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An Endzeitgeist.com review
This pdf is 4 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving us with two pages of new content for goblins, so let's take a look!
We get 4 new traits, one that grants a bonus to saves to avoid becoming fascinated, one that makes you immune to stench,+2 to enchantment-saves and +1 to atk when seeing/hearing a hobgoblin, bugbear or barghest. Goblins may also replace their skilled racial trait with the option to ignore the penalty to atk incurred by being shaken and instead gaining a +2 bonus to weapon damage while shaken. Alternatively, the goblins may reduce the improvised weapon penalty to -2 and gain a +2 damage bonus when using improvised weapons.
The pdf also provides 6 new feats for goblins:
-Big Fire: Torches you wield deal int-mod fire damage.
-Combat Buffoonery: Use tangle feet versus creatures of your size as well and use Perform (Buffoonery) when using through an opponent's threatened square to calculate the Tangle Feet-DC. Nice one to expand the basic feat.
-Foolhardy Fighting: Ignore the Int-requirement for a variety of feats and substitute Perform (Buffoonery) ranks for your CMB. Cool feat!
-Freak-Out: Reroll an AoO you missed, but lose dex-bonus to AC for the round in which you chose to do so.
-Inexplicable Survivor: Fall prone as an immediate action. If you do, you get +2 to AC versus the next melee attack and the usual penalties associated with the prone condition do not apply versus that attack.
-Splashing Embers: Makes your thrown torches deal splash damage and has synergy with the Burn! Burn! Burn!-feat.
The new archetype for the goblin rogue contained herein, is, unsurprisingly given the goblin-predisposition towards pyromania, the Firebug - this archetype needs a flint wedge in a free hand to deal sneak attack damage - and the sneak is fire damage. They also get a bonus to craft (alchemy) and fire resistance equal to half their level instead of trapfinding and they may also increase the DC of their minor and major magic rogue talents if the spell-like abilities have the fire descriptor. Nice little archetype!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, 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.
Goblins get some nice toys in this installment, especially those of a particularly pyromaniac disposition - between archetypes and feats, igniting things has seldom been so much fun -especially the feats ooze goblin flavor and will definitely see some use in my campaign. The content herein is overall solid, feels well-balanced (though the torch-feats could e considered somewhat weak) and should provide some nice tools for our big-headed green menaces. While aforementioned torch-feats feel a bit weak to me, I still feel justified in rating this nice collection of racial options 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 for the purpose of this platform.
Endzeitgeist out.
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The fourth genius guide detailing spell variants is 14 pages long, 2/3 of a page front cover, 1 page editorial/SRD, leaving us with 12 1/3 pages of content, so let's take a look!
The pdf kicks off with a list of spell variants by classes that also gives us the necessary pieces of information to run these variants and properly use them and from the get-go one has to notice two great innovations I wholeheartedly applaud: Number 1 would be that the respective spell variants are numbered so reviewers like yours truly don't have to do all the counting. ;) More relevant for you, though, would be the fact that there are quite a few spell variants that are exclusive to certain classes - whether to witches, summoners, alchemists or inquisitors -only sorcerors and wizards and clerics and oracles share the same spell variants. Why is this a good thing? Because it serves to distinguish the different classes more from one another, making them vastly more distinct and resulting in a less exchangeable gaming experience - so kudos for that! I hope to see this trend continue in future releases!
That out of the way, the spell variants often as a consequence feature a more restrictive availability than their base spells that has to be fractured into balance concerns and which I'd wholeheartedly recommend you to adhere to. Better yet, the tighter focus on classes allows for the spell variants to work in unusual ways - take for example adapt: As a ranger's variant of the jump-spell - it applies to acrobatics, swim and climb-checks, but only in favored terrains. I really, really love this interaction between magic and class abilities and it adds a whole level of coolness to this pdf-collection. But not only are some of the spells directly referring class abilities for cool snyergy-effects, we also get spells that are modified towards specific abilities: Take e.g. the Antijuju Field, which works like a basic antimagic field, but only for hexes and hag magic - accessible exclusively to the witch and inquisitor classes.
Beyond that, there also are spells in here that may be considered much more interesting in their imagery than their base spells - take Brass flask, which allows you to counter spells as per dispel magic and bottle them up for a limited time in a brass flask to unleash the countered spell on your foes. There are also some interesting modifications like Celestial Hunter, a variant of sanctify armor that works exclusively while in wildshape and even a spell that lets you highjack control over artificially-created demiplanes. On the funny side, there's a gender-swapping spell in here and gaining evolution points in addition to the rage-spell's benefits is something the arcane casters will surely appreciate.
That being said, not all of the spell variants hit the nail on the head and suffer from the format/their implications. Take the Youth-spell, which is a variant of raise dead and removes 1d6 years, allowing the recipient to cheat death- indefinitely, in theory. For a total of 7K gold once every few years, you can now stay young forever! WHAT? Introducing this spell would mean that just about ANY good adventurer of a significant level could postpone death, never mind the mayors/nobles of empires and cities - introducing this spell to a campaign would result in a vast array of godkings walking the earth. NEVER gonna happen in my game. A second variant with which I have a bone to pick would be detect murder - a variant of detect magic that shows whether a target has been killed with malign intent. The thing is - what qualifies as "malign intent"? Is loosening a brick in an archway that subsequently kills Lord British malign intent or just an accident? Where does the term begin, where does it end? What if you bake a bread from rat poison and put it somewhere where anybody could eat it - and someone dies, though you intended to use it to kill those pesky pugwampis plaguing the kitchen? Does that qualify as malign intent?
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, though I noticed a couple of instances of minor glitches, like "Scorching ray" not being italicized on page 9 or non-core-rulebook spells sometimes mentioning their origin books and sometimes not. Nothing gamebreaking or truly hindering, though. Layout adheres to SGG's 3-column full color landscape standard and the artworks are neat indeed. The pdf comes without bookmarks, which is a major bummer comfort-wise and makes finding the respective variants a tad bit harder than usual. While navigating this pdf, I also found a recent trend in pdfs would have vastly added to this pdf's comfort - if the spell variants were hyperlinked to their respective d20pfsrd-basics, this pdf would be infinitely more accessible and require less book swapping.
That being said, this is still complaining at a high level, for many of the spells herein actually do very interesting things and the class-specifics/mechanics-interactions make these variants more intriguing than many full-blown spells I've read over the years. While not all of the spellls rock, the majority of them do and while some base spells don't rank among my favorites, I won't hold that against the rather neatly crafted majority of variants herein. In the end, I would have swallowed the two problematic variants and still granted this my full-blown recommendation, were it not for the combination of slightly-above SGG-level glitches and the lack of bookmarks and hyperlinks. Thus, I'll omit my seal of approval and 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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This installment of RSP's Dressing-line is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page advertisement, 2 pages editorial, 1 page ToC/foreword, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 6 pages of content, so let's take a look!
After getting an installment detailing market stalls, we now take a look at the beings (and to a lesser degree, areas) where the goods are sold: A massive table with 100 entries spanning two tables mentions a multitude of different details, from eerie, blue glowing moss at an adjacent building, free drinks in the bar for purchases to different doors for different sizes of customers, the pdf offers a nice table of peculiarities.
After that, we get a list of 100 proficiencies/goods to sell, ranging from medicine and spices to mercenary services and linen-drapers. Of course, this is not about goods exclusively, and we also get tables for traders - a simple system with a table to determine gender, two tables à 20 entries for male and female names, a 5-entry table for determining common races and a 20-entry-table featuring uncommon races. We also get a 20-entry table featuring uncommon characteristics like large bellies, overbites etc. and 20 mannerisms to complement them. 20 simple rumors about the trader can spawn adventures or serve as red herrings and 15 different purposes for being in the shop (based on a d%-throw) round out this installment of the Dressing-line.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to RSP's 2-column b/w-standard and the b/w-artwork interspersed is nice. The pdf comes in two versions, one optimized for screen-use and one to be printed out. The pdf is fully bookmarked.
This installment of the Dressing-line is problematic at best due to a simple decision: This is the wrong format to depict traders. While we wouldn't necessarily need statblocks, the 2 pages devoted to shops take too much of the page-count to make this viable. As soon as you use different nomenclatures for different races (who doesn't???), the two tables of sample names turn all but useless and I have to turn to the name-generator-pdfs by Raging Swan or come up with my own names. The result being more mostly useless content.
Don't get me wrong, the characteristics of the shops are nice, but they SHOULD be their own product - as provided, they remain a bit sketchy and might yield weird results when combined with market stalls - and more importantly have nothing to do with traders and craftsmen.
Which leaves us with not much - 100 jobs, 20 mannerisms and 20 characteristics, about 1.5 pages, are simply not enough and don't do what this pdf sets out to do - provide you with a fluff-generator for traders and craftsmen. We don't get nearly enough peculiarities, no haggling-behavior at all, no distinguishing entries on personality (like "Takes 2x as long to craft item x, doesn't provide z" etc.) and no security measures - whether one takes this as a generator for shops or as one for tradesmen, the pdf fails either way, trying to be both and ultimately failing to be useful as either. Since usefulness make up about 90% of what I can judge regarding these Dressing-pdfs and since I can see NO USE at all for this one, my final verdict will be 1 star.
Endzeitgeist out.
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The third installment of Michael McCarthy's Saatman's Empire adventure-arc is 66 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 2 pages ToC, 1 page advertisement, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 60 pages of content - the longest module of the arc so far, 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? So far, the PCs have foiled two of the incursions of dragons into the territory of the Klavek Empire - first by ending Midwinter's cold snap in A16, then by vanquishing titanic Storm and thus ending the sabotage of naval trade. By now, the PCs will probably have realized that there's something brewing, that some force engineers the draconic problems. Said force is the self-proclaimed heir to Saatman's Empire and the goal is nothing but the utter destruction of the Klavek kingdom to recreate the draconic empire of old. One of the most central figures in this plot would be Incandium.
Incandium is essentially one of the key-players in Saatman's gambit and when a dragon challenges the PCs in public to meet with Incandium and the Half-dragon (with membraneless wings of fire) offers them the choice to surrender or die. Not sure whether I like the angle where he comes personally, though: I'll probably just send an illusion or something to ensure he doesn't get killed off. Going alone off to kill the PCs when he has a neat array of allies/servants and a great fortress seems like a stupid move to me.
Now, Incandium's base is no push-over: A volcano studded with tunnels at different heights: And the adversaries found will show that Incandium knows no mercy, not even for his brothers and sisters: The former now guard low levels of the tunnels and as minor dragons, still are challenging, though twisted by his experimentation. The latter await, at his command, other dragons to breed with - such is Incandium's decree. But in order to even access this part of the volcano, the PCs will have to defeat a sliding block-puzzle - or bypass the puzzle via being nimble enough. Nice to see a puzzle! Another set of caverns contains a clan of harpies as well as the bones of Incandium's mother, whom he slew due to his less than nice childhood.
The third set of caverns hosts Incandium's kobolds and features an interesting feature: Traps. Too many of them - so many in fact, that they partially cannot be disarmed anymore and require those foolhardy or brave enough to walk them to weather the storm of assaults. Also, Incandium's elite kobolds are nothing if not deadly, even without the extreme heat of the volcano. At the lip of the volcano, elemental guardians await and in the depths of the caves, hidden in the maze of tunnels and chapters, two suites of chambers might make for good locales to have Incandium make his final stand (for the module prescribes no location and assumes he perishes in the first encounter) - his set of private chambers (which includes the draconic father of fire, an elemental prince) and his lab includes more pieces of information to unearth his weird experimentations - and we get an extremely cool puzzle that has the players assemble a pyramid-shaped key that comes as a player's handout with graphical representation. Damn cool!
Finally, by piecing together clues, groveling before the elemental lord or sheer chance, the PCs may find the true secret of the volcano: A temporal anomaly, currently in the process of being studied by no other than the blue dragon Saatman himself! After some bartering, he sends his elite mages of the Serpent Sanguis-cult at them and teleports away - his plans for harnessing the temporal anomaly to hasten the aging of dragons and create an army of old wyrms to squash the Klavekian Empire being sabotaged - but Saatman is far from finished!
The module also includes a write-up for a new spell, redirect teleport, a new magical item, 3 alchemical items, a write-up of a new deity, of the elemental lord (and gaining his favor or curse) as well as a short write-up (fluff-only, no organization stats/PrCs) of the Serpent Sanguis-cult.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch - I didn't notice any glitches this time around. Layout adheres to AaW's 2-column standard and the respective rules for skill-checks, puzzles etc. are now set before scrolls - nice to look at. In contrast to A18, no semi-transparent dragon in the background of the pages this time around. Personally, I prefer the scrolls to A18's layout. The cartography (including hand-outs for the 2 puzzles) thankfully once again comes with player-friendly versions of the maps - especially the puzzles getting two thumbs up from me! The pdf is fully bookmarked with extensive nested bookmarks. Proof that AaW listens to their customers -the combat-index is no separated by system, meaning that you have all 3.5 and all PFRPG-stats conveniently in one place.
Incandium's Eruption is longer than its predecessors and it shows: Where A16 and A18 suffered from what feels like cut-downs and a lack of space to develop their awesome locations, this one does the job - from intense heat, to caves laden with opium-fumes, there are quite a lot of hazards, environmental issues to complicate things and iconic locales. The breaking of formulaic structures where the boss is not waiting at the end is also an interesting decision. Add to that the neat puzzles and cool background story as well as inner-dungeon dynamics and we have by far the best installment of the campaign arc. In fact,with the combat index fixed in this revised edition, the new A19 is a simply stellar, offering with cool puzzles, challenging encounters and all the rest you want to see. Author Michael McCarthy can do it, after all and I'm looking forward to reading the finale, hopefully full of neat environmental hazards and iconic locales as well! My final verdict for this revised edition will thus be 5 stars + seal of approval.
Endzeitgeist out.
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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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