Illessa's page

This book embodies the thing I love most about Paizo products; the readability. I've had this book for a month and I've referred to it numerous times and read it through twice, so it's one of very few setting books available that are as good for entertainment as they are for reference (indeed it's the only substantial setting book I've come across that I've read from cover to cover without skimming or skipping anything). Everywhere feels familiar, with places covering virtually every genre trope you can think of, plus plenty of obvious real-life and historical influences, but the details and plot-hooks showcase some incredibly fresh and imaginative work. For a book with so many contributors it also reads very consistently which speaks to the quality of the editing.

Every section has enough information to give you a solid feel for the subject, but the information is also drawn in quite broad brush-strokes and leaves a lot of questions unanswered. This is ideal for me as I find this really sparks the imagination gives lots of room to put in your own ideas, and means you don't get bogged down in the minutiae that can really kill how enjoyable an article is to read. Obviously though, this also means that if you're looking for a setting with the depth of Faerun, with every major NPC, event and small town described in detail, this book isn't really going to do it for you. Best to look again in a few years when the setting has really started to fill out.

It is pricey, but the amount of information packed in is far more than the page count implies (impressive as there's no compromise in layout, art or font legibility). If the price tag is too much, then I'd recommend the Gazetteer, as the information in both books is fairly similar.

My only real complain is the number of minor errors and typos, probably inevitable due to the Gen Con rush sadly. They don't detract too much though, and they're certainly not bad enough to justify dropping a star.

The best Paizo product I've bought thus far. Even if you have no intention of running a game in Korvosa, the book is worth picking up because it's a fantastic read in it's own right. It's also full of interesting people and places and their associated adventure hooks that could easily be slotted into another setting. Mike McArtor has really outdone himself!

Ran this recently and it was great fun! Should make a great sidequest for Razor Coast when it comes out, and could be adapted for any campaign with a costal area with minimal effort. It lasted around 4 hours excluding character gen so it's good for running as an afternoon one off too. My only complaint is that a lot of it seemed relatively easy for a 7th level party (though the slightly broken paladin build I foolishly let someone to play may have helped), also having creatures from Dead Man's Chest was rather unhelpful since I've never seen that book so had no idea how to describe them. The final fight was a bit of a challenge, taking one party member down (and his little stingray too!) and taking another out of the fight as he slowly cut his way out of a shark stomach.
At $3 this is fantastic value for money and when I asked the players if they wanted to make this a monthly date playing all the Indulgence scenarios as they come out they were pretty enthusiastic, which is incentive enough for me to keep buying.

What the title says! A lot of this document is rather like an extended discussion on the standard underwater rules, their implications for characters and how to hook characters into an underwater adventure and make it as cool as possible. Unfortunately this section doesn't expand much on things ruleswise; as another reviewer says, the bends are mentioned but never explained, though I guess "If you surface without Deep Dive or similar protection you die" gives extra incentive to keep the mage alive and functioning and avoid dispels! Two new spells are introduced both of which are good utility spells, and the new monster is great and possibly the best thing in the pdf. So not a perfect product, but at $1.50, well worth the money.

A short resource on Dajobas, deity of sharks and hunger, who could easily slot into any setting with a sea-based element. Includes all the evocative fluff you'd expect from Nick Logue writing about a really freaking scary god, plus a couple of neat new magical items, some very fun feats (I really love Predator Not Prey), a new Cleric domain and an interesting (and *very* strong looking, wouldn't want to give this to a player) prestige class. Given Dajobas is being set up as a major bad guy(/shark) in Razor Coast, this pdf is a great little taster for the setting.

I actually ordered the market one (as I never use hex) and ended up with this one, but hey, this is a no nonsense battle map that does the job (and Paizo customer service being fantastic, they're sending me a free market map :)). It folds up to slightly smaller and A4 which is way more convenient than carrying a rolled mat around. It's not huge, but it's certainly big enough for any fight and for drawing small maps like warehouses on. Two will cover a reasonably sized dungeon as it will only be 4 inches narrower than a Megamat. It's *very* easy to erase dry, wet or permanent marker from it which means for maps that are too large you can draw them out room by room with dry-erase without much disruption. Even dry-erase doesn't seem to rub off too much in transit which is handy. It is a little bit flimsy and sure, if I'd paid megamat prices I'd be very disappointed, but for such a cheap price and considering you can use whatever pens come to hand on it, this is an awesome purchase. I would recommend getting one of the graphic ones if you don't use hex though, as you can always flip them over for extra mapping area.

Lots of fantastic feats and a handful of cool variations on the standard rapier in this lovely little six page resource. Full of interesting historical tidbits and rules that mimic real life swordplay well whilst remaining clean and elegant mechanically. Sadly I haven't seen bind/parry/riposte in play so I couldn't say if they slow down play at all, but I'm really looking forward to finding out! I have seen Deep Lunge in action which is possibly my favorite feat here, very cool and beautifully balanced. I don't find Challenge to a Duel entirely convincing and Dagger Defense is perhaps a little too strong (though again, haven't seen it in action), but that's hardly enough to mark down such a good product, especially at this price tag.

Put me in the converted camp, I was rather dubious about the art but it's lovely and *very* evocative, with many cards that are moving, disturbing (Mute Hag anyone?) or just plain hilarious. Sure there's a modern edge (and perhaps The Keep is pushing it, but it gets away with it on amusement value), but if anything it simply enhances the colourful, mystical stained-glass sort of look and all the little details provide a wealth of reading interpretation fodder.
The booklet is well-written and the card interpretations are vague enough to make excellent starting points to build your reading on. I haven't tried Towers yet, but it looks like one of those simple card games that gets infuriatingly addictive and competitive, I'll try it out with my CotCT group some time.
My only complaint is that I would have preferred plain card-backs to the fortune-teller graphic. Particularly as a roleplaying tool it would look much more effective, but that's a minor problem with an overall great product.