... and this is one of them. I have only perused the official 13th Age Bestiary, as it is PDF, but man it looks good. Full of variations, plot hooks, discussions and beautiful art.
But I digress, cos
The Kobold 13th Age Bestiary is just amazing too. This is not a product to tide you over until the official bestiary but an amazing product in it's own stead. Once again it is a physically lovely book, with high quality paper and beautiful art.
But it is also full of so much stuff. As it says a big handful of playable races - I mean who doesn't want to play a kobold! However Ravenfolk is my favourite. 13 Icons for Midgard, which are far more flavourful than the standard Icons and I would use before the ones in the main game. This is not surprising as Midgard is a unique world.
All the entries have a lot of variations, plot hooks and enough fluff to make this book useful to all gamers. Especially 3E/4E as 13th Age is closest to those two.
Over all I really enjoyed this book. I am not a rules genius (I actually play very simple OSR games with my young kids) but I really enjoy reading RPG books, the fluff on this is top notch.
The only thing I want to make it better is a) colour interior b) hard cover and c) MORE! :)
Note: I purchased this book from Amazon and thus do not have the PDF.
The previous reviewers have well covered the contents of this excellent volume. I am not a crunch genius but the adventures are varied, offering big action to all levels, and highlight the difference/uniqueness of the Midgard world.
But what I would like to say is the physical texture and quality of the book itself is the best I have had the pleasure to read. I can;t speak for how long the book will stand up to use, having only had it a few weeks, but the paper feels thick and full of texture.
I received this PDF as a kickstarter backer, it was promised as a 16 page booklet of handouts. But those lovely Kobold's increased that to 64! The maps and art are gorgeous and an excellent addition to an excellent series of adventures. If you, like me, love giving your players physical things that help get you into the game, this is an indespensible addition to Midgard Tales
I find that EZG, as normal, has pretty much hit the rules part of the review on the head. I am not a PF rule fiend so the rules are, to me, fine. But as to balance I cannot give you the answer to the same depth as EZG and he has pointed out there are AU to PFRPG glitches. But there are in any RPG book so that doesn't bother me hugely.
The 'fluff' part of this books is what really shines, and why I have been waiting for ages for it. I loved the 1E Oriental Adventures which gave me a soft spot for asian/eastern flavoured D&D - Kara-tur and Al-Qadim are in my collection. this is right up there with them. I am not a scholar but I really enjoyed the flavour of the fluff in this book.
Now I was not planning on reading this book until I got the physical but I ended up firing it up on my iPad. And it is stunning, the layout and art are gorgeous. I looks luxurious and I entirely disagree that it resembles a text book. Obviously this is subjective but the green-theme really works for me. I can' wait to see it 'in the flesh'
I highly recommend this for any d20/D&D oriental-phile. You won't regret it IMO; as to the rules glitches I don't feel they are that bad and can be got through with common sense, but if you are buying this more for the rules than fluff/feel then I suggest you read EZG's review and see if that is a good idea for you
If you were not 100% on previous 'Player' Companions, this should change your mind. A much better and PLAYER focused offering. The new layout style and info is just perfect.
Well done Paizo for taking the leap into scary change :)
