This pdf is 10 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page advertisement/SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with a total of 6 pages of content, so let's take a look!

Following the format of the monsters of sin-series, we start the issue with a short discussion on the nature of sloth as well as a quick template to create slothful creatures (reducing the CR, actually) before we delve into the new beasties herein.

The CR 4 Flab Giant is a disgusting, lumbering being that can't run or take five foot steps, but it can actually sit down on you, crushing you with its inaction and pin you with one combat maneuver-check. Nice!

The CR 6 Scrap Drake is usually a sluggish, constantly sleeping drake that makes for an ideal guardian - woe to those disturbing it, though: Their bursts of speed make them temporarily VERY fast and agile and the creature also has a cool breath weapon that consists of shoving debris in its mouth and spewing the splinters/dirt/whatever at its foes. Cool!

At CR 15, the Slow Storm makes for a truly weird being: Surrounded by wisps of humid wind, these strange spiny balls can not only cast some lightning-based spells, they can also cause arthritic pains that make you regret every action, since you take damage for non-purely mental exertions. I would have loved a slowing aura or the like, though.

The final new creature herein, as with every Monsters of Sin-book, is the Embodiment of the respective sin - in the case of sloth, a CR 17 unmoving blob of flesh sans features. It's vast telepathic range of over 2000 miles enables it to recruit powerful followers to fall prey to its aura of slothfulness, that can sustain its followers in their inactivity, but also adds the slothful creature template to them. It should be noted that the embodiment can exempt people from its dread aura to grant them a temporary motivation and respite from the languishing existence at the non-existent feet of this mound of inactivity. The embodiment is cool, though I feel it could have used some additional defenses against threats - as written, it's quite proverbially a barn that behaves like a sitting duck - a DR or a sluggishness when hitting it as an additional form of defense would have been nice.

As always with the series, the installment closes with a section on tales of the deadly sin in the midgard campaign setting.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. Layout adheres to a beautiful 2-column standard with red highlights and the b/w-artworks are awesome. The pdf has no bookmarks, which is a bummer, even at the short length. Sloth - The Death of potential is perhaps my most hated of the deadly sins, representing one of the most devious sicknesses that can befall the human mind and spirit. It's also probably rules-wise one of the most interesting ones, since being inactive usually is not THAT dangerous. I expected lost actions, slow foes etc. and the pdf delivered. While I still maintain that the embodiment is a tad bit weak and that the slow storm could have used a slight bit more variety regarding its spell-selection. Nevertheless, though, this is one of the installments of the series that nails the essence of the sin and thus, I'll settle for a final verdict of 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.

The very nature of most player characters, and monsters, is to act, to do stuff, which makes the concept of creatures based around sloth particularly interesting. The end result here is one of the better entries in the Monsters of Sin series, which should be taken as high praise.

Once again, the booklet had 6 pages of content, with one page dedicated to a discussion of the sin, and a template for slothful creatures, and half a page to a couple of short cautionary tales set in the Midgard campaign setting. Given the nature of sloth, the template, uniquely for those in the series, lowers the CR of the creature that takes it, making the creature weaker. It's notable then, that one of creatures in the book attacks, in part, by giving its opponents the template!

The creatures themselves range from CR4 to CR17, and are all both original and directly linked to the topic of the book. There's a slothful giant that attacks through its sheer mass rather than more energetic combat, a lazy dragon with an unusual breath weapon, and an outsider that weakens its opponents in an original way.

As is often the case with this series, the last creature is the most interesting (although also the highest level). This vast outsider truly embodies the power of sloth, getting other creatures to act on its behalf, while itself remaining protected by the force of its own inertia. It's really quite a neat idea, and one that works well.

The artwork, as usual, is good, and I didn't spot any proofing errors. Even if you're not particularly interested in the other entries in the series, this one provides some interesting and original opponents, and is recommended.

The Monsters of Sin series is an excellent series of PDFs written by Ryan Costello, Jr. which explores the "seven deadly sins." Although these products have been written with the Midgard setting in mind they can easily be used at any game table using the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game (or even Dungeons & Dragons 3.5).

Sloth is a tricky sin to represent at the game table because by definition a slothful character tends to not engage the world around them. To help game masters and players bring sloth to life at the game table he boils the sin down to one of two approaches; "sluggish, unmotivated monsters, and monsters that drain characters of their ability to physically continue."

The Slothful Creature is a CR -2 template which is completely detrimental to the creature on which the template has been placed. This is an interesting tool for game masters who want to introduce creatures into their game which may be a bit too powerful for the party while also adding interesting elements to the story. Or even making an average level challenge less challenging can be a nice twist.

The Flab Giant (CR 4) is a new breed of giant. The origin of this breed is left to the imagination of the game master but whatever the cause for the genesis of this race they are a nasty bunch. Overweight and lazy love to use their greatest strength against those who bother them, their sheer girth.

If drakes are lesser versions of the dragons then a Scrap Drake (CR 6) would be the drake of the drakes. Does that make sense? The scrap drakes don't care if it does or not. In fact, they don't care about much at all. The best thing about a scrap drake is once you drag them in front of something to guard the odds are good they will stay. They are too lazy to go anywhere else.

Slow Storms (CR 15) are nasty outsiders which afflict their enemies with debilitating arthritis. The abilities of this creature are a good way to get PCs to slow down and can be a very interesting story development.

The Embodiment of Sloth (CR 17) is a master manipulator who does a good job of motivating others to get the job done for them. As a giant lump of flesh it can easily be mistaken for a nasty slime or pudding but it is far, far more dangerous.

As with the other PDFs in this series this is a well written product. For $2.99 game masters will not only be provided with some interesting tools but a great deal of inspiration as well.

The sixth installment in the Monsters of Sin series tackles Sloth. Weighing in at 10 pages, with 4 pages going to the covers, the OGL and the credit/TOC. No bookmarks, nor is the Table of Contents linked, which I'll admit bummed me a little. The cover art, as has been the standard for this series, is excellent, with interior art giving us two great pieces, one that left me at the “meh” stage, and one particular piece that really needed some color, as it looks hilariously like something else entirely (don't worry, all will be explained). Following in the standard dual column approach, I saw nothing jarring in the sense of grammatical errors.

Opening with a run down of the author's thoughts on the particular sin of sloth, the template offering this time out is for the Slothful Creature. I think I can honestly state that this template, more than any other presented in this series, is a punishment more than anything, lol. Nothing but negatives and detriment, there are no redeeming qualities in this template to make it a desirable thing...which makes it perfect as a template for this sin. I mean seriously, Sloth...there shouldn't be bonuses to a slothful creature. Well done, and well handled!

First up, we have the Flab Giant, an addition to the Giant sub-species, they are a relatively short member of the species, with their larger size translating into girth rather than height. Grossly enlarged abdomens supported on short muscled legs clothed only in the most minimal of clothing, these giants use their dangerously heavy bodies as weapons, crushing their opponents to death before eating them. An excellent monster to represent sloth as a sin.

The Scrap Drake is not only a lesser dragon in that it is a drake, it's a lesser drake. This thing is so apathetic towards life in general it prefers to push along on its stomach like a snake rather than stand up on its two legs. The perfect deterrent for an area one needs guarded, as the creature is very unlikely to actually leave the area, ever. The coolest thing about this lazy lizard is their answer to having no supernatural breath weapon. The scrap drake keeps a mouthful of debris (wood, stone, metal) ready to spit out as an improvised breath weapon. Rather unique, and kind of a cool thought that the creature would have developed this technique of attack/defense. All in all I like these guys, they have the right feel of slothfulness while maintaining a coolness about them.

OK, so two down, both of them being the artwork I thought was really good. This takes us to the Slow Storm. Now, simply looking at the artwork for this I thought to myself I am not going to like this creature. This creature is, quite simply, a bizarre looking thing. A quill-ed ball of organics at the center if a centralized storm throwing off static lightning...with eyeballs and a mouth...yup, goofy looking. But, it has a seriously cool ability that makes it seriously deadly. This thing absorbs the moisture from the joints of living creatures, causing a DEX drain, simulating the effect of aging on the living basically. Now, as cool as that is, here's where we run into problems...the presentation of this ability creates some serious confusion...as the way it is listed on the Special Attack line of the statblock it might be a special ability, or a breath weapon...but in the Special Abilities section there is no mention of it being a breath weapon...Now the breath weapon and the Arthritic Pain special ability do show the same DEX drain amount, and are both a Fort save ability, but where as the breath weapon has a limited usage, this is not mentioned within the special ability write up...and if this ability is in fact not the breath weapon, then we are left with no defining target concept for the ability, is it area? Single target? I am inclined to believe the ability is in fact intended to be the breath weapon, I just wish the wording within the description would have clarified that.

Which brings us to Embodiment. Illustrated and described as a mass of flesh, this B&W drawing far more resembles a large pile of excrement, with people sitting around it. Yes, once you read the entry you realize what you are looking at, but the initial thought upon getting to this page is a far different one than after reading the opening line. Hence my earlier observation that perhaps once, a small amount of color might have been warranted internally. So, the embodiment...a CR17 blob o' flab, with no discernible features...the ultimate in letting other do kinda critter. Has an insane leadership score that it utilizes to get others to handle its needs,defend it, or handle matters elsewhere. Ironically the creature typically chooses its agents from the least slothly of its followers, to try and guarantee that they will actually succeed in their task (this was fluff gold, loved it). Those who get to close to the embodiment and fail a Will save will find themselves chilling with the big squishy flesh mound. In return for serving its needs, the embodiment of sloth provides benefits equal to a ring of sustenance to its fellow mellows. All around, one seriously cool take on an embodiment for this sin, and an impressive design.

As always with this series, we close with some tidbits of Midgard, acting as not only extras for those utilizing Midgard as a setting, but as teasers for those who are not, enticing them to explore these lands, and the people we are being given an insight into. An expertly crafted closer to these books, the Midgard section has become one of my favorite parts of this series.

So, final thoughts. I liked this PDF, a great deal. The creatures were cool, the template made sense, the embodiment was awesome...but I keep coming back to the slow storm...and the breath weapon/special ability. The fact that the special ability has a name makes me think it is not intended to be the breath weapon, but they have the same DEX drain and are both a Fort save ability. I can't help but think this could have been worded much clearer to avoid any sense of confusion in this regard. In the end the only thing preventing me from giving this the 5 star rating it deserves is this issue, well, that and the no bookmarks (sorry, I like bookmarks). I'm going with a 4.5, rounded down to a 4. I would be happy to raise this rating if the wording of this becomes clarified...or if for that matter someone can help me see what I am obviously missing in case I am simply having a dense moment (it happens, I'm human, I'll admit it). Still well worth it folks, and this is an excellent addition to this series.

-edit.
PDF has been updated to clarify the Slow Storm's special attacks as being two separate things, and not one as it previously appeared. As this was my only problem with this PDF, I am happy to raise my rating to the 5 star from 4.5 that it deserved in the first place.