Ulmaxes's page

This, along with the Buff deck, has been one of the single greatest contributions to our group's fluidity in gameplay that I've ever seen.
The difference between "what does Dazed do again? Let's stop combat and dig through books/SRD" and (looks at card) is amazing.

I give it 5 stars not because it's perfect, but because it fills a niche that is in desperate need of attention, and does so with near-flawless totality and style. The high points of each condition are highlighted and summarized concisely.

The only non-perfect thing I can mention is that the Fatigued condition is incorrect (you don't half your move speed), and I've seen others mention that the Confused condition is a little odd.

However, all-star basketball players are such because they're freaking awesome most of the time, not because they have no faults.

This is a solid must-buy for anyone who cares about making combat more fluid.

My only regret with running this module is not religiously paging through it and taking excessive notes so that my players could have an even better experience.
Trial of the Beast wonderfully mixes skill checks, player intuition, combat, and roleplaying into so little space. I'd never heard of Mr. Pett before this, but I'm sure as hell buying every other thing he puts his mark on from here on out.
Encounters and plot twists can arise or be passed depending upon the party's success. Combat rarely feels pointless or obligatory.
The second arc (the Trial itself) plays out wonderfully- the party is forced to rush from A to B, solving the mystery, combating dangerous and devious foes, AND trying to find room just to rest in between.
The party Barbarian didn't feel so invincible after being drained to 6 Con and having to spend the next three encounters that way because the group had no time to drag her back to town; doing so could have meant failure.
Roleplaying was wonderful- a well-played Beast can have even the hard-heartened Wizard sniffling...even better if they fail.
The third arc promptly delivers one of the most grueling, challenging, and realistic dungeon-crawls I've ever seen. Foes come from a hundred different angles of play yet all have a logical place in the setting. More than once you'll find yourself mummering "now that's just..that's...wow. That's brutal."

All in all...you need to run this module with your group. But only if you're dedicated to Roleplaying and getting your hands bloody, because not one character or player came away from my table the same.

This book was amazing.
If you're not really in a position to drop the $40 for the hardcover, do yourself a favor and at least grab the PDF; you won't regret it.
I don't.