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Akashic Expansions: Tai Lin is a fantastic addition to any Pathfinder 1e game that draws inspiration from martial arts media. Clocking in at 82 pages, this book offers new character options, spells, feats, and rules for common tropes found in Kung-Fu media, such as martial arts tournaments or duels.

While the dueling rules can be a bit of a slog to read through, the core mechanics are well thought out, and the passion put into making them is clear. The book also includes a significant amount of content that redefines the Ki system. If you're not a fan of Ki, you may not be particularly interested in this section, but beyond that, there are no major complaints.

The lore described in the book is interesting to read through, but it's separate enough from the mechanics that you don't feel forced to use it if it conflicts with your world. The Shyam race excerpts, in particular, could be used as a springboard for new stories. Overall, I enjoyed reading this splatbook, and I'm excited to see more of Vladimir Rodriguez's work in the future.

One minor concern was raised by my dyslexic partner about the typeface used for the cover being difficult to read, but they were able to puzzle it out after a bit of squinting.

(I was given a copy of this book to review it)

Recipe for success? Gimme 10!

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.

Introduction Under Azoth Games, Connor D. Estes released the present book, which includes a lot of akashic goodness. Does the author maintain the quality of Azoth Games books? Read on!

What’s inside? 44 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 10 bucks, which include:

-Two new base classes: The Hearthkeeper is the first one. It has an unusual chassis, low combat prowess (d6 HD and low BAB) but proficiency in simple weapons, up to medium armor and bucklers, only good Will save, but 5 (5? odd) skill points for 12 skills. They are wisdom-based veilweavers with up to 12 veils… Wait, weren’t there only 10 slots? Do they get their unique slot like viziers? Wel, not really. Like the Huay class, they get a unique “slot” where they can shape a veil from a small, hearth-themed list; they also geat another “free” veil, Chef’s Armory, at 7th. Oh, and the rest of their veils are drawn from the vizier list, all 10 chakra binds, 3 improvements to essence capacity, and up to 20 essence.

Apart from these common abilities, they get some bonus feats (Life Bond, Apprentice Chef and Master Chef) and skill bonuses related to akashic cooking. Akashic cooking? Yeah, but don’t worry, all relevant material is reprinted from a variety of sources for everyone’s convenience! They also get an ability to blast with fire and akashic might, like a very minor flamestrike, but not to the level of a kineticist. They also get a pool of healing points so you don’t have to bleed when using the Life Bond feat. At 20th level, you become an outsider and gain immunity to age, fire and even regeneration that can only be negated by cold damage! They also become practically immortal. Very thematic ability that makes sense at 20th level, and puts the antiquated outsider apotheosis of monks and some sorcerer bloodlines to shame. All in all a nice akashic healer.

This class also includes two archetypes. The heirloom guardian gets less akashic recipes in exchange for akashic treasures, these being like meta abilities that are piggybacked by conventional veils, which replaces their akashic fire blast ability. The Hivekeeper replaces their bonus veil list for another, focused on bees and hives, and instead of the pool of healing points, they become better at ranged healing. It is worth noting that both archetypes are compatible.

The Hopeful is the second base class. It has a similar chassis to the previous class, except for 1 less skill point per level for 13 class skills and an extra good save. They are also Charisma-based veilweavers and constellation summoners, getting up to 26 essence (one per level plus one at every 3 levels), 6 veils pulled from the radiant veil list but having all 10 chakra binds. They can also summon constellations from somewhere™; I mention it like this because unlike most other constellation summoning classes, this one doesn’t mention cosmologies. They get a collective that works very similar to a Vitalist’s. They also have baked in many of Azoth Games’ optional rules for constellations to make them less OP. They are also better at summoning signs, and get some lunar-like essence cost reductions and same element bonuses.

At 3rd level they get a telepathic ability that is very useful for psionic characters which works with members of the hopeful’s collective. They also get a unique element-less constellation that lets them to manifest veils (starting with 1 at 7th level and increasing by 1 at 13th and 19th levels) from one veil set, chosen at the beginning of the day. They also get an ability that reminded me of a psionic prestige class, that lets them walk on water, walls, and reduce fall damage. They also learn to heal through their collective. Finally at top level, members of their collective get some pretty nifty abilities. A multifacetic class good for people who like to buff and have summons to do their bidding.

-Two archetypes: The Apothecary is an archetype for a huay that schews shapeshifting for some Spheres alchemy and some thematic veil additions for their veil of nature, while the Chef radiant focuses on akashic cooking too.

-49 Akashic Recipes: This section includes 24 brand-new recipes, 8 “supplements” which are like meta ingredients to cook other recipes, crystalized akasha that can stand in for certain ingredients (good when you don’t have some at hand), and 16 recipe reprints from various sources.

-10 veils, which includes a veil set, Blessings of Harvest and Hearth, comprised of 7 of the new veils and all of them. Apart from that, there are two other new veils and a minor veil. The new veils mostly complement the new classes, and include a variety of tricks. Ashen Blessing stores the HPs of fire damage you deal to later heal… but doesn’t have a limit on the amount of times you can add to the storage, which arguably can translate to infinite healing. Mage’s Final Trick gives bonus against sleep and exhaustion effects and you can share the bonus. You can also produce ingredients by taking essence burn, and when bound to the Wrists chakra you can create an effect similar to the magnificent mansion spell.

-2 new lost constellations: The Astral Host is a fire constellation that has an azata gancanagh cook champion form, an apron equipment form that lets you create cooking utensils and gives you a potentially huge bonus on Fortitude saves plus a Deflection bonus to AC, and a symbol that makes you a better cook. The Root of Life is an earth constellation with a morbai psychopomp champion form that can later take levels in an NPC class (my guess is commoner, expert and the like), a healer’s kit equipment form that gives you a Scholar’s (from the Spheres subsystem) medical training, and a sign that both protects you from negative/positive damage while enhancing the other, and the sign also gives the signed the ability to channel energy at a reduced efficiency by taking essence burn.

-Character options: This section includes 4 new hexes directed to akashic hex-users like the Fisherking or shapers of the Hag’s Shawl, a new Rajah heraldry, 10 new akashic feats with a focus on the new classes, and one trait.

-5 new items, all of them commodities for akashic cooks that enhance specific veils ans constellations. These include a fiery stone for cooking, a fridge, a maid’s apron, a chef’s bag, and a poisonous vial.

-2 appendices: One includes all the akashic magic’s info, including veils and constellations, and is enough to use the book’s new classes without any other book (although the hopeful will suffer without constellations). The second includes all rules for akashic cooking, including 2 feats and a veil.

Of Note: The hearthkeeper is an unusual class that will cater to certain people, and with the auge of the Delicious in Dungeon, will gain popularity. The akashic cooking subsystem is very intriguing and worth expanding. Finally, the idea of magical items that enhance certain veils or constellations is great too!

Anything wrong?: The hopeful has an interesting motif, but doesn’t bring anything new to the table; it feels like a lunar/radiant/rajah/vitalist hybrid. It is not a bad class, mind you, it just needs something unique. IMHO, I would get rid of the veilshaping and give them something like a radiant’s vivifications with a focus on positive emotions, like hope.

What I want: MOAR recipes of course! And maybe explore the veil/constellation-enhancing items more.

What cool things did this inspire?: I want to play my grandma LMAO! She had a long, turbulent life and would do great as an adventurer!

Do I recommend it?: Even without the new classes, the book’s focus on akashic cooking is great, and it is also a valuable addition for people that don’t have all of the referenced books or that want to have everything in one place. I would rate the book with a top grade if the hopeful had more unique abilities, so I will grade this book with 4.5 star cakes, rounded down. Bon appétite!

Biomancer? Intriguing!

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.

Introduction Under Azoth Games, James Ray released his first book under the Mysterious Classes line of products, focusing on the Biomancer, which is an alternate class for the fleshwraith, which itself is an alternate class of the machinesmith. Isn’t that intriguing? Read on!

What’s inside? 18 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 4.50 bucks, which include:

-The Biomancer variant variant class: This class has an alchemist-like chassis (d8 HD/medium BAB, 4 skill points for 14 CS, five of which are Knowledge areas; good Fort and Ref saves, proficiency in simple and natural weapons, light armors and shields), and start with many class features. They get a hefty bonus on heal checks and the ability to use Int for them. They are also Intelligence-based constellation summoners, but unlike Zodiacs/Servants, don’t get the Cosmology class feature. They instead get to choose 12 constellations from any available in the campaign with a couple of limits by element as their “Paradigm”. Also unlike their peers, Biomancers get access to only some of the constellations of their Paradigm and gain the rest gradually. They also get a slight cost reduction when summoning them.

Speaking of constellations, these are somewhat different from actual constellations. Any non-champion, non-sign constellation are treated as bio-essential constructs, while the champion forms always have the mutant template (if they are living, and with some restrictions on mutations) and have some unique abilities; finally, their sign constellations are treated as diseases!

Biomancer also get essence at a rate similar to Lunars, from 1 to 30. As variant machinesmiths/fleshwraiths, they also get to choose from a select list of Great Works (Genetic Laboratory, Mobius Weapon and Mobius Puppet), including a new one: Mother Mold. All of their abilities have a biopunk flavor, and all their constellations, gadgets and great works have the bio-essential trait, which marks them as constructs with the bio-essential and akashic subtypes, which make them living and even giving them a Con score. Each greatwork available also gives access to a unique, exclusive, element-less constellation.

They also get a couple of other abilities. Twist Flesh let them heal or harm living creatures a couple of times per day (Int bonus + ½ class level), but unlike many abilities in the game are not dependent on positive or negative energy. They can invest essence in this ability to increase the results. They can take any Lay on Hands feat and apply its effects to this ability. At every even level, they get to choose a Biomancer Trick, which come from 3 varieties: Augmentations, Gadgets and Techniques. These are borrowed from the parent classes, and include 3 unique Techniques.

At 3rd level, and every odd level thereafter, they get to enhance their Twist Flesh ability as if it was either Lay on hands or Touch of Corruption, gaining a mercy/cruelty. Also at 3rd level they get the Fleshwarper feat. As any other essence-user they get Improved essence capacity, up to +3.

At 5th level they get the Craft Construct feat for free but with some differences. All their constructs are bio-essential. At 8th level they can even make flesh golems ignoring the spells required. Finally, they learn how to improve their greatworks.

-Mother Mold Great Work: As noted before, Biomancers get access to an exclusive Great Work, which if chosen makes them Psionic. This one gives them the collective ability, similar to the one of the Vitalist psionic class or the Radiant akashic class, and also a pool of “source spores” used to empower some psionic abilities. As with other Biomancer great works the Mother Mold has a unique constellation, The Mycete, which manifests as a reinforced cloak.

Mother Mold’s first upgrade is Enhanced Physiology, which grants the Biomancer a Natural Armor bonus to AC and some Fast Healing for a couple of rounds per day. This ability can be invested with essence for more AC and healing. It also gives the Biomancer telepathy with anyone in their collective, and more psionic abilities to empower with their source spores.

The second upgrade, Recrudescence, lets the Mother Mold create its own Mindscape. The Biomancer and members of their collective can enter said mindscape. Also, the Mindscape lets the Biomancer store the minds of dead creatures. Also, more source spores-empowered psionic abilities are gained.

The third upgrade increases the amount of psi-abilities again, and lets the Mother Mold “eat” dead creatures, enabling the Biomancer to exploit the dead creatures to either cull info from their psyche or to be animated as fungal zombies, either of which expends the remains. There is a limit on the number of HD absorbable.

Mother Mold’s final upgrade makes the Biomancer practically immortal. They cannot die of old age and gain plant-like traits (but not the plant type), and again get more psi-like abilities empowered by source spores.

-Extra Content: The Elevated Sight akashic feat (works similar to the Chakra Sight feat), and La Llorona lost water constellation, which has an Armor form (shawl which works like dancing scarves and protects the wearer from cold and necromancy if invested with essence), a Champion form (in the shape of a Llorona, who would have guessed it), an Equipment form (a sadness-inducing dress, which range is increased by invested essence), and a Sign form (which gives the signed a magical wail that makes creatures around to want to drown in the nearest body of water, and essence giving the signed flight).

-Modified Upgrades/Augmentations for the Great Work ability to better support the Biomancer, and a list of Suggested Machinesmith Tricks.

Of Note: The sheer flavor of the Biomancer is nuts in a good way! Magical science and biopunk rolled into one is something I haven’t seen since the great Aquanaut psionic class! Not even the Promethean akashic class has this forced evolution flavor! Also, this book taps into the great historied 3pp content of Pathfinder! I mean, machinesmith, psionics, akashic magic, what is there not to like?

Anything wrong?: Unlike the author’s previous works, there are many, many editing mistakes and a couple of misspellings. A sham for such an interesting book!

What I want: To learn about the parent classes, which is something I don’t know at the moment. I need to learn what the parent classes can do before I experiment with the class.

What cool things did this inspire?: As with the Promethean, this class gives me visions of a fantasy fleshpunk world, with maybe the Biomancer and Promethean as opposing forces that use a similar concept but from different sources.

Do I recommend it?: The Biomancer is a complex class that requires both the Gamemaster and player to know many 3pp subsystems. If you already know all of them, I can greatly recommend it. If not acquainted, then it depends on the amount of time you want to invest in learning everything you need for the class. In my case, I will gladly learn about the parent classes. This is 5 star material… except for the editing, which forces me to deduct one stars from the final rating, a star I will add if the document is polished in the future. So at least for now, 4 living stars from me.

I haven't had a chance to put this into play at the table yet, so this is just based on my first impressions. First of all, this book is amazing in terms of ideas. Like the datum book that came before it, I am really digging what Azoth Games is doing in coming up with fresh, new takes on what you can do with races in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Here, the idea is that you play an animal but one with the akashic subtype. This gives you much f the range of a humanoid, although you are somewhat limited in manipulating weapons and tools as you must use you mouth or veils.

There are a wide variety of choioces of animals here, with sizes ranging from Tiny to Large. All of them have the standard +2, +2, -2 ability score array, but Tiny fable beasts get an additional -2 Str, +2 Dex, and Large ones get an additional +2 Str, -2 Dex. THey also have a variety of interesting abilities to choose from.

Using the race builder rules from the ARG, here is my estimates for each of the 13 heritages. As you can see, they trend high (especially the Tiny and Large ones, which get +4 RP and +7 RP for their size adjustments, respectively). But there are some more reasonable than others.

Fable Cat, Common (Small) - 15 RP Fable Cat, Great (Large) - 21 RP Fable Crow (Tiny) - 22 RP Fable Dog (Medium) - 14 RP Fable Fox (Small) - 14 RP Fable Frog (Tiny) - 18 RP Fable Hare (Small) - 15 RP Fable Horse (Large) - 22 RP Fable Mouse (Tiny) - 20 RP Fable Shark (Large) - 22 RP Fable Snake (Small) - 17 RP Fable Tortoise (Small) - 15 RP Fable Wolf (Medium) - 15 RP

In all, I found this book really interesting. I think it's not for everyone, but I can definitely see myself throwing some animal NPCs in a game. Plus, you know there are some players that would LOVE to play an animal -- this book would give them that option... and NOT JUST for akashic characters. (Think of this as the Ponyfinder option for anyone who isn't necessarily a hardcore Brony.)

I give it 4 stars for now... with the option to add a 5th star after playing around with it more.

Fable Beast? Consider me intrigued!

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.

Introduction Under Azoth Games, James Ray released his second book under the Species Archive line of products, this time focusing on the Fable Beast, an interesting race of fable characters becoming real. Isn’t that intriguing? Read on!

What’s inside? 25 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 5 bucks (great!), which include:

-The Fabled Beast species and 13 heritages: After a short introduction explaining the nature of fable beasts and the product line, the author presents us with the new specie. Basically, fables, myths and legends that perdure in the Akashic Records sometimes sip into the material world, transforming an animal into a kind of avatar of the character from the tale. This is AWESOME! The concept of the Akashic Records is great as it is, but the idea of having the possibility to have anything imagined by all sentient beings is worth exploring!

Each fabled beast (FB from now on) appears as an exceptional example of their race. They were animals, and as such don’t have a society of their own. They tend to be neutral and keep to themselves. Their names are descriptive, with things like Roar or Black being perfect names for them. However, there is an exception if the FB was raised by humanoids. As adventurers, they favor “natural” classes like huay or rangers, but also classes that would go well with their nature (vizier owls or monkey gurus for example). On the rule side of things, they are magical beasts with the akashic and augmented (animal) subtypes. They count both as animals and magical beasts for spells and effects, but as intelligent creatures, cannot be awoken or taught tricks. The greatest hurdle they have as characters is that they don’t have a humanoid anatomy, which is tackled by the rules. Another interesting aspect is their Fable language, which lets them communicate with other FBs and with animals similar to them.

As mentioned above, 13 heritages are presented. Each heritage has a short, fluff-y paragraph, ability score modifiers (which vary from the standard +2, +2, -2 to unusual +4, +2, +2, -4), some racial abilities and 2 inherent skills (from which they choose one as a class skill and get a +1 on the other) and two racial veils (again, they chose one, and it doesn’t count as a veil for class purposes). We have the housecat, great cat, crow, dog, fox, frog, hare, horse, mouse, shark (nice for underwater campaigns), snake, tortoise and wolf. Not only that, we get several alternate traits: Adopted (not as aloof, get along with humanoids, lose natural armor), Apocalypse Beast (lose racial veil, gain access to a horsemen constellation), Less Preternatural (lose racial veil but gain an extra point of essence and skill focus), Mystical Gifts (gain eschew materials but their natural attacks are weaker) and Tactile Telekinesis (can “wield” a weapon or other object by handling it telekinetically). All of them present options that could potentially change the player’s experience, which is great. Finally, as favored class bonuses, they break the norm and have 4 possibilities open to any class.

-2 new veils: Enduring Fortress is a chest veil available to Daevic, Khseshig, Nexus, Stormbound and Vizier classes, and lets you lace adamantine into your flesh to get natural armor bonuses and some DR beaten by bludgeoning damage, with the possibility of lowering your speed to get Endurance and increase the DR; essence increasing the natural armor and DR plus giving you a Fort save bonus. The bind makes the DR/-, and by lowering your speed to 0 you become a protected by a resilient sphere! The only nitpick I have is that this veil should have (IMHO) the Fleshwarp descriptor and losing it only with the bind ability.

The Sheep’s Clothing is a shoulders veil open to the eclipse, fisherking, promethean, vizier and volur classes that lets you disguise self, but inclusing more creature types. When essence is bound to this veil, you get bluff and disguise bonuses, plus the disguise fools magic if at least 4 or more essence is bound to it. The bind gives the disguise shadow magic qualities in the form of a small spell list imitated via false transmutation III, which is awesome!

-12 racial feats: a couple are heritage-specific and some are akashic feats, and all of them are inspired by fables or legends, or even by the animal itself. Scion of Caduceus, for example, let fabled snakes prepare alchemical items as if they had the proper tools and, well, hands? This is accompanied by a minor racial skill bonus. None of the feats are boring, but the crow one which increases your fear-inducing abilities makes me want to play a crow dread.

-4 reprinted feats: Essence-Honed Flesh, Thick-Skinned, Tooth and Veil and Weapon Fusion, all of them nice additions and appropriate to the fabled beast arsenal.

-2 magical items: The fang grip +1 special melee weapon quality lets a creature with the bite natural attack to wield a weapon in their mouth. The Collar of the Unexpected Weapon Master gives the above quality to any melee weapon wielded. This section also includes a really handy table of magical item slots by body type, including all fabled beast heritages.

-Bonus content: A new member of the Akashic pantheon, Progenitor, is depicted, with all its faith stat block, herald, religion traits and a new feat. Apart from that, we get 24 reprinted veils from various sources for convenience, plus the false alteration I and III spells.

Of Note: The concept of using the Akashic plane for things that aren’t real via imagination is incredible intriguing! The specie itself is also interesting and feels challenging to play.

Anything wrong?: The book feels kind of short on new things, and the new magical items bring some questions to their use.

What I want: More heritages based on other cultures! With maybe some insects too!

What cool things did this inspire?: A radiant/summoner archetype (maybe a variant summoner) that summons fabled beasts and characters would rock! Or maybe a Fabled cosmology

Do I recommend it?: This is where it gets weird. While I really enjoyed the book, I think it will not be for everyone. If you just want new Akashic stuff like the domains, mysteries and blessings, I would rate it 3 stars. But if you read the premise for the race and like it, then this is 5 virtual star material! I will give the book a score in the middle, so 4 fable stars from me.

AI and Akasha? Sign me in!

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.

Introduction Under Azoth Games, James Ray just released a new book under the Species Archive, and the first one AFAIK, line of products, this time focusing on the Datum, a very high concept specie of “living knowledge”. Did the author succeed with such a concept? Read on!

What’s inside? 25 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 5 bucks (great!), which include:

-The Datum species: After a cool science-meets-fantasy introduction, we get to the “meat” of the Datum. It is a very complex one, especially compared to humans. Whereas humans get a bonus feat and a bonus skill point and… that’s it, Datum get around 3 pages of special abilities! When outside of their home plane (also from this book), they appear as tiny versions of their original race (which apparently can look like any standard race). They are kind of living holograms that are practically incorporeal, don’t get a Strength score (don’t worry, everything is accounted for, including ability score generation), are tiny, are resistant to most damage types (but vulnerable to force and electricity), and get a couple of special rules as to not break the game. While they are almost ghostly and can pass through solid objects, they are tethered to other planes via a host, which is a technological, low power object, and their life literally depends on the host. They can change host relatively easy, but with the requirement that the host must be a technological item. They can also transform physical objects into things they can use, and also have a kind of videogame-y inventory that is justified in-game, where they can carry adventuring stuff. They also get the Technologist feat for free and a point of essence. They also have age and height tables, a favored class option list that includes most akashic classes but fittingly has no warrior-like ones, a short list of alternate racial traits, and one race trait. All in all, a very complex race that need both the game master and player to read and re-read it to play it well.

-9 new Feats: All of these feats can be gained by Datum, while a couple by other creatures similar to them. Acquire Format is like Shape Veil, but only for Datum and virtual creatures, and gives them access to one veil from the Datum’s Format veil set from later in this book. Amplified Form can be taken twice, and it can make quasi-real creatures (like Datum) appear more like their original selves, increasing in size to small and even to medium if taken twice. Ancilla is a feat that increases the bond you form with a creature that hosts you, which requires either the Cyber Symbiosis (which itself lets you take a tech creature like an android or robot as your host) or the Essential Symbiosis (which lets you bond with an akashic character with veils or constellations).

Bind Format requires Acquire Format feat and having a veilweaver level of 9, and lets you get the bound effect of the acquired veil. Data Storage give Datum and virtual creatures extra space in their inventory but only for actual data (books, scrolls and data devices). Diminished Form lets a quasi-real creature become diminutive. Finally, Hacker lets you use intelligence instead of dexterity for disable device checks against technological objects under your planar interface racial ability or that you are connected to via the Steel Ward’s Bond veil, and can ignore the penalty of not using e-picks.

-2 Technological Items: Lev-torch is like a levitating lightbulb that can be deactivated, and normally come with white light (it can be used as a host for Datum). Naniteweave Bodysuit comes in 3 varieties; it is similar to a psychoactive skin in the sense that it can be worn under clothing. The basic version (which is cheap enough to be a host) basically makes it a very comfortable undergarment with light and some minor bonuses, the medium version also repairs itself and maintains the wearer’s health, and the advanced increases the healing received and can even stabilize the wearer when on negative HP.

-Datum’s Format veil set: Including 5 veils, this set is special in the sense that it is normally available only to the Datum, but other characters can get them by giving a feat; they also occupy an “esoteric” chakra (those specific to certain chakras like vizier or helmsman), and all but the storm one are light armors. All of the veils start with “Format:” in their names. Administrator is a voice veil that takes the form of an armor that also improves the wearer’s ability to deal with robots and lawful creatures, and even veilweavers with law veils shaped, and when bound gives the wearer a sonic aura that damages chaotic creatures and even chaotic veils! Like other voice veils it also includes kingdom effects.

Corruptor is an evil blood veil, and if the name wasn’t any indication, it gives a specific corruption from a list when worn, and there is a small chance that your fallen foes become corrupted; the bind gives you some of the corruption’s gifts and stains, these last can be overcome by binding essence, and if that wasn’t enough the wearer can even command those corrupted! Framework is a ring veil gives you an aura that hardens the world around you (unattended objects, objects held by allies and your and your allies’ veils), while the powerful bind lets you cast create mindscape or psychic asylum by burning essence!

Purifier is an interface veil that makes your essence immune to corruption and essence invested also protects you from curses, corruption progression, and insanity (I would also throw hexes and brand veils in there); the bind gives you a purifying ray that can purge many maladies, and while this ray can’t heal, it can greatly harm creatures that inflict these maladies, to the point of utterly annihilating such creatures when killed by this ray and erasing them from the Akashic Records! Only Divine Intervention (ok, the game master really) can return such a creature to life! The Chaos is the final veil, and is a storm one. This veil begins to warp and twist the world around the are, creating difficult terrain and dealing bludgeoning damage, and when bound weird sh¡t happens, since it includes a kind of wild magic table to see its effects on those in the area, including mostly bad effects but also some good ones.

-The Lattice demiplane: This plane looks like a futuristic city, and is said to be the resting place of synthetic lifeforms, and Datum and other virtual creatures become real while in here, even gaining a strength score. After a short description, we get the plane’s traits, the virtual creature simple template, a powerful virtual wolger helmsman NPC, and the petitioners of the plane. We also get the Lattice planar infusions plus the Lattice itself as a deity, with portfolio, domains, subdomains, mysteries etc. associated to it. We also get two religion traits and a craft feat that gives you a cool akashic item, useful for scholars.

-Additional character options: This section includes a lot of material: the Akasha domain, the Akasha warpriest blessing, the Circuitry oracle mystery, the Technology domain with the Data, Engineering and Robot subdomains and the Technology warpriest blessing.

-Bonus Content: This section includes an small Akashic pantheon, which includes the three-faceted AhShaRi, Lath, Metatron, Quadim, all including the deity information, plus the Akasha domain’s subdomains, Constellation and Essence.

-Appendix: this small section includes the rules for corrupted essence.

Of Note: There are few books this size that can open a window to cool, innovative worlds full of strange adventures! This is not D&D, not Pathfinder, this is something completely new and intriguing! Being more specific, the race itself, while a bit weird, is really interesting, as are the accompanying veils; all of them can be character defining!

Anything wrong?: Apart from some small errors, I guess that the bonus content is separated from the additional character options because of the theme, but it is a bit annoying to have the subdomains of the Technology domain after it, while the Akashic domain’s are in another section entirely.

What I want: I don’t like small characters, tiny even less, but I don’t know why I would love to play a Datum psychokineticist (either a psion or a kineticist). Something about a living hologram that can affect theworld by will alone sounds cool and kind of hilarious. Apart from that, I would have loved some adventure seeds.

What cool things did this inspire?: What if the party died and became Datum? What if the party appeared in the Lattice and freaked out at the futuristic place? The book presents a lot of possibilities for adventuring!

Do I recommend it?: This is where it gets weird. While I really enjoyed the book, I think it will not be for everyone. If you just want new Akashic stuff like the domains, mysteries and blessings, I would rate it 3 stars. But if you read the premise for the race and like it, then this is 5 virtual star material! I will give the book the later because it delivers what it’s mentioned in the blurb.

Not everything “Meta” sucks (glares at certain social network)

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.

Introduction Under Azoth Games, James Ray released a book under a new Apocryphal Akasha line of products, this time focusing on meta effects. Metamagic has been one of the greatest additions to Vancian magic since the dawn of 3rd edition D&D, but it has not been really used in Akashic Magic as far as I know. So, how was this implemented? and, is it any good? Let’s see!

What’s inside? 19 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for just 4 bucks (nice), which include:

-General Rules for Meta-Akasha: This one-page section includes the general rules for Meta-Akasha effects. Basically, meta effects reduce the effectivity of essence invested but grant a special ability to the effect modified.

-26 Meta Constellation feats: Yeah, that many. Some of the effects give the elemental damage of weapon and champions a “piggyback” effect, while others increase the abilities of champions. Some others let effects ignore immunities, and others add meta effects the constellation’s special abilities, like widening a breath weapon of allowing for safe pockets for area of effects.

-26 Meta Veil feats: Again, that many. These mirror the Meta Constellation feats but affecting veils instead. Again, “piggyback” effects for damaging effects, increased potency, immunity-ignoring etc.

-2 Class Options: The Nova Zodiac Orbit gets a unique, non-elemental Constellation, which has a drake Champion form with an interesting breath weapon, a VERY useful backpack Equipment from that works as a Bag of Holding and can basically transform stuff into valuable metal (incredibly useful at getting rid of dangerous items, or evidence LOL), a deceptively powerful Sign form that gives the marked character a meta feat (magic, psionics or what have you) and a spell resistance that only works against harmful transmutation effects, a gauntlet Weapon form that gains plasma and force damage with essence invested, and can blind with essence burning. At 2nd level, the Nova can summon a bright cloud that can have several effects via essence burn: It can make a Constellation explode, doing plasma and force damage (with a very high DC to resist, adding full Zodiac level instead of half), it can also basically swap a constellation for another of equal or less essence value (chastise any player that make Pokemon jokes please), and it can also give fast healing and make constellation summoning a bit cheaper. At 4th level and every 4 more, the Nova gets an Akashic or Meta feat, and can summon meta-ed constellations quicklier. Finally, at 20th level, the Nova can go nova when dead, exploding and harming enemies while giving allies fast healing.

The Path of the Metaweaver Viziers are very adept at using Meta Veil feats, and gain up to 4 Meta Veil feats that can be changed every day. As their capstone, they get to apply Meta Veil feats at a reduced cost!

-Bonus Content: Crystalized Mandalas are magical items that give veilshapers access to a veil contained in them, perfect for characters that just want one veil outside of their lists. The Faithful is a title veil that lets the entitled forge a bond with another creature, and its bind is really cool! If one of the creatures bound dies, it appears as a phantom for a couple of minutes! Finally, the Purple Rider lost constellation gets the element of the constellation it replaces, has a Sign form that can be applied to a mount and gives it some memory-erasing abilities, and has a quill Equipment form that increases the wielder’s ability to lie, and can affect texts with the obscured script spell written with it and even other texts!

Of Note: The main concept of meta akasha is very intriguing and opens the door for many interesting builds. The new vizier path is great for experimenting with it!

Anything wrong?: The two type of feats are very similar, and that makes me wonder if they could have been all grouped into only one type. Perhaps that would make Lunar Zodiacs EVEN more powerful. AND the author has accustomed us to the inclusion of champion constellation stats, so them missing is like not having enough topping on an already stacked ice cream LOL.

What I want: The new title veil has a cool drawing of a samurai, so a samurai archetype that is based around The Faithful would rock!

What cool things did this inspire?: Apart from the The Faithful title veil on a Samurai, I would like to make a necrocarnate-like character (from the old Incarnum days) using some of the darker meta veil feats, capable of dominating undead.

Do I recommend it?: If you are reading this review it is probably because of some interest in this niche of meta-akashic effects. I f that is the case, rest assured that this little book will satiate that interest in spades. 5 Novas from this reviewer!

Remember the Lost Constellations and Lesser Cosmollogies? They’re back! In card form!

Introduction James Ray tackles a different type of product: Constellation Cards. Instead of lots of new options, these cards include all the info of a constellation. But not ANY constellation. This product includes the so called lost constellations (there are 3 of them), which exist outside a cosmology and replace another sign from a Zodiac’s cosmology, and the new Lesser Cosmology, which is a group of 4 lost constellations that you have to take, and they also replace 4 other constellations. Are they worth it? Let’s check’em!

What’s inside?: 9 pages that include 42 cards, 6 which are not really play related. That would leave us with 36 cards. These cards include all the information for The Wanderer (a special constellation that can take on any element with a special restriction, and has a champion, equipment and sign manifestations), The Spider’s Son (a fire sign with champion, equipment and sign manifestations) and The Smith (an earth sign with champion, equipment and sign manifestations) lost constellations.

Apart from these, the cards include the 4 signs from the only lesser cosmology to date: The Four Horsemen. Each horseman has a different element, and all have the sign manifestations plus one or two more. Each sign has to be applied to an animal, although thematically that would be a horse, if you want to ride on an elephant and bestow it the war sign, you can!

The cards have a lot of handy info, with symbols that depict thetype of manifestation, the element etc. Most cards take one or two cards, with only one taking 3 cards.

Of Note: Again, having made my own cards back in the day, I know firsthand of the handiness of such a product.

Anything wrong?: I still don’t know why the cards have legal info but it might have to do with the print versions (even if this product doesn’t have one). Also, this deck is a bit pricey compared to all the other products by Azoth Games, but taking into account that this borrows from 4 different books while all the decks before only borrow from one, I think it is ok.

What I want: More lesser cosmologies!

Do I recommend it?: If you use the Zodiac class and the different optional constellation, this is the product for you. 4.5 stars rounded up!

Once upon a time, but akashic

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.

Introduction Under Azoth Games, James Ray has released many supplements that expand the Akashic Magic subsystem for Pathfinder 1ed, all of them focused on giving the subsystem a specific flavor by tying it to real-world mythology and pop culture. Here we have a compilation of the first 6 volumes of his Akashic Tales series, all of which I have written reviews. Is this compilation worth it? Lesse!

What’s inside? 118 pages of content! (not counting covers, ads etc., and having more pages than Akashic Mysteries itself!) for 15 bucks (talk about getting your money’s worth), which include:

-7 veil sets (46 veils): Gifts of Winter Pageantry is the Christmas set, Hagknight elements is the Baba Yaga’s rider set, Hallow Icons is the Halloween/Dia de Muertos set, Headless Horseman’s Aspect is a small, two veil set for those who want to play the role of the set’s namesake.

Relics of Atlantis is a cool set filled with the so called “esoteric” veils, which are class specific (ring, blood, storm etc.), Red’s Peril is the Little Red Hood set, and Spider’s Stories is the African myth-flavored one.

Most of this veils are really good and even character-defining, and even the less glamorous ones aren’t filler. Pure gold!

• 6 Constellations: We begin with 2 “lost constellations” (The Smith and The Spider’s Son), a concept that first appeared in the City of Seven Seraphs, and each one can replace one of the constellations of a zodiac’s cosmology. After that, we have a new concept, a “lesser cosmology”, in this case the 4 Horseman of the Apocalypse, that again replace constellations from the zodiac’s chosen cosmology. Again, none of them feel like filler content, and in fact they are really cool!

After these constellations, we get the new “sign” manifestation, a variant for those games that feel that classed champions are too strong. Each sign gives a specific ability to those marked with it. 10 such signs are presented, from all the existing cosmologies. Note that some of the new signs in the previous section have the sign manifestation too.

-19 class options: For those games that really want to embrace the akashic magic subsystem, we have archetypes for the Radiant, Fisherking and Vizier classes, which turn them into another fantasy archetype completely. We also have akashic magic versions for the following classes: vampire hunter, truenamer, bard/skald, cavalier, ranger, hunter, machinesmith, antipaladin/paladin, oracle and spiritualist! Note that some of them are 3rd party content, so the more the merrier. We also have in-class options: an Aurora Orbit for the zodiac, a Path of the Mage for the vizier, and an Order of the Crone for cavaliers. We also have “pet flavors” in the form of the Akasha Touched familiar, Essence Infused Champion, the Veil Trained animal companion, and even an Orichalcum Core template for constructs!

We finish this section with 21 feats, racial, akashic, combat, teamwork… lots to chose from!

-4 racial options: Here we have the Atlantean and Tuktu (raindeerfolk) races, complete with racial descriptions, age, height and weight, standard and alternate race traits, racial traits and favored class bonuses for tons of classes. We have two “minor” races, the Aldhiyb (wolf-like variant of the Sobek) and the Storyweaver were-spider-kin skinwalker heritage.

-item section: 6 akashic recipes, 4 mundane akashic items, and an akashic special material: Orichalcum.

-Akashic rules section: This one includes all you need tto know about akashic magic, but also includes new tech like minor veils, constellations, etc. Very useful to have in one thorough package.

• Alternate rules: Here we have variants that don’t use akashic magic, and instead use the Spheres system or Path of War maneuvers, plus a new Vizier path that uses some other 3pp content, including a couple of veils!

Of Note: The author’s ability to write neat stuff has to be read. There has not been a single book under his pen that hasn’t had at least one thing that blew me away! And the akashic-variants are needed for those who want to get as far from Vancian casting as they can LOL.

Anything wrong?: If there is something I could critique, is that by mixing 6 books of very different tones into one makes the final product lose some of its charm. But that is the only thing I could really whine about.

What I want: Some of these books deserve sequels!

What cool things did this inspire?: Lots and lots of characters! Azoth games’ books always make my creative juices boil!

Do I recommend it?: If you don’t have any Azoth Games’ books, but love akashic magic, this is a no-brainer! Do yourself a favor and shell those 15 bucks, you won’t be disappointed.

(Chroma Squad theme plays in the background)

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score. DISCLAIMER part 2: I had reviewed this book before and had to take one star off because of the editing errors. After the author fixed them, I re-wrote part of my review and gave the book the score it deserves.

Introduction Under Azoth Games, James Ray just released a new book under the Akashic Tales line of products, this time focusing on Tokusatsu. The genre has been tackled before in other supplements in fine ways but, can the author surpass them with his akashic version? Read on!

What’s inside? 66 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 11 bucks (nice), which include:

-20 veils: These are divided in 3 sets, plus a new minor veil. While I normally try to tackle all new veils, here I will have to mention one at random or this review will take me forever LOL. Before starting, the author again decides to make veil sets (the first two) that are not meant for one class only, which is ok since it represents related content.

Kaiju Armory includes 8 veils, most of them multi-slot ones and each one channeling one iconic ability of a kaiju, including even a voice one (for the awesome Fisherking class). Kaiju’s Gullet is a neck and shoulder veil that gives you a radiation, force, positive energy or sonic breath weapon (chosen when the veil is shaped) with a cooldown, and all energies give modest, 1d4 (+1d per essence) damage, which is great since they are some of the more esoteric damages out there. Binding it to the shoulders make you kaiju-tough, and binding it to the neck improved the damage of your breath and gives very little resistance to that type of energy (but don’t worry, positive energy doesn’t give you infinite healing since it has some important rulings to prevent that).

Power of the Atom includes 6 veils, all giving me Ultraguy vibes, and a side note about radiation damage and where to find more about it. The set includes a ring, a title and a storm veil, and even a brand one. The Destroyer of Worlds is a body title veil that infuses your being in powerful radiation, and when hit the entitled can burn essence (either that invested by the entitler in the title veil or the entitled’s own) as an immediate action to burst into a number of d6 equal to the veilshaper’s level, and can decide how many of those dice are fire, radiation and or force, and this ability has restricted use. When bound to the body, the entitled gets a reduced bomb class feature of the alchemist but gets radiation bombs. I would argue about the power, but the reduced level means reduced damage, and in a game where radiation damage is a thing, that wouldn’t be as powerful as it sounds.

The last set is Warrior Moth’s Metamorphosis, and it includes 5 title veils, and all of the have the “fleshwarp” descriptor (a new type of veil descriptor from the awesome Promethean book). This set has a special restriction, since you can only be entitled by one of these at a time. The Armored gives you both natural armor and damage reduction, with essence increasing both, and when bound to the body it also gives you non-renewable temporary hit points (this might raise the question of what happens when essence is invested or de-invested from the veil, which has been tackled by the author of Akashic Mysteries before). The veil section finishes with the Dosimetry Broach minor veil, and it detects radiation and helps heal the rads it inflicts.

-Peerage of Monsters Lesser Cosmology: This includes 5 signs, 1 for each element and 1 that adopts the element of the constellation it replaces. All of them have the Champion and Sign manifestations, plus another one. The first one, The Apex King, is a water constellation that adds Armor manifestation, which manifests as an O-Yoroi armor that gives a swim speed with essence. I would have weaved the armor check penalty to swim checks, though, although having a swim speed gives you a +8 bonus (not mentioned here). The Champion form takes for as a two tailed tyrannosaurus with an archetype and a subtype, and essence gives it fast healing and radiation damage and resistance. The Sign form gives a force and a radiation breath weapon, and essence gives bonuses to Will saves plus increased damage to the breath.

The Devastating Usurper fire constellation can manifest as a drake, a hardness-ignoring and extra fire damage sign, and a flambard. The Luminous Queen air constellation can manifest as a giant white moth, a darkness-dispelling, light-imbued kimono and a Diplomacy enhancer and extra language-giving sign. The Mechanical Tyrant is the element-adopting constellation, and it can manifest as a synthetic two-tailed tyrannosaurus, a harness that can throw rays of cold, and a sign that changes the target to an android-like being. We end this section with the Watchful King, an earth constellation that can manifest as a four armed ape, a carrying-capacity and electricity resistance-giving sign, and a great axe made of bone. These companions feel stronger than previous companions, but they might be balanced with the fact that they only have one manifestation apart from the champion/sign one.

-11 class options: Evolutionist Huay are intelligence based, get a storm veil slot instead of veil of nature (but can only be used to shape The Fallout or The Luminescence), and their skinshift lasts less, but in exchange get some mutation-flavored buffs that they can give to allies. Ionizing Essence Adepts are Atomic Adepts that trade their spellcasting for intelligence-based veilweaving (like the Nexus, 10 veils, 10 chakra slots, and 20 essence, and also drawing their veils from that list), and also get a Irradiating Veil (chosen from a small list) that is like an extra ability, since it doesn’t count as a veil shaped or even takes a chakra slot, and this veil can change its damage type to one of the 5 common energies plus force, and it also inflicts rads! However, using this veil also radiates the adept and can even make him go into meltdown state, and that is something you don’t want. Finally, they get the ability to cast a couple of spells by burning essence in a special, long-lasting way.

Kaiju Chosen Radiants are charisma based, lose mind over matter to be able to shape all the manifestations of a Kaiju constellation, even at the same time, and also trade a couple of vivifications to be able to buff their allies in a way similar to Skalds. They can also use chose from 3 abilities in place of another vivification. A really weird but cool option for the often-forgotten Radiant. Kaiju Brawlers are unchained monks that are charisma based, lose all weapon proficiencies in exchange for some natural weapons, can shape 1 of 3 veils (depending of their Kaiju), gain damage reduction instead of improving their AC over the levels, and become chibi-kaiju instead of outsiders at 20th. Nice, thematically sound variant of the monk!

Monster Maker Necros get some intelligence-based veilweaving from the Promethean veil list and basically become akashic necromancers, being able to create undead and modify them by fleshcrafting. Great for those that miss Necrocarnates from the 3.5 era! The Nexus gain access to the Radiation Convergence, themed around radiation. A great way to expand the boundaries of a class like the Nexus! Precipice is an archetype for the Crux class, one of the most obscure akashic classes, and it FINALLY gives it veilwaving (from the Soulforge up to 5 veils, charisma based, all chakra binds), but apparently can only store a little temporary essence to fuel veils, since they don’t gain an essence pool. They can also gain some unique oscillations.

Protean Kaiju Fighter get the akashic treatment, able to shape up to 5 veils and getting up to 10 essence to empower them, getting some abilities similar to the Radiant archetype before. I can’t really comment on this archetype since I don’t really know the OG class. It includes some rules for using the class in a campaign where Kaiju aren’t that common (cool), and includes a list of 12 Kaiju Catalyst, which I guess is like a sorcerer bloodline for the KF. The Senshi Vigilante get essence and constellation manifestation abilities, and get to choose from 3 unique specializations, all themed around constellations, and also some unique talents, both social and vigilante, to round up the class. Great, thematic variant! This section ends with two souls for the Soulforger class, the Atomic Adept and the Kaiju Fighter.

-5 Feats: Entitled Metamorphosis and Levitation are racial feats for the new races, Noble Astrologist is expanded here for the alternate rules explained below, and there are two reprints from a Legendary Games themed around Kaiju.

-2 racial options: Yosei are tiny humanoids that look like sprites, and they include age, height, and all that good stuff that is sometimes missing from races, and that includes favored class bonuses for a lot of Paizo and akashic classes. Entobians, a race from the Remarkable Races book, gains a Speciolite metamorphosis that gives them some akashic musical abilities. Both races are very distinct from your classic “something elf” that permeates 3PP content.

-2 magical items: Irradiating is a weapon quality that, you guessed right, deals radiation damage, and like a flaming weapon it adds 1d4 and rads to the damage and is +1, which I think is fair because it is a more esoteric damage; it also comes in the “burst” version that deals increased damage when a crit lands. Finally, Stellar Lenses is a constellation-enhancer item, incredibly useful for Zodiacs and other manifestation-users.

-New and Alternate rules: This includes the Radiation descriptor and what abilities/spells have it. After it, we have many champion-altering rulings for those game masters that find them too powerful. Dedicated Champions alternate rulings let characters trade their ability to manifest all champions from their cosmology but one, and that champion becomes cheaper to manifest, can have a life-link to their champion and can basically teleport their champions to their side. Cool variant for a more personal experience with the champions! The No Champions alternate rulings gives the character some freebies in exchange for losing all champions (but not signs). Shared HP Pool Champions all have a single hp pool, the Limited Champions limits the number of champions that can be manifested at the same time, and Customization Limit prevents you to change your cosmology to the point where you have few or no constellations from that cosmology left. Some of these rules can be used together for a more customized experience.

-4 new Kaiju: One of the missing aspects of the Akashic Mysteries book was monsters, since there are very few published even after more than 5 years. Here we have not only akashic monsters but KAIJU! The first 2 of them include worshipping notes, like domains and mysteries associated to them. Hakkora and Yamira are twin CR 26 colossal moths that represent opposing forces, and this section includes a 20th level Rajah that is the divine son of one of the moths, and he also includes worshipping benefits. Shugoshin the 3rd is a CR 28 4 armed gorilla who can manifest The Watchful King in all of its forms at once, and can even manifest 2 of its champions! Finally, Synth-Mogaru is a living synthetic CR 29 creature (but not akashic) that can be controlled, and it is extremely powerful! This section ends the book with a new trophy for cyborg creatures.

Of Note: Long are the days of going into a dungeon, killing its monsters and looting the booty… Books like this show what kind of campaigns we can play using the same ruleset!

Anything wrong?: This might be the author’s biggest book, and it suffered from a lot of edition problems as a result. However, in a move I would like to see in more companies, he went and edited the book again!

What I want: A full campaign setting with Kaiju at the center, and all the cool options in this book and the ones it borrows from.

What cool things did this inspire?: For those not into kaiju (shame on you), it would be cool to have the options of having dragons take their place.

Do I recommend it?: If you are reading this, chances are that you are into akashic magic and/or kaiju, and if that is the case this is a no-brainer. I really enjoyed the book, and after the polishing the author gave the book, I can finally give it the highest score. So, 5 colossal stars from this medium-sized reviewer (not for long, Christmas is coming)!

Post Credits Scene: For those wondering what is Chroma Squad, look for the trailer on Youtube. It is a tactical RPG where you play as the not-power-rangers and can transform and even call a gigantic robot! And the theme song is da bomb LOL!

Remember the Zodiac's constellations? They're back! In card form!

Introduction James Ray tackles a different type of product: Cosmollogy Cards. Instead of lots of new options, these cards include all the info of a constellation and its many manifestations. Are they worth it? Let’s check’em!

What’s inside?: 15 pages that include 41 cards, that strangely enough include the legal stuff in card form and that takes 5 cards, so we are left with 36 cards, all for 3 dollars:

The cards themselves take up the majority of the product. They includes all the 27 original manifestations from the Zodiac book, plus 4 sign manifestations of the author's... authory. They are not just copy-paste though, since some of them have been edited with clarified information. Each card has the name of the constellation at the bottom, its essence cost at the top, an elemental watermark, and a symbol for its manifestation type. The cards have a blue border, and the awesome constellation-y lion on the cover graces the back of each card.

Of Note: Having made my own Tome of Battle cards back in the day, and also some cards for another book, I appreciate the handiness of such a product. Also, the watermark and the manifestation symbols save a lot of space.

Anything wrong?: Like the previous veil decks, I fond the font as kind of small. Also, I'm never gonna print the legal cards LOL. Finally, as a retired Magic the Gathering player, each time I see the cards I expect to see the name at the top and the mana.. ehm, essence cost rigth next to the name LOL. But you just have to get accostumed.

What I want: As the spoiled brat I am, now I want constellation decks for all cosmollogies.

Do I recommend it?: If you are playing live and using the Zodiac class, I can wholeheartedly recommend it. 5 comic stars from me!

Insert witty review title here.

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.

Introduction Under Azoth Games, James Ray released a new book under the Akashic Tales line of products, this time focusing on Voodoo, which I have but vague knowledge of. Can the author maintain the quality of line? Read on!

What’s inside? 41 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 7.50 bucks (very nice!), which include:

-A short but nice introduction that mentions source material like documentaries and books. Also, a frank description of what this is (an rpg book) and isn’t (a scholarly discussion of the content) is given, and I find it both annoying and necessary. In the age we live, where people get offended, for free, for things they don’t even really understand, makes this a necessity.

-The Servant variant Zodiac class, which takes almost a quarter of the book! The servant is a more priestly, wisdom based Zodiac. Its most visible change is that the base classes gains essence as a Lunar Zodiac, which is the highest in the game, especially at lower levels. Unlike the Zodiac, there are no veilweavers among the Servants (intriguing). The rest of the base class is basically the same, with some cosmetic changes. Instead of an Orbit, the Servant gains access to a Path, of which 3 are given:

The Bokor, who gains the ability to create astral vessels, where they can entrap part of a character’s spirit for both malevolent and benevolent purposes. At 2nd level, and every 4 levels thereafter (so a maximum of 5 at 18th level), a Bokor gains access to a special talent from a small list, one of them lets Bokor create both a traditional and an “astral zombie”, which has the stats of an unfettered phantom! At 4th level, and every 4 levels thereafter (so a maximum of 5 at 20th level), a Bokor gains access to a wisdom-based Hex or even a Major hex!

The Houngan, an even more divine path, gets a basic healing ability, have a Patron Loa that blesses them with a minor form of a mystery which lets them cast a mystery spell once per day, get even more powerful healing abilities that uses the Kn. Religion skill (cool!) plus their sign manifestation, and get a revelation (or bonus feat from a small list) from their Patron at 4th and every 4 levels thereafter (so a maximum of 5 at 20th level).

The Solda, a more “Solar-like” Servant, would be the holy warrior. They get less essence, better proficiencies, bonus akashic, fighter or teamwork feats (at 4th and every 4 levels thereafter, so a maximum of 5 at 20th level), and also get an interesting variant of the Magus spellstrike, called sign strike, and at 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter (so maximum 4), they specialize in a constellation, reducing their manifestation cost, and can choose to specialize more in that constellation or another each time.

Servants also get a reduced Stargazing ability, called Divine Guidance. They also gain slightly renamed Celestial Lord, Ruler and Emperor abilities, plus a capstone according to their Path: Bokor become lich-light, Houngan become ageless outsiders that emanate a circle of protection, and Solda become more resistant and their weaponry slightly more powerful. We end the Servant section with favored class bonuses for all core races plus Orcs, 5 of the 6 “planetouched” (no Tiefling? buh), and Azoth Games’ Atlantean and Tuktu. A funny glitch is that Halflings get an ability that reduces the cost of the Water Bearer constellation, which is from the original cosmology, and feels weird here.

-Loa cosmology: This is a full, 12 constellation cosmology, and includes 3 of each of the classic elements as normal. All of the constellations include both a champion and a sign manifestation, which is a new manifestation introduced by the author in a previous book. Unlike previous signs, there are many that are detrimental to the marked, which is necessary for the Soldat path. The elements are not “perfectly balanced”: Earth has 1 armor, 2 equipment and 3 weapon manifestations; Air has 3 equipment and 1 weapon; Fire has 2 armors, 1 equipment and 2 weapons; Water has 3 equipment and 1 weapon. This is not a bad thing, since the power of the manifestations vary wildly. Worth noting is that all champions are animals with the “auspice” animal companion archetype, which make them divine in origin. Overall, a great Cosmology that works better with the Servant, and the Servant works better with it.

-The Queen’s Effects veil set: This set includes 8 veils, 4 of which are new. All of the new ones are accessible by the Huay and Volur classes and a couple more. Voodoo Queen’s Tignon is a headband veil that improves the user’s diplomacy and Kn. Religion checks, plus unlocks the Hypnotism occult skill unlock, with essence improving the bonus and the number of times per day one can use hypnosis, and when bound it gives the user some spell-like abilities and makes him more difficult to charm. Gris-Gris is a belt, neck and wrists veil that gives you a modest spell resistance that only work for certain subtypes of spells, with essence increasing it, and when bound to the wrists it lets you create one of three charms that can harm or help the wearer. The neck bind does the same as the wrist but also makes you immune to either diseases or poisons, while the belt does the same as the wrists bind plus protects you against curses.

Herbalist’s Shawl is a chest and shoulders veil that makes you a great healer and herbalist, even giving you the faith healing occult skill unlock; the shoulder bind gives you a reduced ability to make potions using herbalism (but full when making healing ones), and the chest bind lets you also make elixirs. Zombii’s Coils is a head veil that lets you summon a viper familiar (albeit at a reduced level) with the akasha touched and sage archetypes, but if you have the Improved feat, it lets you summon some more powerful creatures, and the head bind gives you a fully empowered familiar.

-Chual Omdura archetype: What? That divine mid-caster from the Nyobe supplement that would work wonders with akashic magic? In the vein of his bard and vampire hunter archetypes, the author makes an akashic version of the class, who apart from veilshaping abilities (from the Volur veil list), gets blessed each day by one of the Loas, getting a flavorful requirement (called a horse’s mark) but also the ability to manifest the corresponding constellation, and unlike even the Zodiac, can manifest that constellation in as many ways he can at the same time, as long as he can pay. This raises a question, what happened with the synergies of having manifested constellations of the same element? I would rule that it doesn’t benefit from the synergy since it is the same constellation. Great archetype!

-6 Feats: Assisted Manifestation lets you borrow up to 2 essence from a creature that also has this feat… Ok, but with the feat’s requirements it would have been better if the supporting ally didn’t need to have the feat. Divine Constellation requires you to have channel energy, lay on hands or touch of corruption, and you can use that ability through your constellation (great with the Perilous Rider archetype from a previous book!), gaining a benefit depending of the manifestation, great! Gifted Manifester treats your constellation as higher level up to your character level (nice for multiclassers).

Loa Ridden makes you especially adept at getting one of the Loa’s attention, giving you the corresponding horse’s mark and reducing the cost of manifesting the corresponding Loa’s manifestation. Sign Focus lets you specialize in one element for manifesting its related signs. Transfer Sign lets you transfer a sign manifestation you have to an ally, which saves you from having to burn more essence to manifest the sign again.

-The Loa Pantheon/Cosmology: This includes a table with the Loa, the effect of the horse’s mark, and the corresponding constellation. Each of the 12 entries includes name, epithet, alignment, pantheon (all are Loa, surprise!), areas of concern, associated mysteries (necessary for the Houngan path), domains (also necessary for the Loa constellations’ champion form), subdomains, favored weapon, symbol, sacred animal and sacred colors. Interesting merge of two different but not opposed concepts!

-Bonus Content: The author again goes above and beyond and presents 4 archetypes for the Omdura class, one for Path of War, one a sphere caster, one a sphere warrior, and the last one a sphere champion. Great for campaigns that use alternate systems!

-Reference Material: This includes updated akashic magic rules that include things like brand veils (very important for the Chual archetype), and 10 creatures stats for the constellations (why 10? One of the stats is used twice, and only the cobra is missing)

Of Note: A game like D&D/Pathfinder tends to use general archetype for their classes, to be able to fill many niches in one go. That is why I love 3PP products like this, since the servant class is a great example of how to do a specific real-world example concept done right. Everything in the book oozes flavor and the rules to match! If I was to choose something, it would be the dual concept of constellations/pantheon and how the author marries both concepts.

Anything wrong?: Apart from the missing cobra stats and some confusing language under the Herbalist’s Shawl veil? Not much. I would have liked more info on the Loas to better represent a fantasy follower, but I can just read an article on-line for that.

What I want: I would have loved to see some Santeria or Cult of the Santa Muerte (holy Death) inspired content! I imagine the Santa Muerte as a lost constellation, with manifestations in line with the Loas.

What cool things did this inspire?: I read on an RPG social group a comment that jokingly mentioned that the least used race in D&D was a human of African descent… And at least in my group, with a ¼ century of playing, I can count them in one hand, so that statement is true at least for us! I would really love to play an akashic campaign in Nyambe (a great campaign setting from D&D 3rd edition days) or Nyobe in Golarion. Or even a Ravenloft campaign where the antagonists are Servants! Also, a voodoo akashic hag would rock!

Do I recommend it?: If you want to include Loas in your game as options for PCs, or if you want some creepy antagonists for your campaign, look no further! I sometimes wonder when I’m going to read a book by the author that I don’t like, but all of them have been glorious and inspiring, and this is not the exception. 5 star-shaped Gris-Gris from this reviewer and a high five to the author!

Too early for Christmas? Nah!

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.

Introduction Under Azoth Games, James Ray released a new book under the Akashic Tales line of products, this time focusing on many winter legends. Can the author maintain the quality of line? Read on!

What’s inside? 18 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 3.50 bucks (nice!), which include:

-A short but nice introduction that mentions classic source material (like the wise men, krampus, and others), plus etymology (a passion of mine).

-The Gifts of Winter Pageantry veil set which includes 6 veils, all of them new. Before I tackle the veils, I have to mention that under normal circumstances, no akashic class can access the full array, even when some of the veils are open to ALL classes but Rajah (interesting).

Holly crown is a head, headband and body veil open to the most caster-y classes, and gives bonuses to certain Fort and Will saves plus temporary HP with essence increasing all, the head bind increasing your healing powers, the headband bind let’s your allies benefit from the save bonuses, and the body veil makes you really tough and difficult to kill, plus one of the other bind’s benefits. Mantle of the Horned Judge is a hands, wrists and body veil that lets you trap “naughty” ones in an extradimensional space via using grapple rules, and the creature inside can try to free itself every round. This is a very flavorful ability that is wish was more thorough. Even if the ability has a cooldown and the trapped creature can try to escape every round, is there a limit on the creatures inside? What happens if the mantle’s shaper teleports? Can you designate an ally as naughty and so they can “travel for free” or be a nasty surprise? Can you decide to autofail the save? Is there a limit on the number of creatures inside? How about size? I double-checked Pathfinder’s grappling rules and there is no penalty of grappling colossal creatures. Sure, most probably you will fail the opposed check, but the possibility exists. Anyway, the base durations of the entrapment is just one round, but that increases by 1 for every two points of essence invested; The hands bind gives the ability a short range, the wrists bind does the same plus damages those inside with magical bludgeoning damage, and the body bind giving you the “punish the naughty” ability of the Krampus himself! A great, flavorful veil that could use some extra clarifications and restrictions.

The Mantle of the Jolly Saint is a chest veil that gives you bonuses to Stealth and Sense Motive checks, with essence increasing the bonuses and with 3 or more giving you vanish and see alignment spell-like abilities, and OF COURSE the chest bind gives you a magical sleigh with reindeer that also has bag of holding-like cargo space AND protects the passengers from the elements, and by burning essence in a special, almost daylong way, you can GREATLY augment the speed of the sleigh. AWESOME! Reindeer Harness is a shoulders veil gives you a teamwork feat from a small list, and essence can only be bound to, and not invested in, the veil to share feats with allies, an in a synergy move the author gave extra benefits to classes that already share teamwork feats. If at least 5 essence are bound, you gain another feat. Binding the veil gives you an average magical flight speed that improves in maneuverability and speed if your movement would end next to an ally. AND allies that gained a feat can also fly! Cool and flavorful!

The Guiding Star is a headband veil that gives sacred bonuses to Kn. Geography and Survival checks and with a moment of concentration can guide you “East”, and the veil mentions some interactions where there is no “East”. The headband bind can make the star guide you and a couple of allies to a place of importance. A flavorful veil that has very specific uses, which is not a bad thing. We finish the veil section with The Whiteout, a storm veil that hampers movement (with enough essence), sight and sound-dependent abilities to those inside, and essence increases the penalties and even makes verbal spellcasting increase in spell failure. When bound, the storm can disorient those caught and can even make them shaken. A great storm veil that debuffs instead of damage those inside The Whiteout.

-5 character options: The Aurora zodiac orbit gain essence like a Lunar, but instead of veils, they are a craft class with many bonuses for crafting items, and have an akashic attack that does modest damage, and can heal objects (but no mention of constructs… which can be argued are creatures and not objects); they cannot shape champions and are bad at manifesting signs, but can summon more than one version the same constellation as long as it has different forms, can do so at range and already worn, and their capstone gives them the AWESOME ability of not being able to be fully destroyed as long as one of their crafts survive (liches must be jealous). The Chef radiant archetype specializes in creating akashic recipes, originally introduced in another book, and learns one for every 3 ranks in an appropriate skill (Profession, Chef and Craft: beverages are provided as examples). Their akashic bond functions differently for them, and they can gain an ability called “Panacea and Poison” that gives two abilities and replaces the 4th level vivification, but can also be gained later instead of a vivification.

The King of Misrule fisherking archetype. They have a divine presence instead of arcane; allies in their Saturnal Realm, an ability gained instead of Blessed Land, gain temporary HPs as long as the King is not attacked, since when that happens, opponents start to magically bleed. They also gain a cool, unique hex called Crown of Unreason, that basically confuses those hexed but can make them dance and party instead of babble and also has some exclusive benefits when shaped as a “peerless hex”. The Magush vizier archetype converts them into kind of priests, makes their veiweaving more divine than arcane (wisdom-based), gives them access to only two paths (the Scholar and the Mage, but gives them an extra ability at 7th level), and instead of plain DC increases, get a more focused (and flavorful) ability that increases the DC of fire and positive energy veils, but also increases their healing and damage. Finally, they lose access to the twinveil rings ability in favor of being able to shape a divinatory veil along another one in any veil slot. Flavorful rework of the class! We finish the section with the new Path of the Mage for viziers, who lets them dabble in constellation summoning, and even makes them better than zodiacs in some cases! Great for constellations fans that want to try a non-zodiac constellation user!

-6 akashic recipes: All of them have a “Christmas” motif, and they range from modest to strong. Since they give the eater a magical ability, this is a great way to give the taste (pun fully intended) of a powerful ability to a low level character.

-5 new feats: Astrology gives you limited access to the prognostication occult skill unlock, while Aurora Armaments lets you add your akashic torch damage to a single attack. Fly in Formation is a teamwork feat that is very useful to creatures that fly in flocks, or characters that fly through the Reindeer Harness veil. Reindeer Form is an akashic feat unique to the new Tuktu race, which gives you access to an animal form by taking essence burn. Share the Load is another teamwork feat, which not only increases strength for carrying capacity but also gives you the supernatural ability to drag and reposition creatures as if you were bigger, as long as you are next to a teammate.

-Tuktu akashic race: This reindeer folk have great physiques but are not that bright. They get several abilities (with two of them being essence receptacles), and most of them make them great at arctic travel. The section includes details like height, weight and age categorie, favored class bonuses (many akashic classes here), alternate racial traits, and Tuktu race traits.

-Reference and Bonus Content: The Chef’s Armory veil that lets you prepare akashic recipes, plus a new reduced akashic portions variant rule and a new trophy (actual name, a glitch?) that lets you harvest plant creatures for useful components.

Of Note: The veils, while cool, are not the star of the product (well, maybe the Guiding Star is in a sense). The new zodiac orbit is great for players that like to buff their companions, and the new vizier stuff is REALLY good, useful for an akashic only campaign, since the Magush archetype can replace clerics.

Anything wrong?: The source material might not fit in certain fantasy worlds. Also, the details of one veil (which can be easily added).

What I want: Seeing how Halloween and Christmas inspired a book, I would like to see holidays from other non-european derived holidays. How about New Year? Saint Valentine? Tons of possibilities! Also, I would have liked to see at least one of those storm veil synergies with The Whiteout and another cold storm veil, of which there are many.

What cool things did this inspire?: It would be fun to make an adventure where the players take the role of Saint Nicholas and his Tuktu adventuring party that want to fulfil their role while evading baddies. Having to escape from them instead of just battling would be awesome!

Do I recommend it?: If you are into Christmas (like most of the world) and want to add some of it to your games, then yeah! Even if not, the new class options are very useful. If you are a Scrooge who hates Christmas, subtract one from the final score. 5 Guiding Stars from this reviewer.

An Akashic Magic School? Sing me in!

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.

Introduction Under Azoth Games, James Ray released a new Esoteric Organizations line of products. In these volume we have Mistress Saints School, an organization focused on akashic magic. But is it any good? Lessee!

What’s inside? 12 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 2.75 bucks (very nice!), which include:

-Akashic Organization info: This small but useful section includes the differences between standard and akashic magic school’s rules: akashic conservatories (and what can you buy with your fame), a generic award that gives you access to the organization’s emblem veil (a unique veil exclusive to the organization’s members, regardless of veilshaper class), the Shape Emblem veil that also gives access to said veil (with a rule sidebar with the explanation of the emblem veil rules), and a new social trait that helps you on your education checks for 1 organization chosen at the start.

-Mistress Saint’s School for the Uncommonly Blessed organization: This section includes all the details pertaining the titular organization (like symbol, leader, common classes etc.), all the requirements necessary to become a member of the organization, ways of gaining fame and prestige and the generic awards available. The emblem veil is described here, called Fallen Scribe’s Wings, and is a belt, chest and shoulder veil that appear as 6 wings made of charred paper. Apart from the cool visuals, this useful veil’s base ability gives you both bonus to two knowledge skills, plus a kind of akashic book that can store pages upon pages of content, which will make any wizard think on joining, with essence giving bonus to saves against written magical traps and effects. The shoulders bind gives you both flying and a cool fire attack that has a cooldown, the belt gives you some spell-like abilities, and the chest gives you one of the previous abilities plus a constant threefold aspect spell.

The organization also mentions some prominent members, that follow Paizo’s tradition of including their name, alignment, race, class levels and a short paragraph: a caretaker that has some mysterious past and has diverse akashic and non-akashic abilities, a deputy headmaster that is both a dhampire and an akashic vampire hunter (from the Hallow Icons book), a very stern deputy headmistress fisherking, the incredibly powerful headmistress herself (we are talking mythic here), a pair of half-elven twins who are both radiants and work as nurse and chef each, my personal fave who is a dryad griot (from the Spider’s Stories book) that works as the mistress of arts, and a being of light that serves as the master of general education and has past ties with the headmistress.

-2 new magic items: a lunchbag that is way more useful than it sounds (conserves food, even the temperature), and a magical seal that melds with the school’s emblem veil.

-Enochian Angel: a powerful akashic celestial, this angel is CR 21, has vizier veilshaping of maximum level and many spell-like abilities. Apart from that, their wings are practically libraries and they are like lords of luscents, able to sustain them outside of the heavenly realms. It even includes rules for binding them! A cool, nice addition to the small akashic monster roster.

Of Note: Not gonna lie, I was expecting akashic Harry Potter and got surprised with a great organization. I’m a fan of Mistress Elderberry, from her background to the choice of class. She is the kind of character that makes one appreciate the beauties of roleplaying through Pathfinder and its great 3pp.

Anything wrong?: I would have appreciated some low level students or a foe of the organization. What about a rejected student? Some adventure seeds would have been more than welcome too!

What I want: If I ever start a new group, I would hook them to akashic magic, making a campaign with the school at its core.

What cool things did this inspire?: Apart from a mistress Elderberry fanfic of her forbidden relationship with a student that might or might not look like my younger self? Well, joking aside, I would like to make a rival, darker school that wants not only to take the school’s place, but also steal all of its secrets. I would also add a knowledge daevic as a physical education teacher that makes his students lift… books LOL

Do I recommend it?: Writer Julio Cortazar once said “novels win by decision, short stories by knock out”, and that is what we have here. Even in the few pages contained herein, we have enough to build encounters, adventures, campaigns, and even other organizations! Full 5 star-shaped books plus the magical seal of mistress Elderberry.

Onmyo-don’t? More like Onmyo-do!

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.

Introduction Under Azoth Games, James Ray released a new Esoteric Organizations line of products. In these volume we have The Onmyodo Bureau, an organization that not only has akashic member in its ranks, but also onmyoji and other petition magic users from non other than Interjections Games! Ultimate Onmyodo contains one of the best and most flavorful magic systems in Pathfinder. Can the author make it justice and mix it with akashic magic? Let’s see!

What’s inside? 14 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 3 bucks (very nice!), which include:

-The Onmyodo Bureau organization: This uses the rules for magic schools found in Paizo’s book Inner Sea Magic, but to my knowledge you don’t really need that book to use the organization. It includes all the details pertaining the Onmyodo Bureau (like symbol, leader, common classes etc.), plus all the rules necessary to become a member of the organization, ways of gaining fame and prestige and the generic awards of doing so. It also includes how “petition” classes work with the system of magical academies. Where things get interesting is with the implementation of an “Emblem Veil”, which is a unique veil that only members of the organization can shape. That is awesome! Said veil is the powerful Bellflower Yugake, a ranged weapon which also counts as the new guru philosophy’s weapon! It also has hands, wrists, and body binds, which gives the user protection abilities.

The organization also mentions some prominent members, that follow Paizo’s tradition of including their name, alignment, race, class levels and a short paragraph: a very foxy deputy director that is a master of onmyodo and magical tails, a half elf director that uses guns, swords and poems, an elf astronomer that uses the servant class (from the Servants of the Loa book) with a new archetype found in this book, a master of the calendar halfling druid that dabbled in onmyodo and wields a kami-infused magical staff, a master of the clock halfling chronomancer who is the mother of the other halfling, a master of the courtly arts human geisha that dabbled in poetry, a ,master of the sacred arts that is an onmyoji ghost and retains some of his abilities, and a master of the sacred implements android aurora zodiac (from the Winter Pageantry book).

-3 class options: the Gobosei Adept is an onmyoji archetype that loses Shikigami in favor of some modest veilshaping abilities (10 essence, 5 veils max) that are themed around the 5 elements of Gogyo (by the way, gobosei means pentagram, and gogyo five elements). The Inyoji is a servant path that gives two of the onmyoji’s abilities (talismans and petitions), albeit at a reduced level (for the life of me I couldn’t find the meaning of Inyoji, but I believe is a variant pronunciation of onmyoji). Finally, the Shinshoku is a guru philosophy that can use talismans as darts, and also learns both talismans and petitions but again at reduced levels, plus some unique abilities.

-5 new Onmyodo prayers, 1 akashic recipe, 1 feat, 2 new signs: 2 of them require an essence pool, so only the new archetypes or onmyoji and warrior poets that dabble in akasha would get access to them; choosing at random, Kodoku (curse poison) ofuda’s form secretes a debilitating miasma, while its omamori’s form curses the creature with misfortune. The new akashic recipe is the Sacred Sake, a powerful liquid that can consecrate the earth and improve evil-banishing abilities. The Talisman Bearer akashic feat lets talisman users to treat their akashic-ly summoned creatures to be treated as Shikigami for talisman placing. The book finalizes with the sign form of the Dragon and Sky King constellations.

Of Note: The emblem veil’s concept is great! And the veil itself, while powerful is really cool. While I’m not too big on multiclassing, some of the npcs’ classes sound intriguing. Pistolero/warrior poet? How cool is that! Also, in most of my reviews of Interjection Games, I whined about the lack of interaction between systems, so seeing other authors tackling that brings me joy.

Anything wrong?: I’m not entirely sure on the balance of the 3 class options. The onmyoji’s base chassis is similar of a wizard, so giving some of its toys to classes with better overall abilities make my spider senses (TM) to start tingling. However, like most Interjection Games’ classes, their power comes more from their versatility than their overall punch, so giving reduced versions of their abilities to other classes might not be THAT much.

What I want: Seeing the author used Shuzaku and Genbu as names for NPC, I would have loved a new “lesser cosmology” for the 4 sacred beasts of the directions (dragon, tiger, turtle and phoenix). Also, a paladin that lost spellcasting in favor of petitions is something I still want to see.

What cool things did this inspire?: I really would like to add the Onmyoji Bureau to the Kaidan campaign I’m preparing! I am also intrigued on the possibilities of adding akashic options for other Interjection Games classes!

Do I recommend it?: Even with my (mild) doubts regarding the balance of the class options, the book is really cool! I will grade this book with a full 5 starry pentagrams!