This pdf is 5 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisement, leaving 2 pages for the 10 feats, so let's check them out!
Steven D. Russell's Luckbringer is one of my favorite 3pp-classes out there - inspired by SGG's Time Thief, the class provides both a modular model of powers and great abilities that capitalize on all the lucky scoundrel/fortune's favored tropes out there and even after "101 Renegade Class Feats" I wanted more support for the class - seems my wish has come true: So, what feats do we get?
-Advantageous Strike: When using "Critically Lucky", you can roll two dice to confirm a critical, taking the better of the 2 rolls. Usable once per day. Nice last resort ability to land that crit when you really, really need it.
-Auspicious Escape: Usable by Time Thieves/Wardens, Taskshapers and Luckbringers, this ability enables you to suppress detrimental conditions once per day. You spend e.g. a mote, a moment of chance etc. to do so. If you surpass 10th level in such a class, you may ignore all adverse effects instead. Can be taken multiple times, each time grants one additional use. Great to see that even other classes can benefit from this neat little feat. The limitation of uses per day prevents it from being op, so no balance-concerns on my side.
-Break the Pattern: When you use "Twist the Pattern" and take a 10, roll a d20 and take the higher result. When you take 20, you roll a d20 and get a bonus according to a table. Ok idea, though not too exciting.
-Fortunate Fate: When using "fatespin", you use 2 d20 and take the higher result for your reroll, mitigating effects of bad luck. Great feat - powerful, but limited in its application and yet a feat that will save many a luckbringer's day.
-Karmic Reaction: If you have used your "Good Karma" ability on an ally and are adjacent to him/her/it, you may have this ally take the attack you're subjected to in your stead - neat ability for players who want to stay alive and might make for some neat debates in the round. HAs to be handled carefully, though: If it results in PC death, this feat might lead to strife in less mature groups.
-Last-Minute Gamble:If you use your "Hazard" and empty all your moments of chance, you may unleash a devastating hazard, adding +2 to DC and 1d6 damage per luckbringer class-level. Great last resort strike and the stuff, epic stories are made of.
-Martial Kismet: As long as you have at least one moment of change, you can ignore up to 20% miss chance as long as you know which square the foe is standing in. Nice and with minor modification just as usable for similar classes and even psions.
-Motion of the Morai: This makes the bonus from "Fatefull Footing" continuous as long as you have at least one moment of chance left and lets you reduce an affected target's speed, even permanently at higher levels. Nice!
-Opportunity knocks twice: If your AoO misses and you still have a moment of chance, you may reroll the AoO. Cool idea, though personally, I'd restrict the usage somewhat so it can only be used x times per day or burns a moment of chance, as my players are INSANELY good at getting AoOs and exploiting the hell out of them, but that's my personal experience and I know that this does not come up in most groups.
-Woe unto him: You can apply the luck penalty of "Weal and Woe" on your foe after the result is known and you no longer need to be aware of the action. Wow, this is just iconic, cool and enables the luckbringer to potentially prevent the worst of disasters by a margin.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches. The pdf comes with a neat 2-column, colored layout you might know from the free Pathways e-zine. The pdf has no bookmarks, but doesn't need any at this length. I really like the Luckbringer and this pdf delivers some AMAZING abilities to expand the powers of the class. In fact, the feats add a lot of cool tactical options that make the luckbringer even better at what makes the class so fun: Doing just the thing that might save the group, hitting when it is required, rolling the critical against the death-priest conjuring up the vampire-lord etc. - the pivotal moments we all know, love and have seen over our gaming careers when this one lucky hit meant the difference between defeat and victory. With these feats, the luckbringer is even better geared to be the lucky one in the party: Not the arcane arsenal, not the assassin, not the brute, but the one who does just the right thing at the right time, without failing. While Opportunity knocks twice is a feat I'll nerf in my home game, on the whole I did not notice any feats I'd consider unbalanced and instead found iconic gold within these humble pages. Due to the low price, I can unconditionally recommend this neat file to you. And if you haven't, give the luckbringer a try - I guarantee you won't regret it. My final verdict will be 5 stars - well done!
Endzeitgeist out.
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