Kassil's page

Just from the first few chapters I've already gotten my money's worth from this delicious product. Already harvesting bits and pieces to incorporate into an ongoing campaign, and I'm looking forward to offering the story feats to my players - some of the story feats seem like they were tailor-made for specific PCs in the game!

A few years back, I reviewed this, and it was disappointing, at the time. On the other hand, I've gotten a broader perspective on gaming in general and had reason to revise this. Part of my initial distaste was a knee-jerk reflex to the anime-heavy flavor of the game.

Unfortunately, this book still has some MAJOR flaws even upon revisiting it - like the presence of a Rape Camp. I get it, that faction is HorriBadEvil. THERE ARE BETTER WAYS TO SHOW IT THAN A GODS-BE-DAMNED 'RAPE CAMP'. The editor was apparently on vacation for several sections, and all in all it reads like an anime-themed power-trip fantasy for adolescent heterosexual males.

The simple presence of 'The Ghost of Malthus' in Abadar's entry is enough to win me over for this book; props to Paizo for the inclusion of a not-very-well-known figure from our own recent history, in a role that suits the original Malthus quite well.

The book as a whole is well-organized and concise, and has useful tidbits scattered all through it.

First, let me say that this is, indeed, an awesome resource full of all kinds of amusing, creative, and useful pieces of material. From alchemical mishaps through unique poisons to things in a pocket, there's a lot of cool stuff here.

One caveat: the book claims to be system-neutral, but there are a *lot* of things that directly reference the OGL/D20 system scattered through the entire book. While there are a fair number of genuinely system-neutral pieces, the overall book is very definitely biased toward the D20 system.

Overall,a good investment. I liked the antigravity function and the weather control features, although the latter drew some unwanted divine attention. The limitless wine supply is unfortunately a less than stellar vintage.

On the downside, I keep having knights attack me over it, and it keeps producing small green worms from the tailpipe that cause zombies.

I went into this with high hopes, to be honest. The book promises an array of awesome, meta-epic foes whose simple existence threatens the world's stability. The first section, involving signs and descriptions of what an Elder Evil *is*, actually has utility and a fairly cool concept.

Then they get into the 'sample elder evils' and happily ignore their own wording on what makes an Elder Evil what it is. You physically confront EEs in several of the offered adventure designs, which if they're truly such epic elder evils of world-shattering might, it shouldn't be possible to confront them thusly. These aren't Elder Evils, they're just high-CR baddies to fight.

Add in the abysmal Delve format for the adventures, and this has some real down sides to it. The book would be much better off expanding on the first section a fair bit more, and offering up templates for creating Spawn of the Elder Evils. If we're not supposed to be able to fight them, only stop them before they arise, why are they the Nemesis in each case?

It has some use, but could've been a lot better.

Alas, I do not own the authographed version. Maybe I can hunt down the Paizonians someday and get them to do so.

I could have used more of the 'help creating a memorable and awesome villain' and less 'here are a bunch of nasties you can use for your game!', as I have plenty of notions that could do with being fleshed out.

I do realize there are GMs who lack sufficient time to readily cook up a villain with sufficient information, and so those chapters would likely be of use, but for that kinds of thing I'd recommend something like the Pathfinder line or the three APs in Dungeon; less work to customize and an entire game prebuilt for you.

If and when I have a group at the correct level, I am going to be more than willing to send them into the wilderness of Bloodsworn Vale. The lasting impact the characters can have on the Vale's development is well-handled.

The fact that when I was accidentally double-billed and sent two copies by accident, Paizo's staff willingly refunded the accidental charge doesn't hurt my opinion, either.

I, for one, appreciate the material worked up for the GameMastery line, and unlike one or two others who've done reviews, I'm not blessed with brilliantly adept players. Bloodsworn Vale convinced me to sign up for a subscription, and to order D0 and D1. I'm certainly not sorry about having done so.

I'm quite willing to pay the cash for this product in hardcopy. Unlike some other people, it seems, I like to have a hardcopy of all my materials; it makes it easier to access them when I don't have my laptop, or when I'm low on power and there's nary an outlet in sight - and all in all, I like the professional quality of the product over printer-and-folder. It lasts a lot longer when you have to travel 800+ miles to game.

No more trying to track initiative and spell duration with scribbled notes or key-tapping on a laptop. Simple, efficient, and portable.

The complaint some others have had - small size - is an incredible boon for the GM who doesn't have time or space to pack around a large, full-sized book - whether a college student already overburdened or a member of the work force who can't spare room on the desk. The only nitpick I have with the whole design is the blatant reference to the GameMastery Item Cards, but since I can adapt that section, it isn't much of an issue.

From the solid feel of the book clear through the multiple chapters and the detailed appendices, this is a very well-made campaign book. Taking characters from humble beginnings to high levels, and jammed with all kinds of helpful and creative material for GMs who can't scrape the time to build their own campaign from the ground up.

Pros: It adds variety above and beyond the classic chromatic/metallic dichotomy, and handles numerous fiddly bits of fluff fairly well.

Cons: There's no need to keep expanding the bloody pantheon in every book. The attempt at a 'language primer' is laughable. And, honestly, some of those prestige classes and the like are just absurd.