In the Company of Medusa (PFRPG) PDF

4.70/5 (based on 3 ratings)

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Gorgeous Gorgons!

Born from the murderous jealousy of a goddess and blood mixed with her immortal sisters' tears, the race of Medusa is both proud and tragic, mighty in battle and quick to defend itself. They value beauty and scorn those quick to judge—both others, and most especially themselves.

Create humanoid Medusa, or Greater Medusa with the lower extremities of a serpent, for use with any Pathfinder Roleplaying Game classes. This product includes alternate racial traits, favored class bonuses, two new archetypes as well as the Medusa Racial Paragon class. In the Company of Medusa gives you everything you need to fully integrate this new racial culture into established campaigns and bring their society to life.

Don't wait! Bring this legendary race into your game and show the world what a Gorgeous Gorgons can do!

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4.70/5 (based on 3 ratings)

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Medusa

5/5

Finally hammered out time read this one. It will help my game a lot.

First, there is a rokkin' backstory! I like the presentation being in an 'as told by' format. The later mechanics are woven into both the backstory and the narration, unifying the whole.

Three paths of life are presented for flavor, roleplay and and tactics. Each has its own essence for play that snap the monster that must be killed to a state that allows them to interact on more levels. There are extensive variants for other positions, even a normal looking form.

Ending, this helps break a mold that the game has too often slid into, taking a tired old monster that has served as a one-trick-pony every time I have seen it in a game. I have never seen the snake hair do anything other than grant 360 vision. Just saying.

If your game is hash and slack, this will give you a few more tricks, but a story or roleplay game has a lot to use.


Medusa Revived

5/5

This product begins with a story on the origin of the medusa, and a gm could make use of this to create the medusa as a force in their world. The early parts of the book on how a medusa should behave according to a matronly medusa is a welcome addition. The idea that snake control marks the entrance into adulthood for the medusa is a fascinating little idea. There are further sections on medusa society, the ways of the foremothers and even a section on reproduction and medusa seduction.

This is a short and inexpensive document, and the writing is quite good. Effort and care has gone into the expression and serpentine and predatory metaphors have been placed inside. I found it enjoyable to read; and this direction in the provided background material is designed to help gms get in the mood to run medusas.

Mechanically there are the stats required to run or play a meduse pc or npc. There is some choice across traits, meaning different medusas can be created. This gives the dms some options. Archetypes follow and I quite like the Gorgon shaman for the druid, with earth powers, stone sense and a whole lot of flavour (this was definitely well thought out). There is a bit more, and levels 1-20 of a class, but that is enough noted here. This is a very inexpensive product, so if you like medusas and want to build them into a world and setting with a bit more flavour and abilities, go for it.

5/5


An Endzeitgeist.com review

4/5

This new supplement in Rite Publishing's "In the Company of"-series is 19 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 2 pages of advertisement, so let's take a look, shall we?

"We were born from blood and tears, venomous as jealousy." If you're like me, these words resonate - as has become the tradition with Rite Publishing's offerings, this pdf is written in in-character narratives, as told by characters to Qwillion of Queesthaven - and the prose here is...well AWESOME. The medusa-society is described in ample detail as per a schooling book/an instructor, including information on how to keep both scales and snake-hair proper and trim and keep the latter in control - fluff-wise, these paragraphs are pure gold; Take for example the mentioning of a bed of invisibility, hinted at , but never explicit elaborations of subtle and brute force ways of seduction... these pages reminded my pleasantly of Catherynne M. Valente's Orphan's Tales-series and author Liz Smith has indeed delivered pages that are not only a joy to read, but which breathe vast narrative potential for adventuring hooks, while, with the three dominant philosophies (Euryale, Sthennos and Medusa) covering all types of way of life/conceptions of how medusa act - kudos, but can the crunch live up to the fluff?.

Regular medusa get +2 to Con and Cha, -2 to Str, darkvision 60 ft., all-around vision, a secondary natural bite attack at 1d4, a poison (DC 10+1/2 HD+con-mod for 1d2, 6 rounds, cure 2 saves), immunity to medusa poison and the petrified condition with the exception of the own gaze and a petrification gaze - usable 1/day as a standard action, range 30 ft, save scales with HD and is based on cha. Said petrification, however, is not permanent until 11th level/HD and lasts until then 1 round per HD.

Greater Medusa get +2 to one ability score of their choice, darkvision 60 ft., all-around vision, 1d6 secondary natural attack with the same poison as their regular kin, the same immunities and petrification gaze, but also cannot be tripped due to a lower body of a snake - which conversely also precludes them from having a slot for feet.

We get age, height and weight tables for both and 15 (!!!) alternate racial traits - unfortunately, the very first would be alternate racial attribute modifications that have been mixed up - +2 Con and Cha, -2 Str replace..+2 Con, Cha, -2 Str? That ought to read something like +2 to Dex, at least judging from the text - unless, of course, said racial trait is intended exclusively for greater medusa - which I'll assume due to in dubio pro reo, even though the specifically mentioned attribute-suite belongs to the regular medusa. Another alternate trait nets +2 Con and Int, -2 Dex and getting augury and later divination or commune in lieu of darkvision is possible as well. Archery mastery with a chosen bow type (in exchange for poison) can also be found, as can a trait that nets the hold breath quality of amphibious creatures, +2 to swim and two secondary claw attacks at 1d4 in exchange for medusa immunities and all-around vision. Another trait allows the medusa to gain a point (up to a maximum of 10+HD) whenever they roll a "1" on an attack or saving roll, with the option to exchange a point for +1 on an attack or saving roll - nice for unlucky players. +2 to saves versus necromantic spells or cha-based skill checks (regular medusa only) as well as three traits representing aforementioned 3 philosophies can be found herein, as can one that sees a medusa ritualistically shave her hair in exchange for the extra hex or extra malediction-feat - cool 3pp-synergy here.

We also get a suggestion of suitable archetypes (nice, seeing how many are out there) and favored class options for Alchemist, Bard, Druid, hellion (by SGG), Magus, Malefactor (by TPK Games), Occultist (Pact Magic by Radiance House), Oracle, Ranger, Rogue, Sorceror, Shaman (by Kobold Press) and witch -Very cool to see this level of support for some of the finest 3pp-classes out there!

Of course, we also get 2 unique racial archetypes, with the first being the gorgonic shaman for the druid -these shamans are restricted in their choice of companion and get impeded wild-shape, but also learn to commune with the earth (making catching them by surprise HARD unless flying) to temporarily take on an improved aspect that allows them to temporarily enhance their own body with a variety of special tricks - from uncommon speeds to a temporary petrification stare up to natural weapons, this archetype allows other characters to take on a semblance of being medusa-like or medusa to offset some of the losses they may have incurred via the choice of their alternate racial traits - nice indeed, as it conjures up images of a society of servants striving to take on aspects of their mistresses...

Sorcerors may opt to become stone-eyed sorcerors, who may supplement their body temporarily with the fortification quality to nondetection and similar defensive qualities.

The star herein, though, is the racial paragon-class for the medusa - this 20-level class gets d10, 6+Int skills per level, proficiency with simple weapons plus longbow, shortbow, rapier, scimitar, shortsword, light armor and their own bite and tail if applicable (i.e. if the character is a greater medusa). The class gets full BAB-progression, good ref and will-saves and the poison of the medusa scales up from 1d3 str to 1d8 str as well as +4 natural armor at 1st level, +2 at 3rd level and every 3 levels after that. Medusa paragon of first level can fascinate foes not in combat within 50 feet by using the hypnotic wriggling of their hair as a standard action, learning to fascinate more adversaries at higher levels, also benefitting from improved reactions to them. And no, not overpowered since it doesn't work in combat and upon a successful save, the ability stops to function versus that foe for 24 hours. Now if you were underwhelmed by the gaze attack of the base medusa races, you'll enjoy the fact that petrification gazes vastly improved over the course of the class, gaining an additional use at 7th level and becoming continuous at 10th level. Rather cool, at even higher levels, their gaze can turn mud or quicksand into rock (think about it: vast planes of quicksand, with rocky palaces crafted in a waveless sea of sand), selective gaze (at 16th level) and may even animate the statues that once were the victims of their gaze to fight for them at 18th level - rather cool.

At 3rd level, they also grow to large size and learn to use their hair to manipulate or hold items (leaving hands free for e.g. two-handed large weapons...ouch...) and at 6th level, medusa may extend their hair to grapple foes at range (25 ft. +5/2 levels) - and you'd expect me to scream "OP" here, but the fact that moving or pinning foes is not possible as well as the fact that sunder-attempts versus your hair count as attacks versus you should limit the usability of this ability, though I do get some headaches when thinking about the hair extending from the body counting as part of the character and the potential for attacks on it - clarification on how to resume this/perhaps a scaling mechanic for sundering strands of hair would have gone a long way here - especially since at higher levels, constricting, pulling and even strangling foes garrote-style via hair also are possible and at this point, the range-grappling component, limited though it may be, gets rather complex.

As 2nd level and every 3 levels of the class after that, the medusa also gets one of the medusa talents from 20 talents - these include further ability growth, a bonus feat, blindsense, climb speed, the constrict special quality, may grow wings (and learn to use them as weapons) and learn to tail-slap (which is btw. required for grabbing, constricting etc.) as well as gain stone-related tricks and movement and gazes. The capstone is an outsider transformation, including DR 15/ epic good/evil, depending on alignment - but what about neutral medusa?

We also get a feat for an extra medusa talent and the half-medusa CR+1 template.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are good, though not perfect, I did notice a couple of minor glitches. Layout adheres to a unique full-color two-column standard with green, scaled borders and the pdf offers neat full-color artworks -especially cool at this low, fair price-point. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.

Author Liz Smith has woven a yarn that ranks very highly indeed, with superb fluff drawing you deep into the race - even if you're just looking for inspiration for a culture, this serves the role superbly. Crunch-wise, the offering is solid indeed, though the ranged grappling feel a bit problematic depending on your campaign's power-level. The racial paragon class and the greater medusa both feel a bit like on the strong side of the power-level, with the class allowing you to become a true melee grappling/constricting threat that may rend foes asunder. That being said, I did not consider any part of the crunch herein broken or overpowered per se - the overall combination of them may be a bit much for some campaigns, though. The regular medusa, on the other hand, is completely fine with me and could potentially see uses in all but the most low-powered campaigns. The minor glitches here and there and the slightly high power-level for my tastes and the fact that the range-grappling could use some minor clarification are, however, the only complaints I can muster against this pdf - especially the superb writing offsetting these minor flaws in my book, thus seeing me settle on a final verdict of 4 stars - especially the proper implementation of snake hair and gaze attacks without unhinging the game deserving accolades for the author.

Endzeitgeist out.


Webstore Gninja Minion

Now available!


Archetypes, eh? I'll wait for reviews, though.


Hmm, a medusa racial class? I may get this one just for the weirdness value. They did a pretty good job with their minotaurs, giants, and gargoyles.


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Icyshadow
Yes we did the stone-blind sorceress and the Gorgonic Shaman for druids.

Eric Hinkle
Thanks I am glad you enjoyed all of those paragon racial classes.


Yoink

Hoping the older Race books get some updates, archetypes, and alternate racial abilities


Rite Publishing wrote:


Icyshadow
Yes we did the stone-blind sorceress and the Gorgonic Shaman for druids.

Stony-eyed sorceress. Though stone-blind would stop that gaze too... ;)


Azure_Zero wrote:

Yoink

Hoping the older Race books get some updates, archetypes, and alternate racial abilities

I have been doing alternative racial traits in the Pathways ezine, I have covered Gargoyles and Giants so far.

Restless Souls get some really interesting racial traits and traits options in the Oct issue.


Rite Publishing wrote:
Azure_Zero wrote:

Yoink

Hoping the older Race books get some updates, archetypes, and alternate racial abilities

I have been doing alternative racial traits in the Pathways ezine, I have covered Gargoyles and Giants so far.

Restless Souls get some really interesting racial traits and traits options in the Oct issue.

Which ones?


#30 has alternate racial traits for the Jotun Giants. #31 our october issue will be out soon with restless soul traits.


"Sweet"


Super Sweet ;)


Actually in which pathway did you cover gargoyles?


Teiidae wrote:
Actually in which pathway did you cover gargoyles?

That's in the hands of the editor still, (sometimes he holds stuff so that he can fill holes).


Another dot for next set of purchases. This looks like it could be a lot of fun.


sounds good to me.


Nice to see it break into the top downloads from other companies.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Are these balanced for player use?

Dark Archive

1 person marked this as a favorite.

They are designed for both GM and player use.


Lord Fyre wrote:
Are these balanced for player use?

Yes. It has a 1st-20th paragon racial class, the design goal was to let players play monsters, and allow GMs to create monstrous npcs.


Reviewed first on Endzeitgeist.com, then submitted to Nerdtrek and GMS magazine and posted here, on OBS and d20pfsrd.com's shop.


Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it.

Liz


Thanks Thilo!

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Good product.
Possible error with the alternate racial tratis. The +2 Con, +2 Cha, -2 Str trait for regular medusae replaces +2 Con, +2 Cha and -2 Str with +2 Con, +2 Cha and -2 Str. What should the alternate racial bonuses be?


I was really hoping to hear an answer regarding Paul's question. Recently purchased and that error is the only thing I am disappointed about regarding the PDF


Based on the first sentence of description,

In the Company of Medusas, pg 5 wrote:

A few medusa bloodlines are completely dominated by

the lithe vitality of the original sisters, making them
graceful and hardy, but very petite.

I'd guess it was supposed to be +2 Con, +2 Dex, and -2 Strength.

But I'm not the author.


137 Ben is correct.

Dark Archive

How many pages is this?

Grand Lodge

14 pages


Thanks for the review, Bwang.


Can half-medusas take the Medusa Paragon class?


I don't think so.

But reading the text it might be intended to allow it.

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