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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 16 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 12 pages of content, so let’s take a look, shall we?
This pdf kicks off with an introduction of how Dale McCoy Jr., head of Jon Brazer Enterprises, was dissatisfied with the standard race of kobolds and an introduction of what this race is – essentially, a kobold-race ramped up to be on par with PC-races without using the identity of being koboldish. We also get a short rundown on Shadowsfall, the plane-of-shadows-setting of JBE before we delve into an actually very well-written piece of in-character prose. The short story gets you just in the right mindset before you get to take a peek at the mechanical traits of this race.
Umbral Kobolds get -2 to Str, +2 to Dex and Int, are small, get darkvision, +1 natural armor bonus, 2 to Craft (Trapmaking), Perception and Profession (miner). Stealth and Craft (Trapmaking) are always class skills for umbral kobolds. They also get light sensitivity, extensive pieces of information regarding their relationships with other races, alignment and adventuring etc. as well as thankfully a table for age, height and weight including starting age. They also come with 4 alternate racial options that may replace light sensitivity with albinism (weird choice, since albinism makes one not particularly appreciate bright lights either…), give them a blinding spit attack 1/day, make them especially tied to the plane of shadows (for increased caster levels in the dark, but also heavy drawbacks upon confrontation with bright lights and finally, kobolds that replace their natural armor bonus with +1 to Dex and +2 to stealth. With the exception of the albinism-trait’s minor fluff/crunch-disjunction’s exception nothing to complain about here.
2 racial character traits are also provided, one that nets you Knowledge (Planes) as a class skill and +2 on it and the other that gives you +1 to ref and initiative. After that, we're introduced to two new archetypes, with the shadowsneak getting bonuses to racial bonuses to movement and as well 1/2 rogue level to craft (traps) and Perception to discover traps. Solid, I guess, but nothing too special. The Mad Bomber alchemist archetype gets 10 + 3/4 level +Int to determine bomb-DCs, doesn't provoke AoOs when using bombs and counts as +2 levels with regards to alchemist discoveries related to bombs. Solid.
After that, we're introduced 4 new feats, with one allowing you to mitigate some issues related to 1s on disable device checks and gunslinger misfires, one that allows bonuses for saving throws for each kobold in range, one that doubles miss chance in dim light to 40% and one that allows you 1+Cha-bonus shadow jumps per day.
Two new items are also included, with a new nauseating, blinding poison being one and the other being a dye to color scales. 32 full-blown racial kobold gods are also here and after their well-written write-ups, we get 3 new spells - one that creates an illusory double you can blow up, assault foes with shadow-illusion coins and one to create an aura of darkness for which a swarm of shadowy kobolds panics foes. Among the new magic items, we get an incantation that makes shooting into melee versus undead easier, a crown that nets +2 to Int and Cha as well as form of the dragon I, black dust that sends the undead running from recollections of their past life and a kitchy talisman that guards you with minor bonuses versus specific types of death.
The pdf closes with 3 sample communities in neat write-ups (though sans settlement statblcoks) that can be considered well-written indeed. the final piece of crunch is a CR 11 shadowsneak umbral kobold.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to a parchment-background 2-column standard and the original pieces of full-color artworks are nice and tie neatly the content together. The pdf is fully bookmarked for your convenience. As per the writing of this review, the herolab-files for this has not yet been released, but will be soon. The pdf comes with extensive hyperlinks to d20pfsrd.com for your convenience.
This is essentially a nice little racial pdf that makes kobolds a nice, viable alternative to making to kobolds a better PC-race choice. The fluff is great and the crunch remains balanced, nice and I didn't encounter any particular piece of content I'd consider problematic. While neither the spells or items completely blew me away, overall, this can be considered a nice offering at a fair price and thanks to the great fluff, I'll settle for 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 Amazing Race-line is 4 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 2 pages of content, so let's take a look!
The pdf kicks off with 3 feats for kobolds:
-Blast Engineer: All energy damage dealt by your bombs ignores int-mod+damage-dice hardness. Additionally, if this amount exceeds twice the hardness, energy damage is not halved before being applied to hardness. Your delayed bombs don't have hardness halved. Glorious feat and one I'll make available to all races, not just kobolds - two thumbs up!
-Trapsmith's Bluff: +8 to bluff made to lie about the existence of traps you create or reset. Very specific, but can be oh so gratifying.
-Trapsmith's Glee: +4 to initiative and atk for 1 minute if you witness a trap of yours (created or reset by you) damaging a foe. Nice one that helps make using traps good options for kobolds.
Kobolds get also 3 new character traits:
-Fickle Allegiances: +1 to bluff to feign allegiance, +1 to diplomacy to request favors. Bonuses double when you are prone, helpless, shaken, etc.
-Mining Captain: You and all allies get +1 to Profession (Miner)-checks.
-Scaly Schemers: Natural bonus to bluff skill checks.
Kobolds may now select from 4 new alternate racial traits:
-Inferiority Complex: +2 to opposed skill checks versus larger creatures.
-Shameless Coward: Elect to become frightened instead of shaken to get +1 AC and movement +10 ft.
-Spiteful Bite: Secondary bite attack at 1d3, primary weapon when used for AoOs that has a range of 19-20 and crit x3.
-Superior Scales: Double natural armor bonus versus crit-confirmation roles.
The pdf also features a new racial archetype, one I REALLY liked to see - the slurk strider. A kobold cavalier of these slimy saber-tooth toads gets a slurk mount and allows the rider to move through slurk slime-covered areas and makes dismounting from their slippery steeds easier - if you convert the Kobold King-modules to PFRPG, be sure to use this archetype!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to Abandoned Arts' 2-column standard and the pdf has neither bookmarks, nor any artworks, but needs neither at this length or price-point.
This installment of Amazing Races has some really neat components - 1 feat and the archetype are truly awesome, but the other components somewhat fall behind in coolness behind these two. While there is nothing wrong with the other components, they didn't blow me away - hence, I'll 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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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 8 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/SRD, 1 page introduction, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 4 pages of content for this Gothic Grimoire, so let's take a look!
This grimorie is an interesting tractate that ideologically serves as a justification for adhering strictly to an amoral chain of command under an immortal god-king. As such, it has the potential of inciting a psychosis that makes you Lawful evil, and as a grand innovation, offers us also an expertly-written excerpt from the pages of the tome.
It should be noted that the mechanics in this book use Tomes of Ancient Knowledge and Way of Ki - two stellar, superb supplements you should own - if you don't, get them. And yes, I wholeheartedly encourage interlinking products this way as long as it does not invalidate the product - and this one doesn't suffer from this, so no issue there.
Studying this grimoire allows the student to become a lawful evil antipaladin (Way of the Wicked-players, rejoice!) and helps with creating drugs to erode the will of subjects. Depending on your base-class, this pdf also features lists of bonus feats that get added upon study to the respective class-lists of bonus feats, ninja tricks, rogue talents, teamwork feats or in place of cruelties: Antipaladin, Cavalier, Inquisitor, Ninja or Rogues are covered and get their respective lists.
Additionally, inquisitors studying these pages may opt to use a selection of judgments that allows you to split judgments to allies via the bodyguard judgment and one that will offer you the option to get deadly terrorizing feats while using the judgment - enhanced at higher levels. Shattering defenses and offering deadly strokes or stepping up feats. Interestingly, in a grand web of complex and cool mechanics, this book also grants access to monk vows and ki.
The Vows of Obedience and Self-Sacrifice require a careful selection of master and may be restrictive and thus, advice is provided for PCs and DMs and the significant mechanical benefits are smartly offset by the vow's restrictions, allowing you to e.g. play a stoic bodyguard of a loose cannon ward. Nice!
The grimoire also provides sample spells, allowing inquisitors to add permanently spells to the inquisitor's array - at the potential cost of the inquisitor's sanity. Furthermore, the grimoire allows readers who possess a ki-pool a VERY cool option: Depending on the level of the character, s/he may opt to spend ki to cast those spells as spell-like abilities - very interesting!
The pdf also provides 3 new spells - Extravasation of Tears blinds foes with their own tears in addition to a crushing despair effect. The second spell allows you to return those who swore vows of obedience to return to unlife as revenants (if the master was killed) or skeletal champions (if the master still lives) - Cool indeed! Ruthless Beating is another interesting one - dealing non-lethal gestures at range, also potentially fatiguing foes. As a minor gripe, the pdf could have used another spell - the last 1/3 of a page of the pdf is blank.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to Legendary Games' beautiful 2-column full color standard and the piece of artwork is just gorgeous. The pdf is fully bookmarked, which is awesome.
The Gothic Grimoire-series kicks onward with yet another all killer, no filler offering, doing extremely smart things with the rules - the way judgments and ki-points are linked and modified, how the new abilities modify what's there is smart, cool and awesome in every way conceivable. Does that mean that this is all glorious? Well, there is the blank space at the end that I wished had been used for additional content or more excerpts from the tome - I love these and hope to see more in the future. My final verdict for this grimoire will kick in at 5 stars plus seal of approval since I feel that the overall quality makes up for this very minor complaint, especially at the pdf's very fair price point.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 14 pages long, 2/3 of a page front cover,1 page editorial/SRD, leaving 12 1/3 pages of content, so let's take a look!
I'll come right out and say it: I don't like the fighter-class. There. I get the appeal of many feats/the master-of-arms angle, but the base-class, since 2nd edition really, bored me terribly. Armor Training, weapon training, weapon specialization - I get their appeal and their mechanical raison d`être but personally, I always considered the class oh so boring. PrCs, archetypes and e.g. the revision of barbarian, ranger, paladin and monk classes, as well as the addition of inquisitors and cavaliers have made vanilla fighters all but non-existent in my game.
Now an issue, as the pdf acknowledges, is that fighters, to expand their options unlike other classes are often locked down to archetypes, which deprive the class to some extent of the flexibility at which they are supposed to excel at - enter the talented fighter as a proposed solution to this conundrum. The talented fighter gets full BAB, good fort-saves, d10, 2+Int-skills per level, proficiencies of simple and martial weapons as well as all armors and shields. The talented fighter gets a talent at every level, may select advanced talents at 10th level and grand talents at 20th level. Now if you do want to take bonus feats, rest assured that the pdf offers a talent that grants a bonus combat feat and armor training/weapon training, bravery etc. I.e., if you want the abilities associated with the base fighter, you can still go that way - only that now, you actually have much more options.
All in all, the pdf thus provides a vast array of talents and going through them would bloat this review to unpleasant lengths, so let me give you a run-down of what to expect: First of all, we have a lot of talents that essentially are scavenged from archetypes, breaking them down and allowing you to essentially cherry-pick e.g. abilities from the mobile fighter archetype, the tower shield specialist, the crossbowman or the roughrider - just to name a few. Feel free to look them up and think about whether picking a few of the archetype abilities wouldn't make for a valid decision. Essentially, the talent-based approach allows the talented fighter more versatility in that it makes these exclusive abilities generally available. Now not all of the talents in here are based on archetypes and grand talents/advanced talents e.g. include capstone abilities of archetypes or talents that have multiple prerequisites.
The pdf also offers advice on how to utilize talents from e.g. the witch hunter or armiger-classes and alternate class features of SGG-classes as talents and increase the usability of this alternate fighter even further.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting of this latest revision are top-notch, I didn’t notice any glitches. Layout adheres to SGG’s 3-column full color standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked with nested bookmarks that group the talents by letters. Whether you prefer the alphabetical array of talents or whether you would have enjoyed a grouping by styles/archetypes they’re derived from is ultimately a matter of taste, though I maintain that bookmarks would have served very well as an alternate means of grouping the talents – e.g. with a bookmark for crossbow-related talents and nested bookmarks beyond that one for the respective talents associated with that combat style.
How do you rate a pdf that is comparatively unimaginative in the bits and pieces it provides? Turns out, in this case, quite well – for the Talented Fighter is smart in that it does not aim to reinvent the wheel – it doesn’t have to. Instead, it takes existing concepts and streamlines them into a presentation that is thoroughly different from what you had associated with them into a form that is ultimately bigger than the sum of its parts.
The talented fighter takes my least favorite base-class and takes quite a bunch of archetypes/abilities to make the overall class simply more in line what I’d consider compelling class design, opening quite an array of formerly exclusive archetype abilities to the class and thus giving the fighter some exclusive toys to play with – a much overdue decision, at least in my opinion. Now is this the apex of originality? No. But is this a great way of breathing life and fun into the fighter class? To this question, my answer is a resounding “Yes!” Hence also the reason why I’ll gladly give this pdf a final verdict of 5 stars, omitting my seal of approval only since the alternate means of organizing the talents would have made for the superb icing on the cake. I strongly encourage you to check this out and make the fighter more singular and up to date.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This installment of the GM's Options-line is 20 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 17 pages of content, so let's take a look!
Much like the first installment of the series, we get statblocks in this pdf, in 3 different level-ranges -as 1st level, as 5th- and level 10-incarnations. Much like in the first installment, we also get advice for each character to integrate them into the upcoming Porphyra-campaign setting by Purple Duck Games as well as sample boons his respective incarnations may provide to PCs if they befriend him.
The first character would be Connaghyn Halfhand (so nicknamed due to having lost some fingers in a fight with goblins). No animal companion stats accompany Connaghyn and mechanically, he isn't that interesting, but the druid is rather interesting fluff-wise, at least.
Corra Greenthumb, a halfling urban druid is next up and makes for an interesting, benevolent ally with one ear at the heart of a given city's gossip as well as a competent herbalist. The Half-elf Sherdan Silverblade, a mobile fighter and moderately capable fast-talker that is particularly good at dirty fighting makes for a nice contrast with the next character: Dotha Hearthstone, a female unbreakable fighter who is essentially a woman who has vowed to never marry or produce children as a kind of dwarven battle nun - nice.
Brother Nadir is a half-elf Martial Artist Monk who is all about record-keeping and may also provide access t his monastery's library and finally, we get Kokachin, a halfling Ki Mystic Monk depicted on the cover. She is also mechanically perhaps the most interesting of the characters. It should be noted that each character has the traits used in the creation listed as well for your convenience.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are good, though not perfect - we have minor glitches like e.g. a header of a trait that is purple when it should be simply black and bold - nothing too serious, though. Layout adheres to PDG's 2-column standard and each character comes with a b/w-mugshot, though you'll know them all from old e.g. Raging Swan publications. The cover is nice and the pdf comes fully bookmarked with nested bookmarks.
This collection of stats and characters is better than its immediate precursor - the characters feel more unique, utilizing some archetypes and coming with more interesting fluffy backgrounds that make one actually want to use some of these characters. That being said, the pdf's crunch still feels not particularly exciting, with the respective builds being very linear and not particularly complex. In the end, if you want some straight builds, you can't go wrong here, but if you want some statblocks that are a bit more complex, then this is not the pdf to deliver.
Over all, this pdf is a nice collection of characters/stats, but simply is nothing out of the ordinary - no PrCs, no complex builds etc. - instead we get rather vanilla builds. Nothing wrong there, but also not enough to make me truly recommend this.
My final verdict would hence clock in at 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 for the purpose of this platform. If you want some vanilla stats, take a look!
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This installment of the FoTS-series is a whopping 29 pages long, 1 page front cover (with a stunning artwork by master of the macabre Mark Hyzer), 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD and 1 page advertisement, leaving us with a whopping 25 pages of content - quite a bunch, so let's check this one out!
Following my format for FoTS-reviews, let's first take a look at the supplemental crunchy material provided herein: We get the alterable and Greater Alterable weapon qualities that allow the transformation of weapons into others and a special slotless ring (that can be worn with two others!) that nets the wielder access to the Toppling Spell [Metamagic]-.feat. Template-wise, we get 6 different templates, ranging from CR +2 (Apex Predator template) over the Accelerated Creature template (CR +1), Advanced Creature template(CR +1) to the Young Creature (CR -1) and Locomotion-handicapped Creature template, which clocks in at CR -2. On the spell-section, we get a force-based subduing ray that deals non-lethal damage and a spell to grow more arms. 2 Traits (one related to the dremaburning mechanics of Coliseum Morpheuon),as are 8 feats, three of which are devoted to the Kirin Style and its derivatives, whereas the others allow for firearm creation and knowledge-themed abilities. One wildblooded sorceror-bloodlines also features herein, the Sage (derived from the Arcane bloodline) and additionally, we get the Rakshasa bloodline.
We also get two archetypes, first of which would be the smuggler (based on the rogue) and the second being the crossblooded sorceror, who gets less spells, but the abilities of two bloodlines - intriguing and rather cool!
The 3 incarnations of Ur-Shogga come as CR 7, 14 and 21, with especially the latter build being AWESOME - here, the creature is an advanced cunning locomotion-handicapped intellect devourer crossblooded wildblooded sorceror 16. Now, usually I'd go all "Beware of SPOILERS" now, but honestly - the cover already shows what Ur-Shogga is about - character-wise, this creature is not dream-scarred as you would expect and rather has dreams - terrible, disturbing dreams, for the creature has infiltrated the souk after escaping from the Khan, being the dread result of the Coliseum's master's experiments. As the hyper-intelligent (Int 44!!!!) quintessential schemer, Ur-Shogga is a dreadful grey eminence and an impressive build, but what sets this pdf truly apart would be the sheer amount of additional material.
What additional material? Well, we get 4 CR 13 host-bodies, characters in their own right, 4 CR 9 Host-bodies (2 of which are actually different creatures than the CR 13 ones!) and 3 CR 4 host bodies - Ur-Shogga's favorite host-body featuring in all three versions, while ALL the other host bodies are different. That is 11 additional statblocks, 9 characters - in addition. Wow.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RiP's 2-column b/w rune-covered old standard and the artwork of Ur-Shogga is awesome, the other artworks also being nice for the very fair price-point. The pdf is extensively bookmarked for your convenience.
WOW. Ever since Nameless Nil, my gold standard for ANY NPC-build, I didn't expect this series to again reach this level of complexity and sheer material. While character-wise, I still prefer Nil, Ur-Shogga offers A LOT bang for your bucks - far more than it needed to and oh boy is it better off for it. Disturbing, genius-level schemers are hard to pull off and this build with all its supplemental material makes at once for a truly terrifying and yet beatable adversary/manipulator. Ur-Shogga ranks as one of the finest installments in the series that has set the gold standard for NPC-builds and time and again upped the ante, not resting on its laurels. This is a superb offering indeed and thus scores easy 5 stars + seal of approval for its very fairly-priced, superb content.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 10 pages long, 1 page front cover/editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 7 pages of content, so let's take a look!
This pdf kicks off with a general introduction to the role of serial killers and their psychology, before delving into the respective characters, so what exactly do we get?
Well, for example we get a maiden who cuts herself (which might be a little close to home for some) and seeks to fill the void inside her by slaying her lovers. Each of the entries comes with a history of the character, a description, a modus operandi and advice for the DM to handle the PCs investigating the respective serial killers.
There is also a man forced into incest with his sister by his ultra-conservative sect, first killing his family and after that, seeking solace in faith, slaying those he perceives as sinners according to the ultra-strict tenets ingrained into his traumatized psyche. We also get a true sociopath - one guy who kills for the sake of killing and nouveau frissants, seeking for ever new ways to slay, changing his modus operandi.
Less distinguished and smart would be a mad Bhriota necromancer who slays with magic - making, again, his modus operandi hard to analyze, though all in all being more straight and less sophisticated. We also get a watchman who turned to vigilant justice - seeking to properly punish criminals.
The final serial killer is GLORIOUS in his vileness- a serial rapist and killer once vanquished that could not have been stopped even by death and has since risen from the grave to revive his spree.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are good, but not perfect - I noticed some minor issues here and there. Layout adheres to Fat Goblin Games' 2-column b/w-standard and the artworks for the respective serial killers are nice, especially for the low price. The pdf has no bookmarks, which is a minor bummer.
The serial killers herein are twisted, deadly and hearken, for the first time in any Vathak-product I've read so far, back to Ravenloft's glory - characters with depth that are believable, disturbing and neat. I did not enjoy that two of the 2 killers don't have a distinct Modus Operandi - one fits, but the other is just a lame one that is the one blemish of the product. All in all, though, an excellent collection of truly twisted individuals to craft adventures around and intersperse through your campaign. Thus, I'd look forward to a sequel and remain with a final verdict of 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 due to the low price.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 48 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 3 pages of advertisements and 1 page SRD, leaving 41 pages of content for this adventure, so let’s check it out!
This being an adventure review, the following contains SPOILERS. Players might want to jump to the conclusion.
Still here? All right!
The Elves around the Hollow Mountain just aren’t what they used to be – in more than one sense. The once peaceful nomadic wood elves have started raiding and killing humans and other humanoid creatures to convert them to the true nature – something that should give druids nightmares indeed: The elves have resurrected a strange cult that has them growing plant-like mutations like deadly spores and briars. It is these strange elves that now inhabit a forest of petrified mushrooms inside a hollow mountain and that make up the major opposition of the PCs.
Their fortress is inside one gigantic petrified mushroom and thus makes for a rather creepy backdrop for the dungeon crawl. The fortress of the elves is well-defended by their tainted nature, their massive capabilities and rather deadly allies (which includes a dragon as well as an awakened tiger who thinks he is a dragon). Have I mentioned the deadly war flowers?
Hopefully, the PCs manage to free the erstwhile druid of the tribe (now utterly mad) and finally reach the hidden temple of the dread cult to reach a highly mutable plane where a deadly, aberrant nature provides terrible hindrances in the PCs final fight: The end the threat of the constant corruption of the nature, they will have to destroy a thing left behind from an aborted version of creation, an utterly disturbing tree-like monstrosity whose mere proximity mutates his foes.
The pdf closes by providing the complex reborn-template as well as a player handout.
Conclusion:
Editing is top-notch, however, I noticed a major formatting glitch on the first map, starting room 20 to 26 there seems to be a discrepancy between the map numbers and room numbers, which is a bummer. Layout adheres to the b/w-2-column standard and the pdf is extensively bookmarked. We get 3 maps and the original b/w-artworks belong to the best you can imagine – especially the one-page picture of the final adversary is just plain awesome in its creepiness.
Indeed, an almost cthulhoid sense of wrongness pervades the whole module – author Uri Kurlianchik did an awesome job creating a truly disturbing dungeon crawl with interesting locations, smart foes, social interaction thrown in and an overall feeling of being unwelcome in this dark new world order. In fact, I consider this adventure to be quite deeply-entrenched in the horror-genre – if not for its narrative structure, then for the increasingly disturbing foes the PCs face and the furios final fight that truly deserves the name. However, a warning to players participating in this adventure – you probably will come out of this…changed. And some changes are hard to reverse… My final verdict will be 4 stars, as the map/room-discrepancy makes running a section of this adventure slightly more complicated than necessary.
Check this neat module out here!
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf from Frog God Games is 89 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 2 pages of SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving 83 pages of content, so let's check this one out!
This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players may wish to jump to the conclusion!
All right, still here? Then let's check this one out! What is the "Black Monastery"? Mechanically, it's an old-school, sandbox style dungeon/haunted house-crawl. Where enemy placement does not have to make sense etc. - you know, primal, creepy and deadly with CRs far below and also potentially quite above the PC's capabilities. But that's not the true appeal, at least for me. What made me interested in this module is its story: While the slow ascend to wealth and power of a monastic order and its subsequent descent into evil and debauchery has been done before, the consequence of the tale is what matters: When their evil became to apparent, to blatant, the king attacked and it turned out that the Hill of Mornay, where their monastery stood, wasn't chosen by chance - enveloped in green flames, the monastery vanished before it could be taken. Ever since, when the stars are right, the complex seems to return with its riches, but only for a limited time. Like an architectonic old one, its arrival is accompanied by madness, disease, lycanthropy and similar apocalyptic events. The dark edifice to corruption has once again entered our world, from gods-beware it has been. Evil looms, madness stirs and treasure waits and the PCs will enter a place that may well take them to another plane or world. If you want to change setting, the Black Monastery is definitely an awesome way to do so. As you can probably glean from this story, inserting it into a setting is also rather simple.
Of course, an old-school module like this would not be complete without random monster tables and this is among the first things you'll get to see. More importantly, we also get a d20-table for strange noises and hauntings as well as discussions on the special magical effects in the monastery - you can't e.g. buff yourself before entering, since it exists in multiple places at once. "Multiple" is a good cue - 10 sample entrances into the compound are presented.
If the PCs e.g. enter the garden first, they'll have fun with 7 (!!!) Mohrgs and the "Gate of Fear" that provide access to the place make it immediately clear that the enemies are not playing softball - in the center of the monastery-yard is for example a huge stone golem that reacts differently depending on the moon's phase. They can also e.g. be caught by a mural, battle painted duelists. Mind you, not all adversaries are that powerful - there of course also are stranded orcs, goblins etc. and that's one of things I really like about this module: While the 1st edition feeling of the module is intact, the world/plane-switching elements to the monastery's background let these jumbled together humanoids actually make sense.
What truly makes the Black Monastery shine, though, at least for me, is its gothic convolutedness and its attention to detail: The crazed cook, and inscriptions upon inscriptions that hide hints and grant insight into the demented logic of the madmen and otherworldly forces that call this place home. Cursed nobles, mutated fighters, flesh-eating treants, ghoulish alchemists, Troblins (troll-goblin hybrids) and the unholy echoes of the brotherhood, the cimota roam these halls alongside other strange creatures - and indeed, none of the beings herein feel like filler, as they all make some kind of internal sense or feature a peculiarity in their encounter/ descriptions that in the end serves to take away any sense of familiarity and further enhance the horror of the place.
And then, there are the monastery's two towers: Kran, Dungeon master of the compound, guarded by iron golems and a greater shadow in his own right and Sacavious, mad and deranged failed lich make for two of the possible "bosses" of the module. Of course, the monastery also hides the piece of rock that transports it and in the depths of its dungeon, not only do terrible creatures roam, an evil artifact also awaits discovery. While 3 purple worms await adventurers to fill their gluttonous maws.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good: I only noticed some very minor inconsistencies with the otherwise neat maps. A pity, though, that no player-friendly maps are provided as well. Layout adheres to FGG's 2-column standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked. Oh boy, the artworks. This pdf features some of the coolest, most disturbing, gothic-horror-style artworks I've seen in a long, long while - absolute awesomeness! With one exception: A demon's crotch is marred by a censor-bar and ruins the artwork for me. I'm an opponent of censorship in any form, so that somewhat jarred me. Oh well. The pdf comes with extensive, nested bookmarks. A quick glance at the price tag shows that this one belongs to the rather expensive category of modules and that's also the reason this review took me so long. I fought rather hard with myself whether I should give it a try.
Reviewing this module feels rather strange to me - almost as if it wants to defy being reviewed: Much like reading e.g. Poe, Howard or Lovecraft, reading this module shows you a lot of things that have, by now, become a staple of adventuring. But much like these classics, the Black Monastery has an eerie appeal of originality evoked by a combination of details, clever wordings and mysticism. Much like in the beginning, one's first campaign for example, the foes and things that happen herein defy our expectations in subtle ways that remove the players from their comfort zone and recapture the dread of not knowing what to expect from foes, how to handle situations and what might happen. By depicting this whole complex as a gothic mansion that is almost anthropomorphized by its vileness and ancient dread, its derivations from standard-expectations adding rather than detracting from the appeal of the module and its believability.
While the dungeon below the monastery can't completely hold up to the quality of the rest of the place, the love and passion that went into the crafting of this place in all its disturbing details are readily apparent- this module can easily be seen in a tradition with the two classic original Ravenloft modules and in fact make me wish Frog God Games had more of these (rather) horror-themed adventures. Mechanically, there was one thing I was missing (probably omitted due to being declared "old-school"): Haunts. Haunts rock and make places like this one even creepier. On the other hand, this module is not perfect: There are minor map inconsistencies, the dungeon doesn't live completely up to the level of awesomeness of the monastery itself and I would have loved to see some complex puzzles or more little storylines taking place in the monastery as well as more passages on the outside - perhaps a park, a glass-house, a chapel. And player-friendly maps. Seriously, these should be standard by now. That being said, my first impulse was to give this one a four stars, but frankly, it's better than that. The unity of descriptions, attention to detail and awesome artworks serve to evoke something scarcely seen in nowadays modules: Dread. If foreshadowed correctly, the players will be jumping like crazy all the time and I am absolutely positive that you'll have a great time running this. And I actually regret that this is not a 300+page monster with even larger grounds and aforementioned additions like a chapel etc. The potential is vast and I really hope to see a sequel to this one, in one form or another. Thus, in spite of the points of criticism I have, I'll settle for a final verdict of 5 stars, but no seal of approval, though I so want to award one. If you want to scare your players with a haunted house, there's no way around this one. (And if you're like me and want haunts, but Rite's #30-haunt-pdfs and cackle with glee...)
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf from Frog God Games is 89 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 2 pages of SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving 83 pages of content, so let's check this one out!
This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players may wish to jump to the conclusion!
All right, still here? Then let's check this one out! What is the "Black Monastery"? Mechanically, it's an old-school, sandbox style dungeon/haunted house-crawl. Where enemy placement does not have to make sense etc. - you know, primal, creepy and deadly with CRs far below and also potentially quite above the PC's capabilities. But that's not the true appeal, at least for me. What made me interested in this module is its story: While the slow ascend to wealth and power of a monastic order and its subsequent descent into evil and debauchery has been done before, the consequence of the tale is what matters: When their evil became to apparent, to blatant, the king attacked and it turned out that the Hill of Mornay, where their monastery stood, wasn't chosen by chance - enveloped in green flames, the monastery vanished before it could be taken. Ever since, when the stars are right, the complex seems to return with its riches, but only for a limited time. Like an architectonic old one, its arrival is accompanied by madness, disease, lycanthropy and similar apocalyptic events. The dark edifice to corruption has once again entered our world, from gods-beware it has been. Evil looms, madness stirs and treasure waits and the PCs will enter a place that may well take them to another plane or world. If you want to change setting, the Black Monastery is definitely an awesome way to do so. As you can probably glean from this story, inserting it into a setting is also rather simple.
Of course, an old-school module like this would not be complete without random monster tables and this is among the first things you'll get to see. More importantly, we also get a d20-table for strange noises and hauntings as well as discussions on the special magical effects in the monastery - you can't e.g. buff yourself before entering, since it exists in multiple places at once. "Multiple" is a good cue - 10 sample entrances into the compound are presented.
If the PCs e.g. enter the garden first, they'll have fun with 7 (!!!) Mohrgs and the "Gate of Fear" that provide access to the place make it immediately clear that the enemies are not playing softball - in the center of the monastery-yard is for example a huge stone golem that reacts differently depending on the moon's phase. They can also e.g. be caught by a mural, battle painted duelists. Mind you, not all adversaries are that powerful - there of course also are stranded orcs, goblins etc. and that's one of things I really like about this module: While the 1st edition feeling of the module is intact, the world/plane-switching elements to the monastery's background let these jumbled together humanoids actually make sense.
What truly makes the Black Monastery shine, though, at least for me, is its gothic convolutedness and its attention to detail: The crazed cook, and inscriptions upon inscriptions that hide hints and grant insight into the demented logic of the madmen and otherworldly forces that call this place home. Cursed nobles, mutated fighters, flesh-eating treants, ghoulish alchemists, Troblins (troll-goblin hybrids) and the unholy echoes of the brotherhood, the cimota roam these halls alongside other strange creatures - and indeed, none of the beings herein feel like filler, as they all make some kind of internal sense or feature a peculiarity in their encounter/ descriptions that in the end serves to take away any sense of familiarity and further enhance the horror of the place.
And then, there are the monastery's two towers: Kran, Dungeon master of the compound, guarded by iron golems and a greater shadow in his own right and Sacavious, mad and deranged failed lich make for two of the possible "bosses" of the module. Of course, the monastery also hides the piece of rock that transports it and in the depths of its dungeon, not only do terrible creatures roam, an evil artifact also awaits discovery. While 3 purple worms await adventurers to fill their gluttonous maws.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good: I only noticed some very minor inconsistencies with the otherwise neat maps. A pity, though, that no player-friendly maps are provided as well. Layout adheres to FGG's 2-column standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked. Oh boy, the artworks. This pdf features some of the coolest, most disturbing, gothic-horror-style artworks I've seen in a long, long while - absolute awesomeness! With one exception: A demon's crotch is marred by a censor-bar and ruins the artwork for me. I'm an opponent of censorship in any form, so that somewhat jarred me. Oh well. The pdf comes with extensive, nested bookmarks. A quick glance at the price tag shows that this one belongs to the rather expensive category of modules and that's also the reason this review took me so long. I fought rather hard with myself whether I should give it a try.
Reviewing this module feels rather strange to me - almost as if it wants to defy being reviewed: Much like reading e.g. Poe, Howard or Lovecraft, reading this module shows you a lot of things that have, by now, become a staple of adventuring. But much like these classics, the Black Monastery has an eerie appeal of originality evoked by a combination of details, clever wordings and mysticism. Much like in the beginning, one's first campaign for example, the foes and things that happen herein defy our expectations in subtle ways that remove the players from their comfort zone and recapture the dread of not knowing what to expect from foes, how to handle situations and what might happen. By depicting this whole complex as a gothic mansion that is almost anthropomorphized by its vileness and ancient dread, its derivations from standard-expectations adding rather than detracting from the appeal of the module and its believability.
While the dungeon below the monastery can't completely hold up to the quality of the rest of the place, the love and passion that went into the crafting of this place in all its disturbing details are readily apparent- this module can easily be seen in a tradition with the two classic original Ravenloft modules and in fact make me wish Frog God Games had more of these (rather) horror-themed adventures. Mechanically, there was one thing I was missing (probably omitted due to being declared "old-school"): Haunts. Haunts rock and make places like this one even creepier. On the other hand, this module is not perfect: There are minor map inconsistencies, the dungeon doesn't live completely up to the level of awesomeness of the monastery itself and I would have loved to see some complex puzzles or more little storylines taking place in the monastery as well as more passages on the outside - perhaps a park, a glass-house, a chapel. And player-friendly maps. Seriously, these should be standard by now. That being said, my first impulse was to give this one a four stars, but frankly, it's better than that. The unity of descriptions, attention to detail and awesome artworks serve to evoke something scarcely seen in nowadays modules: Dread. If foreshadowed correctly, the players will be jumping like crazy all the time and I am absolutely positive that you'll have a great time running this. And I actually regret that this is not a 300+page monster with even larger grounds and aforementioned additions like a chapel etc. The potential is vast and I really hope to see a sequel to this one, in one form or another. Thus, in spite of the points of criticism I have, I'll settle for a final verdict of 5 stars, but no seal of approval, though I so want to award one. If you want to scare your players with a haunted house, there's no way around this one. (And if you're like me and want haunts, but Rite's #30-haunt-pdfs and cackle with glee...)
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 14 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page advertisement, 2 pages of editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword,1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 7 pages of content, so let's take a look!
Alleyways are iconic in more than one way - synonymous with illegal dealings, weird things and the crusty underbelly of a city, alleyways have always fascinated me - especially since I've been to Venice and got a glimpse at how cramped streets and alleyways can truly be. ever since that time, these places have fascinated me even more than before and Raging Swan Press has a nice little tool for DMs out there to make them stand out more - kicking off with a massive 100-entry table that features widths from 10 ft to 2 ft. as well as various types of rubble, pavement/floor, light conditions and prevalent smells.
The second table features an array of ready-made alleyway-names that include "Scabbard Passes" and the "Rat's Passage" - nice! 20 complications are part of the deal and include scribbled runes praising the demon lords, thugs demanding toll and enigmatic fortune-tellers waiting to pronounce their real or imagined insights. 12 sample fluff-only encounters are also there to spice up the experience, including hungry fogs and the obligatory drunken ruffians.
The final 3 pages are what makes this pdf truly shine, imho, and what distinguishes it from its rather ill-conceived direct predecessor - we get an array of 20 personalities, all in the trademark RSP fluff-shorthand, i.e. with mannerisms, appearance, personality and hooks. Nice!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RSP's crisp 2-column b/w-standard and the b/w-artworks are nice indeed. The pdf comes in two versions, one optimized for the printer and one for screen-use and both are fully and extensively bookmarked.
The latest offering of Urban Dressings from the pen of Brian Liberge is a great, solid addition to the series and indeed can be seen as a great addition to a DM's toolkit - and yet. And yet it falls short at what it could easily have been. Where are the DCs to squeeze through garbage littering alleys? Where is the sewage/barf with its potentially virulent contagions? The windowsill to jump up, the steps that make acrobatics harder? I get that the dressing-line is mostly fluff, but the Dungeon Dressing-line features an extremely useful page of basic rules for the DM and similar DCs collected on one side would have made the good pdf awesome. As provided, it is a solid offering, but one that falls slightly short of what it could have been. My final verdict thus will clock in at 4 stars.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 4 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, 2 pages content, so let's take a look at new options for merfolk!
The pdf kicks off with 4 new feats for merfolk:
-Drowning Tail: Use HD in place of BAB when grappling under water and make it harder o escape from your grip.
-Improved Drowning Tail: Air-breathing creatures have their rounds to hold breath reduced by 1d4 every time they try to free themselves or reverse grappling. Neat!
-Seafoam Shaper: You are never swept away by water and your spellcasting is not hampered by flowing water or water-based precipitation.
-Sea Slayer: +2 damage versus off-balance targets in the water.
Merfolk also get two new character traits:
-Coastal raider: Climb as class skill and faster transition when climbing from water.
-Treasure-Diver: DM rolls secret Perception-check when you pass 30 ft. by a hidden treasure.
Merfolk may now also chose from two new alternate racial traits:
-Arctic swimmer: 10 ft. slower, but +5 cold resistance.
-Shimmering Scales: Illusion (pattern)-spells at + 1CL.
The second page is devoted to a new sorceror bloodline, the Sirensong Bloodline, which nets access to bardic/enchantment-themed spells and feats as well as the option to sing a bewitching tune and summon creatures from the deep.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to Abandoned Art's no-frills standard and the pdf has neither bookmarks, nor artworks, nor would I expect them at this length. These options for merfolk are solid and especially the drowning-feats make this definitely a worthwhile supplement. However, I also feel that this pdf slightly falls short of what it could have been due to two things: The first, I won't hold against it, but I would have loved to see some synergy with Alluria Publishing's acclaimed Cerulean Seas-campaign setting, depth/current-rules etc. The second one, though, is more relevant - why make the sirensong bloodline a bloodline? This screams bard to me and either access to limited bardic abilities (masterpieces?) or a whole switch around to make it distinct and bardic would have helped the bloodline - especially since its individual abilities don't build that well upon one another. In the end, this pdf didn't have as much exciting or unique ideas going for it as e.g. the goblin or gillmen-installments and hence I'll settle on a final verdict of 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 due to the low price.
Endzeitgeist out.
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This pdf is 27 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 25 pages of content, so let’s take a look!
As an equipment book, we kick off with the section on mundane equipment and honestly, many of them had me wonder why the items had not been covered before – take for example the two versions of ball and chain we get in here or the tracing paper. Among the items, we also get some anachronisms like razor wire, which, while personally I like the idea, will probably not fit in with every setting. The Field Medic Kit deserves special mention, as it allows for the non-magical removal of a variety of minor negative conditions – nice if you’re like me and want to keep a slightly tighter lid than usual on magical healing. That being said, there’s also an item I’d consider problematic in the Burglar’s Bane-powder. By adding water, it emits a rosy glow, denoting those that have tried stealing items treated with it. In the NeoExodus-setting, the powder and its solvent are exclusively available to the Jannissaries, which limits it, but the fact that neither perception DC to notice it, nor easy way to get rid of it (universal solvents do the trick – not helping…) are provided mean that it is VERY powerful and should be handled with care by respective DMs. Speaking of NeoExodus-specific items – Dalreans (the plant-PC-race of the setting) get a type of rope that may regrow after being cut. Nice idea and easily adaptable to one of the multitude of plant-races out there!
Among the general adventuring gear items provided, we get tinctures to get rid of parasites, garbs that help versus pollen (I’d need those irl…), crystals specifically created to torment the crystalline Cyneans, lenses made to burn paper/temporarily blind foes, fungi that consume corpses, welding grenades to destroy animate and inanimate objects (but weirdly doesn’t ignore hardness/golem DR), hand and leg-prosthetics, scent-bane, grappling hooks and waterproof tindertwigs and just a few of the items in here. Not all of them are awesome or new, though, as e.g. the oommphteenth aspergillum, barbed caltrop or items like travelling guides and five-copper novels may work as intended, but not necessarily elicit any form of excitement.
For the less scrupulous and shady characters, 23 new poisons allow them to add anticoagulants to their attacks or use a wide array of deadly poisons to wreck more direct havoc. It should be noted, that among the mixtures, there is one that has death as a secondary effect – not a fan of that. What I’m also not a fan of is the fact that every secondary effect, when applicable, suffers from a formatting glitch and has the “secondary” not in bold. There also are multiple minor glitches beyond that, with the final poison for example having its gp-value listed instead of the number of saves it takes to cure it.
The following chapter deals with alchemical items – from alchemical charges to perfume masks, healing-supplementing brandy, paste that makes blood residue glow etc. There also are pickles that help regaining psionic foci – per se cool – only: In PFRPG, gaining psionic focus no longer requires a concentration check, which renders this item a bad 3.5-anachronims bereft of its intended use. Among the better items, we get oil that bursts aflame on weapons, symbiotes for Dalreans that, while susceptible to cold, allow for bursts of speed, dire versions of coffee, gingko and ginseng extracts, haunt and undead-detecting candles, glass-spheres containing corpses/undead-eating beetles or excrements of beetles that work as a substitute for wood in e.g. desert-regions. A big issue I have with this whole chapter is the fact that we get diddly-squat information on alchemy-DCs to create these items or harvest them – something I’d btw. also consider slightly problematic regarding the alchemical items featured in the first chapter.
12 tools and kits that include poisoned smokesticks, code books, larger bear traps, drillspikes, spring saws and tine wind-up tools to set off traps and an extracting 20 ft. measuring rod provide some interesting items – the poisoned smokestick btw. features the craft alchemy DC absent from the whole alchemy-chapter.
We also get 4 new mounts/cargo-transporters that feature walking trees domesticated by the Dalreans, cargo scorpions and also the new war wagon vehicle, rules for cithin shields and a variety of new materials that include petrified wood. Two new traps, both very generic and 19 new spells complete the offering. Among the spells, the clean-cantrip, which gets rid of dirt in a room, is problematic, since it fails to specify what is considered dirt – viscera? Other forms of incriminating evidence? On the cool side, there’s a spell to blind tremorsense, make finely-crafted texts fireproof, call weapons to you or conjure up walls of mithral. Unfortunately, the pdf also reprints the broken 0-level tripwire cantrip from RiP’s 101 0-level spells.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are quite flawed in this offering – I noticed a significant amount of formatting glitches, editing glitches etc., some of which actually impeded the usability of the content. Layout per se is beautiful and adheres to LPJr Design’s 2-column full-color NeoExodus-standard and the pdf also comes with the slightly more printer-friendly, no less beautiful version. The artworks per se are drop-dead-gorgeous and two have not yet been featured in another NeoExodus-publication…but. But NONE of the artworks has ANY connection whatsoever to the content herein. There’s not a single artwork of a featured item or creature and the artworks, no matter how beautiful they may be, feel disjointed from the content. The pdfs are bookmarked, but don’t feature nested bookmarks, which make the bookmarks very unhandy to use. Additionally, the final 1/3 of them are suddenly in all-caps. Weird.
Damn. I’ve said it on multiple occasions and I’ll say it again – LPJr Design products often feature stellar ideas and these genius ideas can be found within these pages as well. Especially when the magical and uncommon nature of NeoExodus is evoked, the entries drip flavor and offer fascinating windows into this compelling setting, offering insights on cultures and customs heretofore unrealized. And then there are the issues. The missing DCs, the glitches – and worst of all, another major issue: For every brilliant item, there is at least one that has been done before. For every great fluff-description of a poison, we get yet another lame attribute-damage/1-save-way out. Honestly, this pdf feels almost like the authors lost interest halfway through it. After having gathered together a variety of cool ideas, they ran out of steam and just kept adding filler upon filler. On the one hand, several pieces of content are great and ooze iconicity and a sense of wonder – on the other hand, there is MUCH content herein that is almost insultingly unimaginative, bland or has not been thought through regarding its logical conclusions/limits. Add to that content (especially among the poisons) that feels like it has been taken from 3.X and 3.Xism like the psionic focus-glitch and we have a pdf, that in spite of its sparks of brilliance shining through here and there, I can’t unanimously recommend. In the end, this pdf feels like it was rushed, in spite of its long gestation period, and like it has simply lost its way halfway through. Another pass at editing and less filler material would have definitely helped this book in my opinion.
I constantly felt myself thinking “but this one idea there is so good…” when writing this review, but I’ve been comparing this pdf to other equipment books I’ve reviewed and the standard I applied then and, as much as it hurts me, can’t rate this higher than 2.5 stars, rounded down to 2 for the purpose of this platform – I have to maintain fairness to comparable books, after all. If you’re going for NeoExodus-fluff or simply are willing to ignore the filler material, then this still might be worth a look for you.
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
The final chapter in the evil AP Way of the Wicked is 102 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisement, 1 page back cover, 2 pages maps of Talingarde, leaving us with 94 pages of content, so let's take a look!
This being a review of the final part of this AP, the following contains SPOILERS - not only for this module, but for the whole AP. Potential players are strongly advised to jump to the conclusion.
All right, still here? Cardinal Adrastus Thorn lies slain, Asmodeus has proclaimed his support of the PCs and they have risen to be High Cardinals of the lord of the ninth - but they still need to clean p their house - the knots are in place, but depending on the actions of the PCs, the remaining knots may prove to be problematic. Take for example Barnabus Thrane (who is called Thrain in text once - unfortunately but one of numerous, accumulating editing glitches throughout the module) - the spymaster and Asmodean sleeper that has infiltrated the clergy - he most definitely will become a mayor problem if the PCs have not secured his cooperation. The man knows much, but can just as well be a worthwhile asset to the PCs claiming Talingarde and changing the clergy of Mitra from within. General Barca, on the other hand, is not a valuable asset - indeed, if the PCs have not killed him and opt to put him on the throne, they'll see their grip weakened by his growing paranoia. The Devils are unproblematic allies as long as the PCs serve the Dark Lord, but what if they falter? For falter they might:
After having slain Chargammon, princess Belinda, the paragon sorceress has been granted a solar and an artifact by Mitra - a veil to hide her from the eyes of all evil-doers and from all mortal magic. A powerful tool indeed to conceal her from the prying eyes of the PCs and plot with her draconic mother Antharia Regina the downfall of the tyrants to be - but more on that later.
If you recall the Hadean Signet in Book V, well the ring awakens and starts beckoning its master to sacrifice an angel, a fiend and a creature of titan-blood to unlock its vast powers - upon the third sacrifice, though, the thanatotic titan bound to the ring is released, seeking to enslave (or kill) all. Wise villains know when to stop and may use the properties of the ring's first two phases - though honestly, I would have expected a way for the ultimate tyrants of Asmodeus' reach in Talingarde to have some way of enslaving the vastly powerful titan - perhaps by besting him in combat thrice (he respawns after 66 days as long as the ring is not destroyed...) or by torture? After all, all spirits can be broken... A bit of a pity here, but oh well. It's not that they need the titan for now, for one of the knots has actually done his job well - Cedrick malthus has gathered a vast army of deadly mercenaries and cutthroats under the command of Volker Eisenmark - provided they can pay the ships to get them to Talingarde, the PCs have a vast army of cutthroats, murderers and people eager for a fresh start - at least 20 thousand strong.
These will be the saviors of Talingarde, for another army waltzes south - Sakkarot's Horde has done its job admirably. But in order to rule a proper land and not some heaps, in order to have a capital, the betrayal must be sprung - and while Sakkarot may falter, he will not fail. Following the plan, if the PCs can show that they are the favored of the Dark Lord, he leads his army to the slaughter in fields where the PCs have a chance to shine in a grand narrative battle where they have pivotal roles in ensuring that no elite humanoids escape the slaughter to hamper the first weeks of their reign. If the PCs have hired the elite mercenary general Eisenmark and brokered a deal with the Frost Giant Queen, they may even have more benefits from this battle - chief of which would be rekindling the hope for a place to be for the Fire-Axe himself - universally loathed and sans home, the PCs could tie him up - or make him one of their fiercest allies.
Speaking of allies - if the PCs have managed to corrupt Sir Richard, he returns from the shackles of hell as an anti-paladin, presented by Dessiter as a candidate for the throne of the puppet-king - and, unbeknownst to the PCs, walking scrying focus for Dessiter. Sir Berithor is his new title and yet another piece falls into place. With the Fire-Axe defeated, the PCs can walk into the city and, after meeting a delegation (including a relative of Barca) that welcomes the unlikely saviors, present their claim to the throne. Meanwhile, the princess is off to a quest on the mainland, gathering her forces - protected, unfortunately, by a plot-fiat device. Honestly, I would have expected some clever rules, ways to bypass the artifact, at least kill her allies - instead, the artifact essentially binds the PC's hands in that regard until the final battle.
Till then, though, the tyrants run free - and the best part of the module happens. The Tyranny-sandbox. Establishing a court of people with varying degrees of usefulness (and ambitions), the PCs have 3 years to enjoy their reign and manage their kingdom. While in the background, the might-score of the kingdom represents the overall power of Talingarde - and almost all decisions have consequences. And oh boy, are there things to do: From the court's machinations to the religious question of whether/how to legalize Asmodeus/ treat the Mitran church, coronation ceremonies etc., the PCs will have to make decisions fast: Whether to worm their way into the hearts of the Mitran believers or usher in brutal pogroms, it's all up to the PCs. Speaking of purging opposition - exterminating the blood of house Darius is an option, though taking them hostage might be wiser and aid them in the long run. Speaking of aid: If they are smart, they may find records of the remaining Knights of Alerion as well, netting them a chance to surgically remove the best remaining soldiers of the Talingarde resistance. Speaking of resistance - if the PCs take heed of their traitor's court, they may get the necessary information to take down one superbly stealthy leader of the resistance.
But there are also tasks that require the PCs to deal with: Take the problem of the Irean barbarians of the Caer Bryr: These clans may be unified - a free bonus army for the PCs - but only if they manage to exploit a prophecy of the people and kill a primal bandersnatch, the legendary Caothach Ool to show that they are the chosen ones. In the Caer Bryr, the PCs may by the way also revive the noble tradition of unicorn hunting to fill the coffers of their nation... Of course, cracking down on the resistance, razing a village to the ground that openly defies their rule, gaining the service of the Barcan nobles and their griffon knights, redecorating the palace, legalizing prostitution and/or slavery - the latter serving as a prerequisite to legalize bloodsports (and gladiator veterans), rebuilding Balantyne and fortifying and finally conquering the North, rebuilding Daveryn etc. are a lot of interesting things to occupy the PC's time. Finding a way to ensure their army remains happy is yet another issue to handle, as are the battle-nuns and the fact that the duergar are problematic allies at best, prime candidates to be betrayed to the regular dwarves to gain their loyalty as a vassal state. Allying with the reclusive Yutak, killing an elder kraken plaguing the trade-routes, side-quests in the Agathium, Grumblejack having prophetic dreams, dealing with a duke that could spell trouble, surviving an assassination-attempt by 2 mariliths and their demonic servants, rooting out the last outbreak of the Tears of Achlys, children praying for salvation and an angelic host(a great way to really screw up public relations),marrying a beautiful, wicked lady and make her queen - there is a lot going on. While darkness stirs in the North - a seeping shadow of invulnerable antilife seeps from a cavern where ancient tables lie, guarded by shoggoths: Stopping the all-consuming shadows and claiming the tables may add yet another dread weapon to the PC's arsenal. The Minions the PCs may still have also have up to 23 different tasks waiting for them - and then, after 3 all too short years....she returns.
The Pcs will reap what they have sown, with each of the different decisions resulting in modifications to Belinda's army or their own. And the saviors waste no time - the final stretch of the AP kicks off with 2 angels showing up above the city, preaching hope and seeking to wreck the palace. An aerial battle thus kicks off the final battle for Talingarde's soul -soon to be followed by an assassination attempt by Solomon Tyrath, high inquisitor of Mitra - hopefully they can make Naburus join their cause - and hopefully, they did not make Berithor king. For the ghost of his mother shows up - and he repents. Kills Dessiter. Becomes a paladin again. And delivers a final stand - to die and be claimed by the heavenly host, his contract voided by repentance.
And then, the final battle is upon them. They may even study the battle of the Victor fought in the same locale. And then lead their army into the final battle. Versus the last hope of Talingarde, Princess Belinda, Antharia Regina, the elysian titan God-hammer and a solar of Mitra. And then, there are two ways to end the campaign - win the insanely difficult final fight. Or suffer the fate of villains - abandoned by allies, more Mitran angels join the fray, ensuring the fate of the PCs. And thus, in which way you choose, ends the Way of the Wicked.
The supplemental material of this issue has Jason Bulmahn contribute 6 additional Asmodean spells, 8 magic items to insert into the campaign if you choose to. And finally, the last 3 pages contain a timeline for the whole campaign.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are the weak spots of this pdf - much like almost all issues of the AP, several easily avoidable typos, glitches and minor issues mar the AP and show that a second set of eyes editing this would have helped. Layout adheres to FMG's drop-dead gorgeous 2-column full color standard and the book is BEAUTIFUL. Michael Clarke's renditions of key enemies, almost all of them spanning full pages, rank among the best in the whole AP. On a formal level, the scarce bookmarks feel a bit unpleasant, much like in the predecessors - nested bookmarks would especially in the tyrant-section been appropriate. The pdf comes in two versions, one slightly more printer-friendly and, rather cool, the AP comes with an 9-page pdf of player-friendly maps and handouts - awesome!
Oh boy. Usually the editing glitches would mean that I rate this module down. And e.g. a certain archmage's plot-thread has not been addressed. But the sheer amount of loose ends being tied in this module is AWESOME. The Tyrant-sandbox is glorious and something only all too rarely seen. The final battle is brilliant. This module is epic and ranks among the finest final installments of any AP I've ever read. The power of the foes arrayed, the amount of consequences the PCs face - all these made me grin and want more - and look forward to Throne of Night. Since part 2 of the AP, not a single installment has had me that excited, that euphoric, that delighted by offering something truly different - at levels not usually supported by APs. Cool, deadly and truly a book centering on being villainous, I only wished more space in the overall AP would have been devoted to doing such things. Running Talingarde - for better or for worse for the villains is a sufficiently epic change of pace before a final confrontation of insane difficulty. If I had one complaint regarding the narrative, it would be the magical gizmo-stealth of Belinda. At least offering a chance to take down the solar or the dragon would have been more prudent in my mind - but then again, this is not about being fair. This is about reaping what was sown - and Fire Mountain Games, in spite of the scarce bookmarks and editing glitches, for this stellar module, reaps 5 stars + seal of approval for being innovative, cool and providing a joyous read that will have you cackle with glee - just remember that the fires of hell are waiting to claim you and that failure is not an option in the eyes of the dark lord...
Endzeitgeist out.
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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This installment of Raging Swan's Village Backdrop-series is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page advertisement, 2 pages editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword,1 page advice on reading statblocks for novice DMs, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 5 pages of content, so let's take a look, shall we?
White Moon Cove is essentially a moderately wealthy coastal town governed by a council and features a list of 9 notable NPCs, settlement stats and a list of 8 notable locations as well as a "So what's for sale, anyways"-style entry of the items available in the marketplace. The town features an ex-paladin drunkard knowledgeable about Sahuagin, a brothel hidden behind a fishmonger (imagine the smell - ew!) and information on general villager-dress and mannerisms. The whispers and rumors-section this time around is a bit on the short side, with only 4 entries.
The 2 pages of notable locations offset that, though, going into exquisite details on e.g. the amorous advances of a local trader to a notorious female captain - who might make for a good candidate for a lesbian relationship, which is implied in the subtext via her first mate. Tavenr, chapel and fishmonger/brothel make for more places to check out, as does the local lighthouse.
The final page covers trade, law & order, 4 sample events, stats for fishermen and more information on another interesting local character.
It should be noted that high-res jpegs of the map can be downloaded on Raging Swan's HP, which I suggest you do when using this village.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RSP's 2-column b/w-standard and the cartography is excellent. The pdf is fully and extensively bookmarked and the pdf comes in two versions, one optimized for screen-use and one optimized for the printer.
This village is interesting - in contrast to other installments, White Moon Cove is not interesting due to some cultural peculiarities, but due to something different: Author Marc Radle has crafted a village that is interesting and captivating not via its location or culture - for there's honestly not that much here - but via its inhabitants, via its set-up- and the fact that there's a long-anticipated adventure coming that will perfectly link with this one - Marc Radle's Sunken Pyramid. White Moon Cove may not be the most captivating of villages, but its characters offer a nice web of interactions and potential hooks that will make setting up the village even before Sunken Pyramid. As a fisher village with some nice potential for adventures and further support coming up, I can easily recommend this pdf for its low price at a final verdict of 5 stars.
Endzeitgeist out.
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