The ?Dungeon Dive? series are intended to be used by dungeon masters that need a map to go along with their plot. ?The Necromancer?s Lair? includes three small maps together on one page. (A map of the ground floor, the lower level, and the adjoining caverns.) These three maps total 20 numbered areas. In addition to the map itself, this product contains room descriptions, traps, creatures, and treasure. The final five pages of this 51 page product contain only the Open Game License information.

As is customary with this product line, this ?dive? is written so as to present the dungeon master with three different power levels. A low level which, for example, has a trap of CR 4; a medium level which increases the CR of that trap to 10; and the high level which again increases that CR to 11.

Each area contains a text box so that dungeon masters can read them aloud to their players as they enter the area. This product will be fairly easy to incorporate into a gaming session of a running campaign.

I was happy to see that the formatting style of the text boxes has returned to being a shaded area. The shaded area is a much better choice for anyone that will read the text boxes from a print out of the product.

The area descriptions are broken into three sections; the ground floor, the lower level, and the caverns. I am quite pleased with the substance of this ?dive?. I continue to urge that the maps be made a more prominent part of the product. Placing all three maps on one page necessarily limits the size and detail of each. Three larger (larger in scale) maps would increase the usefulness of this product. It would allow for the details in the map to be more explicit and greatly increase flexibility in the use of the maps, especially for those dungeon masters that would use this product electronically during gaming. (Whether face to face or online.) There are a handful of traps described which will slow down the charging plans of the hardest headed party. Each trap is described at the three different difficulty levels.

Following the encounter descriptions there is a section which provides background information on the creatures used in ?Dungeon Dive 4" from third party Open Game Content products. The section begins by explaining their decision to only provide the information required to run the encounters as written and invites interested readers to obtain the original source.

Following the creature backgrounds is an ?Additional Material? section. It begins with a listing of spells used in ?Dungeon Dive 4" but do not appear in the core rules. It then lists feats which are not available in the core rules.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with this product. My only concerns, which I?ve mentioned in earlier reviews of ?Dungeon Dive? products, is that there is no player?s version of the map and no option to ?deselect? those ?DM only? icons so that a player?s version can be used. This would be especially useful for those dungeon masters that might use a product such as this electronically during gaming. (Whether face to face or online.) This in combination with making the maps available in a larger scale, would ensure that ?Dungeon Dive? products would be of optimal use. However, ?Dungeon Dive 4: Necromancer?s Lair? is an interesting adventure with great built in flexibility thanks to the notes for running the adventure at three different power levels. The underlying concept is a good one and the presentation is straightforward.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Helpful tool.
2. Interesting combination of creatures and situations.
3. Interesting and straight forward method of scaling difficulty.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
4. Only one version of the map which includes symbols that must be concealed from players.
5. Maps could?ve been enlarged for more flexibility in use and increased detail. It is always better to scale down a map than to have to zoom in!<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Reviewing a product that packages the SRD is interesting. In some sense, since the information is freely available, the product?s success hinges on making the SRD useful to the user. The Complete SRD Ruleset stays focused on that goal as it packages the SRD for use withing Fantasy Grounds.

The default d20 Ruleset that comes with Fantasy Grounds contains the following divisions at the top level of hierarchy: Character options, Reference, and House Rules.

Character options contains the following divisions: Races, Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, and Wizard.

Reference contains: Armor, Weapons, Feats, and Common Modifiers.

With the Complete SRD Ruleset the top level of hierarchy contains the following divisions: d20 System Reference and Quick Reference.

D20 System Reference contains the following divisions: Basic Rules, Races, Classes, Skills, Feats, Combat, Equipment & Gear, Adventuring, Spells, Psionics, Monsters, and Divine Characters.

Quick Reference contains the following divisions: Characters, Skills, Feats, Combat, Adventuring, Equipment, Spells, Psionics, Credits & Legal, and Common Modifiers.

A quick review will reveal that the Complete SRD Ruleset contains much more information than the default d20 ruleset which comes with Fantasy Grounds. For example, while the default ruleset lists eleven core classes in the Character options section; the Complete SRD has a list in the corresponding area which includes a link to the information on those classes. That greater detail is exactly the rationale behind using the Complete SRD Ruleset. (Lovers of psionics can rejoice!)

In truth, this product highlights that the default d20 Ruleset is not a ruleset. Anyone attempting to run a d20 game through Fantasy Grounds with the default d20 Ruleset will, inevitably, have to refer to an outside source, such as the SRD or a hardcopy of a rule book. To be sure, no ruleset is required to use Fantasy Grounds to run a campaign. There are certainly groups running campaigns in Fantasy Grounds without creating a ruleset for their game system of choice. In fact, I have played in a couple of campaigns that did not use a ruleset, but instead used outside materials as reference. (Hard copies of rule books, PDFs of rule books, online SRD, etc.) However, for those that use d20 and want to have all of this information presented from within Fantasy Grounds, the Complete SRD Ruleset provides your first opportunity to make that a reality.

This product takes the entire SRD and presents it to the user so that the entire campaign can be contained within Fantasy Grounds. Digital Adventures has done a good job of using the ruleset functionality provided by Smiteworks and ensuring that d20 gamers have an actual ruleset to use.

As an example of the organization of the Complete SRD Ruleset, let me describe the contents of the ?Combat? page mentioned above as being present in the ?Quick Reference? section. It contains the following 10 tables: Size Modifiers; Actions in Combat; Tactical Speed; Creature Size and Scale; Attack Roll Modifiers; Armor Class Modifiers; Special Attacks; Common Armor, Weapon, and Shield Hardness and Hit Points; Turning Undead; and Two Weapon Fighting Penalties. These can be very handy during a session. For example, if the DM needs to look up what is the attack roll modifier for an entangled character, the DM simply opens up the ?Attack Roll Modifiers? table and takes a quick peek. Without the Complete SRD Ruleset, the DM must look it up in a rule book or some other source outside of Fantasy Grounds.

By the way, the Complete SRD Ruleset contains over six hundred entries in the list of monsters! (This counts all the subsets of the creature ?families?, such as dragons, elementals, etc.) Feel free to rub your hands in evil glee or cringe with fear, depending on which side of the DM screen you sit on!

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Completes the SRD for those that want it inside Fantasy Grounds.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

?Master Performers: Sourcebook for Bards, Rogues and Assassins? is a forty-nine page PDF document focused on presenting new feats (20) and classes (14) for the artists and performers populating your campaign. The forty-nine pages includes a one page cover, one page devoted to credits, nine full page images, and the last page is devoted to the Open Game License. Unfortunately, this product does not contain any PDF bookmarks. It also lacks a table of contents.

It should be noted that some of the classes are written with gender requirements which follow the stereotypical or historical (cultural) basis for the class. As always, individual dungeon masters are free to modify anything to fit their campaign.

1. Introduction This short section is comprised of the text which appears on this product?s main page at RPGNow.

2. New Feats This section presents descriptions, in the traditional format, for twenty feats. Lovers of the bard class will find inspiration which should result in weeks of creative activity; whether it be song, dance, or something else entirely. Seven of these feats are related to bardic music, two of them are related to the inspire courage ability, and two of them enhance the function of the bardic music abilities practiced by the character. An example of one of the new bardic music abilities allows the bard to daze another creature, similar to the way the fascinate ability works.

The remaining feats are thematically related and cover academic knowledge, the perform skill, two of the feats improve on the alertness feat, and three of the feats focus on communication.

For those looking to expand the pool of feats that are available in their campaign, this product may be of interest for the diversity of subjects covered besides additional martial abilities.

1. The Casanova This prestige class will satisfy those that want their character concept as a womanizer to go beyond the personality development available through role play opportunities. The ten level progression for this prestige class includes seven different special abilities, including three of which improve at least once during the progression after first obtaining the special ability. The main focus of the class is the casanova?s ability to win over another humanoid of the opposite sex. Given that focus, this prestige class relies heavily on the Diplomacy and Bluff skills. Anyone that is interested in running a heavily social campaign might consider this prestige class an important component. Even if the players do not utilize the casanova class, the NPCs may be able to make entertaining use of it.

2. The Carnival Freak This prestige class moves out into the odd performer arena and leaves the world of romance far behind. The ten level progression includes eight different special abilities, including three of which improve at least once during the progression after first obtaining the special ability. In addition, two of the special abilities build upon one of the previously gained special abilities. The main focus of the class is the carnival freak?s acceptance and leveraging of his or her grotesque physical appearance. For example, carnival freaks use their appearance to impose a moral penalty on their opponents, cause panic, or cause fear. Five times during the progression the carnival freak?s body mutates and requires the carnival freak to modify ability scores. This one special ability appears, even with the required penalty, to result in incredibly strong characters if not further modified.

3. The Coryphee The coryphee class attempts to embody the results of a woman?s true dedication to the performance of dance within the world of street performers. The ten level progression includes seven different special abilities, including two of which improve at least once during the progression after first obtaining the special ability. Not surprisingly, the main focus of the class is based on physical movement. For example, a coryphee can, through dance, enhance her dodge bonus with one of the special abilities, cause fascination, or strike a mortal blow. There are two special abilities that relate to her social presence and allow her to distract an opponent and to gain a bonus to the social skills, such as Bluff.

4. The Envoy While the coryphee may dabble in social skills, this prestige class is dedicated to them. The ten level progression includes eleven special abilities, including one which improves at least once during the progression after first obtaining the special ability. This class uses a number of special abilities that are familiar from the core rules. These include bonus language, persuasive, evasion, and trapfinding. Of the special abilities, only the one that improves during the progression is directly combat related. One special ability allows the envoy to conceal his or her alignment and the remaining abilities impact on social skills (such as gathering information).

5. The Geisha This prestige class presents a female companion from an Asian tradition. The ten level progression includes seven special abilities, including four of which improve at least once during the progression after first obtaining the special ability. In addition, this prestige class is a spellcaster; with a chart for known spells and spells per day for the ten level progression. An interesting core skill included in the geisha progression is sneak attack. The geisha includes some odd factors in the progression, such as a special ability that affects armor class only against male opponents or another that acts as a Charm Person spell but can only target males. Three of the special abilities relate to disguise or the social arena. This class will assuredly require some attention from the dungeon master to ensure interesting game play.

6. The Gypsy This prestige class is based on the tradition of nomads familiar to most. Specifically, the gypsy focuses on the individuals in that nomadic tradition with the ability to foresee the future; and is therefore another spellcasting prestige class with a spells per day chart and a known spells chart. The ten level progression includes ten special abilities, including four of which improve at least once during the progression after first obtaining the special ability. The gypsy progression includes the Track feat from the core rules. The remaining special abilities revolve around deception, survival, and seeing the future.

7. The Harlequin This prestige class presents the prankster harlequin as a lethal, concealed bodyguard. The harlequin ten level progression actually appears in the chart in the kabuki prestige class section. The chart in the harlequin section actually serves the kabuki prestige class.

The ten level progression includes five special abilities, four of which improve at least once during the progression after first obtaining the special ability. The core special ability that this prestige class revolves around involves the mask which harlequin class members wear. Each of the five special abilities has a component that would be beneficial in combat.

1. The Kabuki This prestige class adds another performer based prestige class, but with an Asian flavor. The heading of this prestige class is misformatted as the font is not the same as the other class name headings. This is makes it easy to bypass the kabuki when flipping through looking for it based on the expected formatting of the text. Also, as mentioned earlier, the kabuki ten level progression actually appears in the chart in the harlequin prestige class section. The chart in the kabuki section actually serves the harlequin prestige class.

The ten level progression includes eight special abilities, three of which improve at least once during the progression after first obtaining the special ability. Much like the harlequin, this prestige class is focused on combat abilities, such as an ability for a lethal attack and another which allows a kabuki to draw a weapon quickly.

1. The Maestro This prestige class builds on the musical tradition begun with the core bard class. The ten level progression includes five special abilities, including two of which improve at least once during the progression after first obtaining the special ability. The maestro prestige class expands on the bardic music abilities of the bard class with six abilities, such as the Augment Performance and Extend Presentation abilities. In addition, the maestro gains ten spellcaster levels from a previous class during the ten level progression.

2. The Mimic

This prestige class is crafted around the concept of disguise and is built around the ability to assume the form of another, including possibly impersonating an individual. The ten level progression includes three special abilities, including two of which improve at least once during the progression after first obtaining the special ability. The central ability allows the mimic to assume the form of another creature. There are three improvements of the central ability that expand the pool of potential creatures that the mimic can take the form of. In addition, the class has the ability to utilize the special abilities of the creature or class that they are imitating. This ability is limited to a certain number of uses per day. The mimic is an interesting class based around the popular ?shape changing? concept. It should be noted that the campaign must be receptive to the class as it contains no combat related special abilities beyond the copycat ability mentioned above.

1. The Partisan This prestige class revolves around the traditional organizer / recruiter / agent / publicist. These are the recruiters that expand the ranks of their organization or the organizer that successfully stages the protest rally. The ten level progress includes five special abilities, including two of which improve at least once during the progression after first obtaining the special ability. The central ability grants the partisan special defensive bonus, making the partisan a difficult target. There are two improvements of the central ability which increase the ways which the defensive focus impacts on the partisan and allies. Three of the special abilities relate to the partisan?s ability to influence others through well chosen words and playing to emotional state of the audience.

2. The Puppeteer This prestige class establishes the nexus between the world of puppeteers as entertainment and the study of arcane magic. The ten level progression includes six special abilities, including one which improves three times after first obtaining the special ability. One of the abilities also has an improved form which results in a buff involving the ?puppets? used by the puppeteer. Most of the abilities revolve around the ability to animate mundane objects and mold them into life like objects. Besides gaining this ability, the puppeteer can use the puppets to entertain and to provide protection. In addition, the puppeteer gains five spellcaster levels for a previous class during the ten level progression. Also, the puppeteer progression includes, from the core rules, Hide in Plain Sight.

3. The Seductress As you can imagine, this prestige class is all about the women that can, through mundane or magical means, charm and confuse men. As a spell casting prestige class it contains its own spells per day table and spells known table. The ten level progression includes eight special abilities, including two of which improve at least once during the ten level progression. An important special ability for this prestige class revolves around causing confusion. This ability uses the confusion spell to guide the mechanics. This special ability has two improved forms which are obtained later in the progression which extend the duration of the confusion effect and increase the number of targets available.

4. The Thespian The flavor of the dramatic actor is presented through this prestige class. The ten level progression includes eleven special abilities, including two of which improve at least once during the ten level progression. The mix of special abilities available to the thespian is great. For example, some of them involve a bonus to the time required to take off / put on equipment or a disguise, a bonus to attempts at donning a disguise, an ability to distract based on a dramatic performance, and an ability to change the attitude of another toward the thespian.

Overall, these classes present interesting options that could certainly benefit the right campaigns. They are each quite different so I believe it would be quite challenging to use all of these prestige classes. If any of the descriptions sound like they might work in your campaign, you will likely find some interesting suggestions. At the very least, you should be able to modify some of these prestige classes to better suit your campaign as a time saving tool.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Interesting options.
2. Variety. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
3. Lack of bookmarks in PDF document.
4. Lack of table of contents.
5. Formatting errors. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The ?The Core Specialist Wizard? series is an interesting concept. It is meant to present specialist wizards as a core, 20 level class. They basically try to ?kick it up a notch? by making the specialists more distinctive than is possible with the core system. In this product, the author focuses on the specialist in the transmutation school of magic. This school of magic focuses on altering the properties of the target of the spell, usually a creature or an object.

Each of the main sections of ?The Transmuter: The Core Specialist Wizard? are discussed below.

The ?Specialist and Multi-classing? section simply states the rules for multi-classing any character that uses the proposed variant specialist wizard rules. As I?ve said in reviews of the previous products in this series, this section seems quite well thought out to ensure consistency with a particular campaign, though, as with most things of this nature, the final word will rest to the individual dungeon masters of the world that have a certain ?flavor? they are striving for.

The ?New Feats? section describes seven new feats in the typical format. Also included is a table listing the feat name and the prerequisites. Unfortunately, it does not include a short description of the feat?s purpose as can be found in the analogous ?core? table. With only seven new feats, this missing element is not as critical as if there were a few more feats. All seven of the feats are ?specialist? feats which have class restrictions of various levels. For example, a prerequisite of two levels in transmuter.

Generally, the seven feats correspond well with the transmutation school of magic. Two feats appear in other products of this series, one allows the caster to learn spells from a prohibited school of magic. The second feat that is repeated in other products affects the abilities of the caster?s familiar. This feat grants the familiar with an ability associated with the relevant school of magic in each product. Hence, in this product the ability associated with the transmutation school is presented. One of the other feats grants an improvement over the Eschew Materials feat, which is a prerequisite to obtaining the new feat. This is an interesting option to provide a means of expanding the group of spells that can be cast without reliance on expensive material components. Another feat enhances the character?s ability with respect to alchemical item creation. There is also a feat that gives the transmuter a ?favored enemy? with respect to being targeted with transmutation spells. Overall, the new feats provide an interesting array of options for developing a specialist spell caster.

?The Transmuter Core Class? section sets out the variant transmuter class in the traditional class format. This product includes two different sidebars that address some questions with the mechanics. These sidebars are likely to allow for a quicker assimilation of the mechanics as presented by most readers and should be commended. In addition, they can be used to discuss the ways the variant class compares to a core ?specialist?. The expansion of this concept to include a brief explanation of the process by which certain abilities were dropped, why certain abilities were changed, why the new content was adopted in the structure that appears would be quite useful.

The variant transmuter class presents well. It has a progression spread across most of the 20 levels. There are no specific transmuter skills that improve in the course of the progression. However, the progression allows for selection of special abilities so that not all transmuters will have the same class abilities. At first level the character gains an ability to substitute one spell component for another. At eleven levels the transmuter gains either a bonus spell or a bonus feat. At four levels, the transmuter can select from a list of class special abilities. This leaves four levels of the progression with no special ability.

There are seven special abilities available to transmuters to select from when they gain a special ability slot in the class progression. Six of the special abilities clearly carry the flavor of the transmutation school with modifications to everything from ability scores, to spells, to crafting. The seventh special ability allows the transmuter to select any feat.

The variant transmuter presented here is a strong addition to this series.

?The Fury PrC? section sets out this prestige class in the traditional format. The fury is a transmuter that requires a physical outlet for rage. Along with rage, this prestige class lists the special ability of shapechangers, ?alternate form?, as a requirement to gain entry. Central to this prestige class is the special ability that allows the character to partially transform into a weapon. This special ability improves twice during the 10 level progression. The fury also gains two special abilities that build on the rage ability that is a prerequisite to this prestige class. One of these special abilities allows the character to extend the length of the rage and the other allows the caster to use the rage special ability an additional time per day. The fury also gains five spell caster levels during the progression. Overall, the fury looks very interesting. This is a truly novel class concept among the core classes.

?The Morph Mage PrC? section sets out this prestige class in the traditional format. The morph mage is a transmuter that focuses on physically transforming into the form of another creature. The morph mage gains spell caster levels at five levels of the 10 level progression. In addition, there are ten different special abilities gained over the progression. Each of them expands the class of creatures that the morph mage can transform into. The morph mage, by becoming the creature, is a fairly interesting variant of the spell caster that summons creatures into battle.

?The Magic Items? section contains two entries which remain entirely true to the theme of transformation which, rightfully, runs throughout this product. The first magic item has the ability, for a limited time, to transform into any weapon type desired by the wielder. The second magic item transforms items placed within it into something else of equal or lesser value.

?The Alchemical Items? section contains five entries. The first is an object that causes anyone within range when the item is used to become dazzled. The second is a modification of a projectile which allows it to deal fire damage, as per alchemist?s fire, to the target of the attack. The third is an item that can be applied to surfaces and will glimmer when heated. The fourth is a liquid that, when imbibed, enhances the drinker?s movement speed. The last entry describes an item which is very similar to some modern fireworks. When used this item ?shoots? a small ball of light for a distance. Upon reaching the distance the ball ?explodes? and sheds light over a large area.

Overall, this product should prove to have some material attractive to most groups. The core class is a strong concept and should satisfy those interested in this school of magic. The list of special abilities which the variant transmuter can select from appears well prepared and is a highlight of this product. The prestige classes in this product provide a path for spell casters to move their abilities toward combat; one by focusing on physically becoming weaponry and the other by becoming a potentially lethal creature. ?The Transmuter? is a polished addition to this series of variant specialists.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. An interesting exploration of the transmutation school of magic.
2. Thoughtful variant class.
3. Two sidebars discussing aspects of the two prestige classes. I suggest this feature be expanded in future products. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

?A Flock of Foes? presents a wide variety of different modifications to the traditional creatures found in Wizard of the Coasts? Monster Manual, or the System Reference Document. In addition to the presentation of variant creatures, it contains an appendix focused on the creation of constructs based on other creatures present in the campaign setting. The appendix contains a portion revolving around raising the dead, which contains a slew of creatures of the zombie or skeleton varieties. By my count, there are just over 70 creatures in this bestiary, when those in the appendix are included.

?A Flock of Foes? is a 52 page product. This includes one page for the cover, one page for credits and copyright information, one page for the table of contents, one page for the introduction page (which includes information about the author and illustrators), two full pages of charts, one page for the Open Game License, and a one page back cover. There are eleven different illustrations contained in ?A Flock of Foes?, in addition to the cover image. Portions of all eleven images are available for viewing on the publishers web page. The publisher has placed a link in this products main page at RPGNow to the sample images.

Before purchasing this product, please review the two sample creatures available from the publisher?s website. This will give you an idea for the formatting and style of the creatures. The publisher has placed a link in this products main page at RPGNow. The two samples are Fallen Comtesse (Ghost <Human Aristocrat>) and The Baron of Stellwood Manor (Vampire <Human Adept>). Both of these sample creatures were made available around Halloween and, therefore, were selected due to their use of the ghost and vampire templates. That being said, I should note that, as a whole, this product does not focus on a Halloween theme.

Unfortunately, both of the sample creatures have the appearance of actually being individual NPCs. In some sense this is due to their being individual expressions of a template. It is, however, fairly simple to alter the name and relevant background to allow for reuse. Most of the creatures in this product are general presentations of a ?species? of creature, and are not specific individuals.

In order to provide a glimpse into the contents of ?A Flock of Foes?, here is a broad overview of the frequency that the following types appear in this product: (4), vampire (2), fiendish (3), half-fiend (4), half-dragon(4), celestial (3), half-celestial (3), ghost (6), lycanthrope (4), constructs (4), liches (3), skeletons (12), swarms (9), and zombies (11). Please note that some creatures fall under more than one category, such as a Half-fiend <Lycanthrope>. This product also does well by identifying when creatures have been modified by adding class levels or additional hit die.

The challenge ratings of the creatures contained in ?A Flock of Foes? falls over a pretty wide spectrum. Specifically, this product contains one CR 1/3 creature, five CR 1 creatures, four CR 2 creatures, ten CR 3 creatures, thirteen CR 4 creatures, three CR 5 creatures, ten CR 6 creatures, five CR 7 creatures, four CR 8 creatures, one CR 9 creature, three CR 10 creatures, three CR 11 creatures, three CR 12 creatures, three CR 13 creatures, one CR 14 creature, two CR 15 creatures, one CR 16 creature, and one CR 21 creature.

In addition, there are five ?rules flags? which identify points that have been modified from the core rules. The first deals with a modification of one type of creature?s damage reduction after application of the ghost template. The second presents a new monster feat used to ?bulk up? another creature. The third discusses how the implementation of the lycanthrope template was applied to a monstrous humanoid and acknowledges that this is a rule change. The fourth, once again, discusses the author?s application of the celestial template to a creature that is prohibited according to the core rules. The final ?rules flag? discusses the creation of a zombie with size colossal.

Overall, this is a worthy addition to any collection of beasts and critters. ?A Flock of Foes? admirably presents some of the possibilities available in creature variation through the use of templates and class levels. If you want a tool to lean on as you get comfortable with crafting your own variants, or you just want a timesaving resource, ?A Flock of Foes? will become a trusted part of your campaign preparation.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Delivers exactly as promised with no stumbles.
2. Flags the points where it deviates from core rules.
3. Inclusion of chart by CR and chart by advancement type. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
4. Rather than alternating shaded and unshaded rows in all the charts (including those required, for example, when the creature has multiple forms), the rows have consecutive shaded rows followed by consecutive unshaded rows.
5. Table of contents should be ordered alphabetically by creature name, rather than by the ?base? (core) creature name. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

?Arcane Classes: Wicca? is a seventeen page PDF document which presents the ?real life? magic of Wicca in a d20 format. Wicca is explained as a ?modern interpretation of the ?Old Religion? of the indigenous people of Northern Europe.?

The seventeen pages include the one page cover, one page of credits, one page with a table of contents, one page of advertising for other 93 Games Studio products, and one page for the Open Game License. There are four images, besides the cover and advertising, in the product. Two of them are pentagrams enclosed in a circle, one of them is an illustration of three robed figures standing before a smoking cauldron, and the last is an overhead image of a woman in a black hooded robe in a ?mystical? style.

?Arcane Classes: Wicca? begins with an introduction to Wicca. It describes the focus of worship and presents the images with symbolic value to Wiccan worshipers. It goes on to present a little history and the central tenet of the religion. The text of this product is divided into thirteen sections which are each briefly discussed below.

The Three-Fold Law This section is one paragraph that principle underlying the Wiccan magic system and ties it to the central Wiccan tenet presented in the introduction.

Holidays This is a slightly longer, though still short, section which presents the importance and relevance of holidays to the Wiccan calendar. It lists the eight important dates for easy reference.

The 13 Principles This section presents thirteen principles that Wiccan worshipers have adopted. These include statements concerning their reasons for practicing witchcraft, an explanation of the source of their power, an explanation of their worldview, and their position with respect to other religions.

Wiccans This three paragraph section describes the typical backgrounds of Wiccans. It touches upon their dress, their meetings, their titles, and their relationships.

Wiccan Tools This four paragraph section discusses material objects used for withcraft such as the witch?s athame (ritual knife) and elemental symbols.

Wiccan Rituals This two paragraph section describes the source of Wiccan power for their rituals and the forms in which the invocation rituals take. These include dance, chanting, or poetry.

Terminology This section defines thirty-one different terms relevant to witchcraft. These include athame, coven, grimoire, pentacle, and witch.

Wiccan This section presents the Wiccan advanced class for d20 Modern. It includes information on skills, allegience, and holy symbols. In addition, it presents the class information for the Wiccan advanced class, such as hit die, action points, class skills, and the class features. The level progression chart is presented for the ten levels of the Wiccan advanced class. At each of the ten levels the Wiccan character will gain spells and one additional class feature. These additional class features include, among other novel abilities, the ability to summon a familiar, bonuses to skills relevant to the witch?s empathic ?openness? to those nearby, and to craft magic items.

High Priestess This section presents the High Priestess prestige class. It includes the same format as described above. The High Priestess is a five level prestige class. The level progression includes a special ability at each of the five levels. These abilities include the ability to form a connection with a willing subject. This connection extends the High Priestess? magical effects to the subject. This ability improves twice in the level progression after initially gaining it. In addition, the High Priestess gains an enhanced ability to cast spells.

Wiccan Spells This section begins by listing each of the spells available on the Wiccan spell list for levels zero through five. There are nine 0 level spells, eleven 1st level spells, thirteen 2nd level spells, ten 3rd level spells, ten 4th level spells, and ten 5th level spells. In all, ten of the spells available to Wiccan practitioners are new spells which are subsequently described. These are all consistent with the overall feel of the Wiccan practices described earlier in the product. For example, one of the spells prevents the target from taking any action that causes any harm to another, including causing any negative status effects. This section also includes on Wiccan Incantation, which is a three day ritual that results in a buff with a duration of three days on the caster.

New Feats This section presents three new, relevant feats. The first identifies the character as the offspring of a witch, and is only available at character creation. The second enhances the character?s ability to brew potions. The last provides benefits to an ability and skills based on the character?s status as an ?old soul?, and is only available at character creation.

FX Items Five items are described in this section which are appropriate for a Wiccan practitioner. These include a cauldron, a small knife, a bracelet, a book of magic, and a small stone. Each item description includes information on it?s type, caster level, purchase DC, and weight. Four of the items are of type ?Wonderous Item (Magic)?, the fifth is of type ?Armor (Magic)?. The items bestow a variety of effects, including bonuses to skills and bonuses to saving throws.

Support Materials This section presents five websites that might be of interest to anyone interested in including witchcraft in their campaign.

Overall, this is an interesting product if you would like to enhance your campaign with witchcraft but you are unsure about your ability to correctly set the stage. Both classes, the spells, the feats, and the items are presented with the appropriate flavor for witchcraft.

The strength of the mechanics of this product end up highlighting the sparse treatment that the background flavor information were given. Most readers are likely to be unfamiliar with modern Wiccan practices. This barrier must be broken for an authentic and complete portrayal of these characters. As this product targets those interested in incorporating this modern aspect of witchcraft, the background introduction is likely something that many buyers will end up relying on. The identification of web sites with relevant information helps to soften this blow as there is sufficient information on the internet to satisfy the curiosity of most. Providing some more depth to the discussion included in the beginning of this product would reduce the number of purchasers that felt they had to do additional research to those looking for the most realistic portrayal of the practices of modern witchcraft. This product will disappoint those seeking a product that has done all the preparatory work and will not require consideration of some difficult questions, such as how does the moral code fit into the campaign world.

In the end, the flavorful campaign components presented here, when combined with at least a preliminary review of the suggested materials and some critical thinking, make the incorporation of witchcraft into your modern campaign simpler and more natural to the setting than might be as a result of an unguided first effort.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Consistently maintains promised flavor in the mechanics. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
2. Minimal presentation of background information. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

?Image Portfolio 1.18 Superheroes? is a collection of superhero art in a PDF file. In all there are twelve pages, with the cover and licensing each taking one full page, leaving ten full page images.

Each of the ten black and white images depicts a full body image of a superhero. The image that appears on the cover and is visible on this products main page at RPGNow is one of the ten images contained in the PDF file. It is representative of the superhero style of all of the ten images.

Eight of the ten images are of male characters. Four of them are masked and one of them is wearing dark sunglasses. The other three males are undisguised. Two of the images appear quite similar in their facial appearance. (One of them is the image on the cover.) Two of the ten images are of female characters. Neither of the women have any masks or disguising ?face gear?.

In a similar fashion to the image on the cover, each of the heroes appears to be engaged in some activity in the image. I will use the two women as examples. The first woman appears to be walking towards the viewer with her hands clenched in fists and partially raised. The second image of a women appears to be floating towards the viewer with her feet partially trailing behind and her open hands partially raised.

Publishers interested in specific information concerning the licensing agreement should contact the publisher of ?Image Portfolio 1.18 Superheroes? before purchasing. The terms of the license do vary somewhat. For example, the license permits for ?self-publishers? to use the images in a commercial product, but not for ?mainstream publishers?. It also allows for installation of the images on up to five machines at one location.

Overall, I think any of these images would work nicely in a published superhero book.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Consistent superhero style. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
2. Variable license. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

?Blades of Purpose? presents eleven different intelligent items inside it?s twelve pages. The last page is devoted to the Open Game License. The rest of the eleven pages is mainly text, with four images sprinkled throughout.

The eleven intelligent items consist of six weapons, four worn items, and one gem. Specifically, ?Blades of Purpose? includes the following item types:

scythe (the Moon?s Edge mentioned on the product?s main page at RPGNow) bracers axe shuriken kama gem (the Magus Gem mentioned on the product?s main page at RPGNow) longsword halfplate armor cloak shortsword headband

Each of the items contains a section devoted to appearance, game statistics, lesser powers, personality, and conflicts. Some items contain additional sections when relevant, such as greater powers, dedicated purposes, special powers, and item history.

The lesser powers are generally spell like abilities which function some number of times per day. Some of them include daze monster, hold person, major image, warp wood, detect magic, and bless. There are also continuous spell like abilities that appear as lesser powers. Additionally, some of the lesser powers provide bonuses to individual skills. Examples of the greater and special powers include some continuous spell like abilities and attribute bonuses.

For those dungeon masters interested in this product in order to save time in preparing for gaming sessions, the history section is a great benefit. The histories are interesting short stories which describe the setting of the item?s creation and subsequent events. During preparation, the dungeon master can simply incorporate the story and present a more completely thought out item than he or she might otherwise have time to create.

The personality section is great in helping to differentiate the individual intelligent magic items that are introduced into a campaign. Some of the items are quiet and some are very clearly...not! The personalities and histories presented here can certainly be modified to allow for reusing similar items in future campaigns.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Inclusion of personality and history information. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
2. Lack of a portrait version. (Download has two landscape versions, one of which is formatted to create a booklet.) <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

?Basic Classes: Apprentice? is a seven page product. It contains a full page cover, a full page listing of credits and company information, one page of advertising for other 93 Games Studio products, and the Open Game License occupies one page. That leaves three pages in which to present the apprentice class.

The presentation of this class begins with a ?Background? section. This section is the source for the text available on this products main page at RPGNow.

The class is then described in the typical modern format, including hit die, action points, class skills, skill points, and starting feats. The ?Class Features? which become available over the apprentice?s ten level progression are presented and described. The features include the ability of the apprentice to pursue advancement in four different talent trees; Craftman (3 components), Arcane (4 components), Divine (4 components), and Magical Fortitude (2 components). During the ten level progression the apprentice can pursue advancement in the talents every odd level. In addition, the apprentice gains bonus feats every even level, which must be selected from a list of eligible feats. Finally, this product presents a chart for the class in the standard class format; which includes base attack bonus, each of the three saves, features gained per level, defense bonus, and reputation bonus.

The Arcane and Divine talent trees are the primary sources of excitement for those looking to cast spells with a basic modern class. Those players interested in an arcane caster elect to pursue the Arcane talent tree and those interested in pursuing a divine caster will pursue the Divine talent tree. They each present the opportunity to learn spells with the first three components of their trees. The fourth component allows the apprentice to learn a spell like special ability with either an arcane or divine flavor. These trees provide an interesting set of options to players as they advance in level.

This is an interesting product that allows the more magically inclined modern players to immediately dabble in the magical arts. ?Basic Classes: Apprentice? accomplishes its goal admirably and should inspire some interesting characters in modern campaigns.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Interesting components to the talent trees.
2. Creative ideas behind the talent trees. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

?Overcasting: D20 Magic Variant? is a very focused four page product which sets out a system governing casting spells after a spell casting character has used up all available spell slots. Half of the first page is devoted to the cover image and the final page is devoted to the Open Game License, which leaves just over two pages of game content. The first half of the text on the first page sets out a short story about a spell caster that expends his last spell only to find that some enemies have survived.

The system presented in this product relies on the caster making the attempt having the Overcasting feat. In addition to requiring the feat, overcasting results in the caster losing experience points. The product then sets out the specific effects of overcasting on bards, clerics, druids, paladins, rangers, sorcerers, and wizards. These take effect after the resolution of the spell. The product presents six possible effects of overcasting and requires the player to roll 1d6 to determine which occurs. These effects range from saving throw penalties, temporary ability score damage, damage to a animal companion or familiar, loss of a spell slot, and permanent ability score damage. The mechanics presented provide the player with an opportunity to apply a modifier to the effects roll which reduces the severity of the effects or, if lucky on the roll, to eliminate the negative effect entirely.

The innovative dungeon master is likely, after reviewing the lists, to add additional effects. In fact, the product closes by suggesting six different rule variations, with each one making overcasting more and more costly or dangerous. The combination of the 1d6 roll to determine the negative effect of the overcasting and the possibility to apply a modifier to the roll make for a simple yet fairly random mechanic.

Overall, this is an interesting product which presents a simple yet elegant mechanism for something that every spell caster has wanted to do at some point. If you would like to include overcasting rules in your campaign but do not want to develop your own mechanics, this product presents a viable starting point.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Short and focused.
2. Development of a popular concept. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
3. Inclusion of superfluous short story as introduction for such a short product. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

?Armed and Dangerous? is a tightly focused product that should be easily identifiable as noteworthy by those with an interest in bringing more robust variations to the equipping of characters. The Open Game License requires one page of text. When the half page image on the front cover is taken into account, this product has just over six full pages of content. You can view the image on this products main page.

Mundane Weapon Special Property Descriptions Each special property is described with three paragraphs of text which is followed by a statement of the additional cost for adding the special property during item creation. At least one paragraph provides the default historical flavor text. This includes what race is renowned for crafting this property and some of the history behind its development. The second paragraph builds more of the history or describes the uniqueness of a weapon with the special property. The third paragraph identifies the property?s impact on game mechanics.

Each of the seven special properties are interesting and can make item creation and equipment selection more interesting. A devious dungeon master might also use some of these properties for the benefit of the players? adversaries.

Magical Weapon Special Ability Descriptions Each special ability is described with three paragraphs of text which is followed by the magic item creation notations in the format followed in the Dungeon Master?s Guide. This format consists of aura, caster level, prerequisites, and the weapon bonus equivalent used to ascertain the cost. The substance of the three paragraphs are divided similarly to the special properties descriptions.

The development of these eleven special abilities further expands the options available to the enterprising craftsperson. Some may find that not all of the special abilities are right for them. For example, rather than rely on the ?unbreakable? special ability, I would prefer to enhance the currently available item statistics, such as hardness. However, even the ?unbreakable? ability had me wondering about different ways to incorporate the destruction of items into a game session. Each of these concepts generates these thoughts and will likely result in some brainstorming of new scenarios.

Buyers should note that the heading for the ?Horrific? weapon special ability is not correctly formatted. At first glance you may assume it is missing, but it is contained in the product.

Overall, if you have an interest in expanding weapon features, this product is a shot in the arm. Given its brevity, it greatest benefit might be providing the impetus for developing your own lists of properties and abilities.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Very focused on weapons.
2. Delivers exactly what is promised.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
3. Some of the special abilities have the feel of feats, such as weapon stealing. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

?Born on the 8th Day? provides a complete system for a dungeon master that would like to incorporate astrology into the actual character creation process in a manner that is meaningful to the character. The system presented deals with the year of birth, the month of birth, the week of birth, and the day of birth. This product is six pages in length with half of the first page being used by the cover image and with the Open Game License taking up one page. (The sixth page only has the final four paragraphs of the OGL.) The PDF is presented in landscape and the pages are divided into three columns.

The product presents four tables for randomly assigning the year, month, week, and day of birth. It then lists how each of the four astrological aspects impacts on a character?s abilities. The system uses 8 years, 10 months, 4 weeks, and 8 days. A product solely focused on astrology really should provide an overly robust system so that individuals could trim it down with minimal effort if required. For example, it is much harder to expand this product to include an extra couple of months than to take out some of the months that have been presented.

A new skill, Knowledge (astrology), is introduced. Successful use of this skill allows the ?astrologist? to predict something about a person?s future.

A new feat is introduced which allows the character to ?power up? the special abilities granted by the four astrological aspects. These range from a number of spell like abilities to Skill bonuses and bonus feats.

?Born on the 8th Day? also presents a new series of magical books which provide a bonus during Knowledge (astronomy) checks. I can only assume that this item is meant to work with Knowledge (astrology). Nowhere else in this product is Knowledge (astronomy) referenced. This is an error that requires correction or, if it is not an error, it requires explanation.

If you would like to use a premade astrological system, this product does exactly what you want with no frills and no extras. It is bare and simple, so it should be attractive to those of you looking to keep complication to a minimum, despite wanting the added astrological system. Those of you looking for more indepth, complicated systems should look elsewhere. Also, note that there are minor errors in the product, but nothing that prevents comprehension.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Simple and short. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
2. The products use of only 8 different years and 10 months. A product focused on astrology should present a robust astrological setting that allows the reader to whittle it down to what is required for a particular setting. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

?Legendary Arms? presents 10 artifacts along with histories and multiple stats to allow for maximum flexibility by the dungeon master. This 22 page product does not contain a table of contents, but the PDF is bookmarked. Unfortunately, not all of the bookmarks direct you to the correct page. In addition to the artifacts, the product provides cards that can be given to players to facilitate the incorporation of the artifacts into gameplay.

The ten artifacts are of the following types: battleaxe, greataxe, scimitar, greatsword, composite shortbow, composite longbow, dagger, hand crossbow, heavy flail, and glaive. Each artifact is presented with a minor enchantment, a moderate enchantment, and a major enchantment. Depending on the power level of the campaign the dungeon master can select the most appropriate enchantment level.

The item cards are printed four to a page, therefore taking up two and a half pages. The item cards are meant to be given to players when they acquire the artifact. The card contains only some of the information presented about each item. Players can add information onto the card as they learn more about the artifact.

There are 24 lore cards which are also printed four to a page. The lore cards are intended to be given to players when they hear of the artifacts. Each card conveys the legend that the players have heard. The Open Game License covers the final two pages of this product.

Each item has at least one custom property in one of the three variations presented. These vary in creativity. Some examples of the types of some of these properties include: an ethereal weapon, granting the ability to cast a spell three times per day at an established caster level, and granting a bonus to skill checks.

Anyone interested in calculating each item?s information, such as cost to create or market price, should note that this product provides information for each custom properties. It does not actually provide the listed item ?notation? (as found in the Dungeon Masters Guide) for the three different enchantment levels of each artifact. The reader will have to calculate that information from the information provided using the Dungeon Masters Guide as a resource.

For those of you that do not like to concern yourself with customizing magic weapons, this product is a handy resource. You are likely to be able to use each item multiple times if your campaigns are set in different settings or if your campaign continues through a long span of player levels. Each of those situations would allow the dungeon master to introduce the same weapon at a different degree of enchantment. Simply rename the artifact and introduce. For maximum variability you could even simply alter the weapon type.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Simple presentation.
2. Cards are good idea for players requiring ?organization by DM?.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
3. Lack of magic item ?notation? following each artifact?s description.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The ?The Core Specialist Wizard? series is an interesting concept. It is meant to present specialist wizards as a core, 20 level class. They basically try to ?kick it up a notch? by making the specialists more distinctive than is possible with the core system. In this product, the author focuses on the specialist in the enchantment school of magic. This school includes mind affecting spells of two types; charm (alters how the target perceives the caster) and compulsion spells (forces the target to act in a prescribed manner or alters the target?s mental functions).

I have broken the review up to coincide with each content carrying section of this product.

The ?Specialist and Multi-classing? section simply states the rules for multi-classing any character that uses the proposed variant specialist wizard rules. As I?ve said in reviews of the previous products in this series, this section seems quite well thought out to ensure consistency with a particular campaign, though, as with most things of this nature, the final word will rest to the individual dungeon masters of the world that have a certain ?flavor? they are striving for.

The ?New Skill Uses? section creates a new Profession skill centered on hypnotism. Rather than focusing on earning a living based on this trade, the question of successfully hypnotizing another is addressed with a skill check. Once a hypnotic state is achieved the text presents eight results which the hypnotist can attempt. The results are set out in a chart with typical Difficulty Class for success. These results include some standard effects (such as suggestion) and some less standard ones that vary from instilling a bonus to a skill to recovering a spent spell after casting.

The ?New Feats? section describes 9 new feats in the typical feats format. Also included is a table listing the feat name and the prerequisites. Unfortunately, it does not include a short description of the feat?s purpose as can be found in the analogous ?core? table. With only nine new feats, this missing element is not as critical as if there were a few more feats. Seven of the feats are ?specialist? feats which have class restrictions of various levels. For example, a prerequisite of two levels in enchanter. The chart, which identifies the specialist feats with an asterisk, leaves one specialist feat unmarked despite correctly listing its prerequisites. Generally, the nine feats correspond well with the enchantment school of magic. Two feats appear in other products of this series, one allows the caster to learn spells from a prohibited school of magic. The second feat that is repeated in other products affects the abilities of the caster?s familiar. This feat presents the ability associated with the relevant school of magic in each product. Hence, in this product the ability associated with the enchantment school is presented. One of the other feats alters the mechanic for calculating the Difficulty Class for a mind affecting spell?s saving throw. This is an interesting option to present to players when selecting a feat. The other six feats are also nicely aligned with the theme of this product.

?The Enchanter Core Class? section sets out the variant enchanter class in the traditional class format. As is true for each of the products in this line that I have reviewed, I would have liked to have seen a brief discussion of the ways in which the variant class compares to a core ?specialist?. Obviously, anyone can compare them so I am not asking for a simple list of changes. Rather, a brief explanation of the process by which certain abilities were dropped, why certain abilities were changed, why the new content was adopted in the structure that appears would be quite useful. This would be very useful to everyone that uses this product and, as we know gamers are apt to do, decides that this class can be slightly tweaked to make it perfect. Or need to make an adjustment or two to infuse the class with the flavor they are trying to cultivate in their campaign.

The variant enchanter class presents well. It has a progression spread across all 20 levels and incorporates two special abilities that improve over the 20 levels. One improves three times and the other four times after it first appears in the progression. The special ability that improves three times improves the effectiveness of the enchanter?s spells against a specific type of opponent. The other special ability allows an enchanter to apply a bonus to Charisma based skills and ability rolls. At eight levels the enchanter gains either a bonus spell or a bonus feat. This leaves only two levels of the progression with no special ability. The variant enchanter presented here is a strong addition to this line.

?The Alpha Warden PrC? section sets out this prestige class in the traditional class format. The alpha warden is an enchanter touched with a focus on influencing animals. Central to this prestige class is the special ability that allows the character to control animals. This special ability improves three times during the 10 level progression. One of the special abilities gained upon taking this prestige class is a penalty to social situations and to magical effects when applied beyond ?animals? due to the focus on interacting with nature. The alpha warden also gains five spell caster levels during the progression. In addition, this prestige class gains three bonus feats over the course of the ten level progression. Overall, the alpha warden looks very interesting and, if you have been looking for a ?beastmaster? class, this is an interesting presentation. Those of you looking for a prestige class focused on spell casting need to examine the next offering.

?The Enticer PrC? section sets out this prestige class in the traditional class format. The enticer is an enchanter that focuses on the interesting new mechanics for hypnotism presented in this product. The enticer gains spell caster levels at each level of the 10 level progression. In addition, there are six different special abilities gained over the progression. Three of the special abilities rely on the charm person and command spell descriptions. Three other special abilities improve the character?s hypnotic abilities. This prestige class requires a dungeon master that embraces the hypnotism system established in this product. In the right campaign, this class looks quite powerful and should, with an imaginative player, lead to a variety of entertaining situations.

?The Magic Items? section contains four new magic items. The first magic item is a projectile that results in a charm monster effect if the target fails a Will save, in lieu of any damage. However, the charm results in a more ?meaningful? connection than simply a friendly disposition and results in a romantic attachment. There are many mature campaigns that could have a very good time laughing it up with this item. The second magic item is a small object that has the effect of fascinating affected creatures as by a hypnotic pattern. The third magic item enhances the users rate of recovery during rest by inducing a hypnotic state. The final magic item is a set of items that allows one party to enslave another. The master?s item is the key to the lock that secures the other item on the enslaved individual. The relationship is governed via the dominate monster spell.

Overall, this product is a return to a more complete and developed product. The core class is a strong concept and should satisfy those interested in this popular school of magic. The prestige classes in this product stand up on their own and those dungeon master?s looking for prestige classes in this theme are likely to find their campaigns richer after considering the concepts developed in this product.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. An interesting exploration of the enchantment school of magic.
2. Developed prestige classes.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
3. Lack of discussion of the underlying rationale for the variant class.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

?Character Options: Commoners? is an interesting book if you have ever considered playing common characters in ?a game in which motivation is not measured in treasure or fame, but safety and necessity.? This product contains new versions of the original NPC classes (now referred to as commoners), three new such classes, suggestions for a dungeon master of a ?common? campaign, optional rules, and a 10 page introductory adventure which includes a one page map. In total, this product contains 38 pages; of which there is the cover, the title page, one page laying out NPC?s for the adventure, one page for the adventure map, and one page for the Open Game License. The product is broken into four sections; an introduction and three chapters. For the purpose of this review I will proceed with a short discussion of each section.

Introduction This section addresses the question of, ?Why play a commoner?? If this question is prominent in your mind, this product may not be for you. If you are open to the possibility, then the discussion of the ?underdog? theme may be just enough to keep your eyes on the page and wonder... ?How much fun could it be to turn those expectations upside down and take on the world just like traditional adventurers?? It then provides some tips for dungeon masters to consider when starting up a campaign, such how the motivations of commoners might differ from adventurers.

Creating a Common Character The first chapter presents the class descriptions for each of the revised core NPC classes and for the new commoner classes. It includes a section on rolling up ability scores for commoners and discusses income. In addition, it presents negative level adjustments for each commoner class so as to help offset the fact that commoners are by definition, not as hardy as adventurers. It also suggests using the mechanic of ?reward feats? to help the commoner party progress and lists example feats.

The Common Campaign This chapter sets out suggestions for dungeon masters interested in running a common campaign. These run from mixing commoners with adventurers, to adjusting challenge ratings, and optional rules. The optional rules include a mechanism to shrug off damage using a saving throw, a mechanism for commoners to adjust their skill selections and add new class skills, and a mechanism for awarding bonus experience for filling the role of an adventurer.

Out of the Fields The last chapter presents an introductory common campaign. The stated goal is to ?establish the first chapter in an ongoing campaign using common characters.? The attempt to present a campaign for commoners, as opposed to modifying a campaign for adventurers, was well done. It contains five ?scenes? and lots of guidance for a novice dungeon master, or just one that is running a common campaign for the first time. It is a very basic adventure set in a small village (12 families) and the history of the village?s founding is set out nicely. There is enough substance here for a dungeon master to build on top of.

All in all, if you find the concept of role playing commoners interesting, this resource is a thorough presentation. It is rare to find a subject so well considered and the uncommon effort is refreshing. The mechanics suggested may not satisfy everyone, since some of them are odd. (Negative level adjustments?) However, dungeon masters and players looking for guidance on this subject have found a secure starting point in ?Character Options: Commoners?.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>:

1. Interesting concept.
2. Inclusion of new commoner classes.
3. Inclusion of introductory campaign.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
4. No table of contents.
5. No bookmarks in PDF file.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>