Master at Arms: Hoplite is a short 8 page d20 pdf featuring a prestige class, the hoplite. This product is the fourth instalment in the Master at Arms series, each product in the series providing a detailed five level prestige class for fighters built around a particular weapon. In this instalment in the series, Blackdirge Publishing present the spear-wielding hoplite, a warrior from ancient Greece brought into the d20 fantasy world.

The product comes as a single pdf file. The product includes a pleasant cover featuring a hoplite in action, and the general design and layout is similar to other products in the series. This is probably one of the more faultless pdfs I've seen in a while, barring the lack of bookmarks. Writing and editing are excellent, mechanics of statistics are stellar, and general presentation for such a short product is excellent. The product looks and feels like good value for money, and thankfully the content doesn't disappoint either. Only 5 of the 8 pages of this product actually contain content. Since there are no borders in the product, it should be fairly ink-friendly to print this pdf.

The product presents a new 5 level prestige class for your d20 game, the hoplite. Those familiar with the history of the hoplites will know what the content entails, but the author starts the product with a useful introduction to the hoplite and its function in ancient warfare. The author uses this tactical and historical perspective to then design the hoplite prestige class, and includes some useful design notes to get some insight into the design choices that Aeryn Rudel had made in designing the prestige class. This section is sufficient, although there is always a craving for more with regard to the tactics and history of these famous warriors of the ancient.

The prestige class itself relies naturally on the use of the spear. It's very faithful to the historical perspective, or at least the perceived history, and a splendid job has been done to bring the prestige class to life. Hoplites' abilities include fighting with spears using only one hand, strength when fighting near allies in formation, the ability to skewer your opponents and a few more useful skills at arms that the hoplite exhibits. It would actually have been interesting to see what a ten level treatment of this class would look like. Nevertheless, this is a beauty of a little prestige class, and very useful for any campaign, whether military or not. While hoplites may not always be the most adventuring of prestige classes, they can fit in well with other warriors in an adventuring party.

The last section of the pdf features a fully detailed NPC utilizing the material in the pdf. The NPC includes full statistics for a CR 17 hobgoblin hoplite, and leader of a group of hobgoblin elite soldiers. The history and background is very good, and provides interesting details for a high level NPC in a d20 fantasy setting. For a short pdf this ticks all the boxes - great presentation, value for money, quality material and good utility. This is a very useful pdf containing a class that's designed well and should play well in game. Excellent product.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Well-designed and useful prestige class that brings the historical hoplite to life. Excellent presentation and good value for money.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing. A great pdf all round, except perhaps for the lack of bookmarks.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

The eConic Halfling Rogue is a pdf product for your d20 fantasy game featuring 20 character levels of a typical NPC halfling rogue. This product is one of two products so far in the eConic series of products from Creative Mountain Games, the other detailing the human fighter. Each product presents 20 characters sheets for a specific race and class combination, in this instance the halfling rogue, which can be printed out and used when required by both DMs and players alike.

The product comes as a single zip file containing 21 separate pdf files. Twenty of these pdf files contain the two page character sheets for each level of the halfling rogue, while the other file contains the cover, OGL declarations and a useful table that provides guidelines for upgrading the NPC wealth to PC wealth when converting the halfling rogue to a PC rather than a NPC. For most purposes the separate files would probably suffice, although it would've been useful if the product had also included a single file that contained all the character sheets. Certainly for finding and printing files separate ones make sense, but the collection is useful in other ways.

The character sheets consist of two pages each, and are by and large standard character sheets that one would expect to find or see around on the internet or in other products. There's nothing particularly special about the layout and design of the character sheets, and they contain most of the details one would expect to see for a halfling rogue. For the most part it was a useful and easy to use design, with all the information you're looking for lumped together in the right places.

The character sheets are all form-fillable, meaning that you amend or change details and add extra details to these. Note, however, that for Acrobat users, that this will not allow you to save your modified character sheet unless you have the full version of the software. In most other instances, you can amend the details and print the sheet, but will be unable to do so again in the future without having to make all the changes again. Users of other pdf software may not have this problem.

The halfling rogue itself is exactly what the product implies - eConic or pretty standard. The rogue has high Dexterity, low Strength and decent ability scores (it uses the elite array of ability scores) to enable good skill selection and good combat durability. Feats, gear, and other abilities are pretty standard fare for the most part, and the product succeeds in creating a halfling rogue that will fit in in most areas of adventure, or one that at least is not too difficult to tweak should the need arise. There are unfortunately a number of mechanical errors in the character sheet that went overlooked, including incorrect attacks and AC calculations. For the most part, though, things seem good.

The eConic Halfling Rogue is a useful product and utility that DMs and players can use to save them time when the need arises. The ability to modify the character sheet as useful, although this largely depends on the pdf software that you have available. The halfling rogue is a decent character build, barring the small number of errors, that can be used equally as a NPC and PC build. Layout and design of the character sheet was good, with all the information logically and neatly contained in one place. In the old end this is a satisfactory product, and a useful one, but nothing spectacular. It's a product that aims to do something, achieves it, but does nothing else beyond that.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Good character sheet design, acceptable character build and design, and useful material for those looking for a halfling rogue.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A number of mechanical errors in the character sheet, and the form-fillable capability is not as useful as it would seem. The addition of a single file for all the character sheets would've also been handy.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Propz Gaming Aids: Crossing the River is the first gaming aid and accessory product from Arid Hills Productions. This product features a number of 3D paper models that can be constructed using standard paper to form the basis for any river-side encounter or scenario. The product comes as a single 19 page pdf file containing full instructions and high quality artwork. The presentation of the product is good - it even comes with a full set of bookmarks and a table of contents as well - and the artwork can be used to construct a quality scenario that can be used with 25 mm scale models, whether plastic or cast metal.

The pdf starts by providing a brief introduction to the product and its purpose, before providing details on the equipment required for constructing the models, the techniques that can be employed, and lastly detailing the conventions used in the product (for example, a dotted line is a folding line). For someone that's not overly familiar with crafting 3D models, this was a very welcome read and provided bits of insightful information that help ease over any construction frustrations. The product also features a number of small images of the finished constructions, showing one what can be done with the product and what the final model will eventually look like.

Crossing the River is a 3D model set that includes the followed features: grass textured river bank, water textured river, a riverbank, a stone bridge, a toll house or house that can be used for any other purpose beside a river, stepping stones, a jetty, and a small rowing boat complete with oars. Using these models its possible to construct a few different types of river banks, and even possible to mix and match. That adds a little more to the variety of the product and hence its utility. To aid in the playability and use of the product once it had been constructed, each of the models contain a one inch (25 mm) grid that can be used with miniatures for easy combat and movement calculation.

Each of the different models in the product comes with a full set of pictorial instructions followed by the high quality images required for printing. This organisation makes printing multiple copies of the same model a little easier, since the instructions and artwork for a particular model are lumped together. Instructions are clear and the images show a good representation of each step of the way. A good knife, cutting knife and some glue is all that's needed to create some nice looking 3D models from easy to follow and straightforward instructions, even for the model newbie.

This is a very good product for those interested in creating 3D models from paper or card, and the quality is of a good standard. The product should slot in easily with any other existing 3D paper terrain products out there. Easy to follow instructions, good presentation and advice, and overall a solid modelling product with good utility.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Easy instructions to follow, models that look good, and loads of helpful advice.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing much, really. I look forward to seeing any other products that Arid Hills Productions bring out in the Propz series.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Clash of Arms: Cavalry is a short 12 page pdf detailing a new core class, the Cavalryman. This is the first product in Vigilance Press' line of historical fantasy sourcebooks, the only other current product in this new series being Clash of Kings: Nobility. Each product in the series details, from a historical perspective, a core class and the role that it played in history and how it can fit into your fantasy world.

This product comes as a single pdf file with a complete set of detailed bookmarks. The cover artwork features two cavalryman charging with lances, and is a good representation of the nature of the pdf. There is only one other piece of artwork in the product, another decent piece showing cavalryman at war. Layout and editing is good, as is the writing and general presentation of the product. The pdf contains a good introduction to the product, before presenting the core material of the pdf. Mechanics is generally good, and it was pleasing to see the product offer some supporting mechanics for the core class in the form of mechanics for horses, and a number of mechanics for using equipment pertaining to horses. Presentation-wise a good product and a solid standard of material.

The cavalryman is a mounted warrior, be he a skirmisher, an archer, or a heavy horseman on the charge. The pdf aims to present the core class from a historical perspective and provides loads of juicy bits to add some flavor and background to the class and its role in warfare. This, again, supports the mechanics well, and the whole class succeeds at capturing the flavor of the historical perspective. Whether you want a light skirmisher from ancient times, or a horse archer in the dark ages, or heavy cavalry in the middle ages, this pdf and the core class provide all the mechanics and information to cover a whole era of historical mounted warriors.

Mechanics-wise the cavalryman is very focused on mounted combat. To a certain extent that is a drawback of the class - take away to cavalryman's horse and there's not much that the class can do beyond that. Nevertheless, as a mounted combatant it provides a very nice balance across all the levels of the class. For one, this is one of the few exclusive mounted warrior classes (barring the mounted paladin, of course) I've seen in d20 that advances the horse in HD and abilities as the rider progresses. It's very clear from the material that the author put a lot of thought into the development of the class, and in its utility across the whole range of levels.

The core class allows one to become either a light cavalry skirmisher, a horse archer, or a heavy cavalry lance charger. In fact, the flexibility of the class allows you to blend all three to create a more versatile rider rather than a specific type. A useful extension of the class, not included in the pdf unfortunately, would've been to allow, for fantasy, alternative mounts instead of advances horses. The development of the class is very feat intensive, but there are a welcome scattering of other abilities in the class as well.

Beyond the core class the pdf presents an overview of cavalry through history, which is insightful and helpful. In addition it looks at the use of horse equipment throughout history and its effect on riding. Lastly, and certainly not least, the pdf provides a useful overview on creating horses with a little more flavor and character. This includes details such as the quality of the horse (a racer or a noble steed, for example), and various traits for the horses, such as skittish or coltish. All these details are detailed well with appropriate mechanics, and it allows one to craft something more out of the cavalryman's horse, or any other horse for that matter.

Overall I found this to be a very interesting pdf. There's a lot of useful material, the mechanics and the flavor of the material support each other very well, and there's a lot more to this product than simply a core class. The only drawback remains that the class is extremely focused, but that shouldn't deter from using this material where it will be most appropriate. A nifty little pdf with some novel material that should complement many fantasy games.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Good material, good balance between mechanics and flavor, good mechanical execution of the concept into something useful across the range of levels. Decent presentation, and good value for money.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The class is perhaps too focused on mounted combat.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The Generic Game Master's Helper is a software program designed to aid game masters while playing RPGs. This is a generic program suitable to any fantasy or even non-fantasy setting, and has a number of useful features that DMs can use to speed up or improve their games. This review is for version v3.0 of the GGMH program, and was reviewed on a system running Windows XP. This software program is written specifically for the Windows platform, although that is by and large the only requirement for running the program.

The program is very easy to install and offers to opportunity to abort the installation on numerous occasions. Installation is quick and without any quirks. There is an option to uninstall the program once installed. The program interface is very simple and easy to use. The main window contains a single piece of artwork, and each of the menus operates by bringing up pop-up windows that enable one to use the various features of the software. There is an adequate help system as well, whereby the user can gain more information on each of the various features by simply pressing a key.

There are a number of features that are included in the program: dice roller, random weather generator, random name generator, random business name generator (shops/taverns), traits for NPCs (personality and appearance), random treasure generation (coins and gems only), and the function to generate short blurbs for side encounters. Each function is accessible from the menu, although only one can be active at the same time. This to a certain extent limits the usefulness, as I can certainly see the need arise where one may want to use more than one of these functions at the same time, and have all the pop-up windows open at once. Each pop-up window contains the full functionality of the feature, as well as some additional artwork to support the feature, although in most cases it has little to do with the function of the feature itself.

The features themselves all work as expected, generating the required data as they should. For the most part, I found a lot of these useful, and most of them provided something interesting to use in game or even out of game when preparing for an adventure. Being able to generate random names, business names, and NPC traits in one package has a certain appeal to it. However, there are a couple of quirks that could probably be improved upon. For one, the dice roller could at least have included something a little more useful for character generation. Many games use the mechanic where you roll a number of dice and drop the lowest, and there is no facility for this. Also being able to see what each individual die roll was when rolling more than one would've been useful in addition to the total provided. The dice roller is fairly random, though not perfect by any means.

The other features provide loads of options, although I suspect that once again the random nature of the options is not always as random. It was fairly easy to generate the same name more than once with just a few simple clicks, in particular for some of the features such as the side encounter generator. The names function work very well, although once again the business names tended to generate similar names a little too often for one's tastes. Having said that, the name generator itself tends to generate odd names here and there with too many consonants crammed together which makes the names rather strange to read or pronounce ('Brklaingin', for example).

Overall I think some may find this a useful package, particularly if you're working in campaigns with lots of travelling or lots of NPCs that need to be detailed. The average dungeon crawl will naturally not find much use for this, but when preparing for city-based adventures or campaigns this can help a lot. While the features are useful, I think they're not quite random enough and don't generate enough options. Too often the same result comes up a few clicks after the result came up the first time. This can certainly be improved upon.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: A collection of useful features and an easy-to-use interface with no apparent bugs or quirks.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The random nature of the various features is quite poor with the same result coming up too frequently just a few clicks down the line. This plagues most of the features of the software program. Even though the program can supposedly generate thousands of variations in each feature, the randomization doesn't allow this well enough.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

The Doom of Listonshire is a 98 page d20 pdf fantasy adventure for 4 or more characters of 5th level or higher. The adventure is set in the province of Listonshire, a frontier civilisation that should be easy to adapt to any particular campaign setting. This adventure is designated K3, and is the 3rd adventure in the K-series of products, although it is an entirely standalone adventure from Necromancer games. In this adventure the characters get involved in the affairs of the province, and must attempt to restore the ducal family to power following the unexpected death of the Duke. Their quest takes them through a dozen of different locations, and characters of all types will find application in this adventure. This adventure uses the 3.5e core ruleset.

The adventure comes as a single pdf file, complete with extensive bookmarks, table of contents and all the trimmings one would expect from a quality presentation. Necromancer Games almost never fail to disappoint when it comes to their quality standards and the layouts and designs of their products and adventures. This product is no different, and follows the high standards for editing, art, writing, maps, mechanical statistics and general presentation. Included in the adventure are a number of new monsters and magical items, and the product also draws extensively from other OGL products, including the Tome of Horrors. From a presentation point of view, this is what one has come to expect from Necromancer Games - a top notch effort and excellent overall.

The adventure is set in the province of Listonshire, and begins with the party arriving in Listonshire for any number of reasons depending on which of the plot hooks provided are used. There they soon discover that the province is subject to a terrible curse, where beasts most foul roam the land freely. Not only that, the Duke has recently died, and the party are soon approached about concerns regarding this matter. From there the party set out on a mission to not only restore the ducal line, but also to restore the province to safety by removing a dangerous curse. The adventures of the party take them all across Listonshire, and include a number of varied locations, wilderness and dungeon alike.

The adventure is somewhat different to most other adventures in that there are some random elements to it. The adventure allows some key items to appear in any number of different locations determined at the start of the adventure by a random die roll. This means, naturally, that the adventure will be different every time it is played. Of course, this little feature is probably also one of the drawbacks of the adventure. These key items can be found in any number of locations scattered across Listonshire. The PCs are required to search probably all these locations, unless they're lucky and happen to stumble across the right one at the right time. While this kind of random searching could be fun, it'll probably get tedious after clearing out yet another set of monster encounters just to find very little to help your quest. Certainly the organisation of the module could be frustrating, however novel it may be.

As mentioned earlier almost any type of character can play easily in this adventure since most of the location featured are varied and play to the strengths of all the core classes. That is probably the strongest point of the adventure simply in its variety. This, of course, offsets the potential tedium of having to search through almost a dozen locations for those quest related items or pieces of information. The variety of the adventure is good not only in the interesting adventure locations (abandoned villages, castle ruins, forests and woods, caves, villages, castles, etc.), but also in the mix and blend of combat and roleplaying. This is probably one of the better adventures I've seen in that area, where there's ample opportunity for both, and in fact the roleplaying is very much a necessity and key feature of the adventure.

Throughout the course of the adventure the PCs will face numerous different monsters, many taken from the Tome of Horrors, and face interesting and exciting encounters and locations. The adventure detail, both descriptive and for the purposes of running encounters, is excellent, providing the DM with everything he needs and rarely is there a need to question anything. This is quite a long adventure, where characters will face danger and monsters around every corner courtesy of the Listonshire curse. There's a lot of ground to cover in this adventure, literally and figuratively, and the entire adventure should take several action-packed sessions to play through.

The Doom of Listonshire is unique in many ways - loads of variety, wonderful locations and adventure details, random adventure locations, to name a few - and is written and presented very well. There are a lot of strong points to this adventure, and there's no doubt that players will have a lot of fun running through this. The only concern one could possibly have is the sheer amount of area to cover, and the tedium that might set in doing so. It might not be a case of finding a needle in a haystack, but it's quite close to that. If the PCs miss just one clue at a given location, they might not find what they want at another. In the old end the strong points probably overwhelm the weaker parts, making this an enjoyable and good adventure.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Excellent presentation, adventure variety in locations, and opportunity for both combat and roleplaying. This adventure contains all the classic elements of a good adventure and more. Interesting adventure and premise, and likely to be enjoyable to all players and DMs.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Too many random encounters. That, coupled with the nature of the adventure, and there's every possibility that it can get boring or frustrating.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Octavirate Expansions Volume 4: Unusual Magic Weapons is a short 9 page d20 pdf. This product is the fourth product (the cover incorrectly calls it number two in the series) in Octavirate Games' series of Octavirate Expansion products. Each product in the series details a specific topic or subject through which DMs and players alike can expand their games. This fourth volume in the series deals with unusual magic weapons, and in particular the weapons from J.W. Well and Company: Family Sorcerers. This product details 17 magical weapons that can be used in any fantasy d20 game.

This product comes as a zip file containing both a print version and a screen version of the product. The print version contains most of the art of the product, although the borders and color have been removed from them. The screen version features some decent cover art and a number of internal images, some very good, that depict the magical weapons or their wielders in action. The layout and editing of the product is good and professional, as is the writing and mechanics. Each magic weapon is mechanically well detailed with some solid mechanics to support the concepts. Of the 9 pages devoted to this product, 7 contain content, a healthy ratio. Overall, a very good and professional presentation and a nice looking short product.

This product deals with the magic weapons from the catalog of J.W.Wells and Company: Family Sorcerers. While this forms the background of the product, each individual item is described relatively devoid of any further references to the company. The product contains 17 different weapons, and a good mix of both power levels (including minor artifacts) and weapon varieties which means that players will likely find some weapon of choice within its pages.

The product starts with a brief blurb from the company catalogue before immediately jumping into the weapons. Each weapon comes with a brief history and full description before providing the mechanical details and execution of the weapons. Flavor and descriptions were very good, and it certainly gives the weapons a little more character than the mechanical description alone. It's one thing to wield a +1 dancing spiked chain, but quite another to wield one crafted from the bones of a kyton devil, and which was used by a notorious blackguard before it eventually strangling its last owner.

Examples of weapons in the pdf include the Falchion of Lost Chances which reduces a struck creature's initiative on its next turn, the Headknocker, a vorpal greatclub, the Learner's staff which only deals nonlethal damage, and the Woodsman's axe which is very effective against wood and plants. The selection is interesting, and contains a number of unique weapons that most players and DMs will enjoy. Most at least had something interesting to them, which means that you at least get a special weapon in some way, even if it's not an overly powerful one.

Octavirate Expansions: Unusual Magic Weapons is a relatively straightforward product. It aims to deliver unusual magical weapons, and it succeeds in presenting 17 such weapons which each have something interesting to them. I have to admit that I wasn't overawed by what I saw, but there are still a number of useful weapons to select from. I got the impression that these weapons were in a way 'niche' weapons, in other words they might not always be used by mainstream adventurers but rather by the character concepts or stories that require them. Overall, though, a good product with some interesting material and high quality presentation.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Interesting new weapons to choose from, good quality presentation, and generally useful material.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: One or two minor editing and pricing errors, and perhaps some of the weapons were too 'niche' to fit many character concepts, and would probably be more suited to a plot than to be wielded by a character.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Races of NeoExodus: Enuka is a short 8 page d20 pdf detailing a new race for the NeoExodus: A House Divided campaign setting. NeoExodus is a 'fantasy punk' setting set in the world of Exodus, and a campaign setting product is scheduled to appear at some stage in the future. This product is one of several other Races of NeoExodus products released by LPJ Design, and also amongst a whole slew of other short products dealing with various aspects of the NeoExodus setting. This Races of NeoExodus product deals with the Enuka, mutating and changing creatures of great strength and fortitude.

This product comes as a single pdf file that shares design and layout characteristics with all the other products released so far for the NeoExodus setting. The product features some high quality cover art, and each page is lined with either a left of a right border. Layout is in two columns and for the most part the general editing and writing is good. Only four of the 8 pages of this product are devoted to written content. Two further pages include a character sheet specifically designed with this race in mind and largely standard in format. The last two pages include the OGL declarations and the cover. No bookmarks are included, although the product is short enough that this really shouldn't matter. Overall a good looking product with some decent design, and in general a high standard short pdf.

The Enuka are a race of animalistic fur-covered humanoids that live well separated from civilization and most other humanoid species. They are aggressive and territorial creatures, and this is represented well in their racial traits where Enuka favor Strength and Constitution above both Intelligence and Wisdom. The pdf briefly outlines all the important aspects of the Enuka races, including personality, religion, names, alignment and other details. Being a wholly new race perhaps some information on society would've added more value to the pdf, but in general the detail is a little lacking. Perhaps once the campaign setting is released, some more detail will be revealed on locations of the Enuka in Exodus, society, hierarchy, etc.

The main feature of the Enuka race is their mutations. Each Enuka is different and can select from a number of given mutations. For the most part these are straightforward and easy to implement, but there are one or two that are mechanically unclear (the Prehensile Tail being one example, where the Enuka can use its tail to hold/wield weapons). The pdf includes a number of other features apart from the race itself, including new feats (Additional Mutation, Mutation Focus, both which are reasonably self-explanatory) and the Enuka paragon class which has again used the d20 Modern medium save progression rather than the traditional fantasy progressions.

Overall this is a decent pdf. The ideas aren't particularly novel or interesting, but a new race is always welcome and it has some useful features such as the mutations which make it interesting. A little more society or flavor details would've enhanced the race a lot more than what's provided. It's difficult sometimes to judge a race that's specific to a setting without actually seeing the setting itself, but one would assume that this will be addressed once the campaign setting is released. In general, a solid and decent product.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Solid product with a good presentation. Mutations are interesting and I hope the campaign setting contains a few more that can be used to expand further on the Enuka race.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Not really enough detail on the Enuka to give them unique flavor, and some of the mechanics in the mutations was a bit unclear.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Classes of NeoExodus: Dominion Wyrdcaster is a short 8 page pdf presenting a new prestige class for the d20 fantasy game, and in particular for the NeoExodus: A House Divided setting. NeoExodus is a 'fantasy punk' campaign setting, set in the world of Exodus. LPJ Designs have released quite a number of products for NeoExodus in recent weeks, dealing with classes, races and magic of NeoExodus. A campaign setting supplement or product is slated to be released for NeoExodus at some point in the future. This product, however, deals with only one prestige class, the Dominion Wyrdcaster, a spellcaster capable of harnessing his own fate to cast wyrds, spells imbued with fate.

The product comes as a single pdf file. The product layout is in a similar style to all the other products released so far in the NeoExodus line. A good piece of artwork adorns the cover, and each page contains an appropriate border. There are no bookmarks, although this is not such an issue given the length of the product. Towards the end of the pdf there is a page devoted to counters, containing a large number of counters of a dominion wyrdcaster, all of the same image and taken from the cover artwork. Editing was a bit sloppy here and there, with a number of typos and other issues creeping in, but for the most part this was a very presentable pdf.

The Dominion wyrdcaster is an arcane spellcaster specialising in casting spells by utilizing his own fate. While the introductory material purports this ten level prestige class to be a combination of battlefield warfare and magic, the former is not fully realised throughout the class, and for the most part the Dominion wyrdcaster is a specialised spellcaster (poor BAB, for example). Having said that, the class does gain a number of useful weapon and armor proficiencies, but is probably less combat ready than, for example, the Bard class. Wyrdcasters draw on the future and their own fate to empower their spells in a number of ways. These wyrds (modified spells) are then cast normally, but the wyrdcaster suffers some penalties following any given casting as a result of using his future fate. The concept is very interesting and playable, and it comes to fruition as a spellcasting class quite well in the product.

The wyrdcaster gains a number of useful abilities throughout the class progression. These include the different techniques to cast wyrd spells, and examples include the ability to lengthen the duration of these spells, or to increase the save DCs, or to increase the caster level of the spell. While all these wyrd techniques sound like metamagic in disguise, there's enough different in each technique to give the wyrdcaster its own unique flavor. Other abilities include additional spells and the ability to absorb damage from magical spells that cause hit point damage. Overall, the balance and progression of the class is good, and it's certainly something that will appeal to many players and DMs.

Mechanically the prestige class fares pretty well. For some reason it uses a Medium save progression for d20 fantasy, and there are one or two abilities that could probably have used better wording, but the abilities are littered with some good examples of how they work, so mechanically a good effort. This class should play well - although some players may be turned off by the heavy penalties there can be for casting wyrds. The pdf closes by presenting a number of new feats for wyrd casters. Having seen these I'm certainly looking forward to what the actual campaign setting may contains. Feats include the ability to erase and prepare spells with enough time, and the creation of wyrd charms that work to give one added luck.

Overall this is a neat prestige class and if the rest of NeoExodus follows along them same line, then it's going to be a good setting, mechanically and flavor wise. The prestige class is, however, quite lacking in the latter department, and includes very little details on who the Dominion are, for example, and other things. Mechanically decent, but some editing mistakes slipping in, and a little awkwardness in the mechanics here and there. Nice concept for a fate based spellcaster, although the progression could've given a little more to the combat aspects of the class rather than the spellcasting aspects only.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Good concept and good execution of the Dominion wyrdcaster prestige class. Some interesting and unique abilities to the class, and a class that should appeal to many players and be fun to play.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Minor editing errors, and a little mechanical awkwardness. The prestige class could've done with a little more flavor, and added some mechanics to support the 'warrior' aspects of the class mentioned.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Fantasyscape Tiles: Temple of Sacrifice is a 13 page pdf product containing a selection of 2D tiles detailing a temple of sacrifice. This product in the fourth in LPJ Designs' Fantasyscape Tiles series, each product in the series providing a series of 2D tiles that can be printed out as and when they are required. Other products in the Fantasyscape Tiles series include Crypt of Stone, Stone Palace and Temple of Slime.

The product comes as a single pdf file containing all 10 tiles that can be used to construct the temple of sacrifice. The product includes a bonus tile (a door tile) that can be added anywhere on the main construction. Tiles are meant to be printed out and assembled, and the product provides a one page overview of all the tiles on a smaller scale, so for ease of use this can be printed first to construct the temple to see what you need before printing the full tiles. Tiles are 6 by 6 inches square on a 1 inch grid, so they should suit most gaming systems.

The product provides brief instructions on how to use the tiles, print and cut them. For some reason this section of the pdf is riddled with errors, including bad spelling errors. It's obvious that it wasn't checked at all, because even the most casual look picks up something wrong with the writing in this product. It's a shame that something like this slips through. Even short products deserve proper attention, more so because they are actually short. Following on from this introduction is the one page 'summary' sheet of all the tiles, and then the eleven tiles themselves, one tile to a page.

The tiles themselves are pretty decent - the graphics and artwork seems professional and appealing to the eye. One of the things that I would've liked to see apart from the tiles is perhaps a page or two of images in the pdf where you actually see the tiles in action. This gives the reader some idea of how the set can be used, what can be constructed from it, etc. Just a few extra thoughts to guide you are always useful. As this is a temple of sacrifice, the main tiles featuring details other than floor include different sacrificial altars, all raised on flights of stairs leading upwards. These include plain stone altars, and altars at the feet of statues devoted to gods. Overall, a reasonable selection of tiles to enhance your game. One could easily imagine using the tiles for other purposes as well, rather than only as sacrificial altars.

For the most part this product succeeds at its purpose - it presents a selection of good-looking tiles that can be used in a number of different scenarios. Some of the more generic tiles can be used with other sets of tiles, and the scale is particularly useful for most gaming applications. The artwork is good, although one can always ask for a little more variety in the tiles presented. Overall, a decent product with some useful tiles, but marred slightly by sloppy editing of the text in the product.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Fantasyscape Tiles presents a series of useful and pleasant tiles for most gaming purposes. Artwork and tiles look good, and there's a fair variety to work from to create a temple of sacrifice or other similar area in your game.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Poor editing of the text in the product. Another useful feature would've been some sample images showing how the tiles can be used to construct a room or temple. Additional variety is always welcome.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The Diamond Fortress is a 51 page d20 pdf fantasy adventure. The adventure carries the designation K2, although it is an entirely standalone product from Necromancer Games. The adventure takes place in around the town of Ravenscar, where the PC are required to deal with a crystal fortress filled with horrors from the other planes. The Diamond Fortress is suitable for 4 to 6 characters of levels 11 to 13, with a good mix of spellcasters and strong warriors required.

This product comes as a single pdf file containing everything required to run the adventure. Extensive bookmarks are provided for navigating through the pdf, as well as a table of contents. While the page navigation is excellent, I wish the same could be said for the adventure. An adventure summary or plot synopsis would've gone a long way to making the adventure easier to run. As is there are a number of related, yet somewhat disjointed, paragraphs giving adventure details but no overview of the entire adventure and how it's expected to play out. Nevertheless, the rest of the presentation is excellent and professional. Artwork and maps are good, writing and editing excellent, and layout and presentation of a very high standard. Stat blocks, all included in the appendix, look good although a number of errors naturally crept in. Overall, good presentation and layout, although the organisation could be improved.

The adventure takes place in and around the small town of Ravenscar. As the PCs explore the town they are requested to investigate and eliminate a ghost, an adventure that quickly leads them into a forest of bandits and eventually to the diamond fortress as it magically appears some time after the arrival of the PCs in Ravenscar. PC will then be required to handle the fortress itself as well as its intelligent inhabitants and numerous raids on the small town of Ravenscar.

The adventure is fairly combat intensive, particularly once the PCs enter the fortress itself. There is some initial opportunity for roleplaying in the early stages of the adventure, but after that the adventure revolves around the PCs fighting their way through the adventure's two dungeon locations - the bandit forest and the diamond fortress. The bandit forest seems a bit contrived from a certain point of view, in the sense that it appears to have been stitched on to add some length to the adventure. At present it seems like a side trek to find something the PCs need for the diamond fortress, although they won't know that until the fortress actually appears. The fortress itself is a very interesting location, and holds a number of surprises for the PCs.

The encounters in the adventure are challenging, and the premise certainly interesting and fun. There's a good range of different encounter levels, some very difficult and others easy for characters of the adventure's stated levels. The monster range is good, and characters will have to contend with a good variety of attacks thrown against them. Given that the diamond fortress is constructed of crystal, the adventure maintains that theme well throughout, and includes a number of monsters and templates along those lines to support the adventure's premise.

The Diamond Fortress is a decent adventure with an interesting premise and some neat encounters and locations. It suffers, however, from the lack of organisation in places. The fortress itself is by far the best part of the adventure, and I'd be tempted to exclude the bandit lair from the adventure in favor of altering the adventure to give the diamond fortress more focus. It should be a fun adventure to run through, given the combat encounters and other challenges, but I can see it being less that satisfactory from a story point of view, particularly given the exposition of the plot to the PCs. Overall, an excellent presentation as one would expect from Necromancer games, and a decent adventure.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Interesting premise, challenging and fun encounters, and very good presentation. The support material such as monsters and magic enhance the concept and premise behind the adventure well.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Organisation of the adventure is not the best, and in places the adventure appears a little disjointed. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Marsh of the Wild Things is the first d20 adventure product from 12 to Midnight. This adventure is 46 pages long, and suitable for characters of 8th level. The adventure blends horror and high fantasy together and is setting generic, meaning that you can place this adventure in your setting of choice without any major modification. Marsh of the Wild Things sees the player characters exploring the wild marshes near the village of Flintpoint, and finding that it's a lot more dangerous and wild than they would've expected.

The product is very well-presented and looks professional. One of the first things you notice about it is that it's quite DM friendly, and would probably be quite suitable to newer DMs wanting to try their hand at running games. Each section of the adventure, for example, provides some useful reminders of the aim of each section, and advice on what the DM needs to remember for that particular section. It could probably have been expanded a bit to make it even more useful, but it was a neat little addition to the overall product.

Layout, editing, writing and art (Kim Feigenbaum's work was excellent on the interior art) were all very good, combining together to make a high standard of product. The bookmarks and contents page are probably some of the most detailed I've seen in a product. My only complaint was the maps and handouts - the grid lines on the maps are so thick that they often obscure what's behind it, while the writing in the handouts is such a scrawl that you have to strain to read it properly.

The product provides extensive details on the plot and background to the adventure, including scaling information, DMs background, plot synopsis, and a number of useful plot hooks. A few additional features are also included, such as advice on how to set the scene for the adventure and play notes - advice on using the adventure within a setting. The introduction provides a DM will loads of useful information and a good overview of the adventure. The plot synopsis in particular gives an overview of how the adventure is likely to play out. Not many contingencies are covered or really allowed for in the adventure, but players are given free reign and choice with regard to what they wish to do or not do.

The adventure starts in the village of Flintpoint. After a quick side quest at the behest of the village druid, things quickly go pear-shaped and the adventurers are drawn into the swamps where they face off against a tribe of troglodytes led by a creature with some rather unusual and powerful allies. The adventure takes place both within Flintpoint itself, but also in the cavern complexes that house the troglodytes and their formidable leader. There's good opportunity for roleplaying, although probably the larger portion of the adventure is devoted to combat encounters and the occasional trap. These provide a good challenge to the PCs, with plenty of combat variety and some enjoyable monster selections that should keep the PCs on their toes.

This is by no means a long adventure. There can't be more than two dozen or so encounters throughout the adventure, so it shouldn't take long to play through, although at this level some of the combat encounters can start taking a while. The encounter and descriptive text are both good and extensive, providing plenty of detail of notable features, and in particular on creature tactics and motivations. The latter makes the adventure far more dynamic, as the creatures interact with each other and those around them. Creature stats are provided in the appendix, along with personality, tactics and even common sayings for a particular NPC.

The adventure is by and large entertaining. Challenging and fun encounters, opportunity for roleplaying, interesting locations and encounter locations, and dynamic creatures with real motives and behaviours. It covers useful ground for newer DMs, but is meaty enough that more experienced DMs can easily do something good with the adventure. In the old end perhaps, it is a simple site-based adventure with the characters trawling through a cavern in search of their enemies. A good one, but still a simple adventure. I think, though, that by setting the mood of the adventure properly, this will be an entertaining evening of gaming consisting of what can be action-filled and grim fantasy.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Marsh of the Wild Things is a good and entertaining adventure. It's very DM friendly, providing a professional and easy to follow layout, with some challenging encounters. Good variety in encounters, and interesting locations.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Maps and handouts could be improved on, particularly with the font for the handouts and the heavy grid for the maps.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Hoards is a 66 page d20 pdf product featuring an entire book filled with new items of treasure and magic for your fantasy campaign. This product is a standalone product published through Dark Quest Games by the now no-longer in the business Enkwell Press. This product is partially the result of a fan contest to generate new treasures, magic and hoards, and the eclectic nature and creativity behind the items shows that it is the work of no single author. Hoards covers the entire range of treasure, from new coins to new art, to new miscellaneous mundane items to new magic items in all categories.

The product comes as a single pdf file which contains useful bookmarks to navigate through the pdf to sections of interest. The layout and design is good, each page featuring a border and consistent use of fonts and font-sizes is mostly maintained. A good selection of decent art is also present in the pdf. Editing and writing are good as well, and its apparent that some effort went into getting this right. Judging by the look of the prices and descriptions of the magical items, the mechanics is solid and well. Overall, this is a well-presented and good quality product that's been put together in a pleasing way.

This product is all about treasure of all kinds. Not only does it present a whole host of new items, both magic and mundane, to use in your game, but it adds some flavor elements to many items to make them a little bit more than just standard magical items or mundane items. These include histories, legends, creation origins, detailed descriptions and the like, all adding up to a useful addition to every item in the product. Not only that, but most items are furnished with skill DCs so that players can determine if they know a little bit more about any particular item. Whether this will allow players to identify the item is up to the DM in question, but it's a useful addition, particularly in campaigns where magic is rare.

The product presents items from each of the tables presented in the standard treasure generation rules, so there are new coins, new mundane items, new art objects, new minor and major magical items, and even new minor artifacts. Each type of item is very well represented, with a whole host of new and interesting items to choose from. Where appropriate, the product has created new tables to randomly roll a selected treasure from. A lot of thought and effort has gone into the creation and description of each item, and there are some wonderful flavorful description and some unique items in the mix. Magic item products often fall into the trap of generating what can only be called standard fare - items of magic that follow the conventional rules and essentially bring nothing new to the game. Hoards does well to avoid this, both in the descriptions of flavor and in the mechanics behind many of the items. The product contains a selection of items that most DMs will look at and think they've found something interesting and useful to their game.

Towards the end of the product a number of sample hoards are presented. These include gold piece values for each item in the hoard, so that DMs can select appropriate replacements if they so desire. There are hoards for each encounter level, and a number of different themed hoards such as a stone age hoard, necromancer's hoard or the treasure from a hobgoblin patrol. Lastly, a number of tables are provided to alter the flavor and descriptions of items, as well as to generate antique items typically found in wealthy homes.

Hoards is a good product which contains a flavorful selection of new items, both magic and mundane, for your d20 fantasy game. The product goes beyond the standard item descriptions to provide unique flavor, and the mechanics often supports this with interesting and unique items that bring something new to the game. There is a very healthy dose of items present in the product, and most DMs and players will find this useful.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Flavorful selection of items and signs of creativity and uniqueness between the items. Provides an extensive selection of items to choose from. Hoards is a well-presented and useful product for players and DMs alike.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Organisation could've been a bit better as the various item categories seem to run into each other, which means you can easily miss a category of magical item, for example, with only one or two items in the category. A few page breaks would've made the organisation a little clearer.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Mega Feats: New Paths to Victory is a 50 page d20 product consisting of a collection of feats for the d20 game. This is a standalone product detailing feats inspired from a variety of sources, both fantasy and modern. Inside this product are more than 150 feats, including new types of feats such as the Forgeblood feats that meld flesh and machine in your fantasy world.

The product comes as a zip file containing both a pdf copy of the document and a rich-text file version of the same document. The latter is quite handy for those that wish to cut and paste easily into other master or campaign documents. The pdf itself contains no bookmarks or a table of contents, although it does contain a lengthily list of all the feats in the product. Apart from the front cover artwork, the product contains no interior artwork, which is rather unusual for a product of this length. In fact, the cover artwork isn't even credited to any particular source. Editing and writing is average, with a number of layout issues and inconsistencies in the product cropping up from time to time.

Probably the most disappointing aspect of this product is the mechanics. While the feat ideas themselves are quite interesting and certainly very useful in some instances, for the most part the mechanics was weak, unclear or in some cases simply wrong. The Artillary Mage metamagic feat, for example, allows you to increase the number of magic missiles fired when casting the spell of the same name, but the statement in the Normal section of the feat is incorrect, stating that a 20th level caster can normally cast up to ten magic missiles. This is unfortunately not an isolated incident, and some of the other mechanics follows a similar trend. The product could definitely have used a look-over in this department. Overall, though, from a presentation point of view, average in some areas but weaker in others.

Following a brief introduction by the author, the product immediately dives into the hundred-plus feats that make up the product. Feats fall in a number of different categories, but most are either item creation, metamagic, or general SU (or supernatural) feats. In the latter case it's not clear whether this is a new type of feat, or just a different naming for the general feat found in the core rule book. Many of the feats have a more high tech feel to them and have been adapted to fantasy, where, given a little further tweaking, they end up being quite useful and interesting. Other feats rely heavily on the use of action points, being action point activated, so those will not be of much use to games where action points are not used.

The feats themselves are quite eclectic and varied, which makes for an interesting and new approach to gaming. For creativity and interest this product is certainly not lacking, but it's a pity about the poor execution in places. There are quite a large number of very useful feats, covering all areas of activity (in many cases even sex-related feats of menstrual cycle related feats) and providing a very handy selection to choose from. If you're looking for something different or something that covers ground not covered before in the feat arena, then this product is certainly a good place to start looking. The pdf also includes a number of feats called Forgeblood feats, which allow you to create cyborg-like features in your fantasy game. These are again quite interesting and useful for those gamers that which to explore this kind of thing. Lastly, the product details a number of the author's house rules, again with some useful ideas, but not always the best execution.

Mage Feats: New Paths to Victory is one of those products which contains some really good material, but material that's been poorly executed or put together. There are some great and interesting ideas in this product, but the number of errors and inconsistencies made it difficult at time to appreciate to creativity of the product. Overall, though, I was suitable impressed with the product despite the number of errors, and in particular with the varied number of different feats covering new ground and new ideas.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This pdf contains a useful and creative selection of new feats and ideas, and it's a good product to mine for some new material as it covers some new ground. Creative and interesting feats.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Presentation is not the best with many inconsistencies and errors in the editing and layout. Mechanics was often very poor or wrong, and in many instances the execution of good ideas was rather poor.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

A Family Affair is a 98 page d20 fantasy adventure product from Necromancer games. This adventure carries the designation K1, and is the first in the K-series of adventure modules from Necromancer Games. A Family Affair is suitable for 4 to 6 characters of level 8 or higher, and blends an excellent mix of variety to suit every gamers' need. In this adventure the characters get the chance to investigate murder and kidnapping, take a sea voyage to a dangerous island, venture deep into unsettling caves, and relive the horrors of a murder most foul. The adventure is not set in any particular setting, and DMs should easily be able to place this adventure in the setting of their choice. This product uses the 3.5e core ruleset.

This product comes as a single pdf file, extensively bookmarked and including a table of contents. A quick look at the module immediately shows the excellent quality of production and presentation. Artwork and layout are very good, and the editing and writing of the same high standard. Maps are very good, although in some instances perhaps a little monotonous, and the stat blocks are almost faultless. A quick look at the organisation of the adventure and it's easy to see why Necromancer Games have such a good name in adventure modules in the d20 market. Their adventures are of the calibre of 'how an adventure should be written', featuring exciting plots, interesting and varied locations, and enough detail that the DM never has to go looking for something or has to make something up. A few new monsters are introduced at the end of the product, and it utilizes some material from Necromancer Games' other products Tome of Horrors and Tome of Horrors II.

The adventure is divided into a number of different chapters, each covering another aspect of the adventure. Full background details, adventure summary, adventure hooks and advice on running the adventure are provided. The adventure starts with a detailed overview of Martin's Nest the town where this adventure takes place around. The town is extensively detailed with a map, important locations and their inhabitants, personalities for all NPCs encountered during the town, and information on how they fit into the adventure. This detail is splendid within this, providing everyone one might want to know and more, and one could conceivable move this town into another adventure if needed by just removing the plot related elements from each description. The detail and the extensive personalities of the various NPCs make the town feel vibrant and alive.

During the course of the adventure the PCs will explore an seemingly abandoned mansion, gather information in the town of Martin's Nest, uncover not only one, but two seemingly unrelated story plots, and then venture to dangerous islands and face crafty foes to finally bring the adventure to a conclusion. Each aspect of the adventure is given its own chapter, so it's easy to jump from one location to the next by just following the chapter designations. The adventure flows rather smoothly, doesn't seem forced in any way, and with all the detail certainly allows for characters to do things their way, rather than follow a scripted adventure line. There's a lot of fun to be had in this adventure, covering most of the bases in good adventures, and including something for characters of all classes, although rogues are quite important for this adventure.

This is a very long adventure, and should take several sessions to complete, depending on the actions of the PCs. The encounters are challenging and fun, with some interesting ones and some neat locations and details. While the artwork of the maps is decent, the actual layouts are a bit monotonous and something could've been done to make the layouts of the maps more interesting. At present they feel rather 'blocky', and could've used a more fantasy feel to them. That aside, with over a hundred different encounter locations, most offering something interesting (although quite a few rooms are there merely for space filler and verisimilitude), there's something for every gamer and a whole lot to enjoy.

Overall, this is very much and adventure that gives both DM and players some free reign to explore various options and go down different avenues to their ultimate goal. The adventure is partially dynamic outside of the dungeon crawl parts and things happen in response to the actions of the PCs, something that is always good to see. The adventure offers a number of surprises, and should keep the players on their toes throughout. A thoroughly enjoyable adventure, very well designed and presented, and an excellent variety of challenges, monsters, locations and encounters. Splendid job.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: A Family Affair is a well designed and well presented adventure that offers something for characters of all classes and players of all types. The adventure is fun, challenging and the variety of locations and encounters means there's always something new around every corner.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing terribly significant, although I suspect some areas of the adventure can become quite monotonous, while some of the maps could've use a little more fantasy to them, rather than the stereotypical 'blocky' approach.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>