![]() Sign in to create or edit a product review. ![]() Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Construct HandbookPaizo Inc.![]() Add Print Edition $22.99 Add PDF $15.99 Non-Mint Unavailable Flavorful if not Accessible to Players![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() This book is...ok.
While it presents a number of construct related character options, it doesn't really make coructs any more accessible for PCs; you still need to be quite high level and exorbitantly rich to really get into them.
A good chunk of the book focuses on Shory constructs.
The character options for construct flavored characters are...well, lukewarm.
All in all, good for a GM or if you REALLY want to make a golemmancer.
Honestly, I had low expectations for this book. I mean, with the Brawler and the Monk and a plethora of unarmed options for other classes already existent, where could they go from here? Boy was I wrong. This book is A+ material, not only opening up martial arts to even more classes but providing all sorts of truly inspiring character options.
It you're one of those people who likes the chapter break splash pages in the hardback rules books for the flavor and life they bring to the setting and the iconics characters, then this is a go to series for you. Simply a must for fans of the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path. The Bad
The Good
The Ugly Spoilers
The Verdict
***STAY AWAY FROM THE SILVER RAVENS CHAPTER IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON PLAYING HELL'S REBELS*** Honestly, how much you will like/use this book depends on the mileage you got out of Inner Sea Gods.
Why's that?
That said, this book DOES provide some wonderful background information of each minor god.
Oh, and Achaekek assassinates another building... What this book is: a list of options for characters who plan on working with an evil source. An agent, of evil, if you will.
Agents of Evil is a great book for those looking to engage an evil, or at least morally ambiguous, campaign but aren't ready to go full mustache twirling, baby eating, "hail Asmodeus!" monster. It comes with a plethora of story feats that play off of the fall of morality, some class options for clerics and summoners that let non-evil ones work better with the wicked, and a few other goodies that fit right into settings like Skull and Shackles and Reign of Winter. That said, if you want your character to fully embrace darkness... well, this book isn't that. For an AP like Way of the Wicked, where the PCs are supposed to be fully in the dark side of the alignment axis, this book's "slightly darker than gray" themes won't satisfy you. Champions of Corruption will serve you better. The reason for the three star review isn't the part of the moral spectrum it chooses to cover, it's about the multiple directions this book tried to go and the fact it really didn't satisfy any of those directions.
Final verdict; just like its subject matter, it's not a BAD book, but it's not a particularly GOOD one either. If you are on the fence, I suggest borrowing a copy before you commit to it. What more could you want? I seriously love this figure. The pose, the colors, the sculpt, it all just feels 'right.' Just opened some Reign of Winter pacs and boy was I surprised when I pulled the Maftet.
Depending on what you are playing, this book is either a five star or two star book. In an organized play environment such as Pathfinder Society or in a campaign with little crafting time, this book is fairly underwhelming. many items are prohibitively high costing for low level characters and just not powerful enough for high level ones. There are a few gems here and there, but just not enough to warrant buying the book for most players. That said, in a campaign that offers time for crafting this book is solid, especially for Alchemists (no surprise there). Players who enjoy crafting, especially the little nuances, will greatly enjoy this book. There is enough information available to play a game within a game as you track alchemical reagents, time spent crafting to the minute of the day, and even tools available. The book also offers different backgrounds of alchemy, from Katapeshi Drug alchemy to Varisian Fireworks to Daggermark Poisons. To that end, it could be called Inner Sea Alchemy in all honesty. In the end, the book gets 3 stars from me. It's invaluable for that niche of people who will use it, but the average player won't need it. I have a friend who REALLY liked Sandara Quinn, so imagine my luck when I pulled two of her! As it turns out, not very. The sculpt of the figure is a really cool one, pulled strait from her bio entry in the Wormwood Mutiny. The mini even has a translucent plastic "spell" in her right hand, as per the image. This is sadly where the figure's strengths end. The paint job on not one, but BOTH of the Sandara minis I had were abysmal. The eye (only one is visible) on each was off center and cartoonishly big. The hair looks hastily done, and the skin on her arms and face are splotchy. I know that this is a pre-paint and that production values vary, but the quality is well below what Paizo and Whizkids has shown in the past. Unfortunately, the shoddy workmanship in the paint eclipses the awesomeness of the sculpt. Two Stars. A nice figure, but the sculpt is too small, recollecting the troll from th first Pathfinder Battles installment. He couls stand to be a bit bigger, so that he at least matches up to the Ogre mini. I will use this figure for all of my fat-man-with-chicken characters I play. Time to roll the poultry-mancer. Jokes aside, the figure IS Kroop. While I normally would rather a figure for a character the players are more likely to fight, the pudgy cook is just so brimming with personality that I'll make an exception here.
*Edit* THis figure is also stupidly usable. There are plenty of portly tavern keepers, blacksmiths, and gluttonous nobles for whom there simply are no good representations. Send in the Kroop! This figure does not disappoint. It perfectly portrays the wizened old druid. Sculpt is spot on and the paint-job is excellent for a pre-paint. Part 3 of Eyes of the Ten is... interesting, so say the least. It goes over the top, and sadly probably peaks retirement a little too soon. I had a grand time with this one, but that was probably in part to the group I play with Spoiler: I could see this, as well as the other retirement scenerios, just not working out at conventions due to time constraints.
So three guys and a stuffed owlbear are in a portable hole strapped to the back of a shield falling at terminal velocity towards the surface of Mars... Eyes of the Ten part 4 is a well written scenario with plenty of "think outside of the box" moments, but I just don't see it as nearly as exciting or grand as part 3. Spoiler: The fights are memorable, but I feel that this would have been better served as Part 3 than the final point.
I mean, after you've been in an airship battle on Mars, where do you go from there? The chronicle sheet wasn't much better. It ultimately left me disappointed and upset.
Spoiler:
You recieve TONS of gold and PA...for a character that will no longer be being played. Unless you managed to compleate a large amount of compleately ambiguitous objectives, NOTHING on this sheet will come up again, as none of it other than the ultra-special boon carries over. While this boon IS pretty unique, I would have liked to see something, anything, carry over to a new sheet to mark that I have made it through retirement.
My suggestion? Keep the Ultra-special boon, but give the players something to remember their experiences by. A simple boon that carries over to a designated character, such as a single Wayfinder. In the end, a good senerio worth playing, but a poor choice for the final one. As others have mentioned, this senerio is a departure from the norm. It has issues, many of which are touched on in the Discussion, and it absolutely NEEDS a DM to be well prepared AND a group of players who have an interest in role playing. That said, if you have these elements, it's a barrel of fun. Even a combat oriented character such as myself can get involved in the mystery with little problem. |