Come and graft both power and horror to your body!
Replace your organs and other parts with those crafted by the fleshgrafters. Take your skin and arms replace them with a troll's, Exchange your eyes for that of an antipaladin so you can sense good, or exchange your mouth for a leech maw!
Those out there who still have a soft spot for Chaostech will feel very comfortable with #30 Fleshgrafts. This PDF, 17 pages in total weight (2 ads, 1 cover, 1 OGL, 1 credit, 1 intro letter and 11 pages of new material) introduces us to a whole new way to enhance and augment our characters under the Pathfinder system. Opening with a letter of correspondence between Pers Veilborn and Owain Northway regarding an encounter Owain had with a fleshgrafted individual, the letter presents the book to us as Pers' notes and research findings on the subject matter. Interestingly enough we see the Tamar people again mentioned, as well as the plague of black rain that befell their kingdom, driving them out. Fans of the #30 series will recognize this from the #30 Traps for Tombs PDF.
The PDF follows the standard dual column format with a framed page. Formatting was good save for one instance upon page 8 two extra blank lines seem to have been left in the middle of a fleshgrafts description, breaking the text. Grammar left me with nothing to complain about. The PDF is bookmarked to the level of types of fleshgrafts (claws and fangs, wings, skin, etc) as opposed to the individual fleshgraft, but as there are anywhere from three to five per page, this works just fine.
The art, a mix of B&W and color, and ranging from ok to really disturbingly good (that cover piece for instance had me at a loss). I like art in an RPG book, I feel it is a necessary component, but several of these pieces did not seem to have any connection to anything in this book, and therefore felt as if they had been added simply for the sake of having art.
What is a fleshgraft? Fundamentally, it is a magical item that (for the most part) will not take up any of the magic item slots, as they become an extension of your body, and are therefore not something you wear or carry. We are given a back story on where and how the first fleshgrafted came into being, and the art of grafting that sprang from those first unfortunates. We're also presented with the necessary feat (Graft Flesh) as well as a new Spell Flesh Culture; cause bits of dismembered flesh to grow or expand. (used by fleshgrafters in preparation for grafting). And, if all of that wasn't enough before we even get to the grafts, how about a freaky new familiar option? The gibberer. Think gibbering mouther, but smaller, and less dangerous. Fleshgrafters use them to grow organs and parts, much like we grow ears on mice.
Abyssal Barb: Bebelith claw, grafted to grow from the back of the host's hand
Leech Maw: Forms a Leechlike Maw from the jaw and mouth of the host, granting a bite attack, as well as the grab ability.
Retractable Claws: sprouting from either fingers or toes, treated as natural weapons.
Choker: A tentacle bonded either to a host's back or shoulder that can make a secondary attack. A single creature can host up to six chokers.
Mantid's Claws: Host gains two claw attacks from two mantis limbs attached to the midriff.
Ocean's Grasp: Two tentacles, per arm, joined just below the elbow.
Tattered Wings, Wings, and Wondrous Wings: Each level grants better flight, better speed, and a much better overall look for your character.
Spinneret Glands: Silk spinning organ of the size and type possessed by giant spiders.
Spitter: Acidic breath weapon and limited resistance to acid attacks.
Troll's Gland: OK, gross in concept, but very cool in practice. Causes an area of boils to appear, that when lanced will give the host troll regeneration like abilities.
Eyes of Arcane Sight: Replaces hosts eyes, allows a limited usage of the arcane sight spell.
Eyes of Insight: Replaces host's eyes, allows for visual detection of good aligned auras.
Eyes of Truesight: Replaces one eye, allows for limited usage of true seeing spell
True Seeing Eye Dog: Swap an eye with a pet, and gain sight limited access to sight from the vantage point of the animal.
Abomination: Third eye, grafted into center of forehead, gives bonus to intimidate and can generate an effect similar to the fear spell.
Cock's Eye: For x amount of times per day, can cast flesh to stone Creeper Peeper: Milky white in coloration, this eye gets grafted to the inside of your wrist, and will allow one to see perfectly in darkness.
Eye of the Abyss: Has a fear effect, as well as the ability to affect a target as per the spell insanity.
Greypatch: A patch of skin from an undead, useful in bolstering hide from undead attempts.
Hides: Ac bonus ranges from +1-5, resembling the animal from which the hide was adapted.
Skin Colony: A grafted section of skin from another race or creed. Upon activation, the skin forms over your entire body, making minor cosmetic changes if need be (pointy ears, hair). Allows for disguise bonus checks, and can be scrubbed off, or allowed to simply fall off after a certain time.
Ugothol's Mask: By inserting flesh from a faceless stalker into a host's face, they gain some ability to stretch and change their facial appearance.
Angel's Blood: Am calling foul on this one. Cool idea, but not a fleshgraft. Essentially an infusion, or potion, comprised of a good aligned outsiders blood that will give anyone the capacity to “test” as good for a set amount of time in regards to all effects within game that target or benefit a good aligned creature. Really cool idea, but so not a Fleshgraft.
Bullheaded: Cause everyone, at some point in time, has wanted minotaur horns...admit it.
Chatterer: Turn your torso into a gibbering mouther (ok, not really, but pretty close).
Gills: Breathe like a fish.
Slider: No, not White Castle burgers, become amorphous and malleable for a set number of rounds, great for getting under locked doors.
Wandsleight: Literally store and activate your wands from inside your forearms.
Waterborn: Take on some physical characteristics of an aquatic race and gain bonuses to swim.
From there we are given a full stat write up for the before mentioned Gibberer, and are introduced to the organization the Wardens of the Darkened Heart. Also in this section are two full NPC's, showing off some of what can be done with the fleshgrafts. Unfortunately, these NPC's suffered the same editing issue that has left me baffled in regards to both of them. I'll let the PDF speak for itself on this one:
Hajen Po, Lesser Warden of the Darkened Heart
“ He serves the Wardens as a spy and resident fleshgrafter in Questhaven. Her responsibilities include ensuring ….......”
and again
“Hajen has a third eye grafted in the center of her forehead that allows him to intimidate and terrify.”
Kril'ana, Prisoner of the Darkened Heart
“When her father was captured, the boy, now 14, was sentenced to hang...”
and again
“...to prepare him for some more difficult missions, they enhanced him with fleshgrafts. She now has .....”
Now, both statblocks say these NPC's are male, but the gender changes constantly throughout all of the text, there are quite a few more instances beyond what I have quoted here, and that's just sloppy.
Final thoughts, I like the idea of the fleshgrafts, and there were several here that are really cool, and would enhance a game session immensely. However, the issue of the art, as good as most of it is, very little of it feels like it's connected to the material within this book, even the cover piece (which is excellent) feels like more of a tribute to the artist Brom then anything else. And the formatting and editing errors, I am inclined to give this work a 3.5, rounded up (but only because of the excellent material that the fleshgrafts themselves are) to a four star rating.
This product is 17 pages long. It starts with a cover and credits. (2 pages)
Fleshgrafts (8 pages)
It starts off with a interesting IC introduction. Next it jumps a new feat for crafting Fleshgrafts and new spell dealing with it. They are broken up by groups of what they do as follows. All of them have the creation rules include with them.
Fangs and Claws
Abyssal Barb
Leech Maw
Retractable Claw
Limbs and Limb Extensions
Choker (really just a tentacle)
Mantids Claws
Ocean Grasp (tentacles added on each arm)
Stat Blocks (4 pages)
Here we get 3 sets of stat blocks. One is of the Gibber monsters CR1/2 and the other two are two NPC's that use the new Fleshgrafts rules CR11 and 12.
It ends with a OGL and ads. (3 page)
Closing thoughts. The art work is a mix of color and black and white, it ranges from ok to pretty good. Editing and layout is very good. I didn't notice any errors at all. I will say this is not really my find of thing. I think stuff like this is cool but not really something that appeals to me overly much. Unless I am playing a very specific type of game. Anyways it is very well done and for those that do find this kind of thing interesting or neat. Then I really strongly recommended checking this out. It is very well done. So what's my rating? Well I can't find anything negative to say about the book so I am giving it a 5 star rating.
Trust me, I'm a Succubus.
Regenerating Troll-Pustules! Wings! Claws! Gills! Count me in!
This pdf is 17 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD and 2 pages advertisements, leaving 12 pages of content, so what exactly are fleshcrafts?
The IC-narrator Pers Veilborn explains the fleshgrafts of originating after the Days of Dark Rain destroyed the Tamar-people (remember them from #30 Traps for Tombs?) in a perfect example of a great mood-setting piece of prose that delivers enough hooks to bring this evolution of a dark cataclysm to your game. Essentially, fleshgrafts are semi-sentient additional limbs, appendages and body modifications that can be grafted to your body via anew feat and be preserved via a new spell.If you're thinking Chaositech now, that would be a somewhat fitting parallel, especially with the bones of steel, for the modifications might empower you, but also make a disturbing creature out of you. The grafts all come with auras, take up slots and construction requirements.
What grafts do we get? Want retractable wolverine-claws? It's there. A maw like a leech that lets you drain grappled foes? It's there. Wings are available in 3 versions. 2 different kinds of tentacles, Mantis claws, spitting acid and webs - it#s there. You might even put a troll-organ into your body, thus growing angry pustules you can pop to regenerate. Of course, there are also eyes and e.g. the ability to exchange eyes with familiars/animal companions/servants. Deadly third eyes can drive foes mad or even petrify them while skingrafts enable you to emulate disguises of donor skins. Classics like horns, gills, fooling detect-spells, flesh-pouches and swim-speeds are also included in the delightfully disturbing array.
We also get the Gibberer as a creature to attach and extract fleshgrafts (think gibbering mouther in less powerful) and two multiclassed, fully stated NPCs ready to inflict upon your PCs - both belonging to the fleshgrafting Wardens of the Darkened Heart, of course!
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good, I didn't notice significant glitches, though one of the extensive bookmarks for example, features a question mark instead of an apostrophe. Layout adheres to the full-color 2-column standard and the artwork is stock, but fitting for the theme. Oh boy, how have I gibbered with glee when reading this - from the excellent prose to the concisely, yet balanced fleshgrafts presented herein, a sense of alien dread and disturbing potential for not only DMs, but also players pervades this pdf. The grafts are powerful, but the cost of becoming a monster is readily apparent when reading the respective sections. It's ideas like the trollish pustules and their disturbing activation that really drives home a sense of wrongness not often seen in item-books. Add to that the ease with which you can add to the existing grafts, the hook-ladden prose, the idea for the secreat society of fleshgrafters and the 2 sample NPCs as well as the process of adding new grafts and we're in for a delightfully sick new addition to the array of any aberration, doomsday-cult or similar threat - or even to heroes.If you ever wanted to create ReMade à la China Mièville, there are your tools. My only and minor gripe is that I wanted the option to make gibberers familiars - that would make for a nice Pathways-article, btw.! Taking the low price into account, my only minor gripe is not sufficient to weigh T.H. Gullivers extremely well-written latest contribution to the #30-series down and continues the reign of 5-star verdicts he gathers. When do we get 101 additional fleshgrafts?
If not abundantly clear by now, my final verdict will be 5 stars and the Endzeitgeist seal of approval.
I've devised the fleshgrafts following the magic item creation rules, but noted some ways in which these differ from magic items.
I would love to hear what you think about the decisions I made regarding the pricing and potency of these fleshgrafts. A lot of the decisions were rather tough, but I wanted to allow for a novel set of items without creating a whole new set of subrules.
I've devised the fleshgrafts following the magic item creation rules, but noted some ways in which these differ from magic items.
I would love to hear what you think about the decisions I made regarding the pricing and potency of these fleshgrafts. A lot of the decisions were rather tough, but I wanted to allow for a novel set of items without creating a whole new set of subrules.
Cheers,
Trevor
Actualy this is quite nice, especially since they're basically "normal" magical items, that makes it quite easy to intergrate into my games without too much difficulty. while the pricing seem good to me some of the rules could have been expanded just a little more, like
Spoiler:
the choker; what feats can be used to gain grab? does it require a grab ability per choker?
Loved this pdf! Reviewed here, on DTRPG and sent to GMS magazine! Cheers!
@ulgulanoth: I think the graft you mentioned enables you to use any feat you would otherwise get to gain this special quality. I'd even allow it as a fighter bonus-feat...
Thank you for the review, End. (Yes, China Miéville did inspire some of the grafts.)
Ulgulanoth, regarding taking grab as a feat, I'd leave that up to GM discretion, but my intention is that it could replace the feat gained at odd levels. I guess a generous GM could make it available in place of a bonus feat if it fit the class.
I liked this product, and expanded on it in a short article in Pathways #10, "The Fleshgrafter's Foe." I'd be interested to know if you felt that this article was useful--and Pathways is free!
I liked this product, and expanded on it in a short article in Pathways #10, "The Fleshgrafter's Foe." I'd be interested to know if you felt that this article was useful--and Pathways is free!
Thanks,
Ron Lundeen
I have the PDF and I read the article, and I think they go great together. I especially like the new fleshgraft and the potential it brings in for complications and enemies of the Lovecraftan sort. Sometimes it seems like writers forget that treasures often belonged to someone before the PCs got them, and that someone may have friends or enemies who want to find out how you got that piece of property.
Heck, for a truly creepy feel, you could have the former "owner" of a fleshgraft showing up to reclaim it from you.
At CR 1/2, I think a gibberer should be possible as a familiar. A GM could say it is only available to those with the Craft Fleshgraft feat. As you aren't going to want to take it adventuring when it is being used to grow expensive fleshgrafts, it isn't the most useful familiar to an adventurer but they make the most adorable pets your NPCs could ever want.
Yeah it did I always save it though. So I just reposted it a few seconds later.
I have about 5 done. Just doing spell checks and stuff on them now and giving them a final read to make sure I didn't miss anything before posting them.
This sounds terribly useful for drow and kyton-oriented adventures.
Emphasis on the terror. ;) Picking this up soon!
When I read this one I thought that myself. I have this image of a Kuthite mystic theurge and his kyton assistants slicing bits off of monsters and seweing them on to a gredy and/or fooolish PC.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
