RPG Superstar Round 2 thoughts

After having voted for nearly two weeks, and seeing probably 85-90% of the items, I'm setting my sights on round 2, hoping that my item makes it to round 2. After six years of submitting, learning, and trying my best to submit quality, balanced material, I might have done it.

Round 2 is the archetype round. Designing an archetype is tricky without being for a contest, making sure to balance powers, writing descriptions, etc, all while trying to not step on the toes of other classes. Then again archetypes are about specific types of archetypal ideals. While a Buccaneer (Fighter) is similar in theme to a Buccaneer (Rogue) the execution of said archetypes is a thin line. Dropping the heavy and medium armors for the fighter to get several skills on their class list is more balanced than giving them a full sneak attack progression.

Now the curveball. Paizo (in support of the MMO, I'm guessing), is having the archetypes be River Kingdom archetypes for this contest. Which made me throw out my initial idea for an Akiton Warrior...oh well. I'm running through several ideas now.

If you're a contestant, good luck, and I hope you make Top32!

Edit: Now that the contest is over, and Clark has posted the Top89, I realize my item was not public friendly, I'll post in the Critique thread to see what the Judges themselves would have thought of my item had they actually had a chance to look at it....which since my item wasn't in the positive voting sphere, makes me wonder about the contest as a whole, with items like Door Chalk making top89.

RPG Superstar Done & Done

In other news, I did get my entry into RPG Superstar on time. I did some fine tuning to my final entry.

Here were some other ideas I didn't use, but aren't completely finished.
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This is a cool item, but, very SIAC! Also it seems like more of an artifact. I loved the concept, but couldn't really make it work.

Titanic Lock
Aura moderate transmutation CL 15th
Slot waist; Price gp; Weight 5 lbs.
Description
A thick braided belt, made from the hair of a titan, bound by bronze rings inscribed with copper runes. The Titanic Lock allows the wearer to grow to huge proportions 3 times per day upon command. The wearer grows to the size of a huge giant. Gaining the following +8 size bonus to Strength, -2 penalty to Dexterity, +6 size bonus to Constitution, +6 natural armor bonus, darkvision 120ft, +10 foot enhancement bonus to your speed, in addition, air walk, mind blank, and true seeing are in effect while in Titanic form.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, giant form II; Cost ZZ gp
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This is the item I switched from, I hadn't finalized its abilities until now, I still think it needs work, but the overall concept is fun, I also thought of a cursed version that creates an uncontrolled Flesh Golem on a failed healing check while using raise dead.

Chirurgeon’s Mending Kit
Aura strong conjuration (healing) CL 13th
Slot none; Price gp; Weight 1 lb.
Description
Well-crafted adamantine needles, several lengths of trollgut string, and several squares of trollskin, wrapped in a small well oiled leather bundle. The kit has enough trollgut for 50 charges. The user of the kit makes a healing check (DC 15) to treat a wound. This healing check takes 10 minutes to perform. Failure consumes 1 charge. Success allows the healer to apply one of the following effects:
- Fast healing 1 for 13 rounds. (1 charge)
- Fast healing 2 for 13 rounds (3 charges)
- regenerate (5 charges)
- raise dead (10 charges)

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Heal; Cost ZZ gp

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Please feel free to use these items, but give credit where credit it due, these items were not submitted to Paizo, thus all rights remain with me, though I'm releasing them as CCNA and OGL.

Items which I had the idea for but never developed.

(too meta for RPG Superstar)
Two-stride Boots
Allows a wearer to use a 10ft step rather than 5ft step.
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, haste
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(abandoned early on, and I just brain-stormed the rest for now, I like it. This will probably be the first one I finish.)
Aldori Dueling Gloves
Supple leather gloves which appear to be well worn. Quite common in Taldor, and are often given to a duelist who does not know how to use an Aldori dueling sword. Grants wearer proficiency in the Aldori Dueling Sword. For those who are already proficient, once per day, they may double the bonuses from an existing feat related to the Aldori Dueling Sword. For example, a character with Greater Weapon Focus may double the normal +2 to hit, to +4 to hit. The effect lasts an entire round.
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, heroism

Finishing Touches (RPG Superstar 2013)

So at the last minute I scraped the Chirurgeon's Mending Kit in favor of an earlier idea. I will post the Chirurgeon's Kit tomorrow after the 2PM Deadline has passed. (Can't have a random person entering my item that just stumbles onto the blog at the last minute now can we?)

So putting on the final touches to my item, and hopefully I will be in the Top32!!!!  I think this item really has a shot, it tweaks the game rules, is very thematic for what it is, doesn't break the main rules, definitely isn't a spell in a can, IP Violation, etc. I used a Golarion specific location for it. It doesn't grant a feat, or steal any classes abilities. I hope the community likes it.

Good luck to everyone entering!!!

Designing for RPG Superstar

No, I'm not posting my entry, I will post it after it's over.

But designing a wondrous item was hard enough when you were just trying to please the judges, go by the rules and post something special, which bends rules, shows creativity, and of course, is of Superstar quality. With the new "Voting" by Paizo members to get to Top64, followed by Judging to Top32. There's a whole new Paradigm. Now we have to design down to the layman, while designing up to the judges.

Once I found out the new shift, I instantly threw out two ideas, as they might not be close enough to what paizoans might vote for. If you don't make Top64, you're not going to make Top32.

1. Naming
This is in fact one of the hardest parts of the contest.

2. Design that bends and warps rules. My entry last Year, the Eye of Abendego, bent the rules, but maybe a little too much. I mentioned lightning bolts that could be shot from the necklace, but since they were derived from call lightning I used that damaged. This was off-putting to the judges. I tweaked the rules from hurricane force winds, halving them to produce a lighter wind around the character, but the judges thought it was awkward. (Strange though, now an item or spell in the Ultimate Equipment I noticed has the same effect...)

3. Pricing This is a true pitfall, my Ghostfire Torch, was innovative, rule bending, and though it was a single use item and priced that way.  With only a limited 10 minute duration, it's overall effect was thought to be worth more than 900gp. (900gp for a single use item it a LOT).

Overall, Designing for RPG Superstar is fun, challenging and frustrating all at the same time. Hopefully, I can make it to round 2 this year. 

Reviews - Abandoned Arts Archetypes (druid)

Another set of Abandoned Arts archetypes products rolling through, Barbarian, Druid, Ranger and Witch

Disclaimer: This is a review of a complimentary review copy of the product.

This is the review of the druid archetypes, it follows the formatting of the previous products. Four pages, a quick blurb of what an archetype is, 2 1/2 pages of actual product, followed by 1 page of the OGL. Cost $.99. 

This is one of the best I've seen so far.  It presents 3 very good archetypes: The Earthspeaker, the Faerie Thrall, and the Greenmind. 

The Earthspeaker: I really like the feel of this archetype, it replaces wild empathy, woodland stride, trackless step and wild shape with 3 alternate abilities. 

"The stoic circle of druids known as the earthspeakers take the concept of communing with nature to an extraordinary extreme, developing supernatural means of communicating – in a very literal way – with the earth itself."

Ask the Stone allows the Earthspeaker to, well, speak to earth, stone, crystals, etc, it's a really simple ability with limitless roleplay possibilities, especially for a savvy GM that can totally get into the character of simple stone.  Walk the world gives the druid the ability to move across dangerous mountain terrain faster, and tracklessly. Finally, Move the Earth is a special Charisma based check to produce different earth based effects, from spike stones to move Earth. very interesting ability.

The Faerie Thrall is an oft overlooked archetype for druids.

"While most druids enjoy a friendly relationship with many faerie creatures, some druids pledge their efforts (or submit their wills) as much to the furthering of ancient fey agendas as to the laws of nature or the cycles of the seasons."

This archetype consists of 4 abilities, though I'm not sure if the 20th level ability is supposed to replace an existing capstone or not as it seems like it merely adds a fairly minor ability modify memory, which has unlimited uses, making it a true capstone. The first thing a Faerie thrall must do, is choose whetehr to be part of the seelie or unseelie, which grants +4 saves versus non 'selected' magics, your court can affect you easier... The classic tropes of the pixie arrow and faerie dust appear as the Magic Darts (should have been faerie dust darts...) consisting of a charm monster ability, toned down by limited useage (1/2 druid level per day). Overall its a fun variant I plan to put to use as an NPC. The 9th level ability consists of taking  the fey's attributes, gaining the Fey Creature temple....with a very limited duration.

THE GREENMIND 

An ascetic and sage kind of druid, the greenmind pursues divine illumination and spiritual balance through a meditative process that brings him ever closer to the unknowable enlightenment of all things green and growing.

Oh this is a good one, simple and satisfying, giving up scimitar and all armors, this variant druid makes a lot of sense, gaining the ability to resist many spell-like abilities as a plant, and then to clothe themselves with the armor of the forest (up to +7 to AC), so not too shabby. The final ability lets the druid to take on the form of certain types of plant life.

Great addition to the game

A Solid 19 of 20! Critical Strike confirmed. Well worth 99 cents!

Reviews - Abandoned Arts Archetypes (Barbarian)

Another set of Abandoned Arts archetypes products rolling through, Barbarian, Druid, Ranger and Witch (same classes as the non-archetype products thus far, which is a bummer because my favorite classes for Pathfinder are Alchemist, Inquisitor and Oracle, but if abandoned arts can make as high of quality add-ons for those classes as they've made for these others I look forward to reading them.)

Disclaimer: This is a review of a complimentary review copy of the product.

First up is the Barbarian, which follows the formatting of the previous products. Four pages, a quick blurb of what an archetype is, 2 1/2 pages of actual product, followed by 1 page of the OGL.

There are three Barbarian archetypes presented, The Madman, the Reaver, and the Viking Marauder.


The Madman is an great idea, that fills a space I didn't even realize was missing.

"Some barbarians are inspired not by bloodlust or simple savagery, but by madness or dire occult powers. Such madmen are less martially inclined, but no less dangerous for their insane and unpredictable rage and their strange, supernatural powers."


The barbarian swaps 1/2 the additional rage rounds for access to a domain power. At 11th in lieu of greater rage, the madman gains a wisdom damaging attack.The End is Near is a very interesting capstone power, causing the barbarian to summon allies every round as their prayers to the outer powers hear their call, culminating in gate.

The Reaver is another good archetype, combining brutal sneak attacks and intimidation.

"The reaver is a death-obsessed berserker with a keen understanding of both death and fear. Favoring intimidating weapons and guerilla-style tactics, these terrible barbarians spread terror wherever they tread."

Giving up half their  additional rage rounds and damage reduction 1,2,3, & 4, for sneak attack dice.  Finally they can sneak attack those suffering from being shaken, frightened or panicked.

The Viking Marauder 

"In harsh northern climes, clans of seafaring marauders often band together to form raiding parties in order to survive. Though fearsome and sometimes barbarous, these brothers-in-arms are not without a sense of honor."

Not a big fan of this archetype. It's a very specialized archetype, with a real-world name. The viking marauder is a an interesting concept, Seafaring Scourge, is a skill bonus for sailor, survival, swim skills and a bonus movement for the marauder's vessel in lieu of fast movement. Raiding Party is a teamwork based ability. Marauder's Sails is another interesting concept, causing intimidation with the vessel itself due to the the marauder's fearsome reputation. The 14th level ability is extremely under-powered, being a +4 bonus to fear based will saves. At 14th level, it should be immunity to fear.

16 of 20, mainly for the concept of the madman, this one concept can easily be taken to other classes.

Updated review - Abandoned Arts archetypes

Just finished the review of the Wizard archetypes for Abandoned Arts. I finished the rogues over the weekend...

Here's the link to the updated article.

Reviews - Ultimate Equipment (PFRPG)

Ultimate Equipment - Paizo Publishing



The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (in reverse order)

OK, I decided to sit on reviewing this book in the hopes that it would grow on me. It hasn't, it's a standard compilation book of gear, with some new items added in. It could have been better, I expected better, I expected more. 

I had hoped to see the Wand Rifle from one of the 3.5 adventures brought into Pathfinder. This was the perfect opportunity to gather all of the Equipment tricks into one book and greatly expand them. 

The Ugly
I, unlike some others, dislike the new format, I think it worked for the Beginner Box, I don't think it works for Ultimate Combat. It feels, wrong, color header after color header for EVERY item, it hurts my brain to look at it. I hate it. It makes the book feel like a 4th edition book.



The Bad
I HATED the pilum picture in Ultimate Combat, I still hate the SAME picture. It's NOT a pilum. The description for a pilum is wrong as well, that's not how they work. Why is it we get all these card pictures, which I've never been a fan of, for items we can find anywhere, but when it comes to all these exotic pre-historic weapons, nothing. How many new players know what an atlatl looks like? For some reason the wushu dart is wooden. Why is the wushu dart wooden?

There's no equipment tricks, Paizo created equipment tricks, this is the Ultimate Equipment book, why are there ultimately no equipment tricks?? Having a dozen or more new tricks would have really made the book more worth it.

$45 for an Equipment guide, it's 400 pages , but most of it is reprinted stuff, so while it is a big book, it's not a wholly original book. I appreciate the work that went into organization, but this one book is making me temper my Core subscription.

This should have been the perfect opportunity to add other prices for items so players in PFS don't outgrow certain "unique" items, just because you can't something like "Celestial Armor" in PFS into say...+4 chainmail, by paying the difference between a +3 and +4 armor bonus. Or at least adding "Celestial" into the Special Ability section. According to the magic item creation rules, it should be allowed, but it's a constant point of contention between GMs and players.

Mock armor...mockable...or...I do see an application in Golarion in having a Rasmiran 'priest' wear it to emulate a cleric's ability to wear armor.

The Good
It compiles equipment spread out in multiple locations into a single book.  I especially like the special material section.

The best part is the RPG Superstar items that made it into the book, wish mine was in there, but oh well.

Poison Rules, awesome. (was it published elsewhere first? I can't remember, I know however I sued similar rules houseruled earlier.) There should be similar rules for making alchemical items better, otherwise they're a low level only item.

Treasure generator...very reminiscent of the AD&D treasure generator, updated but not entirely innovative as the back-cover says.

The Color coding and page edge organization is brilliant, good job.

Artwork:
Yup, it has artwork, I just wish they'd stop using the card artwork, It usually is sporadic as to whether is actually fits the piece. I know they want to push the equipment cards, but they're just not all that. For example, in the picture above, that blue shield, under Celestial Shield, the description says, this gold-edged, yup the picture is gold edged, but the shield is scaled with a dragon skull on it, BAD art choice for a CELESTIAL shield, a silver and gold shield with an angel on it, that I would believe, but a blue scaled look with a dragon skull?

On the other hand the chapter artwork is as always gorgeous.

Value: This book should be indispensable, and to some people I'm sure it is,  but I don't absolutely need it...d20PFSRD has been doing just fine for locating stuff. It's a must-have PDF, it's a decent addition to a Pathfinder library for Gamemasters, I personally would get annoyed with players using it as a gear bible though.

Overall Rating:

12 of 20

I actually wish I had waited, I would buy the PDF separately, but the book to me isn't up to par. Had I seen it before the subscription kicked in, I would not have bought it.

I will be adding to the review as I look at it more. It's a big book, I'm sure I'll find more of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Reviews - Abandoned Arts Class Acts Archetype series

Review finalized

Here we go with another set of stuff from Abandoned Arts. These guys are producing faster than rabbits it seems! (Again I will be returning to this thread as I complete the reviews)

This new series of supplements focuses on, one of my favorite aspects that Pathfinder introduced, archetypes. The reason I enjoy archetypes so much is that they allow tweaking of the classes without creating an entirely new class. The first four the guys sent to me for review are the core classes:

Cleric
Fighter
Rogue
Wizard

Cleric:
Four Page supplement that has 1-2/3 pages of crunch. Page 1 is the cover, first 1/3 of page 2 is the description of an archetype, the rest is the Miracle Worker. Page 3 is the Voodoo Priest, and page 4 is the OGL.
Two new archetypes, The Miracle Worker and the Voodoo Priest.

The Miracle Worker strays from traditional archetypes a bit, but that's what archetypes can be, unique. The miracle worker is complex, as it gives up channeling for the ability to add secondary spell effects when certain conditions are met. Such as adding a prepared shatter spell to a 5th level or higher spell cast with the air or sound descriptor as a swift action. Interesting, and very complex. It's complex enough that I can't really go into it without reprinting the entire description.

The Voodoo Priest is great. I think it captures the essence of the Voodoo priest very well.  The class gives up medium armor, shield and has a very limited selection of weapons. The channeling works differently as they channel loa, rather than a god's power, making it very useful for NPCs and not as useful as a character class. They gain a Loa Patron instead of a deity, which grants them two sets of domain choices, however they don't gain domain powers, just the spell slots, which makes them similar to a divine witch.

I think I would only use the Voodoo priest personally, it would make an interesting PF Goblin Spiritual Leader. I think the Miracle Worker is more player oriented, but the loss of Channeling is very painful to a small party, as a secondary healer, awesome. (Though it might have been a better Oracle). Ruinous Belief is a powerful ability, allowing the priest to add meta-magic feats to their spells which can only be cast on those previously scared by either a priests' spell (shaken, panicked or frightened), or intimidated by the priest (aka give your NPC Voodoo priests high intimidation skills.) Finally the Voodoo Priest gain Voodoo Poppet, to create Voodoo dolls, oh yeah, awesome.

Overall it's a unique, well-written supplement with two archetypes of limited use.
16 of 20


Fighter:
Three archetypes are presented, The Lasher (perfect Golarion gnoll archetype), The Sentinel and The Soldier.
The Lasher - This is a master of chain and whip, giving up heavier armor and tower shield for mastery of a brutal combat style. A Gnoll packmaster might be one of these brutal combatants, or perhaps a nasty addition to a Kyton. This is a brilliant archetype, well written, not over-powered and full of flavorful abilities. I really like punishing lash, which allows the lasher to suppress beneficial morale bonuses after a successful intimidate check.

The Sentinel - A bodyguard style archetype. It's already been done, but always nice to have a different take on it, especially for a non-dwarf. With only 3 abilities, this is a good fit as a defensive archetype, though it loses weapon mastery 1-4, but gains the Bodyguard feat in lieu of Armor Training 1. It will be a good class archtype for defending that goblin voodoo priest.

The Soldier - The soldier has an issue with its first level fighter bonus feat, I think the must take a teamwork feat was overwritten by the Trained Fighter ability which replaces the Fighter's 1st level bonus feat. Loyalty is a very weak class feature, replacing armor 1, but only granting minor bonus to Will saves versus charm/compulsion, don't get me wrong, it's good to have more will for a fighter, but its limited. Disciplined defense is nice, granting a +1 attack bonus (evolving), on AoOs.  Heroic beyond death replacing the normal fighter capstone, is better for people who knew the fighter before his death (probably caused by no Weapon Mastery).

17 of 20

Rogue:
Four Archetypes: Hoodwink, Lookout, Urban Stalker, and The Wormtongue.
(I think sometime I'll create a rogue's Guild that contains at least 1 of every archetype, it would make for a unique, albeit, complicated guild-crawl...heh)

Hoodwink -  The hoodwink is a slippery sneak with an uncanny ability to stay one step ahead of stronger or more powerful opponents. This tricky scoundrel excels at frustrating and harrying opponents with assorted tricks and traps. It consists of 2 class abilities, Bag of Tricks (ex), and Addling attack (ex). Bag of Tricks is about bonuses to bluff, craft(traps) and disguise as well as caltrop attacks, giving up trapfinding. Addling attack switches out sneak attack damage for rounds of confusion, with a Will save. Great archetype.

Lookout - Lookouts are wary rogues with an emphasis on scouting, keeping watch, identifying danger, and taking point positions. Truly an asset to any team of adventurers or dungeon-delvers, the lookout’s job is simple: to keep his allies alive in the field. This archetype also swaps out 2 abilities, gaining Eye for Danger and Nose for Trouble for 4th and 8th level rogue talents. Good archetype for possibly thwarting enemy rogues.

Urban Stalker - Urban predators and serial murderers, these deranged and deadly rogues earn a deservedly-fearsome reputation. A gruesome breed of sadistic killers, the urban stalker takes perverse pleasure in the fear he inspires and the pain he inflicts.  This is the archeytpe you want if you're wanting to create a brutal antagonist, Infamous Deeds, Urban Predator, Bloody Senak Attack, and Heartless capture the feeling of the homocidal serial killer.

Wormtongue - Truly a master of deception, the wormtongue is a consummate liar and a manipulator without peer. Blending subtle magic with expert skills and slippery social graces, the wormtongue is a dangerously skilled schemer. This archetype is the polar opposite of the Urban Stalker, the silvertongued manipulator. Five abilities make this a very different feel. Web of Lies (ex) makes them amazing liars. Betrayer (ex) grants a feat in place of evasion, minor enchantments (ex) is nice because it lets the rogue select minor and major magic multiple times with enchantment spells, while Talented Enchanter (ex) makes those same enchantments harder to resist. The final ability, Sow Dissent (su) lets the wormtongue influence enemies with great effectiveness. My favorite archetype in this supplement.

17 of 20...+1 for GMs looking for some great archetypes to throw their players off-balance.

Wizard:
Again, Two archetypes: The Animist, and the Guild Scholar.
Saved the best for last in this series of reviews...

The Animist studies an arcane art long since lost to most wizardly schools and practices – the strange and wondrous ability to bestow the inanimate with a semblance of life! I think perhaps should be called the Animator, however that's the only issue I have with this product. (Animist is more about all objects having souls than about animating said objects, which is what this archetype is about.) These are the transmuters which are masters of animating objects, even their own weaponry, gaining Hand of the Animist, at first level which is identical to Hand of the apprentice, replacing telekinetic fist. Object Familiar (su) replaces Arcane Bond, and provides an animated object as a familiar, which is built using 1 Construction Point utilizing the Animate object rules in ultimate magic. Replacing the Shape Change ability is the Empower Familiar class ability, which allows an increasing of the animated object (including additional Construction Pts.)  The Final ability replaces the 10th and 20th level bonus feats, but grants animate object and the ability to swap construction points for special attacks with the objects. This ONE archetype is worth the price of admission.  However...an amazing NPC diviner is also added.

The Guild Scholar - Promising arcane academics sometimes pursue a unique training program that emphasizes research and study, both mundane and divinatory, and delves deep into the arcane sciences of glyphs, symbols, and other runic spells.
It fills an oft overlooked archetypical gap, that of a guild trained wizard researcher. While it's not a great PC archetype, I love the flavor of it, from the Bonded spellbook, to erase (simple but very flavorful to the class), Guild Runic (granting special powers when modifying scrolls and symbols. Guild researcher is perfect for representing the NPC Sage that you go to to look for answers to the hardest questions at breakfast, and then come back at tea time for your answer. Finally, the Capstone, the Guild scholar becomes an intelligent magic item book...a VERY intelligent one. Amazing way to pass down your old character's legacy to a new one, or as a piece of crucial treasure. Great for an NPC, decent for a player.

It's a Solid 19 of 20, almost as good as it gets.

Reviews - Enemies of NeoExodus - First Ones (LPJr) [PFRPG]

Enemies of NeoExodus: The First Ones

Description: 

Everything Here Is a Lie. Only fools trust anything the First Ones say, do or think. You have been warned. The First Ones - the name strikes terror into the heart of the people of Exodus. They are the bogeymen, formed of living shadow, that stalk the people. They control monsters and abominations that are loose upon the world. They snatch children and lone travelers. They torture men for their own pleasure and cavort with fiends to do their dark bidding. Those are but myths. The truth is far worse. “The First Ones” is the name given to a group of humanoid creatures who ruled Exodus before the Age of Man. Today, the First Ones include five races: the Aneishi, the Exodites, the Khaynites, the Kroca and the Kobura. In days past, each race served a specific purpose, but with the rise of the Kaga and the destruction of their empire, the First Ones remain roughly united by their desire to return to power and to once again relish in luxury while others toil for their pleasure and their comfort. This supplement includes:

• History of the First Ones
• Using the First Ones and First One Enclaves
• History and Races of the First Ones: Aneishi (CR 7), Exodite (CR 7), Khaynite (CR 8), Kobura Sobeka (CR 5) and Kroca Sobeka (CR 8)
• 25 All New Feats including Arachnid Legs, Blood Drinker, Grotesque Spell, Magic Body, Masochistic Ecstasy and Touched by Evil.
• Two New Spells: Dispel Minions and Minion Mark
• Relations with the other Empires and Secret Organizations and Famous First Ones
• New Weapons, New Items, New Poisons and New Magic Items
• Eight All New Monster including the highly dangerous Scythians and the living killing machines, the Locari.
• Two New Creature Types: First Ones and Locari subtypes
• Initiative and Monster Cards
• NeoExodus: A House Divided Character Sheet
• Combat & Initiative Tracker

OK Let's begin the second review of a Louis Porter Jr. product: As supplied to me by Louis Porter Jr.

This is part of the Enemies series for LPJ's Pathfinder Compatible NeoExodus Campaign setting. This is a pdf 49 pages in length. 40 1/2 pages of actual supplement, as the final pages are taken up by LPJ advertisments, the OGL, character sheet, combat and initiative trackers (which are good, but if you've already gotten a supplement, I suspect you already have them as the other enemies I reviewed had it also.)

Half fluff with a bent on misdirection, as to trust the First Ones is folly..The other half lots of crunch. Again, the writing is actually very decent, and makes me WANT to continue reading it, making it more difficult to breeze over it for a review, and instead do a more complete review on it.

The fluff starts immediately, diving into the origins and then into strongholds of the First Ones. I particularly like Kayen'te, with its map that includes the roper forest...nice. The enclaves are all suitable for the First Ones, with them being endgame opponents. When you get to the races considered "First Ones" you find out they all disagree on the history and myths, which makes the mystery deepen.

 Within a couple pages you're getting a little crunchy morsel with the Aneishi, a massive humanoid arachnid type beast, clocking in at CR7. They are vicious and very inhuman as an arachnid race should be. Fun for any campaign to throw the players off, and a nasty shock troop for the First Ones. Next up is the Exodite, you can see one of these creatures gracing the cover of the book (Nope, not a dark elf). The race is the epitome of Lawful Evil, and I love them for that. (Though those that stray from the discipline can be the epitome of chaos allowing their inner rage to seethe.) Crunchwise, the Exodites are presented like a player race, with their built-in shadow jump racial ability. One of the pre-gens in the FreeRPGDay adventure was an exodie. Next up, Khaynites...these guys are CREEPY

Check back over the week as I expand the review.

Also note that LPJ now has the NeoExodus Starter Bundle on sale currently for $10.99

Abandoned Arts - Class Acts (PFRPG) Reviews

The guys over at Abandoned Arts have asked me to review their new Class Acts supplements for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

I will be reviewing the following Class Acts PDFs over the next week or so (I do have to get to another NeoExodus review as well, so that will be coming also.): Barbarians, Clerics, Fighters, Rogues, Witches & Wizards. 

So far I've been perusing them in a casual manner getting a feel for what's in them. At first glance they're small supplements, only costing $.99 each. 4-5 pages, though the first page is a Title Page, the last is the OGL, so you're getting 2-3 pages of CRUNCH for a buck. Nice and affordable, but are they just more glut, or are they worth the buck? I've noticed a huge amount of supplements for Pathfinder in the last year or so, as the torch passes to Paizo, the sheer number of supplements entering the scene reminds me of the 3.0 flood. So will these pass the test?? Let's find out. (Remember, all third party supplements require a bit of an evaluating eye, as playtesting is often on the spartan side, if not non-existent. There are sometimes incredible ideas, but balance will always be an issue and must be scrutinized by the GM. You've been warned, if you allow your characters to select third party supplements with fully reviewing them your self, expect to be surprised.)

Class Acts: Barbarians 

of 20.


     Two pages of bone jarring crunch! No, that's not the barbarian crushing your head between two books, that's what you get. 32 rage powers are found within the bounds of these pages. Barbarians are one of my weakest known classes, I haven't had many in the games I run (thankfully), and I haven't played one since they came out, I do know most of what they encompass and I know that as a GM a couple of these rage powers I would have to allow with the caveat that if they end up broken they get replaced. I do love "Is that all you've Got?" though it does have limited use as it requires taking a critical hit. Some of the wording of powers doesn't match Paizo standards, but it is understandable, I'm not going to ding this, because it take a nation of millions to edit...no wait...it takes a few people to make sure the Pathfinder books are written up to that standard, and they still make errors. Bloodbath is an interesting use of a rage power, granting cleave or great cleave, pretty cool.

Class Acts: Clerics


Class Acts: Druids


Class Acts: Fighters


Class Acts: Rangers



of 20! That's Epic!




This is another Class act I would allow most of in my games. 3 solid pages. It starts with 3 new combat styles: Beast Tamer, Firearms and Guerrilla warfare ( I might have named it something else Guerrilla Fighter, freedom fighter, ambush, I dunno...but I quite like the flavor of it, since it includes dirty tricks in the bonus feats.) Firearms is something which was definitely skipped in a couple classes while included in others. The rest of the class act is 15 Ranger Feats as follows: Aberrant Quarry, Crack Construct, Dragonslayer, Fiend Warden, Game Hunter, Knowledgeable Tracker, Monster Hunter, Singnature Ranger Trap, Satuach Enemy, Strider, Terrorize Prey, Topple Giants, Vile Stalker, Warren Lurker, and Woodwoe. Many of these work off of favored enemy or quarry bonuses, and while I was leery of the Dragonslayer feat, after reading it, I love it and would definitely allow it. The one I'm not really sure about is Staunch Enemy, it had a huge write-up but a short-lived benefit and use, it might be useful if you're good drow killing other drow, or in urban campaigns. Signature Ranger trap is really cool, letting a ranger modify one of his Ranger traps (APG) with a while slew of extra effects (though there seems to be a typo, sleep trap says sleet storm lasts longer...uh, what?). Terrorize Prey is awesome , I love intimidate feats. All in all it's a very useful bag of tricks presented in very few pages.


Class Acts: Rogues


Class Acts: Witches


Class Acts: Wizards



of 20! That's Epic!



     OK I'm jumping to this one because so far, this is the Class Act that completely catches my eye. It's not just wizard feats, it's 2 solid pages of arcane discoveries which aren't as can be taken in place of feats, and from a quick glance, there are some really cool ideas in this one. Animator, love this one, as it gives animate object to the wizard's spell list, and grants a bonus animate construction point. Arcane Signet is pretty sweet, but I would lower the required level, it's a weak ability for a level 20, level 11 I think would be better. I love Ioun Bond as well, the ability to add Ioun Stones to your bonded object, best idea in here. None Dare Speak His Name,  another great ability with a level 20 requirement, awesome idea, but doubtful it would ever be taken, except for NPCs, which IS a nice plot device. the last of my favorites is Living Spellbook, yes, give up a feat to turn your spellbook into a sentient item. 32 arcane discoveries, I would allow almost all of them in my game, perhaps with a little tweaking in some cases. I would be wary of Illimitable Power and Dedicated Familiar, as those two discoveries could be abused horribly. I would not allow Permanent Magic. This is an excellent and creative supplement, it's well worth the $.99 in my opinion.

Two additional Class acts are being added. Ranger and Druid. Look for these coming up.

I really hope the Alchemist, Monk, and Inquisitor supplements add some amazing abilities

PF Earthdawn Advanced Race Guide costing

Well I'm starting to "cost" the Earthdawn Races using the Advanced Race Guide for Pathfinder

So far I've done Dwarf and Obsidimen.
T'skrang, Humans, Elves, Trolls, and Orcs, Windlings remain.


The hardest part of some of the point costing was definitely trying to find an equivalent point cost for certain abilities. Another was that the PFEarthdawn rules use +/- odds as well. So trying to figure out the value of a +1 Dex is harder than a +2 Dex. If the totals added up to an even it was easier to cost out.

Here's what I came up with so far.


Obsidiman
+6 Str, +4 Con, -2 Dex, -1 Int, -1 Cha 5RP (1Specialilized, 4 adv.)
      (Large grants +2 Str/+2Con/-2Dex. So Specialized Physical to give +2 Str, +2 Con, -1 Int/Cha, leaving advanced Str for 4RP)
Large Humanoid 7RP
Slow & Steady -1RP
Riderless -2RP
        can't ride animals with less than 26 str.
Sink Like a Stone -2RP
       (-20 swim)
Stability 2RP
      Increased to 2RP as it's a +6 to CMD instead of +4 CMD in addition to being Large.
Weapon Familiarity 2RP
      Battleaxe
Languages 1RP
Karma d4 1RP
Total: 13 RP

Throalic Dwarf
+2Str, +2Con, -2Cha 1RP (Specialized)
Slow & Steady -1RP
Heat Sight 2RP (dark vision)
Poor Rider -1RP (should be like a 1/2RP)
    -2 to ride skills
Scholarly 2RP (1/2 skilled)
    4 skill points at level 1 in knowledge skills....that's a lot...not as much as skilled (4RP), but it front loads the class when those skill points are most useful.
Hardy 3RP
Stability 1RP
Stonecunning 1RP
Weapon Familiarity 1RP
Language 0RP (Throalic only)
Karma d6 2RP
Total 12RP
So for Karma instead of using humans as a baseline at d8, I decided to go d4 at 1RP, and 1RP per die beyond that, since it's not something that normal Pathfinder characters have.

Review: Enemies of NeoExodus: Folding Circle

 

So the first of the two products Louis Porter Jr sent for me to review, both are Enemies of NeoExodus products. So far, I've only encountered these two products and the FreeRPGDay adventure. Now during FreeRPGDay I ran into a few issues with one of the characters for the adventure, I ended up having to download the Karissa character on my phone to be able to play her, which was not a good situation for the first encounter with one of Louis Porter's products. The Karissa character sheet in the adventure has another character's skills and equipment, which completely doesn't match what she is. Folding Circle counters that initial reaction, and actually makes me want to find out more about NeoExodus.

SPOILER ALERT!!! I WILL BE DISCUSSING THIS IN ENOUGH DETAIL TO SPOIL THIS FOR YOU IF YOU'RE A PLAYER IN A NEOEXODUS GAME. IF YOU'RE A SNEAKY GIT WHO IT LOOKING FOR SAID INFORMATION, ROLL A KNOWLEDGE (LOCAL) CHECK DC 46 PLZ.

In the world of Exodus, there are none that are more dangerous than the five person lead terrorist and criminal organization known as the Folding Circle. The Folding Circle rarely concerns itself with large-scale military style movements – The Folding Circle prefers to work with pinpoint strikes, sending a small group of powerful individuals to achieve some aim or another. Usually, one of the leaders will travel out to wherever a problem or opportunity has arisen and deal with it accordingly. The Folding circle doesn’t control territory in the sense that a nation does. The members of this organization are highly mobile and powerful, capable of traveling to an area spied through the Star Fountain, dealing with the “problem”, and returning. This travel capability means that a member of the Folding Circle can appear anywhere, at any time, with basically no warning. This supplement includes:

History of the Folding Circle
The Folding Circle – Goals and Agenda
The History of the Leader of the Folding Circle: Makesh the Undying (CR 4, 10, 14, 20 & 24), Nysska (CR 3, 7, 11, 15 & 19), The Destoyer (CR 5, 9, 13, 17 & 21), Emok Zenyaka (CR 2, 6, 10, 14 & 19), and Haru Anon (CR 5, 10, 15, 20 & 25)
Relations with the World of Exodus
Four all new Protégé Feats
Allies of the Folding Circle: Seeker-in-Flame (CR 10), Axo the Wildstorm (CR 14) and The eight members of the Brotherhood (CR 10 – 15)
Initiative and Monster Cards
NeoExodus: A House Divided Character Sheet
Combat & Initiative Tracker

This 80 page PDF is just the sort of thing needed for DMs to get started playing in the fantasy world of NeoExodus. 

What you get: I'm reviewing the PDF version of the Pathfinder compatible NeoExodus Campaign setting supplement Enemies of NeoExodus: Folding Circle. 80 pages, including cover, the OGL License and the final 5 pages are fillable initiative cards, 2 page character sheet, and a combat tracker. Full color artwork graces the pages. The layout is 2 column and easy on the printers. You effectively get 73 pages of game supplement.

Main Review: This book's main focus is to present an adversarial group, and boy does it. The first pages of fluff are an interesting story of Makesh. The history of how he came to lead the Folding Circle is presented in the first 7 pages, the writing was excellent, and compelling to read. It tells how each of 5 leaders came to power. The group is presented as a hit and run organization that uses its power to punish those it disagrees with.

The main 5 of the group are presented with multiple Stat blocks providing challenges for all levels, Makesh himself ends up as a 22nd level cleric, I wonder if he's just using the Epic Rules for 3.5 for that.
Here's the header for the stat blocks:

"The Leaders
The five leaders of the Folding Circle are more or less equivalent to supervillains – they can really put the hurt on a party. They are built using core (partially), but are intended to challenge slightly munchkiny parties with access to a variety of books. Their CRs are technically
linked to their class level, however each also has unique powers that almost certainly put them over the top – CRs may be adjusted from +0 (for the lowest level versions) up to +4 (for the highest level versions), depending on GM judgment and the party they’re up against. Note
that all leaders are given full character wealth, and maximum hit points – although hit points can be normalized if you wish. Keep in mind that without some degree of party planning and research, these NPCs can quite easily pull a complete party killing."

  This is really apparent with the "CR4" Makesh, who can hit for a whopping 3d8+8 dmg with his maul, which criticals for x3. This is 33-96 dmg on a crit, he's also large so that 10ft reach is going to play a major role in combat.   He only becomes more insane as the CR increases, he gains the Necroregeneration power which grants him equal regeneration to damage inflicted. Destruction, disintegration as spells can easily tip an already painful battle toward a TPK of irrecoverable magnitude, as they can't even be resurrected, as the souls become part of Makesh's retinue. This entire enemy unit conjures the image of Epic play, ultra powerful bad guys, on par with Rune Lords, Melnibonean Lords and Sauron himself. I doubt I would ever use the lower CR incarnations, this would be end game material for me. Let them encounter the peons of the folding circle, let them find the smoking ruins of entire cities, marked for death by the symbol of Makesh. Nysska is the Exodite (looks like a dark elf, but they're more shade-like, having the ability to Shadow Jump as a racial ability.) The character is an assassin built around those racial abilities. At CR 19 she's a monstrous assassin with greater invis, shadow jump, and the ability to single shot characters who are unprepared, plus the silent death ability, those around the victim might not realize it happened til she's already gone. The destroyer is as scary as he sounds. I think his form was chosen not by Peter Venkman as the Stay Puft Marshmallow man, but as a furry, snarling, leap the gap between two buildings, and cut your face off, kind of destroyer with an AC of 40 and over 500 HP!!!! Also, he can fully regenerate after death...unless his body is destroyed...isn't that fun? Emok is a demon in a pyrmidian body, that at CR21 is a 20th level Conjurer wizard. Haru at the CR25 apex of its power is not so dangerous in physical combat as it is in its Area effect ranged attacks and its deadly aura, those killed within 60ft of it are automatically drawn into the maelstrom of spirits. This particular monstrosity is perfect in any game, easily liftable in any of its CRs to provide a challenge outside of this group.

I really like the section on how the group interacts with the various regions and governments, this really makes the group more fleshed out as it has a place in the world.

More NPCs fill the pages of the book as well, many having full color illustrations. These lower ranked NPCs  range from a CR4 Mephit rogue to the CR15 Brotherhood leader Lo-Dora. The most common CR is 10, which is a good CR for decent challenges in my opinion. Especially for the sweet spot of 6-8, where characters are beginning to have personality without having rule-bloat.

Artwork: LPJ uses full color pieces that are around the same level as Paizo. The big fellow on the cover is Makesh. Lots of unique looking characters grace the page, what's lacking is an abundance of normal looking characters, I don't know if this is common for the setting, or if this is what you get for

Crunchtime! Crunchtime is where I talk about the crunchy bits of the book, mechanics, magic items, new feats, etc. To become one ask one, or something like that, to be a member of the Folding Circle, you must possess a protege feat. Each of the four villains has a protege feat, which grants bonuses and allows interaction with the circle. These are good for lower level enemies for characters, or as feats for use in an evil campaign that is Folding Circle centric. Scattered throughout the book in sidebards, are magic items, feats, a new sorcerer bloodline and even an Artifact. I particularly like the Scythe of Wood's Heart, which not only uses the new 'calling' item feature, but is able to be planted, and become a CR8 treant until killed or commanded to return to scythe form. The calling item ability is a +1 ability that allows the item to be summoned to the users grasp from anywhere on the same plane of existence. I think this might be too good for a +1 ability, but since it uses a swift action it can't be abused as a cheap 'returning' purchase. The other weapon is prodigious, which bumps up the damage for an existing elemental weapon by 1d6. Major NPCs all have a unique weapon, from Makesh's maul to Lo-Dora's arctic spear, which uses the prodigious ability.

The new sorcerer bloodline, the Muted bloodline is headlined by the 'Silence' NPC. Silence also showcases a second artifact, which works with the Muted bloodline to allow special attacks (a clever way to make an NPC be unique without allowing PCs to easily access those abilities, while still allowing the possibility, which I like.) Silence also uses has the new feats, Stifling Miasma and Silent Caster.

Value: All in all it's a pretty decent book, if you're RUNNING a NeoExodus game it could prove an invaluable resource and it's probably worth the $6.99. If you have some extra cash to spend and are looking for a lot of CR10+ stat blocks, this is a good purchase also.

Rating:  18 of 20 
This is a solid supplement, without a lot of obvious editing errors, I'm sure there are some but I didn't notice them, I also didn't look at every stat block with a fine tooth comb. I enjoyed reading the fluff, and it provides lots of fluff and crunch.

Earthdawn Denizen Guides - Savage Worlds/Pathfinder

So two days ago I posted that the Game Master's Guides were releasing soon (PDF available now), well I neglected to say that the Denizen Guides were already available, both Volume 1 & 2.

I know what to expect in them I'm just curious to see how everything is implemented for Savage Worlds and Pathfinder, this is a guide that could really expand race options. They give lots of background information such as the different human communities, in addition the denizen guides provide  race specific disciplines in Earthdawn so I suspect some race specific options for savage worlds and either classes or PrCs and feats for Pathfinder.

Denizens-of-Barsaive-Volume-One SW

Denizens-of-Barsaive-Volume-One Pathfinder

Denizens-of-Barsaive-Volume-Two-Savage-Worlds

Denizens-of-Barsaive-Volume-Two Pathfinder

Earthdawn Savage Worlds/Pathfinder Game Master's Guide

Preorder Your Earthdawn SW or PF Game Master's Guide Now!Preorder your copy of the Earthdawn Savage Worlds Edition Game Master's Guide or Earthdawn Pathfinder RPG Edition Game Master's Guide now!
RedBrick is proud to announce its next release for the Earthdawn Savage Worlds and Pathfinder RPG Edition game lines—the Earthdawn® Game Master's Guide!
A Land of Wondrous Beauty and Unspeakable Evil...
...When the Wizards proclaimed that the Scourge had ended, Jaro, I, and three others broke open the seals on the doors and walked outside. We hoped to find a new world brimming with life. Instead, a barren landscape stretched before us. As quick as thought, the sky grew dark with creatures, their attack nearly overwhelming us. We fought our way back to the kaer, thinking ourselves safe. We soon learned that a Horror had entered the mind of Jaro...
Explore the province of Barsaive, a land that encompasses the high mountain realms of savage troll raiders, lush green jungles that conceal long-forgotten cities, vast plains filled with strange and deadly beasts, and the life-giving waters of the mighty Serpent River. An untamed land still recovering from the depredations of the Scourge, Barsaive now teems with orks and elves, t'skrang lizard-men, and human settlers, all drawn by the promise of her breathtaking wonders.
The Earthdawn® Game Master's Guide contains a detailed tour of this troubled province; stats for dozens of new monsters that stalk her lands, including several loathsome Horrors; descriptions of over 30 common and legendary threaded magical items; rules for the vile practice of Blood Magic; and the esoteric mysteries of ancient legends and nefarious secret societies to populate your campaign!
Scheduled for a mid-June print release, the Earthdawn® Game Master's Guide is now available for preorder for a limited time at special pricing—but ONLY from the RedBrick Shop! And if you are new to these editions, the Earthdawn® Player's Guide is available as well.
Join the brave souls of Barsaive in reclaiming their realm from the remaining Horrors while protecting it from the return of the oppressive Theran Empire. Discover the world of Earthdawn®, the Age of Legend.

    Well it's mid-June, this should be coming out really soon. If you're interested pre-order now before the deadline is up....

    There are options for Hard Cover, Soft Cover plus PDF Bundles.  Hopefully I can get preview copies to review soon. As you all know I wasn't super thrilled with the Pathfinder edition, but the Savage Worlds version was nearly perfect! I'm hoping with the Game Masters Guide it will tie up some of the Pathfinder loose ends. I could even hope for an alternate magic system...

Reviews - Advanced Race Guide (PFRPG)

In work


Advanced Race Guide
Produced by Paizo Publishing, LLC

Get the most out of your heritage with the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide! Embrace your inner monster by playing one of 30 iconic races from mythology and gaming history, or build an entirely new race of your own. If classic races are more your style, go beyond the stereotypes for elves, dwarves, and the other core races with new options and equipment to help you stand out from the crowd.

The Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide is a bold new companion to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds on more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.

The 256-page Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide includes: 

- New rules and options to help you customize all seven of the classic core races, including new racial traits, racial subtypes, and racial archetypes. 

- 30 exotic races, from mischievous goblins and reptilian kobolds to crow-headed tengus and deadly drow, each with complete rules for use as player characters, plus archetypes, alternate racial traits, and other options for maximum customization. 

- A complete and balanced system for creating an unlimited number of new races, mixing and matching powers and abilities to form characters and cultures specific to your campaign. 

- Tons of new race-specific equipment, feats, spells, and magic items for each of the races detailed! 

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE! 

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-390-3

What can I say, this is a great book.

There are going to be more in depth reviews out there, but I'm a bit busy with real life at the moment, so I'll make this one quick.

At a Glance:
This is a 256 page full color, full-size, hard cover book. Lots of full color illustrations as is typical for Paizo's Pathfinder books. If there's one this Paizo is great at, it's creating pretty books, second only to the Legend of the Five Rings, 4th edition.

Review: The book is divided into 4 sections. Core Races, Featured Races, Uncommon Races, and the Race Builder section, which I will be using to determine the RP value of the Earthdawn PFRPG races. The 7 core races get long write-ups, 10 pages each. Compiling all the information from various sources and expanding it as far as Base Race, Alternate Racial Rules, and Favored Class options. In addition are rules for Racial Archetypes, equipment, feats, spells, magic items, etc. Alternate Races, typically covered in other games by different stat bonuses are covered by alternate abilities instead in the ARG. While I'm not a huge fan of single race equipment, I have no issue with race based archetypes, and each race gets 3 or 4 archetypes. 

The Next section  covers featured races, these are the races which are close to the power level of the core races. The 16 covered races are; Aasimar, Catfolk (probably Ian's favorite), Dhampir, Drow, Fetchlings, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Ifrits, Kobolds, Orcs, Oreads, Ratfolk, Sylphs, Tengu, Tieflings, and Undines. Each Featured race gets core race traits, alternate race traits, favored class options, and 2 racial archetypes, which is pretty good for non-core races. Of course the only way you can play these races in Pathfinder Society is to earn the Race Boon at a major convention. Each featured races also gets Equipment, Feats, Magic Items and Spells, but in less quantity than the core races. Now the let-down here is that the wonderful tables that the tieflings got in the Council of Thieves write-up is left out and that the Aasimar did not receive one of those tables as well.

The uncommon races section covers less friendly or obscure races, from the Haggish Changelings (not doppelganger ancestry, but hag ancestry) to the ancestors of ancient Azlant the Gillmen to the Shadow born Wayang of the Far East. The uncommon races are Changelings, Duergar, Gillmen, Grippli, Kitsune (a favorite), Merfolk, Nagaji, Strix, Sulis, Svivneblin, Vanara, Vishkanya, and Wayang. Each Featured race gets core race traits, alternate race traits, favored class options, and 1 racial archetypes. Each featured races also gets Equipment, Feats, Magic Items and Spells, but in less quantity than the core races.

The final section is the Race Builder. Using RP, racial points, this is a step-by-step guide to race creation. Using humans as the baseline race, at 9RP, you can find out how powerful or weak an alternate race might be. With these new rules, some companies should look at their races and possibly give them an RP value. It is an invaluable tool for Gamemasters to use to create races for their own worlds, or to accommodate a player that wants something different. The section is full of examples of common and unique races from Centaurs, Driders and Gargoyles; to Ogres, Kasatha and Wyrwoods. Use this as a guide to covert races from favorite settings into Golarion or your own setting. Create a half-contruct Pinnochio race. At the end of the section, there's a break-down of the RP for each  Core and Featured race and a few Uncommon races.

Finally the book finishes with an appendix for age (appendix 1) and height/weight (appendix 2) of each of the  core, featured and uncommon races. Appendix 3 is the class and level lists for all the spells presented in the book.

Artwork: Each race has at least one illustration and each chapter has a 2 page splash illustration. All quality artwork, as to be expected from Paizo.


Parental Rating: It's a main rulebook, so it's really tame, no cursing, some dynamic action poses but nothing horrible. Rated RPG-10.  


Value: At $39.99 it's invaluable, if you can't afford it you can always get it in PDF format for $9.99.
No I won't post it for you, support the game if you want it to stick around. Don't ask.


Overall Rating: 

19 of 20.

Review - Bestiary (Pathfinder)

I know I did the reviews backwards, but I bought the Bestiary long before I started the blog, I believe I even had B2 before then, so I'm working backwards.

Bestiary 
Paizo Publishing, LLC

Here there be monsters!


What is a hero without monsters to vanquish? This 328-page book presents hundreds of different creatures for use in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Within this tome you’ll find fire-breathing dragons and blood-drinking vampires, vile demons and shapechanging werewolves, sadistic goblins and lumbering giants, and so much more! Yet not all the creatures in this book are enemies, for some can serve lucky heroes as allies or advisors, be they summoned angels or capricious nymphs. And it doesn’t stop there—with full rules for advancing monsters, adapting monsters to different roles, and designing your own unique creations, you’ll never be without a band of hideous minions again!
The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is the must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.

The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary includes:
• More than 350 different monsters
• Dozens of monstrous variants to modify creatures and keep players on their toes
• Numerous lists of monsters to aid in navigation, including lists by Challenge Rating, monster type, and habitat
• Extensive rules for creating effective and balanced monsters
• Rules for advancing monsters by hit dice, template, or class level
• Universal monster rules to simplify special attacks, defenses, and qualities like breath weapons, damage reduction, and regeneration
• More than a dozen feats tailored especially for monsters
• Suggestions for monstrous cohorts
• Two dozen additional animal companions
• More than a dozen different wandering monster encounter tables
• AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!
• ISBN 978-1-60125-183-1

What you get: This is the other half of the Core assumption of the Pathfinder Role-playing game. With over 350 monsters you can play entire campaigns using just the Core Rulebook and the Bestiary.  358 page hard cover full color with thick pages. 

Main Review: While you can play straight out of the book, they included monster design rules, so Game Masters that feel like they need to emulate something specific can do that as well. This book really set the bar for art for Pathfinder more so than the Core Rulebook. Many traditional monsters had face-lifts, or face asunders in the case of the Troll. The look of many monsters has really made them stand out as something special. Ogres really received an interesting change from their 3.5 counterparts, which was based upon the Rise of the Runelords ogres, rather than looking like some Japanese yokai, now they are hillbilly ogres; with all that entails, yes, I mean they have Ho-downs. 

The book covers the basics you need, demons, devils, dragons, lots of goblinoids, and many of the same monsters you'll find in the Monster Manual 1. They do deal with some things differently. XP using Pathfinder is given out by the monster more like 1st edition. There are icons on the name bar of the stat block, indicating creature type, climate and terrain. They handled creatures which normally advance by class differently by adding Character stats for races that have stat mods and racial abilities. The last major thing they added that I really love, is the variants. Skeletons don't include just the standard skeleton, they include two variants as well, basically a simple template to overlay to create even more challenges. 

Some classic monsters from the best of the best OD&D modules make their way into this Bestiary. Monsters such as the Froghemoth, and vegepygmy. Others are removed from their old roles, such as the retriever and kyton. While new categories separate old groups, such as the celestials being split into more factions, like the Azata, Archons and Angels. Of course the most famous of all the reworked monsters is that little ball of insanity, the Goblin.

Great monster book, as the core of Pathfinder, if you're running this game you need this book.

Artwork: One of the best things that Paizo has done is re-envisioned many of the monsters. Wayne Reynolds did the cover as usual, featuring a Troll, the new Goblins and a Marilith. Aditional art by 

Family Rating: As this is a core rulebook, I will add a family rating. Some racy artwork and some particularly frightening pieces (to young children) in the book, so I'd say rated PG, parental guidance is suggested.

Cost: $39.99 Print, $9.99 PDF

Overall Rating: Must Have

of 20

Review - Bestiary 3 (Pathfinder)

Bestiary 3

Produced by Paizo Publications, LLC

Test your courage against the most infamous foes of myth and legend! Bestiary 3 presents hundreds of monsters for use in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Within this book you’ll find demiliches and demodands, grave knights and goblin snakes, norns and nephilim, imperial dragons and unfettered eidolons, and so much more! Yet not every creature needs to be an enemy, as winged garudas, crafty tanukis, and leonine lammasus all wait to join your party and answer the call of glory.


The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 is the third indispensable volume of monsters for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and serves as a companion to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook and Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time bestselling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.


The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 includes:

• More than 300 different monsters
• Classic terrors from myth and literature, from the frumious bandersnatch and the righteous valkyrie to the cunning dybbuk and elusive kappa
• Hordes of new creatures you can construct, grow, or summon to aid your party in its adventures
• New player-friendly races to let you adventure as canny ratfolk, genie-blooded sulis, and more
• New familiars, animal companions, and other allies
• Challenges for any adventure and every level of play
• Some of the strangest and most beloved creatures from fantasy roleplaying history and the Pathfinder campaign setting
• Hosts of new templates and variants
• Appendices to aid in monster navigation, including lists by Challenge Rating, monster type, and habitat
• Expanded universal monster rules to simplify special attacks, defenses, and qualities
• And MUCH, MUCH MORE!

What you get: This is from the main product line for the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game. It is a 320 page hard-bound full color monster book. Within it are more than 300 monsters, each entry has full color artwork. A monster entry without artwork is a travesty. On the cover is another of Wayne Reynolds great pieces of artwork, featuring the great cyclops, grave knight and kappa. 

Main Review: What can I say, this is another great book from Paizo. While some recent material hasn't been Epic in my eyes, this book is phenomenal, probably better than Bestiary 2 in my eyes. This bestiary features many monsters which have been out of print for awhile, or have never seen print. It brings many OGL monsters into the PFRPG ruleset. Many of the creatures from the Adventure paths are brought into easily accessible print form in the single manual. Some great entries in here, the Bandersnatch joins the Jabberwock in pathfinder, the axe beak, atomie, and especially, the ROT GRUB, and the Rot Grub swarm. Really there are too many monsters to review every one, check it out at your FLGS!!

While there are only a few "PC" scale 1/2 HD creatures, the ones in this manual are pretty cool, I know the Catfolk at least Epic Ian will want to play. The others are Ratfolk, perfect for players who like were-rats and certain rat creatures from a workshop that makes games. Vanara made their appearance in the Dragon Empires Gazeteer, and are presented in full monster format here. Vishkanya seem to be an Indian myth, so they would be at home in Vudra and make the perfect poisoning rogue or ninja.

As this book is also supporting the future release of the World Guide for the Tian Xia area, it features many Asian inspired monsters, including several creature types, including Oni, Asura, Kami, and of course Rakshasa.  5 Imperial dragons also grace the pages, Forest, Sea, Sky, Sovereign and Underworld. Other archetypal Asian creatures include the kappa, kirin, penanggalen, and of course the tanuki. The terra-cotta soldier is one of my favorites, but the Jiang-Shi and Yuki-Onna are some of the coolest from mythology.

Value: Another great bestiary from paizo. For a 300 page full color hard bound, $39.99 is perfectly reasonable. The PDF at $9.99 is a phenomenal value.


Cost: $39.99 print and $9.99 PDF

Overall Rating:  EPIC! This is one of my favorite bestiaries from any game, and definitely keeps the bar high for Bestiary 4. 

Quick Review - Dragon Empires Primer

Just got this as part of my Paizo subscription...it's good!! While the Dragon Empires Gazeteer was underwhelming when I looked through it, this Player Companion, makes up for it.

This is part of the Player Companion Series of booklets, coming in at 32 pages for $10.99.

I loved Oriental Adventures back in the day, 3rd edition didn't re-use Kara Tur as the base setting, they used Rokugan, AEG's setting for Legends of the Five Rings; While I love Rokugan the translation wasn't so great for 3rd edition. So far from what I've seen of Tian Xia, I absolutely love it, Paizo makes sure to include all aspects in their settings, and this preview of the full book is no exception.

The book starts with a quick introduction, and quickly moves into the races, while it doesn't include the images of the races like the gazeteer does, it provides all the player info for the five non-human races; kitsune, Nagaji, Samsarans, Tengus and Wayangs. What's awesome is the three feats for kitsune, that play with their shape change abilities.

The next 14 pages covers 28 different regions, with 56 traits!!! I have a feeling one of the most selected of these traits will be the Quain trait for the Quain Martial Artist. This trait gives a straight up +1 trait bonus damage to all unarmed attacks. On the same page will be the most contentious trait, Chosen One, which is the same as Rich Parents. Which is often banned in games, and not allowed in Pathfinder Society.

The next two pages present 4 new archetypes.

Lotus Geisha is a bard archetype. It's decent, but not a class I'd play myself, however it will make an NPC-perance.

Next is the Sword Saint, a Samurai archetype, however this is probably the ONLY samurai I'd play as they're presented currently, as I feel the Cavalier wasn't the best choice for the class, They're too horse related, so this one that replaces the Samurai's mount. Perfect Fit. Iaijutsu strike acting against a challenged opponent, with drawing the blade and delivering a devastating blow similar to a sneak attack, however it doesn't note the damage as being precision damage specifically. The other abilities play off the Iaijutsu strike, increasing critical confirmation chance, effectively causing a "dazzling display", and finally deafening their opponent.

The White Haired Witch (Witch archetype), this is a really cool interpretation of a classic myth. The class swaps out the powerful Hex ability, so it needs to deliver, and does it. The hair able to attack as a natural attack that does 1d4+Int damage, with a free grapple attempt, which also uses Int instead of Str in the CMB. This power advances with the character, the reach which starts at 5 ft, quickly increases 5ft per 4 levels, and adding additional maneuvers to the hair, including constrict, trip, pull and finally strangle. To top it off the White Haired witch gains rogue talents at 10th and every 2 levels thereafter!

The final archetype is the Yokai Hunter (Ranger archetype). Having watched the entire Claymore series last month, this one intrigues me. However, I would have made it an Inquisitor Archetype (see below for my conversion.) It's a good archetype, especially for a Tian based game, where you want to hunt kami, oni and ghosts. Favored Yokai replaces Favored enemy, basically just changing the favored enemy list for a ranger, with the addition of a check to identify the Yokai. Yakai Sense gives blindsight against identified Yokai. Resist  Yokai gives some nice resistances and and the ability to break enchantment.

Combat comes next. 10 new feats and a New Samurai Order, Order of the Black Daimyo. The feats are Blinding Flash, Disorienting Blow, Enhanced Ki Throw, Feinting Flurry, Hold the Blade, Improved Feinting Flurry, Quivering Palm Adept, Quivering Palm Versatility, Sleeper Hold, and Stunning Fist Adept. Of these I think my favorite is the Enhanced Ki Throw, nice to cause damage with the ki throw.

One of the last sections is the Faith of the Dragon Empires, covering the Major Deities, and some minor deities and philosopher. In addition the Moon sub-domain. (a sub-domain of Darkness).

Finally, Magic, the Arcana of the Dragon Empires. Only three items in this section, but they are all very Asian inspired. The Oni Bloodline for sorcerers. The Void Elemental School for Wizards and a Sorc/Wiz, Witch spell, Call the Void. The Oni Bloodline is my favorite out of the section, one of the bonus feats is Weapon Proficiency (katana), and the level 15 Oni Healing being the best.

Edit: Forgot to add the Honor Section, new mechanics for honor...pretty well thought out, however, I would add some additional entries. Merely being accused can cause honor loss, until proven innocent. Levelling false accusations can also cause honor loss, so there's definitely room for improvement; but it's a good start

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Yokai Hunter (Inquisitor archetype)
Favored Yokai remains the same, replaces Judgement.
Yokai Sense at 8th level instead of 7th level. Replaces Second Judgement.
Resist Yokai at 11th level instead of 12th level. Replaces Stalwart