It might be easy to dismiss ?Neo Paladins: The Martyr? as leftover material that maybe didn?t make the cut when The Le Games previously released ?Unorthodox Paladins,? but players that don?t look at this new supplement will be missing out on a unique, creative and fully-playable core class that serves as both a variant to one of the standard classes (in this case, the paladin), but is also strong enough to stand as its own advanceable-to-20th-level character option.
Taking the approach that "not all holy warriors further the cause of good at the point of a sword," the martyr is a class devoted to living his or her life in pursuit of ideal good and lawfulness, regardless of the cost. A martyr does not play recklessly, despite the fact that he or she does not fear death if it means living up to his or her goals. Instead, a martyr views most every encounter as a test of faith, striving to serve as an example of his or her ideals.
The martyr's similarity to the paladin is evident; many of its class features are divine in nature. Writer James M. Spahn's effort here is evident, however. Despite its similarity to the paladin, or even the cleric, the martyr is truly a unique class, well designed and well balanced. In fact, in the right campaign and in the right (and perhaps ambitious) hands, the martyr could even replace the paladin.
This supplement delivers all it advertises, and that's it. There's not necessarily anything wrong with this. Players should be aware, however, that there are no feats, no spells, or no magic items included with this product. It is ONLY a new character class.
Fortunately, this is all this supplement needs.<br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: This is a complete character class packet, ready to use and immediately playable.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: When paladins, clerics, fighters, etc., are written about in the Player's Handbook, capitalizing the first letter of the character class names is not done. A MINOR nitpick in "Neo Paladins: The Martyr" is that the martyr class is constantly given this first-letter-capitilization, turning the martyr into a the Martyr. This is a such a small aspect of this otherwise excellent product.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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