Lord Haliaeetus's page

This is a handy resource for GMs looking to add a little meat to Ustalav. At its best, the author delivers focused information that is both informative and entertaining. However, at times, this 64-pager begs for editorial intervention. Many of the sentences are long, sweeping, and verbose. I found parts overindulgent and just plain labor intensive to read. Regardless, there is certainly value between the covers and I recommend it to anyone interested in Ustalav.

I started subscribing with the release of Kingmaker and have not been disappointed. With 25 years of gaming experience to draw from, I've found the AP subscription to be among the very best RPG products out there. Each issue is packed with an incredible amount of useful goodness, all for less than 20 bucks (including shipping). Content generally includes a 50ish page adventure wth a bunch of additional material (e.g. description of a region, mini-bestiary, new rules, short stories, etc). Highly recommended!

Overload. Where...to...start. Rarely does a book come along that is useful and interesting cover to cover. If you're looking for something with a crunchy filling to expand your game, consider buying this bad boy. There is so much good stuff packed in between the covers, to list out especially interesting and creative parts would be difficult...I don't have favorite parts, I have a new favorite book!

First off, this book is gorgeous. Everything from the front cover, to the layout, interior artwork, to the back cover, etc. looks incredible. If Scarlett Johansson were a book, she might look like this.

As far as content, Chapters 6-9 I found particularly well done and useful. This includes material on world building, adventuring, some advanced topics (eg haunts), NPCs, etc. Specifically, the questions to think about in Chapter 6 and the tables in Chapter 7 will have the greatest utility for my game.

That said, parts of this book are rehash or feel like an annoying conversation with a stranger who insists on pointing out the obvious. Filler? Or material for novice GMs? You decide. For example, I'm fairly confident that you don't need to pay $40.00 for a book that tells you young children might be disruptive to your game. Or that someone may have an allergy to animal fur. In addition, some of the rewards section is just cut and paste from the core rulebook (EG Table 5-9 in GMG = Table 15-4 in the CR [and many other tables in that chapter]).

With that, I am not disappointed with my purchase. It will certainly have some use and I will admire the artwork for some time to come. It's really 3.5 stars for me but I decided to round up because of the presentation.

Simply put, this a high quality product that anybody interested in PFRPG should consider purchasing. The art, for the most part, is top notch. The high spots for me were the angels, demons, and devils. Even the rat entry featured a wicked looking dire rat! The only major disappointment was the Tarrasque - it left a little something to be desired. There were a couple others, but this doesn't take away too much from the book as a whole.

The actual content is superb. I particularly appreciated the designers including guidelines for running some of the races as characters (e.g. aasimar, drow, etc.). The templates are well done too. I have yet to compare the Bestiary directly to the Monster Manual - that should be interesting.

Congratz to Paizo for putting out another great product.