Iron Nugget

Succeeds at Time Travel and any narrative medium is always a going to be a tricky subject. One of the ways I keep My Dming iron is by incorporating some element of time travel into any campaign. It is not easy. Which is why Time Thief by Super Genius is such a successful accomplishment.

Time Thief is a short class PDF that provides a variant roguish type class that bends time to her advantage. The design of the character is very template with Super Genius’s other genius class books. Though the flavor is heavy, the flavor is an illusion to the mechanics of the class. Simple things that belong to any class such such as a +1 here or a haste spell meld well are reflavored to be associated with stopping and bending time. Classes receive time talents, advanced time talents and then powerful aevum, each progressively a larger chunk of time the thief is stealing to perform their tasks. IN the end the character is very well balance.

Failed Without additional help, I had to really on the feats too much to create offensive for my Time Thief. Some abilities appear to be slightly off balanced with others, but this is fixed with later supplement books.

The Iron Word Because I feel the core rogue is so one dimensional, I enjoy roguish offshoots that feel like they have gotten it right. Super Genius does another superb job of including strong flavor with basic game design.

THE GOOD --- If you like time travel, buy this product. It fits easily into any campaign and would blend in well with the existing chronomancy material because it really is a present-only class. It doesn't cause significant paradoxes. This product is a self contained class. It has everything you need to play this class and add it to your campaign setting. Built as an upgraded thief, the class brings a lot of material to the table with two good saving throws, a rogue attack bonus, 6 skill points a level, d8 hit points and typical martial weapon proficiencies. The class has no alignment restrictions so anyone can play. Giving up 2 skill points and rogue abilities, the Time Thief gains a boat load of temporal abilities which are nicely spaced across the 20 levels of the class. A lot of choices in abilities makes sure that Time Thieve's are different. It also opens the door to additional ability choices. The only thing the class isn't good at is combat, with no abilities to enhance damage or other combat elements. However, a few magical items and certain feats, would probably shore up this shortcoming for the more combat oriented among us. The class, using certain abilities, becomes an excellent trap breaker and has strong roleplaying opportunities - if you don't mind having the same conversation more than once. The Time Thief is the king of avoiding the Faux Pas. This is a VERY good present-only chronomancer. The class has a lot of different abilities which are all very well themed to time travel, but have minimal impact on the past or future. Even the few abilities which dig into the past or future are either temporary or have negligable impact. There are welcome homage's strewn throughout the product with a nod to 'Back to the Future', 'Price of Persia' and references to Deja Vu and the Butterfly Effect. I got a great laugh out of "Bolt Time" which points squarely at the Matrix's 'bullet time'. I have probably missed some. You'll have to discover them for yourself. LAYOUT - Layout - I very much like the clean and simple layout. The artwork, the lovely model Veronic, is well used. The text is easy to read. The cover is well designed. The high volume of white will make printing easier. The book is only availible in a landscape format but it is a PDF and designed to best appear onscreen where it will be seen most often. THE NUETRAL --- This text in this product is written with the tone of 4th edition. It's fairly subtle but I suspect the writer is well versed in 4th writing. This does not impact the product negatively and I could be totally wrong. It's very definetly a Pathfinder compatable class written with strong flavor text to support it. I just kept looking for the colored boxes. The class is obviously created to mimic the Prince of Persia character but that does not detract from it. It is an excellent source for temporal ideas and I'm glad this class was created. THE BAD --- There are 4 photographs in this document, and 2 of them are cropped and used twice. With access to a live model, it is a shame additional images were not used instead. However while the images are cheesecake, they are very tastefully done and compliment the product. The spells referenced in the document, time stop and temporal stasis, should have been included. It's just a little touch which would have meant adding another page but it would save the user from having to look that material up. It took me less than 20 seconds. I would have liked Owen Stephans to push the boundaries a little more. Although the Time Thief's abilities are creatively employed, they are all old abilities. Everything from Haste to Time Stop to undoing 1 round of actions - these elements are very familiar to everyone. This does make the introduction of Motes and Aevums, which limit the use of the powers, easier to understand but I would have liked to have seen some time travel. I say that even knowing that the product size would double trying to include time travel rules, and it would create headaches making the book syngergy with other time travel products, which it does nicely the way it is right now. Motes and Aevums are a good idea, unfortunately, they are yet another custom system that will never be used again. I might have dug around in Pathfinder to use a system for limiting daily powers that was compatable with your ideas which was supported by the core material. I realize that's asking you to write by cutting out clips from one newspaper article and gluing them together in a different order, but it also would give the product the possibility of synergies with future products. Finally, you stepped one foot into the old trap and insulted Time Travel with the second paragraph of your product. Time travel is an important part of fantasy roleplaying, especially since we the Players are trying to imagine back to historical times. Controll over time and paradoxes should not be any more important or difficult than keeping a handle on powergaming, hoarding or other troubles at the table. Still, I'm very impressed with the class and the efforts you have taken to make it very playable and balanced. I hope I haven't been too harsh with my review. It really is an excellent product.

Mark Charke

This product is 10 pages long. First page is half cover and half introduction to the reasons on why they made a time class. Next is a introduction of the class it's self with class table, it's skills overlap a lot with the rogue as one would expect. D8, 6 skills, medium BaB, 2 good saves, all simple and martial weapons, light armor, all shields but tower. (there is actually a typo here, it says all simple, martial weapons, then all light weapons. My guess is they meant light armor, since armor is not mentioned at all.) 1 page for all this.

Next it gets into the class abilities. Mote of Time – 3 + class level, number of time points to fuel their powers. At 3rd, 7th, 11th and 19th the Time Thief can do more with the time motes. Beyond the basics or fueling their other powers. Temporal Talent - 2nd level, here is several of the rogue class abilities like evasion, improved uncanny dodge, trapfinding, trap spotter and uncanny dodge. There is also 4 new talents. Old wounds – light self heal Steady Hand – allows taking a 10 on skill checks regardless of circumstances. Steal Fate – debuff the enemy Steal Time – short minor debuff of enemy and self buff. Aevum - 5th level, this is more powerful parts of time than motes. Which can be used to do more powerful powers or broken up to add more motes. 1 point at 5th and additional points at 9th, 13th, and 17th. Bolt Time – a few uses from a extra attack, bonus to attack, faster movement, to dodging the next ranged attack automatically. Entropy – ranged touch attack that causes a target to weaken from the stress of time. Personal Time – Lets the time thief take their action and if they don't like the results rewind time and retake their turn. Shatter Time – turns aevum into motes. Temporal Stasis – may touch a target and force it to make a save or suffer the effects of the spell of the same name. Time Cross – ranged touch attack lasting a bit, while active the Time Thief can make the target re-roll any one roll. Keeping the new roll regardless what it is. Time Stop – same as the spell of the same name. Advanced Talents - 10th level, better versions of the temporal talents. Back to the Future – power that can predict if a action will likely be good or bad to take. Butterfly effect – a ability that lets the Time Thief to add 2d4 to any to hit, save, skill or ability check by a alley. Deja Vu – take 20 on any chr, wis or int skill check, regardless of circumstances. Retroactive – take a 20 on Str, Dex, Con skill check, regardless of circumstances. Time after Time – Allows the time thief to spend 2 mote per round. Time Bandit – gains extra motes equal to Chr mod. Time to Kill – Lets the time thief do sneak attack dmg of 1 die per 3 levels on the same turn. Can be used even if not flanking, only works on things that can be sneak attacked. Time Runner – lets the time thief take a move, during that move no one seems them and no traps are triggered. When the move action is over the time thief remerges with time and any traps would go off and they would once more be spotted. Time Killer – cap stone ability, can spend 2 aevum per round, gains additional aevum equal to chr mod, physically reverts back to their prime health of age regardless of actual age and stops physically aging.

It closes with one page on how to use the class in a campaign with a special thanks to Veronic F for modeling for the project and a final page of OGL.

Closing thoughts. It is a interesting class, it is obvious that it was inspired by the recent movie Prince of Persia. I listed all the powers because it is such a unique class and powers it is hard to judge the powers with out extensive play testing. At times I found myself thinking it was a bit strong and then at other times a bit weak. So I listed all the powers and roughly what they do so you can judge for yourself. The artwork is actually photo's of the model Veronic F in a Persian style bikini like outfit. The photo's are tasteful, though I do think she should have dyed her hair to brown or black and a hip scarf would have helped pull off the look they was going for.

Personally I am not a fan of photo's in place of art. I don't have a problem with them and these are fine. It is just personal preference just like, I like certain styles of art more than others. The quality of the product is what you would expect from SGG and other than the one typo I listed about weapons and armor I didn't notice any others. So if you are a fan of this type of class or saw Prince of Persia and thought, man I want to play a character like him. Well here's your chance. In those cases I strongly recommend it, for everyone else I still recommend it. It is pretty cheap and at the very least makes for a interesting villain to use to surprise your players with. So I am giving this a 4.5 star, it is very good but not perfect.

This book offers a very interesting new core class that combines equal parts of thief, wizard(ish) and possibly Time Lord. I can see this working great in some groups ad be horribly misused in others. What I like: The fluff is very interesting and on the whole the class does not seem unbalanced. The “thief” aspect is very evocative, I would like to see a “Time Paladin” now that protects the time the “Thief” steals.

Twenty levels of powers are detailed, but no new skills or feats.

While I complete like the coolness factor of the class, I would have almost rather seen this as a Prestige Class. At the moment the class is awesome, yes, but it doesn’t do anything the thief can’t also do, save for the altering time bits. Now what might be nice is to get more background on the Time Thief; maybe a secret organization or such that gives them their power or finds them when their powers manifest. Anyway you do it though this class has untapped potential.

Of course no review would be complete without at least acknowledging the Time Thief herself, Veronic F. The artwork has a Persian feel to it which is cool and gives this class a feel that is not present in the written word. Of course Veronic is extremely easy on the eyes and she is a Pathfinder player herself. Check her out on Facebook.

In the end the Time Theif is very cool, but not sure how I would use it yet in my games.

Time. Some people say time is like a river, flowing swift and sure and only in one direction. But I have seen The Genius Guide to the Time Thief, and I can tell you, they are wrong. Come, and I will tell you a review such as none you have ever heard…

It’s obvious where the inspiration for the time thief comes from, and if you’ve recognized it, then you’ll have a pretty good idea what to expect here. The time thief is a character who is able to manipulate the flow of time around herself to speed up their attacks, undo their failures, and other temporal tricks.

A twenty-level base class for the Pathfinder role-playing game, the basic construction of the class follows the pattern laid out by previous Super Genius Games’ new classes; roughly half of the time thief’s abilities are preset, while the other half lets you choose from a list of available talents (a la the rogue), with said list expanding around 10th level. It’s a great design to allow flexibility in how PCs develop their character while still maintaining structure and balance in what the class offers.

A medium BAB progress, d8 Hit Die class, the time thief’s chief abilities revolve around having a number of “motes” to spend to power many of her time-based class abilities. These motes are moments of her own future, little ones that she won’t miss, stolen from their rightful place in the flow of time and brought back to now when she needs them. Whether adding a bonus to an attack roll or speeding up time to self-heal her wounds, the class’s basic powers are fairly well-grounded in existing mechanics, but often have a time-related spin put on them.

It’s around 5th level when the time thief really starts to break out the wild stuff, though. At that point, she gains “aevum,” which are basically super-motes from specific, important moments in time. Hence, they power greater effects, such as damaging a target with concentrated age, increasing her speed up to “bolt time,” or other dramatic powers. Combined with advanced talents kicking in at 10th level, and suddenly your time thief can pull off some very impressive stunts.

It’s clear that the designers had some fun with this product, as they can’t help but drop references to other movies and other media for names of powers. Back to the Future, Time Runner, Time After Time, I had to take a time out from all of the titles being dropped. Still, it’s part and parcel of the Super Genius package, along with the afterword that discusses using the time thief in your game. I liked how this section characterized the time thief as being an “anti-monk” for how it was an oft-chaotic, undisciplined character who used external factors to get by.

There’s also a short sidebar near the book’s end thanking Veronic F. for modeling for the book, and it’s here that this review finally stops ignoring the elephant in the room – or rather, the vixen – that is its artwork.

If you hadn’t already noticed from its preview, this book doesn’t have illustrations per se (notwithstanding the background of the cover image). Instead, there’s a series of photos of a sexy blonde, the aforementioned Veronic – clad in a skimpy garb; basically a bikini with a half-mask, weapons, and some other ornamentation. Including the cover, there are a half-dozen pictures of her throughout the book’s ten pages, which is an impressive ratio overall.

I’ve heard some people grumble about the use of a live model here instead of drawings, either being uncomfortable with such blatant cheesecake, or because they find the Veronic’s pictures to be lacking in context with the product’s theme, making them pretty but pointless. This latter point, however, ignores how her costume plays to a “fantasy Arabia” theme, which plays perfectly towards the book’s major inspiration.

Likewise, it also deserves mention that Veronic is an alias of porn star and model Jenny Poussin, who in the last few months has earned her gamer cred for not only playing Pathfinder, but also taking pictures of herself dressed up as her last several characters. Hence, her appearance here as the iconic time thief is her and the SGG guys winking at their readers who’re in the know. Needless to say, I really got a kick out of this easter egg, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

But back on topic, the book readily acknowledges that the time thief base class moves outside the usual series of party roles covered by most classes. Not a martial combatant or spellcaster, not a skill monkey or healer, the time thief has a group of powers that provide a somewhat eclectic cavalcade of offensive, defensive, and utility powers, all related by their theme. It’s a great change of pace for a player who wants to step outside the usual boundaries of class functionality. I’d heartily recommend checking out the time thief – both the class and the pictures – you’ll have a good time.

Time. Some people say time is like a river, flowing swift and sure and only in one direction. But I have seen The Genius Guide to the Time Thief, and I can tell you, they are wrong. Come, and I will tell you a review such as none you have ever heard…

Leave it to the folks at OtherWorld Creations to come up with new, inventive and plausible character classes. Plausible that is, in the sense that elves and dragons are wandering around out there as well.

The Time Thief takes a neat spin on a rogue-like character - one who can literally steal time. Taking little bits of time (motes) from their own future and using them at their current time to affect events such as die rolls. In addition to this there are a number of abilities powered by motes that can be taken as the Time Thief progresses. At 5th level, they are able to take larger, more important chunks of time out of their own future (aevum) which can be used to greater effect with higher level abilities.

At 10th level, advanced talents may be taken. The majority of these are taken from movie titles ("Back to the Future", "Butterfly Effect") and honestly I don't know if that's a good thing. I'm torn between the movie geek in me who applauds this and the gaming geek who craves immersion in a fantasy world that doesn't feature Michael J. Fox references.

The Time Thief may be a bit overpowered when it comes to their special abilities. The use of motes, even without spending them on abilities makes for some interesting and powerful effects. Using these with abilities makes for an even more powerful character. Take Entropy, which allows up to 15d8 (based on level) damage which bypasses hardness and damage reduction. That adds up to some fantastic damage.

Fun but flawed, the Time Thief is still worth a look. I've been tempted to run a high powered campaign for some time and this would make a great addition - or use to create a powerful NPC opposed to the party.