nathan blackmer's page

I was NOT excited for this book.... well, I was wrong and I'm proud to slap a 5 star rating in it. This is by and large my favorite of the Companion line to date. Interesting and useful new traits, spells, and equipment (you will enjoy gnome weaponry, I promise). There's something in here for everyone, even an ability that allows Gnome Barbarians to feint while raging (I.E. they look so ridiculous they catch the enemy off gaurd). Flavorful, witty, and most importantly fun.

There are several VERY good ideas in this book. Unfortunately, there clearly wasn't enough room to expand on the good ones. They bring in some interesting new ideas (equipment traits and tricks) and a handful of really nifty new mundane items.

My major complaint with this book, and the reason I'm only rating it 3 stars is the weapons. I've read the developers reasoning on why they take such a homogenous view on weapon design, but I can't help but feel like they missed a major opportunity to make some really interesting weapon changes. What I got was longsword bottom line...anything better requires a feat to use. Do you really want to spend the feat to wield a longsword that you can trip with? Or one with a slightly better crit range? Its hard enough to find a good reason to spend a feat on an exotic weapon.

Overall, a good book, a decent effort. I won't gripe about grammar or errors (who cares, really?) but I do care about the content. A passable book, but do yourself and your group a favor... look for a really good splat book on gear, or better yet, write some for yourselves.