Tides of War: Kineticist/X Feats is a short supplement containing feats for multiclass kineticists. It contains a page and a half of feats, all designed to be taken as early as character level 3rd. None are a simple “Count your level as X for the purposes of Y” – rather, they all add new ways to use a kineticist, in particular the burn mechanic.

Many of the feats require you to accept burn to utilize them, with a note in the introduction of the product stating that the burn cost cannot be reduced by any means, including gather power. Examples include the ability to reduce the bonus to Constitution granted by a mutagen instead of accepting burn, add a hex to a kinetic blast, add the advanced template to summons, or funnel burn into one of many ‘pool’ class features to restore points to them. My personal favourite may be Raging Kinesis, which allows a raging character to form their kinetic blade as a free action and keep it activated for the duration of their rage!

Generally, the kineticist class doesn’t lend itself to multiclassing, but these feats provide new and interesting ways to do so. Pick it up if you’re interested in expanding your kineticist, or playing in a gestalt campaign – it’s cheap and worth it.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and informative review.

At $19.99 for the pdf, this book may have a high asking price, but if you run games that venture into dungeons from time to time, it will be worth it. Just take a look at the product description, and see what you're getting here. Now consider this: every one of those headings, from doors to ceilings to trap doors to walls, has more information than you can shake a stick at. All the handy bits of information you may not be able to keep in your head (such as break DCs, hardness, and the DC of acrobatics checks to jump on an altar), two tables of dressing and features, and traps. Glorious, glorious traps!

Crushing ceiling trap? It's here. Illusory sarcophagus trap? Yep, that's here too. A portcullis with a banshee bound inside it? You better believe it's here!

Ever wanted to know what the goblin had in his pockets? Players asking what the ceiling looks like? Considering foreshadowing a trap or hazard with a doom panting? Looking for some prisoners to throw in, ready to be rescued? How about enough riddles to outwit a sphinx? Or some legends for the loose-lipped barkeep to tell, which may or may not be true? If you're feeling particularly creative, you may even find plot hooks - exactly why did the dungeon owner purchase this painting for over ten times its value?

All this glorious goodness is sandwiched between a chapter on dungeon design, and over two hundred treasure hoards of 1st to 20th level. These hoards are a real gem, too - full of quirky items, such as thousands of silver coins stored in woolen socks; an entire galley; a stool made of scrimshawed wyvern bones; even a gilded iron maiden - as well as enough jewellery and gems and coins to choke a dragon!

If you're a GM, pick this up. If you're a player, pick this up for your GM. It'll be well worth it!

Into the Breach: The Cavalier has 26 pages of content, and manages to pack in a surprising amount of awesome options for these mounted warriors. From the 11 archetypes to the new magic weapon property, you're bound to find something worthwhile. If that's not convincing enough, read on for a few more details!

The book opens up with 11 new archetypes, and the Airborne Knight immediately sets the 'rule of cool' bar high. Ever wanted to play a cavalier with a flying mount - at 1st level? If you're happy to give up the Tactician abilities, you can take your pick of griffon, wyvern, giant wasp, or four more options! It continues strong with the Briar Knight, who doesn't get a mount, but a plant companion that he can wear as armour. At higher levels, he gains the ability to trip opponents with his vines, root himself to the ground, heal and sustain himself through photosynthesis, and more! Can I break the review tone for a moment to stress how much I adore this archetype?

Unfortunately, the Charioteer doesn't inspire new ideas for me like the others. He begins play with a horse and chariot, which he can replace at any time without penalty, and gains a new driving stunt at every level, the ability to quickly repair his chariot, and the ability to ram other vehicles without falling prone. Admittedly, I'm ambivalent to this one as I've never read nor used the vehicle rules - perhaps with more knowledge and the right campaign, I could say a lot more about it.

The Clockwork Knight doesn't get a mount until fourth level, at which point he builds his own mechanical companion and can upgrade it at higher levels, increasing its size, granting it intelligence, integrating a crossbow, or more - perfect for a steampunk game, or an Alkenstar marshal. Available only to evil cavaliers, the Crudus Domitor gains thematic templates for his mount, and a cool suite of abilities based around terrifying his enemies and chasing them down when they try to flee. The Formation Rider seems a bit of an NPC archetype, being based around mounted charging as a group, but may see some use in Lastwall, or possibly a Wrath of the Righteous or Kingmaker campaign.

The Lord in Burlap is a super-fun archetype based around the call of the common folk. Fighting alongside farm animals, wielding farming equipment as improvised weapons without penalty, disarming opponents and sticking their weapons in the ground - the peasants are revolting, and it looks like fun! On the flip-side, the Mounted Brigand will fit right in with your Kingmaker campaign, gaining, among other things, the ability to apply his own stealth checks to his mount, sneak attack, and a brilliant variant on his order that needs to be read - its not very often a class feature makes me laugh out loud, but this one did. Kudos to the designer!

Onward to the Oath-Bound Protector, who devotes himself to protecting a specific ward, granting them bonuses based on his order when he issues a challenge, and gaming the ability carry them on his mount without penalty. The female-only Shieldmaiden doesn't gain a mount, but acquires several nifty shield-based abilities, such as countering missed melee attacks with a shield bash, using the shield as her banner, and applying its bonus to her saves as well as her AC. Next up, the Spirit Rider, who gains an ethereal mount that takes up no space (handy for you dungeon-crawlers!), and a bonded spiritual weapon which he can enhance with special abilities. The last archetype is the Steadfast Defender, made to cut across the battlefield quickly and take down an enemy leader, able to move at full speed in medium or heavy armour, apply these bonuses to his mount, and make attacks of opportunity against those moving into his threatened area.

The alternate class presented is the Sword-Sworn Troubadour. I'm going to be honest here: I want to like this. I really do. But his battle hymns take a full round to activate, have a short duration, and he gains a total of five combat feats with no way to share them. Cool as an NPC class, or a cohort, but a bit boring for a PC.

The prestige classes presented each cover a different theme, starting with the Fey Warden, who can progress divine spellcasting, reduce his size as reduce person, and grow wings. He also gains a new order, the ability to use wild empathy on fey, and can speak to plants or animals at will. Another cavalier/divine casting prestige class, the Obsidian Knight, can weigh down enemies wearing metal armour, call forth walls of earth and stone, and rupture the earth to bull rush enemies at a distance!

The Rime Rider seems to be made for Irrisen, requiring a cavalier's order and the boreal sorcerer bloodline. I'm going to break my tone again here to point out that they can have a large-sized polar bear mount and adamantine ice weapons. The PDF closes out with the Order of the Bow, based around mounted archery; the pummeling weapon and shield property; and a handful of mundane items like the jousting lance tip and standing saddle stirrups.

I'm not going to lie - I'm thrilled that this product exists. Cavaliers are one of my personal favorite classes, and Into the Breach: The Cavalier gives them a slew of new toys to play with. Flying mounts? Symbiotic armour? Less-than-honorable riders? All magnificent bits of design. There's a lot in here I can't wait to play with, and while some of it strikes me as lacking, it's an overall solid product well worth the asking price. Four out of five stars, and I'll be using plenty!