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Monsters of Sin 7: Wrath (Pathfinder RPG) $2.99
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Monsters of Sin 7: Wrath (Pathfinder RPG)
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Monsters of Sin 7: Wrath (Pathfinder RPG)
Publisher: Kobold Press
by Thilo G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/08/2012 05:51:51

This pdf is 11 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 7 pages of content, so let's check out the final installment of the monsters of sin-series!

As is the tradition with the series by now, we kick off with an introduction to the sin at hand as well as the wrathful creature simple template (CR+3),which allows the creature to rage 1/day for 1d6+1 round as the spell and gain the diehard feat as well as reflexively rage when reduced to negative HP.

The new monsters are:

-Hulking Whelp (CR 5): A cute small fey somewhat resembling a small canine, cute humanoid, these neurotic fey grow to a dread huge size when their personal space is violated - per se a nice idea that may grant satisfaction to all those annoyed by yelling small dogs...or crush them! the creature comes with stats for both forms.

-Savager (CR 9): Supremely creepy artwork for a porcupine-like quilled grizzly with saberteeth and scimitar-like claws and a cool armor of scabs.

-Spiteful Spirit: CR-2 template that makes for a temporary undead after a foe has been vanquished. Nice simple template to give an NPC killed by a lucky shot another chance to shine. Per se a nice idea, but honestly, nothing any DM can't make him/herself.

-Embodiment of Wrath (CR 23): The final embodiment of sin-creature is a hulking, 4-armed apelike beast with an aura of anger, the power to detect those seeking to hide from them and a superbly cool ability: When damaged, it gains anger-points that it can use to deal bleed damage, grow an extra arm, haste, bonus feats etc., making the fight progressively harder and making the fight feel like it has phases. Very cool to make the boss fight work very well!

The pdf closes with a page on wrath-related fluff in the Midgard Setting.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to the series' beautiful two-column standard and this issue's b/w-artworks are all rather well-made and iconic. The pdf has no bookmarks, which is a pity - apart from BP-length pdfs, all should have them by now. The monsters of sin-series triumphs and falls with its brevity and unfortunately, this brevity also means that any creature that is not all killer, detracts from the issue's appeal. And said thing unfortunately holds true for the Spiteful Spirit template, which at best is boring and something that most DMs probably pulled off without having the template. Furthermore, the template's lack of any signature ability apart from its short-livedness is a wasted chance. The other creatures herein are stellar, though, with especially the embodiment's increasing lethality something I'd wish more designers used for their boss beasties. Kudos for the neat design - though I wished the other embodiments had similar options. All in all, this issue is a fitting, albeit not perfect final installment of author Ryan Costello Jr.'s series and will clock in at a final verdict of 4 stars from me.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Monsters of Sin 7: Wrath (Pathfinder RPG)
Publisher: Kobold Press
by JK R. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/30/2012 04:22:11

The final entry in the Monsters of Sin series concerns the sin of wrath - the unthinking destruction of the berserker, only without the focus that makes that useful to barbarians. It's a sin that's directly related to combat, and game mechanically, the concept of berserking and Rage spells covers it well enough already.

The book has 7 pages of content, although the art takes up a lot of that. As always in the series, the art is good quality, and production standards are high. The general discussion of wrath, and the cautionary tale (this time set outside the City of Zobeck, but elsewhere on the same world) take up a couple of pages, and the simple 'creature of wrath' template is pretty much what you'd expect - it's not like there's many other ways of doing it, after all.

The meat, as always, is in the creatures. They range from CR 5 to 23, plus an acquired template that can be applied to anything with at least 2 hit dice (and therefore, will give some low CRs at the bottom end). Considering that the basic theme has to be "it attacks you", which is pretty much what most monsters do, the creatures are rather fun, and effectively embody the sin. One is a harmless fey that becomes deadly when roused, another is an undead fuelled by its internal rage, and a third is your basic rampaging beast. Even the latter has an unusual edge to its abilities, but with all of the three, it's more the descriptions than the stat blocks that do the job of linking the animal to the power of wrath. Which is inevitable, but done quite well.

The exception is the CR23 outsider, which is very much powered by its own rage, so that it actually gets more powerful the longer the fight goes on. Given that it's going to be fairly hard to wipe out something with that level of ability in a single blow at the beginning of the combat (which would really be the best way of doing it) this makes it a particularly effective opponent.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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