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UNORTHODOX Fighters
par Derek K. [Testeur star] Date Ajoutée: 04/27/2006 00:00:00

The bastion, the bully, the dogfighter, the legend seeker and the second son are the five core classes presented in The Le Games? ?Unorthodox Fighters.? Each is treated as a fully-playable fighter-type class for use in your standard d20 game. This is a difficult and thin line to walk; the fighter can be the most customizable of the classes presented in the core rules of the D&D game. Fortunately, ?Unorthodox Fighters? doesn?t simply present classes that could have been created by adding just the right feat or a certain number of skill points. Writer Doug Kilmer?s five classes all stand out, and still manage to fill the melee-niche most fighters represent in a Dungeons & Dragons game.

Each class listing provides enough suggested background material that both beginning and experienced players can find inspiration in these unorthodox classes. Rather than just putting together a handful of special abilities and coupling them with good saves or attack bonuses, real in-game reasons for the character design choices are given. The second son wants to bring honor to his or her family, and isn?t afraid to work for it. The legend seeker strives for glory. The bastion makes lasting stands not necessarily because it is the (paladin-like) right thing to do, but simply because he or she can.

Both the bully and the dogfighter stand out the most here, but unfortunately not for the same reasons. The bully is a class designed around, as one could guess, being a bully. The ultimate in the chaotic neutral stereotype (no alignment restriction is given, but it?s made clear that the bully?s tendency is toward either neutrality or chaos), this class doesn?t seem like it would fit in well with a group of other player characters. It actually feels like it would be better suited as an NPC, so DMs may take a look at this supplement for an idea or two for a mid-level encounter for their group.

Whereas the bully seems best suited to one-up any other (player-)characters, the dogfighter might shun others because he or she would rather associate with a loyal canine companion. The connection a dogfighter has with his or her dog is much more personal than that of a ranger and an animal companion, and while the dogfighter may also shun being part of a group, the reasons are a bit more well-rounded and better suited for long-term play. Allowing this class at the game table may cause just a little more work for the DM due to the added element of the dog companion, the flavor and feel of the class more than balances out this extra bit of work.

This supplement comes both as a landscape version and a printer-friendly edition, as well as an appendix including feats and spells an unorthodox fighter might need. In the landscape version, a character portrait is provided, and while an odd choice is made in showing the dogfighter as having birds flock around and on him (instead of dogs surrounding him), the interior artwork is consistent. The cover art doesn?t match the integrity of the included text, however.

?Unorthodox Fighters? is a well though-out supplement, and is a solid addition to the game.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: These are well-defined, well-designed classes. Most players and DMs will have no trouble integrating some of them into their game. Of the classes, the dogfighter stands out as the best. It is a great concept, and great care has obviously been taken to make this a "classic" character without duplicating any of the standard core classes or their class features. Even though the bully seems ill-suited for player use, it could definitely be used as an interesting NPC class. Also, the added appendix is a nice touch.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The cover art doesn't live up to the promise of these five unorthodox classes, and as mentioned before, the bully is a poor choice for a player class in a game that features teamwork and cooperation.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



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FORGOTTEN WEAPONS: Stonebow
par Derek K. [Testeur star] Date Ajoutée: 04/23/2006 00:00:00

Writers Dave C and Mike Ring have put together ?Forgotten Weapons: Stonebow? for The Le Games. This supplement featuring a unique weapon for use in a d20 fantasy game comes in three formats ? one .rtf document; and two .pdfs, a screen-friendly version and a printer-friendly version. For purposes of this review, the printer-friendly version was used.

This 19-page supplement (the final two-and-a-half pages are devoted solely to the Open Game License) introduces the stonebow, an actual weapon that was first developed in Europe between 1400 & 1500 AD. Similar in design to the crossbow, the stonebow launches stones instead of bolts at its wielder?s opponents. Both the standard stonebow and a repeating variant are presented here. The indicated damage of 1d6 hit points seems well-balanced, placing the stonebow?s damage output between the standard crossbow and a bullet-firing sling.

A too-brief description of what a stonebow actually looks like and how it works is given before three special ammunition-types are presented. In addition to standard stone pellets, the stonebow can also be used to fire phosphorous bullets (only dealing one point of damage, but potentially being able to dazzle opponents), shatter bullets (potentially stunning opponents with a sonic burst) or smoke bullets (bursting into a cloud of smoke). This ammunition can also be used in slings.

This supplement continues with two new feats ? Alchemical Ammunition (which allows a character to fire vials of alchemical substances from his or her stonebow) and Skipping Shot (which allows a bullet fired from a stonebow to skip along a smooth surface to go around any cover bonuses an opponent may have) ? before featuring eleven new spells. Unlike the feats, these spells can be used by or for characters using nearly any kind of ranged weapon, not just stonebows. ?Backsling? allows a reroll on a failed attack made with a thrown or projectile weapon, while ?seeking shot? allows ammunition to negate concealment. ?Twinshot? is an interesting spell in that it duplicates the next attack with a ranged weapon ?as though an invisible twin fired an identical shot,? but the material component (a small replica of a bow or other ranged weapon worth 25 gp) seems a bit steep.

The stonebow sworn is a prestige class built around this weapon. This is an elite group of primarily-female-and-solely-dwarven warriors. It?s not an overly exciting prestige class in that most of its class abilities can be duplicated easily with spells or special equipment (casting ?true strike? once-or-more a day, gaining one of the stonebow feats as a bonus feat, etc.). This prestige class is also incredibly limiting due to its race restriction and sex preference.

That said, the description of this prestige class offers a little bonus to DMs. A column is devoted to Guild Day, a yearly ceremony held by the stonebow clans in which a large statue of a villainous orc is placed in the center of a hall and the stonebow sworn fire at it. The stonebow sworn that topples the statue is given the title ?Hailborn? for the year until the nest Guild Day takes place. This brief glimpse into this custom of the stonebow sworn could serve as a bit of plot inspiration for DMs wanting to do something more unique with their dwarven encounters.

Overall, ?Forgotten Weapons: Stonebow? is an interesting supplement, but outside of its spells, it?s such a niche product that unless you have every intention of introducing the stonebow as a weapon into your game or campaign, you may be disappointed. It?s a solid enough product; the disappointment would come from its extremely narrow applicability.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This is a mechanically-sound supplement. The rules are well thought out, and none of this material can be considered disruptive to the game. Also, ?Forgotten Weapons: Stonebow? continues the incredibly helpful habit of The Le Games to include descriptions of various effects within the text of the rules. (Immediately after the description of the phosphorous bullet, which can dazzle opponents, the game definition of what it means to be ?dazzled? is listed in italics. The definition of ?stunned? is listed underneath the shatter bullet.) I always appreciate The Le Games? commitment to providing this kind of information within their products.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The layout of the printer-friendly version of this supplement could have been tightened a bit more. An extra line inserted after the end of one spell description could have prevented the name of the next spell hanging alone at the end of a column, with its spell information floating above at the top of the page by itself. Also, the artwork is inconsistent. It?s quality art, but it?s not unified. Pieces of Elmore art start the supplement, and one of the last illustrations is a photograph of a badger (the sample NPC of the stonebow sworn has a badger familiar). It?s not overly distracting, but it did feel a bit disjointed.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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UNORTHODOX Fighters
par David W. [Acheteur vérifié] Date Ajoutée: 04/21/2006 00:00:00

I especially like the variety that the five fighter subtypes gives to both players and referees (in the form of detailed, interesting NPCs). In game universes that include many civilizations, such variety is essential.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Well presented and very interesting, I have not been disappointed by any of their products.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



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(Su) Monsters: The Headless Horseman
par Derek K. [Testeur star] Date Ajoutée: 04/12/2006 00:00:00

Whether your vision of the Headless Horseman is Disney-inspired or Tim Burton-esque, ?(Su) Monsters: The Headless Horseman? will add a decidedly Dungeons & Dragons-flavor to the story of the jack-o-lantern-wielding horseman. This supplement is over 50 pages long and contains several different versions of the headless horseman monster as well as a few magic items and even a short story. There is no single one author of this supplement; this is a group effort from The Le Games.

The supplement begins with the short story, titled ?All For Love? (written by Martin Jenner). As a piece of short fiction, it holds up well (even if it does get a little muddled near the end), and it serves its purpose of combining the mythology of the headless horseman and the Dungeons & Dragons milieu (complete with a character named Crane). It?s a fast read at ten pages so gamers looking for hard-and-fast rules won?t get bogged down or bored with the material.

After an introductory word from The Le Games? Ewan Conradie, the next several pages detail the headless horseman for a fantasy role-playing game. A dark goddess (?Some called her Death. Some called her Vengeance.?) and her followers (?murderers, scorned lovers, sinister necromancers?, etc.) are described as having been the originators of the headless horseman. Rules for summoning a headless horseman are provided. This is a complicated ritual that is described with enough flavor to give the DM some decidedly wicked ideas for their game.

There are several different versions of the headless horseman creature, and they all stem from one base template. The instructions for creating a headless horseman are fairly simple: some spell-like abilities - like ?fog cloud? and ?crushing despair? - are added to the creature?s arsenal; any slashing weapon wielded by the headless horseman becomes a ?keen? weapon; the creature gains damage reduction, as well as the Decapitated Gaze, supernatural ability (which causes a paralysis effect within 30 feet).

Seven pages are devoted to the different types of headless horsemen, and most of these are determined by whether or not they carry their heads with them as they terrorize the land. This section does get a bit heavy and a little difficult to push through. There?s nothing wrong with the writing, it?s just that there?s so much information here that it could have broken up slimmed down into easier-to-digest bites.

Five more pages give examples of headless horseman characters (the headless horseman fighter, sorcerer, blackguard, etc.), ready to drop into a game or campaign as they are.

With all this material, only one page is devoted to actual campaign options. With as much information that?s crammed into this supplement, more material could have been devoted to suggesting just HOW to use this information in a game. There are some good ideas here (as there are in the pages describing the ritual used to summon a headless horseman), but compared to the rest of this supplement, it?s just not enough.

?(Su) Monsters: The Headless Horseman? concludes with six magic items. The ?flute of sorrow? (crafted from the femur of a succubus) which causes despair in those who (failing a Will DC 14 save) hear it and the ?key of the dead,? which can be used as the focus of ?animate dead? and similar spells. While these magic items have that ?spooky? feel, there is no attempt to tie them into the mythos of the headless horseman.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This is a hefty book, and there's a lot of information here. The layout is consistently tight, and it's easy to use. The "mood" of the Headless Horseman is present througout the entire supplement. The idea of using a piece of short fiction to introduce some of the concepts in this supplement was a good one.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some of this material could have used a little more editing to make portions of this supplement easier to digest and use. Reading this .pdf from front-to-back is a bit numbing, especially with so many different versions of the headless horseman presented.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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Unorthodox Orthodox
par Shane O. [Testeur star] Date Ajoutée: 04/05/2006 00:00:00

Unorthodox Orthodox is a new product from The Le Games. Released on April 1, 2006, it?s a humorous product that takes nothing seriously. The product spoofs everything from stats to political parties, and most often jokes on The Le Games itself.

The product is just over 2 megabytes zipped and unzipped. The single PDF file has a (non-hyperlinked) table of contents, as well as bookmarks (including one joke bookmark ? dare you click it?). The artwork is all full-color, and all but one piece are shots of actual people. The book is 18 pages, but three of them are taken up by the OGL, leaving you with 15 pages of actual content.

The majority of the book is four prestige classes: Unorthodox Democrats, Unorthodox Republicans, Unorthodox Wives, and Unorthodox Fanboys. Each of these outlines a 10-level PrC, though oddly, none have a chart breaking down their abilities, which means we don?t know what their BAB or save increases are.

In all honesty though, that doesn?t matter much. The stats here aren?t real stats ? skill listings include ones like Bitch Slap (Cha), or feats like Ignore Science; these are listed as being required skills or bonus feats, but they aren?t expounded upon anywhere. A goodly amount of the product?s stats are like that.

The book is peppered with sidebars, describing silly future releases from The Le Games. These include titles like Unorthodox Queer Monk for the Straight Punk, or my favorite, Unorthodox Chuck Norris Kicks Your @$$ (editing mine; the product doesn?t censor itself). Each shows the cover, and has a descriptive blurb.

Altogether, Unorthodox Orthodox may look like a supplement from the outside, but it?s actually a series of jokes that have used Alternate Form to appear that way. It?s an excellent product for a laugh, and would likely be at least somewhat humorous to anyone who reads it, not just gamers. Check it out for a chuckle today! <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The humor here was cutting without being mean-spirited or offensive. The product cleverly built some jokes in to even its formatting, as well as the text.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some gamers may be displeased with how the book doesn't offer anything that can be used in-game. However, this isn't a drawback of the product itself, as it isn't attempting to showcase actual game materials to begin with.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



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17 Plants
par Derek K. [Testeur star] Date Ajoutée: 03/31/2006 00:00:00

It would have been easy for The Le Games to put together a collection of plants and present them as drugs to be inhaled, sniffed, rubbed, touched or licked by your player character. Instead, writer Ewan Conradie has put together a collection of plants that are a tad more alchemical than this, creating unique items that can be used by nearly all the core player classes of your Dungeons & Dragons game.

Downloading this product will provide you with two bookmarked versions of this .pdf, one formatted for your monitor and one formatted for your printer. For the purposes of this review, I?ll be taking a look at the printer-friendly version of ?17 Plants.?

After a page of introduction and material detailing how to use this supplement, we?re thrust right into The Ancient Forest. This isn?t just a stereotypical romp through the woods. The Ancient Forest is a place of history, wisdom, mystery and, as you can guess, these seventeen plants.

The plants in this collection are varied. There?s devil?s blood weed, which smells quite nice, but only to cover the scent of the decomposing bodies it?s entangled within its dominating weeds; and the similar yellow heather, which also smells quite nice, but can help cure a character of nausea. There?s the celestial tree, whose wood can be used to create magically-enhanced musical items (flutes, etc.); and the spiny blackberry, which can, when consumed, heal ability damage caused by poison but if used in more-than-moderate amounts actually causes more ability damage (it?s not made clear, but I assume the spiny blackberry?s restorative powers heal damage caused by ingested poison as opposed to contact poison or the other poison types). Each of the plants is unique in their description, use and application, and cost. Rules are also given for locating and harvesting of each of the plants, and as a bonus, some of these plants even include a listing for plot hooks to help DMs incorporate these new plants into their game.

Even though at least two of the core classes ? the ranger and the druid ? have their feet firmly planted in nature, it?s rare to see a supplement devoted strictly to unique fantasy plants. Most of these plants can be harvested, and most of the core classes can make use of this material (a bard should be thrilled to have a flute made of wood from a celestial tree, for example). However, the psionic classes have no representation here; it would have been interesting to see a plant or two that would impact a psionic character.

The format of ?17 Plants? is as tight as The Le Games? other ?17?? products, but a few typos do creep into the text. These don?t distract from the overall text, however. This may sound like a ?niche? product, but it can definitely be used at your game table.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: There is a versatility to this product that I didn't expect when I first started reviewing it. This isn't just a collection of medicinal plants or magic berries; it's a fully-developed group of fantasy plants.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There are a few typos in this well-formatted product. Also, it would have been nice to see the psionic classes represented in "17 Plants."<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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17 Magic Rings
par Rob M. [Testeur star] Date Ajoutée: 03/19/2006 00:00:00

This 21 page PDF (26 with cover, 1 page of ads, and multi-page OGC declaration) provides 17 magic rings, or 18 depending on how you count the friendship rings. Also included are 2 treasure tables incorporating these rings, and a couple of ?mini-plots?, adventure seeds for which the ?recipe? for one of the rings presented could be offered as a reward. Also included are 9 pages of ability, status, and spell descriptions from the SRD that provides ?? definitions for the various spells, abilities, and other effects that are used in this book. This is provided to minimize the need to sift through different manuscripts.? For some reason Calm Emotion was listed twice in my copy

The rings include Familial Band, Firebane Ring, Goodberry Band, Ring of Arrest, Ring of Concentration, Ring of Courage, Ring of Darksight, both a Dwarven and an Elven Ring of Friendship, Ring of Pacifism, Ring of Precision, Ring of Restoration & Ruin, Ring of Spell-Theft, Ring of Telepathy, Ring of Warning, Spectral Ring, Summoner?s Ring, and Wedding Bands.

For the most part the rings are pretty interesting, I liked Ring of Concentration, which allows a character bonus on Concentration checks, and allows him to transfer control of a spell requiring concentration to the Ring. However, this ring is listed as requiring Craft Universal Item, instead of Craft Ring, for some reason. The Ring of Warning is interesting too, glowing with different colors when the wearer is in the presence of certain monster types or hazards. The Spectral Ring is nice item too, creating a Spectral Hand effect which the wearer can use to deliver touch attacks for him. The Ring of Pacifism bestows a constant Sanctuary effect, as the spell. However, it doesn?t indicate what happens when the wearer makes an attack while wearing the ring, since by the normal spell description, the subject attacking negates the effect, yet the ring?s effect is described as permanent.

The PDF itself is laid out in a two column format with a solid blue header and footer with the product title and the company name, page number, and author name in yellow, respectively. The Ring section titles are done in a red font, with some section headings done in a blue font, which I found to be a rather dubious waste of colored ink, especially when coupled with the yellow text on solid blue header & footer. The body font is easy enough to read serif font. There are a few small pieces of art through out the text, two of a photograph of a simple band, done in gold and silver, a few line-art pieces of rings, one of which is fairly blurry looking, and a character headshot piece in the appendix. The art is of poor to decent quality, but for some reason I was expecting an ?h4wt chixxor? pic or two don?t know why though.

Overall this is a good product, with some interesting rings presented, however, the lack of explanation of how to handle the permanent Sanctuary effect of the Ring of Pacifism, the apparent error of listing the ring of concentration as requiring craft universal item, the numerous grammatical errors, and unnecessary padding of placing all the spell, ability, and condition descriptions, all of which are in the SRD and the core books, causes me to mark it down a point. So, if you are looking for a nice selection of magic rings and find the rings provided by this product interesting, I recommend it, but you should be prepared to adjudicate some effects yourself.

<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Ring of Concentration, Ring of Spell-Theft, Spectral Ring<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Wedding/Familial bands to expensive to be common item, padded text, pointless colored section text.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>



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NEO RANGERS: The Spider King
par Derek K. [Testeur star] Date Ajoutée: 03/15/2006 00:00:00

?Neo Rangers: The Spider King? is The Le Games? follow-up to their fantastic ?Neo Paladins: The Martyr,? and as such, has some high expectations to live up to, especially since ?The Spider King? is written by The Le himself. Fortunately, these expectations are met as ?The Spider King? is much more than just another Unorthodox ranger variant. In fact, this character class, while obviously a ranger ?type,? stands on its own as an individual character option, and is highly recommended.

This supplement contains a full-color, fully bookmarked .pdf ready for instant use, as well as a less color-intensive/more printer-friendly version of the document. Additionally, you?ll find .rtf documents of the entire spider king class and the original ranger class from Wizards of the Coasts? System Reference Document. For review purposes, I evaluated the printer-friendly version of the .pdf.

?The Spider King? is presented as a fully-playable, fully-fleshed out character class. Writer The Le also handled the layout chores of this product, and he presents the spider king in the style consistent with the core player classes from the Dungeons & Dragons ?Player?s Handbook.? The formatting is tight and easy to read, making the spider king a class that can effortlessly be inserted into your D&D game.

The main difference between the spider king and the standard ranger is that instead of following the path of nature and its animals, the spider king, as its name implies, follows a more ?spider-ly? approach, viewing the spider as its link to nature. It?s not that much of a stretch, really, but this simple shift in focus makes the spider king an attractive player class.

The spider king retains the favored enemy bonus, and its hit dice and saving throw progressions are similar to the standard ranger, but instead of pursuing one of the ranger?s standard combat styles, the spider king gains Arachnid Style Combat. When a spider king is using this style of combat (it must be declared at the beginning of the combat round), the character receives a +1 dodge bonus to his or her AC. However, as the spider king is fighting in a much more defensive manner, he or she is penalized ?2 to all attack rolls and ?2 to all damage rolls.

Another unique class feature is the spider king?s Sixth Sense. Whenever an opponent of the spider king makes a successful melee or ranged attack roll that would normally hit the Neo Ranger, the spider king gains a 10% chance to avoid the attack outright as long as he or she retains his or her Dexterity bonus. When the spider king is using Arachnid Style Combat, the Sixth Sense increases by 5%.

Both the Arachnid Style Combat and Sixth Sense increase as the spider king progresses in level. Also, the spider king has a much more limited animal companion list and its spell list is more unique and includes a few spells not on the standard ranger?s spell list. At 8th level, the spider king gains the ability to make an Arachnid Strike, which not only deals hit point damage, but also Constitution damage. And it?s almost a given that this class gains the ability to cast ?spider climb? as the spell as it progresses in level.

The spider king is a fully-formed character class that will fit nicely into your standard D&D game or campaign. As a player (with your DM?s approval, of course), this class provides a different look at the ranger by focusing its attention on something other than the animals of the natural world. As a DM, this class could provide interesting opponents or allies for your players. Either way, this supplement is well worth the price and the downloading time (both of which are quite manageable).<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This is a unique character class that is well-balanced and well-presented. It's much more than just a variant ranger; 'The Spider King' stands on its own as a character class option. This supplement is easy to use, and includes three appendixes for additional information about the class. (The class description isn't interrupted with the injection of a description of the Eveasion feat; instead this, as well as a description of the 'spider climb' spell, is all tucked away unobtrusively in the appendixes. This is a much-preferred layout choice.)<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The spider king is such a unique character class that I can't imagine a character created using this material would look like a typical ranger. 'Neo Rangers: The Spider King' uses some artwork of spiders themselves, but there is still some of the more typical Elmore-ian fantasy artwork throughout the supplement. This doesn't necessarily detract from the product overall, but it would have been nice to see more consistency in the art choices. (I'm still giving this product five stars, however!)<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



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UNORTHODOX Knights
par Geoffrey B. [Acheteur vérifié] Date Ajoutée: 03/02/2006 00:00:00

Battle Knight: The Tank. Lots of bonuses to negate Armor penalty and give a bit better movement, some cool charging bonuses and some AC increase. Tank.

Chevalier Amour: A fun class. Uses skills alot. Gets bonuses to fight for his true love and to escape perilous situations. Would be fun to Role-Play if your party isn't stuffy. "Look a Monkey" is my favorite feat ever.

Knight of Frost: A sworn warrior from the evil and cold North. Gains frost abilities, eventually gaining the cold subtype.

Knight of the Road: I like this class, but the art doesn't seem to fit the description. . . A wandering Knight who gains some cool abilities. Sword sling is like backstab except only for when you start the fight with a flat-footed opponent and your sword sheathed. I like that because it will make the knight work to gain this advantage so they can use this awesome attack. The "Traveler's" abilities are cool, but they describe it through a points system that is the same as the # of times per day. I'm not a huge fan of mounts, and while I understand a wandering knight using a beloved horse I've just never liked them. I also don't like summoning the horse, I would definately limit that in my campaign.

Knight of the Broken Tusk: A half-orc special. I like this class, it gains lots of tough combat abilities and some good leadership type abilities. This of course is offset with being a Half-Orc and swearing devotion to the order. There are some guidelines for adventuring, and a stern warning not to abandon the group as you wander about. I like the "smite" they have in this character, but I would rename it because it doesn't act like other smites at all.

Lanternian Knight: The repentant warrior seeks to undo his crimes fromt he past. I like this class. It's especially usefull to me because I have an Everquest fan who had to play as a Dark Knight, but has become a Good Dark Knight. . . I am definately going to give him the option to use this class after I kick him out of Dark. Some cool abilities, and great role-playing opportunity, especially if you involve the characters mysterious and dark past.

Blind Blade: Prestige class. Interesting, and gives blindsense and later blindsight. has a lot of cool roleplaying potential and would be a great option for a character who was blinded. I would use this on a low level character who didn't meet the requirements and once they got blindsense let them take other class levels again. This doesn't seem powerful enough to warant a character voluntarily blinding themself.

I like all of these classes and I think they are easier to integrate than other of the Unorthodox Jobs. Knights of Frost are going to make a nasty series of intrusions into my campaign as NPC's. One of the bonus of getting these books is throwing in NPC's to go with the party that fight differently than the party. It actually has a few people wanting to try the Unorthodox jobs themselves. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Very easy to integrate as NPC or PC. Much better job on that part than the other books. (at least for my campaigns) I liked the Lanternian Knight and Blind Blade for their ability to come into play in a campaign when things go differently than expected. Chevalier Amour sounded dumb at first, but it really is a well thought out class and would be a lot of fun to play and especially to role-play. All of the Unorthodox jobs give a little boost to the Role-play side, valuable if you have some gamers who don't do a very good job of creating their character.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Not so keen on the battle knight, It is my least favorite of the jobs, it just screams tank at you, although it has some other really cool abilities. Not a big complaint, I would still let someone play the class. If they want to be the tank.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



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Unorthodox Paladins
par Geoffrey B. [Acheteur vérifié] Date Ajoutée: 03/01/2006 00:00:00

I really like this book, and have used 2 classes so far, one a tag-along NPC and another for an antagonist, and both went very well.

I like that a few don't get spells, but have some divine style spell-like abilities.

My favorits so far are the "Hooks" who are inspired a bit it seems by the Spanish Inquisition style church. (No cumfy chairs here though) Their abilities to interrigate and create fear and pain are sweet for Gods that need some dirty work done, or the less nice religious orders out there.

My second favorite would be the "Fist of God" who is a bit monk like but is incredibly focused on combat with various divine attributes. Not as overpowered as I thought, but a min/maxer might do a better job of exploiting the job and make it too strong. That should be mostly taken care of with the demands for diff attributes to be decent that the job has. I was very attracted to the unblinking devotion and power it brought, a very nice addition to any campaign involving a questionable church.

I also liked the Pld that were devoted to balance, a very fitting character that can gain bonuses to fight against good or evil, chaotic or lawful but only in the cause of balancing these forces. It would be a great PC if the GM was willing to commit to checking their use of what would otherwise be a lot of power without this check of it's use.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I liked the idea and execution of this product, The classes were well thought out, and the ones I tried out worked great and were fun without unbalancing.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I was hoping the "Echo Paladin" would use some songs or brd skills but they just had some vocal abilities. I've read this class over numerous times, and I just don't get it. The other 5 are very good.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



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Unorthodox Barbarians
par Geoffrey B. [Acheteur vérifié] Date Ajoutée: 03/01/2006 00:00:00

I got this book as part of the Bundle with Unorthodox Paladins and Monks. It?s a great buy if I might say so. This book was my second favorite out the group (I got it mainly for the PLD one) as I generally dislike Barbarians in general. All of these variants are useful in some circumstances that would allow their specialization to shine. The Conqueror and Savage Screamer are more easily integrated, but the others will still make very good NPC?s in campaigns that they don?t work as PC?s. The most limited one in my opinion would be the Planar marauder, as you would almost have to create a campaign focused around this character. If you aren?t using planes a lot then they would be very out of place, but they still would make a great villain, having to track down these disappearing warriors could be very interesting.

My favorite is the Corsair. This is the big guy that the scheming captain has managed to get unswervingly loyal to him. You know the big Pirate holding off at least 5 of the Royal Navy?s best. In a land fight he?s not bad, but put him on a ship deck in a storm and he?s a Juggernaut.

Savage Screamer seems fun, unless your characters get into their parts too much and your neighbors have ears. Interesting abilities and fun descriptions, I don?t know if my pc?s will try it, I might have to throw one in myself.

Wild Riders are like the Corsair for Horses, very focused on fighting from horseback, would be weaker in dungeons or cities.

The conqueror should be popular, every group has someone willing to forego all defenses if it means they can hit really hard. This one gets the ?Most likely to roll bad and die early? award, but it seems balanced and fun.

Corsair was a big hit, everyone wants to do a Pirate campaign now.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The Corsair and Savage Screamer look cool, Conqueror will no doubt have fans, and I don't mind that. Wild Rider could be fun if your campaign fits.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I didn't like the Planar Marauder, no problem with the class, I just don't like using the planes in my world, so I don't like a class that's all about them, that's the only complaint I have.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



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UNORTHODOX Rogues
par Geoffrey B. [Acheteur vérifié] Date Ajoutée: 03/01/2006 00:00:00

I got this in the Bundle with Unorthodox Knights and Druids.

I value this book more for the characters it creates than the classes. The classes themselves seemed more suited to NPCs than PCs, unless you are much better at coming up with ways to play them. They make great NPCs and Antagonists, I?ll go through them quick and give my impression. Note, everyone gets backstab, but some get a weaker one.

Fabricator: Trap master. This would work great as a friend to your party, can train the rogue and build interesting little things for them, as a PC though they are just one aspect of Rogues taken and specialized. Make a great enemy because their traps are wicked and could really make for some nasty fights. Especially if you had to fight one in his lair.

Layabout: The most usable by PCs in my opinion. Uses social connections a sharp wit and natural charisma to get himself in to any group and mooch off them, not useless in a fight, but not too inclined to help. Would be a good character for someone you are familiar with and who could handle an unconventional character who sometimes might have a sore knee just when the fight is about to start. Also a good contact or NPC tagalong to the party to spice things up and bleed some cash.

The Seductress: Only problem I have with this character is that they have no ambition to join a group and adventure with them for more than a short time. A good side character, a very interesting friend of the party (esp if you got some with money to spend) Has connections and could help your party, but I don?t know why they would stick around and go fight orcs. A very interesting character I will somehow find a way to use, but I don?t think she?ll ever make a good PC. Could start some fights in your party if your players would be into that.

The Shroud: A grave robber. Has the ability to get a corpse to give up it?s secrets. Could work in a party with a Necromancer, even if they supposedly compete for corpses, the shroud doesn?t really use the corpse, just gets info from it. That ability makes me want to put it into a party, kill that rogue then find out who sent it while it?s freshly dead. A decent villain, but best would be the rogue of a freaky evil-necro party.

Skulker: A great villain if you want a crazy mystery story. Can hide in plainsight by hiding in little spaces and disguising itself. Read the intro to it in the demo and you?ll see the character really well. Might not work for PC. ?It?s day four, and you are still hiding in the corner of the living room under the couch, roll to resist starvation.? I think you could use this character if you had someone willing to be different and use it well. I would make a maximum strength score for this class though, you aren?t too strong if you are that thin.

The prestige classes are alright, the Ward Boss is nasty, the Backstabber I don?t buy, it?s just too given. The Saintly Thief I actually made our Good Rogue?s mentor one of these, cause it works, and I might open the class for them. The alias rules and bonuses are a cool idea. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The back story really brought these characters to life, and gave me plenty of ideas for use as side characters.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: They didn't seem the best fit for players to use, much better as NPC's.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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ARTIFACTS: Ducks of Ultimate Doom
par Andrew B. [Testeur star] Date Ajoutée: 02/22/2006 00:00:00

The humorously titled Artifacts I: Ducks of Ultimate Doom is a book of artifacts from The Le Games. The book takes its name from one of the artifacts it details: a set of magical wooden ducks. Each artifact is given game statistics and a brief history. There are 21 magic items in total.

The very first things that grabbed my attention, unfortunately, were the typos. The errors aren?t the worst I?ve seen, but they?re obvious enough that I?m not sure how the author missed them. It seems like every other page or so contains a few small typos or grammatical errors. They?re minor, but they add up.

The ideas in Ducks of Doom are clever. Their presentation, however, is not up to industry standards. Reading this product, I get a real sense of the author?s enthusiasm. He has some cool ideas, he?s just not the most skilled at presenting them in a manner consistent with d20 conventions. The item descriptions are unnecessarily confusing and wordy, and could have been clarified by simply emulating the magic item write-ups in the DMG.

For example, I scratched my head when I first read that the Aegis armor ?contains 2 charges, which are regenerated daily. The wearer may use these charge[sic] to enchant the armor (or himself) with one magical property for up to one hour.? Wouldn?t it have been easier to say ?twice per day, the wearer can activate one of the following abilities?? The wording problems are worse, I think, because they take away from otherwise interesting and creative magical items.

Other design issues are more subtle. For some reason, many of the artifacts scale in power based on the level of the character wielding them. While there?s no problem with this mechanically (you might even think it?s a good idea), it makes these items different than artifacts as otherwise defined in a conventional d20 campaign. The book explains this design decision?to a degree. The author contends that different D&D campaigns have different perceptions on what constitutes a powerful magic item, thus artifacts should scale accordingly. While that?s technically true, the default rules are built around an assumed magic item progression. In other words, unless you?re playing a very heavily house-ruled campaign, a +2 magic sword will never rightly be considered a very powerful magical weapon (as the book suggests). If the author understands the underlying magic item progression of the default rules, why design artifacts this way?

Other than the mechanics, each item is given a bit of history. Unfortunately, the detailed histories are so full of references to kingdoms and power groups that they?re useless. I could rewrite them so that they mesh with my campaign world of choice, but that would defeat the purpose of having them in this book. What would have been better, I think, would have been to include histories that pulled from thematic elements common to generic D&D.

I hate to be so hard on The Le. I rather like many of the magic items in this book, and the product is very inexpensive. If The Le could take some extra time to clean up their grammar and mechanics, I think they could put out some really great PDFs.

<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: If you?re looking for some neat items that you could use in your campaign with just a little work, this book is worth the price.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I hesitated to give this one 2 stars, since I do like many of the items?but the poor game mechanic descriptions and writing issues were too much to call this book a 3. Sadly, its below the bar of expectations. The artifacts in Ducks of Doom could be used without too much trouble in most D&D campaigns, but the presentation just doesn?t meet d20 standards. The rules are poorly described and the item histories aren't very useful as written.

Call my final rating 2.5 stars.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>



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NEO PALADINS: The Martyr
par Derek K. [Testeur star] Date Ajoutée: 02/19/2006 00:00:00

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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(Su) Monsters: The Headless Horseman
par Simon B. [Acheteur vérifié] Date Ajoutée: 02/18/2006 00:00:00

Great product that has helped me out greatly. A definite "must-get" for fans of the Headless Horseman.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



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