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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel

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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel
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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
by Shane O. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 01/31/2007 00:00:00

Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel is a squirrel-themed supplement from Clockwork Golem Workshop. The zipped file isn?t quite a half-megabyte in size, and contains a single PDF. The PDF is eleven pages long, including one page for the introduction, and another for the OGL. There is no table of contents, but there are full bookmarks.

The book opens with a new PC race, the toski. Named after Ratatosk of Norse mythology, these halfling-sized squirrel-folk are given full PHB-style treatment, with plenty of PC fluff information given before their racial stats are presented. It even remembers to give things like their age, height, and weight tables (though the age table oddly has the name scalzian where it should say toski).

Six squirrel-based feats are given then. None of these require you to be a toski (or similar) character, though it helps. Rather, they?re based around squirrel-esque pursuits such as climbing or stowing small items. Similarly, six new spells let you do things like summon squirrel swarms or gnash your teeth like one. Five new wondrous magic items of a similar bent round things out.

The product ends with three new monster entries: the squirrel, dire squirrel, and squirrel swarm. The statistics seem solid, and little extras like listing the familiar benefit of a normal squirrel, as well as the ability of some squirrels to glide, are remembered here.

Though the author says at the beginning that this product is written whimsically, there?s nothing in here that?s mechanically unsound. The toski, as a race, are quite interesting, and all of the new crunch works well. Squirrel familiars make sense, and the new feats, spells, and items here let you believably integrate them into your game. A dollar is a small price to pay to learn the Secrets of the Squirrel. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This product is surprisingly useful, covering all of the standard crunch for a new theme and presenting it interestingly. Squirrels were never so interesting as they are here.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It would have been helpful if there was a note for what level a dire squirrel would make an improved familiar (or animal companion). <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
by Mister W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/22/2007 00:00:00

Yeh love 'em , or yeh hate 'em. There is no neutrality about squirrels.

So, naturally, i've got a squirrel-lover in my group. Well, not literally, but yeh know where i'm at when i say that.

i gave this little gem to my esquirel aficianado, and his eyes glazed, then gleamed. Simple and succinct, i have not regretted introducing this to my campaign, and it's kept his attention span well within reach. Not an easy task for squirrels...<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Fun! ...but not goofy.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
by Olorin W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/17/2006 00:00:00

I am sorry to bother you, but I mistakingly combined my two email addresses into one. Can the squirrel link be sent to my corrected address of BVB64@netscape.net? Thank You for your help, O Wells BVB64@netscape.net <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
by Jordan M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/05/2006 00:00:00

I am squirreling this one away to spring on my players the next time they go through the forest. I am always on the lookout for material to challenge low-level characters and this is sure to drive them nuts. A great way to inject a little levity. I will probably pattern any squirrel NPCs on Rocky and Bullwinkel or Chip and Dale.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I liked the new race, Toski, and the Dire Squirrel and Rabid Dire Squirrel. I also liked the magic item Cloak of the Flying Squirrel. The spells were good, too.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I was less impressed with the feats. Something to enhance the squirreliness of the Toski wood have been appreciated. Also, there were several typos.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
by Andrew B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 07/17/2006 00:00:00

In the opening line of Secrets of the Squirrel, author Peter M. Ball writes a sentence that I don't particularly agree with. He says:

?There probably doesn't need to be a product full of rules for people who want to make interesting characters or NPCs with squirrel traits, but why should simple things like common sense get in the way of a good time [?]?

You see, I've been secretly hoping for such a product for a long time. Back in the dark(er) era of Second Edition Dungeons & Dragons, one of the annual softcover monster books that TSR put out contained a race of squirrel-folk known as the Kercpa. For whatever reason, the Kercpa became a minor but beloved addition to my home-brewed campaign world. My rarely played centaur PC even gained one as a follower, and the two went on to great adventures together.

Why am I telling you this? Well, because if you haven't dismissed me as some kind of looney by this point, then Secrets of the Squirrel may be just the book for you. Picture squirrels in war paint, firing down upon evil goblins with tiny squirrel-crafted bows, defending their forest realm with a bravery and gusto far larger than their apparent size. Still with me? Have I lost all credit as an RPGNow staff reviewer?

If not, then read on, gentle...er...reader, and add some squirrels to your game. You know you want to.

Secrets of the Squirrel contains a number of squirrly rules. There is a new Kercpa-like race of squirrel-people. There are squirrel themed spells! Heck, there are even squirrel-themed feats!

While this book is obviously written with the author's tongue firmly in his cheek, it's not really as silly as it might sound. Any humor is secondary, a kind of side effect, and the various rules are well designed and generally quite clever.

First off, we have the return of the squirrel people. This time, they're called Toski. The name Toski, as all squirrel enthusiasts no doubt recognize, is a reference to Ratatosk, an actual character from norse mythology. The vikings, you see, were also fans of squirrels.

The author has taken the core of this myth and used it to create a pretty clever PC race. The entire psychology of the Toski is tied in with the legend of Ratatosk. They are a clever, furry little bunch with a misunderstood (and probably completely fictitious) divine legacy. In other words, they sound like a lot of fun to play.

Next, the author presents a handful of squirrel-themed feats. This is the section of the book I found to be the most outright silly. There are feats here called Scamper, Squirreling Paws, and Stowe (among others). It should be noted that the feats themselves are well designed, its just the images that they bring to mind that might seem a bit...goofy. Squirreling Paws, for example, gives a character a bonus to Sleight of Hand checks. The explanation is that he is adept at hiding small things about his person. The silliness, then, is in the details.

The spells section is probably a little more useful to those not wishing to play (or introduce) Toski characters. The most flavorful spell is, in my opinion, Cesil's Squirrel Swarm. This spell was created by a druid to aid him in gathering his evening meal of acorns. It can, of course, be put to more offensive uses should the caster choose to do so. Other spells, such as Acorn Avalanche or Fafnar's Secret Chitter are less serious but no less useful.

Secrets of the Squirrel contains pretty much every other kind of squirrel rule imaginable: Squirrel equipment, dire squirrels, squirrel swarms, etc. The only thing that I found missing was rules for lycanthropic squirrels. Where are the weresquirrels?<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Alright, so I admit that this review, like the product it covers, is a bit tongue in cheek. In all seriousness, Secrets of the Squirrel is very well written and very well designed. Its subject may be a bit out there, but it does a great job presenting it all the same.

The Toski are a neat race that would fit in just fine with all the other strange intelligent beings in a typical D&D world, and some of the spells would make a fine addition to the spell roster of even the most serious-minded druid. Its also nice to have a d20 stat block for squirrels, which were curiously overlooked in the Monster Manual.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: This is a niche product and, by the author's own admission, probably didn't need to be written. If you aren't interested in adding a new race to the sylvan realms of your world, and you don't think that the gnome barbarian in your campaign would be interested in gaining a Squirrel Totem, you probably won't get much use out of this book.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
by Ice W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/11/2006 00:00:00

At $1 this doesn't need too much comment. It's a quite nice little product with a squirrel theme, but what's presented inside is pretty good: a squirrel race with a backstory connected to a little-known Norse character, some nice movement feats, some useful spells, and monster statistics for squirrels which allows you the replace the lizard on the familiar list with a creature more suited to temperate and boreal forests.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Squirrle theme.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing really was a problem. I would have liked to see Ratatosk written up in more details, though.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
by Edmund W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/19/2005 00:00:00

While this is a cute little supplement, it can also be re-tasked to serious purpose. Many of the traits are useful and valuable in other settings (though, perhaps you need to ditch the squrrel bit).

Personally, I'm waiting for somebody to really, seriously look at the totem animals of older religions. You'd find your owls and your wolves, but you'd also find rats, squirrels, raccoons, and geckos. They were, indeed, far more common than most. Having been born in the year of the (explitives deleted) goat, I'd love for somebody to take a more serious look at the animal kingdom in its entirety.

Be that as it may, even slightly tongue-in-cheek it is a useful source. The "nut storm" spell, with a bit of re-writing, could make a good double-purpose spell. Mire your foes in nuts, fruits, and leaves, slay them, AND have your next meal. Just wipe the blood off.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: It was fun, and had a number of minor gems. Although the Masterwork Characters set is not known for great editing or layout, it works well, and Secrets of the Squirrel works exactly as advertized.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Really, it was all okay. However, the product was written to be funny-but-playable, and I would have much preferred "simply playable".<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
by Beau Y. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/18/2005 00:00:00

This is a product that either works for you or doesn't. If you find the notion of a squirrel-based PC race, squirrel stats, squirrel-inspired spells and feats (and magic items!) worthwhile, it's hard to over-recommend this product.

If you're a grump who doesn't find this product sounding the least bit appealing, well, may your DM inflict this on you anyway.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: It's an insane value for the money. There's actually quite a number of good spells and feats here -- if you don't like the tone, rename them and you've still got solid spells and feats -- the familiar write-up for squirrels is great, the new race is balanced and more interesting than any WotC new race to date, and frankly, this is one of the best PDF purchases I've made to date, even ignoring the insanely low price for the material.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: My only real complaints are pretty simple:

1) There were a surprising numbers of lack-of-editing errors (calling the squirrel swarm a rat swarm, and grammatical errors like using "loose" for "lose" over and over again).

2) I want more. I'd have liked to have seen a full write-up for the squirrel god, and I would have liked a monster write-up of the new race, along with a picture.

But really, those are minor quibbles.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
by Pedro C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/07/2005 00:00:00

For a book written as a "joke," this product is exceptional. I had a few good laughs reading it, and there was still some good, usable nuggets contained within. For the price they are asking, it is well worth it.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The actual text was well written and enjoyable.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Masterwork Characters: Secrets of the Squirrel
Publisher: Brain Jar Press
by Will W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/20/2005 00:00:00

This is a fun read and contains some frigteningly useable ideas. Let your players use this at your own risk, your game may just disintegrate into giggling.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Well written, to the point, very amusing.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I would have liked slightly higher quality art (the actual art was fine, but pretty low res) to shine up the piece a bit, but that's just being picky :)<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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