Dungeon Crawl Classics #36: Talons of the Horned King is a 60 page d20 pdf adventure for characters of levels 3 to 5. This adventure is one of many in Goodman Games' Dungeon Crawl Classics line of products, each adventure in the series presenting a good dungeon crawl from players and DMs to enjoy. This particular adventure takes place in the frozen wastes of the north, where characters investigating strange occurrences in a northern town discover something far more spectacular and dangerous beneath the Talons of the Horned King.

This product follows the now tried and tested layout and presentation of all the other products in the popular DCC series. A single, fully bookmarked file is provided, complete with much more information to give you an overview of the adventure and help to run it. Encounter tables are provided, setting information for the DCC setting, adventure plot hooks, background information and more. A large number of useful player handouts are also provided, enhancing the quality of this product. Layout, editing, writing, and art are all very good, exhibiting a high quality of presentation in this product.

The product also has quite a lengthy appendix at the end which introduces some new monsters, but also details a variety of futuristic equipment that the players may encounter during the course of the adventure. Naturally, some advice is given on how to handle these within a fantasy orientated adventure. Overall, an excellent job of presentation, art and maps.

The adventure takes place in any frozen location, typically a northerly area, and starts with the PCs following a trail to the Talons of the Horned King. A number of plot hooks are provided to get the characters to this point. From there the characters adventure through a daunting canyon until they reach the Talons, and soon discover something entirely more remarkable buried beneath the Talons - a buried, ancient spaceship belonging to a race of psionic beings. During the course of the adventure they unravel the mystery of the spaceship and the creatures that lurk there, as well as discover a whole new futuristic world for them to explore. The adventure does a splendid job of combining the fantasy and futuristic elements in such a way as to maintain the fantasy feel of the adventure without the characters believing they walked into another era.

This is quite a lengthy adventure containing close to 40 different encounter areas throughout the adventure, and wandering monsters to boot as well. There's plenty of combat to be had, but the adventure shines in other areas as well in providing a very interesting and tantalizing location and plot for fantasy PCs to discover. Here they'll come face to face with the unknown and strange around almost every corner, and battle a whole host of new and interesting creatures and effects. The adventure contains a good combination of combat and 'puzzle' type encounters, with each encounter complete with detailed background and feeling like it fits in with the rest of the adventure rather than being disjointed.

This is without a doubt a fun and interesting adventure. Many DMs may balk at the idea of combining future-tech with fantasy, but this adventure does it in an elegant and decent way so that the focus remains on the fantasy and the adventure rather than the technology of an ancient spaceship. The players will find lots of surprises around every corner, many of them hidden in the trappings of technology in such a way that PC won't realise they're dealing with technology rather than standard fantasy fare. This is a very enjoyable adventure, that most players and DMs will enjoy. Good background, good balance of encounter areas, interesting location, and good presentation - overall an excellent product.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Talons of the Horned King is an intriguing and exciting adventure offering a lot of variety, good story and interesting encounters. Blends fantasy and technology very well, and does a splendid job of the presentation. A high quality and fun adventure.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing much negative to say about the adventure. Perhaps a little more detail could've been furnished at the adventure start, but the adventure is about the dungeon and that's where it excels at.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Dungeon Crawl Classics #37: The Slithering Overlord is a 52 page d20 pdf adventure for characters of levels 4-6. This product is one of the many products in Goodman Games' Dungeon Crawl Classics line of products, a series now consisting of well over forty different adventures. Each adventure in the series brings to the table a good and exciting dungeon crawl, complete with traps, monsters, and other deadly machination of the dungeon. This particular adventure features an underground exploration involving multiple factions of evil and the recovery of some holy relics and hostages.

The product comes as a single pdf file, and is very well and professionally presented. The product includes a full set of bookmarks, table of contents, adventure scaling details, encounter table, introduction, adventure background and summary, and details on where to place this adventure in the DCC campaign world introduced in DCC #35. That's about everything one would expect and more. The layout, editing and mechanics are all very good and professional, showing a high standard of pdf production. Artwork and maps are good, with clear maps, and some compelling art pieces that further improve on the quality of the overall presentation. Overall, a very well presented product along the lines of all the other DCCs in the series.

The adventure takes the PCs underground in search of the Order of The Invincible Sun's holy relics and some hostages captured underground. While underground the PCs discover that there is more going on than meets the eye, and eventually they will face the wile and cunning of the Slithering Overlord. The adventure provides refreshing information on the overall plot, as well as details on handling the various factions involved and the motivations of each of the factions of the adventure. There could perhaps have been done a little bit more here to improve the roleplaying possibilities, particularly in the adventure text itself rather than in a short prelude before the encounters are all detailed. Nevertheless, cunning players will find ways of dealing with all the threats that this adventure poses.

As one would expect, this is a dungeon crawl adventure, and as such combat galore to be had. In this particular adventure, the combat is particularly tough and gruesome, and in fact probably a bit of overkill to the point of tediousness. Almost every one of the forty-plus locations of the adventure contains some sort of combat encounter, meaning that the PCs will fight from one battle to the next. There's nothing time-wise stopping the PCs from resting, but the adventure could've done a little more to prevent endless combat of a multitude of different creatures. And while the backstory explains the presence of some of the creatures, it won't always be apparent to the PCs, meaning that some encounters might appear quite strange in the light of things underground. One good thing about this is that a number of new creatures are introduced, so PCs won't get tired of standard fare. Sonic bats, shimmering slugs, and neuronia will all keep the PCs alert.

I think in the old end the adventure lacks a little dynamics between the factions and between the factions and the PCs. It feels very static, with characters battling from one location to another, rather than dealing with very intelligent creatures each with their own agenda. One could explain this by the status-quo that exists between the factions, but the adventure would've been more fun is something dynamic was around. Still, it will make for a challenging and very deadly module for those characters taking a trip underground, and suit a mix of different characters due to some opportunity for wilderness travel. A good effort from Goodman Games.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Good, solid, and enjoyable dungeon crawl, with very good presentation and some interesting and different encounter ideas. A little exposition and dynamic development of the backstory will makes this an exciting adventure.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Lots of combat, probably too much. Lack of dynamic resolution of the various factions and the adventure could've done a bit more in this area.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The Elemental Dimension of Magic: Spells of Time is a 7 page d20 pdf product. This product deals with the spells and magic of the Jeshatan, a race of creatures from the Elemental Dimension of Magic. Spells of Time is one in a series of product that deal with the twelve great schools of magic of the Jeshatan, and features a number of time related spells for your d20 campaign world.

Spells of Time comes as a single pdf file. The product includes a cover, but there are no bookmarks or a table of contents. The product in fact contains very little in the way of introductory material, almost immediately jumping into the spells presented in the product. The layout and design is similar to other products in the series, so they slot in well together, and there is no interior art in the product apart from simple bordering.

The editing and mechanics were bordering on very poor. Not only does this product deal with a rather sticky subject of time and time-related spells, but it does so mechanically poorly and often very confusing as well. In places it's hard to ascertain what exactly one can and can't do with a particular spell. And this doesn't even include balance, unfortunately. One or two spells seem very powerful for their level. For example, the spell Timeshards allows the caster to succeed at a DC 30 Spellcraft check to do damage to a single target equivalent to 1d10+1 for each rank in Spellcraft the caster has. This is a 3rd level spell that hands down beats many other much higher level spells. Red Anvil Productions could certainly have done a lot better to improve the quality of this product.

The product starts with a brief introduction to this particular school of magic. The Time school is stated as being one of the more martial of the magic schools of the Jeshatan. A little more information on this race would've been appreciated, but you can still use the spells without it. Having more information on the creators of the spells gives the material a little more flavor and some background. Twelve new spells of Time are presented in the product, one for each level of wizard or sorcerer magic, and usefully includes three epic spells, something that each of their products does, and in an epic-sparse market out there, this is largely appreciated.

Unfortunately, the product doesn't do a competent job at getting the spells or the mechanics right. Some are overly powerful, others confusing, and there are many little errors creeping in all over the place. The lack of attention to mechanics and detail is very disappointing, and many of the spells are in a simply unusable form that makes it difficult to use this product. Examples of the spells include Time Scry which allows you to see into the past, Synchronise which gives 'Time' bonuses to various rolls, and Time in a Bottle which allows you to capture a particular instant in time for later use. Some few interesting ideas, but the product is really let down by the sloppiness of the mechanics and the execution of the spells. The epic spells are decent, although again balance is an issue here, since the spell Greater Time Stop which stops time for hours, has a Spellcraft DC that's far too low.

Spells of Time could use with a thorough mechanical editing, and even general editing to place the mechanics, editing and general presentation on a much stronger footing. As it, it's barely useable and disappointing to see a product that so little care has been taken with to make sure it works and works well. A few interesting and useful ideas here and there, but those don't really draw attention away from some unfortunate problems with the product.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: One or two interesting ideas, but for the most part a product that could use a rework and some looking at the material.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Poor mechanics and editing, writing and generally. Extra care should've been taken to make sure this product got the attention it needed, and provided useful material that could be used in game without heavy editing or questioning of the details.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Poor<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

Dungeon Crawl Classics #38: Escape from the Forest of Lanterns is a 44 page d20 fantasy adventure and one of the many products in the very successful Dungeon Crawl Classics lines of adventures from Goodman Games. Each adventure in the series contains a self-contained adventure dungeon crawl, full of tricks, traps, monsters, and lots of dungeon. In this particular adventure the PCs find themselves transported to another dimension where they have to find a means of escape. If that's not bad enough, they get converted into children as well, and have to fight their way through a nightmare fairy-tale to escape from the Warty Witch. This adventure is suitable for characters of levels 7 to 9, and scaling information is provided for parties of a different composition.

This product comes as a single, fully-bookmarked pdf file that contains all the maps and adventure details for the adventure. The product follows the familiar layout of all the adventures in the Dungeon Crawl Classics line, although there are some new sections in these later product as a result of the release of DCC #35 - the campaign world of the Dungeon Crawl Classics line. The first being details of where the adventure can be located in the campaign world, and the second is a handy little summary at the back of the product of each of the DCC products and their respective levels. This makes it easy to select your next adventure once this one is completed.

The product writing, editing and layout are all of a high standard, as is the numerous art found in the product. The only niggle was the slightly poor maps - they looked a little unpolished around the edges, although the detail was reasonably clear. Monster stats and details were as usual good, and the product in fact includes a whole host of new and interesting monsters that can be used in other games outside of this one. Other useful features of the product include a list of all encounters and ELs, several good plot hooks and adventure summary and background. Overall a high standard of presentation and a good-looking product that covers all the bases and more.

The adventure is set in the Forest of Lanterns, a demi-plane location. The characters are transported there thanks to a magical tome, and have to find their way out of the demi-plane, and navigate its oft deadly environs. Not only that, they are turned into children in this fairy tale land, and have to contend with being younger and smaller for the course of the adventure. Naturally, full mechanical details are provided to achieve this.

The essence of the adventure is quite simple, really - escape the demi-plane - but the roleplaying opportunities and fun encounters should make this a wholly enjoyable adventure. There are a large number of interesting encounters, from fighting miniature trolls, to various fey, and a rather cute little thing called 'cuddly-wuddly'. This adventure should keep most gamers entertained, although its light-hearted and child-like elements might not be for the more serious gamer.

Roleplaying-wise this is a good adventure with a good mix of challenging encounters. There are a total of 27 encounter areas in the adventure, so it should make for a decent amount of time to get through the whole adventure. Encounters range from creatures to traps, with a eclectic mix of different creatures and traps used to keep the PCs on their toes. There is naturally a risk that the adventure can be over pretty quickly, but those should be rare instances where things just go the PCs' way. I think this is a solid and entertaining adventure, and certainly an entertaining campaign 'filler' to take a break from adventuring of a more serious nature.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Good adventure background with plenty of opportunity to flex brawn and brain. Some good roleplaying opportunity and a chance to have some fun playing children in a dangerous and deadly nightmare fairy tale. Very good presentation.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Maps were a little weak, although clear, and looked a little unpolished. Other than that, nothing much that was a detraction from the adventure and its contents.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Octavirate Presents Volume 3: Simple Tricks and Nonsense is a 39 page pdf product for the d20 system, and the third volume in the Octavirate Presents line of products. Each product in the line aims to bring new experiences to the player and DM in the form of themed gaming supplements. In this third volume the theme is cantrips or minor magics, and the product contains a whole host of new material related to this theme, including spells, feats, NPCs, monsters and classes.

The product comes as a single pdf file that contains a small number of bookmarks, but not really enough to be called entirely functional. There is no table of contents either, which makes it a little difficult to navigate through the pdf. Layout is good, and there is some very good to excellent art inside the product, enhancing to overall presentation of the material. Writing and editing is good as well, and the material is presented clearly and with little ambiguity. Here and there is an odd error in the d20 mechanics, but these are rather few and scattered around throughout the product. Overall, a very good looking product and Octavirate Games have put some good effort into making this product look good.

One other neat thing this pdf does is to present a lot of the rules material in other d20 formats as well, such as, for example, d20 Modern. These variants are very useful for those games where the straight d20 system is not used, but variant rules are implemented. Typical examples include wound/vitality points or defense bonuses.

The product starts with an extensive introduction covering such topics as how to make the most of magic and the use of prestidigitation and other minor magic for profit. It them dives into a very eclectic mixture of material surrounding the common theme of cantrips or orisons. First up are a selection of feats, most of which merely grant the feat-owner the ability to cast more cantrips or to be able to cast some cantrips even if not a spellcaster. From there the pdf presents fifty new cantrips and orisons, starting by providing brief spell lists and descriptions of the spells for each class. There's a good balance between the classes, with most classes getting an equal amount of spells. In fact, one of the variants later in the product actually provides cantrips and orisons for spellcasting classes that don't normally have them, such as rangers or paladins. This is a useful addition for those that love minor magics, or just want to make those classes 'more' spellcasting.

The spells themselves are a fun, creative and generally inventive lot that offer a lot to lower level magic. Magic-light campaigns will find this material quite a boost, but most other campaigns will find the addition of these 50 spells very useful and enjoyable to try out. There are a small variety of first level spells included as well, but by far the most are level 0 spells. A neat little selection of spells that will be useful in any game.

The pdf then continues to present a number of other related material, including the Hedge wizard NPC class, several new creatures such as the cantrimp (kind of a gremlin meets imp creature) and the origami animal (the name says it all). There are also a detailed NPCs in the product called Calrith Cazaaar, a hedge wizard responsible for many of the spells in this product. The latter part of the product contains the appendix, which includes variant rules for skill-based cantrip casting, additional cantrips based on ability scores, and cantrips for spellcasting classes that don't normally have them. Overall, there's a lot of material here that holds well with the general theme.

Octavirate Presents Volume 3: Simple Tricks and Nonsense is a neat little pdf that contains some good and useful material for low-level magic and cantrips. It explores a good variety of ideas and options here, offering up something a little more than just spells. Presentation is good as well, and overall this is a solid product that's well worth a look at.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Variety of material, good spell selection and distribution, solid presentation. The addition of variant rules for most material is helpful.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: One or two minor mechanical errors, but nothing here that detracts from the material itself. Lack of bookmarks and table of contents.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Lost Classes: Warrior Queen is a short 4 page d20 product from LPJ Design. This product contains a single prestige class, and is one of numerous similar products in LPJ Design's Lost Classes series of products. The prestige class comes fully detailed for your d20 game, and in this instance the Warrior Queen describes a female battle commander of considerable prowess.

The product comes as a single pdf file with a straightforward design and layout in a similar vein to all the other products in the Lost Classes series. Only 2.5 pages of the 4 pages of this pdf are devoted to the actual prestige class, while the remainder is taken up by the OGL declarations. There are no bookmarks in the product (almost expected for such a short pdf), but there is a solitary piece of artwork on the front page that complements the product and its design layout well. Writing and editing are generally good, as are the mechanics of the class, though in my estimation on the strong side of things. In some instances there are weak or near useless abilities, for example where the Warrior Queen gains a +2 enhancement bonus to her Strength score, something that's pretty useless for a high level warrior that's bound to have a belt of giant strength or similar item that grants the same type of bonus. Overall, easy to use and integrate into any d20 game.

The warrior queen is a female warrior of considerable renown and ability, a legend of her time and a charismatic leader. The warrior queen is one whom the bards sing tales about, both of her nature but also her actions and deeds. As the name suggests, this is a d20 prestige class for female warriors, though the entry requirements are open to other classes beyond warriors that want to follow this charismatic path of battle leadership. Features of the prestige class include granting battle bonuses to allies against things like fear or in general in combat, aura of courage, bonuses to Charisma-based skills against males, and improved speed, weapon-ability and feat selection.

The class comes with a brief but adequate background information, though a little more detail or even a sample NPC would've helped to flesh out the concept a little more. The class combines battle leadership and combat well, with some interesting implementation here and there, but nothing that is extremely novel, just a collection of suitable abilities thrown together to make the class work. One of the entry requirements is the Leadership feat, something that many DMs do no like or wish to use. One or two abilities seem very strong, particularly for a warrior with a high charisma. At 10th level, for example, the warrior gets to reroll attacks a number of times based on the warrior's Charisma modifier. This can add up to quite a lot for, for example, a Charisma based warrior-class, making for a strong character that doesn't really need to miss if it has to. Nevertheless, a useful class for any d20 campaign, more so in war-focused campaigns where the warrior queen can truly shine.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: A decent class presented clearly and professionally. Easy to use and integrate into most games, and should make for a fun class to play.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A few abilities probably a bit on the strong side, and the product could've used a little more fleshing out to make the most of the prestige class concept provided.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Permafrost is a 42 page d20 pdf product that presents ten new base classes and setting information for adventuring in a frost covered world of ice and snow. This is a standalone product from Valent Games, and is suitable for both DMs and players alike, providing minimal setting information along with tailored classes to the world under consideration.

The product comes as a zip file containing both a screen and a print version of the product. In the latter case, all the color has been removed, but the bordering and background detail is still present. This saves some money on color ink, but will still be heavier on your black ink. The product contains no artwork, meaning that you're pretty much just as well off printing the screen version instead of the print version. In fact, the product even makes a humorous jibe at the lack of artwork, crediting the author's bank account for the contribution to the lack of artwork. Layout is in landscape format, in two columns, and is generally decent, as is the overall editing. It's by no means a spectacular looking product, but it presents something acceptable to the reader.

The product offers both a variety of new base classes for a frozen-world setting, as well as a brief background for such a world, along with a short history and other brief pertinent details. The latter is probably not fleshed out enough to run as-is, but it can certainly form the basis for a campaign world or setting with some added detail. In that sense it's more an intriguing prospect than a campaign setting, and the author certainly leaves enough blanks that anybody with a little work can make the idea their own. Some useful plot seeds and development notes for the campaign idea are also included at the end of the product. Those willing to work in a frozen world with only three known outposts of the living will find the classes presented in this product useful. These ten classes by far form the meat of the product, and as such this is more a base class compendium than anything else. In some sense I wish the organisation had reflected that more, rather than trying to present this product as anything else, but that's a minor quibble.

The ten core classes presented form an interesting mix of abilities. The classes are intended to be used as a replacement for the base classes in the core rules, and each class is designed with a background that suits the campaign arc presented in Permafrost. In this area of background details more could certainly have been said about the various classes, and most of the descriptions are brief and lacking in flavor. For the most part the classes themselves appear decent, with some acceptable mechanics, and they should form playable classes in this campaign setting but also in other artic worlds. The classes could've used a little more creativity here and there, although the spellcasting progression idea where spellcasters lose access to lower level spells as they progress is quite interesting to entertain.

The ten classes presented are core seeker (subterranean ranger), crystalhome adept (masters of crystals and ice), iceborn raider (evil ice raiders and rogues), knight of the snows (paladin protectors of the living), mad hermit (just as the name suggests), magma mage (fire spellcaster with power over volcanic magma), naga cultist (naga followers), planar initiate (other-worldly psions), reborn archon (mortal archons), and servant of death (master of death and undeath). There are some interesting ideas here, such as the mad hermit's madness or the reborn archon, but for the most part not always elegant in the execution. The latter parts of the product deal with hazards and environment, material taken from the core rules as an appendix of sorts.

Permafrost in a product that presents ten new base classes for an artic-based setting. The classes are interesting, though not always the best execution, and most of them could use a lot more detail to give them true flavor. They're presented almost like mechanical stubs, with little flavor to each class that is gained outside a look at the classes special abilities. The setting idea could be interesting, though hardly all that novel, and with some work these classes and ideas can be used to make something exciting.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Permafrost is a decent product with some interesting ideas, presenting some useful new classes and special abilities for those classes. There are a handful of mechanical ideas that are interesting such as the spellcasting progression, and the campaign concept has some merit. Presentation is not the best, but decent.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Lacking in enough flavor to make the most of the classes provided and the setting idea presented. Some weak or uninspired mechanical execution, and the product could've used a lot of fleshing out in a number of different areas.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

Renegade Cleric's Tome is a 258 page d20 pdf product compilation of divine spells taken from a variety of OGL sources. This product is the second in Mongoose Publishing's Expert Player's Guide series after Renegade Wizard's Spellbook. Spells are taken from an expansive number of OGL sources, and some of the best products out there. Renegade Cleric's Tome contains a huge number of spells, all updated to the 3.5e rules, for divine spellcasters such as clerics, druids, and paladins. This is a pdf version of a product originally released in print.

The product comes as a single pdf file. There are unfortunately no bookmarks, largely because this is a pdf from print product, and the lack of bookmarks make navigation through the pdf quite cumbersome. The table of contents isn't much help either, so finding a particular spell can take a bit of time and some clicking of the mouse and scrolling to get to the right page. With 2-4 spells per page, navigation is probably the main presentation problem with this pdf. Layout and editing is generally very good, as are the spell conversions to 3.5e rules and the general mechanics. Conversions seem consistent and fit the core rules framework well without any obvious or glaring inconsistencies or errors. The font used for the spell names is a bit wonky, as it leaves some strange gaps between letters in places, while in other instances squashing them together too much. Artwork is good and generally plentiful with some good pieces scattered throughout the product. Generally, presentation is very good and to a high quality standard.

The product starts with a brief introduction, before covering several aspects and rules that pertain to some new material in the product. This includes domain estates, new spell descriptors and the like. Most of the material required in order to use the spells properly is contained in a detailed appendix at the end of the product that contains among other things new templates, new creatures, rules, and the like. So if a spell refers to something not contained in the core rules, full details are included in the appendix. This makes the product a little more than just a compilation of OGL spells, since the material in the 20 page appendix is usable outside the confines of a particular spell.

The spell lists are detailed next. While clerics and druids get the lion's share of the spells, paladins, rangers and blackguards are well represented, and there are certainly more spells for each class than contained in the core rules for these classes, so plenty of options to choose from. The product contains more than 200 pages of the best OGL spell selections out there, at a very good price, which makes this a fantastic resource for divine spells. The spell lists contain all sorts of spells, and it's hard to imagine any player not being able to make great use of this product for the divine spellcasters. As can be expected, you're bound to find similar spells to these ones in other source with different names, but there is a lot of unique material here in one volume which can save a lot of effort in finding good spells from OGL sources.

The spells and domains contained in the product vastly expand on the core game, and offer new variety for divine spellcasters. There are some good spells, some slightly familiar ones, and some not-so-good ones, but the latter are in the minority. Each spell level gets a very good representation, including 9th level spells for clerics and druids, making this product useful across the entire scope of play. There are unfortunately no epic spells in the product, although I'm not aware of there actually being any products out there that extensively detail epic spells for divine casters. With hundreds of spells to choose from, you can't really go wrong with this product, particular at the price offered.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This is a very good product with a nifty collection of spells and extensive utility. Renegade Cleric's Tome is a wonderful resource for d20 gaming and divine spellcasters.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Navigation is sorely lacking in the product, and some of the fonts make the text look a little strange. A few editing errors around, but presentation is generally good.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Lost Classes: Dreadnought is a short 5 page d20 pdf product and prestige class from LPJ Design. This product is one of a number of prestige classes in the Lost Classes series, each product featuring a fully detailed prestige class for your d20 game. Lost Classes: Dreadnought features a new prestige class for whom anger is a sacred vice, something that can spur the dreadnought on to powerful feats of strength and might.

The product comes as a single pdf file. Layout and design is relatively simple and straighforward, with only a single piece of good artwork on the front page. As one can almost expect from such a short pdf, there are no bookmarks. Editing and writing is generally good, and the product maintains a good standard of presentation. The prestige class only takes up 3 of the 5 pages of the product, with the remainder devoted to the OGL and an advertisement for other products in the Lost Classes series of products. Mechanics is generally good, but it should be noted that this class has some really strong abilities. Also, given that one of the entry requirements for the class is BAB +11, consideration should have been given to epic level play considering that this is a 10 level prestige class.

The dreadnought is a wild-hearted and mighty berserker, living on the edge of society and shunning most people and religions. His core abilities rely on an increase in his size while raging (though not changing size category), making him a formidable opponent in battle, and additional features of his rage ability. The dreadnought is a deadly melee prestige class, that can take a lot of hits, and shrug off a lot of damage, particularly given the fact that dreadnought rarely wears armor. Features of the prestige class include additional raging, the ability to shrug off damage, the ability to avoid fatal blows, his size increase ability which grants bonuses to skills and his Strength score, and several other powerful abilities. The class comes with decent background material detailing characteristics, personality, religion, societal and other aspects of the dreadnought prestige class. No sample dreadnought is provided, although one would expect it to have a barbarian base class.

In general the dreadnought is a burly melee warrior, although his likely barbarian base class and skill selections allow him some other characteristic that might be useful outside of combat. Naturally in battle is where this prestige class shines, and its high entry level requirements (BAB +11, for starters) keep it away from lower levels where its abilities can do some serious damage. There were one or two abilities that raised an eyebrow such as the ability called Rampaging Goliath, which allows the dreadnought to shrug of the damage from a blow that would knock it unconscious or kill it by succeeding at a Fortitude save. Given that Fortitude in the dreadnought's good save, and a high Constitution is a given for the class, it can be very difficult to kill unless the killing blow does a lot of damage so that the dreadnought actually fails the save. Nevertheless, overall a decent melee class - a bit one-track minded, but still a useful and definitely fun class to play.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The dreadnought is a decent class that can be fun to play, and offers a little more than just single-minded combat brute without any real personality. Decent presentation in the product and a useful class.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A little more detail on the class would've been appreciated, or even a sample NPC from the prestige class. Consideration for epic level play should've been included given the entry requirements and the 10 level prestige class. A few strong-looking abilities that might unbalance certain campaigns. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The Elemental Dimension of Magic: Spells of Glory is a short 7 page pdf product that presents a number of new spells from the Jeshatan, a race of creatures from the Elemental Dimension of Magic. Glory is one of the twelve great schools of magic of the Jeshatan. This product features Glory spells, and is the sixth product in the line of products detailing various spells from the Jeshatan schools of magic.

Spells of Glory comes as a single pdf file. There are no bookmarks or a table of contents, but that doesn't matter so much for a short pdf with only 4 pages of content. A basic front and back cover are included, although there is no interior art to speak of, apart from simple bordering. Editing and generally writing are poor, with numerous editing errors contained within the product. Short products should certainly aim to do better, and it was disappointing to see so little care had been taken with the product. Two spells even shared the same name. Mechanics of the numerous spells is very weak as well, with incomplete, incorrect, or generally just clumsy spells being written up that barely make it into the d20 framework for spells. Editing of the mechanics to bring it more in line with the core rules would be much appreciated for this product. Generally, a poor presentation that could've been done a lot better.

The pdf starts with a brief one paragraph introduction to the product and the Plane of Glory. It's enough to get one started, but it would've been nice to see something more written about it, perhaps just a one page overview of the Jeshatan and the Elemental Dimension of Magic. Following this, the product delivers the spells of Glory contained in the product. There are twelve spells in total in this product, including three epic spells which are grander and more powerful versions of other spells contained within the product. There is a spell for each level, mainly focused on the bard and sorcerer/wizard classes. The spells focus on the theme of Glory, meaning that these are the spells for heroes and the like.

The spells themselves are not the best, mainly because of the lack of care taken with mechanics, balance and editing in general. Getting the idea behind the spell is one thing, but reworking it to make it more playable is another. The spells cover a wide variety of different things, and at least that counts in this products favor. You have spells dealing blasts of Glory, others creating illusionary worlds of Glory, and others yet capturing a magnificent performance of a bard in a box for later use. The concepts of the spells are probably quite useful, but I would imagine that some reworking would be required for most of them. Almost all the spells also require some amount of beer as a material component, presumably something of a morale-boosting ingredient?

Overall this product is somewhat disappointing. There are some useful concepts, but execution is generally weak and makes it difficult to appreciate what had been done. For a short pdf, a lot more care could've been taken, the spells could've been written correctly, and more attention been given to getting them right from a mechanical point of view. Disappointing product.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: A few useful and interesting ideas, and the product sticks roughly to the Glory theme. It's always useful to see a few epic spells in any product.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Poor presentation, mechanics, editing and writing. Some additional information on the Jeshatan would've been useful, and a tidy up of the mechanics much needed.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Poor<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

Grimoire: Enchantment is a 33 page pdf product for the d20 system. This product focuses on magic and in particular the magical school of enchantment. The aim is to provide the specialist enchanter, or other spellcasters using enchantment spells, with additional tools and spells to expand their repertoire in game. This is a standalone product from Dark Quest Games, and doesn't form part of any particular line or series of products.

The product comes as a single pdf file which includes a cover as a separate image file. There is no table of contents, but a very useful index is included at the back of the product to help you find a particular spell, even more useful given that the product contains no bookmarks. Layout and presentation is fairly simple, with a rudimentary blue border surrounding the pages, and a scattering of sidebars that include more detail on a number of issues as well as multiple adventure seeds and other ideas. There is very little interior art, unless you want to count the sidebar headings or border art as art, and that which is there is in the same monochrome color scheme as the product borders. Editing and writing is generally good, as is the mechanics, but this is a relatively average product when it comes to presentation.

Grimoire: Enchantment is a product for those mages and other spellcasters that prefer to use a less flashy approach to magic - namely enchantment. This product contains a large number of new spells for the enchantment school of magic, and most of these spells are usable by a wide variety of different classes, including bards, wizards and sorcerers, clerics, rangers, paladins and druids. There's a good range of spells as far as spell level is concerned, although more bottom heavy than top heavy, with there being only one 9th level spell for wizards and sorcerers.

The product starts by providing a brief introduction to the product and the school of enchantment, as well as the nature of a grimoire. It then provides a long list of all the spells in the product with a brief description of each spell, before plunging into the spells themselves. Each spell comes complete with all the mechanical details required, but also includes several lines at the start of the spell as a story line for a specific situation where the spell is used. This adds a little bit more flavor to the spell, and guides the reader as to the intent of the spell.

The spells themselves are all generally fairly average and in most cases not terribly inventive. You have the mind-affecting buffs, which are similar to the physical buffs such as bull's strength, except that they affect a person's state of mind. Other spells are versions of spell already contained in the core rules, and many spells simply adjust by bonus or penalty a creature's skill checks. Given the roleplaying potential of the enchantment school of magic, one would've hoped to see something more in this area, although spells like Immortal Love, a 9th level spell that compels love, does offer some interesting opportunities. There are a number of new spells that spellcasters will find useful though, and most fans of the enchantment school of magic will find something they like that doesn't duplicate other spells or provide rather uninteresting mechanical benefits such as skill improvements or penalties, or ability score improvements or penalties.

Grimoire: Enchantment is by no means a bad product - it contains a lot of useful material, but doesn't really cover any new ground, merely rehashing old concepts or expanding a little on other ideas. Most gamers will find something useful in here, although should not expect to be overawed by the contents of the product. A decent product with a rather simple presentation, but useful nonetheless for expanding enchantment in one's game.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This is a decent product with some useful material that'll expand on the school of enchantment for any gamer's spell library. Expands nicely on some areas of enchantment to offer more roleplaying opportunities.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Presentation wasn't the best, and a lot of the spells weren't particularly unique or interesting.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Travels and Troubles: Bizarre Bestiary is a short 8 page d20 pdf. This product is the first in a series of products that aims to detail the new, different and memorable, be it a place, a person, an item or a creature. This first product presents three new monsters and templates for the d20 game. The product is written in the style of a medieval period book (published in the mid-14th century) entitled 'The Travels of Sir John Mandeville'. This book details the travels of a supposed knight and includes fantastical places, creatures and descriptions. This product, on the other hand, is the journal of a gnome adventure, and aims to do the same by providing DMs with the truly fantastic.

The product comes as a single pdf file, and being short, does not contain any bookmarks or table of contents. The layout and design is simple, and the only piece of art is a background piece on the front page. All-in-all the presentation is pretty standard stuff for a short pdf, and about what one would expect. What I did not expect was the poor editing, and in particular the poor mechanics. The pdf looks like it's been written, not bothered being checked, and just published as is. It could use some significant editing here and there, and in particular the mechanics which contains many errors, incomplete mechanics, and lacking in detail. Very disappointing to see a short product that should've been done right, particularly given the premise, come out so weak.

The product is presented as an excerpt from a book, 'The True and Accurate Travels of Sir Snaverous Longfellow', published by a gnome adventurer. It details three new creatures that the gnome has encountered on his travels, and is written from the gnome's perspective, often in a very humoress and flippant style. The three new creatures are actually one creature and two new templates, being the hungyr, prophesy beast and faul respectively. Each creature is presented with a brief introduction of where it was encountered and what it looks like, followed by statistics and a number of plot hooks, the latter again often being quite flippant in their writing.

Mechanics aside, the write-ups of the creatures are decent. I'm not sure I'm convinced that these creature are fantastical enough to make it into everybody's game, but there are some interesting ideas. The hungyr is a violent and aggressive beast, good for fighting and combat, while the faul and prophesy beast are more intriguing. The latter is a divine messenger of the gods, be it for good or evil, while the faul is a seductive and dangerous tempter. The two templates are interesting, and have some potential for interesting roleplaying, once you've managed to sort out the poor mechanics and wording behind the concepts.

Overall a disappointing product, mainly because of the editing and mechanics that look to be hastily thrown together. The hungyr is nothing special, and while the two templates offer some interesting possibilities, they're not presented in the best possible way. I think the premise is interesting, and it's worth exploring this series further, but I'd hope there'd be significant improvement in the quality of the products in future releases.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The two templates offer some interesting roleplaying opportunities, and some of the humor in the product was appreciated.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Poor editing and mechanics really spoil the good material in the product that there is.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

City Guide: Darkside is a 40 page d20 pdf product. This product is the fifth product in Dark Quest Games' successful City Guide series and features a number of locations which would be found on the darker or more seedy side of any city or town. City Guide: Darkside presents 16 unique locations to use in your city or town adventures, and they should be suitable to any fantasy campaign setting.

The product comes as a single, fully-bookmarked pdf file, and includes a handy table of contents as well. The look and presentation of the product is good, enhanced by some very good art, mostly, apart from the cover, black and white sketches. Editing and layout is good as well, with each page framed by a timber border. There are a number of errors in the stat blocks, covering the entire range from attack bonuses to languages known. Most are relatively minor, though, and some stat blocks are relatively error free. Writing is excellent and vivid, creating a imaginative description of a location and its people. A solid product from a presentation point of view.

City Guide: Darkside contains a number of different locations that are aimed at the more seedy part of a town or city. While this was the apparent aim, a lot of the locations are in fact not that seedy, and could be used equally well in any other part of the city. In that the product doesn't appear to achieve its goal, and certainly some of the locations could've been given a more sinister feel to them. Of the 16 locations and streets, there are a number of different types of places, from those working in information, to taverns, to shops, to barbers, to monasteries, to guilds, and various dark and dangerous streets. The latter are by far the better, being more on the darker and messy side of things, creating an atmosphere for the PCs more than in other locations.

Each entry in the product contains a description and history of the location and exterior of the location, followed by interior descriptions, other pertinent details, full statistics and mechanics for inhabitants, and lastly a number of adventure hooks associated with each location. I found the description imaginative and rich, with some interesting places, although as mentioned earlier perhaps not all fitting the context of the product so well. NPCs are interesting and useful, whether or not you use them along with the location or just as an NPC in another store or location in your city. In places NPC classes such as Looney, Goon, Harlot or Vagabond are used, and while the pdf refers you to a NPC Classes section, none such section exists in the product.

Overall, this is a good product with some imaginative content and very useful locations and streets. The locations don't always fit there theme, but should be useful nonetheless for any town or city based adventure or campaign. There's a good variety and something for everyone to enjoy, and most of the locations contain some sort of interesting spin that is different from the norm. A well thought-out product with good material.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: City Guide: Darkside presents 16 useful and varied location for the seedy part of a town or city. The locations are detailed and imaginative, with interesting encounters to entertain your PCs.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some minor editing errors such as statistics and the missing NPC Classes section that gets referred to in the text. Some of the locations could've fit the 'dark' them a bit better.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Renegade Wizard's Spellbook is a 258 page d20 pdf product and the first volume in Mongoose Publishing's Expert Player's Guide series, the other two products being Renegade Cleric's Tome and Epic Monsters. Each product in the series is a compilation of OGL material taken from an expansive selection of different products, and updated to the revised 3.5e core rules. Renegade Wizard's Spellbook contains a staggering number of new spells for arcane spellcasters, including bards and assassins. The product was originally released as a print product, with this being a pdf version of said print product.

The product comes as a single pdf file. Unfortunately, probably since it is derived from a print product, it contains no bookmarks, something that severely hinders the navigation through the pdf. Being able to jump through at least a set of alphabetised bookmarks would've made reading the pdf and finding material a lot easier. Layout is well done, with each page containing a full frame as a border, and the spells arranged in two columns across the page. Artwork is very good and generally plentiful throughout, although some of the pieces suffer from low resolution, making them appear very grainy on a high resolution screen.

Editing and writing is generally good as well, particularly considering the revisions required and the large amount of material used from different sources. Some of the mechanics doesn't convert so well, and could perhaps be described as clumsy, but one wouldn't necessarily expect all the spells in the volume to work perfectly. There are some good spells, but some equally bad ones, but for the most part this remains an extremely useful collection of spells for any arcane spellcaster. Some of the editing could've been more consistent, particularly with spell details. Minor things include saving throws being described in one instance as 'Fortitude half' and in another instance 'Fort half', and the use of 'armour' rather than the more standard 'armor' used in all official core products.

One nice feature of the product is that it contains an appendix with all the additional information and stat blocks required to make full use of the material in this pdf. So, for example, if a spell summons or creates particular creatures, their statistics are included. As expected, the product makes extensive use of OGL material from over 60 sources, some of them excellent products from very good publishers.

The products starts by presenting a brief introduction followed by a useful section containing all the additional rules material related to the spells in the pdf. This includes new subschools of magic, new descriptors, new areas of effect (mobile emanations and spirals, for example) and the like, and expands quite nicely on the already existing core rules. The complete spell lists with brief descriptions follow next, containing spells for assassins (not that many, unfortunately), bards, sorcerers and wizards. The latter two classes get the lions share of spells, although about half of those are applicable to bards as well.

The pdf contains more than 200 pages worth of spell descriptions, and probably contains at least 500 spells. There is truly something for everyone in here, and I'm very pleased that this monumental task got done. There are some old favorite spells in there, lots of new and useful ones, and others that have been handily converted. This is an extremely valuable resource for players and DMs alike, and I fail to see how anyone won't be able to make use of this product and the spells it contains, particularly given the bunch of new material that it introduces in terms of magic as mentioned earlier. The conversions are generally very well done, and certainly slot nicely into the 3.5e core system. As mentioned, some are still a little clumsy, but that's by far the minority.

With more than 500 spells in this product, each school of magic and each level gets roughly equal representation. This makes the pdf useful at all levels of play. Some spells will be familiar in their function but appear under another name - this is understandable given the vast amount of OGL material out. Overall I think this is a very impressive and useful collection, hindered here and there by lack of proper navigation through the pdf, and the occasional clumsy conversion. None of that will stop me recommending this product as a worthwhile, and excellent value for money, product with extensive utility.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Excellent and very large collection of spells to expand your game with, and all generally neatly converted to 3.5e core rules. Good presentation and art, and welcome additional material for the arcane spellcasting arsenal.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Lack of navigation in the pdf is a bit of a problem, and a set of bookmarks would've been really useful. Some minor editing quirks and mechanical conversions.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Adventurer Essentials: Holy Water is a short 7 page pdf product for the d20 system. This product is the first in Skortched Urf' Studios' new line of Adventurer Essentials products. Each product in the series aims to examine those essential items that adventurers frequently use or require during the course of any dungeon crawl or adventure. This first product looks at holy water, the bane against undead and evil outsiders.

The product comes as a single pdf file without any bookmarks. The latter though shouldn't be a problem considering the short length of the product. Only 5 pages of content are included, but there is a nice little cover for the product, and it contains some simple yet welcome interior art of the various containers typically containing the different types of holy water in the pdf. Writing and editing is good, although some introductory text on the pdf (not its content) would've been welcome. Overall, a pleasing presentation and a good start to this line of products.

This product is all about holy water. It starts by presenting a brief history of holy water, and its somewhat contrived discovery at the hands of an elven priest. Then it proceeds to dive into discussing the various ingredients of holy water, most notably water, silver and the blessing of a deity. I found this an interesting read, with some useful titbits that could make something considered to be just a weapon have a little more history and flavor to it. The descriptive text also gives enough information to have you thinking about variants of holy water beyond those presented in this product. The product, unfortunately, does not deal with, for example, unholy water for evil characters, or any particular tactics regarding the use of holy water, though in the latter case one would expect them to be rather self-explanatory.

Adventurer Essentials presents a number of new variant and magical holy waters that can be used by an adventuring party. There are some interesting and good ideas here, from holy water that can turn various creatures, to holy water that is particularly effective against certain undead creatures. Magical holy waters are all based on a similar formula, that of the holy water removing from a creature one of its special attacks or abilities for a limited duration. For example, the holy water of freedom prevents a ghoul's paralysis from affecting anybody. The other holy waters prevent similar abilities in undead and evil outsiders, those creatures normally affected by holy water. The product also contains a mundane item, the aspergillum, for sprinkling multiple doses of holy water, and several magical artifacts that can be used to create holy water by merely touching water.

This is a good little pdf. It provides some interesting and useful new material, and expands a little on a single item that most adventurers use at some point in their careers. Presentation and writing is good, and you get enough content to make the product worth its value. On the negative side, perhaps the product could've been more complete by including perhaps unholy water or tactics using holy water, or more pertinently creating a wider variety of magical items, rather than a bunch of items around the same formula. Overall, a solid product and good value for money.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This product contains some interesting ideas, and it expands on holy water to give it a little more flavor. Some useful mundane and magical items, as well as variant holy waters. Solid presentation.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A wider variety of different types of holy waters would've been interesting, as would perhaps some additional information to fill out the product a little more.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>