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Well, the irony is not lost here, we finally got a Bullet Point dealing with firearms. Took long enough. Follows the standard 3 page format with the second page being where all the magic happens. Two pieces of black and white art (the front piece being the better of the two in my humble opinion), and the excellent editing and grammar I've come to expect from the SGG crew. The meat of the matter follows a three column format, and gives us magical properties for one of the most argued pieces of equipment in fantasy role playing. But here's the nice thing in regards to that, the material is presented such that is applies to fantasy based firearms as well as more advanced weaponry. And besides, if you are of the camp that has no usage for firearms with your dice rolling, you probably aren't reading this review, or that PDF anyway, right?

We all know the drill by now, each Bullet Point gives us a handful of useful info on concept, this time out we get 7 new magical properties, with such interesting entries as Boomstick (forgo damage dealt for a chance to deafen a target), or Burrowing (ammo just won't stop digging in). Dependable gives you the classic self healing gun, repairing itself from the broken condition if left to its own for a while.

Entangling does exactly what you would think, swapping out damage for a tanglefoot bag, and hot Lead deals fire damage instead of firing ammunition, and there is mention of the cold iron alternative to this, dealing cold damage (personally I think a gunslinger carrying a matched pair of one each would make an awesome NPC). Ricochet allows you to shoot one target, deal your damage, then potentially hit another target with the same round. And, I saved the best for last, as this reminded me of why I like the SGG products. Dimensional Capacity turns that ammo chamber of your gun into the equivalent of a bag of holding for ammo, tripling your ammo capacity. The interesting combinations one could accomplish with this ability, as it allows you to load varying ammo and call up specific bullets as you choose them as well.

So, final thoughts on the latest Bullet Point? Buy it. Pure and simple. OK, ok, if you are not a fan of firearms in your games this might not be for you, that is true, I'll go with that. But for those of you out there who have added any level of firearm, be they emerging or full on manufactured smooth bore rifled weapons of reach out and touch someoneness ...this handful of Magical Properties will be a welcome addition to your firearms options. Have to go with a 5 on this one for a rating, as once again I can find no fault, and each offering was a solid, and good addition.

OK, am going to open with stating simply, I hate the leadership feat. No really, I do. The idea that a simple feat gives that much resource to a player really annoys me, and my players have learned over the years to wisely avoid it. Whereas I have never told them no, nor have I forbidden it at my gaming table, they have learned that a happy Gm is a more productive and fun GM. That being said, I was curious what this Bullet Point was going to bring to the table in regards of this extremely unbalanced feat.

What we are presented with are two very different approaches to how to handle the Leadership Feat, one granting the player a “pit crew”, the other mimicking the favored effects of the ranger class. Option one goes on the idea that anyone who can build up a crew of followers and cohorts probably has done just that, but they don't travel with them. Rather they are back at the crib, home base, the keep, that one ship where you are always welcome...or that proverbial bar. Point is, they are at a safe location to the player, they don't travel with them, but if the player can get to them, he can utilize them for cheap assistance. Information, healing, spells, items...all just waiting back at home base. Now, for a GM this takes away the additional NPC from combat rounds, which is one less “body” to keep track of while the group adventures.

Option two goes the route of simple numerical bonus. Player gains the equivalent of a favored terrain boost essentially when within the lands of a community/city etc. that they are a local hero to. This bonus applies to diplomacy checks, prices for services and goods, travel speeds and of course combat and checks vs. the lands favored enemies. A simpler more streamlined method of handling the feat, there is a measure of simplicity in how to handle this feat that may be a little to simple using this method, but that would be up to the individual GM's to decide.

Final thoughts on this one, I'm still not sold on this feat, but these two options do present alternatives to having a player sitting at your table with a small book next to them tracking their cohort and followers, and the logistical nightmare that manifests when said player begins utilizing them all, in every game session. Design wise, an inspired attempt to fix a broken feat, and one that I can see many GM's embracing and using, and well worth the price of admission. So, final rating on this one will be a 5, as it gives exactly what it states, and has me pondering this feats place in my campaign.....maybe.

Following the standard 3 page format, with one for a cover/intro explaining the concept behind the Bullet Point series, and one page going to credits/OGL, we are left with a single page to handle the new concept/materials. This time out we're looking at fees and taxes to help add another level of depth to our fantasy lands. Now, this release will not be for everyone, as it is all about adding some tricks to a GM's bag of ways to separate a character and their money, and we all know how much players love giving up their gold.

Some of these taxes seem fairly odd and ridiculous when you first read them , until you realize we have had, and in some communities still have on the books, taxes and laws very similar to some presented here. Take for example the Beard Tax. A single silver tax to be paid for the right to have beard longer than two days growth...ridiculous you say? Dwarves will revolt? Probably, so be an intelligent GM, and don't invoke this tax within a dwarven kingdom. Use it within a primarily human community with a disdain for humanoid races, or at war with dwarven neighbors. Or Custom Duty, a special tax on items of high quality, to help make sure it will cost more, balancing out the market shares for the cheaper, more local product. Sound to anyone else like the taxes we pay for products from overseas? Gabelle taxes spells, which in itself is not the part of this tax that caught my attention...but could you imagine the taxman who collects upon this particular fee? What kind of bad ass is that guy?

The Tithe is a concept we are all familiar with, and Poll Taxes are not unheard of, charging citizens for the right to vote. Wergild was a nice fee, a price for the life of a citizen based upon their career and potential to earn, that is charged one who brings about their death. Tagzettel probably struck me as the most problematic of the taxes within this collection in regards to repercussions within game, as it is a tax levied against those a community thinks might be “ a bad element”. Anything and anyone they don't like or trust can be taxed under this heading just “in case” they do anything wrong, they've prepaid for damages basically...profiling much?

Now, what we don't get here are what I was wanting to see, actual fantasy taxes. How much does a feudal lord charge the local knights order in taxes for their griffons they keep stabled? Is there a fee to be paid to a community to offer better protection for your buried loved ones to keep the necromancers away from them? Or is there a tax for necromancers to operate within a city? An import tax for restaurants cooking and serving fillet of wyrm? You know, fantasy taxes. And that would have made these so much more interesting.

All in all, a useful, if utilitarian, collection of ideas, but again, not for everyone, or every play group. These strike me as being more for those groups who immerse in roleplaying within communities as opposed to those who simply want to kill it all and drag home the gold.

Settling upon a three star, as the taxes given are useful, just not what I had hoped for, but at a dollar, its hard to argue with.

With a weight of 15 pages (cover and OGL eating two of those) this PDF starts us out with an absolutely gorgeous cover piece of art from Lin Bo. The iconography of this cover piece definitely convey the sense of ancient secrets of power. Internally, the artwork is B&W, with pieces ranging from good to OK. This PDF continues a new look from the SGG camp for layout, going with a full page cover and dual column with embedded artwork formatting approach. Editing and spelling both appeared to be excellent, nothing really jumped out and caught my attention.

Building an entirely new game mechanic, and form of magic, from three spells essentially would be daunting to say the least. It's not like there was truly a lot there to establish a ground work to build on, nothing established and accepted anyway. And yet, that's exactly what has been done here, and done in a logical, clear and understandable manner. The flow of thought behind the choices make sense, utilizing what could easily have been a game unbalancing element with an impressive precision, a more scalpel approach as opposed to the sword. What we end up with is essentially the first spoken language holding within the sound of the words the power of perfection, in that these are the terms that originally defined the universe, and all within it, before the many races and beings diluted the language down into their own tongues. An entire language that reverberated with power through those who spoke it. As time marched on this language lost a great deal of its inner power due to it no longer being the pinnacle of definition for reality, but it still operates perfectly as a form of channeling mystic powers into a clear and precise singular thought.

Introducing 7 new feats all tied to the concept of learning and exploring more of the First Language, we are given:
First Language Syntax - increasing the hp categories of your power words by a percentage, and a Greater variety of same feat.
Heighten Power Word - increase the effective level of your Power Word spells, thereby increasing the hp maximums.
Lore of the First Language – read magic at will as well as communicate in any language.
Master of the First Language – Swap prepared spells for power word spellslingers
Speaker of the First Language – power word spell as a spell like ability
Split Word – two targets with one power word spell, splitting the effect between them.

What book on a new avenue of magic to explore would be complete without new spells, Owen was kind enough to give us 20 within this collection, and I personally am hoping to see a Bullet Point at least giving us a few more. Bards, the Magus, Sorcerers, Wizards, and Witches all see new spells added to their lists with this set, with a great deal of overlap (obviously). Not wanting to go through the entire list and ruin the book for you, we'll pick out a few choice samples, such as Power Word Mute, Frighten, Combust, Inspire and Bleed. The mechanics for each operate as the original three, targeting a specific range determined by the targets current hp total at the casting of the spell. And yes, we now have Power Word options all the way down to level 1 spells, with Dazzle, Fascinate and Hesitate. Spells are presented in standard class listings followed by full definitions. Contained within the spell descriptions is a ¾ page discussion on the issue of balance, and what had to be considered and weighed with the design of these spells, as the issue of balancing a body of spells with no saves is a concern, and done wrong, could destroy a game. I'll tell you this much, the argument put forth within this discussion makes some very good points that put the power word spells in a different light by comparing them to the spells they share levels with, and the circumstances under which they must be used or simply not have the desired effects.

Finishing out with a new treat for clerical types, the Logos Domain draws upon the primal power of the First Language, with a domain spell list taken from the collection of twenty new spells. Along with the spell list, Logos followers receive three domain powers (based upon level) such as bonus languages from Wisdom as well as Intelligence, with no limit on languages to choose from. Voice of Power allows for a swift action casting of a power word spell, and Power Word Command – acting as a the command spell. It should be noted that only through this domain do clerical types have any access to these additional power word spells.

Final thoughts, this is the type of book I love to see design wise. Taking something small, but iconic, from the accepted collective that we all know and have fond memories of utilizing and being victimized by throughout the years, and expanding it to allow for so much more. The idea of specialists comes to mind instantly, and I can only hope the Geniuses are contemplating along those very same lines (if not someone else...hint..hint). Is there potential for mass abuse and game breaking mechanics? Sure. There was in Ultimate Combat and the APG also. Any playgroup can tear down the system if you let them, which is why it is up to a GM to control the flow of new material, and take the initiative to introduce ideas properly. This is one of those ideas that is worth that introduction, as there are some truly cool ideas contained within the simplicity of the power words. And besides, who doesn't want to field a spell chucker with an arsenal of power that requires not but one word to unleash?

Final rating can be no less than a 5 for this, as my only complaint is that I want more. An archetype, more spells, perhaps even a bloodline...there is so much here to work with.

The first thing one can not escape when scanning through the 488 pages of Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classic (DCC) Core Rule Book is the art. It’s everywhere, and I do mean, everywhere. The TOC is laid out inside art panels held up by characters, credits, play tester thank yous, designer notes, all tucked into the artwork, that is…for lack of better explanation, straight out of the 70′s. Seriously, this IS your daddy’s artwork folks lol. The art instantly took me back to my childhood and the style of RPG games that were on the shelves at my local game-store when I first got into role playing as a hobby. Is it cheezy art? Oh yeah, but in all the ways that make it good, that type of silly weird art that feels like a guilty pleasure.

Not looking to simply be yet another retro clone, DCC holds it’s own with a rule-set that brings old school simplicity to today’s audience of players, with just enough of the standards in today’s rules to make even hardcore edition warists feel comfortable learning how to play. One of the first things that stuck with me, when reading how one designs a character for DCC, was that your race is your class…your an elf, or a wizard…remember those days folks? No Elven Wizards here, nor Dwarven Warriors…nope, uh uh. Old School standard put elves and dwarves as their own class, and so does DCC.

We also have the concept of the Zero level character, which I could see being an absolute bloodbath for the poor players. Building characters as the rules layout, which will really irritate those min-maxers out there, you will end up with at least four zero levels characters per player at the table, all with truly random abilities and gear. Why so many? Why so Random? Simple. You roll your stats and right them on the sheet in the order you roll them, with 3d6, no re-rolling, no dropping low rolls, just take what you get…then roll for a profession to determine what piece of gear you get to take with you (anything from a farm implements to barnyard animals). You create a handful of characters because, well, you have no real weapon, skill, or armor….and barely any hit points, your gonna die, a lot, lol. But, with a crowd of characters the odds of one making it to 10 XP is good, and at 10 XP you become first level, and get to pick a class, and begin building your character into someone. Where as the concept of how to start a character is very different from most games in it’s approach to forcing a player to truly play a nobody at start, its a refreshing difference, and one that I think has the potential to be a lot of fun for a group, I can see them tracking the dead pool, and sharing tales of how their zero’s died, lol.

Another of the many concepts within this system that I found interesting was that magic corrupts, pure and simple. The longer one uses it, the higher in level one gets, the more chance the run that magic will corrupt them, both physically and mentally. Why? Simple, magic is derived by dealing in pacts with demons and devils, negotiating with celestial beings, and harnessing raw elemental forces never meant to be channeled by humans…so it kind of makes sense when you put it in perspective, and I find myself amazed that more mainstream systems have not tackled the very same issue as a standard rule as of yet. The magic section contains several d100 charts (I know, how long has it been since these were the standard for everything, mass nostalgia) handling magical effects, corruption results, costs of doing business with demons/devils, results of spell burns (a method for “saving” failed spells), and the most interesting chart of all, in my opinion, the Mercurial chart. Mercurial Magic, the concept that everything, and I do mean everything matters when it comes to magic, and therefore no two spellslingers could possibly be the same. The first born child of a hanged witch, child born as a rare comet reached the apex of the twilight sky, man subjected to blindness by looking into the well of the abyss…all of these people are special to the fabric of reality in a different way, and magic flows through them differently, as it should, hence the mercurial magic chart, to determine the different results of their spell castings. Just another concept of random weirdness to remind you that fantasy games are supposed to keep you on your toes, and never grow complacent.

And of course, it would be wrong of me to fail to mention that this system already has an immense amount of support material, not only int he form of adventures from Goodman Games, but from 3PP’s as well, and at least in my point of view, when you see a compatibility logo, it’s a good sign that a system is worth checking into, as it’s going to have new material and support from more than one source, which usually means there will be plenty of material for GM’s and players alike.

For those who are missing a simpler time in gaming, when demons were demons, and the bad guys wore black, this game will feel like coming home. For those who are looking for an alternative to their current mainstream that will take them back to their childhood (or at least their older brother’s), then this game will be a lot like dropping by the neighbors for a fun night of hanging out…something different, but all together enjoyable and familiar.

The formatting is top notch, in that it makes you think you are reading a book from the 70′s. I found practically no typos or editing glitches, and in a book of this size, that’s saying something. The layout jumps from single to dual column throughout the book, with artwork both embedded and on splash pages. The artwork is B&W and all invokes the era of the 70′s when it comes to the style of art that was popular during that time period, I swear a few of these pieces would have worked as side murals for vans back in the day, right down to the shirtless muscled warrior with sideburns saving the day.

The rules are solid, and fun, which is an all important detail when it comes to a game system. They are simplistic enough that a group could learn the game quickly, but complex enough to make sure one does not feel like they are playing a stripped down game. The balance found there was a good one, and impressed me with how easy the rules felt to grasp, while still being subtly complex in their design.

Overall, this is an excellent product to add to a gaming shelf, both as an alternative game for a group, a new game for those groups disillusioned with their current game, a instant favorite for the old school crowd, or a great way for the younger generation to reconnect with the older generation of gamers on common ground at the gaming table. I can not recommend this book enough, it really was a blast to read and reconnect with my roots, and I urge you to pick up a copy for yourself.

Weighing in at 52 pages, the latest oriental themed book from Rite publishing brings us an extremely detailed look into the Samurai, and all that it means to incorporate them as a class into your campaign world, both as a GM and as a player. Of those 52 pages 8 are eaten by the usual suspects (cover, OGL, ads and and appendix (for unfamiliar terms ), leaving us with 44 pages to cover the new material. Formatting follows the dual column approach, with embedded full color artwork throughout the book, and more than a few rather large pieces of said artwork. Each page is treated with a bamboo style framework, further invoking the feel of an old world fantasy oriental setting. Editing appears to be excellent, with nothing standing out or catching my eye in the ways of missteps or errors.

Paizo has already introduced the Samurai as a playable class, so what exactly are we getting here in this book? Simple, we are getting the history and culture that bred the samurai. We're being introduced to a cultural caste that goes much deeper than a mere class choice for a character. We are getting the reasons behind why one would want to play a samurai in the first place. A look into the reasoning behind where the teachings came from that originated the concepts behind a samurai's unwavering loyalty to his master, and the bizarre levels of respect they are willing to pay their enemies. What role a samurai plays in their lands and communities when there are no enemies to fight, no wars to be won...all of this and more is what this book attempts to uncover and reveal first by giving us a first hand telling of these histories and traditions from servant to master, and then by filling page after page with mega crunch. For those liking their books rules heavy and crunchy, and not to big on fluff, I personally recommend you flip straight to page 11, and start there. Not that fluff is a bad thing, but the method of delivery here is a lot of fluff, for what feels like a very long time, before you finally see anything resembling game mechanics....luckily, it is a pretty clean cut line, so those not wanting as much fluff can simply flip past it to get to the crunch....and let us discuss the crunch, shall we?

But, before we dive into the crunch, there is one thing I think is important to clear up in regards to this book. It clearly states, and I thought this odd until I really let it process, that unless specifically mentioning an archetype linked back to the Paizo player class of samurai, no other mention of samurai within this book is actually referring to the player class, but rather the social caste made up of poets, accountants, tax men, lords, monks and paladins...yes, paladins...they go by a different title, but they are what they are. As I said, this book seeks to introduce the entire concept of samurai, not merely what cinema has convinced us was reality.

The Samurai operate with an Honor mechanic, allowing for one to both earn and lose Honor points, and utilize them within roleplay as a gauge for how to treat other characters of honor, as well as how to expect to be treated. The rules for implementing the concept are fairly straight forward, and extremely easy to use. Characters outside of a clan or family should only find themselves in possession of honor points if their GM has allowed it, and even then there should be a solid reason within the character's story to explain it, as the entire concept of the honor system lies within the core of the samurai values.

For those utilizing traits within their game setting, 9 new samurai traits are presented, with such offerings as Practiced Calligrapher (gain a bonus to Craft(calligraphy) and Linguistics), Legacy of Death (having come from a long line of samurai who have given their lives in battle, you seek to do them honor and rush headlong into danger, grants a bonus to initiative), or Honorable Soul, which allows for a higher calculation of figuring our your honor points.

Teppou Bushi is our first archetype, and it is an archetype for the gunslinger. The gunslinger you say? Yes, in a samurai book, remember, this book approaches the samurai as an entire buke caste, not just a solitary class. The teppou bushi suffer a penalty to their honor to demonstrate the suspicions that come from fellow samurai who look at them as nontraditional and unworthy, forcing them to work harder to earn their place and the recognition they seek.
The paladin finds itself represented within the Yamabushi archetype, the divine warrior monks. Serving within the setting of the game mechanics primarily as spiritual leaders and counsel to the heads of clans and family organizations these warrior monks occasionally leave their mountain retreats to travel the world battling evils and righting wrongs.
The ranger shows through in the archetype Yojimbo. Yojimbo function equally as well alone traveling as a solitary warrior policing their lands, or within a structured unit of fellow warriors, and are looked upon as some of the hardiest of all samurai. Taking an enemy clan instead of a favored enemy, and replacing hunter's bond with warrior's bond (choosing either weapon or mount) are but a few of the differences from the base class for this archetype. This also marks the first major editing oddity, as the text halfway down the first column drops down a few points in size, goes back to standard at the top of the second column, then drops down again. I can only assume it is intended to do, but it looks very odd visually.
Our last four archetypes are all for the Samurai base class, the Kuge – those born into wealth and power, the Tajiya – a true master of the two blade style, the Tajiya – those dedicated to ending the scourge of supernatural foes plaguing the world, and the Yabusame – the true traditionalist, the bowman.

From the archetype we go to three new orders of samurai, the Shogun, the Tajiya and the Undying Emperor. Each order giving its own list of perks for aligning oneself alongside.

The Wizard archetype Onmyoji was by far the most interesting thing in the entire book for me, as it is a variation upon the classic wizard that I have never encountered before. Studying much as their western counterparts do to get their spells after sleeping, the Onmyoji fold their spells in origami, that is then consumed in flames by the casting of the spell contained within the paper structure...feeling more true to older edition concepts in regards to scroll casting, but allowing this particular wizard to maintain these spells day in and day out, the idea rather appealed to me. Visually it is a very cool concept, but I can not help but wonder, when it comes to an adventuring version, where do they keep all that paper they would have to keep on hand once they get a decent level, lol. Replacing arcane bond with Shikigami Bond, this archetype also gets a rather cool familiar, in the form of an oni known as a shikigami (think Asian goblins).

Following this we have two new prestige classes, the Bugyo (a government official with a rather large amount of authority), and the Mosa (a samurai known for refusing to back down, despite the odds, and carrying the capacity to win the day through sheer determination and tenacity).

Six new feats, including Armored Horseman (reduces armor check penalty by your Str bonus when riding), Honor's Tongue (allowing a bonus of twice your Honor Point total to your Cha based skill checks), and Improved Far Shot (increasing a ranged weapons distance limits by 50%).

From there we get into the rules pertaining to the creation of a samurai clan, and all the intricacies involved in that...the naming, the crests, the statblock (similar in nature to a communities statblock). Presented following this section is a fully realized example clan, with map and NPC's, to better demonstrate how to utilize the rules for clan building. It is within the NPC listing that we find a new cursed magical item, the Gaki Helm, a kabuto helmet that will allow control of ghouls, but will also allow the evil spirit living within the helm to corrupt and control a wearer.

The Appendices wrap it all up with a full statblock write up for the Shikigami, as well as a statblock for one as a familiar in the first, the second being a list of terms and their definitions, for those unfamiliar with a great deal of the terms used throughout this work.

Final thoughts...for those playing within the Kaiden setting, or any Oriental high or low fantasy setting, this book is a must. It adds so many levels of depth to the idea that is samurai that it in itself becomes a solid sourcebook, with many potential avenues for adventure hooks and ideas. For those not looking to add the oriental myths or classes to their gaming worlds however, there is very little here for them, but any book entitled Way of the Samurai should have that expected of it, and if you are still reading this I doubt that is an issue. Other than the smaller font size a few times (which I think was intentional, just odd looking) I can think of nothing to really complain about regarding this book, and encourage GM's and players alike to add it to their collection. A solid 5 stars, well earned and deserved.

Weighing in at 19 pages with the prerequisite Cover/OGL/Ad combo eating up 5 pages, we are left with 14 pages of feats...that's right 14 pages. What, you thought 101 feats with a full description for each would fit in just a few pages? Following the standard dual column approach with embedded artwork, Mr. Russell continues to impress me with his ability to hunt down excellent old world art pieces that have helped define the look and feel of his books, and mixed them with a collection of recent stock pieces to pull off a very slick look and feel for yet another Rite publishing offering in the 101 series.

Being exactly what the title promised, this is a collection of feats designed for monster races, and not your players. An excellent means of changing and adding a few features to your next creature to keep a play group on their toes, and keep them thinking, as foes with new tricks make for interesting creatures, as opposed to the same old same old. So, let's dive into it, shall we?

OK, obviously I'm not going to cover all 101 of these, but I am going to pick out a few choice examples, and for those we start with Alter Breath Weapon. I mean, its so obvious it makes one wonder why this wasn't already in the game, how do you make your offensive breathers new and interesting? Change their breath weapon energy type of course. Cloak Alignment costs the usage of a 2nd or higher level spell-like ability, but suppresses your alignment aura, and puts you under a misdirection effect. Continous Breath Weapon gives us that massive gout of breath weapon that just keeps on coming that Hollywood has us all in love with. Divine Dragon replaces sorcerer casting levels with divine spellcasting levels instead...hmm, a natural clerical dragon,,,intriguing. Elemental Surge allows for an elemental to rapidly expand and reform, injuring all around them with either bludgeoning or fire damage (depending on elemental). Greater Curse of Lycanthropy is the type of feat that allows for creating those generational chains within a lycan pack, linking progeny to sire. Inhuman Name reminds us that when trying to cast certain spells (banishment, binding etc.) being able to actually pronounce the name of that you wish to effect is crucial. Invested Form truly makes gaze attacks a scary scary concept, changing the limit for range to line of sight. Now, to put that in reference, how far away are planes when they fly overhead? Birds? With this feat, if you can see it, you get a chance to effect it. Living Phylactery is hands down a must have feat for any and all counting on a phylactery to be their backup plan, you turn a creature who has failed their save against your paralyzing touch into a second phylactery, even if they have recovered from the paralysis. The idea of turning an enemy into a backup plan to the backup is to rich, and to tempting not to do. Pandemoniac Corruption is just wrong on so many levels, lol. Impregnate your opponent with goo that will take them on a painful and disgusting ride for a few days before killing them and violently destroying their bodies in birthing into the world a new member of your species....eeewwwww. And yes, there's even a quickened version that will kill in in a matter of rounds instead of days.

And last, but oh so not least, is Teleport Attack. A feat that allows one to use the spell of the same name (presented within this material) that allows you to teleport a foe into solid objects, a rather gruesome way to kill, I like it.

So, final thoughts? Editing, formatting all very good. There was an issue with spaces missing between a few words in the opening paragraph, but that was the only thing I saw, and that's pretty good in this much text to only have one line with an issue. Where as the feats don't carry names with as much oddity as a few of the feat collections, they do have the design strengths behind them, and that is what makes books like this worth having. Pick this one up, change up your creatures, and further torment your players as they try to figure out what new abilities the standard creatures have suddenly learned, and how to survive whilst they learn. A solid 5 star rating for an excellent collection of feats designed with a GM in mind.

Weighing in at thirteen pages with a cover, credit/TOC page, OGL and 1 ad, we are presented with eight pages of new NPC's and a one page introduction and explanation of how to use this supplement. Designed for the River nations setting from Jon Brazer Enterprises, each of these characters can easily be utilized in any setting a GM chooses to use them within.

The interesting thing regarding the introduction, is Dale writes it from the standpoint of a conversation, explaining when this book was originally planned to be released, how it got waylaid, and what inspired the collection in the first place. It is an interesting look behind the curtain into the design thoughts that went into this collection of eight not so typical assassins, and what he hoped to accomplish in their creation. So without further ado, let us examine them, shall we?

Muffin Brownbottle, Death's Chef is a halfling baker after my heart. Her statblock section on tactics is hands down one of the funniest and most excellent things I have ever read in an NPC statblock. Her During Combat states, and I quote “ Muffin will sit with her mark and talk while they enjoy their final meal.” Yeah, that's right, combat? Not from this sadistic killer. Nope, she will however make you an excellent meal, and join you for conversation and company while you enjoy her culinary labors. Being a lover of the culinary arts, this appealed to me on so many levels I can't even begin to explain them all. I will say though, she has earned a home in my campaign world, and a bakery, lol.

Jolanta Adanski, Grave Cackler, along with her house centipede familiar, Scurry, adds the idea of a witch assassin to the mix. Her write up is barely a paragraph, and we are left with no real story for her unfortunately, which is a shame. Within her spell list would be one spell crossed out, to signify that she has in fact already cast said spell for the day.

Qog Kirgon, The Mountain Stalker is a half orc ranger/assassin with a serious dislike for humans. Together with his dog, Scraps – a mangy golden retriever that is fiercely loyal, Qog has a fairly basic and straight forward approach to killing. History is slightly formulaic, but not bad in the least. It is almost a shame he was done as a standard ranger, as I can't help but think he would have been all the more interesting having been built as a Spell Less Ranger utilizing the class released recently by Open Design. I say this solely based upon the fact that for me I have a hard time seeing a half orc brute demonstrating the finesse for magic.

Cyali Starwatcher, Dying Moon Hierophant offers us a clerical assassin...yeah, let that sink in for a minute. Interesting character, interesting concept, and a fleshed out story that gives us not only a backstory for her, but an assassin's guild, a religious cult, and a mortuary business operating as a front for said cult. Now this is the type of character that delivers on value. Not only is she interesting, but she comes with so many hooks its ridiculous.

Korn, Warmaster of Death would be that handsome guy on the front cover near the bottom. A hobgoblin fighter/assassin is another example of an NPC who brings more to the table then just themselves. A leader of a tribe of hobgoblins living peacefully within human lands, operating as assassins for hire to those willing to pay the price.

Mariana, Master of Disguise is a rogue(chameleon)/assassin. Now for those unfamiliar with the chameleon, it was introduced in Ultimate Combat, and is an archetype that covers those individuals who blend and assume identity well. Disguise and misdirection are their most potent weapon, for they can be anyone, and disappear instantly. With an amusing backstory filled with misdirection in regards to who she really is, this murdering thief has made a living out of making sure no one knows who she is, but everyone has a tale to tell. Oddly, she reminded me of the Bruce Willis movie The Jackyl, in that she is a highly sought after assassin who assumes identities to serve her purposes and to ensure that all details regarding her are false.

Akanor, Funeral Singer, is a gnome bard/assassin utilizing the archetype of court bard. Akanor is the classic showman, the clothes, the attitude, the prestige, he lives for the attention, and has built quite a reputation traveling the lands as a court performer of some worth, and he has done so as a means to an end. In hiding in plain sight, by being right in front of folks as the great story teller and comedian none suspect he is in fact also a high priced assassin with a signature calling card, a telling wound left on every victim's body. In the end he kills for the same reason he entertains, the adrenaline rush, the excitement. A well thought out and designed NPC, with an excellent piece of art to support the design.

Ceriddaia Shimmerstar, Sword Breaker is our one and only non assassin by class in the collection, she is a Magus. Using a traveling dance troupe as cover to travel freely, this NPC comes off as a spoiled brat reading through her backstory. She kills simply as a means to have the funding to do as she wishes, when she wishes, wherever she wishes, and has gotten the dancing troupe (a cover for more than just her) discovered more than once by flashing far to much money to explain away with their cover story. Not that the spoiled brat concept doesn't work, her tactics in combat are interesting, in that she casts undead anatomy upon herself before combat and goes for total shock factor presenting herself as a skeleton whilst electrocuting her opponents, seeking to sunder them as fast as possible before finishing them off.

So, final thoughts on the eight. Several of these NPC's are very cool character concepts, one could use so much more to her story to make you want to invest in her. With each character receiving one page per, it almost felt as if Jolanta's design was truncated to accommodate layout and spacing, which is a real shame as we're given next to nothing story wise for her. The book overall needs another read through by an editor, as there were numerous editing oversights, sentence structures, missing words, odd grammatical choices. It was all understandable, but it truly would benefit greatly from another editorial sweep. Art-wise, only one piece felt out of place, Mariana's, it had an anime quality to it, which is a shame as it is a good piece of art, but when held up to the others, it really looks out of place.

It is hard to overlook the massive editing issues and the multiple issues with Jolanta (the fact that she has barely any fluff). On the positive hand however, we have several very good, and I do mean very good NPC assassins here, the traveling bard, the unassuming baker, the legitimate business women running a mortuary while leading an assassins cult, the hobgoblin who turned his tribe into a money making killing machine. The design chops far outweigh the editing issues, as those can be fixed, design is what it is, it's either there or it isn't, and in this case it very much is there, and worth the price of admission. This product also carries with it Hero Lab files for the assassins, so there is yet another perk, and an excellent one I might add. Be forewarned my fellow Hero lab users, Ultimate Magic and Combat, as well as the APG are required to open and utilize these portfolio files properly.

I am going to settle on 3.5 stars, stating that I will be happy to raise that by a full star after a full sweep to correct editing issues. For the purposes of this rating system, I will however, round up, not down, as the design chops are here, and they outweigh the negative. So, final rating is a 4 star.

The latest addition to the Bullet Point series is intended as support material for the Genius Guide to the Shadow Assassin, but works equally well for several other character concepts utilizing the shadow-theme. Following the three column landscape format that is standard to the Geniuses, the two artwork pieces are stock from two of the better sources. Spelling and editing were of good quality, I found only one hiccup (in the Shadow Stalker – though you may leave a trail if you so chooses), and am willing to pretend I didn't see it, as it is only an errant extra “s”.

So, formatting, covered, artwork discussed, let's get to the real reason you're going to want to buy this, shall we?

Black Balm allows you to utilize the shadows to take a second and use the Heal skill, in a better function. Into the Darkness allows you to further disappear into thin air, making your stealth even better, even when facing creatures that could normally see you. Shadow Sense grants a blindsense when immersed within shadow. Shadow Stalker gives bonuses to initiative/stealth/perception and survival as long as you're in dim to no illumination, as well as giving you the option to leave no trail (does not stack with favored terrain, so no out of balance issues to concern a GM there). Through the Cracks allows one with enough ranks in Escape Artist to take advantage of tight space normally far to small for someone to work their way through or into. Umbral Venom allows you imbue a dosage of poison with the shadows, dimming the vision of a victim on top of the effects of the poison. And last, but not least, Unseen Terror lets you take full advantage of just how unnerving it is to be attacked from the dark, not knowing what your opponent is, or where they are, giving a chance to demoralize an enemy after successful attacks from the darkness.

Yet another excellent addition to one of my favorite consistent product lines. Not only are the Bullet Points insanely affordable, but they are by and far always useful, and this addition does not break that pattern. Well worth the purchase, I give this one a solid 5 stars.

Following the standard 3 column approach with a landscape orientation that the Geniuses have turned into their signature look, 7 Cure Light Wounds Feats is another solid addition to the Bullet Points series. With two pieces of art from Mongoose this time, one line drawing and one B&W, both of decent quality, and if of excellent quality in regards to spelling and editing.

Our 7 new Feats this time are all about the Cure Light Wounds spell, and the classes that can utilize it, and how to turn this rather humdrum, but extremely necessary utility spell into something more interesting and efficient. So lets take a look and see how they did, shall we?

Bolstering Cure allows for a usage for those extra hps we all hate to see go to waste when your cleric rolls well enough to grant more hps then are needed to heal to max, always a good thing to have a few extra on hand. Cloak of Curing is easily my choice out of this one for favorite, You may hold the charge of a cure light woulds spell, allowing your comrades to receive its benefits through touching you, thereby freeing you up to do other actions during combat, but still being the emergency healing station. Lay on Cure seeks to rectify a gap between paladins and clerics, allowing you to heal yourself at a faster rate than normal. Lingering Cure is one of those that took me a second to fully grasp, but once the idea is there, it is solid, and really good. Instead of poof, here's your hps, it spreads out how many you are getting over a matter of rounds, granting a higher amount of hp's when its done. Basing its bonus hp's upon the level of the spell (which matters more if you are utilizing meta feats or are a ranger) it allows this very limited healing spell to kick back a much better ratio of hps, albeit at a slower pace. Moderate Mastery allows you to apply feats designed for cure light to cure moderate....now go back and reread Lingering Cure and start to make that connection of how cool these two would be in conjunction with each other. Shared Cure allows you to split the total of hps from your roll between the healer and the healed. And Reinforced Cure lets you stack a 0 level spell on top of your healing, as long as it meets the prerequisites of the feat.

For the sheer amount of healing one can make happen if they chain Lingering Cure and Moderate Mastery with the right meta feats and spell mastery's this PDF is worth it, the fact that the rest of the feats are excellent and useful as well is gravy my friends. Yet another Bullet in the chamber, and another 5 stars to the Geniuses.

Po’Kesteros, the latest offering in the Faces of the Tarnished Souk line shows just what can truly be done with the excellent Luckbringer class, in a very well executed manner. Following the standard Rite format of the dual column with embedded artwork (all B&W with two of the pieces being close up details taken from the excellent cover piece from Kimagu, and one being the cover piece from the second book in the Luckbringer series – 10 Luckbringer Feats. Editing/Spelling all looked good, and I found no stumbling blocks to interrupt the flow of reading or understanding, which is always a good thing. After OGL, credits and the rest, we are left with a solid 11 pages of material covering Po’Kesteros and a sampling of templates (along with a few example creatures). The Pdf also comes fully bookmarked, which always pleases me.

So who is Po’Kesteros? Well, he’s Peter Pan, all grown up…with a blood lust. Stolen by dark fey as a babe, this half elven fey grew up in a world unlike the one he was intended to, developing a specific set of talents designed to not only allow him to survive such an upbringing, but to make him a very, very dangerous man to be near. He chooses to focus on what is in front of him, living in the here and now, rather than placing any value or faith in what the future may bring, knowing full well how quickly all one knows can be taken, and how uncertain tomorrow truly is.

Presented with three separate CR ratings, giving you a range of variables to utilize as to which Po’Kesteros you wish to unleash upon your playgroup, we are given write-ups for a CR 7, 15 & a 20. With the CR7 we are also given the reason behind the name, as he starts his journey as Poor Kesteros, the Boy the Fairies took, shortening it later in life to Po’Kesteros. Amongst his abilities are the Formula Book for his sole level alchemist level, and the Enhanced NPC ability (which if you are unfamiliar with, grants him a 25 point buy, PC level wealth, 2 traits, and increases his CR by +1. From there we get into the wonderful world of the Luckbringer as far as the rest of his amazingly useful abilities, which is one of those moments where this PDF could have hit a snag, but I gladly get to report that the designers were thinking ahead, and presented here the crunch one would need to utilize all of Po’Kesteros’ luckbringer class abilities. I still recommend if you have not picked up the luckbringer class book, to do so, as reading the crunch for a few class abilities will not fully give you the feel and vibe of a class, and the book is flat out worth it regardless.

Now, on top of the solid design that has gone into this character, both in personality and crunch, we are presented with templates (and variant crunch for Po’Kesteros if you wish to use the templates on him) such as the Fey Creature, Adaptable Creature, Preternatural and Trickster Creatures. And yes, there’s still more.

How about three new Feats, two for the luckbringer class (Improved Narrow Escape: negates need to spend a moment of chance to use Narrow Escape, and Motion of the Moirai: as long as you have a moment of chance in your pool, fateful footing’s speed rate benefit is continuous, and the negative effects are permanent.) And, for those other classes out there, how about Shadow Strike, allowing for precision damage against targets with concealment. For Traits we have Dream-Scarred: having suffered an extreme trauma, you now cling to the faintest of memory of lost Hope, and are never without Dreams. Or, if that isn’t up your alley for trait choices, how’s Suspicious? At a tender age you came to learn that someone you trusted has played you for a fool and lied or mislead you, causing you to trust no one and question everything.

The Ta Mo Dagger (a pair of nested daggers forming a small baton) and Elven Long Knife would be the two pieces of standard equipment introduced, both of them small, light bladed weapons. A new weapon enhancement, Dream Shattering: does exactly what you might think….it destroys the Goals, Aspirations and Dreams of those it successfully hits with a critical. Very wicked weapon enhancement for the Coliseum Morpheuon setting to say the least. The remaining new goodies would be a handful of new magic items, such as the Beast Chaplet: allowing one to transform their head into a feral form, gaining a bite attack. Gauntlets of Blood: are vicious spiked gauntlets with a thirst of their own, causing not only crit multiplied damage on confirmed criticals, but additional bleed damage as well. Swift End: OK, this one actually stopped me when I got to the end of its description…starts out looking like a good blade, got a bonus, a few nice enhancements (keen, speed) but then you get to what it does on a confirmed critical against a favored enemy….I will never let my Ranger PC at my table near this thing, lol. He rolls way to many criticals …lol. The weapon unleashes a harm effect upon succeeding on a crit roll, adding serious injury to the damage you just did. And Viper’s Kisses: ta mo daggers formed of the fangs of an immense serpent, these blades subject a victim to a poison effect if they both hit a victim within the same round.

So, final thoughts on the latest Tarnished Face…he’s creepy, and that’s a good thing, to say the least. He truly did have me thinking, looking at his art, and reading his background, what if Pan had been taken by a darker fey, how very different that particular Lost Boy would have been. My players are no where near ready level wise to be going anywhere near the Coliseum, and I fear for their sakes that means Po’Kesteros will have to come to them, as this is one NPC that demands time at a game table. I love the story that defines him, the artwork that captures him, and the solid usage of the Luckbringer class to truly build a solid challenge for a playgroup that will not only endanger them, but frustrate them immensely.

A solid 5 star, with a bonus star stuck up there right beside, making this one a 6!

Weighing in at 15 pages (Front cover -1 page, credit/PID – 1 page, 2 pages of tracking sheets, OGL) we’ve got roughly 10 pages of new material here to work with.

A spell-less Ranger…this class has long been plagued by the fact that whereas any class tossing spells about is kinda cool in its own right, the iconic characters who inspired this particular class were men existing by their own skill, and their ability to utilize the lands around them to some amazing feats. I’ve seen a few attempts to go spell-less with a ranger in the past, and it has always come out looking very much like a pigeon-holed fighter…so let us take a look and see if Mr. Radle has found the balance required to ground the ranger back in the land of the everyman, without taking away all that made this class one that people would want to play.

Interestingly enough, once again I find myself going through a Marc Radle design, missing his artwork, lol. Luckily the artists tapped for this piece were more than up to it, and the PDF comes off with a very good look and feel to it visually speaking. Now, having said that, I do have a complaint regarding artwork…the background image, as it is, makes it very hard to read the text in the corners of the pages from time to time. Perhaps a slight fade on the background image might have aided with that. Editing wise, I only found two mistakes, and they were essentially the same mistake, and an extremely minor one at that. An errant “s” was added in two different spots to a word, but truly did not alter enough of the meaning to disturb the reading of the text.

Right off the bat, taking away spells from the progression of this class, the spell-less ranger finds himself the beneficiary of a host of new class abilities, and Ranger Talents (similar in nature to Rogue Talents)…at 2nd level the decision must be made what path of combat you are looking to advance your character down with the Combat Style Feat. Now, the PDF opts for the up close and gritty two-weapon combat style or the archery combat style , but does leave it open for you to choose from any of the ranger combat styles available under your GM. The advantages behind this particular class ability is that the combat styles come with a pool of feats that you will be picking from as you progress that allow you to ignore prerequisites. Next up in the realm of cool has got to be Nature’s Healing, gained at 3rd level. Giving game mechanics to bring to the table the fact that a ranger, in their favored terrain, knows which root, which mushroom, snail, leaf or mud is going to allow them to gain the absolute best results out of their Heal skill checks. Therefore, this ability grants bonuses to heal checks, in various differing manners. Hunter’s Bond is another of those choice situations, this time with the options of sharing a percentage of your favored enemy bonuses with allies, or picking up an animal companion (trust me, looking through all the different options here, you want the animal companion). Now, I did think there were a few animals that would have been obvious choices for the list of animal companion options, but that would be a personal choice issue. It would be wrong of me to not mention the Stealth Attack class ability, as any ranger worth his salt had better be able to attack unseen within their own terrain.

The Ranger Talents, 25 of them, are an interesting alternative to a spell progression for a ranger class, and offer everything from extra feats, to additional animal companions. Faster movement, farther range, and critical hit modifiers. There is enough here to allow for several different styles of play to evolve in comfort never feeling limited by choice.

Following this we are given 18 new Feats, covering everything from Additional Favored Enemies or Terrain, Extra Ranger Talents, an Expert or Master option for Favored Terrain granting additional bonuses on top of the normal ones already given by Favored Terrain. Coordinated Companion allows your animal companion to benefit from teamwork feats you possess as if they also had them. And Savage Terrain Warrior (my personal favorite of this batch) gives what every ranger needs…HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE!! For the animal companions, on top of the coordinated companion feat, we also get an Improved, Greater and Invulnerable – adding a DR to yer critter companion.

We are presented with two archetypes here that are both limited in their way, but in taking the limitation are both extremely more powerful within their parameters.
The Dual Style Ranger gives up multiple favored enemies in favor of learning a second combat style, and applying all further advancements that would normally give a new favored enemy back into the single enemy.
The Companion Bound Ranger gives up multiple favored terrain for a singular concept, but forms a bond with their animal that hearkens back to the classic ranger/animal duos of literary history.

The APG’s list of ranger combat styles is re-presented here in appendix form for ease of character build, in case one wishes to choose a style outside of the two presented here as options.
Following the appendix are two tracking sheets for ease of handling favored enemy/terrain and animal companions. They remind me greatly of sheets I remember using during the 3.0 days, and have that feel to me.

So, final thoughts…did this PDF present a ranger sans magic that is worth playing? That is what it comes down to, right? The answer to that is resting on my printer, in the form of an NPC I will be introducing tomorrow evening at my regular game night. This class is not only playable, its exciting and intriguing. For a player like myself, there are a massive amount of options presented to really explore the concept of an animal companion. Or go the complete other direction, and create that whisper in the trees, who’s only detected when his arrow is in your throat. Now, flipping to the other side, the background on the pages make some pages hard to read, and I would have preferred to have seen the background done with a lighter hand perhaps, but that is truly the only design/layout choice I can see worth complaining about or even pinging against the rating. Yes, I know I stated that the letter S shows up twice for no reason, but again, it does not change the meaning of the text it is within, nor does it make it any harder to understand. So, final tally…this is going to be one of those I want to give a 5 to, as the design is excellent, but layout is going to hold it back, and am finalizing with a 4.5. For those sites where I must go 4 or 5, I’ll have to round down to a 4.

In a role-playing game industry flooded with a multitude of time saving tools, Lone Wolf Development has accomplished not only standing out; but setting the standard.

For those of you out there not in the know, Lone Wolf Development is the driving creative force behind several different software based tools, including the one this review will be covering: HERO LAB.

Now officially speaking, Hero Lab is available for several different game systems ranging from various incarnations of D&D (with 3.5 and 4e available), to Pathfinder, Shadowrun, Call of Cthulu, Savage Worlds and 2nd/3rd editions of Mutant’s and Masterminds all being available as core systems one can purchase for use with this program. Why do I point out the officially speaking part? Read on, we’ll get back to that.

At its core, HERO LAB is a character builder, and quite simply one of the best I’ve ever come across. Players can use this tool to find the perfect combination of skills to feat to trait ratio for the best all-around perks. GMs that need to bulk out their encounters for the evening with some fast NPCs find HERO LAB a huge time saver. Publishers populating their newest books with personalities may not wish to spend hours working out statistics for every single character; once again HERO LAB is a life saver.

Read the remainder of this review in the original posting at
http://nerdtrek.com/hero-lab-gm-tool-market/

The Vanguard..... I've read through the revised edition of this Genius Guide, planning out a character concept here, an NPC idea there....in short, I did what I always do, I read through the material and tried to decide for myself, would I use this concept in my game. The answer is yes. In a heartbeat. Yes, from a purely metagamer point of view this is a concept that has now been done three times over; the archon, the magus and of course the vanguard itself, so why the need right? Simple answer, because there's more than one class swinging a sword isn't there? We play in a game that is built on versatility and option. It is that wealth of option that makes the game what it is. Without option we all end up playing the same character, and that my friends gets boring, fast. Not to mention how many times can you travel to a new city to discover the captain of the guard is the clone of the last town's guard captain, which is fine since their town spell chucker is the twin brother of EVERY OTHER spell chucking NPC....no thank you. I like options, and lots of them. Yes, there are overlap concepts here with the other two spell chucking sword swinging classes, so what? There are also overlaps with cavaliers, templars and paladins, clerics and paladins, cavaliers and fighters, bards and...well everybody. Point being, the vanguard still has a unique identity that sets it apart where it matters, and that alone made it worth taking the time to revise. So, lets get into this, shall we?

Weighing in at 11 pages, we get the standard SGG 3 column landscape format that opens with the partial cover that SGG has certainly made a signature look by now. Only one wording mishap caught my eye, and it was a minor one. Spelling looked fine throughout, as did spacing and punctuation. Artwork is all stock (I do believe), and of decent quality. I found it amusing, this being a revision of a class that Marc Radle designed, and yet there was not a single Radle drawing within this PDF, and I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed by this. Of the 11 pages of material, we lose one to the OGL/credits, leaving the rest to handle crunch and fluff...the former being far more prevalent than the latter.

At its base, the vanguard feels to me to fill the niche that the sorcerer did. The vanguard need not study, has a severely limited amount of spells they may know, and will never accomplish the full potential of magical power that the true wizard will. On the other hand, they don't suffer near as many penalties for wearing armor and carrying weaponry while performing those spells they do know, and act as a fantastic opening line of offense/defense for a playgroup, having the “out the gate” capacity to handle the first round or two of combat on the front lines to aid the playgroup's tank in dealing some physical damage to a foe while tactically getting in some arcane blows as well, leaving the bigger badder spell work to the chuckers in the back, giving them time to work their mojo. Another nice feature for this class has got to be their capacity to cast touch spells through their weapon, turning every successful melee attack (or ranged if you go with an archer) into a spell delivery opportunity.

With a list of Class Features that include an Arcane Bonded Weapon (which becomes the focus point of all of their magical casting capacity, as well as gaining some very useful and nice features as levels progress) and Vanguard Blast (think magic missile with more umph) the true winner for me in the class features had to be the Spell Maneuvers. There are nine presented here, with the potential to pick up six throughout the career of a vanguard, and they offer up some very interesting options for combat tactics including: Spell Block – essentially pulling off a dispel magic trick with your weapon, Spell Charge – replacing the melee attack portion of a charge with a spell casting, Spell Grapple – in tandem with the spell block, instead of wasting the spell blocked, store it within weapon to cast back utilizing the vanguard's levels and numbers to determine the pertinent information.

At eight level the vanguard can begin utilize their Arcane Smite class feature, sacrificing a spell to add its level worth of HD damage to a weapon strike. Ninth level sees the option to further enhance the bonded weapon with a list of interesting choices with a limit in rounds per total vanguard level.
And of course, as is standard, a class must come with feats, and although these feats would work well with many different classes, they were designed with the vanguard in mind. Feats such as Arcane Defense that allow you to burn a spell to gain its level in bonus to your armor class temporarily (think along the lines of sheathing yourself in the raw magical energy for a second essentially), a handful of feats along the lines of improved/greater versions of class features such as the arcane smite, vanguard blast and spell block. The standout feat for me that really tied the concept of the vanguard back to the sorcerer (beyond the fact they don't study and have a limited selection of spells, lol) was the Vanguard Heritage. With this feat, you choose a bloodline as per the sorcerer class, that you do not already have, and gain it's 1st level bloodline power. Being a stack-able feat, every time you take it, you gain the next power in that bloodlines natural progression.

Two new spells are presented here as well, both dealing with summoning the bonded weapon, and as useful as they both are, struck me as kind of blah blah blah...sorry, but I saw them both coming, no wow factor from either of them. Solid design mechanically speaking, just no wow factor for me.

So, final thoughts on the vanguard.....yes, it's a spell casting weapon swinging class, and there are a few options for that combination. I think it comes down to personal tastes regarding classes, whether you are a metagamer or not, a player/GM who enjoys a character ripe with role play potential...or roll play capacity. It should be noted that Rite Publishing's 101 Renegade Class Feats does offer up some support for this class with a few useful feats that will further broaden the pool of options. I personally enjoyed the class as an option, as I like variety, and a lot of it. It did not feel over powered, nor under powered to me for my campaign world, and as a class I like the flavor of it. I would like to see the Geniuses go a step further with this revision, and perhaps give us an updated collection of support introducing additional Spell Maneuvers and/or feats, perhaps in Bullet Point format, or even bundled together with a support book for the Archon and Magus, thereby tying the trinity of steel wielding spell chuckers together.

So, as a class option, perhaps the vanguard is not for every game group, and as a GM you have to ask yourself, are you OK with every variation of the fighter being at your table? Because if you are, then you have no reason to not allow the vanguard, as in the end, it is just that, another option. With the two spells presented (neither of them even registering any coolness other than that they both felt like a requirement rather than a cool new concept) I'm going to have to go with a 4.5 for my total on this product, rounding up to a 5 for the sheer fact that the spells aren't enough to round down for.

Weighing in at 52 pages, with 6 pages going to the basics (cover/OGL/etc.), 1 page going to a fully linked TOC, which I love to see, as sometimes I don't want to waste my screen space with the bookmarks (which this PDF is fully stacked on as well by the way) dashboard open. One nice touch added throughout the PDF is a link BACK to the TOC, so that if you are using it in-place of the bookmarks, you actually can navigate via this method. So, counting with me? We're down to 45 pages currently, from there we have 15 pages of maps...yes, 15. Two of those are the same full ship, dissected by levels (with a style that reminded me of Dunjinni) Why there are two I'm not entirely sure, as they are the exact same map. One is roughly a half page version with a full key, the other is a full page, but all of the numbers are still on it, making it still not entirely Player friendly. But, the 13 remaining map pages make up for it, by giving you the ship in battlemat form...that's right, you can print out the entire ship and rock it with the minis. Other than my not being a huge fan of the cartographic style, my only complaint regarding these battle map sheets would be that the upper most tiers of the boat are still laid against an ocean background....even though they would have boat under them. Arguably you could Photoshop out the water if you don't want to waste the ink, but if you are planning to stack the levels on your table, then the water will have to go for the top two sections of the ship. Small thing though, as there are groups that would run it as is, and that's cool, it comes down to how you would use the maps....Me, I'm planning on mounting them to thin craft board that I will then stack with risers in between layers so that my players can truly “explore” the ship...

OK, enough about the maps...maps are all fine and dandy, and an integral part of the package, but you're waiting to hear about the adventure, so let's do this shall we? Players....rule mongers and cheats that ya are....the door, feel free to use it...time for grown folk to talk.....OK, sorry, pesky players, always trying to sit in on adventure conversations. Now, where were we?

Vossian Velsurian is that type of mad scientist/wizard I love to unleash on the world, and I mourn his passing. Luckily his passing, and the untimely circumstance that has befallen what is left of his crew are going to present to many an adventurer a chance at some thrilling encounters aboard his sinking vessel, the Green Lady. Presented with several options to hook your play group, everything from needing to salvage the ghost ship for material to repair the vessel they themselves are on, to a “rescue” attempt as there's a sailor on the sinking vessel who owes a player money, to a psychic connection to something warning of danger that will give a nice creepy sense of madness and horror to the entire adventure. Point being, there's quite a few options for getting your players on this boat, where they will discover that the previous crew aren't quite as gone as they may have seemed.

Vossian had a penchant for fauna, the deadlier the more he was intrigued, and wanted to experiment with it. It was that fascination with killer organisms that led to the predicament that is the basis for this adventure. A crew enslaved by an olive slime working with a hive mentality to protect and feed the collective growing in the lower decks. Along with the infected crew is a variant shambling mound that has befallen the charms of this deadly slime. Adding to the level of distrust and creepiness aboard the sinking ship are the fact that the initial boarding party were possessed via the slime shortly after arriving, all save one (who is in fact an assassin in hiding waiting for her chance to strike at her chosen target). Water churned with sharks, skin eating eels, slime zombies and an insane Cerebral Fungus all await the group at various different points throughout the vessel, up to and including an extra-dimensional space...which had me wondering oddly, when the boat finishes sinking, if the water gets through the door of the closet , will it flood the laboratory? Or, if the door is closed, is that enough that the portal is not open.....hhmmmmm...

Each page is done conveys an aquatic theme as they bear a stylized blue background, with text boxes having a gradient background of blues (that are a little to dark at times to clearly read the text without straining). The coolest text base thing has to be the font used for the stat-blocks, not sure why, but I really liked it...except for when it was done in white, on a black background...I can barely read it when its like that.

The handout of the journal entry is visually gorgeous, I would of liked to have seen the chosen font perhaps a little more legible, and perhaps a slight bit more attention given to making sure it looked like it was written on the parchment. There are letters over the rope, and over a tears in the page. Still, if you're not as nit picky as I am, it is very cool looking.

Art wise there are an assortment of zombiefied sketch style drawings, some better than others, all B&W. Formatting sticks to the two column approach, and editing was top notch. I saw no spelling or grammatical errors other than some odd spacing concepts on the TOC, but that was minor, and not an issue. The entire PDF is hyper-linked to the extreme back to the SRD, a GM would be hard pressed to run this adventure and not know what something is or does, its all at your fingertips. The draw back to that though, is it adds that much more blue, on a blue background, with blue text boxes....there starts to be a little to much blue, lol.

So, final thoughts......this adventure has the potential to keep a party running...literally. A sinking ship, a crew zombified by a slime that is seeking more food/slaves....oh, and the excellent inclusion of the slimes natural enemy (green slime) presented in what one can only take, as projectile weapon form.....the various concerns that come from whichever hook you as the Gm used to get them aboard, oh, and all those hungry sharks circling the sinking boat...yeah...this is going to be a fun evening...I can't wait to get the boat built...lol

Negatives....well, there's the fact I have to do my own Photoshopping to the battlemat..but I can understand why the water background is there, in case a group is looking to run them as separate levels entirely it would look really barren to only have that little nib of ship at the bottom of a huge page, lol. The darkness of the text boxes also bothered me, but it is still readable on screen, so I'm probably not as upset as others. The print crowd however, I doubt will be happy with the text boxes, as you can turn off backgrounds and graphics before you print out of Adobe, but you can't get rid of things like text box coloring, only grey scale it.

So, I'm giving it a 5 star rating, as the adventure reads as a fun time, and it's got me wanting to start building a 3-dimensional map for the ship. If you are of the print camp, be forewarned though, the text boxes are going to be dark at best, unreadable at worst. But, if you run your PDF's strictly via electronics, you should be fine.

10 Taskshaper Feats starts off with a cover that includes a piece from the earlier released Secrets of the Taskshaper, which is simply awesome, as this piece is a very cool representation for the taskshaper class.

Giving us 10 new feats for this class in 2 pages of material sandwiched between covers/credits/and OGL, the format follows the standard Rite publishing dual column layout. The wording of Viper's Riposte gets odd when describing the save and effect, and feel as if perhaps a word or a few letters got chopped off, and I'm pretty sure secrets is spelled with 2, not 3 e's(Improved Change Shape), but beyond that, the only thing to note it the occasional justified spacing, which I will admit to having gotten used to seeing (for the most part) and won't even pick on.

Now there are some really cool feats here to enhance and add to the Taskshaper class, and by cool, I mean truly cool:

Dreaded Shape: become an even bigger badder you
Greater Change Shape: Add the undead and genie to your list of options for possible choices when it comes to using the change shape ability.
Imprint Racial Traits: trade out a racial trait for one of the same type (senses, ability score adjustments, etc).
Improved Change Shape: Adding monstrous physique and vermin shape to the shopping list of options.
Phoenix Rising: Burn your entire moments of change pool upon death to rise, as the phoenix. Nice touch, very cool concept, can't help but think a GM is going to have to push to make sure a player is being forced into a low pool quantity to keep them below the minimum amount required to activate this, otherwise the player would have no fear, period. And with no fear of character loss, comes apathy as there is no challenge. Not sure how I feel about this one, I want to like it, but it might be to big of a safety net.
Task Adept: Gives you a lot more time to work with feats you imprint
Task Savant: Swap class skills based on abilities.
Touch of Deformity: Now this is where the class starts to excel for me, when the concept of being able to “change” can be applied to others, as an attack. With a successful touch, you change things in your enemy, causing horribly painful disfigurements....yes, it's temporary....but oh so cool.
Touch of Malformation: Same as above in nature, but rather than going for causing pain, this one targets a foe's capacity to function, adding negatives to a handful of options.
Viper's Riposte: Ok, so you all remember that scene in the Hollywood where someone turns a staff into a serpent?? Well, here you go. Turn your enemies weapons against them, as venomous snakes.

And to support the new feat granting access to Geniekind through Change Shape, we are given the spell.
Geniekind: Upon casting, the caster takes on many of the physical attributes of the chosen genie type, as well as receiving several racial bonuses to various attributes, skills and effects.

Final thoughts....Other than my own on the fence stance on Phoenix Rising, this is a solid set of feats supporting a fantastic class, and opening greater options and versatility to a class that defines itself via that very versatility. I would like to see Viper's Riposte better clarified or at least edited to read clearer, but that is truly the only thing I can find wrong here. But with only two actual pages of material, that's enough for me to dock at least half a star, leaving us with a 4.5, that I will still round up to the 5, as the remaining material is strong enough to overlook and shortcomings.

The Secrets of the Taskshaper introduces to the game an interesting playable option for those players looking for the “every character”. I grew up on a steady diet of Marvel comics as a kid, and recognized what I can only assume is the influence of the character known as Taskmaster. Trust me, that's a good thing for those not in the know.

A slim 10 pages, with covers, OGL, and yadda yadda yadda....let's get to the goodies, shall we? Buy this book. Honestly....I could stop right there, as I know no better compliment to give this PDF, but I know that that would be construed as an opinion, and not a review, hence we shall continue, for the sake of those still reading.

The Taskshaper is a full 20 level playable class with a Moment of Change pool that they receive at level 1, and build in size throughout their progression. These moments of change allow for some fairly cool perks, with most of them being still on a small enough scale that the character is not insanely over balanced in regards to “How well does it play well with others?” The ability to swap feats for ones they've seen, flip flop skill ranks with each other, each with strict round limits. Gain a bonus to a dice roll by literally altering your body.....that's right, I said altering....Taskshapers are often mistaken for dopplegangers and changelings, due to a great many of their interesting abilities. But they are far more, and something different entirely. Imprint feats and class abilities, impersonate others, or change shape as per the spell. And folks, we're just getting started here, there are so many possible options for what one could do with this class, and those handy little moments of change...at the top of the level range you can imitate through Monstrous Adaptation almost any attack of any living creature you have been in contact with, or simply unmake anything you choose to touch....and by unmake, we're talking total devastation, think the spell disintegrate.

Now, does this class have the capacity to be abused into next week? Sure. Which is why it should only be played by a player who is not just looking for a way to destroy their GM's game, in short it belongs in the hands of a mature player who understands the power at their fingertips, and is willing to put in the book keeping required to keep track of the immense amount of imprints this class will pick up throughout a career simply by observing.

Art wise, I do believe everything here was stock art, but it's from Joe Calkins and Hugo Solis, so it's all of fairly good quality. I only noticed one editing mishap, and that was due to a bullet spacing issue, so it caused no concerns or problems in reading the material. As I said earlier, Buy this book....read it, absorb it, then re-read it. There's brilliance here in what can be done with this. Easily earned the 5 star rating.

Opening with a breakdown of spells by class lists, It's more than fair to say there's some love for every class here. Presented in a dual column format with a total of 10 pages (with 2 covers, and 1 credits/OGL page). After the spell lists (2 pages), we're left with 5 pages total for spell descriptions for these 24 aquatically themed spells. To be fair, two of the spells are mass versions of two other new spells from this product. Internal artwork consists of one piece from Marc Raddle in B&W that is of fairly good quality. In reference to editing mishaps, there was the exclusion of the usage of a bold setting for the statblock of one of the spells making it stand out (as all other spells used a bold format to begin each section of the statblock).

As the preview already breaks down the names of these new spells, and I feel this many spells are far to many to cover in extensive detail, I thought I would follow with my standard of highlighting my favorite spells, and my least favorite. So, without further ado:

Shipgate is simply an awesome spell when you as a GM are looking to either terrorize your waterways with a crew that simply can not be tracked nor caught, or have a crew of adventurers that absolutely, positively have to get there overnight (sorry, couldn't resist)..But seriously, a teleport for an entire vessel, and all of its crew and cargo, has so many possibilities in the hands of a good story teller.

Sodden Ship took me a few seconds to really mull over, and I'll tell you why. When I first read this spell, and realized that I was essentially looking at the fantasy answer to the submarine, I knew I was looking at a spell I was going to love, I just had to stop visualizing a pirate frigate cruising under the armada hunting them long enough to go back to reading the spell...I mean come on, can't you see it??? A spell that lets you sail UNDER the water, how freaking cool is that?

Animate Figurehead spoke to me, pure and simple. There was a miniature put out by Reaper a while back, of an angel formed from the figurehead of a wrecked ship. I will be hunting that miniature down, solely so that I may do this spell justice when I unleash it on my gaming table. The concept of awakening the figurehead of a ship as a golem is fantastic, and I was very happy to see that a spell of this nature was included in this collection.

Shadow Sails adds that touch of darker fantasy back in for me, as up to this spell, where as there have been quite a few magical effects, in the end, when it came to the physical, it was still the boat and all its parts...but now, with this spell, the sails are replaced by creations of shadow and nothingness....and that just screams for an evil pirate captain and his crew of damned souls!!!!!!

OK, flipping to the other side of the proverbial coin here, Landlubber allows one to “remind” a target of their landlegs, effectively turning them into newbies on board the ship, at least for the duration of the spell. This spell has a mass version, and an opposite in the form of Sealegs. Where as they both fit the theme of this collection, when taking their duration into consideration, neither is really a useful spell until you're a much higher level spell caster. Not to mention neither live up to the bar set by the four previously mentioned spells.

Final thoughts....very soon a great many tables will be breaking out their nautical rules and undertaking a new path centered around a pirate's way of life....and it would be a great dis-service if this collection of spells were not available at everyone of those tables. Whether you plan to sail under the black flag, or are hunting those who do, these spells will vastly increase your options for naval adventure. Having only two true complaints when it is all said and done, I would have liked to have seen a few more pieces of art, as art is always good....and a release date for volume two.

Going with a full 5 star rating for this collection.

The Secrets of the Inquisitor, the latest offering from Rite publishing in the Secrets of...series weighs in at 23 pages, with a cover, credits page, OGL and one ad, leaving us with 19 pages of new Inquisitor goodness. The formatting follows the standard dual column approach, and where as there are some odd spacing effects from time to time within the text, that while slightly distracting to the eye, they do not in any way detract from the understanding of the material. Artwork is both old and new, stock and original. One of the things that, to me, truly makes Rite's books stand out from other companies when it comes to the visual aspect, is their usage of artwork that carries a feel of history to it. I was pleased to see that this product continued that theme, albeit not quite as prevalent as I might have liked. There are a few pieces of stock art here that have been recycled a few times now, but they are at least good pieces of art. And I would rather see art I've seen before, than no art.

Offering new archetypes, inquisitions, feats and judgments, there is a great deal here to go through, so shall we? Starting off with the Herons of the Fountain, this order of inquisitors will please any GM looking to unleash prohibition upon their world. Reading through the description of this orders mantra, their tactics and motivations all I kept coming back to were the prohibition era police and women's groups, determined to put an end to the devilment of intoxication. Next up we have the Thief-Taker, an archetype I can guarantee you will be seeing my game table this coming game night. The classic Good Bad-guy, a rogue seeking redemption, that character who always seems to be in-tune with the wrong side of the law, even though he's not quite there himself....that guy. Individuals selling their talents in tracking, negotiating and returning items or people, to those who can pay. And of course, those who pay decide who the guilty are, and therefore who the target of the thief-taker is. Next on the menu, the Monster Hunter Ala Van Helsing anyone? This archetype seems to be missing a word or two in the description of one of it's class abilities (“....the monster learns the relative power of a single monster.....”) I'm going to have to assume this was supposed to read Monster Hunter learns....Regardless of that hiccup, this is a cool archetype, and seriously takes the inquisitor into the realm of the Church's worst kept secret, those hunting monsters in the name of their church. From there we go to Questioner of Trail and Tide, inquisitors focusing on the brigands and bandits of the world, both on land and sea. Believing themselves to answer only to a higher calling, here's where you find that inquisitor who strides into a community hunting prey, ignoring all the laws of that land to carry out a death sentence on their foes, as for this archetype, justice and holy vengeance are their top priority. Truth Seeker introduces us to those inquisitors who are in fact seeking, truth. With several interesting class abilities to enhance one's pursuit of truth, as well as the added bonus of rage and rage powers, this archetype has potential to be interesting. One thing that left me confused, and it might be my own ignorance, but the Grasp of Honesty ability can be overcome if the target makes a Wave save.....am wondering if that was supposed to be a Will save, or if somewhere along the way getting a crowd to do the bleachers wave with you has gained the ability to save you from in-game effects....The Purifiers of the Burning Pentagram detail an inquisitor I personally thought was missing, and so these guys make me very happy, as they are agents of a church that is not of a good alignment. Inquisitors serving Asmodeus, they are able to harness and use hellfire for several different effects, and this archetype truly goes hand in hand with a recent release from the SGG camp concerning hellfire, and several usages for it. With Channeling Martinet we are given an alternate inquisitor who can harness and channel energy, much as a cleric does, for various different effects, at the cost of several of the standard class abilities known to the inquisitor.

Following the new archetypes, we're given a handful of new inquisitions, which Is always a good thing.
Asmodeus' Inquisition opens with a line telling us to purify weakness with the fires of heal....am thinking that was supposed to say hell...not positive, but taking in the rest of the context it makes more sense. Faction Inquisition allows you to target an entire faction or organization with your wrath, and even dominate someone into betraying their loyalties. Marauder's Inquisition improves upon the standard attack action by making it a devoted strike. Adding dice to the actual roll, as well as modifier bonuses to damage if the hit is successful. Secondary ability being to improve ones usage during the surprise round, giving the inquisitor more actions as a player. Supernatural Inquisition gives a hp damage reduction when dealing with supernatural creatures, as well as supernatural inquisition points, their usage, and rules determining when you earn them, and how many you can have. Temperance Inquisition grants through touch morale bonuses and additional saving throws vs. effects.

With 36 new feats, the Feat section of this book obviously offers up a nice variety for players of all types. With names inspired by the writings of Sun Tzu (Sit on the Mountain and Watch the Tigers Fight, Kill With a Borrowed Knife, Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao to give a few examples), these feats allow for an inquisitor to become a much more dangerous individual upon the battlefield. And, as an added bonus, as we have seen a few times before, once again the Rite and SGG camp are shaking hands and designing with each other in mind, as these feats are usable by the SGG class War Master as well, with the slight modification to the prerequisite of changing out Solo Tactics for Individual Tactics.

11 new judgments bring us to a close, with such options as Accepting, which allow you to effectively only have to take half the amount of a detrimental affliction or effect. Personally, this was my favorite of the new judgments, as this gives us a solid game mechanic that works for those characters that accept that life sucks, stuff happens, and just trudge on regardless...folks like that tend to be better at carrying a mantle of detriment, and this gives us a way to reflect that within game. Typhoon Struggle has the potential to be a really cool, and I mean really cool, judgment in the hands of a high power inquisitor. The long and the short of it is, character has a weapon, and for every x amount of levels they also have a duplicate of said weapon made of energy. Upon a successful hit, that weapon and all of it's duplicates do damage...seeing the visual yet? Yeah, like I said, that could be epic in the hands of a high level inquisitor.

Closing thoughts, a lot of really good material, some fantastic interpretations of the inquisitor via archetypes, as well as the inquisitions, feats and judgments. The material offered here is fantastic, making this PDF a welcome addition to any group currently using or looking to use an inquisitor. And where as there are a few minor hiccups left, the meaning is still conveyed well enough that they are easily overlooked. Giving this PDF a 5 star rating

Weighing in at 33 pages (with front cover, ToC, and just over 2 pages for OGL) this PDF delivers roughly 28 pages of new material for the Legendary series from Purple Duck Games. The sixth book in the series, the focus is on those suits of armor that never fail to inspire the grandest of tales, and the most epic of songs, I speak of course, of Legendary Armor. The suit, found bathed in a beam of sunlight, sequestered away from the world, awaiting that perfect someone, in short that suit we as players all secretly hoped our GM's would someday place within our path.

First thing I noticed looking through this PDF was the inclusion of art for every suit of armor. Not only is every suit fully described and detailed with its own fluff and crunch, but you will be left with no doubt as to what the author of this work (Marc Raddle) had in mind when he designed these items. And what of that illustrations? Tamas Baranya was the artist, and did an excellent job in translating and interpreting these suits into visuals that are excellent. All art is done in a B&W color scheme, with a comparable stance for each suit reminiscent of a department store mannequin, with at least one suit sporting a “blank face” as if to show the armor on a tailor's dummy.

Starting with an introduction, the author explains that while legendary treasures have traditionally always come with a hefty price in the form of quests, loss of abilities, etc. around his game table they have devised an alternative. Offered within the introduction is an alternate means of allowing the armor to advance as a character builds in levels, utilizing what I can only think to describe as “prerequisites”. Personally, I really like the idea, and think it helps to keep a balance on items of this nature, while allowing them to grow organically within the structure of a characters lifespan and career.

We are presented with fifteen new armors here, all of them unique in their own way. Assassin's Chain granting several abilities to enhance the effectiveness of a silent and stealthy killer. Next up is Battlecaster Armor which is presented as a custom suit of chain leggings and sleeves crafted by the first magus. Of it's abilities, perhaps the one that grabbed me the most and made me want to drop this into my campaign world is an ability that would allow a caster , while wearing the armor, to expend a spell to harness the raw magical energy into a melee weapon. Upon a successful hit with said weapon, that energy translates into additional damage dice based upon the level of the spell originally expended.

Beggar's Feast won out as my favorite suit out of this collection, and I think it had more to do with the story behind it and the way it is depicted via illustration than its actual abilities. The suit was crafted by a prince after he finds himself denied access back into his father's palace. Alone and forced to live amongst the filth he had looked down upon he adapted, and became a folk hero, determined to feed his new “kingdom”. The suit itself is a ragtag mismatched suit of padded armor, but with it the prince fed his subjects thanks to the abilities the suit gave him the capacity to use.

Blood Drinker gives us our first suit of armor from the other side of the alignment pool. A spiked suit of dread plate with a penchant for bleed abilities, this one just screams for an anti-paladin NPC on so many levels. Champion's Plate gives a serious nod of love to the horseback knights out there, and even ups the ante by giving access to a draconic mount (for amounts of time limited to the wearer's level). Healer's Hand reminds us that armor can be worn by those seeking to heal, as well as harm. Kama-Xia is the first truly unique suit of armor in that the design is unique enough it earns the first full chart for armor bonus/dex bonus/armor check etc. Basically a mail on leather coat, the design concept is strikingly beautiful.

Kelgror's Ghost I can honestly say was the first suit I read in here that I immediately knew which player I wanted to grant this to within my current playgroup, and literally had to stop reading to jot down some ideas on how to introduce it into my game. It is also the first suit that, as far as layout decisions went, brings up my first complaint. The chart depicting the growth of the suit as it and the wearer increase in levels is split across two pages. Now, technically there is nothing wrong with that, and I know it is a matter of personal taste, but I have never been a fan of splitting charts and tables, as there is always a layout decision that will allow it to stay together for the flow of reading.

Landshark's Hide takes the concept of hide armor down the path of the bulette, after all, who says all hide armor is made the same? Mage Hunter's Armor is the perfect suit for those looking to do some serious damage to spell chucker of the arcane variety. Granting it's wearer several useful spell like abilities all aimed at identifying and stopping arcane casters, as well as granting Spell Resistance, this suit would work very well within a campaign world for those tasked with keeping wizards in line. Minstrel's Boon, a leather suit, expands the performance capacity and knowledge skill check success rate of it's wearer, as well aiding in protecting a bard from those pesky silence spells, as well as blindness and or deafness.

Oak Heart's Armor marks the second suit unique enough to need gear stats as it is a suit of wooden plates over leather armor. The wood being taken from the burnt body of a treant, the armor grants several abilities to its wearer that would please any druid. The pinnacle ability of this armor is its ability to summon forth the spirit of the treant from whom the armor is made. I fell in love with this suit, I can not lie. This suit, it's history, is exactly how a GM rewards a player for doing a druid justice. Seducer's Silk is the third unique build for a suit of armor, this being a ceremonial suit of silk armor, complete with full armor statistics and a host of abilities to make those around the wearer more than happy to be complaint with pleasing the wearer. Triton Scale allows a land dweller to function as a force to be reckoned in an aquatic setting, granting movement and the capacity for breath, as well as a few impressive tactical abilities.

Vrithmytrix's Bane gives us the obligatory dragonhide suit, this one being of a black dragon. Granting claws, wings and a breath weapon attack, the suit carries some serious firepower with it. It did however end up on my wrong side, as it, like Kelgror's Ghost has it's advancement chart split across two pages. I know, I know, I'm picky, lol.

The book closes out with contact information and an open offer for interested writers to submit material to Purple Duck Games

So, final thoughts.....Other than the two charts spread across two pages, I found four other editing missteps. All of them minor, a missing “the” here, and extra “a” there, and two instances of a letter being left off of a word. Like I said, minor, but editing mishaps none the less. The material was well written, and designed with the concept of making truly memorable items to add to a campaign world. The art was way above par, and a welcome addition. Balancing the editing and layout issues with the material presented, I am going to go with a 4 star rating, and highly recommend this product to any GM looking to add the presence of legendary armor to their world.

The freshman offering from this company, acting as both an adventure and an introduction to the inhouse setting for a continuing line of weekly adventures. Well thought out story based dialogue from NPC's sets the ground work for the feel of the environment adventure takes place within. Classic dungeon delve with a twist, the undead are not evil this time out, but rather willing guardians, watching over their lord in his death. Cartography is fantastic, offering multiple viewpoints of the tomb leaving no grey areas in regards to depth and locations of rooms. This map simply further illustrates why Todd Gamble is amongst a small collection of cartographers I truly enjoy.

For a group of first level characters, the adventure is perfect. A small group of opportunistic goblins, a random encounter with a bear, traps and a few encounters with skeletal guardians just strong enough to challenge low level characters, with a few nice goodies to reward a group. Even ignoring the price of free, this adventure would be a welcome addition to a GM's toolbox either as a kickoff point for an adventure path, a one off for an evening, or played as intended being an introduction to a fully realized campaign setting.

As the first offering from the adventureaweek.com camp, it shows serious potential, and that merits a download. Giving this adventure a five star rating as it is a perfect example of complexity through simplicity, and reminds us that sometimes brilliant design is in fact the least complex. Very clean, very to the point, and well written.

Weighing in at 16 pages (with Cover, PID/OGl, and an Ad taking up 3 of those pages) this collection of creatures is not the typical critter collection, in that there's nothing technically new here. And that, in the end is why a product of this nature is a good product. In attempting to introduce variations and alternative approaches to monsters both GM's and players alike know inside and out, this PDF attempts to give you a useful solution to the ago old problem of what to do when they all become to predictable.

Opening with a one page explanation of the purpose of this book, as well as the mindset behind it, including a few basic examples of what one can do very easily to change a standard monster into something your playgroup may not be expecting, the concept of variety becomes very apparent immediately. Amusingly, my favorite example of a variant creature comes from this intro, with no statblock write up, as it is only an example, a suggestion of what a GM can do at their table. Simply changing the name of goblins to razortooth, and turning them orange gives you a creature that your playgroup will approach more cautiously, as they wont know what to expect from this, when they would normally run right over troves of goblins as cannon fodder.

We are given 21 variant creature builds, all based on well known monsters, and all familiar enough at their core, but definitely something new as they are presented here. Of these there are a few great ideas, and a few not so great, I'll touch on a handful of each.

Goblin-O'-Wisp Your standard Will-O'-Wisp with its electricity damage swapped out, and the visual representation changed to be that of a floating goblin skull wreathed in red and orange light. OK, sounds really basic doesn't? But that's the beauty of this, small changes that allow the creature to remain the same basic creature, but at the same time something entirely new. Trust me on this one, the illustration will sell you on this creature.

Mummy, Halfling OK, first off, (LOL)....OK...I'm better now...I promise...No, no, I'm good. When I first saw this header all I could do was laugh, I mean, seriously, a halfling mummy??? But then I thought about this, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much the idea appealed to me. Players are notorious for taking small creatures for granted, especially when we're talking about something like a halfling. So, what we have here is a creature that's going to force your group to rethink how they view the harmless, even if it kills them.

Bearowl OK, ignoring the obvious attempt to invoke the Owlbear with the name, this creature is a reverse melding, with the head of a bear on an owl's body. The designer notes point towards the griffon, but I gotta say it feels more like a peryton to me, and those things just never found a place in my game as I thought they were amongst some of the worst designed creatures ever added to the game.

Bigfoot Am on the fence when it comes to this critter, as in the end all he really is is a temperate yeti, but, this creature build is exactly what this book is about. It is a variant of a creature presented within Pathfinder's rules that was previously not there, and is not outside of the realm of a logical variant.

Centipede, Hulking House Taking the concept of big bugs to a new level, this ones cool enough, but I'm baffled by one of its abilities, as the description makes no sense to me. The distraction SA for this creature is based upon the hair on its legs causing nausea....I don't understand. Perhaps I am not enough of a bug guy to understand why seeing a giant hairy bug walk by would cause nausea.

Presented in a two column format, this PDF began its life online with a few hiccups, but I am glad to see that with the latest update editorially this PDF is a major improvement over previous versions. Jon Brazer Enterprises responded quickly to review concerns regarding editorial issues with this PDF, and I, for one, was happy to see that, as it shows that they, as a company, are listening.

Artwork wise we get three pieces, all black & white. There of course is the cover art and the ad, but neither really qualify as interior art. Of the three pieces of art, one is essentially a line drawing, another was fair, and the art for the Goblin-O'-Wisp I am seriously thinking of having inked into my back between my shoulder blades. Yeah, its that freaking cool.

Looking over the 21 variations for monster ideas here, there are four right off the bat that I know I'll be using within the next week at my table, with a few others I'm keeping on the back burner for later purposes. Where as there are a few that, for me, will probably never see usage, that is true of almost any collection of creatures, so I'm not going to hold that against this PDF to much, as that comes down to personal taste and preference. All in all, the PDF set out to give some simple variations on easily recognizable monsters, and gives an insight into the design process along the way with designer's notes sidebars. More artwork would of have gone a long way towards helping this product, as all creature books in the end rely heavily upon the visual to sell the creature.

Edit- With a now fully updated copy in hand, I am finalizing my review at 4 stars.

Mor Aldenn setting guide opens with a piece of fiction, a short story set within the city of mages, that serves as an excellent introduction to the feel of this city. Operating as a perfect vessel to immerse the reader in the culture of the setting as far as how the lower class folk live, view their situation living in the shadow of spell crafters, and the drastic differences in how the different social castes view each other. It is within this story that perhaps one of the better “sound bytes” (if you will forgive its usage in this form) can be found. Here's the scene, apprentice mage, barmaid and mercenary are thrown together by circumstances, and investigating a prophetic dream that the barmaid has had that seems to be unfolding around them. They are on their way to the ruins of an ancient battle that now serves as a magical prison for a demon when they come upon four bad guys (the attire gives it away, trust me, when you actually read it yourself, you'll understand) surrounding a small girl who the mercenary had rescued from a fire earlier in the evening. Now, here's where this excellent quote comes in, the type of quote you wish, as a player, you had said.......”They hurt that girl the day after I can't swing a sword, “ Zeldan growled, and charged forward. OK, Zeldan is our grumpy mercenary, for clarification, and is that not a great line? I mean come on, who hasn't wished they had a great line like that to utter before combat with a character?? By the time it's all over....oh, you'll have to read for yourself, there's a bit of a twist, lol. My point being, as has been proven time and time again, give us a story, with characters to connect to, and we're going to read it, we're going to invest, and that helps make a setting all that much more real. It was just a handful of pages, but it was enough, enough that I want more stories, and that's when you know a setting is going to work..

Mor Aldenn, being a city of mages, and ruled by mages, enjoys a certain level of luxury that could be construed as reskin...but it works. By this I mean the streets are lined with streetlights (globes with a continual flame spell sitting on poles) or water founts comprised of decanters of endless water to guarantee fresh water for all. As most cities are, this one is segregated by class and industry as well,with sections bearing names such as the Grand Market, Tower Hill, and the Northern Docks, the atmosphere of the city changes as you traverse from economic neighborhood to economic neighborhood. Southside of the town one finds the Horse Downs, wherein live the centaurs..wait, centaur? Yes, there is a large enough population of centaur as to necessitate an area of town for them. By far the largest concentration of anything architecturally within Mor Aldenn would be the mage towers, they tend to dominate the skyline of this city. The majority of the town resides upon an island resting in the fork of a river, which is depicted very well on the two page map included within the book (albeit in B&W, its still of pretty good quality).

Where this product excels, and I mean really excels, is in the details. It is one thing to state “Its a city run by mages.”, and quite another to actually detail that out. We are given laws pertaining to registry for the usage of magic, licensing for the rights to sell or traffic in bat guano (it is the primary component for fireball after all), a perfectly viable explanation of how a school of necromancers would appropriate the amount of bodies they would need to be able to continue their craft within a society, legally. We are introduced to bar games for the magically inclined (including a variation on darts that amazes me no one ever thought to design before, it's so obvious its brilliant), as well as more magical variation to cock fighting. There are breakdowns of punishment and fine levels for violating any of the laws pertaining to magical usage, as well as a rather amusing take on the very laws themselves, in that many of them were formed to handle case by case situations, and are only still on the books because, lets face it, every society has a collection of odd laws that are on the books simply because no one has ever removed them. In short, where this city guide really impressed me beyond anything else, and there is a great deal of impressive material here, was in the small things. The things that could have easily been overlooked, and by a lot of companies and guides, would have been overlooked. Little details like the necromancers school using their undead to aid during fires and floods to search for and rescue survivors, the fact that the mayors family have let his power and position go to their heads, or that centaurs who embrace the gods of their humanoid neighbors are looked at as sell outs by their more traditional kin. Local holidays, and how the townsfolk celebrate them, including Spirit Eve (Halloween) with an excellent illustration of children with candy bags in costume. These types of things all build, and add up to a thriving, breathing setting that draws you in, and makes it easier to believe, and want to visit a setting.

As with any true setting guide, you will discover new playable races (centaur, Giaint, Sprite), Classes (Spellwarden), feats and spells, alternate racial traits, and new archetypes. I could go into these, I could. But as I stated, you will find these in practically every setting, so to me, as long as the design is consistent and good when it comes to these things, when presented in a setting guide, this is one of those times when crunch takes a backseat to fluff. For in the end, setting guides are all about the fluff, and this product delivers in truckloads in that regard.

There is a great deal of material to discover within this book, and whether you are looking for a full setting to base your adventures, or merely a city for your players to experience upon their journeys, you can do a lot worse than Mor Aldenn. I personally have added the city of mages to my own campaign world, and have begun spinning the tales that will draw my group to this city, as I know they will be just as impressed with it as I was.

Artwork wise, you're looking at B&W, with most of the illustrations being very good, some only OK, and a few that are not so much. Formatting follows the dual column approach with artwork embedded. There are several locales fully mapped for interior layout and detailed as to be usable for running encounters within many of the locations within the city. I did find the occasional stumble in editing, the usage of “\with when the sentence calls for within, or a missing space between words. They were minor mistakes, and I truly only counted three.

The setting book does borrow heavily upon material already released in other products, or perhaps it is the other way around, as I am not positive on release schedules. The Giaint race for example, have their own book, but are presented here as well. Many, if not all of the creatures presented within this guide are in the Mor Aldenn Creature Compendium, and several of the magical items I recognized from other PDF offerings from this company. Where as that is a disappointment, it does have it's positive side, as for those who have not purchased a great deal of books from this company will find enough within this book to be able to tun a full setting from this material alone. On the other hand, for those who have picked up a handful of Mor Aldenn books, there is a great deal of repetition going on, and that would tend to make one question the value, and leave a customer wanting new, fresh material.

Loving the setting, and the ideas behind its design, that becomes my one true complaint and dislike of this product, the sheer amount of material presented here that is also presented within other books. If the material was first presented here, and then recycled to other books, it invalidates this material as being unique. If, on the other hand, this book is indeed the borrower of said material, it mars the design originality of the work presented here. Either way, it ends up costing this book a full star from me, as this setting has room for more growth, and I feel there should have been nothing within the pages of this PDF that had already been covered extensively in another book.

My final rating will be a 4 star for this excellent setting, and I recommend you take a look through this city setting, and consider introducing it to your players, as it is a unique and interesting locale.

And, as a final thought. Axel has lowered the price (at the time of this writing) to about 50% of the normal cost...you should really take advantage of this while you can folks, because the setting is worth far more than the price.

I missed out on the whole Dungeon a Day concept, I wont bore you with the details, but I was one of those guys who had to scan over convention reports with a sense of loss as I read through articles referring to a favored room here, or legendary dungeon whatsit there....yeah, it sucked....BUT NO MORE!!!!!!! Super Genius Games, you know, those guys who own the rights to all that material, have released the first PDF from the Dungeon a Day archives. I'm going to venture a guess that this is in fact an experiment on their part, to see how much interest it generates, to determine if this imprint might be added to their line or not. So, let's see what we get out of the 32 pages, shall we?

Losing 3 pages to ads, 1 to the OGL, we are left with 28 pages. Give one up for the classic partial cover that SGG has turned into their trademark look and feel, and 4 to full page cartography for GM and player maps, and we are down to 23 pages detailing this very wicked tomb. Formatting follows the classic SGG three column standard, with embedded artwork and cartography. The overall look and feel of this product puts one in the mindset of running a tomb lost on a desert world, the pages done in a gradient fade from a red page topper down to white by the bottom of the page. Artwork is both original and stock, and for the most part is good to fair.

The adventure comes stocked with bookmarks and links to map locations and stat blocks throughout the text. And where as the links are extremely handy and cool, visually they are really clunky looking, and actually take away from the look and feel of the product. Would of rather seen them as a different colored text, or even a more subtle “button” than the text in box that was done. It is distracting enough it actually makes some of the text not appear to line up with the other words in a line. Points for linking everything, but perhaps a more subtle visual in the next product.

Now...we all know this is an adventure....so, GM's eyes only from this point on...and just because I know how sneaky players are, I'm still keeping the spoilers to a minimum.

So, Desert world created by Spell crafter with more power than most Gods..check...find one self “transported” to godforsaken environment, landing in front of huge pyramid...check...and before the Stargate jokes start, I'll stop, lol. Make no mistake, this adventure was written from the idea that a very powerful crafter of the magical arts created for himself a very unique and deadly tomb. There will be touches throughout to remind players of the years of vastness he spanned, and the fact that his home world was not there's. If the players spend some time investigating the large statues before entering the pyramid, they may get lucky enough to discover a room that serves many purposes, giving them the potential to survive the “welcome” mat in front of the pyramid's doors, as well as infusing an understanding of the language of our long dead host. There is also the religious symbology present here that leads one to wonder a few things about whether this is supposed to be a hint towards Alak Ammur's homeworld. From there the players will undoubtedly begin their climb up the steps to the pyramids entrance, being subjected to a “rain” of lightning upon reaching the top that could in fact end a weaker character, if your dice are feeling good that day.

Any attempts to retreat down the stairs at this point, or any point for that matter, brings a gargantuan cross between a lizard and a bird of prey, quickly changing the idea of most players to get back inside. The first guardians within are a pair of stone golems who manifest as large stone arms that “float” through the floor of the initial hallway. With an inner sanctum where things are hidden in plain sight, an actual temple to magic (yes, this guy worshiped magic as priests worship deities) guarded by a summoned Cornugon Devil, and an altar that acts like a magic item swap meet. OK, that's just two rooms, literally. This place has coolness just oozing out of each room, but of course, when it was originally designed, it was done one room per day, and there were to be no days where you got ye old empty room. Seeing a collection put together like this, and realizing the immense amount of challenges that face a playgroup, makes you appreciate the original design that much more.
Alak Ammur's actual remains lie secure under a dome of metal and glass awaiting a group smart enough to figure out how to get to him without animating the shadows adorning the walls of his resting chamber. Assuming they actually manage to get to the remains alive, the group is set to be rewarded with Starmilk, literally fluids harvested from stars themselves that convey SR and DR. But alas, this delve is far from over, as the remains of our host fade away, only to reappear elsewhere within the tomb.

It is about here that we learn that Alak Ammur is not, in the truest of senses, dead. His soul is in safe keeping, while his body was interred, and attended by three of his closest disciples, whom the party shall be meeting in spectral form. It's about here in the adventure that the party will learn that they in fact are going to be integral in the reawakening of their host, and this may or may not be a good thing for them, depending upon when they first encounter the spirit of Alak Ammur, and what they have already accomplished. On the good side of things, as this adventure is written, Alak Ammur really has no interest in the adventurers after awakening, and is more than happy to leave and let them be on their way, assuming they can get themselves to the legendary magical portal he has tucked in the basement, guarded by a bound astral deva...yup, no problem at all.

Now, having read through this adventure, and already making preliminary phone calls to get together a group of veterans to gather for a day of Tomb cracking, I can say this is a well done adventure, with a lot of potential fun. I will say however, there are a few choices in design style that really annoyed me. Case in point, standing outside Alak Ammur's treasury, the two guardians (appearing as skeletal humanoids resting on thrones) literally speak to the group telling them “The treasure's in there”, and “Don't go in unless your a mage, otherwise you'll die”....So, he's powerful enough to have created an entire world to house his remains, but still hires scab labor too stupid to keep their mouths shut? Or, better yet, the magic altar from the temple to magic has words carved into its surface telling you that if you remembered to steal a certain ring, you're gonna get a goodie....OK, so I paraphrased, but the point I'm trying to make here is, super all powerful practically godlike wizard...am doubting he had to leave cheat sheet notes to remind him to wear a freaking ring when he handled the altar. Sometimes a player gimme flat out ruins an entire situation. Come on, let's not insult our player's intelligence here folks.

As said, I've already assembled my crew for this weekend, and will be breaking out the Dwarven Forge pieces...the adventure is solid, the concept is way cool, and as a first up to bat to see if the idea will fly, I'm going to say I hope so. I hope so because I want there to be a chance to fix what was wrong with this one, to make the next one better, and so forth.

So, the pros...really cool adventure concept, plenty of cartography to please GMs and Players, small maps sections throughout adventure to correspond to room text, linkable sections of the PDF for statblocks and map locations.

And the cons....large unwieldy link “buttons” that just look horrible, and a few grammatical hiccups like missing instances of words, such as ….”he placed his spirit a special receptacle...” between finding a few occasions of this type of editorial mistake, those link buttons, and of course the Chatty Kathy undead guardians (who might as well of been pointing and going Ooh OOH Gold over here!!) I'm dinging a full star off of the rating, leaving us with a four star rating.

Having picked this up in a handful of Bullet Points I was missing to finish out my collection, I will admit, I grabbed it purely as a matter of completion for the series. I was however, rather pleased and amused once I actually sat down and looked over the weapons. Now, when I say pleased and amused, it was not because I couldn't wait to try these weapons out, no, it was because of the hilarity of the product, and the realization that in just a few short weeks, I will be able to give out a few choice weapons as April Fools Day gifts to my players. What pray tell makes these weapons so amusing? Well, read on:

How about the Bastard Club, or the insanely impractical Extended Pike; useful only in attacking foes 35-40 feet away, and then only if you can get it to stop wobbling enough to aim it, lol. I honestly don't know which was funnier the Glaive-Guisarme-Bec-de-Voulge (for the player who wants EVERY polearm option) or the Star-Chucks (think multiple nunchuck type batons on long chains tied to your wrist, ala bracelet style).

Now, granted, for true cool factor, or even actual usage, there might not be any gems here. But what is here is exactly what Owen stated in the title, really stupid weapon designs. And sometimes, to really make your NPC's more memorable than usual, they need a Spiked Codpiece, or a Battle Lute.

I personally am hoping this turns into an annual event, as every now and then, we need a good laugh.

Pathways #13 continues the excellent work one has come to expect from previous issues. Weighing in at 43 pages, this issue continues it's standard of support for the 3PP community with no less than 18 pages of ads. Not to shabby when you stop and think that this is a Rite publishing project, and they are helping to spread the word about far more than their own products, heck there's even ad space given over for Kobold Quarterly.

Starting us off with a cover that...OK, let's just stop for a second here...this cover, the level of artwork demonstrated here, amazing just doesn't really quite cover it folks, and this level of art is gracing a free periodical. Oh, and for the record, it's also on an internal page, sans text, ripe for printing and framing for the wall.

This issue kicks off with David Paul taking a moment to pass out some heartfelt thanks to those who've helped Pathways pass the one year mark. Looking over the list of names of both contributors and artists you realize very quickly how many of those names are attached to products we've all spent money for, and here, within the pages of Pathways, is even more material from these folks, for free.

Steven Russell again shows us why he's in this business with the template Prideful Creature. Designed to allow you to add that fallen concept to those great and legendary beings of good, the template has several really cool concepts (with a darkly humorous touch) like their dedication to themselves being so great that they gain a Charisma bonus to their AC and certain saving throws, or their arrogance being so palpable that it grants a bonus on combat. As always, after presenting us with a new template one can not wait to run off and play with, Steven keeps us enraptured by presenting a sample creation using said template. This time out, we are giving that very same Couatl from the cover. The idea of a Prideful Couatl is brilliant, and really helps concrete just what type of creatures this template would shine through if used with. After a brief look into the mindset of this Prideful Couatl, we are given one new Monstrous feat – Improved Constrict, and two new spells – Scapegoat, Greater and Escape the Bonds of Flesh, the latter spell literally animating a living person's skeleton, which then fights to tear itself free from its fleshy prison.

Jonathan McAnulty introduces us to the followers of two of the sub-domains of the destruction domain, rage and catastrophe, as well as those who follow these paths in the article A Righteous Wrath. As well as detailing the mindsets behind those who willingly seek destruction and their God's touch in the wanton waste of natural disasters, we are also given a small treat that I for one love finding, books to be added to a campaign world. Three such books are introduced here, one being a collection of scattered pages with a fantastic story, another a hymnal, and the last being a scroll. Touches like these are always a good find, for adding manuscripts and tomes to a world adds another layer of depth that reminds players the world is bigger than just what they affect. Two new feats, and seven new Channeling Effects round out this section. For those not familiar with Channeling Effects, you should refer to The Secrets of Divine Channeling. Tobey Gregory's two pieces of B&W artwork are a fantastic addition to this article, and will surely be snatched up by players and GM's alike for PC pictures.

Creighton Broadhurst reminds us all just how dangerous a bulette can be with the encounter Hunter of the Crumbled Cliff. Placing this encounter within a treacherously fragile area of hills, the PCs must contend with not only the bullete, but a section of cliff falling and bringing down a hillside, revealing an orc burial grounds. Featuring Hugo Solis' excellent interpretation of the bulette for a full color piece of artwork, this encounter reminds me why Creighton's Raging Swan Press imprint is a player in the overall 3PP market.

This month's issue of Pathways sees a new feature added, the Avant-Garde Archetype. Along with our monthly creature template, Steven now promises to deliver to us a new archetype as well, and opens the door for submissions. So, what do we get for our first one? The Black Cat Burglar gives some love to the LuckBringer class, in the form of one who inflicts bad luck upon those around her, and takes advantage of the ensuing situations. An interesting concept, and one I can see a lot of potential in.

Twenty Questions this time around is with Timothy “Hawkins” Wallace, whose project The Martial Arts Guidebook is the current Rite Publishing patron project. I always enjoy reading the interviews, as putting a face and a personality to those behind the scenes adds more in my opinion to a consumers loyalty to game designers, and those working within the industry.

Closing out this months Pathways is, as always, a collection of reviews from Thilo “Endzeitgeist” Graf and Dark Mistress. And, I would be remiss if I failed to mention, this issue marks my own first published review as well. So I will close this review by again thanking Steven D. Russell and Rite publishing for including my review.

It would be hard not to give this issue a full 5 stars, lol.

The Storage Vault of Alantes from Headless Hydra Games, is a perfect one nighter, a way to handle your party turning left, when you spent all week planning for them to turn right. In short, it's a perfect fill in for those nights when your plans have fallen apart. But, to leave it there would be a disservice, as this small unassuming mini dungeon is in all reality quite capable of sparking a much larger, and more developed adventure.

Alantes, the dottering old wizard who's vault your players will be raiding was not known for his memory, and had a tendency to create forget where he put things, and by things, I mean everything. It is hinted that he has built a multitude of these micro dungeons and vaults, they simply have been forgotten to time. This particular one houses a golden apple rumored to have the power to heal, and return youth to those who eat it. A handful of options are given to entice your players, one being rather amusing and involving a stolen goat (OK, I thought is was funny).

I guess, I really should point out at this stage....THIS IS AN ADVENTURE!!! If you are a player looking for spoilers, I will be telling your GM on you...go on, I see you trying to hide behind the closet door....OUT.............ok, just us GM's here? Good, now continuing............

With 10 pages (3 given up to Cover, OGL and credits), this mini dungeon actually comes through with a solid little design. The 3 rooms is questionable though, as the first room is a well entrance and then the climb down. The cartography is fantastic, a full color iso map being a nice change of pace from the typical bird's eye view mapping. Filled with puzzle traps, this adventure lends itself more towards a thinking group in my opinion, and that's a good thing. Not everything should be solved by breaking down the door, although if your players are dead set on doing just that, the stats are given to allow them to.

With two monster encounters, one with a grey ooze, and the other with a new creature of a plantlike nature, a playgroup of 3rd - 4th level characters should be able to handle this adventure with little danger of death, unless of course they insist on not working through the puzzle traps with intelligence, lol.

As an extremely affordable mini-adventure this product excels, between the excellent cartography (yes, I am a sucker for maps), and the new creature (horrible name, cool critter) complete with illustration, I can see this entertaining a playgroup for a one off evening as it is written. I can also see a GM using this as a jumping point to further expand upon the storyline introduced here, and as such, this takes on the life of more than just an adventure, but possibly a hook as well. Giving this one a 5 star stamp of approval, as it more than succeeded in what it set out to accomplish.

The Gallery of Dreams, a free web enhancement to the Mor Aldenn setting is exactly the type of freebie I love to see companies pass out. 7 pages (Front, Ogl, Ad leaving 4 ½ pages) following the dual column format with embedded artwork (that's right, artwork in a free product). The art is a B&W piece, and of very good style and quality.

Introducing an inter-dimensional locale that constantly varies where it's entrance point surfaces, this PDF details a “museum” of dreams. The manner in which this is described is quite elegant in design, and really speaks to what one can expect from the setting of Mor Aldenn. As well as an interesting locale, that any GM worth their dice could use as an interesting story driven method of information delivery to their playgroup, we are also given a fully developed NPC in the form of Temarath Grigspotter, the ghost curator of this museum. You can not help but instantly like this NPC, as he comes across as a kindly old grandfather, aware that his “condition” as a ghost might be unnerving to folks, so he tries his best to be cordial and friendly, and leaves folks alone until he feels they need his assistance with the dreams displayed under his care.

Not one to overlook grammatical hiccups (even in a free product), I will mention there were two such missteps that I noticed, and they were the usage of an is where an are would have been more appropriate, and a forgotten the.

Ending with a hook that offers up a potential boon for the group that reminds us, as GM's, sometimes its not all about the money, and groups deserve rewards that bring more to the table.

Having myself been recently introduced to Mor Aldenn, I can say, that this is a perfect example of what to expect, and if you haven't yet given Headless Hydra Games a serious look, you are doing yourself a disservice, as their products repeatedly show through with excellent design.

Going with the 5 star for this, and highly recommending, as this locale is an excellent addition to any setting, let alone as a taste of what's to come.

Coliseum Morpheuon, presented as an adventure for higher level characters, quickly took on more of a feel of a full setting waiting to be realized. Looking through support material, it isn't hard to see I wasn't the only one thinking along that vein, as an entire series of NPC's have sprung up to make sure that there are new and fresh faces awaiting your players for further exploits within the Dream Plane.

Weighing in at 130 pages, this PDF is crammed with an immense amount of material detailing the setting, it's inhabitants, new and variant rules, and of course the adventures that await your players. With how many reviews have already gone into extensive detail, rather than rehash upon what has already been said both here, and throughout the comments thread from the actual product posting, I thought I would touch instead on a few thoughts.

First off, the book is flat sexy folks. With page borders that, honestly, set a new standard in the concept of layout and background design. Scattered throughout the book we are visually treated to thematic artwork designed to take us along for the visual trip into a realm of possibility. Several of these pieces are very, very good. Good enough that they make up for the ones that, to be blunt, should never have been put anywhere near this book, Lady Puzzledeep comes to mind. The Pasha of Swirling Ashes ranks up there in my top ten for all time favorite NPC illustrations, the piece is simply fantastic. There is also the concept of the drastically different art styles represented within this book, going from a standard I would call semi-realistic, to cartoon. And, if the two from the cover are going to make so many appearances, shouldn't they be statted somewhere in the book? And, while we're discussing stats, why no monster illustrations for our new critters?? That's a huge downer folks, new monsters need new artwork, lol. And speaking of monsters and artwork, the one new creature we get identified with art, has no stats, the Dream Horror....that thing is freaking creepy, I want stats!!!!!!!!!

Now, layout and formatting follow the dual column approach with embedded artwork. The few hiccups in grammatical and editorial are minor enough to barely even register, which is pretty impressive in a book of this size. I did find it odd that the image of Lady Puzzledeep reveals more on the back cover than on her actual stat page though.

The real question, all comments regarding how pretty or not the book is, is it worth the price? Because at the end of the day, that's what it boils down to, is a product going to provide you with enough material, that has been designed well, to make the price worth paying. I can answer that easily by saying, this is what high level enthusiasts have been waiting for. Contained within this book is a playground for those characters that currently have nowhere to go, and we all have a pile of those from past glories and quests. Truly, one of the most aggravating concepts of playing a character is getting to that point that there's nothing left, and you have to again say goodbye to an old friend. Well, no more. The beauty of this product is it's re-usability, as it is more setting then simply adventure, and more than easily adaptable to fit the feel of many different playgroups. Well thought out NPC's, encounters, trials, and challenges all make sure there will be plenty to do for quite some time within the lands of dreams.

More than happy to add my 5 star stamp, for even with my issues with artwork, the pros of this book far, far outweigh such minor cons. Honestly people, even if your a new GM with brand new characters, add this book to your library, and give them something to work towards, it will be worth it.

With 10 Luckbringer Feats, Rite publishing revisits its Luckbringer class, giving us a little more lucky love. Weighing in at 5 pages, with Front cover, OGL, Back Ad, and 2 pages reserved for the 10 new feats and one piece of internal art. Granted, the internal art is the character from the cover, but if you're anything like I am, having clean images without backgrounds are always a plus when you're hunting the next great PC picture for your character sheet. Formatting is dual column, with a stylized framework adorning the page.

Rather than list for you each of the ten, I thought I would focus on a few examples, and what caught my eye in regards to them. Last Minute Gamble allows you to empty your pool of moments to gain extra damage/per luckbringer level, as well increase the DC of the hazard special attack you will be applying that damage to. Advantageous Strike allows for an extra dice to be included in critical hit confirmation rolls, which is always a good thing when trying to beat the odds. Auspicious Escape spreads some of that 3PP love around, in that it is a feat for the Luckbringer, as well as a feat for either the Time Thief or Time Warden (from Super Genius Games).

Grammatically speaking, if this was a larger product, I would call the editing fairly good. However, with only two pages of material, that after artwork, legal notice and Table are more like three columns of text in all actuality, this seemed like quite a few mistakes.
Advantageous Strike ...manipulate probabilities so as hit just the …(missing the word to)
Karmic Reaction …..special ability on an ally previously who in an adjacent square....(perhaps the addition of the word is would of helped this sentence, between who and in)...and.....that ally though some random chance subjects itself.....(shouldn't though be through?)

The concept of the Luckbringer intrigues me, but I have a soft spot for scoundrels who beat the odds, as if the very universe loves them, so whereas I am biased into liking the material here, I can not overlook three grammatical mistakes in a product of this size, and am pinging a star for it. Beyond that, the feats are well designed, and the art piece by Giordano Pranzoni is fantastic, so I will be going with a 4 star rating. Give us an update and fix those few mistakes, and I will happily up my rating to a 5 star, because the only thing that held this PDF from a 5 star was that the product is almost of a size range where editing mistakes are unforgivable.

Addressing Tactical Archetypes again with volume 2, Rite publishing gives us a PDF weighing in at 28 pages. Cover, Credits, OGL and an Ad and we're at 24 pages left for the new archetypes. Opening with a small explanation of the underlying concept of teamwork that ties these archetypes together, we dive right into the material following a short alphabetical listing of the new archetypes by class. With fourteen new archetypes, there's a varied collection that should have no problem appealing to fans of many different classes.

First up is the Aetherurgist for the Oracle class. Introducing the idea of a Spirit Mastery Score that increases every odd level, several of the abilities for this archetype base their math on not only the character's Oracle level, but also their spirit mastery score. With a list of abilities putting them as the character in tune with the spirits of the dead, the aetherurgist learn to speak the tongue of the dead, may summon both defensive and offensive spirits, and may utilize them in both touch and ranged attacks. With the new revelation options we are given such as Grasping Spirit: fills an area of terrain with spectral hands that grasp onto anything living that attempts to pass, or Swarm of Souls: a spirit you summon appears under the effect of mirror image.

Next we have the Circle Warden for the Witch, an archetype with a penchant for uniting her comrades or those under her protection within a link of fellowship. White Hexes, talismans of protection, and the ability to channel positive energy.....I could not help but think of every witchcraft tv show I have seen come out within the last decade, as well as many movies, that depict the witch characters as these super helpful, largely beneficial beings who exist solely to aid all of those around them......No thank you. Mechanically, an interesting archetype, I''ll give it that, but there are classes I like just they way they are, and the Witch, socially correct or not, is one of those classes that I'm very comfortable with as it is. Totally a personal opinion and matter of taste on this one, but I just wasn't feeling it.

The Elementalurgist for the Druid shows us that not all druids are animal loving tree huggers, there are in fact druids who take it a step even further, and attune to the elements themselves. For the elementalurgist, the four elements, and their subdomains (excluding metal) gain their loyalty and worship. Not content to simply be good with nature and the life existing within it, this archetype goes back to the building blocks of all reality itself, and works to master a relationship with the powers of the elements. Now, it is worth noting, that this archetype was where I found the first piece of rule that left me scratching my head, as there seemed to be some conflict, and contradiction. Within the abilities for the elementalurgist, we have Elemental Infusion, a rather cool concept that allows you, depending on level, to infuse your allies with aspects of elements you are attuned to. So far, so good. In the examples of what this visually might appear as (we won't bother with crunch and math here, as it is the fluff that goes a little wonky) we're told, for example, that an ally infused with fire might have a faint aura of fire around their weapon, or one infused with adamantine hardness might take on a metallic sheen.....what, Wha? Now, to be clear, allow me to quote...””...the elementalurgist may attune herself to one element: Air, Earth, Fire, or Water. Attuning herself to the element grants her that domain. She may choose any subdomain of these, except for the Metal subdomain..” Now, unless I have missed something, adamantine is still considered a metal, and therefore anything dealing with it should probably be under that header of subdomain, Metal. So, am a little confused here, if its off limits, why then does the very first example of what this archetype can do clearly show the usage of this subdomain? Now, there are several really cool concepts and abilities throughout this archetype, so don't think this hiccup derails it, just would of preferred some clarity there is all.

The Force Commander gives us the nod towards that wizard controlling the world through a game of chess. Literally controlling the forces marshaled upon a field of battle via game pieces, the Force Commander is, for me , a guaranteed NPC option only. I just don't see to many opportunities in a normal game's session for a player to make the most of this archetype, nor be able to use some of the cooler abilities often enough as an adventurer. That being said, as an NPC option, or a PC option in a campaign geared toward a larger scale army on army combat, this would be a very cool character concept, both for the visuals as well as the effects upon the battle. What intrigues me would be to set two opposing forces against each other, with a Force Commander on either side of the field, giving each to a separate PC, just to see how it would play out.

There are, by my count, ten more archetypes, and I am willing to bet you've got a fair idea of the design concepts at this point, so I shall shorten my notes on the other ten, for the sake of expediency.

Grand Inquisitor, for the Inquisitor class, is that line in the sand that separates a martial inquisitor from those pious individuals who are just downright scary in their judgement laying abilities. I have to admit, my first thought upon reading this archetype, as far as how would I explain one of these guys to a player was Archdeacon Claude Frollo of the Disney rendition for Hunchback of Notre Dame...with spells.

Magilith shows the sorcerer some love, born not of a bloodline granting them access to spells, but born upon “a convergent point, or node of eldritch might”. Essentially a magic sponge/battery, the magilith gives up a portion of their own spellcasting to gain disjunctive capacities as well as being the groups buff character as far as sacrificing their own spells pass out enhancements and bonuses.

Peltast, fighter class, as much as I see them being extremely limited in an actual melee fight, was one of the more practical archetypes as it gives a nod to the various cultures throughout history whose warriors have focused upon the thrown weapon as opposed to the held. Again, a very cool concept, but one I see more being useful to the GM as an NPC, or perhaps a challenging character concept for a veteran player looking for something different.

Pious Sentinel gives us that Cleric who affects the actions and outcomes of battle through the divine will of their God, praying for favorable results for their allies.

The Purifier paladin answers the question “What if I'm a lover, not a fighter?” A paladin option for those who are looking to play a kinder, gentler soul, one more focused on healing and altruism. The odd thing here is that the purifier gains hex levels, replacing the mercy abilities.

Savage Tactician give us those barbarians who have learned to strategise, rather than simply rush headlong in to battle.

Spellchymist are the alchemists seeking to further blur the line between alchemy and magic via further emulating the spells they seek to recreate to the point of ranged effects.

The Umbral Weaver just might be the most supported archetype presented within this collection. Whereas several new feats, spells and items have been presented throughout the book with a few here and there, the Umbral Weaver gains a slew of class abilities, new feats and spells. A bard who looks to the shadows for their power, the entirety of this archetype, for me, can be summed up with their very first class ability, Wisps of Dusk. A variation on dancing lights, Wisps of Dusk bring into being globs of shadow instead of lights. Yes, it's low in level and power in relation to what these bards end up with for options, but at the same time, it is that gloved hand in the dark, outstretched and inviting you to follow, to see where it's going. Out of the entire collection, this was my archetype, and it was the Wisps of Dusk that caught me. I actually had to stop reading through the book, and work up a rough character concept for my gallery of NPC's, I couldn't stop pondering this archetype. His name's Frialgo, he owes his existence to the genius behind the design of this subtle, and brilliant archetype. Well done.

Vicious Opportunist is an archetype presented for both the rogue and ninja classes, trading out Ninja Tricks for Rogue Talents where needed or appropriate. Essentially that combatant who always knows where and when to strike, and is always looking for the sweet spot, that one moment in battle when it's time to strike.

War Scholars are those monks who excel at strategy on levels that defy the most seasoned veterans. Understanding the complexities of terrain preparation, the management of ones troops, misdirection and the gathering of intelligence upon your enemy, the War Scholar formulates and utilizes their knowledge hand in hand with their class abilities to formulate and undertake vast combat maneuvers.

Final thoughts...formatting follows the dual column layout with embedded artwork. Rite publishing continues with their old world styled artwork which is beginning to be a signature for them with several of their releases. I think, grand total, I found two grammatical missteps in the entire volume, and they were so mild I didn't bother to note them specifically, as neither caused any true disruption. For those looking to flesh out a collection of NPC's there is a great deal of material to work with here, but as noted previously, there are those I have a hard time seeing as usable by PC's. There is also the concept of a few of these archetypes being designed for large scale play within a vast combat scenario for most of the characters activities, which must be taken into consideration when deciding if such concepts apply to an adventuring character.

As stated, I have fallen in love with the Umbral Weaver, and actually had to stop writing this review to roll up another one, although I am hoping to be able to actually play this one, as opposed to simply relegating him to the ranks of my NPC's.

As a collection of new and interesting Archetypes, this collection more than succeeds. Offering something to both players and Gms, as well as supporting the archetypes with various new spells, feats, rogue talents, ninja tricks, rage powers and items. With the Spellchymist I can't help but feel so much more could have been done, in comparison to other archetypes presented it felt flat and lifeless.

In total, taking into thought how many of these I would play myself, and how many I would relegate to the NPC bracket, and the few that would never see the light of day at my table, I am going with a 4 star rating.

Weighing in at 18 pages, the latest installment in the 101 series tackles the traits of Pirates and Privateers with an absolute stroke of genius, not only in the design of the traits themselves, but in many of the names. How can one not love a product filled with traits by such names as Bloodthirsty Pirate, or Crack Jenny's Tea Cup, and of course Fight Like a Pirate.

Pushing the concept of what is a trait further than the same old same old, Steven D. Russell really delivers with this collection. Presenting a collection of traits that will rely upon GM's with a brain, this is not a collection of +1 to whatever traits you might be used to, but rather story based traits, that will bring a new level of depth to the characters they are applied to. Design of this nature is one of the reasons Rite Publishing stands on the frontlines when it comes to 3PP's.

A few choice examples would be Brethren of the Coast, loyalty to your own rings through. Face Death With Dignity, leaves a survivor of a crew of pirates with a new outlook on fear, as long as he kept his cool the first time around. Fight Like a Pirate, demands to be mentioned again, lol, whereas it is in fact a +1 type of trait, it still comes with a great concept, and one that fits the concept of a pirate so well.

Captain's Compact struck me as a great trait to really show off the vast difference in this collection of traits to the majority of what I've seen up to this point when it comes to traits in the Pathfinder system. With Captain's Compact your character has, at some point, cut a deal with a pirate captain. The details are to be worked out between you and your GM (and several options are given), but the benefits of this trait are sheer gold, you essentially get to swap skills x amount of times per week, when you're facing a skill check. Why? Because the pirate captain becomes a resource, that you can tap for information and such. And that folks, is brillaint. Steven could of easily wrote the name of the trait, and the words swap skill in skill check x times/week, and called it a day. But instead he gave us, oh so subtly, an entire hook for further adventures, disguised as a trait. By giving players and GM's traits that are this thought provoking , what he has done is pulled out a few gray crayons from the box, and slipped in a few more colorful ones. He's provided tools to tell a little bit better of a story, before you even get started playing.

I did find myself at a loss over one of the better traits in the book however as far as sheer comical genius goes, Parrot Voice. As it reads, brings to mind the classic wise cracking stereotypical pirate parrot, but how does one use it, when it says whatever it wants, when it wants? And am I just having a truly empty moment, as the wording regarding the monkey totally lost me as to what it meant.

Obviously, this collection of traits is geared toward a certain style of player, and character, now that's not saying that without a few tweaks here or there several of them could not be applied to other character concepts. But, to truly appreciate this collection, I can't help but think that going with using it as it was intended would be the way to go.

Formatting wise, the layout follows the dual column approach, with artwork embedded throughout. I found no grave errors with grammar. The art follows the theme for many of Rite's books, and brings with it very old world feel that works especially well in this PDF. Alas, no bookmarks once again.

And, for my fellow Hero Lab users out there, the files installed without a problem, and yes, it is kind of cool to finally see a massive amount of options when you click the trait tab. This product continues what I am hoping is a growing trend, as I love seeing 3PP's embrace the Hero Lab community, and show us some love. If I could find a negative to say, it would be that nowhere within the book could I find even a mention of what minimum data pack requirements Hero Lab users needed to worry about before trying to load the .HL file. I know the concept of remembering something of that nature is new, but it is an important thing, as not every Hero Lab user has purchased all of the data packs, and they need to know if they can load custom packs or not.

So, final tally... Am going to go with a 4.5, as the entire Hero Lab issue hits home for me, and Parrot Voice really is worded confusingly. So, rounding up, cause this product deserves it, we're going with a 5 star rating on this one.

As a highly visual person, the concept of a deck of cards with NPC's ready to go really appeals to me as a GM. This deck of 49 cards comes as individual image files with 49 fronts and 1 back. Looking through the artists, just under half of this deck was put together from artwork done by Jason Rainville, with the remaining pieces coming from Hugo Solis, Ryan Barger, Eric Lofgren, Tyler Bartley, Arthur Wang, Kurt Taylor, Jonathan Roberts and John Wigley.

Anyone who picked up Coliseum Morpheuon will recognize a great deal of the artwork within this deck. When it comes to a deck of NPC headshots, the concept of reusing previously published artwork makes sense, but the editing of some of these heads to separate them from their bodies/backgrounds left them looking odd to say the least. For the majority of the cards, the concept of fantasy plays through, with a few cards leaning more towards what one might consider sci-fi.

I like the fact that the card back actually gives more room for notes than Paizo's cards, room to write is always a good thing. Is a shame you only went with one deck, I would of been interested to see where you might have taken the concept as you refined it.

And, as much as I respect Paizo's site, this deck is on sale for significantly less at RPGNow, you can't beat the deal, and visual cues for NPC/PC's are always an excellent GM aid.

Giving this GM aid a 4 star rating

For those of us who play tabletop RPG's, and honestly, if you are reading this, I am assuming you are a fellow gamer, the concept of basing a desire to recreate our fantasies is why we're all here. Whether it was a character from a favorite novel as a child, that one movie, with those two guys (you know the one), or a show you ran home from school everyday to not miss a minute of. My point is, when you ask a roleplayer for their source of inspiration, you're going to hear about favorite characters and ideals from throughout the entire genre of fantasy, sci-fi, noir, even westerns if you ask the right folks, we all grew up pretending to be someone, and luckily, most of us never outgrew that. The problem comes in when you try to apply game rules to the concept in your mind, and you quickly discover that class concepts are a lot stricter than imagination. Luckily, Paizo thought to open the door to the idea that perhaps multiclassing wasn't the only way to explain why a fighter would know how to cast a few spells, or a priest might be handy with a gun. And by opening that door with the feats Amateur Gunslinger and Eldritch Heritage (both published in Ultimate Magic), they allowed Super Genius Games the opportunity to run with it, and expand upon the idea that perhaps individuals can actually be just that, individual.

Now, it goes without saying, when you sit down with your playgroup, if you expect your paladin to be a two-dimensional Lawful Gullible buzzkill who has never thought to learn anything more than what the church has told him he needs in order to able to bring the light of his teaching to the world, well this might not be the book for you. On the other hand, if your paladin didn't find the calling right at the moment of birth, and perhaps had a childhood of misadventure that picked him up an interesting skill or two that you would like to be able to represent via new options and tricks available to you as the player, well then, this book just might be for you.

Ok, so why not just multiclass, right? I mean, we've always had the option, so why a whole new concept to gain abilities of various classes, fair enough question. And, here's a fair enough answer. Multiclassing is a murky, convoluted messy affair that can very quickly break a character, that's why. What do I mean by break a character? Let me give you an example, let's go back to that paladin. Let's say as a lad, he was orphaned to the streets, and had to learn to survive the old fashioned way. Now, ignoring the hilarity of seeing rogue1/paladin5 on a character sheet (chuckle), I don't want to give up a level of my possible 20 to rogue, it's not like he was trained, I don't want nor need all that comes with that level of rogue, I just want a few things, just to acknowledge my character concept. But, by taking a multiclass feat such as Talent for Mischief from this PDF, I can acknowledge my paladin's time as a street urchin by choosing an appropriate rogue talent that he retains to this day. Maybe he was always good at stealing food for him and a few other kids, or he was the one they always sent climbing up the buildings to find ways in. Regardless, this optional system of multiclass feats allows me to design the character more fully to match my vision, and thereby allows for a fuller back story to be supported by the math on the character sheet when done.

Contained within the 21 pages of this PDF are 47 of these multiclass feats, 2 of which are reprints, added to allow for a sense of completeness under one cover. Of the remaining 45 feats, 5 are geared towards abilities from SGG classes like the Time Thief/Warden, Armiger and Death Mage. The remaining 40 are spread across a fair selection of the Core and APG classes. Whereas a great deal of these feats are designed to give you access to spell casting in one form or another, that's far from the only thing covered here.

Now, it would be insane to allow folks to pick and choose all the cool toys from each pile without giving some form of checks and balances, and whereas I admit I wasn't entirely clear the first time I read the restrictions through, I caught on pretty quick to how one keeps a character in line when it comes to these feats. Essentially, it comes down to favored class options, and losing them if you start picking from to many piles for your multiclass feats. It's more refined then that, and presented a lot more elegantly by Owen and Ryan, but there's the nutshell version. There are exceptions, and obviously more to it then my shortened rendition, but without giving to much away, there you go.

Along with the concept of adding these feats, and an optional ruling on them that would allow for less restriction upon them to explain certain abnormalities within a population or locale (think Freeport, if ever there was a city where EVERYONE should get some free rogue talents, lol), the concept of designing additional multiclass feats is covered, with advice on what to look for in a class that would be the signature abilities perfect for the multiclass concept.

The formatting follows the familiar three column with embedded artwork that has dominated the look and feel of SGG products, right along with their partial cover front page. The artwork is all color throughout, with pieces of stock art interspersed with original (or at least pieces I haven't seen used to death everywhere else yet), and tends to range from the not bad to the really good in quality. I noticed no grammatical errors, no formatting ones for that matter.

My only real complaint regarding this PDF is that I am going to have to wait for volume two, as I want to see more multiclass feats handling the martial classes, as well as a great deal more SGG classes getting the multi treatment. Another fantastic product guys, and a steal at the current price. Sticking to the 1-5 standard for ratings, I'm going with a 5 for this collection of awesomeness, as I can't stop thinking of new character ideas, and I love a product that inspires me.

Headless Hydra's latest offering in the Specific Weapons series is V.4, and weighs in at 12 pages. Between cover, credits and OGL we'll lose three pages, with another three pages going to an Intro and an essay from Jonathan Palmer discussing a few thoughts to consider in regards to magical weaponry, their design, the lack of variety within pre-established rulesets, and what can be done about it without losing sight of why we play these games in the first place, to have fun. Amusingly, the intro article ends with a reminder to review your PDFs, for some reason I found myself reading that in Bob Barker's voice in my head.

Of the weapons offered up in this volume, we're introduced to a kama that, in the hands of those who know how to use them, aids in delivering the killing blow with mercy, giving a swift death. A spear that will literally, watch your back. A halfling sling that will have you nostalgic for David and Goliath tales. Hammers for gnomes, giants, one that thinks it's a lightning rod, and another waiting to call the storm.

You know that one old guy in the bar who's always talking about the good old days like they were yesterday? His sword's in here. The Blade of Glories Past reminded me so much of those folks who are living so far in their own past, they're in denial as to what they have become. Fun thing about the sword though is that it's going to try and latch on and relive some of those glory days, only to drag you down with it.

A quarterstaff with a grudge against manufactured goods, a set of bola that will leave you in the pits, a rainbow painted boomerang (yes, you read that right), a repeating crossbow with a trick up it's sleeve, and an elven blade that will help its wielder find their way. A set of nunchuka designed around defense, a whip fashioned from giant spider tendons, and a flying talon able to ground the untouchable undead round out this collection.

Now, if you were counting, that's sixteen, so not only were you getting 15 new magical weapons for a dollar, but the folks at HHG threw in a bonus, not to shabby, to say the least.

Format follows the dual column standard, with a muted colored frame to the pages, and B&W artwork depicting six of the weapons. I found one grammatical error, and it was the usage of form instead of from....minor enough, it's a non issue. PDF contains two tables, one a random dice chart, the other a standard gear style page for the new weaponry listing costs, weights, dmg, range, type...you know the standards. Last thing of note is the cherry on this sundae, a brand new Magic Weapon Special Ability, not only used in this PDF to show off what it can do, but presented on its own, so that you may apply as you wish to your own creations.

I have long felt that there is a need for product lines of this nature, small, to the point, and cheap. The impulse PDF as I call them. Several companies do them, and do them right. HHG is one of those companies that's doing the idea right. Spend a dollar, get an idea what they can do, then go look over the rest of their products, trust me on this one.

16 weapons, easily earned that 5 star ratio.

The Breaking of Forstor Nagar, is an adventure written for a playgroup of 8th level characters for the Pathfinder rules system. Weighing in with 48 pages, losing only 4 pages to non material (front and back covers, OGL and ToC), the remaining 44 pages are formatted to a dual column layout, with the occasional embedded artwork. The PDF is fully bookmarked for separate sections, which is always a good thing. Maps are interspersed throughout relevant sections as appropriate. Crested with a stylized white dragon head and wings, each page is adorned with the thematic graphics one would associate with an adventure in a frozen environment. Across the bottom of the page in the background one can see the skyline of what I assume is the city of Forstor Nagar, framed with what can only be assumed to be the herald standards of the invading legion this adventure presents as the adversary the group has to overcome. So, right off the bat, this PDF is very visually graphic heavy, and would be a nightmare on a home printer. Luckily, the product is available in print, so there is an option to see these pages as they are meant to be seen in print.

Giving us a mercenary legion of cannibals as our main antagonists, this adventure steps away from the classic creature killing adventures that flood the marketplace. The idea that your enemy is in fact human, and still wants to eat you, adds a level of creepiness to the entire product that really takes the story to a new level.

But why are these cannibals attacking Forstor Nagar in the first place? Because of the oracle, an adult white dragon. They want to feast upon his heart, assuming that they will gain his precognitive powers if they do. The fact that their stocking up on supplies, loot and enough to eat for days while working their way through the city of Forstor Nagar is simply icing upon the dragon heart cake for the invaders.
As the city is under siege, the PC's have many obstacles to deal with to even get into the city in the first place, as well as traversing the environment once in. The adventure supplies a few options for why the group would enter this killing field, but they all boil down to one basic concept, its a snatch and grab, they are there on a rescue attempt of one person of importance. Of course, as always happens, the important person in the adventure refuses to leave without dragging as many other people as possible, making what could be handled quickly and easily into an ordeal for the PC's.

Looking over the maps within the PDF, I find that I am really torn. On the one hand, the cartography itself is clear, colorful, and all around excellent. However, nothing ruins a gorgeous map faster than covering it with little circles full of letters and predetermined location markers for a playgroup. These maps are all but useless when it comes to being able to use them for players, as there is no way to hide the icons, short of removing the maps from the PDF and breaking out ones photoshop skills. I understand the adventure comes with Maptools support, but it occurs to me that for groups not using this program, perhaps setting the PDF to have hide-able layers for the maps would have really helped a lot. And in regards to several of the predetermined and marked areas for the PC's on multiple maps, as well as the written assumptions within the adventure of player choices for approach and movement. It feels very much like the PC's are expected to do only what was thought of by the author of this adventure, I know my own playgroup found several variable answers to how to enter the city that fell well outside what was expected of them by the adventure. Now, I will admit, as a GM I have always encouraged non linear thinking from my playgroups, but I can not help but think that marking a map with a white box stating PC's is presumptive, as is stating that only this roof can be landed upon, or this alley walked through. I am fully aware any GM can work around the text on the fly, but a marking on the map becomes an issue all unto itself.

Several times throughout the PDF, NPC's and combatants are graphically represented with top down illustrations, not only can you not see any true detail in an illustration of this nature, the ones chosen are graphically very reminiscent of a cartoonish style and feel. To clarify, there are pieces of artwork throughout the PDF that are amazingly good, the illustration of the remorhaz is amazing. Unfortunately the very next page has a top down, Saturday morning cartoon version remorhaz, which is jarring in how different of an art style is it from the previous piece.

Those using the Maptools program and tools will find the support package an excellent addition, and I have no doubt those with more skill at the program than I will truly appreciate all of the tokens included with the full encounter maps. I, while obviously not being a fan of the art style of these top down tokens, could not help but take note that everything a GM would need to run these encounters token wise was included. And yes, those same maps from the PDF, once covered with tokens as opposed to letters, look a lot better. I'm still not a fan of the white boxes stating PC on them on the maps, but that's a personal choice.

Ending thoughts.....An interesting setting, with a unique situation in that the PC's find themselves with a task to achieve in the middle of a siege. Maps that I want to love, I do, but I am having a hard time getting past the letters all over them....artwork that goes from truly beautiful, to the topdown map tokens. And, I want to be clear, in regards to the top down tokens, where as I am not a fan of them myself, it is not because they are not well drawn, it is simply a personal taste issue in regards to the style they are done in. As far as, is the storyline a decent challenge, and a good story for a group to play through? Yes, there is a story here that is well thought out and very playable. I would like to have seen more attention paid to how the Oracle is imprisoned, and how it managed to get free. It felt like there was in the end, more attention paid to various options pertaining to the Hungering Legion's history and motivations, than to details of the Oracle's that would of helped make the encounter with the dragon much more detailed.

So...all things taken into account, art, maps, the absolutely flawless formatting (I couldn't find a single formatting or grammatical error), story and playability I am going to go with a four star rating of this adventure. The feel in sections of “forcing” a group into a predetermined set of circumstances (the white box location markers), and the travesty of marring the maps with large white circles filled with letters (a layered PDF with the option to hide layers would of easily solved this) kept me from giving this a five star.

Achievement Feats is a collection of feats that one has to earn through doing things within game. Some are insanely easy to get, and in the end feel kind of like a consolation prize, others could take a character their entire run to earn, and would be that badge of honor on a character sheet that a player would brag about having earned. In concept, the idea of achievement feats appeals very much to me, as I like the idea of their being a boon that can be granted a player that will acknowledge the path and style of play they applied to their character. But, whereas I like the idea as a concept, I believe there are several tucked within this book that, as I said earlier, almost feel like consolation prizes as opposed to being true achievements.
As an example of what I am referring to by the consolation feat:
Without Warning – you've lost initiative so many times, once per day you can simply choose to strike first. I'm sorry, you're dice don't like you enough it's a running gag that you always lose initiative so here's a feat to let you go first from time to time so you feel better? No, this is not an achievement, this is pity, pure and simple. I had a player we house ruled one free d20 role for every game session, but only if someone else rolled it for him, and only when the group really needed it. Why? Because the guy's dice rolls sucked, pure and simple, but it wasn't like he earned this right, it was given to him out of pity, This Feat feels like that in so many ways.
Traps Can't Touch Me - Having set off and survived so many traps in your life, you now have a sixth sense in regards to trap locations.....really? Again, this does not feel like a real achievement to me so much as it does that in the play test group these came out of, there was that thief who constantly thought he had disarmed the trap, only to find out the hard way he hadn't, and eventually it was decided he deserved something for his suffering.

OK, I admit, freely, that these could be interpreted in a viewpoint I am not seeing, as every group is different. So, let's take a look at a few I thought were right on the money as far as heroic achievement goes:
Giant Killer - You have slain a hefty amount of creatures bigger than yourself, lets you make your first attack against giants as opposed to their touch AC. Now that is a feat one would have to actively try and earn...to set out and kill a set amount of creatures at least two sizes bigger than you, that's earning yourself a feat folks.
Dragonslayer - Land the killing blow on a certain amount of dragons, keep trophies on hand and not only bypass the damage reduction of future dragons you will face, but gain an immunity to the Frightful Presence of any dragon type you have faced. Again, I don't see a character getting this feat by accident, or as a series of mishaps. This is an achievement, and one that would be a great boon to a character.

So, there's examples of both ends of the field, and yes, there are those that fall dead in the middle as far as their difficulty to achieve, and their level of storyline requirement as opposed to just happening in normal gameplay and accruing until a player had done the requirement enough times. Personally, there are several in this book I would never allow within my campaigns, and not because they are to powerful or unbalanced, but rather because I don't feel rewarding a player for doing what they would do on a normal basis (Get Out Of My Way – achievement feat for using Bull Rush x amounts of times over their career) is worth it. This type of product and concept has a great deal of potential in adding some serious depth to a character and the methods of design and roleplay a player puts into their creation, as long as the GM keeps a tight reign on how many they allow a player to take. But, those that are of the nature I pointed out that truly reward heroic deeds, now those are the types of feats I enjoy making available to my players. Those are the types of boons one wants to hand over to a heroic character to acknowledge their deeds with more than yet another Pile O' Treasure.

The artwork is all B&W for the interior, and for the most part is stock, or at least has been used in other Rite books. Formatting is dual column, with no grammatical errors that I noticed.
I liked the idea behind the concept, but I feel there just weren't enough feats that lived up to the benchmark, so I am going to have to settle on a three star.

The Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design is an intimidating and healthy 244 pages of collected musings, thoughts, insights and essays from a collection of industry names that should prove familiar to most gamers or would be designers looking to sit down and read through this book. At first glance, and yes by the assumption made from the books title, it would appear this book is strictly for the designers out there, a how to guide if you will, on how to make a successful game and thereby put your name on the map when it comes to the gaming industry. But looking through the chapters and essays contained within one discovers very quickly there is so much more to this book then first impressions. Written largely by Wolgang Baur, you will be treated to his insight on everything from borrowing concepts from throughout all of media and history, why MtG worked as a game, how one actually defines design, to nurturing one's own creativity. Wolfgang spends a great many chapters walking the reader through the many different aspects behind what makes a great designer, as well as why many will fall flat on their faces. He takes an unblinking look at the industry, and then reflects that here for the readers, which I have to admit, was refreshing. Far too many people are convinced they have the next great idea, and find themselves at a total loss when the whole o f the world doesn't agree with them. He even voices his opinion on Magic Item Creation ala RPG Superstar, he has judged twice now, and is well established to detail what works, and what doesn't. I can't help but think every gamer/designer who's ever considered publishing or submitting would do themselves a great service to spend some time reading at the very least the first section of this book, if not all of it.

Section 2 takes us into what I thought of as the reason gamers would want this book, not that the material and thoughts of the first section were not excellent, but they were aimed more towards designers looking to publish, as opposed to GM's (who in their own right are designers, whether they realize it or not). Here is where this book really starts to attack the concept of how to improve one's game from the ground up. Chapters dealing with topics like plot design, handling city adventures, the underdark and what one can really do with it as an ecological setting as well as a built in monster infested killing field. Hordes, humor, mystery and hardboiled adventures, this section tackles several different topics I can honestly say I wasn't aware I had problems in until I found myself reading through these and realizing that I saw parts of my game in what they were addressing. Again, any GM worth his player's time should spend some time with this section.

Section 3 takes us back to the business side of it again, with Writing, Pitching and Publishing. And again, we find that unblinking eye, which is what is needed in a product of this nature. After all, if you are going to buy a book that is largely a collection of advice and insight on how to succeed, would you want it to be sugercoated? No, you would want exactly what is delivered here, a fantastic collection of industry veterans not only telling you how you can improve your design and game, but how they themselves have improved their own games and designs. And just who are we talking about there when I say industry veterans, take a look:

Colin McComb– Extensive writing credits with TSR, Malhavoc Press, Paizo, and Open Design.
Rob Heinsoo – lead designer for D&D 4e as well as an extensive list of RPG, tabletop roleplaying, board, miniature and card games.
Michael A. Stackpole – Author, Game Designer both within the computer world and RPG industry
Ed Greenwood – The creator of the Forgotten Realms and successful author
Bill Collins - ENnie award winning designer (Tales of Zobeck)
[b]Nicolas Logue – WOTC Voyage of the Golden Dragon, Several credits with Paizo,
Ben McFarland – credits on several Open Design projects, contributor to Kobold Quarterly, and The Breaking of Forstor Nagar
Willie Walsh – Longtime contributor to Dungeon Magazine, AD&D Road to Danger & Dungeons of Despair, Member of the Werecabbage Freelancers Creative Guild, 0one Games
Monte Cook – 1/3 of the design team for D&D 3e, Malhavoc Press, Arcana Unearthed, Ptolus, Iron Heroes, World of Darkness
Wolfgang Bauer – TSR, ICE, Open Design, just to name a few companies he has worked with. Won the eighth annual Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming in 2008.

So, 244 pages looking behind the curtain with some industry insiders. Very very few errors in editing, and by very few, I mean I think I found one. A must have book for both those looking to get into this industry, and those who merely want to play. I will admit, I did not know what to expect than I first saw this book, but by the end I was very happy that I turned the first page and kept reading, and I think you will be also.
I think my biggest fear in tackling this book was page hypnosis, and since it was a fear of mine, I would like to address it. Page hypnosis, as I call it, is that trance state you hit when reading textbook material type writing for hours on end, where you're not really absorbing anything so much as you're just staring at it because it's so boring. Why would I be afraid of that? Because every guide on getting into the industry I've ever seen before this one essentially ended up being one of the most boring reads I ever tried to get through. The Kobold's Complete Guide handles this with a very subtle method, that I think shows a great deal of intelligence on Wolfgang's part. No matter how interesting someone is, when they are teaching the human brain will attempt to go on autopilot eventually, so this book breaks up Wolfgang's writing style by interspersing essays from the other game designers throughout, giving you multiple writing styles to keep it fresh constantly. Now, am I saying that any of the material is boring? No, I am saying that the format of having multiple writing styles, and therefore multiple “voices” in this conversation proactively help to keep the book fresh throughout the entire read.

As I believe every GM and designer should have a copy of this in their library, I am going with a solid 5 star rating, but am adding the clarification, this is a collection of text. There is no pretty artwork breaking up the text, no game mechanics per say. This is a collection of insight into how to make the games we play that much better, and well worth the read, as long as when sitting down to read it, one understands that that is what they are sitting down to read.

Alright, I'll admit it, I knew I was buying this the moment I saw the cover image. The left hand weapon effect had me curious, and the spell that allows it, very very cool. 16 pages of virtual weight, with the classic ¾ cover that SGG is known for, as well as the 3 column format. 1 page goes to OGL and credits, leaving us with roughly 14 pages of shiny new goodies to devour.

One of the first things that must be discussed in regards to this product is that the introduction gives us something important to think about, and realize. Using Hellfire does not, by default, make one evil, nor is one required to be evil to use hellfire magics. Think about it, good aligned clerics and paladins have been preaching that not following the will of their gods will doom you to punishment by hellfire, would it not make sense then that these good aligned people be able to use this method of punishment against their enemies? Where not the eternal flaming pits created by the good aligned gods in the first place? Of course, at some point in history, the evil that exists within the planes of hellfire infused enough essence into said flames, that hellfire has become the perfect medium for evil, and brings with it an extra punch when utilized as an evil spell. Every spell presented here gives us the effects for the spell, plus extra effects if cast as an evil spell, allowing you to add that extra level to your games when it comes to how Good uses hellfire, and how Evil understands hellfire. Contained within this PDF are a new spell descriptor (Hellfire), 16 new spells, 2 new domains, and 3 Witch hexes.

Spells:
Chastising Lash: Long reach weapon of hellfire
Fashion Sinister Trifle: Create useful, mundane temporary equipment from hellfire
Fiend Barbs (regular and greater): Cover armor or clothing in sharp/flaming spikes
Forbidding Chains (regular and mass): Bind creatures in hellfire, hindering movement and magic.
Forge Hellfire(regular and greater): Use hellfire to create weaker duplicates of lower level conjuration spells.
Hellfire Armament(regular and mass): Create a melee weapon out of hellfire
Lake of Fire: Create a pit that deals fire and acid damage
Nightmarish Transport: Steed or vehicle gains the powers of hellfire-fueled movement
Penance Skull: Extra damage against foes who violate your alignment's ethos
Perdition's Wrath: Magical bolt that deals electricity/acid and fire damage.
Pocket Hell: Create a personal prison that will prove very difficult to escape.
Wall of Brimstone: as many wall spells, only with burning rock

Domains:
Hellfire: Giving a nod to the older religions and the more fire and brimstone kind of viewpoint, this domain gives a cleric access to a variant force bolt special ability (Hellfire Bolt) and the ability to charge a weapon as a Hellfire Weapon. The domain spell list consists of 8 spells from this book, and gate.
Exalted Hellfire: Essentially a stronger, more bad ass version of the regular Hellfire domain, those familiar with the exalted line from SGG will feel at home with this domain.

Witch Hexes:
Planar Torment: Bolt of pure hellfire dealing that is half acid, half fire. Against extra-planar creatures, there is no limit to how many times per day you may use this hex.
Hellfire Gate: Very similar to the Plane Shift spell, opens a portal to another plane. Found within this passage the first grammatical error that stood out..”....each day, those theses need not be...” Am assuming it was meant to say “though these need not be..”
Scion of Hellfire: Turn spell/hex hp damage into specific energy damage, as per hellfire descriptor. And another grammar mistake “....can infuse her other magic attacks with the powerful of hellfire...” Am thinking “power of” works a lot better here.

OK, final thoughts...amazing artwork, loved the theme. There are a few grammatical hiccups, but they are minor. Can't help but think someone went and saw Ghostrider over the weekend, as several of these spells will allow you to create Ol' Bone Head easily enough for your game. Am already planning a regiment of HellKnights wielding Hellfire fueled magic, and of course that one chapter of priests, the old school dudes, who really know how to bring their lord's wrath to the battlefield....yeah, this book is a win, pure and simple. 5 stars happily given, this is a must own PDF.

The PDF weighs in at a healthy 117 pages, with covers (front and back, full color w/ illustrations), OGL, ToC and Intro pages all taking up 7 pages total. That leaves us 110 pages folks, 110 pages of material, art, items, history and stories. The artwork ranges between sketch and more refined illustration, with both color pieces and B&W. Each chapter opens with a full page B&W illustration, and very much reminded me of several old school rulebooks in that nature. Fully bookmarked for ease of navigation (always a good thing), the PDF carries a blueish tinge to the pages, so I'm going to have to recommend buying a printed copy, as opposed to printing one. Grammatically there are very few mistakes, although one stuck out like a sore thumb and had me chuckling.
page 9, second column, second paragraph...", but th'wwwwqwe things that still abide in Strossheim (now called Shadowcrag) have not forgotten". Am assuming the word should have been "those".

For those not in the know, Zobeck is a city, at its simplest description. But to stop at that would be nothing short of insult to the material, and the people, who over the years have helped define Zobeck into the living breathing locale it has become. I wasn't on board for a great deal of the earlier material for Zobeck, I will admit that. I can't tell you how much here has been collaborated from other, older material. Nor can I tell you what has been converted from previous rule sets. I can look up the previous releases, and hunt for them (and I did), but a cover and synopsis will only tell you so much. And in the end, the review is about this book, this gazetteer. I mention the older releases because, at least to me, when I realized I was looking at a book dealing with a setting that had previous material, it became important to me to know how well received the previous material was. Everything I saw tells me, this city, this locale, has all of the personality and presence of character required to leave a mark upon a gamer's life forever, and it's troves of fans agree. Zobeck is the type of place one wants to adventure to, and in. A city free unto itself, with the opportunity for any and all to make a name, or at least some coin, for themselves.

The people of Zobeck are primarily human, but the second highest population in this city are the kobolds, and that folks, stands out. Name me another predominately human society that tolerates kobolds enough to share their city with them, go ahead...I'll wait.........my point exactly. So, why? Why kobolds? Because the kobolds helped fight in the great revolt that lead to the city throwing off the shackles of nobility in the first place. They helped Zobeck become a free city, and then negotiated for the rights to continue working the mines, not as slaves, but as free “men”, earning a wage.

This gazetteer lays out holidays, local religious orders, influential families, organizations, what one might do for entertainment within the city, you know, all the basic stuff you expect to see within a gazetteer. But, where I felt this gazetteer separated itself from so many that I have read and walked away from knowing little more than before I started, we are constantly fed names and locations from within the city throughout all of these sections, and I found myself quickly drawing connections between locales and names with familiarity. A few choice examples from these sections:
The Grey Friar: A local tavern, one of the more famous, brought up in the section on Inns, Taverns and Alehouses along with several other taverns is also mentioned earlier within the book in regards to a local gossip about a gargoyle living amongst it's rafters.
We No Work Day!: Ever feel like calling in? We all have, and apparently when the kobolds do it, they all do it, literally. Once, sometimes twice a year, they simply take the day off, and declare it a holiday.
Spring Festival: A night of lustful abandon celebrated citywide in the name of the gods of love.
Hrovitz: The family of Halsen Hrovitz, a ten year old boy at the time, was the spark that started the Revolt that led to the freeing of Zobeck from the rule of the Stross family. Halsen was simply a boy, vocalizing his opinion of the Stross family when the city guards grabbed him and began to drag him away, but on that day, people did not get out of the guard's way. One simple act of defiance, and the city as one fought back, and earned their freedom.
Arcane Collegium: Mentioned several times, throughout the book. The one small section giving any details is maddeningly short. One can only hope that this will also be showing up in another book soon, as this locale is mentioned far to many times as part of this city to not have more details for.

There are many references throughout the book to other books, leading one to hope that this gazetteer is to be one in an ongoing series of new books released in support of this setting, as opposed to these references being to older material that may be harder to find for newer customers.

Zobeck functions in many different capacities, as a trade city with routes following roads, river, flight and even a path to the realm of the shadow fey. One can find a great many things within the stalls and markets of this city, making it a great resource for both PC's and GM's alike. One thing that must be mentioned, a thing that truly establishes Zobeck as vastly different from many city settings within the fantasy genre, are the gearforged. Gearforged were first crafted during the revolt, and as such are amongst the few who can say, these 80 years later, that they were there to see it first hand. Think of them as steampunk cyborgs, with a healthy dose of magics and clockwork technologies making the impossible a very common reality within this city. The concept of clockworks and gears being so infused into the cities heart, that their main religious loyalty's lay with Rava, the Gear Goddess (OK, obviously, if you are planning on dropping Zobeck into your own setting, you'll have to decide what to do about their patron Goddess, but that's easy enough to deal with).

As with any city setting, there are the different districts; Gear, Temple, Market, Merchant, Upper, Lower, The Docks, Collegium, and the Kobold Ghetto. There are also two basic ways to make your coin here, one side of the law, or the other. Those caught breaking the laws will find that their GM's are prepared for them, as there is a full breakdown of crime and punishment handled, with fairly established concepts of justice and fair retribution.

For those playing within Midgard, the sections detailing the neighboring cities and kingdoms will be of much more usage than to those like myself, who intend to drop Zobeck into our own worlds. Regardless, each of the neighbors are given a quick well detailed section giving a GM enough to work with from this book alone to be able to handle contact.

The introduction to NPC's of note are dropped like nuggets of goodness throughout the work, tucked into sections as support for the material being presented within that chapter. Again, as stated earlier, I like this approach, as it gives your mind something to attach the NPC too, and that breeds familiarity. A few more NPC's of note would be:
The Keeper in White: kobold clockwork lich wizard 12, yeah, mouthful isn't it? This dude, an albino kobold over 100 years in age, has a mithral torso, and a clockwork heart. He's obsessed with keys, and lives in a locale known as the Throne of Keys (as it's filled with thousands of stolen keys).
Lady Fenyll Marack: Praetor of the Blue House, Lord Commander of the Free Army of Zobeck The only publicly known member of the 5 person secret council known as the Praetor. The Praetors serve as inner cabinet to the Lord Mayor, as well as his eyes and ears throughout the city.
Abrostar: Gearforged owner of the Grey Friar, has a love of learning and memory that set her apart from other gearforged. Her tavern/restaurant may not have the best tasting food, but it's cheap and her seats are always filled after service at the temple to Rava end.

And before the wrong impression is given, there are full write ups and statblocks for the notable NPC's later within the book, I am simply pointing out the initial introduction to many of these NPC's is handled in a better manner than simply cramming them together at the end of the book, or breaking the flow of the text with scattered statblocks everywhere.

We are given a two page map of the city, with numbers for locales (sorry Endzeitgeist) that where as are not of the greatest artisitic style, are functional. It reminds me of a hand drawn map, which I am not a fan of in works of this level of professional quality. We are also given a map for the Kobold Ghetto with more detailed locations as well. Several locales end their small descriptions with (see another book page number x-z) which personally, I'm not sure how I feel about. I am hoping that we are being pointed to other books when it comes to these locations because there is a much more detailed writeup and maps for these places to be found in these other books. I could not help but notice that where as the map has numbers for locales to be matched up to, and a great deal of the locales have numbers, a great deal don't. Which left me wondering where those locales were in regards to the city.

Several gods are detailed within this PDF, and are mainly of use for the setting Zobeck is intended for, but amongst the gods one will find a few interesting gems that are ripe for plucking for any setting. The Lust domain, which screams do not use unless you have a mature play group, and the secrets to Divining The Shell (Divination using crabs). Obviously the Lust domain is what it is (for once, go ahead and get your mind in the gutter, your right this time), it's the crab divination that offers up so many freaking possibilities. If you have never used divination within your games you are missing a really cool way to not only get information into your players hands, but to seriously screw with them as well, lol.

The chapter covering magic for the city of Zobeck introduces us to two new schools, Clockwork and Illumination. Those who follow the school of Clockwork are masters of constructs, mechanical devices and time itself. While Illumination handles star and shadow magics, and is an exclusive school of magic to the city of Zobeck, offering a true individuality to it's mages. Both schools are supported with a collection of new spells. The final offering from this book would be a collection of magic items, wherein I found a few editorial concerns:
Tick Stop Watch: The slot is for feet, even though this is a stop watch....strange place to carry a stop watch, just saying.
Signet Ring of Karremark: Am assuming the kobold ring is supposed to weigh .5 lbs, not 5 lbs as it is listed. Otherwise, I wanna watch that kobold arm wrestle someone.
LifeBlood Gear: Am not entirely clear on how this works, or why it takes up the shoulder slot. By the description, reading through it the first time I was thinking it literally created out of thin air a small animated object after the gear was attached to one of the three targets. The second time I read it I started to wonder if it was supposed to be animating the thing it was attached to, even though a size ratio for the targets was not given. Either way, I do not understand the shoulder slot.

OK, final thoughts, buy this book. Period. There are a few hiccups, but none of them were enough to derail the sheer awesomeness of Zobeck. As a setting taken as it is, or plucked from its landscape and relocated to your own horizons, this city rocks, and your players will love it. One of the easiest 5 star ratings I've ever given.

These are a perfect rendition of the Pathfinder goblins

Easily my favorite sculpt from the set, and was very happy to see they are being packed 2 in a set with one hero and one warrior

fairly decent detail to the paint job on the thorax, was pretty disappointed that this mini was packed as a solo at it's size though...

I'm not sure what other people are seeing when they look at the gargoyle mini, but mine looks like someone held the base and dipped it in gray paint, nothing more, nothing less...BORING!!!! I get he's made of stone, I've never seen stone that is one monotone shade of gray in my life.

Pose wise, only reason he's even getting 2 stars, as the pose is decent, but the paint job ruins this miniature.

In the Company of Monsters, a 94 page PDF, could easily be dismissed as a collection of 6 previously released PDF's, it could. But that would be doing this book a disservice. Formatting and layout show a great deal of learning as far as what works and what doesn't. The book has a cleaner feel to it than the individual PDF's from which it's material was gleaned. There are new pieces of artwork tucked in here and there, as well as a few minor changes to previous rules (the Jotun's ability to multi-class being the largest that I saw). But all of this info is truly only important to those who have previously purchased the In the Company PDF's that were used to build this collection. So let's take a look at this from the point of view that doesn't make that assumption, shall we?

94 pages with 7 pages going to OGL, ToC, credits, Front/Back covers and 2 Ads. That's 67 pages left to cover 5 playable races , 4 paragon classes, and one template that truly steps past just being a template. A paragon class, for those now scratching their head and wondering just what that might be, is the epitome of perfection for a race. It is a racial class that can only be taken by its specific race, and will allow a character to continue to develop both physically and ability wise throughout the advancement of the character. In short, paragon classes are freaking sweet, and allow for those legendary ideal examples of a race we all know from mythology. Now, having read that, it sounds very easy to consider paragon classes to be a game unbalancer, if it wasn't for the simple fact that like all classes, you only get the bonuses if you invest the levels. What I mean by this is by putting xp into levels of paragon may make you a better Giant or Minotaur (making you bigger, stronger and such), those xp can not then go into trained levels, like fighter, cleric or such. The paragon levels allow you to be a better (insert race name here), not a better (insert class name here). Henceforth, I feel the balance remains.

Now, after a description of the Paragon Class, and how that all works, we dive right into the Gargoyle, or the Stonewarden as this book refers to them. Why the distinction? Because there is acknowledgement that the world of Pathfinder already has a feral gargoyle, and these are not those. The gargoyle section gives us an alternate origin story, a rather interesting tale actually, in which gargoyles actually originated as humans. The tale is told to us by Kiyus the Stonewarden, in the usual format of first person stories that this series is known for. Crafted of the greatest warriors of their time, the original gargoyles were charged with defending the mountain clans of humans from their enemies, but eventually found themselves at odds as to how to handle their weaker charges. Humans of course renounced all gargoyles when they were presented with demands for obedience from those who would rule, so those who would protect slept. They slept and they watched, and they waited.

The gargoyle section focuses on the stonewarden as a race, allowing the term gargoyle to remain where it is, with the monster option. The stonewardens find themselves awakening into a world where humans still do not trust them, despite their allegiance to a pledge to defend the human peoples. Physical variations are explained with an interesting chameleon-like ability in that the longer a stonewarden perches and sleeps near other structures and stone, the more like those structures they begin to look. Able to gradually, over hundreds of years, to assume the “theme” essentially of what they roost amongst, many a stonewarden chooses their sleeping grounds based on pleasing aesthetics, i.e. a cathedral covered in beautiful angelic statuary, a marbled or black slate rooftop, things of this nature. Stonewardens also however have a degree of control over how the changes will affect them, and by “asking” the stone of their body to adapt to their needs through the usage of their abilities, they can add to their claws and talons, enlarge and sharpen their horns, grow stronger wings, additional limbs, etc.

The Stonewarden Paragon class is a 1-20th level class with a stack of class features and abilities. I'm not going to get into the math of what you gain here, as I don't want to give that away. The paragon section introduces a handful of new feats and spells, as well a few new magical items.

Giants, as told to us by Aevarr “Grinsaga” Valisson, prefer to be called Jotunnar. Within the introduction to this section Aevarr explains to us that his people are not the giants of old, but are still giants, and therefore continue the theme of the In The Company Of.. series by giving us a race that is an option to the established race. With a base height chart starting at 6'5” for the medium Jotun and ending at 58'6” for the colossal, there is some serious room to grow within this paragon class. The jotun paragon class demands that a jotun chooses an elemental power from the 4 elements at first level, thereby used as the jotun's descriptor. After choosing an elemental descriptor, the Jotun must stay with their paragon class until at least 6th level before being allowed to multiclass, lest the elemental powers literally destroy the jotun. Again, this paragon class presents a 1-20th level full class, with a selection of new feats and class features to support it.

Firstbuilt gains the honor of telling the story of his people, the Ironborn to Owain Northway in the third section of this book. Differing in nature from the typical origin story, the Ironborn have existed for only 60 years, and our tale is told to us from the first of their kind. Created by an artificer to replace her assistants, Firstbuilt was the answer to a genius's frustration at her inability to find help that could keep up with her. Designed with all of her gifts, and allowed to learn and expand, Firstbuilt created and crafted the first generation of his people, instilling in them the desire and knowledge to continue his race. Often times facing discrimination depending upon what socitey they are within, and to whom they are dealing with, the ironborn are a people attempting to find their place within the world. Seen as both property and individuals, trusted friends and devious machines, servant and comrade, the ironborn truly have no home of their own yet where all are accepted as one. Now, given that ironborn are built to a specific purpose, the ability score modifier is handled in a clever way, in that you choose where the bonuses are going, and how many you get, for a cost of a negative to another ability at the ratio of 2/1. Or, you can choose to forgo ability modifiers, or simply add them to strength and take no negatives, the ability build is up to you. It was in this section that I found my favorite piece of artwork for this collection, page 32, a divinely inspired ironborn, yes, you can play a cleric folks, the ironborn pray, and receive answer. All ironborn characters pick an ability package at creation which will determine the purpose behind their build and give them their racial perks to start. A few package options would be Woodwalker (more suited a life of the ranger or druid), Property (built to be a slave), Iron Heart (an obedient warrior), or the Combat Virtuoso (efficient loyal warriors). So, by now you're expecting to see some feats, right? Well, this section does not disappoint, and goes one step further, giving us new feats, and a bloodline. That's right, a bloodline for a created machine race, now that's fantasy gaming folks. And, if that's not enough, rules for the clockwork familiar as well, because really, who doesn't want a whirring clicking toy owl?

Minotaurs is our fourth section, and the tale is handled this time by Lord Commander Merotes Halfhorn, and the story in question is the Taurian Tale. A well developed origin tale that fleshes out not only where their people come from, but where they are today, and why their society has developed the way it has, the Taurian Tale is one of my personal favorites for an origin tale from the collection so far. A people of honor and strength, the Taurians are a strict society that demands one adhere to a personal code of conduct in the treatment of others, and an even stricter code in how they view themselves. Covered within this material is the viewpoint of this race in regards to the fact that they, as a race, raid, steal, kidnap, buy and rape the women of other races. They of course do not see it this way, and explain it from their point of view. The odd thing about this being, that when reading it, you will realize how very similar to many different cultures of human history this practice actually is, the vikings being the first to come to mind.

We are presented with two variations physically speaking within this section, the Taurian (bearing all three markings of their origin, hoof, horn, and tail), and the Mereitaur (bearing only one or two of the markings). Class archetypes for the Barbarian and Monk are presented, as are favored class options for several of the classes. A new bloodline is presented, the Taurian bloodline, with new abilities, but no spells. The racial paragon this time is the Rog-Kalem, a class that gives you the ability to grow into an over sized large killing machine suited for the labyrinth unlike any other class. This section closes out with a handful of new feats, weapons and equipment.

Next up, Nestra Darklaugh walks us through the specifics of the Restless Souls template. My first impressions of this class, honestly, someone really liked the Crow graphic novels, a lot. Not that this is a bad thing, not at all actually. This section of this collection takes a severe change of direction, and one that is a little jarring. There is a very dark, tongue in cheek humor to a great deal of what is written here regarding the issues of the restless souls, and how the world would be different for the dead, as opposed to the living. The legal matter of regaining ones possessions after returning from the grave for instance, or the punishing of one for casting forbidden magics such as soulbind. There is even comments pertaining to pink bows and skulls for fashion choices. I get that each book was originally a separate entity, and each is supposed to be presented in first person, but the dark humor really distracts when presented as part of a collective like this.

Much like the Crow mythos, a restless soul has an unfinished task that was a catalyst for their return, but reading through the material, there doesn't seem to be much urgency to finishing, and getting back to the grave. So, by now you're wondering what exactly is the template, right? It can only be applied to a dead creature. You return the character to life, but neither as a living thing nor an undead thing, but rather an outsider. You of course pick up a collection of new traits and abilities, including amusingly enough Death Amnesia (can't quite recall the exacts of the big event). This template also allows you to substitute new feats presented in this section for ones you already possess. A handful of new spells closes out the restless soul chapter of this book.

The Wyrd, the final offering of this collection, are explained to us by Deimos Invincible Fox. A crossbreed of Ogre Magi and Elf, their physical description leads to an unintentional chuckle with an editorial miss: “My own perfect eyes, like the rest of the wyrd, are a single color, revealing no difference between purple and iris; generally our eyes are red in color, though mine are a remarkable gold.” Um, wha? I'm assuming purple was supposed to be pupil. For the record, that's not the first grammatical nor editorial mistake I've stumbled across, but it was the funniest.

A society based upon personal supremacy, the wyrd are all about proving to the world and others how much better than you they are. They spend a great deal of their lives weighing transgressions of others against their own worth and value, deeming other races as inferior before them. Only to the Ogre magi and Elven race do they look with any measure of respect. Ironically, they pity the half elf for being of an inferior bloodline, when they themselves are technically half elves themselves. The Wyrd's paragon class path, unlike the others, is only comprised of seven levels, and can be taken at anytime. Taking levels in the wyrd paragon class represents showing one's worth, as well as undertaking the rites that activate the heritage locked within the blood of every wyrd of their elven and ogre magi ancestors. Wyrd are supported with feats, spells, a bloodline, alternate racial traits, an archetype, and a prestige class. The section ends with a fully fleshed out NPC to show off just what can be done with these racial options.

Final weigh in.....several editorial errors present in the individual books are still present in this reformatted collection. Misspelled words, the usage of incorrect words, names presented with one spelling, only to be spelled slightly different a few pages later. There are new illustrations added here and there, and the layout has drastically changed, and does look better over all. But the question remains, is the book worth it? For anyone who has picked up the individual PDF's, I saw nothing here to make this worth re-buying a PDF. However, if you are like myself, and like a printed book, I can't help but think this would look great on a shelf of game books. For those who have not purchased the individual PDF's that comprise this collection, every chapter in this PDF represents a new concept for players within the Pathfinder rules. Several of those concepts are very familiar, with a few twists. But, every one of those concepts is well developed, and extremely playable. The restless soul is an extremely enjoyable template to play, personally speaking.

Given that the book retained a great deal of the editorial mistakes from the six individual PDF's even though it obviously was reformatted with a new layout, I can not go to 5 stars for this book. But, the balance of solid material, presented with more than enough balance in my opinion to allow one to play some of the more “legendary” versions of a few of these races guarantees no less than a 4 star rating, so that's where I'm going with it, 4 stars.

A collection of templates, let's just roll that around on the tongue for a minute, shall we? A collection of templates.....not one or two tucked into a bestiary, not a bonus one tucked in a magazine....no, a whole collection, dedicated to templates. Kinda brings a tear to the eye...of every player who's ever thought they knew their monsters inside and out. Rite publishing brings us the equalizer, that's right, the equalizer. For every time we, as a GM, have spent days planning a fantastic evening with a combination of killer creatures, really looking to challenge and push our players, only to have each creature knocked down, one by one, like they were cream puffs. No more, with this collection those same old same old monsters are stepping out in a new set of shoes, with a whole new set of abilities and tricks.

Presented within are not just 32 new templates, oh no. Served up on a silver platter are a collection of templates, example creatures with full tactics, statistics and a lore section for each creature, a small DC based chart for the players to roll against to get some information on what they are dealing with. We're also treated to a snippet of conversation, an interview would probably be the best way to describe it, between those creature's that can communicate and Qwilion of Questhaven, in the form of excerpts from fictional books. I especially like this part, as including books into a campaign world is something I have always enjoyed very much, and having an author, and a body of work woven into another product of this nature is a subtle way to incorporate an NPC many might find boring if presented solely upon their own.

Interestingly enough, this being a collection of templates and all, is the fact that this PDF also presents us with 50 new monstrous feats and a handful of spells. I've purchased feat books that don't give me that many feats, and these are icing here, because this is a template book.

Every sample creature is accompanied with an illustration in B&W, and where as I know I have seen one of the illustrations in two other books in the last four days alone, the rest I did not recognize, and most of the art was fairly good. As seems to be the case, there is always one illustration that I find myself scratching my head and wondering, why? This time around it was the artwork chosen for pg 99, at no point does it even begin to feel like it fits with the rest of the art for this book, nor is it even of the same caliber.

I could go on and on about various templates within this collection, but previous reviewers have gone into pretty decent detail already, so I will instead tell you of my favorite two picks from this book, and my least favorite. We start with the Havenfury Creature Template, or more specifically, it's example creature the Black Ghont. The Black Ghont is a goblin monk, merged with a fury. The template, as it stood, was interesting. But this is a case where the example of what one can do with these templates really sold me, because in this case the template is overshadowed by the creation. Black Ghont (CR18) really shines in showing that you can take a monster a play group knows well, the goblin, and take it somewhere they could never anticipate or plan for. The template allows Black Ghont three ghost like goblin dogs who circle him in a protective ring at all times. He is essentially a beacon point for goblins within a certain range, and they will swarm to him to aid in battle, as well “loan” him their hit points. Oh, and best part of his entire write up, the entry from Qwilion has him dictating the Black Ghont's words, write up to the point the goblin realizes he's writing down his words....Goblins don't like that after all, they believe writing one's words can steal the soul.

My second favorite monster template from this book, isn't a template for monsters. The Aware Arcana is one of the most creative and unique things I have seen in a while. The concept of applying a template to a spell, and getting a construct that essentially is the spell, in the form of a minion who can take orders and carry them out, all while still possessing the ability to unleash the spell, very very cool.

Which brings us to my least favorite, and the one I doubt I personally will use, the Eldritch Spawn Creature. I'm simply not a fan of the Lovecraftian concept, so the whole mouth full of tentacle thing is an instant no sale for me. Lovers of the genre however, mechanically speaking, this is a sound template, and a great way to add this flair to any creature within your worlds.

OK, final thoughts. Artwork goods far outweighed the bad, formatting followed the dual column and standard statblocking concepts. There were several times throughout the book that spaces were dropped between words, but not enough to ping for even half a star, so I'm letting that one slide as the material more than made up for it. Throw in the bonus of feats and spells, and this PDF becomes a must have for any monster loving Gm out there. Giving this collection a 5 star rating.

In the Company of Minotaurs weighs in at 22 pages. Cover, credits, OGL all taking 1 page apiece, and 2 pages for ads, leaving 17 pages for new material and interspersed artwork. Internal artwork is all B&W and ranges in quality. The piece by Darren M.A. Calvert is pure gold, and will be gracing a few character sheets within my campaigns. A lot of the artwork invokes a sense of nostalgia for 1ed, and that's not exactly a bad thing, as a great deal of the feel of this book will remind many old school gamers of the mindset of the Krynn minotaur.

Amusingly, the only place within the PDF's actual text you will see the word minotaur, other than the tile reference, is in the the opening header for the initial paragraph that starts the tome. Presented mainly as a conversation between Lord Commander Merotes Halfhorn and on Qwilion of Questhaven, what we have here is the telling of the Taurian Tale (Taurian being the racial name minotaurs address themselves by according to this PDF), by a taurian. There is of course the one sided view of the acts of taurians as this tale is told by one, such as the viewpoint on the capturing of women in raids for procreation, the act of taking a bride, how they view their slaves, etc. But, I have to say, I prefer the viewpoint to be skewed. When we look at races such as half-orc, there is an unspoken understanding as to how that child came into being, it does not have to be discussed, it's simply accepted. But, have you ever wondered, from the orc point of view, what's the explanation? That is what we have here essentially, a look behind the curtain if you will, as to why this race would steal, kidnap, claim or buy women of other species, and why they feel they have the right, as they do not see it as being wrong. Within their culture it is so far from wrong, that they refuse to take a slave as wife until a male has proven himself through acts of courage and strength.

Now, the question must be asked, why would they need to take other race's females in the first place? Because they drown their daughters at birth. Yeah, you read that right. The PDF opens with a full blown creation myth (I love these as it's interesting to see how each race believes they got here). Springing forth from a union between a bull of heaven and a queen, the first son of Tayros was born, named Astaurian. It was on his day of birth, when the king learned of the betrayal and set to drown the infant that he himself was slain by the heavenly bull, who then sacrificed his own life to protect his sons. Cursed then by a hag who had betrayed them all, the queen was told that daughters of Astaurian's line would bring ruin to their people, so, to this day, they drown their daughters at birth. Now, that's a squished version of the creation myth, there's more to the heavenly bull, the hag, the betrayal, but it covers the reason they, as a race, have no females of their own.

Being a race born of animal, the concept of the eternal struggle to maintain there composure is brought up several times, and is an issue of great honor to them to stay in control of the inner rage. Reading through the various passages concerning honor, rage, and valor I found myself reading the passages in Michael Dorn's voice (Worf from Star Trek tNG). It amuses me how much like the minotaur the klingon race was modelled. The taurian society is fleshed out with a homeland (the Lightless Labyrinth), an expansive collection of communities, complexes, and homes all intertwined and protected by mazes and traps. And explanations are presented for why one would venture from home to adventure, the methods of adventure one could have without ever truly leaving the maze, and what could be taught to a young taurian at the heart of maze. The ruling council of 26 (to honor the 26 sons of the first taurian) have their seats of power at the heart of the maze, a place beyond the outside world, as only those who truly know and understand the maze they have built could ever hope to find it.

We are presented with racial traits to build and play not only a taurian, but a mereitaur as well. The mereitaur being one born of taurian blood, but only possessing one or two of the three basic racial traits (horns, hooves and tail). I am assuming the cover illustrates a mereitaur, as it has no hooves. This was one of my first hiccups with this PDF. The cover piece is re-used internally, and you get a better look at the illustration. It is not just that he has regular feet, he has human-ish legs, where as every other illustration showing legs has the lower legs of an animal, with the double knee joints. I think perhaps a clarification would have helped, something along the lines of “If the mereitaur is born without hooves, their legs will develop as their mother's, and be of one knee.” I only point this out because of how drastic a difference it makes in them visually, and I remember well from my childhood the entire concept of Krynn minotaurs versus Forgotten Realm minotaurs...hoof vs. foot, which one was a true minotaur.

And, since I am on the topic, those minotaur of more monsterlike personalities, they're covered mechanically speaking with one passage in the alternate racial traits (Bestial). If one is going to release a book calling it In The Company of Minotaurs, one should address all minotaurs, not just one specific branch of the family tree.

For the most part, taurians see themselves as a LE people, which is amusing since they believe they are the chosen of the heavens. They revere several gods, but have a special place in their heart for Our Grandfather Ocean, yet another point I found awkward when taking in the entire collection of material presented. They favor a deity that one would expect for a sea faring race, more than one illustration shows them at sea or on boats, but zero text support or fluff covers that idea, other than the mention of the deity. If they are going to be presented in illustration for a naval lifestyle, perhaps an archetype to support that? Feats? Ships,anything?

We are given a host of new favored class options, a great deal of them being along the lines of 1 ½ or ½ point bonuses, which, while keeping the game from getting out of line, personally, drive me nuts. We're also treated to a few new archetypes and a bloodline that I intend to write up an NPC for as soon as possible. The bloodline grants an increase in strength and neutral armor that increases with level, very nice. The racial paragon class presented here is where we are introduced to the big guns of the taurian people though, the Rog-kalem. A true bull (lol) of his people the Rog-kalem has the potential to reach upwards of 12 feet, with some serious physical might to go with the size. And of course we are presented with a selection of feats specific to the taurian people that take advantage of their physical nature (horns) as well as their preferred weapon (the axe). The book ends with a section of new weapons and equipment with things like the Labrys ( a double headed axe) and Dark Chalk ( used to mark surfaces but can only be seen through the use of darkvision). Several of the new items are good, but the chalk has me asking, who is this for? Looking through their racial traits, taurians, like the classic minotaur, don't get lost in mazes. So, why would they develop a chalk used to mark walls that others can't see? To warn of traps? They put them there. To say this way to the bathroom? Again, they built the maze. A cool item, just not sure why they would of developed it as a race.

Ok, final thoughts on this PDF....some interesting ideas, with an immense amount of story. A very specific story, that fits into a very specific setting. There is enough here for any GM to find material that will be usable, and mechanically the Taurian work as a playable race, as well as the Mereitaur.

As much as I liked the feats and items, there were things I would of loved to have seen that were not included. Things like unique sorcerer spells for the taurian, or unique clerical/druid spells. We're told that clerics/druids are revered amongst their people, and yet we have practically no real support to make a unique cleric/druid character by having some magics available only to them? A reason for them to dye their fur other than cosmetic, like say wards, or runes. Or perhaps wards and runes for their horns, as several illustrations show them with carved horns. Magical items that are unique to the taurian race perhaps, at least a few magical weapons perhaps? In presenting one aspect of the minotaur this PDF delivers, there is a playable race here, but there was the opportunity to present so much more.

In total, I'm giving this one a 4 star rating, as what is here is gold, pure and simple. What is not here could fill another book, one I would buy in a heartbeat.

Happened to come across a collection of D&D random mini's someone had brought into my local game store today, and picked up a few pieces including this one. One of the best treant miniatures I've seen in a while. Extra details like roots and leaves really help sell the piece as more than just a lump of brown.

Way of the Yakuza weighs in at 39 pages with front and back covers, credits, OGL, TOC, 1 Ad and a 1 page glossary. That leaves us 32 pages for material focusing on the yakuza and artwork. PDF is fully bookmarked, always a plus, and formatting follows the dual column with embedded artwork that is essentially the standard. Michael K. Tumey did an excellent job on transporting us through the feel of the art to the lands of the feudal orient, with one major hiccup. The illustration on page 19 is a classic example of how one bad drawing can bring down the whole body of work, which is a shame, given the level of quality of the cover image (which we are given as a full page splash just ready for printing).
The Table of Contents threw me right of the bat, as it appears to actually be from another product, an adventure perhaps?

Jumping right into a history of the yakuza as an organization, we are treated to a back story explaining why the yakuza exists, how they came to find themselves in the businesses they now are, and why the structures for each family (the proper term for a yakuza gang) are the way they are. All of this information is presented with a bias to the yakuza point of view, as it is written as a conversation between an old man and a young man looking for knowledge upon the path of yakuza. An interesting method of presenting the material, but it does create that bias. Scattered throughout the PDF are what I shall refer to as “The Rules”, small one or two sentence rules of life within the yakuza contained within a salmon (?) colored box. Here we are introduced to the three most common personality types that would be associated with the yakuza, but still adventure:
The Sekkou – Trusted delivery men, scouts and investigators for their oyabun (gang leader).
The Rakugosha – An outcast, living in hiding and on the run.
The Furosha – Mercenaries with no true loyalty to any one oyabun.

We are given 9 new Yakuza traits to choose from covering things such as Bakuto Child (grew up around a bakuto parlor), and Lucky Tattoo (extra dice roll), as well as Shrine Helper (spent time when younger in the company of a shrine's priest), to name a few. Each of the traits goes well with the theme of a yakuza character as far as helping to establish an anchored history in this world. From there we go into Archetypes that will take the more familiar classes and give them a feel more appropriate for a campaign centered around the yakuza, they are as follows:
Bard – Moso: A traveling blind bard (featured in full color on the cover).
Fighter – Yakuza Bushi: Private guards and front-line warriors.
Rogue – Bakuto: Essentially the orients answer to the gambler.
Rogue – Kyodai: Thugs and strong arm thieves as opposed to the more subtle skilled rogue.
Wizard – Horimyo: Tattoo artists who craft their spells into ink, literally. Prepared spells for the day appear on the Horimyo's skin as tattoos until cast, at which point they fade. They may carry their familiar on them as a tattoo; summoning it when needed. All in all, a very cool concept and excellent archetype.

A new prestige class in the form of the Machi-Yakko, intended for a rogue or bard, but can be taken by any class that meets the requirements. The machi-yakko is a title of respect given high ranking or prominent members of the yakuza, typically oyabun. We are given a progression chart for ten levels for this prestige class. One of the cooler features of this prestige class would be the level dependent tattoos, and the powers granted by them.

Next up is the section dealing with new feats, of which there are 8. Feats like Craft Spell Tattoo and Incorrigible Gambler (+'s to sense motive, bluff and profession gambler), City Tough (bonus to intimidate checks), and Country Hooligan (+'s to survival and fortitude), or Craft Wondrous Tattoo and Short Blade Warrior (+'s to initiative and damage), Smuggler (+'s to bluff and perception) and Dice Whisperer (+ to perception, and always know how the dice land).
A small section covering some new equipment items give us things like loaded dice, cane swords, a straw backpack and Tattoos, along with the kits required to give one. This segues very nicely into the spell section which opens with spells for the Horimyo caster. Each of the four new spells are tattoo related in one form or another with effects varying from turning tattoo ink into acid, stealing a dead man's enchanted tattoo and placing it upon a living target, tattoo removal, and a growing pain inducing tattoo that eventually will kill its target.

The next section introduces us to Enchanted Yakuza Tattoos. Used to mimic wondrous items one would usually wear, the tattoo takes up the appropriate slot depending upon its location. Several examples of enchanted tattoos are presented including Mistwalker – once per day the user can assume gaseous form, Fiery Dragon – breath weapon a certain amount of times per day, and Oni – resistance to fire and can increase strength a certain amount of times per day for a set amount of time.

Part 3: Creating a Yakuza Gang. You don't realize how much is involved in fully fleshing out a criminal organization for a fantasy role-playing game until you sit and read a chapter like this one. 7 pages detailing everything one needs from naming a gang to income levels, qualities and honor of the members, enterprises and smuggling limits. Easily the best written chapter of the book, and extremely useful outside of the setting this book is designed for.

Between Parts 3 and 4 of this book we find the one and only piece of cartography, Zawaizumi, a mountain village. The map is full color, and adequate, but far inferior to the level of art presented throughout this book. I would of loved to have seen a better representation of cartography done for this piece.

Part 4, the final section of the book, presents us with the mountain village of Zawaizumi, a small village in the grip of a “retired” yakuza oyabun. The village is fleshed out with location details and several adventure hooks, as well as stats for several members of the occupying gang. A well presented locale, any GM should be able to easily mine this section for adventure material with little to no work.

Final thoughts. I am a big fan of tattoos being explored in fantasy gaming, especially when they are merged with magics. So the fact that there was an underlying current of tattoos prevalent in several different areas of this book was not lost on me. However, a great deal of this book is pigeon holed into a very rigid setting for game play, and would not be as useful for those not looking to have anything to do with an Oriental feel in their campaign. Of course, if one does not wish for an Oriental feel in their games, perhaps one should not buy a book that is so obviously themed as this one is. Art wise, there are several pieces here that are awe inspiring, the cover piece being the greatest of them, and there are a few missteps that can not be overlooked. So, taking into account the good, bad and the middle of the road, I'm going to give this one a 4 star rating.

Those out there who still have a soft spot for Chaostech will feel very comfortable with #30 Fleshgrafts. This PDF, 17 pages in total weight (2 ads, 1 cover, 1 OGL, 1 credit, 1 intro letter and 11 pages of new material) introduces us to a whole new way to enhance and augment our characters under the Pathfinder system. Opening with a letter of correspondence between Pers Veilborn and Owain Northway regarding an encounter Owain had with a fleshgrafted individual, the letter presents the book to us as Pers' notes and research findings on the subject matter. Interestingly enough we see the Tamar people again mentioned, as well as the plague of black rain that befell their kingdom, driving them out. Fans of the #30 series will recognize this from the #30 Traps for Tombs PDF.

The PDF follows the standard dual column format with a framed page. Formatting was good save for one instance upon page 8 two extra blank lines seem to have been left in the middle of a fleshgrafts description, breaking the text. Grammar left me with nothing to complain about. The PDF is bookmarked to the level of types of fleshgrafts (claws and fangs, wings, skin, etc) as opposed to the individual fleshgraft, but as there are anywhere from three to five per page, this works just fine.

The art, a mix of B&W and color, and ranging from ok to really disturbingly good (that cover piece for instance had me at a loss). I like art in an RPG book, I feel it is a necessary component, but several of these pieces did not seem to have any connection to anything in this book, and therefore felt as if they had been added simply for the sake of having art.

What is a fleshgraft? Fundamentally, it is a magical item that (for the most part) will not take up any of the magic item slots, as they become an extension of your body, and are therefore not something you wear or carry. We are given a back story on where and how the first fleshgrafted came into being, and the art of grafting that sprang from those first unfortunates. We're also presented with the necessary feat (Graft Flesh) as well as a new Spell Flesh Culture; cause bits of dismembered flesh to grow or expand. (used by fleshgrafters in preparation for grafting). And, if all of that wasn't enough before we even get to the grafts, how about a freaky new familiar option? The gibberer. Think gibbering mouther, but smaller, and less dangerous. Fleshgrafters use them to grow organs and parts, much like we grow ears on mice.

Abyssal Barb: Bebelith claw, grafted to grow from the back of the host's hand
Leech Maw: Forms a Leechlike Maw from the jaw and mouth of the host, granting a bite attack, as well as the grab ability.
Retractable Claws: sprouting from either fingers or toes, treated as natural weapons.
Choker: A tentacle bonded either to a host's back or shoulder that can make a secondary attack. A single creature can host up to six chokers.
Mantid's Claws: Host gains two claw attacks from two mantis limbs attached to the midriff.
Ocean's Grasp: Two tentacles, per arm, joined just below the elbow.
Tattered Wings, Wings, and Wondrous Wings: Each level grants better flight, better speed, and a much better overall look for your character.
Spinneret Glands: Silk spinning organ of the size and type possessed by giant spiders.
Spitter: Acidic breath weapon and limited resistance to acid attacks.
Troll's Gland: OK, gross in concept, but very cool in practice. Causes an area of boils to appear, that when lanced will give the host troll regeneration like abilities.
Eyes of Arcane Sight: Replaces hosts eyes, allows a limited usage of the arcane sight spell.
Eyes of Insight: Replaces host's eyes, allows for visual detection of good aligned auras.
Eyes of Truesight: Replaces one eye, allows for limited usage of true seeing spell
True Seeing Eye Dog: Swap an eye with a pet, and gain sight limited access to sight from the vantage point of the animal.
Abomination: Third eye, grafted into center of forehead, gives bonus to intimidate and can generate an effect similar to the fear spell.
Cock's Eye: For x amount of times per day, can cast flesh to stone
Creeper Peeper: Milky white in coloration, this eye gets grafted to the inside of your wrist, and will allow one to see perfectly in darkness.
Eye of the Abyss: Has a fear effect, as well as the ability to affect a target as per the spell insanity.
Greypatch: A patch of skin from an undead, useful in bolstering hide from undead attempts.
Hides: Ac bonus ranges from +1-5, resembling the animal from which the hide was adapted.
Skin Colony: A grafted section of skin from another race or creed. Upon activation, the skin forms over your entire body, making minor cosmetic changes if need be (pointy ears, hair). Allows for disguise bonus checks, and can be scrubbed off, or allowed to simply fall off after a certain time.
Ugothol's Mask: By inserting flesh from a faceless stalker into a host's face, they gain some ability to stretch and change their facial appearance.
Angel's Blood: Am calling foul on this one. Cool idea, but not a fleshgraft. Essentially an infusion, or potion, comprised of a good aligned outsiders blood that will give anyone the capacity to “test” as good for a set amount of time in regards to all effects within game that target or benefit a good aligned creature. Really cool idea, but so not a Fleshgraft.
Bullheaded: Cause everyone, at some point in time, has wanted minotaur horns...admit it.
Chatterer: Turn your torso into a gibbering mouther (ok, not really, but pretty close).
Gills: Breathe like a fish.
Slider: No, not White Castle burgers, become amorphous and malleable for a set number of rounds, great for getting under locked doors.
Wandsleight: Literally store and activate your wands from inside your forearms.
Waterborn: Take on some physical characteristics of an aquatic race and gain bonuses to swim.

From there we are given a full stat write up for the before mentioned Gibberer, and are introduced to the organization the Wardens of the Darkened Heart. Also in this section are two full NPC's, showing off some of what can be done with the fleshgrafts. Unfortunately, these NPC's suffered the same editing issue that has left me baffled in regards to both of them. I'll let the PDF speak for itself on this one:
Hajen Po, Lesser Warden of the Darkened Heart
“ He serves the Wardens as a spy and resident fleshgrafter in Questhaven. Her responsibilities include ensuring ….......”
and again
“Hajen has a third eye grafted in the center of her forehead that allows him to intimidate and terrify.”
Kril'ana, Prisoner of the Darkened Heart
“When her father was captured, the boy, now 14, was sentenced to hang...”
and again
“...to prepare him for some more difficult missions, they enhanced him with fleshgrafts. She now has .....”

Now, both statblocks say these NPC's are male, but the gender changes constantly throughout all of the text, there are quite a few more instances beyond what I have quoted here, and that's just sloppy.

Final thoughts, I like the idea of the fleshgrafts, and there were several here that are really cool, and would enhance a game session immensely. However, the issue of the art, as good as most of it is, very little of it feels like it's connected to the material within this book, even the cover piece (which is excellent) feels like more of a tribute to the artist Brom then anything else. And the formatting and editing errors, I am inclined to give this work a 3.5, rounded up (but only because of the excellent material that the fleshgrafts themselves are) to a four star rating.