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This pdf is 30 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 2 pages of advertisement, leaving us with 10 pages of content, so let's take a look!
Manuals - from bonuses to attributes to unique abilities, they are an often coveted item - and yet one that is not that represented among supplements. This pdf aims to change that - framed by the trademark, nice narration we've come to expect from Rite Publishing supplements, this pdf provides us with new manuals to grant permanent benefits to the readers - but only once per manual.
The respective manuals feature the market prices, requirements for constructing the respective books as well as a short description how the respective book looks like. Now, beyond offering 30 manuals, we actually get 3 variants for the respective manuals, totaling 90 manuals - elementary, advanced and expert versions, all with different results. Each manual requires a set amount of hours of study over the course of a limited amount of days to gain the respective book's benefits.
It should furthermore be mentioned, that the respective manuals offer sometimes multiple benefits: Take for example the rather basic "Being Comfortable in your Armor"-series of manuals: Studying the book nets you light, medium or heavy armor proficiency respectively. If, however, you already are proficient with the respective class of armor covered by the manual, you'll increase your max dex bonus by +1 (light armor)to +3 (heavy armor) reduce armor check penalty by 1 to 3 to a minimum of -1 as well as decrease arcane spell failure chance for the respective class of armors by 5% per class of manual - the one on heavy armor reduces the spell failure chance in heavy armor by 15%.
Not all books are linear progressions of benefits, though: Oracles may want to study "Answers to Universal Enigmas" - the book requires you to have a certain amount of oracle-levels. The elementary version nets you 1 skill rank in two skills of the oracle's mystery-list, whereas the advanced version of the manual makes the oracle count as +1 level with regards to two of his/her revelations. The expert version of the book grants an additional revelation and the option to cast 2 spells from his/her bonus spell list 1/day.
Channeling energy, knowledge, weapon proficiencies, bombs, favored enemies, disguising, raging, unarmed strikes, diplomacy, acrobatics, perception, wizardly spellcasting, improved summoning, stealth and bardic performance, sleight of hand, movement rate, teamwork, domain powers, druidic casting & knowledge nature, improvised weapons, sorceror bloodlines, witch hexes, sneak attack, survival and using magical devices make up the topics for the other manuals herein, just to give you an impression whether the topics relevant to your interests are covered.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to RiP's 2-column b/w rune-covered standard and the pdf features stock-b/w-artwork that does its job. The pdf is fully bookmarked.
Mike Welham delivers a great, useful little supplement and one that begs for a sequel - after all magi, gunslingers, samurai, ninjas or renegade classes could benefit as well from manuals like this. That being said, one minor gripe I have with this pdf would be that here and there the writing could be slightly more concise: Take aforementioned example of armor-proficiency granting manuals, which includes the sentence "If the character already has this feat, he increases his maximum Dex bonus by 1, reduces his armor check penalty by 1 (to a minimum of -1), and reduces his spell failure chance by 5% when wearing light armor." (pg. 3) While it is clear that the maximum dex-bonus allowed by the armor is meant, it could be misread as granting a +1 to dex-bonuses in general. Nitpicky, yes, but I I encountered minor ambiguities like this here and there, which remains my only true gripe with this pdf - content-wise and rules-wise, this supplement is solid and thus, I will settle for a final verdict of 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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This installment of the Psionic Bestiary-series is 5 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving 2 pages of content, 1 per creature. So what are these creatures exactly?
The CR 5 Dredge is a cool idea - a psychokinetic ooze that may launch itself over quite some distances at prey and leach power points from those it tries to consume.
The CR 10 Mind-numb Swarm, spawned from idle thoughts and lost concentration, is simply brilliant, though: Not only does it feature an illusory burn-quality, it also emits a cacophonous, deafening aura that hampers concentration and may actually regain hp if adversaries lose concentration. Awesome concept and cool critter!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to a no-frills two-column b/w-standard and the original b/w-artworks are nice. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
This installment of the Psionic Bestiary-series provides us with two nice, cool and unique creatures for a low price - seeing that I like both creatures in both concept and execution, I have nothing to complain and will thus gladly settle for a final verdict of 5 stars + seal of approval - these critters are worth their asking price.
Endzeitgeist out.
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The latest issue of the 100% Crunch-series does many things different from its predecessors and clocks in at 23 pages, with 1 page front cover, 1 page advertisement, 2 pages editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword, 1 page how-to-read-statblocks for new DMs, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 15 pages of content, so let's take a look!
As with all 100% Crunch-pdfs, we get a table of the CRs and statblocks in the beginning - that's, though, where the similarities end: Whereas until now the series has dealt with undead and templates, this one deals with a type of humanoid, namely goblins. Which is great timing-wise, since the new campaign I will kick off these days will actually feature a LOT of goblins in the low-levels. That being said, what exactly do we get here?
Beyond basic goblin racial traits, we kick off with goblin children and females at CR 1/4 and CR 1/3 respectively, with experts and warriors making up the basic rank-and-file soldiers at CR 1/3. The goblin cleric provided has access to the trickery and evil domains. Now if you didn't like the fact that the Rise of the Runelords anniversary edition changed goblin battledancers from warrior/experts to bards, then you're in luck, for this pdf actually provides a statblock that is a direct translation of this classic build to PFRPG. Goblin Drummers make use of the savage skald archetype and while the rank and file creatures usually use warrior and expert-levels for their build, there also are progressions of PC-classes - skirmishers use e.g. the mobile fighter-archetype, whereas sorceror-builds use the shadow bloodline.
Goblin cavalry (roughriders) are part of the deal as well in multiple CR-regions. Druids get two different builds in here, with the wolf shaman (including animal companion!) and cave druid offering different foci on druidic magic. Now we also get a goblin two-handed fighter, barbarian and ranger builts, a poisoner/fighter multiclass (nice one!) and also what I'd call the goblin-abomination-build (after its highest CR-member): The Half-fiendish goblin antipaladin! Have I mentioned the goblin sniper as well? The CRs span the regions from CR 1/4 to CR 5.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch as I've come to expect from Raging Swan press. Layout adheres to RSP's no-frills, crisp 2-column b/w-standard and the two b/w-artworks, while I've seen them before, are neat indeed. The pdf comes fully bookmarked and in two versions, one optimized for the printer and one optimized for screen-use.
All right, you'll probably think, here we go again - the obligatory array of complaints regarding class diversity... No, not this time. Why? Well, every gobbo knows that writing steals words, so wizards, magi and clerics would be rather weird. Gobbo paladins, inquisitors, monks and cavaliers would be downright weird and gunslinger goblins would probably just blow themselves up. This severely limits what kind of classes one can expect from this pdf - and while I would have loved to see an oracle, a witch or a summoner in here (perhaps as alternate chieftains at the higher levels?), the builds per se are surprisingly varied. When I heard about the series being more tightly focused in future installments, I feared for the worst, but the amount of thematically-fitting archetypes and multiclass-progressions in this pdf somewhat alleviates my concerns - especially the antipaladin-builts are a delight and seeing actual animal companions feature in the book is neat indeed as well. That being said, I still would have loved to see an insane goblin- oracle or a twisted goblin summoner in these pages. Still, for what it offers, it is a nice addition to the line, with not much to complain about - my final verdict will reflect this and clock in at 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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All right, you know the drill - 3 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/SRD, 1 page content - this time detailing 10 new feats of dexterity!
-Aquatic Acrobatics: Make swim-check in lieu of acrobatics-checks to move through occupies squares or in and out of them while submerged in water. Also upgrades evasion to improved evasion when submerged in water. I'm not a big fan of skill-substitution-feats and this is one of them. Not my cup of coffee.
-Backstabber: As long as you're flanking an opponent, you gain a bonus to crit-confirmation-rolls equal to the amount of sneak attack-dice you have.
-Improved Mobility: If you are the target of a failed AoO caused by moving out or in a threatened area, increase you mobility-granted dodge-bonus by +2 until the end of your move. Weak feat that builds on one of the weaker feats out there. Not impressed.
-Improved Sneak Attack Sniper: When gaining the benefits of Sneak Attack Sniper, you may roll sneak attack damage dice and then choose to discard the appropriate number of sneak attack dice after damage is rolled, but before it is applied. That feat is actually rather neat!
-Improved Tricky Defense: When a creature unsuccessfully aids an ally against your atk, that creature loses its Dex-bonus to AC against the next attack you make this turn.
-Leaps and Bounds: You can use walls as equivalents of running starts for jumps, may jump as part of a run or charge action and may successfully jump and fly over opponents - if you succeed in doing so, you don't incur an AoO from said foe. A rather interesting feat!
-Reflexive Step: You may make a 5-foot step before making a reflex save versus an incoming area-attack. Nice one!
-Sneak Attack Sniper: Perform sneak attacks beyond 30 ft. - for every 10 ft. beyond 30 ft., reduce the sneak attack bonus dice by 1. This feat is genius. Well worth the price of admission.
-Tricky Defense: The DC to aid another versus you is your CMD. When fighting defensively, this DC is increased by +4.
-Tumbling Charge: As long as you move 5ft., you may use acrobatics to move through squares while charging.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to Abandoned Art's no-frills 2-column standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
At first, I was not that impressed by this collection of feats - Several of the feats herein did not excite me, whereas others make sense, but in a restricted environment. However: Sneak Attack Sniper alone is worth you getting this pdf. It's actually rather weird that this one hasn't been done before and it was high-time that we got such a feat - which remains balanced, nonetheless - it's one of the instances where Abandoned Arts has found this nail sticking from the rules tapestry and hits it on the head, erasing an unfortunate bump in the mechanics. Seeing the low price, I consider this pdf well worth the price of admission for this feat alone and while the other feats for me didn't live up to this feat's brilliance, the lack of balance-issues make sure that I can still rate this 5 stars with a clean conscience - If you have a ranged rogue - then get this!
Endzeitgeist out.
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The second installment of Monstrous Bloodlines is 9 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page ToC/editorial, 1 page (and a bit) SRD, leaving us with 6 pages of content, so let's check out these new bloodlines!
This time, the bloodlines are WEIRD with a capital "W" - the first being the Couatl-bloodline that nets access to minor divine magic, a weak poison, telepathy and rainbow-hued wings. Nice!
The second bloodline is the eidolon-bloodline (who may not multiclass as summoners) and, let me spell this out: This is the COOLEST bloodline I've read so far for PFRPG. The bloodline nets you access to evolution points - you may spend these points and maintain these evolutions for 1/2 character + cha-mod rounds. Versatile, smart and glorious - and well worth the low asking price for this one alone. We also get a nice list of available evolutions for convenience's sake.
And then we get another supremely cool bloodline I never thought I'd see - the poets of the underworld, Flail-Snail-blooded sorcerors that come with a VERY interesting ability: Spell specifically targeted at the sorceror has a 10% + 5% chance per level to be warped. Spell failures and rebounds are possible - for beneficent and hostile magic, making the ability change the overall playing experience, which is interesting indeed. You may also exude sticky or slimy slime to modify terrain and entangle foes etc. AWESOME! What author Perry Fehr has done with this one is GLORIOUS.
The Flumph-bloodline is also interesting, featuring a cool, interesting background to explain the origin of the bloodline. Ability-wise, sorcerors get access to a spray of stench, acidic flesh and the ability to fly slow, but with perfect maneuverability, culminating in interesting high-level abilities to combat aberrant threats.
The Phoenix-bloodline is more conventional/what you'd expect - fire-touches, flame resistance, and flaming wings. The issue the bloodline had at first has been cleared up.
The Pugwampi-bloodline is also interesting: At first level, they may force foes to roll twice a d20 and take the lesser result. The ability does not work for characters that have a luck bonus and now the bloodline has been stripped of its ambiguities, it works rather well!
The final bloodline is the Time bloodline and its abilities are unconventional: These sorcerors may shunt targeted creatures into the future, taking them temporarily with touch attacks (that thankfully allow saves) into the future and thus out of the combat for some seconds. The bloodline also gets a more powerful mirror image that always is hit instead of the sorceror - powerful, yes, but also damn cool and something no other bloodline has done. Nice! The final abilities are not that exciting, though the option to negate damage done by a single foe slain by you is cool! This bastard has killed all of your adventuring companions? As long as you manage to defeat the adversary, you may unravel him from time and get them all back. Also: Can you see the narrative potential not only for this, but also for the repercussions of the foe being unraveled from time? NICE!
Conclusion:
EDIT: The pdf has been updated to feature excellent editing and formatting, now lacking any obvious glitches. Layout adheres to PDG's no-frills two-column standard and the cover-artwork (the only one) makes flumphs actually look hardcore. Nice. The pdf is fully bookmarked, a neat feature at this length.
If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't believe that the same author that did the imho rather mediocre first book also made this second Monstrous Bloodline-pdf. Perry Fehr has REALLY found a stride in this pdf - NONE of the bloodlines are boring, every one features at least one, often more unique and smart signature abilities. The Eidolon, Flail-Snail and Flumph-bloodlines are just awesome and the Time bloodline also rocks hard. In fact, I consider these bloodlines to rank among the best released by ANY publisher out there. Yes. They are that good. And now, with the glitches I complained about in my first iteration of the review purged, thisis a glowing 5 stars + seal of approval recommendation - these bloodlines are interesting, smart and will result in unique playing experiences. Give them a try!
Endzeitgeist out.
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This supplement is 51 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, 2 pages of advertisement, leaving us with a whopping 47 pages of content, so let's take a look!
Now the NeoExodus campaign setting has been around for a while and this book fills a niche I think any 3pp who endeavors to create a campaign setting should try to fill. Which one you ask? Well, whether it's the NPC-Codex or the general statblock section in the Gamemastery Guide, any DM needs a selection of statblocks to fall back on. Now the problem, often with 3pp-settings is that there are many cool classes and options - and no pregenerated statblocks for them. "Usual Suspects" is a breaking away from this trend, providing us with statblocks for the elite organizations of NeoExodus and making copious use of the respective PrCs introduced in both the campaign setting and the supplemental pdfs that detailed the secret organizations released so far. CR-wise, the statblocks herein span from CR 2 to CR 14 and each type of character/organization gets 3 statblocks, one at low levels, one at mid levels, and one at the higher ranges of mid levels, though you won't see extremely high-level builds in here.
Additionally, each of the statblocks comes with boons, which of course vary depending on the iteration of the statblock - A recruit of the Caneus High Guard, the bodyguards of the empire's royalty may be game for adventuring, while a CR 10 Aegis may even get the PCs an audience with the empress.
It's rather interesting to note that the respective iterations of the statblocks don't necessarily are straight progressions - while the High Guard begins at fighter 5 and the officer is a fighter 5/ high guard 3, the Imperial Aegis is a cavalier (honor guard 6/High Guard 5 build. This non-linear build adds variety and versatility to the respective organisations and is reflected in e.g. the statblocks of the Reis Cofederacy's Panther Warriors and sentinels as well, offering multi-class builds of multiple baseclasses combined with PrC-levels.
The Sanguine Covenant (Catholic Church of the medieval ages meets bloodmagic) gets a variety of inquisitor/paladin-based daemonslayers as well as secret agents and the Dominion is covered as well: Both the Khalid Asad, the elite-force serving the realm and final checks-and-balance-institution versus potentially disruptive khagan and the notoriously powerful wyrdcasters are also part of the deal, making ample use of the mobile fighter-archetype as well as of sorceror and conuror levels, respectively. If you're in need of an experimental field doctor, then Imperial Apothecaries will have you covered and for those seeking to blend monk-training and psionics, the notoriously powerful Janissaries might have you covered - though at least for them, psionics remain mostly a fluff concept.
Beyond these elite forces, we also get statblocks for the men-at-arms of the Imperial Alliance and the civilization-shunning berserkers of the Janus Horde (who btw. get a barbarian/oracle/rage prophet-build at higher levels) and their more esoteric fist of the dragon barbarians that draw strength from their draconic ancestry.
Now if the Sanguine Covenant is covered, we of course also need to cover the Order of Kaga and its Augurs and graft-using harbingers. Among the less openly militaristic (but no less dangerous) individuals, we also get phoenix guard terrorists and the men and women that wield teh really big guns with protectorate artillerists that use among others, machinesmiths and gunslingers and combine their talents with the really big guns. The Protectorate also gets new stats for their peacekeepers.
Finally, fans of Dreamscarred Press' psionics system should rejoice, for the secret organization of psi-special-op called Section Omega also gets 6 new stats, making use of the ID Hunter and psychic overseer PrC introduced in that nifty book. And that's it - no frills, about one paragraph of fluff for each organization and the rest is stats.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting this time around are actually very good - I didn't notice any significant glitches and while I didn't do the math on all statblocks, I did it on some and they seem to be sans flaws, so kudos there! Layout is as beautiful as we've come to expect from LPJr Design and adheres to a truly gorgeous two-column full-color standard that is further complemented by an array of at least one full-color mugshot of paizo-level quality of one member of the respective class. While some of these artworks are known from other NeoExodus-books, not all are - kudos at this fair price point. The pdf also features heraldry for the nations and symbols of the organizations to complement them. The pdf comes in two versions, with the second being backgroundless and still beautiful in full color and about 30 MB less weighty. Both versions come with extensive bookmarks.
The title of this product is either ironic or a misnomer indeed - or born from the fact that there's a Frog God Games-book that is called UNusual suspects. Why? For these statblocks are anything but run of the mill - utilizing a broad variety of archetypes and classes, these go beyond what I would have expected. Also, they provide ready-made statblocks that utilize PrCs of NeoExodus for the beleaguered GM and for those not using the setting/who don't have the books, still provide all the pieces of information needed to run the stats from the book. I really hope that some other campaign settings out there will see a similar treatment, for even though these statblocks never reach the level of complexity of e.g. the Faces of the Tarnished Souk-series, they provide a tantalizing glimpse at NeoExodus and provide DMs with statblocks that have abilities distinctively set apart from what you see in similar stat-compilations. Varied, fun, making copious use of both the options of standard Pathfinder and NeoExodus, this collection is all but mandatory for DMs of the setting and useful to get a sneak-peak for those who don't that wish to add some uncommon options to their NPCs. All in all, a professional offering for a very fair price and worth 5 stars - omitting my seal of approval only because I would have loved to see an advanced animal companion/mount/familiar or witch in this book.
Endzeitgeist out.
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All right, by now you know the drill - 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, 1 page content, this time going for 6 anachronistic armors!
We kick off with two types of ballistic vests and from the get-go, both feel not only different, but actually use rules in a way that is befitting of their anachronistic origin, making them feel distinct from diverse enchanted medieval means of keeping alive: Since modern armor is made mainly to protect versus bullets, these anachronistic pieces of equipment sport an increased AC-bonus versus firearms and more importantly, don't have firearm attacks being resolved as touch attacks versus these armors - interesting take for these armors indeed. On the light armor side, we get two versions of ballistic vests.
Reinforced ballistic armor is also interesting as a medium armor, since it does not hamper movement with regards to charges and run maneuvers. The other medium armor, the Ceramic Armor, also sports an interesting rules-options - if the armor is damaged, its armor-rating is reduced. I actually really like this simulationalist approach and use it in my home-game as a house-rule for all types of armor, but repair DCs in an anachronistic context would have been appreciated - can the blacksmith do the job or do you require a potter or some other profession? Also, as a medium armor, shouldn't it reduce movement to 20 ft or is this superior speed part of the armor's rules?
On the shield side, we get riot shields and tactical shields, with riot shields working especially well versus improvised weapons and allowing for the dealing of non-lethal shield bash damage sans incurring the usual -4 penalty. Unfortunately, the shield fails to specify whether it counts as a heavy or light shield for purposes of base shield bash damage.
Tactical shields hamper firearm attacks just like the armors and count as heavy shields that feature lights mounted and a viewport. Nothing to complain here!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, apart from the ceramic armor's glitch. Layout adheres to SGG's 3-column, landscape presentation and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
I really, really like how the armors herein feel distinct in crunch and application from standard PFRPG-fantasy armor and the overall ideas featured make them valid options without being overpowering. Gunslingers most definitely will hate these! ;) That being said, the lack of information on the riot shield combined with the ambiguity in the ceramic armor make it impossible to rate this short pdf the full 5 stars. Instead, I will settle for a solid 4 stars.
Endzeitgeist out.
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This pdf is 19 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 2 pages of advertisement, leaving us with 14 pages of content, so let's take a look!
After a short narrative framework that establishes Wyrist Spellweaver, an heir in spirit to Leomund and originator of the rooms herein to us, we are introduced to general properties of the rooms herein. Activation and Deactivation is a standard action (and happens after 12 hours) - upon deactivation, creatures are expelled harmlessly. Entrances may accommodate large creatures, huge ones may squeeze inside and generally the rooms block sight and sound and also gaze and breath weapons, antimagic etc. are also covered interaction-wise. It should be noted that these rooms are not safe zones - when activated anybody can enter them, though they may still be preferable to otehr surroundings the PCs may find themselves fighting in.
The respective items that contain the rooms cover a truly interesting breadth - take e.g. the Belt of Winding Paths that can be made into a ramp that leads up to a kind of domed observatory, complete with a telescope that shows you random flashes of scenes from your life, past and future, and while it may confuse you, there also are bonuses to be had here. Of course, the room also comes with a crystal ball to study the planes. Going beyond the basics of construction, price etc., the rooms also provide lore-section to glean information about them. Or take a horseshoe-turned-shoescraper with ends of broken arrows that works as a mobile stable which allows communication with the animals or a bladed boot that can be used to conjure up a pond (and have others drop in) - completely with edible, calming fish! Fighters may now have a mobile armory that not only replenishes mundane ammunition, but also has the option of having one or multiple sets of armor on stand-by, making it possible for the wearer to quickly conjure them up back to his body. Cool especially for heavily armored PCs who don't want to sleep in their armor or embarrass their adventuring companions when interacting with the high society.
Of course, mobile libraries contained in a book, a pottery workshop in a broach, a brush that contains mobile springs, a gym/trap-obstacle course, a mobile distillery (Yay for all dwarves!), an idyllic grove to share with one's love and even a marble containing a torture chamber can be found amongst the various items featured in this collection - with specifically me feeling the need to mention that not only are the rooms creative and intriguing, their respective activating items also feature an array of creative, interesting forms. Furthermore it should be noted, that the lore-section and means of activating the respective items are also covered - from twirling thrice to throwing up in the air or touching a picture next to a verse - it is such a creative means of activation, this detail, that makes these rooms stand out as something uncommon, as items that feel magical.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RiP's old, rune-bordered b/w-standard and the b/w stock arts are nice and fitting for the product. The pdf comes fully bookmarked.
Author Liz Smith, has created an array of intriguing, interesting rooms, mobile workshops (that should come as a huge blessing for many campaigns) and not only married solid rules and interesting ideas with a sense of wonder, but actually also avoid the trap of repeating benefits and style of the items, instead opting for a wider, more creative array of options. And for the better! This collection of rooms is bigger on the inside, much like its topic covered: All the small details and ideas that you may not realize are there, but which show up on second and third reading, at least for me, elevate this pdf from being a good collection of rooms to being an excellent collection of rooms. It is with utmost pleasure that I rate this pdf my full 5 stars + seal of approval. Congratulations for the significant increase in writing prowess and quality since the last offering!
Endzeitgeist out.
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All right, you know the drill - 3 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/SRD, 1 page content - this time detailing 10 new feats of courage, so let's take a look!
-Against all Odds: As long as you have 0 or less hp, you don't automatically fail will saves on a natural 1 or less. Additionally, you may add bravery to damage as long as your hp are 0 or below.
-Buoyant Spirit: Reroll saves versus fear and emotion spells one round after failing your save. Additionally, allies witnessing you make your save may reroll their failed saves versus emotion or fear-effects.
-Courageous Faith: You gain a bonus to death and fear-effects equal to the highest-level divine spell you have prepared. You also get this bonus versus attempts to demoralize you.
-Death before Dishonor: You are immune to fear effects from creatures against whom your hatred ability applies. Additionally, creatures subject to your hatred special ability fail automatically at demoralizing you. I'm usually not a fan of auto-successes/failures, but this one works.
-Fearless Leader: Followers (but not cohorts and allies)may enjoy the benefits of your banner/aura of courage as long as you can see and hear you.
-Glorious Banner: Aid another as a move action, but you do not need to threaten a creature as long as you and your ally are within range of your banner ability.
-Intrepid Explorer: +4 morale bonus to checks and saves versus dangers, hazards and obstacles of natural environments.
-Knowledge is Power: Substitute a knowledge skill check for any will-save versus a fear spell or effect from a creature you have identified with a fitting skill DC.
-Lone Wolf: +2 morale bonus to melee damage rolls. Each adjacent allied creature (other than animal companions, mounts or familiars, but not eidolons) that threatens or occupies the space you threaten or occupy reduces this bonus by 1.
-Tremendous Courage: Creatures larger than you don't get a bonus on intimidate checks and you only get a -2 penalty to intimidate larger creature. Additionally, if you have defensive training or hatred, you may add these bonuses to your intimidate DC.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to Abandoned Art's no-frills 2-column standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.
I honestly expected to not like this collection of feats - many takes on morale/fear are either very specific or all but invalidate what fear-effects. This pdf thankfully does not fall into this trap, instead providing you rather cool and viable options to stand your ground in the face of overwhelming adversity. While the pdf did not feature a feat that made me holler with excitement, it still is a more than solid buy at a very fair price. Lacking any balance concerns, I will thus settle for a final verdict of 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4.
Endzeitgeist out.
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The third part of En Publishing's steampunk-AP is 99 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 94 pages of content, so let's check this out!
This being a review of an investigation-heavy adventure, this review contains SPOILERS for both this module and its two predecessors. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.
All right, still here?
After the rather trademark smart and complex narrative of Zeitgeist has been expanded and the adventure sketched (which includes a new form of madness and a feat to benefit slightly from insane clarities) we'll return to the matter at hand.
The agents of the RHC have recently achieved a stunning victory against Macbannin, only to be stumped by their boss's boss, lady inspectress Margaret Saxby, who subsequently took over the investigation. in the rainy autumn months, though, the constablers will still have something to do. After all, the Kaybeau Arms and Technology Expedition is going into full swing: Modeled slightly after the World Exhibit, the PCs are commanded to guard the peace there in a village of tents full of experimentational weaponry -what could go wrong? After a short briefing by Sara Lockheart, the PCs will have opportunity to see some prototypes (and even help fine-tune some, engage in philosophical debate with the dwarf Kvarti Gobatiy and generally enjoy themselves - until the incident happens - not via an exploding prototype, but via the incursion of alien, nightmarish creatures! What could have been a mishap of magic turns weirder yet, as the creatures don't just disappear. If the PCs manage to save Simon Langfield, the unwitting arcanist who got these creatures here by using his staff of the ancients, they'll have a massive mystery at their hands. Of course, first it's time for the constabulary to confiscate bodies and items and Martial Scientist-PCs will also have a background-related benefit waiting from what happens here. The investigation of the fair should prove interesting, as a gang of thieving street urchins and the family complicates the investigations - yet another way for the PCs to get on the good side of notorious Morgan Cippiano, though.
If they are smart, the PCs may well determine the origin of the illegal magic staff that caused the mishap and contact the responsible seller, posing as interested buyers. Hence, they are off to the Lanternwood Subrail Station, where they meet up with Kaja Stewart. If they think the fence helpless, they'll soon learn otherwise, for the woman has not come unprepared: Multiple walking turret constructs as well as her eidolon (she's a summoner) as well as her refreshingly smart use of the terrain should make this a challenging encounter indeed. While an interrogation of her might yield results, the conspiracy will move on to kill her - with a surprisingly apt plan, nonetheless. Also, her death is not required and if the PCs make the connection, she can describe a tiefling surprisingly like Caius Bergeron in the context of the McBannin-case. With her dead or not knowing more, the investigation, for now, is stumped and in a dead-end, which the module uses for a foreshadowing of module #5, in the form of a dead body and a mangled golem, mysteriously torn to shreds . Reactivating the golem, who now houses the mind of a rogue Obscurati, will be a project that spans multiple modules but eventually yield success.
But back to the weird magical items: Seeing that they seem old, the logical step to check for their origins would be the Pardwright University of Natural History's Professor Hans Weber. The professor heard rumors about a recently unearthed ziggurat in the High Bayou and that Dr. Xambria Meredith led an expedition there. Being the only survivor of the ill-fated trip, the woman has been slightly addled by the now blurred ordeal. The constables may make ample conversation with her, though, and thus fill in gaps in their knowledge of the ancient secrets. Now also rather interesting: It was Caius Bergeron who financed the expedition of Dr. Xambria and while, for now, they can't really nail the elusive noble down - for now.
With all resources exhausted in town and work slowing to a crawl/busy-work at best, it is time for the PCs to leave Risur behind for the city of Bole via train and from there to the village of Agate and from there to the High Bayou's creepy swamps. (Also nice: If the PCs are versed in folklore and offer sacrifices to the sleeping fey titan, they can avoid fighting the native creatures of the bayou - great to award immersion and smart thinking.) The ziggurat's otherworldy aura promptly starts to erode the sanity of the PCs and in a break from investigations, they have a dungeon to explore at their hands - one that makes the spirit-seers see bad omens and features fun components like hallucinations and dead bodies! Have I mentioned the notes of the lost expedition, the traps galore, the actually intelligent puzzle based on planetary correspondences and teamwork and weird aberrations? Yeah. They're there. Better yet, the obscurati have not been idle and have added their own trickery to the already formidable dungeon. If the players persist, though, they may in a vision witness the sealing of the planet Apet (from which the weird creatures at the fair hailed) and the dysfunctional portal to the place that was once sealed by the confiscated staff and the legendary axis seal. Once the PCs have loitered enough, things get UGLY: A flood of poison spreads throughout the Ziggurat, forcing the PCs to make a run for it. Worse yet, EACH and every mummy they have seen animates, making the escape a running fight through the step-pyramid's corridors.
Upon their escape, the Voice of Rot, the fabled fey-titan, demands sacrifice: One thing, sentient, has escaped and the titan wants it dead and rotting - and the PCs better oblige. the detect Planar Energy-spell here is a great help, in fact, it is throughout the module: A concise and interesting list of clues helps DMs run the investigation of this particular lead.
Upon their return to Risur, the PCs hence have a fey titan to appease and find the suspect - but other news also ask for their attention. Their main suspect, Caius Bergeron, has been murdered, in a locked room. Witnesses report a woman fitting Xambria's description having a lively discussion with Caius as well as a ring that could be the first clue the PCs have for the Obscurati's means of identifying one another - or get into the deep end. More pressing is a map with coordinates... And celebrity bard Rock Rackus, who also shows traces of Apet energy and is currently languishing in jail. The man with the apt name is something of a rockstar who claims to have visited the unseen court of the fey (on the moon) and also happens to be a specialist in teleportation magic. He also has this particular scroll he misplaced that may lead to quite a bit of interesting treasure and information (in module 12) - if only the PCs could get these pesky charges dropped? Better yet, dockers are looking up to the man, though he is just riding the wave right now and after his own gain - if the PCs are convincing, they may stir him to become, quite literally, a better man and thus influence the future modules as well.
Another seal has been discovered (and can be conjectured from Caius' notes) and Dr. Xambria's ship, the dagger, is already waiting when the PC's vessel arrives there. While Dr. Xambria might seem like a good suspect and she indeed does show traces of massive Apet energy, it's not that simple and her cooperation and demeanor hold up. When Il Dracon de Mer, a war vessel shows up, it's time for naval battle with a vessel crewed by loyalist's to the now deceased Caius. After having defeated the opposing vessel (optionally via the simplified naval combat rules also featured in here), the PCs will have to get to the seal, which is defended by specialists that are well-trained for defending the seal beneath the waves and also have an array of animal companions at their beck and call. Aquatic combat is thankfully quickly summed up and while I prefer Cerulean Sea's more complex take on underwater combat, terrain wise there is nothing to complain here. The sunken dig site has an inactive portal that the leader of the specialists tries to open and a further skyseer dream complement a battle that should prove to be both tactical and interesting - especially when insane water-creatures erupt from the portal and the PCs have to work potentially with their adversaries to re-seal it, establishing the procedure for further situations. (Btw.: I love it when modules do this - establish a cohesive "law" or "way how things work" and then actually stick to it - that lends a sense of cohesion to any given setting!)
The return to Flint with their captives will prove the mettle of your PCs, especially their paranoia: The mastermind of the latter troubles makes its move if the PCs don't use their wits: A creature called Sijhen, a spy and scout from the planet of Apet that has lain dormant in Xambria's consciousness - rising from the body when needed and forcing her/modifying memory it tries to assassinate PCs, crew, anything alive on the ships, really and the creature also has an evil array of summoned monsters attack. Probably , the dread creature beats the PCs back to flint, with the golden icon of Apet, enacting its masterplan, thankfully befitting of a creature of its intellect. Upon their return to Flint, they'll realize that the strange madness from the ziggurat has spread to Flint and by now, the PCs hopefully can connect the items of the ancients with the madness. The Museum of Natural History host a grand gala and the PCs may socialize - until Xambria/Sijhen make their move and assault with a contingent of deadly creatures from Apet - if the PCs manage to defeat the duo, Xambria seems to wrestle free of Sijhen's influence and realize her mutated, eye-sporting arm, surrendering. Xambria hopefully can retain control long enough and thus, the PCs get her back to HQ while she can stave off the influence of Sijhen. Unfortunately, this is also part of Sijhen's plan - it contacted the Obscurati, threatening to expose them: And indeed, Xambria reveals the existence of the conspiracy to the PCs, connecting Mcbannin and Bergeron, adding the information that Caius had the plan "to ride the train" (to be featured in adventure #4). Worse, She exposes Saxby as a member of the Obscurati before being taken over by Sijhen again and the creature floods the RHC headquarters with planar energy before phasing through the ceiling.
The whole headquarter turns first translucent, then transparent and the game is on: Members of the RHC become mad due to the planar energy-influx and not only is Sijhen escaping, the PCs will have to rally the maddened RHC operatives, defeat the obscurati kill squad sent to dispatch them (which unprofessionally mentions notorious crimeboss Lorcan Kell) and catch Lady Saxby, who is guarded by fellow RHC-officers unaware of her duplicity and trying to make a run for it. Oh, and Sijhen is opening a gate in the subterranean railway-tunnel, trying to escape to its home planet. Worse, Sijhen is conjuring a truly interesting unique vast creature the PCs will have to defeat and worse, Xambria is doomed to die unless spirit mediums intervene - alternatively, her consciousness may end up in one of the PC's bodies.
The first appendix includes multiple optional encounters, like an audit with Lord Viscount Inspector Nigel Price-Hill (husband of Saxby who does her best to discredit them), Lorcan trying to frame a murder on the PCs for taking down Kaja's smuggling operation and a radical Vekeshi plot of a less than smart being wanting to assassinate Rock Rackus - trying to recruit a PC for the job. The pdf also provides stats for the new creatures, new magical items (including the experimental steam suit), the boon of sharing Xambria's consciousness, dramatis personae, 3 beautiful hand-outs, 5 pages of quick naval combat rules, and 14 pages of beautiful maps.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches, which is quite a feat. Layout adheres to the 2-column standard and is full-color and beautiful. The original artworks are GLORIOUS and supplemented with stock-art here and there. Cartography deserves a special mention, since the maps are beautiful indeed. It should be noted that the pdf comes with layers that enable you to print-it out without draining your printer as much - though there is a problem pet-peeve for me: The maps lack player-friendly versions (with one exception) and are studded with numbers. While I don't mind regarding the RHC-headquarters, the other locales should also come with player-friendly versions.
That remains the only gripe I have with this module, though: While less complex than the webs of intrigue featured in issue 2 of the AP, we still get a truly superb module of backstabbing and conspiracy, of weirdness and horror that is indeed a glorious addition to the stellar AP. My final verdict for the third gutsy, intelligent module of the Zeitgeist AP will thus clock in at 5 stars plus seal of approval.
Endzeitgeist out.
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This pdf is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page advertisement, 2 pages editorial, 1 page ToC/introduction, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 6 pages of content, so let's take a look!
First: Read the introduction. It's essentially the product in a nutshell - what you get is a table to roll on for random encounters, the first one with 11 entries - all these entries feature where the creature can be found (e.g. in which Bestiary) and generally, all creatures in here fall in one of three categories - basic creatures you can take straight from the respective bestiary, modified creatures that have e.g. the young template applied and unique creatures that are provided as statblocks on the adjacent page -take e.g. an animated candelabra, a sample necromancer, a wererat-rouge etc. The interesting thing about these tables, though, is the fact that the respective tables include massive chunks of text for each entry in the tables: The text for aforementioned candelabras could work as a sample read-aloud text straight from this pdf - awesome. In the instance of intelligent adversaries, we get instead a short write-up of the motivation of the respective creature.
We get one table for the dungeon-environment, one for caverns and one for wandering denizens - and yes, these include also a paladin, a tiefling rogue or a ghost commoner. Interesting would also be the fact that the modified creatures also get names - fire beetles with the advanced template are called mining beetles - adding, just, via a name, more depth to the critters. Very nice!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to RSP's elegant 2-column standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked and in two versions - one optimized for screen-use and one optimized to be printed out. The pdfs both come fully bookmarked.
This is a grand opening for the new product-line - mixing fluff with inclusive tables (amoeba swarm, baby!) as well as some ready-made statblocks should provide maximum usefulness and appeal for anybody checking this out. What I'm a bit concerned about in future releases would be that the stats necessarily get more complex in higher ELs and mixed, so I'm hoping that the future installments won't suffer content/page-count-wise from the required added complexity. For the inauguration issue, I remain with a glowing recommendation of 5 stars plus seal of approval.
Endzeitgeist out.
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This pdf is 8 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 5 pages of content, so let's take a look at these new bloodlines, shall we?
The cyclopean bloodline gains perception as a class skill and has its spells focused on ill omens and divination, with bonus feats reflecting the divination focus as well as the toughness associated with cyclopes. Among the bloodline powers, we get a gaze of doom as well as the interesting development that has cyclopean sorcerors turn blind on one eye, hampering depth perception. This is offset by two insanely powerful abilities, though: One allows you 1/day to EXACTLY the die-result of one of your die-rolls. While only working for you, that's an automatic critical threat at 3rd level, a 100 on a d% etc. - I don't need to tell you how broken this is, do I? Worse, the bloodline, starting at 9th level, allows these sorcerors to DOUBLE the threat range for ALL attacks - rays, natural attacks, melee, ranged etc. for 3+cha-mod rounds 1/day. Never gonna happen in my campaign.
The Inevitable bloodline has unsurprisingly diplomacy as well as law-spells in its arsenal as well as e.g. combat expertise and similar discipline-themed feats in the bonus feat selection and gains a limited regeneration (3+Cha-mod rounds per day) that improves over the levels. Nothing to complain here. Medusan sorcerors get disguise as class skill, bonus feats appropriate for her like skill focus (sculpture) or brew potion, a slowing gaze, poisonous blood (that lacks frequency, onset etc. and information on whether it can be harvested) and finally undergo an apotheosis.
Otyugh sorcerors (rather disturbing concept, but cool) gain sickening and plague-based spells and bonus feat-selections based on toughness, fortitude and become progressively a carrier for diseases, increased senses and immunity to diseases but strangely not the ability to draw sustenance/heal from waste-consumption - a wasted opportunity indeed. *Puts two cents into the bad pun-jar...* The full color artwork by Tamas Baranya is worth special mentioning here - a cool Otyugh, though I would have preferred an artwork of a sorceror that has undergone the capstone apotheosis into an otyugh/mortal-hybrid.
Sphinx-bloodline sorcerors get access to a Knowledge skill of their choosing, divination/language-themed spells, may utter confusing riddles and shout deafening battle-cries at higher levels. Nothing to complain here balance-wise.
The Stirge bloodline (featured as an awesome example on the cover) gets stealth as a class skills, bleed/insect-themed spells, grappling and agility/disruption-themed feats grows both wings and draining proboscis as well as act as a disease-carrier and create mirror images of yourself. thematically, the most concise and cool of the bloodlines, its solid mechanics back it up. This one is actually really, really good.
The final bloodline would be the unicorn bloodline that gains access to heal as a class skill as well as curative magic as bonus spells and feats that help with rays, self-sufficiency etc. You may manifest a horn, call nature's allies and later even later emulate the kirin, gaining flight. Though probably my players would never stop making virgin/unicorn-jokes, a solid choice.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are good, though I lacked the medusa sorceror's bloodline poison-information. Layout adheres to a relatively printer-friendly two-column standard with some awesome full color artworks I wouldn't have expected at this price-point. The pdf comes fully bookmarked. Oh boy, most of these bloodlines actually have at least one good idea going for them, with especially the stirge bloodline standing out. However, for each idea that stands out, there's also one that would require some balancing imho - the Cyclopean bloodline is utterly broken in my book and e.g. the sphinx, inevitable and otyugh bloodlines all somewhat fall behind their own potential - some more courageous, more unique ideas would have gone a long way there - why can't e.g. sphinx-sorcerors not, gargoyle-style enter a kind of temporal stasis to whether the ages and await intrepid adventurers? Why can't otyugh-sorcerors eat waste to sustain/heal themselves? Why can't inevitable sorcerors swear an oath to complete a particular objective and gain bonuses when seeking to fulfill it? When all's said and done, I feel that quite a few of these bloodlines miss the essence, what makes the parent-creature iconic. Add to that the minor issues here and there and we arrive at an offering that is ok, but not much more, reflected in a final rating of 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 due to the fair price for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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This pdf is 17 pages long, 2/3 of a page front cover, 1 page editorial/SRD, leaving us with 15 1/3 pages of content, so let's take a look!
This pdf kicks off with multiple ways on how to integrate the relics into you campaign, offering an option for DMs (like yours truly) that prefer fewer, but more powerful magic items and a sequence of feats, if you prefer so, to unlock the powers of these relics. Relics as templates or as assumed treasure are also possibilities to introduce them into your campaign. One of the headers in this part features a formatting-relic, btw.
Analogue to the first supplement of the series or the concept of Purple Duck Games' critically acclaimed Legendary-series, these relics are magic items that grow in power with your character's progression. Unlike the legendary-series, though, these relics gain a new ability every level, from 1 to 20. The relics covered again, like in the predecessor, take inspiration from real-world mythology, with e.g. Draupnir, Óðin's Ring that can actually produce gold and offer massive insight-themed bonuses or Svalinn, the shield which in Norse mythology stands before the sun.
But there are also relics not tied to Norse mythology - Like Darkkenhael, the first set of dragonhide armor ever made or the golden Kavacha-armor that is based on the armament of the tantric deities. or the lokanaut, the trickster's ring or the Myrmix, armor of legendary charioteers/champions that would become known as archons.
The pdf also provides DMs with all the tools to create relics for their campaign, featuring powers by level guidelines for light, medium and heavy armors, shields and rings, all step-by-step, level by level.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, though not perfect - from minor formatting errors to a missing space here and there/punctuation glitches, there are several small and unobtrusive minor glitches. Layout adheres to SGG's 3-column landscape standard and the full color artworks, while in some instances seen in other SGG-books, is awesome. The pdf has no bookmarks, which is a minor bummer at this point.
This installment of the Relics-series is imho slightly superior to its predecessor, though still not approaching the fluff usually provided in the legendary series. The DiY-kit to make your own relics is an AWESOME expansion of the first pdf in the line and the fact that relics get something every level is still awesome. But much like its predecessor, in direct comparison with PDG's offerings, we get much less relics. In essence, this is a very straight sequel and the gripes I had against still are there - the relics get no lore-sections, we get less than in the legendary-series etc. However, where this one is vastly superior to its predecessor is in the amount of DiY-relic creation tables: 5 versus 2 in the predecessor. These ensure that this pdf is more useful than its direct predecessor, offering much more tools for the DM to play with. My final verdict, hence, will due to the lack of bookmarks and minor glitches, be 4.5 stars, but still rounded up to 5 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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This installment of the 100% Crunch-series is 32 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page advertisement, 2 pages of editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword, 1 page advice for novice GMs on how to read statblocks, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 24 pages of content, so let's check this out!
As with other installments in the series, we kick off with a table that lists the respective creature- stats by CR and also mentions some of the peculiarities associated with determining CRs for templates creatures like zombie lords before we get the zombie lord template and after that, the signature mini-templates to further add versatility to the template. Ranging from CR -1 to CR +2, we get a total of 14 different mini templates - all of which with one exception you'll know from 100% Crunch: Zombies. Alchemical zombie lords, those acting as hosts to insects etc. are part of the deal, but e.g. the akata-spawned void zombies, yellow musk creeper zombies have no representation among the zombie lords - pity! Modifying the templates with some aberrant mutated one would have been awesome. Druid zombie lords with plant companion creepers could have been nasty indeed...
The new simple variant is the Mudra zombie, which adds more arms to the respective zombie lord. Worse, the ineptly-named magus-variant again makes a return - all my complaints about its nomenclature remain intact - for a longer rant, check my review of 100% Crunch: Skeleton Champions. (And since this was brought to my attention: I KNOW that the Magus-title is canon, official etc. - but I still consider it a glaring f***-up by Paizo, who should definitely know better.)
Per se, these variants are nice options, though e.g. granting archer-feats, armor-proficiencies imho does not necessarily need to be included as template variants for a template that presumes intelligent base creatures with class levels and would have been better used for unique variants.
Two of the complex zombie variants, the fast and plague zombie, are also reprinted from 100% Crunch: Zombies. No new complex variant templates in this installment either.
After that, we're off to the selection of statblocks - at CR 2, we e.g. get a dwarf fighter 1, a goblin rogue 2, a hobgoblin fighter 1, a human cleric 2 - so far, so bland. But we also get a merfolk and a sahuagin zombie lord, which is neat indeed. Thankfully, in contrast to the book on skeletal champions, there is more variety herein - monks, adepts, warriors, oracles etc. mean that there is more variety in here regarding base classes.
Where the pdf thankfully completely outshines the Skeletal Champions-pdf is in its variety of base-races: Aberrant bloodline driders, 6-armed harpy oracles, rakshasas, dhampirs, stone giants, young green dragons, aboleths and even babaus complement more standard races like multi-classed elves, infernal tiefling sorcerors, gnoll rangers or straight, level-less ettin zombie lords, resulting in a much more balanced offering than the one on skeletal champions, offering a nice selection of the common and the weird. Personally, I would have loved to see more APG/UM/UC-non-lich-candidate-classes used in the builds, but at least the oracle sees some action.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RSP's elegant two-column standard and the 2 pieces of b/w-artwork are nice. The pdf comes in two versions, one optimized for the screen-use and one to be printed out. The pdfs also come fully bookmarked.
Huhum. This pdf is a weird one to review for me - on the one hand I'm still bugged about the lack of intriguing new variants that set the zombie lord further apart from the run-of-the-mill zombies. I'm also sort of bugged at the lack of cavaliers (come on - fast zombie cavalry is hardcore!) and relative lack of support for non-core classes. However, at least we get some support for the oracle and e.g. getting a jackalwere zombie lord ROCKS.
On the one hand, much like the issue on skeletal champions, this pdf wastes a chance to improve the base template with unique options and has some massive overlap with the issue on zombies. On the other hand, the base-creatures used are much more versatile and interesting, making this pdf, at least for me, much more usable.
In the end, the installment is superior to Skeletal Champions, but fails to live up to the massive potential a collection of zombie lord stats could have had. Being better than the issue on skeletal champions, but imho worse than the one on liches, I'll settle for a final verdict of 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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This module is 40 pages long, 1 page front cover, 4 blank pages, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisement, leaving us with 32 pages of content, so let's take a look!
This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players may wish to jump to the conclusion.
All right, still here? House Rodow, a mercantile noble house has seen better days - bad investments had the family fortunes bleed out and the situation escalated - to the point where the family decided to once again summon the demon that made it possible for them to gain their prominence. The problem is, though, that a competing noble family got wind of this and sent off an agent to deal with the summoning, interrupt it and gather evidence. Unfortunately, said agent failed to specify the details of what was to happen to the Rodows.
Thus, the PCs, as soon as they arrive at Rostow Manor, they'll see that a raging fire has recently burned the manor - exploring the house, which is in danger of collapsing, should yield some interesting hints - a lot of sample DCs make investigating what went down feasible. After the Pcs have eliminated 4 wild dogs in the manor gardens, one Pinion Merino with his security, arrives in his carriage and hires the PCs to bring justice to the unknown perpetrators. Tracking the perpetrators into the wood, the PCs will have to deal with orcs before arriving at the home of the culprits - caves of a tribe of mites - where the PCs may also find out that the mites were coerced into the attack on the Rodows. The Mites are not stupid (though not particularly competent) and have among other things, a ballista ready to fire at the PCs...
Now if the PCs manage to defeat the mites, there will be an interesting map with a red x - the x denoting the secret location of the Rodow family's crypt - which Pinion concedes and tells them about the trouble of the Rodow family. Exploring the tomb turns out to be rather tricky - the door is animated and quite some traps litter the locale. Sealed in the tomb, the players find 4 bandits, ready to thank the PCs for their release with death as well as the devil the Rodows dealt with. It turns out that the competing merchant family's agent was behind the downfall of House Rodow - and the PCs have a choice to make: Support the slaughter of a house of devil-worshipping nobles or bringing justice to a not particularly bright agent of a corrupt house of merchants. However they decide, the PCs will have to bring one culprit to justice - or, well, just walk away.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are good, though not perfect - I noticed some minor glitches and the 4 blank pages are slightly annoying when printing out the module. Layout adheres to AaW's 2-column, parchment background-style and the pdf has no bookmarks, which is a mayor downside. The stock art is thematically fitting and the cartography of the two locations (but not the manor) is as awesome as I've come to expect from AaW.
Author Haakon Sullivan's module is an interesting short 1st level module with some challenging encounters, interesting DCs and choices to make - while not reinventing the wheel or blowing me out of the water, it features a permeating sense of decadence and corruption, which is nice to see. That being said, I couldn't help myself feeling like the minor formal issues combined with the lack of a truly inventive idea make this not reach the echelons of excellence. While solid, the story has been done before and honestly, I would have loved to see a haunt here, or at least a slightly more terrain-invested showdown. In the end, I thus feel justified in rating this 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 due to, among aforementioned minor gripes, the glitches and the lack of a printer-friendly version.
Endzeitgeist out.
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