Killer Clowns from Hell (PFRPG) PDF

This pdf clocks in at 26 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page inside of front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1 page ToC, 2 pages of how to use/introduction, 2 pages of advertisement, 1 page inside of back cover, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 15 pages chockfull with content, so let's take a look!

Even before I read Stephen King's "It" or ever heard about a psycho called Gacey, clowns creeped me out - it was not full-blown coulrophobia, but rather an uncanny sense of unease - my infantile mind kept wondering what would make grown men paint their faces and generate antics. It is with some sense of self-conscious irony that I now look back on this and realize that, to a certain degree, the goth subculture and shock rock have taken the aesthetics of in particular the harlequin and reappropriated them...that my favorite supervillain ever is the Joker...that to this day, I consider the Jack of Tears introduced in 3.X's Blood Bayou one of the best villains to ever grace a d20-supplement. Evil clowns. They are creepy and awesome.

This pdf, then, would contain an assortment of outsiders that employ this most disturbing of tropes - but can the builds hold up to the legacy of the evocative theme? Well, let's look at the CR 9 Coulrodaemon: Think of these guys are daemonic harlequins, whose head floats above their body. They juggle burning skulls that corrupt the luck of those hit and also have an aura that generates pratfalls, which duplicate combat maneuvers...oh, and if you're like me and one of the folks who misses the time when monsters had a well-written habitat, ecology...you know, a story beyond stats, well, then this book does deliver just that!

The second clown herein would be the Mazzak demon at CR 10: Ogre-sized and covered with shaggy fur, these guys wield oversized hammers that can inflict negative conditions upon adversaries and generate a rain of shadowy objects that plummet from the sky, dealing damage to the unfortunates caught below, reflecting well their theme of gleeful sadism.

The CR 7 Paglichino (mockery devil) gets bardic performance akin to a court bard and may generate a shocking array of duplicates while turning invisible...and if he tires of laughing at foes being shocked, he can rematerialize and blow foes asunder...once again, a winner and one that reflects well the efficiency theme of devils.

The laetitius kyton can be found on the cover of this book and has a CR of 8...and if the war razor is no indicator...yep, these guys can take off their OWN faces and put them on foes, potentially suffocating them...and you thought slicing off faces was bad...delightfully disturbing!

At CR 14, the anglerfish-like Lophigogdue qlippoth look like gigantic misshapen anglerfish. Wait, what? That's not clowny, right? Well, wait a second...you see, these nasty beings veil themselves as travelling circuses! Oh yes, I can see that being truly sick...no wonder all the folks are weird, right? I never even thought of this one! Two thumbs up!

The CR 10 Bhozol Sahkil would be a hunched and lanky giant with terrible flexibility and a touch that can disfigure those afflicted; embodiments of the uncanny and fear of it, they may look humanoid...pretty harmless, even...but are anything but that. Emotional sadists, one and all, these critters complement the excellent array of critters presented herein perfectly.

The pdf also has a total of 6 new magic items for us, the first of which would be the capricious carriage, which comes with its own demiplane and certainly makes some twisted adventures possible. Clown shoes that enhance trip, but make you more clumsy and slow your movement are similarly neat. An enchanted hand-puppet theater (and a cursed, twisted version!) allow for cool storytelling and then there would be the slapstick armor, which allows you to Bluff foes easier (and generates your choice of funny sounds while you're being dismembered...). And yes, cursed version included.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed no glitches. Layout adheres to a unique, gorgeous two-column full-color standard and the pdf provides original, awesome full-color artworks for ALL monsters herein. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.

This is the first book by Deborah Kammerzell and Chris Van Horn I have read...and OH BOY does it make me want to read more! I am not kidding when I'm saying that this is absolutely amazing - the level of detail and information, the monster builds with their unique tricks, the cool and creative ideas I haven't seen before...instead of just making yet another It-ripoff with balloons and the like, we get full-blown amazing killer clowns that made me immediately dust off the ole' Blood Bayou. This little bestiary is literally all killer, no filler and well worth every cent - 5 stars + seal of approval, given without any hesitation. Get this...or the clowns might get you!

Endzeitgeist out.

Clowns. For some reason so many people are scared of them in real life, so why not in games? Especially when they're not just clowns, but Killer Clowns from Hell? That is the whole point of this 26-page PDF, and as to how well the six hellish harlequins within do their job, we'll see!

First is the Coulrodaemon, providing the daemonic take on comedy. Formed from the souls of evildoers who suffered humiliating, ridiculous, or darkly ironic deaths, they juggle skulls that they can use as weapons. Being hit by them causes you to take an ever-increasing penalty on attacks, saves, and ability checks. They also negate any luck-based bonuses you have, which is a bad thing -- because the coulrodaemon is surrounded by a 'pratfall aura' that inflicts affects on anyone without a luck bonus akin to those suffered in classic slapstick comedies. Of course, people rarely died horribly in those comedies. The PCs won't be so lucky.

And one fun bit of background we get is: coulrodaemons avoid the soul-processing factories of Abaddon because they creep out the staff.

Next is the demonic Mazzuak. Brutish, cunning, and savage, formed from the souls of the gleefully sadistic, this guy is the living incarnation of every safe, boulder, or other heavy object dropped on the head of some unsuspecting cartoon character. It can conjure illusionary ludicrous objects of vast size and weight and drop them on several PCs at once, pinning them helplessly. Which is when it lines up a shot with that big honkin' hammer it carries. Not subtle at all, but this feels like demonic humor, all right. A great combat brute with some rather clever and original tricks.

The diabolic Paglichino or 'Mockery Devil' is next. They enjoy finding out secrets about good and/or influential people that they use for their comic routines, cruelly mocking and satirizing people. This is humor used to tear others down for self-advancement. It feels nice(?) and devilish. They possess the bardic performance of court bards. More, they can hide themselves as they conjure up a small army of shocking images. They make one of the images sound like the real paglichino, while hopping around the battlefield using their bardic music to drive enemies up the wall. Oh yes, when you destroy the last image, you get hurt even worse than usual.

The Laetitius kyton follows. It can terrify with its appearance and has truly nasty skill with its war razors. Creepiest of all, it attacks you with its face. As in, it tears its face off and slaps it over yours! It shares in all the resistance to damage of the laetitius, and if you don't remove it fast enough, you suffocate. One way or another, the laetitius puts a smile on their audiences' faces.

The qlippothic Lophigogdue is one of the oddest horrors in this set. It's not a clown, it's the whole circus. The big tent, anyway. It disguises itself as an ordinary circus to lure in the crowds. Then it reveals itself and unleashes its zombie performers and roustabouts on the audience. Oh yes, it also spreads a sickness that turns people into more maniacally laughing zombies before it leaves for the next town. In a rather nasty note, it especially enjoys doing this to children. I like it just for the weirdness value. Even in Pathfinder, how often does a tent try eating you?

The newest evil outsiders, the sahkils, get their representation with the Bhozol. Embodying the fear of the uncanny and distorted, bhozols can wrap you up in an embrace that turns you into a twisted horror. They can also hide in places you'd never think such a giant could. Like under the stairs, or in a closet, or under the children's bed... They also enjoy hanging out with the aforementioned laetitius for more fun.

The PDF finishes with some new magic items. The capacious carriage contains its own demiplane, and can produce armies of clowns and others from a safe hiding place. Clown Shoes help on using and resisting various maneuvers like trip, bull rush, or drag. They also make it harder to be stealthy. The puppet theater gives you the ability to do magic puppet shows, and that's about it. However, the cursed puppet theater can make your every word sound like it's coming from one of the puppets, making verbal spellcasting rather difficult.

Best of the lot are the two suits of slapstick armor. The non-cursed one makes every wound you take look catastrophic. And when it does so, you get a bonus on attempts to bluff your attacker. This one can work as well outside of comedy -- the master swordsman thinks he's landed a fatal blow, only to learn that his in truth uninjured opponent is ready to finish him.

The second suit is pretty obviously meant to be cursed, but that's not in the description. It still uses illusions to make your wounds look worse. It also inflicts damage of its own, and when you take ability damage, drain, or bleed, it makes it even worse.

All in all it's a pretty good PDF. The monsters are a fine bunch of horrors and have some really original touches. Even the art and flavor text for them is great. The magic items are okay in themselves.

EDIT: The problems I mentioned in the first version of this review have been cleared up, so I'll say 4.5 stars, put up to 5. It is worth the price if you want some truly bizarre fiends to use in your games.