A step up from a free preview with some actual crunch in it, this is useful in itself and heralds a very good-looking development of its fairly obvious origin, 'Ghostbusters'. As mentioned elsewhere, the cover looks even better at full size and it includes:

• ExorSystems, Inc welcome letter
• ExorSystems, Inc organisation (similar to Dark.Matter Chapter 6)
• Franchise starting pack list of equipment
• Multi-Spectrum Analyser stats
• 4 creature stats: the Barbog (spirit of greed), Corrosion Ghost, Keythong (basically a griffin) and Sluagh
• Campaign models and adventure hooks <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This is not just a teaser: stats and conceptual sections are usable in their own right for any number of campaigns. For a 'preview' it's a well-rounded game product that offers excellent value for money.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Octavirate Expansions: Feared and Hated is a short d20 product from Octavirate Games. The zipped file is just under three megabytes, and contains two PDFs; a full version of the product, and a printer-friendly version of it. The former is ten pages long, and the latter is nine, including (for both versions) a page for the cover/credits/legal and a page for the OGL. Both PDFs are bookmarked.

There's a nice amount of artwork to be found here. The cover is done in full color, using an illustration that is reproduced a few pages in. Several black and white pieces also dot the interior, and are done in a rather edgy style that complements the subject matter of the book. Purplish borders go across the top and bottom of every page. Luckily though, the printer-friendly version removes all the art and borders, as it should.

The book opens with a page describing how sorcerers could be subjects of persecution in your game world. Somewhat surprisingly, it does a good job with giving reasons why sorcerers would be hunted while clerics and wizards are not. After all, it's easy to identify some old greybeard with a belt full of scrolls and component pouches, or a cleric decked out in holy symbols. But a sorcerer could be anyone; one day you're a normal person, the next day you're flinging fireballs with no warning; and lest we forget, sorcerers have the blood of foreign creatures in them. As a nice touch, there's a sidebar on how a lot of this can work for psionicists too, and another on this using the reputation rules.

It then immediately moves on to new crunch. Four new spelltouched feats are given, followed by four new flaws (the flaw rules being in the SRD, from Unearthed Arcana). Interestingly, each flaw notes that if the feat you take in exchange for that flaw is a spelltouched feat, you may instead ignore the spell exposure requirement those feats have. This offers a great way to make your character different, magically so, right from the start.

The book then presents a variant class idea: the bloodbound sorcerer. The bloodbound sorcerer is a sorcerer whose powers are drawn from a specific kind of heritage. Mechanically, they cannot summon a familiar, but instead all of their spells are drawn from a single domain. Note that this is not a clerical domain; rather, several bloodbound domains are given here. Each has a granted power, but lists several spells for each spell level; these are now the only spells a sorcerer can choose for his spells known. Eight such domains are given, all of which are around various themes. It's worth noting that most have their 0-level spells draw quite a bit on the Octavirate product "Simple Tricks and Nonsense."

Altogether, Feared and Hated does a surprisingly good job of laying out how sorcerers can be the mutants of your campaign world. Between the very good reasoning, the new feats and flaws (which play up a sorcerer's unfamiliarity), and the new bloodbound sorcerer variant, which helps to distinguish sorcerers from wizards, this product breathes quite a bit of new life into playing a sorcerer, and all in only ten pages. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The new feats and flaws, though few in number, are very evocative to make a character truly unique. Combined with the fluff at the beginning of the product and the bloodbound sorcerer variant, this is a little book with great ideas.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: My biggest complaint about this book is that there isn't more of it.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

On page ten of Octavirate Presents: Lethal Lexicon Volume 1 there is an illustration that, I think, nicely summarizes this product. The picture depicts a cartoonish adventurer attacking what appears to be a beholder. Honey drips from the beholder-like creature's mouth while a swarm of angry bees zero in on the unlucky adventurer's nose. I can imagine this scene playing out at the gaming table. The cruel GM smiles as the PC buries his pole-arm in the "beholder." With a sickening feeling, the player realizes that the monster he's attacking isn't a monster at all, but a very elaborate beehive shaped like one of D&D's most famous monsters. As the poor hero is stung again and again, the GM lets slip the creature's name. It is, in fact, a bee-holder.

The player groans, but it is a groan of death.

There is something of a tradition, especially among the old-guard designers who pioneered the early RPG games, of not always taking the game too seriously. What better way to keep things light than with the occasional goofy (but deadly) monster? The great thing about this collection is that, despite the inherent silliness in these monsters, the whole thing is really clever.

Take, for example, the bear-owl. This monster is comprised of the parts of owl and bear that weren't used by whatever mad-wizard first created the famous owl bear. In other words, its an owl with a bear's head. I'm actually a little frightened by how much sense this makes. Its a bizarro, wahoo kind of sense, but sense nonetheless.

What about the biclops? This hideous giant has TWO eyes! Or the bipolar bear, a two-headed arctic dwelling ursine with two distinct and opposite personalities. How about the militant vegan ape, an obvious homage to the carnivorous ape popular in many 1st Edition adventures? Or the Children of Amon-Kor? These walrus-headed humanoids serve a most obscure and insignificant deity: Amon-Kor, Egyptian god of ice-cold winters.

Another favorite of mine are the Scientifically Inaccurate Dinosaurs. These are dinosaurs inspired by scientific and cultural misconceptions. Ripped from the pages of cheesy B-movies, the dinosaurs are "uniformly aggressive and do not hesitate to engage in battle." Examples include the Brontosaurus, which doesn't technically exist, and the Spiked-Thumb Leaping Iguanodon. The latter, according to my limited knowledge, is based on changing paleontologist opinion on just where the iguanodon's spike-like bones were located; its head or its hands. This version of the monster tosses out all the boring fossil evidence in exchange for a mighty leaping eye gouge attack. Take that, science!

There are, of course, monsters that I didn't care for. The various Endangered Dragons, while a neat idea, are either too mundane (the Cobalt Dragon) or too goofy (the plaid dragon) for my tastes. The Bonacon, a magical cow with a flaming manure attack, sinks too low for me. Evil clowns, on the other hand, are well done, but something I've seen before.

Each creature's stat block contains information for those players using common variant rules such as wounds/vitality, armor as damage reduction, or 3.0 style damage reduction. I'm not sure how many people utilize these alternate rules, but their inclusion was a nice touch.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: I'm not usually in the market for humorous RPG products, but the Lethal Lexicon Volume 1 is so well done, it really rises above my expectations. When it comes to stupid humor, there is a fine line between clever and dumb. Thankfully, this book stays mostly on the right side of that line. It helps that many of these monsters are deadly enough to be remembered beyond their pun-ridden names and strange attacks.

I'm tempted to take away a few points because this book is so silly. Doing so would be unfair to the spirit of the product, however, so I can't do it. The author sets out a pretty clear mission statement in the opening pages: to capture the kind of don't-take-yourself-too-seriously fun often present in the glory days of D&D. This goal, I believe, is achieved rather handedly.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I mentioned earlier that I don't care for the cobalt dragon. That isn't entirely true. I actually think the cobalt dragons are really cool. They aren't, however, funny. Nor do they strike me as particularly silly. I guess the joke lies in the fact that cobalt is a bit of a strange mineral on which to base a dragon. Fair enough, but it doesn't jibe well with the rest of the book. Radioactive dragons may be over the top in a ?ten years old in your cousin's basement? kind of way, but they're in an entirely different category than cows with flaming poop attacks or super-intelligent space apes.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

Octavirate Presents: Lethal Lexicon Volume 1 is a d20 monster book from Octavirate Games. The zipped file is just over nine megabytes in size, and contains a single PDF. This PDF is sixty-four pages long, including a single page each for the cover, introduction/legal, credits, and OGL. Full bookmarks are given for each header monster entry.

The Lethal Lexicon is a book with plenty of artwork throughout. The cover is the only instance of the art being full color, but almost every monster (save for some of the scientifically inaccurate dinosaurs) has a black and white picture, and a few supplemental pieces of art can be found here and there. There are no page borders to be found, though amusingly, the font style for the text is the same as that of the First Edition Monster Manual. While it may be something of a chore for your printer, the lack of a printer-friendly version isn't too heavy a blow here.

The idea of humor in a role-playing game product is always a tricky balancing act, and this is even truer where monster books are concerned. Humorous monsters are hard to pull off, partially because of the perception that making them funny impacts on their usefulness (that is to say, the mechanics are compromised in favor of the joke), and partially because a lot of joke monsters just come off as being stupid. Trying to make a book of funny foes is a hard line to walk, but Octavirate Games has managed to pull it off in the Lethal Lexicon.

A clear play on the Monster Manual, the Lethal Lexicon contains thirty-six monsters, though half of these fall under the last two entries in the book (the scientifically inaccurate dinosaurs and the endangered dragons). All of these monsters have humor value in some way, from the bear-owl (the opposite of the owlbear) to the bipolar bear, to the evil clown. Arranged alphabetically, the monsters here only go from A to D, meaning that we'll likely see more of these creatures in future volumes.

While the monsters may seem ridiculous, much care was given to their stats and mechanical information. The bee-holder may seem silly, but make no mistake, its numbers crunch as well as the most serious of foes, and it can still be a threat to the party. It takes very little work to remove any humorous elements from these creatures, which is probably the best way this sort of work could be done. Of course, all of the monsters have the set of variant d20 rules that Octavirate Games is famous for a well.

An appendix rounds out the book, covering these creatures in alternate genres. Each monster has a listing of several different alternate genres they could be used in, from space opera to post apocalyptic to Octavirate's campaign setting ExorSystems Inc., with a paragraph dealing the flavor changes made to fit the creature in there.

While quite excellent in what it offers, the Lethal Lexicon is not free from errors. For example, many of the tables for the endangered dragons (all of which are true dragons) have the headers left off, meaning that you'll need to check other tables to be sure what the listed information is for, or the cerebrosaurus having "psionic resistance" instead of "power resistance." However, all of these are relatively minor stylistic problems, and won't impact actual game play.

Altogether, the Lethal Lexicon gets it just right in offering a variety of monsters with serious abilities but funny presentation. After all, being attacked by a huge loaf of animated bread is funny until it starts eating you. Players will doubtlessly enjoy fighting these monstrous rejects almost as much as Game Masters will enjoy springing them on the hapless PCs. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The monsters weren't just innovative, but quite funny as well. Ever wanted to see the opposite of the owlbear? It's here in the bear-owl. The entire book is funny like that.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The book lacked both a printer-friendly version, and a list of monsters by CR, which would have been nice to have. Also, a few stylistic errors pop up throughout.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

I think I was born in the wrong era. I like the classic guitar sounds of the 70s and can not get enough of the TV land specials a bit too much. I used to think it was just music and television, but after reading through the first volume of the Lethal Lexicon by Trent Troop of Octavirate Games, I can?t help but think that the Iron DM would have found gaming in the 70s a hilarious amusement ride of an experience.

Apparently, before the time of PHB toting rules lawyers, there was a time when a DM could stat up any goofy old monster that spilled from his imagination and throw him at a party whenever he liked. This was before CR and ?player/DM fairness.? If a monster was too tough, you just got more people to play D&D with you (of course this was when the maximum player size was 16 people). All that mattered was the monsters was fun to battle, not what degree of 5 their DR was.

Lethal Lexicon is a book filled with the goofy monsters of the Gygaxian generation. Though the monsters are all 3.5 statted and assigned traditional crs, each one has a differential goofy charm that makes them very useable in a traditional game, even if you do have humorless Rules Lawyers in your game. The 64 page book contains nineteen different monsters that play off of puns we have all come across before. My only complaint is that there is no gazebo as I would have loved to have seen the authors take on this.

As usual with Octavirate?s products, the monsters include alternative stats such as vitality and wound as found in the unearthed arcana.

For the DM This is a great tool for inserting a little humor in your campaign, especially if the PCs have been going through your personally designed version of hell. Each monster includes abilities that are not only unique to them, but unique to dungeons and dragons. I can not say I have ever seen a monster have the ability to frost you like the Animate Bread does or Clown Equipment, like the Evil Clown does. Though the word Evil clown is a bit of an oxymoron.

The Iron Word If you are getting that feeling that monster books have begun to lost their innovativeness (I mean they are starting to try to pass off leveled up old monsters as new monsters now) This is the kind of PDF you should add to your arsenal, though use sparingly. Part of the fun of this book is surprising your party every now and then with the absurd. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: - creativity, Todd's brother, the author's sibling whom inspired most of the monstrosities, is a sick genius

• the uniqueness of the abilities is impressive. So many monster books regurgitate the same old stuff <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: - the artwork was bland. Not the usual detailed stuff from other booksby the company
• some of the crs were a little suspect after looking at their abilities, maybe a few are off by 1 or 2 <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

ExorSystems Inc.: Sneaking Preview is a short d20 supplement from Octavirate Games. The zipped file is just over four megabytes in size, and contains two PDF files; the full version of the product, and a printer-friendly version thereof. The full version of the file is nineteen pages long, including a page for the cover, a page for the credits/legal, and a page for the OGL. The printer-friendly version is fourteen pages long, and does away with the cover entirely. Both files have bookmarks.

The main file has a nice amount of artwork, with a full color cover and several black and white interior pieces. All of the monsters have associated imagery, along with several other pictures of ExorSystems employees and a few other things. The printer-friendly version does its job well, removing all imagery (save for the Octavirate and d20 logos, which need to be there).

The product opens with a letter sent to the PCs from ExorSystems Inc. It thanks them for their interest in joining the organization, and notes the PCs involvement in a recent supernatural experience. It mentions that a Multi-Spectrum Analyzer has also been loaned to the PCs so they can see if their area is rich in supernatural activity, and if so, they'll likely be able to open a new ExorSystems Inc. franchise there.

This opening sets the tone for the product. The cleverly-named Sneaking Preview is meant to serve as a bridge product to let your Modern d20 game segue into becoming an ExorSystems campaign. It gives you just enough to let you design an adventure or two involving modern supernatural occurrences (though it takes it for granted that at least one has already happened to point the characters in that direction), which is then meant to result in your characters becoming part of ExorSystems Inc., which of course requires the full campaign book.

After the opening, the product talks about the concept of ExorSystems - modern-day spook hunters for hire - and how to run an ExorSystems-style game, briefly outlining the important aspects of the setting. It then spends a few pages talking about the actual ExorSystems Inc. company itself, going over its history and current state of operations, as well as mentioning some of its competitor groups in the spook-hunting business. Detailed stats are then given for the Multi-Spectrum Analyzer that was mentioned in the opening letter.

Finally, four new monsters are covered, all of them unique to this product. Interestingly, a sidebar notes one of the differences in an ExorSystems campaign - all monsters are either fully biological, or are ectoplasmic. Ectoplasmic ones can only be permanently destroyed under a few specific circumstances; otherwise, just containing them is best. All of the monsters have full variant d20 rules, and at the end of the section is a short listing of how to use them in alternate game genres. Finally, a few quick adventure hooks round the book out.

Altogether, the Sneaking Preview does a good job of serving as a gateway into a full ExorSystems campaign. It presents just enough to draw characters in, but not enough to fully start play in that setting. However, this works against it also, as it's hard to envision using this product if you don't want to run an ExorSystems game. The Sneaking Preview has little use if you don't want to run that campaign (particularly since there's a free preview of the campaign available), but if you do, this is quite helpful for taking things in that direction, to say nothing of being quite tantalizing in what it showcases. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The preview of the full ExorSystems campaign was quite nice, particularly in the exclusive new monsters presented, and the innovative way the Multi-Spectrum Analyzer works.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: If you don't plan on running an ExorSystems game, there's really no reason to buy this product, limiting its scope.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Awesome collection! Lots of different images, perfect for use in my Fantasy Books! I highly recommend this product to anyone looking to spice up their books and or fantasy campaign! --The Le Game, president The Le Games<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Excellent Quality images<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: N/A<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Octavirate Entertainment is that thoughtful friend of yours whom you invite to the barbeque. Whereas everyone else brings a couple legs of chicken, they bring ice-cold drinks, warm apple pie and a half-dozen steaks for the fire.

With the latest book in their Octavirate Presents series they make sure to include something for everyone. Octavirate Presents 4: The Forgotten, presents readers with a bit of ancient lore for dragons that is generic enough to fit into most campaigns. The book begins with an engaging write up of a thief entering and old dragon layer, encountering not only the gem he sought, but an ancient secret left buried by the dragons. This secret is the basis of the book.

After the introduction, the book introduce three Forgotten. The creatures are presented in the normal monster stat block with the usual Octavirate twist of including variant rule stats Wounds/Vitality, Massive Damage Threshold, Defensive Bonus, Armor as DR, Sanity, Taint, Honor Reputation and Allegiances. The three creatures are at the high end of the low level range (5-6) and each has some type of draconic trait bread with an recognizable animal. For instance the flying Skored has many bird like features mixed in with the beastly qualities of a dragon. The draconic beasts will not strike those whom have been around the d20 world as incredibly innovative, but it does help that a collection of draconic type monsters are in one place. The descriptive flavor attached to them can really help place these creatures as minions in any dragons layer.

The Forgotten does not stop at just these three monsters. It also introduced a new template called Half-Dragonkin. This creative chapter seemed to be written for all the aspiring DR. Morreu?s in the world whom have always wanted to breed a dragon turtle with a troll. The Half-Dragonkin template allows players to play mad scientist and mix any of the traditional dragon decended beasts?The Behir, Chimera, Dragonne, Pseudodragon, Wyvern, Half Dragon and Jabberwock?With any living creature. Creatures created in this method, just from the examples it provides, will probably be far more exciting and exotic than the previously listed Forgotten. The final pages of the PDF present several weapon enhancements and adventure hooks for incorporating the Forgotten into your campaign world.

For the DM Again, the best thing about Octavirate books is usually not the content but the intangibles. The thoughtful writers are decent enough to include variants for every type of campaign, form modern, to steampunk to space operas. The descriptions contain a blended mixture of fluff and crunch to help understand the need for the balanced creatures of the book. Without the added effort in the fluff, the creatures would be fairly bland.

The Iron Word Octavirate?s monthly Presents series should be high on the monthly purchase list of any DM. Dragons pop up in every campaign at sometime and the small storylines written in The Forgotten can add some nice depth to a typical run at a Dragon.
<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: - a twist on draconic monsters: refreshing

• the half-dragonkin template can lead to some cool monster combos
• the adventure hooks were inventive to integrate the book <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: - the stats on the monsters are pretty typical. There were no remarkable new abilities
• the weapon enhancements have been seen before<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Octavirate Presents, Volume3: Simple Tricks and Nonsense by Octavirate Entertainment is a product detailing the best way to use magic, especially minor magics, to your advantage primarily for D&D and provides tools to adapt the rules to other D20 games. It is 39-pages (36 after cover, credits and OGL) with a clean layout, the art is mostly cartoony and appropriate to the light-hearted nature of this product.

The product opens with a short discussion on the usefulness of magic, especially low-level magic (0-level cantrips and orisons), and how one can use magic to make a (semi-)honest living. A nicely thought out and entertaining piece.

Then the actual game material begins, starting with seven feats mostly 0-level spell related, many of which give access to casting a limited number of 0-level spells to non-spellcasters. Several interesting ideas are included to expand the role of low level magics in a game.

Next is the meat of this product, new spells, lots of them and almost all of them 0-level. A few are new attacks, covering the various element not included in the basic spell list but mostly they are just fun effects like Dowse (detect water), Produce Animal (?watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat.?), Spell Signature (impose a visual theme on your magic) and Storm of Humiliation (a small rain cloud drizzles on the victim). A few give fairly high skill bonuses or penalty (+/- 5) which might be a bit high and some have relative long durations for a 0-level spell, but each campaign can decide on that. Combined they have a lot of potential for fun and inventive play.

Two new monsters are presented, the Cantrimp, which distorts and twists magic, and the Origami Animal (created by the Occult Origami cantrip). A new NPC class, the Hedge Mage, who are dabblers in magic but can make magic items easily, however they are unreliable . . . An example hedge mage and several adventure ideas for use with him are included.

Lastly, there are optional rules: Bonus 0-level spells, a skill-based system for casting spells (with the chance of magic mishaps), 0-level spells for other spell casting classes (like Paladins), and expanded spell lists for d20 Modern.

If you like interesting uses of magic, cantrips or both, this is the product for you. It is a little silly at times (hey, it has nonsense in the title!) but fun.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Octavirate Presents Volume #2: Night of the Krampus is a holiday-themed d20 sourcebook from Octavirate Games. The zipped file is just under six megabytes, and contains a single PDF. This file is forty pages long, including a page for the cover, a page for the credits/legal, and one for the OGL. While the file does have bookmarks, these only go to the aforementioned cover, credits, and OGL.

The art in this book is fairly scarce. While there are more than just a few pieces, there aren't a lot. A few consist of fairly amusing full color artwork, such as the one of the Christmas treant. Others, such as the rendition of Santa as various races see him, are in a lighter black and white style. Each page also has purplish borders across the top and bottom. No printer-friendly version is available.

Night of the Krampus is a d20 sourcebook dedicated to bringing Christmas into your game world, which it does with results that are as amusing as they are innovative. The idea here is that Santa Claus is a minor deity, and also has an evil counterpart, known as the Krampus (who is actually a real holiday figure from Eastern European holiday folklore). For those who may worry about this bringing an atmosphere of real-world religion into their fantasy game, rest assured that Octavirate takes steps not to let it come to that. In fact, it's quite possible to use all of the material here without ever mentioning "Santa" or "Christmas," as multiple alternate names for the holiday and its jolly old elf are given.

The book opens with an introduction by the author about the inspiration for this product, and then moves to present several adventure hooks that can be used for a holiday adventure. You might not think of the holidays as a time for adventuring, but if an evil wizard traps Santa Claus, then all the good children of the world won?t get their presents. Your PCs can be the ones who save Christmas!

The first section of the book is dedicated to Santa Claus himself. Full stats are given for Santa, who is a minor demigod, along with the suite of variant rules that made Octavirate famous, before his flavor text is given. On a very creative note, it explains that each race sees Santa differently, and has different names for him, with a table providing a number of examples. Now you?ll know what the tentacled brain-eaters call him, for example! It also notes that while Santa's scale of goodness is relative to the individual, he always rewards people of any race who act good; this means that the hobgoblin who finds that Santa has left him a gift will likely get beaten up by his fellow hobgoblins, since that means he's not being as cruel and vicious as a hobgoblin should be. A plethora of magic items and artifacts are given next, such as Santa's suit, his sleigh, and other things.

The Krampus is then given the same treatment. A demigod like Santa, the Krampus is always seen as he is, and his job is two-fold. He torments children who naughty that year (ranging from leaving them broken toys to kidnapping them to work in his wicked realm), and rewards exceptionally nasty monsters (after all, those primitive goblins and orcs have to get their weapons from somewhere, right?). A short section is then devoted to discussing the Great Pact, which explains how Santa and the Krampus relate to each other as they indirectly compete for control of the winter holiday.

The nature of the holiday itself is discussed next. Since, as noted, the real-world solstice celebrations might not work in a game setting, several alternates are discussed. Several of them are variations on a winter theme, but others represent how different races in a fantasy world would view the season. After this, the Realm of the Winter Holiday, the home plane of Santa and the Krampus is given, with both planar traits and an expanded description. Three deities (Santa, the Krampus, and Jack Frost) are also given PHB-style write-ups.

A fairly large section on new creatures is given next. Several of these are actual creature entries with entirely new stat blocks, such as the Minion of Santa/the Krampus template, snow elementals, or the aspects of the two deities themselves. Others are just some quick text on variations to particular monsters, such as the steeds that pull Santa's sleigh, or Christmas treants.

Finally, a series of tables are given, covering gifts that Santa would give, things the Krampus would give to bad children, and what he'd give to suitably naughty monsters. Some domains and spells from the divine section of the SRD are then reprinted for convenience, since they were mentioned earlier.

All in all, Night of the Krampus is a very good product, though it's not quite perfect. Canny readers will note a few errors here and there, such as Santa and the Krampus each needing another divine salient ability. Likewise, the minor alterations suggested to some monsters don?t quite constitute new creatures (though they're still funny regardless). However, despite the minor bumps, the product is one that holds together surprisingly well for a game world. By presenting back story for the new deities, as well as discussing ways to put a winter solstice holiday in your game world, the book elevates itself from just a collection of holiday-themed monsters. Your game might very well benefit from having its own Night of the Krampus. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This book had a delightfully cohesive nature in what it presented. Rather than just throwing out a collection of loosely-themed holiday creatures, it presented a reason for Santa and the Krampus competing, as well as their realm, winter holidays for a campaign world, and more! This is a great way to bring a solstice holiday into your d20 game.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: This product would have been better-served to have had a printer-friendly version. Also, there were some minor errors that crept in to various places.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Octavirate Expansions: Character Flaws is a short d20 supplement from Octavirate Games. The zipped file is just over four megabytes, and contains two PDFs. Both are six pages in length, with a page for the cover and a page for the OGL. Not coincidentally, those are also the only things bookmarked.

There is only a little art in Character Flaws, but the distinctive style is quite notable for how visually pleasing it is. The front cover is the only full color illustration, with the interior art being universally black and white. Purplish borders go along the top and bottom of each page. The printer-friendly version keeps the color cover and all but one of the interior illustrations, eliminating only the page borders.

Character Flaws uses the flaw system laid originally laid out in Unearthed Arcana; a character can take up to two flaws at first level to gain an equal amount of bonus feats. Eighteen new flaws are presented here. An introduction is given, mentioning that class-specific flaws should require the player to take at least five levels in that class, in order to prevent them multiclassing out of it immediately to minimize the flaw and maximize the bonus feat they took.

As for the flaws themselves, the majority of them provide small penalties through relatively normal character flaws, such as Socially Awkward providing a penalty to Charisma-based skills. Some others are more esoteric in nature though, such as being uncontrollably pick up on just enough of people's thoughts to provide a constant distraction, but never enough to gain useful information. My personal favorite, though, is Divine Enmity, where a god hates you and will, at random times, hit you with a spell from one of their domains just to torment you.

The flaws provided here are quite diverse, and lay down a good range of additional material if you use this optional rule. Players looking for more ways to make an imperfect character will find some great new material in this product.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The flaws presented here ran the gamut from mundane to arcane to insane. There's something here for however you want your character to be slightly screwed up.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The printer-friendly version of this book wasn't actually all that printer-friendly, though given the product's brevity, that shouldn't be too much of an issue.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Octavirate Expansions: Trick Arrows is a short d20 equipment supplement from Octavirate Games. The zipped file isn't quite five megabytes, and contains two PDFs: the book itself, and the printer-friendly version thereof. Both are eight pages in length, counting a page for the cover, and another for the OGL. Both files have bookmarks, though they're only for the cover and the OGL.

The front cover is the only full color artwork in the book, though oddly it's retained in the printer-friendly version with its color intact. The tables and sidebars use a soft blue, and all of the pages also have a purplish border along the top and bottom. A few black and white illustrations round things out. As noted, the color cover is in the printer-friendly version, as is all of the interior artwork. The blue used for sidebars and tables has been changed to grey though, and the page borders are removed.

Trick Arrows is largely self-explanatory in what it offers: new arrows to use against your enemies. The book opens with the huge table displaying all of the new arrows it offers, listing their adjusted range, Craft type and DC, and cost adjustment for fantasy, modern, and future settings. It then briefly covers arrows made of adamantine, silver, and cold iron, before introducing a new type to make them from: stone.

A few sidebars notwithstanding, the rest of the book covers fifteen actual modifications to arrows, ranging from arrows that shoot a net at enemies, to ones that inject a liquid into them, to explosive arrows, and more. These new types cover most of the standard tricks you'd expect from a versatile archer, and make such a character useful even in modern settings, to say nothing of fantasy ones.

A page at the end briefly covers the application of magic weapon qualities to these arrows, as well as how some of them require you to aim for a specific square, rather than a creature. Finally, a new feat is given, Bowfighter, which lets you use your bow as a melee weapon without penalty.

One minor problem here is the sidebar on using these tricks with crossbow bolts instead of arrows. The sidebar on this refers to the large table at the beginning of the product to note which tricks can and cannot be applied to bolts, but the table is silent on that issue. It's perhaps the only place where the product falls down. Regardless of that, Trick Arrows does very well in presenting new equipment options for arrows. Everyone who seriously wants to play an archer should buy this.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The new arrow modifications, combined with the new feat here, make an archer character much more versatile and fun to play.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The printer-friendly version shouldn't have kept the cover, and should also have removed the interior art. Also, the table at the beginning didn't note what modifications could and could not be applied to crossbow bolts.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Octavirate Presents Vol. #5: Collectabeast is a d20 sourcebook from Octavirate Games. The zipped file is slightly over fifteen megabytes in size, and contains two PDF files, one of which is the book itself, and the other is the printer-friendly version. The main file is fifty-two pages long, including a page for the front cover, a page for the credits/legal, and a page for the OGL (the printer-friendly version lacks the cover page altogether). Both files have full bookmarks.

Every so often, I find an RPG book for which the standard rating scale doesn't do justice. There are plenty of books that deserve a score of five out of five, but there are some books that are so well done, that so perfectly mix innovation and presentation, that on a one to five scale, they deserve a six. Collectabeast, which thematically brings Pokemon and Digimon into the d20 system, is one such book.

This book is one that can be divided in half. The first portion deals with collectabeasts, while the second part covers databeasts. Each is based on using a new template to alter basic d20 monsters into creatures that, while still recognizable to d20 gamers, seem like they belong in a cute anime, or on collectable cards. When you looked at the product page, did you recognize the iron golem fighting the rust monster? What about the behir lurking off to the side? This book takes what is almost boringly familiar and puts an incredibly fresh, new spin on it.

Given that the theme of Collectabeast is a reimagining of existing monsters, the artwork here is very important. The front cover displays a golemesh fighting a corrobster, which sets the tone for the color artwork throughout the book. Each of the thirteen example collectabeasts is given full color art which helps showcase the cute, brightly-colored nature that collectabeasts have. The example databeasts, by contrast, are only given black and white artwork; the few other pieces of art in the book are similarly monochrome. The pages also have purple borders along the top and bottom. The printer-friendly version dispenses with the cover and the borders, but keeps black and white versions of all of the interior artwork. Though I usually mark that as a strike against a book, the different look of collectabeasts and databeasts is fundamental to their feel, so I can't quite say that the printer-friendly version should have removed all of the illustrations altogether.

After an insightful introduction wherein the author notes how the definition of "monster" is changing as the younger generation plays monster-battling video and card games, the book jumps right in to presenting collectabeasts. The collectabeast template is one that can be applied to any creature type, save Humanoids. While the template is fairly complex in the range of what it changes, the changes themselves are simple; most of them are related to resizing the creatures (since most collectabeasts range from Tiny to Large) and a few other effects. Collectabeasts only have two new abilities, one of which is how they almost always inflict nonlethal damage, and the other is how they can bond to people. Less is quite clearly more here, and this template pulls it off masterfully, charting the changes that are myriad, but at the same time so small that the monsters remain distinct. Interestingly, collectabeasts with different templates applied prior to the collectabeast template are treated as different collectabeasts. A collectabeast blink dog wouldn't be the same as the collectabeast half-celestial blink dog, for example.

After a sidebar covering ways to tweak the template for different styles of play, thirteen sample collectabeasts are then presented (each with the suite of variant d20 rules that Octavirate is famous for), presenting a full stat block for them, as well as flavor text. As mentioned, each of them also has new artwork showing what the collectabeast version looks like. This, combined with giving them new names (the aforementioned collectabeast half-celestial blink dog, for example, is called a serafetch), makes the familiar monsters wonderfully new and refreshing. Octavirate could very well just release a book of existing monsters with the collectabeast template applied; provided it had new art and a new name for each creature, I'd certainly buy it. The collectabeast section of the book then closes out with a page that discusses using collectabeasts as familiars and animal companions, and a brief discussion of running a collectabeast-centered game.

The second half of the book covers databeasts, and isn't quite as straightforward. Unlike collectabeasts, databeasts come from a parallel plane of existence, one formed from the collection and distribution of knowledge in the real world. The databeast template is then given, which is similar to the collectabeast template in how it makes a fairly sweeping number of small changes, but the nature of those changes is quite different. Two example databeasts are then given.

At that point, databeasts may seem like just second-tier collectabeasts, but the Databeast Hero class shows that that isn't true. A twenty-level base class, this is meant to be taken by Databeasts, and is what gives them their distinctive flavor. At certain levels, a Databeast Hero gains the power to temporarily upgrade itself, so long as the Databeast Hero is within range of its bonded human (or other mortal host). The upgraded form is basically a stronger monster with the databeast template applied (with an ECL cap on the form chosen), though basics gained through leveling (such as hit points, BAB, save bonuses, skills, feats, etc.) remain constant. The example creature, Zikuri, is a monkey with the databeast template applied. However, she can upgrade herself to various stronger forms as she levels, such as a databeast quasit, a databeast succubus, a databeast frost giant, etc. Amusingly, the databeast uses an altered name in its other form (Zikuri in her succubus form, for example, is called Sedukuri). There?s even an epic progression chart given for the class.

Two new magic items (one being a ball-like object to contain collectabeasts, and the other being an arm-mounted card reader that can actually summon collectabeasts or enhance either kind of beast) and three new feats are given briefly. Following that, the home plane of the databeasts, DataCrux, is given, before the book moves to the Alternate Genres section. Usually just a large sidebar in most Octavirate books, this section spends several pages discussing possible scenarios to use collectabeasts and/or databeasts in various types of games. This includes ExorSystems Inc., which appears to be a Ghostbusters-like scenario where the PCs stop spirits running amok.

The book ends with a massive collection of level adjustments. Since taking collectabeast companions, or playing databeast (or even collectabeast) PCs requires a full ECL, Octavirate has provided level adjustments for every creature in the fantasy, modern, and psionic SRDs (though perhaps sadly, epic creatures have not been included).

Bear in mind, as a book Collectabeast does have its flaws. Errors still crop up if you look for them: the Collectabeast template omits the hit dice advancement listing for Medium creatures, the catraptor (collectabeast griffon) should have flight maneuverability of good instead of average, the noble salamander's level adjustment seems to have a typo, etc. However, even a flawed diamond can still be priceless, and that's exactly what this book is. It opens up incredible new ways to reinvent the standard monsters of d20, and barely scratches the surface of all the new ideas it presents. After only a single read-through, I found myself saying "Gotta play 'em all!"<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The collectabeast and databeast templates really breathe new life into the basic d20 monsters, opening up new ways to make the old creatures new again. This book is nothing short of brilliant.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Minor errors cropped up throughout, that could have been caught with another round of editing.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Octavirate Expansions: Unusual Magic Weapons is a short magic item supplement from Octavirate Games. The zipped file is 5.5 megabytes in size, and comes with two PDFs: the full version of the book, and the printer-friendly version. The full version is nine pages in length, while the black and white version is eight. Perhaps slightly oddly, the only bookmarks go to the cover page, the beginning of the listing of the new items, and to the OGL.

The main version of the book has a fair amount of artwork squeezed into its pages. The only full color artwork is the cover, which depicts a knight riding a horse. About a fourth of the book's magic weapons also have black and white images scattered throughout the pages. Each page has purplish borders along the top and bottom edges. The printer-friendly version keeps the cover image, but in black and white form. All of the other art, as well as the page borders, are gone, making this version a page shorter than its color counterpart.

The seventeen new magic items described here are presented in the same format. After listing their name, each item is briefly discussed and its history (if it has one) is given. Then comes a paragraph of description, followed by a description of its powers. Finally, the standard magic item information is given. It's worth noting that a table at the beginning lists each item's purchase DC and cost in credits, so that they can be bought if you use them in a d20 game with a different genre.

The items themselves cover a wide variety, from a pair of sais that aid in climbing, to a crossbow with a built-in compass which continually points in the direction of someone after you shoot them. At least a few seem to be based off of some contemporary films and games; the Broadsword of the Child Crusader, which lets you shoot a mystic bolt so long as you're at maximum hit points, seems to be adapted from The Legend of Zelda (which makes it exceptionally cool).

There are a few issues with the new weapons here, however. Several are tagged as being minor artifacts, but still have the full range of magic item information given (feats and spells to create, market price, etc). Minor artifacts should only have an aura listing and a caster level. A few other items just seem like more could have been done. The Dissembler Blade, for example, requires a standard action to change its configuration; it would have been cooler if there'd been some way to make that a move action or even a free action instead.

Altogether, while the new items presented here are rather eclectic, they still make up a nicely diverse collection of new magic weapons. From cursed artifacts to disguised swords to the amusing Evershifting Sword of Frustration, you might find just what you need with these Unusual Magic Weapons. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The items presented here lived up to their name as being unusual, with colorful depiction.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The minor artifacts either shouldn't have had magic item creation and pricing rules given, or shouldn't have been listed as minor artifacts.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Octavirate Expansions Volume 4: Unusual Magic Weapons is a short 9 page d20 pdf. This product is the fourth product (the cover incorrectly calls it number two in the series) in Octavirate Games' series of Octavirate Expansion products. Each product in the series details a specific topic or subject through which DMs and players alike can expand their games. This fourth volume in the series deals with unusual magic weapons, and in particular the weapons from J.W. Well and Company: Family Sorcerers. This product details 17 magical weapons that can be used in any fantasy d20 game.

This product comes as a zip file containing both a print version and a screen version of the product. The print version contains most of the art of the product, although the borders and color have been removed from them. The screen version features some decent cover art and a number of internal images, some very good, that depict the magical weapons or their wielders in action. The layout and editing of the product is good and professional, as is the writing and mechanics. Each magic weapon is mechanically well detailed with some solid mechanics to support the concepts. Of the 9 pages devoted to this product, 7 contain content, a healthy ratio. Overall, a very good and professional presentation and a nice looking short product.

This product deals with the magic weapons from the catalog of J.W.Wells and Company: Family Sorcerers. While this forms the background of the product, each individual item is described relatively devoid of any further references to the company. The product contains 17 different weapons, and a good mix of both power levels (including minor artifacts) and weapon varieties which means that players will likely find some weapon of choice within its pages.

The product starts with a brief blurb from the company catalogue before immediately jumping into the weapons. Each weapon comes with a brief history and full description before providing the mechanical details and execution of the weapons. Flavor and descriptions were very good, and it certainly gives the weapons a little more character than the mechanical description alone. It's one thing to wield a +1 dancing spiked chain, but quite another to wield one crafted from the bones of a kyton devil, and which was used by a notorious blackguard before it eventually strangling its last owner.

Examples of weapons in the pdf include the Falchion of Lost Chances which reduces a struck creature's initiative on its next turn, the Headknocker, a vorpal greatclub, the Learner's staff which only deals nonlethal damage, and the Woodsman's axe which is very effective against wood and plants. The selection is interesting, and contains a number of unique weapons that most players and DMs will enjoy. Most at least had something interesting to them, which means that you at least get a special weapon in some way, even if it's not an overly powerful one.

Octavirate Expansions: Unusual Magic Weapons is a relatively straightforward product. It aims to deliver unusual magical weapons, and it succeeds in presenting 17 such weapons which each have something interesting to them. I have to admit that I wasn't overawed by what I saw, but there are still a number of useful weapons to select from. I got the impression that these weapons were in a way 'niche' weapons, in other words they might not always be used by mainstream adventurers but rather by the character concepts or stories that require them. Overall, though, a good product with some interesting material and high quality presentation.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Interesting new weapons to choose from, good quality presentation, and generally useful material.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: One or two minor editing and pricing errors, and perhaps some of the weapons were too 'niche' to fit many character concepts, and would probably be more suited to a plot than to be wielded by a character.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>