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This is a great-looking piece and the image quality is very good. My only complaint is the single-use license. That just makes work for me when it's time to update my product. However, for such a great image, I am willing to put up with it in this case.
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The monkey character really sells it, although the other characters are very handsome. Resolution and clarity are excellent. The licensing is no problem at all for a publisher.
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This is a very solid design, and for the price, it can't be beat. It is a little dark for home printing. Looks great with a bold title and logo. #2, the dragon, is my favorite.
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I found this image visually striking, even though it has fairly simple shading. This is an attractive image in three formats. The reason I can't give it the highest score is because of the line art version. The lines are so thin it is unusable. Unless you are going to color it yourself, plan on using the color or grayscale version.
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The quality of the art is uneven, but with so many portraits, it's hard to fault the selection. My complaints are primarily about the presentation. The graphics are all loaded into a single PDF. The instructions for getting the pictures out are for a professional Adobe product. I tried using copy and paste in Adobe Reader, but the graphics are obscured by decorative rectangular frames and it is impossible. I tried to open the file in LibreOffice, but discovered that inexplicably, the file has password protection. The only way I have been able to get at the pictures is to use a screenshot, or use GIMP to import a JPEG, resulting in lower quality images with an unwanted border graphic. I rate this product poorly because it is almost impossible to use with any of a half dozen programs I have available to me to manipulate PDFs.
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This is an amateurish effort, marred by poor attention to grammar, marginally-relevant computer art (including images by Sade, whose clipart clutters up a good bit of RPGnow's stock art category), clumsy writing (Bjorn are "gentle but ferocious") and slavish imitation of the 4e format. The author seems stuck on stereotypical furry characters. The sample names for characters of the various races are almost hilariously random, pitting Sunstride against nonsense syllables, with little indication why a given name would be appropriate for the race, or more for a male than a female. The book does benefit from a spritely imagination and an evident desire to give people something new and interesting they can use. Sadly, the character concepts suggested by these player races do not overcome the basic quality control issues and inexperienced writing that make this book hard to use for anything other than broad highlights. While I am not well-versed in 4e designs, I did not see any huge problems with the specific game mechanics. Many seemed to lack interest and originality, while others trod heavily on 4e's already thin sense of immersion, like a roar that causes enemies to be all immediately pushed away at their movement speed. Overall, there is just about twice as much book as there is design, and the whole thing does not hold up as well as one might hope.
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The quality of the writing is good. Unfortunately, this is a very small product consisting of one systemless character description. As such, this is about the smallest detectable particle that can be called a gaming product, even less massive than the previously measured "short zine article" format. I object to such products cluttering up the product menu.
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This is actually a cute and useful little game in a very compact form. I can't wholeheartedly endorse it over other options, considering the lack of campaign support, but you should definitely check it out if you are a fan of d20-style fantasy RPGs. It includes three core classes, point-based magic, and a number of monsters drawn from the computer game on which it is based.
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The new system reads and plays well. You don't need any supplements to play a classic supernatural thriller game, although I recommend you check out the new game line. The resolution system, while abstract, is versatile and contains a level of mathematical sanity not present in the previous versions of the game system.
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These are classes I would have liked to see in the core book, but for space considerations. The Martial Artist, Monk, and Deadeye are all great for players looking for an agile boxer, a miraculous hero, or a deadly shootist.
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While I don't think Crafty Games quite hit their stride with this one, it's a solid bet that you'll find at least one of the classes compelling. At the price, you should say yes if you have the money and if like Fantasy Craft. The Gallant is a solid interpretation of the archetypal dashing warrior, if a little heavy in its area of expertise, personal combat. The Infernalist is flavorful and offers a few tricks not available to your everday Mage. The Monster Slayer is rock solid, my only complaint being that it works best for a character who carries a shield.
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While nothing that will knock your socks off with surprises, the Deadeye is a solid and useful design which will appear to certain types of player. The Deadeye vastly expands the viability of the archer or gunslinger. Several black powder weapon feats are included.
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Compared to the Soldier, the Martial Artist is an explosion. In addition to supporting concepts built around unarmed combat, whether wandering monks or terrifying taloned and fanged warriors, the Martial Artist establishes a solid party role with a strong offense and heavy use of attack tricks. The Martial Artist is a super choice for such characters, while not outperforming the Soldier in its niche, just as it should be.
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Crafty Games has nailed it with this one. The monk naturally serves as an excellent interpretation of the AD&D style monk, and builds naturally onto the Martial Artist base class. However, it also offers a number of options to diversify the archetype, based on the Vow chosen, and need not be strictly reserved for fist-and-foot chop socky heroes. The Vow mechanic was a brilliant move, a way of tying in their abilities to an austere way of life, while not overly punishing players for acting in reasonable ways. The Monk also expands the Path concept somewhat, offering a new way to gain Paths and showing off some more possibilities for abilities.
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The Gallant is a solid archetype and this class supports it well. The Gallant blends style and melee. Many of the abilities focus on personal combat with special characters (villains and such). Compared to the Edgemaster, which blends style and combat very effectively, this class seems a little heavy, more like a combat monster with a few Courtier abilities thrown in. Even compared to the Soldier's upper level abilities, the Gallant gives me some pause. Particularly, I am not sure how well a Musketeers themed game would play out if multiple players chose the Gallant; would I continue to assign NPCs tricks (free XP!) or ruthlessly excise meaningless abilities (Take that! Your class abilities have been rendered useless)? Still, it's a fun class that, like so many other Crafty designs, actively encourages players to do the things appropriate for their archetype, in this case, squaring off against formidable foes and shaking down old friends for special favors.
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