Behind the Spells: Compendium offers three great ways to add some pizazz to your game.
First, each spell includes details behind where the spell came from. Everyone has heard of Tensor, but who recalls Nephar Poratis? Would you ever guess that prestidigitation was the precursor for "a catastrophic orgy of destruction"? These tidbits are great fluff to add depth to any campaign world.
Each spell also comes with some spell secrets. Spell secrets introduce a way for spellcasters to tweak castings (by beating a Spellcraft DC) to achieve different effects. Some of these are kind of cheesy but most of them are pretty cool. Spell secrets add a new dimension to the game without being overpowering or making other aspects obsolete.
Finally, there are variant spells and magic items that round out the book's features. Some of these are pretty useful - any party without a cleric must learn stall and I really like the blastbow.
Have your players seen them all? Are you tired of seeing your monsters squashed without the characters breaking a sweat? Throw a Primordial Wolf at them at CR 4 and watch them suffer.
This template (like all of Blackdyrge's Templates) are easy to apply, well thought out, and have amazing impact on diversifying your encounters.
Even if you don't have time to add the template to your own beast, the PDF contains two samples - a CR 5 and a TPK CR 23!
This huge book is quite amazing. The material covers the full depth and breadth of using pact magic in any campaign world. There are classes, skills, feats, prestige classes, magic items, locations, organizations, DM tips and epic stuff too. Plus it's not just for Soul Binders either! There are interesting ways to let just about any class give over some of their control to be possessed by a slew of interesting spirits for a day.
Edit: I am bumping this up to 5 stars from 4 since the new version of the PDF is bookmarked! There is so much information it would be impossible to quickly find anything without them - thanks Dario.
Although there are some really funny bits I must say that Xykon is a very disturbing Evil villain.
Beneath all the witty jabs, sarcasm, humor, and theology, there is a very well crafted narrative delineating one soul's journey into darkness...but it may not be who you think.
I grew up playing DnD with nothing more than a bunch of crazy dice, a pad of graph paper, a mechanical pencil. I was young and the game was rich and vibrant.
Fast forward 20+ years. Minis have added a unique third dimension to the game that stacked d6s just couldn't afford. The Ravaged Pride helps take a High Seas adventure into that third dimension.
The Ravaged Pride comes in 4 layers to provide access to the cargo hold, the crews quarters, the deck, and the quarterdeck. Details and a 5' grid are etched into the wood. Beds, tables, cargo crates, oars on the life boats, wood grain on benches - the attention to detail is quite amazing. Add the masts and rigging to stick your characters above the action.
I'm not a nautical engineer so I can't speak to the feasibility of such a hull, but who cares? The design lends itself amazingly well to, oh say, an adventure to a far off dreadful island or into the abyss itself...
It's a bit expensive, but it is somewhat of a specialty item and worth every gold piece. I'm giving this item only 4 stars because the price may be a bit much for most people.
