An Endzeitgeist.com review

This installment of the Village Backdrop-series clocks in at 15 pages, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of advertisement, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 9 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This village can be found in the duchy of Ashlar that also serves as a backdrop for many of Raging Swan Press cool offerings, including the Gloamhold mega-dungeon; to be more precise, what we have here, is the last dwarven hold in the region, situated right under Wellswood. As usual for Raging Swan Press supplements, adapting this location to your own game should not be an issue – it is a pretty easy place to adapt to your own games, with the tone, as usual, being in line with the grit we’ve come to expect from the Greyhawk-ish aesthetic that Raging Swan Press so successfully has cultivated.

Don Galir literally means “Lakeside Fortress” in Dwarven, and the settlement certainly faces its issues – which include exiles intent on recapturing their home, and the interaction with Wellswood’s notorious leadership. Structurally interesting: Don Galir is actually split, with the main halls and the other lake adjacent sections both coming with their own individual maps. Indeed, the angle regarding the subterranean lake is one of the cool things here – statues and mighty dwarven doors mirrored in the blackened waters most assuredly are neat visuals.

I rather enjoyed seeing the set-up and two maps, though I do have a bit of an issue with the main halls, which are depicted in a dungeon-like manner, with the map sporting a grid, but no scale. The lack of a scale makes the experienced GM default to 5-foot or 10-foot squares, depending on the system, and in both instances, the halls thus can feel very small and claustrophobic. I am all but certain that the scale should be higher and noted here, as it really flustered me for a second there.

Anyhow, as always in the series, we get the usual quality of life benefits for the GM that render this series so beloved: We receive notes on local dressing habits, nomenclature, and some sample pieces of information for PCs that actually do their legwork. A plus: Dwarves have an easier time here, though the bonus they receive should be typed. 6 rumors are presented as well. The village is lacking settlement statblock information. No global marketplace information regarding magic items for sale is provided.

We do receive notes on the local trade and industry, law enforcement, and the customs practiced here, which make great use of the unique situation and numerous wells here: Picturing the dark waters illuminated by the full moon filtering through the manifold wells from above? That’s something I’d love to see in real life, and any GM worth their salt can evoke a sense of wonder and awe in this context. From edible moss to semi-blind cavefish, there is a sense of plausibility here that I enjoyed seeing.

The pdf also features a table of 20 small events and pieces of dressing to add further character to the settlement.

Speaking of character: 4 NPCs are provided in Raging Swan Press’ usual, flavor-centric manner, and as always, the keyed locales come with neat read-aloud text. The supplement goes a bit farther than usual, though: Contained herein are brief notes on the assumed dwarven pantheon worshiped in the duchy of Ashlar, and the supplement features a new exotic weapon, the thunderaxe, which basically a combined axe/hammer – on a nitpicky side, the weapon should specify damage types for its two sides. More important, the new material, Tordel, the soul steel, is problematic: It is “as expensive as mithral or adamantine.” So, which is it? The differences in price and power are significant! What’s the HP per inch? What’s the hardness? The material is said to trap the souls of the slain and gain power with the wielder. Okay, so does it detect as necromancy? Are there any mechanics? This is an idea – and that’s all it is. It is NOT a functional material as far as PFRPG is concerned.

On the plus-side, the second appendix does net us a whole page on the lost hold of Vongyth, which does provide not only cool lore, but also some adventuring potential.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good on a formal level; on a rules-language level, the same can’t be said, as both components introduced have some flaws that render the new material, for example, inoperable as written. Layout adheres to Raging Swan Press’ two-column b/w-standard, and includes quite a few nice b/w artworks. The cartography is b/w is per se nice, though, as mentioned before, the lack of scale noted can render the place a bit more opaque than what I’d have liked to see. The pdf comes in two versions, one intended for screen-use and one for being printed, and supporters of Raging Swan Press’ patreon receive player-friendly versions of the maps, at least to my knowledge.

Steve Hood’s take on the dwarven hold (additional design by Martin Webb) is interesting indeed: Making Wellswood’s setup a backdrop for a cool subterranean village is clever and incredibly efficient – particularly in the details: From fishing rods available to the monthly festival, this place feels fantastic in a grounded, plausible way, and really captured my imagination. In many ways, it is a remarkable success, but also one marred by several small hiccups that accumulate, from the aforementioned rules-issues to the map. The collective of these niggles make it impossible for me to rate this higher than 4 stars, even though the place would have deserved better.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This installment of the Village Backdrop-series clocks in at 15 pages, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of advertisement, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 9 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This village can be found in the duchy of Ashlar that also serves as a backdrop for many of Raging Swan Press cool offerings, including the Gloamhold mega-dungeon; to be more precise, what we have here, is the last dwarven hold in the region, situated right under Wellswood. As usual for Raging Swan Press supplements, adapting this location to your own game should not be an issue – it is a pretty easy place to adapt to your own games, with the tone, as usual, being in line with the grit we’ve come to expect from the Greyhawk-ish aesthetic that Raging Swan Press so successfully has cultivated.

Don Galir literally means “Lakeside Fortress” in Dwarven, and the settlement certainly faces its issues – which include exiles intent on recapturing their home, and the interaction with Wellswood’s notorious leadership. Structurally interesting: Don Galir is actually split, with the main halls and the other lake adjacent sections both coming with their own individual maps. Indeed, the angle regarding the subterranean lake is one of the cool things here – statues and mighty dwarven doors mirrored in the blackened waters most assuredly are neat visuals.

I rather enjoyed seeing the set-up and two maps, though I do have a bit of an issue with the main halls, which are depicted in a dungeon-like manner, with the map sporting a grid, but no scale. The lack of a scale makes the experienced GM default to 5-foot or 10-foot squares, depending on the system, and in both instances, the halls thus can feel very small and claustrophobic. I am all but certain that the scale should be higher and noted here, as it really flustered me for a second there.

Anyhow, as always in the series, we get the usual quality of life benefits for the GM that render this series so beloved: We receive notes on local dressing habits, nomenclature, and some sample pieces of information for PCs that actually do their legwork. A plus: Dwarves have an easier time here, getting advantage on their check. 6 rumors are presented as well. No global marketplace information regarding magic items for sale is provided.

We do receive notes on the local trade and industry, law enforcement, and the customs practiced here, which make great use of the unique situation and numerous wells here: Picturing the dark waters illuminated by the full moon filtering through the manifold wells from above? That’s something I’d love to see in real life, and any GM worth their salt can evoke a sense of wonder and awe in this context. From edible moss to semi-blind cavefish, there is a sense of plausibility here that I enjoyed seeing.

The pdf also features a table of 20 small events and pieces of dressing to add further character to the settlement.

Speaking of character: 4 NPCs are provided in Raging Swan Press’ usual, flavor-centric manner (in 5e, these make use of the NPC default stats), and as always, the keyed locales come with neat read-aloud text. The supplement goes a bit farther than usual, though: Contained herein are brief notes on the assumed dwarven pantheon worshiped in the duchy of Ashlar, and the supplement features a new martial weapon, the thunderaxe, which basically a combined axe/hammer. I have less issues with this iteration of the weapon than with the one presented e.g. for PF1, but I think its execution is a bit odd: It’s considered to be a non-versatile weapon, and only becomes versatile when trained in it. Wouldn’t it make more sense, considering it and comparable weapons, to make it heavy unless trained in?

More importantly, the new material, Tordel, the soul steel, is problematic: The material is said to trap the souls of the slain and gain power with the wielder. Okay, so does it detect as necromancy? Are there any mechanics? Adamatine reduces critical hits, mithral is more flexible – so, what does this do mechanically? No clue. This is an idea – and that’s all it is. It is NOT a functional material as far as PFRPG is concerned.

On the plus-side, the second appendix does net us a whole page on the lost hold of Vongyth, which does provide not only cool lore, but also some adventuring potential.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good on a formal level; on a rules-language level, the same can’t be said, as both components introduced have some flaws that render the new material, for example, inoperable as written. Layout adheres to Raging Swan Press’ two-column b/w-standard, and includes quite a few nice b/w artworks. The cartography is b/w is per se nice, though, as mentioned before, the lack of scale noted can render the place a bit more opaque than what I’d have liked to see. The pdf comes in two versions, one intended for screen-use and one for being printed, and supporters of Raging Swan Press’ patreon receive player-friendly versions of the maps, at least to my knowledge.

Steve Hood’s take on the dwarven hold (additional design by Martin Webb) is interesting indeed: Making Wellswood’s setup a backdrop for a cool subterranean village is clever and incredibly efficient – particularly in the details: From fishing rods available to the monthly festival, this place feels fantastic in a grounded, plausible way, and really captured my imagination. The 5e-iteration feels a bit more refined than the two ones for the Pathfinder editions here, and while the map-situation somewhat irked me, my final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars, rounded up due to in dubio pro reo.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This installment of the Village Backdrop-series clocks in at 15 pages, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of advertisement, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 9 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This village can be found in the duchy of Ashlar that also serves as a backdrop for many of Raging Swan Press cool offerings, including the Gloamhold mega-dungeon; to be more precise, what we have here, is the last dwarven hold in the region, situated right under Wellswood. As usual for Raging Swan Press supplements, adapting this location to your own game should not be an issue – it is a pretty easy place to adapt to your own games, with the tone, as usual, being in line with the grit we’ve come to expect from the Greyhawk-ish aesthetic that Raging Swan Press so successfully has cultivated.

Don Galir literally means “Lakeside Fortress” in Dwarven, and the settlement certainly faces its issues – which include exiles intent on recapturing their home, and the interaction with Wellswood’s notorious leadership. Structurally interesting: Don Galir is actually split, with the main halls and the other lake adjacent sections both coming with their own individual maps. Indeed, the angle regarding the subterranean lake is one of the cool things here – statues and mighty dwarven doors mirrored in the blackened waters most assuredly are neat visuals.

I rather enjoyed seeing the set-up and two maps, though I do have a bit of an issue with the main halls, which are depicted in a dungeon-like manner, with the map sporting a grid, but no scale. The lack of a scale makes the experienced GM default to 5-foot or 10-foot squares, depending on the system, and in both instances, the halls thus can feel very small and claustrophobic. I am all but certain that the scale should be higher and noted here, as it really flustered me for a second there.

Anyhow, as always in the series, we get the usual quality of life benefits for the GM that render this series so beloved: We receive notes on local dressing habits, nomenclature, and some sample pieces of information for PCs that actually do their legwork. 6 rumors are presented as well. No magic items for sale suggestions are provided – particularly odd for a dwarven settlement.

We do receive notes on the local trade and industry, law enforcement, and the customs practiced here, which make great use of the unique situation and numerous wells here: Picturing the dark waters illuminated by the full moon filtering through the manifold wells from above? That’s something I’d love to see in real life, and any GM worth their salt can evoke a sense of wonder and awe in this context. From edible moss to semi-blind cavefish, there is a sense of plausibility here that I enjoyed seeing.

The pdf also features a table of 20 small events and pieces of dressing to add further character to the settlement.

Speaking of character: 4 NPCs are provided in Raging Swan Press’ usual, flavor-centric manner, and as always, the keyed locales come with neat read-aloud text. The supplement goes a bit farther than usual, though: Contained herein are brief notes on the assumed dwarven pantheon worshiped in the duchy of Ashlar, and the supplement features a new exotic weapon, the thunderaxe, which basically a combined axe/hammer –interesting here would be the fact that this indeed does use the old-school proficiency mechanic, should you be using it. The new material, Tordel, the soul steel, is still only featuring a more or less flavor-centric depiction, but…well, it’s the system neutral version. I can’t well complain about that here, right?

On the plus-side, the second appendix does net us a whole page on the lost hold of Vongyth, which does provide not only cool lore, but also some adventuring potential.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good on a formal level; on a rules-language level I can’t complain in this version either. Layout adheres to Raging Swan Press’ two-column b/w-standard, and includes quite a few nice b/w artworks. The cartography is b/w is per se nice, though, as mentioned before, the lack of scale noted can render the place a bit more opaque than what I’d have liked to see. The pdf comes in two versions, one intended for screen-use and one for being printed, and supporters of Raging Swan Press’ patreon receive player-friendly versions of the maps, at least to my knowledge.

Steve Hood’s take on the dwarven hold (additional design by Martin Webb) is interesting indeed: Making Wellswood’s setup a backdrop for a cool subterranean village is clever and incredibly efficient – particularly in the details: From fishing rods available to the monthly festival, this place feels fantastic in a grounded, plausible way, and really captured my imagination. In many ways, it is a remarkable success, only slightly tarnished by the settlement’s scope feeling more opaque than it should be. My final verdict will be 4.5 stars, rounded up.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com

The expanded 2.0-version of the supplement depicting the village of Idyll is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of advertisement, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 7 pages of content, so let's take a look at the settlement!

As always with Raging Swan Press' critically-acclaimed Village Backdrop-series, we are introduced to a sample town herein, local nomenclature, market place-information on magic items for sale, some sample lore to be unearthed via Diplomacy-checks and, obviously, some rumors and adventure hooks. Positive: Pathfinder 2nd edition’s more realistic economy, and the design-paradigms regarding degrees of success in research have been properly implemented in this context. Minor Nitpick: There is a formatting glitch in the lore section, with a lone bracket, but that’s cosmetic only.

On the plus-side of things, we have two new NPC-write-ups in Raging Swan Press’ tradition: I.e., we get no stats, but we do get read-aloud descriptions as well as notes on mannerisms, personality and background. One of these individuals also comes with their own adventure hook.

A brief glimpse at the village map shows that the settlement is close to a little stream - and, frankly, if "idyll" as a name evokes pastoral scenes and romantic notions of a farmer's life...you'd kind of be right. Export-wise, Idyll is pretty much defined by the tasty crops, wine and meats the village produces. At the same time, there are numerous interesting components that set the village apart, first of which would be the propensity for ancient artifacts littering the nearby landscape. This landscape, blasted in antediluvian wars, is now in the 2.0-version properly described in its own section regarding the surrounding locality. Speaking of improvements made: The original 6 entries for events and dressing have been expanded to a full set of 20, making it significantly easier to make the village come alive.

And then there is the fact that 4 odd monoliths, one in each cardinal direction, seem to guard the place. And that magically capable PCs will realize that the place uses magic to e.g. keep their silos properly purified. Perceptive PCs may notice an absence of children. Did I mention the constantly optimal weather conditions? There is a lot about Idyll as a place “too good to be true” that may spark the paranoia of the characters... and the village is governed by an odd council that seems to encompass the worst discrepancies of the alignment spectrum, thus rendering it rather impotent. Yet, the place is peaceful…so how can that be? If paranoia does not suffice, the new version also sports a couple of novel adventure hooks.

Magical characters may also notice a curious phenomenon, namely, that neither alignment-detection, nor proper scrying seem to work within the confines of this village and the fact that people of such vastly diverging ideologies seem to peacefully coexist also hints at the true nature of this unique settlement - a nature I am not going to divulge in this review, instead leaving you with the information that I haven't seen the idea executed thus anywhere before. I absolutely love it! While I briefly considered spoiling the truth here, I believe that refraining from doing so is indeed for the best - you'll see once you read about this unique village yourself.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any serious glitches on a formal or rules-language level. Layout adheres to RSP's smooth, printer-friendly two-column standard and the pdf comes with full bookmarks as well as a gorgeous map, of which you can, as always, download high-res jpegs if you join RSP's patreon. We get pretty neat b/w-artwork. The pdf comes in two versions, with one being optimized for screen-use and one to be printed out.

Mike Welham's Idyll once again is a perfect reminder why he ranks among the authors who continue to score seals of approval - Idyll is an inspired, intriguing settlement that begins with a mystery and offers a great answer to it, one that makes sense on multiple levels. The potential for uncanny valley-esque creepy-factors is here, as is the option for players to later utilize the village's unique properties for their own agendas… provided they dare and manage to come to an agreement with the village's masters, that is. The Pathfinder 2nd edition iteration is a per se well-executed settlement; mechanically, it is a good conversion, though it is one that doesn’t make use of all peculiarities and cool options of the system: For example, there is a specific instance where an effect can be reversed; ideally, that’d imho warrant a ritual. Anyhow, the village is still a success indeed. 5 stars.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com

The 5e-version of the expanded 2.0-version of the supplement depicting the village of Idyll is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of advertisement, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 7 pages of content, so let's take a look at the settlement!

As always with Raging Swan Press' critically-acclaimed Village Backdrop-series, we are introduced to a sample town herein, local nomenclature, market place-information on magic items for sale, some sample lore to be unearthed via ability score checks and, obviously, some rumors and adventure hooks. The DCs of checks throughout have been properly adjusted for 5e’s bounded accuracy paradigm, and the marketplace section has also been properly adjusted..

On the plus-side of things, we have two new NPC-write-ups in Raging Swan Press’ tradition: I.e., we get no stats, but we do get read-aloud descriptions as well as notes on mannerisms, personality and background. One of these individuals also comes with their own adventure hook. In 5e, both NPCs reference the proper default statblocks.

A brief glimpse at the village map shows that the settlement is close to a little stream - and, frankly, if "idyll" as a name evokes pastoral scenes and romantic notions of a farmer's life...you'd kind of be right. Export-wise, Idyll is pretty much defined by the tasty crops, wine and meats the village produces. At the same time, there are numerous interesting components that set the village apart, first of which would be the propensity for ancient artifacts littering the nearby landscape. This landscape, blasted in antediluvian wars, is now in the 2.0-version properly described in its own section regarding the surrounding locality. Speaking of improvements made: The original 6 entries for events and dressing have been expanded to a full set of 20, making it significantly easier to make the village come alive.

And then there is the fact that 4 odd monoliths, one in each cardinal direction, seem to guard the place. And that magically capable PCs will realize that the place uses magic to e.g. keep their silos properly purified. Perceptive PCs may notice an absence of children. Did I mention the constantly optimal weather conditions? There is a lot about Idyll as a place “too good to be true” that may spark the paranoia of the characters... and the village is governed by an odd council that seems to encompass the worst discrepancies of the alignment spectrum, thus rendering it rather impotent. Yet, the place is peaceful…so how can that be? If paranoia does not suffice, the new version also sports a couple of novel adventure hooks.

Magical characters may also notice a curious phenomenon, namely, that neither alignment-detection, nor proper scrying seem to work within the confines of this village and the fact that people of such vastly diverging ideologies seem to peacefully coexist also hints at the true nature of this unique settlement - a nature I am not going to divulge in this review, instead leaving you with the information that I haven't seen the idea executed thus anywhere before. I absolutely love it! While I briefly considered spoiling the truth here, I believe that refraining from doing so is indeed for the best - you'll see once you read about this unique village yourself.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any serious glitches on a formal or rules-language level. Layout adheres to RSP's smooth, printer-friendly two-column standard and the pdf comes with full bookmarks as well as a gorgeous map, of which you can, as always, download high-res jpegs if you join RSP's patreon. We get pretty neat b/w-artwork. The pdf comes in two versions, with one being optimized for screen-use and one to be printed out.

Mike Welham's Idyll once again is a perfect reminder why he ranks among the authors who continue to score seals of approval - Idyll is an inspired, intriguing settlement that begins with a mystery and offers a great answer to it, one that makes sense on multiple levels. The potential for uncanny valley-esque creepy-factors is here, as is the option for players to later utilize the village's unique properties for their own agendas… provided they dare and manage to come to an agreement with the village's masters, that is. Idyll 2.0 has been expanded and improved in careful and well-chosen ways that genuinely improve the ability to run the excellent settlement further; combined with the well-adjusted mechanical changes, the settlement can be wholeheartedly recommend in its 5e-iteration as well. My verdict will be 5 stars + seal of approval.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com

The OSR-version of the expanded 2.0-version of the supplement depicting the village of Idyll is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of advertisement, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 7 pages of content, so let's take a look at the settlement!

As always with Raging Swan Press' critically-acclaimed Village Backdrop-series, we are introduced to a sample town herein, local nomenclature, market place-information on magic items for sale (which have been properly adjusted for old-school gaming’s decreased power-levels), some sample lore to be unearthed via roleplaying, as befitting of the OSR-version, and, obviously, some rumors and adventure hooks. Speaking of which: References to classes have been properly adjusted, and the same holds true for the surprising depth of skills and magic referenced in the village. Roleplaying acts as the substitute for skill checks where prudent, while others, like opening locks, have been properly adjusted as well. Kudos! Further relevant for OSR-games: It should be noted that Idyll is a bit more high-fantasy in theme than many of Raging Swan Press’ settlements, but not in a way that’ll break your game, immersion, of consistency of a more low-powered, gritty world.

The village has gained two new NPC-write-ups since its original iteration, both presented in Raging Swan Press’ tradition: I.e., we get no stats, but we do get read-aloud descriptions as well as notes on mannerisms, personality and background. One of these individuals also comes with their own adventure hook.

A brief glimpse at the village map shows that the settlement is close to a little stream - and, frankly, if "idyll" as a name evokes pastoral scenes and romantic notions of a farmer's life...you'd kind of be right. Export-wise, Idyll is pretty much defined by the tasty crops, wine and meats the village produces. At the same time, there are numerous interesting components that set the village apart, first of which would be the propensity for ancient artifacts littering the nearby landscape. This landscape, blasted in antediluvian wars, is now in the 2.0-version properly described in its own section regarding the surrounding locality. Speaking of improvements made: The original 6 entries for events and dressing have been expanded to a full set of 20, making it significantly easier to make the village come alive.

And then there is the fact that 4 odd monoliths, one in each cardinal direction, seem to guard the place. And that magically capable PCs will realize that the place uses magic to e.g. keep their silos properly purified. Perceptive PCs may notice an absence of children. Did I mention the constantly optimal weather conditions? There is a lot about Idyll as a place “too good to be true” that may spark the paranoia of the characters... and the village is governed by an odd council that seems to encompass the worst discrepancies of the alignment spectrum, thus rendering it rather impotent. Yet, the place is peaceful…so how can that be? If paranoia does not suffice, the new version also sports a couple of novel adventure hooks.

Magical characters may also notice a curious phenomenon, namely, that neither alignment-detection, nor proper scrying seem to work within the confines of this village and the fact that people of such vastly diverging ideologies seem to peacefully coexist also hints at the true nature of this unique settlement - a nature I am not going to divulge in this review, instead leaving you with the information that I haven't seen the idea executed thus anywhere before. I absolutely love it! While I briefly considered spoiling the truth here, I believe that refraining from doing so is indeed for the best - you'll see once you read about this unique village yourself.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any serious glitches on a formal or rules-language level. Layout adheres to RSP's smooth, printer-friendly two-column standard and the pdf comes with full bookmarks as well as a gorgeous map, of which you can, as always, download high-res jpegs if you join RSP's patreon. We get pretty neat b/w-artwork. The pdf comes in two versions, with one being optimized for screen-use and one to be printed out.

Mike Welham's Idyll once again is a perfect reminder why he ranks among the authors who continue to score seals of approval - Idyll is an inspired, intriguing settlement that begins with a mystery and offers a great answer to it, one that makes sense on multiple levels. The potential for uncanny valley-esque creepy-factors is here, as is the option for players to later utilize the village's unique properties for their own agendas… provided they dare and manage to come to an agreement with the village's masters, that is.

Idyll 2.0 has been expanded and improved in careful and well-chosen ways that genuinely improve the ability to run the excellent settlement further. Moreover, the OSR-iteration has been carefully crafted and adapted, losing nothing of its great appeal. Idyll is novel, interesting and creative, warranting 5 stars + seal of approval. It’s one of the gems in the excellent series.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com

The expanded 2.0-version of the supplement depicting the village of Idyll is 13 pages long, 1 page front cover, 2 pages of advertisement, 1 page editorial/ToC, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving us with 7 pages of content, so let's take a look at the settlement!

As always with Raging Swan Press' critically-acclaimed Village Backdrop-series, we are introduced to a sample town herein, local nomenclature, market place-information on magic items for sale, some sample lore to be unearthed via Knowledge-checks and, obviously, some rumors and adventure hooks. Oddly, the settlement statblock information present in the original iteration of the village has been cut.

On the plus-side of things, we have two new NPC-write-ups in Raging Swan Press’ tradition: I.e., we get no stats, but we do get read-aloud descriptions as well as notes on mannerisms, personality and background. One of these individuals also comes with their own adventure hook.

A brief glimpse at the village map shows that the settlement is close to a little stream - and, frankly, if "idyll" as a name evokes pastoral scenes and romantic notions of a farmer's life...you'd kind of be right. Export-wise, Idyll is pretty much defined by the tasty crops, wine and meats the village produces. At the same time, there are numerous interesting components that set the village apart, first of which would be the propensity for ancient artifacts littering the nearby landscape. This landscape, blasted in antediluvian wars, is now in the 2.0-version properly described in its own section regarding the surrounding locality. Speaking of improvements made: The original 6 entries for events and dressing have been expanded to a full set of 20, making it significantly easier to make the village come alive.

And then there is the fact that 4 odd monoliths, one in each cardinal direction, seem to guard the place. And that magically capable PCs will realize that the place uses magic to e.g. keep their silos properly purified. Perceptive PCs may notice an absence of children. Did I mention the constantly optimal weather conditions? There is a lot about Idyll as a place “too good to be true” that may spark the paranoia of the characters... and the village is governed by an odd council that seems to encompass the worst discrepancies of the alignment spectrum, thus rendering it rather impotent. Yet, the place is peaceful…so how can that be? If paranoia does not suffice, the new version also sports a couple of novel adventure hooks.

Magical characters may also notice a curious phenomenon, namely, that neither alignment-detection, nor proper scrying seem to work within the confines of this village and the fact that people of such vastly diverging ideologies seem to peacefully coexist also hints at the true nature of this unique settlement - a nature I am not going to divulge in this review, instead leaving you with the information that I haven't seen the idea executed thus anywhere before. I absolutely love it! While I briefly considered spoiling the truth here, I believe that refraining from doing so is indeed for the best - you'll see once you read about this unique village yourself.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice any serious glitches on a formal or rules-language level. Layout adheres to RSP's smooth, printer-friendly two-column standard and the pdf comes with full bookmarks as well as a gorgeous map, of which you can, as always, download high-res jpegs if you join RSP's patreon. We get pretty neat b/w-artwork. The pdf comes in two versions, with one being optimized for screen-use and one to be printed out.

Mike Welham's Idyll once again is a perfect reminder why he ranks among the authors who continue to score seals of approval - Idyll is an inspired, intriguing settlement that begins with a mystery and offers a great answer to it, one that makes sense on multiple levels. The potential for uncanny valley-esque creepy-factors is here, as is the option for players to later utilize the village's unique properties for their own agendas… provided they dare and manage to come to an agreement with the village's masters, that is. While I was somewhat dumbfounded by the elimination of the settlement statblock options featured in the original, Idyll 2.0 has been expanded and improved in careful and well-chosen ways that genuinely improve the ability to run the excellent settlement further. Idyll is novel, interesting and creative, and the well-wrought expansions for the 2.0 version imho warrant getting the village again, even if you own the original iteration. 5 stars.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This module is only available in print, and as such, my review is obviously based on that format. The module is a perfect bound softcover, and somewhat to my chagrin, it has a large enough spine, but doesn’t have its name on the spine. The module clocks in at 68 pages if you disregard cover, editorial, etc.

This review was moved up in my reviewing queue at the request of my patreon supporters.

Before we dive into the meat of the matter, it should be noted that, while originally penned as a companion tome for Angels, Daemons & Beings Between: Extended Otherworldly Edition (AD&BB:EOE), this module can be run all on its own; the judge might have to improvise a few spell-references, but I got this prior to AD&BB:EOE due to some quirk of fate and ran it without said book – went perfectly fine.

The adventure showcases some interesting ways of handling patrons interacting with PCs, and as such, provides two fully-realized patron write-ups, including invoke patron check results, patron taint, spellburn and 3 spells per patron – one for each spell level from 1st to 3rd. Additionally, the module codifies the scrying spell, which is exactly what you’d expect, save that it’s seen through the lens of DCC’s magic aesthetics, and, optionally, stats for a NPC that can become relevant – well, or not. One of the patrons is the eponymous Mulmo: A tentacled mass of shadow, he is said to be the keeper of every secret ever, whispering from the blackened haze. As such, his spells are Mulmo’s Dread Susurration, which can distract targets, cause Personality damage, penalize action die, etc. but the unlucky exposed to the most potent iteration, if they are blessed with an iron will, can potentially gain some cosmic insight here. Tentacles of smoke and gore spawn immobile, ever stronger tentacles  with progressive grasping capabilities – think of these as ole’ Evard’s black tentacles, save that they are realized via creature stats. Finally, we have Walk the Akashic Record, which is essentially, as the name implies, a collective-unconscious delve that can manifest in a wide variety of ways. I really liked this patron back in AD&BB:EOE, and I certainly still do.

The second patron featured herein would be a new one, Gloriana, the faerie godmother – who is a genuinely benevolent patron – it’s just that she has SO MANY wards to look after, so accidents can happen, which is a rather fun explanation of patron taint. This theme also features in the spellburn section – “There now. I hope we learned something from this, dear.” I adore it. Gloriana presents DCC’s volatile weird magic in the guise of faerie tales, with dangerous whimsy, animated mayhem, being teleported to a ball, and more. This notwithstanding, Gloriana’s magic is potent indeed: The PCs will only laugh once about the bing, bang, boom spell that requires 3 actions to cast, has 3 spell checks, and three effects, spanning a total of 3.5 pages on its own. I love it! Gloriana’s Most Excellent Love Spell reminded me of a certain cult movie franchise, and it provides very potent buffs for the enamored, but also makes them somewhat dependent on each other. Compared with these two, the final one, faerie transformation, is a bit less exciting, but that notwithstanding, we have a fantastic patron in the best of ways – If anything, this one made me really yearn for Daniel J. Bishop writing more Faerie Tales from Unlit Shores. (Purple Duck Games released these FANTASTIC and compelling modules…and if you’re a judge with even remotely a taste for weird faerie tales, you need to get them ASAP. The first one is actually PWYW - you can find it here!) Heck, if I wasn’t dirt poor, I’d throw some money at master Bishop to write more…but I digress.

So that’s the new patron material. The module, formally, is intended for a group of 3- 8 characters somewhere in the level-range of 4-6. As always in any well-wrought DCC adventure, I recommend a healthy mix of characters for the module, as this definitely is an old-school adventure. The module offers a different twist as far as use is concerned – the judge can run this as a site-based adventure, sure. But the module also offers something rarer: The chance to return a deceased character from death! Instead of a PC, an NPC could obviously also be the target, but personally, I do suggest combining the two. Having a quest in the back as a justification feels more DCC-ish to me. One of the few formal complaints I can field against the adventure, would be that it does not provide sample characters for the player of the deceased character to use (and perhaps dispose of) during the adventure, but that as an aside.

Now, the cover implies as much, but in case you haven’t gotten that – this module does have a strong elf-theme that is more alien and weird than the D&D default…and no, PC elves don’t automatically know everything. Not required, but nice: If the judge has Critters, Creatures & Denizens, use of Crit Table F is suggested, and it is also suggested that some creatures within can be turned by Lawful clerics. If you do have AD&BB:EOE, you will certainly benefit from that as well: Among the random encounters, patron manifestations ranging from Enzazza to Mab can be encountered. So yeah, a well-stocked judge’s library is certainly helpful, but not required. Personally, I like it when there’s subtle cross-referencing going on, as long as it doesn’t impede the quality of the material, or its ability to stand on its own.

Bronze and stone weapons are used prominently in the module, and easy to grasp rules for their relatively quick degradation are provided. Aesthetics-wise, the module provides read-aloud text as usual, stats where they’re needed, and also features quite a bunch nice, rhyming and riddles. The cartography is top-down with 10 x 10 feet squares, and functional – not a lot of details are provided, but it’s certainly sufficient to run this without a hitch. Since the location features quite a bit of verticality, we also get a side-view map, which I certainly appreciated, as it helps envisioning the relation between levels, etc. One adventure location comes with more detailed, isometric maps (5 foot-squares here) that feature more details. This is a personal thing, but I’d have preferred uniform square-sizes. Not a personal preference, though: Much to my annoyance and chagrin, no player-friendly maps are provided. I seriously hope that this finally becomes industry standard in DCC as well. I suck at drawing maps, hate it in all iterations, and simply can’t draw some of the more beautiful maps. But having a secret door spoiled, or fat numbers in my locations is a huge immersion breaker that I positively loathe. I wish more publishers would follow the example of e.g. Purple Duck Games in that regard, particularly since DCC-maps tend to be very beautiful, and would make awesome handouts.

All right, and this is as far as I can go without diving into SPOILERS. Potential players should jump ahead to the conclusion.

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All right, only judges around? Great! So, as noted before, a bargain between Mulmo and the PCs is probably the most satisfying way to run this adventure, and the sequence in which PCs are contacted is laid out rather well. One strength of the module is also one that deserves special mention: In the main adventure location, time flows differently, with a d7-table to determine its passing. This is in as far important, as, while wizard spell recovery etc. are guided by the time inside of the locale, for the purpose of clerical abilities, the time passing outside matters – which can make clerics more formidable, or weaker, and potentially change the campaign setting, if so desired. This is but one of the nest global effects here. The adventure locale, Erle’s Howe, is essentially a massive, hollow hill with a crown of trees on top. Nailing the sense of the dark faerie tale, the means of activating the entrance is actually already rather interesting. The Howe, somewhat disjointed from time, was one of the sites of conflict between the elves (which are anything but nice – case in point, e.g. Morhern the Exquisite, elven torturer…) and the trow. Unlike their friends with “d”, these are basically DCC-orcs that may or may not be corrupted elves.

Behind the glamoured entrances, the hollow hill contains a central 10-story tower (aforementioned place with isometric maps) and plentiful living spaces in the side of the walls. Interesting: Mulmo’s susurrations guide the PCs, for they need to acquire the body of a servant of Mulmo from within the tower – which is sealed. Thus, the party has ample reasons to explore the two levels of living spaces carved into the sidewalls of the hollow hills’ interior as they are questing for the rings. The patrons from AD&BB:EOE get ample chance to shine here, as the influence of several of them are obvious and possible to develop further. In a way, this is at once a strength and a slight weakness, as the module doesn’t really take time to let the PCs understand the respective patrons. They can e.g. find a complex machine crafted by a devotee of Ptah-Ungurath, but while fiddling with it can yield interesting results (or doom – this is DCC!), there isn’t really any indicator of the patron-involvement that the players can discern. The judge/player-information barrier here could be more permeable, as the lore implications of this complex spectrum of patron involvement can render the module more exciting, but that may be me. Secret oraculums and plentiful treasure, weasel-faced serpents. Elemental pools, the option to free a Prince of Eagles from confinement and mysterious machines, where 12 different level positions have different consequences can be found – or ignored. As often in DCC, risk and reward are carefully entwined, and parties knowing when to experiment, and when not to, are certainly better off. Elfs can btw. become Faerie Knights with the help of a magical armor, but, as often, this power does come at a cost. Absolutely hilarious: Alemourn, the drunken blade, a mighty sword that becomes more potent the more hammered the wielder becomes Inebriation is btw. handled with Agility, Personality and Stamina…

 Beyond this, the tower provides a change of pace, as the PCs have to bypass the un-dead and lunar creatures to retrieve the body of Morgil the Moon-Sage (Said NPC mentioned before as one character in the appendix); it is also probably a little homage to LotFP’s “Tower of the Stargazer”, as the telescope works inverse to that one; it can conjure a variety of lunar creatures, with their own table and stats provided. The massive and incredibly strong caterpillar-like Tiny Moon Calf particularly made me smile, and from insectoid selenites to lunar centaurs…and what about the actually sophisticated and intelligent wormfolk that might mistake the PCs for dumb animals and attempt to eat them? (they can’t disgorge those eaten – very embarrassing indeed…) Anyways, the body of the slain Moon-mage must be carried below, into the dungeon beneath the tower, where the theme of the adventure changes and the full level of malignant elven douchebaggery becomes apparent, if it hasn’t already. More undead await, and the PCs have a chance to rescue a trow princess driven insane – and particularly perceptive PCs may find a dark, magical sword bricked into a wall…of course, only if they can best the un-dead master of the goal…

Ultimately, this place, this prison, also houses the access to Mulmo’s hidden fane, where the waters of life may revive a target – but if the PC’s follow their shadowy benefactor’s guidance, they are in for a rude awakening, as the pool requires 1d100 years to recharge; if they, however, attempt to revive their own comrade first, they’ll be in for a pretty brutal treat, as Mulmo’s whispering shades do not take kindly to their master’s wishes being spurned…

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are surprisingly good on a formal level, with only minor hiccups here and there, and the formal rules being precise as well. Layout adheres to a no-frills two-column b/w-standard, with a couple of solid b/w original artworks, and b/w-cartography. The latter, as mentioned before, ranges from neat to functional, and no player-friendly maps are provided. All of this is particularly impressive considering the troubled history, publisher-change etc. that this book and its companion went through.

Daniel J. Bishop is one of the authors I look forward to reviewing, as he has a very firm grasp on DCC, and has yet to write anything I consider to be sans merits; he is never boring, and this holds true here as well. This massive module has a lot of things to tinker with, and sells its relatively conservative fantasy premise by diving deep into the faerie tale aesthetic. I like this adventure, and it certainly plays rather well. And yet, I couldn’t help but feel that the module has a few minor weaknesses hat keep it from true greatness. For one, I think that the adventure’s complex tapestry of patron influences could have been communicated slightly better to the players via direct and indirect clues – unless the judge devotes a bit of extra time to this aspect, the module can end up feeling unfocused and slightly confusing, as the PCs encounter disparate patron elements. On a prep-the-module-angle, it’d also have been rather cool for the judge to get an overview-table that lists the patrons, and perhaps hooks to lead into their services, or for them to have a more pronounced impact on the plot.

I know that this was not feasible, considering how the project went down, but I think this would have elevated the module from being a good offering, to an excellent one. Oh, and player-friendly maps. Anyway, this module still has a great bang-for-buck-ratio, a unique atmosphere, and is certainly worth its asking price. My final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars, rounded down.

Endzeitgeist out.

EDIT:

The publisher has responded (in an kind and professional manner!) to my review with an explanation:

"That being said. Each design choice, down to the atrocious handwriting and over all roughness of this module is deliberate, and at its core a response to the consistent and overwhelming laments of new GMs unfairly comparing themselves to professional APs, like Critical Role to say to these new folk where the bar is for starting out."

I consider this to be an admirable goal! That being said, this is nowhere evident within the module, its description, etc. - it doesn't change my review, but it contextualizes the author's intent rather nicely. So if you think that going DIY might be for you, then this may warrant taking a look at!

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This zine-style 2-page dungeon clocks in at 2 pages; these can theoretically be folded, with 1/3 of the first page being devoted to the front cover.

So, there is one thing you need to know about this, and it can be a deal-breaker for you: while the text that explains the premise and background on the first page is properly printed, and so is the explanation of the NPCs, the actual stats of the adversaries faced herein are depicted in a scan of hand-written notebook pages; the map of the complex to be explored also is hand-drawn and scanned in.

Why is this relevant? Well, the handwriting was REALLY hard for me to decipher, and I’m grading a lot of student papers and see quite a lot different handwriting styles. Even after quite a bit of puzzling. And there is really no reason for either choice – you could just type the material, and the map could be drawn pretty easily in free software like explain everything whiteboard and pasted in, making it easier to read and parse. The map also sports no scale.

That being said, what’s the module about? Well, in order to discuss this, we need to go into SPOILERS. Potential players should jump ahead to the conclusion.

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All right, only GMs around? Great! So, the premise is simple: The village’s sheep are slaughtered in the night by some horrors, and the sphere-traveling PCs are obviously blamed, which necessitates closer inspection of the eponymous keep. The pdf briefly talks about priest, mayor and constable, and how they interact with the PC’s task.

 Inside, a small clique of goblins has been drawn to the resting place of one of the “Creepy God’s eyes” – I genuinely liked this notion of a “Creepy God”; it straddles the line between puerile and evocative; who’d worship such a god? The notion of the deity fits Troika well. The goblins are led by a self-styled priest of the Great Dragon, who believes to eb chosen by “the this God”[sic!]. The Great Dragon is btw. not a dragon per se – it is an insectoid thing nesting around the eye, which also created it. Its “Children.” The remainder of the module is pretty simple – the PCs have to enter the keep (which smells of feces and rotten meat), and gather 4 keys in outlying rooms, while dealing with goblins. While they do that, there’s a chance for interaction with a traumatized Knight of the Road, and fight both goblins and the properly statted (if you can decipher the handwriting) children of the dragon. With the keys, the PCs can open the central, locked door and vanquish the centipede-ish monstrosity.

Interesting complication: Until the place is cleansed, the goblins constantly reanimate as zombies. Okay, cool, how long does it take? Is that immediate, or should it take a bit of time? Considering that the centipede-ish monstrous “Great Dragon” and its ilk have a poison that damages Skill, this could render the module into a bit of a survival experience, which I generally like. The theme of feces is btw. also represented in the pit traps featured in the complex, but no depth or guidance is provided for the effects here. Now, I don’t want high-complexity RPG-levels of detail here, but a brief note about depth at least would have been nice.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are not very good, particularly considering the brevity of the offering. Layout adheres to a three-column horizontal standard, and we get public domain centipede-images as art. The hand-drawn cartography genuinely looks worse than mine, and I SUCK at cartography; whipping something up via a free program would have taken perhaps 5 minutes – the map’s that simple. The pdf has no bookmarks, but does come with one version optimized for the A5, and one for letterpack (US) paper sizes. Kudos for that – I wish more authors would do this.

Ian Woolley’s little module kinda surprised me; I do admit to having a serious kneejerk reaction of WTF-proportions when I saw the hard-to-decipher handwriting. The set-up is basic, and in contrast to all of his offerings I’ve read so far, this feels like the author didn’t care, or at least not as much. In contrast to e.g. his lovingly-crafted Ætherjack’s Almanac-zini I recently reviewed, this one is, well, is not something I can recommend. It has plenty of white space on the first page that could have been used to explain further, add details or cool ideas – and instead, we get what clearly feels like either a joke I don’t get, or a minimum effort offering. It’s not per se atrocious, and you can run it if you can decipher the handwriting, but it’s rough, unpolished, and ultimately not as interesting as many comparable, more polished system-neutral or system-agnostic offerings. As such, my final rating can’t exceed 1.5 stars, rounded up, as unlike some material I reviewed, you can potentially have fun with this. But then again, you can also probably improvise something more compelling.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This module clocks in at 32 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 29 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

So, one of my patreon supporters asked me for a funny module, and I asked them whether their group had a seriously pronounced sense of gallows humor. They replied in the affirmative, and thus, I moved this module up my reviewing queue.

Important, considering the timing: This is a satirical module that is rather scathing, with the main topic being the costs associated with healthcare. If this is not something you can take right now, then skip this. If, however, gallows humor is comforting to you, then read on.

This is the first, and so far only module in the Vale of Shenbyrg-series, and it takes place in the eponymous village of Walstock. Setting-wise, this feels at first like a slightly gonzo fantasy setting, but from a GM’s perspective, it champions the post-apocalypse-turned-to-fantasy trope; if this is something you and your players don’t like, beware.

Mechanically, the module makes pretty extensive use of the mechanics of Casting Rolls introduced in the Divinities & Cults-books released by the author, but I do not own said books, so checking the validity of the implementation is hard. You do not, however, require these books, as the module does offer an easy to implement alternative solution for the effects on the global mechanics in the book.

The OSR-system of choice here is, just fyi, Labyrinth Lord, though the aesthetics also fit DCC – which the author seems to have realized, as we can encounter, among other things, gong farmers. Slightly annoying: There are some formatting deviations from labyrinth Lord’s conventions. I recommend this module for groups of 5-6 players of 1st level, or higher – up to 3rd level should go rather smoothly, with the usual scaling, if needed. The party should definitely be a well-rounded one, for the module is dangerous: Additionally, it should be noted that the module does demand quite a bit from the players as far as skill is concerned – it is essentially complex sandbox with an investigation plot. I firmly recommend that only veteran groups try their hand at this, for this is not a simple module to beat…or run, for that matter. On the plus side, even veteran investigators will need to think here: If most investigations seem trivial to your group, this may deliver what you crave.

The module does include a background generator for Walstock that includes 5 different motivations, some of which do come with sub-sections. Sub-generators for families that are not the big three are provided, and we get a d12-based generator that lets you generate relationships between people – descriptor, relationship and blood relationship. D10 tables for random encounters are provided for day and night (as well as for other regions), and we get a pretty massive Walstocker generator to make stock NPCs seem, well, not like stock NPCs. The maps within are generally functional, but don’t sport much in the vein of details, but do come with a grid etc. They lack a scale noted.

There is one more thing about the maps, which should be noted, but in order to do that, I need to go into SPOILERS. Potential players should now jump ahead to the conclusion.

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All right, only referees around? Great! So, there are tunnels beneath Walstock, and they are pretty massive. However, how the tunnels and town interact can be a bit annoying for the referee: Some outlines of buildings on the tunnel map would have helped there. Don’t get me wrong: The module does list entrances etc. rather well, but considering how basic the maps are, this’d have been a low-effort way to make them more useful and enhance their utility. Speaking of annoying: The module’s maps feature no player-friendly versions.

So, I mentioned this was a satire, right? Well, tere are three particularly prominent families herein, the Trenchaus (upper class), the Kiblerman (middle class) and the Torchenorff (lower class) – all are seriously funny sketches of the clichés: The Torchenorff’s favorite dive, for example, is called the Pigsty, and Torchenorffs and Trenchaus are quarreling rather prominently. As befitting os a post apocalypse turned fantasy, Walstock is ruled by the cult of R’ti (XD), the demon lord of educational and bureaucratic insanity. There also are the churches of Tyr and Minerva, with the latter deserving special mention: The adherents of Minerva are super prudes, and become magical girl-style superheroines at night – like Temperance Girl, or Madame Shadow (write up sports a typo that refers to the name of Lady Light instead), who engages in interpretive dance throughout the night. Mighty Virgin pummels any men who’d dare show her affection, and Maid of Justice, who is , like the others, kinda psychotic and a hypocrite. These are all properly stated and make for a hilarious series of encounters – particularly if the PCs can figure out some of their less consistent behavior patterns. Meat bounties, hidden temples of Unharmonia…and did I mention the dietician? Visits may be risky, but dare you try following the secret elf’s counsel? (Non-humans are better explained as simply oddly shaped humans here…)

All of that, and much, much more, is simply here for the sandbox level of play – but there is actually a perfidious plot going on, and it is a complex one that involves blackmail, facilitating the outbreak of disease, incited riots, and a combination of deaths by riot and assassination that coincides with a mighty ritual – unless stopped, this complex and rather hard to unearth conspiracy will put the adherents of the Shield-Ghul, the second most powerful cult, in control of the town.

These fellows btw. are responsible for regular healing not working as well as it should (aforementioned global effect suffusing parts of the town, which will be increased if the cult can finish the aforementioned ritual…), and include barber-dentist/Assassin Dr. Chohmps. The Shield-Ghul is a Lawful Evil Arch-devil of Ill Healing, Tyranny, Waiting, and Cost. Cult edicts are provided. They can turn regular healers and those looking for refunds, and their healing takes TIME. 1d20 turns to ever show up. And then you roll a d12. The patient can well die here, or might need to fill out more forms, or something else must be found, etc. Oh, and healing costs 1d10,000 gp. Divine tests listed include physicians needing to pay exorbitant sums, and Assurance (insurance) peddling on others is, of course, also party of the deal. In short: Just because you serve the shield-ghul doesn’t mean you fare better! As you can glean from this topic, we also have a pretty massive hospital (fully mapped) staffed by the shield-ghul staff. And you probably realized that the whole spreading of sickness angle is designed to drive the entire town deeper into debt… Did I mention that the blackmail theme is rather subtle, or that the mail service of the town (!!) is actually involved? The timeline for the plot spans only 3 days, which can render this module a rather tough cookie to beat indeed.

If the adventure has a single weakness on a narrative level, it’s that it doesn’t really offer a good way to jumpstart the adventure. It is cognizant of not being a hack-and-slash scenario, and is genuinely clever, but unless your players and PCs are already motivated to look for the adventure, they may well miss out on some, or even most of it. As a pet-peeve of mine, there is a single save or die monster herein, and those foolish enough to seek the help of the shield-ghul’s adherents have a low chance of dying sans save, but then again, that is reaping the seeds of bad decisions. Did I mention that the shield ghul’s fashioned after the Caduceus, and as such, a massive ghul serpent is a kind of boss herein? The vampire who has forsaken trying to control the village in favor of blood drinking and lovemaking, since it’s just too wyrd a place? This book brims with these short tidbits in creature and location design, these small set-pieces, that are both charming and help making the place feel alive. As strange Walstock is, it follows its own, twisted logic.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are good on a formal and rules-language level – while not perfect in either, the module can be run with what’s provided sans stumbling. Layout adheres to a no-frills two-column b/w-standard, and the module sports comic-style b/w-artworks. These are okay, but nothing to write home about. The cartography is functional, but sports no details, and unfortunately lacks player-friendly iterations. Annoyingly, the adventure lacks bookmarks, which renders navigation a chore. Since you’ll need to cross-reference and use markers to properly run this, I strongly suggest printing out the module.

Dan Osarchuck’s “Wyrd Ways of Walstock” is a genuinely funny module, and particularly right now, its dark humor will hit close to home for many, but perhaps this is just the time to actually engage with the themes that this adventure satirically puts in the game’s context.

The blending of laughter with serious themes can help quite a few people cope with situations that’d otherwise seem overbearing.

On a formal level, I genuinely like the complexity of the plot of the antagonists, and that it really demands that the PCs do their job properly. Getting a better hook to rope them into the fact that something’s afoot, though, would have imho enhanced the module. Particularly, since the village’s high wyrdness-factor can easily bury the plot in a plethora of sidequests, strange occurrences, etc. – there is so much going on, it’ll take serious skill to sift through all the unrelated stuff, quirky characters and red herrings. On a formal level, the module fares worse, with the lack of bookmarks and player-friendly maps representing serious strikes against the adventure.

And yet, as a whole, I consider this to be a success – we have a good, darkly-funny adventure here, one that embraces the absurdity of real life systems and puts its finger, like a ghul surgeon, where it hurts. Unlike the victims of these devil-worshipers and systems, though, you might get a laugh and a good time out of this. My final verdict will be 4 stars.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This installment of the series dealing with class-redesigns clocks in at 62 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page inside of front cover, 2 pages of editorial, 1 page ToC, 4 pages of SRD, 1 page inside of back cover, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 51 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This review was moved up in my reviewing queue at the request of my patreon supporters.

The supplement begins with something I enjoyed seeing, namely truths and lessons learned. These include knowing that nature is not your friend, that one should rely on oneself, that all tools and weapons should be used, that enemies should be wisely considered – you get the idea.

The legendary ranger base class doesn’t per se change the chassis, but addresses something interesting: You see, rangers are a super-popular class in my game – but none of them ever actually go the route of the classic ranger. I’ve had blood magic-using changelings, insane pirates and more…and these end up with class features they don’t really require. The legendary ranger gets full BAB-progression, good Fort- and Ref-saves, d10 HD, and the 6+Int skills per level that makes the class so attractive to my players. The legendary ranger is proficient in simple and martial weapons, light and medium armor, as well as shields, with the exception of tower shields. That being said, the class does do a lot of things different: At first level, we get adaptive learning, which absolves the legendary ranger of the need to meet ability score requirements for feats, and treats their level as fighter level, stacking them if applicable. I am ambivalent here. I do think that some prerequisites like Expertise and Power Attack? Yeah, there, the ability to bypass them makes sense. On the downside, this’d allow e.g. Large characters to gain Awesome Blow rather easily, which is not something I am fond of, or think of as intended. I’d strongly suggest limiting the ability to apply only to ability score requirements ranging from 10 to 18, or to limit it to combat feats.

The ranger also begins play with a natural gift – this may be an animal companion, animal summoning, shapeshifting (1/2 class level + Wisdom modifier times, up to 1 minute duration per use), which nets one form from a list of available choices, +1 form for every 4 levels after 1st. The forms improve at 11th level, sizeshifting (9th and 17th level unlock sizes beyond Tiny/Large), or a shaman’s spirit companion. There also is an option to make healing extracts, which is rather cool; while defaulting to the standard is easy here, I’d still have appreciated it if the ability stated the action required to imbibe an extract. There is also one important caveat missing from them, namely that they become inert when leaving the ranger’s possession, or at least briefly thereafter. I assume that choice was made because the word “extract” points towards the alchemist, but these extracts do no not behave as “pseudo-spells”, so having that explicitly stated would imho have been prudent. All of these options also have exclusive talents included, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Back to the main class, which gets a retooled quarry ability at first level. The ranger must be able to clearly visualize and describe the target to render them a quarry; 1/round as a free action, he can make any target they observed for at least 10 minutes within the last 24 hours their quarry; if they have interacted with a being for at least 2 hours, that countdown extends to a whole year. This decision to declare someone as quarry does not require the target to be present. If a legendary ranger meets a person, they can spend a move action to make the target the quarry immediately, provided they have some way to perceive them. Finally, evidence gathered can allow the legendary ranger to designate a target as their quarry, but a failed check prevents them from trying that target again for 24 hours. The class gets half their class level, minimum 1, to attempts to track them and may move at full speed while doing so, sans the usual penalty, and halves the penalty for moving at twice the normal speed. Perception checks to locate the quarry also get this bonus, and the ranger may use Knowledge to identify a quarry based on tracks. The ranger can also make a Perception check opposed by the target’s Bluff or Disguise to gain information about its condition, and the information gleaned makes sense and is codified properly.

Quarry also interacts with the Predation class feature, which is a scaling insight bonus to attack rolls against it, as well as +1d6 precision damage; these bonuses increase by +1/+1d6 every 4 levels beyond the first. Baffling oversight: Predation lacks that caveat that it isn’t multiplied in critical hits. EDIT: I've had a discussion with two friends on Facebook about this, so let me state this clearly: Analogue abilities like bombs, sneak attack, etc. do explicitly state that the bonus damage is not multiplied on critical hits. This lacks this caveat. /EDIT Since quarry is super-easy to apply and has no limits, one can’t argue that this is intentional, either. While the number of bonus damage dice is less than that of sneak attack, predation does not have sneak attack’s flanking OR ranged restrictions, which allows for a damage escalation of the already VERY potent ranged builds out there. I like predation, but it’s RAW too wide open for my tastes. I do like that you can apply this at range, but I think it should AT LEAST be a ranger talent, with some prerequisites or scaling, preferably.

Finally, the class gets wildspeak, which allows for communication with animals and magical beasts, as well as +1/2 class level to Diplomacy with them. 5th, 9th and 13th level unlock new creature types, and at 17th level, the ranger may talk to the earth itself. At 3rd level, the ranger gets improved quarry, which first allows him do designate a quarry and move as the same move action. 7th level allows for the use of quarry as a swift action; 11th allows the ranger to thus quarry a creature they can’t see (opposed skill roll required); 15th level may the action optionally immediate, and 19th level, a free action.

3rd level nets relentless stride, which allows for full Climb movement sans penalty, or ½ speed when using a shield on a successful Climb check; he may also move at full speed when swimming, is immune to tripping by slick and icy surfaces (including magical ones!), and move at full speed through undergrowth without damage/impairment, etc. At 7th level, the ranger can walk on walls and ceilings, provided he starts his turn on solid ground, and he falls if his movement ends; additionally, he can walk across water. While I like the intent of this ability, making the ranger essentially a terminator-bloodhound, I think it’s overkill. It includes stuff you’d usually associate with ninjas, assassins and rogues, and does not account for encumbrance, armor, etc. This should probably be at least something that needs to be chosen, considering how much it trivializes the most common forms of terrain hazards. 4th level nets the Wisdom-based spellcasting you’d expect.

5th level nets Hunter’s Edge: At this level and every 5 levels thereafter, he chooses a class skill and gains the skill unlock powers as appropriate for the ranks in the skill. Important note: I am not sure if the ranger continues to get the higher rank skill unlocks if they progress in a skill once chosen, or if they’d require taking the same skill again. 7th level nets covert nature, which means the ranger leaves no track, and can use Stealth while observed; 11th level allows the ranger also to negate detection by scent, as well as blindsense and blindsight – much appreciated, and appropriate for the level. 11th level nets evasion, which is upgraded to improved evasion at 15th level. Also at this level, we get blindsight that only allows the ranger to see objects and creatures that moved within the past round, the range doubling from 30 ft. to 60 ft. at 19th level. 19th level nets immunity to nonlethal damage as well as all diseases and poisons. He may also spend a swift action to gain temporary hit points, 20 to be precise, which last for 24 hours. These don’t stack with themselves or others, but any ability to redistribute hit points from the ranger to other beings makes this an infinite healing exploit. Booo! The capstone ability makes the ranger hit and deal half damage when rolling a natural 1 on an attack roll against the quarry.

At 2nd level, and every even level thereafter, the legendary ranger gets a ranger talent. These denote whether they are extraordinary or supernatural; talents with (Predation) as a descriptor obviously modify said class feature, and analogues are provided for Wildspeak etc. – the first of these predation talents maxes your predation damage dice when targeting flat-footed beings or those denied their Dexterity bonus. Some of these have scaling benefits: Ancient ways, for example, lets you always act in a surprise round, and at 6th level nets you uncanny dodge, at 12th level improved uncanny dodge. That’s usually 3 class features, all rolled in one. On the plus-side, at 4th level, we have gaining a wild-card combat feat up ¼ class level (minimum 1) per day that can’t be stacked with itself. We have a talent that nets you at-will detect magic as a move action, gaining instantly all information, and the legendary ranger learns the highest spell slot the quarried target can prepare, no save or skill check to counter. That is one that I seriously wouldn’t want to GM: Detect magic at will can already be super annoying; the secondary effect has no countermeasure as written, and wrecks plenty of plots of published adventures, where powerful casters masquerade as non-casters or weaker individuals. It also instantly unravels each plot where an individual masquerades as a caster, regardless of Bluff, Disguise or items. Not cool.

On the plus-side: Claim Dominion is an interesting high-level ability, though one that won’t work for every setting: It requires level 16, and lets the ranger call forth a region’s champion, which is a frickin’ CR 20 creature of the GM’s choice, to fight it in a duel, with only animal companions allowed. Once that creature is bested, the ranger gets powers in that dominion and instinctive fealty. This can be cool, but won’t fit every game – it implies that there’s a CR 20 creature for every 25 mile domain, so it’s something that some GMs might want to be on the lookout for. Fist of Resolve is also an interesting one: 2d6 damage to self as a swift action that cannot be reduced in any way to cease the effects of confused, fascinated, frightened, nauseated, panicked, shaken, sickened; conditions that build on those still apply – see, this is design-skill-wise a really cool one that fits the “grit my teeth”-trope perfectly. Its minimum level of 6th is a bit low for my tastes as written, though. I think it’d have been more elegant to have the talent scale and lack the minimum level: Start off with shaken, fascinated and sickened, then unlock frightened, nauseated at 6th, then panicked and confused at 8th, perhaps with scaling damage costs as well. Just my 2 cents. 10th level nets an additional attack at full BAB when directed against the quarry until it is reduced to 0 HP – it’s an always-on haste, which is pretty brutal, but at least it does not stack with haste or other attacks that grant an additional attack, so no monk-dip exploit. Ritualized dabbling in druid spells as a ceremony, better shield AC, improvising Crafting materials, hideouts that can avoid magic…and what about the ability that lets you ignore concealment bonuses and miss chances by focusing your gaze as a swift action on your quarry? Marauder’s step is brutal and makes pounce weep: At 8th level, you can move half your movement as a free action before a full attack. cough Dual wield with speed boost /cough This one should imho be higher level than it is. On the plus-side, there is Dexterity to damage, and threat-range increases have proper caveats. Variants of solo tactics and pack tactic are here; there is a high level option to get a fey shadowmate (built uses PC rules, so essentially a better cohort), who can also once return the legendary ranger to life; there is a 12th level option to use immediate actions to disrupt spellcaster quarries (nice!)…you probably got the idea by now.

As for the talents exclusive to a natural gift, well, here we have some really cool ones: Like raise animal companion, which does what it says on the tin, and really, really helps keeping the emotional bond. +4 Strength and Constitution for summoned creatures (nope, can’t be stacked with Augment Summoning – kudos for getting that!), mutagens lite, poisons that cripple, but don’t kill…pretty cool ones. Personal peeve of mine: The rather powerful poisonous extracts mentioned are pretty save or sucky: The penalty caused is 1d6 + ½ class level, half that on a successful save, which’ll reliably reduce targets to an ability score of 1 between mid and high levels; making that effect get the one save and then deliver the total damage over time, such as in increments of 2 or 4, would have been more interesting imho. Why am I not screaming at this ability? Well, while it’s too much for my tastes, it’s neither ability score damage, nor drain, but a penalty, and does not stack with itself – see what I mean when I say that the design does get complex rules-interactions done right? Even more interesting, the penalty gradually vanishes, which makes for a good reason why a villain might retreat for now… So yeah, I’m very ambivalent about this one, but I appreciate its design. Size shifters can take a talent to increase the size of one limb when using the attack action, which is kinda funny, kinda cool, and makes me think of Everybody Games’ excellent Microsized Adventures…

The book comes with 8 favored class options, available for any race.

The archetypes provided are the chasseur, a mounted ranger; the chrysanth caller is a ¾ BAB-archetype with fey-theme, Charisma as governing ability score, modified spell list (based on bard, with a selection of sorc/wiz spells added), and the ability to establish a telepathic bond with their quarry;  a complex class hack that radically changes how the class operates. Earthshakers are the barbarian crossover archetype; feral scavengers are the crossover with the unchained monk and some survivalism thrown in for good measure; the hand of nature’s might is a Spheres of Might crossover tweak, and hand of nature’s power, you guessed it, does cover that aspect for Spheres of Power. Harrier Scouts made me smile, big time: They get a unique natural gift that focuses on thrown weapons, and a combo-engine consisting of primers, follow-ups, and executions – somewhat akin to how the Swordmaster of old and some Interjection games classes, or the awesome Prodigy behave, just in a more limited version, as the abilities unlocked are fixed.  In a change of pace, only one primer, follow-up, or execution may be enacted per round, so it’s less of a linear build-up, and more of a mix and match. Still, I enjoyed this archetype’s 2.5 pages andgenuinely think that this type of design, applied to each o the traditional combat styles, would have made for an interesting angle to peruse. The head hunter gets macabre trophies and is particularly adept at hunting down escaped prey. The pack leader is BRUTAL: He essentially establishes a collective-like bond with allies, whoa re assigned certain roles, gaining potent benefits. These include never being surprised (at first level!), and also features bonus damage (not properly typed), but at the cost of moving down on the initiative order. Guardian role extends the reach of a character by 5 ft. Always, At first level. As part of the ability array of this fellow. Compare that to what you need to usually do to get an increased reach. This is a super-cool engine, but even PARTS of its base benefits are overkill for the levels; considering that they’re always on and last for days and are Ex, this is ridiculously strong. Dipping for even one level into this archetype makes the whole group much more deadly, and comparable commander archetypes and classes pale, big time. This is cool, but as written very much over the top.

Planar explorers get a frickin’ eidolon AND an expanded spell list, as well as a portal opening ability, but lose evasion. They still weirdly seem to get improved evasion, though. Skirmishers are spell-less rangers who receive a secondary, massive list of tricks, which includes adding no-save halving of movement, no save shaken, no-save entangled etc. to targets hit….but since they  can be used 10 + Wisdom modifier times per day only, that kinda works. Kinda. No save conditions that can be caused via ranged attacks are problematic. The wild-plains drifter is, bingo, the gunslinger crossover – it uses an interesting variant of the quarry engine that builds focus while the target is in sight, which can then be used for better shots and damage – I really like this base engine, as it represents rather well what you, well, do. You aim, observe, fire. Two thumbs up to whoever designed this one.

The feat array allows for the playing of Intelligence- or Charisma-based rangers. Mass Trap Spell makes you generate more traps – important if you’re like me and use lots of obscure books: This Is NOT meant to be based off of Rogue Genius Games’ Trap Spell ability to make spelltraps! Instead, the feat refers to one of three new spell types herein. Trap spells are placed in squares and pretty much d what they say on the tin; you can’t place them where they’d be immediately triggered. Primeval spells enchant a single piece of ammunition; herbal spells require either foraging or can be paid for. The spells provided are pretty cool, with terrain that heals allies and harms enemies, traps, ammo inflicting a negative level, a herbal variant of lesser restoration...I generally like a couple of them, but +1d6 times CL electricity damage (max 5d6 at 9th level) and +3 to attack rolls (UNTYPED!) vs. metal wearing foes for a swift action level 1 spell? Pretty darn brutal. Some spells here imho should make them specify that they can’t be made wands or potions, otherwise, you’ve just broken the already lax pricing. Take Life from the Land, for example, is a 4th-level spell, and cures blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, insanity, poisoned and sickened. (Oddly not nauseated). It also cures all ability score damage, and 1d6 HP per CL, and it has a 50% chance to send you back home on another plane. It’s only personal, but in a world where you can make wands of this fellow, not taking UMD would be rather dumb. This guffaw is in as far puzzling, as the other variant healing spells, like treat critical wounds, seem to be line: Said spell affects the creature touched and heals 4d12 hit points, plus 1 per CL. However, if the creature has been affected by it in the last 8 hours, that is halved. This is an interesting angle, and checks out well regarding spell-levels, etc. There is also a spell that heals you whenever the wielder of the enchanted weapon hits an attack - but the healing is low enough to make a kitten-exploit monetarily unfeasible, which I considered to be a nice touch.

The pdf closes with the sample character Raqir (CR 4), complete with a  compelling background story and boon benefits for befriending him. There is a superfluous + in his HD, but otherwise, he is a solid build.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good on a formal and rules language level; I only noticed e.g. italics missing and similar cosmetic hiccups. I think. Layout adheres to the series’ two-column full-color standard, and the pdf sports nice full-color artwork. Much to my annoyance, the pdf lacks bookmarks, which is a big comfort detriment for a crunch book of this size.

Andrew J. Gibson, Wren Rosario and Jeff Gomez have written a class rebuild that leaves me deeply torn; more so than any of the Legendary class rebuilds before. On one hand, we have a plethora of abilities I genuinely LOVE. The quarry rebuild is great and actually makes you feel like the sharp-eyed hunter/tracker; the class, as a whole, very much feels distinct and FUN. It has a wide selection of abilities that do allow you to roleplay, while never forgetting the mechanics. Which brings me to my primary concern: I’m not sure if the authors realized how strong their combined designs made the legendary ranger when compared to e.g. the legendary rogue or fighter. Just saying, since the sample NPC-build is relatively tame.

The lack of limits on predation makes every legendary rogue grit their teeth: Not only does the legendary ranger get the ability to walk on walls and ceiling and ignore the deadly terrain as a hard-coded class feature, they also have their full BAB for more consistent hits, and bonus damage that makes them much deadlier ranged combatants.

Know what did not need a damage boost of all things, at least not when played by a remotely capable player? Ranged ranger combatants.

In many ways, the legendary ranger is better at many rogue/assassin-y things than the legendary rogue. The different authors also show in the power-levels of the archetypes, which range from “solid” to “inspired”, to “conceptually great design, but broken as hell.”

To cut a long ramble short: I would not allow this class as written in my game. Not because of a personal pet-peeve of mine regarding mechanics, but because the overall package of the legendary ranger being better than that of the regular ranger, or talented ranger, or comparable classes by Legendary Games. I had peeves with the samurai and barbarian, with hiccups, some design decisions. But this one?

This is the first class in the series that I would not allow in my game due to balance concerns.

And it doesn’t look like the power level was anything but intended. The class is per se very finely-tuned, but omission of the usual balancing caveats in some key aspects taint it for me. I also have a legendary rogue player in my game, and where the legendary rogue or legendary gunslinger needs to invest and choose, the ranger just…gets stuff, and stuff that’s leagues better. This pdf has me rather concerned, to be honest.

How to rate this, then? Well, are you looking for a high-end class regarding power-level? Did you always think that your debuff full BAB-attacks should have no save? Tired of having to deal with the tactical ramifications of problematic terrain? Want to be a bloodhound? Or a witcher-like character? Then this’ll be pure awesome for you.

Are your PCs already fearsome enough with regular rangers? Oh boy, do you need to beg them not to power-game this beast.

For me, as a person, this is a 3-star file; its power-level is beyond what I consider appropriate for the games I run, and there are several components herein that I consider to be broken, too dippable, etc. – which breaks my heart, for the ideas and general chassis on display here are the finest I’ve seen for the concept.

As a reviewer, I have to account for the part of my demographic who is looking for such high-powered classes, though – for you, this should be a 5-stars file, though even you should beware of some options herein, while others may elicit less excitement from you.

Which leaves me with the formal criteria, and here, the lack of bookmarks hurts this book.

I thought long and hard, and compared this to my ratings of other comparable books, including the other installments in the series…and in the end, my final verdict can’t exceed 3.5 stars, rounded down.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This supplement clocks in at 30 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisement, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 25 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This review was moved up in my reviewing queue at the request of my patreon supporters as a prioritized review.

Okay, so what is this? In short, it’s a selection of 8 specialist wizard classes, one for each of the big schools. As such, we assume d6 HD, 2 + Intelligence modifier skills per level, good Will-saves and full 9-level spellcasting progression governed by Intelligence as casting ability modifier, and the progression is based on the wizard’s spells per day, as well as proficiency with select simple weapons as a default here – but there are plenty of deviations from this paradigm, which I’ll call out in the coverage of the individual respective class. The classes gain a special spellslot that may only be used for their specialty school. All of the classes come with favored class bonuses for the core-races minus the half-elf and half-orc, but plus orc.

Got that? All right, so, the abjurer is proficient with all 1-handed and ranged simple weapons, as well as boar spears and light armor, and they may cast arcane spells in light armor sans incurring the risk of arcane spell failure. This paradigm holds true for the other casters herein as well, just fyi – if they get armor proficiency from a class feature, they can cast in it. Same goes for wearing a buckler, just fyi! Spells must be taken from the abjuration, divination, transmutation or universal schools, and other schools’ spells are NOT on the spell-list. At 1st level, the character gains a bonded buckler, which may 1/day be used to cast an abjuration spell in the abjurer’s spellbook that they know and are able to cast sans preparing it beforehand. It may be enchanted and replaced, and provides the usual self-regeneration rules if only damaged. Abjurers use Intelligence, and not Constitution, to determine their bonus hit points when gaining levels in this class (important caveat to prevent dip-abuse!), and at 2nd level, they gain abjurer’s aegis, allowing them to choose one benefit when preparing spells: One nets resistance equal to the highest spell level they can cast to one of the core 4 energy damage types; number 2 nets DR of an equal amount, and number three nets a competence bonus to melee attack rolls equal to the highest level spell they can cast. At 11th level, two aegii may be chosen at once. Starting at 4th level, when wearing the bonded buckler, the abjurer may spend a swift action to grant the shield bonus to AC to all allies within 30 ft, or increase their shield bonus by this amount, with the effect lasting for Intelligence modifier rounds, up to 3 + Intelligence modifier times per day. 6th level nets Mettle, which is essentially evasion for both Fort- and Will-saves…and yes, abjurers have a good Fort-save.  

Starting at 8th level, they may absorb 3 times their class level, they first check for immunity, resistance or vulnerability, then apply the rest to this absorption. And yes, this RAW does apply to force, negative energy, sonic, etc. damage – but it is a limited ability. 10th level nets proficiency with medium armor and light shields (bonded item can now be such a shield as well), including casting in it, and 14th level upgrades that to heavy armor and heavy shields. At 12th level, whenever the abjurer dispels or counterspells an enemy’s spell, they get to scavenge the magic, prolonging the duration of an already cast abjuration spell by the negated spells’ spell level. Rules-wise, this is clever, as instantaneous spells or super-short duration ones obviously prevent use with counterspelling, but personally, I do think that it should specify that the spell to be prolonged must have a duration of rounds per level or more, but this is mostly aesthetics. At 16th level, the abjurer may expend a 3rd-level or 5th-level spellslot whenever they confirm a crit against an opponent as a free action, affecting the target with targeted dispel magic, or greater dispel magic, respectively. At 18th level, we have the ability to ward a creature by touch as a standard action, at will, and enemies have to succeed on an attack roll to attack the warded creature, including with targeted spells. Only one creature may be warded at a given time. The ability doesn’t list the saving throw formula, but, being SP; I think that 10 +1/2 class level + Intelligence modifier is an easy and intended default. The capstone lets the abjurer expend a spellslot of the same level or lower as an immediate action whenever the duration of an abjuration spell would expire, to prolong it as though it had just been cast. I really like the abjurer’s shield themes, and how it makes a defense mage really feel distinct. This is a winner.

Conjurers get proficiency with club, dagger, quarterstaff, simple ranged weapons and shortbow as well as longbow, and their spell-list covers conjuration, enchantment, necromancy and universal, with the exception of those referring to class features such as eidolons, and they also get the summon nature’s ally spell sequence. This is in as far interesting, as the special slot that conjurers get for conjurations only also require that you choose summon monster or summon nature’s ally, and said spell becomes the only one you can cast with this. Such spells also remain in effect for 1 minute per level, rather than the usual 1 round per level, and may be cast as a standard action. The latter is a significant power-gain, as summoned creatures act immediately on your turn, something usually offset by the 1 round casting duration. At 2nd level and every 4 levels thereafter, the class gets one (summoning) spell added to the spell list and spells known, or the conjurer chooses a combat or teamwork feat, which ALL creatures summoned gaining that. This can be rather strong: The monsters do not RAW need to meet the prerequisites, just the conjurer. HOWEVER, you can only choose a feat you’d meet the prerequisites for to be granted by this ability, so in order to grant e.g. a feat tree to summoned monsters, you’d have to “waste” the prerequisite feats by taking them for your conjurer, so the requisite clause is fulfilled. 4th level nets Augment Summoning, and every 4 levels thereafter, we get to choose from a list of feats. The capstone makes all summon monster spells (but oddly, not summon nature’s ally) count as one spell level lower, including making summon monster I essentially a cantrip, and metamagic adjustments to such spells are treated as two lower. I won’t lie, this one sends my alarm bells ringing to a degree; the modified spell list does help keep it in check, but in order to make a final judgment on it, I’d need longterm data, which I don’t yet have. Short term, the option is certainly strong, and I’d be careful with allowing multiclassing here.

The diviner gets d8 HD, proficiency with one-handed simple weapons, lantern staves and light crossbow as well 3/4 BAB-progression and good Reflex- and Will-saves. We once more have a bonus spell slot for divinations, and spells are drawn from abjuration, divination, transmutation and universal schools. The class begins play with Scribe Scroll, and always gets to act in the surprise round, but is flat-footed until they acted. Detect Expertise is gained at 2nd level, and a whole plethora of detect spells is added to the spell list and list of spells known at 2nd level as well. Their CL is also treated as 2 higher when casting such spells. 4th level nets uncanny dodge, 8th level improved uncanny dodge; 14th level provides evasion, 18th level improved evasion. 6th level provides the detect weakness ability to use a move action to choose a creature within 30 feet, which takes a penalty to AC and saves versus the diviner’s spells and attacks equal to ½ the diviner’s class level for one round, usable 3 + Intelligence modifier times per day as a move action. This is pretty brutal and can be overkill: There is no save, and a 14th level diviner could impose a -7 penalty to e.g. saves versus transmutation’s save or suck spells like flesh to stone and the like, which is an almost guaranteed success, unless the target has REALLY high related ability scores and good save, and then it’s still a stretch if the diviner is halfway decent in their optimization. This ability is imho overkill and could have used a whack with the nerfbat. The ability’s range extends to 60 feet and may be activated as a swift action at 11th level. 10th level nets +1/2 class level to Perception. At 16th level, they autodisbelieve phantasms and get a +5 insight bonus and an automatic disbelieve save when coming within 60 ft. of illusions. The capstone lets their scrying sensors pierce lead and makes their sensors 5 harder to detect, as well as always treating them as having firsthand knowledge. In case you were wondering: I’d make detect weakness’s penalty based on ½ the highest spell level they can cast instead – that’d be e.g. -3 if they can cast a 6th level spell, which seems more in line than the escalating  class level based scaling.

The enchanter gets proficiency with brass knuckles, cestus, blade boot, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, quarterstaff, sap, spring blade and war razor, and draws spells from enchantment, illusion, necromancy, universal. Their governing spellcasting ability score is Charisma, and they gain each level a bonus skill rank for Bluff and Diplomacy (normal cap applies), as well as half their class level  as a bonus to those skills. At 2nd level, when attacked and damaged by a non-reach melee weapon, they can use an immediate action to generate a blast that may daze the attacker briefly, usable 3 + Charisma modifier times per day. No daze-locking, btw., and creatures with more HD are immune to it. Nice! 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter net a teamwork feat, which the enchanter may then share with a creature affected by their charms or compulsions as a swift action for 3 + Charisma modifier rounds. The creature DOES NOT have to meet the feat’s prerequisites. This, of course, provides a justification for why you’d want to allow the enchanter to control you…which is a surprisingly interesting angle. 6th level allows enchanters to throw off enchantment effects, with one reroll per round, up to a maximum of their Charisma modifier attempts, minimum 1.10th level affects those charmed or affected by a compulsion as by Disruptive Spell, if the enchanter chooses so. 14th level lets the enchanter sacrifice a spellslot of equal level to remove the mind-affecting descriptor from a compulsion, which is made more potent by the capstone, which btw. also autogrants the teamwork feats mentioned before sans action expenditure required. 18th level extends single-target charm and compulsion spells to another target within 30 ft. of the first. A potent take on the enchanter that fared well in my tests – as a hint: At high-levels, these fellows may very efficient guildmasters etc. and puppeteer-style villains…just sayin’…

The evoker gets a ¾ BAB-progression, d8 HD and proficiency with simple weapons and light armor, as well as alchemical thrown weapons and one martial or exotic weapon of their choice. Spells are drawn from conjuration, evocation, transmutation and universal, and we get the bonus spell slot for, bingo, evocations each spell level. The class adds their Intelligence modifier to evocation spells that deal hit point damage, but may only add it once per target in the case of multi-target spells or thse spells that can split their target. This adds damage potential, but rewards the class for spreading damage. At 2nd level, evokers choose an elemental attunement to one of the 4 core energy types; the evoker may substitute the chosen energy type for the normal one of any energy-damage causing spell of the other 4 core elements not chosen. So, if you choose cold, you could e.g. cause cold damage with spells dealing fire, acid or electricity damage, which also can change the descriptor. The ability also determines the energy used in the second ability gained at 2nd level: The evoker can use a swift action to charge wielded weapons, adding +1d6 of the chosen energy per 2 class levels on the next attack, and said attack also benefits from a competence bonus equal to the highest spell level they can cast. The charge dissipates if not used, and the evoker gets 3 + Intelligence modifier uses. 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter net a combat or teamwork feat as a bonus feat. 8th level nets Vital Strike, and 6 levels thereafter, this upgrades to Improved Vital Strike, finally culminating at Greater Vital Strike at 18th level. The capstone nets fee and spontaneous Maximize Spell for evocations cast for Intelligence modifier times per day. Solid take on a battle mage.

Illusionists get proficiency with dagger, hand crossbow, iron brush, kerambit, sword cane, whip and tube arrow shooter as well as light armor, and also have good Reflex-saves in addition to the Will-standard. Their spell list draws from abjuration, divination, enchantment and illusion, and the added spellslots are freely available for illusions. They begin play with ½ class level as a bonus to Perception to detect traps and see through Disguise. Second level provides a bonus to their spell DCs if the target would be denied their Dexterity modifier to AC, and at 4th level, targets attempting to pierce an illusionist’s illusion must make a CL check to do so, believing that their effect worked as intended on a failure. 8th level nets an increased DC to disbelieve the illusionist’s illusions as well as an increased Spellcraft DC to identify their handiwork. 12th level nets a miss chance whenever the illusionist moved at least 10 feet, and 16th level nets the illusionist’s Intelligence modifier as a bonus to all saving throws as well as Bluff, Disguise and Stealth. The capstone negates true strike and similar effects used against the illusionist based on knowing the future, and also shields versus the usual detections. This effect may be suppressed.

The necromancer gets d8 HD, ¾ BAB-progression, and adds a good Fortitude-save to the Will-save default. Proficiency includes club, dagger, heavy and light crossbow, scimitar, scythe sickle, quarterstaff and light armor, as well as medium armor made from cloth, leather or hide. Their sell lists consist of the illusion, necromancy, transmutation and universal schools, and their specialization slots may be freely used with necromancy spells. The defining feature of this one would be the corpse companion; if said companion is lost or destroyed, it can be replaced relatively painlessly in 24 hours. At 2nd level, 5th level, and every 2 levels thereafter, the necromancer gets 2 corpse points used for augmenting the corpse, which act as eidolon evolutions. The corpse companion gets full Will-save progression, ¾ BAB-progression, as well as 2 skill ranks per level, excluding 3rd level. Over the course of the 20-level progression, the companion accumulates 10 feats, but to make up for that in comparison, the Ac bonus is less than that of the eidolon’s cap. The base forms available are a canid corpse, and Small and Medium humanoid corpses, which does suffice as a baseline to create additional forms if required. It should be noted that, since the corpse isn’t as mutable and absed on fixed forms, it does not need a maximum number of attacks listed. 3rd level, in case you were wondering, nets the necromancer channel energy, but negative energy only – and yes, at full level, not at the -2 You’d expect, so these fellows actually don’t suck in comparison to clerics in that regard. Minor nitpick: I’d have liked to see the pdf state that the companion does not count for the purpose of maximum undead HD controlled, but since I’s a class feature, that is no oversight – just something that requires a bit more in-depth rules knowledge than some GMs have.

Finally, we have the transmuter, whose proficiency lists includes battle poi, bladed scarf, cat-o’-nine-tails, chain spear, dire flail, double chained kama, dwarven dorn-dergar, flail, flying talon, gnome pincher, halfling rope-shot, heavy flail, kusarigama, kyoketsu shoge, meteor hammer, morning star, nine-section whip, nunchaku, sanetsukon, scorpion whip, spiked chain, urumi, whip, light crossbow and quarterstaff.  If you seriously end up using the quarterstaff with this awesome proficiency list, I really don’t know. The spell list includes conjuration, evocation, transmutation and universal, and the transmutation specialization slot isn’t limited to specific transmutation spells. The class adds good Fort-saves to the standard chassis. 1st level nets phase step, which is a 10 ft. per class level move action teleportation, usable 3 + Intelligence modifier times per day.  At 2nd level, all transmutations with a duration of 1 round per class level get +1 round, plus another round at 4th level and every 2 levels thereafter. 4th level nets the ability to sacrifice a spell of one spell level lower as a swift action when casting a transmutation to apply one metamagic feat known sans increase n level or preparing it ahead of time. Cantrips can’t be used thus – important balancing caveat. 6th level nets a -2 penalty versus the transmuter’s transmutations if the target is already under the effects of a transmutation. 8th level provides the option to sacrifice spell slots to maintain existing transmutation spells running out, but metamagic feats applied are not thus maintained, preventing cheesing with the previous ability. At 10th level, self-targeting with transmutations makes the character’s spells be treated as +3 CL. 12th level lets the transmuter, as a swift action, exchange a prepared spell with another in the spellbook, usable 1/day, +1/day every 2 levels thereafter. The capstone lets the transmuter change between different creature forms when affected by a given spell as a swift action, allowing for fluid shapechanges within a spell’s parameters.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good as a whole – bonus types are applied consistently, and apart from a “one/once” hiccup, both formal and rules-language are precise and well-wrought. Layout adheres to a 2-column full-color standard, and the artworks used are stock arts, some of which I hadn’t seen before. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.

Michael Sayre’s 8 variant wizard classes are a difficult design proposition – we all know that a properly played wizard (or druid) is a fearsome monster at higher levels, and incisions into their flexibility must be justified, at least to a degree. The book does this in a rather smart manner, by making the specialists real, well specialists. The loss in spell flexibility is made up for by them simply being more fun to play, at least as far as I’m concerned, and I wish we had gotten these classes when thassilonian magic was introduced – they all fell surprisingly different from core wizards in how they play. Now, I get it – divination has to do with fate, and is unpopular in many groups anyways, so I totally understand why detect weakness is as strong as it is, but if your players are fond of diviner concepts, that’s the one part of the pdf where I’d advise in favor of using the nerfed solution suggested above instead.  On a very personal note, I absolutely adored both the enchanter and the abjurer. Both can be really potent if played right, and both feel VERY different from their standard specializations – these two imho warrant the asking price on their own, if you want my opinion. The necromancer is a kind of hotfix that makes arcane necromancers more on par with their cleric compatriots without stepping on the spiritualist’s toes. The evoker has a distinct soldier-mage feel to it…you get the idea. The book can’t well make up for the loss in versatility by eliminating parts of the most powerful spell list in PFRPG. Instead, it makes playing the specialists more rewarding, and, well, special as an experience. So if you started to get bored by all wizards feeling the same, this is what you should get. Considering that this was the design goal, I consider it a resounding success. It is not perfect, but its very few flaws are not nearly enough to cost this my seal of approval, or make me round down from my final verdict of 4.5 stars.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This installment of the Pop Culture Catalog-series clocks in at 25 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 2 pages of SRD, leaving us with 21 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This was moved up in my reviewing queue as a prioritized review at the request of my patreon supporters.

Okay, so the Pop Culture Catalog series so far is one of my favorite things available for SFRPG, no hyperbole. Since it’s been a while since I’ve covered one of these, let us recap briefly: The core idea of the engine used, is that experiences and interests shape who we are. As such, the series introduces a fandom-engine, which lets you benefit in specific way from frequenting a certain restaurant, enjoying a certain drink, following a certain show, etc. Now, the benefits are nice and all, but beyond mechanical benefits, the system ahs a pronounced further plus side: You start thinking about what shows your character would watch, what food they’d consume – in short, you add depth to the character. Actually roleplaying through the process of becoming a fan of something also is intriguing, as it grounds the game, and provides an interesting change of pace for the party. Beyond that, there is also the fact that the lore in these pdfs tends to be fantastic – some lampoon e.g. companies with various degrees of subtlety, and provide plentiful adventure hook ideas based on unique settings. There is for example that wonderful, high-class beauty spa on the moon where the unfiltered air can cause lycanthropy. In another installment, we have a redesign for drugs and similar vices, which makes them scale throughout the levels! (And yes, I do have plans to use these rules for a stoner comedy in space type of scenario…)

Anyway, you can belong to 1 + Charisma modifier, minimum 1 fandoms at a given time, and leaving one or becoming a fan are rather easy processes as well, which retains a flexibility in play – it’s not a singular character build choice, but one that you can switch and adapt in a flexible manner as the game progresses.

We begin this supplement with the respective infosphere shows – each states its type, its price-modifier, the streaming service where they’re available, and a very quotable tagline. Beyond that, we actually get proper logos for each of them; in case you didn’t get some of the allusions here, the logos will often help. I should mention that, as a German, there are bound to be some references I didn’t catch, no matter how immersed in US-culture I may be. The shows run a VERY wide range of themes and topics: Take #MutantSchool, a procedural set in the MSU (Mayhem Superhero Universe) obviously inspired by the X-men. It doesn’t simply copy the standard heroes of its terrestrial version – it provides its own cadre of familiar, yet distinct heroes. Did I mention an assembly ooze with a puppy’s disposition? Now I want an assembly ooze with a puppy’s disposition of my own! Interesting here on a mechanical level: The fandom perk nets a +1 enhancement bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate against adolescents, since you understand their mindset better. See what I mean regarding the blending of flavor and crunch? Fans of Alluria and the Primordial Princesses’ perk helps dealing with relationships, as codified in the Advanced Skill Guide, to a greater deal than usual for a perk, but balances this against the fact that it only works if the relationship isn’t dysfunctional.

“As the Asteroid Spins” is a soap opera that started off with a high budget, and received a horrendous reception; however, when it was cut down and all but done and over in season 3, said season was so trashy and enjoyable that it attracted a huge fanbase. This one nets you Bluff as a class skill, or a bonus to it f you already have it as a class skill. Prefer reality series? “Cabinet of Curiosities” is a format where curios are presented to a team who then estimates their value – I can see PCs starring there, and, fun fact, the format also exists in Germany, where it’s called “Bares für Rares”, so “Cash for rare stuff.” The fandom perk makes selling items, regardless if they can normally be sold for 10% or 100% of their price, 5% more efficient, which is particularly at higher levels very useful.

The space equivalent of Topgear would be “Catch my Drift”, and it lets you add bonuses to skill checks used for crew actions of skill checks made to pilot vehicles, but has a 10-minute rest (including, obviously, Resolve expenditure) to regain caveat to keep it in line. Ole’ nerdy me also was beaming from ear to ear when learning about “Crimson Goblin”, the tale of Oswald Verr, a dwarven food synthesizer repairman alone on board the eponymous vessel, with only a living hologram, a senile AI and a catfolk as company. Fans of the series can benefit from the Engineering knowhow conveyed, and may use Engineering untrained regarding ships and crew actions, even getting ½ class level as a bonus when doing so; if you are trained, you instead get a +1 bonus to the checks, which, while potentially meaning that you be better untrained than trained, kinda fits the premise of the series perfectly. And in case you haven’t realized the obvious real-world version: Go watch Red Dwarf now if you even remotely enjoy darkly humorous scifi. It’s a cult series for a very good reason.

Dead station features protagonists like a vegan vampire (XD) and is a black satire about a station overrun with undead, who are primarily cast from a nearby planet…but yet, rumors of there being living actors in deadface continue to circulate… Deisauryu (still love the linguistic compound, invoking god of dinosaurs), Xa-Osoro’s Godzilla (fully statted in their own Star Log.EM) also gets their own cartoon-series, and its strong themes of cooperation are represented by the fandom perk allowing you to enhance covering or harrying fire, as well as aid another, with the usual rest + Resolve regain caveat to prevent abuse. Televangelism/a primer to the philosophy of solarians is particularly useful for solarians, who can spend 1/day Resolve to gain one attunement at the start of their turn; and yes, non-solarians also get a benefit. Habitat, Xa-Osoro’s version of Cribs, was recently wrecked by a scandal that unearthed that several shows were actually fakes made with the vidgame Simulacraft Zeta! Shirren police procedurals, medical dramas…but there are also some less cute ones. Pain Game, a kinda illegal show of brutally gory fights, is particularly notorious, as it has so far evaded the authorities. While officially, it’s supposed to be primarily show and effects, there are plenty of people suspecting foul play and actual deaths happening…now doesn’t that sound like a great adventure for your party?

My favorite show herein, though? Well, much to my pleasant surprise, I’ve seen “Rimestone Squox” – which is obviously a take on the phenomenal indie cult-series dealing with Slenderman; since the Tall One (i.e. ole’ Slendy) is canon in Everybody Games’ supplements, this would allow you to do as the Unfiction community (if you’re interested: Check out NightMind’s summaries on Youtube after watching the series, or to get some recommendations) has done, and build your own adventures surrounding the myth. (Also: Yes, I’m one of the guys who bingewatched Marble Hornets obsessively; if you enjoy that show, I’d also recommend Everyman Hybrid; that one starts slow, but becomes REALLY cool.) so yeah, the diversity of shows, genres and benefits provided is pretty wide, with Disney-like shows (Whacky World of Whimsy) and a proper news-show all included as well. The former lets you btw. spend 1 Resolve for a 1d6 surge to a Culture check to recall a culture’s history, the latter lets you reduce the DC to recall knowledge pertaining current Xa-Osoro events by 5, explicitly stacking with theme-based benefits. Balancing-wise, I had no problems here.

After this section, we get a similar treatment for no less than 6 fully-realized streaming services: These include the magic-focused Dweomervision owned by kitsune billionaire Tashinado Tymira, or the horror-streaming service howler (bonus types smartly chosen and balanced with regards to Rimestone Squpx, for example. I know I’d have the latter at the very least, in spite of the rumors that it’s actually a study of 1010 Robotics regarding the effects of fear on intelligent beings. I’d certainly also be interested in the educational streaming platform Icewire, and if you’re into sports, there’s no way past Kapow! The new Disney streaming service’s analogue, UltraWhimsy, btw. also owns the MCU-representation – and in the entry, we learn a bit more about some of the legendary heroes of that universe.

Now, one of the things I always appreciate about this series, is its commitment to actually defining its content – as such, streaming platform types then proceed to be concisely-defined. Beyond that, we get proper prices for pay per views of different quality-levels, subscirptions, vidjacks 6 mks of streamcast modules, prices for autographs, print media, collectibles, trading cards, production drones, and rates for professional actors based on their skill bonus. The items among those, like the streamcast modules, are properly defined, and include holovid editing modules; if “toy” seems too generic too you, by the way, fret not, for different subcategories are presented…oh, and did I mention the level 1-6 technomancer spell mystic streaming? With the rules presented here, you could run a whistleblower/investigative journalism module…just saying…

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are top-notch on a formal and rules-language level, I noticed no serious hiccups. Layout adheres to the series’ two-column full-color standard, and the pdf sports quite a few neat full-color artworks. The company/series-logos are an awesome touch, and I really love them: One look at e.g. the Marble Hornets-version, and fans of the series will immediately recognize it. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.

George “Loki” Williams is an excellent writer for this series; considering the exceedingly high standards Alexander Augunas has set, it is impressive to observe that the installment retains the combination of whimsy, imagination and gameable content that made me fall in love with the series. How much do I enjoy it? Well, as some of you might know, I don’t enjoy writing bad reviews – I’m ultimately a fan of RPGs, and I want to see creators rewarded for their efforts, help them improve. So sometimes, being a reviewer can be strenuous. I know how much time and effort flows into many books. Anyways, when I’m starting to feel a bit down, when I want to read something that has a high chance to put a smile on my face, that lacks any issues and makes me recall why it’s also fun doing this? Well, then Pop Culture Catalog is a series that has so far ALWAYS delivered. Reviewing this series makes me feel good, and it puts a smile on my face. It makes the space opera that is SFRPG feel alive, fills in details usually ignored in world-building, and has these satirical touches woven into genuinely interesting adventure hooks that make you smile and jumpstart your imagination. I love this series, and this pdf, in case you haven’t guessed it, continues this impressive streak. My verdict: 5 stars + seal of approval. If you haven’t checked out the series, now’d be a great time – after all, we can all use some good news by now.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This installment of the ship-series by evil Robot games clocks in at 16 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, leaving us with 13 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This review was moved up in my reviewing queue at the request of my patreon supporters as a prioritized review.

The terran frigate’s base version is a tier 6 Large destroyer that comes with light 60 shields, evenly distributed, with a  Arcus Maximum power core and a signal basic hyperdrive; weaponry-wise, we get heavy laser canon and heavy torpedo launcher on the front, light torpedo launchers on ort and starboard, and coilgun turret; on the defense, mk 4 armor and defences, basic medium-ranged sensors and a mk2 duonode. As always, the stats are complemented by a table that lists the Dcs required for the PCs to actually know about the ship’s interior and weaponry.

As always in the series, we get additional stats: We have the tier 9 elite custom frigate (powered by Pulse Orange) with better all-around defensive and offensive options, as befitting of tier 9; on the other side, a battle-damaged frigate at tier 4, and a tier 10 mighty blockade runner are also included; the latter deserves special mention, because it is not a linear upscale of the tier 9 ship, but has radically-different weapon-loadouts – in play, the difference in the ships’ focuses really shows. Much to my enjoyment, we get more, though: each of the 4 write-ups notes famous ships and provides a brief hook, as well as some name suggestions – when a ship is written off as a total loss and becomes a damaged frigate, for example, the name is usually changed to include something related to fire, like “Erebus”, “Fury”, or “Phoenix”; blockade runners, on the other hand, as vessels breaking through enemy lines, often get names/components like “Implacable” or “Steadfast.” It’s a small thing, but it shows care.

Now, as you know by now, we get a proper 1-page art-spread of the ship from both front and back (which you could also use to represent two different ships…just sayin’), but this time around, we also get a one-page artwork of a soldier. As always in the series, we do get filled-in versions of Evil Robot Games’ neat ship-sheets; we get the paper-mini-style page as well, of course…oh, and guess what? The maps of each of the two decks this time around are so massive, they take up two pages! I kind you not.

I can’t say enough positive things about the details of the maps: Here a chair that’s not straight, there a couple different tech stations/computers, different tables and engines, and yet all’s subservient to an overall aesthetic that makes the place feel organic and lived in. Crew quarters’ common areas has unified chairs and table-placement, but working desks? There you can see differences in tech. You can point on a part of the map and state “XYZ is here” – and it’s visible. The map does note weapons, gunnery stations, etc. in big fat letters…so boo? NO! It is my pleasure to report that the massive ship’s two levels both come with proper VTT-ready, PLAYER-FRIENDLY maps. I love it. Particularly right now.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good as a whole; apart from the persistent “DC’s”-typo for the plural form, I noticed nothing that would impede anyone’s enjoyment of this offering in a serious manner. The pdf adheres to a two-column full-color standard with a white background, making printing out of shipsheets, stats, etc. no problem regarding printer/toner-expenditure. The pdf has no bookmarks, but doesn’t need any. The frigate model by CGPitbull deserves special applause: The ship looks AMAZING, and Keera McNeill also did a great job – aesthetics-wise, this is a beautiful ship. The maps by Matthew Francella also deserve a big shout-out: They are full-color, and, as noted, are presented in player/VTT-friendly versions – huge plus in utility right there.

Okay, so let’s make that clear: Sometimes, size does matter. Case in point: This installment. Paul Fields and Jim Milligan have written essentially both a ready to use ship, and made a fantasy of mine come true. You see, I enjoy switching between starship combat and regular combat, I like running scenarios where you infiltrate a ship or hijack it, but map-wise, particularly larger ships tend to not exactly grow on trees. This handy book delivers a great map you can use as an adventure backdrop, a home away from home for the players (think of Firefly’s ship-centric episodes – this one could carry that sort of thing), and has the stats done for you as well. I know I’ll provide this one to my players as soon as their current characters reach the appropriate level…you see, I have a couple of nasty things planned…

So, is this worth the asking price? Heck yes! It also lets you send a sign: If you’re like me and want more BIG SHIPS, then do yourself a favor and get this. 5 stars + seal of approval.

Endzeitgeist out.

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This installment of the Book of Heroes-series clocks in at 16 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page advertisement, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 11 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This review was moved up in my reviewing queue as a prioritized review at the request of my patreon supporters.

As you could deduce from the cover, this book contains a new slew of martial archetypes for the fighter, so what do we get? Well, the first would be the knowledge guardian, who gets to choose two skills chosen from Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature and Religion, gaining proficiency in both. Additionally, you may use Intelligence instead of Dexterity to determine initiative, and a similar substitution is possible for when you’d usually add Strength or Dexterity to damage rolls.  At 7th level, you can use a bonus action to make a Charisma (Deception) check contested by a creature’s Wisdom (Insight) – on a success, you get advantage on your next attack against it; oh, and the creature needs to be within 5 ft., so no using this with weapons that have reach. At 7th level, you may also substitute Intelligence for Charisma in a skill check, but may only do so once until you require a short or long rest to do so again; you get an additional use per rest interval at 15th level. 10th level lets you spend 10 minutes in an area to know the location of traps in a 30-foot radius. One use, then requires  along rest to recharge. 15th level nets proficiency in Intelligence saving throws, 18th level lets you ignore class, alignment, race and level restrictions of magic items.

The pact-bound blade requires taking an otherworldly patron and treats any weapon wielded for at least an hour as magical and adds 1d6 force damage to its damage. This improves to 2d6 at 10th level. The archetype also gets Charisma-based spellcasting, starting off with 1 spell slot of 1st spell level, and improving that to 3 spell slots and maximum spell level 4th; you probably have realized by now that this is essentially a warlock-style archetype; The 2nd level spell is gained at 8th, the 3rd at 13th, and the 4th at 18th level. 7th level nets an eldritch invocation, with warlock level equal to ½ fighter levels regarding prerequisites. 15th level nets an otherworldly patron feature of 10th level or lower.

The shadowed blade starts with an feature to increase your melee reach by 5 ft. twice before requiring a short or long rest, with 8th level adding a use, and 15th level increasing that to 10 ft. 7th level allows you to teleport 15 feet while in dim light or darkness, 30 ft. at 13th level. One use before you need a long rest to use it again. 7th level also nets darkvision 30 ft. 10th level nets AC +1, 15th the feature to use your reaction to teleport up to 30 feet away – this might seem a violation of how reactions are usually phrased in 5e, but actually isn’t, as there are two distinct instances that are covered regarding incoming attacks and this feature, namely before and after damage is rolled. Personally, I think that more uses, but before/after attack roll results are made known would have made more sense, but that are just my 2 cents. 18th level makes you invisible when in dim light or darkness, even against opponents usually able to see in them. Somewhat surprising that the archetype got no Stealth proficiency.

The shieldbearer extends you shield’s AC bonus to allies within 5 ft. of you; allies wearing a shield do not get this bonus. 7th level lets you sacrifice your shield, making it broken, to negate a single weapon attack that targets you. This is btw. surprisingly not codified as a reaction, which I assume to be intentional, since the 10th level feature allows you to intercept attacks on nearby allies by throwing your shield in the way, imposing disadvantage on the incoming attack. This is a reaction, and has an interesting caveat: It can only be used again once you’ve obtained a shield. Decoupling this one from the rest mechanic is a good call. 15th level allows you to add your shield bonus to saving throws versus area of effect attacks, and if you’re standing between the source and allies, they also get that bonus. This is the iconic scene of the knight guarding his friends – love this one. The 18th level lets you use your reaction to make a melee attack against enemies trying to move, knocking them prone on a successful hit.

The tainted soul is immune to the frightened condition (they know the abyss or hell awaits them, and try to redeem themselves…) and other conditions caused by fear; you also increase your speed by 10 feet when taking the Dash action, provided you move towards an enemy. When you do, you can make a melee attack as a bonus action, at the cost of losing 2 AC until the start of your next turn. 7th level lets you interpose yourself between an attack and an ally within 5 ft. as a reaction; this hits you automatically, but doesn’t bypass resistances or immunities. Starting at 10th level, you only need to sleep once per week; you can still take long rests, etc. 15th level increases all of your weapon attacks’ damage by an additional 1d6 necrotic damage. 18th level makes any creature you attack suffer from disadvantage on attacks against you.

Tacticians can use their bonus action to grant allies your Charisma modifier either as a bonus to attack rolls or damage rolls against a creature for 1 minute, with 8th and 14th level providing another use before needing a short or long rest to recharge. Odd: The feature has no range, and does not specify that the allies must be able to hear/understand you – pretty sure that’s an oversight, comparing the phrasing with e.g. bardic inspiration. 7th level is neat, as it lets you use your bonus action to suppress a couple of negative conditions. At 10th level, you may Help an ally attack a creature within 5 feet of you, granting all of the allies’ attacks advantage. At 15th level, you can grant allies temporary hit points via a 1-minute pep-talk. 8th level nets a 30-ft. battle cry that renders enemies reliably frightened, with success reducing the duration to only the start of your next turn.

The thrown weapons master gets 3 throwing tricks at 3rd level, and 2 additional ones at 7th, 10th and 15th level. You have 4 uses of them, and at 7th and 15th level, you gain an additional use. There are 13 throwing tricks provided, which include critical hit on 19 and 20 (risky, since tricks have limited uses, in contrast to e.g. the champion’s Improved Critical feature. There’s also one for ignoring half or three-quarters cover via banked shots, double throws, choosing physical damage type freely, etc. Weird: Flesh Wound makes your thrown weapon deal half damage. Why would you ever do that in 5e, where you literally get to choose if an enemy lives or dies? Unfortunate name: “Foot Attack”, since RAW, it should also work on things sans feet. I was also puzzled why we didn’t get more tricks – there aren’t that many, considering that the archetype will get the majority of them (9 of 13) during its progression.

Also at third level, we have the feature to throw weapons sans disadvantage while in melee. 7th level nets proficiency in Acrobatics, Insight and Perception; if you already are in one, you double proficiency bonus for that skill. 10th level makes your aim as a bonus action versus targets within the normal range (consistently called “shorter range” here) for a doubled proficiency bonus on a single thrown weapon attack. 15th level lets you use your reaction to hit missiles passing within 10 ft. of you out of the air, and at 18th level, you notice invisible or hidden creatures within 10 ft. The former imho should get a contested check, but since it’s the 18th level feature, I get why there’s none here.

The unbroken hero can use their reaction to make an attack targeting an ally within 5 feet hit them instead; oddly, this is missing the caveat that you must be able to see the attack, which another feature in this very pdf did have; it obviously doesn’t work with AoE attacks or spells, as explicitly stated here. At 7th level, we have proficiency with Intimidation and Persuasion, doubled proficiency bonus if you already are. At 10th level, you get +1 use of Second Wind before requiring a rest; 15th level provides immunity to the frightened condition, as well as the option to remove it from an ally within 10 feet as a bonus action. The 18th level feature is better than that of the tactician – it’s also a Charisma-based scream, but it’s one that paralyzes for a minute, or renders frightened on a successful save until the start of your next turn.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are okay on a formal and rules-language level; while the syntax of abilities sometimes deviates slightly from 5e’s conventions, that doesn’t hamper rules integrity here. Apart from very minor snafus, such as one instance of proficiency “modifier” instead of bonus, I have nothing relevant to complain about. On a formatting side of things, some features list average damage values, which is not the standard for class features, but doesn’t hurt either. The pdf comes with a two-column full-color layout, as well as full-color artworks, with 3 one-page pieces and a half-page version of the cover-image. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.

Dale C. McCoy Jr.’s martial archetypes for fighter cover some roles that are bound to see some demand out there; that being said, I also couldn’t help but finding myself wishing that there had been a few more bold designs here; the Tactician’s coordinated strike, for example, is rather potent, but only starts off with one use. Having it more limited, but more uses, would have made it more versatile and less of a feature you leave for the boss encounter. I was also somewhat surprised by the thematic overlap between a few of them: We have two capstone battle cries, for example. There’s more thematic overlaps here than I expected from a pdf of this size. The designs here aren’t bad in any way, but I wished the pdf was a bit bolder with its concepts. That being said, if you do enjoy the less complex martial archetypes and similar class options, you’ll find some compelling material here. As a whole, I consider this to be somewhat of a mixed bag, which is why my final verdict will clock in at 3 stars.

Endzeitgeist out.