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This book is great. I know Paizofolks are going through a lot right now, and I just want to say I appreciate the great work.

It's split up into multiple mini-books, and does a great job of making it really easy to play with exactly what you want. Mad science? My jam. Guns? That's more of an occasional thing. Everything is neatly divided up, so it's easy to include just what I want, easy to browse just the parts I'm interested in at the moment, and easy to check with a GM about if I'm playing. They even put more of the lore-focused stuff in its own section, so that other settings don't have it getting in the way. There's advice on what's useful about it for homebrew settings, too!

It's a book that shows care for my experience as a player and occasional GM. I'm sure that's generally the case, but I felt it especially while reading Guns & Gears.

That's a lot to say about just the layout!

Some of the fun stuff:
- Construct-focused character? Covered! This was pretty much limited to a single Alchemist archetype in PF1. Inventors can focus on this and buff their constructs quite well.
- More customization. Armor Inventor is no longer limited by a narrow focus on damage reduction. At first level, you can get speed boosts, stealth enhancements, or athletics enhancements.
- Gadgets! This was the other big thing missing from Inventor in the playtest- the ability to whip up something from scratch. These are great.
- Mobility devices. Simple, straightforward rules for wheelchairs, and some very cool magical wheelchairs that focus on different types of mobility. Frog chair was very popular with my friends.
- Balanced, fitting guns. No more guaranteed hits against dragons; guns are weapons like other weapons. There's discussion of how these sorts of guns existed alongside bows in history, and the selection of guns fits the feeling of newly developed technology better. There's nothing that's so much better than other weapons that it sets a new standard for damage, and guns aren't hobbled to the point that gunslinger should just be skipped.
- Lore. I loved all the discussion of what Ustalav's superstitious and rightfully paranoid citizenry has been getting up to with the new technology leaking in.

The adventure itself has a lot of good content. The various rewards in this are top-notch; cool items and alchemical recipes. You're not going to be able to get away from a recurring encounters of "beat these aggressive abused animals unconscious", though. Not my idea of a fun thing to run, and it'd be a serious issue for half my players. Four stars because, if that isn't an issue for your group, the rest of this is good.

It's really nice to have an up-to-date book that summarizes the Inner Sea region. The changes and clarifications that have been made are nice- Rahadoum's stance on primal casters and things like divine sorcerers aligns much better with their philosophical stance, for instance. Plenty of interesting things going on, like Geb getting more involved in the running of his eponymous country.

This book is great. What's it like in Druma? Covered. Those vague dietary restrictions of the Kalistocrats? Covered, with thematic explanations. Why don't wealthy Kalistocrats "cash out" to enjoy their wealth without all those restrictions? Covered, and how! What's the situation with all those fey? Covered, with details on the different fey factions. How about the daemonic stuff hinted at? Covered, including two excellent bestiary entries. Are Druma and Razmiran cult-buddies or cult-rivals? Covered. (Hint: It's not cult-buddies.)

What I really love about this is how it provides the justifications and differences for the Kalistocracy works in Golarion vs. the deific religions. Plenty of cool details that I won't spoil here!

Even just listening to me talk about my favorite parts of the book, my friend was inspired. Five stars out of five, would use to provide context for my character's controlling upbringing again.

Let's get it out of the way. The Dragonblood Shifter archetype is bad. (To be more specific, introduces a large gap in your advancement, and fails to live up to builds trying to accomplish similar things.) Just set that aside.

The Feyform Shifter more than makes up for it, though. Minor Aspect becomes a central combat ability now, and you now consistently get something before the Druid does, all while keeping weak versions of the basic class's abilities. Furthermore, Shifter gets a bunch of content for the base class. New aspects, some interesting feats (finally combine major forms!), and free alternatives to claws better in keeping with different aspects.

New animal companion and familiar archetypes (one of the coolest parts- all three familiar archetypes are ones I'll strongly consider every time), plus a feat for a speaking familiar, or a shapeshifting familiar!

Cool Oracle curses, new racial options, a trait to eat raw meat, and at least one hex that is probably a little too good for a basic hex.

Also impressive is the quality of the feats. It's a really good ratio of things I'll seriously consider on characters, rather than just a few gems.

This book does a great job of conveying what a country being run be Zon-Kuthon for millennia actually looks like and how the practicalities work out. Nidal really makes a lot more sense to me, and I'm a lot better equipped to run an adventure there after reading this. Check it out!

The Monk, Ninja, and Spiritualist archetypes are the standouts here. Monk gets a style-switching elemental setup that’s pretty cool, Ninja gets an archetype (rare in itself, and you now have a non-Tien flavor option), and Spiritualist gets the largest skill bonuses I think I’ve seen, giving them a flavorful skill monkey option. The Ninja is penalized too much for not wearing a mask, which is rough with UC Rogue overshadowing it. The book has nice talents for various classes (Investigators can whip up extracts at combat-viable speeds, and Vigilantes get sizable knowledge bonuses) plus bloodline-esque options (Wizards get a Divination subschool that is powerful without being must-have, good for replacing the base school with, and Psychics get a discipline with discounted reach metamagic). Overall, enough stuff that I’ll solidly consider on the relevant classes for me to give a five-star rating.

One cool thing worth noting is the minimalist options. Medium and Occultist both get archetypes that don’t replace much, but subtly change things about the class. Neither is something I’d probably use much, but it is something I’d like seeing more of.

The last reviewer seems to have misunderstood the power of a trait. The only thing I might consider overpowered is the Spiritualist’s large untyped skill bonuses.

I feel a little guilty handing out a five star review based largely on a single archetype, but you can now play an effective poisoner, and I feel like that's a pretty big deal. Not just "I have a special, unique poison I can apply to my blade", but whipping up a broad range of injury and ingested poisons with DCs that keep pace with 6/9 casters. There's a way to deal with immunities, and you can even customize your poisons with effects (either good or bad!) that apply even on a successful save. And it does it without hurting the effectiveness of the base class. This is a book that has accomplished its mission.

EDIT: Misread the talent. You get a different effect that replaces the base effect, so you're dealing with the immunity but not bypassing it. Since you can still apply your rider effects (admittedly burning through inspiration to do so), the overall review stands.

I feel less guilty about handing out that five star review since the book has some other cool stuff in it. Interesting poisons (need to fake being sick, or maybe just dissolve somebody?), awesome hexes, neat racial options, and some cool new spells.

Uh, don't expect much from the potions side of this thing, though. Potions are already kind of pricey for what they do; I don't want to spend feats to get effects that work when I spend even more making them.

Dedicated shifter class. Even if you don't like the class, it still means there's now a class that will receive exclusively shifting-focused archetypes.

Feats. Dust the bad ones aside, and enjoy rage totem powers on non-Barbarians, wildblooded bloodlines on non-Sorcerers, some nice options for Shifter, and more.

Archetypes. So many great ones! Highlights include a venomous Brawler, a Monk with Kineticist powers, a Kineticist that uses all the elements based on their surroundings, and a Shifter that's an ooze. Animal companions and familiars get in on the action too!

Rules. Lots of cool foraging rules, and much more detailed weather rules. Plus, rules for salvaging magic items and the like when you're leagues from a handy marketplace.

Price. If you grab the PDF, it's just ten bucks. Seriously, go for it.

One of the big complaints with witches has been that the patrons are very bland and don't actually do much. This book tackles the problem head-on, allowing you to get more bang for your buck from various patrons. That's right, patron-specific mechanics are here at last! They're pretty well balanced to not add too much power to a full caster, while also not hurting too much to take.

Subraces are always awesome, even if the changeling subraces are a little clustered in their stats (which don't always match the flavor). The Awakened Hag Heritage feat is an excellent addition to Changelings, too; both flavorful and mechanically useful. Changeling covens are tricky to pull off in a party, but very rewarding.

More curse spells are fun, and Knell of the Depths is enough to justify a Skull & Shackles witch by itself. Curse of Dragonflies also gets a mention for allowing the caster to do something very helpful- force a flier to land in mid-combat. The fact that it's also a permanent curse is gravy on top! Pick it up, and your party's melee combatants will be grateful. In addition to the spells, there are occult rituals. Notably, a "you and your descendants" curse (with options that work even if you're pretty sure they won't have kids), and cursing somebody with a pugwampi.

The new archetypes for witch pair excellently with the new patron rules, and are quite flavorful, with useful tools. Other classes get nice archetypes as well, like a spiritualist bound to an evil and independent-thinking spirit, and a bloodrager that is a solid addition to many natural attack builds.

Every book has some things that don't shine as much. The Malice Binder is stretched too thin by using charisma for DCs on a martial class that uses Int for everything else. Curses and witches don't usually come up enough for me to take archetypes centered around them. (Then again, I didn't get very far in Reign of Winter.)

This book provides a solid improvement to a class usable across nearly any archetype, several good archetypes, good spells, and lots of expansion to an existing race. Well worth a purchase. While I loved the broad coverage of Blood of Beasts, Blood of the Coven shows that an in-depth treatment is good too!

It's nice to have the fiendish planes fleshed out in one handy book, and (if you're grabbing the PDF) for less than the cost of the much smaller source material books. There are a bunch of cool new things you can do, like become a true werewolf or a worm that walks!

The reason it's not five stars is because it's very heavily weighted towards (in order) demons, devils, and daemons. If you're interested in other fiends, there's not a lot of mechanics that work with them, and where they're specific, they're purposefully weaker.

I think this is the most would-play archetypes (plus mysteries, bloodlines, etc.) I've seen in a player's companion. That's combined with good traits and interesting story feats! A few racial options are a bit much (elf getting constant detect magic or bonus AC versus chaotic creatures is a nuisance for the GM, and gathlain kineticists do half again as much damage as other kineticists), but other than that, things are very nice.

Traits! Two particularly notable ones, but all good. Intelligence has been stealing charisma's thunder thanks to traits, so grab one of these to make your sorcerer as good at identifying spells as a wizard- or go for something fun, like crafting. Retry a hex against somebody once per day? Don't mind if I do.

Archetypes! There's an alchemist that gets a pool of points to spend on random effects (or rerolls for bad results). Very nice for anybody who wants a character with some gambling built in. Two new oracle curses, a new mystery, and an archetype! The mystery is great, with very cool and useful abilities that don't rely on charisma-to-everything. Swift action invisibility! Rod of Wonder effects! Move-action teleportation! Speaking of invisibility, there's a nifty bard archetype that trades out the usual inspire courage for handing out some fey abilities. The rogue will love having swift-action invisibility handed out! It's a versatile list. Ankou's Shadow is the first archetype to really make me want to play a slayer. At-will modified Mirror Image using your shadow, and as you level up, your shadow-selves become more and more independent. Oh, and the swift-action See Invisibility is really nice to have available too. Rogue with built-in darkvision and short-range teleportation is nice. Seducer is a charisma-based witch (still prepared casting) with hexes that get bonuses against anybody attracted. Twinned Summoner is a really classy option to have your eidolon fake being you. Nice to have an unkillable body-double! There's a very serious chunk of material dedicated to making this work even better with an unchained summoner. Psychics get a sorrow discipline, complete with their own private demiplane of solitude. Chronomancer is a wizard that can get back some spell slots when enemies made that save to negate or had good spell resistance, along with options for save rerolls and eventually more flexibility on contingencies.

Shapechanger bloodline for sorcerer gets its own section. It starts off with the underwhelming arcana of +1 CL to personal transmutations, and moves on to what seems like a mildly spiced-up version of the boring and generally useless first level "grow claws" power. Third level, though, is where it really hits. Once per day, boost a minute-per-level personal polymorph to ten minutes per level. That pushes it up into useful for social encounters, or a couple of combat encounters! Then at ninth, it becomes an HOUR per level. Since that stacks with extend spell, by the time you get Form of Dragon I at 12th, you can live your life as a dragon. The other abilities are really cool, too- transmuting yourself into an instantaneous AoE of claws and teeth, modifying your polymorphs with different movement forms, and a solid capstone in the vein of aberration bloodline. New favorite bloodline.

Spells! I don't care if it's not terribly effective- turning somebody's skeleton into jagged cold iron is awesome. Always love getting more fungal spells. The chronomancy spells are the star of the show, though, providing balanced time magic spells for a range of levels.

Feats! Hate teamwork feats? Have the opposite! 0-level Selective Spell metamagic… that only excludes you. Increase your channel's healing… when you exclude everybody else. Spend rage for extra attacks… so long as allies keep their distance. They're pretty cool, actually.

TLDR: You can be a dragon 24/7 now.

At ten bucks, the PDF is still a good deal, as with all of the RPG line.

Golarion organizations aren't one of the setting's stronger points, at least going by the selection here. They're more geographically restricted than deities (one even being associated with a single person). I play games set in Golarion, and the organizations still aren't useful as-is. The book suffers from its focus on them, with archetypes trading out features just to fit narrow themes.

The best example is the red mantis assassins. They were given as an example of how the book would be useful for people who aren't using Golarion- if you need a generic assassin, just grab stuff from the red mantis section. Only normal assassins don't want to use an over-designed exotic weapon sword that they can't conceal, and never have any reason to want to look like, summon, or turn into a giant bug. The group comes across as very two-dimensional, with most stuff related to one of those two things. While other groups,

Prestige class content was mostly cleaning up and expanding the existing prestige classes- useful, but not very exciting. No major adjustments made for psychic classes, and some of the usual limited

There were some good new archetypes (especially the Rivethun section), but a personal count turned up fewer that I'd consider when using the class than Horror Adventures had.

All in all, I was initially excited to get a bunch of new archetypes and prestige classes. I'd still want that sort of book, but with a more useful theme (e.g. different types of outsiders, generic organizations, the classes themselves, or the Pathfinder deities). As an experiment, it didn't do as well as the recent themed books like Horror Adventures, Ultimate Intrigue, and Occult Adventures.

It's always better to focus on the best parts of a book rather than what doesn't work well. The best parts are what will get used, after all! This book has enough fun stuff for a five-star rating in my book, although four stars would also be fair.

Fungal Pilgrim what pushed this from four to five stars for me, and I'll admit to some personal bias. First time I've seen a Wild Shape trade that I'd solidly consider. You could get a template on your summons, but modifying your animal companion is the really cool option. Lassie gets to host a brain fungus. At first, it trades movement and dexterity for strength, constitution, a ton of immunities, darkvision, and more natural armor. At tenth level, it now provides you with an unlimited supply of free scaling-DC poison (weak effect, but easy to hide in food and the like), and at fourteenth, it gets a fun poison AoE. As a capstone, it can make make temporary fungal zombie slaves out of weak enemies. Getting the immunities of plant type for yourself is gravy. I know that one review has limited influence, but I'd love to see more creepy fungal stuff!

Blightseeker Alchemist is a great archetype that gets debuffing bombs that stack with bomb modifying discoveries. This is nice design-wise, because it allows for much more flexible and enjoyable battlefield control and debuff builds. It's also a very stackable archetype, so you can mix and match!

Demon-Sworn Witch archetype is an evil-powers-for-(optionally)-good-or-neutral-ends deal, which we really haven't seen much of. Your soul may be toast after you die, but it's not going to screw with your alignment in the meantime to be using shady powers you don't understand. Throwing on some nontlethal damage to ALL hexes is a cool design touch to push towards the darker hexes, but it's low enough that you can still buff or heal allies if you need. Evil-but-subservient familiar that can be (expensively) raised with its internal spellbook intact is also a really nice perk. While it's not one I have a personal interest in, archetypes where you can immediately think of at least two players who'd love them are well worth mentioning.

Beastkin Berserker is a nice complement to Mooncursed Barbarian. It gives you a range of forms rather than focusing on just one, and focuses on the animal form rather than providing a hybrid form. While they each have pros and cons, between the two, players now have better choices.

Psychic Marauder is the last of my stand-out archetypes, and probably ranked second for me. Catches charisma-based up with wisdom-based when it comes to saves, and generates an aura of confusion that isn't always on (if anybody like Psychedelia, but didn't want to be responsible for a bunch of peasant deaths everywhere they go). While there's a non-lawful requirement, the penalties for becoming lawful aren't overly steep, and you can continue using taking levels in the archetype.

Speaking of psychics, Animus Mine is an amazingly fun spell. Booby-trap your own mind. Somebody tries to mess with it, and the mine goes off in their face. (Well, slightly behind their face.) The upgraded version can even protect you from whatever they were trying to do.

There are some good mundane items (like blasting jelly), a fun magical item to bend oozes to your will, and some traits that DO something rather than give numeric skill or caster level bonuses. Additionally, I've skipped over some archetypes for classes I'm not big on, so there may be more options that are worth five stars in your view!

(Grumpy rant time. The book has enough good stuff for five stars, and stuff that didn't live up to my personal expectations formed from half a sentence in the product description shouldn't take away from that.)

Since reviews are looked at for future work, I want to mention the Blightburner archetype for kineticist. I love the class, love the idea of element-specific archetypes, and I want to see more of both! I'm only including this bit because I'd love more kineticist material. But the archetypes should pay more attention to what's fun in the class and what it needs to keep to make it good.

Earth's kinetic defense is really cool for shrugging off damage, and pretty much the only reason I consider it over the more utility-focused elements like aether, water, and air. The archetype trades that away for a completely burn-dependent trivial retaliation damage setup. At minimum to seem about fair, that damage would need to be as high as the DR I just lost.

Kineticist also needs accuracy boosters for physical attacks and damage boosters for elemental attacks. The size bonuses to stats help with this, and also (equally importantly) offset some of the burn taken by boosting constitution. The class is pretty tightly balanced, and has few ways to use items to improve itself. The archetype trades those size bonuses out to provide scaling that its kinetic defense probably should have included by default.

Finally, make useful, fun trades. If I'm a radiation kineticist, I want to be able to shoot people with radiation! Apart from the aura mentioned above, the archetype allows me to… touch somebody for one nonlethal damage per minute as long as I keep touching them? Everything else requires radioactive materials to be present, which is at MOST 5% of the time in the <1% of campaigns that have it at all. And the net effect is that I can save burn by hanging out in radioactive areas, and spend burn so that I can hang out in radioactive areas. Super-specific abilities should also include general applications.

First up, getting the worst part out of the way: Psychic gets spells and items, and that's it. There, it's over, and everything after is better news. (That said, they're basic quality-of-life items for all psychic casters, and the spells include two new undercastable spells. It may be more practical for most Psychics, even if it isn't as shiny as a new archetype or some disciplines.)

Spiritualist gets an awesome phantom with a distinct play style, and it includes support for the numerous archetypes that require special treatment. (High-five to the writer!) On top of that, it gets two very nice archetypes, one for ghostly animal companions and one for Magus-like combat with psychic in-combat casting addressed. (High-five to the writer!) Really cool to see past issues addressed!

Mesmerist gets some love for tricks. Not getting use out of more than one or two? Want a Mesmerist that isn't forced to pass out tricks to be useful? Playing a spontaneous caster to avoid morning preparation? Solved in one feat. (High-five to the writer!) Gets a nice variety of archetypes, covering transformation (offensive and defensive), possession (mostly of the object variety), and heavier trick focus. The new stare feats are significantly stronger than equivalent level stare feats. Blind is a MUCH harsher condition than fatigued, so GMs, you might want to take a close look at that.

Occultist panoplies and an archetype focused on them. By far the most stand-out option is being able to trade in some flexibility for increased BAB. Full BAB and 6/9 casting? Don't mind if I do! That said, the others are useful, especially in particular campaign types. Solidifies Occultist's ability to fill major roles without needing to be a 9/9 caster.

Kineticist gets a ton of talent options. A sizable chunk has an extra feat tax for most races, but that's okay- if you need a bunch of extra options, they're there. There are a lot of weird little editorial issues here- incompatible requirements, mislabeled elements, and extra mechanics that have no actual effect. For those who wanted Kineticist crafters, you're good to go. For those who wanted a melee Kineticist without giving up all your utility talents (or any of them, for that matter), Kinetic Knight is great.

Medium gets one archetype, which is huge and has a bunch of options.
Pros: Heck yeah, I want a familiar with free Improved Familiar and bonus shapeshifting! Awesome flavor, too, with (mostly) different abilities for all sorts of outsiders.
Cons: "You must pay for the atonement spell if you make even a tiny violation" is a terrible way to run a Paladin. Baking that approach into an archetype is not pleasant, even with your code being "pick one restriction out of these three". Replacing all intermediate abilities with the same ability puts a LOT of importance on that ability. Also, delayed summoning for all three evil outsider types lacks the flavor good alignments get.
Verdict: Tough call. Not for me, but there are cases where it's a good fit. Anybody who wants a character that HAS to do something can fit that pretty well here- being deep in debt with outside forces, for instance. It's a very nice pick for caster Mediums, since you get abilities that can be used without relying on granting influence.

Bonus: awesome corruption for psychically inclined characters!

Overall: If you like Spiritualist, Mesmerist, or Occultist, this is a great book for you. If you find yourself struggling to find Kineticist talents you want to take for your element, or want a utility-preserving martial Kineticist, this will help. If you like getting in deep with outsiders, want more items for psychic casters, or need some additional Psychic spells, it's worth a look.

Book gets five stars for some really neat stuff design-wise. It expands the basic options for some classes- no archetype compatibility issues, no extra features you don't care about or trading out stuff you wanted. If you play a Druid or a Paladin, you now have additional options on your list. I'd love to see more of this in future books!

If you're a Druid, you can get an alchemist-esque potion-making ability for Nature's Bond. There are some balance issues on the money part of it, so I recommend GMs go with "you can stockpile, but not sell". Could be a good idea to rule that expensive material components still cost money, too.

If you're a Paladin, you can choose from three new bond choices instead of a weapon bond or mount. More healing, a communal ward against evil, or being one terrifying avatar of divine justice. In addition, there are a bunch of new choices for mercies ranging from things that are great for a character arc to cementing your position as the last thing an evil wizard wants to run into.

Another really neat design choice that I'd love to see more is explicitly compatible archetypes- the Alchemist's healing archetype is designed to work with Chirurgeon, addressing overlapping features. Having two compatible archetypes with similar goals is great for character customization- you now have three levels of healing archetype to apply (one, the other, or both). Also solves the big issue with Chirurgeon while it's at it! Both Alchemist archetypes are pretty awesome, and do a great job of expanding character options with good balance.

Clerics get an archetype that doesn't mess with their domains. Whoo! Warpriests and Shamans get subblessings and subspirits.

That said, this book will contain disappointments for people looking for certain things (as some of the other reviews show):
-There's really only one good thing for the heal skill, an inexpensive magic item to expand its effectiveness. Nonmagical healing in the book is not very impressive otherwise.
- If you wanted more healing on non-healing classes, this isn't the book for you. It's a book about making the existing healers better at their job or giving them more options while they do it.
- Sorry, evil Clerics. You're still preparing healing spells in slots like before. You can now use them for torture or manipulation, though, so those spells will be more versatile.

All in all, a great win for character versatility!

This book has a ton of incredible content, and is probably my new favorite Player's Companion. There are a few strong contenders, but it definitely wins when it comes to the "Blood of" books. I'll restrict myself to my favorite thing for each race, with much difficulty.

Inside cover is a super-handy map, showing where the various races are concentrated within the Inner Sea region.

Catfolk: Stalker at World's End archetype for Bloodrager. Get a non-caster spirit from Medium and eventually shapeshift into one of the big cats while raging (with Natural Spell, no less!). Don't worry, there are a few balancing factors to the shapeshifting.

Grippli: Fiend Keeper archetype for Medium is one of the snazziest archetypes available. Something of a spooky Paladin in flavor, they work to purify an evil spirit. Rather than simply walk the straight and narrow, though, they can let it try to gain influence over them in exchange for some very flexible powers. A strong option for anybody who wants to play a Paladin, but with a little more nuance and flexibility. Alignment is any non-evil, but they still keep to the bulk of the Paladin code.

Kitsune: My favorite is all the alternate racial options they get, but since that's only relevant to people who want to play a Kitsune, I'll mention Advanced Versatile Performance. The first Versatile Performance is super-useful, but they tend to die off a bit after that. This allows trading out those later-level additions for one of three options: expand an existing Versatile Performance by one skill (also nice because you don't have to pick a musical style just to get a skill you want), a weapon proficiency (or Weapon Focus) plus some minor perks for the more martially-inclined Bards, or a Masterpiece as if you'd taken a feat for it.

Nagaji: I like casters, and while the bloodlines this gets are nice, probably my favorite thing is the Naga Shape spells. It's rare to get polymorph spells that still allow casting, and these do just that.

Ratfolk: The archetype I've wanted for years, Swarm Monger for Druids. This one's pretty clever, giving you a familiar (cat, rat, spider, centipede, or crow) that you can temporarily turn into a swarm. It gets some temporary hitpoints, and will eventually wreck your enemies with save-or-nauseated. Eventually, you can turn into a swarm yourself as a Wild Shape option. Especially nice because unlike a lot of Druid archetypes, this one doesn't make you wait longer to get Wild Shape or delay its spells-copied progression at all. Favorite thing in the book, and the art for it is pretty cute, too.

Tengu: A tough call, but the Jinx Witch archetype can "eat" incoming spells, boosting their own powers and eventually tossing the spells back. You still have to make the save against whatever hit you, though, so it's a good idea to invest in that fortitude save.

Vanara: What could make me pass up shiny new Advanced Weapon Training options and a Ranger that doesn't need to hate humans to be good? The Ancestor Eidolon! Summoners can now summon up one of their ancestors, which gets the default racial features of the Summoner's race, along with eventually getting a weak pseudo-class. I strongly recommend the Eidolon's first feat be Extra Traits for Heirloom Weapon, both for flavor and mechanics reasons. Combined with Kitsune, it's now possible to pretend to be your own class feature's familiar, or to get an unkillable body-double (provided you don't mind the fact that it's you looking like them).

This book is fantastic. It covers things ranging from common requests (more skill points as a feat) handled in an interesting way (limited duration per day, but you can pick the skill daily- great for low-skill characters) to didn't-know-you-needed-it stuff (a possessed hand?) with amazing execution (great one-handed/TWF support, chaining into not being out of the fight just because you failed that save-or-suck). On top of that, this includes some great feats for martials sick of not being able to contribute against haunts and having trouble with incorporeal foes. There's also a cool Sorcerer bloodline, a bunch of neat feats, and some cool archetypes.

This book is great for inspiring flavorful characters with plenty of solid mechanics behind them. I'm making an Ulfen Fey Sorcerer who has a three-eyed dream-rabbit with hypnotic powers. It feels genuinely magical and otherworldly, which is awesome for any caster. Not that a Gnome Bloodrager who rides a giant war-raccoon into battle wasn't tempting, of course.

The book provides great incentives for playing a wizard specializing in some of the oft-overlooked categories, as well as some very cool archetypes, and I found myself looking at the class again for the first time in quite a while. It's also great to be able to grab a familiar as a Sorcerer without being restricted to a bloodline or taking an archetype that messes with a bunch of other class features. All of the familiar archetypes provide great options for different types of characters, and provide a lot of extra utility.

All-in-all a fantastic book. So many new character options come out of this!
- Bloodrager gives us a d10 arcane with an archetype that stacks with anything and allows weaker bloodline powers to be traded out for rage powers.
- Shaman is a tougher witch with a tougher familiar, and comes with one of the most inspired archetypes. (Here's lookin' at you, Animist.)
- Hunter takes a little looking at before you find its place (I would've liked the alignment restriction removed), but the Primal Companion archetype granting evolutions to its animal companion is something I've been hoping for for ages.
- Investigator gives you a highly skilled character with all the versatility of the Alchemist extract list. The Mastermind archetype will warm the cockles of any would-be Moriarty with its ability to get minions to do their /one/ job /properly/. (They can also coach the Big Dumb Fighter before an important meeting with the king!)
- Swashbuckler takes all the flair of a bard and gives it full BAB to play with. Just watch those saves! That, or take the Daring Infiltrator archetype to make sure those pesky casters can't get a spell in edge-wise.
- Slayer is a nice, neat bundle of murder-stabbity-death. It makes making things dead simple. For those who like a touch of the supernatural even in their martials, Stygian Slayer can turn invisible and slip through the cracks in doorways.
- Arcanist, we need to have words. Now. Look, you're cool and all, but can you stop stealing Sorcerer's thunder? Did you stop and think how the Sorcerer felt when your archetype got his entire bloodline with more than half your exploits left over? No, I didn't think so. Still, I must forgive you. Casting personal transmutations as touch spells? Soon, bards will be birds, barbarians bears, and rogues rats!
- Brawler fills the full-BAB flurrier-shaped hole in my heart with its fists and its devil-may-care, I-think-I'll-try-a-feat-chain-for-fun-today attitude. Pummeling Style swoops in to save the Monk too! And don't think I didn't notice the full-progression animal companion archetype to go riding around on a giant wolf, punching and tripping anything in sight.
- Skald is unabashadly awesome. Temporary resurrection of allies is cool… temporary resurrection of allies that have triggered permanent death curses on whoever killed them? The only time it gets better is when the ally you're resurrecting is the Oracle who can cast Breath of Life to bring herself back to life. Do you even need an archetype suggestion? Fine. For all the Skalds stuck with wimpy mixed martial-casters, Spell Warrior gives a nice alternative to passing out rage candy.
- Warpriest is a nice alternative to those of us who always found Cleric to be a little drab. Combat is no longer just an afterthought for when buffing and healing gets boring. For archetypes, the Sacred Fist lets you try out the monk with spellcasting. Not too shabby!

As an added bonus, this brings a lot to many existing classes. Monks get to have fun too, Fighters can get a mutagen and the wings discovery to deal with those pesky flying casters, Gunslingers get a crossbow option so they can play in low-tech campaigns, and Barbarians get a fantastic new set of Bloodrager-inspired rage powers. (Sorcerers, of course, get line of bane weapons dedicated to killing them.)

I'm introducing two friends to Pathfinder with this!