The pdf kicks off with 5 new spells:
-Cold Snap (Drd 3, Sor/Wiz 3): Damage enemy with cold, Con- damage, staggered
-Dessicate (Drd 2, Sor/Wiz 2): Damage enemies, especially aquatic ones and fatigue them for a short time.
-Protean Return (Sor/Wiz 9): Temporarily transform enemies into primal goo.
-Stone Strike (Sor/Wiz 2): Use burned out Ioun stones for ranged attacks.
-Wave of Mutilation (Clr 6, Drd 6, Sor/Wiz 6): Deal damage and Cha-damage.
We also get 5 new magic items:
-Clarifying Goggles: Help see under water
-Eight-Finger's Ink: Tatoo that helps you grapple and increases your unarmed grapple damage
-Radiant Nimbus: Actually 3 different items, these flames contain lost knowledge
-Satchel of Seawalking: Use magical salt to harden water
-Sharkskin Vest: Makes you shark-like
We get more lost technology of Ankeshel! YES! Sorry. I just loved the original ones to death.
-Ankeshelian Arciary: Verbally record information. Gold as a story-telling device for GMs.
-Thalassos Box: Ankeshelian First-aid kit.
-Velourian Psychograph: Helps you determine whether one lies, can be used as a lie detector with the option of punishing lies.
Then, we get special underwater attacks to use in place of standard attacks:
-Asphyxiate (Self-explanatory)
-Breaching Charge (Jump from the waves like a Dolphin and attack)
-Kickback (Self-explanatory)
-Share Breath (Save allies who drown)
-Spin (spin opponents not securely standing)
-Turbulent Charge (Use your mass to make the water turbulent while charging)
We also get a new critter, the Faege (complete with its very own b/w artwork), a CR 4 aquatic fey that might be mistaken for a cloaker or a stingray. They also get a CR 4 variant.
Conclusion:
Patrons got this file for free, so I'm not entitled to complain about the very low price. Formatting is good and kept in the 3-collumn horizontal style. The B/w artworks are nice, as is editing - I didn't notice any mistakes.
The spells, apart from Protean return, didn't impress me that much, though, and while I love the equipment, the Faege as a creature is nothing I'd use in my homegame. For what it is, it is a good, cheap file, though. I'll settle for a solid 4 stars.
It starts with new spells. There is 5 new spells in this section. (2 pages)
Cold Snap
Desiccate
Protean Return
Stone Strike
Wave of Mutilation
Magic Items. There is 5 new magic items in this section. (1 ½ pages)
Clarifying Goggles
Eight-Fingers Ink
Radiant Nimbus
Satchel of Seawalking
Sharkskin Vest
Lost Technology. There is 3 new lost technology items in this section. (1 page)
Ankeshelian Arciary
Thalassos Box
Velourian Psychograph
Special Underwater Attacks. There is 5 new special underwater attacks in this section. (1 ½ pages)
Faege is a new monster, it is a small aquatic fey. (1 ½ pages)
It ends with a ½ page OGL.
Closing Thoughts. This is a nice addition to Sunken Empires the art work is fair to good. The new items are all nice and fit in with the undersea campaign that is Sunken Empires. I am honestly unsure exactly when this product came out. The spells don't list the new APG classes but then it might have come out before the APG. Not sure, though it would be nice if they went back and updated this PDF to included them. The editing and layout is nice, there is really nothing bad to say about the product or even a nitpick really. If you liked Sunken Empire then I strongly recommend you pick this up as well. I am giving this a 5 star review.
It is, in fact, a response to a specific fan request that we take the web material and compile it into a PDF. If this one is popular, I think we'll probably do more.
I am reading this right now. I just got to the spell section. Yes they are existing spells but with a new take on them like Leaf Armor in place of Mage Armor... but WOW! I am blown away by the fluff on these spells. I absolutely love them. When i get time I will do a full review of this later in the week.
And yeah, the reskinning of spells like Leaf Armor is one of my favorite bits, and a strong argument for the value of well-done flavor elements in games.
