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Musical Subclasses: Whistler Ranger
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/29/2022 16:08:40

A fun subclass for the ranger that gives them extra magical features related to whistling. While the theme seems more like the bard's territory than the ranger's, Guiding Tune is the key feature that makes it all work, with a number of interesting options for altering the course of battles. The middle features seem slightly underpowered by comparison, but they still have uses (and again, Guiding Tune makes up for a lot). The product also includes a bonus feat (Musical Traveler, which makes travel easier) and a bonus magic item. Note, $1.95 for just two pages of material is asking a lot, but if you buy this as part of a bundle it's fairer.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Musical Subclasses: Whistler Ranger
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Guildbook of the Watchful Order
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/28/2022 23:55:47

An unofficial overview and update of Waterdeep's Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors for D&D 5th Edition, and a fairly solidly conceived one at that. The book also includes new options for players who want to be members of the Watch Wizards:

  • Subdual Spell: A feat that explicitly permits players to make their spells non-lethal. While this is well-designed, one wonders why you couldn't just allow the player to decide if it's non-lethal, as in the core rules. (Also, why the insistence on "subdual damage" as the term?)
  • Watch Wizard Arcane Tradition: For players who actually want to be Watch Wizards proper. To be honest, this seems pretty powerful, especially if you're fond of countering other spellcasters.
  • Guild Wizard background: A Sage-type background for wizards who either want to increase their Watch Wizard-ness, or non-wizards who want to be part of the club too. Pretty straightforward stuff.
  • New spells: Probably the most broadly useful section, this includes some distinctive spells (such as Analyze Portal or Reveal Magic) as well as some stealth updates of spells from older editions (check out Trobriand's). Wound Bind might step a bit on healer turf, but the rest are all pretty good (if occasionally - and understandably - pretty specialized).

Definitely worth picking up if you plan to include the Watchful Order in your games, despite a few hiccups in the player options. Less useful for those who don't, though the spells are still probably worth a look.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Guildbook of the Watchful Order
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Book of Monasteries (5e Monk Subclasses)
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/28/2022 22:18:59

Five monk subclasses for D&D 5th Edition:

  • Way of the Beast: A monk that mimics animals in their fighting style. You'd expect something like the various real-life animal-inspired kung fu styles, but this actually feels closer to the Totem Warrior Barbarian. The result is fine, but it feels like it could have been a bit more interesting. (The first and second sets of animal abilities should also be swapped, for balance reasons.)
  • Way of the Inner Flame: A fire-based monk. Some neat abilities here, but it's hard not to feel this is redundant with the Four Elements Monk.
  • Way of the Brewing Storm: A lightning-based monk. This seems like it'd be a lot of fun to play, and is probably the highlight of the set.
  • Way of the Silvertongue: A monk focused on verbal manipulation. A fairly original concept for a monk, though the result feels a little underpowered.
  • Way of the Weave: A wizard-monk hybrid. The combination of spellcasting and anti-magic abilities could make them very effective in games.

A solid set of new monk options, though a few could stand improvement. The $2.99 price tag for six pages of content is also a bit much. But this would definitely be worth picking up on sale.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Book of Monasteries (5e Monk Subclasses)
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Monsternomicon: Kyuss and His Sons
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/28/2022 21:30:55

A solid update of Kyuss and related matters for D&D 5th Edition, specifically tuned for use in the Forgotten Realms setting. There's only a few character options here - the Worm Domain for clerics and two rot grub spells - but they're clearly meant for NPCs, not PCs. The writeup for Kyuss himself is appropriately fearsome, along with some neat lair actions for the Dark Obelisk, plus a distinct take on the Son of Kyuss. The unique adventure hooks could stand a bit more detail, but the background earlier in the product helps compensate.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Monsternomicon: Kyuss and His Sons
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Fey and Forest Classes (5E)
Publisher: Legendary Games
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/28/2022 17:15:28

A collection of ostensibly fairy/forest-themed options for D&D 5th Edition. Like most Legendary Games material, this appears to be converted from Pathfinder, but unlike most of their works, it's generally not noticeable. The new options include:

  • College of Fey Magic: A fey-themed bard. Not too bad, but not too fancy either.
  • Jester: A jester bard. A fairly solid treatment of the concept, though it could stand to be more overtly funny. Still, this is one of the better options in the book.
  • Hunt: An odd cleric domain that seems like it's trying to emulate the ranger. Not sure what purpose it serves.
  • Circle of the Forest Kingdom: Appears to be a sort of plant druid, but that gets buried under the three sub-subclasses it provides. Would have been much better with a tighter focus.
  • Circle of Shapeless and Primal Terror: A scary druid. Not a bad concept, with some interesting abilities, though the name needs work.
  • Knight-Surgeon: A healer-fighter that basically comes off as a paladin-lite. Interesting concept, but the execution could be better, and it doesn't seem to fit in with the book's theme.
  • Woodlands Cavalier: An odd hybrid of Cavalier Fighter, Ancients Paladin, and Ranger. Too blurry a concept, and an odd fit for fighter besides.
  • Explorer: A ranger specialized for long-range exploration. It's fine, if lacking in combat options.
  • Hidden Guardian: Apparently a sort of "fight evil in secret" ranger, but the mix of features is almost random. Doesn't really work.
  • Unicorn Charger: A ranger with a bond to unicorns. One of the better options in the book, though it might have been even better as a paladin.
  • The Black Woods: A warlock patron which is basically "nature red in tooth and claw". The features don't quite live up to the concept, unfortunately, as they're too similar to those from other subclasses in the book.
  • Other new warlock options: There's a Pact of Thorns pact boon (which lets you cover yourself in thorns) and several new invocations. Three are trying a little too hard with the flavor text (and their changes to other invocations are odd), but Cloak of Coiling Thorns is neat (retreat and leave thorns behind you).
  • New feats: Fairy Blessing gives you an in with fey, which isn't bad. True Love's Kiss lets you remove curses and other debuffs on a designated "true love" - decent flavor, but probably too specialized to see much use.
  • New spells: There are a number of thematically interesting new spells in here, though a few might be over-leveled, and there's also some redundancy. Still, this is probably the most useful section in the product. Highlights include Dirge of the Victorious Knights (send a wave of ghost knights charging at at enemy), Light Prison, Out of Sight (target forgets about you when you leave their sight), Shield of Dawn (can deflect either radiant or necrotic damage), and the bizarro Subjective Reality (you turn someone else into an illusion, but only for you).

Overall this product has some decent ideas, though many seem to be lacking a certain spark. The $4.99 price tag (for the PDF version) may be a little high, too. However, if you can pick this up in a sale or bundle, there's material here that may be worth extracting (especially from the spells).

(One minor curiosity: everything but the cover of the book describes the title as "Forest Kingdom Options". Guess there was a last-minute change?) (Originally posted on Goodreads)



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Fey and Forest Classes (5E)
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Yokai Races
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/27/2022 16:06:01

An enthusiastic product with a lot of fun ideas for character races inspired by Japanese myth. The somewhat more authentic hengeyokai is well-conceived, and the ryu dragonborn - inspired by Japanese dragons - are a particularly interesting idea. Unfortunately, the product is dragged down by poor editing, and the balance between options is pretty shaky as well (sometimes even for options within the same race). The PWYW price is fair, though the $4.20 default is asking a bit much. The ideas here are good enough that this may be worth picking up cheap, but expect to do a lot of cleaning up before you use this material in your own campaigns.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Yokai Races
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Book of Oaths (5e Paladin Subclasses)
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/27/2022 15:41:11

Four paladin subclasses for D&D 5th Edition:

  • Oath of Curiosity: A paladin dedicated to knowledge. Love the theme, though it feels kind of underpowered.
  • Oath of Leadership: A paladin focused on battlefield command. (Except for the ones focused on espionage; honestly, that aside just muddles the concept.) Pretty solid design, with good teamwork-based abilities.
  • Oath of Romance: The highlight of the packet, this is a paladin focused on fame and charisma. Fun and effective abilities make for a great option.
  • Oath of Steel: A paladin focused on martial prowess. Another solid design, though one wonders if the smite buffs might be too strong.

A worthwhile set of new choices for paladins, though $2.99 for 8 pages of content is a bit much. Best picked up on sale or in a bundle.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Book of Oaths (5e Paladin Subclasses)
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Creature Feature Quarterly vol. 2 (5e)
Publisher: Jeremy Hart
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/27/2022 15:08:07

The second Creature Feature Quarterly provides another solid set of thoroughly detailed monsters. However, this is probably a little weaker than the first set, with a bit less variety; there are also a few more design hiccups this time (such as the bog horror not sounding like a neutral evil creature, and other monsters being mislabeled as humanoids when they're not). The set also feels somewhat more edgy overall than the first set, so they may not be to everyone's tastes. Still, there are some interesting choices, such as the axiom invoker, dreg, fen fiend, and juggernaut. As with the first volume, the price tag still seems slightly too high for 26 pages of content, but this is likely worth it on sale or in a bundle.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Creature Feature Quarterly vol. 2 (5e)
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Creature Feature Quarterly vol. 1 (5e)
Publisher: Jeremy Hart
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/26/2022 16:41:02

An entertaining collection of monsters for D&D 5th Edition. Each entry includes a detailed description, lore, ecology, adventure seeds, and even a size comparison. These detailed writeups make the monsters extra inspirational and extra useful compared to the offerings from many other 5E creators. Highlights of this product include the blade wraith (my pick of the litter), the cerberan warlock, the lurking glutton, the protocol imp, and the Unseelie psychopomp. The only minuses for the product are some typos, and the slightly high price point ($4.50 for 26 pages of content); but the former is forgivable and the latter is evaded with a sale or bundle. The writing style can also be more casual at times than some readers might prefer. All in all, this is recommended for D&D 5E DMs, especially if you can get it at a discounted price.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Creature Feature Quarterly vol. 1 (5e)
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Plant Options (5e)
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/26/2022 15:22:15

A nice selection of plant-centric options for players:

  • Dryad: A character race based on the Monster Manual creature, but expanded with subraces for each of the four seasons. The base race is solidly designed, as are the subraces, although the autumn dryad lore hints at more variety than we get in the actual execution.
  • Way of the Creeping Vine: A monk subclass which throws in some dryad-esque options. Although Seed of the Creeping Vine sounds a bit gross, overall this is decent.
  • Soul of Nature: A sorcerer subclass which is mostly fine, but gives you access to cleric spells instead of druid ones for some reason. (Was this an error?)
  • Ancient Parasite: A warlock patron which is functionally more about making you a master of draining life and necrotic damage than plant stuff.
  • Monsters: The Ancient Parasite (yes, the patron above) is basically a gigantic, life-draining plant creature, a pretty good high-level threat. The Maneater Snare and Sunflare are also fun new plants to have in the game.
  • Magic Items: Probably the most interesting section in the product, though there may be a little too much emphasis on thorns. Items here range from largely flavorful (the Bird Whistle or Wand of Flowers) to intriguing new item concepts (the Thornlash, basically a Thorn Whip cantrip anyone can use).

Overall this is a worthwhile product, if you're looking for more nature and plant-themed options, though the $2.99 asking price might be slightly high. Probably best picked up on sale or as part of a bundle.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Plant Options (5e)
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Altered Beasts: Gnolls, Vol. I (PF/5e)
Publisher: Total Party Kill Games
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/25/2022 22:49:49

As a Pathfinder supplement, this is OK. As promised, it provides a selection of variant gnolls, and it also ends with a stack of gnoll feats. The variants are adequately useful, although none really seem like ideas that hadn't popped up somewhere before, either for gnolls or for other humanoids. As a D&D 5th Edition supplement, however, it's not OK. The conversions from Pathfinder are fairly minimal, and some leave out features that appeared to be essential to the concept. Even weirder, some 5E versions have abilities that the Pathfinder versions don't, which makes one wonder if the Pathfinder versions got updates that the 5E versions did not. The price tag is also pushing it for the amount of content you get. Overall, this is a disappointment.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Altered Beasts: Gnolls, Vol. I (PF/5e)
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An Alphabet of Very Rare Magic Items
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/30/2022 23:09:37

A collection of 26 very rare magic items, ranging from the silly and weird to the practical and powerful. The writing style is more casual than usual for D&D 5th Edition, but the items are all still pretty functional. However, many seem to have more or fewer abilities, or higher or lower power levels, than you'd expect for very rare items; a DM may want to consider adjusting the rarity accordingly before introducing them in their games.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
An Alphabet of Very Rare Magic Items
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Kane's Racial Feats For Uncommon Races
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/30/2022 22:40:26

The balance on this collection of racial feats for non-core races is all over the place, but there are a lot of fun ideas in here. Some are drawn from the races' monster statblocks, while others seem to draw on earlier editions, or are completely original. This is definitely worth looking at - especially at the price of PWYW - but DMs should carefully review every feat, individually, before putting them in their own games.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Kane's Racial Feats For Uncommon Races
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Creator Reply:
Thank you for the review! I am sure that the balance is not quite up to par for many tables :P I'm glad you enjoyed my take on these! Feel free to check some of my other materials as well. Everything is always PWYW. I just want people to find some use out of the goofy ideas I come up with. Thanks again :)
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Supernatural Adventurers
Publisher: Dungeon Masters Guild
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/29/2022 02:24:22

An interesting idea: allowing players to choose supernatural monsters as their character race, but spreading the benefits across multiple character levels to maintain balance. This product attempts this with three monsters - vampires, werewolves, and ghosts - with different results in each case. The vampire is the most successful design of the three, balancing its features with "blood dice" which are acquired by draining blood from living creatures. The werewolf is functional but more complicated, and its disadvantages are a bit too dependent on DM fiat. (Worth noting, however, that the author throws in some rules for other lycanthropes - though the base race doesn't fit as well for variants like werebears.) The ghost is interesting, but its ethereal restrictions could make it hard to interact with other PCs, and its attack abilities become too strong too quickly. All three are definitely powerful character options, despite attempts at balancing, so DMs should be very cautious in using them in their own games. Still, the designs here are novel and worth looking over.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Supernatural Adventurers
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Dungeon Archetypes (5E)
Publisher: Legendary Games
by James B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/29/2022 01:11:03

An unusual collection of subclasses for D&D 5th Edition:

  • Close Quarters Fighter: Just like it sounds. This fills an interesting tactical niche, but the mechanics feel a little too focused on specific bonuses for 5E.
  • Oath of Discovery: A paladin dedicated to knowledge. A novel concept with some pretty solid abilities, and probably the best design in the product.
  • Under Stalker Ranger: Similar to the official Gloom Stalker, but less satisfying, mainly because (like the Close Quarters Fighter) it's too focused on finicky bonuses.
  • College of the Passage: A bard with the magical equivalent of drones at their disposal. A very odd design, especially for a bard; it feels a lot like someone's homebrew material.
  • Labyrinth Divine Domain: Basically a cleric optimized for dungeon exploration - the mechanics tie together but the theme is shaky. It also has a feature that has the same name as a ranger feature (Natural Explorer) but operates differently, which is asking for confusion.
  • Circle of Worked Stone: A sort of earth elemental druid with a grab-bag of themed abilities (including a copy of the dwarf's stonecunning feature). "Worked Stone" doesn't make one think of druids, however...
  • Oozemancer Bloodline: Another strange option, a sorcerer that can conjure a fungus that gives them the ability to summon oozes. It's distinctive, but probably too specialized for most campaigns.

These subclasses definitely aren't for everyone, and most of the designs could stand improvement, but there's no question that they stand out from the crowd!



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Dungeon Archetypes (5E)
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