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Metablades Expanded Edition
Publisher: Genjitsu Gaming
by Nathan O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/15/2007 15:49:22

Fair warning: I found this book to geared far to much towards psionic characters and very little I would use for my own non-psionic characters. That said I am attempting to review it fairly in spite of my bias.

In terms of value this is a nice sized pdf with a lot to offer a psionic character and still some usage for other characters. It is 62 pages long in landscape, and uses a reasonable font size.

The feats seem reasonable at a glance and range from sacrificing spell slots to gain a bonus in combat, to psionic enhancements and more. There may be a few issues with balance that come up in play, but I would not hesitate to allow a player I'm dming for to pick from this pdf.

The next section is styles. Styles are essentially a free reward for characters that meet the prerequisites. They don't cost anything and are not limited in usage. These become quite powerful including abilities that allow mirror images to make actual attacks (nonlethal damage) and threaten squares, or allow an unarmed strike free ghost touch. However the prerequisites are all steep enough that the benefits will come late enough to potentially be acceptable. Characters that are already underpowered due to multiclassing will benefit from these styles, but ones that are not underpowered may be getting an unfair advantage.

After styles we are presented with prestige classes. As I don't have much experience with Psionics I won't review them, but to put it in perspective there are 7 psionic classes and only 3 wizard classes. Add in that one of the psionic classes is actually a mundane class with psionic focus tacked on as a requirement (Lord General). Two other classes have no actual basis in either mind or magic. (shadow knight, stormrider) This means that the book touted as for warriors of mind and magic only has 3 classes out of 12 dealing with magic.

The arcane classes aren't particularly well put together in general. The 5 level fortress mage gives up 3 casters levels to get 10 chances to cast shield, mage armour, protection from arrows, and stoneskin without using a spell slot. The character also gains some small DRs and a good fort save. Martial Adept is reasonable. Shadow armourer is a 10 level prestige class with a d4 HD and poor bab. It grants 3 caster levels and good fort and will. For this large sacrifice the character gains armour that is generally inferior to mage armour. The most interesting arcane class is one for monk multiclassers. Transcendent invoker is 5 levels and gives the character monklike abilities relating to spellcasting, such as flurry of spells which allows the character to cast 2 touch attack spells per round. These abilities are balanced by the heavy caster level sacrifice such a character must accept. (5 levels minimum before getting flurry).

The balance swings the opposite direction in the next section with 20 sor/wiz spells, but only 16 powers. The spells are interesting and seem reasonable at a glance. I believe some of them made it to a best of compilation.

The equipment section is hit or miss in its values. I would not allow sale or creation of these items without a price analysis. One the plus side a number of these ideas are not regurgitations of what is already in the SRD.

Appendix one is filled with epic extensions for the content found already in this book. Most of this is straightforward, and is a nice plus for me. The book finishes with a few pages of pregenerated characters that are a boon to any DM in a time crunch.

It is apparent that to me this book ranks fairly low in utility compared to what I expected. Setting that aside I find that there are some significant mechanics issues but due to the mass of ideas that are still usable this book should be considered middle of the road. I'm giving it 3 stars, assuming that it will be bought for its psionic content primarily.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Metablades Expanded Edition
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MonkeyGod Presents: From Stone to Steel
Publisher: Highmoon Press
by Nathan O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/15/2007 14:21:52

Few PDFs I own elicit a wow reaction whenever a player sees it. This is one of those. The amount of research that went into this project has created a toolkit to allow DM's to represent a culture with rules that match. The weapons are broad and present sufficient flavour that mechanics are no longer the only issue for weapons and armour. The icing on this cake is that Stone to Steel finishes with a set of master tables allowing easy lookup and comparison of different items. Every gaming group should have access to this book!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
MonkeyGod Presents: From Stone to Steel
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Athenaeum Arcane: Magic Items of the Senses
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Nathan O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/11/2005 00:00:00

At 1.75 and 12 items it comes out to around 15 cents an item. Not a bad price, but not a tremendous discount. Huge print and borders. Very little writing on the page. Most of the items are very similar to standard items, but reduced in power. The lens of darkvision is basically goggles of night for 1/6th the price, and penalties to use to make up for it. The penalty however is only when you stop wearing them you have to wait a few seconds for your eyes to adjust. Not worth dropping the price to one sixth. At best this restriction is worth perhaps 25% off, and that is with a generous DM. Next we have an unpriced item for cultural reasons. The prices aren't there for sales however, they are there for the crafting of said items. There is no reason for anything to be unpriced. There is an interesting item that allows you to see what a friend sees when wearing the same item. It's a nice effect, but it seems a little underpriced. The item that gives you scent item is interesting and seems somewhat overpriced at 25000. This is further borne out by another item that grants scent in a different way, but for only 60% of the price (15000). The pricing confusion continues with tremorsense for 45000 gp which seems considerably overpriced. Immediately following that is a skill boost item which follows the exact formulaes for said items. The second last item is one that allows the player to "preview" the next round. At 75000 and a once a day use I wouldn't have a problem with this. However there is no stated limitation of uses and it implies that it can be used every round. With the varied prices and overlapping items it would seem like several authors contributed without checking with each other. However only one author is listed, so I have no idea why it varies so widely. In a product like this, the question is does your $1.75 save you any time? For me no.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Some good fluff text.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Erratic pricing. Items that do the same thing as others. Poor mechanics. Incredibly huge borders. (prolly actually only 3 pages of items at most)<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Athenaeum Arcane: Magic Items of the Senses
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Synergy Artifacts
Publisher: The Le Games
by Nathan O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/24/2005 00:00:00

I bought this book expecting some guidelines and balanced items. Unfortunately that is not what the designers intended. The items in the pdf range from cool to inane, and the values are frequently way off what would be expected. If you are just looking for a few funny items this may have what you want, however I was mostly disatisfied and would not have bought this pdf had I known the contents.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: A couple interesting items.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Poor pricing. Items designed for humour. Items not thought through at all.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Poor<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Ripped Off<br>



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Synergy Artifacts
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Creator Reply:
I am very sorry you did not like this book. It is too bad, as it has gotten many good reviews from reputable reviewers. The 15 page free demo details several artifacts and clearly shows what the book is about, and I am very sorry you did not view it before hand. I encourage anyone who is interested in this book to check out the free demo first. As for "balance", please note that the items are very powerful when put together fully, and aren't really meant to be done so. Artifacts are extremely powerful and can be game balancing, hence they are Artifacts. There is a reason that entire campaigns are built around them. My artifacts were built with this in mind, and scales up as the owner grows in levels. That is the entire basis of the book. Synergy Artifacts is a serious book for serious gamers. There is alot in there for people to like, and is has been our best seller. For you others who are reading this, take a look at the demo and I think you will see that it will be worth your time!
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WorldWorksGames / CaveWorks
Publisher: WorldWorks Games
by Nathan O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/24/2005 00:00:00

What I managed to do before my printer died was very good. The instructions are easy to follow and should be followed, as the designers really do know what they are doing. After we get the new printer I'll be able to go crazy. :)<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Good instructions, high detail, solid designs.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some are missing reverse sides.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
WorldWorksGames / CaveWorks
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Dweomercraft: Familiars
Publisher: Dark Quest Games
by Nathan O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/13/2004 00:00:00

This book is very well put together and I heartily recommend it. That said here is my review. The book is primarily filled with a massive listing of normal creatures you would expect to be familiars. It also has constructs, undead, and even oozes. All of this is great. The only drawbacks here are that the standard familiars are not fleshed out in extra detail, certain exotic familiars are absent, and that all the special familiars require an extra feat. After dealing with the nitty gritty it moves on to ways to improve familiars. There is a prestige class that is fairly interesting and a good number of useful spells. There is also a section on giving familiars levels. The prestige class is unfortunately a little underdeveloped. I think that several 5 level PrC's would do a much better job of enhancing familiars. The spells are mostly nice and good. The options for giving familiars class levels is one that I have considered before and dismissed. They simply aren't familiars anymore. I would love to see more on familiars from the author. A larger book with more details on more creatures. A section on fantasy familiars would also fit quite well. However for the price I purchased at ($5 on sale) what I got was quite simply a bargain.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Dweomercraft: Familiars
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Necromancer's Legacy - Gar'Udok's Necromantic Artes
Publisher: EN Publishing
by Nathan O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/20/2004 00:00:00

This book has some very good material, however the overall theming is entirely too strong. A little less about Gar'Udok and more generic info would greatly help. Still if it's on sale it is a good buy. Just don't expect much except a fan book of one character.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Necromancer's Legacy - Gar'Udok's Necromantic Artes
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**removed**
Publisher: EN Publishing
by Nathan O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/20/2004 00:00:00

Worth it just for 2 spells. Haven't even read the rest yet.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
**removed**
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Feats Volume I
Publisher: Silverthorne Games
by Nathan O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/20/2004 00:00:00

READ the warning on the page. These feats were originally designed for specific races. In that role they are likely good, but they have not been sufficiently removed from that setting. There are countless vestigial references in this pdf to a race or ability found only in that setting. Many of these abilities/races are still inherent to the races. There are also a couple of feat (Cantrip) which are missing some major writing. When something is standard in a campaign, that does not make it standard d20. There are still a few gems, but overall it will be rarely glanced at.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Feats Volume I
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Book of Templates - Deluxe Edition
Publisher: Silverthorne Games
by Nathan O. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/20/2004 00:00:00

Some good feats, some not so good. Particular favorites are the Apocolyptic and Hypermitotic. Definitely a decent buy. The only real problem is that there are very few CR5 templates but plenty of 1-3 and a few 10+.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Book of Templates - Deluxe Edition
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