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Similar to others in this line, you receive three pdf files. The largest of 11 pages has statistical details on each object (5 planets and 3 asteroid belts) orbiting the sun system and then for each the objects orbitting the planets and the asteriod systems.
The second file is 6 pages of background including a history of the controlling corporations efforts in the system, a logo, and information on the robots which are extensively used in the system. It also has a title page and the OGL license. (Hence the plus two in the publisher's describtion.)
The final file is a side view and stats on a underground base in the system.
LIKED: The use of text based description with lots of charts and NPC statistics that could be used to pad the document.
DISLIKED: Would really like a floorplan of the base along with the sideview provided.
QUALITY: Acceptable
VALUE: Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Very similar to the other products in this line with the same production values and breakdown. Three documents are included; a six page document with system and planetary details, a nine page document (include a title page and the OGL license) giving a brief history of the system, social information and important locations, and a single page map that shows Spirit of the Brazen Dawn and an enlargement of one area.
LIKED: Continues and extends the usefulnees of the supplements. Again good local detail without any reference to larger multi-system bodies or politics.
DISLIKED: Maps could still be improved with scales and presentation.
QUALITY: Acceptable
VALUE: Satisfied
[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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I jumped into this book wanting to dislike it but I found myself liking many of the ideas presented within too much ? I want more.
First, I don?t think a synergy book is necessary. It is too easy to increase skills. Once a skill check has a +20 modifier, you will almost never fail checks. At 8th level, the average spellcasting has 11 ranks and a 1-4 bonus to Concentration and Spellcraft and rarely fails checks for learning spells, combat casting and so forth. People who take feats like Combat Casting are laughed at by this point for their lack of foresight.
Diplomacy is worst abused. A 2nd-level character with an 18 Charisma score (+4), who takes 5 ranks in Diplomacy and its 3 synergies (+6), has a Diplomacy modifier of +15. If he takes Skill Focus (Diplomacy)(+3) and Negotiator (+2) it jumps up to +20. Skills with only 1 or 2 synergies max out at only +16 and +18. In 3.5 there was an effort made to increase the DC?s of several skills but the system is still flawed after the first few levels.
Superior Synergies are well done. They proceed in a logical fashion based on the original system. If your players are not power gamers, these new rules add another dimension to the game ? unfortunately it is power gamers who look for advantageous rules such as these.
I did not expect the feat synergies and I very much like them. They give some of the less useful feats more use. I really like this part of the book, and I would have liked to have seen a much longer list of feat synergies. One synergy in particular allows characters to take a 5 foot step while using whirlwind to extend the range of their attack. Whirlwind can be difficult to use, but I debate the wisdom of giving it more firepower.
LIKED: This system opens up a lot of new possibilities. It?s the sort of thing you expect to see in the next edition of D&D. It is well thought out and executed.
DISLIKED: This is something of a patch for existing problems in the skill system but it only aggravates the system by letting players get even higher bonuses to their skill checks. Characters become better for free. Power gamers will rush to these rules to see what little extra they can squeak out of their characters. I would have liked to have seen more feat synergies.
QUALITY: Very Good
VALUE: Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [3 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The Illusionist was the very first magical specialist, indeed it was the class that created the idea of specialist wizards way back in D&D history. So, it is appropriate to for the illusionist to have its own core class again.
Like the other products in this line, it presents a new core class with new feats, two prestige classes and new magic items to support that core class. One of the new feats (?Forbidden Lore? which allows a specialist wizard to learn a single spell from a barred school of magic) is reprinted from the earlier works in this series. The Illusionist core class trades the bonus spell per day and only two bonus feats for an improved skill list and a set of minor illusion enhancing abilities. I would have liked to have seen a few more minor, illusion themed abilities in this class but it seem balanced if a little low powered.
For prestige classes, there is the Nightwalker, who is a spell-using counterpart to the Shadowdancer, and the Pretender, who is a master of magical disguise. I think the Nightwalker may be a little weak and the Pretended has an upper level ability ?False Spell? which can, as written, be used as often as the Pretended has memorized illusion spells, but I think was meant to be once a day otherwise it is wide open to abuse. The new magical items are interesting and fit the illusionist and disguise theme, but while the ?False Armor? is a lot of fun it is vastly overpriced for its effect, while the ?Ring of Belief? is probably underpriced for the bonus it provides.
If you want to expand the role of illusionists in your campaign, this product is a good starting point.
LIKED: New ideas for improving a neglected class.
DISLIKED: Some concerns about balance issues.
QUALITY: Acceptable
VALUE: Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The three documents mentioned in the description are a 1 page map, 4 page system guide, and an 8 page overview.
The single map page is a background image of a typical lunar surface with locations described in the other documents superimposed on it. There is no scale, but I am not sure that any is required.
The four page system guide contains one page give system information including stats for the orbital motion, size and position of the five planets and single asteroid belt. The second page is information on the first planet (Devil) and its ring and moons. Devils Moon is the innermost moon. Pages 3 and four are similar information on the third and fourth planet.
The 8 page overview contains a single title page, one page of background history, one page recapping information from the system guide and displaying a flag, 2 pages of social information, one page of important locations, one page of very short campaign ideas and a final page with the OGL license
LIKED: Provided plenty of information to set the stage, but did not attempt to build the sets. It has enough information to get started, yet leaves plenty of room for elaboration by the user and incorporation into existing campaigns.
DISLIKED: Map seemed a little lack luster. No scale was provided.
QUALITY: Acceptable
VALUE: Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Skill synergy is a simple concept from the core d20 rules. Essentially, some skills give a +2 bonus to other skills if the character has five or more ranks in the first skill. For example, if a character has five or more ranks in the Use Rope skill he gets a +2 bonus to Climb and Escape Artist checks. Superior Skill Synergy takes this concept and expands it. Synergies are expanded to include bonuses for five, ten, fifteen and twenty ranks. For example, if a character has ten ranks of Use Rope, in addition to the bonuses for five ranks, he has only a -2 penalty for accelerated climbing and it takes him only 30 seconds to make an Escape Artist check to escape from bonds. The synergy goes on to include addional bonuses for having fifteen and twenty ranks of Use Rope.
In addition to the expanded rules for skill synergies, Superior Skill Synergy introduces rules for Feat Synergy. As you might imagine, feat synergy gives bonuses to a character for having two or more specific feats. For example, a character with the Athletic (mislabled Athletics in several places in the rules), Endurance and Great Fortitude feats can hold his breath for his Constitution X 1.5 rounds. Unfortunately, since a character without these feats can hold his breath for his Constitution X 2 rounds, I assume this is an error. Perhaps it should have been Constitution X 2.5 rounds? Other combinations of feats give a variety of other bonuses like reduced times, additional damage, etc.
Of course, whether or not all this will be useful to you is another matter. Do you like the concept of skill and/or feat synergies? Do you want to add what is arguably another level of detail to the already detailed d20 system? If so, you might want to give Superior Synergy a look. The price is certainly right. And aside from a few grammatical and textual errors, some of which I have pointed out, the product is well-written. Misfit Studios does deserve praise for logically and cleverly extending a d20 rules concept.
LIKED: It logically and cleverly extends a concept from the core d20 rules.
DISLIKED: There are a few errors. The rules add a level of complexity to an already complex rules system.
QUALITY: Very Good
VALUE: Very Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The Athletic feat typo has been addressed and the instance of holding breath has been changed to "50% longer than normal"; there is a discrepancy between how long the SRD says one can hold one's breath under the Swim skill (Con x 1) and in the drowning description (Con x 2.) I've always gone with Con x 1 because this is used in both the Swim skill AND drowning rules for d20 Modern, but the revision will cover either direction the GM decides to use. Thanks for the review! |
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This short product, 12 pages minus 1 1/2 for licensing takes a quick look at the illusionist. The best part of the product is the 9 new feats. Following is a modified version of the illusionist class which is the same as from the core rules, except that this illusionist gets 1 fewer feat, gains the new Haze mechanic which makes him harder to see and gains a bonus to see through illusions. These bonuses are not enough to make the class significantly more powerful than the original so they are balanced. There are two prestige classes add to the Illusionist and a handful of magical items to finish it off.
The book seems to lean towards the use of Disguise and Hide, making the illusionist part rogue which seems like a good idea. These are requirements for the two prestige classes. Of some debate, the illusionist does gain the Move Silently skill. I agree with this decision, preventing him from easily becoming a full ?sneaky? type Rogue.
LIKED: There are some new ideas here. The illusionist is a slight upgrade from the traditional one. There are a number of illusion modifying feats worth taking. For the cost it?s a handy little addition but it begs for a little more.
DISLIKED: The Ring of Belief has no bonus type. This is an interesting product with some new ideas on Illusion, but the product is simply too short. There are no new spells to take advantage of the haze mechanic. There are no spells at all.
QUALITY: Acceptable
VALUE: Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [3 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The ring of belief purposely has no bonus type listed. This is done with magic item design when looking to create an item that has the advantage of not running into bonus stacking problems.
With regards to spells, the core specialist wizard series is not intended to create new spells specific to the new, 20-level class. Rather, each product is meant to take what spells are already there and illustrate how a unique, core class for each school may be done rather than making specialists an afterthought wizard derivative. New spells are outside the scope of what this purposely small product sets out to do. |
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The ?The Core Specialist Wizard? series is an interesting concept. It is meant to present specialist wizards as a core, 20 level class. They basically try to ?kick it up a notch? by making the specialists more distinctive than is possible with the core system. In this product, the author focuses on the specialist in the conjuration school of magic. This school, as you know, has one of the wider spectrums of influence (only illusion is as overtly broad), but includes summoning, calling (transporting creatures from another plane), healing, teleportation, and creation.
I?ve broken the review up to coincide with each content carrying section of this product.
The ?Specialist and Multi-classing? section simply states the rules for multi-classing any character that uses the proposed variant specialist wizard rules. Mostly, this section seems quite well thought out to ensure consistency with a particular campaign, though, as with most things of this nature, the final word will rest to the individual dungeon masters of the world that have a certain ?flavor? they are striving for.
The ?New Feats? section describes the 7 new feats in the typical feats format. Also included is a table listing the feat name and the prerequisites. Unfortunately, it does not include a short description of the feat?s purpose as can be found in the analogous ?core? table. With only seven new feats, this missing element is not as critical as if there were a few more feats. Six of the feats are ?specialist? feats which have class restrictions of various levels. For example, a prerequisite of two levels in conjurer. Generally, the seven feats can be related to the following areas: creation, general magic, calling, summon/calling, general magic, summon, teleportation. Unfortunately, the healing subschool of conjuration is ignored in the proposed feats. Given the breadth of the conjuration school, I think that there could have been more feats and, certainly, there should have been at least one feat for each subschool of conjuration magic.
?The Conjurer Core Class? section sets out the variant conjurer class in the traditional class format. As is true for each of the products in this line that I have reviewed, I would have liked to have seen a brief discussion of the ways in which the variant conjurer compares to a core ?specialist?. Obviously, anyone can compare them so I am not asking for a simple list of changes. Rather, a brief explanation of the process by which certain abilities were dropped, why certain abilities were changed, why the new content was adopted in the structure that appears would be quite useful. This would be very useful to everyone that uses this product and, as we know gamers are apt to do, decides that this class can be slightly tweaked to make it perfect. Or need to make an adjustment or two to infuse the class with the flavor they are trying to cultivate in their campaign.
The conjurer class itself appears interesting. It has a progression spread across all 20 levels and incorporates a special ability that improves three times after it first appears in the progression. This ability is an interesting application of the new feat introduced earlier in the product related to the summoning subschool. Given the breadth of the conjuration school of magic, I am a little disappointed that the other subschools were not as well developed, or that this product doesn?t contain an additional one or two variations. This should not be seen as taking anything away from the variant conjurer presented, as it is an interesting presentation of a conjurer focused on the summoning subschool.
?The Arsenal Mage PrC? section sets out this prestige class in the traditional class format. The arsenal mage is a conjurer that focuses on the creation of weapons and armor. This focus is achieved by taking the conjuration of weapons, shields, and armor; and turning them into special abilities of the class. The mechanics of these abilities interlock with the magic system used. (Those of you using variant magic systems will likely have to modify this relationship as it relies on the memorization of spells into ?slots? mechanic.) This is an interesting concept and given the popularity of this type of caster, should prove to be well loved in many campaigns.
?The Demonican PrC? section sets out this prestige class in the traditional class format. The demonican is an evil conjurer that focuses on the entrapment and use of Outsiders. This prestige class actually has two special abilities, one of which improves three times over the 10 level progression. These two special abilities in combination allow the demonican to use the Outsider?s natural armor, natural weapons, special qualities, and special attacks. The limitations on the ability seem evenhanded and this class should allow folks to explore another popular fanatasy wizard concept. They provide a fairly extensive list of special abilities which establish the mechanics for assessing the ?cost? (again, assuming the traditional memorization of spell slots magic system) of using particular special abilities.
?The Magic Items? section contains one new magic weapon special ability and two new magic items. The new special ability targets summoned or called creatures. The first magic item is an interesting way of allowing monsters to be summoned, and includes variation to ensure the possibility of summoning any monster that appears on any of the summon monster tables. The second magic item is focused on the teleportation subschool, and would be a wonderful tool for any conjurer considering a quick ?trip?.
Overall this is a good product, though I feel it is incomplete given the breadth of this school of magic. This product could be considered one star higher if you are satisfied with the partial treatment of the conjuration school described above.
To rousing gaming and ample rewards,
I. Perez
LIKED:
1. An interesting exploration of certain aspects of the conjuration school of magic.
2. The prestige classes stand out as well focused on particular subschools of conjuration.
DISLIKED:
1. Needed to explore the conjuration school of magic more fully.
QUALITY: Very Good
VALUE: Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [3 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The Conjurer Core Specialist Wizard presents just that along with a selection of support feats, two prestige classes and a handful of magic items.
Of the Core Specialist Wizards series I have seen (Abjurer and Diviner being the other two), this seems the most balanced against the traditional specialist wizard. While losing the bonus spell per level and two wizard bonus feats (including scribe scroll), they gain Summoning Mastery every four levels (except 20th). Summoning Mastery lets the Conjurer choose a creature that they can summon and instead summon two of them when they use the appropriate summon monster spell. Combined with some of the new specialist feats, such as Maximize Summoning which allows all of the characters summoned creatures to have maximum hit points, it gives the Conjurer the potential for real punch in combat.
The prestige classes are interesting: the Arsenal Mage, who can conjure weapons and armor from thin air (and has a full fighter BAB progression) is a fascinating idea. The Arsenal Mage should be challenging to play or to fight against as they will always have the right weapon to hand. The second prestige class is the Demonican who summon and trap outsiders and to steal their abilities. The Demonican is a fairly complex class and could be difficult for PC use but has great potential for a unique villain.
The magic items are strait forward and useful. However, I believe the Ring of Sure Travel, which radically improve the ability of the wearer to teleport, is drastically underpriced.
A good resource for those who like Conjurers and want to expand the options available for them.
LIKED: Interesting ideas, nice to see the schools of magic expanded on.
DISLIKED: Minor concerns about balance.
QUALITY: Acceptable
VALUE: Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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?The Abjurer: The Core Specialist Wizard? is an interesting concept. The Core Specialist Wizard Series is meant to present specialists wizard as a core, 20 level class. They basically try to ?kick it up a notch? by making the specialists more distinctive than is possible with the core system. In this product, the author focuses on the specialist in the abjuration school of magic. This school, as you know, focuses on protective spells that create physical or magical barriers, negate magical or physical abilities, harm trespassers, or banish the subject of the spell to another plane of existence.
For the purpose of this review I will proceed with a short discussion of each content carrying section.
The ?Specialists and Multi-Classing? section simply states the rules for multi-classing any character that uses the proposed variant specialist wizard rules. Mostly, this section seems quite well thought out to ensure consistency with a particular campaign, though, as with most things of this nature, the final word will rest to the individual dungeon masters of the world that have a certain ?flavor? they are striving for.
The ?New Feats? section simply describes the ten new feats in the general feats format. This product also includes a table listing the feat name and the prerequisites. Unfortunately, it does not include a short description of the feat?s purpose as can be found in the analogous ?core? table. Eight of the feats are ?specialist? feats with have class restrictions of various levels. For example, a prerequisite of two levels in abjurer. In addition, they utilize the interesting mechanic of allowing a feat to be taken multiple times, but each additional time the feat is taken the prerequisites become more advanced. To use an example that builds on the prerequisite I already used above, the second time that feat is taken may require four levels in abjurer. Unfortunately, there were some editorial lapses, including one as serious as not completing a feat description. The sentence simply drops off. Luckily the description can be understood by reading the ?Benefits? information for the feat.
I would have liked to have seen a brief discussion of the ways in which the variant abjurer compares to a core specialist in the ?Abjurer Core Class? section. Obviously, anyone can compare them so I am not asking for a simple list of changes. Rather, a brief explanation of the process by which certain abilities were dropped, why certain abilities were changed, why the new content was adopted in the structure that appears would be quite useful. This would be very useful to everyone that uses this product and, as we know gamers are apt to do, decides that this class can be slightly tweaked to make it perfect. Or need to make an adjustment or two to infuse the class with the flavor they are trying to cultivate in their campaign.
The ?Arcane Guardian PrC? section sets out the abjurer prestige class for defensive magic. This focus is accomplished by matching each ability gained in the level with defensive magic or magic resistance.
An abjurer that wants to focus on banishing creatures from other planes needs to read ?The Planar Exciser PrC? section. This combination of cleric and abjurer class model of the ?exorcist? seems to fill an interesting spot in the right campaign world.
The ?Magic Items? section contains two special qualities that are interesting extensions of magic items. These are interesting concepts to have been added to this product in addition to the magic items in this section.
Overall, this is a good product if you want to explore expanding the options for your ?specialist wizards?. This would also be helpful to those that want to create their own specialists, whether core or prestige class, even without the discussion of class creation that I suggested above. Depending on the campaign setting and level of magic these classes could likely be approved for use in your campaign. (Maybe with a slight tweak if the magic level is too high or low.)
To rousing gaming and ample rewards,
I. Perez
LIKED:
1. Thoughtful treatment of the abjurer school of magic.
2. Addition of magic items and special qualities.
3. Special abilities of classes are well distributed over the level progression of each class.
DISLIKED:
1. Minor typographical errors.
2. Formatting errors in the portrait version.
3. Lack of a discussion concerning modification of class or creation of new class.
QUALITY: Very Good
VALUE: Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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Superior Synergy asks the question: why does skill synergy begin and end at five ranks? It's an interesting question, to be sure. In a nutshell, skill synergies now have four 'benchmarks': one at five, ten, fifteen and twenty ranks. Some are simply higher skill bonuses, while others allow you to use skills faster, or cause skill effects to last longer.
Slightly more interesting, but possibly less balanced, are feat synergies. When you take certain combinations of feats, you gain bonus abilities related to the required feats, without having to spend another feat slot. These abilities tend to be more potent than skill synergies, but not quite as powerful as true feats.
LIKED: In general, the new skill synergy effects are easy to integrate, seem to be balanced, and are pretty useful on the whole. While the feat synergies may seem somewhat unbalanced (and the author as much as admits to this), this concept is not without precedent. In Wizards' own Oriental Adventures there is a similar mechanic used to emulate mastery of a martial arts style. Still, look at feat synergies with a careful eye.
DISLIKED: It should be mentioned that more effort could have been put into editing this work. I noticed a number of spelling and grammar errors, though this hardly makes the book less useful as a resource. In addition, those looking for something to add flavor to their game should look elsewhere; this work is almost one hundred percent mechanics.
QUALITY: Acceptable
VALUE: Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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The concept behind skill synergy is that being skilled in one area can help you in others. In practical terms this translates as the familiar five ranks in one skill offering a +2 bonus to one or more other skills. Superior Synergy expands on that concept, adding new milestones at 10,15 and 20 ranks.
Two versions of the file are provided: a landscape version which features a colorful border but no cover, and a portrait version that has a cover but no border; I have to say I like this particular way of doing things. Both versions are attractively laid out, and feature bookmarks for the front page, OGL page, and then the beginning of the two content sections.
First up is the section on skill synergies. You won't find every skill listed here; just those that offer bonuses to other skills. The mechanics are well balanced. Those milestones that simply increase the numerical bonus cap at a reasonable +5. Other milestones offer expanded capabilities for your skills.
Part two of this product is given over to the idea of feat synergies. This essentially allows a combination of feats to grant you access to a special ability; which tends to itself resemble the effects of a feat. A caveat is provided warning of this fact. As with the skills mechanics, everything here seems well balanced. I like the idea, and while it may seem odd at first it really isn't. Prestige classes often require a feat or combination of feats to enable entry; this is a similar principle, just on a smaller scale.
LIKED: A balanced system which allows you to increase your character's abilities.
DISLIKED: Synergies which grant only a skill bonus give a +4 at 15 ranks. Synergies which offer expanded capabilities also raise the bonus to +4 at 15 ranks; I would have preferred to see this bonus held at +3.
QUALITY: Excellent
VALUE: Very Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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TEXT_PUBLISHER_REPLY |
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I'll release a free revision to address the Athletic feat typo and will change the instance of holding breath to "50% longer than normal"; there is a discrepancy between how long the SRD says one can hold one's breath under the Swim skill (Con x 1) and in the drowning description (Con x 2.) I've always gone with Con x 1 because this is used in both the Swim skill AND drowning rules for d20 Modern, but the revision will cover either direction the GM decides to use. Thanks for the review! |
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Superior Synergy: Fantasy is a product that details expanded synergy options for not only skills, but feats as well. The product comes with two versions of the same PDF. One has no borders and doesn?t shade headers, presumably to make for easier printing. Curiously, this printer-friendly version is the only one with the color cover.
The first half of the product details the expanded synergies for skills. In this system, all of the skills that grant synergy bonuses (and only those skills) in d20 Fantasy are listed. The change is that, in addition to listing the synergy bonus granted with 5 ranks, each now has expanded bonuses that are gained when attaining 10, 15, and 20 ranks. In some cases (such as with the Knowledge skills) the expanded bonuses are merely the increasing of the same bonus granted at 5 ranks. The majority of the skills, however, give new (or improved) skill abilities for at least some of the increased synergies. For example, 10 ranks in Spellcraft increases the range of your empathic connection with your familiar to two miles.
The design philosophy behind this section seemed solid; if rudimentary proficiency in one area granted a bonus to another, then why wouldn?t expanded proficiency grant a correspondingly greater (or more diverse) bonus? However, the product didn?t give any mention of the fact that epic uses for skills do address this, albeit in a much lesser fashion. While it certainly doesn?t detract from the section on new skill synergies, it would have been nice if the product had dealt with the epic skill synergies already presented.
The second half of the product focuses on feat synergies. While the preceding section was good, it was here, to my mind, that the product truly shined.
Feat synergies are predicated on the idea that when a character takes a certain grouping of (thematically-related) feats, they?ll gain a new ability. This need not be restricted to merely two feats, either. For example, a character who has Improved Unarmed Strike, Combat Reflexes, Lightning Reflexes, and Deflect Arrows may deflect more than one arrow per round (the rules listed are more expansive than just that, but you get the idea).
I found myself quite liking this idea, as it seemed close to the idea of martial art styles, but without the limiting the bonuses to just combat. The author does briefly address the idea that feat synergies ?may tread to close to replacing feats,? saying that they should just be ignored if a GM feels that way. I?d think a more worthwhile suggestion would have been to make the feat synergy abilities into feats themselves, with the synergized feats becoming prerequisites. Luckily, that isn?t too great of a leap of logic to make.
The ideas laid out here are good ones. My only real complaint with the product is that it could have gone further in presentation and style. Tables regarding the skill and feat synergies would have been great for ease of reference. Also, some flavor explanations would have helped in certain places (why exactly does expanded understanding of Spellcraft allow you to increase the range of your bond to your familiar?). However, these don?t truly detract from the product?indeed, it?s a testament to the product?s innovation that it spurs the imagination to see what else can be done. If you?re looking to expand your character?s abilities without weighing them down under more prestige classes or magic items, Superior Synergy: Fantasy is definitely for you.
LIKED: The synergies presented made thematic sense, and were interesting and well-scaled.
DISLIKED: It didn't address at all the existing epic scaling for skill synergies. Also, tables summarizing the new synergies would have been nice.
QUALITY: Very Good
VALUE: Satisfied
| Puntuación: | | [4 de 5 estrellas!] |
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This product expands on the basic idea of skill synergy, giving enhanced bonuses for higher levels of skill as well as a new feat synergy system that gives new abilities and bonuses for synergy between feats.
This is a good idea for encouraging playing to emphasize certain skills. But does this idea work? Yes, to an extent: In most cases the additional bonuses are small but still worthwhile. In some cases, new ways to use the skill are added. The only problem is Bluff, which already give the largest number of synergy bonuses, gives neat tricks to all four of the skills it modifies. I would recommend that a DM look very closely at the bonuses gained from Bluff. A possible solution might be to restrict the superior synergy bonuses from Bluff to apply only to the skills that the character has the same minimum number of ranks as the ranks of Bluff that the synergy bonus is gained at.
The feat synergy system gives minor bonuses from having feats that share a similar theme. Many of the feat synergies key off of the ?descriptor? feats such as acrobatics or persuasive making these often neglected feats more interesting and more useful.
Superior Synergy is good source material for encouraging the use of skills and non-combat feats in a campaign. The material seems to balance fairly well and nothing seems to be game breaking, but if used skill-based character (like rogues) will get even more advantage from their skills then they do now.
LIKED: Makes 'descriptor' feats more useful.
DISLIKED: Nothing, except for the concern about Bluff mentioned in the review.
QUALITY: Acceptable
VALUE: Satisfied
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The OGL Barbarian books provide supporting content for Mongoose Publishing's d20 Conan line. At the time of this review, there are currently three volumes available: The Barbaric Warrior, The Barbaric Sorcerer and Barbaric Treasures.
"What is good in life?"
"To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women."
If you wake up in the morning feeling like this, than perhaps The Barbaric Warrior is right up your alley.
For the most part well laid out and attractive, this volume suffers from a problem not seen in the other two. The cover image is slightly blurred and grainy, and inside the document there's a particular font style that's been colored red and used as a header. Text written with this font also seems blurred, and is a bit more difficult to read than other text.* Finally, while the book is long enough that bookmarks would make browsing easier, it is short enough that not having them isn't critical.
The first section of the book starts with an entry about the Knowledge (Nature) skill. From there it jumps directly into feats. Given the theme of the book most, though not all of these are related to combat. Mechanically everything seems well thought out, and stylistically there are several interesting options to help establish a unique fighting style for your mighty-thewed warrior; two-handed power stroke and scalp hunter can lead to hours of fun for the whole family. Feats such as Brawl and Improved Desperate Toss support new material presented in this volume. There are also new combat maneuvers. These are similar to feats, except that they can be performed by anyone who meets the prerequisites. Several options for attack and defense are presented, along with a few maneuvers designed to be used in conjunction with a mount.
The next section features weapons and armor. Of the weapons, I found the expanded attacks for unarmed combat to be the most interesting. Rather than introducing new suits, we're given rules for piecemeal armor; accompanied by descriptions and statistics for a number of individual pieces. It's an interesting system, but it does require a bit of bookkeeping. You have to make note of what pieces are where on the body, along with the weight, damage reduction and other statistics of each piece. On the plus side once you've done all the calculations piecemeal armor is treated as a standard suit; with the exception that each piece can be targeted for a sunder maneuver in the same manner as a shield.
Several new prestige classes are presented. They pass the acid test: they're focused on one specific aspect, and they offer abilities you're not better off just emulating with feats, or by multiclassing. Several of the classes can clearly be paired up. The Horse Lord and Divine Falconer are both revolve around animals. The Hawkeye and Kindred Archer are both masters of ranged combat, but each has their own unique flair. Supplemental material is also provided for some of the classes. The Honor Duelist and Pit Fighter both have new Codes of Honor associated with them; there is also information of dueling societies, and a section given over to pit fighting. The Warrior of Dreams is accompanied by details on lotus addiction. Of all the choices, the Pit Fighter is my least favorite; I've yet to see a d20 of this type (Gladiator, Pit Fighter etc.) that appeals to me.
This book's final section is devoted to the details involved with pit fighting, and there are a lot of details. Rules for determining the amount of a fight's prize is provided, as is a table of modifiers. Details of some of the factors surrounding a fight are discussed. A map and information on an example arena is provided, and this section is topped off by an attractive tournament-tracking chart.
*MIS1005v1B, viewed with Acrobat Reader v6.0.4
LIKED: Good options for any warrior wishing to survive in the rough and tumble Hyborean Age.
DISLIKED: While Conan d20 is an excellent game, I would have liked to see at least a brief appendix with conversion notes for normal d20 Fantasy. The Deep Wilder and Sea Reaver are both limited by area or environment; while perfectly fine classes, I would have liked to see classes that are of more utility in all types of games.
QUALITY: Very Good
VALUE: Satisfied
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