Legendary Classes: Covenant Magic 



This pdf is 47 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/ToC, 3 pages of SRD, leaving us with 42 pages of content, so let's take a look!   Without any introduction or wasted space, we are introduced to the new Medium base-class that gets d8, 4+Int skills, 3/4 BAB-progression, good will-saves, proficiency with light armor and simple weapons, as well as spell-like abilities of up to 6th level - and you'd be outrageously gasping by now since they cannot be counterspelled - but: A rather interesting balancing method is being used - a medium can only maintain one spell-like abilities at once, with a new ability immediately ending the first. These abilities also get aligned later and count as spell for item activation purposes starting level 2.


The spell-like abilities can be each used 3/day and their governing spellcasting attribute is charisma. At first level, the medium also chooses an influence - but more on that later.   Mediums gain spirit guides that may use guidance on their behalf whenever s/he enters a trance and detect spirits, which include undead, fey, invisible, outsiders and also use this ability to notice and analyze haunts and even keep them from attacking - which is great since they are mostly untapped regarding class abilities. Starting at 3rd level, the medium also gets perhaps one of the most complex and well-executed abilities I've seen in quite a while - Séance. Mediums may call spirits and souls of creatures into their bodies to tap their knowledge and bargain with them planar ally style - including a max HD-table per level.

Now Influences, as I've mentioned before, are important: Mediums may choose from 11 influences that include diabolical forces, angelic hosts, restless souls, elemental forces or seelie and unseelie courts. Each Influence nets the medium a bonus language, a selection of trance covenants and spell like-abilities and a different capstone ability (yes, one for every influence) and also recommended, but not prescribed spirit boons.  

I need to address Trances. Mediums may enter a trance that lasts 4+Cha-mod rounds +2 per medium level after the first. While in trance, mediums get +4 to Con and Cha as well as access to the covenants and spell-like abilities associated with her/his influence and may use his/her spell-like abilities associated with influences once per trance without counting against the daily maximum. Essentially, the trance can be considered a caster's equivalent of a barbarian's rage (and no, they are not compatible) and trances do have some restrictions to maintain balance.   Now regarding favored class options... WOW. Blues. Half-Rakshasa.Duergar. Fehr's Ethnology-races. Psionics Unleashed-races. Remarkable Races from Alluria Publishing. And even ARG-races ALL COVERED. Wow. Just wow. 2 pages CHOCK-FULL of favored class options. This goes above and beyond. Nice!   Now have I mentioned spirit boons? At 1 st level, 3rd level and every 4 levels after that, the medium may choose a spoken invocation to gain the benefits of one of (unless I miscounted) 44 (!!!) spirit boons, which include things you'd expect like reading minds and telekinesis and implanting geas, absorb wounds of others via stigmata, add essentially add what amounts to metamagic-like, yet thoroughly unique effects to your spell-like abilities, which include ignoring the miss chances of incorporeal adversaries, prolong them etc.

Have I mentioned the option to put psychic shackles on spirits and chain them in your mind, turn incorporeal, possess foes (also only limbs - quite cool!), heal ability damage and raise the dead? Yes - the options are varied and damn cool.   A new spell lets you expel spirits and then, we're off to the topic of covenants - Depending on the strength of the spirit called, a covenant requires the expenditure of money, with access being also predicated on a tree of 5 progressively more expensive feats - though advice for alternate progressions are given as well if you're not sold on the approach. Finding covenants is not only an opportunity for spending character resources, but also for roleplaying and entering covenant examples are provided alongside comprehensive lists of covenants by strength.

Covenants are depicted somewhat akin to feats - the power-level of the covenant being included in brackets behind the name, followed by a short fluff description and then the benefits as well as a comprehensive list of patrons that can grant the respective covenant. Dark Arcanas, Archon Wards, the option to temporarily rip someone from death's grip, turn into elemental body II, gaining living illusions as companions, tap into your patron's abilities, manifest blades from the very heavens, immunity to ageing, mitigating dazing and stunning down to being staggered, gain a gaze attack that detects thoughts and may stun those that meet your gaze, cast foes down to the very hells - all these are just the tip of the ice-berg.   The pdf also features advice on creating new covenants as well as guidelines for non-monetary tasks for entering covenants.  


 Conclusion:


Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to PDG's printer-friendly 2-column standard and the interior artwork is far beyond what the humble cover would make you believe - we neat full-page full-color artworks, multiple of them, and I have seen none of them in other publications before. The pdf is fully bookmarked with nested bookmarks for your convenience, making navigation easy.   Damn. I'm stupefied. Seriously, honestly stupefied. This class and its material rank for me as one of the most complex examples I've seen so far and it takes a bit of effort to properly get this material and appreciate it. And then, slowly, the potential, the vast friggin' potential of this class and its covenants sink in. Harry Dresden-style deals with fey? Check. Haunted by visions of hell? Check. Scions of the Heavens? Check. Champions of the elemental forces? Ditto. We essentially get a feat-style-ability-suite-style-class COMBINED with unique spellcasting COMBINED with talent-based abilities COMBINED with domain/bloodline-like abilities COMBINED with modes à la rage. And all elements interconnect. Yes, you could just extract the covenants for any class.

But oh boy would you miss out. This may be no class for beginners, but it is G-L-O-R-I-O-U-S. Complex, mechanically innovative, customizable. Oh boy. It's been AGES since I've been this excited about a class and it marries author David Nicholas Ross' mastery of crunch with great production values and we get perhaps one of the best classes, perhaps even the best I've read so far for PFRPG. Yes. That good. Do me a favor, do yourself a favor - get this. The class and covenant magic is so modular, it practically screams to have its already impressive array of abilities further expanded. Even if you're only remotely interested in good crunch, get this. If you want a class with complex customization options that marries these with massive roleplaying potential, get this. This is worth every cent thrice. At least.

This is the new gold-standard for class-design against which all other classes will be judged. My final verdict would be 6 stars, if I only could - hence, 5 stars + seal of approval and a high chance that this will feature on my Top Ten of 2013-list. Get this awesome class here on OBS and here on d20pfsrd.com!  

Endzeitgeist out.

Hej everybody! Little Red Goblin Games has made the Alpha-pdf for their current Necropunk-
kickstarter available to me and I figured, I'd let you in on what to expect from this project!

 

So what is Necropunk? Well, first of all it is a kickstarter by Little Red Goblin Games, but why should you check it out? First of all, because it is something not seen that often - innovative. Scott Gladstein, head of LRGG, provided me with their playtesting document and I had some time to digest it - and am honestly surprised by it. The "Necro" in Necropunk made me anticipate a grim, gory setting - which it essentially isn't - at least not necessarily. Mankind has left earth and evolved, developing species-wide psychic powers, spurned by a genetic trigger left in our DNA by some progenitor to activate upon achieving a certain distance from our solar system - the means of conducting these powers being uncommon and smart - human bones.

The results of this discovery were catastrophic - a bone-rush began and since bones not only contained power, but also were a means of attaining wealth, they changed how society works. Via these bones and the psychic augments at the beck and call of humanity, a rise to melee weapons and extreme powers that hearken to fantasy without copying genre conventions was the result. The races of Necropunk have developed from humanity and no elves, dwarves etc. will show up - why? Since races, especially in roleplaying games, lend themselves to overly simplistic stereotyping, they would rather hamper what the setting sets out to do - in spite of appearances, the setting's goal is not a dystopian nightmare (though you could easily make it one), but rather a setting of political intrigue, social combat and horror - the subtle type of horror. Psychological horror and tackling philosophical questions relevant to life and death and what constitutes a human are core themes of the Necropunk setting.

The respective human races are quite different from one another and should still offer something diversity-wise -also thanks to rather extensive and interesting pieces of information on the respective cultures that developed. Languages deserve a special mentioning in that they come with dialects as well as sample alphabets - a neat level of detail that adds further depth to the setting. Class-wise, there is no magic and hence a bunch of classes from standard PFRPG are not an option in Necropunk, but there are psionics- a whole different beast from standard 3.X-psionics, btw.: Every individual has a PPI, a psychic potential index. The higher the PRI, the psychic resistance index of bones, the less well it conducts your psychic powers. As swift actions, you can allocate PPI to Necrotech or specific powers.

Psychic charges on weapons can be used to get +1 to damage per charge, whereas armors can be enhanced with regards to AC and DR. The ready availability of DR should already point towards a concept - namely that combat works slightly different: As combat happens at the speed of thought, there are phases - each turn having several phases - analogue to e.g. reflex boosters in Shadowrun, individuals with golem armors act first and may act out a standard action per phase they have - which immediately makes battles a different brute. Having much experience with additional actions in my homebrew setting, I can attest to the way they can change a given setting.

The skills also point towards a change - heal can be sued to adapt to body modifications, zero-g combat is covered etc. Advice on converting from PFRPG to Necropunk and vice versa is part of the pdf and there also are quite a bunch of new classes that support the changed focus of Necropunk, coming e.g. with potential conflicts inherent in the class. Take the diplomat, where Self versus Community is a central theme - as is their ability or the Magpies that can see the flow of luck and possibilities, but also deliver some grand roleplaying catalyst-quirks or the non-magical medic-class, which, with some reskinning, should also be nice for campaigns that never liked divine magic and how its healing works. The classes also feature several racial archetypes for major customizations of the base-classes.

Or take the Psychic, who may actually lockdown abilities and items via their abilities and even highjack them or the hyperfast Qu'em practitioners, martial artists akin to WuXia-heroes with their differing traditions or the ranged weapon fighters called sentinels. Of course, beyond an admixture of the innovations of phases and psychic abilities with classes and the plethora of new feats, there is another piece of content that surprised me and which I think you should be aware of: Social Combat. How many times have you had the scene at your gaming table: One player does all the talking while the others watch. In Necropunk, all classes get social combat modifiers and a wide variety of different maneuvers to undermine social confidence.

This combat is not only a nice way to support player involvement, but also is rules-wise analogous to regular combat, making mastering it simple. Outfits also influence social combat and there is a wide array of items provided of both mundane items and Necrotech, allowing for a wide array of shopping and customization options. Have I mentioned the drugs, body modifications etc.? If by now that hasn't been made abundantly clear - from what I've read so far of Necrotech, I consider it more than interesting - it's innovative and NEW.

I have quite literally never seen a setting like it and its rules so far are solid and serve well to support the unique components the rules introduce. The ability to lock down items, the emphasis on social combat and the overall melding of necromantic aesthetics with cyberpunk has potential galore to do something different -not only in fluff, but also in crunch. I've read only the unfinished playtest-manuscript and I'm quite impressed with what Little Red Goblin Games has created here - If you are interested in what I described and if you want to see a setting that has true potential for innovation, for doing something different, I'd suggest you give Necropunk a chance - it's funded already, so the risk is nil.

 I'll, of course, be reviewing the final version as well, but from what I've seen so far, I think the final product will be a quite impressive feat and beyond what I've seen from LRGG in other releases - the heart's blood they poured into this really shows - this might develop into THE setting to explore complex questions of ethics, philosophy etc. and provide a backdrop for intelligent roleplaying just as well as a more action-oriented playing-style. You can check out the Kickstarter here!  

Thank you for your attention! I hope I gave you a good impression on the potential of this product!    

Endzeitgeist out.

Heroes of the Jade Oath

 
This massive book is 175 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 3 pages ToC, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 168 pages of content, so let's take a look!   First of all, let me tell you about the genesis of the project - HotJO has been in the making for what seemed like forever and was originally the first BIG project of Rite Publishing, intended to be released as a supplement to Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved. When the Beta-version of the book was released, the content was fresh and interesting in style and flavor. Now, with the advent and influx in popularity of PFRPG, people on the RiP-boards, yours truly included, started to ask about a conversion and the pdfs released so far in the line were used to get more artwork and even better production values for the Omega-version and the book this review is all about, the very first iteration of Heroes of the Jade Oath for PFRPG.

Why is this important? well, because it explains some of the design-decisions made as well as all the races introduced - AE doesn't feature the standard races as prominently and thus, this book has a LOT of ground to cover in a scarce few pages, even at its length.   Now that doesn't mean that this book is all crunch and indeed, it begins by introducing us to the very concepts that define social structure in the setting of the Jade Oath: Favors, Family and Face. The importance of (extended) family structures, clans and the value of face are all concisely and easily understandable to western audiences as relayed herein. Thankfully, the done-to-death cliché of Seppuku is also addressed and put into a valid cultural perspective that shows that author Frank Carr has a firm grasp on social strata and cultural concepts. If you're looking for an almost historical level of detail regarding customs like in the release of the German old-school setting Midgard's (NOT the one by KP) KanThaiPan, though, you won't find that level of detail here, with e.g. the making of appropriate presents, food and medicine not covered, but chances are you probably are not reading this review to know about the likes anyway.

That being said, the map of the lands of the Jade Oath should be commented on - made by cartography-legend Jonathan Roberts (now of "A Song of Fire and Ice"-fame), the 2-page spread is eye-watering in its gorgeousness - and it is my pleasure to report that the locales featured in the gazetteer-style gloss-over of the lands provides places that stand in no way behind the quality of the map:   The respective regions not only include massive amounts of write-ups for covenants, societies and clans (all with their respective symbols and tokens), but also contains areas like the undead-hampering "Fallen Pillar of Heaven", the gorgeously-illustrated city of Xinmar in the Heaven's Reach Mountains, the floating garden or the crawling dragon mountain, which is in fact the world's oldest dragon, slowly winding its ways through mountainous ranges. Now if the extensive gazetteer-section with all its pieces of information on culture, produce, locations etc. has not sparked some sort of great idea for an adventure, I'm not sure your imagination can be helped. The Lands of the Jade Oath feel very distinct and there is no way they could be mistaken for any other Asian-themed setting.

That out of the way, let's take a look at the chapter on races and their mechanics, shall we?   Now first we get pronunciation-guidelines for races and an entry on the breeds of human (the discovery of the eight will usher in a great doom, by the way!) before delving into the Bakemono. A metal-eating, goblinoid race, their males are small, horned almost goblinoid looking beings that get +2 to Con and Int as well as -2 to Cha, slow landspeed, darkvision 60 ft., light blindness, a bite that is devastating vs. objects and undead, +2 to saves vs. poison and +2 to craft-check relating to metal. They also have slow speed and count as evil goblinoids and get full spell-progression. Their females instead get +2 to Wis and Cha and -2 to Str. They also can take levels in the Bakemono-Paragon-class, which spans 6 levels and gets d8, 4+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression and good ref-saves. The class also improves bites by granting improved sunder to the bite and allowing bakemono to eat magical items as well as continuously detecting magic. The class also allows them to gain the shapeshifter-subtype as well as turning into large size, the form corresponding to their chosen totem or even into a swarm. And also minor attribute enhancements depending on the gender of the bakemono as well as attribute bonuses over the levels, something that almost each of the paragon-classes grants.  

The towering, ponderous Dahren can either gain +2 to Str or +2 to Con and Wis, low-light vision, +2 to intimidate and sense motive and craft as well as the giant subtype, in spite of their medium size. The race also gets its paragon-class, spanning 20 levels and having them grow to up to colossal size (the additional sizes also being covered in the height & weight-table, btw.!) - the class is essentially a revised variant of the Jotun Paragon-class featured in RiP's "In the Company of Monsters", but allows the character now to multiclass as soon as they have passed 6th level. The class offers d8, 4+Int skills, 3/4-BAB-progression, good fort-saves, up to +13 natural AC and improving slam-attacks (up to 4d6) as well as rock catching skills and a selection from a wide variety of elemental-themed talents. Now, it would have been easy to just cut-copy-paste the class, but there actually are new talents in here and since the original class is elemental in its theme and HotJO uses the eastern system of elements, the respective abilities have been modified, which is nice to see.  

Next up are the agile Faen, who get +2 to Dex and one mental attribute of your choice, are small, gain their own fey-related subtype, slow speed, low-light vision, +2 to perception, stealth and proficiency with bows and faen-weapons as well as a reroll 1/day. They may replace latter luck with minor spell-like abilities or the run-feat and +1 to initiative. Their paragon-class gets d8 HP per level, spans 6 levels, 4+Int skills per level, 34 BAB-progression, good ref-saves, 3 levels of spell-progression and an interesting idea: Depending on the racial trait chosen, the paragon-class expands the options, gaining either more spell-like abilities, more luck-based options or more quickness-based options. Cool! The most important thing, though, is already known to people familiar with Arcana Evolved: Faen may undergo a metamorphoses at 3rd level of the paragon-class, going into chrysalis and emerging as a full-blown fey, a so-called sprite. These sprites threaten regular 5-foot squares, gain +2 to Dex and -2 to Str and also wings, which allow them to fly at 30 ft. It's also nice to see that the conversion adds fly to the list of class skills upon the transformation.  

The Garuda should make for an interesting class you almost assuredly haven't seen before: Partially scaled and feathered, this race resembles a badass-version of a humanoid archeopteryx with a stronger lean towards colored feathers. Story-wise, they are the hunters of the tainted, created by the dragons to stem the tide of the infernal dragon's taint. They gain +2 to Dex and Wis, -2 to Cha, +1 natural armor, low-light vision, may glide up to 100 ft. with their wings, gain +2 to perception and may cast detect evil 1/day as a spell-like ability. Their racial class grants d8, 2+Int skills, 3/4 BAB-progression, good fort-saves, up to +3 dodge-bonus to AC and also increasing flight capabilities as well as bites, claws, spell-like abilities and finally even pounce.  

Now if you're more a fan of canines, the Goushen-race has you covered. The race is descended from the foo dogs of legend and get +2 Con and Wis, -2 to Int, low-light vision, +2 to survival, scent and their 6-level paragon-class gets d8, 2+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good fort and ref-saves and up to +2 natural armor. Their paragon-class provides them with bite attacks, grab with their bites and also massively improving grapple-capabilities.  

For more feline-affine people, the Hushen-race would be what you're looking for - essentially a tiger-faced class of proud feline humanoids, they gain +2 to Str and Cha, -2 Int, low-light vision, +2 to intimidate, stealth and perception and suffer from blood frenzy, requiring a save to break from combat once blood has been spilled. Their 6-level paragon-class comes with 3/4-BAB-progression, d8 HP, 2+Int skills per level, good ref and fort-saves, +2 natural AC, scent, bite, claw and even rake and pounce as well as the option to run while using stealth, making them rather lethal with their natural attacks.  

 Now, the Kirin Shen-race is interesting in that it essentially is an acquired template that can be taken by taking a single-level as a Kirin Shen racial paragon. Kirin Shen are the chosen of the Kirin, gain +1 to BAB, ref and will, 6+Int skills and d10. The template they gain requires them to be of at least 6th level and is provided for the DM's convenience with all the tools necessary to add it to respective creatures (it's Cr +1 if you don't take levels in the racial class, btw.) and allows it to use a healing touch that improves with HD as well as overland flight, ethereal jaunt and finally immortality at the highest HD.  

 Perhaps the most far-out and interesting race of the setting, at least for me, would be the Mandragorans: Mandragorans are essentially humanoid plants with alluring bodies that feature long vines instead of hair. They may manipulate objects and taste via these vines and they gain +2 to Wis and Cha, -2 to Str, low-light vision, +4 to stealth in forested and marshland areas, 1/day roll a will-save twice and take the better result, full spell-progression, + HD on saves vs. poison and their spores grant them +1 to diplomacy, handle animal and bluff, but also make hiding harder. Mandragorans may also heal a limited amount of damage via spending time in the sunlight and resting at night as well as communicate basic emotions via spores. They also get 5 alternate racial traits that feature magic abilities, desert and water-dwelling mandragorans, mandragorans with a mild poison and those with thorns. Their racial paragon-class gets 3/4 BAB-progression, d8 HP, 2+Int modifier skills per level, more spell-like abilities, woodland stride, the option to regrow from being torn to shreds and plant-like immunities. The racial paragons may also change gender in a week-long ceremony, which emphasizes their alluring strangeness as well as providing for interesting roleplaying options.  

The reptilian Nagaraja, genderless asexually-reproducing humanoids are the stewards vs. the infernal taint introduced by the dragons, but many think they are shirking their racial duties. They gain +2 to Int and Dex, -2 to Con, 60 ft. darkvision, +1 natural armor, gain a limited array of spellcasting abilities, +2 to acrobatics and swim as well as linguistics and may opt to chose from two alternate racial traits, one granting a hood and a charming gaze attack, while the other replaces legs with a tail they may use as a natural weapon vs. foes. Their 6-level racial paragon-class offers them 3/ BAB-progression, good will-saves, 5 levels of spell-progression, d8 HP, 2+Int skills per level, blind fight an improved detect magic per will and up to +2 natural armor as well as increased casting prowess.  

 The Qahngol, a variant half-orc-race, once conquered the empire, only to ally with their subjugated race to vanquish an undead dragon. They gain +2 to one ability score of their choosing, count as orcs, gain low-light vision, +2 to ride and handle animal and an interesting racial curse: The Qahngol get a name mask upon their coming of age and upon removing/losing it, they run the risk of being targeted by their ancestral curse, which turns them into infernal cannibals - the simple template is provided as well as rules for the creation of name-masks and the simple-template. Their 6-level racial paragon-class gets d8, 2+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good fort and will-saves, 2 levels of spellcasting progression, rather massive attribute bonuses, a limited synergy with the fighter and barbarian classes when determining bonuses for feats, rounds of rage etc. as well as keen scent and wild empathy.     

Ruishishen are essentially the HotJO setting's Litorians, i.e. Lion-like humanoids, this time descendant from the celestial lions and massively decimated by traitorous groups. They gain +2 to Dex and Int, -2 to Wis, low-light vision,+2 to perception, intimidate and survival, count as one size larger for effects based on size and their 6-level racial paragon-class gets d8, 2+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good fort- and ref-saves, up to +2 natural AC-bonus, bite and claw attacks (the latter counting later on as ghost touch weapons!), scent, faster movement, a fear-inducing roar and may as a capstone temporarily turn incorporeal.

The variant dwarven race, the Sanesaram, get +2 to Con and Wis, -2 to Cha, slow speed (and no encumbrance speed modifiers), +4 dodge bonus to AC vs. gainst, +2 to appraise, +2 to saves vs. spells and spell-like abilities, + 1 to atk vs. goblinoids, +4 to CMD vs. bull rush and trip as well as clan-dependant bonuses, 8 of which are provided. Their racial paragon-class spans 6 levels, grants d8, 2+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good fort and will-saves, 3 levels of spellcasting progression , stonecunning, may add their class-level to craft-checks, further increase their resiliency to detrimental effects and improve their distinctiveness by gaining more abilities depending on the clan they belong to. At highest levels, they also get minor bonuses to atk and damage whenever someone hurts them - a Sanesaram's grudge is a force indeed.  

 The Shenxue are the descendants of spirits and mortals, being thus native outsiders that can be influenced more with their truenames. Since the term shenxue thus applies to a vast variety of combinations of races and spirits, they come with information on racial traits for all the core and HotJO-races as well as a rather large array of different aspects that offer access to snow, panda or mountain spirits, to name just a few. Each aspect has its own penalties as well as different penalties to balance their benefits. Since they are born from such a cosmic union, the shenxue are required to adhere to a certain obeisance chosen at character creation, prohibiting them from for example sealing them from private dwellings, crossing rivers and cool, unique ones: Wandering Eyes for example, makes it only possible for the shenxue to see through the eyes of a chosen host. The shenxue paragon-class develops these further by modifying the class-skill-list according to aspects and providing highly versatile spell-like abilities and unique options depending on the aspect you've chosen. Like most paragon-classes, they span 6 levels and also gain d8 HP, 2+Int skills per level, 5 levels of spellcasting progression, 3/4 BAB-progression and also an ability that lets them see the presence or absence of all the spirits inhabiting everything, making for an interesting story-telling device. The racial paragon class suffers from non-standard save-progression for all 3 saves: They cap at +3 at 6th level instead of +2.  

 The penultimate new race we get would be the Verrik, another familiar face from Arcana Evolved, who gets +2 to Str and Wis, -2 to Cha, blindsense, the option to shut down senses (making them temporarily immune to gaze attacks, language-dependant effects etc.), minor spell-like abilities and may opt to be born with a magic-discerning third eye. Their 6 level paragon-class nets them 3/4 BAB-progression, good ref-and will-saves, d8 HP, 2+Int skills per level, 5 levels of spellcasting progression, improved sell-like abilities and as a capstone even get blindsight. All in all...I honestly consider the Verrik overpowered. Blindsense alone is powerful Combined with all the sense-turning of-options, the race becomes a bit too strong for my tastes.

 The final new race would be the Yueyangren and Yueyinren, the moonfolk, which are essentially variant elves. Regular elves, moonlight elves are the Yueyangren and get +2 to Dex and Int, -2 to Con, low-light vision, +2 to perception, elven immunities and bursts of speed for 3 rounds. The dark-skinned moonshadow elves, are closer to high elves in mentality than to drow, in spite of their appearance. They get +2 to Dex, Int and Cha, but -2 to Str and Con, count as elves, gain darkvision 60 ft., elven immunities, +2 to perception, +4 to CMD vs. trip and bull rush, light blindness and both types of moonfolk may take the Yueren paragon-class, which gets d8, 2+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good ref-saves, 5 levels of spell-progression, improved spell-like abilities, may walk on walls and ceilings 1/2 character level rounds cha-modifier times per day (cool!), gain superior vision with different effects depending on sub-breed, and gain movement-bonus-feats as well as the option to charge through difficult terrain.  

 Now that we've covered all those new races and their respective classes, let's take a look at the new base-classes in the pdf, starting with the Demon Hunter. But before I get on to that, let's quick classify that "Demon" does not mean only chaotic evil outsiders in the context of the lands of the Jade Oath - it means undead, goblinoids, fey and aberrations just as much as demons and similar outsiders - they essentially hunt the supernatural. The class gets d10, 2+Int skills per level, full BAB, good fort-saves, spellcasting of up to 4th level. They gain the ability to detect infernals via their powers, gain ranger-like specialization versus foes and may at higher levels even delay taking damage (including attribute damage) for 1 round cha-mod times per day. They may later also craft iron flasks and gain a cool capstone that allows them to change creatures into their servants, elevating them from their tainted being to celestial heights. There are also 6 different suites of abilities available to the Demon Hunter-class, including one that grants infernal companions that improve over the levels, improved ofudas and boons for wooden swords, the signature weapons of the immaculate exorcism-tradition.  

The enlightened scholar gains 3/4 BAB-progression, good will-saves, up to +4 AC bonus, up to 2d6 unarmed damage (better damage when ch'i-focused), d6 HP, 6+Int skills per level and may also chose from a variety of talents from varying paths, that set them upon track for becoming immortal, allow them to create strange contraptions etc. The Folk Magic-table (which allows minor spellcasting) is now also included, as is the immortal knowledge-table (though that mentions "monk" when "scholar" is meant). The class per se is truly unique with its wide array of options and the complexity of rules for contraption-creation etc.  

Similarly, the Kusa-class predates the Ninja-class from UC, getting unarmed strikes and sneak attacks as well as 3/4 BAB-progression, d8 HP, 6+Int skills per level, up to +7 insight bonus to AC, good ref-saves. The Kusa also gets a Ki-pool as well as multiple talents, grouped in three general level-classes, providing access to new talents at higher levels. Again, the class feels like it should have been converted to options for the Ninja-class, especially since the Kusa is not half as complex as the abilities of the enlightened scholar.   Speaking of archetypes: The other classes also get a variety of options - Barbarians may now for example take totem rage powers that correspond to specific animals like centipedes and mantises. There are multiple powers assigned to each totem and for barbarians wholly committed, there's an archetype to gain a totem-related animal companion. cavaliers may now chose from 2 new Xia-orders, which are also available to samurai, btw., one devoted to the ancestors and one to protecting the chosen organization's land and people. We also get an array of different monk-archetypes, which range from the kensai with their living weapons to the grapple-focused Thaskalos, the armored sohei to the spellcasting, lawful good yamabushi. Witches get perhaps one of the coolest option in the book - 4 new patron-spell-lists and a bunch of hexes. What's cool about these hexes is the factor that the hexes come with descriptors that mark them as particularly appropriate for the respective patron. At least in my opinion, as long as the choice of other hexes is not penalized, this is a great idea to enhance flavor.

 The next chapter introduces us to the new Feng Shui-skill, which allows you to improve the regenerative boons of resting by properly aligning the area and even the time required to rest. It should be noted that a bunch of the mechanics to come make use of the arcane focus and ki-focus (interchangeable as term with Ch'i, btw.). Gaining focus in either, much like gaining psionic focus, is a full-round action that provokes AoOs. Arcane Focus requires an arcane pool to be used (problematic, since the magus' arcane pool and this one's is different -I'll get to that in a second), while ki-focus needs at least 1 point of ki in your reservoir. You may expend either focus to take 15 on a concentration check.  

Among the different feats included in the chapter, we are introduced to a variety of feats with the new (Arcane)-descriptor. In order to make use of them, you have to take a feat that grants two points of arcane points, which do NOT stack with the magus' arcana pool. Substituting "Arcane" with "Eldritch" or a similar word would have GREATLY helped to avoid confusion here. A botch, in my opinion, since while the non-stacking is mentioned, I consider two pools with the same name problematic. (Arcane)-feats usually grant you additional points of arcane pool and allow you to do uncommon things by expending your focus: Arcane Dodge, for example, grants you a stacking dodge-bonus of +1 to AC and allows you to expend focus as an immediate action for an increase to +4 to AC versus one attack as an immediate action. Ki-focus works much the same way and feats from other sources now retroactively get the ki-descriptor.

It gets more complex, though: There is a subset of Ch'i-feats (or Ki-feats, whichever spelling you prefer) called chakra-feats. These feats require the character to be ki-focused to work. Characters may invest ki-points into chakras when ki-focused and there's a limit depending on level on how many points can be invested into a given chakra. Much like other points, these allocated points on the chakra allow the character to do uncommon things while focused and grant additional options via expending them. Moreover, each chakra has 3 different sets of potential ways to invest ki: Ki can be invested in Balanced Ki, Yang Ki or Yin Ki, granting different benefits for being focused or expending the aligned ki. A total of 7 chakra are provided - and that's before the additional options via chakra-feats come in!

Speaking of complex options: Want a lesser version of the gestalt idea that is not as unbalancing and allows you to play essentially two characters in one body? The Ancestral Possession-feat allows you to do just that, giving you a second set of mental ability scores and actually a second class - problem is: The change of personality in command is disorienting and happens EVERY time you roll a 1 on a d20. Yes, that can lead to some VERY awkward roleplaying situations and while it may save you, it may also doom you. Especially for a group low on players unable to cover all fields a great feat. Regarding enhanced options - several of the feats deal with yet another concept integral and iconic in lore: Sutras. While some brackets still point towards the single-pdf-release, rest assured that Sutra Magic is also within the pages of this book, allowing e.g. divine casters, demon hunters etc. to gain access to the iconic ofudas and providing guidelines on creating new sutras as well as a bunch of them for your immediate perusal.  

Beyond the vast array of feats that use these new and complex mechanics, we also get short suggestions for cinematic houserules à la damage-based knockback, improvised weapons for everyone, the option to throw foes in grapple, a new use for hero points and (Chinese) Zodiac Signs: These work essentially as traits, but come as a double-edged sword: While being stronger than your average trait, they also come with drawbacks, which might make for truly intriguing roleplaying opportunities. I really like the approach to traits, though you should be aware that they make HEAVY use of hero points, thus, if you don't play with them, you will get less of this chapter. (But when playing a WuXia-style setting, why not use hero points? Oo)   It should also be noted that we get an array of new exotic weapons (that are not that exotic in the HotJO-setting), most of which actually come with neat artworks, as well as new alchemical gear. Thankfully, the rather complex ch'i-mechanics come with a cheat-sheet in the section on magic that also details aforementioned sutra magic and closes the book.  


 Conclusion:

Editing and formatting. Well. If you take a look at the credits, you'll see that beyond being a patron, I also helped proof this book. But just a couple of pages. Without wanting to harp on my fellow proofers (after all, it was a non-paying gig) - some glitches slipped past us. Some that shouldn't have. The Enlightened Scholar is still violating PFRPGF-design with its +9 ref-save progression and lacks its capstone ability. The Kusa should have been upgraded with regards to the Ninja-class. There are still multiple references to Arcana Evolved classes like the Magister (full-blown arcane caster) and the Mage Blade (Gish-class) and similar classes in here: Not in any rules-context, mind you, but they still are there. While MOST (about 90%) of the conversions are successful and awesome, the rest could have been caught with more proofing and more care.

I noticed multiple instances of non-italicized spells, a lack of uniform italicization regarding the terms "ki" and "ch'i" etc. And we also get some pages that clearly show that different people have been at work here - while many pages are free of glaring glitches, there also are some pages in this pdf that feature several. Layout...is GORGEOUS. Paizo-level and beyond beautiful. Two-column standard, green highlights, golden kanji-borders, Wayne Reynolds-cover and interior artwork that more often than not is on the level of the cover. That is: Up to the very most beautiful you'll ever see in any publication. The pdf also comes with extensive, nested bookmarks. As per the writing of this review, no printer-friendly version is included.  

This is a crunch-monster and perhaps the one pdf that took me longest to review so far. So much math to do. More, in fact, than in just about any product I've reviewed so far. The races with their racial paragon-classes should definitely prove to be a boon for fans of the Diamond Throne-setting that have since the Arcana Evolved-days switched to PFRPG and concept-wise, the Mandragoran is perhaps one of the coolest plant race I've seen in ages. I really like the Arcane Pool-idea - but why not rename it? Why make it ambiguous and easy to confuse with the pool of the Magus? Mechanically, Sutra Magic, Chakras etc. are bold, exciting and cool and speak of a solid grasp on rules by author Frank Carr (for AE) and Timothy Wallace (for the PFRPG-conversion) as well as something only seldom seen: Boldness in design. these options marry cultural fluff with solid rules and uncommon design-choices, making them a joy to behold, at least for me. The cultural fluff of the book of the book speaks not only of a knowledge, but of an understanding of cultures and myth and offers fresh and exciting vistas on eastern roleplaying that could work together with established setting like Rokugan or Kaidan, but still brings its extremely distinct flavor to the table and can easily stand on its own. Distinctiveness and modularity are well-mixed in the options provided herein.

The writing per se ranges from extremely evocative...to. Well. Not so evocative. When proofing my chapters, I continuously stumbled upon instances when multiple sentences started the same way in a quick succession. There were paragraphs containing what I call "no conjunction-disease" - something that ruins the reading experience of any given text by providing essentially a quick succession of basic subject-verb-object-sentences sans prepositions, conjunctions and subordinate clauses. I tried to correct that, but overall, when the book is concerned, I have to say that generally, HotJO cannot be considered a universally great reading experience. When the writing works, it works well, but these sometimes cropping up accumulations of bland, boring sentences, while conveying information, still tug at what would otherwise be a universal sense of wonder and awe at these intriguing lands.   As much as I'm loathe to say it, since I really, really like the book. It feels like it has been pushed out slightly too fast. Yeah. I know. Get the pitchforks and torches ready. The book's been in the making for very long, postponed etc. - but after such a long wait, I think that a flawless quality should have been of tantamount importance. Perhaps giving each of the chapters to two proofers minimum would have been the prudent thing to do.

I don't know. What I do know is that with just one or two more months of proofing and editing, this pdf could have been a new benchmark for crunchy-setting books, a hallmark, a legend.   Now, with all the glitches still here and there in the pdf, some of which actually impede the rules, this pdf feels like it falls flat of its own potential. Not all of it, mind you, and the glitches are nothing that can't be potentially fixed/errata'd.   This book could have been my number 1 of 2012 or 2013- it had all the potential, all the right ideas. And, again, generally, they do work. But those that don't combined with an amount of editing glitches/conversion relics make it impossible for me to unanimously recommend.

I can't rate this 5 stars, though I so want to - for the sutras, the demon hunter, the ideas herein, for the imaginative pieces of crunch and fluff. For the well-done conversions of spellcasting, which is hard to do indeed. But the quality of the writing fluctuates hard and there are quite a few relics here. This conversion had the chance to set right all the small (and large) glitches from the HotJO-pdfs and let the chance slip. The thing is: I really, really liked this project. I put $60 down for the patronage, tried to help with the conversions as much as my schedule allowed. I proofed as much as I got, chapter-wise, and as much as my time allowed. I'm dedicated to this project and it could have been one of the best Pathfinder-releases ever.   It could have. But as a reviewer, I have never let the likes of such problems slip and won't start now, no matter how I'd want to. As much as it pains me, in spite of the glorious ideas, in spite of all crunch that teems and bristles with ideas, I can't rate this higher than 4 stars - with seal of approval, though. If you want to supplement Jade Regent, check out the setting or simply scavenge ideas - here's the link to OBS to check it out!  

 As always, thanks for reading my ramblings and feel free to drop in on my own page for the latest reviews.

Endzeitgeist out.

Hey everybody!

It's steampunk-conspiracy-time again!

Zeitgeist III - Digging for Lies


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The third part of En Publishing's steampunk-AP is 99 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 94 pages of content, so let's check this out!
This being a review of an investigation-heavy adventure, this review contains SPOILERS for both this module and its two predecessors. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

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All right, still here? After the rather trademark smart and complex narrative of Zeitgeist has been expanded and the adventure sketched (which includes a new form of madness and a feat to benefit slightly from insane clarities) we'll return to the matter at hand.
The agents of the RHC have recently achieved a stunning victory against Macbannin, only to be stumped by their boss's boss, lady inspectress Margaret Saxby, who subsequently took over the investigation. in the rainy autumn months, though, the constablers will still have something to do. After all, the Kaybeau Arms and Technology Expedition is going into full swing: Modeled slightly after the World Exhibit, the PCs are commanded to guard the peace there in a village of tents full of experimentational weaponry -what could go wrong? After a short briefing by Sara Lockheart, the PCs will have opportunity to see some prototypes (and even help fine-tune some, engage in philosophical debate with the dwarf Kvarti Gobatiy and generally enjoy themselves - until the incident happens - not via an exploding prototype, but via the incursion of alien, nightmarish creatures! What could have been a mishap of magic turns weirder yet, as the creatures don't just disappear. If the PCs manage to save Simon Langfield, the unwitting arcanist who got these creatures here by using his staff of the ancients, they'll have a massive mystery at their hands. Of course, first it's time for the constabulary to confiscate bodies and items and Martial Scientist-PCs will also have a background-related benefit waiting from what happens here. The investigation of the fair should prove interesting, as a gang of thieving street urchins and the family complicates the investigations - yet another way for the PCs to get on the good side of notorious Morgan Cippiano, though.

If they are smart, the PCs may well determine the origin of the illegal magic staff that caused the mishap and contact the responsible seller, posing as interested buyers. Hence, they are off to the Lanternwood Subrail Station, where they meet up with Kaja Stewart. If they think the fence helpless, they'll soon learn otherwise, for the woman has not come unprepared: Multiple walking turret constructs as well as her eidolon (she's a summoner) as well as her refreshingly smart use of the terrain should make this a challenging encounter indeed. While an interrogation of her might yield results, the conspiracy  will move on to kill her - with a surprisingly apt plan, nonetheless. Also, her death is not required and if the PCs make the connection, she can describe a tiefling surprisingly like Caius Bergeron in the context of the McBannin-case. With her dead or not knowing more, the investigation, for now, is stumped and in a dead-end, which the module uses for a foreshadowing of module #5, in the form of a dead body and a mangled golem, mysteriously torn to shreds . Reactivating the golem, who now houses the mind of a rogue Obscurati, will be a project that spans multiple modules but eventually yield success.
But back to the weird magical items: Seeing that they seem old, the logical step to check for their origins would be the Pardwright University of Natural History's Professor Hans Weber. The professor heard rumors about a recently unearthed ziggurat in the High Bayou and that Dr. Xambria Meredith led an expedition there. Being the only survivor of the ill-fated trip, the woman has been slightly addled by the now blurred ordeal. The constables may make ample conversation with her, though, and thus fill in gaps in their knowledge of the ancient secrets. Now also rather interesting: It was Caius Bergeron who financed the expedition of Dr. Xambria and while, for now, they can't really nail the elusive noble down - for now.
With all resources exhausted in town and work slowing to a crawl/busy-work at best, it is time for the PCs to leave Risur behind for the city of Bole via train and from there to the village of Agate and from there to the High Bayou's creepy swamps. (Also nice: If the PCs are versed in folklore and offer sacrifices to the sleeping fey titan, they can avoid fighting the native creatures of the bayou - great to award immersion and smart thinking.) The ziggurat's otherworldy aura promptly starts to erode the sanity of the PCs and in a break from investigations, they have a dungeon to explore at their hands - one that makes the spirit-seers see bad omens and features fun components like hallucinations and dead bodies! Have I mentioned the notes of the lost expedition, the traps galore, the actually intelligent puzzle based on planetary correspondences and teamwork and weird aberrations? Yeah. They're there.  Better yet, the obscurati have not been idle and have added their own trickery to the already formidable dungeon. If the players persist, though, they may in a vision witness the sealing of the planet Apet (from which the weird creatures at the fair hailed) and the dysfunctional portal to the place that was once sealed by the confiscated staff and the legendary axis seal. Once the PCs have loitered enough, things get UGLY: A flood of poison spreads throughout the Ziggurat, forcing the PCs to make a run for it. Worse yet, EACH and every mummy they have seen animates, making the escape a running fight through the step-pyramid's corridors. 

Upon their escape, the Voice of Rot, the fabled fey-titan, demands sacrifice: One thing, sentient, has escaped and the titan wants it dead and rotting - and the PCs better oblige. the detect Planar Energy-spell here is a great help, in fact, it is throughout the module: A concise and interesting list of clues helps DMs run the investigation of this particular lead.
Upon their return to Risur, the PCs hence have a fey titan to appease and find the suspect - but other news also ask for their attention. Their main suspect, Caius Bergeron, has been murdered, in a locked room. Witnesses report a woman fitting Xambria's description having a lively discussion with Caius as well as a ring that could be the first clue the PCs have for the Obscurati's means of identifying one another - or get into the deep end. More pressing is a map with coordinates... And celebrity bard Rock Rackus, who also shows traces of Apet energy and is currently languishing in jail. The man with the apt name is something of a rockstar who claims to have visited the unseen court of the fey (on the moon) and also happens to be a specialist in teleportation magic. He also has this particular scroll he misplaced that may lead to quite a bit of interesting treasure and information (in module 12) - if only the PCs could get these pesky charges dropped? Better yet, dockers are looking up to the man, though he is just riding the wave right now and after his own gain - if the PCs are convincing, they may stir him to become, quite literally, a better man and thus influence the future modules as well.
Another seal has been discovered (and can be conjectured from Caius' notes) and Dr. Xambria's ship, the dagger, is already waiting when the PC's vessel arrives there. While Dr. Xambria might seem like a good suspect and she indeed does show traces of massive Apet energy, it's not that simple and her cooperation and demeanor hold up. When Il Dracon de Mer, a war vessel shows up, it's time for naval battle with a vessel crewed by loyalist's to the now deceased Caius. After having defeated the opposing vessel (optionally via the simplified naval combat rules also featured in here), the PCs will have to get to the seal, which is defended by specialists that are well-trained for defending the seal beneath the waves and also have an array of animal companions at their beck and call. Aquatic combat is thankfully quickly summed up and while I prefer Cerulean Sea's more complex take on underwater combat, terrain wise there is nothing to complain here. The sunken dig site has an inactive portal that the leader of the specialists tries to open and a further skyseer dream complement a battle that should prove to be both tactical and interesting - especially when insane water-creatures erupt from the portal and the PCs have to work potentially with their adversaries to re-seal it, establishing the procedure for further situations. (Btw.: I love it when modules do this - establish a cohesive "law" or "way how things work" and then actually stick to it - that lends a sense of cohesion to any given setting!)

The return to Flint with their captives will prove the mettle of your PCs, especially their paranoia: The mastermind of the latter troubles makes its move if the PCs don't use their wits: A creature called Sijhen, a spy and scout from the planet of Apet that has lain dormant in Xambria's consciousness - rising from the body when needed and forcing her/modifying memory it tries to assassinate PCs, crew, anything alive on the ships, really and the creature also has an evil array of summoned monsters attack. Probably , the dread creature beats the PCs back to flint, with the golden icon of Apet, enacting its masterplan, thankfully befitting of a creature of its intellect. Upon their return to Flint, they'll realize that the strange madness from the ziggurat has spread to Flint and by now, the PCs hopefully can connect the items of the ancients with the madness. The Museum of Natural History host a grand gala and the PCs may socialize - until Xambria/Sijhen make their move and assault with a contingent of deadly creatures from Apet - if the PCs manage to defeat the duo, Xambria seems to wrestle free of Sijhen's influence and realize her mutated, eye-sporting arm, surrendering. Xambria hopefully can retain control long enough and thus, the PCs get her back to HQ while she can stave off the influence of Sijhen. Unfortunately, this is also part of Sijhen's plan - it contacted the Obscurati, threatening to expose them: And indeed, Xambria reveals the existence of the conspiracy to the PCs, connecting Mcbannin and Bergeron, adding the information that Caius had the plan "to ride the train" (to be featured in adventure #4). Worse, She exposes Saxby as a member of the Obscurati before being taken over by Sijhen again and the creature floods the RHC headquarters with planar energy before phasing through the ceiling.
The whole headquarter turns first translucent, then transparent and the game is on: Members of the RHC become mad due to the planar energy-influx and not only is Sijhen escaping, the PCs will have to rally the maddened RHC operatives, defeat the obscurati kill squad sent to dispatch them (which unprofessionally mentions notorious crimeboss Lorcan Kell) and catch Lady Saxby, who is guarded by fellow RHC-officers unaware of her duplicity and trying to make a run for it. Oh, and Sijhen is opening a gate in the subterranean railway-tunnel, trying to escape to its home planet. Worse, Sijhen is conjuring a truly interesting unique vast creature the PCs will have to defeat and worse, Xambria is doomed to die unless spirit mediums intervene - alternatively, her consciousness may end up in one of the PC's bodies.
The first appendix  includes multiple optional encounters, like an audit with Lord Viscount Inspector Nigel Price-Hill (husband of Saxby who does her best to discredit them), Lorcan trying to frame a murder on the PCs for taking down Kaja's smuggling operation and a radical Vekeshi plot of a less than smart being wanting to assassinate Rock Rackus - trying to recruit a PC for the job. The pdf also provides stats for the new creatures, new magical items (including the experimental steam suit), the boon of sharing Xambria's consciousness, dramatis personae,  3 beautiful hand-outs, 5 pages of quick naval combat rules, and 14 pages of beautiful maps.


Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches, which is quite a feat. Layout adheres to the 2-column standard and is full-color and beautiful. The original artworks are GLORIOUS and supplemented with stock-art here and there. Cartography deserves a special mention, since the maps are beautiful indeed. It should be noted that the pdf comes with layers that enable you to print-it out without draining your printer as much - though there is a problem pet-peeve for me: The maps lack player-friendly versions (with one exception) and are studded with numbers. While I don't mind regarding the RHC-headquarters, the other locales should also come with player-friendly versions.
That remains the only gripe I have with this module, though: While less complex than the webs of intrigue featured in issue 2 of the AP, we still get a truly superb module of backstabbing and conspiracy, of weirdness and horror that is indeed a glorious addition to the stellar AP. My final verdict for the third gutsy, intelligent module of the Zeitgeist AP will thus clock in at 5 stars plus seal of approval.

You can get the PFRPG-version here and the 4th edition version here.
Endzeitgeist out.

Hej everybody!

Today we'll take a look at one of the rare modules that managed to blow me away:

Midgard Adventures: To the Edge of the World


This module for the Midgard Campaign Setting is 23 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page advertisement, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 19 pages of content, so let’s check this out!

This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players should jump to the conclusion.

All right! Still here? This module is all about epic high fantasy – at 2nd level! Simez Rothgazzi, leader of the high order of geomancers, has a proposal for the PCs – They are to visit the island of Karn’lothra, domain of the dreaded lich-queen and secure her permission to open a tomb and secure the Book of Vael Turog. The journey per se will turn out to be as laced with dangers as you want to and several different “random” encounters are provided to help the DM add minor complications: Whether they learn the way to the lich queen’s undead paradise by her undead mermaids or by bargaining with a dragon, they are set for their destination and on their journey may barter with the leshy of a seaweed Sargasso, they may also meet a spark trying to possess them during a storm and have a skirmish with a small goblin warship.

Karn’lothra (which comes with a  great map and detailed further in "Journeys to the West") should make for a creepy place to visit, with the ominous harbor of last hope, its giant gold/white marble-flecked statues lining the coast and the relative proximity to Nethus’ maw. When evening falls, the ghost of the ankeshelian Mad Prince Deland escorts the characters to the court of the queen, provided they don’t annoy him overtly. There, the audience should be creepy as well and full of tension, since a) an audience requires the adventurers to relinquish their weapons and wands and b) they are hopelessly outclassed anyway. On a particularly vicious botch in diplomacy, the queen may actually take a liking to one of the players – with final consequences for the poor sod.

After securing her permission (or doing it stealthily behind her back), the PCs are off to visit the tomb of the minotaur prince Qoraz, where not only traps, but also red-mist emitting braziers, vampiric mists and a couple of shadows await the PCs – hopefully, they’ve conserved the scroll of protection from undead they got from Simez – or they can try to gain control over and use the lesser sphere of annihilation to waste the undead… The thing is, that the queen, true to the evil of undeath, has sent minions to off the Pcs and claim the book for herself. The book, however, also might be their best chance, for the thing is intelligent and can provide not only a potent protection, but also a summoning ritual that should make the breackneck flight from the island interesting.



When the summoned leviathan island (again, more details in Journeys) makes its appearance, the PCs should be all about going for it, for the mobile island is moving. Braving reefclaws, the adventurers are now stranded again, lavishly with a map detailing Leviathan Island . Only said island is heading towards the end of the world and is inhabited by mongrelmen intent on subduing the PCs and feeding them godsflesh to add them to their ranks. Whether they sit out the time or manage to find godsflesh and commune with the leviathan, they should soon notice that the huge being is actually headed towards the end of the world – whether for spawning, death or rebirth, they probably won’t be able to tell.

A sense of foreboding and imminent doom should be now suffuse them – until the leviathan plunges into the starlit sea, from the very edge of the world. Starbearer-scouts will inform the players that the leviathan is on its way to the star citadel, compelled by the ancient eldritch magics that summoned it – though this by no standard means that the PCs are out of danger – an array of weird creatures ranging from oculus swarms to vargouilles wait in the wings to challenge the brave explorers. The star-shaped citadel awaits them and it is here, they may plead their case before the court of a million stars and its king and queen, for the rulers intend to kill the leviathan, stranding the Pcs in this strange realm beyond the world. In order to seize control of the ancient beasts, the PCs will have to negotiate with Abdiel (an NPC-cheat sheet is btw. provided), the current master of the bridle- unbeknownst to them, though, he wants to control the creature himself and with his ally, a traitorous starbearer, tries to poison and subdue the PCs. The finale, whether it will be trial by combat, varying degrees of success for the villain or the PCs triumphing, should be definitely memorable and result, in the case of victorious PCs, an interesting choice: Do they set the leviathan free or do they steer it back to the western sea? What about the strange egg in the alchemist’s tower?

And by the way, I haven’t even touched on the short sample NPC-list of inhabitants of the strange citadel, not have I yet touched upon the 10 sample events to spice up what is going on in this wondrous place.



Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn’t notice any glitches. Layout adheres to a gorgeous two-column full-color standard and the copious original interior artworks are of the same quality as the mind-boggling front cover – this is a premium product in every meaning of the word regarding presentation. The pdf comes fully bookmarked as well, but without a printer-friendly version. Then again – why rob this gorgeous piece of its colors? Also, it's printed version is BEAUTIFUL. Full-color, gorgeous, awesome.

There is a good reason Wolfgang Baur is the legend he is and this pdf shows VERY well how his formidable reputation came to be. Doing adventures that evoke a sense of grandness, of epicness and at the same time trailblaze ahead and provide iconic locales is hard. Doing so at low levels is even harder, especially if you want to keep the players from doing stupid things that could get them killed – like challenging a certain queen, trying to find ways to control a certain beast etc. This module takes an experienced DM with a good mojo to run properly, but OH BOY. If you manage to pull this off, then your players will be talking about it for years to come! The iconic scenes and locales in this module are enough to weave at the very least 3 whole modules from the content and the fact that this much AWESOMENESS fits in these scarce few pages is mind-blowing. And it manages to do it without feeling misplaced in the level-range. This is high-fantasy at its very best and if I had to nitpick one thing, then it would be that the module by design requires almost to be set in Midgard or a similar flat world, since it is so steeped in the world’s contexts. That being said, this still perhaps one of the best low-level modules out there and deserves to be added to your library – especially at the ridiculously low cost. My final verdict? Easy 5 stars + seal of approval. This would be a 6-star-candidate, if that was possible.

Endzeitgeist out.

Hej everybody!

Once in a while, I stumble across a humble publication that doesn't get the attention it deserves. This is one of these books.

Plots & Ploys: A Skill and Feat Collection




This pdf is 17 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1/2 a page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 14 1/2 pages of content, so let's check this out!

This collection offers us first of all new skill uses: You may now use the bluff-skill to fast-talk yourself out of combat, feign injuries or deliver quick secret messages. You may also intimidate foes at massive penalties in a couple of rounds or even as a full round action. Perception-rules to use the skill to listen underwater, soil or pinpoint sounds also serve to enhance the skill - especially useful when using the revised Stealth-rules from Drop Dead Studios' Rogue Glory-supplement. Via Sense Motive, you can quickly scan for enchantments or analyze your foes, though the latter hits one of my pet-peeves and does not provide abstract information, but rather precise BAB, feats etc. - and metagamey information like that is banned in my game. Via Sleight of Hand, you may now conceal held items or steal items usually too large to steal or secretly store items. In a nice display of awareness, none of these skill-uses overlap with the ones provided in Rite Publishing's by now legendary "101 New Skill Uses".

After this section, we're off to the feat part of the pdf, prefaced by a massive 2 1/2 pages of feat-table. The feats are actually rather interesting in the things the endeavor to do: Using a rudimentary kind of echo-location by clicking with the tongue (behavior btw. exhibited by some blind people irl) allows you rudimentarily determine your surroundings even when you otherwise can't due to e.g. darkness. Active Avoidance is also an interesting option that requires Dex and Int 15 as well as dodge and combat expertise and allows you to, as an immediate action, double the AC-bonus versus the next attack of the opponent. An interesting design, especially for dueling characters.
In fact, many of the feats herein offer similarly tactically-themed options to e.g. goad foes into attacking their allies and belittling foes can grant bonuses as long as you and your allies don't get hit. Using sleight of hand instead of the steal combat-maneuver is also covered, though I've seen better uses of that particular concept n other publications. Teamwork, via aiding one another, evading friendly fire and several social feats that e.g. allow you to place suggestions (thankfully with scaling DCs) and even a feat to offer redemption to enemies (which is a streamlined, updated take on the one from the notorious Book of Exalted Deeds).



Beyond that, the feats in this book can be roughly categorized into different quarters: Some expand the new skill uses introduced in here, some enhance teamwork between members of the party (allowing e.g. the PCs to talk one another through e.g. skill checks), some help with the defensive side of things, some enhance social skill-uses in combat- situations and some capitalize on high Int as well as sense motive to display tactical fighters in battle who can benefit from their genius, much like e.g. characters in battle-of-wills-type scenarios à la Death Note. While especially the latter is an interesting concept, at least in my game, I will disconnect the benefits from gaining metagamey information and had hoped the pdf had done the same. Oh well. There also are some minor filler feats that allow access to low-level domain or bloodline abilities for those not so endowed.
The pdf also offers a selection of new item-tricks for cloaks as well as a cohesive example on how the material in this pdf can make fights more dynamic and less about bashing brains in.



Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are good, though not top-notch - I noticed a couple of rough patches here and there like missing blank lines between feats, minor glitches etc., though nothing glaring. Layout adheres to PDG's 2-column no-frills standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked.

David Nicholas Ross' Plots and Ploys was a kind of frustrating pdf for me to review: On the one hand, these skill-uses and feats are compelling and serve their purpose - they should help to get groups out of kill-em-all-ruts and add an interesting dimension to combats heretofore untapped. On the other hand, this collection uses metagamey information (something I abhor) and some of the feats could be taken to ridiculous places - some of them could have really used a caveat that they don't work on specific types of creatures. That being said, as a DM I'd be wary of introducing this pdf as a whole without some very close scrutiny for respective groups - while the feats per se are not broken, depending on the group they're introduced to, they may prove to be unhinging and change your gaming experience. Seeing how this is the goal of the pdf, though, I won't hold that versus the pdf.
That being said, I also feel that this pdf is slightly below what it could actually have been - with minor revision and slightly more polish, this pdf could have been even better. As provided, I can see it being useful, though not necessarily great for all types of campaigns. This would bring me to a review of 4.5 stars, but the editing glitches and filler material here and there make me settle for a final verdict of 4 stars instead.

Endzeitgeist out.

Hej everybody!

Disclaimer: I'm a contributing author to Christina Stiles' current kickstarter "Bite Me! The Gaming Guide to Lycanthropes" and was a patron of this project, though not a contributing one. If you haven't checked out her kickstarter, I urge you to do so. My verdict of this book was not in any way influenced by me contributing to "Bite Me!".

Journeys to the West


 This supplement/adventure anthology is 139 pages long, 1 page front cover,  1 page editorial, 1 page introduction/kickstarter-backer-list,  1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisement and 1 page back cover, leaving us 132 pages of content, so let's take a look!

This being a combined campaign supplement and adventure anthology, we delve first into a kind of hub for the explorations the PCs are sure to embark upon when utilizing the content from these pages: Barsella, the City at the end of the world in the Midgard setting is the last true fleck of civilization before the Western Ocean and as such an interesting place indeed - a combination of colonial outpost, trading town and frontier-city, Barsella's write-up includes potential for adventure galore - whether it's via the plethora of options available for explorations into the unknown or within the town - after all, Nethus, the chained god of the sea is still very much present in this place, as are the seafaring minotaurs and other thoroughly interesting components like gambling dens and brothels with interesting entertainers awaiting. And in the bedrock of the town, the tides have carved out the infamous wash, a set of smuggling tunnels and undercity that provides for an opportunity to crawl and explore other illicit affairs PCs may seek to undertake. An iconic interesting city-panorama, but not the focus of this product - for the true ambition of this supplement is to capture the spirit of frontiers, of trailblazing and wonder at strange locales in the spirit of mankind's epics like the Iliad or the Gilgamesh-myth.

As such, the following chapters detail new islands to be found and the very first one already blows me out of the water (pardon the pun): The Island of the Morphoi is weird in uncountable ways. Fully mapped in b/w (like all islands in here), this place is the base of Mnemosyne, wife of the lost god of the seas - She also happens to be the goddess of time, history and memory who suffers from an inscrutable memory-loss that drives to obsessive brinks of madness, her weird morphoi-servants and twisted lamia scouring the world for knowledge to finally fill the void ripped into her otherwise omniscient and perfect recollections.  The island is also plagued by temporal rifts, unstable areas of temporal flux (including massive tables to determine weird effects on the fly) and provides 3 domains and 2 subdomains as well as potential for adventures galore.


Meshong-Lir and its atoll of savage islands also makes for a truly intriguing setting that transcends traditional backdrops - the prison/remains of a Great Old One from the Far Beyond, these islands are now haunted by Heralds of Darkness and the ghosts of Elysian Titans. Worse, the arcane bonds that hold the creature enslaved  are tied to thresholds and doors and every foray into the depths of Meshong-Lir brings the dread entity closer to freedom - if the intrepid explorers manage to survive the maddening taint of the forbidden knowledge engraved in the reality-warped ruins of an empire long since passed, they may yet gain knowledge both twisted and powerful - at least if they manage to surpass the other alienists, mad cultists and things-that-should-not-be. Have I mentioned that in order to live to tell the tale, the PCs also have to brave the fact that the island rises from the waves (including tsunamis) and sinks back below the waves: And yes, rules for all of that are included in the write-up.

There are also write-ups of so-called lesser islands, which, while slightly less detailed, are also lengthy - starting at Aroa, which is the home-base of the Rimegaurd that seek to rediscover the lost technology of the crab-like K'karoan and atolls, some with spatial rifts, also feature in this section, also the crab-like humanoid K'kin. The Burning Shores with its magmins and azers and archmage's sanctum is also interesting in that it features hazards beyond regular fiery hazards - also including deadly gasses impacting local environment. The Leviathan, a living island inhabited by mongrelman, gliding through the waves (And featured in the module "To the Edge of the World") is littered with eldritch remnants ready for the picking and intriguing locales/rules to enable PCs the diving leviathan.

Terminus island is interesting especially in the context of Midgard, for the world is flat and this ancient place, with its gigantic guardians and legendary fruit is located indeed at the very edge of the flat world. Finally, there's Karn'lothra, where the last remnant of a proud race now lords as an undead empress over her realm. It is also here that a vampire philosopher has blended mind-boggling philosopher that essentially made reality reject him, rendering him quite literally beyond the grasp of even the gods.

The book also features a bestiary, where intelligent Coral Oozes (CR 6), Dragon Eels (CR 13), Lamia Mnemosynian Matriarchs (CR 12) as well as  3 Morphoi-variants, the disturbing Obanje (CR 5), Sons of Talos (CR 11 ancient siege-style golems) and CR 6 Totem-Pole Golems. The Prismwings, magical birds, are also nice, though their entry lacks the CR-value.
We also get 4 new magical items, from the modular boon-necklaces of the seas, to a cephalopod's staff, an enchanted mokomokai (a shrunken head) and one of the tears of Mnemosyne.

After that, we're off to the new modules featured herein and hence, from here on out, the SPOILERS reign. Potential players may wish to jump to the conclusion.

Still here? All right! Adventure number 1, "Awash in the Wash" is an uncommon module for low level characters, as it starts the adventuring career of the PCs with an unpleasant surprise for the PCs: They wake up after having been drugged/press-ganged/etc. - in the notorious Wash, Barsella's undercity. The PCs are the latest contestants in the infamous maze of the minotaurs of the city - and a famous geomancer is betting on their unlikely survival - why unlikely? Well, first of all, the maze is studded with traps and spectator-interference (also great for the DM to help/hinder PCs if required) is a constant addition to the place's challenge: The aim is to collect 8 special rings and place them upon a specific statue - while avoiding an insane fiendish minotaur stalking the corridors, hunting for the PCs as well as the complex traps/obstacles littering the maze's regular rooms. Thankfully, the minotaur (who is far beyond PC capabilities to beat) is slow and can be outrun - but not for ever...
Maze residents and multiple rooms with deadly traps  make the challenge of the place more pronounced, though I do have some minor gripes with an otherwise great module: The fully detailed maps come without a player-friendly, key-less version and the text refers multiple times to letters and e.g. squares with traps that are not featured on the respective maps. This is one issue. The other one being how running the maze is handled: Essentially, the curving sections and make-up of the place make using traditional mapping hard for the PCs to do, suggesting instead handwaving all in favor of perception/survival-skill-checks - which is fine, though the insinuation that old-school handling of maze-running would bore most groups rubs me the wrong way - especially with a sub-maze of the maze that HAS to be mapped to properly run through is taken into account. A slightly more streamlined set of navigation-rules and help with keeping up dramatic tension with the minotaur-chaser as well as resolving aforementioned map-issues would have been imho nice and made a good module an excellent one.



The second adventure contained (by Dawson Kriska) in this anthology features an unpleasant assault on the docks of Barsella by a strike-force of Sahuagin - unfortunately being infected by a strange curse/disease named skinny-bones, one that defies curing.  With the plague endangering Barsella (and quite possibly the PCs, since they've probably been infected in the combat), they have to cooperate with a famous captain and his druidic wife (see Pirates of the Western Ocean) and break through the naval blockade. Seeking the counsel of the archmage Allister Dorn, they arrive at his tower on the burning shores, where unfortunately the archmage is nowhere to be found. Having anticipated the PC's dire need, he has prepared a collection of documents and diagrams that allows for the research of the disease - handling Deus-Ex-Machina-style just about all pieces of information out to the PCs via rather simple arrays of skill-checks, revealing the originator of the plague as an unfettered eidolon incited by aforementioned vampire philosopher. Stepping from the arch-mage's study, the PCs find themselves stranded on the  island of Malkay, where all the lost sooner or later wind up and where the eidolon masquerades as a type of savior/angel. The creature runs from the PCs, thinking them trapped on the desolate island, though they are promptly rescued by their NPC-allies - the journal harrow left behind leading them promptly towards Karn'lothra, the island of undead again where they get a chance to stop the mad eidolon's plans and gather the ingredients to end the plague. All in all, a solid adventure, though I really didn't like how the module treats the arch-mage-in-absentia and his notes as a kind of Captain Exposition - alternate means for the PCs to unravel the mystery of the disease would have been nice and feel more organic - as written, the dramaturgy is somewhat askew and suffers from the "Elminster-helps"-syndrome, i.e. the high-level-NPC helps, but can't be bothered to do the job her/himself. It's this that made me turn my back on the Forgotten Realms and I sincerely hope that future Kobold Press-adventures will refrain from creating too many of these plot-device NPCs - Midgard as a setting doesn't need them to work.

 Brian W. Suskind provides with a murder mystery in the most traditional way - the PCs are hired by Lord Arvid Olhouser through his aide Delgrade Agador to guard the expedition of his household to the fabled Leviathan-island. Unfortunately, soon after the arrival, the beast dives and thus, the PCs will have to make a frantic sprint to the fabled bubble-tower that contains air and allows people to survive the dives of the living island. Squeezing through the shutting Iris-doors, a group of precious few survivors is stranded in an isolated, claustrophobic locale - the classic set-up for a murder mystery. And said murder doesn't happen too late - Lord Arvid Olhouser is murdered and the people locked in have motives galore: His wife, Lady Olhouser considers him a bumbling idiot and has an affair with his aide Delgrade. His spoilt son Hagen is a thoroughly unpleasant, cruel racist. Bertram Bodkin and his recently betrothed wife Alyce suffer from Bertram's gambling addiction and accumulated debt which the lord declined to help with. Professor Myra Dolynn once had an affair with the lord, local veteran Lucas Cabral has an attachment to the unpleasant local mongrelman populace and Fynn, the 12-year old son of one of the Olhouser's ship's fist mates just had to see his father perish in the dive of the Leviathan. The mongrelmen hiding in the fleshy tunnels of the leviathan are essentially set up as culprits and teh PC's short excursion proves an exercise in the slaughter of innocent creatures - unless Lucas Cabral stops them in time. Worse for the PCs - after initial investigations, the deceased rises as a wight accusing them as killers, undermining their believability. Worse,  Hakon, the scion of the house is the second victim and lady Margrat is next on the killer's list - who actually acts smart, utilizing dust of illusions to throw the PCs off their guard and sow discord. The cast of dramatis personae allows for a vast array of motivations and the situation is actually more complex than one would believe: Alyce is actually quite a powerful sorceress and bastard-daughter of the late Lord Olhouser, but not the culprit for his murder: Lady Margrat and Hagen killed the lord and Alyce, bereft of her revenge, seeks to end them for it. At the climax of the investigation, she sabotages the tower's mechanics and has the tower flood while the leviathan surfaces, making for a truly memorable climax. All in all a great murder mystery with multiple tables that makes running the complex motivations more easy for the DM. A minor gripe would be that one read-aloud-text mentions "The NPCs", a slip in narrative level DMs should be aware of.


The next module, by Ted Reed, is hands down imho the best in the whole anthology, ranking as a pinnacle of awesomeness that lives up to the best of Open Design/Kobold Press modules out there: The basic plot is the following: The PCs are in the savage islands and have their ship sunk by the rise of Meshong-Lir, after rescuing a dashing old salt rake. Surviving the tsunami wave will be hard - to be captured/separated and beset by the dread pygmies and totem pole golems, the PCs will have to steal rafts to reach Meschong-Lir, for a legendary treasure awaits - the fabled ship Last Vagabond was dragged down by a statue jutting from the dread island and now could be claimed - for it requires a living being to serve as captain, though it is manned by a crew of ghosts. Unbeknownst to the PCs, their new ally is actually a servant of the trapped Great Old One of Meshong-Lir who is partly responsible for the ship's current predicament. The PCs will have to scale the mile-high cliffs, negotiate with the ghost of a titan and impress the ghostly crew enough to become captains and owners of the legendary vessel as well as unmask the wolf in sheep's clothing (no, not the monster) in their midst. And, they of course will have to drive the ship out of the maelstrom of the sinking Meshong-Lir! (and yes, it uses the vehicle-rules from UC -AMEN!) This module is so great it had me salivate, its locales standing out and its execution, especially how the captain is portrayed ranking among the finest I've seen in this type of scenario, the climax being sufficiently epic as well. Two thumbs up for this extremely well-crafted module that works even better thanks to the trouble-shooting interjected here and there.

The final module of the anthology centers on a character that is somewhat of a local landmark in Barsella, the Brine Pauper.  The PCs are hired by Barsellan nobility to investigate the fate of the village of Kammae's Landing, more commonly known as Hell's Hole. On their ship is the weird, semi-coherent oracle and if the PCs manage to deal with the difficult anchoring, exploring the haunted remains of the coastal town should prove interesting indeed - for the brine pauper deposited a tear of mnemosyne somewhere in the haunted island, one that might contain vital memories. Unfortunately for the PCs, the Brine Pauper was not here alone - the last survivor of his group, they battled a witch that also perished and now roams the island as a witchfire on the hunt for the madman. Worse, the undead has taken control of a coven of hags and their allies and a disgruntled sea hag may prove to be a vital warning or deadly detriment. Guarded by dread Kech summoners and deep inside the island lies an ancient Ankeshelian prison that contains a dreaded nightwave of Nethus and the seal if breaking - only in the pauper's memories lies the key to finding the hidden vril lock to reseal the dark terror, but only if teh PCs can get it before the witchfire. Reaching the nightwave's prison, the PCs will have to face a fraction of its power and solve an easy, nevertheless interesting riddle to escape. On their way home, though, a powerful Mnemosynian Lamia Matriarch tries to take their memories, which might bode disaster for the future...



Conclusion: Editing and formatting are very good, though not perfect: I noticed e.g. flavor-texts with "NPCs" being mentioned and the first module's maps lacking some information from the text is also unpleasant. Layout adheres to a 2-column standard and is beautiful indeed - in the pdf in full-color, in the print in b/w. Artworks is a mix of full-color and b/w and ranges from good to serviceable. The cartography of the islands is completely in b/ and beautiful indeed - but I have one mayor gripe: Why don't we get player-friendly maps? Seriously, a project of this size/scope should have key-less maps of its locales. What good is the STELLAR map of the cliff-side of Meshong-Lir to me when I can't show it to my players since one of the ledges spells out what kind of creature is waiting there and how to get on the ship? Or another island, that features the name of the threats to be found as well as the location of a certain prison? I can live with Barsella's map being keyed (though I'd prefer a key-less version there as well to hand out to my players), but in adventures, it's a no-go for me by now. The maps of the modules are great, but I can't use them. The pdf is extensively bookmarked for your convenience.

"Journey to the West" is the latest in a series of sourcebooks/anthologies by Open Design/Kobold press and lead designer Christina Stiles has succeeded with accolades in her endeavor of bringing us a supplement that brings the weird, the thrill of exploring, back to the game, with islands both wondrous and terrifying. The campaign-setting information, the island-write-ups, they provide information galore to run whole campaigns, clocking in as some of the most legendary locales I've seen in a supplement in quite a while, breathing their owns myths. I also applaud the decision to not contribute overtly to the feat/trait/spell-bloat and, unlike the otherwise excellent "Streets of Zobeck", focusing on the topic at hand. Mind you, my criticism is at the highest level, but still: The adventures in this module left me partially disappointed at the very highest level of quality possible. They still stand out and are great experiences, but with the notable exception of Ted Reed's contribution, they all suffer here and there from minor issues that keep them from rising to the insane brilliance of e.g. the offerings in "Tales of the Old Margreve": The labyrinth-module suffers from its maps and slightly incongruent take on navigating the maze, the plague -adventure from the captain-exposition-flaw, the murder-mystery from e.g. mentioning a magical aura, but not the nature of it and the final one from feeling cut down - the desolate village would have made for a great place to build up tension via a continuing assault of haunts and instead makes the exploration a rather short stop in the module, with the same holding true for the prison. At first, this didn't stand out to me that much, but Ted Reed's module, with its perfect pacing and detail, its extremely iconic challenges and its vivid primary antagonist makes these minor flaws that wouldn't stand out in other publications much more than they should. Though this module's map suffers most in all the modules of this book from not coming with a player-friendly version.

I get that page-count is an issue, but honestly - I wish this book had been split (even further) - one book for all the setting-information and one for the expanded adventures, to allow them slightly more page-count to shine. As written, they are still great modules, but ones with minor blemishes.
But is that enough to rate this book down? I've been wrestling with myself for quite some time and have to conclude: Yes. Yes, it is. By now, player-friendly maps are a staple in most publications and at least for me, not getting any, especially if the cartography is this good, is kind of a big deal.
Don't get me wrong - I still maintain this is a great book that belongs into the library of any Pathfinder-DM, but I still can't give it my full 5 stars + seal of approval, instead opting for a final verdict of 4.5 stars plus seal of approval, rounded won to 4 for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.

Hey everybody!

Today, we'll dive back beneath the waves of the Cerulean Seas and take a look at arctic underwater adventuring with

Cerulean Seas: Indigo Ice




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The introduction makes one thing clear: You have not read a book like this before. Ever. This sourcebook is about the arctic clime, yes, but not on humano-centric cultures, though it lends somewhat from Icelandic, Norse, Inuit etc. traditions), but on recent realizations of how much the world beneath the waves shapes the polar regions. Combine that with the fact that in Cerulean Seas, there is not much dry land and we have an interesting base assumption. More interesting yet, at least imho, would be the fact that logical assumptions have been taken: In order for any culture to thrive in a land of few resources and extremes, the resulting culture developing from it would require a sense of progressive-mindedness and war-like aspirations. Against this backdrop merging progress and tradition, arcane and technological and the struggle for survival, we are introduced to this book's  core concepts.
A special mention deserve here the artworks - the "City that never thaws" and most of the other artworks herein follow a cohesive, extremely high quality style that is not only consistent in itself, but also with the high quality artworks Alluria Publishing has featured in their other Cerulean Seas-products. In fact, some of them may even surpass them due to feeling more iconic, but more on that later in the conclusion. The pdfs begins with environmental undersea environments, glaciers and slush swamps as well as hazards for the respective areas, which include e.g. acidic slushes, catabatic winds, wind chills and cohesive rules for breaking through ice. All in all, a cool chapter that is useful for any cold climate, not just those in the Cerulean Seas-setting.
The second chapter is all about races and kicks off with a revisit to the classic races of the Cerulean Seas setting as well as Waves of Thought before including new races - which, of course, all come with the trademark pieces of information on buoyancy, types etc. The first new race would be the Aglooik, small feykith (only two and a half page) and they get +2 to Dex, Int, -2 to Con, 30 ft. speed, get +1 to ref saves versus electricity, steam and acid, +2 to Knowledge (engineering), Profession (engineering), Craft or disable device as well as proficiency with any aglootech-weapon, but more on that later. The second new race would be the arctic, cold, charming and professional Crystolix, who get +2 Int and Cha, -2 Str, must take skill focus (diplomacy), +2 to appraisal, cold resistance 10 as well as +2 to saves against spells and effects that would result in negative conditions. Interesting race that can be played as creepily friendly. The transparent Ice Elves get +2 to Dex and Wis, immunity to cold and fire vulnerability, +1 to AC when touching water and at a depth of 300 ft. or less as well as a spell-like ability to use ice water-jet and +1 DC to saving throws against cold spells they can cast.
The Talilajuk Ningen are special fishfolk: Based on Belugawhales, they can breathe air and get +4 Str, -2 Str, are fast, must take Skill Focus (Stealth) as their merfolk-bonus-feat and gain blindsense while in water. The coolest new race, perhaps would be the Squawk - mechanically, these beings get +2 to Str and Con, -2 to Int, are small at a fast movement rate of 30 ft., get +1 dodge bonus to AC and CMD, +2 to saves versus poisons, spells and spell-like abilities and always count as wearing cold weather outfits and proficiency with skiths. What are they? They are a race of deadly  warriors living in a martial society of penguin-like humanoids. And yes, the artworks actually manage to make that work - squawks are bad@ss! The Thanor are a race of walrus-like humanoids who get +4 to Con + 2 to Str, -2 to Dex, -2 to Wis, are large and have lungs, +1 natural AC, only a speed of 30 ft.,  always count as wearing cold weather outfits and natural attacks with their tusks.

Pinniparian and Seafolk-crossbreeds are also covered and the vital statistics like age, height and weight tables are part of the deal as well. In chapter 3, the roles of the different classes (including psionic ones) in the cold waters of Isinblare are covered. The chapter also features new classes, the first one being the Angakkuq base-class, who get 3/4 BAB-progression, d8, 4+Int skills per level, proficiency with light and medium armor, prepared divine spellcasting of up to 6th level via Cha as key attribute and get the option to create a Tupilaq: Somewhat similar to eidolons, these creatures are created from either flora, fauna or frost and can share spells with their masters and be  enhanced etc, learn tricks à la animal companions etc. -  a great alternative to the druid base-class with its fetishistic creature.
The chapter also includes new PrCs: The Conulair is singular among PrCs in that is requires a cool oath as well as is based on an interesting concept - mechanically, the class gets d10, 2+Int skills, full BAB, medium fort-saves and several cold-adaption powers. The cool thing about the PRC, though, is that entry actually bonds the applicant with a semi-conscious symbiote that grants the creature the respective powers and allows them not only to create deadly rimefire powers and may also choose frostboons. An excellent, iconic PrC! The second class is just as awesome and is imho the best rules-take I've seen on the concept: The Cyrokineticist, a psionic class who gets d8, 2+Int skills, 3/4 BAB-progression, medium fort-and ref-saves as well as a variety of abilities that include rimefire weaponry, flash-freezing etc. - analogue to the pyrokinetist a warrior-style class. Nice to see some psionic support beyond the Waves of Thought supplement. There is also the Cryomancer-PrC (d6, 2+Int skills, 9/10th spell-casting progression, 1/2 BAB-progression,  medium will-saves),a nm arcane specialist of cold-based magic.
In chapter 4, we are introduced to the art of Frostcraft, but what is that? Well, first of all it's about arctic materials, bartering and how economies work in the polar context, including compressed air, ice rubber etc., which make a whole new class of item possible: So-called Aglootech. Unsurprisingly pioneered by said race, the class of items includes new weapons (by the way, all of which are rendered in gorgeous full color) that use this fizzling to create rifles, pistols etc. that propel nail-like projectiles through the waves, pneumatic blades and spears can be found in this chapter alongside the skitch-battle-scythes of the Squawk, ice blades. Also rather extremely cool regarding artworks: How exactly such rifles work is shown in a neat schematic that also provides enlarged and named components for the respective weapons. When harpoon-like rifles are possible, it should come as no surprise that there also are massive harpoon-cannons based on this technology to be found. We also get a table for the 24 new feats herein, some of which allow angakkuqs to enhance their tupilaqs, grant squawks natural attacks and improved combat prowess with their signature skith, expand ningen blindsight, allow ice-elves to coat weapons in damaging ice and even pierce cold resistance with your cold resistance. The new class also gets an extensive spell-list and we also get an aquatic magus spell-list, which is neat to have indeed. I applaud one decision by Alluria: Instead of contributing to spell-bloat, we get 10 spells that adhere to the maxim of class instead of mass. From a spell that allows you to partially take on aquatic animal characteristics, one to encapsulate foes in ice or one to use the new entombed quality. Of course, you may also create a rancid murk that carries a plethora of debilitating diseases and unleash it into the waves. The arctic "lands" of Isinblare are also rich in a material called Ancient Crystal, which can provide an array of interesting qualities to benefit from or be hindered by.  3 new magical items, also with gorgeous, perhaps even above-paizo-level artworks, complete the package of the chapter.
Chapter 5 is where the setting-specific pieces of information for the region of Isinblare in the context of the Cerulean Seas-setting can be found. (And yes, that means until now, the book was all about material just about any campaign could use). In tradition with the Cerulean Seas-setting, we get what amounts to essentially short racial histories of the respective races, each of which comes with a fluff-only write-up of a famous personality of the respective race. Beyond the main playable races, though, we also get pieces of information on the civilization of races from the bestiary. Languages and their speakers are part of what is provided, as are 6 deities and write-ups of the nations and big cities to be found in the realms of indigo ice, though the latter lack city statblocks. The maps provided do their job, though they admittedly fall far behind the quality of the artworks and feel slightly out of place.
In tradition with other Alluria Publishing-releases, the final chapter provides us with a bestiary-section, which includes fiskheim akhluts, domesticated huge versions of the regular akhluts, aquatic bears, the fish-humanoid Brothers of Frost , a new song dragon, the riding penguins called Kairaku, two new types of ningen, a wicked fey of frozen glaciers, seal variants (both mundane and partially represented as the sunhunter as a deadly glacier-predator and more: Take e.g.  living ice-float constructs, ice-breaker whales, AWESOME-looking ice leviathans, ice kraken, orcoths and tizheruks and even ice liches. Alluria books are usually beautiful. These monster-illustrations, though, transcend even some of the offerings I've seen by WotC and paizo - mind-boggling and awesome. Also, each of the creatures gets some kind of interesting (sometimes even multiple) signature abilities. Arctic/Aquatic mounts and war-beasts are also covered, with e.g. animal companion stats.
Beyond even this content, we get an index of aquatic polar monsters by CR(including up to Bestiary 3, Creepy Creatures and all Cerulean Sea-books), pronunciation guidelines, a table that lists all tables, an art-index, 8 card-stock minis and a small poem on the last page.


Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches - quite a feat at this length. The pdf comes fully bookmarked with nested bookmarks and its layout adheres to Cerulean Seas' two-column full-color standard and is, still, among the most dazzling out there. The artworks deserve special mentioning: Where Waves of Thought and even Cerulean Seas had an odd one out here and there, Indigo Ice goes above and beyond: These artworks are so beautiful, I honestly can't recall having EVER seen such a beautiful book by any 3pp - this ranks, presentation-wise, among the very best and in fact, at least imho, surpasses even multiple paizo-books.  The supplement unfortunately comes sans printer-friendly version and if you can, I suggest you get the full-color print. If the print is half as beautiful as the pdf, you'll still have a drop-dead gorgeous book.
When I read the premise of the book, I was honestly doubting whether this would interest me: Cerulean Seas is a peculiar set of rules/setting and combining them with the frozen north seemed problematic to me at best: Especially with Kobold Press' Northlands already doing a great of Norse-themed fantasy, albeit above the waves. Indigo Ice thankfully takes a different approach: Blending Norse themes with a large dose of Inuit-myth (something seen all too rarely) the setting is something different altogether from the sum of its component parts: Flavor-wise, the vibe that best describes the indigo Ice is imho a pulpy underlying theme of a harsh land of harsh people coated with more than a fair share of original ideas (Spartan penguins actually are much more badass than you'd think!) and mixed up with technology that creates a combination of themes both in line with traditionalist mythologies and a sense of ancientness as well as with the throes of progress and a feeling of being on the dawning of a new age. 
The weapons with their details (and especially the extremely detailed schematic that depicts it) make what would otherwise be a ridiculous concept feel believable. In fact, that's pretty much the crowning achievement of Indigo Ice: Many concepts may sound ridiculous when paraphrased in a review such as this, but the unity of stellar artwork, superb rules and excellent writing combine to make them work: To the extent where even usually gun-less campaigns can probably use these weapons sans breaking the suspension of disbelief. Now the fact that neither class, nor feats or any other component of the pdf can be considered broken or unbalanced further serves to boost the overall impression of excellence that withstands even closer scrutiny.


Beyond the usefulness of the book as a whole, I feel obliged to mention that the races, items and ideas herein can enrich campaigns in any northern setting, not necessarily only ones beneath the waves: If your PCs only plan sojourns into the frozen depths, then this pdf will still provide extremely fine critters, feats and intriguing civilizations for you to scavenge and add. To cut a long ramble that gushes about artworks, monsters and weapons, the potential usability for underwater-steampunk-adventures (if you emphasize Aglootech further) and the quality of the writing short: This book is a truly excellent addition to Alluria's oeuvre and its quality stand up to the highest standards you could demand, the one shortcoming being the maps in the campaign setting-section and the lack of city statblocks, but which in no way would justify rating this superb, surprisingly consistent book down: My final verdict will be 5 stars + seal of approval.
Endzeitgeist out.

Hej everybody!

Time to be evil again!

Way of the Wicked V - The Devil, My Only Master



The fifth installment of Fire Mountain Games' critically acclaimed evil adventure path is 100 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisement, 2 pages of maps of Talingarde (as in each WotW-book) and 1 page back cover, leaving us with a total of 92 pages of content, so let's check this out!

This is a review of the module, so potential players should jump to the conclusion to avoid the vast array of SPOILERS that follow.

All right, still here?

If the module's name has not been ample clue for you, this is the turning point of the campaign: For 4 modules, the villains have been the pawns of Cardinal Adrastus Thorn in his conspiracy to bring down Taligarde. The lich's paranoia has made him turn against the PCs and he will pay, for Asmodeus does not tolerate weakness like the undead's sparing of a paladin. In order to become second to none but the devil, though, the PCs first have to survive and not be suckered in by Thorn's "invitation" to his stronghold: Forewarned, the PCs first act in this module is the necessity to say "no" to Tiadora and her devilish erinyes - something that will result in a rather deadly combat. The first part of the adventure is rather modular and has the PCs plan their usurpation of Thorn's throne while trying to survive his  endeavors in ending them. In order to gain Asmodeus favor, they will have to tie up lose ends: If Brigit of the Brijidine still is alive, they will have to eliminate her for Dessiter the contract devil.

Upon completion of this rather deadly task (Brigit's home is no laughing stock), they may have an audience with Naburus, a pit devil and lord of hell! Said devil may use a clever loop-hole in the contract that binds them to Thorn to extract them from his influence as well as potentially making one of them high-priest of Asmodeus! In the meanwhile, Thorn seeks to eliminate them by sending his hamatulan host for them and there are further loose ends that seek to be tied up: Depending on their actions in book 2, the PCs will have to contend and survive Vetra-Kali-Eats-the-Eyes and his retinue and finally get a grand chance:

Their nemesis Richard Thomasson, the paladin that single-handedly almost made their plans fail, the fool that melted Thorns heart out of sentimentality for a love now lost, walks the island of Chargammon. In order to please the lord of the 9th, the PCs must prove themselves, find the paladin, defeat his massive retinue and once and for all put a stop to his meddling. Better yet, for true masters of the dark - the PCs may actually drag the shining knight down, causing him to fall and swear allegiance to Asmodeus!

Of course, in order to defeat a lich, the PCs will have to get a hold of his phylactery and he has hidden it well - in the cave of dread Nythoggr, a cairn linnorm and foe that surpasses even the power of great Chargammon! Worse, the caves of the cairn linnorm is also home of mad undead spirits like banshees and Ice Elf Dread Wraiths, making the infiltration/crawl a deadly challenge indeed. better yet, the options to infiltrate/use other means of acquiring the phylactery, including smart usage of the potentially existing draconic cohort are all taken into account: After all, who wants to incur the deadly death curse of the linnorm? If they do walk the path of brute force instead of cleverness and ingenuity, the PCs thankfully can escape the very deadly curse via a nearby artifact, but only if they are smart and know how and where to look...

When the next devilish assassin manages to wiggle out of Thorn's command upon him realizing they have his phylactery and instead proposes serving the PCs instead, it should be clear that Thorn's days are few.  Only one thing remains for the future masters of Talingarde to do - teleport to the Agathium and stomp out their former mentor.  Barricaded in the vast fortress depicted on the cover (which would imho make for a kick-ass metal cd-cover), the lich's paranoia grows, ever increasing. Guarded by armies of rejuvenating undead, the trek to the place could have been awesome, but honestly, it is here the module has its weakest spot: The unforgiving arctic wilderness sounds so awesome, why not have the PCs experience it and slug through Thorn's defenses? Magical Aurora Borealis, the artifact-engine, whatever - there are many good reasons for not opting for the teleport-option. Oh well.



The exploration of the Agathium is exciting - between Thorn playing tricks and using psychological warfare, his defenders are nothing to be scoffed at: From a Frost-Giant jarl (whose bride may become an ally of the villains) to Thorn's own hermit necromancer/crafter (who, again, may become an ally), the challenges awaiting the PCs are numerous - but so are the rewards: The PCs can e.g. make sacrifices to Asmodeus' most unholy altar (detailed with a drop-dead-gorgeous artwork), take control of the arcane engine that facilitates crafting and undead creation via negative energy and, of course, loot Thorn's treasury, which among other things includes Tiadora's true name, making her another potential servant. Speaking of servants: The traitor-general of Talingarde currently also languishes in the Agathium - a nice and convenient way for the PCs to mop up his particular loose end and put a stop to this pompous fop's meddling.

However, not all have turned against Thorn: His fortress is still secured by his own considerable magical might, units of grave knights and a particular nasty surprise: Apart from his fanatically loyal antipaladin champion Wolfram, he also has secured the aid or not one, but two undead dragons to annihilate the PCs - OUCH!

If the PCs manage to brave his false throne room ( a deadly trap indeed) and all his guardians, they will finally come to blows with their erstwhile master and, if they emerge triumphant, be graced with a rain of blood as well as the favor of Asmodeus himself, their only master!

After extensive troubleshooting, we are introduced to the second supplemental article for players who want to become undead: Vampires manage their transformation and the gradual power-gain (alongside vampiric weaknesses) via a progression of 5 feats, an apt payoff. Liches in contrast need only take one feat, but still have to pass the otherwise rather steep requirements for lichdom.
There also are 13 new feats for undead (including swarm-form, enhanced vampiric powers, a tad bit of resistance to sunlight etc.), 6 new magic items especially suitable for undead, 6 new spells (mostly designed to help them fit in with mortals, trap coffins etc.).

The final section of the book, guest-authored by Jason Bulmahn, introduces us to new archetypes: Monks may, as Hands of Tyranny, issue unholy commands (as per the spell) via their unarmed attacks, are particularly adept liars and may evoke crippling pain via a mere touch. Lords o Darkness are Asmodean paladins that gain enchanting options as cruelties and finally, inquisitors may opt to become Torture Masters, experts of extracting information from the helpless. The final new archetype, unfortunately, is the only one I'd truly consider good: The Unholy Barrister (cleric) has a special channeling: He can spend two channel attempts to heal all evil creatures with his negative energy, but only if they swear loyalty to Asmodeus. Now if that won't lead to some badass moments at the table... Furthermore, with so-called soulbound contracts, he may impart his spells to others, granting the class a second complex and extremely cool signature ability.

The final 2 pages are taken up by 9 new feats, which allow you to channel life-force of coup-de-grace'd foes, enhance your unholy spells, ignore pain, come out trumps in negotiations (e.g. planar ally) and also pacts: Pacts make it very hard for you to return from death, since your soul is sworn to hell, but on the basis of the first feat, we get ones that e.g. enhance your sneaking, your divine or arcane power etc.

The pdf also comes with an extra-pdf of key-and numberless maps and handouts that is 6 pages long and covers all locations visited in this module.



Conclusion: Editing and formatting are very good, though, as the last two installments of WotW, not perfect - I noticed a couple of switched letters and similar typos, though less than in Book III and IV. Layout adheres to the stellar 2-column standard used in previous WotW-installments and is up to the highest demands. The artworks by Michael CLarke are, just like the original cartography, up to the highest standard as well. The pdf comes fully bookmarked, though honestly I would have preferred more bookmarks, especially in the first section of the module, which is very much modular. The pdf comes with aforementioned extra pdf of player maps and handouts as well as a more printer-friendly version.

Author Gary McBride does not disappoint in the fifth installment of WotW - the pay-off, should the PCs manage to brave the vast dangers, is rather satisfying and the change of pace regarding enemy-types as well as the amount of support/trouble-shooting for the DM remains commendable. While not as jarring as the climax of book 4 (about which I complained to no end), book 5 also has a minor weak spot: The fact that there is potential for an epic wilderness-section (something so far completely missing from the whole AP, mind you!) in an undead-infested northern clime. This idea is so cool, the defenses and narrative one could have crafted from the PCs slowly but surely clawing their ways towards the antagonist through his lands could have made for an epicness beyond belief. Instead, the teleport-in-angle, while more common, imho also remains the blander way.

That out of the way, the narrative is otherwise solid, the challenges worthy of the villain's level by now and the potential for the DM to play some nasty tricks with evil creatures is there, making this a tad bit better than book 4.

However, where I ceased to be amazed was with the supplemental information: I never liked the first article on undead PCs and the rules for vampire and lich PCs in my opinion, while working, fall a bit flat: Libris Vampyr by Necromancers from The Northwest did it via a PrC that required an extremely cool ritual every level, driving home not only the gravitas of the transformation, but also its symbology, something absent from this particular tackling of the subject. The new archetypes, with one exception, also left me rather cold, as did the pact feats which imho could use a slight power boost - after all, usually feats have no associated drawbacks and these do.

I wouldn't complain about these, were it not for the distinct impression that their page-count would have been served better by an expansion of the module. That out of the way, let it be known that my complaining is still on the highest level and this is, once again, an excellent adventure. Though not a perfect one. My final verdict will hence remain at 4.5 stars, + seal of approval, but rounded down to 4 for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.

Hej everyone!

Recently, I spent a LOT of time contemplating why rogues are less popular in my group than e.g. rangers and stumbled into making a mechanical analysis of the class. The results were quite enlightening and explained well why there's a vast thread on the Paizo-boards on how they are underpowered.

Fast-forward. newcomer Drop Dead Studios recently impressed me with the best take of a crafting-centric-class I've seen for any iteration of d20 so far as their freshman offering (The Artisan, if you don't know) and after that, they went on to release a book originally funded via kickstarter to "fix" the rogue. Do they succeed at this endeavor? Let's take a look!

Rogue Glory



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This pdf is 63 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1 page ToC, 1 page kickstarter thanks, leaving us with 58 pages of content, so let’s check this out! (There is also a portrait-layout version that is the base for the print version and clocks in at 115 pages, more on that in the conclusion.)
Interspersed with an interesting, well-written narrative, we are introduced to the topic of this book, namely making the rogue more unique: With trapfinding being nerfed over the editions, archetypes like detectives, urban rangers and the (overdue) power-gain of the bard, it’s high time that someone devoted a book to providing the often-neglected rogue some new tools to set them apart from other classes and that is exactly what this book is about. Much like class-specific other supplements throughout the edition, we are introduced to the matter at hand via some general observations about what constitutes a rogue (profession vs. personality type), rogues in different general setting like cities, wilderness etc., alignment, backgrounds and reasons to “go rogue” grouped by social status as well as the most common motivations.
After that, we delve into the new content, which begins with new additional abilities that serve to make the rogue stand out more: Rogues built with this book get proficiency with stealthy weapons like sword-canes, blade boots and switchblade knives. The rogue now also gets access to a class feature called guile pool, which grants you ½ class level + cha-mod points that can be spent as part of a skill check to grant +2 to the skill, +4 at 10th level. Guile points may also be spent as swift actions to get a +1 circumstance bonus to atk, +1 per 4 levels to a maximum of +5. Also, as long as they have at least one point in their pool, they are treated as if under the effect of the improved feint feat. Starting at 3rd level, the rogue may now also declare any attack s/he makes that deals sneak attack damage in a surprise round an ambush: This attack gains a bonus to damage equal to her/his level as well as requiring a save on behalf of the victim to avoid being temporarily sickened. On higher levels, the negative conditions get uglier. This set of abilities is added to all rogues. When the pdf wants to make a distinction between this and the standard rogue, the rogue with the new abilities is called Glory Rogue.
This basic new suite of powers out of the way, we delve into archetypes, starting with the chemist. Chemists get slightly diminished sneak progression, but compensate this by gaining increased throwing capacity. It the name of the archetype has not been ample clue: Chemists gain access to a limited array of alchemist’s bombs and may even add sneak attack to their thrown weapons. They also may smuggle bombs on foes via sleight of hand or the steal combat maneuver. Finally, they may select from a limited array of discoveries. Nice archetype that should answer the prayers of the splash-weapon-throw-plus-sneak-crowd without being unbalancing. Much less complex, the Dungeon Runner deals d8 sneak attack versus undead and constructs, + level damage versus oozes, but all other foes only get sneaked for d4 instead of the usual d6. They also replace either ambush (or 2 skill points) with gaining the blind-fight feat-tree as bonus feats. Fences also get 2 skill points less than regular rogues and gain quick black market connections as well as very soon access to an organization to do your bidding, information gatherings etc. – these people can be developed and, while not adventurers, they are gold in any urban environment/to do tasks that do not require a group of adventurers. Have I mentioned that you gain money from your underlings (though they require you to pay them for jobs) since you fence their goods? 
Nice archetype, though personally, I would have loved for a more complex fencing/guild-running system or e.g. an adaptation of WotW’s evilorganization rules, the Great City’s tong-rules or something akin to that. After that, we get the imperial flanker, who represents more closely the concept of lightly armored skirmishers in military. They get access to the cavalier’s Tactician-quality and stack their levels with respective levels in the cavalier-class. The write-up also refers to the Tactician-class, I assume either a glitch or a pointer towards Dreamscarred Press’ tactician-class, but honestly, I’m not sure which is correct. The archetype gets 2 skill points less and instead of trap-related abilities gains access to martial training, medium armors and even the option to still use evasion when in medium armor. Mageslayers are also interesting: Gaining at 4th level already the Magebane attack advanced rogue talent as well as imposing half their level as a penalty to defensive casting, this archetype is the nightmare of casters and a gleefully satisfying experience to spring on those spellslingers. Medics will probably see much use in low-magic settings: These rogues may treat lethal wounds faster and increase the efficiency of the usually rather underpowered heal-skill. They may even get rid of negative levels and in combat gain an interesting alternative to sneak attack: Surgical precision grants +1 to atk at every odd level for a max of +10 at 19th level instead of the bonus damage sneak attack usually offers. Finally, medics may create salves that grant temporary hp. 

The Pet Trainer sacrifices 2 skill points for an animal companion and teach them the grab-trick, but at the expense of the guile pool or trapsense/trapfinding. Stalkers are a relatively straight ranger/rogue blending, getting access to favored terrain, trap training and advanced trap training as bonus rogue talents at the expense of 2 skill points. Street Magicians are interesting in that they get a VERY limited access to sme wiz/sorc-spells they can cast as spell-like abilities. As rogue talents, these guys can also get familiars, bonded objects etc. and as an advanced rogue talent, there's a nice blend of the new ambush-rule combined with spellcasting – nice way to represent street-smart dabblers in the arcane. 
The Street Urchin gets skill bonuses to represent street smarts as well as an ability that hits a pet-peeve of mine: They may, with a glance, size up a target, learning class, level and ability modifiers. This kind of metagame-information is strictly banned in my home game and something that always breaks immersion for me. Additionally, the ability fails to specify whether the ability shows their modified (by magic items, diseases, afflictions, curses…) ability modifiers or their unmodified ones. They also thus are very focused on the target, gaining bonuses versus them at the expense of penalties versus targets not their mark. I get what the ability wants to do and it works, but personally, I would have wished for a more abstract form of information to be thusly uncovered. Now true professionals may choose at first level to either be even better with skills, get more proficiencies and count as ½ level fighter to qualify for feats or limited spells. They also replace sneak attack with bonus feats, ambush with more skill points and an interesting capstone. Urban Ninjas represent the only archetype that requires the optional guile pool-class feature, gaining both guile pool and ki pool as well as access to both rogue talents and ninja tricks. Finally, Weapon’s Experts don’t gain sneak attack and trapfinding, but instead get weapon training and the option to count as fighters as well as again, the option to use evasion in medium armor. What I’ve failed to mention so far in this array of archetypes is that each and every one of them comes with an aptly-written, nice fluffy mini-story instead of being just dry crunch. Nice!

Of course, this book not only features new archetypes, but also new rogue talents and advanced rogue talents. On the side of the former, we get the power to run and even charge at -10 while using stealth, the option to deal ambush damage via grapple as lethal or non-lethal (great for TRUE professionals and campaigns like mine, where killing ANY humanoid is usually not considered as “good”), armor and maneuver mastery (the latter granting a massive bonus to the chosen maneuver), flank nearby foes with ranged weapons, feint with ranged weapons, become extremely adept at using ropes, wilder in the bard’s and alchemist’s territories, roll an attack twice as a standard action and the expense of 1 guile pool point (great when alone on reconnaissance and needing to make that hit count), spend guile to treat foes in melee combat as flat-footed, bluff lie-detecting spells, run up walls Prince-of-Persia-style and so much more. On the side of advanced talents, rogues may choose swift poison application, increased prowess with wands and scrolls, quietly dispatch foes (VERY useful!), feint all foes she threats, treat all 1s, 2s and 3s as 4s when sneak attacking, deal con damage, hamper spellcasting, slow foes and gain access to mutagens, improved familiars etc.
Where there are new talents, there also are, unsurprisingly, new feats are also in here -  a total of 16 of them, to be precise. They allow rogues to use non-magical ventriloquism (Much more useful than you’d think, especially with another feat that allows you to non-magically alter your voice!), master weapons like bladed boots and climbing claws, dabble in fortune-telling (and have it actually work sometimes). On the coolest side, though, would be the feats that allow a rogue to disable ongoing magical effects and items with their disable device-checks as if the result of their skill was dispel magic. These feats are genuinely brilliant and EXTREMELY useful at all levels. The greater version of the feat even allows you to work a trap into an existing magic and even disable curses. Very, very cool and should ensure that at low levels, when dispel magic is a rare or non-existing commodity, groups the rogue will shine and continue to do so at higher levels – after all, disable device is not a resource that depletes…
We also get 6 new traits before we check out further alternate rules: The first is a nod to Rite Publishing’s excellent “Secrets of the Tactical Archetypes II” and says so directly in the text – nice to see the nod. I’ve already covered “opportunities aplenty” in my review of that book, though. What really rocks, though, is that the Drop Dead Studios-team has taken Paizo’s proposed and then discontinued stealth-rewrite and expanded it with abduction, perception, bluffing, creating diversions etc. as well as updates for blindsight, blindsense etc. These variant rules look on paper VERY concise and cool and in fact, better than the regular stealth rules. If you need an idea of how the rules work: There are different conditions: Observed, located, detected and undetected. Observed means the creature knows exactly where you are or can see you. Located means a creature can't see you, but knows where you are. Detected means that a creature knows that something is going on. Additionally, you may be hidden, as per a new condition, thus influencing the former concepts. As a system and presentation-wise logical, easy to grasp and concisely presented. I can’t yet comment on how they work in-game, but I will do some extensive playtesting and definitely try them – the system remedies the problem of stealth vs. special sights being completely useless, though admitedly requiring more skill and planning at low levels as well as the DM using Perception by the book, i.e. with distance penalties etc.. For me, though, it works and I'll use the system in my next campaign, due to start next month. Kudos!
 

Another innovation of the book would be Delnor Crystals, special crystals detecting magical pulses from magical traps. These crystals require rogues to use them via trapfinding and make it possible for trapsmith rogues to manipulate magical traps – not only disable them. Ranger traps are cool – but oh so limited in by who they can be used. Rogue Glory’s solution is interesting: Attach them to Craft (traps) and make them available for anyone, with a trapper ranger archetype being thus changed. We also get 7 new ranger traps, multiple environmental traps and respective DC-tables, triggers and construction rules, taking existing feats like Cunning Trigger and Quick Trapsmith into account as well. Nice and neat to add some versatility to not just the rogue class. Sleight of Hand gets variant rules for placing objects instead of taking them away and the repercussions of using the revised stealth rules herein on the application of e.g. feigning death etc. are covered.
Beyond these, we are also introduced to a rather intriguing array of new equipment: These tools of the trade include hilt-daggers, climbing claws, 10-foot poles with hooks, collapsible bows (sniper hitman, baby!), needle launchers (deliver those toxins), hollow books, lead lining enhancements to other compartments, parachutes, 13 new traps (and an alchemical trigger to spring them) and, of course, magic items: These are no less useful than their mundane counterparts and include magically rigged dice, daggers for assassins, pellets that let you vanish (à la batman and x ninjas in fiction) and rings that grant the massive social bonuses of the glibness spell. Beyond these, we also find new artifacts and interesting ones indeed are there: Take Saphire, the most famous thief ever and his/her legacy: These are essentially concepts, not items that can be taken, given, lost etc. and grant fractions of this mythological beings vast power. Cool as an idea to pass on to PCs (or NPCs), with all resulting hijinxs – or perhaps the PCs want one, but how to steal an intangible thing? There is also a two-faced coin that can alternately grant 20 as bonus or penalty and which would make for a truly interesting item in the hands of a two-face-like foil. Beyond these, we get an assassin’s blood-filled cup and a powerful dagger as well.
Now that all crunchy components are covered, we are in for a section that should intrigue especially, but not only, novice DMs and players, for the following chapter discusses how communication between DM and players is important so that they create the right type of rogue: Social rogues are no fun if there’s nothing for them to do, sneaky ones that can’t infiltrate due to playing in a war-campaign face the same problem. The advice given is sound, especially when it comes to traps, trap-description and reason to implement them in the game – and how to properly use them. Though I’d like to add one piece of advice: Consciously, as a DM, deviate from the detect-disable-done-formula: Make traps, at least once in a while, complex and, when sprung, give the whole party something to do to escape imminent death. This makes it all the more rewarding when a rogue manages to be levitated across the room, while the barbarian and fighter hold doors open that would slam shut so their friend can disable the deadly death trap from the other side of the room. Suggestions for encounter- and gold-based XP are provided as well before we delve into the final chapter:
 We get 5 sample thievish organizations, all of which come with fully statted sample NPCs, prestige benefits and range from apocalyptic cults to a counter-thieves guild that steals back what was taken and acts as a kind of elite security force. The book concludes its survey of rogues with 5 seeds for whole campaigns and arcs as well as a table of 20 short adventure hooks for you to develop.


Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, though not perfect: I noticed two glitches in particular, on page 11 and 30 respectively, of false words. Generally, though, the book is surprisingly glitch-free apart from aforementioned hick-up. Layout of the electronic version adheres to a 3-column landscape format with full-color borders and original artworks that are ok, though ranging from nice to a bit wonky. Layout is also the weakest spot of the pdf – here and there, there are disjointed underlinings in the text and e.g. spell-names are not in italics. Beyond that, the pdf is hyperlinked to d20pfsrd.com, with the latest update getting rid of an at first problematic usage of the hyperlinks. The pdf also comes with extensive nested bookmarks in both versions. It should be noted, that the print-version and the pdf based on that version is something completely different: It is 115 total pages long (minus cover and the like), adheres to a 2-column standard with an artwork-border and looks VERY tidy. 
Rogue Glory is an interesting book in that it takes a class that is deemed by now one of the weakest and adds some oomph to it: Additional, easy to use rules, nice options, interesting archetypes, a stealth-system that, while hard on low-levels, especially at mid-to-high levels works much better and all those nice tools and ideas conspire to make this a truly impressive little book that shows awareness of other 3pps, rules-discussions etc. and overall manages to succeed at its task of making the rogue a more unique character class that can compete with its fellows. Full of great ideas, solid crunch and options galore, Drop Dead Studios has created a second book that is on par with their crunch-mastery as displayed in “The Artisan” and shows that the former was no exception – their standard remains high. Thus, I whole-heartedly recommend the print version/print-version-based-pdf (since at least at my table, this book will see a LOT of use) with a final verdict of 5 stars plus endzeitgeist seal of approval - with the now revised version of the electronic version, without any regrets. 
Endzeitgeist out.

Hej everybody!

As you know, I'm a sucker for good, gritty Sword & Sorcery and today, I'd like to introduce yo to a module you may have missed by Xoth Publishing:

The Citadel Beyond the North Wind



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This module is 40 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/ToC, 2 pages of SRD, 1 page of advertisement, leaving us with a  total of 35 pages of content, so let's check this out!
This adventure for the Sword & Sorcery genre and character lvl 8-10, while utilizing the PFRPG-rules, uses some default assumptions that are different from you standard fantasy fare, as befitting of the genre. First of all, 6 cultural archetypes for humans are presented in the first appendix. Due to a lack of humanoids like elves and dwarves in Sword & Sorcery literature, the versatility that is the spice of roleplaying comes from choosing cultural archetypes with their own distinctive attribute modifiers, special abilities etc. Decadent characters, for example, get bonuses on social skills, Cha as well as a penalty to their will saves to represent their unwholesome lifestyle. Personally, I LOVE this approach, as it makes the different cultures and humans feel more versatile.
This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players may wish to jump to the conclusion. All right!
Still here? Let's go! Essentially, the module presented in these pages is almost as much gazetteer as sandboxy module and details the frozen north of the world of Xoth, just short of the polar circle and much like in the classic renditions of the north we know from pulp literature, the glaciers beyond the black hills and the frozen swamps of Thule hide old things indeed. There, in the realms of the men of Yg, where petty warlords and princelings clashed for dominance over their frozen lands, a love triangle both sinister and repulsive has will draw the PCs into the power struggle between the two most powerful beings currently active in the icy north: The dread Witch-King of Galuga, Arkanth Mal, is scouring the lands, enslaving and kidnapping beautiful women in a quest to restore his fallen witch queen Eliyh. Seduced by the White King Boras, the beautiful sorceress once left her king behind to bear the children of the White King - only to one day realize that the White King is a terrible creature from beyond the stars. Driven mad, she was annihilated in direct confrontation with the beast, but had her life-force transferred to the fabled Ark of Zamar. Now, Arkanth Mal, still in love with the insane spirit of his once beloved, scours the lands for a suitable body to serve as the reincarnated Eliyh.
Whether the PCs stumble upon slavers, find Eliyh's former familiar in the process of being killed or are captured, they will be drawn into the machinations of the powerful beings that rules the icy lands (which are btw. presented as a one-page, hand-drawn, nice map). As a gateway to adventure, the border-town of Tartuum is provided in rather excessive detail, though a settlement statblock per se is not provided, the details and fully stated NPCs with flaws and mannerisms make the town immediately come to life. Better yet, the areas like the Moors of Sul or the Frozen Tombs of Yg, though only depicted in short paragraphs, evoke enough iconicity to make them not only valid targets for side-quests, but interesting locales, though I noticed a distinct lack of a ride skill on a supposedly mounted bog mummy riding a bog mummy horse. Have I mentioned the disturbing Yg-tree, which not only is baptized by blood, but has tendril-like roots animate special spore-spewing undead or the cannibalistic Ma-Gu?
We are also introduced to the fully mapped Citadel of Galuga, the stronghold of Arkanth Mal, where sorcerors from the south experiment with the dead and flesh-consuming plants and the Ark of Zamar and Eliyh's spirit wait for retribution against the vile thing that is Boras. 3 levels (fully mapped) and a player-friendly side-view of the palace are provided as well as several infiltration suggestions on hwo the player might tackle the challenge of the citadel. The final section of the pdf then details Naath, the land of Boras, his dread Ziggurat and stats for his true form Yon-Ylath-Ul. (And yes, as nasty as it sounds!). The Ziggurat-section is rather short though, providing only 9 locations, though many might spawn adventures of their own.
As mentioned before, the module also features the rather cool and excellent cultural archetypes for humans in the first appendix. The final appendix, then, deals with sample statblocks for the men of the north, providing a total of 10 additional statblocks as well as more information on organizations and ethnicities.


Conclusion:
Editing is top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches in that department. Formatting has some peculiarities, though: The statblocks do not adhere to the PFRPG-revision with clear distinctions between offense and defense sections, providing instead the cluttered statblocks we know from earlier editions of d20. While usable and adhering to the rules, the presentation should be updated as well. Layout adheres to a printer-friendly b/2-2-column standard with a typical Sword and Sorcery of a nude female in peril and some fighters on the respective borders - this is a classic Sword & Sorcery-module and thus also tackles mature topics, just to let you know. The pdf comes fully bookmarked and the cartography and artworks are nice and serve to further enhance the sense of foreboding antediluvian antiquity. However, no player-friendly maps are provided, which is a major bummer in my book - just a version sans the map-key would be nice.
Xoth Publishing is sure to be either beloved or hated by people and I count myself among the former. Ever since I read Necromancer Games' Ancient Kingdoms:Mesopotamia, I fell in love with author Morten Braten's vision of an age through which a Cimmerian barbarian might stroll. When his anthology "The Spider God's Bride" hit virtual shelves in the 3.X days of old, I loved it and still wholeheartedly recommend you checking it out - even if you're by now playing Pathfinder, the information on the World of Xoth and its assumptions will serve to greatly enhance your enjoyment and immersion into the spirit of this module - or should I say gazetteer? 
Honestly, to me it feels more like that. The adventure-section of this module is so sandboxy, a DM should not expect to be able to run this sans preparation. Dauntingly old-school, the module instead gives us a variety of different NPCs, potential plots and unique adversaries waiting in areas that, via clever use of omissions, hinting at things and linguistic skill manage to spark the creativity of all but the most burnt-out of DMs. The material herein could be seen as a rough skeleton of not a module, but rather a whole mini-campaign - enough information is provided and the cultural peculiarities that so vastly enhance immersion are second to none and alongside Adventureaweek.com's modules at the apex of this particular component of adventure-craft.
That being said, while I'm a vast fan of the overall content portrayed herein, I also consider the module to be far from perfect - the rather lackluster final ziggurat feels like it has been a massive dungeon once that was cut down. Another pet-peeve of mine is that not sample DCs etc. for infiltrations are given, though in scenarios like Xoth's they usually are the more prudent way to go.
Quality-wise, were I only to judge the writing, I'd immediately go for a full 5 stars, but unfortunately aforementioned minor blemishes, the lack of player-friendly maps and the fact that a tad bit more guidance would have been prudent, conspire to make me drop my final verdict down to 3.5 stars - UNLESS you're an enthusiast for the Sword and Sorcery genre like yours truly: We have far too few modules that cater to this genre and for me, as one who has all the Xoth Publishing releases so far, this is just awesome and 4.5 stars. After careful deliberation, I decided to round down in both cases, for final verdicts of 3.5, rounded down to 3 and 4.5, rounded down to 4 stars respectively.
By the way: The 3.5-anthology (which is awesome) "The Spider God's Bride and other Tales of Sword & Sorcery" has been converted to the Legends-system. It can be purchased here. The original 3.5-version can be found here.
Endzeitgeist out.  

Hej everybody,

today I'll take a look at

Adventure Quarterly #3


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The latest installment of Rite Publishing’s Adventure-based magazine is 69 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 2 pages of advertisement and 1 page back cover, leaving us with a total of 62 pages of content, so let’s take a look inside, shall we?
The editorial of Robert N. Emerson sets the tone for this issue, for the modules herein ask interesting questions, but more on that later.
The first module herein would be Alex Putnam’s “Red Leaves Enigma” set in the small town of Morford. 
But before I divulge any further information, be aware that from here on out reign the SPOILERS. Potential players should skip to the conclusion, especially since this is a mystery module.
All right, still here? The PCs are invited to the fully (via dundjinni) cartographed Morford Academy to share adventuring stories and dine with the headmaster of the place – it is here that the module starts being interesting: Kicking off with a variety of individuals, there are quite a few dramatis personae who could work as red herrings allies etc. – best of all, we get a short run-down of their personal relations, what they know etc., somewhat similar and akin to RSP’S short fluffy NPc-summaries. As almost always when adventurers dine, something goes awry, though – as the feast runs its course, a conjuration accident seems to have happened in the basement and the school is, in spite of the vehement protest of the dignitary (per default, a Questor of Questhaven), put on lockdown: Wards up, clockwork soldiers ready. It’s up to the PCs and arcanists to find out what truly happened. When the first woman is found sedated with poison and drained of a part of her blood, the trail of clues thickens. In the basement, the vial containing the poison as well as a broken phial of blood can be found, suggesting that the culprit did not directly consume the drained blood. Via spontaneous traps and close calls, the PCs will slowly but surely be led towards the labs and there, hopefully, manage to walk a gauntlet of animated dolls and soulbound dolls to find the unwilling culprit of the crimes – a construct called a lutakophasm. 
Born from Professor Asantte’s desire for a prolonged live, this construct is a terrible crime indeed, for in order to transfer life rather than create a semblance of it, the professor has resorted to the sacrifice of innocents. During the last rite that should have transferred his spirit into the construct, though, something went awry: A spasm has the result of only imparting fragments of Assante’s mind into the construct and instead binding the spirit of the sacrificial victim to the created being. Confused and knowing about the imminent fate, the construct slew Asantte and has been trying to exist since: As the ritual was flawed, it needs blood as an alchemical catalyst to properly work and while it did resort to animals as long as possible, did not kill her drain-victim(s), even though it clearly could have. Now what to do with the strange soul-amalgam? Can and should the being be destroyed, even though it acted as it did to keep mobile, to avoid the fate of being eternally imprisoned, aware but immobile and unable to communicate in a lifeless body? All the clues are there and at the end of the module, if run properly, the PCs as well as the players should ask themselves some questions about morality and what makes us human, what makes us sentient. All in all, a great module that not only provides a nice backdrop and interesting characters, but also offers some food for thought. However, I honestly would have liked a more complex set of sample clues – while sandboxy and with all the NPCs extremely open for DM-development, this module might take a bit more preparation and experience to pull off than many others, but the result should be satisfying indeed.
The second module, by Matt Banach, would then be “Dream Harvest” and oh boy, let me AGAIN call SPOILERS at the top of my lungs. Players, SKIP this one. You want to. The adventure kicks off when a distraught woman comes running in the PC’s way and pleads them to save her son, Jake, who is in the process of being killed by a nightmare, tossing, turning and convulsing in his sleep. When they reach the boy, the virulent nightmare seems to swallow the PCs ina  weird vortex, drawing them inside the dreams of the young boy. They awake trapped in webs in a cavern, full of spider swarms scuttling over their bodies and hungry large spiders – from there, the weirdness has just begun: Being set in dream, dying usually would wake the PCs up, but not so here: If PCs perish, they are resurrected at somewhat zombified-looking dream-ghosts, adding yet another disturbing element to the dream. Once the spiders and their cobwebs have been defeated, clumps of web will form a humanoid shape, beseeching them to find the bones – and thus, the PCs set off through a tunnel reminiscent of veins punctured by weird growths, where they will have to contend with an entourage of an infinite horde of passing ghouls on the exodus to another place – the morphic gravity of dream could make for a great tool here and essentially, this encounter can pan out in varying ways, with PCs hopefully being smart and not picking a fight… 

The next scene of the surreal journey brings the PCs to a dinner-scene, again providing details and symbols as clues to what is truly happening. On the more immediate side, the orcs seem to have completed their dinner and the skeleton of the mega-raptor they consumed joins them in their attack on the PCs. In order to progress, the PCs (thankfully with a direct hint), will need to dig a certain picture of graves. Hopefully, by now they also realize that there’s a sense of urgency: A blood-filled hourglass, slowly dripping away their lives should provide a good hint – either 2 minutes or half an hour: Not much time to survive. Being sucked into the picture they dug, the PCs emerge, rising from their very own graves, having to deal with a scarecrow in the aftermath that has a very peculiar weakness. There, the PCs may finally dig up Jack’s bones and talk to him: Here, the full horror and symbols should come crashing down on the PCs – there never was a boy called Jack, he was a fellow adventurer trapped in dream by an insidious plant called xtabay vines. The insidious flora lulls you into sleep and then proceeds to consume your body. The whole adventure so far was Jack interrupting the pleasant stupor the vines had spun for the PCs. Those who died here, have been consumed by the vines and their whole journey downwards was actually upwards towards consciousness. In order to wake up, they will have to defeat the dream-avatar of the vines, a hangman-tree. Now this would be no mean feat, but things are worse: Time has caught up with the dream and the PCs are devoured by the vines – fast. Starting the encounter with 2d4 Con damage and getting 1d2 more per round should prove to make this encounter DEADLY. It is also extremely cool that PCs can wake up via will-saves by now (with bonuses depending on actions, fight the vines in the real world and be sent back to dream with their pollen. A climactic battle in two worlds – awesome! Once the vines have met their end, the dream-ghost of Jack might lead the perished PCs to further quests in dream or have them remain to be resurrected, if needed. Matt Banach knows dream, being one of the brilliant minds behind the “Faces ofthe Tarnished Souk”-series and if this level of quality is what we can expect from his upcoming novel kickstarter, I’m looking forward to it. Why? Because this module is one of the best I’ve read in quite a while: Iconic, challenging and smart, full of awesome ideas and tips for the DM to convey the unique atmosphere of the module, this alone is worth this issue of AQ’s asking price. It’s that good. Can we have an adventure-anthology in set in the realm of dreams? Please?
The third module, “Sealing the Vault” by Michael Welham is more straightforward than the first two: When a farmer, enhanced by the power of an artifact-level evil axe tries to murder a local noble things look dire – worse, even, that the evil weapon tries to teleport away and take over the next peasant until stopped. The arrival of an iron golem, who only repeats “The vault has been breached” further complicates things. Via the golem and some research, the Pcs should stumble upon an obscure piece of lore regarding the past of one of their ancestors: Said ancestor was part of an order that managed to seal away evil outsiders, curses and deadly, possessed weaponry in a vault. In order to stop the leaking of these items and the resulting dire consequences, the PCs will have to travel to the vault and reseal it. No mean feat, especially since the traps in the vault are deadly and the place is crawling with deadly aware arcanas, outsiders and possessed weaponry. A deadly dungeon crawl with a cool theme, since the PCs ideally prevent further damage to the vault’s engine and manage to reseal the place by repairing the legendary machinery that protected this place for centuries. Or is destruction of the items and beings, potentially setting evil spirits free, the more prudent option?
Creighton Broadhurst’s company Raging Swan Press is known for the various extremely useful (and critically acclaimed) DM-aids that provide details, details, details to your game and his contribution this issue actually provides us with 3 mini-dungeon-dressings. We get the physical stats for barrels, keys and sconces as well as a table per item-catgeory containing 20 different sample appearances. Very cool, though honestly, I wished each of the 3 useful entries was a full-blown supplement. Still, an extremely useful contribution!
Now Rite Publishing’s mastermind Steven D. Russell also provides us with a short article and one I consider actually useful: Motivations for adventuring parties to stick together. Having once had the pleasure of being too successful at corrupting my PCs and subsequently running essentially 4 parallel campaigns where everyone plotted against everyone else, I can get behind the usefulness of such an article. Maybe in the future, we’ll get some kind of “group-traits” that actually grant bonuses? Would be nice to counteract alignment-disputes etc.
 

Conclusion: Editing and formatting this time around are top-notch: I didn’t notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to RiP’s 2-column standard and it is here that I’d like to comment on the maps: I never cease to be amazed at the level of detail Eric Blische managed to squeeze from dundjinni as well as from the sheer amount of maps we get. Speaking of maps: We also get them as separate .png-files, though I wished the respective maps would be slightly bigger or collated on one page – as provided, you waste a lot of paper when printing them out, since there’s only one map per .png. This remains my only gripe with the maps, though. The pdf comes fully bookmarked with nested bookmarks, making navigation easy.
The third module in this collection is very good, the first is excellent even – but let me say that Matt Banach has taken the awesome cake with his adventure. This one alone would justify the asking price. It’s smart, clever and simply brilliant. I don’t find myself really itching to run many adventures any more, but this one did the trick. Innovative, full of details, creepy, tragic even, this module should be considered a must-have purchase and almost makes me feel bad for praising it so much, since the other two are excellent as well. At first, I admit to being a bit disappointed that Ruins Perilous Level 2 was not part of this compilation, but as soon as I started reading these modules, I started to grin. Ladies and gentlemen, this issue of AQ mops the floor with its two predecessors, providing us 3 high-class, superb modules that can be considered top-notch. With the notable exception of the afore-mentioned issue with all maps coming in separate pages, I have nothing to complain here. A top-notch offering and in spite of this gripe, still worth full 5 stars + seal of approval, especially due to Matt Banach’s superb module. We need more of these!
Endzeitgeist out.

Hej everyone!

As I'm writing these lines, I am VERY glad, for the magnum opus of Nick Logue, thanks in much parts to Lou Agresta, will finally see the light of day, including a companion book of modules by industry-veterans and all-out awesome authors, ship-combat rules by Lou and so much more. As I'm typing these lines, the module still has 30 hours to go for some awesome deals, so if you haven't check the project out here.

That out of the way, here's a review that took me forever, the second part of the steampunk AP,

Zeitgeist II - The Dying Skyseer



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The second module in EN Publishing's steampunk AP ZEITGEIST is 95 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 90 pages of module, so let's check this out!
This being an adventure-review, the following contains SPOILERS. Potential players may wish to jump to the conclusion. 
All right, still here?  
In the last adventure of the AP, the new constables of the RHC have not only foiled a dastardly assassination/sabotage-plot and even prevent a war - but in the process of doing so, have helped the hereditary enemy of their nation. Now if one of the PCs is aligned with the mysterious Vekeshi, they will have a gift for a specific individual they'll meet during the module, setting up a component of the AP's massively complex meta-plot: Speaking of complex: The complexity of this module's investigation is rather refreshing and has some neat guidelines for DMs - the RHC Protocol. In the absence of phones and similar means of communication, the office and fellow constables can deliver clues, hints etc., people can be questioned and gleaned information consolidated. To help the DM, a roster of NPC-table is provided. When field work comes around, it does so in the form of a woman jumping from the fourth floor window of the Danoran consulate, crashing on the fence. When they arrive at the scene, Julian LeBrix, security chief of the Danorans gives them the run-down: The woman is question was known by the name of Nilasa Hume, supposedly stealing some valuables and making off to escape and subsequently shot by Julian - he makes clear that he wants this resolved ASAP. But do the PCs resolve this mystery - it turns out the lady in question has actually managed to smuggle fey peppers in and in the resorting lull that still affects the staff. Moreso, the woman, with her dying breath, entrusted a couple of things to a man who subsequently vanished - and there are A LOT of other clues that slowly start to tie together - via the clues gathered and the criminal record of the deceased, the PCs will hopefully have a lead towards the Thinking Man's Tavern.
And even if the PCs both/mess up, you still have the newspaper, the fellow constables and even the PC's very own background and associates - a masterful entwinement of storythreads. While researching contacts at the tavern, a minor quake foreshadows the things to come  and may even partake in a philosophical discussion about the validity of the very authority they represent. If the RHC's agents do their job well, they may learn about the smugglers Nilasa was in league with - they are currently incarcerated in the Goodson Esturial Reformatory - a glorified prison barge. There, they can negotiate a deal with one or both incarcerated burglars. Both know about Nilasa's association with newcomers to town, a shadowy organization dubbing itself "The Family". They also know about her having a whole cache of magic wands and that the delivery would happen on the 4th of Summer by someone called "The House Elf". So who is this strange "House Elf"? Via the fey pepper or clues gained from the smugglers, the constables can track the conspiracy to a weird couple of gnomes - who actually have a valid escape plan and some precautions that make sense and should make arresting them or getting meaningful information from them rather difficult. Now if they manage to interrogate one of the gnomes and find out more details about the planned smuggling.
There are multiple ways the PCs can plan to take up the accomplices of the late Nilasa and find more clues about this mysterious "Family" - the trail leads them to the Family's wharf and an exchange of goods between strange ships which will culminate a nice chase of ships that will be resolved via a skill challenge. Or, if the PCs miscalculate the boldness of their foes, they may actually get a fight on their hands - anyways, they can get the wands. Or be captured. Whether they are defeated and captured or not, on the next day, they will get the infamous offer:
Morgan Cippiano, head of the local Family, invites them to coffee and cakes to talk about a business proposal of common interests, allowing the RHC constables to get prestige and an understanding with the family - and offering yet another help for stumped investigators. With the family's involvement cleared for now, the PCs might wish to check out Heward Alkahest's Factory, where Nilasa once worked - here, they can also stock up on acids and alchemical compounds, should they so desire. He also drops the name of the famous Skyseer Nevard. On their way to seeing him, they can foil a kidnapping attempt, save a life and generally do their job while on the way to seeing the ancient titular skyseer - who is dying and knows about Gale, the mysterious individual that put Nilasa on the tangent that led to her doom. His dying wish to the PCs is to be escorted to the top of the restricted area on Cauldron Hill - which the PCs can arrange with mayor Mcbannin. If they oblige, they may even perform a rather strange ritual that, while stemming from a dark magical tradition, may grant the old man the strength temporarily to not be as much a burden for the PCs. The meeting with Macbannin is also rather cool in that it foreshadows not only the things to come, but also sets up some interesting complications as well as driving home one point: The Hill is dangerous - goat's blood circles to ward off evil spirits and amulets to stave off the cursing effects of Cauldron Hill's peculiar brand of magical saturation due to a thin veil between the real world and the shadowy realm to which it's tied. After all this investigation, let's start the trek up this inhospitable place while hopefully keeping the dying prophet alive - by any means necessary!
A whole encounter is devoted to getting up the hill and making camp - and should be used to drive home the tension and dread of the place - at the top, though, something goes wrong - horribly. Even with the strange visions and foreshadowing, the PCs should be rather on their heels when their defenses are sabotaged and the spectral creatures of Cauldron Hill start assaulting the PCs. It's a hold-the-line-scenario of the finest caliber. And the scenario does not end here - Alkahest factory is ablaze in the vision they receive and the PCs will have to hurry down the hill - only to meet Macbannin, who is trying to cover his tracks, which could come off as suspicious, but should not lead to more - at least for now. The PCs are also contacted by the mysterious Gale via a bird whispering to them. And she has important tidings: In the Bleak Gate, the strange mirror image of the city of Flint is bustling with a strange activity - there is something being built on the other side. And the PC's trials and tribulations on Cauldron Hill make them attuned to the strange energies of the Bleak Gate, enabling them to potentially trek the conspiracy, which seems to be linked with the Danorans. If there's the aforementioned Vekesh, s/he can also hand over the package and sway Gale in either a violent or non-violent direction. Unearthing the clue of the Danorans means that the story seems to be starting to come full circle - perhaps, with some of the clues unearthed over the course of the module, they'll now have a good chance of tracking down the mysterious fugitive person - after all, he seems to not have been in league with Gale. 
The man in question is one Dr. Wolfgang von Recklinghausen, who, via his contacts, has managed to go underground and seeks to escape - unfortunately, the thugs are on the payroll of Cillian Creed, who turns out to be the shadowy hunter that has been the source of their troubles on Cauldron Hill. He and an elite-squad of operatives try to take the Dr into custody/silence him. That is, the PCs could sneak out, deal with yet another hostage situation etc. - the stakes are set against them in this encounter and they better be smart or they'll also have to deal with the telekietic master of steelshaping Leon Qital. Whether they can or cannot save the Dr. or make off with his documents (which provide incriminating evidence linking the Danorans with a SMART, SUBTLE smuggling operation) - the ties come together slowly and the factory, as foreshadowed by the prophecy, will burn.
Whether the constables have done their job and stopped the arsonists, Nevard is now gathering favors, while Gale is expecting an attack on the skyseer - to prevent that/following up on the arsony-attempt, they may find a creepy warehouse, containing a witchoil-infused golem (witchoil is made from souls, btw.!) and may question further technicians, though they fade back to the Bleak Gate. The speech of the skyseer will be attacked anyways, though the PCs can hopefully prevent the assassination attempt on Nevard, who imparts his visions to the crowd, warning them with a vision that is rather clear and providing a tantalizingly cryptic prophecy as well. Whether by a final warning/appeal sent by Creed or not - by now the PCs should have pieced together that mayor Macbannin is partial to what is going on and in fact the pupetteer. Taking down the mayor, though, is not as easy as it seems - he has allies, after all. Plus: A geyser of witchoil erupting from the ground turns out to be the result of the latest quake hitting his underground lab - thus a flood of witchoil is heading towards the nettles: Unless the PCs (with or without Macbannini) can stem the flow of the substance in his underground laboratory, resulting in a highly complex and imaginative climax. When he's off to court, though, he dies under mysterious circumstances - the conspiracy will not be thwarted that easily!
The pdf also provides a quick reference list of NPCs and investigation-running for DMs to help them in juggling this complex scenario, a page of dramatis personae, 3 pages of ship rules, 2 pages handouts,3 new feats and new magic items and 11 pages of player-friendly maps sans keys - all in gorgeous full color.
 

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any significant glitches. Layout adheres to a beautiful, paizo-level quality full-color 2-column standard and the artworks range from awesome to mediocre comic-style to unnecessary public domain art. The pdf comes fully bookmarked (with nested bookmarks) and with layers that let you strip it down to become printer-friendly. The second installment of the Zeitgeist AP is highly complex, intelligent and HARD to run. Even with all the help provided for the Dm, the amount of ways in which the players can solve this complex mystery, the module still remains delightfully complex. A DM has to be up to his a-game and some experience under his/her belt to pull this off, but OH BOY! This investigation is actually better than most CoC-adventures I've recently read - it's complex, daunting and assumes thankfully that the players are intelligent and not some bumbling idiots. The NPCs react logically to PCs, have plans and believable motivations that don't make them look like lobotomized jerks and the writing is top-notch. this is one of the best investigation modules out there for PFRPG and actually imho a step up from the already excellent first offering of the AP. Congratulations and kudos to EN Publishing for a final verdict of 5 stars + endzeitgeist seal of approval!
By the way: EnWorld has been hacked and they have currently a kickstarter running, so if you have some spare bucks and want to get these modules, check them out here.
Endzeitgeist out.

Hej everybody!

First of all, to everyone who has pledged: My heartfelt gratitude - you guys are amazing! That out of the way, we are almost there with the kickstarter that will see Nicholas Logue's (And Lou Agresta's) Magnum Opus released - The Razor Coast kickstarter is an insanely good deal at this point and if you haven't checked it out, please do so!

Oh, and if you want to take a sneak peak at the demented minds that create this monster of a book, here's a link to an extensive interview/hang-out. It's hilarious, check it out!

That out of the way, you know my stake and what Razor Coast means to me - I wouldn't be reviewing at all without this book. And here I am, doing the grand one, the huge one, my review number 1000 (though I've probably passed that number, since several pdfs are not sold on paizo) - Hope you'll enjoy it, for without you fine ladies and gentlemen reading them, none of my efforts would matter! Thank you so much for your trust and confidence!


Midgard Campaign Setting



This massive pdf is 298 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page patron list, 3 pages ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisement, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 289 pages of content.
This review is based on both the pdf for formal page-count etc. as well as the GORGEOUS full-color hardcover patron edition of the book – number 26 of 206, if you want to know. Mainly, I’ll base everything on my hard-cover, though – I always print out pdfs prior to reading anyways. Oh, and to avoid any implications of not being neutral: I did not contribute any significant pieces to this particular patronage project due to time-constraints, but I have contributed to the Northlands book and have been a patron of just about every Open Design-project since I found all too late out about them. The only pieces of lore missing from my collection would be Castle Shadowcrag and Steam & Brass – so if any of you gentlemen ever wishes to part from either a print or pdf-copy, drop me a PM. ;P 
This, admittedly selfish disclaimer out of the way, you’ll probably wonder why it took me so long to get to this review. Well, the answer is surprisingly complex and will be answered over the course of this review, so bear with me. Without further ado:
What makes Midgard distinct? Well, it is a campaign-setting that includes the most famous clockwork city in fantasy, where two ennie-award-winning anthologies are set. But Midgard is more: It is a world unlike the ones you’d expect: In contrast to most campaign worlds, Midgard draws HEAVY influence from Germanic and Slavic traditions and legends and it shows even in the shape of the world – unlike most places, Midgard is actually flat and most people believe it resides in the coils of the grand world-serpent Jörmungandr – it is a world not of straight, contextless popular culture fantasy, but of the mythic, of the archetypical not in the PFRPG-rules-context, but in the Jungian sense of the word, a resonance of myths and legends through a lense and a world where the magic that makes them possible is a very real force.
If you’ve been following open design releases (and if you haven’t, remedy that NOW), you’ll recall e.g. the fall of Ankeshel from Sunken Empires, you’ll know about the alien Shadow Fey and the existence of ley lines throughout the land. If you’re lucky and have the glorious “Halls of the Mountain King”-mega-module (which is not available to the public, alas), you’ll also recall the lavish detail in which dwarven culture is detailed and you may have read hints here and there about the golden age the elves brought on before starting their retreat. If you’ve read the best Planes-book since the Planescape-setting of old, “Dark Roads & Golden Hells”, you’ll already have a distinct knowledge of what to expect planes-wise and thus I won’t go into that much detail regarding the planar set-up of Midgard and only mention that t is at once distinct and easily modifiable via plug-and-play. If you’re familiar with Norse myth, you’ll see the nods and obvious inspirations, but that’s by far not all – the months, days and planets of the system also get a quick glimpse in the run-up on this component of the setting. Now where the book gets crunchy in this chapter is with its depiction of ley lines – 8 feats are provided to tap into the power of those global arcane conduits and we get 3 distinct tables for effects of different ley line strengths as well as a table of ley line backlashes, but more on ley lines later. After the general history and cosmology have been addressed, we are introduced to the heroes of Midgard and the interaction of races in the setting. One final word o the history of Midgard – while resonating with legends like sunken empires, the grand schemes of Baba Yaga and similar cataclysmic events, the history leaves by design much more free room for DM-modification and details than similar settings I’ve read – whether they be Faerûn, Mystara or Golarion, focusing more on high concepts than details. A decision, which I actually encourage.
With Wolfgang’s words from the introduction: Onwards! The chapter on heroes covers the dominant races of Midgard: Humans get paragraphs for their respective ethnicities, which is nice, but in this regard, the setting falls behind Paizo’s Golarion: There, we actually got full fluff-entries for the respective ethnicities, something I would have loved to see here as well, but oh well. The first new and distinct race introduced is a concept by now almost cliché: The Dragonkin. I get their appeal and I understand how people can enjoy the race, but personally – I don’t like them. Not due to some rules-gripes, for +2 Str and Cha, -2 dex, darkvision 60 ft., DR 2 versus a chosen energy, +1 natural armor, fly as a class skill and +2 to intimidate and diplomacy don’t feel overpowered at all. My dislike stems probably still from an oversaturation with half-dragons, dragonkin and the like in the 3.5 days of old. Speaking of dragons, one thing I really love about the dragons of Midgard is the fact that they are not into gold or color-coded by alignment: Dragons are elemental forces and greedy for power more than gold, which for me feels more in line with the ideal of consummate, hyper-intelligent schemers, so kudos for that. In this context the dragonkin-race has its role cut out in the world and feels like it belongs, though I still can’t really warm to it.

Now dwarves in Midgard are interesting in that they are the makers of the first signs of an industrial revolution, a proud race of craftsmen and reavers, pioneers of gunpowder and airships and more in line with my personal vision of the race. Elves in Midgard take a distinct bow to the Tolkienesque tradition of retreating from the earthly affairs, leaving at what in retrospect may feel like a golden age and subsequently they and the elfmarked (a feat that lets you count as elven) still enjoy a higher status than most races in Midgard. Status? YES! Beyond reputations in a given organization, an interesting component of the Midgard setting is the class- and race-dependant status-score that denotes your place in society and should make depicting believable world much easier: After all, as history-buffs can attest, status tends to have been of utmost importance in almost every culture and having a pointer towards one’s place in a given social environment is helpful indeed.
Now the other two major races of Midgard might come as a surprise to those not yet familiar with the world’s lore: Of course small but fierce kobolds join the fray of playable races with -4 Str, +4 Dex, -2 Con, small size, darkvision, +1 natural armor, +2 to Craft (trapmaking), Profession (Miner) and Perception. They always treat Craft (Trapmaking) and Stealth as class skills and get light sensitivity.  The final new race detailed with crunch would be the Minotaurs, a noble race that gets +4 Str, -4 Dex, +2 Con, -2 Int, -4 Cha, 60 ft. darkvision, are never flat-footed, gain +2 to Perception, Profession (Sailor) and Survival and always treat the latter as class skill. They also get a natural attack with their horns for 1d4 damage.
There also are 7 minor races, though each only gets a short paragraph: Centaurs, Gnolls, Goblins, Tieflings and Halflings play minor roles in the world, with haflings being more a Tolkienesque stay-at-home-race. Gnomes in Midgard are interesting as well: As a race, they have been cursed by Baba Yaga and are still haunted by the legendary crone’s predations. Worse, as a race, they have entered a covenant with the 11 hells, making dealing with gnomes in Midgard a harrowing experience – after all, you never know whether Grandmother or some infernal master is after the gnome you’re just talking to. My favorite race among the minor ones, though, would be the Huginn – essentially Tengu, these raven-headed humanoids fits surprisingly seamlessly with the Germanic mythology, as one of their names implies. Abrakadabra – everyone knows these words of magic. But did you know that they are probably derived from Arabic and roughly translate to the act of creating by uttering? Languages define not only our perception, their descriptions carry the power of categorization and an inherent word-view, a vast array of classifications that slowly is subverted the more languages you truly master. Hence, languages in Midgard (and 26 common and archaic ones are provided on a single page) allow those who learn and master them actually some tangible benefits beyond communication. As one who has banished any form of common from all of his settings, I welcome this great idea to provide an additional incentive for player characters to learn more languages.
In order to not bloat this review up to over 5o pages and one day get it done, I won’t go step by step through the vast array of regional traits and feat that conclude this chapter and which are organized according to region. Now speaking of regions: Let’s take a look at the first major region of Midgard, the so-called Crossroads!
Now we get customs and festivals for the whole region before we kick off with perhaps the so-far best-known region of Midgard: The Clockwork city of Zobeck, lavishly detailed in the Zobeck Gazetter, setting for the two ennie-award-winning anthologies “Tales of Zobeck” and “Streets of Zobeck”, home of Rava’s faith, the kobold miners, gearforged clockwork magic, the illumination school and infinitely more, one of the most distinct fantasy cities comes with its excellent 2-page map.
Speaking of maps: Each region of Midgard gets a GORGEOUS, lavishly illustrated full-color map and it is my true pity that, as per the writing of this review, there’s no physical map-pack of these glorious maps: An oversight I hope that will be remedied sometime in the future. The crossroads have more to offer than Zobeck, though: Trade with the shadow fey via Zobeck is just one of the potential past-times for brave adventurers here – if you’re more of the righteous crusader type, there are two nations that should keep you interested: Detailed more in-depth in the excellent Imperial Gazetteer, the Empire of Ghouls, a subterranean empire of intelligent ghouls forever scouring the lands for flesh to feed their ravenous hunger (first explored in the closed patronage project of epic length) and the principalities of Morgau and Doresh, led by their vampiric aristocracy that is in line with the gothic ideal of vampires as sophisticated foes, should make for worthwhile, albeit deadly playing grounds. If you’re more for ancient wildernesses, the Margreve (featured in the superb Tales of the Old Margreve) and the Cloudwall mountains where Baba Yaga’s hut wanders should have you covered as well. On the more bright, but not necessarily harmless side, Perunalia, a nation of amazons led by Perun’s (supposedly at least) demigod daughter might be not evil, but it’s inversion of gender roles and the general disregard and belittling of men should make for some interesting roleplaying experiences, as should excursions to the dwarvenIroncrag cantons, which back in the 3.5 days also got a gazetteer that accompanied the now alas no longer available, stellar mega-module I already mentioned.
A classic good kingdom to stem the tide and serve as a backdrop for both glorious tourneys and disheartening war-campaigns versus the other forces of Midgard can be found in the Magda Kingdom, with the kingdom’s order of the undying sun and military getting special mentioning.  Not as democratic as Andoran, though also deemed rather revolutionary would be the electoral kingdom of Krakova, whose fluff also hearkens to some of the more romanticized aspects of Nibelungen-lore.
Beyond the crossroads, one may find the Rothenian Plain, vast steppe that also serves as a roaming ground of Baba Yaga and her daughters. Guarding the Northlands, we can find the silver mountain kingdom of Domovgorod, where a world-tree can be found who branches into other realism – whether a sapling or semblance of legendary Yggdrasil, it offers paths to many a strange place and the local Halfling populace actually makes for fierce winter warriors. The endless tundra and steppes that spread throughout Midgard is also the home of the Khanate of Khazzaki, a place inspired by the Mongolian warlords as well as probably the Dothraki and sports no permanent towns, though that does not mean that the Khanate is peaceful or a force to be trifled with – after all, they managed to repel even the forces of the Mharoti, but more on them later. The Rothenian plane is also the home of the Demon Mountain and its mystic, legendary master: A mysterious entity with distinct appetites that has spawned various tieflings and who actually receives visitors ranging from troll kings, shadow fey dignitaries, barons to even archdevils. In the northwest, nestled at the Nieder Straits, lie the nine cities of Neimheim, home to the crafty and disturbing devil-worshiping race of gnomes under the command of their supreme ruler Redbeard, still as a race haunted by Grandmother’s vengeance and the need to escape the doom of an eternity in hell to which all gnomes are born.
Of course, the Khanate is not alone in claiming their own swath of territory in the plains: The Rothenian Plains are also the home of numerous tribes of centaurs roaming the vast sea of grass, raiding and counting their wealth in goats and sheep as well as to the wanderlust-inflicted Kariv, Midgard’s very distinct ethnicity of gypsies that is really set apart to the point where they are as interesting to me as the Vistana of Ravenloft and if you know that this setting is still my first true love setting-wise, the amplitude of this complement should become apparent.  A variety of Great Kariv families are covered and recalling the cool and very distinct social customs pioneered by various KQ-articles and other books, I can’t wait to one day see a full-blown sourcebook on them. The final nomadic people laying claim to the plains would be the totemic, dark-skinned windrunner elves with their own windrunner kites and complete rules for flying these contraptions – rather cool and fortunately relatively bereft of the clichés I expected to read in their entry. The final nation of note here would be Vidim, the kingdom of ravens, where the tsar and the huginn maintain an alliance: The raven-headed folk make up the supreme spies and best soldiers of this interesting nation, another region I can’t wait to read more about.

Now I mentioned the Mharoti Empire and it is an interesting place: Governed by a Sultana, the empire serves the ambitions and hungers of a conglomerate of dragon lords that demand tribute. Superbly powerful, the empire has a huge military machinery that constantly reaches out to expand and serve the will of its draconic masters. The empire is also a place where, true to the service of dragons, humans are second-class citizens: Koboldi (the local term for the race) and dragonkin are valued much more and actually constitute not the majority of the almost 50-million-peple nation, which actually gets its own, very detailed map as does the imperial capital of Harkesh. Marrying Al-Qadimesque oriental flair with labyrinthine politics, the feeling of an empire of culture and wealth still expanding and draconic ambition and egos and we have a truly intriguing hodge-podge that is even enticing to people like yours truly who avoid using dragons very much and when they do, player characters tend to die. Short paragraphs and provinces are also covered. If you think the aggressive attempts of expansion of the Mharoti might make them villains, you would be right as well as wrong, for the other nations around are not necessarily better: 
Take the Despotate of the Ruby Sea, where slavers rule and continuously scourge the Rothenian Plain or the seas to feed their flesh markets. Or Nuria Natal, a nation that has repelled the Mharoti time and again, but paid a dire price: The Egyptian-influenced nation has resorted to resurrecting its god-kings and their armies to repel the Mharoti time and again and the resulting influx of extremely powerful god-kings and queens refusing to get back to eternal sleep puts a strain on politics, essentially hamstrings the current King Thutmoses and may well result in an unpleasant segregation. There is light and hope here, though: While the nation has been crushed by the Mharoti, Ishadia still exists – while a shadow of its former glory, the nation touched by the heavens with its array of aasimar might one day reclaim its former glory. Finally, there is Siwal, home-base of the famous traders and their sand-ships and original setting of the “6 Arabian Nights” close patronage project. Siwal is perhaps the best-suited for traditional 1001 Nights-style playing in the region. There also are rules for purchasing exotic Mharoti animals, dry goods, several magic carpets and other curios but mundane and magical as well as a total of 12 spells that can be found in the dragon empire and its surrounding regions.
Now if you’d rather tell a story of war, political intrigue or any combination thereof, I’d suggest you take a look at chapter 6, which details the seven cities – 7 cities (two of which are mapped in the lavish quality of the book) that have sprung up in the aftermath of the eleven retreat and ever since been at war with each other. Now if you’re familiar with the codes of conduct of warfare and conquest in the medieval ages, it should come as refreshing that the warfare between these nations also follows a kind of seasonal etiquette as well the rules of economy: While plundering, rapes and the less savory aspects of warfare cannot be wholly prevented, the war-god-Mavros-worshiping cities mainly wage relatively civil campaigns versus each other not to destroy, but to humiliate, to extract ransoms, to gain territory etc. War is a means to an end, a motor of a war machinery and a whole intricate web of war economies dependant on not campaigns of annihilation, but of almost ritualized conflict. As such, there also are 5 classic pretenses accepted for war that are displayed in the chapter and political as well as economic reasons galore for them to go to war. Beyond these, we also get detailed pieces of information regarding e.g. the special breeds of horses cultivated in the republic of Trombei, the armies that the respective cities can muster and hooks galore beyond the obvious warfare and political backstabbing. If you want to play a “Song of Fire and Ice”-style intrigue-laden campaign, this region’s instabilities and feuds should provide you with fodder for years to come. Before I forget it, the region is also home of the seafaring nation of Kyprion, homeland of the minotaurs and for now owing fealty to the republic of Triolo: Here, the Minotaur queen reigns supreme and both friends and enemies are invited to her palace. As the screams at night attest, only her friends tend to leave… I’m not going to get into more details here, but rest assured that the chapter is indeed intricate in the variety of options to develop and play.
Chapter 7 holds an especially dear place in my heart, for this region, called “The Wasted West” utilizes and imagery I am all too familiar with and enjoy: It is here that the setting takes a short bow to Lovecraft and the Dark Tapestry. Serving as a grisly reminder of the other side of warfare, these wasted plains were once the home of grand magocracies. Emphasis on “were”.  It is here that magic was used to wage total war, escalating further and further and culminating in a terrible series of rituals that called down the Great Old Ones. Now we’re not talking about Cthulhu, Nyarly and co, but rather a series of immortal, mountainous abominations that destroyed one another and crushed city upon city. When the escalation got worse and worse, the ley lines torn, magic unstable and vast titans waging unholy war, the Great Slumber was conceived – a titanic invocation that did not slay these beings, rather slowing them to a very crawl or halting time almost completely for them. Thus, these alien entities now shamble across blasted plains, trudging eldritch symbols into the scarred earth, fighting in erosion speed amongst one another or staring at the sun until their eyes had been scorched out. These grand abominations are actually large enough to serve as their very own ecologies, serving as both gods and locales to house whole tribes of goblins, cities on heads or have wizard’s towers strapped to their bellies – and woe to Midgard should they ever awaken from their slowed somnambulist trance, for just the Magocracy of Allain remains of the cities of old. Beyond the dust goblins worshiping the weird creatures and roaming the plains, we are also introduced to the Duchy of Bourgund, resting in the shadow of the only Great Old One felled by mortal magic and steel, the city actually constitutes a very lawful, strictly regulate society, including a flourishing black market and famed armor-bonded mages who can’t all stand up to their illustrious legacy as abomination-slayers – complacency and magic-reliance might one day prove to be the undoing of the duchy, for beneath the surface, it simmers.. They are also known for their perfumeries, while Bemmea, capital of the Magocracy is known for its magic and the glyph-shaped streets shown on the beautiful map made me come up with some interesting ideas – think Perdido Street Station meets Fall of Utopia. *muahaha* Speaking of evil laughter: A massive table of potion side-effects and mishaps should also prove to be an interesting surprise for the PCs, should they deem to visit the bottle market. Beyond these, there also is the haunted land where giants rule, the small human barony of Trenorra and the Gardens of Carnessa, where intelligent plants now rule – whether commanded by a Mu Spore, an old one or some other inscrutable force, these once wondrous verdant places now should test the mettle of even the most hardened of adventurers.
Since Midgard is flat, there is Barsella, the city at the end of the world, but I’ll go more into detail about this place and the isle of morphoi in my upcoming review of “Journeys to the West”. The chapter concludes with a grimoire called the Black Spire Codex that contains 8 new spells, a new incantation (yeah!) and a simple template to represent the warping effects of the magical fall-out land that is the Wasted West.   After these rather bleak expanses, let’s turn to the Northeast of the crossroads and take a look at the nations found there:  In stark contrast to most regions in Midgard, the elven retreat has not plunged these reaches into chaos, though their absence and the resulting chaos has touched the region as well. The main source of the relative stability of the region can be found in a certain continuity – led by a legendary elven queen for over 500 years, the region is guided by perhaps the last living being to remember the retreat and her wise counsel has led the areas and countless baronies into a relative stable era. The thing is, the imperatrix is old, even for elven standards and shows first signs of losing her wits – a tragedy not only on a personal level, but also since her rulership has been such a guiding factor, her bloodline a uniting tie between the countless baronies and duchies, which have with their entangled territories and numerous sub-territories driven allegedly more than one cartographer insane.
Another interesting component about Dornig and its surrounding areas would be the fact that the land contains two vast forests, which, while not the Margreve, remain deadly, dense woodlands that conceal ancient secrets and dread foes. I mentioned the 7 cities-region as a prime example for “Song of Fire and Ice”-style gameplay regarding the warfare and shifting political boundaries. If you want to go a step further and play a campaign of courtly intrigue, I may instead suggest this region: Not only are the numerous ancient families looking for new blood, there’s unexplored territory in the forests aplenty and we also get a new incantation-ceremony to take the mantle of rulership and concise rules for getting one’s own barony! Plus, you can always combine this area with ventures towards the frozen reaches as there actually is a former northlander Viking fiefdom serving as both an economic gateway and as a place to start immersion into the final cultural region detailed herein: The Northlands.
The Northlands-book was my number 1 roleplaying book of 2011 – that should tell you everything right in a nutshell. A book that BELONGS into any PFRPG-library and perhaps one of the coolest sourcebooks (pardon the pun) ever devised. This chapter sums up some of the components in the book and serves as a gazetteer-like introduction to these gloriously detailed, wild, untamed and oh so brilliant and beautiful wilds, where Vikings set sail, were-bears have a honey-producing kingdom, people are hard and honest and Hyperborea’s fabled lands loom somewhere hidden in the eternal ice. Have I mentioned that you may actually set sail to “Holmgard and beyond”? If putting in the Turisas-song while manning your longboat to these reaches doesn’t get you pumped, I don’t know what will.  A great chapter, but I highly recommend you get the full sourcebook with its rune-magic and grudge magic, with its variant rules, equipment and much more details than this chapter can ever hope to cover.
The final chapter then details the gods and how Midgard handles them is much more in line with my own DM-approach: First of all, gods are not shoe-horned into an alignment, but rather given a tendency like chaotic or lawful – after all gods are inscrutable and beyond the moralities of petty mortals, their words and holy texts open to interpretation and thus also conflicting visions of doing one’s god’s bidding. Furthermore, the gods of Midgard wear masks – this means that one god may go by multiple names and aspects, perhaps with conflicting ideologies or seemingly contradictory agendas. This makes them stand out more and also changes the way, clerics should be played – after all, they are no arcanists with different spell-lists, but agents of inscrutable higher beings. Hence, we don’t get write-ups of gods per se, but rather of religions: Whether Perun of the Crossroads and Thor are the same god is up for debate and some even claim that there is but one god. Over all, this concept makes the religious landscape much more fluid and the gods come off as something completely different from the set of abilities and domains one chooses to best complement one’s abilities. A great approach and even pantheist priests are covered. The gods per se are hence also covered entries by region, organizing them in a logical and concise fashion. Better yet, the vast majority of them are actually interesting and put new twists on classic myths of earth, with Æsir and Baal finding a place as well as Bastet and others, but sans making it feel like a hodge-podge rip-off of real-world mythologies. Familiar and foreign,  all entwined in compelling write-ups.
Now if you’re playing the AGE-sytsem, you’ll have 25 new backgrounds to look forward to, allowing you to play zobeck kobolds, gearforged etc. We also get a total of 7 new specializations (including the harem assassin!) as well as a whopping 40 new spells and 3 new talents. The pdf concludes with an appendix of regional encounter tables as well as a list of recommended further reading and something that is NOT optional in my opinion, at least not in books of this size: The detailed, 4-page index makes finding information and actually using the city much easier.


Conclusion:
The Midgard Campaign Setting, if the length of my review was not ample clue, is a massive TOME of rpg-goodness and it shows – but it is not perfect. Editing and formatting indeed have suffered from some neglect that I hope will be rectified in future printings:  While I noticed some minor letter-mixup-typos and glitches like “veven[sic!]” there is one particular glitch that bugged me to no end while reading my hardcover: The “See Page XX”-brackets are UNIVERSALLY broken. They ALL show $$ instead of the correct page numbers, which actually makes handling the book less comfortable than it should be, so that is a major thing for me. On the more positive side of major things for me would be the GORGEOUS full-color layout by Calle Winters ranks among the finest I’ve seen in any Rpg-product out there. The full-color artworks are also on par with this top-notch production-values and aesthetic appeal, though you might know several of them from e.g. Kobold Press-product covers or from older Open Designs, they nevertheless manage to maintain a unified look of premium quality.
Now I really suggest you get this getting in print, preferably in hardcover, for the book is stitch-bound, beautiful and solid and full-color – printing out the pdf would extol a brutal drain on your printer and the lack of a printer-friendly version means you won’t have the option of printing out a bare bones b/w-version.  Now, perhaps my hope is in vain, but there are certain reviews of mine into which I pour my heart’s blood, usually for books that show the same level of commitment and passion. And once in a while, I get my hands on a book that keeps me afloat. Reviewing bad books tends to frustrate me as it’s a thankless, dreary task. Mediocre books are even worse, but that’s another story. What’s relevant and what’ve tried to convey to you, dear readers, over the last pages, was that this book is neither bad, nor mediocre – it is quite the opposite. It took me forever to write this review because it took me forever to digest all the possibilities in this book, all those glorious ideas, all those awesome references and concepts. This book was my go-to book when reviewer’s frustration set in for about half a year. It’s that good. The wealth of information, the sense of ancient wonder, of a setting that is truly wondrous brought me back to the days when I as a wide-eyed child read the “flora & fauna”-AD&D-bestiary. It brought back the sense of wonder I felt when I first read about the Forgotten Realms, before that setting was drowned in factoids and epic level blacksmiths. It even managed to recall the sense of true excitement I had when I first read Planescape, when I parted the mists to Ravenloft. Midgard has the spark of genius that made me like these settings, the spark that makes it stand out. 
Well, Golarion also has this spark, but there’s a huge difference: While both worlds are glorious and fun to play in, they both cater to a vast array of different playstyles and Golarion’s patchwork nature has always, not on a conscious, but on a subconscious level, bugged me – Ravenloft could pull the patchwork concept due to the limiting factor of mists, whereas Golarion has no true reason why e.g. psionics, gunpowder etc. have not found a more wide-spread resonance and revolutionized the world more apart from the metagame-reason that some people don’t like them. Also, regarding local politics, fiefdoms, liege lords and allegiances, Golarion is as per the writing of this review not sufficiently detailed to imho properly cater to court-intrigue/all-out warfare gaming. Midgard, in direct comparison, feels less like a patchwork and more like a unified world – one with vastly different regions, yes, but it feels more concise to me. Ironically, while the setting's detailed history is much more sketchy and less detailed, it also feels like the older setting, like a setting that lives and breathes our myths and history. Midgard is the more conservative world and at the same time, the one that lends itself extremely well to uncommon playstyles like court-intrigue just as well as to traditional adventuring. I won’t say that Midgard is the better setting, since you can’t really compare the two, in spite of what I just tried, but let it be known that even if you opt to not play in the setting, this book is so rife with ideas, with innovation, with passion and genius, that you won’t be able to help yourself being swept away, being inspired. For that word is what describes this setting best: Inspiring. This is not only a glorious setting, it is an excellent read and should be considered a must-purchase for any DM out there. Do yourself a favor and bring some wonder back to the fantasy genre and blow those dusty cobwebs away. This book brings back the wonder, and thus, in spite of the annoying glitches, I’ll settle for a final verdict of 5 stars + seal of approval.
Thanks to everyone who reads my reviews, everyone who clicks the banners and everyone who puts his trust in my verdict and drops me a nice word - it's for you guys I do this. To you, ladies and gentlemen!

Endzeitgeist out.

Hej everybody!

the Razor-Coast kickstarter has hit 2/3 of its goal and we got a GLORIOUS announcement via the newsletter of Frog God Games: razor Coast will be fully integrated into their long-awaited campaign setting that will feature not only Nick Logue's magnum opus, but also RAPPAN ATHUK. SLUMBERING TSAR. And almost ALL publications from the Necromancer Games and Frog God Games-modules (sans Judge's Guild - they don't have the rights for these).

Additionally, there have been some tantalizing pieces of information and Lou Agresta has created a neat video here!

If you can, if you're intrigued, go check it out!

Of course, I haven't been slacking, here's my review of



Psionics Expanded


This massive book is 220 pages long,  1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 216 (!!!!) pages of content, so let's check this out!


Well, how to review this? This book is essentially the "Advanced Player's Guide" for psionics, kicking off with an introduction that covers all the psionic aces and core races and their respective takes on the new classes introduced in this book.
I already did in-depth analysis of the respective component pdfs that worked as a kind of playtest for the compilation of this book, so in order to avoid redundancy, I will NOT go through each and every piece of crunch again and instead point you towards my reviews of the component pdfs. I will thus focus on glitches I noticed when first reviewing these and whether/how they've been addressed.
Let's start with "Find the Mark". The marksman's styles are still iconic and cool and...YEAH! We now also get the Kaigun, a marksman/gunslinger-hybrid! Even though "Find the Mark" was released before UC, Dreamscarred press did not rest on their laurels and now provide full Gunslinger-support for their ranged class in the form of an archetype that also includes new deeds. Mechanically sound and cool, this eliminates my one major gripe with the original pdf. Two thumbs up! Better yet, feats like greater intuitive shot and deadly throw (adding wis- and dex-modifier, respectively) to the damage cannot be combined. Wicked abuse successfully thwarted!
"Mind over Body" was my least favorite of the component pdfs, featuring a base-class called Vitalist that is essentially a psionic healer. In its original inception, its orisons had a confusing name that has been cleared up. Better yet, the broken psychic warrior path has been redesigned to avoid using the thrice-damned 3.5 ability "mettle" (evasion for 2 saves, btw.!), now working much more smoothly within the PFRPG-framework.  The bad artwork for the metamorph PrC I originally criticized has been addressed,  eliminating just about ALL gripes I had with the original pdf - with one exception: The collective ability of the vitalist and the tactician still does not specify whether e.g. a summoner and his eidolon count as one being towards the limit of participants or two. The same holds true for animal companions, familiars etc.
"Pawns & Power" - much like the vitalists's collective, the Tacticians has been revised as well and now works more organic than in the original pdf's first incarnation.  "Unlimited Possibilities" was a glorious offering even before the refinement-process of the final book, so no surprises there regarding the quality. The same holds true for "Master the Battle" and "Hidden Intentions", which adds 3 archetypes for the cryptic and  3 archetypes for the Dead. Have I mentioned the Sadist-archetype for the Vitalist before (thankfully, for once not restricted to evil characters) and the 4 different archetypes for the Tactician, one of which provides for a cool fusion of the Vitalist and Tactician classes? Well, I have now.
It should also be noted that e.g. displays of psionic powers and their combinations are detailed in stellar fluff - combinations etc. make for a distinct feeling that goes beyond "I concentrate".  The base psionic classes also get a vast array of additional options, as do some of the core-classes. The array of new powers and items that complements the pdf is also nothing to scowl at - there's a LOT of content herein.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are very good - I noticed not a single distracting glitch that would have hampered my understanding of this massive book. Layout adheres to a beautiful, rather printer-friendly two-column b/w-standard, with artworks being beautiful and in full color. The pdf comes with truly extended, nested bookmarks, which make navigation easy indeed.
Let me first state something and end a myth: Psionics are not unbalanced. Period. They haven't been since Dreamscarred Press took the reins and applied a rigor and attention to detail and willingness to listen to feedback that is commendable indeed. I often find myself revisiting component pdfs when taking a look at any compilation and find that glitches have not been taken care of. With only one minor exception, the guys at DSP have managed to actually address ALL of my concerns with the component pdfs. Another trap for compilations of any kind is that they just reproduce content. Not so here: We not only have the blank spaces filled, we have the content lavishly and lovingly reorganized, expanded and polished to the point of gleaming like a diamond.
In the beginning of this review, I compared this book to the Advanced Player's Guide. Well, to me, Pathfinder's identity as something different from 3.5 first started to truly crystallize upon the release of said guide. Before, it was 3.6. Afterwards, it was its own, awesome system. Much the same can be said about Psionics Unleashed. While the CORE-book was the 3.6, streamlined version of 3.5 psionics, THIS is NEW. This is exciting. This is original. This is what identity should feel like in a product. Reviewing as many pdfs as I do, I often feel myself get bored by releases, yet more feats, spells, archetypes etc. Crunch can quickly become redundant and bland, forever rehashing tried and true design decisions, upping slowly, but firmly the power creep.
Psionics Expanded opts for something different. The book opts for classes with DISTINCT mechanics. These classes are hence harder to balance, harder to judge and this is also why it took me forever and a day to write this review. I wanted it backed by solid playing experience with each and every class herein. What can I say? They ALL WORK. In fact, they work so well it's almost frightening, since doing the math and design must have been more than a massive challenge. The extended, lengthy playtest and actually using the playtest for something different than proofreading and incorporating the feedback gathered shows in every crunchy nook and cranny of this pdf. Now the pdf is not perfect:  I still would have preferred e.g. a more talent-based approach for the marksman. But in the end...these are nitpicks. Very, very minor nitpicks.
I often complain about the lack of ambition among 3pps and 2012 has seen a major rise in such projects - FGG's conclusion of "Slumbering Tsar" and the "RappanAthuk" kickstarter, Open Design/Kobold Press' "Midgard CampaignSetting" or Rite Publishing's "Heroes of the Jade Oath", to just name 2. But, at least for me, Psionics Expanded is the most ambitious project I've seen in ages, delivering classes with complex, new and exciting mechanics, massive enhancements to existing ones and balancing all of this as a Triple-A-release of the highest caliber. Designers of ANY class should take note, for here are examples on how it's truly done. This is the APG of psionics. Let me spell it out, if it's not abundantly clear by now: I hate reviewing massive crunch-books like this due to the amount of work they require me to do, but oh boy. 
This is one of the best crunch-books out there by ANY publisher for any version of d20. I unanimously allow this book in my home-game and I have limited access to the majority of content from "Ultimate Magic" and "Ultimate Combat". This is grand in every sense of the word and I only seldom pronounce such on a book of crunch. If I could, I'd give this 6 stars. I can't, though, and thus, in spite of (very) minor blemishes will rate this 5 stars + seal of approval. A required purchase for ANY adherent of psionics AND for aspiring designers of crunch. This, ladies and gentleman, is how it's done.
Endzeitgeist out.