DriveThruRPG.com
Browse Categories
$ to $















Back
pixel_trans.gif
The Genius Guide to the Talented Witch $4.95
Average Rating:4.9 / 5
Ratings Reviews Total
6 2
0 1
0 0
0 0
0 0
The Genius Guide to the Talented Witch
Click to view
You must be logged in to rate this
pixel_trans.gif
The Genius Guide to the Talented Witch
Publisher: Rogue Genius Games
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 08/15/2022 09:25:57

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/08/100-days-of-halloween-genius-guide-to.html

Rogue Genius Games does a LOT of great stuff. Their "Talented" line for various classes was always something I wanted to look into, but since I haven't been playing Pathfinder all that much so I never bought any of them. But of course, I had to buy the Talented Witch.

As always I will be following my rules for these reviews, moreover, many of the people involved with these products are people I have worked with in the past. So I am going to try be extra careful in how I review these.

The Genius Guide to the Talented Witch

PDF ($4.95) and Softcover Print Options, 57 pages. 1 cover, 1 table of contents, 1 credits, 1 OGL, rest content. Color cover and interior art.

There is a lot to like about this really. The cover art is from the late Marcum Curlee and features an interesting trio of witches. There is art from Other Side friends Jacob E. Blackmon, Brian Brinlee, and Gary Dupuis. I really love the art, but that is expected. Hell, even that Morpheus font is like they are flirting with me.

The talented witch is a little different than the base Witch class in the Pathfinder book. It gets various Edges and Talents at alternate levels. These largely replace all the powers of the witch, including the Hexes.

Edges are first and there are 40 of these. Edges are a lot like Feats in how they are presented. They include Combat, Cunning, Elemental, Hag, Patron, Spellcasting, and Spellcasting Conduits. Hag for example can give the Edges of Bite or Claws to do damage.

Talents are more like magical powers, like Hexes, and also have groupings. There are 140 of these in Blessing, Crafting, Curse, Necromancy, Personal, Spellcasting, and Utility. There are also Major and Grand Talents. Talents that are Hexes are marked with an asterisk.

The idea here is customization. Basically, if you can imagine a witch, you could build it from these options. There is a dizzying array of choices here. There is even an appendix on familiars here and another on patrons and a compiled witch spell list from various Pathfinder products.

There is an absolute ton of information here and more than I know what to do with.

One thing I didn't like about the book was the huge border around all the text. It makes the book pretty, but it is not as efficient when it comes to displaying the text.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
The Genius Guide to the Talented Witch
Publisher: Rogue Genius Games
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/20/2016 09:45:20

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This HUGE book clocks in at 57 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial 1 page SRD, leaving us with...54 pages of content. Yep, that's right... brutal!

The witch class, as rebuild in the talented line, mostly is identical in chassis to the base witch - though one noticeable discrepancy is an upgrade in skills per level from 2 + Int to 4 + Int, which may not be required for the witch in general and/or constitute a glitch.

At this point, I am assuming you're familiar with teh concept of the talented class redesigns - basically, you have class features as a grab-bag, taken from archetypes and codified as two types of "talents" - hence, talented. D'uh. Anyways, talents are usually less valuable, while edges constitute more crucial class components. The talented witch begins play with 4 edges and 1 talent and then gets a talent at 2nd level and alternates between gaining talents and edges at every level. Major talents are unlocked at 10th level, grand talents at 18th level. Got that? Great. Now you already basically know how the class operates.

Where appropriate, brackets denote the type of archetype an ability is taken from and edges and talents are grouped by basic type - want a hag-style witch? Consult that line and you get them all - bite, claws, etc. Want a familiar? that's an edge. Occult prowess via Psychic Sensitivity? Edge. Patron? Edge. Speaking of which - you can be patron-less! Oh, and you can be either a spontaneous or prepared witch via these rules (yes, spells per day tables provided) - but here's the thing: Spellbook or similar spellcasting conduit that allows you to learn spells beyond leveling? Well. Edge. And no spellcasting does not simply progress - you have to take one edge on a level sufficiently high to get access to spells of a new level - which means full spellcasting with eat your edges like crazy. And no, you can't combine prepared and spontaneous spellcasting to make a low-level abuse-scenario in e.g. an E6-campaign. Sorry...wait. No. I'm not. That's a good catch. ;)

Beyond the massive, ridiculous amount of edges, over 140 talents await. Yes, you read that right, and yes, once again, they are grouped by category. Beyond this, however, the pdf also collates all hose familiar options including special benefits for your convenience. And the Improved Familiars. And TEMPLATED Improved Familiars. Oh, have I mentioned the list of patrons? The list of patron domains? Or the huge, massive, compiled witch spell list that incorporates all the big Paizo hardcovers, including Occult Adventures? These massive, exceedingly handy appendices are very, very useful, not just for players aspiring to make talented witches, but also for GMs.

Oh, right, hexes...I should talk about them, right? Well, they're talents marked with an asterisk. Yes, that simple. And yes, the pdf does remember to state the synergy-clause for feats and abilities like Extra Hex etc..

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed no significant glitches. Kudos! Layout adheres to Rogue genius Games' two-column full-color standard and sports a blending of full-color artworks of different styles, several of which, though not all of them, fans of 3pps may recognize from other publications. The pdf comes fully bookmarked with nested bookmarks for your convenience.

Stephen Rowe of the four horsemen is definitely a BEAST. This massive tome transcends in scope even the older talented class-pdfs, is crafted with his trademark precision and makes a lot of sense from a customization standpoint - with this, you can make just the witch you always wanted - which witch? Well, the witch which I wanted to make was a white-haired dwarf with bonethrall that masquerades as a bum. Got the rules. What more can one ask for? Well, not much - just oen piece of advice - with great power comes...slap Sorry. this one's so trite, but it's true - the customization options here are powerful, but they also place responsibility on the player, so choose wisely, young padawan! My final verdict will, also thanks to the HUGE and extremely useful amount of supplementary lists etc., clock in at 5 stars + seal of approval.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
The Genius Guide to the Talented Witch
Publisher: Rogue Genius Games
by Michael M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/04/2016 19:19:04

I made the comment on a thread by Owen that if Talented Witch was even half as good as its predecessors, then it will change the way you see witches in your Pathfinder games.

Well, I just finished my first read-through of the 57-page beast.

And I daresay this book lives up to its lineage. Does your daughter want to play Elsa from Frozen? No problem. Maleficent? Piece of cake. A spell-less, hex-slinging, axe-swinging, armor-wearing warrior-queen? Yep. That, too.

Talented Witch will redefine how you see witches in your game-worlds ... forever.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Displaying 1 to 3 (of 3 reviews) Result Pages:  1 
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif Back pixel_trans.gif
0 items
 Gift Certificates