"Hot Pursuit!" and "Skillful Stunts", along with some of Adamant's other all time classics, are back in print - and Pathfinderized - in The Tome of Secrets. Even though it's written for Pathfinder, just like Pathfinder it's backward compatible with any of your 3E stuff. It's an excellent companion to Pathfinder, and an excellent collection of 3E supplemental rules. It's already one of my absolutely essential books.

I play tested the Swashbuckler at my game table and loved it better the 3.5 version. My DM loved the chase rules and will incorporate them. I will test out the Alchemy rules next game session. So far enjoying it and make us of it at my game table.

I don't think that the print edition would be worth it, but the pdf is worth the ten bucks. Overall, the new races are neat and well-balanced (I really like the Ratkin), but the new classes are mediocre and not that good in my opinion. The occupations are also really interesting for the player stuff. However, this book shines when you hit the DM section; the monster customization tables, the magic item creation, and the little section on adding in firearms are all the best portions of the book, at least in my opinion. All in all, worth a buy if you are a DM, but not quite so much if you are a player.

I'm surprised that this product has such a low rating because I'm quite impressed with this Advanced Class. For years, I've been looking for a system that would represent zany, mad science and the Gadget/Weird Science system does it masterfully. There are a few things the Gadget system didn't cover (like how to make Gadgets that increase ability scores) but I honestly can't see anything that's fundamentally wrong with the system and have nothing but praise for it.

As for the Paragon class itself, it does a pretty good job of capturing the essence of the multi-talented, two fisted science heroes of the Pulp era. The only real complaint I have is that the Paragon class really could have done with a few more thematic class features. Granted, the features the Paragon has do a damn good job of giving it it's unique flavor, but on a whole it feels incomplete somehow. The layout is good, the writing on par on what I've come to expect from Adamant Entertainment, and the artwork isn't half bad either. Overall, I'd say that this is a fantastic product, especially if you're looking for a good mad science flavored "magic" system.

LIKED: The Gadgets/Weird Science system (particularly the Gadgets system). DISLIKED: The Paragon class feels like it's missing a few elements

Being the First holds a lot of responsibility. When you are the first to step your foot into the unknown, you are setting the standard for everything that follows. Adamant Entertainment rolled the dice with Tome of Secrets and came up with a winner as the first supplement to the Official Pathfinder Ruleset. Tome of Secrets sets a pretty high bar, offering just enough material to invigorate a Pathfinder game but not too much that it will overwhelm the players.

The 198 pg Tome is a collection of supplements that work well with the supped up Pathfinder system. It is broken into two halves, character options and game master options. The character options offer 3 new races and 8 new classes. Out of the three races, only the Saurian really came across as interesting. The half-ogre and ratkin felt like been there, done that. By all intentions, the Saurian are dragonfolk with a much more traditional name.

The classes, however, are all pretty interesting, even borrowing several of the new 4e classes and making them actually feel like classic Dungeons and Dragons classes. The divine classes of Shaman and Priest are well designed. With the slight downgrade to the cleric’s battle power, the priest feels like the last in a natural progression of battle power vs priestly power, considering the first is Paladin. Though I still have reservations about the names Warlords and Warlock, both are given a classic fantasy spin that finds the classes their place in any campaign. There’s also the Swashbuckler, an armorless fighter; Spellblade, who blends magic and combat; Knight, a spellless paladin without too harsh of an alignment restriction and Artificer, a technomage every player should be eager to get into a campaign.

The latter half of the combat section introduces character drawbacks and occupations. Again, both systems are very well designed with their reliance on role playing perks and slight stat boosts that differ a lot from previously similar systems.

The Game Master side begins with the morale section. A very interesting take on inducting real fear and penalties in game. The Skillful Stunts section is fun, but, unfortunately, does not use neither CMB nor CMD, despite the chance to. There is an example that uses it, but it is not mentioned in the text. The temporary enhancements allow PCs a way to enhance items for certain creatures and prevent wasting time, but takes away something from the game for me. The book picks back up again by introducing Chase rules, which does away with maps and creates a more cinematic effect for chases; One Million Magic Items, a great way to give away magic items and taking away the generic; Alchemical Items, finally adding some punch to alchemy; Monster modifiers to enhance stale creatures; a Random Adventure Generator, more so an idea generator and Flintlocks & Fantasy which introduces guns into the world.

For the Player The artificer is my favorite pathfinder class, creating a steampunkish character that integrates well into a fantasy section. The saurian race gives players that dragon like character without it appearing out of place in society.

For the Dungeon Master The Hot Pursuit Chase should be read by every Dungeon Master. The best DMs have to jump out of the D&D rules if they hope to create an immerse atmosphere. Chases according to the rule book are slow and boring. Chases according to the Tome of Secrets are faster and more interactive.

The Iron Word The Tome of Secrets offers a lot of components that DMs and Players can introduce into the game to benefit their play style. There are some things I would never want to introduce into my game, but the writing is so clear that I understood why some DMs would want to introduce them. This is a solid lead off for future supplements of the system.

The races are incredible boring, mechanically speaking, and repetitive. Most of classes are not properly balanced or just remakes of old ones, without any modification that you couldn’t have done at home. The drawback mechanic gives power freely, as the penalties are ridiculous. The new morale system, while based on the good idea of “abstracting hit points”, is hideously and requires an immense amount of extra bookkeeping. And I can’t even digest the heavy-crunch chase rules… save your money for something more useful, like Trailblazer or Fantasy Craft.

I worry sometimes that I’m becoming disconnected from the average gamer that looks at the products I review. After all, it’s natural to assume that after having read and reviewed hundred and hundreds of game products, my point of view will be different from, say, a casual gamer who only has a couple of PDFs. Usually I just ignore this nagging feeling, and try to do the best job I can in reviewing a book on its own merits. However, looking over a book like The Tome of Secrets, from Adamant Entertainment, I can’t help but feel that my reaction to this book is very different from that of a casual gamer.

But before I get anymore into that, let’s go over the basics of the book. The Tome of Secrets is a sourcebook for the Pathfinder RPG. Weighing in at about one hundred ninety pages, it’s divided up into roughly two sections – the first is for players, having new races, classes, and rules for character drawbacks and occupations (the latter being what your character did prior to adventuring). The second section is for Game Masters, having various new rules and crunch, such as a system for running chases, new alchemical items, and rules for firearms.

Having said all of that, the point I was making earlier about reviewing this book hinges on one salient detail: that only the races and classes are really new material. The rest of the book (which is about three-fourths of it) is all reprinted from earlier Adamant Entertainment d20 products (with one exception; the section on firearms is from a short book by another third-party company). Now, this alone isn’t necessarily a bad thing – all of those old products were retired a little while ago, and they were quite good to boot, so unless you bought a number of Adamant Entertainment books a while ago these will all be new to you. That said, if you bought some of the more popular books they sold, such as Hot Pursuit, you’ll be seeing those again here with slight tweaks.

Beyond all of that though, how is the book? Really, it’s not bad, though there are some things that could use a polish. The new races are quite welcome and keep to the Pathfinder conventions quite nicely. However, it’s with the new classes that we see the greatest innovation. The eight new classes are clearly inspired by the best from both Third and Fourth Edition, keeping close to them in theme. The Artificer, for example, is a sort of mad scientist-slash-wizard, who can channel magical energies through his inventions. The Warlock has the ability to use some magical powers (as found in wizard specializations, plus several unique ones here) over and over again almost without limit, but has comparatively little flexibility. The Warlord buffs her allies, etc. These classes were inspired in how well they brought these popular class archetypes to the Pathfinder game, but there were also some disheartening problems. Some classes had errors, such as missing ability tags (Extraordinary, Supernatural, or Spell-Like) while others had a few spelling errors present. Moreover, some Pathfinder conventions weren’t followed, such as the odd class whose Hit Dice weren’t consistent with his Base Attack Bonus, or a class with no capstone ability at 20th level. That said, these classes are still great additions to your Pathfinder game, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking to branch out from the usual base classes.

The Game Master’s section of the book is a mixture of new crunch and new rules. Sections like Temporary Enchantments, Alchemical Items, and Fantasy Firearms introduce things like new spells, weapons, feats, and more that are relatively easy to insert into your game. Other sections, like Hot Pursuit and Shock & Awe introduce entire new sub-systems that are complete unto themselves so as to better work an existing aspect of the game that the standard rules don’t cover very well. In this, the book succeeds, as their rules for, say, chases work much better than the blurb in the PF RPG about how to handle pursuits in your game. That said, learning and running an entire new suite of rules can be burdensome, so you’ll have to decide if you want your players all learning the ins and outs of a new mechanism for handling things like their morale.

On the technical side, the book has full bookmarks which nest quite nicely. The artwork is fairly prevalent throughout, though all in black and white notwithstanding the cover. All the pages have a border set to the look of torn parchment. Unfortunately, there is no printer-friendly version, so the not inconsiderable interior art and page borders may make printing an issue if you want to have a lot of this book in physical form.

Ultimately, The Tome of Secrets is a good book for what it offers, but could have used a bit more polish before it was released. Occasional errors that slipped past the editors mar both the player’s and GM’s sections, and in some places the design philosophy of Pathfinder seems to have been forgotten. Almost three-fourths of the book is older material that has been repackaged for use with Pathfinder, but that doesn’t change the fact that said material is quite good, and otherwise unavailable now. At the end of the day, The Tome of Secrets is an imperfect book, but its imperfections are small compared to the great value of what it offers – the real secret to this book is that it will definitely enhance your game.

Cool prop generator that allows you to customize (to a point) and print a Necronomicon like book for use in role-playing games. You have several cover options (different colors of leather, embossed designs, etc.), an interior page (for use with the covers) with several options, a full page sheet for making single pages of occult secrets, and instructions for putting a prop book together. Options on the various pages are selected using Acrobat's layers feature. Very nicely done. You can't make any page design you can imagine necessarily, but you can make enough to put together several props.

This is a cool little game with a setting that reminds me of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and a unique coin toss task resolution system. The coin system and setting may take some getting used to if you've only played RPGs with more mainstream trappings. The art is a little hit or miss and the file size is significant. Worth a look if you are seeking something different

I felt this is a decent book. I had been looking forward to it almost as much as the PF core rules. I was disappointed in the Artificer for a couple of reasons. One is purely personal. Flavor wise, the took the Eberron artificer & changed it to a mad scientist. I can live with that, but it doesn't feel right to me. The next is a game mechanic issue. The artificer in this book disregards one of the major conventions of the new ruleset. I followed the playtesting on the Paizo boards nearly the entire process. One MAJOR convention of the new rules is to avoid combat oriented classes from having low hit points. This is done by having class Base Attack Bonuses tied to the hit die. The artificer here is given a d6 & full BAB. The full BAB classes have d10s or d12s. They also gave the spellblade a d8, instead of the d10 for a full BAB. I would rather that companies that intend to claim to be compatible with the rules to PLEASE follow the rules. There is a conversion document on the Paizo site for bringing 3.5e classes up to PFRPG and it calls for bringing the HD/BAB issue in line. This tells me that a company should NOT use this as a balancing mechanic when that is so against the rules design of the game.

Aside from that issue, I find the product worth the price, though I feel it is more like a 3.5e product that I will have to convert to Pathfinder.

The first 3PP book for Pathfinder is out. Luckily, the authors had advance access to the rules, meaning that the book is consitient with the final game.

The GOOD: Swashbuckler, Shaman, Artificier and Warlord classes are great, and will find use in my games. Chase rules are excellent - this chapter alone is easily worth the asking price !

The OK: The other classes and races might find some appeal. The rules for monster variations, occupations and random magic items are nice, but nothing groundbreaking.

The UGLY: Some typos and omissions (artificier weapon/armor proficiences !) snuck into the book. Hope for them to be corrected in print version.

The VERDICT: A solid book, and at 10 USD it's a steal.

This is a set of assorted customisable tiles for use with miniatures, counters, or just to display your dungeon layout in a clear and graphic manner. It is suggested that once you have decided on what you want and printed them out, that foam board or other backing should be used - whether or not you feel that's necessary depends on how often you think a particular rendition of a given tile might be used in your game.

The tiles are an altar room, a big room corner, big room side, big room centre (with vertiginous spiral staircase going down), some catwalks (over immeasurable drops, of course!), a 'chess room' (checkerboard floor), a second 'chess room' where the alternate squares are holes, another big room centre with a lake and earth and even growing stuff, a lava room, a selection of passages replete with pits and other traps, a pit room, other assorted rooms, a rounded hall... masses of different places, which start spawning ideas for what might be going on when you just look at them. Or of course, you may already have your dungeon planned out but need some of these features to round it out nicely.

Everything is clear and crisp, generally appearing to be stone unless another substance is appropriate; but the real gem is in the use of the layer capability of Acrobat (the program you use to read the PDF). For each room, there is a list of effects you can add or remove until the room is just as you want it: added chests, skeletons, staircases, walls... and if that's not enough, there are several pages of such incidental items you can cut out and distribute around if the preset locations do not suit your needs. Another useful thing is the various rooms printed smaller, so you can cut them out to make a GM map for use as reference when setting up the display mid-game, or for the normal purpose of recording where you've decided the Bad Guys, treasures, etc., will be.

Both versatile and good-looking, anyone who is running a dungeon delve and wants a good-looking display should have a look at this.

I REALLY like this book but there are problems with it. Many of the basics do not follow Pathfinder guides. For instance, Warlocks have dead levels. It's a shame that these things pop up because otherwise it's good book, but in the end not great as it could have been.

This free conversion guide was set up to help those playing FATE convert the excellent d20 Modern material put out by Adamant to their system. It's short, it's free, it's thorough, the only thing I would have liked to have seen is some further attention to how one can expect the capabilities of the characters to change.

In addition, high level characters turn out to have a LOT of Aspects, as the example shows, and some advice on how to manage that sort of thing would be helpful.

But it gets the job done and gets it done solidly - and the fact that Adamant is doing this after putting out top quality D20 Modern material for so long shows they're quite committed to the material reaching as many people as possible.

The Tome of Secrets is a solid book with easy-to-understand rules for many situations not covered by basic OGL/SRD rules. The classes are simple, but effective, and none suffer from being overpowered or underpowered. None of them are particularly out of the ordinary, they are all mechanically sound representations of concepts not covered by existing core classes. There is a military-style leadership class, the Warlord, who combines impressive fighting prowess (d10 HD, Fast BAB progressoose with special powers without being part of the Eldritch sion) with a lot of passive, aura-style buffs, that grant things like temporary HP, and attack/damage bonuses, allowing the Warlord to lead from the front and take part in the melee that he/she is helping to lead. The Priest is a less combat focused Cleric who has more domains, more domain spells, and more skill points, covering the sort of divine caster who spends more time contemplating the mysteries of his or her god rather than smashing face for that god. The extra spells make the Priest an incredibly powerful spellcaster, but the lack of combat abilities necessitate that the Priest have magical prowess on the level of the Wizard and Sorcerer, which is delivered handily.

Most of the other classes have functions close to non-OGL classes from other d20 supplements, but made to be more compatible with the Pathfinder RPG, and often having simpler (often sounder) mechanics than their non-OGL counterparts. I would allow (and encourage) any of the classes in the games I GM without a second thought.

The other character building rules are interesting, and seem more balanced than previous attempts. Drawbacks are more flavorful and less easy to min/max than Unearthed Arcana's flaw system, and backgrounds are interesting in that most of them make non class skills into class skills, or add a +1 bonus on skill checks for those who already have those class skills. These bonuses seem hard to overpower, and are a nice touch for someone who could play a character concept perfectly, if only their primary character class had this one skill as a class skill. I can already think of some noble-born fighters who would like to take the Diplomat or Courtier background so that they can have Diplomacy or Sense Motive as a class skill.

The GM rules section is similarly elegant. The stunt rules, in particular, are difficult to abuse, as they require high-DC skill checks, the approval of the GM, and encourage the players to set the bar high and try high-risk high-reward stunts that flavorfully combine several skills.

The random magic item generator is a little reminiscent of the Diablo series of computer games, and has the potential to create some odd magic items, but the attempts to justify some of the sample items are inspired enough that I might try to do the same with the items I roll from this table.

My only complaint about the PDF itself is how large the file is. It is easy to read, search, and skip through, thanks to a well-designed index/ToC. There are some very good art pieces for a black and white product, though as a whole the art runs the gamut from jarringly cartoony to stunningly detailed and beautiful, with most pieces falling into an acceptable middle ground. The art rarely detracts from the experience of the book as a whole, and often adds to it.

My only mechanical complaints come from a lack of heavily descriptive rules text in those few cases where the elegance of the subsystem fails to explain some special cases or important rules details, I'm still not sure what sort of action a spellblade's magic weapon infusion is, and there are some nit-pick questions the otherwise excellent Artificer class left me with,

I'm not planning on using all of the new subsystems, but those GMs who wanted to could incorporate most or all of them without giving themselves or their players a major headache. The subsystems are all elegant, and most seem carefully balanced. For ten dollars, I felt that I got more than what I paid for. The content of this book will be enriching my Pathfinder games for a long time to come.