which is a good design space I think. Only thirteen negative qualitites most of which are interesting though Data Liberator is an odd one and one that it would be best to discuss with your play group before taking (especially if it is roleplayed and not just used mechanically). There is a new Quality Path for Cyberadepts, technomancers who integrate themselves with cyberware, which seems like an interesting path. This section ends with some advice about designing your own Quality Paths, which is a good chance for GM and player to make a unique character development path.

Union Forever looks at various groups especially Emergent Groups which are (by definition) comprised of technomancers and others who can be part of the Matrix naturally. Emergent Groups again mirror magical groups providing many of the same benefits and, indeed, the rules here are incomplete without those in Street Wyrd which discuss gaining a losing loyalty within a group. Some of the example groups are interesting including a group of Triad technomancers and more information of the group that created the new Matrix.

Virtual Life looks first at protosapients, life forms that exist in the Matrix, and xenosapients, intelligent beings that exist in the Matrix, and technocritter, animals that have abilities that interact with the Matrix and electronics in various ways. The protosapients are often pests and occasionally dangerous predators in the Matrix, all are dangerous in their own ways and should be used lightly. The xenosapients are being from the Null Sect, a set of intelligent digital lifeforms that have their own, mysterious, agenda but who are usually hostile to people. Xenosapients, and the Null Sect, seem that they are really designed to be a campaign of their own. Technocritters take advantage of technology to further their own purposes ranging from Bastet, awakened cats who use their ability to manipulate technology to make their lives easier, to Pachyderm, emergent elephant who actually like protect data There is potential for interesting complications on runs from technocritter, but, again, they probably should be used with a ligth hand. All of thes new creatures have new powers which are defined.

After the creatures are defined, there is a section on Intelligence Revealed, providing rules for Artificial and Emergent Intelligences, emergent ones being artificial intlligences with access to the resonance and thus technomancer-like abilities. This really needed to be its own chapter with a lot more information on what being an AI means, thoughts on how they percieve the world and so on. There are five listed types of AI/EI with different ranges of statistic and innate abilities, but they are only defined, sort of by their innate abilities, there are no suggestion for how roleplaying a Pilot AI (which have evolved from piloting software) might be different from a Realms AI (no idea what they evolved from). They get access to their own positive and negative qualities, specialized rules for advancement and healing, and codemods, the AI version of cyberware. So much packed in and almost all of it mechanics. How are these intelligences viewed by the world? What might they want? What are some themes to explore if playing an AI or using one as a GMC?

Last, in this overstuffed Virtual Life chapter, there are Paragons, essentially mentor spirits for technomancers (because anything a magic user has, the technomances has to have an equivalent of) and new Technomancer quality of Resonance Streams which allow a technomancer to become exceptional in one aspect of technomantic abilities, such as the Technoshamans who can do things with sprites that no one else can.

At the Base looks at the foundations of the new resonance built Matrix and what has changed (since it was last looked at back in the 5th edition sourcebook Data Trails) It starts with a discussion of how it is thought that the foundation Matrix works, probably, maybe. It also provides a framework, and then rules, for delving into the deep resonance and ways to bring your friends along too, as their skills can be useful even if they are not technomancers or hackers in the strange resonance realms. This could lead to some potentially interesting adventure ideas and missions. It also includes rule for a foundation destroying weapon, which is an excellent plot device, though probably not something you want to let your player characters to get hold of . . .

Infinite Memory looks at technomancers (“which should not exist according to physics” according to the first section in this chapter) and how they do what they do. Probably, maybe? It remains slightly mysterious. After that, it is straight into the Resonance Realms, the places beyond . . . well, somewhere. There is first a travelog of the various places you can go from an in-game world perspective and then the rules for traveling there and why you might want to.

Know your Enemy looks at the scourge of hackers everywhere the Grid Overwatch Division or, as they are known, GOD. This gives the GM some more options in using this organization, and not just as a giant boot to stomp on the team hacker/technomacer, but also provide the information for the full boot treatment. There is also new IC including psychotropic IC which can temporarily reprogram the brain of those subject to it, icky.

The product end with Matrix Business, a set of fout short adventures, a bit more than seeds and much less than full modules. I am honestly not sure how usable any of them are. The first is suppose to highlight than everyone can be useful in the Matrix but does not give useful advice on how to make that happen in play. The third requires the players know information from the Shadowrun: Dragonfall video-game to really make it sing which seems poor design for book based roleplaying.

Naturally, there is no index or gathering of charts at the end, as is too often the case.

Overall, a useful sourcebook but it does not come across to me as vital as some of the other core books. Obviously, if you are running a decker-centric campaign or, especially, a technomancer focused game, this book will be of great help. But instead of adventures, this reviewer would have liked more information on AI and how they interact with the world and how people in the Sixth World use and experience the Matrix that would have been much more useful. I feel that technomancers are given way too much and on a platter, while tech users are left behind even with cyberjacks that eat money and essence and cyberhacks that just eat money even if agents very slightly close the gap between the two. And, yes, I continue to harp on this in my reviews, the idea is that there should be some parity between the two paths, technology and magic (which technomancy is, and this product entirely reinforces), but the recent editions have privileged magic at every opportunity making magic always the right choice mechanically which violates the basic duality of the setting.

Read more reviews and other gaming stuff at my gaming journal: https://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Shadowrun: Hack and Slash (Core Matrix Rulebook)
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Shadowrun: Sixth World Companion (Core Character Rulebook)
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/23/2022 13:31:32

Shadowrun: Sixth World Companion, is a long awaited book, with the rules for alternate character building systems, meta variants and infected characters, optional and clarified rules, changelings, new qualities and more. It is a needed book but it could have been better with some odd missteps along the way. Even more so than most core books, Games Masters will probably want this just for the optional rules, which address many of the concerns that people have had with the new edition of the rules and players will want it for the wealth of new character options.

Shadowrun: Sixth World Companion is a core character book. It is designed to provide new general options for character building and development. Note this a long review and you can just take the summary above or if you feel you are interested in my detail critique, read on.

As is usual, it begins with a brief introduction about what is in this book. Next is the required short fiction section, and the only fiction section in this book, which shows some unusual runners in action.

The first section is Runner’s World which is just . . . odd. It spends about four pages written from an in-world perspective breaking down the traditional roles in a runner team (muscle, face, techie, rigger, mage) and talks a bit about what happens on runs. Who exactly is this for, anyone buying this book is likely to be into the whole Shadowrun setup and does not need to be told things like “The face’s jobs are to mingle, negotiate, trick, intimidate, and sometimes interrogate.” It just seems really out of place to me. The next subsection is Ways to Play Shadowrun, which talks about adjusting power levels up or down, playing other types of people ranging from Slice of Life to Artifact Hunters or members of a Sports Team or Street Gang (but not DocWagon team, which is another classic non-runner option for some reason). Some fun ideas here but they all could have been further fleshed out to make them easier to play.

Next is Exteriors and Interiors, again, starts with some in-world advice about what you show to people by how you present yourself and how to use that to your advantage, pretty straightforward advice but sometimes overlooked. The next section is about thinking about how your character presents themself and how their choice of qualities and lifestyle affect that. Next, the return of Twenty Questions to help define your character (and suggestions on how to reward players who take the time to help build hooks for the GM).

Then we have Building a Shadow which goes into detail about alternate character generation methods: Sum to Ten, Point Buy and Life Path. Each has its strength, Sum to Ten and Point Buy increase flexibility in character builds while the Life Path helps you to build a story around your character’s background. It is good to see the Life Path version back as it is a fun way to build a character.

The next section is Suit Up which is a variety of PACKs, which stands for Pre-Assembled Character Kit, which are, as you would expect collections of useful gear on various themes (decker, street samurai, drone rigger, vehicles, weapons and so on and so on). While I like the idea of PACKs, especially for quick character generation, I am not sure if this is the best place for them. It takes up a little over twenty pages (more than one tenth of the book). It seems, to this reviewer, that it would be better suited for a PDF and not a main book, where it would be easier to add new PACKs and adjust old ones as new supplements come out. One of the reasons I would advocate for such a strategy in the future is because things like the missing essence costs for the two rigger PACKs (and a missing list of augmentation bonuses for one of those). Also, showing this reviewers age, I remember when being a decker did not eat all of your essence and why does no one have a datajack? Only two out of the eighteen cyber/decker PACKs have them. Also, again just this reviewers personal preference, but what is up with so many heavy weapons on vehicles? Of the ten normal-ish vehicles (i.e., civilian vehicles) that are armed, three have assault cannons (including one on a motorcycle!), three heavy machine guns and two rocket launchers. Not my style man, just way too much, also concealing that level of weaponry on a modified stock civilian vehicle (even in a pop-up turret) strains believability.

Types and Shadows looks as the variants of metahumanity, also what defines a metavariant in world, and at the other sapiens that are recognized in the Sixth World. There are five metavariants of dwarves, five of elves, two of human and four of each for orks and trolls, quite a wide variety from small gnomes to massive giants. Unfortunately, there are almost no illustrations in this section, one of a cybered dwarf that might be one of the metavariants and another of a cyclops. These really, really need illustrations with comparison to something every day, like a standard modern door, so we the readers can really get a good feeling for what it means when a giant is said to be three meters tall. Or how small a gnome or a pixie really is by comparison to an average person. Without illustrations it is really hard to envision what the metatypes and metavariants, especially the larger one, are like. The problem is not quite as bad in the sapients section, which adds centaur, merrow, naga, pixies and sasquatches to the pool of playable beings, with art of pixie driving a motorcycle (cute), a Sasquatch in a suit (but nothing to compare him against size-wise) and maybe a picture of a centaur at the end of the section. But how big is the average centaur? What does a ten meter long (and just under one meter in girth) naga look like compared to a person? How small are pixies (it is not mentioned in their description)? Can a Sasquatch use troll sized items? How can a GM reasonably adjudicate things in relation to the size of beings without useful references? Now, there are a bunch of charts at the end of the section with average height and weights for the metatypes and sapients (which do not always match the written descriptions) but they are not so useful, this reviewer is not good at imagining what a .8 meter tall gnome or 2.7 meter tall cyclops would look like next to a car or what a height of 6.9 meter height even means for a snake-like naga?

Next up, the infected in a section called Darker Alterations, which talks about those who are infected with HMHVV (Human MetaHuman Vampiric Virus) which comes in a variety of strains (three in fact) which effect the different metatypes in different ways, except for the Krieger strain which turns all of those infected by it into ghouls. There is quite a bit of information about what is know about the virus, how it has changed and how it affects its hosts. An interesting read. It is followed by rules for creating Infected characters, along with a note that some GM may not allow infected player characters so ask first, which I suspect (hope?) will get a lot more use for creating opposition for shadowrunners than used as player characters. Nice to have to hand to scare the players with. Also new disease rules, used hear specifically for HMMHV but adaptable to other things, a new “drug” (‘Renfield’), a negative quality, and three new creature powers.

Express Yourself details the effects of the SURGE (Sudden Unexplained Rapid Genetic Expression) on people where it created changelings, people with radically different appearances and genetic makeup, some of which happened in regional clusters. Some of those region clusters are noted here, such as the Egyptian cluster where people changed into being reminiscent of the gods of Ancient Egypt, or the Indus cluster where there were suddenly people with too many arms or tiger heads, the theory being that local belief shaped the manasphere (local magic) which in turn created those clusters of similar changelings. After that, there are rules for the changeling. The ones that come from one of the clusters have fairly predictable changes, enough that they have particular named types that come from those areas, which can be taken as a package. There are also options for random generation of alterations, if you want to go that route. There are a fair number of positive and negative metagenic qualities most of which are physically visible, one of the reasons changelings have had so much trouble, everything from blubber to mood hair (which is exactly what it sounds like), fangs to quills, animal heads, wings and tails. Quite a variety for people who want to have a really unique character. Unfortunately, some of the qualities are unplayable (such as Insectoid Features, Progeria and Nocturnal) the karma you get for them would never be worth the disadvantage of suffering from them. However, nicely, all of the information of the qualities is gathered in charts at the end of this chapter.

The next part is People of Exceptional Quality is a selection of new, you guessed it, qualities (yes, they have gone all out for pun section titles this time around). Twenty-four new positive qualities and twenty-four new negative qualities, nice balance there, unfortunately many of them show that they still have not fully mastered their own system. Many Edge gaining qualities, Relentless Tracker, I am looking at you, are still out of balance and the entire set of qualities still need to be totally rebuilt (which is addressed in the next section but not well). Now, there are some needed positive qualities, supporting leadership, teamwork and alchemy which this reviewer highly approves of. Some of the negative qualities are returns of classics (Borrowed Time, Hunted), some provide interesting limited bonuses with their disadvantage (such as All Business, Finesse or Hooder) which is a nice design and nice way to define a character. Unfortunately, some are, again, so punishing that no one will ever take them (Glitchy and Injury Prone come to mind). Others seem to be ways for players to justify acting like jerks in game (but he is a Combat Junkie! But she is a Killer!) which is always a bad design call to this reviewer’s thoughts on game design. This section ends with four Quality Paths, chains of qualities you can buy based on character arc: Critter Bond, straight forward, though there no way to return the critter to the wild without being penalized for it, which seems odd. Obsession is a cool concept, the character is totally driven to accomplish something, consequences by damned! Favored Weapon does what it says on the tin, not much to say beyond that. Vendetta is really conditional, requiring a Heat Score of 15 or higher to be able to take it, but it does not cost Karma, so it could be an interesting twist but your teammate are not likely to be happy with assassins or bounty hunter popping up all the time, so use carefully. Overall, some really good options, some really poor options, and a lot of questionable design choices.

Ways to Play follows and it is a collection of optional rules that you can use to modify the game to fit your play style. The first two pages are about variant rules for edge gains and use along with a half-hearted fix for the Analytical Mind/Attribute Mastery problems which does not really help, rather those Qualities either need to be fully rewritten or just flat banned (as they are in this reviewer’s campaign). Some of the other Edge related ideas are quite good though, Banking Edge seems worthwhile as it potentially turns Edge into a shared resource. There are some good new optional edge actions as well. Some optional healing rules which can act as a lethality slider bar (add in bleeding and increased overflow lethality of you want to make people fear combat). Then Magicians and Mundanes, which includes rules for Transhumanism (which functionally overwrites two of the new positive qualities, so odd choice), free will, new limits on spirits and a variety of other things including some errata (the spirit types from Street Wyrd get vulnerabilities and Enchanter adepts get known spells at character generation, both important changes), a small change that makes Alchemy much more viable and more minor tweaks. Rules to make area effect attacks less lethal. New armor rules to improve the value of armor and more ways to use the Strength attribute (both major part of critiques of the Sixth World Edition from some quarters). There are extended combat options, matrix and rigger notes, new rules, including trading karma for cash and vice versa, addiction rules, expanding information on SINs and licenses. Social combat rules with new edge actions. Advice on building your own qualities, which the previous products (and even this one) do not fully conform to, indeed, they even have as an example of building your own quality, a version of Analytic Mind (called Logical Problem Solver) which costs 12! (Which in a round about way proves this reviewer’s point about Analytic Mind/Attribute Mastery being undercosted, but they still have not owned up to it in the main rules, very frustrating.) And, lastly, new ways to use wild die, which is a vastly underused mechanic in the game. There is a great deal of really good material in this section but it is scattered and not indexed (though they are noted in the table of contents). A bit of these rules had already incorporated in this reviewer’s house rules from previous discussions which is amusing.

(Meta)Human Resources is all about contacts, providing ways to distinguish between different types (academic, corporate, street and so on, ten types in all), new rules for gaining contacts at character creation, ways to increase contracts and then all of the contacts from the core book are given a suggested connection rating and type or types. The connection rating on many of these strike me as low, the core book says someone who is new to town would be a 1, while a gang leader might be a 4, here a fixer or a Mr. Johnson, people whose profession is knowing the right people to get things done are both put at 3 (and the noble bartender is only a contact of 1!). Then we get a whole collection of new contacts, twenty-six of them, ranging from armorer to store owner, each of which has a list of similar contacts. And, again to show that the connections are too low on most of these, the news reporter has a connection rating of 2, the same as the average soldier. The rules for favors, expanded definition of what the loyalty rating actually means, and the rules for group contacts really make this chapter useful for the GM in working out how to work out what contacts will and will not do and at what price in a campaign.

What You Get breaks down lifestyles into a more granular system allowing the customization of living places and safe houses, with positive and negative qualities for the life styles as well, with positives being things such as houseplants, inconspicious and meta-accommodating: while negatives are quirks such as corporate owned, leaky faucet or spouse (!!). Interesting but it does not seem fully built out, there are no positive qualities for such items as, a garage, solid Matrix connections, secure comms or workshops, no negatives for being in gang or syndicate territory, again, much like the section on PACKs, these seems like it would have been better suited to a separate undatable PDF (and as this reviewer recall, how it was presented for previous editions). But, for all that, an amusing section that some players will enjoy, but it remains as having an unfinished basement.

A Most False Impression contains expanded rules for Reputation and Heat, reputation as set up in the core book, is strange enough, really being a reputation for how visibly violent a runner is and if you are willing to help after violence takes place, yes, there are a few other modifiers but it is mostly about violence, as framed in the core it is more a public perception reputation and has little to do with the runners success or professionalism, though the GM could choose to make it so. The suggestion here that you track it for multiple factions without any good advice on what should shape those reputations (beyond that corporations like to make money). Though they do have a good chart for how reputation affects the runners relation with a Mr. Johnson and other employers. The same suggestion for Heat, tracking across multiple groups, which is an indicator of how much official attention the runners have attracted, tracking it across multiple groups seem challenging, especially as heat from one group can affect others. Additional rules for fencing items, buying items, bribery and ideas on how to tweak these systems for use for other groups.

We end with Anatomy of a Shadowrun, which walks through a brief scene in a game showing the action and how it plays out in the rules. Sometime the rules used are noted with page numbers, but not always. Overall, a nice thing, but, again, does it really belong here?

The book concludes with an index of tables, a repeat of the tables for the metatypes and variants, and the positive and negative metagenic qualities. And that’s that. No full index.

So, what to think about all of this? Honestly, there is a lot of good stuff here and much this reviewer will use in their campaign but there is also lots of, well, what seems like filler, space that could have been used much more productively to expand on the strengths of the product. To this reviewer mind it needed:

• More information, illustrations and size comparisons for the metavariants and metaspaients. What is provided is the bare minimum for using them in a game, much more could have been done. The same for the Changelings from the various clusters. • A worksheet (or better yet, a link to a PDF, this can still be done) with all of the optional rules from Ways to Play so that a Games Master can easily list which rule they are using and the players can know what to expect. • Sorting out the mess that is Qualities currently, especially with them scattered out over multiple books and poorly indexed within those books. That would be another nice PDF, a list of all of the Qualities and where to find them.

My other critiques are embedded in the section notes above. I do apologize for such a long review but there is just some much to unpack in this product.

Read this and other reviews at my RPG Journal here: https://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Shadowrun: Sixth World Companion (Core Character Rulebook)
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Shadowrun: Lofwyr's Legions (Shadow Stock)
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 04/19/2022 13:53:28

Shadowrun: Shadow Stock - Lofwyr’s Legions is a book of NPCs and introduces the drake, part dragons, as an optional metatype. It is interesting and useful for a GM. But the drake write up has some very serious balance issues that should make any GM reluctant to allow them for player characters without considerable revision.

Shadowrun: Shadow Stock - Lofwyr’s Legions is one of the Shadow Stock pdfs for Shadowrun, providing both interesting non-player characters and new character options, in this case NPCs associated with the dragon Lofwyr, his corporation Saeder-Krupp and rules for drakes, part dragons.

As is usual for Shadowrun it begins with a short fiction piece to set the mood, which is that drakes and S-K operatives are scary.

Following is Those Who Serve the Dragon, which presents ten different non-player character types, mostly these are the higher end of Saeder-Krupp ranging from veteran security guards to top researchers and assassin, including one mage and one drake. Each is given a history and a background so they can be more than just a cardboard opposition figure but one can be woven into interesting plots and adventures. Personally, this reviewer would have liked to have seen more lower corporate members, the veteran security officer is about as close to normal folks as they come, as even the “middle manager” has half a million in bio/cyber upgrades! Additionally, each should have been giving a connection rating so they could be used as models for S-K contacts.

Next there is a section on drakes, metahumans tied to dragons and able to take on a quasi-draconic form, some background on them as there are “true drakes” which are created by powerful magical rituals perform by dragons (natch) and then there are the weaker “bred drakes” which are (super)naturally occurring. Mechanically, this is express through two new qualities Drake (at a whopping 50 karma) and Latent Drake (a mere 25 Karma) which will, eventually in the later case, open the door to the powers of the drakes! Which is mostly the ability to assume a quasi-dragonic form which has improved abilities, scaled skin, a movement power and the ability to breath fire. Why they all breathe fire as they come from different world traditions, this reviewer is unsure.

But that is just to start, the drake can spend karma to undergo dracogenesis, which is rather like initiation for magic slingers, which unlocks additional powers for the drake. The cost per level is less than initiation and opens access to some amazing powers such as: compulsions, hardened armor, influence and regeneration being the obvious top tier from this reviewer point of view. A charisma-focused drake could take compulsion and influence and mind mages, step aside, this drake is controlling people’s thoughts and actions with no drain. A combat focused drake takes two levels of hardened armor and regeneration and it is going to take the main gun of a tank to put them down. This is problematic at best. The dracogenesis powers really needed a pricing tied to utility. For examples, when you gain a new dracongenesis power you can gain regeneration or wide band hearing . . . they cost the drake the same, one dracogenesis power but are the two abilities even vaguely on the same level of power or usefulness?

The product wraps up with a new magical society, one of drakes run by S-K as an enforcement wing (sorry) and a new martial art, taught by S-K and rumored to have been developed specifically for drakes and is brutally efficient with natural or implanted weapons.

So, what to think about this? There is some useful material for games involved S-K and the drakes . . . while this reviewer likes the idea of drakes and how they fit into the Shadowrun mythology, there are some considerable game balance worries about the dracongenesis powers that need to be addressed before allowing them to be played in a game.

You can find more of my reviews and commentary at my gaming journal: https://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Shadowrun: Lofwyr's Legions (Shadow Stock)
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Shadowrun: Emerald City
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 03/28/2022 15:32:25

Shadowrun: Emerald City is a setting book for the Sixth World Edition of Shadowrun covering that most Shadowrun of all cities, Seattle. If you are running a Seattle-based campaign, obviously this book is going to be extremely useful while not indispensable but close. For non-seattle-based campaigns, it is a fun read and gives you some information of things that will have rippling effects on the rest of the Sixth World. However, the lack of district maps and an index do badly compromise its usability during a game.

Shadowrun: Emerald City is the Setting Book for Shadowrun’s hometown, the Metroplex of Seattle. Designed to link into the new city edition of the core and providing a detailed look at the city and its situation following the city’s declaration of independence.

As is usual, it begins with a brief introduction about why Seattle remains important and one of the shadowrunning centers of the world. Next is a short fiction section to set the mood and it does an alright job of showing a new runner in Seattle.

Following is the Weight of History, which gives a brief (Shadowrun alternate and future) history of Seattle. Then it pivots to looking at the current political situation in Seattle and how the other power players, both national and corporate, are approaching the new situation.

Seattle Basics, well, covers what it says, overall population numbers, getting in and out and getting around in the city all get covered in this section. All useful information for the runner (or other visitor to the city). Personally, some more information on public transportation would have been welcome and the cab fare seems way too low.

Next we move into the city, section by section, giving each a breakdown by population and other useful information including a color-coded “average security rating” which is not defined, so not as useful as it could be (also to make things more confusing, within each district, the old letter codes for security rating are often referenced and are also not defined). Each chapter ends with a few new qualities, mostly positive and a few negative, all themed to the district being covered.

There is little point in going through the districts chapter by chapter, each has a bit about local politics and what is happening there, some of the power players -individuals and groups- noted, interesting locations, and a lot of implied adventure hooks. Though perhaps some straight up, ‘here is what you as runners are likely to be hired to do’ in this district might have been helpful to focus the options for games masters and players alike. As is usual, some of the writing appeals to me more than others, but that is just the way of things.

However, the style of the writeup of the downtown section pleases me the most, just stylistically. While it might have broken up the “stream of consciousness” style of some of the reports, bolding the names of people, places and groups in the paragraphs would have been amazingly helpful in finding things when you go back to look for them especially when a character or place is mentioned halfway through a paragraph. Ease of use is important for game supplements, really people, it is. Also, though most sections are good at this, if you include a bar or restaurant, have a sentence or two describing the decor/feel of the place and maybe the food not just who you can meet there.

Now, this being Shadowrun, there is not much that breaks my suspension of disbelief (anti-grav technology aside), generally, maybe an eye-roll or two but even then, most things this reviewer will let slide. But a mercenary strike carrier? Specifically, a nuclear strike carrier. A helicopter carrier, that would work, but those big carriers? That is on the order of a minimum 6.2 billion just for the ship (or more than 13 billion for the new ones), air wing extra, and operating costs of 400 million or more a year! No mercenary company can afford that, just no. Especially as the next largest ship in the mercenary navy is a corvette, which pretty much the smallest warship you can have and still call it a “ship.”

As has been the case when they have done the qualities by chapter (I am looking at you Power Plays) there is no place in the book that gathers them in a single list for you to reference and be able to quickly find them in the book. Additionally, like all of the qualities, the price for effect is all over the place with many of them being with group X, you get one bonus edge for social tests, with sometimes an additional benefit. The social bonus should have been broken out and made into a general quality that anyone could take and define who it applied to and then the secondary part could have been made into it own quality (with the ability to combine with the previous one to get around limits on number of qualities possessed by a character). This would have made it more flexible (“I am not playing in Seattle and my character has ties with the Gulf Coast Smugglers”) and unified the pricing of Quality mechanics, which, as I mentioned, are all over the place when it comes to price for effect.

Now, for people, like this reviewer, whose campaign does not have Seattle becoming an independent city-state, how useful is this book for them? Well, obviously not as useful as if you are following the current official metaplot, but my guess is at least 85% of it will remain useful for any campaign set in Seattle (independent or not). It certainly has my mental gears turning with interesting ideas and runs set in districts rarely visited in my campaign.

However, and this is enough to cost it a star on DriveThru, no maps, at least one in the electronic version I have access to. There should be a big city map and each of the district sections should have started (or ended) with a map of that district. Without maps, the product is much less usable and gamer friendly. And, of course, no index either. So good luck finding a place or person if you remember the name but not the district they are in.

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4.

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Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Shadowrun: Emerald City
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Shadowrun: Double Clutch (Core Rigger Rulebook)
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 02/24/2022 12:34:11

Shadowrun: Double Clutch is a sourcebook, specifically a “Core Rigger Rulebook” for the Sixth World Edition of Shadowrun covering vehicles and more things that can be done with them. This book is an essential addition to a GM’s collection for seeing the state of play for vehicles in the Sixth World and the rules for chases and repairing and modifying vehicles. Obviously, anyone playing a rigger or other vehicle specialist will want access to this book but GM should be careful about letting people go crazy with vehicle modifications.

Shadowrun: Double Clutch, is the Core Rigger Rulebook for Shadowrun, Sixth World Edition, providing a look at the current state of play for vehicle and drone technologies along with expanded rules for piloting vehicles and using drones.

It begins with an introduction, as expected, this one talks about why riggers are important and why you want one on your team. One of the ubiquitous fiction sections follows then we begin with: Zen & the Art of Vehicle Maintenance, a look at what rigging is like in the Sixth World, who does it and what sorts of jobs are performed by riggers. While this is all good practical advice of where and what riggers do, I would have liked a bit more about how riggers sense and perceive the world when they are rigged in, it is referenced.

Next is Hot Rods & Cool Rides, a selection of new ground vehicles. Ranging from motor cycles to tanks and everything in between. Mostly these are wheeled vehicles, as you would expect, though there are some tracked and several ground effect craft (hovercraft). Some additional information of how the ground effect vehicles interact with the environment would have been useful. How high can they get off the ground? What are the effects of moving from land to water and vice-versa? There are also a pair of exotic vehicles, a highly adaptable and versatile, but rare and distinctive, gyro-car, and a jet-powered skate board (no really).

Angry Water looks at (surprise!) water craft. The section on watercraft is well written, enjoyable to read and, unfortunately, it is about half useless for gaming purposes. Speedboats, jet skis, patrol boats, all of these vehicles could conceivably be encountered or used by the runners or both. But while four different types of sailboats are interesting how likely are they to be used? This goes double for the replica of the Cutty Sark, cool idea for a ship, but when will it (or its game statistics) ever matter? A lovely, truly lovely world background piece though. The same goes for the Aztechnology corvette, the new UCAS Battle Cruiser, and the Japanese Imperial Navy’s hunter-killer submarine, interesting to know they are out there but do their game statistics matter? Equally, there is useful information that can be provided for cruise liners, massive container ships, and factory ships but knowing their acceleration, body and armor is not part of that and is nearly pointless. My feeling is this chapter could have served a better purpose by providing game information on the small craft and a slightly higher level discussion of navies and shipping for the rest of it. But, of course, this is still the toys section of the book so everything has to have statistics and prices (because runners can certainly afford the 180 million NuYen for their own corvette).

Next up (pun intended) Rare Air, a look at available air vehicles. These are vehicles that runners are more likely to encounter, even if only to cower until they have gone past. There are some hints of wackiness that the ground and water sections could have used, with a jet-pack and glider packs. There are a variety of gliders, copter, small planes and (so nice to see them again) zeppelins. Everything runners are likely to need for smuggling or landing in restricted areas, things to highjack or get rescued by (DocWagon vehicles and such) and things to avoid, such as armed helicopters in various sizes. Overall generally useful and likely to appear in campaign using air vehicles, well except for the two fighters and the spacecraft, but also just good background material (medical tilt-rotors for example). Except, except, grav vehicles, as I mentioned in my review of Power Plays, I do not think anti-gravity technology belongs in Shadowrun, most everything else in Shadowrun is an evolution or extrapolation from existing tech (yes, AIs are off the scale tech too, but very much embedded in cyberpunk fiction) but anti-gravity . . . that is serious handwavium. Worse, if you are going to include this sort of tech and mention that it can do amazing things, you had better have rules for said amazing things!

Then we get drones in Spies, Snipers and Force Multipliers (terrible chapter name), now, drones are just fun and so flexible but much of this chapter just seems off. Again, too much space is given to high end military drones (automated tanks, mini-assault copters, drone fighter jets, submarines) and not enough domestic drones and no building or construction drones at all. Also, the prices are all very odd as there are no really low end drones (pricewise). Right now, here in the modern world, online you can get a flying quadroter drone with a camera for less than $100 but the slightly more capable (?) MicroSkimmer (from the core) is ¥850, the Bust-A-Move toy drone is ¥2,500 (!! pricy toy) and the size of an Elmo doll, while the Man-at-Arms, a man-sized armored humanoid drone capable of using weapons (up to an LMG!) Is ¥4,500? Just odd and does not fit well in a reality that I can understand how it works. However, there are a couple of fun things, the Bust-A-Move being one of them, but also a security drone that is disguised as a (working) vending machine, now that is brilliant. More weird and wacky stuff like that and less high end military hardware would have made this a much more interesting and useful chapter from this reviewers point of view.

Making it Yours in the chapter on how to modify vehicles, adding everything from sensors to alternate forms of mobility, and providing new rigger cyberware options and uses. Chapters like this are always interesting and frustrating, interesting because you get to see the interesting way you can kit out vehicles to suit just about any purpose, frustrating because some player will always find ways to abuse them and because you get weird things like you cannot make a pigeon sized drone that appears particularly realistic (maximum of two levels of realistic appearance, which anyone with an average perception will tag as a fake). Still, fun stuff for all that.

Build Your Dreams are the actual rules for building a vehicle from the ground up, so take all of my comments from the previous chapter and apply them again here. And, of course, every player is going to argue that their custom vehicles can be a junkyard frankenstein because it halves the cost to build with no disadvantages at all. Still, it gives you an idea of why the prices for some of the drones seem so out of whack with reality, they are slaved to the pricing system here. Nice idea, unconvinced about the execution.

The Grease Monkey Way talks about repairing vehicles and provides the rules for the same, defining some of the items available from the core book (tool kits, shops and facilities) and what they can be used for. Again, used parts from junkyards are the cheapest option and come with no issues which is just weird. But a solid chapter for those who wish to take the time to carefully Detail vehicle damage and repair.

Gearhead Anatomy is a wide selection of new qualities focusing on piloting and working with vehicles, not unexpected right? Fifteen Positive, including five driving styles which half the edge costs for a set of themed maneuvers, and some which open up new edge actions for technical characters. And thirteen Negative Qualities. Some quite fun additions to the options, Silver Lining, which lets you gains some benefit from a glitch and Junkyard King, which lets you find just what in needed through various routes. However, among all of this good stuff there is one terrible design choices: Attribute Mastery, which takes the mistake made by Analytical Mind in the core book and doubles down on it. Giving Edge just because you use a skill linked to that attribute goes against the entire purpose of the Edge system as I understand it, what bother to be creative when you just get an edge by doing what you built you character to do? Counterproductive at best and actively corrosive to the Edge system at worst.

The final section is The Rigger Advantage with chase rules and new Edge actions. The chase rules have variants so you can use the system to represent racing or shadowing (something which should probably show up more in Shadowrun actually).

There is an index of sorts, an alphabetical list of the vehicles, modifications, and so on. Which is great . . . if you can remember the name of what you are looking for in the first place. And as the longest section is 38-pages, for drones, which is already neatly chopped into the sub-types of drones, finding things should not be that difficult. So nice to see an index, too bad it is not as useful as it could be. What would have been more useful, from my point of view, would have been a combined table of core book and new vehicles so as a GM you could grab the statistics for, say a van, knowing you had all of the basic options at your fingertips. Also, one of the great sections of the core book was the “Other Makes and Models” section so you could rapidly produce the names of equivalent vehicles, seeing something like that here would have been nice.

Overall, a useful sourcebook verging into vital given the way it expands both the available vehicles and their uses. Every GM should add this to their list of books to pick up at some point. Though I wish it had spent less time and space on military vehicles, especially absurd things (from the point of view of a shadowrunner) like tanks, warships and fighter aircraft. While it is interesting to read have how they have adapted military gear to Sixth World technology, my campaign will never need to use them and that is just as well, my campaign would have been better served with more low end (but useful) drones and civilian vehicles.

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Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Shadowrun: Double Clutch (Core Rigger Rulebook)
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Wizard's Apprentice Wizard Subclass
Publisher: Cat Tale Press
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 08/01/2021 14:09:10

The archetypes is presented in five pages: cover, two pages of description and two of OGL. It could use more context for the archetype such as suggestions for where they might fir into a game world and what sort of culture would inspire them. Also, and this is very common for such materials, is a lack of support material such as a new spell, magic item, place or even a legend to inspire adventure would make them some much more interesting and easier to fit into a campaign.

Wizard's Apprentice is odd . . . Are you not an apprentice before you gain your first level? Perhaps student of the arcane would be a better name? Teacher's Pet gives you some extra spells in your spellbook and a cantrip known, so it is very good (and may give the DM some clues to where the character wants to go). But Beginner's Spellcasting is entirely a negative (and the 10th level ability is partly mitigating it but nothing else) while it could lead to some fun roleplaying, mostly I see it leading to frustration in play. Perhaps having their spellcasting generate odd side effects would be more playable? Their capstone ability of Advanced Spellcasting is good but could use a little more punch or flexibility or both.

Again, strong concept but the execution does not quite work.

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Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Wizard's Apprentice Wizard Subclass
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Beast Domain Cleric Subclass
Publisher: Cat Tale Press
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 08/01/2021 14:08:11

The archetypes is presented in five pages: cover, two pages of description and two of OGL. It could use more context for the archetype such as suggestions for where they might fir into a game world and what sort of culture would inspire them. Also, and this is very common for such materials, is a lack of support material such as a new spell, magic item, place or even a legend to inspire adventure would make them some much more interesting and easier to fit into a campaign.

Cleric of the Beast Domain give some Druid/Ranger adjacent abilities, movement through terrain, an extra thematic skill. Frightening Ally needs a better name and better description, perhaps Roar of the Beast? Beastly Attack, again a better name would be helpful, should be restricted to adding to one attack per turn and adding force damage (which useful) does not seem very beastly to me. I would increase the dice size and make it the same sort of physical damage the weapon already inflicts. Nature Spellcasting as their capstone ability seems a little inflexible, maybe choose four (or even more) Druid spells none of which may be from the same level for it to effect?

Good idea, but needs a little focus and refinement.

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Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Beast Domain Cleric Subclass
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Flock College Bard Subclass
Publisher: Cat Tale Press
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 08/01/2021 14:05:44

The archetypes is presented in four pages: cover, one page of description and two of OGL. It could use more context for the archetype such as suggestions for where they might fir into a game world and what sort of culture would inspire them. Also, and this is very common for such materials, is a lack of support material such as a new spell, magic item, place or even a legend to inspire adventure would make them some much more interesting and easier to fit into a campaign.

Bardic College of the Flock, who are devoted to protecting their, well, flock. Which is a good idea for a school but the abilities could use better definition: Flock Protector, allowing them to intercept attack but the timing is unclear, it should be in reaction to a successful attack on an ally and give the Bard temporary hit points equal to their Bardic Inspiration die against the damage suffered. While the Inspired Flock ability should probably be restricted to once per short rest. But a good team player, as bards should be.

Good but could use some support.

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Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Flock College Bard Subclass
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Path of the Unicorn Barbarian Subclass
Publisher: Cat Tale Press
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 08/01/2021 14:01:03

The archetypes is presented in four pages: cover, one page of description and two of OGL. It could use more context for the archetype such as suggestions for where they might fir into a game world and what sort of culture would inspire them. Also, and this is very common for such materials, is a lack of support material such as a new spell, magic item, place or even a legend to inspire adventure would make them some much more interesting and easier to fit into a campaign.

With he Barbarian Path of the Unicorn, you get a mystical unicorn horn which you can summon and use as a weapon (naturally). Their later ability include healing and protection, the Unicorn's Healing Touch is good as it is a minor heal effect plus wipes away poison and disease, so really useful in some circumstances, just a little bit of healing in others. Shimmering Shield is a one round duration big boost to armor class that the barbarian can use on others, it seems really good but it is a 14th level ability, so . . . In any case, a healing, protective barbarian is an interesting idea, there just seems like there should be a bit more here to support that.

A good start but could use a bit more.

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Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Path of the Unicorn Barbarian Subclass
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Phoenix Sorcerer Subclass
Publisher: Cat Tale Press
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 08/01/2021 13:59:32

The archetypes is presented in five pages: cover, one and a bit pages of description and two of OGL. It could use more context for the archetype such as suggestions for where they might fir into a game world and what sort of culture would inspire them. Also, and this is very common for such materials, is a lack of support material such as a new spell, magic item, place or even a legend to inspire adventure would make them some much more interesting and easier to fit into a campaign.

Phoenix Sorcerer tapping into the flame and rebirth of the phoenix is a good theme and, as they get some access to healing spells, they will likely be popular. They can cheat death, if they have sorcery points remaining, and make dramatic escapes from danger (taking their friend with them) but that should probably reset on a long rather than short rest though. Overall, thematic and fun.

Good work from a good starting point.

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Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Phoenix Sorcerer Subclass
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Way of the Whiskers Monk Subclass
Publisher: Cat Tale Press
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 08/01/2021 13:58:07

The archetypes is presented in four pages: cover, one page of description and two of OGL.  It could use more context for the archetype such as suggestions for where they might fir into a game world and what sort of culture would inspire them.  Also, and this is very common for such materials, is a lack of support material such as a new spell, magic item, place or even a legend to inspire adventure would make them some much more interesting and easier to fit into a campaign.

Monk Way of the Whisker, learn from the cats, Pounce on your prey.  Feline Fear is not properly defined, instead having a copy/paste of a section from the Path of the Unicorn.   Nine Lives keeps you on your feet when you would otherwise go down, it is neat, but it seems like there are more you could do with the idea.  Cat's Claws is an odd capstone power, letting the monk generate magical claws, which it seems they should get earlier, but the damage seems inline.  Still a good basis for a cat-themed monk.

Good but could be better and Feline Fear need to be corrected.

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Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Way of the Whiskers Monk Subclass
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Creator Reply:
I uploaded a new version 1.1 that corrects the Feline Fear feature! Thanks for the feedback!
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Backgrounds in the Kingdom of Grimsby
Publisher: Cat Tale Press
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 07/31/2021 20:29:28

Backgrounds in the Kingdom of Grimsby details six new backgrounds complete with tables for personality, ideal, bond and flaw for each.  The new backgrounds are: Farmer, which is what you would expect though some suggestions for using farmsteads as bases (or basis) for adventure would have been a nice addition.  Forest Dweller, could use a little bit more fleshing out but works.  Hunter, again what you would expect, though the Tracking Expertise features is written for a bounty hunter, not a hunter of animals as you would expect from the description, with a little tuning could be good.  Messenger (specifically a city messenger) is good, the feature needs a bit of fine tuning but the idea is solid, probably my favorite of these.  Royal Heir is a bit trickier, it implies certain things that really need to be discussed with you DM before taking such a background, the feature is a bit limited as well, again talk with your DM.  Last, there is the Street Performer, which is fun but their feature, All the World's A Stage, which allows them to build a temporary stage out of bits and bobs . . . It is cool and all, but it does not give you any reason to do so, there are no bonuses associated with having a stage.  But nice to have more options even if some need a bit of work.

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Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Backgrounds in the Kingdom of Grimsby
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Animal Races in the Kingdom of Grimsby
Publisher: Cat Tale Press
by Sean H. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 07/31/2021 20:26:55

Animal Races in the Kingdom of Grimsby, which details six new races, all of which are animals.  But it never defines if they are anthropomorphic (human-like) or actual intelligent animals as it does make a rather big difference.  Oddly, none have speeds listed, so can the crow and owl fly?  All have natural weapons, sometime exceedingly good weapons  The Cat is much as one would expect and a killing machine with 2d4(!) claws.  That needs to be scaled back but the fact that they can use their claws as thieves' tools, perfect!  The Donkey tough and capable of carrying great weights, they have a vicious kick which they cannot use while carrying a shield implying anthmorphism perhaps?  Giant Owl, wise and powerful, with 2d6(!!) talons and a fear causing screech!  Very powerful combo, both need to be scaled back for playability, but good potential.  Hound, as as you would expect, with pack tactics (always useful) as an ability, though their Canine Obedience ability which (potentially) forces others to obey them is an interesting call.  Raven is a trickster, as one might expect, and could be fun in the right hands.  Lastly, Rooster, which has a inspiring call which recharges at dawn (thematic) and a natural feather fall which also recharges at dawn(?), certainly that should be after a short rest.  Good potential and great ideas, but they need to be expanded and clarified before they can really shine.

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Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Animal Races in the Kingdom of Grimsby
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