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Armor is one of those odd things that people seem to know is important and they get it for their characters but it does not seem all that popular. Armor is passive in nature; it rarely has much game feel or options especially in the more modern game. Weapons usually outclass armor; it seems to have been that way for centuries if not longer. Modern armor is sleek, lightweight, and rarely covers more then the torso. The days of the large, cumbersome full suits are over. But Battle Suits wants to bring them back. This book offers nine battle suits for the near future and one for the not so distant past.
Battle Armor is a new PDF by Interactive Design Adventures. They are best known for the PDF stand ins an alternative to miniatures. The book is written by Owens K. C. Stevens and is twenty pages long. The PDF comes in two version one made for the computer screen the other for printing. The Layout is a little spacious and the text a but big. The art is black and white pencil drawing and the borders make it feel like one is reading a notebook. Unfortunately the text does not match that feel being what is usually for a book. Instead they could have added some notes as if written by a person reporting about the armors or just something a little more colorful like that. The book is book marked.
Each armor is given some basic stats like defense value, maximum dexterity bonus, movement rate, armor check penalty, what can be attached to it, and some other basics. Each is also given a nice description that discusses how it came to be about and the success of the battle armor. At times it almost reads as historical recounts.
The ten different armors are all pretty different. They range from the Tin Man which is designed for the 1930?s to the Deathsuit which is used in near future death games. Each suit of armor has a nice description and comes with some basic equipment. There is also the Thinsuit, a piece of armor that could be worn under someone?s cloths and easily concealed.
The armors are interesting but might not really be powerful enough to really protect against the weapons they will be going up against. There is a nice variety and with the history of the armor is can easily be used to represent something more. The campaign can be shown to reflect these histories so the armor actually has a reason for being developed and not just there as some equipment in future games seems to be. The art and layout could use some improving and I would have liked if each Battle Armor occupied its own page instead of having them occupy pages together. That would allow for one to print out just the armor they want to use. There are some good ideas and I would recommend this book for someone looking for Battle armor in their modern or futuristic games.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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This adventure is a bit different from most I read. It is designed for low leveled characters but not restricted to one system. It is an adventure with no rules associated with it. It has some generic info on foes to guide the DM but is not attached to anything mechanic wise. This of course makes it easy to use for d20 and non d20 games alike. It also makes it easy to use with many of the alternative d20 systems like Conan, Blue Rose, and the other systems that are similar to d20 but different enough to make it hard to convert things easily.
The Bandit Wizard is a PDF by Mystic ages On Line. The six page PDF is well written and clearly organized. It doe not have any book marks but does not really need any for its size.
The adventure is pretty simple and as the title suggests there is a Wizard that has become a bandit. The adventure is not totally serious so it can be played up for some laughs,. The Wizard uses illusions and some other spells to mostly trick and contain the people he is stealing from and does not actually kill them. The adventure is more for low level characters. I would guess one through three should work best but a party of higher level could still be changed by the module if the DM makes the enemies powerful enough. And with the higher level Wizard, the more tricks he has to fool and confound his prey.
The nice thing about the generic modules is also one of the biggest downfalls. There is a lot of work for the DM to do. An any and all enemy, NPCs, encounters etc that need to be defined need to be defined. The module is not long so there is not a lot of work to run the module. The spell selection for the Wizard alone can be a bit of a pain since the spells are used for such a big part of the modules set up. A creative DM can actually really make the Wizard more formidable and bake the banditry more creative with the use of the right spells.
The module has some nice ideas in it but really would have been more useful if it was longer. A six page adventure is just not that long and does not have a lot of encounters. I would stretch this out and add a few elements to it with the hop that it could fill a game session. I am not sure if the idea of a generic rules adventure work. I know d20 is the fantasy king and there are other fantasy games out there. But I would think that more people would be interested in it if it was just d20 then will be since it is open to any system. The module is one that the DM will need to work at to get it playable. And that really is not always a good thing.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>
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Bane Ledger proves that if one wants creepy and interesting creatures one only needs to look into the mythology and legends of the world. Bane Ledger is a 32 page pdf filled with a bit more then two dozen creatures. All of them are inspired from legends and myths of our world. The pdf comes in a zip file of less then 700 KB and unzipped the file is just a bit over 700 KB.
The art in the book I found average. It is black and white and does the job of showing some of the odder creatures presented. The art in the product is a little on the light side. I?ve always felt that monster books need art to better show the creatures being described. The layout is in the normal two columns per page. It requires a little bit of scrolling to get the stats on the creatures if one uses this from a computer or laptop while one plays. The bookmarks are simple just listing the monsters.
The monsters fill a wide variety of types and challenges. There is the Asari, a very small fey creature that is rather non combative. There is also one of the most powerful creatures I?ve seen, the Ya-o-Gah. It is the sheer power of winter. The creature has a challenge rating of 32, over a thousand hit points, and some devastating abilities. One of my favorites though is the Djien. It?s a spider creature that actually buries its vital organs to protect itself. Many of the creatures have unique abilities like that.
Some of the creatures in here are not well balanced for their challenge ratings. The Abatwa is a challenge rating one fey. It has a 24 AC, +14 to hit with its poisoned arrows, and the poison has a fort save of sixteen. It is a slow creature being diminutive in size and has only a single hit point. There is also a creature, the Aswang, which has a feat that is not described. I think by the notation next to the feat that it is included in another book, the Hero?s Handbook. Reprinting that feat under the creature is a little detail that would have gone a long way.
While the creatures are from the legends and mythology of real world civilizations, there is no thing that says what creatures come from what myths. It does not even have a basic list saying if the creature is from an African or European source. So, while I salute the author for using creatures from mythology, I really feel that many people besides myself who like to have seen a listing of were these creatures are from. I also like to see tables listing the challenge ratings and terrain the creatures can be found in. While these last two are rarely seen in monsters books, some of the lesser known publishers can distinguish themselves by going the extra mile.
Over all, this is a nice collection of monsters. There is a good variety and there are many ways to use them. Not all the monsters are designed for killing and the book does explore other ways to use monsters to some degree. I think the product could have been a little more in depth and that a few extras could have been used to really make this shine.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Mansion of Shadows
Modules seem to be on a come back trail. There was a time when everyone seemed to be playing the same modules and there was a lot of fun talking to others that play the same game knowing that the modules were mostly common. These days with the industry spread so thin there can be two groups playing the same game but have little in common. Hopefully, the rebirth of modules will help reunite the community.
Mansion of Shadow is the first in a new line of modules called Bleeding Edge Adventures. They are put out by Green Ronin and the first one is written by Robert Schwalb so there are high expectations from me on this module. The module comes as a PDF and in print. It is forty eight pages long with nice black and white pages. The art and cartography are well done. The lay out is also very well done and up to the Green Ronin standard.
The module take place Kirsvald and an ancient family mansion that is the seat of power for the Stauten family. Dark arts though are going on as murder and revolt is close at hand. The module is a good amount of combat, mystery, role playing, and problem solving. The strength of the module though is in its versatility. There are very well written and precise side bars that inform the DM on what to do and how things play out if things do not work as planned. PCs have a habit to go against the grain and events can unfold that normally leave the DM a little confused and unprepared for where to take things. This module is much better equipped for that then most others I have seen. Robert Schwalb did an excellent job on that aspect. There is some dark magic going on and it can be seen as a little too dark for some people. Robert Schalb does tend to go with that darker fantasy feel though is is not near as dark as other modules he has written like Goodman Games Shadows in Freeport.
The module is for low levels characters of first through third level. There are suggests for making the module tougher if need be. Another great thing in the module is the web support it is getting. There are conversions for True 20 and the Black Company Campaign Setting. The module also says there will be a web enhancement for Thieves World but I did not see that up yet. The Black Company one is very nicely done and a good twelve pages in length.
Mansion of Shadows is a nice dark adventure. There is plenty of chances for players to kick butt and show off their skills. It has an option for using mass combat if the group wants to or using other options for the town revolt. There are a number of interesting things going on that should be able to keep the players interested and guessing as to what is going on. This is a very strong module that makes a good first example of what Green Ronin is capable of when they put their writers and resources to it.
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<b>LIKED</b>: The versatility and ease of use<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Arsenal Gnome Hooked Hammers
I will have to admit that I have never seen this weapon in play. In fact I have not heard from a player that they would even be interested in this weapon. It is made for a gnome, it looks odd, it is a double weapon and exotic making it require lots of feats to make use of. The Arsenal books though have done a pretty good job of bringing interest in these less popular items.
Arsenal Hooked Hammer is the fourth in the Arsenal series. And it is the first to offer two version one for view on screen and the other to print. I have been critical of the layout in the past but this simple option of having two versions of the book solves their layout problem for me. Some companies have seemed to move away from having two version of the book, so I really like to see that EN Publishing has included that option here. So, a great job on the layout, the art, and the book marking can nbow be said about this book.
The book follows the usually Arsenal format. It starts out with the racial preferences and variants of the weapon. This is a good section for this weapon as it suggests races other then the gnome who can make use of this weapon and possible racial links they may have. There are some interesting variants like the bursting version that allows one end to house a vial of acid, holy water, or other item and then having it break on the person you are hitting. They have a really good side bar on some of these weapons that a Bard can wield and use while performing Bardic Music having the weapon assist his dancing.
In the fighting and feats section there are quite a few new uses for these weapons. Not all the variants can use each option but it does have a chart showing what weapons can do what. The weapons can assist in climbing, mining, digging, crafting, and reaching. These are simple yet good uses for the weapon increasing its versatility. The feats are interesting but some just are a little weak. Take Hammer and Nail for instance, a weaker version of power attack. One needs sneak attack or a BAB of 3+ to get it and it performs just like power attack except no extra damage for two handed weapons although it does work with light weapons. None of the feats are really powerful and unlike other books in the series there are no epic feats in here.
The three prestige classes are all really cool. The first is called the Rock Stone Disciple and is designed for a monk that makes use of the Hooked Hammer. They get quite a few ki powers that allow them to really use the hooked hammer well like ki strike abilities that help for tripping, bull rushing, and sundering. One great option is in the side apra which ashows how a few easy changes can make this class psionic.
The Ioun Walker is another cool class but it seems that the hooked hammer is just slapped into the class so it would fit the book. They do require the weapon to take the class but none of the class abilities take advantage or even require the weapon for their use. The theme of the class is gems and gem like powers.
The Weapon Dancer is the final prestige class and builds on the dancing with the weapon I mentioned earlier. This is a bard aimed class and does not actually require the hooked hammer to take this class. They get some good abilities dealing with dancing and improving some skills. It does not grant any more bard spells, less skills and skill points, and grants worse saving throws, but does offer more hit points and better attack bonus.
Overall it is a nice improvement visually over past books. They succeed in taking a weapon and giving people reasons while showing interesting things one can do with it. The Prestige classes are cool but not really fitting that well with the theme of the of the book. Still, it is a good book and should allow people to use an under used weapon.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Arsenal Whip
One of my favorite characters in the d20 era was Tag Trister. He was a Bard and for fun I thought I?d have him use a whip. Soon I found how hard it was to make the whip not just useful, but actually just worthwhile. I eventually had to take a few levels of prestige class so I wouldn?t have to abandon the whip all together. It has been a few years since I played Tag, but the lessons learned about the whip remain. It is a visually cool, but nearly worthless weapon rules wise.
Arsenal is a series of books by EN Publishing. The take a single weapon and expand on it. They have new feats, new classes, and new variants for the weapon. It would have been nice to have some of these options available back when I played Tag. I really like the idea and so far have been pleased with the few books so far in the series. It is a simple yet very useful line of books that makes it easy for people to use.
The Whip version of the Arsenal book is written by Ryan Nock. The book is twenty six pages long though it really could be better laid out. There is only one version of the file and it might be a bit much printing out. Also, there are some really good pictures under the text and that can make a it a bit tough to read at times. The art though is really good and I like action pictures like many of them presented here. It gives some good visuals of the whip in action.
The book starts with the many different sizes of the whip. So, if someone needs a tiny whip or even a gargantuan one the stats are all right here. There are two optional rules on reach and weapon groups. The one on reach limits the reach of the whip so very big creatures cannot whirlwind everything in 60 feet for instance. The weapon group is nice since these are exotic weapons and similar enough to allow for one feat to cover all weapons, but weapon focus and similar feats still only apply to a single type of whip.
There area few new variants on the whip. The bladed whip is a whip that basically has a dagger on the end. There is also the whip sword. It is a sword that can extend out and have many whip qualities like the reach. One interesting and creative part of the new whips are ways to crafty them differently. There are some good rules for creating whips that are harder to destroy with a higher harness or more hit points. One can also make them lighter. Then there are the special materials that one might want to make them out of like Moonhair to effect lycanthropes and Feyhart Leather that can harm fey creatures.
There are many options the whip has and the book discusses all sort of interesting things one can do with the whip using the basic rules. There is also one complex maneuver that a high level character with the right feats can really take advantage of called the Calamity Symphony. There are many new feats even a couple of epic ones presented here. There are feats that help with disarm and with trip. The prestige classes are interesting with one that deals with thunder and the cracking of the whip and another that is an interesting take with the dullest style character.
Overall there are some good options for a character that wants to make the most out of the whip weapon. There is a lot of style behind this product and it really highlights the positives of the weapon while fully admitting the limitations.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Sometimes the title of a book tells us all we need to know. Another 101 Mundane Treasures is precisely that. It?s a good sequel to the first book called 101 Mundane Treasures. It is also one in the line of the 101 series Philip Reed has been doing. Each book covers a rather narrow topic in depth and detail.
This twenty two page pdf is filled with none magical treasures ready for any person to use in a campaign. The treasures are designed for a fantasy setting but there are a few the silk noble shirt and fur shoes that could be used in a more modern setting. The art, as usual, is done by Christopher Shy. It?s stylistic and adds a nice sense of continuity across the line of books since he does the art for them all.
The book starts with a simple introduction and how the book can be used. It is intended for the Game Masters more then the Player Characters but it could be an okay reference for the characters to investigate interesting mundane artifacts. Each entry follows a simple format. The name of the item is given first, followed by a short description on its appearance. After that it has the DC for appraise checks, then a value for the item, and lastly any special rules are the object uses.
The items in the list are some truly mundane ones like a Clay Jug filled with wine or a golden candlestick. Some of the items are a little more exotic like goblets made of dragon?s teeth and a Unicorn?s Flute. The items are sometimes common and sometimes just plain odd like mat of rice straw or a ragged smock.
The pdf contains many items. All of them are declared OGL for people who like that sort of thing. All in all it is a useful pdf to help expand and detail the treasure piles and decorations the PCs seem to like to get their hands one.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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APG Paper Figures Military Orders
Figures and miniatures seem to be important pieces to the d20 game. It can help the game get a more tactical feel for large combats and help the players visualize the scene for interesting and bold maneuvers. In the age of miniatures and paper figures though, the cost can get expensive and the items need to look cool.
This collection of Paper Knights actually makes complete sense for Alea. They have devoted themselves to products that deal with knights, their codes, their orders, and everything one might want about knights. They do a good job and have really defined themselves well in this niche.
Paper Figures Military Orders comes in a zip file a little over five megs. The file itself is a little over seven megs. One little detail that I like that I do not see in this type of items is book marks. They book marked the figures. This is not a product that really needs book marks but I prefer to see them then to not.
The PDF is not that big only about ten pages. They amount of figures per page is a little lower then I usually see. For the first few pages they only have four figures per page, but the final page does have twelve on it. But I am getting ahead of myself. They have a nice table of contents and possible the most important detail is they have instructions for keeping the paper figures in decent shape. The paper figures themselves look great. I believe they are pictures of actual painted miniatures. These are the type of figures that makes on want to start a Crusade. Most of the figures are human but there is some dwarf, half elf, and halfling ones as well. There are a few different types of knights as well like the Teutonic, Templar, and Hospitaller.
Another great little detail is they have the pictures linked to the web. By clicking on the picture it takes you to the Pegeso Model website where you can browse and actually purchase the miniatures of these figures.
These are very nice looking paper figures. There just are not a lot of them here. If one has the need for knights though, I have not seen any paper figures better.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Animal Kingdoms
Race books are not near as common as class books and for that I am thankful. Race books seem to either be a mix of new races or the expansion of the races presented in the Players Handbook. Of the books that have new races too many it seems either have the latest version of either elves or dwarves or just a batch of not that creative races. Frankly, I have yet to be amazed at any of the new race books. The best I have read have been by Silverthorn Games. Their Races of Evernor series has given a good selection of interesting races. But this race book here is really just a group of unexciting races.
Animal Kingdoms is the first race book by The Le Games. Their earlier works have all dealt with artifacts. The book is a pdf of twenty one pages. It comes in a small zip file of under a meg. Inside are versions of the book for print and on screen viewings. The format is east to read but there is quite a bit of white space in the book. There are pictures of each of the five races and the art is pretty average. Two of the pictures have little text that I guess is supposed to be cute as in funny cute. However, it really does not seem fit the overall theme of the book.
The five races presented here are as to be expected by the title races inspired by animals. The first are the Anatidae Kingdom, or the country of the Duckman. There is a brief description on the kingdom and then the race is detailed. Luckily, there are not like Howard the Duck, but still they really are not that inspiring and when reading them I had no inclinations to want to use or play one. Mechanically they have some odd attribute bonuses and penalties. This is usually frowned upon as the bonus can become meaningful at the same time the penalty can be hidden. They also have two favored classes. Or maybe it is just one as the classes are listed as Cleric or Wizard. I guess the player is supposed to pick one. It would have been preferred if this issue of how this is handled was addressed.
The second one is the Buteo Kingdom or the Hawkmen. Again the race has odd attribute modifiers and has the very good ability of flight. To balance this they have a chance to take double damage from any hit. The double damage is done with a reflex save so this negative is going to be meaningful at low levels but at higher levels its not going to matter much.
The third group is the Probsocidea Kingdom. This is the race of pachyderms or elephant men. There are the odd modifiers to the abilities and the double favored class. This is two favored classes as it is written. They do have tusks and can attack with them.
Next is the Rana Kingdom, the Kingdom of the Frogmen. This race has the same problems with attribute as the one above and seems to have more weaknesses then bonuses. They take double damage from fire and need water to survive. They do have small acid and cold resistance (cold resistance because they are cold blooded, I don?t understand that) as well as being able to breath in water and good at swimming. They gain no attribute bonuses.
Lastly is the Ursidea Kingdom, the Bearmen. The attribute modifiers are odd as well as even, but what is really interesting is that since they live on a mountain they are wise and very well versed in philosophy. I fine that interesting because in the picture the bear is saying ?Must be Honey cause Jam don?t shake like that.? while looking at a woman?s backside. They are very wise indeed.
Overall I found this product not that good. The races are not that original, the mechanics are badly done, and there just is not a lot of information here.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>
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Template Booster
The Open Game License presents a way for writers to use items from different sources but few do that. The possibility and creativity that can unlock in the many cool templates and combine items that might not easily fit together. Template Boosters is one of those rare items that combines items from different books and brings them together in a creative way. The book mainly does this with a single template applied to different monsters to make new creatures to fit in the central theme. The book also has new feats and spells.
Template Booster is another PDF by Reality Deviant Publishing and written by Mark Gedak. The twenty one page PDF comes in a print and on screen version. The layout and art are fine though the monsters names needed to be a larger or different color font. It is not always visually obvious when a new monster starts.
The book starts with a simple idea and a new incantation. The incantation Maddening Torture allows a high level caster to permanently alter a creature. The incantation has some nasty repercussions and is pretty evil to use but if successfully will apply the Blasphemous Terror template to the creature.
The first creature is the Blasphemous Terror Hell Hound. In addition to giving the creature full stats the author goes into its own ecology recognizing that this new creature is very different from what it once was. There is also a section on how to use it in ones game as well as a new feat called Ethereal Strike.
The book goes on to present other new creatures using the template: Church Grim, Dragon Horse, Hippocampus, Lammasu, and Androsphinx. Each of the creatures is also written up fully and making it presented at a new kind of monster. Each one is well defined and interesting. I like the way the template is added and really redefines the way these monsters are.
The book also has a few other items in it like the Sword of Justice. It is an artifact of great power for the right person that welds the sword. There is a planar gate key that appears as a dog?s collar. I like the planar items and always enjoy seeing a bit of new stuff that expands the area.
Template Boosters sets out to take a template and apply it to a few creatures and through that give the reader new and unique creatures. It does that and by basing it all off an incantation really brings it all together in a useable way. This is one of the few products on monsters that has a ready to use in game explanation of where all the new creatures comes from. The ecologies are well written and make the creatures easy to use as more then just something to kill. Too many monster books just see monsters that way and while this does not take them quite far enough for plenty of other uses it has the start of that.
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<b>LIKED</b>: It takes some options and combines them in a very creative way.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It could have taken the idea farther. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Ancient Engines
There is a standard in fantasy of weapons of tremendous size that do incredible power. They are pulled by creatures that are bigger then normal and are the focus of military campaigns. These items are gifts from the gods, or large magical constructions of incredible power. But in role playing game we rarely see artifacts of this size and magnitude. Ancient Engines is one of the few books that brings them to us.
Ancient Engines is a PDF written by Patrick Younts. Mr. Younts has written quite a few books like Quintessential Monk and Sorcerer. The PDF is twenty three pages long. The layout is about average with a bit of white space and a thick border that can be an ink eater when printed. The book marks though are well done. Aside from some cover art, there is no art in the book. That is a pity since the devices described would rally benefit from being shown visually.
Each engine is nicely described. First the history of the item is presented. Most of them are tied to one of the races or group of races and it servers as a weapon against their enemies. The histories are ripe for adapting into a campaign to create interesting mysteries and plots. Then the item is described and some of its abilities are detailed. There is a mechanics section that goes in detail on the rules of the abilities and exactly how they work and what they do. Then there is the very cool Legacy of Terror. This is unique ability that is only effective against the true enemies of the weapon. These powers are full of flavor and bring the item to life. Lastly, is how the weapon can be destroyed and these are not simple ways.
The first item is called the Word of God. It is an immense horn that frightens the demons and devils and was used to help banish them to the lower planes.
Next is Kurzog, the Heart Beater. It is a gigantic drum the orcs use as it represents their undying hatred.
The Hammer of War is the Dwarven engine. It is like a huge battering ram.
The Sphere Engine is a truly odd device that was constructed by gnomes.
Mardokosh, the Sunspear, is the weapon of the coldbloods, swamp dwellers. It is the enemy of the walking dead and drives them away.
The book also presents a template, Beast of Mighty Burden. It is to be applied to any animal or giant to create larger creature to pull one of these great engines.
Overall, the book presents some very interesting ideas for some truly frightening powerful items. It would have been nice to see more of them described or at least hinted at. The book does the job of covering an area that has not been covered which is getting hard to do with all the books and supplements that have been written.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Animal Archives Vol 1
The Earth has a history of interesting critters. Sure from mythology we get some monsters, but at times it seems the most interesting are the ones that actually lived. Some of the more well known dinosaurs have been written up but for the most part creatures that appear in monster books are the creations of someone imagination. Animal Archives presents a few creatures from prehistoric Earth so hopefully it will help create a trend.
Animal Archive is a new book by Skeletonkey Games. They have mostly done e-tiles and other terrain oriented products. This product is only twelve pages long and it has a good amount of information in it but it would have been nice to be a bit longer. The PDF comes in a zip file around a meg and a half and the PDF itself is under two megs in size. There is only one version of the book. The cover has color in it but the rest is black and white. There are pictures of each creatures and top and bottom borders so it can eat a little bit of ink. The PDF is also not book marked a feature I like to see on any PDF.
Each of the nine creatures is illustrated and next to the illustration is the picture of a person to show size. The art is really well done and the comparison with a person is a great touch. The creatures vary in challenge ratings from one sixth to seven. Below are the creatures. I?m going to use the common names though the scientific names are also given.
Bear, Short Faced: This is a longer legged bear that is swift and aggressive.
Bird, Green River Wader: It seems to be a cross between a duck and a swan. It can be used as a familiar and is also a valuable bird.
Bull Swine: This is a very large boar. It might be a little strong for its challenge rating of three.
Camel, Long Necked: This camel is given the DCs for handle animal and actually has alternative dame listed for when it does become trained.
Creodont Gnaw Fang: These are wild canines.
Elephant Shovel Tusker: This elephant has tusks that are side by side and resemble shovels.
Fish Giant Armored: This is a very large predator fish.
Rhinoceros Thunder Beast: This is the largest Rhino to ever live and its horn is shaped like a ?Y?.
Tree Scamper: These look like large chipmunks almost two feet in size. It can also be used as a familiar.
Most of the creatures have DCs for being trained and raised listed. This is a great detail for these animals.
Overall, it is a nice collection of some creatures that all lived in the same area though the book does not say in which prehistoric age they did live.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Behind the Spells Fireball
Fireball for me was always the quintessential magic user spell. Of course we call them Wizards now but an arcane caster was not truly an arcane caster until they had Fireball. And it was used all the freaking time. Fireball was always the spell that meant power to us and now it is nice to see it with a bit of context and depth.
Behind the Spells: Fireball is one of the many PDFs in the Behind the Spells series of PDF. These are all written by Bret Boyd and put out by Ronin Arts. The PDF like all of them in the series is small only being five pages long. The PDF has no art in it not that it needs any, it has a simple yet practical layout, and the PDF despite its small size is nicely book marked.
The Fireball history is linked to the Magic Missile one but one does not need that one to make sense of this one. I like seeing similar characters and linkage between the PDF. I think it ultimately makes the line of PDFs much stronger. Like the others in the series it starts with a good but of history about the creator and how the spell came into being. This one again makes use of the mysterious Arcane Triad. I know the series is only going to consist of so many PDFs and when it is over I am really hoping that Bret Boyd gives us a nice PDF on this organization.
The PDF then goes into the spell secrets and additional rules and variant spells. This section deals with things not well covered in the core rules and expands on them in the usual creative ways. The first is dealing with the sound a fireball spell makes and being able to alter the casting to make more of is sonic damage combined with fire damage. It then goes into purposely causing a fireball spell to explode prematurely if it is cast at you. There is a nice sidebar that goes into it all with some pretty good rules. Lastly are two variant spells. The first is a higher level variant that can also damage creatures on the Ethereal Plane. The second causes two smaller fireballs to explode in two different areas. They are nice and simple to use variants.
Behind the Spells: Fireballs is another solid addition to the line of PDFs. Bret Boyd is a good creative writer that makes the histories and stories of the spells use easy to read. At the same time he has a good grasp on the d20 rules to create well balanced variants and additional rules to make the spell uses a bit more helpful. The PDF makes using the Fireball spell a bit more fun and practical. I really enjoy the added depth to the spell and making it more part of a world then just have it be a spell with no context and background. I will hopefully be slowly going through the rest of the series and making sure they are all equally as strong.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Truth and Justice
Super hero games seem to be coming out in a little more frequencies. Perhaps I am just noticing them more but there have been some very interesting and higher quality games in the genre in the past few years. The most popular seems to be Mutants and Masterminds by Green Ronin, but others such as Capes and With Great Power have made a nice splash in the gaming environment.
Truth and Justice is a Super Hero game that presents it own simple to use system . Atomic Sock Monkey, the company that put this out, really did a nice job fitting this all together. They designed a system that allows for the flexibility a supers game needs and made the rules simple so character creation and play will be relatively fast and easy going. The PDF has one hundred and thirty three pages. The book is well organized with good art and lay out. The PDF has book marks, a great table of contents, plenty of tables and character and NPC sheets, handouts and other useful items. All it is missing is an index but those are a bit rare these days.
The book starts with a good and thorough explanation of what it is and more importantly what the genre is. I think more books need this sort of thing as not everyone is going to be familiar with the topics at hand. A few short pages to bring the readers up to a basic level of understanding for the game like they do in Truth & Justice would really go a long way for many games. The first chapter of Truth & Justice is one of those great introductions to a super?s game that I would use as required reading for my players no matter what supers game I was playing. Many of them would know and be aware of much of the basic info but I find it is better to repeat things that people know then to have things absent that some people might need to know.
Truth & Justice has a nice and simple way of handling things. The system is rolling two six sided dice and possible adding or subtracting from that to reach a target number. It is possible to be good enough to get more dice but that is the basics. Characters have qualities that they are good or bad at and those are written on the character sheet with a positive or negative number by them. The number is used to modify the dice roll and shows if one is good or bad at the particular skill. Powers work pretty much the same way though there is a section later specifically on that. Players can do stunts to make a task easier or harder. The game encourages descriptions on what a character is doing more so then just a bland statement.
The game?s two strengths are the complete understanding of the genre and the simple rules that make good use of the genre. Truth & Justice will make a nice simpler super heroes game for those people not wanting the complexity of a Mutants & Masterminds or a Champions game.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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101 Occult Books
The modern supernatural game is an enjoyable genre. With the increased amount of books covering the topic like Call of Cthulhu, d20 Modern, Shadow Force Archer and others there is a greater need for general support books. Ronin Arts has always done a good job in this area with their 101 book line possible their best known.
101 Occult Books comes in a three and half meg zip file with only one version of the book inside. While there is some color in the book, it is only the cover and an add at the back. When printing the cover can be skipped but the add takes a third of the last page and must be printed if one wants everything. The cover is a nice piece by Christopher Guest I believe. The book is book marked but it does so by number of the book and not title so it is not that useful. The books are listed in alphabetical order.
As can be expected there are 101 occult books presented in this seventeen page pdf. The books all follow the same set up. First the title is listed, next is the author, the date it was written, the language it is written in, a brief description of the contents and finally any game benefits that having the book might provide. The game benefits are usually a small bonus to a knowledge skill or a spell that the book holds the secrets to.
The books presented here have some very interesting ideas in them though they are all brief. There are books about the philosopher?s stone, a Mayan book that for tells the end of the world, and books by Solomon and Hermes. There is quite a variety of books and they add a lot of interesting detail to the game and should give the players something interesting to hunt for. The game bonuses the books provide is not anywhere near game breaking just a nice little reward for locating the ancient?s texts.
The book offers a nice addition to the modern game. It provides a useful amount of books that really are each an adventure idea in themselves. It is really fitting for an X-Files or other adventure investigation type game. I think this is one of the better additions to the modern investigator game that I have seen.
<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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