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Beacon Promontory is a strange place of power compared to the other installment of the series.

Besides a couple of the events that might occur while PC are in town, Beacon Promontory doesn't seem like a great place to look for adventures.

It also seems that the map doesn't match the description in the text.

In the end, while it's not a bad reading, I just didn't find myself too inspired by the location.

There are minor things here and there that don't allow me to give this product five stars. But don't be misled, this book is excellent.

The Aldori feats are bad. Tying ranger combat styles with a deity is a bad idea. Combat performance is big NO. The House of perfection's feats are bad. Oath against chaos is good, oath against grotesquery is ok. The monstrous feat chain is so-so. There are a couple of interesting Rogue's Skill taunt, but the others are quite bad. Firearm feats are ok.

The Combat school section is somewhat interesting, but not great. I guess that It has a greater appeal to people who are accustomed to the Fame rewards mechanics.

Cavalier orders are meh at best. Prestige classes are ok. Archetypes are a mixed bag, with a few couple of good ones, but the rest are quite bad.

2.5 Stars.

As Endzeitgeist have done a detailed review I will be brief. Indeed, this is a very interesting little adventure with a cool concept that seems to be very fun to run or play.

- little pseudo-spoiler -

There is, however a thing I didn't liked. Even if the PC do everything 100% correctly, zero mistakes from their part there is still a percentage of failure that seems to be somewhat unfair. If I run this adventure I will eliminate the intrinsic chance of failure, only the action of the PCs will have impact in the outcome.

As the thing I didn't like is quite easy to solve, there is no reason to give the product less stars.

Longbridge is the kind of product that when I read it then immediately my mind start creating plots, adventure seed, social encounters and other things to use it in my next campaign. Exactly the kind of thing I look for in products targeted to a busy GM.

Disclaimer: I participated in the creation of first Villain codex but have no participation in this one in any form.

The book present 12 villainous NPCs with fully detailed statblocks. They are two CR9, two CR 10, two CR 11, three CR 12, one CR 13 and two CR 14. We have a variety of classes and races, from elves to nagajis and no class was used twice.

All the Npcs comes with a description, detailed combat tactics, goals and plots.

Mechanical wise, I can't not say that there is no mistake but I didn't see one, and even if they exist, I doubt they stop you from using the NPcs just fine

So we have 12 statblocks ready to be used by the DM on the fly, but it is there more about this villains that makes them great? Well, mostly yes. Their goals and plots give concrete ideas about how to use them in a campaign, you can use these ideas to create a whole adventure around them.

Unfortunately, I have a problem with one of the NPCs. There is a paladin in this motley crew and I just feel she fell short. Basically all the other NPCs has villainous plots that if the PC don't do something then bad things happen. But the Paladin just feels like someone the players will be annoyed with, and that is all, she present no threat. There is an advice about how to make her overstep her code and lose her powers, but why a good character (or even a neutral one) would want to do that?.

One huge improvement this book have over villain codex I is the appendix section. Here we have the statblocks for familiars, Eidolons and other things that would have occupied too much space in the main NPC entry. This free space in the NPC entry so the writer can give more detail about the NPc descriptions and plots and overall improve the quality of the villain.

Overall I feel somewhat sad because I like the idea of paladins as villains but the rest of the product seems flawless.

This time Dire Rugrats present a tavern that will not be comfortable for the Pcs but that is filled with adventuring opportunities.

Tuffy's Good Time Palace is a rather bad taver, the kind of place that most adventures with some self respect will avoid.

Inside this product you will find the description of the tavern, the NPCs that frequents it and some rumors and events to use.

The description of the tavern is well done, the Pcs surely will quickly get the point of what kind of place is Tuffy's.

The NPcs vary from very interesting to interesting enough. The description of the NPCs is well done, they have motivation and personality. This have been a strong point in tangible taverns line.

Now, this product is an improvement over the last one (the bull and the bear) in the sense that it provides clearer adventuring opportunities, reasons for the PC to spent some time in the tavern, and reasons for they to care and learn about the NPCs.

The weak side of the book is an all-female mercenary group, the stunning blades. By themselves they are good written NPCs, that the GM can use at any campaign in case he is in a hurry to improvise or something. But they are almost unrelated to the rest of the book, you could take them away from the product and nothing else will be compromised. IMHO, this space should have been used to give even more rumors, events and adventuring opportunities.

There are some typos too. Normally I care little about typos since I'm not a native speaker and don't detect them, but this time I did (the most glaring one is a guy that is described as unintelligent and unwise have wisdom 18 in the stats)

I enjoyed reading the pdf. The best part are the NPcs, I found most of them to be interesting.

Now, as a one shot the pdf serves perfectly well, it names a couple of NPcs and give some description so the players feel the atmosphere and that is it.

However, I think there a missed opportunities everywhere. The tavern could serve as a place where the PCs return time after time in between their main adventures. The pdf would have been stellar if it would have provided adventure hooks tied to each NPCs, giving the players a reason to interact and get involved more and more with them. There are some events listed but for most of them I don't see any reason for the PCs to intervene.

the two guards needs to be of higher level, some of the courtesan could beat them in a 1 vs 1 fight.

Very useful to surprise your players with unexpected twist of old monsters.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free in exchange of an honest review.

From the other people's in deep reviews you know the book is full of tables filled with ideas and details that help to flesh out your wilderness based campaign. As a DM with a lack of descriptive prowess I found this book and it's campaign dungeon dressing to be invaluable tools, even a minor description like "The snow falls in heavy flakes, which make a
whispering sound as they fall to the ground." is way better than "it is snowing".

Now, examples like the above are really great but what really blow my mind are the ideas for adventures a single entry can inspire, in every section there was entries that could be expanded into hooks for new adventures.

In that regard the chapter about Folks is a personal favourite, tons of interesting ideas for NPC, roll a dice and suddenly an encounter with a random traveler is now an interesting event.

As someone that don't care that much for golarion lore I have to say that I find this book to be very interesting and well done.

Castles of the inner sea present six very different castles to use in your campaign. Every castle comes with detailed maps, a list of important Npcs, and the full stats of a relevant Npc (except for highhelm).

I definitely can see myself using any of the locations in actual gameplay, specially considering every one of them comes with a small dungeon crawl.

I have been looking for a book like this for eons!. My DM Used a couple of the hazards last game and wow, mind blowing, so different and refreshing. I wish more campaigns I play feature dangers like the one in this book.

This is an incredible well designed book and is worth every penny, seriously, Seriously.

Endzeitgeist already gave a detailed description of what is in the book, so I will list only my opinion on the content.

What I liked

- The Descriptions of gnolls, their society and culture are pretty cool.
- The Pack-Bonded archetype (Ranger) is balanced from a player perspective and as a DM it can help to create encounters that make gnolls to stand apart from the other classic humanoid monsters.
- I liked all the new Equipment, the triple flail is heinous.
- The feat section is useful and balanced. Special mention to tripping bite and throwdown trip, t is good to see good feats around combat maneuvers. Another special mention is for Disturbing foe, a nasty surprise for spellcasters Pcs.
- 3 of the magic items are good and useful, I would have prefered the disentangling weapon property to have a static cost instead of costing +1 bonus for the price.

The OK
- The oracle archetype is not bad, but it didn't strike me as good either.

What I didn't liked

- The antigravity Ore is flavorful but its mechanics is uninspired. It is Yet another special material that make an armor lighter reducing the ACP and increasing the maximum dex bonus. The dex bonus is higher than mithral, yet for heavy armor it cost 6,600 less gp, it doesn't make the amor to count as lighter but still. I'm on the fence with the properties of this material for weapons.

- The desert Jasper Hyena is like a figurine of wondrous power, it cost 12,000 gp and let you summon a dire Hyena. THe problem is that it only have 3 uses and then it become non-magical. I doubt anyone I know will want to spend money on this item.

- The Unnerving laughter spell say that the DC of the spell is as with the Unnerving laughter spell...confusing.

Conclusion

Mechanically, for the players the book provide with good options for Gnolls PCs, and for the DM it gives options to make Gnolls encounter way more memorable (taking into account that bestiary gnolls are pretty insipid).

This massive book is outstanding. The sheer amount of material this book have is huge, there are tables filled with description for basically everything you can find in a dungeon, from the basic (Walls, statues, gates), to the more unusual to be described (like tapestries, and graffities).

As a DM I tend ignore the little details that truly flesh out the dungeon. Well, never again. No more "it is a throne", instead

"A depiction of a large hooded snake forms the back of the throne, its fanged mouth wide in a silent hiss. The armrests end in angry carved viper heads".

Repeat for everything else in a dungeon.

5 stars.

The book is filled with important editing issues, lots of balance problems but what more bore me are the uninspired mechanics. The base classes have just too much recycling.

For the price I suppose the PDF is Ok, I would not buy the hardcover until there is a major revision in the editing coupled with several erratas.

Endzeitgeist already did an extensive review so I will just comment in a couple of things

The bad:

Not everything is prefect but I did not see anything particularly wrong in the book.

The So-So:
- Endzeitgeist rightfully describe it as a "versatile toolbox" rather than a campaign setting. This have its merits but I would have preferred a more detailed world. The toolbox approach make some things to feel disconnected, IMHO.

- Likyans. It seems to me that they are there just so people can play werewolves. They seems to not have any good tie to the setting.

- Osirians. This is the another race that just feels like added on. The lack of detail just make me uninterested in them.

- THe image of zebadiah and the female infernal (pg 31) are too comic-like. A more grim portrait would have been better IMHO.

- There is a lack of art for the most standard races. Although they are standard and we all have an idea of how they should look like, in the Abbadon the races have changed so much (e.g myconian elves)that it would be nice to see an image of them.

- Some images show daylight that should not be there, but in general terms every single image in the book is of great quality (Asi Magnor is my favorite by far). The problem is that it does feel disconnected at times and do not help to flesh out the setting. There is no depiction of the fungi jungles, the shambling zombie horde or any city for the matter, that art is just not there.

The good:

The possibilities for adventures are boundless. Just the mere act of surviving is a big accomplishment and can be filled with physical and psychological trauma. And the information in the book is presented in such way that really make want to play in abbadon. Viallians or heroes, just reading the book I had a dozen of ideas for a Pc. That, IMHO, is the most important ting that a setting book have to have.

====

All in all, The book is great but it let me craving for more details about abbadon that were not there.

I have never had much interest in varisia, neither its inhabitants nor its cities, do this book make me change my mind?, lets see.

The people: There is some good fluff on shoanti and varisians, like the names of the most common shoanti tattoos of every tribe. However, there is no more information about the tribes, I have to look at wikigolarion for the information. The same for varisians, good but too little.

The land: As before, good but too little. What is the point in saying "more details in player companion second darkness"?

The Rules: I have to say that most of the time traits are a waste of space, and that is true for this book. There are a couple of good ones, but a lot are just pointless.

About the feats, Deadly dealer is really cool but it is just weak. Thunder and fang is just great and unique.

Roles: This book present something called "roles". They are like a guide to flesh out your characters.

They have a good side and the bad side. The good side is that they are full of fluff, which is, IMHO, something that player companions to golarion should have in abundance.

The bad side is that they take too much space but do not any new rule. It is a wasted opportunity. A dusk warden is just the same old urban ranger.

If there is not going to be nothing new mechanically, then the class options, preferred equipment and preferred options should not be there.

So far, the book is a solid 4 star. However, the advertisement of APs made in pages 28 to 30 is really annoying and a waste of space that should have been dedicated to more useful things.

So, I give it a weak 4 star.

This review is to fulfill a promise to Mikaze for the incredibly generosity of buying this product for me.

Disclaimer: I have the Cerulean sea campaign setting, but I have not have the time to read it in deep, so this review is based solely in what the book have to offer by itself and not how it fit in the cerulean sea campaign setting.

So, here we go. This book have a lot of monster, most of them pretty interesting, mechanically and fluffwise.

The art is of great quality. A lot of the monster have a really terrifying image.

There are a variety of monster for every aquatic environment, from open sea to coral reef, from tropical water to the arctic, from the ones that can live near the surface to the ones that hunt in the abyssal depths.

A thing to Note is that you do not need the campaign setting that much, the rules for sea based encounters and monsters (depth tolerance, buoyancy, pressure sensitivity) are explained in some detail.

I did not spend money on it, but the book is surely worth the price if you are planning a sea based campaign.

There are, however, a couple of thing that I do not like that much

1) Some monsters require Psionic unleashed. I suppose that if you use psionic this is a good thing, but that also means the monster is harder to use for people without that reference or people that simply disallow any psionic in their campaigns.
2) there are two many siren-like creatures. Not sure why but it bothers me.

Fortunately, there are so many monsters in this book that those two inconvenience seems pretty small.