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Into The Breach: The Witch
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 08/08/2022 10:03:56

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/08/100-days-of-halloween-into-breach-witch.html

Into The Breach: The Witch

PDF. 32 pages. 1 cover, 1 title, 1 credits page, 1 table of contents, 1 OGL, for 27 pages of content. $5.99.

This book has quite a bit of good content.

There are new archetypes: Bailiwick Hermit, Bog Builder, Bulwark Theurgist, Dweomer Weaver, Foul Temptress, Gluttonous Crone, Marjara Bound, the Scorned Heart, and Voodoo Crafter.

Each archetype has a number of new associated powers.

There is a new Base Class related to the witch, the Sèvitè which is the worshiper of a lost creator god. Essentially this is a Voodoo practitioner in Pathfinder terms. The interesting thing for me is their ability to Syncretize various gods. Very interesting to be sure.

There are a couple of very interesting Prestige Classes presented as well. The Heathen and The Scarred Shaman.

Like all good witch books for Pathfinder, this one has a number of Hexes, Major Hexes, and Grand Hexes. There are also four new Patrons and quite a few new feats.

I rather like it to be honest. Lots of fun options here. The Voodoo-themed elements are nice and I would love to explore more with the syncretism of the gods.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Into The Breach: The Witch
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Into The Breach: The Druid
by Margherita T. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/26/2021 08:59:04

The Into the Breach line not only provides additional options for characters under the existing lines, it also creates additional rules to use with the class, adding more flavor and/or crunch. This is maybe what I like the most, so I was positively struck by the elementalist archetypes, that create an “elemental shaman” druid similar to the animal or terrain shaman archetypes we already know. The idea of "druid groves" (akin to monastic orders) is intriguing, too, and easily implemented, as all it requires is to take some feats, receiving very pretty bonuses from each of them (like spell-like abilities). Pathfinder had presented us ONE specific druidic circle with the Uskwood, but it was only for evil druids, and I feel more of them were highly required! Nature traits are a welcomed new category of character traits, and are not restricted to druids, so with them, every character could have a more natural or feytouched feel to themselves. Among those there are traits tied to the seasons, that I love in particular (but where is the summer one!?). I also like the new weapons presented, most of all the ice axe, that adds a great deal of flavor to an arctic-themed hero. Other options focus on different facets of a druid's personality, as the herbalist, the meteorologist, or the shapehanging mercurial and monsterblood shifter (magical beast wild shape, at last! If anything, I would require even more optional forms!). The extremophile guardian, the fungus gardener, and the origamist also may select among new intriguing kinds of companion creatures, that are always a good thing. Lastly, we have three new prestige classes to complement it all. The amalgamate FUSES with her animal companion to create one powerful entity (how come I didn't think of THIS before?!?!), the feytouched farmer grows enchanted crops and befriends the nature spirits to gain dairy or agricultural bonuses of all sorts (sweet! I can imagine letting my party rest for a while in such a farm!), and the syncretic priest joins together druidid and clerical/oracular abilities (it could be LG/LE/CG/CE too, if I read correctly- are there penalties for alignment change if you take this PrC? If not, it could be what I ALWAYS WISHED FOR to create a true Brown Friar character for Pathfinder!) Am I too enthusiastical? Well, it's the first time someone asks me for a review, but I see good stuff here. All in all, it's almost everything I wanted from a book with this title. Buy it!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Into The Breach: The Druid
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Tides of War: Kineticst/X Feats
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 02/28/2018 04:26:30

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This installment of Flying Pincushion Games’s Tides of War-series clocks in at 6 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 3 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This review was moved up in my reviewing queue at the request of my patreons.

After a brief introduction (with a nice full-color artwork), we move on to the feats:

-Burn Cushion: Requires mutagen. 1/day, when brewing a mutagen that would allow for a Con-bonus, you can choose to accept 1 point of burn. If you accept burn while under the influence of this specially modified mutagen, you may reduce the bonus to Constitution granted by the mutagen by 2. I assume each such reduction only covers 1 point of burn; RAW it can be read as applying to ALL burn you’d accept. Limits on burn per round still apply.

-Burst Protection: Accept one point of burn when channeling energy to bestow the effects of the defensive wild talent to all creatures affected by the channel until the start of your next round. Cool!

-Hex Kinesis: Choose one single-target hex that can affect a living creature. When you successfully hit with a simple or composite blast against a single target (nice catch!), you can accept 1 point of burn and reduce damage dice by one step. If you do, the hex’s effects are added to the blast. Kineticist levels stack for the purpose of hex-DC and when thus used, the save DC is governed by your Con.

-Kinetic Summons: When summoning a single creature via summon monster/nature’s ally (not properly italicized), you may accept 1 point of burn if the creature’s subtype matches your elemental focus to bestow the advanced simple template. You also use your HD as your CL. This one looks simple, but managed to avoid a whole array of pitfalls. Kudos.

-Mind Your Element: +4 competence on all Knowledge checks pertaining elemental focus. Bonus improves to +6 if you stick to the element with expanded element.

-Pool Push: If you have a pool (like ki, grit, phrenic, etc.), you can, as a free action, accept 1 point of burn to replenish one point in the pool. Hard daily cap of 1 + Con-mod prevents abuse. Nice!

-Raging Kineticist: You can accept 1 point of burn when entering rage/bloodrage. If you do, a kinetic blade forms and you use your total HD as BAB and add Strength-mod to Con-mod to damage when attacking with it. Pretty much a numerical escalation. Not the biggest fan here.

-Sheathed in Wisdom: While defensive wild talent is active, you gain resistance versus the 1st level element equal to Wisdom modifier, stacking with resistances gained from other sources. Minor nitpick: It’s electricity resistance, not “electric resistance”. (Yes, it codifies the base elements.)

-Tactical Defenses: When using tactician while the defensive wild talent is active, you may accept 1 point of burn to bestow its benefits on allies benefiting from tactician for 3 rounds. Cool!

-Wilder Talent: Choose one talent from a non-kineticist class, with usage measured in rounds or minutes or daily uses. You can accept burn for an additional usage increment. Hard cap of Con-mod times per day prevents abuse of a complex, cool and hard to get right feat. (Yes, discoveries, tricks, etc. qualify explicitly.)

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting on a formal level are very good; not perfect, but still rather well done. Rules-language-wise, the pdf is precise and leaves nothing to be desired. Layout adheres to the 2-column full-color standard of the series and the pdf sports really nice full-color artwork – public domain though it may be, I haven’t seen these used before. Kudos! The pdf even has bookmarks, in spite of its brevity!

David S. McCrae’s multiclass kineticist feats are creative, offer a wide array of support and are interesting as a whole. I found myself enjoying quite a few of the feats herein and while not all are pure amazing, they should provide some food for thought for multiclassing characters. Considering the low and fair price-point, my final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars, rounded up for the purpose of this platform. Very much worth getting for the fair cost.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Tides of War: Kineticst/X Feats
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Into the Breach: The Kineticist
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 02/06/2018 05:12:37

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This installment of the „Into the Breach“-series clocks in at 40 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page inside of front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 35 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This review was moved up in my reviewing-queue as a prioritized review by my patreons.

All right, as always, we begin with new archetypes, the first of which would be the aetheric marksman, who is locked into aether a first level and gains proficiency with longbow and shortbow. The signature ability of the archetype allows for the use of an arrow as part of a kinetic blast, to be more precise, a modified version of telekinetic blast, which has a base damage of 1d8 +1 + Constitution modifier, which increases by 1d8+1 at 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter, with a range increment of 60 ft., a critical range of 20 and a critical multiplier of x3. Weapon Focus (kinetic blast) and Deadly Aim may be applied to such blasts, but thankfully, multi-attack feats à la Multishot may not be. The modified blast applies the bonuses of enchanted ammunition, if applicable, as are special materials etc. While the available infusions to modify this one are restricted, I am not the biggest fan of the escalation of numbers this entails – it’s not bad, mind you, but as a base modification, I wasn’t blown away. 5th level yields imbuement: As a move action, the character may imbue class level arrows with a variety of ammunition special properties, with 8th level unlocking more. The marksman must accept burn equal to the enhancement value granted and lasts for 1 minute. Only one such property may be granted at a given time. Nice catch: The ammunition does not require a +1 enhancement bonus to qualify for modification. The properties inflict +1 damage per d6 if the property matches the expanded element. Minor complaint: flaming burst reference not properly italicized. This replaces 5th level’s infusion.

At 8th level, we get shrapnel arrow, which is problematic, rules-aesthetics wise: For +1 burn accepted, the arrow can split into lethal shrapnel upon impact, generating a 10-ft.-burst. The primary target gets a Ref-save to halve its damage, which is REALLY weird – that usually is not possible upon being hit – the character has already been hit!! Interaction with evasion et al. becomes really strange. Worse, the targets in the area of the burst take half as much damage and don’t get a save. Yeah. The guy skewered by the arrow could end up sans damage, while everything around him dies. Makes no sense. The way the ability is phrased also makes me think that this was supposed to inflict additional damage or something, but I’m not sure. The ability deviates from how such mechanics are used in PFRPG, and not in a good way. The no-save damage must die. On the plus-side, targeting 5-foot-squares and ammo interaction are noted. This replaces 8th level’s utility wild talent. At 13th level, the marksman may accept +2 burn to inflict additional bleed damage to the primary target, with bleed equal to the number of damage dice of the telekinetic blast, a Fort-save to negate. After that, a second target in the same line of effect, within 30 ft. of the first target, compares AC to the attack’s attack bonus: On a hit, the target takes the telekinetic blast’s damage -2d8, but is not subject to bleed. This replaces 13th level’s infusion.

The 16th level ability, burrowing arrow, allows for the acceptance of +2 points of burn. On a failed Ref-save (weird, why not Fort?), the arrow embeds itself in the target, inflicting minimum blast damage on a subsequent round until it is removed via a successful save or Heal check. This replaces 16th level’s utility wild talent and needs some nerfing/retooling: For a lot of characters and monsters, being hit with a single such arrow may well be a death a sentence.

On a nitpicky level regarding the rules-integrity, e.g. burrowing arrow does not, in contrast to e.g. piercing arrow, note that it can be used as part of another action. I get how this is supposed to work, but as a whole, I wasn’t too excited by the archetype.

The second archetype herein would be the hellfire kineticist, who replaces Knowledge (nature) with Knowledge (religion). The hellfire kineticist is locked into fire as primary element. “All infusions granted by the archetype deal half fire damage and half unholy damage.” sigh There is no such thing as unholy damage in Pathfinder.

Instead of 1st level’s infusion, we get the ability to sicken a target within 30 ft. that takes full damage from the blast, for Con mod rounds, with a Fort-save to negate.. On a critical hit, we’re looking at nausea instead. Minor complaint here: This behaves like an infusion, but isn’t formatted like one. Instead of the elemental defense and the utility wild talents at 6th level and every 6 levels thereafter, we get the Devil Inside ability at 2nd level. The character is treated as an evil outsider for the purpose of spells and effects and gains +2 bonus to saves versus fire and poison; at 6th level, this upgrades to +4 and fire resistance 5; 12th level upgrades this to +6 and fire resistance 10, while 18th level provides immunity to both. 4th level provides sin sense, which can wreck pretty much a ton of plots: While within 30 ft., the character becomes automatically aware of sinful thoughts targets hold at the moment or committed within 1 hour. Direct contact yields detect thoughts, as though the character had concentrated for 3 rounds. This can wreck a lot on in-game assumptions: If e.g. Cheliax had access to such a potent ability, which can’t be prevented RAW, we’d have a perfect, Orwellian survival state, thoughtcrimes etc..Even if sinful acts are up to GM-interpretation, this ability needs some nerfing/further clarification. This replaces 4th level’s utility wild talent.

8th level yields an imp familiar at full class level instead of the utility wild talent. At 11th level, instead of the infusion, we get Condemnation, which is treated as a 5th level substance infusion that costs 3 points of burn to use: If the character calls out a target’s sins, as detected via detect sins, the target takes double elemental overflow’s damage. I am not 100% positive whether the ability is supposed to require a hit of the target with a blast or not – the infusion would suggest as much, but verbiage makes it seem like there is no attack roll required. The capstone replacing omnikinesis would yield outsider apotheosis as well as 2/day plane shift, but only to Hell and back.

The third archetype would be the wind whistler, who replaces Intimidate with Perform (wind) and is locked into air as primary element. Attacking with air blasts does not add Constitution modifier to damage and instead, the character makes a Perform (wind) check that adds +1 to damage for every “5 points rolled on the skill check”, which isn’t smooth as far as wording is concerned. Okay, Adding skills to atk or damage is usually a HUGE issue: There is no component of the game that is this easy to game. That being said, the significant exchange rate keeps this slightly in check, though, on average, this does represent a damage upgrade in the hands of even a moderately capable player, so balance-conscious GMs may want to eliminate this part of the ability. As a suggestion to retain the flavor of this modification: Make the bonus thus granted to damage cap based on a formula that is based on class level.

Instead of all infusions, the character gains bardic performance, beginning play with countersong and inspire courage, using kineticist levels as bard levels.. Higher levels net dirge of doom, inspire greatness, soothing performance, frightening tune and inspire heroics, but none of the other bardic performances. Performance upgrades of bardic performances work as though the character was a bard. In addition to these, 3rd level yields tune twister, which allows the character to accept 1 burn when initiating the performance. One ally that can see and hear the wind whistler gains enveloping wind’s benefits as well as sonic resistance 1 per 5 points of the Perform check’s result. Contagious tune is gained at 6th level and allows for a multi-target buff versus mind-affecting effects, but in an interesting twist, also penalizes atk and concentration slightly. Metakinesis works differently: 5th level lets the wind whistler accept 1 point of burn to alter kinetic blasts as though affected by Disruptive Spell. Problem: The Feat’s DCs are partially contingent on spell level and the ability fails to specify how the blast is treated for these purposes. 9th level allows for the addition of Thundering Spell for the cost of 2 burn.

At 5th level, the wind whistler may accept 1 point of burn to increase the bard levels for the purpose of determining bardic performances as +4 levels higher for 3 rounds; at 8th level, 2 burn may be accepted for +6 levels for 2 rounds instead. Not a fan here; 11th level allows for the acceptance of 3 burn to add Lingering Performance; if the character has the feat, its benefits are extended to 4 rounds instead – nice. This replaces infusion specialization.

At 7th level, the character is locked into expanding air, but does not gain the usual benefits, instead gaining a Performance (wind) based bardic masterpiece sans spell/feat-prerequisites, with 12th and 17th level allowing for the replacement of the masterpiece. At 16th level, the character may accept 2 points of burn to double the skill-check governed bonus damage – as noted before, the base ability is problematic and this exacerbates the issue. The capstone allows for the expenditure of 5 rounds of bardic performance to create a 10-ft.-tall cyclone, a summoned large air elemental that acts as a shadowbard. Interesting final ability.

We also receive two new 5-level prestige classes, the first of which would be the aetheric assailant, who gets d10 HD, 2 + Int skills per level (I really wished non-Int-based classes would just get more; 2+Int skills, when Int is likely to be 0 or 1, just isn’t fun for anyone), full BAB-progression and medium Fort-and Ref-save progression. Requirement-wise, we need a couple of hit-hard feats (like Cleave), BAB +5 and Elemental Focus (aether) as well as kinetic blade.

The PrC begins play with Clarity, which allows for the use of kinetic blast while under the effects of rage – which is a bit weird, considering that barbarian levels etc. are not necessarily required. Kinetic wielding lets you use kinetic blade in conjunction with weapons for which you have the Weapon Focus feat, adding weapon damage, enhancement bonuses etc. to the kinetic blade’s damage dealt, but makes any such attack otherwise targeting touch AC instead target regular AC. Here’s the issue: This may be used in conjunction with full attacks, but requires the acceptance of 1 point of burn per iterative attack, which also stacks: The third attack would hence cost 2 points. OUCH. I get the reason for this, but considering the limited usefulness of iterative attacks in the first place, rewarding a replacement of them may have constituted a more elegant trick. The PrC is intended to have its levels be treated as full kineticist levels, as well as class levels for martial classes. Here’s a nitpick: “martial classes” is not official rules-language; while often used as a catch-all term across boards, as far as rules-text is concerned, we really need that spelled out. Do inquisitors qualify? Bloodragers? Soulknives? You get the problem.

2nd level nets aether shrouded shield, which lets you use blasts to temporarily infuse resistances or miss chances into a wielded shield, which scale based on damage dice. This buff lasts 1 round; for 1 accepted burn, instead for Con-mod rounds. I like the idea, but the implementation is pretty weak. Also: “Lightning” is the damage type in 5e; it’s “electricity” in PFRPG. This level also allows for Kinetic Blade/cleave synergy, which later may be used with kinetic whip, though once more, +1 burn per target beyond first will make you hit the hard burn cap really fast.

At 3rd level, the kinetic wielding of weaponry allows for the 30-ft. at-range kinetic blast/weapon-combo attack, but once more costs 1 point of burn per round in which it’s maintained – per weapon, so while you may TWF this, it becomes pretty costly fast and, weirdly, there is not much reason to do so: You can’t deal blast damage when controlling more than one weapon thus. Additionally, reach and the like is somewhat opaque for this ability. At 4th level, the character can infuse the armor with aether blasts, self-granting DR/magic (lol) based on blast damage. At this level, a lot will have DR and, well, while there is burn-based duration-extension, I’m not blown away here. The 5th level ability increases the cap of burn acceptable per round by 1 and yields a free trip after crits with the telekinetically-wielded weaponry. Weird. The PrC,a s a whole, feels unfocused and doesn’t really have anything that makes me excited about it; the uses of burn are not particularly exciting.

The second PrC, the Cerulean Star Disciple must be non-evil, has d8 HD, 4 + Int skills per level, ½ BAb-progression and medium Fort- and Ref-save progression. The prerequisites are easy to meet and have a story-requirement, basically requiring that the target suffered from a nasty undead-effect à la mummy rot, level drain, etc. – I really like such instances. The PrC is obviously tied in to some extent, flavor-wise, with Desna (with serial numbers filed off), gaining starknife-proficiency. The PrC gains the cerulean fire blast, which acts as blue flame blast, but inflicts +1 damage to undead per die and such targets take a -2 penalty to atk and saves for class level rounds on a failed save. Additionally, the PrC gains kinetic healer as a utility wild talent sans requiring aether or water as elemental focus. PrC levels stack with kineticist levels for the purpose of maximum burn per round and infusion + wild talent qualification. 2nd level nets cleansing flames, which allows the character to increase burn cost of the kinetic healer variant by 1 or 2 to remove an array of negative conditions. 3rd level nets ½ holy damage (which does not exist in PFRPG) with cerulean fire blasts. Additionally, targets may be set ablaze, with the continuous damage being holy (again, does not exist). At 5th level, the damage is wholly transformed to the make-belief holy type and is treated as undead bane.

3rd level allows for the line, cone or sphere shaping of cerulean fire, all at the cost of 1 burn per 10 ft. the blast shape takes up, which is pretty restrictive. Thankfully, Ref applies for half damage for such AoE-blasts. 4th level nets a cerulean fire shield variant for 1 point of burn, lasting Con-mod rounds. At 5th level, the PrC also reduces burn cost of cerulean fire-based blasts by 1 to a minimum of 0 and gains +4 to saves versus undead special abilities. (Should be codified.) The character can regain burn when destroying undead, thankfully with a daily cap that prevents abuse.

All righty, after these, we get an array of new elements. All of the elements get their own saturation (Nice!). Since this review is already pretty long, I will not go through each and every wild talent o infusion. The first would be bone, which is different than what I expected: We get dual-physical damage type blasts and the basic tricks allow for the upgrade of unarmed attacks, for example. The tricks this provides often duplicate spells, e.g. ice spears, with damage changed to negative energy. While the majority of tricks here did not blow me away, I enjoyed the corpse explosion and the means to temporarily grant vulnerability to bludgeoning damage or eliminate a target’s skeletal defenses. Not a bad element, but one that could imho have used a couple more tricks that no other element can pull off.

The second element would be chaos…and, well, it’s chaotic: Immediate action rerolls, but on a second failure, the target is staggered for one round. The blast replaces 3d6s with 1d20, 2d6s with 1d12, making the base damage more swingy. Also: Free bane versus lawful targets. This would be less of an issue, but the blast is untyped, which I d not think is a good call here. (Untyped damage must be handled very carefully…) Problematic would, for example, be a barrier that auto-disintegrates missiles and even thrown weapons. Yeah, that plus +5 thing? It’s gone. No save. WTF. Horrid mutation, a 2 burn level 2 substance infusion is also a really versatile potential save or suck and should probably by at least qualified as a polymorph effect. We also have 0 burn utility subjective gravity for free wall walking etc. Note that this element isn’t necessarily bad, but it feels weird in some of its design decisions, as it’s hard to get either the evil or whimsical chaos angle properly here.

Crystal feels a bit like a brother of bone and earth, allowing for some caltrop-ing, a bit of terrain control and otherwise feeling kinda similar to earth; personally, I probably would have made this an extension of earth, as the light/refraction-angle associated with crystals isn’t really represented here. It’s not a bad element, but it could use a couple of more unique tricks.

Dream is very versatile, allowing you to mimic elemental blasts; however, the blasts are only partially real, meaning that a successful Will-save can greatly decrease their efficiency and the blast is mind-affecting to boot. Speaking with the sleeping, tracking in the realm of dreams and a ton of spell-duplicates can be found here. I like the focus of this one, as a whole, though it does require a bit of flexibility from the GM. I wouldn’t allow it in all campaigns, but if you have a dream-theme, it’s really neat- As a secondary element in particular, this one can be neat. As a whole, in spite of the spell-duplicates, one of my favorites herein.

The final new element would be time, and I’m going to spare you the sordid details, but this one is broken as all hell. It thinks that “supernatural aging” is a damage type (it’s not!) and sports options to advance targets on the age category for 2 blasts. Lol, that is fatal very quickly. We have a per-encounter ability (ironic, considering that encounters have nothing to do with time…and yes, insert my “per-encounter abilities make no sense*-rant right here!) Restore youth allows you to cheat age. WTF. Why are there liches? And Stop Time…is a clear case of “What were they thinking???” – it’s a level 9 utility wild talent, 1 burn…that vastly outclasses frickin’ time stop. Yeah, you heard me. Also: 5th level perma-aging. WTF.

We also get notes on spark of life and draining infusion and use with the new elements. There are 3 new utility wild talents: Kinetic blade/fist charge with a trail of energy, an elemental aura and an elemental body SP duplicator. Bolster Kinetic Defense can be pretty potent in some combos: It makes elemental defense be treated as though you had spent 1 burn on it and may be taken multiple times. Elemental Ambassador is weak-sauce: It nets you a bonus on Cha-based skill checks and an elemental language. Kinetic Crafting allows for minor crafting, but oddly does not cover all elements herein. Kinetic Synergy is a spellcasting/kineticist-combo feat that allows you to accept burn for more spell-damage or DCs. Yeah, not a fan. Spells don’t need more power. Kinetic Understanding allows for the limited use of spell-trigger and spell-completion items. Signature Infusion lets you choose an infusion and reduce burn cost by 1. Again, not 100% happy. Then again, Merciful Blast is glorious and, coincidentally, I wrote an analogue ability half a year ago: It allows the kineticist to blast at a lower power-level and for nonlethal blasts.

We also get 6 new magic items: Athame Ignus is a blade for fire specialists; condensed elemental energy is a category of item that is highly problematic: It’s basically a throwaway item that can take burn for you. While it’s priced pretty highly and grouped by level, it’s still something I would not allow. Then again, if you enjoy all-day casting and have no problem with pearl of power abuse in your game, then this won’t bother you either. Focus gauntlets enhance attacks with blasts. Nexus aloe oil is a burn remover, but repeated use causes the sickened condition – should imho have a caveat that it can’t be applied when the character is sickened already. Third eyes of elemental accuracy are yet another item to enhance the chance to hit. Whistling arrows are adamantine, have a slightly wonky rules-verbiage, and are intended for use with the archetype. The pdf closes with an array of mundane items that represent different stones: The proper kineticist-specialist in possession of such an item gains a minor insight bonus. I liked these.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting, on a formal level, are very good. On a rules-language level, there are a couple of issues in the details, but as a whole, this is relatively tight, which is impressive considering the difficulty of the kineticist’s rules-chassis. Layout adheres mostly to a two-column full-color standard, with a couple of pages instead using a 1 –column standard. The pdf sports really nice full-color artworks, which, while public domain, are NOT ones I’ve seen time and again. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.

Andrew Hoskins, David S. McCrae and Jeff Harris did not have an easy task here: The kineticist is probably one of Paizo’s most difficult classes to design for: It requires serious understanding of both rules-language and math. Considering that, the pdf, for the most part, does a decent job. While there are issues here and there, particularly regarding the value of damage types, a crucial balancing tool for the kineticist, the pdf gets a lot right. But it has a big issue. You see, almost all kineticist-supplements released by 3rd party publishers have been done by N. Jolly and the members of his team KOP. And…well, they are amazing. The Kineticists of Porphyra-series and Legendary Kineticists (can’t say anything about Part II as per the writing of this review) are amazing; in particular, KOP III’s dimensional ripper is just pure amazing. There also is a kind of aesthetic going on here: As a non-vancian class, kineticists shine most when they don’t require spell-references, when they can do unique things.

The kineticist options in this book, while not bad, did simply not blow me away and left me ambivalent; add to that the minor hiccups and the appeal drops. Another problem I see here pertains that a LOT of the small design parts here add to the min-maxing game; we get escalation of numbers in depth, when the kineticist’s main issue is that it needs more versatility. The craftsmanship of this book is, as a whole, pretty solid, but there are relatively few aspects herein that I’d consider to be really neat. The pdf also sports, here and there, aspects that are frankly broken and should be kept out of the hands of min-maxers. As a whole, I am sorry to say this, but I was pretty underwhelmed by this pdf. If you’re a GM who is confident regarding the refining and scavenging of rules, then this may well be worth checking out, but it should receive careful monitoring. My final verdict cannot exceed 2.5 stars, though I will round up due to in dubio pro reo.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Into the Breach: The Kineticist
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Tides of War: Kineticst/X Feats
by Veronica E. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/27/2017 21:10:24

Tides of War: Kineticist/X Feats is a short supplement containing feats for multiclass kineticists. It contains a page and a half of feats, all designed to be taken as early as character level 3rd. None are a simple “Count your level as X for the purposes of Y” – rather, they all add new ways to use a kineticist, in particular the burn mechanic.

Many of the feats require you to accept burn to utilize them, with a note in the introduction of the product stating that the burn cost cannot be reduced by any means, including gather power. Examples include the ability to reduce the bonus to Constitution granted by a mutagen instead of accepting burn, add a hex to a kinetic blast, add the advanced template to summons, or funnel burn into one of many ‘pool’ class features to restore points to them. My personal favourite may be Raging Kinesis, which allows a raging character to form their kinetic blade as a free action and keep it activated for the duration of their rage!

Generally, the kineticist class doesn’t lend itself to multiclassing, but these feats provide new and interesting ways to do so. Pick it up if you’re interested in expanding your kineticist, or playing in a gestalt campaign – it’s cheap and worth it.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Tides of War: Kineticst/X Feats
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Into the Breach: The Kineticist
by Jarryd W. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 11/20/2017 13:20:16

Lets get started then shall we…

To be fair to all who read this I want to disclose that Flying Pincushion Games gave me my copy of “Into the Breach: The Kineticist” in exchange for this review. They requested I do not let this fact colour my view of the work and I intend to be as objective in my review as I can.

Conclusion I really like this PDF. The quality of the crunch and the fluff is suburb. This book adds a bunch of really cool things you could never do before, and they are portrayed evocatively. The mechanics all seem to be well thought out and balanced. Honestly, if you find the current state of the kineticist to be slightly lacking, this book is pretty much a must. I would consider the content here to be on a par with the much acclaimed Kinetecists of Porphyra series.

The only things that I find lacking is some of the art work, some of the more niche rules interactions not being spelled out, and a bit of a personal dislike of the Hellfire Kineteicist’s portrayal.

4/5

The really long detail

The pdf clocks in at 40 pages, the content starts on page 5 and ends on page 39. For those like me who like to look at these things it sits at 35 pages of content, at 6$ you are getting a page for 0.1714..$. Not important to a lot of you but I like to look at price per page. This comes in pretty nicely on this front to be honest. It isn’t a paizo hardcover by any means (Pathfinder Cor rulebook is 0.0173..$ per page) but sits very comfortably in the realm of smaller pdf’s and third party products. Now onto the actual content of the PDF.

The table of contents is well laid out and tells us what to expect in the rest of the book and I will be trying to structure the rest of my review according to the table we are given:

  • About into the Breach
  • New Archetypes
  • New Prestige Classes
  • New Elements
  • New Wild Talents
  • New Feats
  • New Magic Items
  • New Mundane Items

About into the Breach A typical about section, tells us exactly what the book is here to do, and what the entire series of “Into the Breach” is about.

New Archetypes Aetheric Marksman is the first archetype and is a properly awesome idea. It adds a bunch of neat tricks to aether as an element specifically when using arrows in conjunction with her blast. The mechanics are very fun, and seem well balanced. A few questions remain unanswered with regards to how burn from some of the specific abilities interact with gather power, how one of the abilities interact with the snake infusion (Piercing arrow) and there should probably be an action type specified for removing an arrow from her Burrowing Arrow ability.

A very cool idea. I would also almost like to suggest that the Aetheric Marksman get to pick any ammunition to use to gain bonuses. If you want to play a Steel Pusher from the Mistborn being able to pick coins with this class gives you exactly what you want.

Hellfire Kineticist is the second archetype. The Hellfire Kineticist is called out as being an archetype specifically for Tiefling’s with a devilish bloodline.

The archetype has some very cool abilities and reminds me a bit of ghost rider in some cases and just a normal evil at others. I want to say that the crunch here is absolutely amazing, and the fluff is very interesting. Overall a really cool class again. A great archetype for those characters who you want to have fight against their evil lineage to do good, and also helps remove one of the biggest issues with sticking to a single element (energy resistances).

Wind Whistler is the final archetype.

This. Is. Sheer. Awesome. If you have ever wanted to play a buffer, but also a kineticist, this right here is what you want. It has some seriously cool fluff and the mechanics back it up just as well. I am a bit dubious about tying some bonus damage into a skill check, but it adds a very interesting element to the class, and helps you lower the priority of constitution a bit if you want to. However, beware that though con is taken away from damage, it is not taken away from maximum burn. It would be worth saying whether or not her saves from bardic performance are based off of her constitution or charisma, but as it says “exactly as the bard class ability” it is probably charisma.

This may well be my favourite of the three archetypes, with the other two very close behind. There are a few question left unanswered here but overall all of the archetypes are awesome.

New Prestige Classes Here we are given two 5 level prestige classes, one which expands the Kineticists options with regards melee combat, allowing her to wield weapons with strands of aether and imbue her shield and armor with her blasts to increase her defences. I really like the idea behind the Aetheric Assailant and one of my favourite things it does is integrate cleave in a balanced way. It also keeps progressing your blasts!

Cerulean Star Disciple is an anti-undead kineticist. This PrC also increases your blast progression and the like which is welcome. This to me is what you would get if you crossed a cleric with a kineticist and turned the dial to 11. This PrC adds a bunch of support and some cool tricks to an element that can be missing that.

New Elements The new elements introduced are both awesome and very flavourful. The best thing for me is the sheer versatility and the amount of content there is on all of these elements. It really is impressive.

There is also a page on how different existing infusions effect these elements, and suggestions on how some existing elements combine with the draining infusion.

New Wild Talents A short and sweet section that adds some new and very cool utility abilities. One of these is something I am sure that everyone has wanted to do and been sad they have been unable to.

New Feats Much like the new wild talent section. Some of these might be a bit costly for feats, but most are very cool and flavourful. One gives you an elements language if you have overflow active, and give you a circumstance bonus on charisma based checks with native speakers.

New Magic Items The new whistling arrow introduced in this section couples well with the first archetype introduced in the book. It is a nifty tool. Overall this section actually has a bunch of items you would want to buy on a kineticist to help you spend all that money you don’t have anything to spend on.

New Mundane Items These all share the same price and offer a slew of neat bonuses to a kineticist of certain elemental affinities. Again, quite cool and very interesting.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Into the Breach: The Kineticist
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Into the Breach: The Kineticist
by Adam S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 11/16/2017 23:45:42

A lot of material here.

As a fan of the kineticist I liked several of the options in this book.

The thing I found disappointing is that all the archetypes and prestige classes are element specific.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Into the Breach: The Kineticist
by Jerry M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 11/16/2017 18:17:06

The PDF starts off with a brief description of what the series(Into the Breach) is about and then the table of contents. Before this is the cover art and a quote from [i]The Art of War[/i] that I think is really fitting for the class. Well done there.

Right after that we get to the archetypes.

Aetheric Marksman is an Aether Kineticist archetype that allows you to use a longbow or shortbow(with which you are proficient now) to make your Telekintic Blast. The damage you deal changes and feats like Rapid Shot don't work with it, but Weapon Focus(Kinetic Blast) works. The range is 60ft though, not the full increment of the bow, but any enhancements on your bow(like Flaming or Holy) apply and later you get the ability to grant your bow special properties too, albeit in exchange for taking burn. Later class features include turning arrows into small area of effect damage, piercing through a target to hit another and deal bleed, and shooting an arrow that digs itself deeper into the target.

Archetype Opinion: Not a bad archetype, but unless you can use Gather Power on the features that require burn(which I think you can, but I'm not sure) I don't see it being an all day use class.

Hellfire Kineticists(only available to devil-spawn tieflings) start off with an amazing ability: Half the damage of their fire blasts deal unholy damage. The second ability is an infusion(replacing first level infusion) that sickens or nauseates depending on if the target makes their save.

The part that makes me really hesitant is giving up elemental defense and a bunch of utility talents for being treated as an Outsider(Evil) and scaling bonus to fire and poison effects. Fire's Defense isn't good enough to warrant keeping it, but you can't gain one from any other element.

Later abilities include being able to know if someone has comitted an evil act and what it was, an imp familiar, and a pretty cool capstone.

Archetype Opinon: Pretty cool and evocative. It's a pretty neat archetype that is NOT evil only. Good job on this one, FPG!

Wind Whistler is an Air Kineticist archetype. I'm not so sure about it's first ability, which deals damage based on your Perform(wind) checks instead of adding your Constituion modifier. It's interesting, but skews damage a bit.

Next [i]all[/i] infusions are given up in exchange for getting bardic performances, including two unique to the archetype. Both are really cool, especially the one that allows you to give your Enveloping Winds to someone else! The rest of the abilities are equally good as well, with my favorite being trading your composite blast(you must choose Air are your expanded element) for a bardic masterpiece instead. You only get one though, but you can switch it out for free at 12th and 17th level for another one.

Archetype Opinion: This is just great. Without a doubt my favorite of the three archetypes. I'd have gone into more detail on describing the rest of it's abilities, but there are a lot and I don't wanna spoil them for anyone. :)

Prestige Classes: A sorely lacking option for kineticists so far. We get two in this PDF.

Aetheric Assailant is the Eldritch Knight of Kineticists, though it's a bit harder to get into(five feats[though on is armor proficiency], at least 3rd level kineticist, and one infusion).

It has full Base Attack Bonus and can use kinetic abilites(supernatural or spell-like) while Raging, which is a nice touch. You don't have to be a barbarian though, as even under the effects of the spell [i]rage[/i] you can use your abilities.

It also has the ability to add ther weapon damage dice(if using one) to their Kinetic Blade, but it comes at a hefty price: you target normal Armor Class and take cumulative burn for each attack beyond the first you make. Yikes!

It does get better from their though, with other abilities like your prestige class levels counting as kineticst and your martial class level for feats, channeling your Aether blast into your shield and/or armor, and even wielding one(or more!) weapon from afar. The capstone is being able to accept 1 extra point of burn in a round and free trip attempts when you confirm a critical hit.

Prestige Class Opinion: Pretty nice. I love prestige classes that you multiclass for, and Aetheric Assailant is really well made and balanced. I'd certainly play one.

Cerulean Star is for Pyro Kineticists that expanded into Fire twice. It's a five level prestige class that requires you to have Blue Flame blast to qualify. The weirdess bit is that Cerulean Stars gain proficiency with starknives. I mean, I get it, Star is in the name, but come on...

This prestige class is all about destroying undead. Your blast deals more damage against undead, you gain Kinetic Healer without needing Aether or Water that later can fix conditions like nauseated, setting undead on 'fire' that deals holy damage, and the capstone ability reduces your current burn by one every time you use Cerulean Fire to destroy an undead. I feel like that should've been the fourth level ability though, since their Heavenly Radiance ability at level 4 allows you to make your Cerulean Fire deal either full Holy damage, half Fire and half Holy, or full Fire damage as you choose. That's amazing.

Prestige Class Opinion: For what it does this prestige class does it well. While it is good at destroying undead it also has potential for fighting other kinds of evil creatures. It's a lovely class that has it's place in just about any campaign.

Now we move on to the new Elements.

Bone, first, is very creepy. It should be. Talents you can pick up include causing bones spurs to erupt out of the ground or give your blasts the [i]ghost touch[/i] quality. The defense is pretty thematic too.

Chaos is next and it have a [i]very[/i] unusual blast. First it is treated as [i]bane[/i] against Lawful subtyped creatures, deals no damage to Chaotic subtyped creatures, and changes damage dice into d20s and d12s as it increases. Whoa, weirdness! The defense gives you bonuses to avoid being grappled and getting out, lower armor check penalty, and gives you fortification that stacks with elemental overflow.

Crystal's defense is one that doesn't scale. Not by accpeting Burn, anyway. It gives you an armor bonus to your Armor Class and Touch Armor class that's based off of Con, and can blind those that hit you, no save, for a round. Crystal also has neat talents like increased crit range, bleed damage, and deflecting rays.

Dream is another with a neat blast. Think [i]shadow evocation[/i] but mimics other kinetic blasts instead. Need fire damage? Use it. Targets do get a will save for drastically reduced damage, and its mind-affecting so immunites and resistances apply. It's defense lets you continue to function if something makes you fall asleep, and you can accept to gain bonuses against mind-affecting spells and effects. It's not all nice though, as one utility talent is [i]phantasmal killer.[/i]

Time has two different blasts, one for aging others and another to throw weapons like a TK blast. It's defense is a Dodge bonus you can accept Burn to increase. It has a utility talent for running or charging up walls and across ceilings, so you have some nice movement options too.

There is a great section about Spark of Life and the new elements, and feats after that like treating one elemental defense as already having one point of Burn, or qualifying for any item creation feat. Kineticists making potions of Mage Armor and wands of Fireball are possible now, and that's great.

One feat really stands out as a way to act like you are less of a threat or be more careful with your damage. Merciful Blast treats any blast damage as non-lethal and you can reduce the damage you deal like you were a lower level than you really are. This is great for a few reasons, like a villain working with the party and not want to reveal the extent of their power.

After that there are sections for magical and mundane items, a quick glance of which really fit and looks nice.

All in all this is a great pdf that expands on the kineticist in ways I feel have been needed while also being different from other books.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Tides of War: Bard/X Feats
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 08/24/2017 04:19:59

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This collection of multiclass-feats for bard-multiclasses clocks in at 6 ages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 3 pages, so let’s take a look!

This was moved up in my review-queue as a prioritized review at the request of my patreons.

All righty, after a brief introduction, we go through the feats alphabetically – you know the drill!

-Acting Over Action: Extra Performance is added to the list of bonus feats; alternatively, you can learn a bardic masterpiece you meet the prereqs instead.

-Bursting With Knowledge: Levels from a Knowledge (all) class skill class stack with bard levels for bardic knowledge.

-Cantrip Conversion: You reduce your bard cantrip array, but may convert a bard cantrip towards one of the other class when preparing spells. Interesting.

-Competent Precision: When using inspire competence, you can elect to expend twice the number of bardic performance rounds; if you do, an ally within 30 ft. targeted gains your sneak attack, while you lose it for that duration. This is amazing. Big time.

-Inspired Hymn: Designate smite target and start inspire courage higher; if the smite target is evil, treat the performance benefits as +5 higher. Neat.

-Inspiring Beatdown: When using a flurry (monk’s or brawler’s) while maintaining a bardic performance, you can spend 2 performance rounds as a swift action and make an easy Perform (Percussion) check – on a success, you increase the performance’s benefits as though your levels is +5 higher for 1 round. Nice!

-Musical Implement: When using an implement instrument while maintaining a bardic performance, the implement school spells are at CL +1. Mechanically simple, but makes SO MUCH SENSE. Oh yes, my violin’s haunted…

-Partners in Harmony: As a full-round action, have both you and linked companion (phantom, eidolon, animal companion, etc.) start a performance, provided the companion has Perform. Level of the performance increases by +5, but you consume twice the bardic performance rounds.

-Practiced Appel: Increases save DC of performances and penalty duration of performances and masterpieces versus favored enemies.

-Talent Show: 2/day, spend 4 rounds of performance to gain an increment of a talents-usage – these include kineticist talents, ninja tricks, alchemist discoveries, etc. and kineticist talents still cost burn and it only works for talents that work in increments of rounds and minutes – no cheese. Wide open…yet works. Nice.

-You Must be Mistaken: Once per 72 hours, as an immediate action, you can spend any number of bardic performance and make a Charisma check upon violating your order’s tenets – you get +1 to the check per round spent. On a success, you are treated as though you have not violated your edicts.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed no hiccups on a formal or rules-language level. Layout adheres to a two-column full-color standard with thematically-fitting stock art. The pdf even has bookmarks, in spite of its brevity.

David S. McCrae delivers big time here – these could have been boring combo/hybrid-y mix-feats – instead, he has elected to go the extra mile and instead do something creative, unique with each of these feats, all while staying concise and precise. Being literally all killer, no filler, this humble supplement provides some seriously nice tactics for musically-inclined characters. Add to that the low asking-price and we have a great file, well worth of 5 stars + seal of approval.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Tides of War: Bard/X Feats
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Into the Breach: The Bard
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 08/05/2017 14:30:03

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This installment of the "Into the Breach"-series clocks in at 41 pages, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 36 pages of content, so let's take a look, shall we?

This review was moved up in my review-queue as a prioritized review at the request of my patreons.

We begin, as often, with a variety of new archetypes, the first of which would be the chronicler of blades, who gains a modified proficiency list that includes all the dueling weapons and at 1st level, they get Weapon Focus in their choice of short sword, longsword or rapier - which is a bit odd: Why include exotic weapons in the proficiency-array and then don't allow for their choice via this class ability? 2nd level yields Dazzling Display and every 4 levels thereafter yield a bonus feat, chosen from a generally well-selected array, and uses class level as BAB for the prerequisite purposes. At first level, he similarly uses class level instead of his BAB when making an attack or combat maneuver attempt with a sword for which the archetype has Weapon Focus while wearing light armor and no shield heavier than a buckler. You have guessed where this goes by now, right? Yep, this guy is basically a spell-less bard. Instead of well-versed, the archetype gets +4 (untyped) to learn or remember features of blades, which is pretty circumstantial. Instead of versatile performance, the archetype receives venerable gambit, which is usable 1/day, +1/day at 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter. A venerable gambit is a Knowledge (history, nobility or local) check - 1/2 the result is added as a competence bonus to atk or CMB when using a sword. The definition could be a bit clearer here and while the skill-check can be boosted very high, the daily limit keeps this in check - combined with the lack of spellcasting, I can see this work. All in all, a martial bard, most suitable for lower powered games (or even magic-less ones!).

The courtless marvel replaces inspire courage with summon nature's ally, increasing the spell that's duplicated iteration by +1 at 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter - 5th level would allow for summon nature's ally III, for example. Speaking of which - at 5th level, several fey are added to the potentially called creatures, replacing lore master. And yes, the ability does have a caveat that prevents spamming it or stacking it via dismissing - no performance/summon-cycling and maintaining the creatures requires maintaining the performance. This is pretty interesting and even takes the item interaction into account. Instead of inspire greatness, 9th level provides the option to grant an ally the speed of a quickling, +1 ally affected for every 4 levels thereafter. Rules-wise, this increases all movements speeds and provides concealment.

No complaints. 12th level provides a stunning glance performance, including a caveat that prevents spamming it and a proper range and codification. At 15th level, inspire heroics is replaced with dance of fate: Choose an ally and a hostile creature within 60 ft of each other - if one is affected, so is the other. This is strategically interesting and pretty potent. Versatile performance is replaced with the fey theme, granting at 2nd and every 4 levels after that a spell known from the druid or ranger list. While the ranger-list is potent, it's the only thing I'd consider a bit wonky here. Well-versed is replaced by wild empathy at full level at 2nd level and 10th level provides a massive DC-improvement (1/4 class level, rounded down) to enchantment spells, but also makes the character more susceptible to the tricks of the fey. I really like this one. It has a strong theme, is pretty creative and while it is possible to poke small holes in some aspects of it, these won't usually come up in most games and are more something to be aware for the rules-savvy crowd. Still, really like this!

The fabulist employs Wisdom as the governing spellcasting attribute and gains an arcane bond with an animal as well as a domain from a limited list - and yes, they're cast as arcane spells, but loses countersong and well-versed. The "darker" performances are replaced with new ones - unfortunately, e.g. morsel of Wisdom is pretty nasty, allowing the fabulist to make an ally use his Wisdom modifier for all saves, ability checks and skill checks. while the performance is maintained...but the balance here would be that the performance cannot be started quickly and the fabulist can only grant one such bonus per performance, thus requiring cycling and a lot of action economy investment, rendering the power more moderate. Higher levels yield a performance-based planar ally and a capstone atonement, which is relatively fitting. Something that felt a bit weird: The archetype RAW gets a domain, but only specifies getting domain spells, which makes me think that the other crunchy bits are not gained...but I'm not sure there. The ability could be read either way.

The grotesque gets diminished spellcasting and replaces inspire courage with a powerful debuff. Dirge of doom can additionally be used as a variant that causes the sickened condition, rather than the shaken one, and similarly, 14th level yields a variant of frightening tune that can nauseate. The true unique selling point of the archetype, however, would be the disturbing acts - one is gained at 1st level and another one at 5th level and every 5 thereafter, excluding 20th, replacing bardic knowledge and well-versed. These take basically the classic Freakshow tropes and represent them as rules - and they are pretty potent: DR for being pierced by knives is solid, but the more intriguing ones would be the option to eat objects and regurgitate them, being able to initiate bardic performances as a free action after being hurt (and choosing to bleed profusely), the tricks are cool. Not all are perfect or equally potent or well-codified. The bite attack, I assume, would be primary as per default. Fire-spitting lacks a range and compared to it, the option to switch between multiple rings is much more potent. Similarly, the rules-language oscillates a bit, stumbling at basics, while getting, surprisingly, the option to be able to wear swarms and have them as unreliable quasi-pets pretty well done. I have a soft spot for the outcasts and this resonated very much with me - while not perfect, its blemishes can be easily fixed by a competent GM.

The jester is basically an Antagonize specialist who can use Perform (Dance) instead of Acrobatics for movement-related tricks and he also gets sneak attack and the evasions at higher levels instead of spellcasting. The option to use japes to render targets flat-footed on a failed save for multiple rounds needs some nerfing and an activation action, though. The lifeweaver, if the name was not ample indicator, would be the healing bard, who adds some condition-healing spells to his arsenal, while also gaining Lingering Performance (with a cap). The performances the archetype gains center on granting healing tricks to the performances -as well as the option to evenly divide damage among limited allies - which is very potent, but also cool. While the rules-language is very precise, it lies in the nature of this type of ability that it may present some issues to some groups...but at the same, it can make for a great "united we stand"-feeling among PCs and players, but also vastly enhances the value of DR and resistances. Pure amazing for some groups, broken for others...I'm divided on this one. Compared to that. the resistance-granting is less precise and fails to clarify the energies that qualify - does force count? Sonic? Channel energy at 1/2 class level can also be found. I like this archetype, but wish it was slightly more polished.

The matchmaker is really cool: He can choose and coach clients, use serenades to cause infatuation and use bardic performance to maintain matches between unlike beings. Very interesting and flavorful choice! The prop comic can only use Perform (comedy)-based masterpieces and gets diminished spellcasting...but at higher levels, he can designate targets as "lovely assistants", making them the butt of the joke (i.e. the one on the receiving end). At 2nd level and 5th, as well as every 3 levels thereafter, the archetype gets a schtick, which use Perform (Comedy) instead of CMB and have their saves governed by Cha ( 10 + 1/2 class level + Cha-mod), if applicable. Props need to be crafted, have a cost and a limited number of uses. They use bardic performance as a resource and are REALLY COOL. Use Battle Flatus, to force enemies to use immediate actions to move away from the fart-noise, interrupting combos. Use big-wig cigars to cloud yourself in smoke...or stick it in a foe's mouth and have it explode, using dirty tricks. These are creative, cool and really fun - and they include forcing pious characters to attack irreverent symbols. I love these. I seriously do. As an avid Joker-fan, I really want to see MORE of these. For me, this may well be the best archetype the Flying Pincushion crew has crafted so far. Complex, unique, cool. Seriously, one amazing archetype.

The rookery master gains a familiar (thrush or raven) which shares the performance round pool with the character - basically a pet-performance archetype. Simple, yet elegant. The Skirling Adept can use bardic performance to inflict low-range sonic damage via lethal whistles, gaining a familiar as well as the option to use totem spears more effectively and later shatter things or call lightning/wind wall - the archetype may not be as mechanically interesting, but its strong theme makes it a fun and flavorful option. The song bow is a sling specialist who can use slings as wind instruments, bows as fiddles. He can imbue sonic damage in his ammunition and may also fire ammo at empty squares and use it as origin of his performance. Big plus: The rules-language of the complex concept hits home. Sorry, I'll punch myself for that lame joke later...) At higher levels, allies share bonuses against targets hit by rallying shots and higher level options, we have sonic AoE-blasts - and yes, all of this is balanced and the archetype gets some custom spells added. Powerful, but damn cool option. The Squad Leader, finally, would be one of the more complex archetypes - he gets a tactician-like network of allies, the bound squad, and may use his urgent commands to allow for bonuses, teamwork feat sharing, grant additional AoOs - basically, this fellow represents a battle lord-ish commander. Potent and solid.

Now each of the Into the Breach-books has a PrC that aims to make a subpar class-combo worthwhile - this time around, the 5-level Holy Rhapsodist, with d8 HD, 4 + Int skills per level 3/4 BAB-progression and good Fort- and Ref-Progression as well as 5/5th spellcasting progression does just that for the paladin and bard classes. The class enhances sonic damage of weapons wielded and smite may be turned into sonic damage that is more potent against evil targets. The PrC counts as paladin levels and bard levels for the purpose of lay on hands/mercy and bardic performance-progressions. These guys may expend lay on hands while performing to AoE heal and later even apply mercies and add buffs to allies. The 4th level ability should refer to character level, not class level, though - it's clear from context, but still a bit confusing. Oh, and woe to those that are on the receiving end of the smite of these guys...allies also get a damage boost...Powerful and interesting hybrid fusion PrC.

The mime is an alternate bard class that must be humanoid or a native outsider. The mime gets d8 HD, 6 + Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good Ref- and Will-saves. They do not get weapon proficiencies, but don't take penalties from using improvised weaponry. Their spellcasting is governed by Cha and something special...much like the whole class. Remember Final Fantasy 5 and 6? You see, the basic bardic performance of this class deals with just that: Copying the tricks of nearby allies. Attacks. Defense. Feints....a LOT of tricks can be used this way and the class manages to codify the tricks rather well. I do have a couple of questions here, though: The copycat performance is a standard action, but can be used on e.g. an ally full-attacking a foe - does this also grant a full attack to the mimic? If so, does it have to be executed against the same target as the copied action, if any? Apart from this ambiguity, the class feature is clear, which is pretty impressive. Beyond this copying of targets, the class gets a limited resource 3/day, +1/day at 3rd level and every 2 levels beyond 3rd. These allow for the emulation of class features, feats and even limited item use!! Interesting from an RPG point of view: Mimes have a vow of silence that can be a detriment and roleplaying challenge, but that also has its perks - mimic'd spells are Silent sans spell-level increase, for example. While not perfect (it also has e.g. a non-capitalized skill-reference), the mime is still by far the coolest and most creative alternate class the FPG-crew has made - I really like it. Unique, interesting and well worth making the GM-call regarding copycat.

The pdf then introduces us to fairy plays -these are basically single-use scrolls...but in awesome and fun. Each play has a variety of roles. Within 10 minutes, all roles (each of which must be filled by a different character) must try their task (usually, one has a high DC, the others lower DCs) - the fairy play then takes effect, depending on the number of successes. And yes, these make traveling troupes of even low-level actors potentially a threat. They have a tactical dimension and the more successes you can garner, the better the effects...or, well, actually, the effects differ in creative ways: 1 success: Rain of frogs (poisonous); 2: Make the frog's croaking hypnotic. 3: Veil the performers. Glowing, creepy pumpkins that can float and duplicate dancing lights (not italicized), an alarm-version (they shout "BEWARE!") and the option to detonate them in blinding bursts make this one rather interesting. While guidelines for more are provided, I wish we got more than the 3 provided - somewhere between quirky magic item and skill challenge, these are fun for the group and feel very much magical. I like them!

The pdf concludes with 7 magic items - the flying lion gong can accompany the character and rewards readied strikes for coordinated attacks. Hell's hurdy-gurdy brings out the debauchery in devils, while a mask can fortify against fear while using bardic performance, as long as the character incorporates buffoonish fear in the performance. Moonlight strings heal, while peddler's charumeras can instill hunger or thirst and sylph slippers enhance dances and may carry the dancer across pressure plates and even water. the star here, though, would be the siege carillon. Think Skaven bell. Think war organ. Smack in the middle between instrument and magical siege engine, this apocalyptic device can vastly enhance the power of the bard, his range and durations, charm targets and emit devastating bursts of apocalyptic sonic damage after tolling no less than 23 bells - 1 or 2 may be sounded per round as a move action. This is basically an amazing fight and had me come up with numerous scenarios on how I'll use this monster. It's basically a bardic fantasy tank!! Come on! How cool is that??

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting have significantly improved over earlier installments in the series - they're now what I#d call good, bordering on very good. While some unfortunate hiccups and omissions can be found herein, the most significant improvement pertains rules-language, which now tackles significantly more complex concepts than ever before in the series, with greater precision than ever before in the series. Whatever the Flying Pincushion crew did here, I hope they'll continue to do it! Layout adheres to a nice 2-column full-color standard with really nice, well-chosen pictures, which I have not seen previously in other supplements. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.

I couldn't have asked for a more rewarding review to write after my real life-related, brief hiatus. Benjamin Wilkins, Frank Gori, Kris Newton, Jeff Harris (who also acted as editor) and David S. McCrae (who acted as lead developer as well) are back as well and finally make true on what I have always said in these reviews: There is potential here.

While this book began less than spectacular, slowly but surely the gems among the archetypes accumulated; while some have minor hiccups and require a GM-call, they are worth making that call. Instead of going for easy or simple routes, we have complex archetypes here - even the multi-class-y ones sport their unique playstyles and engines and many of them left me wanting more! Moreover, I have never seen an accumulation of this many cool variants for the bard before. The PrC is valid and potent, the alternate class amazing (if you do clarify copycat) - and when there are issues, they are cosmetic or stem from the archetypes aiming for the stars, for the high echelons, regarding their themes, ideas and leitmotifs. There is not a single option herein that I'd consider lame, redundant or filler.

Not all archetypes herein will be for every campaign, sure - but whether you prefer gritty low fantasy, high-powered hijinxs, whether you're looking for an option for a cleric-less game...the pdf offers a lot of really cool material. Oh, and then there are the no-filler, evocative magic items and the woefully short, few fairy plays, blending all-party kinda skill challenges with magic item use, while explaining how those traveling troupes not get eaten after the first bend in that nasty, monster-infested wilderness -so whip out that Skill Challenge Handbook (you do have that, right?), blend them and make more of them ASAP! (And yes, they work sans that book, but I like to unify my systems...)

In short: This is the first "Into the Breach"-review that will not feature a big "but" - this book has heart, passion and made me smile from ear to ear. As a person, I love this and consider it to be one of the best bard-supplements I've read. If you're confident in being able to make some rules-calls and judging which archetypes work for your game, then this is gold. However, as a reviewer, I have to remain fair, my own excitement none withstanding. There are a couple of instances where the ambitious, complex concepts could have used that one sentence to make them perfect, where the abilities needed a teeny bit more, where ranger spells should be available at higher levels, where skills are not capitalized. This is not perfect. That being said, I have always preferred slightly flawed, ambitious and cool concepts over lame cookie-cutters that are perfect. My final verdict will hence clock in at 4.5 stars. If you want a perfect go-play book, round down; if you're looking for an inspiring toolkit full of joy and style, then round up. I can't award this my seal, but only due to its imperfections. Still, rounding down would be a disservice to the obvious passion, care and heart's blood that went into this. Did I mention the apocalyptic bardic battle tank?? Seriously, if you haven't checked out the Flying Pincushion's work, give this a shot. Now excuse me, I need to plan on which of my villains I'll put on that tank...

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Into the Breach: The Bard
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Into the Breach: The Bard
by Ehn J. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 08/04/2017 16:11:58

An Ehn's Gaming Foundry review

Today’s book is Into the Breach: The Bard, a mechanics book for the class that seeks to expand its options. First impressions are that the art and layout are sound; not amazing, but pretty nice for the cost of the book, which is always nice to see. We’re looking at about 40 pages of content here, so let’s get into it.

We start off with the chronicler of blades, which while a cool name, isn’t really my favorite archetype. We get some slightly different weapon proficiencies, bonus feats, but we lose all spellcasting, and that’s just…that’s no good. There’s no class feature here which really draws me back in after such a hard loss, so this definitely doesn’t work for me.

The courtless bard on the other hand has a very interesting mechanic of summoning a creature as per summon nature’s ally in place of inspire courage, with the creature lasting as long as you perform. Shimmering speed in place of inspire greatness is interesting too, giving a decent miss chance to allies. Stunning glance probably lasts a tad longer than I’d like (2d4 rounds), but with all the caveats and tags it has, it’s probably fine. As a whole, this is a very fun fey themed archetype.

Fabulist is our next archetype, and while the ability to get a familiar is nice, it’s odd that there would be options for non-familiar creatures, an oversight I don’t really like. Getting access to some domain spells is huge though, easily worth the trade here. Morsel of Wisdom is odd though, as it’s just a modifier swap, not really a huge deal here. Fabled Friend has a lot of potential to be busted, as it’s a planar ally effect that can be done quite a bit, and its capstone is highly situational.

Grotesque is an odd name for an archetype, and it’s already starting with reduced casting, along with a debuff to enemy attacks in place of a buff to your allies attacks. You’d need at least as many enemies as allies to make this a fair swap, at least to me. Sickening stunt and twisted masterpiece are fun additions though, and most of the disturbing acts are very flavorful and decently powerful as well. The flavor really sells this archetype, making it a favorite.

But Jester…is bad. Capering and cavorting is NOT worth losing spellcasting, and nothing in the archetype comes close to validating that. It even replaces casting at 2nd level, so do I get casting at 1st level, and just lose it the next?

Now lifeweaver starts hard, getting some new spells added to their list and free lingering performance with a bonus to it. As a whole, it’s a solid white mage archetype with altered performances to make sure that everyone stays on their feet, done in a way that’s thematically satisfying. While it might be a touch too good at its job, when it’s support, I can give it a pass.

The matchmaker is…very NPC-y. Like reading through its features, it’d make a great NPC, but as a player archetype, it’s far too specific in what it does. I really don’t think it needed to lose armor and weapon proficiencies though, but I guess that helps it fit its NPC role.

With prop comic, we have an interesting tone shift, and while I think using your perform (comedy) bonus in place of BAB (maybe ranks would be more fair), this is a very interesting archetype. With the amount of time and effort that goes into schticks, this feels more NPC-y, but at the same time, as a one shot character, this would be a blast.

Rookery Master is pretty standard, but the ability to start a bardic performance with a familiar while already doing so yourself is crazy powerful. It’s a pretty okay archetype aside from that, but getting extra familiars too is really pushing things.

Things that made unique weapons good are my jam, and skirling adept does that. Easy sonic damage for a round of bardic performance isn’t bad, and audimancy is an appreciable damage boost to both the few sonic spells there are as well, but dulcet duelist isn’t explained very clearly (it’s not a great ability, so it’s not a huge issue). Shattering resonance is another nice flavorful ability though, and windstorm whistle is just cool, definitely an archetype I enjoy.

Now song bow starts by giving us some utility with bows and slings (and proficiency with them), but singing arrow (or somewhere later in the book) should give stats for singing arrows or groaning bullets if they’re going to be required for a class feature. Aural shot feels like it should have more limitations, especially with being able to use it with lingering performance. With Rallying shot, the daily limit feels fair, but I’m still not in love here, and I really wish concussive shot had a ceiling for the damage, although the possible free trip is probably the better ability here. I do like tremor shot and the added spells though, so as a whole, I’m a fan.

We start off squad leader with weaker spellcasting and the ability to form squads, as well as the explanation of how commands work. Personally, with all the commands here, I’d say I like this better than the base bard, as it gives a lot of tactical options that really drive home the theme in a solid and mechanical fashion. Really, this is just a great archetype that I’m probably going to adopt into my games.

And here we get to the prestige class, the holy rhapsodist, which is intended for bard/paladin multiclasses. The prereqs are easy enough to meet, and it’s a d8 3/4th BAB class with a good fort and reflex save, getting 4 skill ranks per level. The class thankfully progresses casting, although you’ll be hurting from the 2 paladin levels needed to get in this prestige class. We start with holy resonance, which isn’t really great, as deafened is pretty weak, and it’s adding a second damage type, so not a huge fan here. Voice of the divine though is nice, as it keeps lay on hands and bardic performance from dropping off.

For needing to pay two uses of lay on hands, psalm of healing feels too weak to me, especially with that half healing caveat. Psalm of mercy would be better if you had enough paladin levels to get mercies, but bard levels are more important to keep your casting strong beforehand. Clarion call feels like it’s intended to only work with bardic performances that give bonuses to to saving throws, but even without that, it’s pretty meh. The entire prestige feels very unnecessary, like it was an afterthought.

Finally, we end with the mime alternative class, which has the same basic chassis as the bard, so we’re going to skip to class features…so, no armor or weapon proficiencies…cool. Spells are…confusing. Copycat is…okay, it’s interesting, and I hate to call back to non tabletop related things, but this feels like a conversion of the Mime class from Final Fantasy Tactics. Copycat makes casting really clunky, and as far as I can tell, you get a free round’s worth of actions. Distraction is just really situation, and the mimic ability feels gameable, especially with wand/potion mimic, which doesn’t take into account expensive material components. The code of silence is flavorful enough, little annoying, but nothing too bad. Also there’s a ton of dead levels here, like way more than should be considered okay for a product being released in 2017. As a whole, I feel there’s too many mechanics that are just gameable or too complex to make this worth using.

The fairy plays though, those are a lot of fun. An interesting new concept for a magic item that are performance based, these give reason to actually spread out your performance ranks. Both the sample plays given and the possibilities from them are pretty great, definitely a cool way to help make performances unique. There was nothing that felt truly stand out from the magical items to end the book, but they’re small fun diversions none the less.

Mechanics: 3/5

If not for the holy rhapsodist and mime class, this could have gone to a 4 easily, maybe a 4.5. But both of those drag this down significantly, making for either a tepid prestige class or an overly complex alternative class. The archetypes that were bad here were just bad, while the ones that were good were pretty awesome, and fairy plays are a great way to build magic item that’s just painfully flavorful. I appreciate the effort that went into everything, but some of the execution was just lacking.

Thematics: 4/5

The stronger suit of the book is that it really does a great job of making you feel the design goal of each piece of content, which is something that drew me in. While some pieces are weaker than others, the flavor of this book is definitely a large selling point, and there’s quite a few pieces of content in here that you can really feel the care that was taken in making them interesting.

Final Thoughts: 4/5

David S. Macrae along with Benjamin Wilkins, David S. McCrae, Frank Gori, Jeff Harris, and Kris Newton give us a nice group of archetypes with some less than stellar additional content, but when thinking if I would round up or down here, it’s fairy plays that managed to shift my opinion. The entire book has a lot of promise to it, and while there are some parts that I wish were more refined, as a whole this book gives enough value to make it a good purchase if you’re looking to vary your bards and their performances.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Into the Breach: The Rogue
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 11/02/2016 12:09:01

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This installment of Flying Pincushion Games' class-centric series of pdfs clocks in at 43 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page inside of front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page of SRD, leaving us with a massive 38 pages of content, so let's take a look!

This pdf was moved up in my review-queue as a prioritized review at the request of my patreons.

We begin, as always, with new archetypes for the rogue class, the first of which would be the booksmart scout, who receives a modified list of class skills and replaces trapfinding with bardic knowledge. 2nd level needs passive benefits for the scout who successfully identifies hostile creatures instead of the usual evasion gained. 3rd level replaces trap sense with a swift action reroll of a filed Knowledge check at -5.

4th level nets a slightly inelegant ability - I like the notion, though: Increase sneak attack versus successfully identified foes. Alas, the increase is tied to the number by which the DC is beaten, which, considering the ridiculous minmaxing of skills is concerned, can deliver somewhat wobbly results. Adding in a level-based maximum would streamline this one. 6th level nets bonuses to social skills when first gathering info via Knowledge (local)...which is a bit wobbly, considering that you use Diplomacy, RAW, for info-gathering - NOT Knowledge (local). Uncanny dodge is delayed to 8th level and 10th level nets 1/day cognatogen. An okay archetype, though not one that blows me all away.

The second archetype would be the descrier, once again with a modified class skill list and sneak attack's progression is slightly stunted - it's gained at 1st level and progresses by +1d6 every 3 levels thereafter. 1st level also allows for exceptional focus, which, as a move action, lets the descrier gain some bonuses versus the chosen target and deal sneak attack damage versus such a foe, even if the creature would be immune to sneak attack...however, the damage dice is decreased to d4. This signature ability increases at higher levels. Instead of trap sense, you get a bonus feat at 3rd level, 4th level nets keen eyes (sneak versus dazed, entangled, exhausted, frightened or grappled foes), more conditions unlocked at 12th level, and 8th level lets the archetype cause sneak damage versus foes with concealment and bonuses to some skills versus the focused target. The highest level ability, at 16th level, auto-focuses foes properly identified. I like this modification of the chassis - it's solid, though the focus could certainly be used in additional, creative ways.

The third archetype would be the fugitive, who are hard to track, gain Int-mod to initiative and delay sneak attack progression. Generally, I like the idea of making overcome obstacles more dangerous for pursuers, but I certainly wished this one had a bit more precision - RAW, the damage-increase thus gained can make caltrops hyper-lethal and is permanent. A timeframe or maximum number affected is certainly required here. 14th level shields versus discern location etc. Haunted Skulks begin play with an oracle curse, but replace their rogue talents with a phantom - I like the idea of a cursed spiritualist-rogue, but losing rogue talents deprives the archetype of cool teamwork set-ups, talent-shares and similar tricks. Basically, this is the minimum-option iteration of the cool concept and falls a bit short of the excellence the idea could carry. The honeypot would be an interesting face-type archetype - the baseline of this one would be that the archetype is about generating an appealing look that increases Cha, but also makes everyone notice the character more easily. Yeah, it's basically the dandy/goth-archetype. ;) Kidding aside, gender neutrality at higher level makes this a nice homme/femme fatal(e)-iteration. Solid.

The kinetic sneak would e up next and 2nd level nets elemental focus and kinetic blast, though simple blast does not scale and surprise blast allows for sneak to damage via a feint...which is generally an issue: The class needs to use two actions, win the skill check and then hit for the bonus of a signature ability...all in all, a rogue with a bit of kineticist cobbled on. Not a fan.

Okay, so far, I have not been too impressed - that changes pretty much with the master hawserier archetype; with a grappling hook and lasso instead of hand crossbow/rapier in proficiency, the also gain +1 skill point at 1st level, to be invested in Craft (rope). Yes. You read correctly. Rope. We begin with better rope-use and Equipment Tricks at low-levels, but where the archetype becomes interesting is 6th level - here, 5 ropes are chosen from a massive list (+5 at 10th and 14th) - the character may now make these. For example, Blodeuwedd Hair. Or Cavefisher Filament. Yes, these ropes can utilize unique benefits AND come with equipment stats. So yes, even if you don't want to use this cool archetype, the item-scavenging potential here is pretty amazing. So yep, this guy - winner. My one complaint is that it takes pretty long until you get to the cool special ropes. I would have added level prereqs and dispersed the rope-gains more through the levels - as written, you have 3 bumps of versatility-trick gains, which is engine-wise less satisfying than continuous growth. Still: Nice work!

The Poacher is basically a ranger/rogue hybrid with trap emphasis. Okay, I guess, but I'm not blown away by the guy. The Quarrel knave would be more interesting - the idea behind this archetype is a valid dual-hand crossbow rogue, which does have means to use Acrobatics to deal with reload-based AoOs. I like the archetype's concept. Alas, the precision exhibited is not 100% there - 6th level unlocks Hail of Needles, which is basically flurry with hand crossbows...got ya...just, well, flurry is usually melee and thus, this needs a slight rewrite. While Rapid Reload takes care of the iterative attack issue with crossbows, the archetype does not note how interaction with the TWF-tree works here, since the base flurry builds on aforementioned feat-array. The archetype does get cool, Green Arrow-style modification of crossbows, class level points to customize them...and I really like these modifications, though, once again, at 8th level, they are pretty late in the game and I wished these signature tricks would be gained sooner. Conceptually cool, but has some rough edges.

Okay, so the next one sounds wonky, but stay with me - the trickster chef is a cooking specialist, who gains a nonlethal, save-based version of sneak attack - snack attack. Sounds lame? It's anything but that! You see, the archetype may select various recipes and snack attacks...well, make the target HUNGRY. Thus, presenting the targets with various special recipes (available via rogue talents), these guys can provide buffs, debuffs or soft terrain control - making the playing experience pretty cool and unique. Beyond this, the archetype actually gets a trick to further modify the properties of the meals cooked by using slain magical beasts...allowing for a bit of numerical tweaking. The most rounded of the archetypes so far and a rewarding, nice experience that could have carried +10 pages, engine-wise. The walking arsenal is a rogue who can hide weapons well, stitch them in clothes etc. -solid, but not an archetype that blew me away. The wild handler gets an animal companion and stunted sneak progression, but may have the companion employ rogue tricks. Pretty powerful, but considering the base rogue's issues, I'm good with that. Solid, but not amazingly creative.

Unchained rogues also get some options, the first of which would be the brickbat striker, who gets a modified skill- and proficiency-list and d4 sneak attack dice. However, he does get ruinous assault at first level, which is basically an ability that lets you forego sneak attack damage dice in favor of inflicting various detrimental conditions, including entangling foes, sicken them or setting up higher DCs (the DC, if applicable, is btw. based on Dex and includes 1/2 class level scaling) and much like deeds, new options are unlocked at higher levels - 4th, 8th, 12th and 16th, to be more precise. Basically, a deed-like engine. The Bunk mentalist is based mostly on skill unlocks, unlocking a mentalism power alongside every skill unlock - think of these as unique, additional unlocks: Handle Animal, for example, nets you Animal Empathy at full class level. Learning one piece of info about Appraised items is a cool narrative device and a 3-round period of grace versus scrutiny when disguised similarly is nice. It should be noted that not all skills offer such powers, though. Pretty intriguing one. The Guild Capo can "add an additional +2 morale bonus to aid another actions." As what action? Sure, it becomes apparent in the follow-ups of the ability (since AoO decreases from standard to swift) but the base ability should specify the action to activate. Similarly, what's the range? Is line of sight required? Sure, the recipient must hear the capo...but you get the idea - the ability is functional, but could be clearer. 2nd level nets tactician and latter levels allow for teamwork feats instead of rogue talents. The sharpshooter is basically an archer-based rogue archetype and may inflict damage to foes unaware of the sniper...and OUTSIDE the first range increment. At short range, some penalties can be applied to foes nearby. My favorite non-complex archetype herein, though at-range sneak can be brutal - I'd most certainly add in a caveat that being hit by the first arrow constitutes being made aware of the sniper.

After all of these archetypes, the pdf also presents the Libertine variant class at d8 HD, 8+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good Will-saves, proficiency with simple and martial weapons and all types of armor and shield. The key ability would be intrigue, gained at first level - the ability's precise effects depend on the interpersonal relationship with another creature: The attitude of the creature to the libertine determines the type of benefits the libertine receives. When the attitude changes...well, the bonus is lost, for the ability is predicated on 48 hours of one attitude. One can be maintained at 1st level , +1 at 5th and every 5 levels thereafter. As a standard action, libertines may reveal secrets of targets gained to cause negative conditions to the subjects of her intrigue, with increasingly devastating options. The class also gets a scaling bonus versus divine spells and SPs and 2nd level unlocks so-called quirks - basically, the talents of the class. These can employ both buffs and debuffs - see, the thing is, that several of these require basically an ally to be affected by intrigue. So far, the main issue of this roleplaying-centric class would be the restrictions imposed upon the intrigue as core mechanic...and a lack of notes on what kind of action is required to determine/switch intrigues. Alas, the rules-language of this class does feature some unpleasant hiccups beyond this -take the shameless ability: "As a standard action, the libertine interrupts another creature who is casting a spell..." Read that sentence very closely. Let that stand as an example. The libertine, as a concept, is something I really like; heck, I consider myself to be at least a bit of a decadent libertine. I want to like this class and enjoy its roleplaying focus...but it needs some upgrade to its combat utility and some serious streamlining of its rules-language, which is pretty much among the weakest in this pdf. Note that I want to note that this class concept has potential galore - add in some combat-utility and streamlining and I'll really like it. As written, its primary focus lies in very low-powered games.

The pdf concludes with a ton of traits - and these run from solid bonus traits and sport teh proper categories, but also feature some issues: Iconoclasm lets you vandalize holy symbols, altars, etc. as a full-round action. You may worsen the damage with more rounds expended - the more you expend, the longer it'll take to make the item work again. Problem here: How does that interact with enchanted altars? Do the spells collapse? Apart from such minor hiccups, these are solid.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are nice on a formal level, while on a rules-level, the offering could be more concise...though honestly, it ranges as one of the best Flying Pincushion has delivered so far...good development here! Layout adheres for the most part to a 2-column full-color standard with nice artworks in full color. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.

Richard Litzkow, Andrew Hoskins, Benjamin Wilkins, David S. McCrae, Frank Gori, Jacob W. Michaels, Jeff Harris, Kris Newton, Matt Medeiros and Taylor Hubler's ItB-installment for the rogue is perhaps the most consistent the series has produced so far - this is a good thing, as far as I'm concerned. There are almost no glaring issues of the "ruins everything"-variety herein and the pdf actually does feature quite a few nice tweaks for the rogue's engine. While a couple of them are none-too-inspired "mix two classes"-type of archetypes, there are also some that are truly worth getting this for, if only for scavenging - the master hawserier, trickster chef and brickbat striker, to name a few, certainly are interesting tweaks of the system.

This does not change the fact that the supplement, ultimately, is a mixed bag that contains some coolness and some more problematic options. In the end, though, I do believe that this does have some gems that can elevate it above mediocrity...which are balanced out by some of the less amazing components. Hence, ultimately, I can't get higher than 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3 for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Into the Breach: The Rogue
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Tides of War: Volley Teamwork Feats
by Elexious C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 10/11/2016 12:21:54

A while ago, Flying Pincushion released an addition to their Tides of War line covering volley fire teamwork feats. I had uses for it but really the language made the feats difficult to understand and in some ways the rules as written didn't quite work. But they have since released a revision so here is a retrospective for the new product.

Like the mounted combat feats before it, this Tides of War is very short, with about two pages of usable feats but the pictures reduce it to about one and a half.

The first feat, Group Fire, is simple. Declare that you are making the special attack (A full round action) and anyone close to you with the same feat can make a shot as an immediate action at the same target. This gives everyone a plus one to attack and damage for each attacker at the cost of the participant (aside from the initiator) being staggered the next round. Its easy enough to follow and worthwhile for a gang of enemies or even a single cohort since it nets you at least a +2. There's a bit of weirdness where technically with the wording you don't need an ally to get at least a +1 bonus but given that its one shot for a full round action its not that bad since anyone in their right mind will just make multiple attacks. In fact at least it's something to do with the feat when you don't have allies which is nice I guess.

The rest of the feats require Group Fire and interact with it. Some are obvious, like the clustered shot one, and some seem to be there to compensate for situations where you only have one participant for your group fire. This is nice to have if you're an Inquisitor, or at least I assume so. I question whether or not for the purposes of Solo Tactics the participating ally gets to make an attack, gets the bonus and so on. Given the wording the I assume that the Inquisitor would be the 'source' of the ability and thus starts granting actions but not bonuses. I'm not sure how this works when she would have an ability that calls out granting a bonus to someone or even the clustered shot one. I'm guessing this is why Volley Fire and other teamwork feats function by things happening to you or you doing something than granting actions to allies. Bottom line is that I'm not sure if this is overtly useful for an Inquisitor.

For everyone else this is fine. With enough participants you can increase the threat range of weaker enemies, cluster your shots, get other ranged abilities a chance to participate, and hamper flying creatures among other things.

Everything is clear and easy to understand, which is a huge improvement from the product's previous iteration, but I do think that the inherent nature of how group fire works mucks up any ability that assumes that Teamwork feats don't grant actions or directly affects allies. Being initiated by an action as opposed to the feat enhancing an action does this as well. Case point is how Volley Fire works. As far as I can tell, only Solo Tactics gets confusing with it as it only calls out that participants don't receive bonuses but I don't think the rules intend for it to be able to grant immediate actions. Other than that I would take a hard look at any class feature that interacts with teamwork feats just to make sure.

I want to give this 5 out of 5 stars because the feats do grant new things to do and get creative with teamwork feats while being easy enough to implement, but the very premise is on shaky ground because I'm going to have to check for how it interacts with things. Perhaps Solo Tactics is the only outlier and I just have to rank all of this as mostly useless to it, but with the Inquisitor being one of the main classes that actually uses teamwork feats I'd like to not be confused as to how these feats interact with it. I also can't shake the feeling that this is inherent to teamwork feats not granting allies actions or new things to do specifically because of stuff like this. If we ignore those issues then these work fine whether you're dealing with a cohort or have a group of kobolds that you want to be a bit more dangerous. In the end I'll give this a 'high' 4 out of 5 stars. There's a glaring issue but I don't think you'll encounter the issue in most circumstances that you'll use these feats.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Tides of War: Volley Teamwork Feats
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Mystic Marketplaces: Einjhall's Hall of Exotic Equipment
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 08/31/2016 10:50:39

An Endzeitgeist.com review

The second installment of Flying Pincushion Games' Mystical Marketplaces-series clocks in at 15 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, 1 page editorial, 3/4 of a page blank, leaving us with approximately 11 1/4 pages of content, so let's take a look!

This was moved up in my review-queue as a prioritized review at the request of my patreons.

Einjhall's is a lavish place for those with means -a purchase limit of 120 K and a base limit of 20K mean that the shop's inventory, both mundane and magical, is geared towards the wealthy and discerning connoisseur. Situated in a two-story chateau, manservants bringing warmed meads and sweet treats, the place has an air of opulence and decadence, with richly carved mahagony pillars hold stone pillars atop merchandise smelling of silk and saffron.

As such, this place is a thankful purveyor of ettercap silk, blink dog hide,d ragon's teeth and similar rare objects - the distinguished pair of owners Einjhall Alpinsonne (the last name meaning, just fyi, Alp's sun and literally also denotes a lesser known mirage-like phenomenon; and I butchered the name to "Einhjall" every time I wrote it...) and Ophan are certainly gentlemen of wealth and taste.

Yes, this reference was intentional, for the two not only sell decadent trinkets toward the fops and dandys and dandysettes- they also have a second, lesser known specialty. Before we come to that, though, I should mention that both the patronage point system introduced in the first installment and the bartering system make a return here.

The shop does feature an array of sample magic items that usually are available in the shop, but the place is by no means restricted to offering just that; in fact, returning customers can not only enjoy meals on the house, they may actually custom order items or gain spellcasting services: The two owners have found a way to make glamours permanent, with sample prices for several given as a means of orientation. Being clothiers at heart, the two aren't the perfect choice for gaining the doom-slayer sword of utter destruction...but more subtle means? Oh yes.

The supplement features3 sample quests that include bidding for a live ettercap on the black market auctions, getting more wraith shawl from the barrows...pretty creative hooks here! Similarly, shop tasks for less risky ways to increase the patronage score can be found herein.

Just take heed when shopping at Einjhall's - this place is very much a caveat emptor type of place, where those that are less scrupulous and know to ask (or just offend the owners) may purchase illicit and cursed items - which may or may not (depending on what the GM decides), be the reason this mob of dandys is causing trouble in the sample encounter. Generally, one could take that as an easy means of introducing the store and hinting at its nature of more than what it seems to be. The situation can be resolved via social skills and combat, with the nobles getting statblocks. Similarly, the owners receive a statblock (both share the same stats) and one glance should make clear that they are not to be trifled with. As far as encounters go that introduce a place, it certainly is a nice encounter that does its job well.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed no significant glitches in the formal and rules-language - Jeff Harris did a good job here. Layout adheres to a full-color 1-column standard - apart from the blank space on the final page that could have been filled with slightly more text, I don't have much to complain here. The pdf has a nice artwork of a dashing noble's portrait as a sample for the request to be drawn by the owners as well as some neat stock pieces. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.

Frank Gori, Richard Litzkow and Taylor Hubbler's Einjhall's is a great second installment for the series: The place features unique benefits that make returning here a worthwhile proposition. The general hooks and presentation are fun, with the writing letting the place come to life...though only in a general sense. The framework is here, but if you require a room by room breakdown or want to know the precise merchandise and architecture, that the pdf will not deliver, being map-less and mostly focused on the concept of the store. That being said, since the store is less focused on individual "hotspots" than its predecessor and more on the general experience of shopping here, the lack of a map does not hurt Einjhall's - smart decision here!

While most would associate the kind-of Scandinavian-sounding name with a more rough and tumble place, playing against the trope here works to the pdf's advantage; similarly, the edge and duality of the shop as a leitmotif makes sense and is conveyed rather well via the interesting owners. If I have one complaint versus the content, then that would be the lack of guidance regarding the handling of the less savory items handled by the place - tying access to those via patronage would make sense. I assume that 10-point invitation to dinner with the two would be just that, but the pdf does not explicitly state this. In short - Einjhall's is a worthwhile and inexpensive purchase that makes for a fun and interesting place of opulence and decadence that would be right at home within the bustling streets of Oppara or a similar metropolis.

At the same time, I believe that this pdf does sell itself short a bit: Take the hooks, for example: Why not go for unique, dyed ettercap silk cat-burglar suits? What does one of these nifty wraith shawls do? The ideas here are so cool, I really wished they had also been translated to full magic item/material status! I am, however, complaining at a high level here - this one is imho better than the first installment in the series, mostly due to focusing on the overall experience rather than the individual interaction hotspots. My final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars, still rounded down for now - but if the series keeps this up, the next installment may make the 5!

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Mystic Marketplaces: Einjhall's Hall of Exotic Equipment
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Tides of War: Rogue/X Feats
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 08/24/2016 12:05:08

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This pdf clocks in at 6 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1/2 a page blank, leaving us with 2.5 pages of content, the first of which, however, is devoted to the introduction to the subject matter at hand - which would be feats for multiclassing rogues.

I assume you're probably all familiar with multiclassing in the first place, what do these feats do?

-Balancing the Craft: When preparing spells exchange either one hex for a rogue talent you don't have or vice versa; you have to meet the prerequisites. The wildcard flexibility offsets some of the issues with multiclass rogue/witch characters. solid.

-Channel Shift: At the start of the day, you may reduce sneak attack bonus damage to increase channel energy by +1d6; once you reach +2d6 channel energy, you may reduce it to increase sneak attack damage by +1d6; as soon as both reach +3d6, you may move 2d6 around this way. This feat is generally nice idea-wise, but personally, I'd value a channel die higher than a sneak attack die, in spite of it being a limited resource.

-Devious Empathy: Use wild empathy to lie to animals. Cool idea...but not sure if it's worth a feat, considering the penalties that still apply and the pretty circumstantial benefits.

-Dextrous Focus: When making a Dex-enhancing mutagen, you may increase the Dex-bonus by +2, but if you do, you also increase the penalty to Wisdom by 2. Nice!

-Energetic Precision: Expend 1st level bloodline or domain power daily uses when successfully using sneak attack to add +1d6 damage and change the damage caused to the type of your bloodline/domain. I like this, quite a lot in fact, though it should probably read "limited use bloodline or domain power" as a caveat versus non-limited abilities that cause energy damage. I'd also be more comfortable if this actually specified the types of energy, but ultimately, that's more of a cosmetic gripe.

-Enhanced Magic Talent: Replace the minor magic rogue talent cantrip with a 1st level sorc/wiz spell. If you gain major magic as a rogue talent later, you gain a 2nd level spell instead of the 1st level spell. For a FEAT? So, I have to waste one or two rogue talents AND a feat for one lousy 1st level spell? Some sorcerors may go for that, but it's a sucky deal for them. Not starting with wizards...

-Inspired Precision: Add +1d6 plus your bardic performance's morale bonus to all precision-damage dealing attacks by you or your allies while you're remaining bardic performance. The feat should specify that allies have to be affected by bardic performance; RAW, allies beyond reach can be affected.

-New Levels of Daring: Whenever you use Acrobatics or missed by enemy attacks and more than 2 attacks of opportunity miss you, you gain 1 grit or panache. When an attack hits you that round, you don't regain grit. You can only do this either Cha (panache) or Wis (grit) bonus times per day. Reviewer puts away the bag of kittens for now...

-Sneaking Glance: As an immediate action, if a target of your glare is denied Dex to AC and is hit by an ally in melee, you may add your sneak attack damage - 1d6 to the attack, usable Cha-mod times per day. Interesting mesmerist-crossover here.

-Trickery over Training: Add Extra Rogue Talent to the fighter bonus feat list.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good on a formal level, good on a rules-language level. Layout adheres to Flying Pincushion games' two-column full-color standard and the pdf sports solid stock art. I am not a fan of the final page's half-empty state - some sort of stock art (or more content) would have made that look less...empty. The pdf has two bookmarks in spite of its brevity - nice.

Frank Gori's multiclass feats for rogues vary in power and coolness a bit; the witch-feat, for example, completely outclasses the sorc/wiz-feat. and there are some minor hiccups in the finer points of the rules-language. That being said, for the low price-point, this still has something to offer for the discerning roguish dilettante. My final verdict will hence clock in at 3.5 stars...and while I consider quite a few feats herein pretty solid, they feel a bit less streamlined than in the magus-pdf. In the end, I consider this a mixed bag on the slightly positive spectrum of things, but still have to round down for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Tides of War: Rogue/X Feats
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