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An Endzeitgeist.com review
The second part of AaW's unconventional take on the Snow-White myth is a whopping 123 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 119 pages of content, so let's take a look, shall we?
This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS, not only for this module, but also for part I - potential players should jump to the conclusion.
Still here? All right - the teleport has gone wrong as far as the PCs are concerned - and according to plan as far as the mastermind of Lumi's kidnapping thinks - the PCs unceremoniously are dumped by the magic in the forest. One very, very cold forest that comes with a whole page summing up environmental dangers before we get into a truly awesome first chapter - an alchemist's notebook, containing notes on 12 pieces of unique flora and fauna that potentially can be found in the haunted forest. Featuring not only interesting descriptions and usages, these pieces are AWESOME and will be added to the ecology of my gaming world - with harvesting DCs, interesting mechanics and even a nodding towards module A5: Winterflower and stats for this, the world's supposedly rarest plan, the chapter kicks off the module with one of the best pieces of supplemental material I've seen in a book for quite some time!
Now I've mentioned that the Haunted Forest is where the PCs are stranded -and hence we also get a rather extensive array of random encounters - which come with their own encounter index, btw., and feature several uncommon creatures seldom seen in modules alongside the more common animals. The exploration of the haunted forest is a welcome change of pace from Part I and manages to evoke a classic feeling of dread regarding the weird forest, making it possible to e.g. insert this module into Midgard's Margreve by maintaining a similar (yet more fairy-taleish) sense of unfamiliarity.
So what can the PCs find inside this haunted forest? Well, let's for example take a sentient, mobile bottomless pit that not only makes for a deadly adversary, but which should require some grey matter on the side of the PCs to best. In a feyglade, the PCs can play a new mini-game, fully detailed, called Kasta, with some fey and find a fey (not Lumi!) in a glass casket. The fey has played a trick on a young girl and his grief over the trick going too far prompted him to eat a fruit that sent him into an eternal coma.
In order to awake said fey and find out about the girl, the PCs will have to brave the maze that the girl's last remaining family has erected to protect her - for her last remaining family is Malthazar, an adopted minotaur pledged to guarding her eternal slumber, awaking her from aforementioned fruit's slumber also awakens the fey and points the PCs towards her former cabin - whether the minotaur still lives or not depending solely on the bloodthirst of your PCs - non-violence might be the more prudent option.
Whether by a secret entry-way hidden near haunted falls and caves, by accident or via the girl, the PCs will sooner or later find a cabin - a cabin which has been studded via creative traps, for the 7 dwarves in this module would make Andrzej Sapkowski's terrorist/guerrilla-fighters proud: Belonging to a cadre of humanoids set against human supremacist attitudes/taxation/colonial claims. Oh, and the 7 dwarves actually include halflings and gnomes here and come with full stats - have I mentioned that they have secured Lumi - who has become sympathetic to their plight- whether in truth or by Stockholm syndrome is up for the DM to decide, while player actions will determine whether a party or combat will ensue. In any way, the attendant queen makes her move with the iconic assault, translated properly into PFRPG-mechanics - using e.g. hallucinatory terrain and similar means to make her quick assault easy to be pulled off - though not foolproof.
And it may very well be one of the PCs that wakes up Lumi - from here on, it's time to decide with which side to ally and how to return to Morsain - there a total of 8 (!!!) varying conclusions depending on the actions of the PCs are possible - though all presume a unpleasant end for Lumi or a heart-broken PC, since potentially getting on the bad side of a prince of Klavek might have massive repercussions, it would be easy for the DM to develop more massive repercussions and thus get a PC into nobility. The queen, meanwhile, may have managed to maintain her charade - and even if she doesn't, she'll still have an excellent array of plan B/escape possibilities - we may have not seen the last of the fully statted witch queen.
The pdf also features a new level 9 spell that allows for cryostasis via Winterflower-components, an appendix that describes the short folk resistance and among the stats, we can also find the full stats of the witch's intelligent dagger.
The final 4 pages of the pdf are devoted to a translation (and a relatively faithful one at that, comparing it with my versions) of the fairy-tale as well as further research links and by now, player-friendly versions of the maps have also been included.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, though not perfect - I noticed a couple of very minor glitches here and there, though none that impeded my ability to understand the content. Layout adheres to AaW's 2-column standard with a printer-friendly background and color-coded boxes for the crunch-components. The pdf is fully bookmarked and comes with links to the respective statblocks. Artwork is mostly thematically fitting stock art and, as almost always, the cartography ranks among the most beautiful you'll find in any given module - this time done by Jonathan Nelson instead of map-guru Todd Gamble, though it's surprisingly up to the insane standard master Gamble has set.
Part I was unconventional and Part II is also an adventure unlike any you've probably run before, featuring a vast array of intriguing locales, things to do, choices to make - and then some, for its modularity and sandboxy freeform-style means that even if taken "only" as a sandbox to scavenge encounters from, this module delivers in spades - each and every encounter has at least one fun, uncommon thing going for it - there is no boring encounter to be found herein. The adversaries act smart, the fluff is stellar and the supplemental material provided is simply the cool icing on the awesome-cake. Yes, I'm going to hit myself for this pun - later. This module is not particularly cheap, but its quality and the sheer guts to do something rather different should imho be rewarded - quality trumps quantity and this module is nothing, if not quality.
For this module, more so than even its direct predecessor, is uncommon - it endeavors to deviate from both what one would expect from the source-material, but also from conventional adventure writing, making this work not only as a module, but also alternatively as a superb sandbox to scavenge fey-style/dark forest weirdness from by the encounter. If you're looking for a wilderness sandbox in a fey forest, then this is an absolute must-have - an actually GOOD wilderness module brimming with ideas, Snow White Part 2 even beats its rather excellent predecessor and hence my final verdict will clock in at easily given 5 stars + seal of approval - Adventureaweek.com's author-team has delivered a thoroughly compelling two-parter and one I wouldn't mind seeing sequels to - "Little Red-Riding Hood, Werewolf Hunter", perhaps?
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 16 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/SRD, 1 page introduction,1 page back cover, leaving us with 12 pages of content, so let's take a look!
The pdf kicks off with rules for chirurgery, which is portrayed as an unpleasant ability to modify bodies in ways they were not meant to be modified in a world where magical healing is the default. Basically, it requires the skill focus (heal)-feat or at least 5 ranks in Craft (alchemy). If you meet either prerequisites, you may learn chirurgical procedures in a way similar to spells - upon learning them, though, you can use them at will. Studying from a book or another practitioner is possible and learning from corpses is harder than from live subjects. The procedures also feature a chance that you learn an imperfect version of the respective procedure, imposing a permanent malus on your check to perform it until you manage a perfect success. These procedures do spend your kits, though. When using the madness-rules used by the Gothic Grimoire-series and first introduced in Tomes of Ancient Knowledge, these procedures might drive a recipient of the chirurgical procedures insane - a rule I suggest you drop when not using these in the context of a fantasy world where magical healing is readily available.
Now how are procedures handled rules-wise? Essentially, 3 skill-checks are required: Disable Device, Craft (Alchemy) and Heal. 3 successful checks mean a complete success, whereas two are a partial success and 1 means a failure - and there is the potential for catastrophic failures as well. Interactions with skill mastery and similar abilities as well as a lack of assistants is covered as well and beyond even that, the respective procedures have an associated synergy-skill that provides a +1 bonus to all skill-checks for every 3 ranks the practitioner has in the respective synergy skill.
A total of 11 such procedures are covered with DC, the amount of days it takes and the amount of healer-kit uses the procedure expends per ongoing day. It should also be noted that there are possibilities to reverse these respective procedures. At the very latest when reading the respective procedures, one realizes that Hippokrates would not smile upon these procedures since they indeed have a very sinister tint to them: Whereas changing the appearance might still be moderately common and neutral (though terrible things can be done with this), implanting phobias and multiple identities of your choice (including a list), enhance non-lethal damage healing, grafting vestigial or functional fins and wings, implanting suggestions, modify memories or erase memories of class abilities and similar tricks via Induce Amnesia, or get REALLY nasty. Want to implant drug reservoirs, lobotomize victims (though the repercussions of this one are not severe enough for my tastes) or even implant instant-kill-switches? Yeah, you can do that. You could of course also use these for healing purposes via the general surgery, but where's the fun in that? "White" surgery to get rid of blindness/deafness, attribute damage and drain etc. are btw. not covered in here - while they wouldn't fit with the theme, I maintain that more procedures in future supplements would help to make the complex subsystem more relevant.
After that, we are introduced to a beautiful full-color one-page artwork of a new grimoire, On the Clockwork of Caterpillars, a grisly tome that includes the procedures featured in this book as well as access to two new feats as well as the pieces of information to create a variety of constructs. The Anatomical Precision-feat allows the character to use his anatomical knowledge to study foes and help criting/sneaking them. Anesthetist allows the user to improve unconsciousness-poisons or use your antidote/healer's hits to ameliorate pain - either fast or slowly.
The final pages of the product are devoted to two new creatures - the first being the Cyberphrenic Tadpole (CR 1/3) that can invade others and telepathically manipulate those invaded by it and relay the creator's commands - like in the Construct Codex, we get a one-page glorious full-color artwork of the critter, easily producible as a hand-out to players. Beyond this, there is the CR 5 Cranial Dissectibot (CR 5) - essentially an operating table with saws etc. that can drill into the skulls of helpless creatures and restrain patients - a perfect companion for mad doctors who don't want the clichéd Igor and rather make their own friends when operating.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to Legendary Games' 2-column, drop-dead-gorgeous full-color standard and the pdf comes in two versions, one slightly more printer-friendly than the other. The pdfs come fully bookmarked and the original pieces of full color artwork are legendary indeed and rank among the finest pieces one can find in any roleplaying product out there.
The Mad Doctor's Formulary provides a complex, yet easy to grasp non-magical system for surgical procedures of the more sinister kind and offers some really nasty options. That being said, they are not perfect. Perhaps due to the brevity or for playability's sake, the potential for relatively simple reversal of the procedures means also that the procedures lack a bit of the gravitas they otherwise would have - catching characters alive is hard enough and being subject to such an operation should have characters steaming and the mad doctor cackling - since the procedures not even require a caster-level check versus the doc's surgical skill to be reversed, they at least in my opinion lose some of their threat-potential and "we're screwed/what have you monster done"-mentality.
There is a second thing you should be aware of when getting this - while the rules presented herein work as a rudimentary alternative to magical healing, this is not the liberating strike for non-magical healing it could have easily been, were this a longer book with benevolent surgery included. While I won't hold that against the pdf, I still feel that this book's potential transcends greatly its rather tight focus.
That being said, for what it is, for its tight focus on disturbing medicine, it works exceedingly well and rating it instead as a book that makes non-magical healing valid is simply not fair. Still, a sense of a missed opportunity, at least for now, suffuses my reception of this otherwise stellar offering and hence my final decision of settling on a verdict of 4.5 stars -still rounded up to 5, but short of the seal of approval. If evil medicine only moderately interests you as a concept, I still wholeheartedly encourage you to check this out.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 6 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 4 pages of content, so let's check this out!
So what does this pdf do? Well, first we get an item creation feat, which allows you to modify a corpse to optimize its performance when it is revived into an undead state. Furthermore, taking this feat allows you to craft three types of corpsehaper tools.
A total of 12 corpseshaper modifications are provided, each coming with 3 versions - lesser, standard and greater. The respective tools are essentially wondrous items that allow modifications to make your undead faster, file their natural attacks into being keen, act as if under haste for one round due to necromantically infused adrenal glands, enforce them with resistance to positive energy, create a mobile construct that shares its ongoing effects with its host undead, create especially perceptive undead or grant fortification to your undead slaves.
You may now also enhance your undead to deal cold damage, enhance the impact of your undead's bludgeoning attacks, grant basic intelligence to non-intelligent undead, give them a one-use negative energy breath weapon or create particularly disturbingly looking servitors.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to Interjection Games' 2-column, elegant b/w-standard and the artworks are fitting stock art. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
This pdf provides poor necromancers finally with some rather cool tools to enhance their servitors - with nasty tricks, nice ideas and overall solid crunch backing cool concepts and disturbing imagery in the writing, I have nothing at all to complain about this pdf apart from the fact that I would have loved to get even more of these tools to modify undead. Hoping for a sequel one day, I'll gladly rate this fairly-priced pdf at 5 stars + seal of approval and will now resume gibbering madly and apply my new tools...
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
The first player faction-offering for the Vathak-setting is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 10 pages of content, so let's take a look!
Player faction? Well, yes, for this is more than an organization - devoted to the Book of Black Earth, an ancient tome of cataclysmic prophecies unearthed from ruins led to genesis of a secret organization - on available for PCs, though personally, I'D rather suggest this ephemeral cabal more as antagonists. But more on that later:
Drawing in a cool professional way on how factions in Golarion are presented, we get the basic faction rules regarding prestige explained to us before we delve into the order's history and rather disturbing indoctrination rituals. A long and concise list of benefits depending on TPA and CPA (total and current prestige awards) are there and offer some intriguing options - amongst other to exchange character traits for the two new faction-specific traits provided in the pdf - both of which come with a nice fluff and mechanics I can't and won't complain about. Suggested classes and 4 new feats are also part of what the order has to offer - including one that allows the user to 3/day cast the message spell as a spell-like ability, but only t contact other order members - a powerful tool for shadowy conspiracies indeed. The feats are solid in presentation and while spells are not in italics, the fluff and ideas make up for this minor shortcoming by oozing flair.
2 new spells also complement this faction, one that deals damage and infects with a more powerful type of Borer Worm (a CR 1 acid-oozing parasite-worm introduced in these pages as well) and a spell that conjures up an area of writhing, shadowy, con-draining tentacles. Aforementioned Borer Worms are also provided equipment style stats and we get one damn cool poison: By extracting tainted earth from the dread pit of decay (a mobile, gory, maw-like appendage that shows itself annualy and is tied to the Old One of the cult), the order may create a potent toxin by mixing the soiled earth with blood. This location is not the only special one sacred to the order - there are also the Worm Ways, hidden and weird tunnels that serve as twisted smuggle-ways. A special celebration, a holiday if you will, the so-called Worm-Solstice is provided as well in a compelling, twisted write-up.
Among the creatures, apart from the Borer Worm, we also get the Crawling putrescence and a sample CR 8 mastermind of the cult.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good - apart from some minor aesthetic glitches like aforementioned italics-bungle I didn't notice any glitch that would have impeded my enjoyment of this pdf. The layout adheres to Vathak's beautiful 2-column standard and the artworks are nice indeed, especially for such an inexpensive publication. On the downside, we don't get any bookmarks, which is a minor bummer.
Wow! Kudos to the Fat Goblins! This pdf for the Vathak setting is not only a great cult for the setting, but for any setting really - DMs seeking to flesh out the Age of Worms or those using Morithal (from Clockwork Gnome Publishing's excellent pdf) should definitely get this as a means to further flesh out the cults. The prestige benefits and iconic locales and rites add further flair to a presentation of a thoroughly twisted cabal that should strike a chord with all DMs that like their fantasy dark and twisted. An enjoyable read for a fair price indeed and well worth 5 stars - me omitting my seal of approval only because of the minor glitches and lack of bookmarks.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This installment of the Village Backdrop-series is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page advertisement, 2 pages of editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword, 1 page advice on how to read statblocks for novice DMs, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 5 pages of content, so let's take a look!
Hosford is the second village located in the FREE Lonely Coast mini-campaign-setting by Raging Swan Press, which I'd wholeheartedly recommend you check out - I never regretted downloading that one.
Location-wise, Hosford lies between the village of Swallowfeld (also available) and the as-of-yet not covered town of Wolverton, the largest settlement of the lonely coast.
Hosford once sported a mine, but careless digging (or something less savory) saw the mine collapse and create a cove, which created a natural harbor for the now thriving fishing industry - not all is well in the little town, though, since recently a couple of villagers have gone missing without a trace. A sense of palpable fear has prompted the villagers to act and appoint a rogue (investigator) (with full stats) as reeve to get to the bottom of the weird disappearances - and while the pdf gives you the culprit (again, with full statblock), I won't spoil the reasons for the disappearances or the true culprit here - you'll have to get the book yourself in order to find that out.
Beyond these recent disappearances, we get a full settlement statblock, a list of notable folk and notable locations in the village, a selection of magic items for sale in town and, of course, village lore and 6 rumors. Beyond that, the pdf also provides multiple write-ups of the respective locales, 6 events to spring upon your PCs and information on local nomenclature, dressing-habits and the law.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RSP's 2-clumn b/w-standard and the pdf comes in 2 versions, one optimized for print and one for screen-use. Both are extensively bookmarked. It should be noted that the beautiful b/w-map of the village can be downloaded as a web-enhancement sans the annoying map-key on Raging Swan Press' homepage, something I'd suggest you do.
This village backdrop has probably the most ingrained adventure cut out of any village backdrop I've seen so far - all the pieces are in place and it requires at best a moderately talented DM to craft a nice short investigation from the content provided herein - one that does not sport a traditional villain and where the distinction between what's right and wrong and the culprit's peculiar situation mean that the PCs will have, if you so choose, a moral dilemma at their hands. If you so choose, that is - the component can be downplayed easily or just dropped alltogether if you happen to have other plans.
All in all, Hosford is a great locale with a stunning, uncommon layout and map and some expert-writing to back it up - one of the best installments in the series so far and one well-deserving of a final verdict of 5 stars + seal of approval. Congratulations to author John Bennett!
Endzeitgeist out.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Thank you very much for this review. I'm delighted you enjoyed this village so much! |
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 4 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 2 pages of content, so let's take a look at what new tools the Vishkanya get!
We kick this pdf off via 4 new racial feats:
-Blowgun Spittle: Add your natural poison to blowgun darts as part of shooting it. Great way of making the otherwise rather weak weapon shine more.
-Caustic Poison: When a foe takes ability damage from your poison, s/he also takes 1 point of acid damage. Too weak for the investment of a feat, imho and more in line with a trait/alternate racial trait.
-Serpernt's Slink: Count as one size smaller for purpose of determining stealth-bonuses. Somewhat of a lost opportunity there: The feat would be even cooler if the Vishkanya could actually hide in spaces only accommodating smaller species, but that might be just my idea and won't fracture into the final verdict.
-Venom Sense: Detect Poison 1/hour as a spell-like ability at HD caster level.
The 4 new traits make you more resilient versus fascination, 1/day net you Spell Focus (enchantment) or (illusion) (but only for spells with material and somatic components, respectively - which is a great design-choice to limit traits and keep them still relevant) and make it easier for you to antagonize others.
The two alternate racial traits allow you to be scintillating and thus more beautiful (bonus to social skills), but also makes disguising yourself harder, whereas the second allows for a very cool faster escape from bonds - this one really drives the race's flair home. Neat!
This installment's archetype is the Venomous Disciple for the Monk, who combines monkish discipline with sleeping venom and Adder Strike as potential bonus feats and may opt to create poison that can affect creatures immune to poison - but balances this with the DC requiring to surpass the target creature's SR - an uncommon and cool mechanic. At higher levels, these monks may purge poisons and absorb poisons from others and at high levels make their toxins lethal on a secondary save. Two thumbs up for this neat archetype - the so far best take on the serpentine monk I've seen so far!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to Abandoned Arts' no-frills two-column standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
This installment of the Amazing Races-series is one of the better ones - from a compelling archetype, cool feats, an interesting trait-mechanic, this is definitely a pdf I'd also recommend to DMs who want to add some additional oomph to reptile/serpentine foes beyond the obvious target audience of Vishkanya-players. While not all individual pieces are awesome, I'll still gladly settle on a final verdict of 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This installment of the Treasures of NeoExodus-series is 5 pages long, 1 page editorial/SRD, leaving us with 4 pages of content, so let's take a look, shall we?
When a great warrior and his best druid friend were stranded on an island and the foolishness of said warrior cost the life of said friend, the legend of grasscutter was born - a blade of wood, by now infused with the intelligence of a guardian spirit that has since become a legend. Rules-wise, the blade is a +1 club - unless wielded by a fighter, in which case it turns into a +2 impervious keen longsword of speed that compels its wielder to never use another weapon again. Rather cool: If you happen to belong to the great swordsman's bloodline, you may call upon the blade's guardian spirit that functions like a summoner's eidolon.
Full stats for said guardian spirit are provided as well, though sans a CR. The pdf also features item-cards.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any significant glitches this time around. Layout adheres to LPJr Design's drop-dead-gorgeous full-color two-column standard and the pdf comes with a second, more printer-friendly version. The artwork for the weapon is, as always in the series, beautiful. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
Coming with a compelling, yet not brilliant story and solid rules, Grasscutter is a great blade that is further enhanced by the guardian spirit and his stats - the one thing I would have loved to see how this item and it's eidolon influence the CR of NPCs. Apart from this - nothing to complain about. Final verdict: 5 stars, just slightly short of the seal of approval.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 5 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 2 pages of content, so what do we get?
If you do have the Supporting Roles: Tinker-pdf by Amora Games, you'll know the Breaker already - this PrC is essentially an excerpt of said parent-pdf
The Breaker gets d10, 2+Int skills per level, full BAB-progression and 1/2 fort and ref-saves. The class's idea is that of a more melee-focused tinker and its design shows, providing a controlled form of rage similar to the one of the barbarian, netting +4 to Str, Dex or Con, splitting them as he deems fit for 4+Con-mod rounds.
They may also use intimidating boasts and single out opponents, which they may charge dealing additional damage. As a cool synergy of abilities, foes targeted by their intimidating boasts cannot execute AoOs versus the Breaker. The breaker may 1/day charge a foe within sight as a swift action, dealing additional damage.
The Backswing Push-ability, which allows the breaker to make an additional attack at his/her highest BAB to push foes 5 ft. (10 on a crit) without said movement enforcing AoOs. The Hit and Run-feature is also interesting, allowing the breaker as a full round action to move up to his movement rate and make a full attack action for a -2 AC. That one is rather powerful.
When missing foes with their attacks, breakers may also make a sunder-attempt as an AoO 1/round and follow up with a 5-foot step towards or around the opponents. Finally, at 10th level, the Breaker may divide weapon damage and edifice recognition damage between the sundered weapon and the foe wielding it.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres toa 2-column full-color standard that is relatively printer-friendly and the pdf comes without bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
While you obviously don't need this pdf if you already own the parent-pdf, the Breaker remains an interesting sunder-focused PrC with some powerful, unique non-magical abilities to supplement the class. The PrC is solid and there's nothing particularly wrong with it - hence, I'll settle on a final verdict of a solid 4 star-rating.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 34 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page hyperlinked ToC, 1 page SRD, leaving us with a whopping 31 pages of content, so let's take a look!
So, what's up with the Tinker-class? He gets d8, 4+Int skills per level, proficiency with simple weapons, light armor and shields, 3/4 BAB-progression, good ref-saves - and that's where the basic components stop. Tinkers get access to so-called inventions. In order to use inventions, a tinker needs an int-score of 10+ the invention level. In contrast to spell-DCs, DCs, when applicable, for inventions, are 10 +1/2 class level + Int-mod.
Tinkers also get 1+Int/3 blueprints and each blueprint and each blueprint contains class level times build pool points, with 5th level and every 5 levels after that offering an additional blueprint beyond those granted by the Int-score formula. The tinker can deploy automatons 1/day/level.
Beyond that, the Tinker gets an invention-book, which is somewhat akin to a wizard-book in how it works regarding copying from it etc. Tinkers start with 3+Int mod inventions at first level and get +2 inventions per level, of any available level - for depending on the level of the tinker, inventions of up to 6th level are available. Scribing these for other tinkers to use also works akin to scribing scrolls. But that's where the similarities with spellcasting ends.
Tinkers also create so-called automatons, at 1st level he creates the first and then at 7th and 13th level additional automatons. These automatons can be directed via (Surprise!) so-called Directives, which can be deciphered via Spellcraft. A total of 8 directives from attacks to support and idle and following is covered and issuing these directives is a standard action, but shutting these automatons down to an idle state is a free action. Automatons get up to 7 HD (at 20th level, though information for further progression is present) and may at this Tinker-level, have +2 saves , Str and Dex 14 (starting off with 10) and 47 HP. Automatons are created much like spells are prepared
At 4th level, the Tinker also gets a special automaton, the Alpha, who may use untrained skills in contrast to regular automatons and which may actually make its own decisions, including AoOs. Alphas may get up to 12 HD (again, with information to transcend the 20th level cap, if need be), up to +4 to saves, Str and Dex of up to 20 (starting at 12) and 90 HP as well as feats on every third HD. At higher levels, the Alpha may issue directives autonomously and at 19th level, even temporarily replace the tinker's abilities in commanding his/her automatons while s/he is incapacitated. Also, in contrast to losing automatons, losing an alpha s actually penalized, costing the Tinker quite an array of GP to rebuild his crowning achievement, should it ever be destroyed.
Abilities? Yes - for when looking just at the basic table, the automatons are WEAK. Which is by design - from the 1st level on, the automatons get the tinker's BAB as an insight bonus to atk, AC and CMD and may use the tinker's BAB to calculate their CMB and additionally may add their creator's saving throws as insight bonuses to their ridiculously low own - but only when within 30 ft. of the Tinker, 60 ft. at 9th level. This is an interesting balancing take indeed, as it makes the automatons and creations much more susceptible to being destroyed when sent on errands and used haphazardly and provides a nice rules-justification for the tinker to actually maintain proximity to his creations and not use them (exclusively) as expendable trap/ambush-bait.
Of course, bonuses to crafting, as were to be expected, are also part of a tinker's array, as is a rather cool idea - at 11th level, the tinker essentially gets a swarm of nanite-style constructs that can act as a mage hand and comes with 3 charges that allow the swarm to use fabricate once per charge. Starting at 14th level, tinkers may use disintegration via their swarm on living targets, fabricating duplicates of their dissolved bodies and later even break down walls of force and similar magical effects.
Additionally, at 2nd level and every 4 levels after that, the tinker learns an innovation and at 5th, 10th and 15th a greater innovation. Unless I have miscounted, tinkers may select from a total of 21 innovations to add to their automatons - and they are interesting indeed: For example, you may opt to grant your Alpha +2 to Str and Dex and +1 HD at the cost of one less regular automaton deployed at any given time, enhance the range in which your Alpha benefits from your Master's aura, add a charge to your swarm's charge pool etc. or increase the durability of your constructs, available blueprints or an addition invention with a limited build pool for your Alpha - permanently - unless you take a second innovation, that is. There are also innovations here that allow you to make your automatons capable of aiding others and one to make your automatons go kamikaze in a limited radius. Among the Greater Innovations, we get the options to rebuild your Alpha from scratch, enhance the physical prowess of your constructs and swap out deployed automatons 3/day with other blueprints you may have prepared. I have already mentioned the option to create massive, over-sized automatons or deploy your swarm not as a spell-like non-magical ability, but as a type of swarm-automaton. It should also be noted, that a certain innovation, designer, is required to get access to certain inventions, so you might want to fracture that into your contemplations.
The class comes with favored class options for the core-races as well as 4 new feats, one of which nets you an extra innovations. One lets you give directives as if a tinker/command unsupervised other automatons, retaliate for the destruction of your automatons or (and that one is AWESOME), share your teamwork feat as a swift action with your automatons.
The pdf also features inventions - vast, vast arrays of inventions. Inventions span 6 levels and the maximum available level of invention is based on tinker-level. Beyond this straight balancing, the respective inventions also have build pool point-costs ranging from 1 to 4, acting as a second means of balancing the respective inventions for the respective automaton-builds your tinker may devise. They come with a nice, concise list that provides you an overview and spans multiple pages (yes, that many inventions!) as well as prerequisites, when applicable.
And oh boy - they are rather versatile: From allowing your automatons to make the total defense action or repair oneself, reload ranged weapons etc. Supplies etc. need to be replenished and even riding the automaton via saddles becomes possible, as is the option to add catapults to hurl flasks. Have an alchemist-buddy? Well, your automaton can act as a minelayer, apply poisons, inject multiple potions at once or create a static shield of electricity that surrounds the automaton - which is btw. massively upgradeable. Have I mentioned the glorious one that lets the invention of a high-level pugilist move up to its speed and trip and sunder everything in its path 1/day, combinable with other inventions for even more pain and insult to injury?
The pdf also provides us a short FAQ as well as some sample invention-progressions.
As I'm seeing myself often complaining about the lack of support for 3pp-classes, sometimes in their very own books, this massive array of customization options is a joy to behold and makes for some massive options.
Have I mentioned the three exceedingly cool capstone abilities?
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any significant glitches or typos while reading this pdf. Layout adheres to Interjection Games' elegant 2-column b/w-standard and sports some nice, thematically fitting b/w-artworks. The pdf is fully bookmarked for your convenience, though not with nested bookmarks.
These are good days to review classes, it seems. I'm quite impressed with this tinker - author Bradley Crouch has created a delightfully complex class with multiple checks and balances that does some actually UNIQUE things - it's not just an alternate summoner or akin to the machinesmith - it gloriously does something different and shows that is a labor of love, oozing excellent ideas and allowing a staggering array of customization options for your perusal.
One minor gripe I have would be that inventions that net proficiencies are supposed to net the respective items as well - something I consider slightly problematic in games where the money is tight - requiring the tinker to provide at least one base weapon (e.g. one bastard sword that can be used again if the automaton is destroyed) to be integrated into an automaton might be more prudent for certain groups, though I can see that being best house-ruled.
Let's do the run-though, shall we? All in all, we get a VERY complex class with options galore, something to tinker with and create, a class that does not just copy existing builds but dares to do things differently. It's funny, really - after Purple Duck Games' Covenant Magic, I did not expect to soon give ANY class such a good verdict - the offering just upped the ante that far. But this tinker here actually manages to climb to the highest echelons with a combination of great fluff, nice humor and most of all: Solid crunch galore. Reviewing it was a nightmare, though - it's been ages since I had to do this much math to check for average damage etc. - mind you, the implementation when playing/building works much easier, though. While the first iteration suffered from some oversights, these have by now been mostly rectified and thus I feel justified in rating this 5 stars + seal of approval - well worth your money and definitely an advanced class that feels very unique and exciting.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 23 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page advertisement, 2 pages editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 16 pages of content, so let's take a look!
First: Read the foreword - after that, we're in for a table that features modifiers for available settlement lore by size, a d8-table to determine the category of rumour gleaned and a table of miscellaneous lore-modifiers when gathering information. After that, we kick off this pdf with 4 different rumormongers, i.e. short fluffy descriptions of the characters that include mannerisms, hooks etc., but not statblocks. Nice indeed!
The first table, ranging from -11 (possible via locations/modifiers) to 29, we get a massive list of rumors related to free booters and adventurers, including snakeoil salesmen and adventurer-parties and even half-fiendish pilgrims redeemed. (Though rumors describing a group as "fiendish-looking" is not one I'd use, preferring euphemisms...)
The next massive table, covering Events & Festivals from -11 to 29 is next and I LOVE it - "Every day is all souls night here, my friend." -That's one entry. Chilling! Awesome! Monthly town meetings, soothsayer traditions, days devoted to local saints, lotteries - this table is GLORIOUS.
The table on legends & lore, again covering this many entries, kicks off with a rather lam "This land is cursed"-rambling, but goes on to become much better, telling local stories of famous grand-fathers, apothecaries selling narcotics to an elite clientele or exciting us with the mystery of a missing bronze statue.
Of course, a massive table containing gossip on lords and ladies - new wings for mansions, scandalous behavior and secret tunnels as well as art competitions are all over the place - in a good way. Where the high and mighty get their table, so do the scum & lowlifes, providing rumors for the less prestigious and shady facets of life before we delve into yet another massive table on rumors, this time dealing with magic and wonders, mentioning a wide variety of items and spells, like an e.g. hidden universal solvent bottle, an option to complete the research of a mad wizard to create the new Troglodyte Stench-spell and there's also a nice little new cantrip.
The final table covers marauders and dangers - goblin armies as well as escaped convicts that had their gallows burst into flames should make for cool hooks - including an easteregg tying e.g. rumor to the Brethren of the Crimson Altar. Nice!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RSP's 2-column, printer-friendly 2-column-b/w-standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked and in two versions, one optimized for screen-use and one for print.
Eureka! Raging Swan has with this first offering a VERY HOT iron in the works - Landon Bellavia's collection of whispers and rumors not only brings inspiration galore and hooks in abundance, but can add depth and a sense of organic feeling to any campaign - these tables are varied, useful and a godsend of details for any DM. Useful and oh so nice, this series, if its first release is any indicator, has the potential to become one of my favorite ones yet - superbly useful, nice and all-out awesome, I'll happily rate this 5 stars + seal of approval and heartily recommend it to any DM seeking to add a little spice to his/her campaign.
Endzeitgeist out.
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Publisher Reply: |
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I'm delighted you enjoyed Whispers & Rumours. Rest assured there are more in the pipeline! |
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 4 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 2 pages of content, so let's take a look at what new tools the Oread get!
The pdf kicks off with 3 new feats:
-Blood like Mud: Halve bleed damage you receive to a minimum of 1.
-Grip of Granite: As an immediate action, gain natural armor bonus to atk to one unarmed attack for 1 round.
-Volcanic Temper: When dealing acid or fire damage via elemental rage, you can choose the lesser elemental rage to deal acid or fire damage con-mod times per day in addition to the elemental rage power, but it needs to be a different energy than the one of the elemental rage power. I like specific feats like that that expand some of the more specific class options, though the wording of that one could be slightly tighter..
Oreads may also choose from 3 new traits:
-Sentinel of Stone: +1 to initiative and perception and when initiative is tied, you act first.
-Stoenbreaker: Ignore 1 point of hardness.
-Strength of Earth: +2 Hp.
Racial trait-wise, Oreads may get +2 to checks overcoming caster level checks as well as substitute earth for inexpensive material components or gain stone cunning.
The racial archetype provided for the Oread surprised me - we get the Alchemical Geologist, an alchemist archetype who may grow crystalline bombs that always deal half piercing damage and may plate themselves in crystalline armor, camouflage fleshgems and lichen and improve their crystalline plating with their mutagens. A nice, uncommon alchemist archetype.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to Abandoned Arts' no-frills two-column standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
While neither feats, traits or alternate racial traits really blew me away, I did quite enjoy the racial archetype, leaving us with a solid, nice little offering at a fair price. Hence, my final verdict will clock in at 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 11 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page advertisement, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 6 pages of content, so let's take a look!
Arborlings as a species are humanoid plants. They get +2 Con and Wis, -2 Dex, have the arborling subtype, low-light vision, +2 to Knowledge (Nature) and Survival, +2 to saves vs. mind-affecting spells and effects, paralysis, polymorph, stunning and fatigue/exhaustion-effects, +4 versus bull rush and trip when on at least two inch of soil, a non-proficient slam attack at 1d4 and take 1 point constitution damage per day sans 2 hours of sunlight - polar nights and the underdark are not places for arborlings. At 9th level, they grow to large size, including +2 to Str and natural armor and -2 to Dex.
They come with 6 alternate racial traits that include a +8 stealth in forested areas, dealing piercing damage with slam attacks, +2 to heal and sense motive instead of their regular skill bonuses, alternate attribute-modifiers (+2 Dex and Wis, -2 Str, at 9th level +2 Int, Wis or Cha), subterranean, non-sunlight dependant arborlings that are dazzled by light and +1 natural armor bonus.
They also come with favored class options for barbarian, bard, druid, fighter, oracle, Ranger and Witch-classes as well as the Root-bonded witch archetype that gets a topiary familiar, plat form, 2 new hexes, 1 new major hex and 1 grand hex - all plant-themed. E.g. expand your reach by 5 foot, animate plants to make terrain difficult or make roots grow from the soles of your victims - disturbing!
3 new alchemical items allow arborlings to enhance their bark, provide oxygen or seek water. 4 new feats are included as well:
-Branched Fighter: Proficiency with slam and make it count as off-hand when dual-fighting. Nettled arborlings increase damage-dice.
-Improved Branched Fighter: +1 slam attack.
-Lightning Rod: Attract electricity effects.
-Treespeaker: 1/day speak with plants.
On the magical item front, they may engrave glyphs upon their own bark or other plant creatures as per scribe scroll and there is also the new anywood, which can be shaped into just about anything imaginable from wood - a kind of malleable material.
The final page deals with 3 new spells especially suitable for arborlings - bladed leaves for plants, provide 4 hours of rest or attack foes with sprays of needles.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to an easy-to-read two-column full color standard and the full color artworks are nice indeed. The pdf comes in two versions, one art-free and more printer-friendly and are both fully bookmarked. The pdf is extensively hyperlinked to d20pfsrd.com for your convenience.
So. Mike Welham delivers a solidly-crafted plant-race. Yet another one. After Alluria Publishing's Oaklings, Rite Publishing's Mandragorans, LPJr Design's Dalreans, Headless Hydra Games' Gaiants and Purple Duck Games' Xhesa or Jon Brazer Enterprises' excellent Seedlings. And while the race per se is well-crafted, it can't hold a torch fluff-wise to the great Seedlings, the weird Xhesa or the fully campaign-setting integrated Mandragorans or Dalreans. Add to that the race lacks the crucial age, height and weight-tables and quite frankly, I'm left with a race that lacks the reason to be integrated into my campaign - society, structure, everything is simply not compelling, not unique enough to stand out among all the other plant races and especially the Seedlings, Xhesa, Mandragorans and Dalreans mop the floor with the arborlings since they all are more distinct, feel more interesting than the arborlings.
Hence, while solidly crafted, I can't really recommend this race, in spite of its virtues - my final verdict will reflect this at a final verdict of 3 stars.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
The latest installment of Rite Publishing’s FREE E-Zine Pathways is 41 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page ToC, 10 pages advertisement, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 28 pages of content, so let’s take a look!
After David Paul’s editorial, in which we get an inside glimpse at the things to come from RiP, we delve into this issue’s template by Steven D. Russell, the despiser creature, which clocks in at CR +2 and boy is this template EVIL: Geared towards planar weirdness, despiser creatures are essentially harbingers of madness and doom – they have a madness-inducing aura (including a new type of madness), can fold space and teleport others offensively into solid objects and also get a gaze attack that makes those meeting it suicidal. Worse yet, these creatures are nigh indestructable, rejuvenating unless killed in a rather cool and specific manner that makes them prime candidates for recurring villains. I love this template – even more so due to the cool CR 11 sample creature and Dallas William’s awesome artwork.
Raging Swan Press’ mastermind Creighton Broadhurst has two fully statted mysterious travelers to drop into your game – a doppelgänger-spy and an aasimar-bard (At CR 6 and 4, respectively), providing hooks, background and mannerisms as well – A cool article to supplement modules, travels or simply scavenge the statblocks.
And then, Steven D. Russell gets EVIL. You might know I consider the Joker to be the coolest villain EVER and that I considered Stephen King’s “It” at the tender age of 12 once a thoroughly disturbing book. The Blood Bayou’s Jack of Tears still features in EVERY ONE of my campaigns. Well, there’s no a rejuvenating whole damn species of this kind – Demon Clowns. At CR 20. When I first read this, I started laughing maniacally – acidic flower squirts, suffocating pies, shocking grips – and nigh indestructibility in the vein of liches. Yes, please, especially when supplemented by the 4 monster feats the build uses!
Next up is a preview of May’s upcoming 101 Variant Monsters-book in which classic creatures are modified in rather unique ways – take a peek, for I know it got me anticipatory regarding the release.
This issue’s interview is with Sneak Attack Press’ Matthew J. Hanson, who brought us not only the ennie-nominated, superbly useful Terrain Toolbox, but who is also busy crunching away at the Broken Earth post-apocalyptic sandbox he successfully kickstarted – upon release it might just be the thing Warlords of the Apocalypse-fans might use as a first module…
The issue closes with a massive array of different reviews of some of the finest pdfs out there by Megan Robertson and yours truly.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn’t notice any significant glitches, though the formatting of the reviews could be a bit better – there are a lot of textblocks and one highlighted sentence (in the puppetmaster-review) doesn’t make that much sense to me. Layout adheres to RiP’s 2-column full color standard, and as mentioned, I really like the cover artwork. The magazine also comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.
This issue of Pathways hits the nail on the head for me – whether it’s the demonic clowns or the template – I really, really like the twisted, evil glee the creatures evoke and the other articles don’t fall behind in quality. Since this pdf is FREE, I can only urge you to download it, read it and cackle with glee at the twisted prospects this issue offers. That being said, it’s a very creature/NPC-centric issue with no article useful for players, so that’s a minor detriment, but none that would make me deviate from a final verdict of 5 stars – well worth the space on your HD.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This installment of the Dungeon Dressing-series is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover,1 page advertisement, 2 pages editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword,1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 6 pages of content, so let us take a look, shall we?
As with many installments of the dungeon dressing-series, we kick this one off with an array of basic stats that provide us with hardness, AC, HP etc. of varying types of portcullises, covering this time around even adamantine, mithril, stone and similar exotic materials as well as the more common wooden versions. Oh, and necromancers will want to take a look at those made of bone. Further modification of these basic characteristics is possible via 5 conditions and 3 mechanisms,rope/chain pulleys, the winch and the weight-based mechanism to lower and raise them.
So far, so good, let’s look at the tables! Unless I miscounted, we get 46 entries on the first table and includes basic twinned portcullises, surrounding dressings in the shape of demonic maws and even being made of magnetic ore (which is twisted and a VERY cool idea) – there are also portcullises made from mildly poisonous tropical wood and some additionally secured with bolts. While some of the dressings are cosmetic, e.g. said bolts actually modify the portcullises rules and thus make them more versatile also on a mechanic side.
The second table of the pdf provides us with a full array of 100 different entries that cover being half open, dripping with ooze-like substances or being rusted into place. Again, the massive amount of entries here and there features entries that influence the respective rules.
The final two pages are devoted to 3 sample traps involving portcullises – from teh CR 4 basic falling portcullis to ones that also topple (whether by intention or neglect) as well as a deadly CR 15 portcullis that has the spirit of a banshee (!!) bound to it – with deadly consequences. It should be noted that we get these via multi-rounds effects, variants and an extremely handy sidebar that covers being attacked by a portcullis depending on size – can the hardy dfwarf survive being squashed by it?
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch as we’ve come to expect from RSP, I didn’t notice a single glitch. Layout adheres to RSP’s elegant 2-column b/w-standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked and in two versions, one optimized for screen use and one to be printed out.
Portcullises are one of the most underused features in any roleplaying-game fortress and dungeon – they are iconic and foreboding and provide some nasty tactical advantages when used properly. Hence, I was rather glad to see this particular installment of the line come out and what can I say – author Aaron Bailey delivers with a great installment that should have you all covered regarding teh defenses of your structures. One of the finest installments before RSP made it free – and even FOR FREE NOW??? An easy, no-brainer candidate for 5 stars + seal of approval – congrats to the author!
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This free pdf is 7 pages long, 1/2 page editorial/logo, 2 pages SRD, leaving us with 4 1/2 pages of content, so what do we exactly get?
Well, we get one short encounter for EL 1, which is based on a hilarious assumption – set in the seeding season, a generic village (with statblock) has had its local doom-spouting madmen tell of a vision of dread horned ones and scales. No horror to be found, though – in fact, a bunch of goatmen herding flying koi (!!!)via specialized fish-whistles (!!) are just en route towards a place where they can sell their animals. Unfortunately, said fish are ravenous and would spell doom for the upcoming harvest as the fish’s path would scour the seeds of the future harvest. It’s up to the PCs to negotiate a solution for both factions and avert hostilities.
The product also features full stats for the doom-sayer, the town’s cleric, the goatmen and their flying koi as well as 5 low-level spells to help herding animals. We also get racial characteristics for the goatmen.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn’t notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to PDG’s printer-friendly 2-column standard and the b/w-artwork is nice. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length, but comes with hyperlinks for your convenience.
This encounter is weird in all the right ways and especially when used to foreshadow fey hijinxs or just change the tone after a particularly depressing/dark adventure, this weird encounter will provide quite some enjoyment – for diddly-squat! As a FREE offering that features some neat, far-out ideas, I’ll gladly rate this 5 stars + seal of approval – well worth your bandwidth and HD-space!
Endzeitgeist out.
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