Elkram are basically bipedal elk, with cleft hooves for feet and five-fingered humanoid hands. As you might imagine, elkram feel closely connected to nature, but also to the "spirit world." The latter connection comes out in the elkram's racial power, ethereal jaunt, which allows them to become insubstantial for a short time. The sentinel paragon path also plays off of this ethereal connection.

In addition to PC statistics and a racial paragon path, author Jack Smith IV also provides five elkram "monster" stat blocks, two notable NPCs, and one magic item—all fully statted out. The product also includes three adventure hooks (one paragraph each), three location starters (one paragraph each), and four NPC seeds (one paragraph each). These features make it easy for DMs to incorporate the elkram into their campaigns as NPCs, whether allied to or opposing the adventuring party.

The elkram stand out enough from existing 4e races to enrich any campaign, though some DMs may prefer to exclude them due to biome considerations. The wonderful illustrations evoke Hollywood thoughts of native Americans, and real-world elk live chiefly in northwestern North America and northeastern Asia. DMs running campaigns in warmer environs might want to "reskin" the elkram to resemble local versions of more widely-ranging deer species. For example, I can easily incorporate the kroola (Poison Ivy's other IVe Race thus far) into my south seas campaign, but something just feels wrong about having bipedal elk walking around Australia. There are enough deer species in southeast Asia, though, that a few cosmetic tweaks bring the elkram into line with the local ruminant population.

Unfortunately, The Elkram (the PDF, not the species) suffers from a number of grammatical and typographical errors and departures from standard D&D 4e style, as well as a content blunder or two. I won't bore you with all the details, but I will say that only a few of these can be attributed to simple typing errors. I will point out one mechanical inconsistency: page 7 tells us that "Elkram all have Ethereal Jaunt," though this power was omitted (whether accidentally or not, I can't say) from the elkram guardian's stat block. (Oh, and power names should be set in italics and lower case—“ethereal jaunt,” not “Ethereal Jaunt”—except in the title of the power description itself. Poison Ivy gets this right in the paragraph on elkram guardian tactics, but not in the paragraph that precedes the elkram guardian stat block. This kind of inconsistency speaks of sloppy editing.)

I also have one complaint about the encounter groups presented on page 11: they consist only of elkram. How do elkram relate to the creatures with whom they share their precious natural world? Are elkram on good terms with fey creatures, for example? Might you find elkram using wolves as pets and companions? And I find this question burning through my mind: how do elkram get along with minotaurs?

In the end, I like the elkram very much, and I can recommend the product with only minor hestitations about the grammatical and stylistic problems. Now I just have to figure out where they belong in my campaign world.

I want to start by saying so far the editing on this supplement seems to be better than the Kroola supplement. Jack Smith at Poison Ivy Press has expressed an awareness of the errors in their last supplement and has since brought in a new editor. Art is once again done by Rodrigo Martins, as before it brings out the flavor the supplement in my opinion is trying to hit. The layout remains similar to the Kroola supplement. Racial write up, feats, culture and society, as character, fighting Elkram, and finally a part about putting them into campaigns.

The Elkram themselves seem to be a somewhat balanced race, with racials that add flavor to their tie to nature. Their Ethereal Jaunt racial power makes them one of the fastest races I've seen, adding a +2 to movement that was already base 7. This could easily make or break a battle with a Elkram PC, especially when needing to make a hasty retreat to fire off some ranged attacks. Feats play nicely with the idea behind the race. Bonuses againt aberrations and to initiative, weapon proficiencies in longbow and greatsword (with one feat), and the ability to not be caught off gaurd during surprise rounds all play into the nature and elk motifs that are set up.

It is obvious that a lot more time and effort has been put into the flavoring found within this supplement. A lot of detail is given to development, religion, and even death. Along with sections on society, culture, and how they view other races players and GMs are given a great insight into the race itself. This makes the races easy to throw into a campaign should it fit, meaning that the flavor of the fluff draws the Elkram into a very specific niche. Though it would be just as easy for any GM to overlook or change it when needed to suit the game you might have to cease playing the Native American-esque Elkram presented.

The Paragon Path presented for the Elkram is simply titled Sentinel. It seems a little over done, allowing the Elkram to make extra attacks after charging or even charge with an attack that couldn't do so before. The one thing I don't get is that one of the path's level 11 powers gives the player the Etheral Shift feat shown earlier in the supplement. This essentially gives PCs a free feat, and rewards players for sticking to the supplement. While not bad, in my view of it it gives Sentinel Elkram a distinct advantage over non Sentinel Elkram especially when looking at melee based classes.

The section on fighting Elkram seems pretty solid compared to the Kroola supplement. There are a few spots where words have been left out such as "Area burst 1 within 10" on one of the Elram Huntsman powers, though it is pretty obvious that "squares" is the missing word. This time around Poison Ivy Press hasn't added any equipment in that hasn't been stated out or couldn't be found in the Player's Handbook. All the creatures presented are between level 11 and 16. And, the item presented in this supplement actually seems usable compared to that of "Kruncha's Regnant Tricorne" presented in the Kroola supplement, but players may find its use very situational as its power only affects undead and aberrations.

The supplement looks to be an improvement over The Kroola. I failed to see any glaring grammar or spelling mistakes, and this time around there were no missing pieces. Much like Posion Ivy Press's last supplement this one isn't going to be for everyone, and there is something about the Elkram that doesn't make them scream out at me as the Kroola did (maybe it was because the Kroola were pirates?).

This is a short work at only 14 pages, but with such a small price tag ($2.50) it has a high production value. The supplement looks clean and professionally done. However, my first impression upon reading it was that we have a product without a market. I am not sure how much the gaming community is crying out for a humanoid elk-person to play. More over, I am not sure how much we needed an American Indian derivative to play either. I appreciate the fullness of this supplement and the format is solid. The idea of introducing a new race, planting them in the generic “world,” giving them a physiological and psychological overview and combining that with player and DM tools is a great idea and something I would like to see more of. I take issue not with the concept, but with its execution in this particular case.

I feel as though we missed a great opportunity here, but it is instructive of the many possibilities 4E has to offer. Though this race may be a miss creatively, the idea is good and I would be very interested in future products created and detailed in a similar fashion.

Style: 4 Substance: 2.5 Overall: 3

Read the full Review at FlamesRising.com: http://www.flamesrising.com/elkram-4e-review