paizo.com Recent Reviews by Trace Coburnpaizo.com Recent Reviews by Trace Coburn2024-03-27T00:09:08Z2024-03-27T00:09:08ZOdyssey: A Greek Source Book (PFRPG) PDF: Μολὼν λαβέ (4 stars)Trace Coburnhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy935a?Odyssey-A-Greek-Source-Book2013-12-03T10:23:50Z<p><b>Odyssey: A Greek Source Book (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>Cyclops, manticore, medusa, hydra... Greek myths and legends gave ‘the world’s oldest role-playing game’ (and its successor Pathfinder) some of its most iconic monsters and creatures.</p>
<p><i>Jason and the Argonauts</i>. <i>Troy</i>. <i>Clash of the Titans</i> (either version). Greek myths and legends have also given the visual imaginations of modern culture, and modern <i>gamers</i>, some of their most iconic images and scenes.</p>
<p>Now, this reasonably-priced release by Little Red Goblin Games has given the PFRPG community the tools and gear they need to portray the iconic heroes who fought those monsters and ‘lived’ those scenes. ;)</p>
<p>Personally, I find great appeal in the images of a band of heroes in bronze breastplates, wielding <i>hoplon</i> shields and armed with spears and <i>xiphos</i> shortswords, especially if they’re duking it out with a hydra, or shooting arrows at a chimera while riding a pegasus or griffon, so having the tools to replicate those images is a great satisfaction to me. I’m even tempted to use this toolkit to overlay Greek trappings onto the famed <i>Rise of the Runelords</i> AP.</p>
<p>Fair warning: there are some minor typos scattered throughout the text, and one occasion where a piece of crunch is cut-off mid-sentence, apparent victim of a cut-and-paste error. Speaking for myself, I’m OCD enough about such things that I can’t give <i>Odyssey</i> the full five stars; at the moment, I’m awarding it four-and-a-half stars, rounded down to fit within Paizo’s set-up. (If LRGG release an updated/corrected version, I’ll re-assess then... <span class=messageboard-ooc>/subtle hint ;)</span>.) That said, I’m one of those grammar-enforcers that everyone despises; if your primary concern is finding tools for adding awesome Greek flavour to a Pathfinder game, you <i>really should</i> pick up this supplement. ;D</p><p><b>Odyssey: A Greek Source Book (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>Cyclops, manticore, medusa, hydra... Greek myths and legends gave ‘the world’s oldest role-playing game’ (and its successor Pathfinder) some of its most iconic monsters and creatures.</p>
<p><i>Jason and the Argonauts</i>. <i>Troy</i>. <i>Clash of the Titans</i> (either version). Greek myths and legends have also given the visual imaginations of modern culture, and modern <i>gamers</i>, some of their most iconic images and scenes.</p>
<p>Now, this reasonably-priced release by Little Red Goblin Games has given the PFRPG community the tools and gear they need to portray the iconic heroes who fought those monsters and ‘lived’ those scenes. ;)</p>
<p>Personally, I find great appeal in the images of a band of heroes in bronze breastplates, wielding <i>hoplon</i> shields and armed with spears and <i>xiphos</i> shortswords, especially if they’re duking it out with a hydra, or shooting arrows at a chimera while riding a pegasus or griffon, so having the tools to replicate those images is a great satisfaction to me. I’m even tempted to use this toolkit to overlay Greek trappings onto the famed <i>Rise of the Runelords</i> AP.</p>
<p>Fair warning: there are some minor typos scattered throughout the text, and one occasion where a piece of crunch is cut-off mid-sentence, apparent victim of a cut-and-paste error. Speaking for myself, I’m OCD enough about such things that I can’t give <i>Odyssey</i> the full five stars; at the moment, I’m awarding it four-and-a-half stars, rounded down to fit within Paizo’s set-up. (If LRGG release an updated/corrected version, I’ll re-assess then... <span class=messageboard-ooc>/subtle hint ;)</span>.) That said, I’m one of those grammar-enforcers that everyone despises; if your primary concern is finding tools for adding awesome Greek flavour to a Pathfinder game, you <i>really should</i> pick up this supplement. ;D</p>Trace Coburn2013-12-03T10:23:50ZWayfinder #9 (PFRPG): 115 pages of Darklands-themed AWESOME? For FREE!? This is MADNESS! (5 stars)Trace Coburnhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy91vf?Wayfinder-92013-09-13T11:18:44Z<p><b>Wayfinder #9 (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Folks, if this is an ‘amateur’ product, you couldn’t prove it by me.</p>
<p>— Three of the <i>FIVE</i> free adventures within are set near everyone’s favourite starter-town of Sandpoint and playable with naught more than the Beginner’s Box! One of the others is a dwarf-themed quest, complete with <i>six</i> pre-generated dwarven PCs, all of whom have full stat-blocks and biographies, built-in hooks, and their own baggage with the others.
<br />
— A bestiary including no fewer than fourteen different creatures, all of them incredibly flavourful and most of them unsettling or even downright creepy. For me, the Blood Maiden and the Druegöbas, a bat-like counterpart to the drider and a dwarf/lizard centauroid respectively, and both the product of the foul practice of fleshwarping, make the entire issue worth its download-time in themselves.
<br />
— SEVEN pieces of short-fiction that play up the horrific and bleak nature of the Darklands.
<br />
— FOUR Weal or Woe articles, each holding a pair of NPCs who could be the salvation (or damnation) of a PC party in the Night Below.
<br />
— Archetypes and prestige classes related to exploring (or simply surviving) the Darklands.
<br />
— And a range of supporting articles that covers all manner of Darklands locations, goods, and folk, including fleshwarped magical items, other magical gear peculiar to particular drow houses, and even a trading town in the Darklands that’s <i>almost</i> ‘safe’ to visit or use as a base-camp.</p>
<p>The artwork throughout ranges from ‘very good’ through to ‘downright sublime’. I’ve paid large sums of money for ‘professionally’ published documents that couldn’t match the quality and thoroughness of the editing of this free ‘fan’ pdf.</p>
<p>Paizo Fans United have taken Wayfinder from strength to strength over the years, and Issue #9 has pushed that bar even higher. Downloading this file is worth every instant of time and byte of bandwidth. If you want creepy underground monsters, fun short-adventures, or intriguing NPCs to add to your game, <i>YOU WANT WAYFINDER #9</i>.</p><p><b>Wayfinder #9 (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Folks, if this is an ‘amateur’ product, you couldn’t prove it by me.</p>
<p>— Three of the <i>FIVE</i> free adventures within are set near everyone’s favourite starter-town of Sandpoint and playable with naught more than the Beginner’s Box! One of the others is a dwarf-themed quest, complete with <i>six</i> pre-generated dwarven PCs, all of whom have full stat-blocks and biographies, built-in hooks, and their own baggage with the others.
<br />
— A bestiary including no fewer than fourteen different creatures, all of them incredibly flavourful and most of them unsettling or even downright creepy. For me, the Blood Maiden and the Druegöbas, a bat-like counterpart to the drider and a dwarf/lizard centauroid respectively, and both the product of the foul practice of fleshwarping, make the entire issue worth its download-time in themselves.
<br />
— SEVEN pieces of short-fiction that play up the horrific and bleak nature of the Darklands.
<br />
— FOUR Weal or Woe articles, each holding a pair of NPCs who could be the salvation (or damnation) of a PC party in the Night Below.
<br />
— Archetypes and prestige classes related to exploring (or simply surviving) the Darklands.
<br />
— And a range of supporting articles that covers all manner of Darklands locations, goods, and folk, including fleshwarped magical items, other magical gear peculiar to particular drow houses, and even a trading town in the Darklands that’s <i>almost</i> ‘safe’ to visit or use as a base-camp.</p>
<p>The artwork throughout ranges from ‘very good’ through to ‘downright sublime’. I’ve paid large sums of money for ‘professionally’ published documents that couldn’t match the quality and thoroughness of the editing of this free ‘fan’ pdf.</p>
<p>Paizo Fans United have taken Wayfinder from strength to strength over the years, and Issue #9 has pushed that bar even higher. Downloading this file is worth every instant of time and byte of bandwidth. If you want creepy underground monsters, fun short-adventures, or intriguing NPCs to add to your game, <i>YOU WANT WAYFINDER #9</i>.</p>Trace Coburn2013-09-13T11:18:44ZPathfinder #6 (Standard Cover—Tyler Walpole): Can’t wait for Jake Bilbao to take over (3 stars)Trace Coburnhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy8wre?Pathfinder-62013-05-08T08:06:14Z<p><b>Pathfinder #6 (Standard Cover—Tyler Walpole)</b></p><p>I received this issue with my AP sub this morning, and I’ve got to agree with the review of the ‘exclusive’ version. Andrew Huerta’s artwork never really appealed to me, but it was serviceable enough for the previous five issues. For the climax of a six-comic arc, the boss-fight that takes up fifteen pages of this issue’s story-space is visually confusing and narratively acoherent - it’s often hard to tell what’s happening in any given <i>panel</i>, and I really can’t tell you much about the flow of the battle as a whole. If that was an attempt to represent the otherworldly nature of the arc’s boss-monster, it was overplayed and hurt the story badly.
<br />
I mainly buy these for the game-material in the back, and that saves a couple of stars on the rating, but I’ll be glad when the comic’s new primary artist takes over in the new arc.</p><p><b>Pathfinder #6 (Standard Cover—Tyler Walpole)</b></p><p>I received this issue with my AP sub this morning, and I’ve got to agree with the review of the ‘exclusive’ version. Andrew Huerta’s artwork never really appealed to me, but it was serviceable enough for the previous five issues. For the climax of a six-comic arc, the boss-fight that takes up fifteen pages of this issue’s story-space is visually confusing and narratively acoherent - it’s often hard to tell what’s happening in any given <i>panel</i>, and I really can’t tell you much about the flow of the battle as a whole. If that was an attempt to represent the otherworldly nature of the arc’s boss-monster, it was overplayed and hurt the story badly.
<br />
I mainly buy these for the game-material in the back, and that saves a couple of stars on the rating, but I’ll be glad when the comic’s new primary artist takes over in the new arc.</p>Trace Coburn2013-05-08T08:06:14ZAlternate Ability Feats (PFRPG) PDF: Straight-forward, useful, very affordable (5 stars)Trace Coburnhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy8wu5?Alternate-Ability-Feats2013-02-02T03:40:34Z<p><b>Alternate Ability Feats (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>Expanding on the precedent set by Agile Manoeuvres and Weapon Finesse in the PFRPG Core Rulebook, this collection of feats allows characters to substitute one ability-score modifier for another when handling specific skills or other mechanics. Caged Dragon Games wisely included pre-requisites for each feat, and caps on the relative improvement, to confound would-be min-maxers, but these feats allow a great deal of flexibility in crafting a character to fit your particular concept.</p>
<p>Now, if you're looking for a .pdf with a lot of ruffles and flourishes, this one will disappoint you: it's twelve pages of mostly-black text on white background, single-column (apart from the table of feats at the front), there's no art or navigational bookmarks, and half of the file is taken up by a title-page, a blank 'inside cover', and four pages of OGL legalese and copyright acknowledgements at the back. But even so, you're paying less than a single American dollar for six pages of 'crunch' that will give you a great many more 'build' options, and that's a damned good deal in my book.</p>
<p><span class=tiny>(As a footnote: Caged Dragon are also <i>spot-on</i> about their customer-service. When I pointed out a couple of errors in this product, a corrected version was uploaded to Paizo.com less than thirty-six hours later. Considering that I made the report from the other side of the world, that's a turn-around speed many of the 'big' publishers would envy!)</span></p><p><b>Alternate Ability Feats (PFRPG) PDF</b></p><p>Expanding on the precedent set by Agile Manoeuvres and Weapon Finesse in the PFRPG Core Rulebook, this collection of feats allows characters to substitute one ability-score modifier for another when handling specific skills or other mechanics. Caged Dragon Games wisely included pre-requisites for each feat, and caps on the relative improvement, to confound would-be min-maxers, but these feats allow a great deal of flexibility in crafting a character to fit your particular concept.</p>
<p>Now, if you're looking for a .pdf with a lot of ruffles and flourishes, this one will disappoint you: it's twelve pages of mostly-black text on white background, single-column (apart from the table of feats at the front), there's no art or navigational bookmarks, and half of the file is taken up by a title-page, a blank 'inside cover', and four pages of OGL legalese and copyright acknowledgements at the back. But even so, you're paying less than a single American dollar for six pages of 'crunch' that will give you a great many more 'build' options, and that's a damned good deal in my book.</p>
<p><span class=tiny>(As a footnote: Caged Dragon are also <i>spot-on</i> about their customer-service. When I pointed out a couple of errors in this product, a corrected version was uploaded to Paizo.com less than thirty-six hours later. Considering that I made the report from the other side of the world, that's a turn-around speed many of the 'big' publishers would envy!)</span></p>Trace Coburn2013-02-02T03:40:34Z