I'm not going to go into the nuts and bolts like Endzeitgeist already has, because he did a great job of doing so. I'm just going to let my feelings flow and say that among all the SGG products I've purchased (and that's lot) this is by far my favorite. I know folks who have lifted the Psionic point system to use as spell points, and I'm sure that works for them. But this reflects the "classic" magic user's method, even down to the fatigue aspect. Easy to understand rules with clear examples and explanations of how they work, and of course SGG's almost paranormally fast responses to questions anyone might have about the product.
In a nutshell, this is perfect. I can't find a mountain high enough to tell it on. Get online and buy this product. Stop whatever you're doing, unless it's CPR or something similar, and buy this pdf. There are rumors of Print On Demand in the future, but don't wait. Buy it. Print it. Love it. You won't be disappointed.
For my longer and more in depth review, see my review at Big Game Productions Reviews. While you're there, if you're a board games fan, you'll find some reviews of some new games for the whole family.
I'm not going to go into a mechanics breakdown, because that's not my forté. I'm a flavor kinda guy; I like the whole whiz bang aspect of spells and related feats. I will say this about the mechanics; I believe a great deal of thought went into making sure these spell modifications are balanced and useful. Prerequisites for them make sure that not every Tom, Dick, and Merlin can just whip these out on unsuspecting foes. Very well thought out.
But I love the new affects these modifications offer. Magic Missile, for all its iconic standing, has for decades just been the go-to first level spell for any burgeoning arcane magic user. But for all its usefulness it's just streaks of light that smack into their targets, usually with little description from the PC or DM to add any flavor to them.
These modifications make this old favorite exciting for casters to use. Imagine the look on your PCs' faces when the realize that magic missile is about to be cast when suddenly they're blinded and staggering around with bright lights clouding their vision. Or to be suddenly stopped in their tracks as though a Hold Person spell had taken effect. And Legendary Missiles when they're slammed with a single missile that does twice the damage they're expecting. Fun stuff!
I love this product. I wish I knew how SGG turns out one home run after another, because I'd build a mind transference machine then kidnap their whole brain trust. Good job, SGG!
That's why it's taken me so long to write a review. I honestly did mean to write this a long time ago, but for some reasons I'd rather keep to myself I'm only now getting 'round to it.
Sam Hing has a gift. The man just keeps on keepin' on, and the creatures he lays down for our wonderment are consistently interesting and challenging. The creatures contained in "Faeries of the Fringe" come from several different sources and cultures (I love the Gahonga from Iroquois mythology) and seem very interesting, offering new challenges to PC's who have become used to encountering "the same old fey" all the time.
The magic items section is a little disappointing, with only three in the offering, and the only interesting one being the nathair, an animated rope made of woven metal strands that can be used as a double weapon. And likewise, the feat selection is a bit disappointing, with three of the six feats being useful only when using the nathair.
The only two spells leave plenty to be desired. Fang Call is just a reworked Summon Nature's Ally, though I will admit Razor Birds could be fairly useful.
My last thing is the artwork. Let me just say that while I'm no artist (I can't even draw attention to myself, let alone fantastical creatures), the art in "Faeries of the Fringe" is disappointing. The best piece is the River Mother and the worst by far is the Glade Maiden. There are hundreds of artists on deviantart.com who produce beautiful fantasy art who'd offer their work for a song just to get the exposure in publications as widely seen as those published by Super Genius Games products.
This would've been a 5 star product if everything had matched the quality of the creatures themselves. I know space is a premium in these .pdfs (they're meant to be small, I think), which means the magic items, feats, and spells need to be real attention grabbers. These fall short of the mark, unfortunately.
I liked this product right from the gate, and the more I read it, the more I liked it. Like the description says, it's an alternative to the anti-paladin, which is an alternative paladin. But really, this class is good enough to stand on its own with only a tip of the hat to its ancestors.
The first four levels make the Death Knight seem a bit front loaded, but I'll be the first to admit I'm not very good at evaluating the crunchy bits. I'm a flavor guy, which is why I love how the descriptions are generic enough to make this an effortless drop into any setting. The "Low Road" and "The Grey Mistress" all have a sepulchral ring to them without labeling them as belonging to any particular milieu.
The Death Knight makes a perfect villain, possibly even better than the Anti-paladin itself. A being focused on the spreading of death at any cost, even using the risen dead to further his ends makes for a formidable foe if not stopped in time.
So get your affairs in order, and make sure your family will be well provided for after your demise. Death comes not on silent wings or with a scythe gripped in bony hands, but thundering on a black steed in blood stained armor with an army of the living dead at his beckon call. The bell is tolling.
Let me start by saying I'm not a number cruncher, min-maxer, or any other sort of gamer who whips out an abacus to scrutinize monster abilities for balance and what not. I'm a "flavor" kinda guy, and I'm more concerned with how much fun it would be throw a new monster at my players.
I'm not going to give a rundown of every creature in the .pdf, but will give my impressions on a select few. First, I love the Alchemical Mutant template. A classic B movie trope, the unfortunate victim of environmentally unsafe practices, this is a monster to be reckoned with. It calls to mind the movie "Grizzly" crossed with "The Toxic Avenger". Great fun.
I also really liked the Molekin. Making them a fairly unique creature rather than simply bipedal moles or (looking at the illo, green bipedal naked mole rats) make them fairly interesting. And the fact they're monotremes (egg laying mammals) was a nice touch to make them just "alien enough" to surface dwellers.
The Crawling Terror is, well, meh. It's not really any different than any of a dozen aberrations that have super intellects and want to take over the world via thralls. And the fact they live in high altitude and latitude polar regions makes them a creature that would be encountered only under certain conditions. I will say, however, the accompanying magic items they use were really interesting. I especially liked the Agony Scepter (Mr. Chekov, your agonizer, please).
The last one I'm going to really go into is the Dire Rabbit. Sure, a St. Bernard size coney is pretty impressive, but they are still described as fairly docile herbivores. A Dire Rabbit should be a horrible (and kinda goofy) bloodthirsty, Buick-sized creature like in the classic B flick, "Night of the Lepus". Or heck, even the Vorpal Bunny from "Holy Grail" would've been cool. But here they're just big furballs that Halflings can ride (which, by the way, if you've ever paid attention to how rabbits move, this would be very impractical).
Overall, though I'll give "It Came From the Silver Screen" 3 stars. It's a decent purchase, but not as good as the first Creature Codex, "Monsters of Twilight". The art is not bad, but not great, and most of the monsters just didn't seem to evoke that B movie feel for me. Anyway, I hope you find this helpful.
