The pdf is 25 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial and 1 page OGL. That leaves 22 pages of content.
In contrast to the other pdfs by Spes Magna Games I’ve reviewed so far, this one actually features some flavor-text for each bloodline.
The presented bloodlines are:
-Aquatic: Water-based abilities, anti-fire abilities, blur
-Divine: Has access to a domain, smite and the like.
-Giant: What you’d expect – Rock-throwing, powerful build, Runes, Ancestors
-Ooze: Hard to kill, becomes slightly amorphous, nice cthulhoid fluff in the flavor-text
-Plant: Pun-power in the description made me laugh very hard, plant-focused spells, alluring scent, one with nature
-Psychic: Precognition and interrogation abilities, very suitable for an investigation-heavy campaign
-Vermin: Movement bonus, web casting, chitin armor
After that, we get new spells:
-Acid Touch (lvl 4) – self-explanatory
-Cloud of Stingers (lvl 6) – Cloud of nauseating stingers
-Conqueror Worm (lvl 9 – awesome nod for people like me) – devastating entropyblasts
-Dehydration (lvl 6) – self-explanatory
-Jotunblood Form (lvl 9 – actually has 9 different choices available) – become a Giant of your choice
-Ocean’s Depth (lvl 8) – Crushing pressure and icy chill
-Ooze Shape I (lvl 5) –self-explanatory
-Ooze Shape II (lvl 6) –self-explanatory
-Ooze Shape III (lvl 7) –self-explanatory
-Phantasmal Wasps (lvl 8) - Damage and Poison
-Pseudopod (lvl 1)- grow a tentacle
-Pudding Mob (lvl 9) – summon 1d4+1 Behemoth puddings
-Release the Kraken (lvl 9) – Field of powerful barbed tentacles crushes all enemies
-Wall of Water (lvl 5) –self-explanatory
-Whirlpool (lvl 8) – summons a crushing whirlpool
The pdf closes with a new Cr 9 creature, the Behemoth pudding (1 page) and 1 page of Ooze Shape traits that can be chosen via the respective spells.
The editing and formatting are ok, I only found one instance of a missing “and”, the prose is concise and to the point, the artwork is b/w and public domain, the small boxes of fluff-text are well-written.
Mechanically, I don’t have much to complain, but the bloodlines themselves were hit-and-miss for me: While the Aquatic, Ooze and Psychic are really cool and feature nice abilities (with the Psychic bloodline being my favorite…), the Giant and Plant bloodlines didn’t impress me that much and the Divine and Vermin bloodlines seemed rather uninspired in contrast to the other bloodlines.
The new spells, though, are AWESOME. They are cool, ooze flavor (pardon the pun with regards to Ooze Shape I – III) and are VERY iconic.
The Behemoth Pudding is a nice bonus.
Conclusion:
The spells alone are worth the VERY fair price, however, I felt as if the product has fallen somewhat short of its potential. Some of the bloodlines are really cool, but, as mentioned above, some seemed rather uninspired. Due to the supremely cool spells, I’ll give this one 4 stars, add one star if the idea of an Ooze bloodline or spells like “Release the Kraken” or “Conqueror Worm” make you cackle with glee. If you don’t particularly care for the spells, subtract one star.
Thanks for the review, Endzeitgeist. It's always interesting to see how preferences come into play. For example, I've received strong praise for the Giant bloodline, via email IIRC. I personally have a fondness for the Vermin bloodline, but, of course, I'm biased. :)
I'm pleased you liked Plant bloodline fluff text. It's one of my prouder moments.
Mark L. Chance | Spes Magna Games
Yeah, that's kinda interesting - the problem I have with the Giant bloodline is just that I happen to be a M.A. of scandinavian literature and culture and thus have very specific notions of what they should offer fluff & crunch-wise. I'm just spoiled when it comes to Norse myths/Norse-inspired critters. ;P
Expect some more reviews soon!
Yeah, that's kinda interesting - the problem I have with the Giant bloodline is just that I happen to be a M.A. of scandinavian literature and culture and thus have very specific notions of what they should offer fluff & crunch-wise. I'm just spoiled when it comes to Norse myths/Norse-inspired critters. ;P
That makes sense. You'll probably hate Scyld Heim when that's done. I am doing some research for it, but I've no intention of being mythologically or historically correct. :)
But that's another topic. Again, thanks for the reviews.