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A small selection of mostly Spelljammer monsters from the Forgotten Realms' region of Realmspace, updated for D&D 5th Edition. The updates are solid enough rules-wise, but the choices are a mixed bag. A few are excellent (such as the air dragon) but many others are a bit bland (such as the chandos fish) or feel like filler (such as the white pudding, which is just a variant black pudding). There are also a number of typos in many lore sections. However, since this is a PWYW item, the price is quite fair.
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A collection of core monsters - mostly with roots in Greek myth - which have been upgraded into legendary versions. Each includes expanded lore, lairs, and legendary actions. Most are are fairly basic upgrades, which are fine and solidly built, but feel like they could have gone further. Better are the legendary versions which become distinctive creatures of their own, such as the true cyclops (with its nods to 4th Edition lore), the adamantine golem, the Lernaean hydra, and the werewolf alpha. This product is definitely worth the $1 price tag.
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Honestly kind of a dull issue, though there is a fair amount of information on the development of Gamma World in the interview with Jake Jaquet. The only other highlight, such as it is, is an article on the effective use of areas for evocation spells. Solely worth getting as a historical curiosity.
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A product that introduces time-themed character options for D&D 5th Edition games. Note that none of this material addresses time travel as an element of adventures, and few of the abilities involve actual time travel - it's about manipulating time for your benefit. The character options include:
- Time Thief (Rogue subclass): Almost entirely built around stealing time from a target and using it to enhance your actions. Interesting, but pretty one-note.
- Blood of Eons (Sorcerer subclass): Almost entirely built around delaying the casting of spells. It's not quite clear what benefit this has, though they presumably exist; some suggestions would have been nice.
- The Timeless (Warlock subclass): Probably the closest to a proper time-travel subclass, but it unfortunately appears a bit underpowered.
- School of Chronomancy (Wizard subclass): The level 2 abilities are much too strong, making this dangerously tempting as a multiclass dip option. The remaining abilities are fine.
- Chronomancy spells: These spells are all under a unique "chronomancy" school, rather than being under existing schools, which is probably OK but a little unfortunate. As for the spells themselves... there are a lot of interesting ideas in here, and the mechanics seem sound, but nearly all of them seem very powerful for their listed level, especially the cantrips. If these are used in your own games, it'd likely be best to raise the listed levels a bit (and rework the cantrips).
The product ends with descriptions of new time-related mechanics, which honestly shouldn't have been necessary. As for general production values, this product does fine for the most part, but has an amateur feel at times. Also, the $4.99 price is pretty high for the amount of content you get (about 13 pages of game material). All in all, this is a product with fun ideas, but the execution needs enough reworking that it's probably not worth the listed price. Maybe on sale, if you're cautious and willing to make some adjustments.
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More an adventure concept than an adventure proper, with a lot of detail left to the DM. But to be fair, it is a "one page adventure", and the concept itself is fine. You also get a new feline PC race with an interesting origin, which is neat.
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One of the earliest third-party products for D&D 5th Edition, this features a selection of then-new character races and backgrounds, lightly flavored to work with Kobold Press's Southlands setting. The product also very much bears the mark of Pathfinder products that came before it, as most of the new races come with swappable alternate race and class features - very common in Pathfinder by that time, but an unknown mechanic in 5E at that point (and not common in official products even after it did appear). Another unusual aspect of the book is how it seems to promote 5E's new mechanics at times, yet also criticizes specific official design decisions, such as 5E's treatment of gnolls or animal companions - a surprising injection of personal opinion into an otherwise mass-market professional-grade work.
Races:
- Aasimar: The Southlands aasimar have a bit more of an Old Testament feel than the core aasimar, as reflected in their variant racial traits. What they don't provide, however, is a baseline aasimar - instead, you're apparently expected to modify the version from the Dungeon Master's Guide (Volo's Guide to Monsters was a year off). For some reason they don't say this directly - one assumes for legal reasons - but that surely confused some readers, and should have been addressed somehow.
- Gnoll: Their core features are Bully and Live to Fight Another Day, and they get two subraces, Civilized and Savage. Nothing too fancy - no alternate traits, and their unique features are largely just skill bumps.
- Lizardfolk: Predating the Volo's version, this hews pretty close to the Monster Manual take. The alternate traits are the best element here, with a wide variety of features based on real-life reptiles: regeneration, camouflage, poison, and even the ability to spray blood from your eyes. They also provide a variant Assassin Rogue, the Ambush Predator.
- Minotaur: Predating the official version by several years, these are pretty close to the Monster Manual version, except for their Medium size. No alternate traits, but solid enough as is.
- Tosculi: Wasp-people, unique to the Southlands setting. Unfortunately, they don't provide much lore, presumably expecting you to seek out other Southlands products. Their traits are about what you'd expect from bug-folk - tough skin, limited flight, claws, etc. One alternate trait gives you something like Spider-Man's web-shooters, without the swinging. They also provide three class variants - two druids (Circle of the Hive, Circle of the Swarm) and one ranger (Hivemaster).
- Werelion: Just what it says on the tin, another Southlands exclusive. They provide more lore than for the tosculi, but there are still major gaps: for example, prides are very important, but they tend to ditch them on adulthood? They provide an option for lycanthropic resistance to non-silver weapons, with a warning about balance issues. Their section ends with a complete new subclass, the Lycanthropic Sorcerer, which basically makes you a werebeast with extras.
Backgrounds:
- Child of the Divine: Acolyte background on steroids. You're basically descended from a worshiped creature and get extra attention because of it.
- Temple Slave: You're an ex-slave, and get along well with servants and the like. There are elements in this that might get negative attention now, though conceptually it's a valid background.
- Siwali Traveler: Unique to the Southlands, this ties you to desert travelers.
- Three alternate Soldier backgrounds: Quartermaster, which makes it easier to acquire supplies; Groom/Squire, heavy on the Groom, giving you optimal mounts and pets; and Healer, who can more easily replenish healing supplies. These are all more mechanical than most background traits.
- Desert Runner: Outlander background, but specialized for desert survival. Your main traits involve being adapted to the desert. Again, more mechanical than core backgrounds.
All in all, the above make for a nice selection of options, but the race options outrank the backgrounds. The race options sometimes seem a little weak - and some have since been surpassed by official options - but they are highly customizable. By contrast, while the backgrounds are packed with flavor, their features are a little strong overall. The only remaining downside to note is the cover price - in both print and PDF, this is a bit expensive for the amount of material you get, even considering the high production values. This is a worthwhile purchase for 5th Edition fans, but probably best bought at a discount. (Originally posted on Goodreads)
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One subclass for each core class, each inspired by a different plane:
- Path of the Beastlands (Barbarian): Inspired by the Beastlands, this lets your barbarian take on animal traits. This shares a theme with the official Path of the Beast later published in Tasha's, but presents more options to choose from, and the capstone lets you turn into a beast. Fairy solid, though perhaps a little underpowered.
- College of Pandemonium (Bard): Lets your bard channel the despair and madness of Pandemonium. Very strongly tied to the theme of its plane, but it can probably be reskinned with some effort.
- Harmony Domain (Cleric): Inspired by Arcadia, this cleric domain definitely projects the named theme, though the abilities come off as a bit bland. But that might work for it. (Not sure why they get proficiency with a musical instrument, though, unless it's just a little joke on their name.)
- Circle of the Arboreal (Druid): An adequate take on a plant-focused druid, inspired by Arborea, but it seems a little underpowered compared to other druids.
- Conquest Archetype (Fighter): Ostensibly inspired by Acheron, this is really a take on the 4th Edition warlord class. And it works rather well, one of the more efficient attempts at such. (But why "Conquest" and not "Conqueror"?)
- Way of Chaos (Monk): Inspired by Limbo, and specifically the githzerai. This is fine, but it feels like more could have been done with the theme.
- Oath of Ysgard (Paladin): Inspired by Ysgard, this is a paladin themed around the Norse gods. A bit specialized in terms of theme, but well-executed.
- Feywilder (Ranger): Inspired by the Feywild, this shares a theme with the official Fey Wanderer from Tasha's, but is mechanically very different. The focus on this subclass is an affinity for the fey, and the abilities are effective, but something just doesn't qute gel.
- Ethereal Marauder (Rogue): A rogue tied to the Ethereal Plane, with a variety of abilities. Like the Feywilder, the abilities are effective and do tie to the theme, but they don't quite feel like they work well together. (Excepting the two centered around misty step, of course.)
- Great Machine (Sorcerer): Tied to Mechanus, this is yet another that eerily parallels a Tasha's option - in this case, Tasha's Clockwork Soul. In this case, some of the key mechanics are very similar, if provided at different levels. The Clockwork Soul is probably the more potent, though the Great Machine offers interesting options as well. (It would be strange to have both in the same campaign.)
- Elemental Patron (Warlock): Tied to the elemental planes, this is an option that really should exist in the core game but doesn't. Not the most creative of the subclass options here, but probably the best executed.
- Astral Magic (Wizard): Tied to the Astral Plane, this shares a similar problem to the Feywilder and Ethereal Marauder - the abilities are individually solid and thematic, but don't seem to fit together as a whole.
All in all, this is a worthwhile product to pick up, well-designed with a nice variety of options. A few might need reskinning to work in all campaigns (the bard and paladin options especially) but it can be done. This is also a great value for the price (just $1.99!). Definitely recommended.
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A fun selection of variant beholders and gas spores, written in a faux-scholarly style. The variants are interesting designs, and the authors also show their research on older-edition lore, which is appreciated. The only disappointment is that it's a little difficult to figure out how some of these monsters would behave, when compared to the standard versions, and some sections go so heavy with the scholarly style that the details get buried. (The ending section on fungus-based cuisine was also pretty random.) Still, this is a worthwhile buy for beholder fans, and the PWYW price is more than fair.
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A fairly random collection of player-focused material, Heroes for the Ages has improved a lot since its earlier releases, and has nearly tripled its original size as of this review. Something should be said up front, however - this is a product for folks who want material that's a bit more complicated than you find in official 5th Edition material. That doesn't make the product good or bad in and of itself, but it will likely influence how useful this is in your own games.
Going section by section...
- Ages: Traits for playing characters at a variety of life stages, from (older) child to "venerable." Useful if you want specific rules to handle that sort of thing, though it could likely be done much simpler.
- Human Variants: Traits for non-standard human characters, many of which appear to be based on specific archetypes from fantasy fiction. Unfortunately, this results in some that are too specialized to be of use outside the specific archetype - a particular disappointment in that regard is the Worldcrasher.
- Class Archetypes: A definite mixed bag in this section, which is theoretically the centerpiece of the product. Some, like the Path of the Ravager (Barbarian), Blade Dancer (Fighter), and Janissary (Fighter), feel like they were built around the mechanics more than the theme. (The Janissary also basically feels like it wants to be its own class.) Others are fine on theme but become notably complicated, like the Circle of the Skinchanger (Druid), Horselord (Fighter), Oath of the Aegis (Paladin), and Academic Lore (Wizard). Still others have interesting themes and mechanics, but the two halves just don't work well together, like the Hearth Domain (Cleric) - which wants to be a fire cleric - and Ancient Artifact (Sorcerer) - which should have been a warlock archetype. However, there are also some solidly interesting archetypes in here, such as the College of Resistance (Bard), Way of the Incarnate Ancestor (Monk), Justicar (Ranger), and Acrobat (Rogue). Two warlock pacts are also provided, the neat Pact of the Eye and the very detailed Pact of the Scar.
- Feats: Most of the feats here are essentially mini-classes, with way more features than any official 5th Edition feat. This section is probably going to be the most divisive between folks who like or dislike complicated mechanics.
- Spells: The largest section of the product is dedicated to new spells, and there are a lot of interesting options in here. However, the cantrips are overall much stronger and more complicated than official cantrips, and should only be included in your own games with caution.
All in all, Heroes for the Ages has a lot to offer, but it's not going to work for everyone. However, you certainly get your money's worth on content, especially if it keeps adding new material over time.
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A new class for D&D 5th Edition focused on being a member of a tribe with a connection to spirits. The resulting class resembles a hybrid of warlock and Totem Warrior barbarian. The core class's mechanics are fine, but disappointingly, it's also plain that they're mostly reskinned mechanics from other classes (and not just the aforementioned two). The flavor also feels too narrow, with its insistence on tribal elements, instead of focusing on the spiritual aspect. Furthermore, the subclasses don't mesh as well with the core class as they should. Path of the Corruptor (focused on evil spirits) and Path of the Wild (focused on totem spirits) work best - although the latter is really similar to the Totem Warrior - but Path of the Spirit is mostly about making your character ghostly, while Path of the Elements barely references spirits at all. All in all, this Shaman is functional, but falls short of what it could have been, had there been more focus on its core concept and flavor.
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A demo for D&D 3.0 that consists of three basic encounters; this barely qualifies as an adventure. They also try to integrate explanations of the then-new rules as you go, followed by a "tipsheet" at the end - but fail to explain certain key rules, like what a DC is, or how to do checks or saves. As a result, you still need the Player's Handbook to run this... even though the demo was apparently intended to promote the Player's Handbook. This is historically interesting, but that's about it.
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An update of the paraelementals and quasielementals from older editions, plus the brand-new pseudoelementals. These are mostly what you'd expect from their concepts, but they're all pretty well-executed. (And there are a few novel ideas in the mix.) There are some minor formatting issues, but they don't take away from the product as a whole. Best of all, this is a PWYW product. If you're looking for more elemental options, this is a good choice.
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A fun little product that details an original winter festival, with associated games, prizes, and rituals. The mechanics for the games are simple but effective; the prizes are neat and memorable; and the rituals themselves are great flavor. It's designed for the Forgotten Realms, but would be very easy to port into other settings. Recommended for any DM who wants to have a winter sidequest during an ongoing campaign.
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An amusing selection of weird and/or silly items, some of which might actually have uses if you're clever. A lot of them should really have been common items, however, and the product price is a bit high for just four pages of material. Worth buying on sale or as part of a bundle.
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A fairly basic adventure that pits the players against a lone frost giant and his minions. Nothing too complicated here, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, the adventure seems like it might be kind of under-strength for 10th level characters - be prepared to adjust if needed. Also, the amount of material might be slightly too thin for a $3 adventure, though it'd be better value either on sale or as part of a bundle. (There are also some minor formatting issues, but that's not a deal-breaker.)
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