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| Reviews and Comments From Our Featured Reviewers |
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As well as encouraging customers to leave comments for products they've bought,
we have a number of featured reviewers tasked to give more detailed
opinions. Click their names to see lists of their
reviews.
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| Shane O'Connor | 352 reviews averaging a rating of 4.1 |
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One of the biggest complaints I’ve often heard about magic in Pathfinder (and its direct predecessors) is in reference to its distinctly “vancian” nature. That is, spells are cast using the fire-and-forget system, where they’re prepared ahead of time and then lost once cast – and only by people who have devoted themselves to studying how magic works, at that. This eliminates a lot of classical depictions of how magic operates.
Incantations, when they were introduced, fixed a lot of that. Here was a magic system that anyone could use, that didn’t need to be prepared ahead of time, and that was inherently dangerous. It was one of the best sets of optional rules, and once it was released…it was completely forgotten about. It was amazing to see how, for all the flavorful potential incantations had, they were near-totally ignored. Luckily, Zombie Sky Press has stepped in to fill the void with their highly-evocative debut book Incantations from the Other Side: Spirit Magic.
All too sho...
Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Sean Holland | 188 reviews averaging a rating of 3.6 |
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The Pugilist - Class and NPC is a 25-page PDF (21-pages less covers, credits and the OGL page) compatible with the Pathfinder RPG system designed by Ryan Stanford and published by Wordcasting Entertainment. This is Wordcasting’s first product.
The layout is two deep blue covers between which are single column pages of text on various backgrounds. A more efficient design would allow for more information to be packed in, which is primarily important if one is printing out the material. Unfortunately, there is not a printer friendly version without background. There are also a few typos in the text which is distracting. The only art is in photographs used as page backgrounds.
The Pugilist is a full twenty level base class focusing, naturally, on unarmed combat. They combine good HD, a moderate base attack progression, two good saves and reasonable access to skills for a firm foundation. But like all such focused class, they will succeed (or not) by their abilities.
The Pugilist’s...
Rating:  [3 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Andrew Branstad | 84 reviews averaging a rating of 3.8 |
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With this product, EN Publishing kicks off a grand adventure path: twelve modules designed to carry a party of first level heroes into the heart of an escalating war between powerful nations. When the dust settles, the PCs will have reached 20th level and become instrumental in the outcome of a dangerous conflict.
Like all great adventures, this one begins in a tavern. The PCs are charged with a simple task: escort a cleric out of harm's way while an invading army of mage-hunting inquisitors lays siege to the city. Things, of course, get more complicated once the action gets going. By the time the adventure concludes, the seeds have been sown for the greater campaign to come, hinting at the intrigue and danger building in the background.
Throughout most of the adventure, the PCs are in a city that is under attack by an invading army. The adventure includes plenty of tools to help the DM make this fact very clear to the players. In some cases, the war adds an additional level of d...
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Megan Robertson | 407 reviews averaging a rating of 4.2 |
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Designed to introduce newcomers to role-playing and particularly to the Mutants & Masterminds game, this book is written in a clear, informative and entertaining style that sweeps you along and just about has you reaching for your dice!
It opens by explaining its intent and giving a basic overview of what role-playing is about and then details the structure of what will follow: using the example of a young man recently accepted into Claremont Academy, a high school for potential superheroes, the essential game mechanics and underlying concepts will be introduced in a logical progression. Illustration is delightfully comic-book in style, fitting the flavour of the genre well.
First comes The Basics, wherein the core D20 game mechanic is explained in a beautifully straightforward way. From here, the statistics used to describe a character are explained, with each being linked to how it is used in mechanical terms. Each case is illustrated by a clear indication - often highlighted i...
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | David B. Semmes | 1 reviews averaging a rating of 4 |
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In what seemingly is becoming a popular trend, the Dragon Age RPG- Set One, is based upon the Dragon Age video game. Having played the video game, I must admit that I had pretty high standards for this RPG, created by Green Ronin.
Set One comes with 3 PDF files; a Player's Guide; a GM's guide; and a map of the Ferelden area. The map is beautifully drawn, in color, with just enough detail to draw player's into the setting, and lacking just enough detail to give a GM plenty of room to add his or her own creative touches.
The Player's Guide gives a nicely done overview of the different cultures populating the game world, along with solid historical flavoring. There are plenty of names and places to make players feel as though they are travelling in a well-thought-out world. The layout of the PDF makes it a pleasure to read, with nice artwork throughout. And I must add that the bookmark feature is nicely implemented.
Character creation is typically done, with a few twists to mak...
Rating:  [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Joe Kushner | 16 reviews averaging a rating of 4.3 |
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Written by Aeryn “Blackdirge” Rudel and illustrated by Jesse Mohn, this barbain bestiary provides four monsters to throw at your 4e campaign. Some of these are classics like the dracosilk. It's such a classic that a miniature company looking to please the old school community even made a great version of it. This one however, is a combination of green dragon, not black. Makes a nice nod to the old school version while providing a new variant.The dracosphinx is another old school variant given new 4e life. This version hailing from a red dragon father.
Jesse Mohn's art is solid line work. The exterior cover illustrations are the same as those found inside. If you like the cover, you'll enjoy the interior. The writing is solid. Rudel has done enough 4e work that, without extensive playtesting, I'm willing to throw these beasties into the mix and see what happens.
Monsters are detailed with a quick background, lore checks with appropriate skills, monster stats, and encounter groups....
Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Christopher Heard | 199 reviews averaging a rating of 3.9 |
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I generally approach third-party 4e classes with skepticism, for several reasons. First, the proliferation of barely-discernible 3.5e/d20/OGL classes from multitudinous publishers is a path I really don't want to see 4e follow. Second, the 4e matrix of power sources and roles can sometimes push third-party class designers to introduce new power sources or to "colonize" a design space that is either already occupied or is slated to be occupied by an official class. For these reasons, I'd much prefer to see third-party publishers flesh out existing classes with new builds and powers than to offer completely new classes. These attitudes naturally influence my evaluation of Alluria's Jester class; indeed, when I received a copy to review, I expected not to like it, and prospective buyers should take these biases into account when weighing my review.
Even before I opened the product, I had concerns about the fluff. To me, "jester" seems like a very narrow occupational slot within a medie...
Rating: [3 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Jason Corley | 98 reviews averaging a rating of 4 |
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"Strange Aeons" is a very interesting track. Although it is advertised as "Dark ambience for any Eldritch horror-inspired setting", I don't quite see (?) it for that purpose. It's a highly rhythmic 3:41 track with a strong, accelerating beat, featuring an Arabian-inspired sound. To my mind it brings images of night-time caravans crossing cool desert sands or shadowing someone through a busy Byzantine city into a full-on chase scene. At around 3:15 or so, it discards the beat and ends with similar ambiance to how it began, so it could conceivably be looped, though the driving beat may become monotonous if kept up too long. At 99 cents, the price is exactly right, so I'm reviewer tilting up one star for that. I definitely will be using this one in an upcoming game soundtrack, though perhaps not as advertised....
Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Justin Mohareb | 1 reviews averaging a rating of 4 |
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A nice combination of ambient sounds and jazz will provide good background sound for 20th century crime games. It provides a good aural sense of place, moving between murmured conversations, wailing sirens, and possibly someone getting their face tossed into a wall.
A good choice for scenes set in cop shops in Call of Cthulhu, Mutant City Blues, or Dark Champions.
Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Jeff Greiner | 8 reviews averaging a rating of 4.1 |
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This set IS my undead army. It's perfect for building a cheap army of minions, skeletons, zombies, etc.
If you need a lot of something this is ideal. Easy to assemble, quick to use, and even easily numbered so your players can tell you, I attack zombie 3, 12, and 74.
I can't think of anything that I would add to this set. It gives you exactly what it promises and does it at an extremely reasonable price.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Peter Ingham | 252 reviews averaging a rating of 3.8 |
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Book of the Faithful II - The Worshipping Swords is a 14 page pdf product detailing nine new and unusual swords all infused with the consciousness of a faithful follower to a god. This product is the second Book of the Faithful released by Jon Brazer Enterprises, the first one dealing with the power of prayer and offering new feats and magic for believers. The overarching theme of the series is that religion does not have to be class specific but that you can use the flavour of religion to offer non-clerics and non-paladins different religious options. This product details nine swords, one for each alignment, and each containing the consciousness of a godly saint, one prepared to serve their god beyond their own mortal lives. This product is compatible with the Pathfinder RPG (and hence 3e d20 OGL as well).
This product comes as a single, neatly presented pdf file. The product includes front and back covers, good bookmarks, a credits and OGL declaration page, and one page of adverti...
Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Ron McClung | 30 reviews averaging a rating of 4.2 |
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CthulhuTech
By Ron McClung
Catalyst Game Labs in conjunction with Wildfire LLC and Black Sky Studios have released a twisted vision of a dark future, combining anime-style mecha with the Cthulhu mythos. This stand-alone roleplaying game uses the Framewerk system and is contained in a full-color hardcover book with amazing art and a compelling premise.
The game’s story is deep-seated in Cthulhu mythos and mixes it with world politics and sci-fi technology to create a world of amazing potential. Set in the year 2085, Earth as we know has changed. Since the discovery of arcanotechnology and the creation of the first mecha, global war engulfs the planet. Man’s expansion into space has attracted the attention of aliens called the Migou. Evil cults plot against the world government, summoning creatures from beyond. Mecha war machines walk the Earth battling the alien and cult forces.
Players take on roles of people in a war-torn Earth surviving under the New Earth Government (NEG),...
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Nathan Collins | 251 reviews averaging a rating of 3.8 |
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Slow releasing a product has its positives and negatives. On one hand, it means that if you want to start a campaign, you may have to wait months to a year to receive all the material necessary. On the other hand, it builds tons of momentum to solidify the foundation for the product.
Very much similar to how their last campaign setting was released, LPJ Designs Races of Obsidian Twilight has finally released the first large page count release in the campaign world. Proceeding this was a series of race previews and two strong NPC write ups. Obsidian Twilight is a very unique setting, a post apocalyptic fantasy world.
If you think that this material is just a collection of the previous races that were released for zilch, think again. Though half the book includes those races, the other half includes satisfying reincarnations of the Pathfinder core races. In material that usually finds the highlights in the new, shiny races, the rebranding of the old, tried and true races steals t...
Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Berin Kinsman | 57 reviews averaging a rating of 3.6 |
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This is Ken Hite rewriting Call of Cthulhu to match the sensibilities of modern Lovecraft scholarship, where not every character goes insane or does, the protagonists survive and often win, and different types of stories can be told. It takes the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game as its template, overlays it with Robin Laws' investigation-oriented GUMSHOE system, and then expands it to include oft-overlooked elements of Lovecraft's stories along with other pulp elements and historical tropes from the 1920s. What you get is a very nice period piece that accomodates various styles of play and allows you to more accurately simulate the feel of classic Mythos stories.
The primary concieptt of the GUMSHOE system is that you're going to find the clue. You don't have to roll to try to find that piece of information needed to launch you into the next scene or the next encounter. You find it. The academic checks the library stacks, the doctor goes through medical records, the private investig...
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Shannon Appelcline | 2 reviews averaging a rating of 3.5 |
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Fighters and Small Craft is a very good book of small craft for Traveller despite its stylistic issues. It's biggest obstacle will probably be that Mongoose has already produced a lot of small craft designs in its own Supplement 2--though these new designs could surely complement the ones already in print. This summary is drawn from a more complete review available at RPGnet: http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14676.phtml
Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Andrew Lindley | 7 reviews averaging a rating of 4 |
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Operation Hydra is a module for 2-6 novice to intermediate PCs using the Terror Network RPG rules. Based in Dallas, TX the player characters are assumed to be FBI counter terrorism agents or a mixed agency group who form a Joint Terrorism Task Force. The module is broken up into four chapters. The first contains background information, the terrorists time line and the module hook. The bulk of the module is in the next two chapters, one of locations and the other of NPCs, their stats, behavior, and knowledge. The final, short, chapter covers how to wrap up the module and its potential big finale.
In choosing to arrange events mainly by location Reuben Hinman and Bedrock Games have succeeded in building a scenario that is more like the investigative sandbox they give as their aim than the more typical "linear with a couple of options" kind. Right from the introduction your players have three paths to follow. Given the terrorists schedule and the introductory events the players should ...
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Nathan Russell | 9 reviews averaging a rating of 3.8 |
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This is a really well put together game with great production values. The rules are interesting, with everyone given the opportunity to guide the game and play a cool western character. All the classic tropes of westerns are here and there is an entertaining "bidding" mechanic that both feels right for the theme and makes the GM-less nature of the game very workable. Each game session is broken into a "Dawn, Day and Night" sequence that frames the story and helps to create scenarios that feel a bit like real stories. Very entertaining and a refreshing change from more "mainstream" RPG's....
Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | C.M. Brendelson | 2 reviews averaging a rating of 4 |
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In almost every RPG created, gamers can’t get enough of two things: classes (or class-like options) and races. For my first staff review, I took a look at a new race supplement by a small indie publisher, so this week I thought it’d be fitting to explore a class that’s been integrated into the 4e products. I found that class in One Bad Egg’s witch doctor.
For those of you that aren’t familiar with the 4th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons, the classes are separated into four different types: Controller, Striker, Defender and Leader. Unfortunately the original D&D Player’s Handbook only included one of the Controller type (the wizard) and so larger gaming groups had to either settle for two wizards in their campaign or players had to look elsewhere to find another Controller to add to their party.
One Bad Egg’s witch doctor fits perfectly into that Controller type, but stands apart from WotC’s Wizard in a number of unique ways. First off, the Witch Doctor uses two implements that ...
Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Flames Rising | 17 reviews averaging a rating of 4 |
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A Flames Rising Review:
DragonArt covers all the nuts and bolts of basic critter illustration from what is functionally a stick figure, to basic shapes like cylinders/ tubes, boxes, etc. It gets in to anatomy in comparison to real animals (which is crucial in “selling” the image to viewers) as well as perspective and scale. Basic shading (stippling, hatching, cross-hatching, etc) as well as Ink and Color are touched on.
Not only is the basic “western dragon” covered from almost every angle, but so are other varieties. A sizeable portion is given to “other fantasy creatures” such as gargoyles, gryphons, pegasi and unicorns, etc. All of the foundations used previously apply here as well…stick figures, shapes, detailing, pencils, ink, and color.
Overall it’s a fun book with a wealth of good info for new as well as experienced illustrators who are interested in drawing fantasy critters. It definitely has a place on my shelf. The writing is solid and clear. Layout nice and crisp. A...
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Mark Meredith | 8 reviews averaging a rating of 4.6 |
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CthulhuTech is an interesting beast.
A strange cross of Anime and H.P. Lovecraft, it’s really made a splash in the RPG community. I love me some giant robots, so that’s the draw for me. Throw in the Old Ones, and I’m rearing to go!
Vade Mecum is the CthuluTech companion, offering new races and professions, and a ton of optional rules.
The art throughout is top-notch, a very beautiful style for all of the horrors throughout. There are strange aliens, extra-dimensional beings, and governmental conspiracies all gorgeously painted.
The book features new races, new and modified assets, new skills, and some new professions, including my favorite, the Zoner. A Zoner is someone who suddenly comes into psychic powers without warning, driving them insane. That would be a challenge to play, but incredibly fun.
There’s some awesome healing complications for when you are attempting to get healing, and something goes wrong. This can include massive scarring, nerve damage, even making your chara...
Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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| | Stu Venable | 3 reviews averaging a rating of 5 |
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I purchased this book after receiving a recommendation from one of our podcast's listeners.
I'm preparing to run a Savage Worlds pulp-era game, and was unfamiliar with the genre.
It is a very complete source book for the pulp era. Lots of adventure ideas, bad guys, monsters, etc.
One of the best features is the chapter on the formula of pulp stories. It divides the typical pulp adventure into four "acts," and describes what sorts of things happen in each act. Additionally, it includes several tables to come up with villains, their nefarious plots, plot twists, etc.
It sounds little goofy to randomly roll up your adventure; however, I tried it for my first adventure, and the results I got gave me all sorts of ideas I wouldn't have come up with otherwise. It really is a valuable resource for GMs, and it's applicable to other genres and other systems....
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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