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Vigilance Force is a resource for Golden Age / World War II superheroic roleplaying providing groundwork for, and the core of, the US superteam. It is a great resource for a WW2 campaign or to flesh out the background of a modern superheroic game.
Amazing Stories of World War II: Vigilance Force is a 19-page PDF (16-pages after you remove the cover and OGL pages) for the Mutants & Masterminds (3rd Edition) RPG written by Charles Rice, Mike Lafferty and Leon Chang and published by RPGObjects. This is part of RPGObjects’ Amazing Stories of World War II line.
Vigilance Force has mostly a traditional two columns layout and is fairly easily readable. The art consist of a beautiful full color cover with color interior pieces illustrating five of the characters and a marvelous full page piece showing all of the Vigilance Force.
Vigilance Force is the American Superteam that operated during the Second World War (in the Amazing Stories universe). It starts with an introduction, which details the formation of the Vigilance Force as well as giving some light world background, and then moves onto the eight members of the team who range from PL 10 to 12, making most of them suitable for use as starting characters.
The characters are an interesting mix, some super-science characters, some mutants, a pulp crime fighter. All are interesting characters but the background information provided on each is highly variable with the exception of poor Captain Miracle, the team’s gadgeteer, who is lacking any information beyond his statblock.
An adventure seed, “the atrocity incident,” which was also the trigger event which created two of the heroes (Hornet and Marauder) and a group of monsters, stats for which are provided.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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Pearl Harbor December is a resource for Golden Age / World War II superheroic roleplaying giving the GM access to the Imperial Japanese Superteam with which to bedevil allied heroes.
Amazing Stories of World War II: Pearl Harbor December is a 12-page PDF (9-pages after you remove the cover and OGL pages) for the Mutants & Masterminds (3rd Edition) RPG written by Charles Rice, Mike Lafferty and Leon Chang and published by RPGObjects. This is issue 3 of RPGObjects’ Amazing Stories of World War II line.
Pearl Harbor December has mostly a traditional two columns layout and is fairly easily readable. The art is full color cover with a few color interior pieces illustrating five of the seven characters detailed.
Pearl Harbor December is the Imperial Japanese Superteam that operated during the Second World War (in the Amazing Stories universe). It is given a brief introduction and then moves onto the six members of the group who range from PL 10 to 13 and one group of beings (“Savage Men”) that share a set of powers.
The characters are an interesting mix, a few mutants, one power suit wearer and several mystical characters. They all seem interesting but we are only given a minimal description beyond their statblocks, two paragraphs at most.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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This product’s tag line of “never cast the same spell twice!” is entirely accurate, 1001 Spells is a source for new spells that should outlive any campaign. It provides a wide selection of interesting and dangerous spells for all casting time. If you think can never have enough new spells, this product seeks to prove you wrong.
1001 Spells is a 291-page PDF (287-pages if you remove the cover, OGL page and ads) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Steven D. Russell and published by Rite Publishing. A HeroLab file for the spells for use with that character building program is also included.
1001 Spells has a traditional two columns layout and is easily readable, though done in a tight font. The art is full color cover with a variety of interior pieces in black and white tied to various spells.
1001 Spells contains what it says on the label, many, many new spells. It leaps right into the spell lists for the core spell casting classes without preamble and then to the spells themselves and ending with two appendices covering spell lists for the Advanced Player’s Guide classes and the Magus from Ultimate Magic.
The spells are roughly evenly divided among the ten levels of spells (from 0 to 9th) providing a wide range of options, though -as usual for fantasy game magic- they are weighted toward combat spells. Curses, charms, explosions, all are catered to. Fans of illusions will not be disappointed either. Many clever implementations of various ideas are included among the various spells. A little more color description of some of the spell effects might have been nice but I understand that the product is long enough as it is.
Ironically, it is the very mass of spells here that makes this product troublesome. There is no way to sort them beside the spell lists, which do help especially for wizard’s schools of magic, but some thematic lists (fire spells, good aligned spells, undead affecting and such) would have made it a bit easier to pull thematic spells for a villain or tome. But when the major problem with your product is too much of a useful resource, overall you are good.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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Fursona contains a considerable number of useful tools and discussion for creating anthropomorphic characters and using them in a campaign world but it seems unpolished. Considerably more effort could have been used explaining the racial traits and disadvantages as well as discussing how to build a balanced and interesting races from the options available. If you wish to include anthropormphic races in your campaign, this is a good reference but it is only a starting point.
Fursona: the Definitive Guide to Creating Anthropomorphic Characters is a 106-page PDF (104-pages if you remove the cover and OGL page) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Chris A. Fields and published by Otherverse Games.
Fursona has mostly a traditional two columns layout and is easily readable, though the tables are in an odd fonts. The art is full color cover and a mix of color and black and white interior pieces in a wide range of styles. Informative sidebars are scattered through the pages but it sadly lacks either an index or table of contents.
Fursona begins “Why Be Human?” a brief discussion about why use anthropomorphs in games -noting that they already show up in the form of gnolls and other animal-shaped races- and give some sources of inspiration (such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Thundercats).
The idea behind the system presented here for creating anthropomorphic races is very clever, first you choose the Order (species, animal) from among 33 choices ranging from arachnids to orcas, tigers to bears, and includes fantastical one such as dragons and Lovecraftian squamous beings. Each order has its own set of abilities and, sometimes, unique penalties. Some of these seem quite powerful (one give +6 to Strength with two -2 penalties to other stats for example) and should be looked at closely.
Then you can choose racial traits, an anthropomorph starts with 4 points to buy such and can get more from disadvantages, trait come in major (3 or 4 cost) and minor types (1 or 2 points). Which would not seems too unbalancing except that each Order has a handful of favored abilities, major abilities that cost -2 points for that order which allows for some quite powerful builds.
However, several of the disadvantages used to get more points simply makes a character unplayable in some situations (such as Waterbound, where the character must immerse themselves in saltwater every few hours or start to die) with no real rhyme nor reason to them. Which is a shame as several disadvantages are quite interesting and have good roleplaying potential while others just cripple a character.
Twenty-one templates -many of which include a Level Adjustment which is not used in Pathfinder and is an artifact of 3.x- allow for further customization by playing to different origins (genetically created anthro-soldier, free familiar, god-cursed) or made of different stuff (stone, clockwork, living cartoons). Working in those with Level Adjustment could prove to be challenging however. Many of these are good to review simply for way to explain the existence of such creatures in a campaign.
The product concludes with advice on fitting athropomorphics into your campaign which provides a variety of ways and campaign frame to do so. This section also includes a handful of spells and magic items, a sorcerer bloodline and new diseases as well as rule for neanderthals.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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King Babylon, possessed of nearly godlike powers and a notable lack of self-control is the kind of villain you do not want to have to tangle with but he is just too dangerous to ignore. A useful character to use as a reoccurring threat and plot device.
Threat Report: King Babylon is a 4-page PDF (2-pages if you remove the cover letter and OGL page) for the Mutants & Masterminds (3rd Edition) RPG written by Aaron Sullivan and published by Green Ronin Publishing. This is issue 6 of Green Ronin’s Threat Report line for M&M (3rd).
After a cover letter from the governmental organization AEGIS, which may serve as a useful prop for a game, the layout is primary traditional two columns and the easily readable. The only art is a full color illustration of the King Babylon himself (partly reproduced as a black and white photo attached to the cover letter). Additionally, a HeroLab file for King Babylon is included.
King Babylon is a completely statted PL 13 character. He is an interesting character, vastly powerful and difficult to defeat but lacking in foresight and dangerously self absorbed. King Babylon can challenge a group of heroes because of his raw power but is in not much of a thinker and his planning, unless working with others, will be rudimentary. He also holds grudges, so he may be a good choice for a villain to throw in when nothing else is planned for just a good fight.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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True Halflings is a resource for an alternate type of halflings, one perhaps more true to their original literary roots. If more humble and homebody sort of halflings are welcome in your campaign, this is the supplement for you.
True Halflings is a 12-page PDF (10-pages if you remove the cover and OGL page) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Chris A. Fields and published by Otherverse Games.
True Halflings has mostly a traditional two columns layout and is easily readable, though one of the tables is in an odd font. The art is full color cover and a several color interior pieces.
True Halflings is about the other halflings, the original halflings, yes, the hobbits (though that terms is never used). Those stay at home, sturdy farmers who do not really like to adventure but when they do, they are brave and loyal companions.
The True Halflings are detailed as a full Pathfinder race with a brief sketch of their society, full rules including racial traits (and how they map to standard Pathfinder halfling traits), alternate racial traits and new talents. These play to the idea of True Halflings as homebodies trust into adventuring where they bear up with good grace and some are quite clever. The Untapped Potential ability is an excellent way to represent an adaptable hero.
To finish off fleshing out the True Halflings are three example settlements dominated by them (with settlement rules that tie into another Otherverse game product).
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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Justice City is a setting for a superheroic world with recent emergent superheroes. It provides a useful, if general, backdrop for a campaign or just for a place to visit.
Justice City: A Superhero Setting Book and Campaign Installment is a 32-page PDF (27-pages if you remove the cover, OGL pages and ad) for the Mutants & Masterminds (3rd Edition) RPG written by Ethan Parker and published by Gamer’s Haven Publishing. This is part of the Gamer’s Haven Superpowered Superhero Roleplaying line.
Justice City has mostly a traditional two columns layout and is easily readable, except for some occasions where the two columns almost overlap. The art is full color photos and maps of Vancouver/Justice City. A collection of short stats blocks for the characters mentioned is included at the end.
Justice City is Vancouver, BC, after superheroes emerged into the world (very recently) and the city was renamed in their honor, as was briefly popular to do so in this setting. It is essentially a guide to the city and its areas with a pair of interesting non-player characters for each one (all of whom are given short stat blocks at the end). While a few companies and criminal groups are mentioned in character descriptions, neither are elaborated in the main text.
While it is a useful reference to Justice City/Vancouver, it could have been made much more useful by having some corporation, criminal syndicates and adventure seeds. A much more minor problem is that a few of the stat blocks are unfinished, with statuses unfilled and specialties unnoted.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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Doctor Shock, once a brilliant medical doctor, now an even more brilliant supervillain. A steel age sort of character, willing to kill for his goals, which is to study how superpower work and as such he has a reputation as a cape killer. Perhaps not a character that will fit in all campaigns, but an interesting one.
Threat Report: Doctor Shock is a 4-page PDF (2-pages if you remove the cover letter and OGL page) for the Mutants & Masterminds (3rd Edition) RPG written by Aaron Sullivan and published by Green Ronin Publishing. This is issue 3 of Green Ronin’s Threat Report line for M&M (3rd).
After a prop cover letter from AEGIS, which may serve as a useful introduction to the villain, the layout is primary traditional two columns and the easily readable. The only art is a full color illustration of the Doctor Shock himself. Additional a HeroLab file for Doctor Shock is also included.
Doctor Shock is a well developed PL 11 character with a complete agenda: having temporally (he believes) cured the paranormal abilities that were killing him, he has snapped and become a hunter of superhumans. Those he captures . . . tend not to survive the experience as the “good” Doctor studies, experiments on and, often, vivisects them. It is a rather dark character and could leave a considerable body count before he is stopped, so he should be used with caution. Three scenario seeds are provided for Doctor Shock, one of which holds out hope for his redemption
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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Cerebrus Rex, saurian mastermind from an alternate dimension ruled by the descendants of dinosaurs, seeks to conquer our world as a new home for his people. If a dinosaurian mastermind with robotic minions seeking to oppress a world of “ape primitives” has a place in your campaign, look no further.
Threat Report: Cerebrus Rex is a 5-page PDF (3-pages if you remove the cover letter and OGL page) for the Mutants & Masterminds (3rd Edition) RPG written by Stephen Kenson and published by Green Ronin Publishing. This is issue 15 of Green Ronin’s Threat Report line for M&M (3rd).
After a prop cover letter from AEGIS, possibly useful for setting a scene, the layout is primary traditional two columns and the easily readable. The only art is a full color illustration of the Cerebrus Rex himself. Additional a HeroLab file for Cerebrus Rex, and two of his minions, is also included.
Cerebrus Rex is a fully developed PL 12 character with a complete agenda for conquest, one of the few survivors of a world ruled by saurians, he seeks to claim Earth as a new home. Three plot hooks are included ranging from basic thefts to end of the (human) world.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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A nice little product for providing a shop when needed. The cartography is excellent and it is a solid, if limited, product.
Village Snooper: Silversmith Shop is a single page PDF for any fantasy setting written by Dave L. Woodrum Jr. and published by Fishwife Games. This is part of Fishwife Game’s Village Snooper series.
The layout is simple, the upper half is a map of the silversmith shop, two floors, in color and with a grid (five foot per square) and key. While the lower part contains a brief description of each of the areas of the shop.
While I like the product’s brief and idea, something to put into a file for when it is needed. I think it would be helped by an additional page of character and product suggestions and adventure ideas to spur creativity.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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NeoExodus is a fascinating and radical departure from the standard quasi-medieval fantasy setting. If you want a different sort of campaign world, this will fulfil that need. Equally, it is a great resource if you want to add some exotic and unexpected material to your campaign world.
NeoExodus: A House Divided Campaign Setting is a 166-page PDF (159-pages if you remove the cover, credits, OGL page and ads) designed by Jean-Philipe ‘JP’ Chapleau with Louis Porter, Jr and published by Louis Porter Jr Design. This is core setting book for the NeoExodus line.
The layout is a standard page in two columns with the strange NeoExodus font used as section headers. The cover is full color as is much of the interior art. It has no index but a comprehensive table of contents and is extensively book-marked.
It begins with 15-pages of history of the world which sets the grand backdrop for the setting. It then moves into describing the world itself, emphasizing the features that set NeoExodus apart from the mainstream of fantasy settings, such things as: magic is common and widely used and that the world is full of new unique races (more on them later). This section hits the pieces of NeoExodus that are inspiring for adventure and campaign, the transit network, nefarious organizations, places, unique hazards and plot hooks.
Next it moves into the mechanics, starting with the races unique to the NeoExodus setting and unique they are including: the rat-like Cavians who share a psionic hivemind, the crystal skinned-Cynean scholars, the humanoid plant Dalreans, and many more, providing a major contrast to the ‘traditional’ fantasy RPG races. Nine new races in all along with information on the various nationalities of humans provide a wealth of interesting play opportunities. But because some of the races are so far outside the norm, a Games Masters should familiarize themselves with the unusual traits of the races before allowing them in play.
The following chapter is Heroes of NeoExodus which covers the details needed for character creation, starting with the religions of the world. This is followed by class options and archetypes for the campaign. Languages of the world are noted. Then there are six Prestige Classes, four of which are extremely combat focused, but all are tied into the setting and help to flesh out how the world functions.
Feats and Magic comes next with a wealth of both. However, many of the feats are tied directly to the various races of NeoExodus making them less immediately useful for other settings but several interesting ideas there all the same. The spells include a new subtype, First Ones, that calls upon the inner darkness of the caster making them powerful but potentially corrupting to use. The Necromantic spells are especially interesting (and often creepy) though the power level on a few of the spells seems off, they are quite useful both as written and as inspiration (but again, a GM’s will want to review these spells before allowing them). This section concludes with new armor, weapons and equipment, alchemical items and poisons, magical items and books and tomes (which have a very clever mechanic associated with them).
The last section is Terrors of NeoExodus, an introduction to the monster and dangers of the world including a variety of templates. Some of them are quite intriguing including a set of battle golems fielded by the powers of the world.
Lastly there are a set of useful forms including NeoExodus framed character sheets, combat trackers and more.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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If you feel the witch class has been neglected in as far as lacking magic items that support that classes’ abilities, these five magical dagger will fill that gap in your campaign’s magic arsenal.
#1 with a Bullet Point: 5 Magic Witch’s Daggers is a 3-page PDF (2 pages if you remove the credits/OGL page) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Owen K. C. Stephens and published by Super Genius Games. This is part of Super Genius Games’ #1 with a Bullet Point (One Idea, One Page, One Dollar) line.
The layout is a screen-friendly landscape design, with cover art and 1-column on the first page and three columns on the rest. There are three black and white pieces of art appropriate to the subject.
This entire product range is designed around presenting a single idea quickly and efficiently, as explained on the first page, then it moves onto the framing idea for the product: providing athame (ceremonial daggers) as magic items to support the witch class.
Five magic daggers are provided, ranging in cost from 9,000 to 25,000 gold in cost, though mostly in the lower value. All provide ways to modify and improve upon the witch’s hex power, which can be quite useful to a character. The magical daggers give a witch character access to options for improving hexes much in the way most other spell casters can with their spells. Except that the pricing starts relatively high, I cannot see anyway to fault the options provided here.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThruRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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Superb layout and support transforms a basic genre scenario into a strong and easy to use adventure. Raging Swan has done excellent work with Road of the Dead.
Road of the Dead: A Pathfinder Roleplaying Game adventure for 3rd level PCs is a 51-page PDF (47-pages if you remove the covers and OGL page) written by Creighton Broadhurst and published by Raging Swan Press. This is part of Raging Swan’s Lonely Coast setting but it is designed to be easily adaptable to other settings.
The layout is a standard page with two columns in a smallish font, which can occasionally be difficult to read but packs in a lot of information. The interior art is sparse but good and there are a set of nine player’s handouts illustrating either the physical layout of the adventure (art and map section) or the two magic items found. Six pre-generated characters are also included.
The adventure is very well laid out with explanations of the encounter, trap and creature blocks that are used in this product. The adventure is a strait forward exploration of a monument of a forgotten race scenario, but a superb version of the well-used trope. Each encounter area has its own players’ handout with both art and a map of the area on it, quite brilliant. The locations are interesting and the combats challenging. Suggestions for further adventure (and two encounters for them) are included.
Beyond the adventure itself there are three new monsters (all demons), a new disease, a new weapon and two new magic items, all of which will be encountered in the adventure, naturally.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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Rune Staves and Wyrd Wands provides useful new tools for spell-casters drawing on traditional tropes for wizards, witches and sorcerers (that is staves and wands). These new items open a variety of new and interesting options for character and role customization.
The Genius Guide to: Rune Staves and Wyrd Wands is a 7-page PDF (6 pages if you remove the credits/OGL page) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Owen K. C. Stephens and published by Super Genius Games. This is part of Super Genius Games’ Genius Guide line.
The layout is a screen-friendly landscape design, with cover art and 1-column on the first page and three columns on the rest. The chart of feats is clear and easy to read. The art is a mix of color and black and white and generally supports the wand and staff-using theme of this product.
Rune Staves and Wyrd Wands opens with a discussion about the role of magical implements, exemplified by staves and wands in fiction, and contrast them with how staves and wands work in Pathfinder and are usually treated in play. Several sidebars discuss the design ideas behind the staves and wands, how they are priced and some of the abilities.
The rune staves and wyrd wands act in a similar fashion, improving (slightly) spells cast through them with the more powerful version being more effective, naturally. Variants improve certain types of spells or allow for adjustments of spells cast through them. They are useful tools and they can be made more so by customization allowing for another way to shape and define a character.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThruRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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If your Savage Worlds campaign has a place for dragon men, this product will have a wealth of useful material to do so. It provides a number of tools for crafting the specific type of dragon men you need in your campaign world.
Player Races: Dragon Men is a 6-page PDF for the Savage Worlds RPG written by Steven Trustrum and published by Misfit Studios. This is part of Misfit Studio’s Officially Licenced Savage Worlds material.
The layout is primary traditional two columns with a few full color illustrations scattered throughout, and everything is clear and easily readable. A separate printer friendly file of the product is provided with all of the art replaced with black and white line art.
Dragon Men begins with an introduction to this product and it intentions, which is to present the dragon men as a playable race for Savage World in a loose format to be easily adapted to most campaign worlds.
The dragon men have a basic type and come in a variety of subtype based on the dragon from other Misfit Studio Monster Briefs but are mostly self explanatory. One new hindrance and a variety of ten ‘breeding hindrances’ which are more or less specific to the dragon men are provided (and taking at least one of the breeding hindrances is required by the dragon man package). One new combat edge and twenty-three (!) racial edges including breath weapons and more. Lastly there is a new armor type for the dragon men (Dragon Man Scourge armor) and two small cone templates round out the product.
Disclosure: As a featured reviewer for RPGNow/DriveThroughRPG, I received my copy of this product for free from the publisher for the purpose of this review.
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![[PFRPG] The Genius Guide to Rune Staves and Wyrd Wands](images/97/86527-thumb100.jpg)
