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A 30 page book, the Midgard Player's Guide to the Dragon Empire is a very attractive PDF, with an accent framed parchment style background to the pages, heraldry shield page decorations, both color and B&W artwork, a predominately two column layout and truly astounding editing work. Where as the TOC is not linked, the PDF comes with nested bookmarks that handle the issue just fine.

So, the Dragon Empire...Imagine for a second what would happen if the biggest and baddest dragons out there got tired of defending themselves constantly. If they got tired of having to put out their own efforts to keep their lands and hordes growing. What would happen if egos and personal ambition could be put aside long enough to realize an alliance, a council if you will, would be beneficial for far more reasons than not. From this the Mharoti Empire came into being, named for the dragon who brought the proposal to his fellow dragons within the lands that came to be ruled by the empire.

The really cool thing here in this concept is that we have a very familiar thing here, in that a ruling council governing a large body of people living in various social castes, but we are presented something very new and fresh at the same time. The idea of a society that is in fact designed to favor the scaled races, while allowing for the usage and growth of the various “hairy” species is really cool. We are given not only the social caste and who falls where, but the terminology in Draconic for each level. Coolest thing there in regards to the draconic language being incorporated? We get a common phrase straight from the lips of the Jambuka (Jackals – or to be less polite, us humans and our fellow hair growers). Now, the oddball thing here is that the office of power within the empire is given to a human, as the dragon lords recognized that they could never trust each other to rule the collective lands and amassed armies. Where as the position carries a great deal of power with it, in the end it is a puppet string away from the teeth of the Great Dragon Lords, and the Sultanate lives a life of constantly trying to balance the desires of her draconic masters.

A collection of new traits provided give plenty of options for characters who choose to be from the Dragon Empires as opposed to merely traveling there. Several of the traits however seem to be missing their prerequisites. By the wording, and the sheer names of some of the traits it is not hard to see what the prerequisites should be, but a GM will need to impose them to avoid those players looking for loopholes, as gaining traits benefiting from draconic heritage when one need not be of draconic descent could make it very easy for someone to gain an unfair advantage. As an example of what it is I am referring to I offer up the trait Quick and Cunning Kobold Child - Your quick wits and quicker reflexes are reflective of your kobold ancestry. Now, I'm not going to list the benefit here, but I will say that there is no requirement for you to be either kobold, or at least have an associated bloodline, even though the wording makes it pretty clear you're supposed to. Now, there are section heads detailing for some of the groupings of traits (Combat, Magical, etc.) to whom they are supposed to belong, but there are several points where no distinction has been made, and I find only one trait that specifically has a prerequisite. We are also given a full set of traits that are specifically linked to certain races, as explained in the section lead-in, and the names of each trait. To be clear my complaint in regards to missing prerequisites is for various traits before the racial traits section.

So, that out of the way, what are we getting out of this traits section? A lot. 43 traits in total, with my favorite out of them all being Draconic Trait. This trait allows ANYONE to take a trait meant only for dragons, drakes and dragonkin. It still has its limitations to keep one from going insane, but it does allow you to replace a racial trait with one from the kobold or dragonkin options. A very cool way to allow for the idea that those who live amongst and serve the reptilian races will, in time, pick things up.

24 new Feats make up the next section of the book, with a small sidebar recommending how to handle playing a Drake as a PC race. A great deal of the feats here help take a dragonkin or kobold a step further towards their ancestral big cousins, with feats covering flying, gliding, thicker hide, breath weapons and the such. But there are plenty of feats here for any and all races as well, and even feats to recognize the four elemental gods of the dragons of this region as well. A decent collection of feats, with prerequisites in place and a couple of small feat chains for those who love to link their feats for bigger and better effects.

The next section brings us the archetypes and prestige classes for the Dragon Empire, and the first offering impressed me to no end. Order of the Firedrake (Cavalier Archetype) is in fact a rider, be it dragon or drake, aimed at being that character on the battlefield inspiring and leading her allies into combat with a roar on her lips, and the blood of her enemies painting the ground beneath her. An impressive set of class abilities, my favorite being Dragon Strike (15th level she brings her allies with her on a charge attack, granting them an attack on their move as long as they reach a target...imagine the damage of such an attack folks). The Elemental Exarch (Druid Archetype) gives us a druid who doesn't worship nature, but rather the elements themselves, the underlying keys to nature. Gaining an elemental companion in much the same sense as an animal companion, although with several much cooler perks in regards to what one's companion can do for you, these druids can literally be fused with their elemental, gaining instant bonuses to ability scores depending upon the nature and size of the elemental.

There are 7 more archetypes covering the Magus, Dragonkin, Monk, Oracle, Rogue and Elementalist classes...and no, I didn't miscount, there are two for the Monk – Monk of the Fiery Mist and Monk of the Wind Palm. I could easily write another full page discussing these archetypes, but having nothing negative to say in regards to them, I am going to move on instead to the prestige class. Dragon Emir is a full 10 level prestige class that takes what the Order of the Firedrake started in whetting my appetite with a mounted concept and kicks it into high gear. The Dragon Emir are the elite, those few chosen to ride draconic mounts in to combat, leading the charge, rallying the troops and devastating the enemy. A very cool prestige class, even if it is limited to only the scaly races, lol.

Now what good would a book introducing us to a new lands and society be without a section on new magics, right? Thankfully the Kobolds agree, and they have graced us with 17 new spells to make you twirl your mustache while laughing evilly...mwahahaha...oh..ahem..sorry. So, spells, let's discuss my new favoritest spell for the week...Coin Swarm. Turn any pile of 1,000 coins into a freaking swarm of flying cutting whirling disks of metal, with all the bonuses of potential exotic metals (cold iron, silver, etc.)...I warn my players here and now, as I know a few of them read my reviews...every dragon from this day forward will know this spell....lol. Wyvern's Sting does one of two things, either it transforms the end of a character's tail into the whiplike stinger of a wyvern dealing Con damage, or for those PCs without tails it grows a full wyvern tail for the duration of the spell dealing the same damage as above.
Fiery Sandstorm brings into being a bludgeoning sandstorm enhanced with burning damage as well thanks to the flames licking through the sand. Extra perk? Natural flight impossible, and spell chuckers have to make concentration checks or fall back to manual labor while in the midst of the sandstorm.

A sampling of the exotic goods of these lands closes us out, and is truly the only place in the PDF where I feel let down. We open with a collection of monsters and animals that serve different purposes within these lands, and the list for the most part makes perfect sense and really helps sell the fact that a great deal of the Dragon Empires is in fact a desert nation ruled by draconic races. However, in the intro to these animals and their usages it is mentioned that zombies and yeti are amongst the creatures imported for usage, but they do not appear in the actual write ups, so we are not given a reason for them to be there. From the imported critters we move along to some of the more exotic wares one would find amongst the bazaars of these lands you might not find back home, like Aboleth Brain, or Basilisk Heart (both a delicacy amongst dragons), various weaponry for those with a draconic body frame, poisons that will overcome a dragon's natural resistance to sleep and paralysis...just over all cool exotic stuff...with no prices. And that is where we hit my disappointment with this book. This insanely cool chapter filled with really cool new gear, with no simple chart showing us weights, prices, etc...the basic information we need for gear to incorporate it properly. I can overlook the zombie and yeti being left out of the first part of this chapter, but teasing me with all of this cool gear, and then not giving me prices and basic info...ouch.

Four new magical rugs/carpets tie it all up as the last offerings in this PDF, with a magical trap in the form of a Carpet of Confusion, another in the Rug of Suffocation and Flying Carpet of Suffocation offering the more mobile version of the rug of the same name. The Teleportation Carpet allows for instant transport between two rugs sharing the same plane as long as one knows the correct activation word, unless of course these are set up as traps as well, causing any and all who step upon them to be whisked away...ah traps, wrapped up in cool magical items...gotta love it.

Which brings me to the final thoughts and rating. Overall, I loved this book. I did. My only real complaint is that the chapter handling gear feels like it is missing a very vital chart, detailing not only the gear, but the weaponry introduced there as well. The problem is I don't feel that is a small thing, as it leaves us without prices for any of it, let alone weights. Luckily, this is the type of thing that would take up enough of a page all on it's own it could easily be drawn up and released in the form of an enhancement to avoid having to update the PDF. Hopefully we'll see such a chart at some point.

Now, on to the positive stuff...everything else. No really, this PDF is solid, and introduces a really cool new locale for your Midgard campaign. Not playing in Midgard? Not an issue, a scaly race empire could easily make any campaign world it is dropped in a cooler place to play within. The art is very thematic and will have you thinking along the lines of Persia, Arabia and the vast deserts...well, except for the tribute piece to the classic arcade game Joust....lol, that piece alone needs to be put on T-shirts...just saying Wolfgang, put me down for one, lol.

OK, so, rating. I'm settling at a 4.5, with a rounded rating of 5 for the purposes of this forum, but I am going to clarify that the only reason I am not giving a true 5 is the lack of important information in regards to the new items and gear. And I do hope that something formal is made available to address this.

As more and more offerings and options for paper miniatures become available it is nice to see the occasional oddball creature be remembered, as I don't think I have ever seen a dragon turtle in any other collection of paper minis out there, let alone a collection that provides one in multiple colors.

Included you will find the cover image reproduced in various sizes and red, blue or green for colorations, There is also a grayscale variety for the B&W crowd which could easily stand in as a black dragon turtle should you wish to use it in that manner. Each of the paper miniatures are the cover image, either resized or recolored though, so understand that this is not a collection of different images or poses.

What it is however is a really cool creature that as I said can be difficult to represent on a game table sometimes. The artwork is a good representation for the creature, and looks really good printed on the table.

The PDF delivers on exactly what it promises, and does it in multiple with the varying options of size and color, so this is an easy 5 star rating, and well worth the price of admission folks.

Fifth issue of the Vathak Times starts us off with the introduction of a clockwork iron arm. Yeah, clockwork prosthetic. Cool story leading into it and introducing the idea, as well as giving us an interesting NPC out there on the front lines currently wearing one of these things. My only complaint in the design and presentation of this device is that there is nothing explaining the means of connection to the body. It works through a series of gears, and as implied within the fluff can handle such delicate tasks as writing with a quill as well as wielding a weapon, which would imply that the arm is attached to the nervous system of the wearer to be able to be controlled. But the means of attachment are not covered. Is this magical? surgical?

From there we go straight into more story points, such as the creation of a werewolf unit within the King's army...reading this, and the name of the Blood Hounds that they are known as I flashed back to comics I read as a youth from the Weird War series in which the U.S. Army had a unit of lycans out there tearing it up. More than enough presented here to glean some story points to work with, as well as the introduction for this installments NPC, the leader of these werewolves Peter Le Gevaduan.

Two pieces of story hooks follow, one concerning a murdered bride, a family member on the run and the investigation into building enough evidence to find justice for the victim. The other dealing with an infestation of large spiders within the city of Euraia, and by large I am meaning around 4 feet in size. Both have potential, but didn't really have the wow factor I have come to look for from the typical hooks provided within this series.

Our last hook is used to introduce a new trait for the Cambion (a playable race of corrupted humans from the Shadows Over Vathak setting). Cambion Trash Collector reminded me a great deal of how several of my players in the old days dealt with Kender...they picked up anything and everything, always had the oddest collection of stuff within their pockets, and somehow found viable usages for it. This trait allows you to gain a bonus to one of 5 skills (chosen when you take the trait) as long as your collection of oddities are close. Not a bad trait, but I find it a shame it is limited to only the Cambions.

This installment in the series sees our second horoscope entry as well, with this month's perk being a bonus to detecting undead for those characters born during the time of the Dying Crow. Again, as with the first entry in this horoscope series, I love this. The little additions of things like importance being placed upon the timing of one's birth adds to the immersion effect for me, and helps sell the setting as a living breathing place for the players.

The Emporium's offering this week is the Stylus of Deception, which allows for greater ease in forging documents. The item, while kinda cool, is really limited in its purpose within the scope of a playgroup, and really doesn't fit in with the rest of the material in this PDF in my opinion.

We end with the statblock write up for Peter Le Gevaduan in hybrid form. Pretty straight forward werewolf, accompanied by some artwork I am assuming to be some classic artwork found within the public domain. Nothing really spectacular stands out within this statblock, and that's a real shame, as this would have been a chance to really develop a cool NPC here, or at least fully flesh out a basic NPC. Perhaps more development of flavor text, or a cool unique weapon or item, something that took this NPC from being meh to memorable.

All in all editing was decent for this PDF, there were a few spacing issues, but most of those were due to justified text and not that big of an issue. This installment opened strong with the Clockwork Iron Arm, regardless of the lack of detail in regards to its means of connection, but then seemed to take a backseat for the remainder of the PDF.
Other than the Horoscope piece, and the trait reminding me of days gone by and Kender there really wasn't much that jumped off the page this time around. I am going to settle at two stars for this installment to the series.

Fourth issue of the Vathak Times takes a slight step away from the format of the first three, presenting a great deal more story fluff then mechanics as opposed to the previous entries in this series. Having said that though, there is some really phenomenal story to work with here for anyone utilizing the Shadows Over Vathak setting.

We open with not a letter from the Front Lines in the sense of previous examples of this feature, but rather a story concerning the main churches recent proclamations in regards to the war, those supporting the efforts and those the church feels are not doing enough. The article is written as if presented as an editorial, with an excerpt from the actual proclamation from the church itself finishing the article off. No real game mechanic here, but an excellent story point that fleshes out and enhances a number of things within the campaign setting, not the least of which is the standpoint of the church upon the war, and the recent events taking place throughout Vathak.

From there we are given the details of how the King intends to replenish his troops, the current details of medical information regarding injured/dead/discharged from the preceding week, and a write up praising the efforts of the engineering branch of the military. The bit detailing the engineers subtly introduces our new item, tracing paper, introduced here as Vellum of Tracing. The item is mentioned in usage here, then listed as the item of the week in the Emporium's section. We're also given the feat and story-bit leading into it of Ambitious Leader here. Ambitious Leader stacks with leadership and itself, as well as feats granting followers and cohorts, and reflects those few who find themselves catapulted to positions of glory and leadership through brave acts upon the battlefield.

There are no listings of hook ideas for various cities and locales this time, as there is something new, something perhaps a little cooler. A mass murderer, a serial killer technically...with a taste for torture most sadistic, has been traveling the lands as a butcher for hire. Within his cart is discovered a mobile torture dungeon with implements of sadistic purpose. And, like all good villains, he has eluded capture and is out there, somewhere. This particular villain replaces the creature entry for this PDF, and it works, and works well. He is every bit as monstrous as any low level creature, a perfect NPC to drop into a campaign to make your player's skin crawl and ideal for a recurring threat or plot device. And, just to sweeten the deal, he comes with a custom made feat, Dark Torturer. The feat allows him to maximize and enhance the amount of damage he can do to a victim the linger he works on them.

A few editing errors here and there, mainly spacing issues and nothing that keeps one from understanding the text are really about all I can find in negative here. I would have loved to have seen an illustration to go with the NPC, but that is more personal wanting then a critique, lol.

Adding it all up I can't help but come to two different ratings for this one, and for one reason only. This installment in the series felt more focused on story than mechanics, and was more aimed at the setting exclusively. So for those playing within the setting of Vathak this becomes an easy 5, and well worth the price of admission....but for those not using the setting but digging the vibe and feel of the crunch offerings, there isn't as much here for them. The NPC and his story are excellent, and easily portable to any setting though, combining him with the two feats and the new item bring this to a 4 star product for those not using the setting in my opinion.

So, third issue of Vathak Times...ready? Let's do this, shall we? The same 5 page primarily dual column layout that we have seen from previous installments in this series, and at now the third installment I think it it is safe to say that the series has a defined set look, as far as what to expect from each PDF added to the series. This I say as a good thing, so don't get that mixed up, it's kind of nice to know that Page one will give me a letter from the front lines, while I will find the recent news reports from around the lands on page 2, and the Emporium's advertisement on page 3 is something I have come to find myself going to first, just to see what item they have “On Sale” this week. This also, again, really helps in the immersion concept of being able to potentially print out the first three pages of this periodical and hand it to your players as an in-game prop if you so wished. I say the first three as the last two contain a new monster and the OGL, and handing over the mechanics on new creatures is just shooting yourself in the foot as a GM lol.

So, what do the Vathak Times have for us this time? Well, our letter from the front lines details the advancement deep into territory that saw some pretty heavy fighting previously in this ongoing war. Upon a battlefield littered with the remains of the dead our letter writer and his unit encounter this installments creature, the Bone Gorger. A huge burrowing critter that is both worm, and not...with an insatiable appetite.

Amongst the letter we are graced with the name of the hero who slew the beast they encountered, via a feat presented here, the Iron Lance Charge. Providing game mechanics for a mounted lance wielder to do some serious damage at the cost of AC, this feat could easily see some serious usage amongst the right players. Well designed and logical, I liked this one, a lot.

News From Across the Lands gives us hooks for three different locales, with a freak rock slide killing a group of men involving a crumbling statue dedicated to the Old Ones, a jailbreak that takes place during a scheduled hanging that leaves witnesses from the crowd dead and a handful of the jailers themselves incarcerated and under investigation. But the winner this time around in my opinion has got to be the annual appearance of what are known as “Arko's Wisps”. Tiny, like the size of a copper coin, lights that float, in groups ranging from 30 or more and cause burns when touched. They appear with enough specificity annually that the town has a curfew in place and treats it as part of the calender essentially...and that is really cool. We have seasons and weather and holidays and fairs and such to decorate our fantasy calenders, but this, this is one of those things that really helps remind you that even in a made up fantasy world there are “things” that are part of the natural order, and they happen regardless of anything else. Think of it this way, as long as the rivers are there, every year salmon are going to swim upstream. Why? Because they do. These lights struck me as the same thing...every year, for whatever reason a GM decides to run with, these lights appear. And that is pretty cool, period.

Mindfire, a disease brought on by drinking tainted waters contaminated by aberrations and their nests, is presented not only as a disease with mechanics, but with a template to apply to creatures, and with an excellent piece of fluff that just continues to really help flesh out this setting and draw the reader deeper and deeper in. And in case your wondering, mindfire reminds me of rabies in regards to its effects.

Sir Timothy Charles's Emporium is all prepared to help those suffering with lycanthrope and were attacks this week, as in answer to a rise in such activity they have placed all werewolf hunting gear by 25% until the end of the month...yes, I stopped reading at that line and found myself smiling. That is the type of immersion I am referring to. That is the feel of a living campaign setting this product goes out of its way to achieve. The Emporium's item of the week is Silver Smoke, a powdered silver that can fill the air of an area causing instant damage to those with a DR to silver, giving a serious advantage to those who hunt and fight were-cursed creatures.

An article detailing the finding of a vast collection of scrolls gives a look into the history of the world upon which this setting is based, and invokes some pretty cool images and thoughts. The spell Lashing Sickness causes negative energy to shoot from the casters fingertips, doing doing negative energy damage as well as sickening its target. The connection between the spell and its lead in story is vague, and more implied than stated, but any GM worth their salt should be able to make the connections.

Which bring us to the monster entry for this installment. The Bone Gorger...or perhaps the Ghoul Worm. I am going to assume this beast, at some point in it's design evolution was known as a ghoul worm, as there is still mention of the name within the flavor text for the creature. Not a huge issue, but amusing.

So....cool critter, cool new item, really cool disease story accompanied by a template, extremely useful feat for those players pulling the lance routine...which brings me to the other side of the coin. And this is pretty nit picky, really. There were a few occurrences of the whole “it's its” mix up. Now, if that's all I can find to whine about, folks that's pretty impressive in all reality.

Which brings us the rating, a solid 5 stars, and well worth the price of admission folks!

Issue 2 of the Vathak Times finds a great deal of the familiar layout and themes from the first issue, which I was pleased immensely to see, as it is the look and feel of this being a periodical that works so well for it I think. Again we get 5 pages, with one being the OGL, with a dual column format primarily used throughout. Hooks, goodies and a critter. However, the editing this time does not live up to the standard set with the first issue, and there were times that the wording was off, never truly far enough to garble the reading so much as momentarily throw you a curve-ball.

Amusingly, and I failed to mention this in my review of the first issue, we get a weather report in each of these, telling us what to expect within the coming week, which is conveniently located directly above the date for the publication within the setting...yet another fantastic immersive tool for someone running this setting. I mention this as I have had a GM who ran a full calender for a campaign, literally. It hung on the wall of our game room, with weather reports and holidays, planting seasons, the works. It added a level of immersion to the game that was beyond deep, and this really is an excellent way that something very small can help make a huge impact.

We open this week's Vathak Times (as they are released “weekly” within the game setting) with another letter from the front lines. Within the setting there is a great war happening between the races of Vathak and the spawn of the Old Ones, and through this delivery format we are treated to stories from those who are in the trenches as it were. An excellent fluff piece, this one details the discovery of a phosphorescent flower discovered by the troops. Subtly giving us the game mechanics for the flower within the text, this is an excellent demonstration of immersive story telling.

Next up we get the Feat Eyeshot, introduced through the tale of a young rifleer demonstrating his talent. The interesting thing here is that we have now been given a new item in the flower and a new feat, and truthfully that is where a lot of folks would normally stop in noticing, but both were presented with names, locations and story ideas. NPC's presented as a function of the delivery of the main point of the section. An excellent way to flesh out a campaign world, and one that has me wondering if Jason is running a file keeping track of these names for further usage, as to see familiar faces (as it where) showing up in later publications would really help tie the immersion and world together.

The section featuring News Across the Lands again supplies us with an assortment of interesting hooks to inspire and tantalize. The discovery of a time lost temple hidden below the surface of the ocean, a murder of crows being possibly controlled and used to target specific groups, spontaneous combustion of citizens falling under investigation and a cannibal family of humans living an isolated life away from the world in an attempt to retain their believed racial purity...just to name a few. Like I said, a handful of cool hooks to spark the creative juices of any GM out there, or possibly to tease at what is on the table still to come.

An excellent fluff piece had me very excited as I read through it, detailing a playwright and his plays coming up for auction. Tragedy and depression led the playwright down a dark path, leading to the end of his life. Presented here are the game mechanics for the book containing his final play. Now, this ended up disappointing me, and I think it was because where I thought it was going to go, reading through the flavor text, was not where it ended up. The story builds you up to expecting to find an excellent item based haunt, which truthfully, fits this story so well. What we get is instead a book of low level spells. A well designed and described book, but in the end a spell book none the less. No where in the story did I get the feeling he was a spell caster, nor that this particular book of spells fit into the story of this playwright. There is a random dice roll for sanity loss due to studying the book, but I can't help but feel this book would have worked so much better as a haunt.

A new feat for the dhampir, Shadow Stalker, offers up pretty nice bonuses for dhampirs using their stealth skills from the cover of shadows. And directly after this feat is where I hit what might be my biggest problem with this PDF. Far be it from me to ever discourage a company from advertising their product, I understand how important it is to do such a thing. But when dealing with a product that is so heavy in the concept of immersion as this is, presenting game material as if to the characters more so than to the GM or players nothing breaks that immersion and suspension of disbelief faster than an advertisement for a real world item, complete with a full text line for the web address. Now, the advertisement is for a PDF of dhampir feats, and yes it makes sense to stick this right after the new dhampir feat from this issue, I just wish it had been done in such a way that it fit the theme and feel of the rest of the material from this PDF...it felt like reading a newspaper from a Victorian time period and finding an advertisement for Radio Shack. I know, harsh, but it really stuck out, and if nothing else that should help explain how well the rest of the material really pulls you into the setting and story feel of the material.

An article on tattoos, their pricing ranges and DC modifiers, as well as a Tattoo Kit to add to your gear. Other companies have done extensive rules covering tattoos yes, but what is presented here is not enough to compete with any of them, and certainly works very well as a go to guide for covering cost and such. Not to mention the idea that just like a thieves kit, no two tattoo kits are entirely identical so there are no issues as I see them with another tattoo kit being added to the lists of available gear out there.

Sir Timothy Charles's Emporium offers up the Bhriota Razor Whip as its item of sale for the week, a rather cruel whip embedded with sharp stone and bone. Accompanied by illustration just to fully convey the wickedness of this weapon.

A rather interesting variation of undead closes us out this week, the Masked Ghoul. Perfectly able to look as it did in life during the daylight hours this ghoul infiltrates communities and cities, sometimes doing such in employment to more powerful undead lords. Even with the setting of the sun as long as the ghoul can make its DC checks it can maintain the illusion of life and virility. On top of the standard Ghoul Fever and its Change Shape ability this CR 3 critter comes with a hideous Laugh ability that it unleashes like a hyena as it closes in for the attack. Victims of its laugh ability find themselves shaken for 1d4 rounds.

Wrapping it all up...the editing was not as good as the first issue, but not so horrible that it was a massive problem. The spellbook was a low point for me, and felt like it could have been so much more design wise. And then there was the break with immersion.

On the other hand, an excellent assortment of hooks, two feats, a weapon well within the flavor of the people its flavor text attributes it to are all high points. The story of the flower, the presentation of the feat Eyeshot and the uniqueness of the Masked Ghoul all add some serious weight back to this product.

In the end, I am settling at a 3 star for this product, as there is some good material here, and it is worth picking up, it just missed on a few points that could have made this PDF truly cool.

The Vathak Times are presented as a periodical, a minor collection of news and collected stories if you will, from the setting for the Shadows of Vathak. Fat Goblin Games has done an excellent job of finding an interesting way of presenting us with new game material, feats, gear, a disease, monster and a handful of story hooks all packed tightly within a 5 page PDF, 4 if you don't count the OGL.

So, that's not a great deal of room for so many things, which brings me to the delivery method, and why it works so well. The Vathak Times, as I said, is presented as a collection of news and stories. We open with a letter (presented from a first person POV) telling of recent military actions, victories and casualties, as well as the tale of how our letter writer came to survive the battle, thanks to a fellow soldier using their shield to cover him at the cost of his own life. Why is this a cool opener? Because it gives us two things, the Feat Ready Shield – which allows for granting your shield bonus to an ally, and some easily gleaned hooks from the letter itself in regards to events happening within the setting.

From there we are given a trove of hooks and setting story ideas scattered throughout various cities and locations, from a grand ball to an outbreak of undead activity, to the sighting of a young royal-blooded boy in the hands of a slave-master. The releasing of a group of unidentified creatures in yet another city, and the slaughter of a well known family that could easily embroil a play group in a political conspiracy. The really nice thing here, whether you are the type of person who buys one product at a time for a setting, or grabs everything at once, is there is material here that inspires a GM while hinting at where the designers are going with things. There is growth here that continues to push and expand and breath life into every corner of the established setting, all while helping you remember that just because your current game is happening in city X there are things happening everywhere else, things that will have impacts and consequences.

The disease Book Blight is presented through an article detailing the closing of the Grand Grigorian Library, due to an infestation from a collection of older tomes, with a very in depth explanation of how this disease comes to be. Personally this was one of my favorite parts of the entire product. This level of attention to how someone presents something as simple as a disease elevates that disease to a new level, it makes it dangerous, and something you want to unleash upon your gaming world.

The next section is probably the only true section of the book where in I feel one who has not yet looked over the source material might find themselves at a loss, and only because it delves into a setting specific race, and their possible connection to the Old Ones, through a language known to them. This is also presented with well laid out campaign ideas and hooks. Tucked in along with this article is the idea of character bonuses granted due to their birth sign, as according to the Vathak calendar. An interesting concept, and one I have seen utilized by several GM's in one form or another over the years. The bonuses are not gamebreaking, but still give the PCs the feeling that they have yet another customizing goodie to help them distinguish themselves. Taking that idea and skinning it to this setting is a nice concept, and a welcome addition for GM's allowing this at their tables.

An advertisement within the Vathak Times tells us of an Emporium traveling through the lands, and where we might find them. All good periodicals have their ads, so this was a pretty nice addition, as it not only gives us an NPC (the proprietor), a locale (the Emporium itself) and a cool little story themed piece, but two new items as well, a crossbow and archer's greatcoat. Why are these two items new? Buy the Vathak Times and fine out, lol. I will say this, I loved the archer's greatcoat, and slid it into my Hero Lab files instantly for usage.

We end with the Death Hound, a CR4 critter with a few nasty Special Abilities. Not the type of thing you want to get to close to in combat, as it has a few tricks up its sleeve that allow for damage without AoO provocation. The artwork for the death hound is a B&W piece from Rick Hershey, and I do believe the writing for this product was either Jason Stoffa alone, or a collaboration between the two of them.

So, wrapping up. This being the first in a series of support material for the Shadows Over Vathak setting, I'm impressed. The entire feel and vibe from this product just comes off as Gothic fantasy horror mystery goodness...in all the right ways. The presentation of new game material tucked in to articles and stories in this manner makes for an interesting, and inspirational, read.

At the size of the total PDF there were no bookmarks, but there truly was no need for them either. The editing was top notch, and the layout reminded me greatly of a newspaper's, although it followed a dual column approach, primarily. In closing, I can not recommend this series enough to users of the Vathak setting, or those considering the setting, or those looking to add a little Gothic horror to their fantasy...or to everyone else. Pure and simple, this is a 5 star product, well worth the price of admission and filled with enough little tidbits to please anyone, and spark many many thoughts for memorable game sessions. Well done you chubby lil' goblins, well done!

10 Subschool Augmentation Feats focuses on those spellchuckers who choose to focus on a specific subschool, and giving them a reason to do it. Following in the pattern that is the Bullet Point series, we've got a 4 page, 3 column layout with 3 pieces of B&W art...and that second piece of art, truly cool piece.

So, what are we talking about here when we say subschool augmentation feats...well, for example, let's take for instance the school of Conjuration...now under it we have several subschools, but for the purposes of this example, I'm going with Calling. So, very first feat in the PDF is Augment Calling, which has as a pre-requisite Spell Focus (conjuration)...now, benefit of said feat goes as follows...use a conjuration (calling) spell to call a creature, and you grant them eldritch protection against an energy type of your choosing. Augment Creation grants a bonus to Strength and Constitution for creature's you create, and a Hardness and hp bonus for items. Augment Polymorph allows for the ability to leave targeted points on a target out of a polymorph effect, allowing for abilities keyed to these targeted areas to remain in effect during the polymorph...hands to cast, mouths to speak, etc.

The school breakdown covers the spread for schools with subschools, and gives some interesting perks to these specialist spellchuckers. Of the set I found only one that felt kind of phoned in, and I say that not because it isn't good, but in comparison to the others in this product, this one felt...less. Augment Healing comes down to a roll twice, take the better roll. Yes, technically it is a sound mechanism and works, but it is also highly over-used and pretty utilitarian.

Now, before we wrap this up, we have teleportation to cover...or more specifically Augment Teleportation. It is mentioned here in this PDF with an explanation for why it is omitted from this collection, as it is in fact included in another Bullet Point, 6 Teleportation Spell Feats. Where as the idea of reprinting material is becoming more and more common for the sake of inclusion, I applaud the SGG crew's decision to not include this feat within this product, as we are talking about the #1 With a Bullet Point series. This series sticks with a small handful of material for a very small price, and I don't think reprinting material in a product of that nature would be well received.

So, final thoughts and wrap-up. 9 out of 10 impress me with their design, hands down. 1 struck me as perhaps not so much. Editing was excellent as usual, but I expect nothing less from the Bullet Point series. Am going to go with a 4.5 rating on this Bullet Point, only because the one feat just fell short for me. But, for the sake of this forum's rating system, I will be rounding up to a 5, because my problems with the feat are not it's mechanics, which are still sound and useful.

12 Alternatives for the Rogue's Trapfinding Class Feature....wow that is a mouthful. OK, the basics when it comes to the Bullet Point series are this, an idea, focused, and presented via small handful of mechanics. Be they feats, spells, traits or in this case class ability variants. Usually 3-4 pages total, with the material actually taking up 1 page most of the time. Beauty of the one page layout concept is that a 3 ring binder filled with print outs is easy to organize and keep track of in case you are one of those who likes a physical record of their game material.

Now, layout follows the standard Bullet Point landscape, with a 3 column format, and excellent editing and grammar. Artwork is all B&W, with the best piece being the cover image. One of the easiest things for a player to do to differentiate their character from the pack is the swapping of class features, so products like this become a trove of importance and wealth, in that they offer more variety, and variety is always a good thing in my mind.

Of the 12 presented here, there are a few that really stood out for me. Harass being the first. A perfect feature to use in combination with a playgroup during those all out attacks on the BBEG that really helps to utilize the rogue as a crucial part of the martial battle itself. Harass allows you to trade off sneak attack HD for negatives to your foe, to be applied to a variety of things. Pair this with good timing in combat, and you could cripple the opponents ability to do nearly as much damage to one's allies.

Black Marketeer gives a nod to those rogues with a mind towards business and value by adjusting the concept of price and worth accordingly for those who know what they are doing. Chink in the Armor is another one of those every given Sunday concepts. By that I mean this, anyone, can beat anyone, given the right circumstances. This class feature would allow for a rogue who has succeeded at a sneak attack, only to watch their damage be nullified (by, say fortified armor) still apply some of that damage. Remember folks, no matter how all-powerful one may think they are, every dog has their day.

Turn the Knife is for those players with a malicious streak, lol, granting extra damage per HD on a successful sneak attack. And Poison Use operates just as the Drow ability, just another route to get your hands on it.

I like options, I always have. Yes, it makes character creation longer. Yes, it makes a GM have to learn even more to run their game...and yes, I think both of these things are a good thing. Options are how we manage to never contain our imaginations within boundaries. And products like this help to keep adding solid, quality concepts to the pile. An easy 5 star rating to yet another stellar addition to the Bullet Point series, and well worth the price of admission.

RAWR! A Series of Monstrous Malevolence, Volume 1: Fear and Dread....man that title is a long one, lol. So, for the purposes of saving space, time, and my sanity...we shall refer to this product as RAWR!

So, 18 pages, with a linked TOC and bookmarks. Laid out in a dual column format, with two full page images, and two other embedded pieces of art. Of the art, two are from Joseph Calkins' stock offerings, while the others are originals to this product, and are both exceptional pieces. Scattered throughout the book are random “doodles” that work well to keep the pages from being just boring block text to look at visually. The TOC is laid out in what I found to be an excellent idea, in that the sections are credited with the contributing/main authors for each section.

OK....what is this book...and why do you need it? Well...follow me here. It's game night, you're setting up the encounter for your players, you've just started to give the description of the creatures they are facing and two of your players are already scanning their character sheets and are ignoring you now, a third is reaching for his critter killing 20....wait...wha?? This ever happen to you? Got a group of players that know the creatures just as well as you do? Annoying, isn't it? There's a great deal of the mystery gone when the play group knows what to expect, and how to fight it before you're even done explaining the freaking visual of what they see. So...how do you tackle this problem as a GM? Design completely new creatures? Well, sure, there is always that....but leaving behind some classic creatures would be such a shame...especially when there are so many easy fixes to this situation. And that my friends, is where this PDF comes in.

Right of the bat RAWR! Comes off as more than just a standard collection of new feats and traits, there is real world advice here, offered alongside concepts to try at your table. The concepts and ideas are presented sans system and mechanics, and are more editorial in their mannerism. Now, I will admit, this bugged me at first, until I realized this essentially turned the topic into a conversation, one between the reader and the authors. They are not so much laying out multiple options on page/screen as they are advising what they do at their own tables, with stories culled from previous games. The personal touch there really helps to connect with these pieces of advice, and make one see why they work better.

Now, interesting story ideas to make your creatures different from the standard speed-bump to treasure most players are used to facing aside, this is a collection of new material. And there are some interesting new ideas here to make sure mechanically your creatures have a few new tricks up their sleeves. 6 new Feats, with offerings such as Devious Web (Combat) – adding monster abilities that can be done in conjunction with a web casting...think Spiderman's tricks, but done right. Bone Shield (Combat) – allows for those with animate/control undead to use them as a “living” shield of sorts. Can actually say, after reading this feat that I was amazed this wasn't already available somewhere, as it seems like such an obvious combat tactic of something that can fill a battlefield with undead.

6 new Traits follow the Feats, with a simple rule of thumb when it comes to deciding what types of monsters deserve traits. Most of these traits could easily be applied to PCs of a monstrous background as well, half-orcs and such. Some of the trait names alone just make you want to spend a night hanging out at a game table with these guys....lol....Taste for Eyeballs, Rotten Limb, Bone Collector....OK, so the first one wins, hands down...lol.

From there we go to a couple of new critters...what? You thought there weren't going to be some new creatures to play with? First up, the Gravesbane Colossus...a CR 21 nightmare straight out a madman's twisted dream. Imagine, for a second, a graveyard standing up and walking off to go attack and kill whatever it came across...yeah, just standing up, as a massive hulking creature. Now, the artwork gives us a bipedal, the description says it has six limbs...I'll leave that to you to decide...either way, this is one seriously cool construct, with an even cooler creation ritual. Heck, the ritual to create one could easily become a storyline in and of itself with the players trying to stop it from happening.

And that brings us to the Sundered One. This thing is twisted...truly. And I applaud the boldness in going for it that caused this particular creature to earn TPK Games the slap on the fingers in regards to the compatibility license. It doesn't take much to see the original design in this creature, and I doubt in all reality anything mechanically had to be changed, it was probably all in the flavor text...what we are left with is a truly truly disturbing undead...thing. Oozing necromantic slime that makes even getting close enough to fight this creature dangerous long before the creature even attacks you. This twisted nightmarish creation does a very good job of channeling all of those late night Oriental Ghost stories into a weird, visually disturbing, mentally unbalancing oddity...oh, and then pumping it full of steroids, dumping a six pack on redbull down its throat and sending it screaming after you...Yeah...that kind of wicked creature design.

2 new magical items finish us off, the Belt of Bestial Woe – which grants an unstackable AC bonus along with the curse of lycanthropsy to its wearer...and no ridding oneself of the sudden furry lifestyle is not as easy as simply taking off the belt, lol. The Fiend's Pitchfork operates as a + weapon, with a smite good ability enhanced with a selection of handy perks.

Wrapping up, the sheer fact that the title tells us this is merely Volume 1 means there is more to come, new rules and ideas, spells and creatures, as well as improvements to the overall line. Editing wise I found only one mistake, and that was the repetition of a sentence within a paragraph...not bad, but not great either. The odd white area left from an attempt to lay one of the images as a transparent on the page background really makes the entire page look...well, less.

And, yeah...that's all I've got. Really...a sentence got repeated, and one picture probably needed more time in a picture editor being separated from its background before used....in all, I have got nothing negative in regards to the material itself. Now, as much as I enjoyed the conversational advice, I am wondering if that will continue or be toned back in further installments within this series...I imagine time will tell in that regard. Until then, I am going with a 4.5 for this product, rounding up to a 5 for the purposes of this forum's rating system. A good first offering for a new series, and an interesting concept for said series. I look forward to seeing where Vol.2 takes us.

Faces of the Tarnished Souk: Balduros Thundrsen, the Roaring Hammer is another addition to the ongoing series of colorful NPC's designed to compliment and populate a campaign utilizing the Coliseum Morpheuon. Weighing in at 14 pages, with 9 of those being dedicated to not only three separate write ups for Balduros but a collection of goodies (that we shall get into) as well. Cover, Credits, OGL and Ads handle the rest of the pages. Format adheres to the standard dual column approach, with a few Toby Gregory pieces of artwork, including the cover piece used internally. The Gordon Napier piece used here looks just as amazing in B&W as it did gracing the cover of a Pathways in full color. In regards to editing and grammar, there is a reason Rite publishing rests near the top of the pile for a lot of consumers, and this PDF is not an exception when it comes to that level we have all come to expect.

So, this being primarily a method of introducing an NPC, who is this Balduros Thundrsen, and what would make you want to use him? I mean, that's the question here, right? Balduros is a dwarven bard, in the easiest answer possible...but that answer fails to even scratch the surface here. Balduros is an thunder dancing, advanced, charming, alcoholic, moody, trapped within his own guilt over friends lost bard...there, I think that gets us a little closer to who Balduros is...a little. OK, the installments in this series are really excellent at doing one thing above all others, and that is giving you a complex character to work with, a truly fleshed out individual with depth and flavor. Far from simply handing over stats and calling it a day, the Faces of the Tarnished Souk line balances fluff and crunch very well.

Three separate write ups (CR 6/12/18) cover various points within Balduros's life and further opens the options for how you might go about using him within your own campaign. Several key points are covered within the Coliseum Morpheuon that Balduros is perfect for as far as story points, if not flat out required. From these fully fleshed out statblocks we go into the bones upon which Balduros has been built, the Archetype Thunder Dancer, and all that comes along with it for special abilities. An interesting archetype, it focuses on dance and percussion, with the bard primarily turning their typical group buffing abilities back in on himself, thereby truly becoming a dangerous adversary to face. The more he performs, the more he gets the capacity to buff his performances...gotta love that kind of tactic.

5 Feats all working very well around the idea of the Thunder Dancer Archetype and a hammer wielding dwarf. OK, perhaps that is not a fair assessment, as only one of the feats actually cares if you wield hammers or not, but that one is really nice...Bounding Hammers lets you throw your hammer so that it rebounds back to your square...oh the things one can do with this so simple of acts.

Next up we're looking at Bardic Masterpieces. Nice thing here is they are presented with everything you'll ever need to know to be able to use them, which is fairly handy in all reality. Along with the explanation of what a Masterpiece is, and how to read one's write-up, we are given a handful of Masterpieces here. Dealing with dancing to lessen falling damage (or enhance one's AC), or causing the very earth to crumble before the awesomeness of your drumming skills, the masterpieces give some interesting options to not only Balduros, but for future usage amongst one's own creations.

We end this collection of Bardic intrigue with a few items, both mundane and magical, and the rules for the Advanced and Charming templates. Of the items we are given rules for Balduros's Donkey Boots (do not get kicked by these things), and Dust of Sobriety (take the alcohol right out of any drink...just downright not right, lol).

Wrapping up, this addition to the Faces of the Tarnished Souk series presents us with an interesting and solidly built character. Balduros is more than worth picking up and adding to any campaign, be it based with the Coliseum or not. As a bard he brings a great deal of flair to the table, and come on, what GM doesn't want to play a wanna be rockstar drummer? Hmm?

Alright, totaling up the fact I can't find anything to complain about, and everything from cover to cover is total win....I am thinking this is another 5 star for Rite publishing. Well done!

The Genius Guide to Horrific Haunts, man....the title says it all, doesn't it? Haunts are one of those oddities for me in the realm of gaming, as they can be so many things depending upon how they are handled. The rules with which they were presented were, as often happens, truncated. I don't say that as a slight to Paizo in any way at all, it is merely the way of things. When new rules are presented one of the first things that happens is someone else looks at them and instantly sees room for growth, and expansion. Which is always a good thing in my opinion, as I like more options, and the concept of the haunts is a good one that needs more...lots more.

So, what does Owen have for us here...New rules to allow for several variations to give your haunt more of a personalized feel to it....and a great mechanic to make sure that a great haunt never gets old. Let's start with the advice on how to make the most out of your haunts in your campaign, as Owen has a few thoughts on this, and they are sound ideas. First up is the idea that a haunt makes a perfect companion piece in an encounter for a freaking encounter people...what do I mean by that? How about pairing a haunt, with a critter? Or perhaps a band of highwaymen, taking advantage of a haunted coach's midnight run down an old roadway by ambushing the victim's as they run...A gelatinous...well, anything...paired up with a haunt born of the agony underwent by the victims who died a slow, painful death by digestion to said gelatinous years ago...Seriously, lots of options here.

Second up in the advice category, take advantage of foreshadowing. It's a great story tool in the first place, and here it allows you to throw a great deal of misinformation. Letting the PCs hear tales of a great creature with abilities witnessed by survivors is a fantastic way to keep your PCs guessing when the list of abilities they are hearing are from both the creature, and the haunt. Last up, and I can not agree more with this tidbit of advice, use haunts sparingly...they should not be so humdrum and common that they are just another day at the office. It takes away so much of the mystery and the excitement.

Modifiers to Haunts would be where we get into new rules, with things of the nature of Location, Trigger, and HP Variables. We're not going to get into the specifics of the math behind any of this, as I think Owen explains his rules far better than I do, but I will touch on the ideas. Expanded locations gives us the idea of a haunt taking up more room than usual, with appropriate adjustments to CR accordingly for larger amounts of space. Object Location gives us rules for a haunt tied to a specific thing, not a place. This, of the three location variations, is easily my personal favorite. The idea of a haunt following an item appeals to me, and makes for great story telling, as haunts are a different issue all together in how they are dealt with. Most any PC worth their weight has dealt with cursed items or foul magic, but haunts...now there is a horse of a different color. Lastly for the location rules we have Wandering Locations, which allows for a haunt to shift where it manifests. Several examples to help understand the scope here would be a haunt that manifests up and down a river, one that is tied to several points within a jungle or woods, or a wandering haunt within a castle or keep, as opposed to stuck in one hallway.

The Trigger Variables cover the idea that perhaps a haunt doesn't go off every time it is encountered, and that there might be more than just the presence of someone required, such as a Cyclic Trigger Variable. With the cyclic variable, the haunt is tied to an anniversary, perhaps of the haunts creation, or the day of the week of the original tragedy...perhaps the birthday of the person who's pain caused the haunt to be created. A Random Trigger Variable is exactly that, and can be a great means of aggravation for a group of PCs attempting to glean information from interacting with the haunt, since the manifestation's triggering will have no discernible pattern to judge anything useful from. The Reactive Trigger Variable is perhaps the one we are all most familiar with, and I feel is defined here more so because variations are now being defined, henceforth a baseline must be as well. The reactive trigger responds to specific stimulus, each time, every time. Usually this is tied to the haunt's creation, but can be as varied as the haunts themselves.

Finally, the HP Variables, two options to increase the difficulty in dealing with a particularly difficult haunt. Resistant and Tough, giving resistance to channeling damage and/or an increased hp total along with a higher effective caster level.

So, armed with new options to pimp out our haunts, we come to the new haunts. First up, the Bruja Cauldron. A witches/hags cauldron for a coven, the bodies of their fallen members end up in the pot for soup, literally, infusing their souls into the cauldron. The energy of the witches/hags cooked into the cauldron gives us a specific item haunt, in that the coven can utilize this item to call upon their dead members and tap into the power contained by this item.

A Drowned Doxie, second up for new haunts, is essentially formed when an innocent is drowned and weighted down. The manifestation takes on both a cyclic and a wandering variable, in that it appears at various points upon the river within which the victim was drowned, and only when the moon is in the same phase as the night of the original murder....and only when male humanoids enter the area...This one could be excellent for seriously screwing with a playgroup, as the physical manifestation could be so drastically different from the original victim and reason for the haunt as to have a group chasing their tails for quite some time trying to deduce what exactly is going on.

And lastly, and before I go into any more words of review, I must say...Owen, you're an evil evil man....lol.....and we must talk, soon.....OK, lastly we have what I can pretty much bet will be my playgroup's new nightmare...the Unending Laboratory. Here's the scene...alchemist or spell-chucker spends their life crafting golems within their laboratory only to finally pass from this world, leaving all of that raw spirit harnessing essence going still...awakening the lab and it's tools to continue his work. Yeah, let that sink in for a second. This haunt is a freaking monster factory...the creation numbers are low enough to not make this insane, but still more than adequate to screw with a countrysides ecology.....best part? Every golem made is animated with no master, no instructions....just cut loose as if berserk (as per the flesh golem ability).....Mwahahahahaha....um..eheh..sorry there. And, if all of that just made your eyes light up a little, wait until you see what happens when folks actually make it to the laboratory itself....

OK, time to tie it all up and stamp a rating on this. I wasn't sure what to expect when I grabbed this, a book of rules, a book of new haunts....a grab bag. The balance is a good one, as the rules are logical and work without making anything feel broken, and the new haunts are all interesting. OK, there's one particular haunt that won't get out of my head...but that is the mark of a good design, is it not? To inspire others to run with an idea and create, to game, and inevitably to enjoy.

This is an easy 5 star rating, well worth the price of admission, and a perfect example of what one can do with a haunt.

The Malefactor....oh where does one begin. Do we open with the sheer deviousness of this class? The insanely cool artwork that will forever define for me what this class is all about? Or the equally wicked NPC presented herein to accompany that oh so awesome cover image? How about we touch on all of it, lol.

23 pages of deliciousness, with the obligatory cover/OGL/TOC page count, all centered on very interesting character class idea. The malefactor. But, what is a malefactor exactly? To strip it the basics, the class encompasses those who have taken the crap luck given them by the world and life in general, and have learned to harness it, focus it, and use it to affect those around them. Give me someone who has spent their life just ahead of the torches and pitchforks, and I shall give you a malefactor hellbent on revenge. Yeah, that kind of character. Now, that is not to say that they are instantly an evil aligned character, but they certainly lend themselves to the darker side of the tracks when it comes to their dealings with friend and foe alike.

With opening words from both Brian Berg (the man behind TPK games) and Gary McBride (Writer/Creator of Way of the Wicked...quite possibly the only successful evil story arc...ever), the theme is set for this book right off the bat. This class is not for flower loving, let's all sit around the fire and hug kind of players. The malefactor is not for those seeking shiny acknowledgment and accolades...this class is for those wishing to twist the fate of all those around them, whilst escaping their own. A darker class for a darker player, without breaking the boundaries and going truly evil. It's a balancing act, to be sure, but one that is accomplished very well here.

PDF follows the standard dual column approach, with one embedded table for level progression. Background texture is marbled grey with a stylized border that can be challenging to read through in a few spots, but overall is light enough that most people should not have a problem with it. I can't help but think perhaps in editing setting the margins just back from the framework on the page would have helped immensely in the visibility of the text, but again, this is me being extremely nit-picky, and most will not have an issue with it. There were a few instances of spaces between words left out however, but there were only a few, and they truly didn't interfere with the understanding of the text.

As with many classes, the malefactor has its own set of cool goodies that reward the PC for continuing through the level progressions. Malediction (various “curses” that the malefactor can choose from as she progresses), Harrowing Strike (A maximized attack that only gets better as the levels get higher), Strife Points (a pool of points that the PC can spend to activate several different abilities. Very similar in nature to Psi points, or Time motes...any player familiar with either of these concepts will recognize this idea instantly)...and then we have the Aura of Misfortune. As long as the malefactor is conscious, every one around her (within range of course) suffers a negative to their saving throws. Now, here's the kicker folks, that negative...that everyone...yes, that means the fellow players standing around the Malefactor PC, and quite possibly her herself if she runs out of strife points. That born with crap luck sucks, lol.

So, why in the world would anyone want to play a character living under the weight of curses and bad luck you might be asking by now.....well, simply put...Those who understand an evil, are better equipped to deal with it. The malefactor class puts a character in an interesting position to deal with curses amongst others, as they can literally draw these curses to themselves, relieving others of them. They can ignore the effects of curse items, using them as if they carried no curses upon them, or even steal the victory right out of the grasp of their enemies by simply changing their luck from good, to bad.

So, how do they do these awesome things? The Yla. The Yla are the spirits of luck and chaos, for lack of better explanation, and they are that which the malefactor deals with when it comes to making a great many things happen.

Grand total we are presented with 18 Maledictions in this guide, 5 Archetypes and 12 Feats designed specifically for this class. We're also presented with the favored class options for 11 races. That's a rather impressive amount of information to get a class up and running, by any standard. Do I want more? Of course I do, and I have no doubt that eventually we will see more maledictions at the least...they are flat out to interesting not to have more designed.

Ending with an example, a fully fleshed out NPC to accompany that insanely excellent cover image, this PDF, intended to deliver a new class to us, gives us an amazing new character to drop into our worlds. And that cover image? Included inside without the text, just in case you have a spot on the wall needing some cool art.

Wrapping it up, I can say no more than what I have said many times now, buy this PDF!!!! The class design far outweighs the very few editing issues, this is one of those cases where design outweighs everything, period. This class brings some really cool ideas to the table, as well as inspires even more. Ignoring the one heading with spacing issues, this book is a solid 5 star. Yes, I just admitted there is an editing issue in the same line that I stated the book gets a perfect rating. That is how much I like the design work for this class, and how much I want to see more done with it. Oh, and since I failed to mention it earlier....full Hero Lab support files. Yeah, just keeps getting better.

Pick this one up folks, it is Well worth the price of admission!

Third installment in a series is kind of a stressful position to have...I mean, by the time we have reached a third we've already seen the break out title, and the follow up. We have expectations, as consumers. The bar has been set, and we are more inclined to be critical to see if the magic will continue. That's the position 100% Crunch: Liches finds itself in.

Julian Neale has tackled that epic foe for this collection, the lich. The very mention of a lich at a game table should rightfully inspire dread and excitement amongst the players. With challenge ratings that rival the most fearsome of dragons, and an arsenal of magic at its disposal that should invoke fear and jealousy in the best of wizards, this is not a villain to take lightly. So, why do so many groups look at these BBEGs as not being all they can? Simple, the design time. Think about it, the lich, boiled down to the black and white of it is a spell battery, and a very powerful one at that. They don't tend to have spell lists filled with boring and useless filler novelty spells. No, they are designed with intelligence, picking spells through out their very long careers of study that will do one of three things, aid in combat, aid in research, aid in procuring material for research. Yes, there are more specific concepts once you get into your lich being Bob, fourth lord of Ymlstein...but until we skin the guy, the needs of a lich are pretty specific. And those needs can become very time consuming for the GM, quickly. And it is that time consuming problem that first sparked the idea of the 100% Crunch series, and led us to this collection of liches, and this review.

As is my habit, I like to give any PDF I am reviewing a virtual “flip through”, before reading anything in depth. I want to have that first impression one would get when they picked up a book in a game shop and scanned through it quickly. The eye gets drawn to artwork, tables, basic layout and such. If one thing has held true for me over the years, it is that the look and feel of a book is just as important as the material contained within. Truth be known, it is far harder to get people to spend time looking through a non visually pleasing book no matter how good one's material is. Which brings us to the reason I brought this up in the first place. One of the things that any publisher will tell you is to avoid wasted space, no matter what. It is a taboo, and a product killer. Yes, in PDF space is relative and not nearly as important as in a printed product where the real estate costs per page, and yet that idea of wasted space is still there. So my reaction upon flipping through 100% Crunch: Zombies at the immense amount of white page was understandably shocked...until I began to see the pattern. Realizing fairly quickly what Creighton had decided to do here, and how much value it actually brought to this product, I applaud what could possibly be a very brave and risky choice made on his part. The voids are a result of the layout not just running the statblocks together, making it far easier to print out a lich for a game session. Each statblock will print clean, as they were laid out to be printed separately. Could he have filled the space with art? Yes, truthfully that could have been done...but let's explore that idea for a second shall we? As consumers we all want art, lots of it...but art costs, period. There are a lot of great alternatives to high cost art out there, but this collection has 42 liches folks...that's a lot of moldy spell chuckers to account for with unique art, which would pretty much guarantee a massive raise in the product's price. So no....the route taken here was not only the better alternative, but a brilliant decision given what this product is. In the end the Crunch series is all about saving the GM time, period. Need a critter? Boom, covered. Print out page such and such, stomp your players and watch them rise to the challenge, much fun had by all.

Now, having talked for what has now felt like an entire review saying very little about the actual product itself, let's delve into this PDF, shall we?

56 pages of Lichdom make up this PDF, with the typical obligatory page count for covers, OGL, TOC and such. No, I didn't count them this time, lol. Small side note, Raging Swan puts one of what I consider the handiest things in the front of each of their products, a checklist. I love this thing, I do. It's the completist in me, but I like to see what is out there, and what I still need to get. A brilliant move on their part. OK, back to lichness.... Layout follows the standard dual column format, with the occasional piece of B&W artwork embedded within the text (as well as one full page piece of art). Editing appears to be up the standards I have come to expect from the Raging Swan camp, with no real errors jumping out and grabbing my attention. A linked TOC (always a plus in my opinion), and an extensive bookmark listing make this one extremely navigatable PDF. Creighton starts us off with his typical foreword explaining the thought behind why this product exists in the first place, and I admit, I look forward to these, as they give an insight into why certain things find their way into production. We also find here a mention of the decision to go with the layout choices for the statblocks mentioned earlier.

As has become the standard for this series, we open with a CR breakdown of what awaits us within the following pages. And again, I find myself slightly disappointed. I so desperately want this chart to be linked to the appropriate statblocks...I know, the TOC and bookmarks already handle all of this, but the inclusion of a CR breakdown acknowledges that sometimes this is the best way to organize, period. Looking over the list I can guarantee you this, there is a lich here for ANY situation...Julian has really outdone himself here in going beyond what the standard fare calls for when the term lich is brought up. Drider, serpentfolk, pukwudgie, and succubus are just a few of the not quite so standard races one expects to see when looking over a list of liches. Yes, we have the more standard concepts as well, plenty of human and elven (even a few drow and dwarven), but even these are not all what one might expect. Julian challenges us to step away from the standard Wizard/Cleric lich, and offers up Druid, Sorcerer, Bard, Oracle and Ranger liches....oh, now I have your attention huh? CR ratings start at 12, and roll all the way to 20, with 42 different, ready to terrorize your PCs liches...ohhhh, and did I mention the two different dragon liches? One green, one red. Yeah. Evilness at its best. And yes, no lich book would be complete without a nod to the demilich, and our madman at the design helm agrees, so have no fear there my friends.

As this series has shown up to this point, we are going to get more than just some well designed statblocks, we're also going to be treated to variants and templates...this time up that includes the Atrophied Lich and the Forsaken Lich. The atrophied is an interesting alternative, and presented as a plot device as opposed to a stat or template. Basically it covers the idea that those old dudes should move around from time to time, because shriveling up just might be a bad thing. The Forsaken gives us one seriously dangerous concept for a lich....yeah, think about that for a second...as if a lich wasn't already a big enough problem. The Forsaken Lich is created when things go wrong, and the lich finds himself “kind” of created into undeath, but with an extremely short amount of time to exist before the magical storms he unleashed in his failure consume not only his body, but his very soul. A lich with nothing to lose is a very very dangerous thing to unleash on a campaign world, and I can not wait to do it..

From there we get a quick look at the core Bestiary collection, and the races within with innate magical abilities that might make for an interesting variant lich. I've come to like this feature in this series, and would really like to see this expand beyond the boundaries of Paizo's official source material to include a few of the bestiaries from other 3PPs...of course depending upon which bestiaries make that list, that could become a product of its own.

Now, by now it must be nothing but statblocks right? Nope, not quite...there are three Archetypes here as well, the Unliving Bard, Druid, and Ranger. Each with a list of spells to remove from their lists, and spells to add. Out of the three, the bard has the most changes made to the core class, in that they now affect the undead as they once affected the living.
Now....a full description and breakdown of what exactly a Demilich is, and how one goes about becoming one, along with the variant Awakened version...and we arrive at the wealth of Lich statblocks. As stated previously, 42 of these uber villains waiting to be unleashed upon your PC's all in total crunch format, perfect for print and go, or to inspire a time rushed GM to design their fluff and NPC around.

This series continues to do nothing but impress me, and the addition of this PDF to the line really raises the bar, as there are some excellent builds in here, with some truly new concepts for what we consider the lich to be. Having found one whole thing to whine about, and that being the CR breakdown page not being linked, which, let's face it, that's really not an issue, just something I personally want to see...yeah, I can find nothing to fault this PDF on, at all. A well deserved and fully earned 5 star rating for an excellent product that I can guarantee will bring hours, and I do mean hours, of evilness to any table. A welcome addition to any collection, and well worth the price of admission folks.

Up From Darkness, Rite Publishing's latest offering in the continuing attempts to punish PCs everywhere, is a tale woven by Jonathan McAnulty. 35 pages, with the obligatory page count adjustments made for covers, OGL, credit pages such on and so forth give us a total page count for the adventure of 22, with a 5 page section of GM aids...we'll get to those, you'll like. The pdf also gives you 5 pre-generated characters to utilize, which in this case are an extremely handy thing, which shall be explained.

Formatting follows the standard dual column layout, with embedded artwork, as well as a few pages with a solo art piece tucked in here and there. The pages are decorated in a pattern that will have invokes thoughts of stylized oriental bamboo framework. Michael K. Tumey's cartography brings a very old school feel to this project, and gamers with an appreciation for older generations of RPGs, or even fans of the many nostalgia clones on the market will instantly feel comfortable with the mapping style used for most of the cartography used in this adventure. Now, I say most as there is one seriously odd duck in regards to the cartography. One particular area has not only been done in the classic style for the interior, but a 3 dimensional CG model has been provided to show the exterior of the section as well. The purpose behind it makes sense in that it helps visualize the manner in which the rooms relate to each other, but the two drastically conflicting styles really make this particular map page look odd.

OK....so all of the basics and non story-point specifics out of the way, this is an adventure review...and we all know what that means, now don't we? That's right. Players, begone. Seriously, stop reading, forward the link on to your GM, close the page and go peruse your GM's wishlist to see how you can further let them know you appreciate all they do for you....OK, we alone now? Just us GMs and such? Alright. Let's take a look into this story, shall we?

First off, this is not anything I would call a standard adventure. The basic story idea is as follows...The PCs are attempting to earn a spot amongst the Hakayami, an elite unit of Shogun within the Kaidan setting. How elite? Final initiation involves ritual suicide and transference of one's soul into a “loaner” body entombed at the bottom of a pitch black dungeon. The PCs assume the roles of these newly self assassinated initiates. They awaken within stone coffins, alone, in the dark, with no memories or clues as to how they got there, who they are, and what the hell is going on. Throughout the adventure there will be key times that the PCs will trigger snippets of memory to surface, as well as moments that they can trigger through roleplay (much like a reward system, earning additional memory snippets). Along with the loss of identity, and of course their original bodies, comes the loss of gear....all gear. The PCs start with kimonos, and must explore to put together enough gear to survive the challenges that roam the dungeon, as well as the obstacles through which they must go on their upward ascent to escape the dungeon. Surviving the dungeon and regaining their memories as they go will earn them the coveted position amongst the Hakayami...it goes without saying the ranks of the Hakayami don't often swell with new recruits.

So...what we have here, story-wise, is a self encapsulated adventure. As a GM I would be hard pressed to sell this to my players as something to incorporate into an ongoing campaign or storyline. And, truth be told, I think that is where this adventure's strength lies. It is not concerned with where the characters were before this, who they were, or where they thought they were going. By limiting the playing field down to what it is, and stripping the PCs of their memories, it forces the players to go back to basics and work as a team to survive, period. The pregens supplied are recommended to be used as they have been written with this adventure in mind, and lets face it, most players are not going to be to happy to hear that their characters killed themselves to earn a right to be part of this adventure, so pregens avoids that entirely. Now, are there potential issues with this, yes. Right off the bat I find myself wondering about spell casters...the PCs have no memories, why would a spell casting character still have spells available to them? And no, I'm not even thinking along the lines of study time being lost to the whole dying situation, no I am thinking why would I, as a person, try to cast a spell unless I knew I could do it? Also, we have a pregen with some physical enhancements, for lack of better wording. Very cool concept utilizing a necrotic warrior (bone)....but I don't see why the “loaner” body would automatically get the bone spikes and spears abilities, as I see that as more of a physical concept of the PCs body, not an attachment to their soul...So, these would be what I see as being hurdles to the idea of waking up 1) in someone else's body, and 2) amnesia...both can be worked with and around, just giving a heads up to GMs, as this would be something for me that I would want to put some thought into to be prepared to answer when a player challenged it at the table.

Now here is where those GM aids really come to bear, with a selection of random memory snippets, as well as finishing touches for the pregen characters. A very nice touch in making sure that every time this adventure is played through it will be a different game. There are a few editing issues here with misspelled words though, and that does not help sell these as well as they should have been.

Now, right off the bat the PCs can manage to get themselves into trouble, as the room within which they awaken contains more than just the bodies they are inhabiting. Opening any other stone coffins runs the risk of allowing the creation of a tamashinaki, as an elemental spirit may take control of the “empty” body and immediately attack. Obviously this would pose an interesting challenge for the group, as they are weaponless at this point, but a great way to make sure they understand what level of danger they are up against.

Ghostly samurai, haunts, traps and hungry critters all await the exploring PCs on the lower levels of this dungeon...with areas set up to equip the PCs with the gear they will need to survive. And thematically I am really liking the feel of where the story is going at this point as far as the over all vibe of the dungeon itself...but there is a huge problem in the practical application here. The maps are missing key identifying marks. Several times throughout the text of the adventure we are given locations for haunts/traps/encounters etc...but those locations are not marked upon the maps. Add to that the fact that the maps are devoid of any form of compass rose, and trying to relate what the text flow is presenting to the maps becomes a confusing if not impossible scenario. I had assumed a default of North to top of page for the first map until the text for one of the rooms led me to realize that North was actually the right hand side of the page. A mishap of this nature can derail a great adventure, as it leaves the GM running the adventure having to do a great deal of free style placement, which really shouldn't have to be done to this degree in a properly presented adventure. Luckily, this is an easy fix, and one that I hope to see very very soon.

Crawling their way from the bottom to the top, facing an ever growing level of difficulty in creatures that are not your standard run of the mill grab bag of creatures, the PCs are in for a gauntlet that will more than likely cost a few of them their lives. The adventure is prepared for that though, remember there are additional bodies in the lowest level. Yep, if a PC dies they wake up and get to start all over again, no memories, no clues...evil...love it.

I am not a huge fan of adventures that are as self contained as this one is, I will not lie. But this one surprised me, pleasantly. The story idea is a good one, the idea of this being a one off with pregens works well for me and my playgroup, a nice break from our normal game. I can easily see this being used as an opener for a Kaidan campaign as well, if one were looking to attach the PCs to a faction for story purposes. My point here, this is a good story. An extremely good story. Which is why the next part of this really sucks. The pdf has several editing issues, odd spaces in the middle of paragraphs, irregular underlining format to the statblocks, misspelled words...and the map keys not being present. I can overlook a great deal of editing hiccups if they don't truly cause issues with comprehension...but being told in text that trap X is marked on the map at location C, only to go to the map and find no C...over and over...that I can not overlook.

I am going to level out at a 3 star...which is a shame. I am really hoping this is something that will be addressed and fixed, soon. I would be happy to raise my rating to accommodate an update, and am hoping to get the chance to do so, as this story deserves to be presented in the best light possible.

-EDIT-

OK...take note folks...for this is an important thing to realize. When things are not right, and people are willing to listen and go back in and fix them, that is how customers are won...period. This adventure is an excellent story concept that for me was held back by the original maps drastically. Not only have the maps been updated with proper markings to tell you where the author intends for encounters, haunts and traps to be located, the secret doors and stairs have been properly labelled. In addition, the second map's odd style change has been addressed, and I have to say the new map showing the ascent path is very impressive. This type of willingness to bring a product up to the bar it sets for itself is to be commended. Well done, well done indeed. Rating has been happily changed to reflect a well earned and solid 5 star rating.

The Shadowsfall Shadow Plane Player's Guide from Jon Brazer Enterprises is one of those pdfs I have been looking forward to, and initial scans through the book do not disappoint, as this is one very professional looking project. Filled with a blend of color and B&W artwork, and one piece of B&W cartography that very much reminded me of long ago days of drawing up maps of fantastical lands for games with friends, the formatting adheres to the standard dual column approach. 34 pages total, with only four of those going to covers, OGL and TOC...leaving 30 pages to the material itself. Well, almost, there's an intro, and a cool coversheet of sorts (a “letter” with illustration) that starts us off.

So...Shadowsfall. Much anticipated as a setting, and here I have yet another piece of this puzzle, this time in the form of a player's guide. And what pray tell does Mr. McCoy choose to cover in this guide? Read on my friends, and I will do my best to cover the pertinent reasons you NEED this book.

Right off the bat it is important to understand that in the Plane of Shadow we are not the top of the food chain when it comes to playable races, nor even the densest population factor. To put it short humans are pretty much outnumbered. In terms of most per capita, the title belongs to the walking dead, as the Shadowsfall setting is about as close as one can get to playing a zombie apocalypse setting without abandoning the fantasy genre. There is a very real underlying threat of the undead permeating this setting, which brings with it the obvious darkness that makes this setting a real treat for those looking to add some Gothic horror to their standard campaign. Second, Shadowsfall, or the Plane of Shadow if you prefer, is an immense realm filled with the forgotten and lost material, places and people of countless worlds and realms. The possibilities for a campaign are insane in that there are so many different cultures worth of items, material and locations all tucked into one place, just waiting to be discovered.

Introduced in the player's guide we finally get stats for the beautiful Umbral Kobold that graces the cover, and that Dale has been teasing us with. An offshoot of the standard kobold race, they are the descendents of a clan of kobold who found themselves trapped upon the shadow plane, and with no heroes to cull their numbers grew and evolved to survive their new home. Also introduced here is the Wanderer, an intriguing player race for a fallen angel essentially...but think more in terms of City of Angels as opposed to Fire and Brimstone here...these celestials asked to leave service for whatever reason, and were granted their leave. Both new races are also accompanied with an archetype suited not only for them, but the shadow plane specifically.

New class options include a new order for cavaliers, new bloodlines, evolutions, hexes and schools continue to provide more options to truly fine tune your character to the shadow plane before delving to deep into these lands. Of these options, the new school of elemental magic was probably my personal favorite, Shadow. Quoting straight from the text, as I think this really speaks for itself...”Shadow represents the memory of what was, the loss of what is, and the broken dreams of the future. It is the lifelessness and despair that comes from a former glory wasting away...” Starting to get the idea that perhaps the term Shadow Plane is referring to more than just that thing you cast on the wall yet?

New plane of course gives us new familiar options, some being shade variants, others being new to the list entirely...giant nightcrawler anyone? Or perhaps a riding dodo?? Nothing says don't mess with me like riding into combat on a dodo...lol

As is the standard within a player's guide for a setting, we are given a brief description and write up for several communities and settlements, their people and basic traits. The immense difference here in looking at how these communities interact is that they essentially don't. Outside the walls of fortified structures lies the undead hordes. Wandering through what is known as the Outlands, or the lands between strongholds, the zombie population and random critters make sure that travel between strongholds is a dangerous enough proposition that one does not partake of it for no reason short of dire importance. Which is why it is easy to see how each of these stronghold settlements have become as vastly different as they have. Each coming to be as a means of defending a place to settle and live against raiders, monsters and the undead in general, they all have adapted a different outlook on what is the best path to take in doing so. Strongholds such as Blackbat – in business with vampire lords trading captured zombies to be used as labor in mines collecting material; Bloodchain – ruled by kytons, the humanoids within these walls pay for their safety by giving in to the sadistic desires of their masters; Kingsgrave – a once mighty stronghold complete with magical orchards providing plentiful food and a contingent of golems protecting them from the undead hordes. All was perfection until the golems turned on their masters, leaving this once mighty region into a ghostland still filled with plentiful foods and treasures for those willing to brave the still patrolling golem guardians. These are but a sampling of the settlements and strongholds detailed here, and truthfully, each has an interesting enough flavor that I would love to see them all expanded upon in future volumes.

Thirteen new feats flesh out the next section of the book, with such offerings as Shadow Style (Combat, Style) – increasing base land speed, and adding your Wis bonus to Fly and Stealth checks. Additionally we are given 2 feats that chain with this combat style to further add to the enhancements. Augment Undead does exactly what you might be thinking it does, adding to STR and HD for undead you create. Fighting Retreat stood out to me as one of those feats that I can see a great deal of intelligent players taking, as it allows for an attack action during a withdraw action...and let's face it, sometimes you just have to run rather than die. And it is always a good idea to be able to fight as you go until you are clear enough to run.

New equipment options include the wartrident, a variant pike style weapon, and several alchemical items like the deathburn and holy orb. Deathburn is a liquid that after application to an undead will change their physical damage to acidic, or cause acidic damage when applied to living tissue. The holy orb is essentially a glass grenade filled with holy water. Two vehicles are presented here as well, one strictly realistic in its design, the other following the eldritch/alchemical route.

Four pages are dedicated to laying out the pantheons of the Shadow Plane, explaining the portfolios of the gods, the viewpoints of their followers, and the subdomains associated to the former. Here within are the Kyton subdomain (Evil, Law) and the Shadow subdomain (Darkness). We're also given a new mystery for oracles, Joy.

Six new spells are introduced with a section opener explaining that within the shadow plane many spells more common on other planes are less effective...I would have liked to have seen perhaps more detail to this statement in game mechanics. It states that fireball would be one of those less effective spells, but does not give us any stats to show this. I am assuming this information will be within the setting guide itself for GM's, as opposed to the player's guide...so I shall be looking for it. If the statement is going to be made that common spells are less useful, and the subschool of shadow is in fact more powerful on this plane (which makes perfect sense) I would think some form of demonstrating this would be extremely useful.

As with the spells, we are given six new magical items as well, with a brief intro stating that very few magical items are actually created within this plane, as most people are concerned more with the task of day to day survival. Amongst these items we have a Cowl of Undead Command, a Kyton Slavery Whip and a Cloak of Darkness. Now in direct contrast we close the book with a chapter detailing several common magical items that have found their way to the plane of shadow, and been altered. And by altered, well, I mean altered...lol. Take the Necklace of Exploding Beads for instance, appearing as a standard type IV necklace of fireballs the beads on this necklace explode instantly upon removal from the strand, not giving you the chance to throw them at a foe....I so want to drop a few of these for my PCs to find...(insert evil laugh)...But, as cool as this section is, I think it further supports my problem with the new spell chapter. The plane changes things, and the time was taken to show that for a few magical items to help clarify this, but the same level of attention was not afforded spells. By stating that spells don't work as effectively, but not detailing any of what is meant by that, I feel a little shortchanged...especially after reading through the excellent magical items section.

OK...final tally of thoughts here. PDF is fully bookmarked, which always makes me happy. TOC was not linked, which makes me frown, but truly, that is a personal thing since bookmarks handle that anyway. I managed to find one editing error in 34 pages...one. That's pretty good, good enough I'm not even considering it as a negative. The art ranges in quality, with a few pieces being truly excellent, the writing was all of good caliber. The idea that has grown into Shadowsfall is interesting and original enough in its approach that it feels brand new without losing the touch of familiar that a setting needs to truly be inviting. That alone deserves it high praise, as that is not an easy task to pull off. So...my feeling that a more expanded explanation of why/how some spells are not as effective would be helpful being my only true negative...and seriously, if that's all I can find to dig at you should have realized by now that this is an excellent player's guide to a fantastically written setting.

I am going with a rating of 5 for this book, as my only complaints came down to personal preferences, not actual issues with the product itself.

#30 Evocative Vehicles brings us another installment in the #30 series from Rite publishing. Liz Smith is at the reins this time around, and has presented us with an interesting collection of vehicular oddities. Each presented with a Statblock to handle the game mechanics side of things, along with a brief history and explanation of the vehicle's abilities. Formatting and editing stand up to the standard set by Rite publishing, with Steven doing his typical excellent job in that regard. Layout adheres to the dual column approach, with embedded B&W artwork from that treasure chest of classic artwork Mr. Russell has a knack for plumbing. Bookmarks are present, but unfortunately are handled with an alphabetical subsection (B-C, D, E, F-H....) instead of linking to the actual items. Not a huge problem, but a slight disappointment.

Being that we are looking at thirty items, and to detail them all for you would negate the entire reason to purchase said product, I am going to instead touch on a few that caught my eye. The Dancing Phoenix would be the first up, an aasimar wizard's ship, built to catch the planar winds this vessel was designed to travel the various planes in search of fellow aasimar. Something about the idea of sailing the planar seas always appeals. Dreamstead shows an obvious nod to a certain classic movie from yesteryear. A four-poster bed that will animate to gain the capacity to walk and fly with the manipulation of carving upon a bedpost. Not the most original of ideas true, but the way it is presented here did get a smile out of me.

The Infinity Thief introduces us to a ship upon which no-one can die, no matter what. Regardless of damage you stabilize right before the point of death. Now that sounds all well and good until you realize that nowhere in there did I say no damage, or no pain...this is more a curse than a benefit folks, and makes for one seriously demented crew to unleash upon a campaign world sailing the seas in their twisted curse of a vessel. And, in case you're wondering, yes, the minute you leave the vessel you regain mortality. Kekette brings me around again to an homage piece, this one being a bright yellow colored submersible...I think we'll just leave this one alone at that.

Pelte strikes me as one of the oddest, and yet cool vehicle ideas in this collection. A copper sphere large enough for 1-2 (depending upon size) the basic idea here is you catch a ride inside a gelatinous cube, using a system of rods you can extend from the sphere out past the cube's mass that extrude the scent of food to steer the creature where you want it to go. Now, idea wise, interesting. As presented however, serious issues. First off, I'm thinking if you have to open anything on this sphere to extend these rods, you're allowing the cube in, as it is a semisolid, and will ooze through openings. Second, how does one stop? How do you get out of the cube's mass once in it? Intriguing idea and all, and one I could see making for an odd encounter with an NPC for a dungeon crawl, but there are a few details I would have liked to have seen covered in its entry.

All in all, this is exactly what it states, a collection of vehicles of various ideas. Some of these vehicles are of the common enough type that they will feel instantly familiar, carriages, ships, etc. Others are a little more odd, like the steam driven medusa head warmachine (simply a walking style machine with built in siege weapons, not equipped with a gaze attack). The author approached the source material with a great deal of humor, and admittedly there are several points I feel that detracts from the over all product. Not just in the nature of how the vehicles are designed so much, or even what the vehicles are, but in reading through their descriptions and histories. An alchemical mechanical dragon comes to mind, as its history suggests that it was last known to be in the possession of a love sick wyvern who is still trying to get it to speak and return its affection.

All in all, if your either OK with the humor, or can look past it, the vehicles here range from flat out weird and niche to interesting and usable. This one fell towards the middle for me, not really wowing me enough, but at the same time not failing to deliver on what the title suggests either. In the end I am settling on a rating of 3 stars.

So, second up in the 100% Crunch series are Zombies. Benefiting from the very idea that a zombie's physical requirements for being a dangerous creation are very similar to the skeleton's the lists within this book are going to see some familiar races from the last installment in this series. But in no way does that necessarily detract from the cool factor. Having just finished the Skeletons tome shortly before delving into this one, I was like a kid skipping straight to the CR list to see what goodies would catch my eye this time...and to my ultimate delight the T-Rex was there. Also a Pit Fiend, an Ice Linnorm and a freaking Whale....oh the sheer bizarreness for zombieness this collection brings to the table.

So, for those not yet familiar with the series, the 100% Crunch line seeks to tackle some of the classics we all know and love, and not only streamline them down for time beleaguered Gms everywhere, but expand upon the stock we have all been using. Let's face it, as far as zombies go for the most part we're all picturing a shuffling humanoid, doing its thing trying to eat...but why does it have to be humanoid? Why can't it be a Dragon Turtle? Or a Girallon? Why, because most of us don't have the time to delve into the math of applying the template for zombie to a mass amount of cool races, that's why. And that is where this series is really kicking in to high gear.

A CR list with the offerings broken down by their levels of badassed-ness, the full zombie template presented here for sake of ease and completion. A variety of alternate zombie templates that should be familiar to most anyone, again here for the sake of completion. A handy listing of creatures from the three bestiaries, broken down by which book they can be found within and their CR/HD ratings, that would be perfect for zombification...and then a mass avalanche of zombie statblocks. Yeah, this book handles your zombie needs as a GM.

And, while we're discussing what all this pdf includes, there is a small section of lines that ALMOST borders on the concept of fluff. And it is those lines that I want to thank Julian Neale for the most, as these lines discuss the concepts of how one might go about getting their hands on certain bodies to use for zombification...bodies not of the norm, like perhaps planetars and such. A few races are suggested for their talents in planar travel, and the idea of them “harvesting” battlefields of various planes and worlds sparked an entire organization within my campaign world that even now rolls around in the back of my head. The ultimate grave robbers, trafficking in rare and unusual bodies. I love when a book sparks a thought that wont go away.

Editing and format are as to be expected from an excellent publisher like Raging Swan, and the layout adheres to the dual column format, with bookmarks and linked TOC. I can find nothing to complain about in terms of this product other than that I want MORE!

The 100% Crunch series continues with a second excellent entry, and has again earned a 5 star rating. Well worth the price of admission folks, the sheer amount of time you'll save as a GM demands this product be a part of your arsenal. Combine this with the excellent So What's the Zombie Like Anyway and you have the recipe for one seriously memorable horde of flesh hungry undeath to unleash on your PCs.

Julian Neale opens the 100% Crunch series for Raging Swan with Skeletons. Now, we all know these walking bone piles, and for a great deal of game tables out there the skeleton has for many years been a go to for cannon fodder. But they can be so much more. Ponder this, when you think of the word skeleton, the image of a human, or at least humanoid skeleton comes to mind, doesn't it? Not hard to understand why, as they are the easiest and most basic of the creature when it comes to a statblock write up, hence forth they are the creature most of us have faced or used. But what if it wasn't an issue of time and difficulty in applying the skeleton template to a mass variety of races? What if there were a repository of pre-built, ready to go statblocks of skeletons that defy the norm?

That my friends is exactly what the 100% Crunch series is all about. Giving the GMs of the world a resource of statblocks with options, lots and lots of options...97 of them to be exact. With creatures ranging from merfolk to T-rexs, rats and orcs, dolphins and fire giants...if you can't find a new and cool skeleton in here to keep your stories fresh I'll be surprised. But, just in case you cant, and you have an idea not covered there are hints in the book on how to handle that easily, and with minimal effort.

A full CR breakdown listing of all the statblocks included, a listing of skeleton worthy creatures from the three bestiaries, the full skeleton template provided here for the sake of ease and completeness. A handful of various templates including many we have seen before like the bloody and burning. A great deal of what is here is in fact material one could glean from “official” sources, that is very true. But, I know I don't have the hours it must have taken to put this listing together, and I doubt you do either. And that is where a product of this nature excels. By providing in one source one specific theme, with a large amount of options and potentials.

Could there have been some new and interesting twists thrown in? Sure. But adding a great deal of new stuff without any fluff could get rather boring if you think about it, and that in the end is detrimental to the new material. This series promises 100% Crunch, and provides just that.

Editing and formatting follow the high standards I have come to expect from Raging Swan, with a dual column layout and a few pieces of art that invoke an old school feel. Now, I feel the need to state, for the record, that I didn't think I was going to like this product. Heck, I didn't think I was going to like anything in this series. I am primarily not a crunch kind of GM. I understand its importance, but I prefer the story element to the rules element. I always have. So I went into this book with a halfhearted reluctance, feeling more an obligation to review it than a desire to. It didn't take me long to begin to not only see the value of a product of this nature, but to find myself enjoying the read through.

My point being this, I am not a huge fan of Crunch only material, and I liked this product...I liked it enough that I am looking forward to the next in the series. It made me realize how underused the skeleton really is when it comes to various racial options for the base creature. It brought to light the immense amount of time one could put into designing various skeletons to use, and why so many people stick to just the basics. This product belongs in your collection folks, as I guarantee it will save you an immense amount of time, as well as inspire you with ideas...(skeletal merfolk??? Seriously???)

Stamping this with a golden 5 star rating, and labeling it well worth the price of admission!

If you are not aware of the “So Whats The...Like Anyway?” series then to put it bluntly, you are working to hard as a GM. Seeking to aid in combating the all to common habit of overworked GMs everywhere of glazing over details this series offers up easy to use random charts filled with nuggets of awesomeness, all centered on one theme per collection. This time out, we're looking at zombies. Yeah, zombies...those shuffling ever hungry reminders that you never really liked your neighbors anyway, lol.

Greg Marks gives us not only three highly detailed and varied D100 lists to flesh out the zombie hordes of our nightmares, but a few templates to slap on the random flesh-eater as well, with such treats as frozen, screaming, legless...or...wait for it....pet zombie. Yeah, a template for turning Fido into a zombie...because come on, you know you want a freaking poodle zombie in the middle of a night of flesh eating mayhem just to screw with your Pcs...OK, maybe that's just me...but now you do.

Best part of these lists that Marks has put together, personally, is not that we have a list of potential visual descriptions...I mean that's really cool and all. Because let's face it here, not every zombie looks the same, nor originally died the same way. No, the best list of the three is the “What are they still carrying?” list. Think about it folks, every zombie used to be someone...and not every zombie crawled its way out of a grave all laid out proper. No, some of them entered the world of undeath with a lot less preparation, making for not only a widely different baseline of looks and races, but an eclectic collection of goodies walking around with them. Jewelry, items in pockets, clothing, things of that nature. Granted, your average zombie won't be carrying around a guitar looking to play a gig, but what if that bard never got a chance to get it unsheathed from the harness he had it strapped into across his back before he fell to a pack of zombies? And, let's assume he found himself animated then as a zombie himself, you think his tiny brain even knows there's a guitar on his back? 100 various things of this nature that would really flesh out the idea that a shuffling horde of these things would be equipped with a lot of interesting items.

Now, fifteen pages total (with about half of that going to covers, intro, OGL and the Raging Swan checklist) is just big enough in my opinion to require bookmarks and such. Luckily Creighton agrees, as this book comes fully bookmarked, as well as having the Table of Contents linked as well. Editing and format live up to the usual high standards I have come to expect from this company, with a dual column approach to the layout.

Now, before I give an opinion on a rating, there is one final thing I feel must be mentioned here...something that just might be in and of itself the main reason to purchase this PDF. Tucked into the template options, of which there are six by the way, is a treat that literally made me chuckle evilly. A new swarm, the Zombie Limb Swarm. Now, seriously, that's just freaking evil as crap, and so damn cool it had me looking through my bits box to see if I had enough various limbs to craft a miniature for this...I mean come on, a swarm of heads, legs, arms and hands all clawing and biting...ohhhh the sweet sweet evil behind this idea alone...excellent!

So...a final rating of a well deserved 5 stars, and more than well worth the price of admission folks!

One of the classic concepts of traditional gaming that has held on throughout all variations and generations, editions and systems is the idea of the riddle. Those time forgotten words carved into the sides of a monolithic statue that hint at times gone by and how to safely travel through the catacombs...those timeless creatures to whim a group of PCs are but gnats amusing themselves by giving a group a chance to survive with a battle of wit and tongue. Oft times the idea of a riddle can very quickly bring about those memorable moments in a gaming groups collection of tales.

However, as any unprepared GM is aware, those can also translate into moments that mean nothing...Ive been at a table where a riddle was presented to the playgroup that was obviously written hastily, and with very little thought put into it. The GM had us roll, and on a successful check we “solved” the riddle and moved on...wait, wha? That's not that special moment we all are looking for at the game table...and that is exactly what this book hopes to help with.

Liz Smith has presented us here with a collection of smartly written riddles, of varying degrees of challenge for a GM to present to their players. The PDF starts us off with a brief explanation of what exactly constitutes a riddle, as one can hardly present riddles if operating without a full understanding of what they are. The nice thing here is on top of giving us the different forms of riddle with examples, the breakdown of seeing the different styles compared like this helps in realizing why some riddles will work in one form, but not in another. Thereby helping to place your riddles better throughout your games. From there we go to a pretty straight forward example of how to structure and write a good riddle, which I think anyone could benefit from.

Now, getting to the actual riddles, there are four pages of them. I would love to tell you these are all original...but I recognize a few of these. And honestly, that's OK. There's nothing really wrong with that, as the ones I recognized brought a smile to my face and a warm memory from books loved over a lifetime. I imagine most of you out there will recognize a few as well, and hopefully they inspire you as well.

All in all this product does indeed succeed at providing exactly what it claims it will, a ready to use list of riddles. It also manages to go beyond that with a handy breakdown of the various styles of riddles, and a walk through to aid one in designing their own riddles. Finding that the book left me with several ideas for placing a riddle or two in upcoming adventures, I am going to have to give this a solid 5 star rating, and mark it as well worth the price of admission! Well done!

Class Acts Gunslinger brings the attention of Abandoned Arts to one of the most controversial classes to ever find its way to my game table. True, there are gaming groups out there that embrace the idea of guns in a fantasy setting with no issues. Just as there are groups that stand on a blanket ban of all things firearm, with no exceptions. My own viewpoints lie somewhere in the middle, typically.

Personally one of my biggest issues with the entire concept of firearms in a fantasy game is the lack of truly realistic rules to handle them, or the sheer ridiculous intentional weakening of these weapons to try and maintain a balance with melee weaponry. So, these things now established, let us take a look to see how Darron Woodson chose to approach a set of new feats for this class shall we?

PDF weighs in at 5 pages, losing 2 to the OGL and coversheet. The framing and coloration remain the standard from previous Abandoned Art releases, as well as the opening with a definition of how Paizo defines the focus of this particular PDF, that being grit feats.

Darron starts us off with a handy chart/table giving us the familiar layout of the new feats in a feat tree format, listed by their connections to each other. Prerequisites and a shortened Benefits section complete the chart. Personally I love these charts, and tend to copy them into a larger document I keep of all playable feats within my game, and would love to see more companies begin offering a breakdown of their feats in this manner.

OK, with eighteen new feats, I am not going into detail for each of them here, but we will cover a few that grabbed my attention, the first being a chain of two. Think Twice and Think Again may in fact be skirting the idea of being unbalanced in that they allow you to swap out a skill check for the critical hit confirmation role, but to put it bluntly, I Don't Care...these feats are cool as hell. The basic idea here I'm going to tell you EXACTLY what I am going to do to you with my gun, and if you are dumb enough to trigger that readied action, well, I get to double up on my crit range...and if I stack the feats, that range gets even better. That's Hollywood tough guy translated right to the game table there folks, pure and simple...gaining a better chance of screwing up the bad guy because you tell him what you're going to do to him...gotta love it.

Shrouded Shot gives us mechanics to handle those sneaky shots, like when you draw your pistol under your cloak. Well done and balanced, logical explanation and limitations. Last Man Standing not only gives you an extra grit point, it allows you to apply hp damage to your grit points. This one had me with the idea, but I feel it fell short in the mechanics. It mentions that only some part of the damage can be applied, but goes no further in determining how much that some would be. Nor does it specify if this feat stacks, thereby allowing you to gain numerous grit point bonuses as well as numerous damage sponge-feats. This one needs a little more refining in my opinion.

We'll end on a high note here, with Just Won't Die, as I really liked this one for its story telling potential. If you have grit left you get to recalculate your negative hp threshold for death, and even then still get one full round of action after passing the point of dead...yeah, total story loving feat right here...well done!

OK, Darron was wise here with his feats for this class, he steered clear of the idea of the gunslinger being only defined by his weapon of choice. Yes, there are a feats in this collection that give some new tricks to the usage of a gun in combat, but truth be told, they are ones that are practical and make sense in a real world kind of manner. Two of them play on the sound of a gunshot, one other handles quick-draw. Most of the other feats deal with the person himself, not the gear, and I like that, a lot. The gunslinger as a person is a different breed from other fighters, they approach battle with a different mindset. And before I forget, I must mention Smooth Moves. Yet another feat for the thematic playgroups looking for story enhancers more than the power gamers out there, this feat actually rewards you for walking a little slower, lol. Think about it, every movie you've ever seen with someone running their tail off being followed slowly by a foe, it's unnerving isn't it? Well, here you go. The calm, confident gunslinger taking her time to walk up on an enemy...loved it! Feats that enhance story like this are what I love to see in product far more than power gamer fuel.

So, final tally...a handful of feats I truly enjoyed, for a problematic class. Editing, formatting all looked good as usual when it comes to Abandoned Arts. One feat in particular that just has to many holes as worded...am going to have to go with a 4 star rating, with the statement that a revisit to that feat could easily inspire me to adjust my rating.

#30 Cursed Treasures, the latest in the #30 series from Rite weighs in at 23 pages, with 19 of those being the pages containing new game material. Written by John Bennett and featuring more of the amazing artwork Steven Russell has a knack for finding (this time out treating us to pieces from Arthur Rackham), this installment to the series continues the dual column format, with the occasional embedded piece of artwork, as well as the classic Rite publishing page frame.

Cursed Items are always an interesting thing to incorporate into a game setting, as the idea of adding true curses, those powerful afflictions that defy magical means to rid oneself of, well...something has to bring a chuckle to a GM from time to time...and nothing seems to work quite like watching a playgroup scramble to rid themselves of a cursed item that just won't go away...

Each item is given a price (as per its material value and its collectable value), a physical description, a detailed explanation of the trigger that sets off the curse, what the effects of said curse are, the history of the item (great for mining for immense amounts of story ideas, adventure hooks, side quests...and of course the terms for removal of the curse upon the bearer.

As there are thirty of these items, I am going to limit myself to a few choice items, beginning with []bRexzor the Red's Dragon Tapestry[/b]. Rexzor was your atypical Red, big, nasty, greedy and on a shortlist for hero's to try and kill. And when his day finally came, from his scales a tapestry was made by one of the victors of Raxzor's final battle. So, we've got a back-story, we've got a cool item, I mean a tapestry made of woven dragonscale?? That's pretty cool...so what's the curse right? Simple, fire. The minute a new owner hangs this unique wall art within his home, the clock is ticking for the place to burn to the ground. A fairly specific method for removal of the curse guarantees this item becoming an adventure for a playgroup if they end up with it, as there is only one way to be rid of the tapestry...and the minute you touch it you want to take it home and hang it up...lol.

Glutton's Gold sent me to Google to verify a word, and its meaning (lol), and before anyone out there not knowing this word, or its meaning, I beg of you to learn it before contacting Steven to yell at him, lol. Now, that out of the way, what we have here is a hoard of shiny gold coins just waiting to be found...only problem is they leave anyone who possesses any of them with an appetite for actual gold, strong enough that they will suffer if they do not eat enough, daily. The Burnt Crown of the Wood Elf King is one of the most bizarre items as far as its history goes that I think I have ever come across. The crown of the elven king Eltee'ae, the crown holds within it his extreme hatred of all animals...yeah, you read that right, an elven king...hatred of all animals. The hatred sprang from his being taken aback by human druids using animals to attack his kingdom...so, an elven king sees animals of his forest being used as weapons against him and his, and blames the weapon, not the people steering them? Sorry, this one doesn't work for me. Copper Pennies of Apathion is the classic ancient people sold their souls to Charon, and used these coins to denote other souls they were sending in their place type of thing...hence the whole placing a coin on each eye of the dead.

Cube of Zaz is an interesting concept for an item, as the ramifications of introducing one to a divine caster who relies upon prayer in your campaign could be long standing. The cube “replaces” the character's God/patron...whomever it is that grants them spells for their prayers. The cube does not provide as many spells, nor any domain spells or abilities...but unless the character can find a way around the cube to contact their deity they would have no reason not to believe they had simply upset their God and that was the reasoning behind the lesser granted perks for prayers.

OK, so final thoughts here...there are some pretty cool items presented here, far more cool items than not. The format of how they are presented is extremely cool as well, giving a piece of history to each as well as the methods of removal being far more than “cast this spell” standard fare. However, the PDF is riddled with small editing issues, mainly in grammar. Nothing to the point that you can't understand what you are reading, but certainly enough that you notice it. Cursed items are a great way to add some serious levels of danger to your game, but only if you as a GM are willing to put in the effort to make them cool. There are several here that could become part of some great memories for your players, and for that I am going to give this PDF a 4 star rating.

7 War Master Feats continues the summer of Bullets with another addition to the series. This time around Owen took aim at the War Master or, for those campaigns not allowing this SGG class, classes receiving bonus combat/teamwork feats as class features, or barring those two options characters that have the Leadership feat. So, now that we've covered that pretty much anyone can benefit from these feats designed for the War Master, lol, lets take a look.

Advance in Ranks lets you direct additional 5 ft. movements amongst adjacent allies. Formation Fighting lets you designate groups as formations, and thereby grant them all the benefits of an aid another. Mixed Order lets allies within range treat their weapons as if they shared specific features with a weapon you are wielding. Overwatch gives you the potential to essentially block AoOs against your allies by warning them. Set to Receive lets you direct allies such that they can deal braced weapon damage during the first attack of opportunity.

Tactical Commands[b] gives you multiple options when commanding your allies upon the field of battle, opening possibilities to them that they would otherwise not have available. [b]War Signals allows you to utilize feats and class features using time honored means of communication upon a battlefield that allow one to stay in contact with troops who may be able to hear them, but not see them, or vice versa.

Collected, whether these feats could be used by more than a War Master or not, that's where they belong, on a battlefield, in the hands of a character designed to be using them. Does that make them bad? No, it makes them specific. All in all nothing here truly jumps out as being anything more than utilitarian in design, but as I have stressed many times before, until utilitarian bones are laid, many things we take for granted as should be there are not actually there within a game's design. So, useful? Yes. Exciting? Not so much. I'm settling on a three star for this one, as it is good design in that the mechanics work, and everything here is useful, it just didn't grab me is all.

Frost Giant Pirates of the Icy Heart details what I can only explain as one of the most unique pirate vessels I have ever come across. Part of the Tribes series, this pdf takes on the crew of the Icy Heart, a freaking glacier used by a crew of frost giants and a dragon (and her brood) as a pirate vessel. Yes, I said glacier...pirate vessel...yep...pretty freaking epic, no? Trust me, the artwork depicting this is pretty cool. Weighing in with 24 pages (6 lost to covers, checklist, OGL, intro and such), this pdf is fully bookmarked with a linked TOC...which always makes me happy.

The crew of this lovely little party killer (did I mention you should only unleash this on a high level play group lol?) consist of Flashfreeze, a white dragon, and her brood of four. Flashfreeze's “pet”Lozondur, half dragon remorhaz...uh huh...quit your drooling, and yes, stat wise, he really is that insanely cool...could you imagine the miniature? Because I can, and really really want one...isn't Christmas coming Creighton? Lol

So, back to the crew, momentary Lozondur distraction there...Jarl Icehammer, an antipaladin with a disposition that not even a villain could love captains the frost giant crew, and rules them through fear, pure and simple. He has his goals and plans, the dragon has her's, heck even the dragon's brood have their's...so how do they all cooperate on this vessel long enough to be a threat in the first place? Simple, the woman who brought them all together, Lady Antonia Krath. A spoiled aristocrat who was married off by her parents into a life she didn't want, Antonia sought a method of insuring the wealth of her new husband that he might be able to afford her tastes in life...the rest as they say is history.

A vessel of legend, this is not the type of thing you drop in unannounced and expect a playgroup to be able to handle in a one off session. Not only has the crew been well designed with the thought of them being a challenge to any group, but the very vessel itself presents environmental challenges to overcome so that one may even attempt to challenge the crew in the first place. Easily the perfect thing to build towards in a nautical campaign, letting word spread from coastal town to coastal town, letting the legend grow in the wake of destruction left by this vessel. Making your players understand the danger of finding themselves caught within the path of the Icy Heart long before they ever lay eyes upon it.

I love source material of this nature, I really do. Whether you take it as a whole, dropping it into a campaign world as it is, or mine it for pieces, there is a lot here to work with. Fully developed NPCs with motivations, personalities and a legitimate reason to be there. My only complaint in regards to this pdf is that we get no internal maps of the Icy Heart, which I think is a real shame, as it is not laid out entirely as a traditional ship by the descriptive text.

Final thoughts, a few minor grammatical mishaps, but nothing major. A great design for a truly memorable pirate crew (love the idea that the giants have taken to dressing as they think pirates dress), and probably one of the most unique vessels I've encountered in awhile. But, a lack of visuals of the ships interior, or maps to use since it is treated as terrain does bring down my rating...so I am settling with a 4 star rating for this module.