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Erebus: City of Shadows
Publisher: Daniel Bayn
by James K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/30/2004 00:00:00

It's hard to be critical of a product like EREBUS: CITY OF SHADOWS because it clearly wants to be something new and different. For the most part it succeeds, but ultimately low production values and a few areas of sketchy logic hobble it.

Brought to market by Dan Bayn, the mad genius behind WUSHU: THE ANCIENT ART OF ACTION ROLE-PLAYING, EREBUS is a (mostly) system-free exploration of a new setting, one that strives to combine pulp-style gunslinging, horror, fantasy and magic in a kind of genre blend that hasn't been seen since the heyday of PLANESCAPE. Like WUSHU and its supplements, EREBUS is a strictly bottom-dollar affair that relies on ideas more than editorial polish. Unfortunately, EREBUS needs more than that to really work.

The eponymous city of Erebus is a classic staple of fantasy fiction: the free city caught between greater forces. There's a strong undercurrent of Lankhmar-esque intrigue running through EREBUS, with mysterious factions, strange beasts and so forth. Most of the supplement is taken from in-character writings and describes the major power brokers of the city in language that's also evocative of fantasy gaming/fiction. This is by itself not a bad thing, but the atmosphere of fantasy that drenches EREBUS makes the modernistic elements a bit harder to swallow.

This isn't helped by a few internal inconsistencies along the way: one passage claims that the advent of firearms pretty much saw an end to melee combat, but swords and armor abound throughout the setting. The firearms themselves are quite primitive, which also doesn't seem right when there are Wild West-style gunslingers roaming the streets. GMs are, of course, free to modify however they wish, but it would be nice to see the technological and fantasy elements better integrated.

It's also difficult to get a handle on the city itself. Because of the in-character passages and the general tone of the fantastic in EREBUS, it's easy to form a mental picture of a standard (albeit somewhat darker) fantasy city. Like PLANESCAPE before it, EREBUS needs art to sell its particular vision. Certain sections of the city are blended into the surrounding jungle, for example, so let's see that. Artwork can sell even the most bizarre vision, and Bayn's work could benefit greatly from the inclusion of even a few pieces that let the reader see all the elements of Erebus existing in concert.

Those familiar with WUSHU will find the usual assortment of misspellings and grammatical errors in the 96-page document, though the ugly portrait format of the WUSHU products has been replaced by a far more attractive and readable landscape arrangement. But as mentioned, people come to Bayn's products for the ideas, and there are plenty in EREBUS: mysterious snake people, powerful magicians, skinwalkers (AKA werebeasts) and more. And the stage is set for even greater expansion, as Bayn has included a Creative Commons license that allows others to create derivative works without a fee.

It would be unfair to call EREBUS a failure, because it's not. Dan Bayn set out to do something totally new in the roleplaying. Of course he hit a few bumps on the way.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Erebus: City of Shadows
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Allure of the Sea
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by James K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/14/2004 00:00:00

Released with no fanfare by Ronin Arts, ALLURE OF THE SEA is an interesting d20 adventure for characters of 4-6th level by F. Wesley Schneider. Christopher Shy provides illustration. ALLURE OF THE SEA is very much like many of Ronin Arts' releases of late: short, light on content and relatively simple in design. Gone are the days when even a slender monster summary like POSSESSORS: CHILDREN OF THE OUTER GODS got the million-dollar treatment. This 12-page PDF looks good, thanks to Shy's evocative cover, but doesn't hold up the old standard Ronin Arts used to set.

Thankfully the adventure itself is solid, a seaside variation on the classic "rescue the fair maiden" story. In ALLURE OF THE SEA a vicious sea hag, for purposes unknown to the heroes, holds the daughter of a triton noble captive. Rescue is the order of the day. Once the deed is done, the story ends. Schneider provides a random encounter table (shudder), and suggests various ways to hook the PCs in order to make the scenario seem less like a simple run-in with a rarely used creature from the MONSTER MANUAL, so ALLURE OF THE SEA needn't be as simplistic as this summary makes it sound.

Creative DMs will likely take their cue more from the cover art than from the text. The latter is necessarily slight, given the page count, but gains a sort of waterlogged spookiness when taken in concert with Schneider's writing. In fact, the scenario need not be as straightforward as most gaming groups will make it. With its hidden sea caves strewn with denuded bones, the strange pets of the sea hag, and fog-enshrouded locale, ALLURE OF THE SEA could easily be turned into an edge-of-the-seat ALIEN-style thriller with fantasy trappings.

One wishes, however, that Schneider had more room to bring out the specific feel of his story. The isolated nature of the scenario allows ALLURE OF THE SEA to be plugged into almost any setting, which is a boon for DMs running an ongoing game, but when a story is so heavily dependent upon atmosphere it almost needs greater attention to detail. Ronin Arts' recent shift toward very slim PDFs, however, works against this.

ALLURE OF THE SEA reads very much like an adventure from DUNGEON and its price (at this writing) of less than $2.50 makes it a reasonable expense. But how much better could it have been with even half again as many pages? There's some mention in the scenario of a nearby town, but that's one sentence among many. As mentioned, this sort of blank slate treatment makes the story of the sea hag and her imprisoned triton maiden easier to plug in, but it doesn't do much to play up the singular nature of the story. A decrepit, Lovecraftian fishing village, even sketched out in general terms, would have been a major boost to mood, even if individual DMs decided to pitch the information out. More options are always better than no options at all.

Even with the weaknesses forced upon ALLURE OF THE SEA by the condensed nature of the format, the scenario is still worth checking out. When d20 products venture to the sea, they generally plunge directly into the depths, or obsess over tall ships and pirates. Very few take note of the strange and threatening world that lies at the water's edge, where riptides and bizarre creatures wait to seize the unwary. Great danger and great reward await those who'll brave the allure of this sea.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Allure of the Sea
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101 Arcane Spell Components
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by James K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/24/2003 00:00:00

The wizard?s name was Kadaicha. His robe was tattered, a plain color turned dark from age and dirt. Kadaicha kept it pulled tightly around his body with his good right hand in such a way that he almost concealed the limp, melted mass of flesh that terminated the stump of his left forearm. He hobbled when he walked, listing to his injured side. When light managed to penetrate the deep gloom that shadowed his hooded face, one could catch a glimpse of distorted features and milk-white scars.

The apprentice wizards whispered that Kadaicha had slain his finest student in a magical duel decades before. They said that the old wizard had been struck by the hideous twisting of a corrosive acid spell. ?That couldn?t stop him,? went the story. ?He channeled his anger, his pain, the power of the mage acid and turned it against his student. Kadaicha burned her down where she stood.?

No one wanted to ask Kadaicha if the story was true.

The title of Philip Reed?s 101 ARCANE SPELL COMPONENTS is a trifle misleading. For one, there are 117 spell components listed, and for another, the word ?component? is sometimes stretched to encompass some new and different magical elements. This 27-page PDF supplement for d20 is more than a simple list of compounds; it?s a doorway to unexpected realms of magic and deep story possibilities.

Kadaicha, the horribly scarred wizard depicted at the start of the review, was inspired by just one of Reed?s unusual magical elements. The type of magical effect with which they are associated, such as Cold, Light, Evil or Acid, arranges 101 ARCANE SPELL COMPONENTS? contents. Some components are highly exotic materials like Doppelganger?s Eye, and others are circumstantial, like Barbarian?s Grave, which allows a wizard to tap into the warrior spirit of a dead barbarian to gain power for a Force spell. Obviously Kadaicha Suffered Acid Damage and got to turn back on his attacker half of the damage he endured.

Like all of Reed?s 101 series of books, 101 ARCANE SPELL COMPONENTS is extremely well organized. Components are broken down first by type, and are succinctly described before their effects and the arcane knowledge needed to employ them are relayed. Mundanities like value and weight are also there, though Reed stresses that the supplement ought not to be considered a shopping list. This is good advice, because obtaining many of these components (Piece of a Fallen Star) could make for an adventure unto themselves.

Despite the fact that 101 ARCANE SPELL COMPONENTS has a much narrower focus than Reed?s 101 MUNDANE TREASURES and ANOTHER 101 MUNDANE TREASURES, the product is still worth a look. It?s clear that Reed hasn?t forgotten that magic should be strange and mysterious, and that much of that comes from the odd tools wizards use to channel their power. If that?s managed to slip your or your players? minds, this supplement will remind you.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
101 Arcane Spell Components
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Blood and Space: d20 Starship Adventure Toolkit
Publisher: RPG Objects
by James K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/24/2003 00:00:00

One of the arguments that hasn't stopped since the introduction of d20 and the Open Gaming License is the one between those who say d20 can handle just about anything that's thrown at it and those who feel it can't. While one review certainly can't stop fanboys from tearing into each other over this issue - nor can it call an end to the endless debate over which captain of the Enterprise was better, Kirk or Picard - it can point out that d20 is already doing just about everything that can be done with a roleplaying game, and seems to be doing just fine. Oh, and Kirk would whip Picard's ass any day of the week. So there.

BLOOD & SPACE is a fairly early release from RPG Objects, and shows that d20 can stretch a long way when the rules set is handled thoughtfully. At 118 pages, BLOOD & SPACE takes the d20 framework and builds an entire science-fiction game on top of it. Whether one's interest lies in replicating the gritty guns 'n' monsters of STARSHIP TROOPERS or the whiz-bang space opera of STAR WARS, BLOOD & SPACE can accommodate.

Like recent offerings such as REDLINE, BLOOD & SPACE meant to supplant the PLAYER'S HANDBOOK in most respects. An entirely new set of SF-appropriate core classes are provided, each conforming to the genre archetypes one would expect. Prestige classes allow one to refine the archetypes even further, with core-class "marines" becoming ALIENS-style "colonial marines," for example. Everything fits together quite well, and is supplemented by new skills and feats that expand upon the fantasy-centric foundation provided by DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.

BLOOD & SPACE explodes with technical goodies, too. After the needs of character creation are addressed, the PDF plunges into a world of high-tech weaponry and transportation. Complete rules for starship building are included, and given genre-appropriate tweaks for games that wish to slide the realism scale back and forth between hard SF and pulpy space opera. This section of the book is massive. Those with a yen for micromanagement will have the time of their lives detailing everything from the specific features of starfighters to what facilities are available inside massive capital ships.

The authors haven't overlooked anything. An entire space-combat system is available, along with detailed rules for everything down to the experience level of a starship crew. Not everyone will want or need this level of detail, but it's to RPG Objects' credit that the crunchy bits are there for those who do. By the time one reaches the prefab starships at the end of the PDF, it's likely he or she will teeter on the edge of information overload.

Like other RPG Objects releases, BLOOD & SPACE isn't particularly attractive, but it's not offensive to the eyes, either. It's essentially an electronic test-run for a print edition, so it doesn't read as well onscreen as it might. Thankfully a black-and-white version is included to lessen some of the printing load. Lastly, the fiction pieces could use polish (or exclusion), but this is a small price to pay for so much darned good stuff.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Blood and Space: d20 Starship Adventure Toolkit
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Hollow World Campaign Setting (Basic)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by James K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/29/2003 00:00:00

TSR was always a target for criticism. The industry juggernaut that turned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS into a synonym for roleplaying was rightly criticized for its boneheaded business decisions, and its treatment of the rest of the roleplaying community as the enemy in some kind of twisted, scorched-earth warfare. On the other hand - and this can't be denied, even by TSR's staunchest critics - the company came out with some really cool stuff. Case in point: HOLLOW WORLD.

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS was the magnet for many roleplayers, but there was once a sizeable audience for TSR's descriptor-less DUNGEONS & DRAGONS line. This game was really more of a linked series of boxed games that began with the "basic" set, moved on to the "expert" set, and so on. These versions of D&D shared more in common than they had differences, but there are still those who swear that the boxed D&D was better than its hardbound counterpart. They may have been right.

DUNGEONS & DUNGEONS (not ADVANCED) had a setting all its own: Mystara, AKA The Known World. It was an extraordinarily detailed world for the period, with enough information published in gazetteers and adventures to keep games going for years, if not decades. But TSR took the Known World just a bit farther by delving...inside. The Known World was hollow, and the first of several outstanding products was the appropriately-titled HOLLOW WORLD, a boxed set now re-released in PDF format.

HOLLOW WORLD is a setting that will drive players and DMs alike wild with its possibilities. Part LAND OF THE LOST, part Edgar Rice Burroughs's Pellucidar, HOLLOW WORLD is crammed with opportunities for high adventure. The PDF is 264 pages long, and includes detailed setting information, dozens of NPCs, full-color maps, and more downright cool elements than in any three other campaign settings. HOLLOW WORLD has it all: yellow-skinned, horsemen orcs, pirates, tribal lizard men, Roman- and Egyptian-imperial analogs, dragon-riding elves...the list goes on and on. And what's more is that it all works together.

HOLLOW WORLD is a treasure trove for d20 gamers willing to put the minimal amount of work into converting old D&D stat blocks to Third Edition. Designer Aaron Allston has pretty much moved on to the better-paying world of original fiction, but wrote some terrific roleplaying material in his day. HOLLOW WORLD is his masterpiece. The setting takes all the best elements of the fantastic adventure fiction of the '30s and '40s (dinosaurs, savage men, lost empires) and marries them to the tropes of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (elves, dwarves, Vance-style magic). It doesn't seem like it ought to make any sense, but it does.

Even divorced from the Known World and run on its own, HOLLOW WORLD is well worth the investment. Almost any kind of adventure can be laid in this setting, and the peculiar, inside-out nature of the world gives fantasy gaming a fantastic feel once again. HOLLOW WORLD is a must-buy.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Hollow World Campaign Setting (Basic)
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Carnival (2e)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
by James K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/10/2003 00:00:00

In 1990 TSR, the company that had built DUNGEONS & DRAGONS from an obscure offshoot of a tabletop miniatures game into something of a household name, faced a new generation of roleplayers with new attitudes toward the hobby. Companies like White Wolf were poised to explode into popularity with dark, brooding games such as VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE. Atmosphere and character interaction had become increasingly important parts of the roleplaying experience. TSR?s response: the RAVENLOFT setting.

A spin-off from a classic adventure of the same name, RAVENLOFT was intended to take a horrific approach to the all-too-familiar tropes of D&D. What had been an isolated story about a great castle and its vampiric lord became an entire campaign world dominated by evil figures, one where shadows and mysticism were more prominent than pageantry and sword swinging. Heroic fantasy and visceral horror proved to be imperfect counterparts, but CARNIVAL ? originally published in 1999 as a printed product for ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (2nd Edition), and now re-released in PDF format ? represents everything RAVENLOFT was intended to be, but so often was not.

The eponymous Carnival is an enigma that unfolds by stages and half-truths from behind a veil of illusion. A traveling ?freak show? with a decidedly fantastic twist, Carnival moves from town to town at will, never staying for more than a day or two, preceded by flyers whose designs can hypnotize and enchant those who stare too long at their designs. Led by the mysterious Isolde, whose true identity is unknown even to those privy to the secrets of Carnival, the caravan of bizarre wanderers make a display of their freakishness. These oddities come in realistic (Living Skeleton, Giant) and fantastic (a woman with wings, a living man made of wax) varieties, and the Cthulhoid monstrosities in the Hall of Horrors are straight out of nightmare. All around Carnival are the gypsy-like Skurra, who handle the wagons in silence from behind masks of implacable face-paints.

Rather than laying out the details of Carnival in straightforward fashion, CARNIVAL instead takes the form of a tour. The reader assumes the role of ?the Outsider,? invited into Carnival for the first time. Everything relayed in this fashion is subjective, influenced by the perspective and/or agenda of the speaker. Boxed text scattered here and there gives game stats and a drier interpretation of what?s discussed elsewhere, but even then the authors encourage potential DMs to alter the ?truth? as he or she sees fit. Whatever makes the proceedings scarier.

The wealth of detail about the characters found in Carnival provides enormous opportunity for stories and in-depth roleplay. A group of players could become involved with Carnival and easily enjoy related adventures for a year or more without exhausting everything authors John Mangrum and Steve Miller have prepared. There?s even a suggested story arc included that?s intended for integration into an existing campaign.

If CARNIVAL has any flaws, they are those that were endemic to TSR products during the last decade of that company?s existence. CARNIVAL?s boxed text frequently refers the reader to various other RAVENLOFT products to encourage synergistic sales. Thankfully CARNIVAL can be used without any RAVENLOFT-specific material whatsoever without losing a bit of its effectiveness, so the gratuitous shilling for VAN RICHTEN?S GUIDE TO FIENDS (for example) can be easily ignored. In fact, deleting the overly complicated RAVENLOFT background can improve the gaming experience by freeing Carnival to be what it ought to be: a free-floating night-terror about deformity, madness, death and redemption.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Carnival (2e)
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Black Powder Gods: Behind Enemy Lines
Publisher: Team Frog
by James K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 04/10/2003 00:00:00

BLACK POWDER GODS: BEHIND ENEMY LINES is an unusual d20 product in that it?s both a packaged adventure for characters of 5th- to 10th-level and a functional campaign resource document. Even more unusual: it largely succeeds on both counts, despite a few hiccups.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES isn?t the first d20 product to build a fantasy world on the back of an adventure, or a series thereof. Green Ronin?s DEATH IN FREEPORT, the original third-party d20 adventure, did it. And the WITCHFIRE TRILOGY from Privateer Press also accomplished the task with style. BEHIND ENEMY LINES isn?t quite as slick as Privateer?s effort, nor as quirky as Green Ronin?s, but it?s no generic spells ?n? swords hokum, either.

The world of BLACK POWDER GODS has no name, but it is a fantasy realm caught in the midst of a bloody war. According to the engaging history that opens BEHIND ENEMY LINES, a dwarven conspiracy surrounding the creation of black powder has resulted in a worldwide conflict. Unlike most epic fantasy wars, however, this one is fought with rifles, pistols and cannon of the black powder variety, an element that gives the entire setting a markedly atypical tone. The dwarven nation has defended its as a matter of divine revelation, and now that another nation has begun to compete with its own black powder, the resultant conflict has been couched in terms of a holy war, with all the bloody carnage that implies.

BEHIND ENEMY LINES? storyline is suitably massive for such an expansive backdrop. Heroic characters become involved in a daring mission to rescue a scholar with a key to unraveling the religious conspiracy concerning the black powder and, as a result, bring a neutral country into the war. To do this, the heroes will have to cross hundreds of miles of territory, passing even into the heart of the war itself, and success is not guaranteed. It?s thrilling stuff that will test the mettle of the most hardened adventurer, with an excellent mix of stealth, combat, and roleplaying elements.

All is not perfect with BEHIND ENEMY LINES. The product lacks editorial polish. There are several errors of the ?page XX? sort, and some nonstandard (though not crippling) grammar use. Authorial voice is an issue from time to time, becoming somewhat too conversational for the grim mood the adventure seeks to invoke. The adventure can also be brutally difficult in places, though this could be offset by generating heroes at the higher end of the suggested level scale. The authors also make disappointingly limited use of OGL material. Beyond a brief section on black powder weapons, and a few NPCs, there?s little here. With other d20 products like CONSTRUCT MECHANUS opening large chunks of their contents under the OGL, this seems skimpy.

Taken as a whole, however, BEHIND ENEMY LINES is a top-notch product. From its gorgeous Brom cover to its inventive premise, it delivers a complete experience on a broad canvas and sets the stage for many an exciting follow-up. Let?s hope it doesn?t take too long for that to happen.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Black Powder Gods: Behind Enemy Lines
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101 Mundane Treasures
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by James K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/20/2003 00:00:00

Roleplaying author Philip Reed has made something of a name for himself as a go-to man for treasure. 101 MUNDANE TREASURES is a d20 supplement in PDF format that shows exactly why this is: it?s 26 pages of detailed and interesting items ready to be dropped into anyone?s fantasy campaign with a minimum of fuss. Utility and ease of use go hand-in-hand in this release.

What Reed calls mundane doesn?t mean ordinary. From boots made with the skin of a demon to a bottle of thick, green poison called Goblin?s Pus, 101 MUNDANE TREASURES is filled with unusual items. Reed stays clear (mostly) of magical treasures, which is a refreshing change from the arms race mentality of gaming supplements, where each new product onto the market must conform to the ?bigger, faster, stronger? mentality. 101 MUNDANE TREASURES is very low-key, with many of its treasures of no tangible value beyond their story flavor.

The PDF is broken out into categories, so a prospective DM may quickly access the sort of treasure he or she would like to include in a game. Weapons go in one chapter, clothing in another, and so forth. Reed was kind enough to use internal bookmarks in order to make navigating the electronic document easier, and the full-color version of the PDF also comes with a black-and-white companion for lower-cost printing. Organization within the treasure listings themselves is excellent: every entry contains all the information either player or DM would want. For each item, Reed describes what the thing looks like, how much it?s worth and what it does, if anything. In a very nice touch, Reed also provides information on how difficult it might be to appraise the item in question, and what that appraisal might turn up.

While some might be drawn to the flashier items in 101 MUNDANE TREASURES, others (like me) will flip through the pages and discover items that prompt ideas for scenes, or even complete adventures. Yes, Reed provides crunchy bits like rules for making clothing and/or armor out of basilisk hide, but for the more story-oriented folks there?s stuff like my favorite: Playing Cards. Despite their plain name, these cards are masterfully handcrafted cards three centuries old, and are worth a small fortune to a lower-level character that might find them, though many players would probably toss them aside in the rush to discover gems or coins. What kind of story could arise from these ancient cards? They aren?t magical, but could a determined collector be after every deck that craftsman ever made? Could they contain a secret in their painted faces that only an observant character might notice? Possibilities jump right off the page.

In all, 101 MUNDANE TREASURES is a delightful resource because it takes the time to imply a world outside the bounds of generic +5 battle axes, piles of gold and other ?Monty Haul? treasures. A world that would produce something like Dwarven Stone Drums (a set of four 24? kettle drums meant to precede a dwarvish army into battle) is a world with many compelling stories to tell, stories that aren?t necessarily bound up in mazelike dungeons, or in the lairs of greedy dragons.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
101 Mundane Treasures
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Possessors: Children of the Outer Gods
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by James K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/28/2003 00:00:00

When Wizards of the Coast revised the resource document for their wildly popular d20 System in February 2003, they removed several creatures that had been DUNGEONS & DRAGONS standards for decades. Among these deleted monsters were the mind flayers, a grotesque species of brain-consuming aberrations with a humanoid form and a tentacled, octopus-like head. Mind flayers ? or illithids, as they were sometimes called ? were the ultimate ?puppet master? baddies, using their powerful psionics to spread their implacable evil in many published adventures, and many more home-brewed campaigns. Their removal from the d20 System Resource Document left a hole in the roll call of evil, and POSSESSORS: CHILDREN OF THE OUTER GODS is one of the first attempts to fill that hole.

A release from Spider Bite Games and the prolific duo of writer Philip J. Reed and artist Christopher Shy, POSSESSORS is a short (17 pages) PDF detailing a new, and decidedly bizarre, monster whose array of abilities will be quite familiar to fans of mind flayers. The possessors of the title are alien creatures with a taste for living tissue, floating aberrations that look like octopi, but are far more than that. POSSESSORS gives a complete accounting of the possessors? abilities, which include a variety of physical and magical/psionic attacks, and details the process by which the creatures feed on a victim: once a possessor gets a grip, it engulfs the head and begins to drain every bit of soft tissue from the helpless victim?s body. And as if this were not grotesque enough, the possessor also gains control over the victim?s form while the feeding takes place, riding the unfortunate soul until the feeding process has rendered the body utterly useless, a drained husk.

The creatures are repulsive, and Christopher Shy?s artwork lends an extra air of creepiness to the description. From the cover image of a naked woman with her head engulfed by a possessor, to several other such depictions on the following pages, Shy?s sense of the monstrous is well served by the subject, and vice versa. As is usual with Spider Bite Games?s releases, POSSESSORS is also a model of solid graphic design, with full color on every page. Only a few typos keep the product from being perfect on technical grounds, and it would have been nice to see a black-and-white version included here, as with other PDFs from Spider Bite Games.

For all its good points, however, POSSESSORS is essentially an extended entry for a MONSTER MANUAL-type collection. Reed does an excellent job detailing the possessors, even providing suggestions for variations on the ?standard? creature, listing a few bits of equipment/treasure specific to the species, and suggesting a deep, evocative origin for the monsters, but it?s still not quite enough. Including a short adventure, or even a series of adventure hooks, might have provided the extra beefiness this release needs to seem complete, particularly since the possessors themselves are so bizarre that most ordinary D&D games would have a difficult time incorporating them.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Possessors: Children of the Outer Gods
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Construct Mechanus
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by James K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/22/2003 00:00:00

CONSTRUCT MECHANUS is an oddity among d20 supplements, a strange little detour down a fascinating alley of clockwork fantasia. Featuring mechanus, a magically created race of sentient constructs, CONSTRUCT MECHANUS is the first in a proposed series of related products that will expand upon the idea of the mechanus and the world in which they exist. And there is a lot of room for expansion.

The CONSTRUCT MECHANUS download comes in the form of two PDF files. The first is a very attractive, full-color version of the supplement that weighs in at 24 pages, while the second a plain (though not plaintext) version of the same information suitable for printing. While the former is the most fun to read, particularly onscreen, the latter is far more appropriate when one gets down to the process of actually working with the information in the supplement. Illustrator Christopher Shy?s colorful, and sometimes bizarre, artwork is a must-see, as it evokes the intended mood ? dark, moody, and even frightening ? of the CONSTRUCT MECHANUS world posited by author Philip Reed.

Though slender, the supplement packs in a wealth of material. It introduces two types of mechanus for play, the stilt and the abombinus, along with guidelines detailing their assembly in game terms. The stilts use a point system to ?buy? their body parts, and the end result of this process can be quite twisted and bizarre, with multiple arms tipped with blades, mechanical mandibles chomping away at its head, and spindly wings extended from its back. The abombinus are simply huge, powerful beings layered with armor and built for combat. Judicious application of CONSTRUCT MECHANUS?s new feats can modify a mechanus even further, adding mounted weapons, hidden compartments, and more.

Reed provides a pair of mechanus-only classes, the tanker and the mystic defender, though mechanus are perfectly capable of assuming any of the standard classes found in the PLAYER?S HANDBOOK. These classes play directly to the magical, inorganic nature of the mechanus, and feature not only standard progressions in attack bonuses and the like, but also alter the character as levels accumulate. In the case of the tanker, the ultimate mechanus fighting class, a mechanus who gains a level also begins to mutate. This mutation could mean thicker layers of armor, or the sudden growth of a mounted weapon. Similarly, the mystic defender ? a sort of preprogrammed magical warrior ? spontaneously accrues spellcasting and other abilities, seemingly acting as an arcane magnet in a process that is mysterious and inexplicable.

An air of mystery hangs over the entire CONSTRUCT MECHANUS supplement. This is partly thanks to the text itself, which offers no easy answers for the origin of the mechanus, or the nature of their class- and feat-related transmutations, and partly due to the supplement?s brevity. Philip Reed?s supplement is low on fluff, even managing to cram in a couple of pages on black-powder weaponry, so if the prospective DM/GM wants answers to the conundrum of the mechanus?too bad. This is one of CONSTRUCT MECHANUS?s greatest strengths, as these strange beings should not be taken for granted. This is not the umpteenth variation on elves, dwarves, or some other fantasy-gaming staple, but something truly unique. One hopes that the promised follow-ups will be as rich as this inaugural entry.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Construct Mechanus
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