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RDP: Beyond Modern -- Paranormal Investigator
Publisher: by Chris G. [Featured Reviewer]	Date Added: 04/23/2006 00:00:00

Paranormal Investigators

Paranormal modern games seem to be some of the more common modern options. They have different takes on the subject like Call of Cthulhu, Over the Edge, and World of Darkness. Here we have the option for the d20 Modern game. It does little though to separate itself from all the rest. The PDF is by David Jarvis. It is published by Reality Deviant Publications and sold through Ronin Arts. The PDF is short being only thirteen pages and that includes the cover, OGL, and everything. It has a print and on screen version. The on screen version along with the cover art is not all that attractive to look at and I would go so far as to call it a bit ugly. It is never difficult to read but the art and splotches they have on the pages just does not look good. There are no book marks in the book either. The content is pretty simple. There are two classes, an organization, some feats, and equipment. The Paranormal Investigator is an advanced class with the typical ten levels. It has some nice abilities and many of them need a bit more definition for my tastes. They get shadowy contacts that offer some bonuses to gather information and things like that. But who are these people? What do they know and how does he get them? These questions can of course be answered by the DM but when dealing with contacts I prefer to see a bit more of info on them in the book. Books should make things easier for the DM and not create more work for them. Next there is the organization Order of the Watchtower. Before I read any of it I knew that the less then one page devoted to these guys was going to be painfully inadequate. They are a secret organization and the book does a good job of having them remain a secret, even from the DM. There are some names of leaders in the organization but no stats, not even a brief description, personality, or location. They seem to be into artifact retrieval and destruction of the supernatural. They have a front organization called the Society of Preservation of Historical Artifacts but the book tells us even less about them. The Sentinels are a prestige class that works of the Watchtower guys. One has to be a Paranormal Investigators and have those Shadowy Connections to be a Sentinel. The class is only five levels and offers the choice of arcane spells or psionics. I would have preferred there be a requirement that dealt with spells or psionics in it to be a first step to the powers. There are quite a few new FX items. The best I think is the Cell Phone of Recall. While it is only good for local calls, it allows the user to teleport to special places he calls. This is a creative and well built item that builds on current technology and magical abilities. Other items though like the fluid armor and other items of protection I did not find as interesting or creative. There are then some interesting feats many dealing with encounters with monsters. For instance Ghost Taint one has to have been almost killed by a ghost to get it. This feat might be a bit powerful as it allows for very limited noncorpeal ability. I dislike how the duration is longer out of combat then in combat. Paranormal Investigators is a disappointing book. It has some nice ideas in it but in the end it needs a bit more work, a few more pages, and an art over haul. There is potential in here and I would compare it to a rough rock. If one does not mind a little work in smoothing out the edges and possible reworking things this book can be useful. Otherwise I would take a pass on it and go for one of the other books on the subject.

LIKED: Some creativity and good ideas DISLIKED: lack of detail on many items QUALITY: Disappointing VALUE: Disappointed

Rating:

[2 of 5 Stars!]

RDP: Beyond Modern -- Paranormal Investigator
Publisher: by Rob M. [Featured Reviewer]	Date Added: 02/12/2006 00:00:00

This 10 page (13 with cover, credits and OGL declaration) PDF details the Paranormal Investigator Advanced Class for use in D20 Modern games, as well as a Prestige Class, the Sentinel based on the ?The Order of the Watch Tower? organization described in the PDF. It also includes three new FX items, Arcane Armor, Resonant Psi-armor, and Cell Phone of Recall.

The Paranormal Investigator, as its name implies, is primarily oriented around information gathering and investigation skills, with an emphasis on the paranormal. Its entry requirements include a BAB of +2, 6 ranks in Investigate, Research and Gather Information, and 3 ranks in Knowledge (Arcane Lore). It also requires the Supernatural Strike and either Psionic or Arcane feats. The fastest path into the Paranormal Investigator class is via the Smart Hero basic class. As a skill heavy class, it gains 5+ INT mod skill points per level.

Its class features include Area of Expertise, providing a +2 competence bonus with two of Shadow Knowledge, Occult Knowledge, Secret Societies, and Psychic Phenomenon, gained at first level, increasing to a +4 Savant bonus at 5th level, plus the choice of a +6 bonus and halved research times with the player?s choice of one of the aforementioned knowledge skills. Also gained at 5th levels is a Cover Track?s ability, allowing him to avoid leaving tell-tale traces of his investigation regarding as subject.

He also gains contacts within the Shadow community at 2nd and 7th levels, providing him with bonuses when dealing with them. At 6th level he develops Sixth Sense ability, allowing him bonuses in surprise situations. At 8th level he gains an Information Network feat providing him a number of contacts that provide him with bonuses when using Diplomacy or Gather Information with them. He also has his research times halved thanks to his access to his contacts information. At 10th level he gains an Immediate Assessment feat, allowing him to use information skills to immediately determine the authenticity about an item or bit information or news regarding occult or arcane objects or happenings. He also gains Bonus feats at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, which he is able to choose from a short list.

The Order of the Watch Tower organization is a United States based secret protection society formed during the revolutionary war to fight off a Shadow attack on the continental congress. It is purported to have ties to Masonic Lodges. It is fronted by the Society for the Preservation of Historical Relics, or S.P.O.H.R. It mission is to protect citizens of the US from supernatural threats both foreign and domestic. Its most interesting feature being its network of operatives, called Sentinels. They are focused on securing artifacts of occult power and combating supernatural threats, such as vampires or fiends.

The Sentinel Prestige Class is a 5 level class with a focus on investigative abilities and combating supernatural threats. It gives a character access to Arcane Skills & powers, or Psionic Skills & powers. It also provides a shadow walk special ability, allowing the character to move quickly in shadows, while still being stealthy. The advanced version of this, Shadow Walk II, gained at 4th level, allows for teleportation between areas of shadow. Finally the Sentinel gains the Supernatural Smite ability, allowing him to make an attack with damage bonuses based on his level.

The PDF includes 4 Feats, Sense Shadowkind (allowing detection of shadowkind movement in an area), Ghost Taint (allowing character that has been attacked by Ghost to become non-corporeal once a day), Werewolf Taint (Allowing a character that been attacked by a werewolf to smell like a werewolf, giving him bonuses when interacting with them.), and Vampire Taint (Allowing a character that has been partially drained by a vampire to detect the unique scent left by a vampire that has recently fed.)

Finally, there are 3 FX items, Arcane Armor, which provides reduced chance of spell failure when worn, Resonant Psi- Armor, which provides access to psionic battlemind abilities by those who attuned themselves to it, and Cell Phone of Recall, which will teleport a character to a home base, or to another user?s current location.

The PDF itself is laid in two columns, with a distressed decorative font, in blue, for major section titles. The screen version features a ?distressed looking? color header and footer. The right hand margin features a similar colored graphic, with the page number surrounded by red shading in the middle right. The left margin features another distressed grey color graphic shading and the words Beyond Modern in the blue distressed font. These aren?t present in the print version of the product, saving your ink.

There are a few grayscale character portrait pieces in the body of the document, both of which I found appealing and well done. The cover is an amateurish looking piece, with poorly done features and the posing of the head is off. The coloring had a distressed fade applied to its border and makes the piece look junky and unappealing. The effect makes it look the coloring was done in colored pencil that was partially erased.

To recap, the Paranormal Investigator class makes for a solid take on the concept, and would work well in supernatural investigation campaign. The Order of the Watch Tower organization was pretty ho hum, with very little detail about it?s past or workings. The Sentinel Prestige Class seems solid, and capable of kicking Shadow butt. The new feats make for interesting background bits for characters, though the Ghost Taint allowing the character to become incorporeal seems a bit powerful compared to the Werewolf and Vampire Taint feats. The FX items were solid, with the Cell Phone of Recall being the most interesting. Overall this is a worthwhile investment for players looking to setup a supernatural investigation type of campaign for D20 modern.

LIKED: Cell Phone of Recall, Werewolf & Vampire Taint Feats DISLIKED: Order of The Watch Tower ho-hum and underdeveloped, Ghost Taint feat seems a bit too powerful. Cover art is ugly. QUALITY: Disappointing VALUE: Satisfied [THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]

Rating:

[3 of 5 Stars!]

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