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I finally got a chance to read my article. Thanks to Meagan Maricle for a fine editing job, and some great art by Lynette Fetters and Sergei Felsinger.
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So this isn't really a review, since I'm only going to mention the stuff that jumped out at me. I certainly don't mean to slight any of the writers or artists whose work I don't mention!
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First, the cover, which is the best of the best. I love the old-school pulpy look! So, so awesome!
Weal & Woe: Pursue the Iron Princess – love the artwork, it’s really good, and I appreciate the basic design of the characters (Barbarian and Fighter, no multi-classing or archetypes or non-core elements needed). While it’s fun that the woman is fully dressed and all business, and the man is a dumb pretty boy, I do wonder how that thing on his shoulder counts as MW studded leather. Eh, at least it isn’t a chainmail mankini.
Born on the Battlefield: The Shokala – a Psychopomp-descended race, a la Tieflings, Aasimar, etc.? Very cool, and uniquely Golarion-flavored! The racial abilities feel completely appropriate for a Psychopomp-blooded person.
Heroes’ Hoard: Numeria – love the name (and function) of the Mantle of the Blind Iron Eye, and the Shield of Cogs is super-cool, and has a great visual.
Robot Disciple: An Archetype for Monks – the Scarred Lands setting had Monks who sought to emulate constructs (back when 20th level monks turned into outsiders, these turned into constructs), and made their bodies as solid as iron (instead of fast and nimble, changing their dodge bonus to AC to a natural armor bonus, IIRC). This goes a similar route, and I love the flavor of the Routine Program and Standby class features, in particular.
Science is the Worst – a fun story, with some appealing protagonists. I like that the Kellid ‘barbarian’ is instead a ‘witch’ (well, she’s called a witch, but she seems more like a sorcerer…), and infinitely more knowledgeable about things like gravity than her more educated Taldan compatriot.
Weal or Woe: Ghost Wolves – more excellent artwork, and another pair of interesting personalities. Both use newer classes (Arcanist and Bloodrager) and the setup subverts expectations, in that the Technic League member is more likely to appear as an ally, and the Ghost Wolf as a potential foe, as she tends to leap to (violent) conclusions…
Golarion Gazetteer: Chitterhome – a cool writeup of a ratfolk community. I’m a big fan of the little rat-peeps, so this was fun to read. One issue with an article about a community that consists of almost entirely a single race (in this case ratfolk) is having to write the race in every NPC blurb, which can get repetitive and feel like it’s wasting precious wordcount. That said, the race of the town ‘sheriff’ Nis Graytail is missing. With a name like ‘Graytail,’ in a community that’s 99% ratfolk, I’m going to assume she’s a ratfolk, too.
Technoscout: An Archetype for Hunters – wow, this is a pretty cool Archetype, with some amazing artwork! I love the idea of someone with a robot companion, but the divine/nature associations of the Druid, Ranger and Hunter kind of went at odds with that. The author neatly addressed that by replacing the divine ‘nature’ spells with arcane Magus spells (plus some tech-themed spells). This is some pretty slick design, and better than my own notion of a robot-companion Cavalier or whatever. (It’s also pretty easy to use this as a springboard for a robot-companion Ranger Archetype, if you want to stick to a core class.)
Technic League Faction Rewards – this is totally awesome. I love the Faction Guide (even if no one I play with wants to use it), and the Technic League was begging for a write up, far more than some of the odd choices they made (the Kusari Gama? Had we even heard of them before, or have we heard of them since?). I know, I know, we aren’t supposed to *want* to join an evil organization like the Technic League, but we’ve got Faction stats for the Aspis Consortium, Red Mantis Assassins and Whispering Way, so that logic’s toast. Bring on the Technic League!
This is How it Starts – another great piece of fiction, from the point of view of a member of the Technic League. I like how it’s written in a sort of matter-of-fact narration, and how the character is focused on her research and not so much ‘evil for the lulz’ as willing to turn a blind eye to what’s going on around her, in pursuit of her own goals (and the costs that single-mindedness has taken on her).
Weal or Woe: Bronze Whispers – ooh, Osirioni priestess of Brigh, some of my favorite things rolled up into a single character! And a Technic League agent cast in a more traditionally adversarial role, and with a perfect class/archetype choice for the League (Spellslinger gun-toting Wizard).
Mutation Master: An Archetype for Druids – while I love the idea of adding mutations to one’s wild shape forms (or even, potentially, summoned nature’s allies or animal companion), I vaguely recall one of the options for the Mutant template being an assortment of spell-like abilities, some of which might be a bit over the top for a 4th level druid to be pulling out as many times per day as she has wild shape uses… The wording of Mutation Shaper *could* be interpreted to read that she only gets to choose one Mutant template option to apply to any of her wild shape forms, at 4th level, but the wording for 6th level and higher seems more to lend itself to the interpretation that she can choose any mutation from those available to the template at the time of wild shaping. In any event, the spell-like abilities option should probably be explicitly ruled out. It would get particularly put of hand at 13th level, when she gains A Hundred Mutations, and could pick spell-like abilities over and over, gaining access to all of the options over the course of an adventuring day.
Reverie for Memory – a subtle sort of story that I like, dealing with some of the peculiarities of the android race (multiple lives, and even souls, being cycled through a single body, with its own history). Perhaps a little too subtle, for me, as I didn’t get the ending. I liked it, but I didn’t entirely get it.
Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder
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Thanks for all of the reviews and comments so far!
We've been out for over a month now, so I'm hoping more people have had a chance to read the issue. We'd love to know what you thought about it....what you liked, what you didn't, any questions you might have for the authors ....that kind of thing.
Tim
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Heroes’ Hoard: Numeria – ...and the Shield of Cogs is super-cool, and has a great visual.
Thank you! It was one I had been working on for quite a while. It was probably going to be my next submission to the next Paizo Superstar contest, but I felt it met the flavor of the setting too much to leave it out! Glad you enjoyed it.
=)
Let me know how it goes!
I inserted this as a side trek into my iron gods campaign as the party was travelling from Torch to Scrapwall.
I kept the main NPCS as is, but omitted a few things since my party was only level 4. In the end, most of the encounters were resolved peacefully, to Krondarr's dismay. Krondarr was a lot of fun to roleplay and was enjoyed by all.
In fact Krondarr joined the party for a day or 2 and eventually decided to
Let me know how it goes!
I inserted this as a side trek into my iron gods campaign as the party was travelling from Torch to Scrapwall.
I kept the main NPCS as is, but omitted a few things since my party was only level 4. In the end, most of the encounters were resolved peacefully, to Krondarr's dismay. Krondarr was a lot of fun to roleplay and was enjoyed by all.
In fact Krondarr joined the party for a day or 2 and eventually decided to ** spoiler omitted **
Awesome! Did Krondarr smash anything?
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Well he got vomited on by our enlarged fighter after getting nailed with a gas grenade.
