New Paths Compendium (PFRPG)

Nothing new to add because other reviewers covered this product in great detail.

I have a lot of love for Kobold Press' products and it starts with New Paths Compendium, my first Kobold Press purchase. This book fills in a lot of mechanical gaps and adds a lot of flavorful options that I use constantly. If you want to add meaningful options to your game from new classes that just 'fit' and options that expand your Gunslinger, Monk and others you need this book. Five stars for being such a huge boost to my games.

I want to open this up by saying: I recommend this book to anyone who is just trying out 3rd party products. It is an excellent example of what people should expect from 3rd party companies. Balanced rules, classes, feats, and spells that easily fit into any Pathfinder game. This is not to say that experienced 3rd party product users shouldn’t use this book. Quite the opposite. Everyone should give this book a shot. New Paths Compendium does not bring any subsystems with it, so it will be very easy to plug and play.

New Paths Compendium was my first Kobold Press product, and I am entirely impressed. The cover art is fantastic, and the art inside the book manages to keep a very high quality as well. The layout is the standard layout you have all come to expect from Pathfinder products, allowing easy and familiar navigation.

I will start with the classes. First is the Battle Scion, a full BAB class that can cast up to 4th level spells from the sorcerer and wizard list. They are very solid, but to save space I will have to refer you to Endzeitgeist’s review of them: 4.5 out of 5 from Endzeitgeist.

Up next is the Elven Archer, which comes set with 3 variant classes. These variants are the Halfling Slinger, Dwarven Crossbowyer, and the Mystic Archer. This set of classes is interesting. They use d8 HD, full BAB, and get a little bit of spellcasting. Very much all-rounders. These classes get ranged combat feats like crazy, along with other bonuses, depending on the class. For instance, Halfling Slingers get sling talents, Dwarven Crossbowyer can ignore a small amount of armor and natural armor with their attacks, and Mystic Archers can choose from a variety of strong mystic abilities. They all gain the precision rule, which is very much like sneak attack dice with a few notable exceptions: these classes can flank with ranged weapons. Later on, they don’t provoke attacks of opportunity while using ranged weapons. Dwarven Crossbowyer and Halfling Slinger give much needed support for their combat styles and feel quite fantastic, but the Elven Archer and Mystic Archer feel too similar to Rangers. There is nothing wrong with them balance wise, as all 4 are quite solid classes.

The Savant is a really fun, and unique class. Unlike any I have ever seen. Basically, Savants are such great storytellers, that they can make their stories real. They are such great actors that they become their characters. This means that they can change from being a mighty knight, to being a healing wise man, all in the same day. Obviously they won’t be beating a Barbarian at combat, or a wizard at spellcasting, but they certainly can do a lot. Through their storytelling, they can summon characters too using their Avatar of Legend class feature. These avatars are created using the cohort rules of leadership. Normally, I’d be skeptical when I see the word “Leadership,” however, the Savant must concentrate using a standard action for every round they wish their Avatar of Legend to be around. Included are also some fun tips for playing a Savant, and some sample Avatars of Legend.

The Shaman is definitely a favorite class of mine from this book, though I have to refer you to the Endzeitgeist review, as he basically covered it all to a much higher degree than I could have. Another 4.5 out of 5 by Endzeitgeist

Aha! The Spell-Less Ranger. The class is exactly as the name implies. Thankfully, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a Ranger variant that actually feels like it fairly traded away spellcasting. That is not often done. And again, Endzeitgeist has written a great review of them. A perfect 5 out of 5 rating by Endzeitgeist. There is one new thing about the Spell-Less Ranger, or rather its alternate class that I have a problem with. The Skin Changer alternate class trades away favored enemy for an ever increasing bonus to natural weapon attack and damage rolls. This bonus greatly exceeds any bonus that other classes get to attack and damage rolls. For reference, it is +8, whereas the Barbarian’s rage only grants +4, and the fighter +4. I understand that this bonus is based off favored enemy, but they should have went the Slayer’s route and halved the bonuses. Besides this one issue, the Skin Changer is top tier fun, and the best spell-less shape shifter you can play.

The Theurge! Oh my! Basically, this is a normal class version of the Mystic Theurge. You get both divine and arcane spellcasting progression, with both sides having halved spells per day. Additionally, each set of spellcasting uses a different ability score for save DCs. The divine side uses a prayer book, which works just like a spellbook. You do not know every divine spell, and must write them down. Anyone who misses the Archivist will be happy to see this kind of feature return. Eventually, you can use both a divine and arcane spell in the same turn though only a very very limited number of times per day. Also, you can gain bonus feats and the ability to cast some lower level spells as spell-like abilities. It goes without saying that while strong like most full-casters, the Wizard might still be more powerful. Though this Theurge has a lot of versatility, and can bring a lot of tools to any party.

Last but certainly not least, is the White Necromancer. The White Necromancer is quite the class, turning established fluff on necromancy on its head. These guys treat the dead with respect, cannot be evil-aligned, and even provide some healing power. They have received a 4.5 our of 5 review by Endzeitgeist, and are really quite marvelous.

The archetypes are quite well done, granting many fun tools to the included classes. If you are a fan of firearms, there is most likely an archetype included to grant a core class them in some way (Cleric, Witch etc.). There is some archetype support for Kobold Press races, such as the Gearforged who get the truly awesome Clockwork Monk. In fact, Monks get a lot of support out of this book in general, getting many fantastic archetypes such as the Six Talisman Monk, who quickly creates paper talismans with a variety of effects. Ninjas got some love too, gaining some new archetypes.

The feat section is quite strong. There are “extra class feature” and “improved class feature” feats included for all of the new classes introduced, and even for some archetypes. Additionally, there is a sizeable number of unarmed combat styles that are very fun, though still well balanced. My favorite being Death Butterfly Style, which makes judicious use of Elemental Fist (acid) to turn your foes inside out. There is also Thundering God Style, to provide strong firearms support to monks. Besides this, there is a lot of animal companion support, bonded item support, and even a few more feats to be added to old feat chains, such as Greater Iron Will. This is definitely a good resource for feats, even if you are using a core Pathfinder class.
After feats there is… feats! Or rather, scaling combat feats. This is a set of optional rules used to combine some weaker feat chains into one feat that becomes more powerful as your BAB increases. Your mileage may vary, but I thought this was an excellent idea.

Up next is a set of firearm traits for use with the trait system found in the advanced players guide. These traits provide a bunch of funny or interesting roleplay opportunities. A lot of them seem to be written for non-gunslingers that want to use guns. It fits very well with the archetypes presented in this book!

Now for spells! Included in New Paths Compendium are a variety of spells, all compatible with core Pathfinder classes as well (Mostly Druids, Rangers, and Sorcerer/Wizards). Elven Archers and their derivatives get many of the spells in here that are for rangers at one spell level lower than the ranger, providing them an edge. Many of the spells in here are strong, but balanced against spells of their level. Conjure Energy Arrows in particular is quite cool, allowing your bow or crossbow to generate its own ammo for 1 round/level that deals energy damage. Many of the spells involve necromancy, tracking, or archery in some way. Considering the classes provided in New Paths Compendium, I am not surprised. I was a little disappointed that the bone-themed evocation spells were not necromancy spells, but that is a minor gripe.

Last, but not least, we have gear. There are a bunch of new monk weapons, sling bullets and arrows included within. The ammunition is expensive, but understandably so. Many of them combine an alchemical item (thunderstone, tanglefoot bag, ect.) with an arrow/stone, allowing simultaneous damage and debuffing. There are not many magic items, but they are very well balanced. There is a nifty necklace that provides animals and magical beasts an armor bonus, a quiver of infinite arrows, and even an arrow that catches orcs! The last part is a small section detailing Legendary Magical Items. These items start off as humble +1 pieces of equipment, but get stronger if you meet their requirements. Honestly, this section could have been expanded upon more. There are three examples, and the explanation of the system is very short.

Despite my rare complaint, this book is of incredibly high quality. I am giving it a 4.5 out of 5. If the Skin Changer got an errata, and the Legendary Magical Items section were expanded, it would earn a 5 out of 5.

Overall I really like this book. I actually ended up liking the PDF enough that my brother and I are going to pitch in to get a print copy for our gaming group. Read on to find out why!

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but I have every intent to buy a physical copy when I can due to how impressed I was. I did not let the fact that I did not pay influence my review and I spent more time writing this review than I would have spent earning 15$ at work.

Classes

Up till now these classes have been covered pretty extensively when they were released solo, so I will primarily discuss the ones that don’t have solo PDFs available and some of the new options. In other words I won’t be covering the Battle Sion, Elven Archer, Shaman, Spell Less Ranger, and White Necromancer. I will discuss their new Alternate classes though. Also it’s worth noting that a lot of these class
options are very specialized and should probably be played in campaigns that would match their strengths.

Halfing Sling Master, Dwarven Crossbowman, Mystic Archer: These are all alternate classes for the Elven Archer.
I liked the Elven Archer already and these alternate classes give some options if you’re going for a theme. The Halfling Sling master offers cool incentives for sniping with its various debuffs while attacking with its precision damage, removes some feat pre-reqs to make slinging more viable, and most importantly makes the class both fun and viable. The Dwarven Crossbowyer is a good class as long as you’re playing a super dwarfey underground campaign since a lot of its cool features require stonework or caves. The Mystic Archer is mostly similar to the Elven Archer, but with its Terrain based features keying off Jungles and being allowed to any race. These classes all have access to the Elven Archer Spell List and believe me it’s an amazing spell list.

Savant: A heavy role-players naughty dream is how I would describe this class. The savant is a true love of storytelling to the point that they become their legends. The Knack and personae mechanic are so cool and would be a blast to role play too. Though the class requires a lot of prep work I found the mechanics themselves to be pretty easy to understand. I haven’t seen one in play, but the nature of the Savant’s class features make him ultra-versatile and capable of participating in just about anything. Additionally there is a small section with advice for playing the class that is very useful.

Skin Changer-Spell Less Ranger alt class: We all already know how dangerous a Pouncing Wild Shaped druid is right? Well let’s make it even deadlier, faster, and tougher. While not as versatile as a druid this variant Ranger is fully capable of reaching insane heights of damage with a Primary Natural Attack pounce/rake build. For a book that did so much right I think this is the one part it actually did wrong.

Theurge: d6 9th level caster who draws mostly from the Wizard and Cleric list, but can learn spells off the Magus, Witch, Inquisitor, and Druid list via scrolls. Uses both int and wis to cast spells and has low base spells per day for arcane/divine, but bonus slots for each list separately. This really rewards heavy mental stat investment by giving you oodles of spells, a better than average will save, and having decent DCs. They even get a feature to x times per day ‘fuse’ an Arcane and Divine spell that does both affects and reduces the enemy’s save bonus. The class is about on level with a decent Cleric or Wizard and won’t be replacing either anytime soon, but will give someone who loves the idea of a Theurge a viable option.

Archetypes
I speed read through this section, but I didn’t see anything that raised my initial alarms. The same attention to detail used in the rest of the book is present here and it’s awesome! Lots of archetypes that cover a variety of play styles. My personal favorite is the Grave Bound White Necromancer who receives a respected ‘Undead Companion’ that’s similar to an Animal Companion. I love the idea of having an undead companion, untainted by evil, who was so loyal that even death could not separate them from you

Feats
To go through each and every feat would be pure madness in a review. What needs to be known is that each class present in this book has feat support, there are a lot of feats appropriate for Paizo classes too. Several new, and useful, styles are added that are pretty cool. Most of the non-class specific feats are pretty average in power or usefulness. I probably wouldn’t touch about half these feats on any character I build, but for some specific builds they may see use.
The scaling feats and scaling feat creation guidelines are pretty cool though and help deal with some of the big problems for martials. Suddenly cleave+great cleave as one feat isn’t half bad or the Dodge+mobility+spring attack line. The creation rules explain how the scaling feats in the book were made and will help the GM use consistent internal logic when making new scaling feats.

Spells
To go through each spell would be madness, but I did read them and I can definitely say they are spells. Most of these spells read like stuff out of the Player companion series, as in they were flavorful and fun while being useful. In other words the best kind of spells! All the spells added because of the Elven Archer are my favorites and actually do a lot of stuff that Ranger spells don’t. Even though the Ranger gets a lot of the Elven Archer’s spells, he gets them at later spell levels. Overall it is a very strong section of the book.

Items and Magic Items

A variety of ‘mundane’ equipment including weapons, ammo, and alchemical gear are included.
The magic item section is short and only has one decent magic item. The rest either conflict with important items or cost too much for their use.
The legendary item section has three items and some guidelines for these scaling magic items. The example items are cool, but I think this section is more valuable as a guide by example for DMs who want to create scaling items for their players.

Tracking Sheets

Sheets primarily for Ranger, Druid, Shaman, Spell Less Ranger, ect use. Easy to read and has a section for everything necessary.

Conclusion

Honestly this book is amazing and worthy of being on just about any table. Despite having some overly strong and some less useful options this book is still amazing and I don’t feel it deserves lower than a 5. Honestly you're more likely to find broken, in either direction, material in a Paizo book.

This massive compilation of the New Paths-series, including quite a bunch of new content), clocks in at 130 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisement, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 124 pages of content, so let's take a look, shall we?

So, from the get-go - I did reviews for the arcane paladin-class, the Battle Scion, the Spell-less Ranger, Shaman, White Necromancer, Monk/Ninja and Gunslinger-installments of the series, so if you're interested in a direct breakdown of these, please take a look at the respective reviews. I will, though, mention the new content or fixes. I also did not review the elven archer-pdf (simply because I don't have it), so that one will get its breakdown. Got that? Great!

So let's take a look at the elven archer, shall we? A racially restricted class (only elves and half-elves may apply), it gets d8, 6+Int skills, proficiency with simple and martial weapons, light armors, bucklers, full BAB-progression, good ref- and fort-saves, prepared divine spellcasting of up to 4th level with wis as governing attribute and track/wild empathy at first level. Beyond that, the class adds so-called precision-damage, +1d6, against foes denied their dex-bonus within 30 ft., increasing this by 1d6 damage every 5 class levels. This damage also applies when flanking with the bow, which becomes possible at 16th level.

Eleven archers are bow specialists and at 2nd level, get a bonus feat (another one every 3 levels) and count as fighter-levels -3 for purposes of feat qualification. They also get a creature type à la favored enemy at 3rd level and gets +2 to several skills pertaining them, as well as +2 to damage and atk against them. This bonus scales up to +6 - but choose wisely, for the archer may choose only one such target! Beyond that, these archers may hide in natural environment sans concealment, ignore specific difficult terrains, leaves no trails, can track faster and later even no longer provoke AoOs with the bow in melee. Beyond that, the elven archer at 9th level learns to temporarily enchant arrows and imbue them with special magical qualities. The class later also learns to deal more devastating shots against stationary targets by taking aim - though this only becomes available at 13th level. Now the class also comes with 3 alternatives for other races.

For example, the halfling sling master, who is rather similar to the elven archer, but instead of bonus feats, the alternate class gets a special trick to perform with the slingshot at 5th level and every 6 levels after that. Trick shots include ricochets and detrimental conditions that can be exchanged for precision damage - sans saves. OUCH. They also get rapid reload for slings. They also are more stealth-focused.

Dwarven Crossbowyer can ignore partially armor, shield and natural armor bonuses, carry more equipment, get a favored terrain and essentially get the elven archer's bonuses in forests instead in caves/earthen environments. The final variant, the mystic archer, has no race restrictions. They are rather similar to the eleven archers (minus the foresty/stealthy components), but at 5th and every 6 levels after that, they may choose from a special array of tricks. All in all, solid, if a bit conservative classes.

Next up would be a new class, the savant. The class gets a d8, 4+Int skills per level, proficiency with simple weapons and light armor, 3/4 BAB-progression, good fort- and will-saves and they start game with 3 knacks and expand that up to 8 at 20th level. Savants may assume a persona for 3+cha-mod minutes per day. A persona is just the name for a given combination of knacks. Some of these are spell-like abilities that duplicate arcane or divine spells and follow the usual restrictions regarding these forms of magic, including DCs - in stark contrast to the regular DC, which clocks in at the expected 10+1/2 class level+cha-mod.. Embodying a persona is a full-round action that doesn't provoke AoOs. The knacks allow the savant to temporarily gain access to proficiencies, items, +4 (scaling up to +8) bonus to attributes, spells (limited in level by the savant class level), skills, racial tricks (like scent or swim speed) and even temporarily boost his BAB. Now as if this kind-of-jack of-all-trades-style ability wasn't enough, a savant also has a notebook - by observing certain happening, he may enter specifics on equipment, feats, races etc., gaining power literally as he observes and travels - much like the emulation of abilities in Rite Publishing's Taskshaper, this means a DM ought to tell the player in question in detail to very carefully keep the books regarding this notebook. Now another interesting thing here is that the savant needs to observe at least a minute and then get to noting this fast - and there's a daily limit on what he can jot down, so some planning involved as well.

Later, the savant also gets advanced knacks with natural attacks, healing (also negative conditions), apply metamagic etc. further increasing the options available. They also learn to conjure forth so-called avatars of legends - essentially cohorts with access to knacks that can be summoned, but which remain only as long as concentration si maintained - cool! The savant later also learns to combine knacks into a so-called hyperbole, , switch knacks etc. and finally, the savant may even share knacks with allies and as a capstone, maintain concentration on their avatars as a move action. All in all, the savant may be a book-keeping intensive class, but also a rather rewarding spinner of tall-tales jack-of-all-trades-style class - that is also sufficiently different from Drop Dead Studios' Dilettante! Kudos for a smart design here! We also get advice for playing the character, as well as a sample character and 3 sample avatars of legend - neat! All in all, one damn fine example of great design, an iconic idea properly realized. Kudos, two thumbs up, great work!

The Spell-less ranger also gets a variant class herein, the skin-changer - this one's interesting: Learning to change into the forms and animals and specializes in better natural attacks. No animal companion, though, and a different list of talents. The skin-changer also gets natural armor etc. - per se a concept none too complex in what it tries to do, but remains very evocative in its versatile options - the variant class remains one of the more iconic ones I've seen and makes for a great addition - once again - fine work indeed!

The next new class would be the theurge - d6, +Int skills per level, 1/2 BAB-progression, proficiency with simple weapons, good will-saves and prepared spellcasting -arcane spellcasting via Int and divine spellcasting via Wis - both from first level on. A Theurge gets a spellbook and a prayerbook and the latter requires the divine spells to be learned similar to arcane spells - from scrolls or levels. However, a theurge may wilder in e.g. druid or inquisitor spell-lists. Which leads me to a massive issue: Not all spells are available for all classes at the same level, making for possible cherry-picking (not only content, but also level-wise!) here, not to start with VERY powerful class-exclusive spells....Think Paladin, Inquisitor, Druid, Magus, Witch...ouch. Yes, there may be costs etc. While first, slots are distinct from another, starting at fourth level, arcane spells may be prepared via divine slots and vice versa, but at a penalty level-wise to the spell prepared, i.e. second level spells need to be prepared as third level spells etc. The capstone gets rid of this minor penalty, though. At 5th level, theurges may cast two spells at once - one arcane, one divine, both imposing a -4 penalty to saves 1/day +1/day 6 levels after that. They also learn to cast a select limited array of spells as SLs. So, I'll be frank here - this class is OP in my opinion. Being able to wilder in any classes spell-list, cherry-picking any exclusives sans penalties or limits is very powerful. A full caster that can cast both divine and arcane spells is a cool concept, but this class drops the ball hard regarding the balancing of spell-levels and spell-lists - there ought to be some kind restriction here.

And yes, the amount of spells cast (which never increases above 2 arcane + 2 divine per level (+ bonus spells via Int + Wis) is severely restricted. It means every spell needs to count. But for a class which may pick the best of the best of ANY casting class, with this amount of flexibility, that also means that every cast WILL count. Which brings me to another issue - I get that the general restriction on spells-slots is there for balance. I'm not sold, though, that it'll make for a particularly fun playing experience. Sure, once you hit out your crême de la crême spells, you'll own the game...but what about the other time? Unlike most other classes, the theurge has nothing but spellcasting. And you don't have enough spells for proper utility tricks, proper buffing, proper debuffing - essentially the class is geared very much toward being flashy super-spell nova-heavy. Which you *may* like, but personally, I think the class would have been more rewarding with more casts per day and a more restricted balancing via spells known. I was not sold on the class concept and playtesting it at level 4, 12 and 16 didn't help either - mainly due to 2 things - theurges at higher levels can be superb crafters - with access to ALL spells and the option to learn just about every spell, these guys can craft like crazy. They may also use just about every spell-in-a-can-item conceivable by virtue of their all-encompassing spell-lists, which means that theurges in game probably will resort quite a lot to wand/staff-slinging when not casting their flashy super-spells.

It's a glass pumpgun (also re buffs/debuffs) - two devastating shots and empty. Personally, I'd be not keen as a DM to structure my adventures to "empty" the super spell-arsenal of the theurge or to play one, trying to keep my super-ammo for the big bad boss. Now all of this sounds negative, but the class per se is not a bad design, it does have its niche in which it will excel superbly. While I'm not sold on the place in a regular adventuring group, I do think the theurge will work superbly in 1 on 1-adventures and small groups - especially if the DM modifies adventures accordingly, groups starved for players get essentially divine and arcane in one class without resorting to gestalting - so yeah, the theurge has its niche, though I maintain it could have been more versatile in its use.

Of course, we also get new archetypes - the elven archer gets the Royal Guardian, a more urban Night Watch-style archer and the Plains Rider, a mounted archer. Apart from that, all the archetypes you'd expect from the base-pdfs can be found herein. It should also be noted that the archetypes have been mostly cleaned up re typos in the originals etc. - nice to see.

In the next chapter, we get a whole slew of traits and feats - also fodder for the new classes, with feats to improve the savant's avatar of legend, leadership for animals - I've covered a lot of these in former reviews. Unfortunately, not all gripes I had with some have been fixed. Take Eagle Style: Upon a successful dirty trick, you can substitute making the target mute for your regular effect. Doesn't sound so bad? Well...no duration. The muteness is, as written, PERMANENT. Yes, this one was broken in the original and is still - but it should be noted that overall, cases like this remain the exception, rather than the rule. Generally, the feats herein can be considered worthwhile additions, with some of the more esoteric style-trees especially coming to mind.

Marc Radle's scaling combat feats from Gygax Magazine #1 are also included herein - and while I still consider them a good idea, I still think it would have been nice to have a note detailing handling the chain balance-wise - it's a slight shift - not a big one, but it exists. It should also be noted that, since the original inception of the idea, TPK Games have released two pdfs of scaling feats, covering the whole core-book and the APG, so if you plan on using scaling feats, make sure that it's clear which system you're going to use.

The spells herein provide rather iconic options - whether conjuring forth Rivers of Moonlight, weaving deadly magics into your arrows/bolts/sling-stones, cast cool bone-themed spells or rain fangs down upon your foes. All in all, a nice array of casting options. We also are introduced to a total of 7 weapon types, various pieces of equipment and magic items and also the 3 legendary items (the level-scaling variant, not the one from Mythic Adventures), depicting the regalia of Gax the Great.

The book concludes with sheets - for animal companions, arrow tracking sheets, favored enemies/terrain, prepared spell tracking sheets, spirit guide, summon monster-sheets and even a wildshape-sheet make for a massive array of neat sheets that will prove to be useful.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good - there are next to no glitches in this massive compilation, which is quite a feat at this length. The pdf comes with a relatively printer-friendly two-column full color standard and the artworks in full color are neat and numerous and original/former cover illustrations - all in all, a beautiful book. The pdf comes with massive, nested bookmarks, making the book easy to navigate. I can't comment on the physical book, since I only own the pdf.

Designers Marc Radle, Ryan Costello Jr., Crystal Frasier, John Ling Jr., Jerall Toi, Wolfgang Baur, Matt Blackie, Charles Lee Carrier, Chris Harris, Stu Logan, Nicholas Milasich, Mitch Radle, Vincent Colon Roine, Justin Sluder and Michael Timpe have crafted a massive crunchy book full of (mostly!) awesome classes, several of which had player characters in my current campaign. The Savant is a glorious class, the theurge - well, as you've read, I'm not 100% sold on it, but oh well. The archer-classes are nice, if a bit conservative and linear for my tastes. The other classes - well, check the respective reviews for those.

The supplemental information and crunch provided also falls within this spectrum - mostly, the content herein ranges from good to awesome, but here and there, we can find a piece of crunch that could have used some streamlining. On the downer-side, I REALLY expected favored class options, at least for the Midgard and Core-races herein for the new classes and their absence is a bit of a let-down.

How to rate this, then? The New Paths Compendium is a nice resource, if not a perfect one and while the book can be considered mostly awesomeness, the few rough edges standout all the clearer. In the end, my final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars - with e.g. savant and fixed typos etc. pointing towards the 5, theurge and the few flaws pointing towards the 4. In the end, I will round up due to the majority of the content being problem-free and the good outweighing the slightly problematic by quite a bit and my general maxim of in dubio pro reo.

Endzeitgeist out.

I have been meaning to review this for a while.

The first thing about this book that jumped out at me was the quality of the physical product. The paper is a nice heavy weight, the artwork is quality and reflects the classes and abilities well, and the binding has held up well to use at the gaming table.

Most of the classes have been reviewed by others, but a few deserve special mention.

The Theurge is, in my opinion, a long needed addition to the game. The use of a "Prayer Book" elegantly handles the balance issues of giving a single class access to effectively every spell in the game.

The Battle Scion lives up to it's billing as an Arcane paladin. More importantly, it fills a character roll untouched by core classes (Full BAB, 4 level arcane caster). The Battle Scion can also serve as a "Rules Light" version of the Magus, for players who don't have a high degree of system mastery, but are still attracted to the "Fighter/mage" concept.

The White Necromancer is an interesting solution to a sticky situation. As a GM, a player who wish's to play a Necromancer with undead "Pets" can quickly derail a campaign. The White Necromancer easily handles those issues.

Add to this new equipment, feats and a load of Archtypes, and you have a book that is worth much more then the sum of its parts. Honestly, It seems like every time I flip through the pages I find some new little bit that I can find a use for.

This is a Great, Quality Product.