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A fighter with shadow-based abilities. Neat enough mechanics, although the formatting could be improved, and the final feature might be kind of underpowered for level 18. (The feature does net us a new monster, however: the dusk servant.) The major failing of this product is that it completely lacks any flavor text to explain what this archetype is meant to be, so you're left to make it all up yourself...
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A solid selection of new wilderness-based monsters for D&D 5th Edition. Each includes lore, suggested encounters, and adventure hooks. Some of the statblocks seem a little odd in places, but this shouldn't seriously affect gameplay. The writing style might also put off some fans of official D&D products, since it can be very casual at times, but this is also no deal-breaker. Highlights include the bloodboar, the knaerk, and the spiderbear.
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An interesting take on playing undead characters. By default, the Awakened Undead race is a little more player-friendly than traditional undead, in that they can be healed and benefit from effects targeting humanoids, but there is an option to remove these benefits for a more authentically undead experience. The subraces might be a little strong, and may have a few too many abilities when stacked on top of the base race, and some diverge from their Monster Manual counterparts... but they also look fun to play, especially the skeleton (which is the highlight of this product). Also of note among the subraces is the Necropolitan, which is basically a lesser lich. A selection of racial feats is provided at the end, with some neat additional options, though a few are a bit overcomplicated. If a DM was considering bringing undead PCs into their campaign, this is definitely worth a look; but carefully review the options here for balance before using them. The price is also tricky - the preferred rate of $4.95 for just 9 pages of rules material is a big ask, but since this is Pay What You Want, you're free to choose an amount that seems more fair.
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A collection of ordinary and extraordinary beasts for D&D 5th Edition. The main strength of this product is the quantity of creatures, covering a wide variety of environments: these include real-world animals (ranging from antelopes to whales), giant versions of real-world animals (such as giant ants), and supernatural creatures drawn from both folklore (bakeneko cat) and previous editions of D&D (myrlochar). The stat blocks are solid, though they occasionally have formatting issues; some designs are also a bit overdetailed compared to the usual 5E fare. Lore is not provided for a number of creatures, which is a downside - while this doesn't pose a big problem for real-life animals, it's a definite issue with supernatural beasts, since there's no guidance for DM use. Still, this is overall a useful resource for DMs looking to add more interesting beasts to their games.
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A cursed item for D&D 5th Edition that pairs various boons with a "mischief", each imposed when a PC draws a card. The product comes with two versions of the list of effects, one for DMs with both boon and "mischief", and one for players with only the boon. To be honest, this isn't the sort of item I'd want to inflict on my players, especially since a lot of the "mischief" is much more severe than the boon they offset. But if you're the kind of GM who enjoys punishing their players with curses, this will likely appeal. The price of $0.00 is certainly fair, at least...
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A solidly designed, decidedly old-school dungeon crawl, released under the AD&D 1st Edition rules but at the very end of the AD&D 2nd Edition era. One nice part of the adventure is that it goes into great detail about how notable enemies and NPCs will behave, which takes a lot of burden off the DM; they're also very exacting about what kind of party you should assemble for best results. The dungeon itself contains a good mix of combat, traps, and ambiance. The finale could admittedly be a little more dramatic, but it all works out in the end. (Originally posted on Goodreads.)
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A collection of short adventures for D&D 5th Edition, leaning on both core material and material from Kobold's own Tome of Beasts. These are all pretty solid, with unusual and interesting adventure sites, and cover a nice range of character levels up to 15. Probably the highlights of the set are The Impregnable Fortress of Dib (a fun variation on the archetypal starting adventure with goblins), Upon the Icebound Terrace (stopping an interplanar invasion by ice mephits), The Burning Crater (investigate a crashed orb of fire that isn't what you'd expect), and The Obsidian Pass (defend a fey grove from a sorcerer's super-weapon). Definitely a handy supplement to have around if you need an adventure in a hurry. (Originally posted on Goodreads)
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First in a series of sourcebooks for D&D 5th Edition, this is primarily a monster book, but also throws in a selection of extra material. The book starts off with an introduction, which does clearly lay out the book's good intentions, as well as their reasoning for certain changes from the standard D&D 5E format and rules. Unfortunately, this promising start just sets up a reader for disappointment.
First are the 26 monster listings. Despite the introduction's promise of more detailed lore than in the standard D&D monster listings, the listings on average actually tend to have less material, and occasionally don't give the reader more than a physical description and a few vague lines. On a few occasions neat ideas fall flat because they don't provide enough details about them. It's more like the monster listings from early D&D 4th Edition than 5th. In addition, the monster stat blocks tend to rely on high hit points and damage as the primary justification for very high CRs, when many might have made more sense as lower CR foes. The designers are also inconsistent about their treatment of legendary and lair actions - which are supposed to use recharge rules per the introduction - and they quietly throw in other variant mechanics, such as monsters having multiple creature types. (On the more nitpicky side of things, there are also some formatting issues and editing oversights.)
That all said, most of the monster concepts, as well as their stat blocks, seem solid, even if the actual execution doesn't always live up to them. Creatures like the chronosprite, star dragon, and mugarn are among those with particular potential.
The remainder of the book is taken up by a list of adventure hooks and a listing of adventure locations (which honestly feel like filler). The hooks are fairly good inspiration, if occasionally redundant or inconsistent. The adventure locations are a noble effort, each having solid concepts, descriptive elements for multiple senses, sample traps and puzzles, and a list of suggested monsters. However, like the monsters, the execution often falls somewhat short, with the difficulty of the traps and puzzles varying greatly, and a curiously casual writing style at times.
All in all, this is a book with a lot of potential that just didn't quite gel. However, it makes an excellent starting point for DMs who are willing to make up for the weaknesses and rework the material for their own.
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A third-party collection of monsters for D&D 5th Edition, featuring a mix of new creatures as well as "legendary" versions of established D&D creatures. Each monster has a detailed writeup, with most having very substantive lore. The artwork is also top-notch. Highlight creatures include the bogeyman, frumious bandersnatch, and jabberwock.
Despite being a 5E product, it's not hard to tell that this was converted from Pathfinder; besides denser designs than most 5E creatures, there are other tells in rules and terminology. Mind, that wouldn't be a deal-breaker, but there's also a sloppiness at times that makes it obvious the production was rushed... including references to missing material (such as variant jabberwocks) and rules blatantly copied from other stat blocks (complete with the other monster's name!). The legendary versions of existing creatures are also disappointing, since the lore focuses on the default creature instead of the legendary version... which means most compete with official D&D versions, and a few awkwardly tell us about a creature with no stats in the book (such as leprechauns or snarks).
All in all, this is still a usable and good-looking product with some neat designs... but it could have been much better with more effort put in outside the conversion to 5E. (Originally posted on Goodreads)
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Blatantly inspired by Ghostbusters (and its 1980s RPG), InSpectres puts the players in charge of a franchise of paranormal investigators. Much like Fate, this game is focused primarily on collaboratively creating a story, rather than players facing challenges set by the GM, but goes further than even Fate does. While an InSpectres GM sets up the initial premise of a session, the players' actions and rolls are what really decides the plot; with enough player successes, the final story might even be the opposite of what the GM intended.
The core mechanic is that any time there's a challenge, you roll a number of six-sided dice equal to your character's rank in one of four stats (plus any relevant extra dice), then pick the highest die result from 1 to 6. You compare the result to a table: a result of 4-6 means the player determines what happens, while a result of 1-3 means the GM determines the result. Especially high results provide franchise dice (more on that later), while lower results are progressively worse for the player.
Characters start from a concept (which should be a team player with a useful skill), then get dice divided between four skills, plus a freeform "talent" that adds a die when relevant. While normal humans with normal problems are preferred, one person in a group can be a "weird" character with paranormal abilities: examples provided include vampires, ghosts, and psychics. "Weird" characters can have better stats and special powers fueled by cool points (more on that later), but can't choose talents or earn franchise dice. Players in ongoing campaigns are encouraged to have a stable of characters to rotate in while others are on vacation - this also allows different players to be the single "weird" character.
Arguably more important to the game is the franchise itself, which is built by the entire group (and ideally, managed by the players). Much like a character, the franchise has dice divided between three "cards" (providing extra dice for specific skill checks when spent) and a "bank" of dice that can spent on any check (with a chance of gaining or losing extra dice when you do). While InSpectres characters don't get mechanical improvements, franchises do; building up the franchise is a major focus of the game, with franchise dice earned during the course of a job (unless you're a "weird" character). A franchise that runs out of dice risks going under, requiring players to start a new one from scratch.
Gameplay is highly structured, resembling the structure of a TV episode. Games start with an interview that establishes the characters and tone, then proceeds through specific plot stages. The goal of a given job is to hit a certain number of franchise dice, determined by the GM - once that goal is reached, the problem is solved and the job is complete.
When characters are subjected to stress during the game, they roll stress dice (determined by the GM) and take the lowest die result - high results earn cool points, but low results subtract from your skills. The effects of stress remain until cool points are spent to remove them, or the character goes on vacation after the game (which costs franchise dice).
Characters can also interrupt any scene once with a reality TV-style "confessional" that allows them to add plot elements, or even (once per game) impose a trait on another player character. (Although they can ignore this new trait, they gain an extra franchise die for playing along.) This particular mechanic might not be for everyone, but it's certainly an interesting inclusion, and key to the egalitarian style of the game.
While the book is a pleasure to read overall, one minor quibble is the organization. The book would have benefited from an early, consolidated rundown of the rules. Important details (like how franchise dice are earned and spent) are spread around the book, which means you have to piece the rules together as you go (and risks you missing key bits on your first read). An appendix condenses the rules together in a slightly better-organized format, but it's unfortunately harder to parse.
Quibbles aside, InSpectres is a well-crafted game that could be a lot of fun, assuming you have a group that buys in and plays along. (The book advises putting pressure on players who don't get it, but that doesn't seem practical.) If you're looking for a lightweight game focused on supernatural investigators for hire, this is an excellent choice and worth checking out. (Originally posted on Goodreads)
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A short low-level adventure in which the players are recruited to rescue a child kidnapped by wolves - though it turns out not to be that simple. The adventure includes a number of deceptions, which could amuse or frustrate your players depending on their tastes - as such, the adventure might have benefitted from having a few more straightforward challenges mixed in. The author helpfully includes some good advice for running the encounters, as well as a selection of alternate versions of the scenario.
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A third-party sourcebook on hobgoblins for D&D 3rd Edition. The book provides a fairly detailed treatment of hobgoblin culture, behavior, and tactics, as well as a solid hobgoblin fortress for adventurers to deal with. However, much like other books in the Slayer's Guide series, this doesn't innovate very much, and the treatment ultimately remains very close to the D&D core hobgoblin. The book also seems particularly light on new rules options, even compared to other Slayer's Guides; there's only a basic hobgoblin PC writeup, two hobgoblin spells, and some generic hobgoblin NPCs. (Originally posted on Goodreads)
A bonus note on this PDF edition: while the text is perfectly readable, most of the artwork is very blurry. Doesn't affect the usability of the product much, but it is a shame for the artists.
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A collection of monsters designed ostensibly to work with "most" OSR systems (and therefore also early editions of D&D), although based on the OGL declaration it's likely made with Swords & Wizardry in mind. There are a lot of interesting monster concepts in this book, primarily fey and creatures from "Outside", and many suggest immediate plot hooks. However, this product is frustratingly inconsistent in how each monster is presented and formatted - not just in stat blocks, but also in terms of describing each monster. It's unfortunate, because the formatting issues are holding back an otherwise solid product. This is likely still worth picking up, if you're willing to dig out the good ideas from the product's presentation issues...
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This product presents an alternative to the standard undead vampire, in the form of several varieties of shapeshifting monstrosity vampires. Each alternate vampire has some unique twist, though admittedly some of the lesser varieties feel kind of same-y. In addition to stats and lore, each creature is presented with suggested combat tactics, which is a nice touch. There are some formatting and writing issues with the product, but this generally doesn't impact understanding, and it's forgivable as English is not the authors' first language. The PWYW price is also a plus. This product won't be for everyone, but if you're looking for a fresh take on vampires with a Witcher style, this may be worth checking out.
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The concept is great - non-combat features you can gain in addition to your normal class features, akin to the existing classes' "ribbon" abilities. Unfortunately, that isn't what you actually get, as many of the features can absolutely provide combat benefits. Also, the so-called "ribbons" are wildly unbalanced with one another, ranging from purely descriptive to quite powerful. Using this system as is would be disastrous for character balance. Still, there are lots of interesting feature ideas in here, which could possibly be reworked into something more practical - consolidated into feats, perhaps. And at least the price tag is nice. So this may be worth buying to mine for other uses.
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