In the Company of Minotaurs weighs in at 22 pages. Cover, credits, OGL all taking 1 page apiece, and 2 pages for ads, leaving 17 pages for new material and interspersed artwork. Internal artwork is all B&W and ranges in quality. The piece by Darren M.A. Calvert is pure gold, and will be gracing a few character sheets within my campaigns. A lot of the artwork invokes a sense of nostalgia for 1ed, and that's not exactly a bad thing, as a great deal of the feel of this book will remind many old school gamers of the mindset of the Krynn minotaur.

Amusingly, the only place within the PDF's actual text you will see the word minotaur, other than the tile reference, is in the the opening header for the initial paragraph that starts the tome. Presented mainly as a conversation between Lord Commander Merotes Halfhorn and on Qwilion of Questhaven, what we have here is the telling of the Taurian Tale (Taurian being the racial name minotaurs address themselves by according to this PDF), by a taurian. There is of course the one sided view of the acts of taurians as this tale is told by one, such as the viewpoint on the capturing of women in raids for procreation, the act of taking a bride, how they view their slaves, etc. But, I have to say, I prefer the viewpoint to be skewed. When we look at races such as half-orc, there is an unspoken understanding as to how that child came into being, it does not have to be discussed, it's simply accepted. But, have you ever wondered, from the orc point of view, what's the explanation? That is what we have here essentially, a look behind the curtain if you will, as to why this race would steal, kidnap, claim or buy women of other species, and why they feel they have the right, as they do not see it as being wrong. Within their culture it is so far from wrong, that they refuse to take a slave as wife until a male has proven himself through acts of courage and strength.

Now, the question must be asked, why would they need to take other race's females in the first place? Because they drown their daughters at birth. Yeah, you read that right. The PDF opens with a full blown creation myth (I love these as it's interesting to see how each race believes they got here). Springing forth from a union between a bull of heaven and a queen, the first son of Tayros was born, named Astaurian. It was on his day of birth, when the king learned of the betrayal and set to drown the infant that he himself was slain by the heavenly bull, who then sacrificed his own life to protect his sons. Cursed then by a hag who had betrayed them all, the queen was told that daughters of Astaurian's line would bring ruin to their people, so, to this day, they drown their daughters at birth. Now, that's a squished version of the creation myth, there's more to the heavenly bull, the hag, the betrayal, but it covers the reason they, as a race, have no females of their own.

Being a race born of animal, the concept of the eternal struggle to maintain there composure is brought up several times, and is an issue of great honor to them to stay in control of the inner rage. Reading through the various passages concerning honor, rage, and valor I found myself reading the passages in Michael Dorn's voice (Worf from Star Trek tNG). It amuses me how much like the minotaur the klingon race was modelled. The taurian society is fleshed out with a homeland (the Lightless Labyrinth), an expansive collection of communities, complexes, and homes all intertwined and protected by mazes and traps. And explanations are presented for why one would venture from home to adventure, the methods of adventure one could have without ever truly leaving the maze, and what could be taught to a young taurian at the heart of maze. The ruling council of 26 (to honor the 26 sons of the first taurian) have their seats of power at the heart of the maze, a place beyond the outside world, as only those who truly know and understand the maze they have built could ever hope to find it.

We are presented with racial traits to build and play not only a taurian, but a mereitaur as well. The mereitaur being one born of taurian blood, but only possessing one or two of the three basic racial traits (horns, hooves and tail). I am assuming the cover illustrates a mereitaur, as it has no hooves. This was one of my first hiccups with this PDF. The cover piece is re-used internally, and you get a better look at the illustration. It is not just that he has regular feet, he has human-ish legs, where as every other illustration showing legs has the lower legs of an animal, with the double knee joints. I think perhaps a clarification would have helped, something along the lines of “If the mereitaur is born without hooves, their legs will develop as their mother's, and be of one knee.” I only point this out because of how drastic a difference it makes in them visually, and I remember well from my childhood the entire concept of Krynn minotaurs versus Forgotten Realm minotaurs...hoof vs. foot, which one was a true minotaur.

And, since I am on the topic, those minotaur of more monsterlike personalities, they're covered mechanically speaking with one passage in the alternate racial traits (Bestial). If one is going to release a book calling it In The Company of Minotaurs, one should address all minotaurs, not just one specific branch of the family tree.

For the most part, taurians see themselves as a LE people, which is amusing since they believe they are the chosen of the heavens. They revere several gods, but have a special place in their heart for Our Grandfather Ocean, yet another point I found awkward when taking in the entire collection of material presented. They favor a deity that one would expect for a sea faring race, more than one illustration shows them at sea or on boats, but zero text support or fluff covers that idea, other than the mention of the deity. If they are going to be presented in illustration for a naval lifestyle, perhaps an archetype to support that? Feats? Ships,anything?

We are given a host of new favored class options, a great deal of them being along the lines of 1 ½ or ½ point bonuses, which, while keeping the game from getting out of line, personally, drive me nuts. We're also treated to a few new archetypes and a bloodline that I intend to write up an NPC for as soon as possible. The bloodline grants an increase in strength and neutral armor that increases with level, very nice. The racial paragon class presented here is where we are introduced to the big guns of the taurian people though, the Rog-kalem. A true bull (lol) of his people the Rog-kalem has the potential to reach upwards of 12 feet, with some serious physical might to go with the size. And of course we are presented with a selection of feats specific to the taurian people that take advantage of their physical nature (horns) as well as their preferred weapon (the axe). The book ends with a section of new weapons and equipment with things like the Labrys ( a double headed axe) and Dark Chalk ( used to mark surfaces but can only be seen through the use of darkvision). Several of the new items are good, but the chalk has me asking, who is this for? Looking through their racial traits, taurians, like the classic minotaur, don't get lost in mazes. So, why would they develop a chalk used to mark walls that others can't see? To warn of traps? They put them there. To say this way to the bathroom? Again, they built the maze. A cool item, just not sure why they would of developed it as a race.

Ok, final thoughts on this PDF....some interesting ideas, with an immense amount of story. A very specific story, that fits into a very specific setting. There is enough here for any GM to find material that will be usable, and mechanically the Taurian work as a playable race, as well as the Mereitaur.

As much as I liked the feats and items, there were things I would of loved to have seen that were not included. Things like unique sorcerer spells for the taurian, or unique clerical/druid spells. We're told that clerics/druids are revered amongst their people, and yet we have practically no real support to make a unique cleric/druid character by having some magics available only to them? A reason for them to dye their fur other than cosmetic, like say wards, or runes. Or perhaps wards and runes for their horns, as several illustrations show them with carved horns. Magical items that are unique to the taurian race perhaps, at least a few magical weapons perhaps? In presenting one aspect of the minotaur this PDF delivers, there is a playable race here, but there was the opportunity to present so much more.

In total, I'm giving this one a 4 star rating, as what is here is gold, pure and simple. What is not here could fill another book, one I would buy in a heartbeat.