Remarkable Race (Pathway to Adventure Edition): The Boggle is a short 13 page pdf file presenting a new player character race for the Pathfinder RPG. This race first appeared as a race for the 4e GSL system, but has since been updated for the recently released OGL Pathfinder RPG. It's hardly surprising that publishers wish to take best advantages of both leading RPG systems, and several publishers have already jumped on the wagon of dual releases of the same product for different systems. I suspect in the future that we may end up seeing more neutral products with system specific elements added as an Appendix, much like Green Ronin Publishing did with their fantastic Freeport Campaign Setting.
This product comes as a beautifully presented pdf file. Alluria Publishing offer fantastic presentation, great art, and good writing all in one package. The presentation standard is very high, with professional layout and editing, and more importantly, they offer excellent customer service and customer relations. Alluria Publishing are continually improving their products and listening to their fans when making said improvements. Illustrators Randall D. Powell and Eugene Jaworski have crafted some vivid images to capture the look and feel of the boggle, while writer J. Matthew Kubisz has created a well-rounded effort with good balance between roleplaying and mechanical descriptions of the boggle race. Overall, another splendidly presented pdf product from Alluria Publishing.
The boggle is a small goblin-like creature that excels at mechanical devices and magic, and is not far removed from certain perceptions of the gnome player race, except that they are more goblin-like. These tinkerers are considered geniuses of all things mechanical, but along with that gift comes a curse - the boggle is prone to disease called boggle madness, that systematically drives the boggle insane. This product presents a very flavorful and detailed account of the boggle character race, including societal details, habits, physical appearance, beliefs and much more. The mechanics are sound, and offer good support for the underlying racial concept, and the addition of boggle madness offers good roleplaying opportunities. I think the stereotype for this race is fairly well understood and has been encountered many times, but this boggle class offers a sounder mechanical footing for that mad tinkerer concept within a proper racial framework.
The product doesn't stop with only presenting the race characteristics of the boggle, but also includes just over half a dozen useful new feats that expand or build upon the boggle's racial characteristics. The product even includes a prestige class, the Demolisher, which looks like it will be great fun to play. The Demolisher specialises in boggle bombs and other contraptions, and will make for an interesting character choice. Boggle inventions, equipment and weapons are described next - these are more boggle version of specific weapons that anything particularly unique, but I did appreciate the inclusion of at least one detailed mechanical contraption in a small boggle helicopter. Products often state that creatures are mechanical tinkerers but rarely do you see great inventions mechanically expanded. There is also a brief and not too detailed section on mechanical limbs, which is easy to use and more for completeness than anything else, I imagine. There are plenty of much more detailed products on this kind of thing on the market.
The product concludes with a monster write-up of the boggle race, as well as a monster in a heavily mechanically augmented boggle construct. Some very useful advice is given on how to run the boggle in your game, and incorporate their particular, though not so unique, culture into your campaign setting. In general I've enjoyed this pdf. I don't think the racial concept or the physical description are particularly unique, but what this product does well is to provide a complete and coherent framework for the race to exist in. It's done very well on the mechanical front, tying together all aspects of the boggle race in a complete package. Remarkable Races: The Boggle (for Pathfinder) is a strong product with a well-rounded race, which, while not unique (or particularly true to most European legends), offers a good framework for fun and exciting gaming.
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