Akashic Realms Volume 1: Emperors & Einherjar PDF

This massive expansion for the akashic system clocks in at 52 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 9 ¾ pages of SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 39 ¼ pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This review was moved up in my reviewing queue at the request of my patreon supporters.

Okay, so, first things first: This book is a combination of a massive akasha expansion and a planar sourcebook; this is insofar interesting, as the cosmology featured is intended for use with the PHENOMENAL City of 7 Seraphs campaign setting; and because that implies a pretty radical departure from what we usually get to see for the themes featured.

What do I mean by this? Well, as many of you know, I have devoted a significant part of my life to studying Scandinavian cultures; as such, the Norse myths hold a very special place in my heart: From music (huge Wardruna/Hugsjá/Skuggsjá-fan; plus: Viking metal!) to language to literature, to pretty much everything else, this is just my topic; the only time when I truly feel at ease, like I’ve arrived where I am supposed to be, is when I’m in Norway. If you’ve read the sǫgur (plural for saga), you’ll know about the rather unique outlook on life, so far from the constant dichotomies that our current society struggles with. You’ll also know that the usual way to depict Norse themes in RPGs focuses on the low fantasy end of the spectrum. This, obviously, does make sense. When RPGs do dive into the high-fantasy end, it often is more inspired by Marvel’s slaughtering of the themes – again, understandable, considering the vast impact they have on particularly American pop culture. Apart from Rite Publishing’s Valhalla demiplane book, I know of no attempt to do so for a contemporary RPG.

This, then, as far as RPGs are concerned, is unique, in that it champions a high fantasy approach to two myths, with the Norse being one of them. Before we start, there is one further thing to note: Even if you do not care about adding to your cosmology, the book has A LOT of crunch, so integration into pretty much all settings is rather simple.

We begin with two new planar traits here: Surging Essence. These can be found on planes with potent akashic echoes, and here, akasha users can concentrate to gather energy as a full-round action to gain 1 temporary essence for 1 minute. Constellations thus summoned vanish when the temporary essence dissipates. Surging essence can have a descriptor that limit the veils and abilities available for the essence to be invested in. Furthermore, the presence of descriptors as such can have consequences (not smart for the righteous to gather the fragmented souls of the damned, and vice versa!), and in the case of the more potent option, temporary alignment changes might result. It should be noted that the book does feature rules for planar infusions and that the 3 Conduit feats for them have been included, so no, you do not require the Planar Handbook for PFRPG to make full use of this. These infusions are presented for both myths covered here, and while I was not a fan of Planar Adventures’ decision to make the bonuses thus granted untyped, the book does mirror this decision; so no, this is not an oversight, but in line with the core engine presented.

We begin with an at-a-glance write-up of Valhalla, including infusions and prime movers – here, the plane is defined as chaotic good, and we are introduced to a variety of locations and persons, as well as the einherjar-blooded aasimar, who gets +2 Constitution and Charisma, cold, fire and electricity resistance 5, a +2 racial bonus to Bluff and Intimidate, darkvision 60 ft., and when they are reduced to below 0 HP for the first time on a given day, they are healed as per cure moderate wounds as a SP, using class level as caster level – shouldn’t that be character level?), and also gain a temporary essence. As a whole, on the strong side of races, but not to the point where I’d consider them to be unbalanced.

We also get a new nexus convergence for Valhalla, which includes the option to deal sonic damage with planar detonation, but at the cost of a decreased damage output. Higher tiers allow for increasing penalties to the hit target, calling forth the spawn of Fenrir and, at high levels, valkyries, and at tier 4, we have 3/day breath of life, which also is autocast on the nexus, if uses remain. Really cool! The planar attunement allows for simple switching between planes and the option to take essence burn to declare an attack a save-or-die for giants, which is pretty suitable. These rules components are VERY precise and show an extensive familiarity with the finest of rules conventions for PFRPG – the new nexus material, in short, is very well-designed.

Valhalla also gets a pretty massive new set of veils – Asgardian Saga. The nexus class is the one who gets full access to Asgardian Saga…and there are a couple of bits here that made me smile very widely: Each of the veils gets a brief flavor-text, and I really loved to read e.g. the one for Geri and Freki, which correctly mentioned the Úlfhéðnar. Call me elitist, but I believe that RPGs can really broaden your horizons, and the notion of RPG-players as individuals who are genuinely interested in a wide variety of things, the assumption of intelligence and a desire to learn, is something near and dear to my heart. It’s just a bit of flavor, but if only one person out there actually looked up those weird letters, this was already worth it. But I digress. And before you ask: The names of the respective veils use the anglicized spelling – so “Bifrost” instead of “Bifröst”, etc.

Which brings me to the first veil – Bifröst Boots, which has great utility and soft terrain control uses – you get to make facsimile Bifrösts, and as the chakra bind for feet, gain AC boosts against targets standing on the bridge – oh, and you do not provoke AoOs, which makes this a great skirmishing facilitator. Geri and Freki nets you wolven clothing that helps with handling animals, as well as the ability to summon a wolf animal companion at class level -4, minimum 1, as though a druid. You can’t spam the wolf, though, and essence invested enhances the wolf and animal handling – and yes, enough essence can offset the level-penalty; and yes, I did check this regarding some pretty in-depth comparisons, and it checks out beautifully. The veil’s chakra bind for the body is super versatile – it lets you call a second wolf, gain a bite + Pack Flanking or have a brooch that lets you command wolves and associated creatures. Flexible, varied, cool. Gungnir is a long spear that may be thrown, and it returns to you, provided your hand is free. Interestingly, this did not use the returning quality, instead electing for a smoother implementation in the context of this veil. The spear is also more potent, particularly when wielded while mounted, if the proper essence is invested, and with a chakra bind to the wrist, a whole smörgåsbord of customization options and scaling enhancement s become available. Oh, and in that case, it also enhances your AC via shield bonus. Huginn and Muninn (Fun, and utterly irrelevant digression: I see two ravens EVERYWHERE. There hardly goes by a single day where I see two of them. Not one, not 3, always 2…) boost Knowledge checks, allow you to be considered to be trained, and even for rerolls. The chakra bind to shoulders nets you animal companion ravens through which you can see and speak, use them for line of sight, etc. – awesome utility! And yes, this gets interaction with pre-existing companions right. Liar’s horns enhances Bluff and Diplomacy, and with the head chakra bind, it helps you infiltrate, allowing you to change appearances, etc. – if you invest enough, you can also help your allies this way.

Mjolnir is a massive thrown warhammer, which rewards essence invested with bonus electricity and sonic damage. The chakra bind to the hands enhances it, and punishes attempts to e.g. sunder it painfully. When bound to the wrists instead, we have a damage upgrade by two die-steps for the bonus damage, as well as the option to immediate action teleport (including mount!) within 10 feet of the target, which might qualify you for a nasty combo. Mjolnir is the unsubtle DPS blast to Gugnir’s versatility, mirroring in design the themes of the mythology. Very nice. Odin’s Noose is AMAZING. As in: Gamechanger. Sure, it helps you with Knowledge, etc. When you first shape the veil, you can reduce your maximum hit point total by 5 to gain a veil FROM ANOTHER VEILWEAVING LIST. And before you scream “unbalanced”, as I was almost tempted to, rest assured that it still has the caveat that you need the slot to shape the veil, so no exclusives scavenging. When bound to the neck chakra, you get (greater) scrying, depending on how much essence is invested. Sif’s Golden hair is a defense veil, enhancing your AC, and provides light, with the headband chakra bind providing AoE hair-based grapple/trip! (One of the current PCs in my campaign, a voodoo-doll style Cha-based halfling witch with dreadlocks will love this…) Sleipnir enhances your Knowledge of the planes and riding skills, with the bind allowing you to conjure forth an ersatz phantom steed with scaling benefits and plane shifting capabilities. Finally, valkyrie’s chain is an excellent, non-speed-reducing armor that scales with essence invested; the chakra bind for the chest slot fortifies you against death effects and also has the breath of life on self trick.

I love this entire set. It made me seriously contemplate a nexus Asgardian warpriest/champion of the Aesir – not in the sense of the warpriest class (which I dislike), but in the sense of the concept. Absolutely amazing.

But the book is called “Emperors and Einherjar”, so what about those emperors? Well, unless I am mistaken, these refer to the Xia dynasty’s culture heroes that followed the so-called Three Sovereigns from northern Chinese mythology. (Apologies if I’m mistaken there; it might also refer to Jinmu-Tennō – the material seems to be more inspired by this, than a direct representation!) The kingdom of 5 emperors also comes with valid infusion rules, and is a true neutral realm – and since balance is so important in the cosmology of the City of 7 Seraphs, the pdf does introduce an imho overdue [neutral] subtype, including easy to implement rules. We are introduced to the courts of 5 emperors (pearl, gold, crimson, jade, violet), which all feature a different neutral-component alignment, notes on personae and locations of interest, and here, the conveniently reprinted Amateur Astrologist feat comes into play – unless you already are playing a zodiac: We get a full array of zodiac constellations for the Chinese zodiac, which coincidentally eliminates one of my main gripes with the zodiac class, and they are awesome – tigers with electricity attacks, dual-wiled-enhancing sais, climbing and swimming-enhancing snake armor…okay, these are “cool” options, and from rooster to rat, there are cool things associated with those animals…but guess what? The book manages to make “The Sheep” cool. I kid you not. Customizable armor that can be “fluffed up” to escape grapples and enhance DR and cold resistance granted! That is genuinely USEFUL, fun to play, and utterly hilarious! You can’t touch me! I’m too fluffy!! XDDD And you can fire bolts of lightning that may fly around corners. Don’t laugh at the sheep! Seriously, I need to use this in game. ASAP. “But wait”, you say, what about those companions? Well, the book has companions ranging from auroachs over giant hares to…well, sheep. And yes, these check out.

And yes, we obviously get a proper convergence and planar attunement as well. It should also be noted that Expanded Cosmology and Noble Astrologist allow you as feats to dabble into these further. Expanded Cosmology has a bug: It grants access to all forms of a constellation in one feat – it is evident that this should be a Zodiac-only feat, and as such, the prerequisite should JUST be constellation class feature; Amateur Astrologist should not be an alternate means of qualifying for this feat.

If you’re more on the anti-hero side of things, you’ll be happy to know that the dark shogunate as an opposition to the kingdom exists, including a proper convergence. Akasha gets a 5-veil set here: The O-yoroi of the Obsidian Ronin consists of 5 veils, of which only the eclipse has them all available, while other classes miss out on some. Izanami’s koma-geta enhance your own Acrobatics and penalize Reflexes and initiative of enemies capable of seeing you, with the chakra bind to the feet allowing you to ignore difficult terrain, including magic terrain, and enough essence nets you freedom of movement. The bind to the belt also nets you air walk with scaling movement increases. Izanami’s nodachi (shouldn’t that be Izanagi?) causes bleed damage and can potentially blind targets temporarily, with the hand chakra bind adding precision damage versus foes flat-footed or denied their Dexterity bonus, and the body chakra bind making your critical hits save-or-die – and to add insult to injury, those slain may rise as shadows under your command.

Ronin’s Horo rewards you for moving with bonuses to Intimidate and AC, and the shoulder chakra bind lets you capture ranged attacks like bullets and arrows based on ammunition in the veil. Seppuku is a bleed-damage causing wakizashi, the incarnation of the infamous suicide-blade, with the hands chakra bind allow you to one-hand wield two-handed weapons, and the wrist bind is brutal: Turn the blade onto yourself for serious bleed, and choose a living creature within 60 feet: That creature also starts taking that bleed damage on a failed save! This bleed can only be halted by SERIOUS damage from an ally, or by living through the ordeal. Pretty awesome! The sōmen of shadow is an oni-mask that enhances your Will and makes you count as larger for Intimidate purposes, with the head chakra bind allowing for enlarge person and, provided you have enough essence invested, giant form I.

The final plane included would be the Cloud stairway, which is supplemented by a unique Style-chain, the Mistmask Style – this style is akashic and begins as a Disguise-enhancer that emphasizes the plane’s kinda-neutral-ground/anything could happen nature, and in its final feat, lets you gain some evolutions. I am 100% confident that this is indeed a nod to Mark Seifter’s brilliant Masquerade Reveler class. Some nitpicks: At one point, the pdf imho hilariously, and that may be an Easter egg, calls the style “Myst Maskstyle” instead of “Mistmask Style”; secondly, only the Mistmask Style feat should have the [Style] descriptor, since styles are limited regarding action economy, what can be active, etc. – the follow-up feats should only have the [Akashic] and [Combat] descriptors. Other than that, a very cool and flavorful style!

The book also contains an array of akashic feats, which, apart from the ones already mentioned, include a means to be Lattice-Born (tap into nexus convergences), more versatile planar detonations, and feats to enhance characters maintaining multiple veils froma given set: With Disciple of Charon, for example, your attacks become lawful and planar detonation gets bonus damage if you have two or more veils shaped from boatman’s ensemble. I like these, as they reward at least a degree of thematic consistency.

The pdf concludes with stats of the CR 6 azata bralani, ghaele, sovereign dragon, etc. as references. These are here for completion’s sake (and I think the nogitsune oni was originally released in a Jade regent installment), so that’s certainly appreciated. Less appreciated: The formatting of the stats is messed up. Some are entirely in italics, bolded and non-bolded text are inconsistent, etc. – were it not for the fact that these are only here as reference material, I’d knock down a star for them. I know, it’s irrational, but such obvious guffaws can rile me up. NOTE: For the purpose of this review, I will completely disregard this reference material.

The conclusion of my review can be found here!

(the title is a vain attempt at comedy, not a typo... JOKE EXPLAINED!)

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.

So, another Akashic book by the master of the Akashic system Michael Sayre, after the two previous mind-blowing ones… can he maintain the quality? Read on!

What’s inside?
Not taking into account the covers, credits, and legal stuff, we are left with 39 pages of content for 8 bucks, which include:

-4 planes, which includes enough information to run a campaign there. There are planar traits (with a new akashic essence planar feature), locations, inhabitants and even ties with the City of Seven Seraphs campaign setting! Apart from that, each section includes new PC game material, from a new aasimar variant, Planar Conduit feat options, 3 new Nexus convergences, a new akashic style feat chain, to a whole 12 sign cosmology based on the Chinese Zodiac! The planes are Valhalla (a chaotic good plane), The Kingdom of the Five Emperors (a true neutral plane with 1 realm for each alignment component), the Dark Shogunate (a kind of “Hell” for the Kingdom of the Five Emperors, opposing balance), and the least developed of all, the Cloud Stairway (kind of a new transitive plane).

-15 new veils: Divided in one set of 10, the Asgardian Saga, and one of 5, the O-Yoroi of the Obsidian Ronin, these veils get away from the middle East flavor of the original Akashic Mysteries book, and embrace a Nordic and a Japanese flavor. Not only that, the Asgardian Saga veils represent iconic items or features of the Asgardian pantheon, which lets you build a kind of akashic priest in concept! The Asgardian saga is fully accessible to the Nexus class, and the O-Yoroi is fully accessible only to the Eclipse, which is an interesting departure from the norm established in Akashic Trinity.

-18 Feats: This section include 15 feats, not counting the Mistmask style feat chain found under the Cloud Stairway. Here we have the reprint of 3 conduit feats, which allow you to become a living conduit for a specific plane’s energies (conceptually great for a Nexus). We also get the Amateur Astrologist and Noble Astrologist reprints from the Zodiac book, which are great if you don’t have said book. Why? Because having one or both of these feats gives you access to a constellation’s power without being a Zodiac. Speaking of which, if you wanted to have access to a constellation outside of your cosmology (say, if you wanted a water weapon for your Greek cosmology Zodiac wink wink), you could access one extra sign with the Expanded Cosmology feat.

There is an unseen problem with this feat, since you can access it via Zodiac class features OR the Amateur Astrologist. Where is the problem? You see, the Amateur Astrologist gives you access to all manifestations of a sign, except for the champion, but the Expanded Cosmology doesn’t. This makes the Noble Astrologist feat almost completely obsolete, since if you wanted to dabble in signs, you could chose a sign without a champion form and then get access to other signs complete array of manifestations via Expanded Cosmology.

Finally, we have the new Convergence feat type especially tailored to the Nexus class. For each veil shaped after the first from the same set, you get a nifty bonus, and an extra one if you get all veils from a set. You are not a Nexus? Don’t worry, you can access Convergences through the new Lattice-Born feat. There is one weird glitch here, since the Dark Shogunate full set of five veils are only available to the Eclipse class, and only two to the Nexus. This makes it a suboptimal choice for the Nexus, and even for the Eclipse since they don’t get the planar detonation ability to get full use of the feat. After speaking to the author, you have to multiclass ;) Anyway, the planar detonation class feature gets expanded with the Versatile Detonation feat, which lets you deal the other two types of physical damage, slashing and bludgeoning, plus the ability to invest in the feat to augment the damage and features of your detonation. Great addition!

-Creature Appendix, which include all creatures relevant to the book, be them Zodiac sign champions, veil-created allies, or planar denizens. This is a very handy feature!

-12 Concordant Zodiac signs, divided in the classic 4 elements with 3 in each. Unlike it’s Greek counterpart, ALL signs have a champion form, and each element nicely has access to 2 armors, equipment and weapons. This translates into 36 abilities, 8 more than the standard Greek cosmology, but then again it is so balanced that I won’t complain. The author told me it is a design decision, which is nice to know (and after explaining that the original cosmology has some powerful, classed champions, reasonable).

Of Note: The idea of having new planes that are not demi-planes just because, is groundbreaking and I applaud the departure from tradition. The Convergence feats reward Nexus for their loyalty, and the Chinese Zodiac cosmology is a great addition to an already great class.

Anything wrong?: Is not a secret that I’m a fan of all things akashic, and I really, really enjoyed this book. HOWEVER, as a reviewer, I have to comment on the problems of the book. There are a couple of writing mistakes here and there, which is understandable. There are some design oversight that I already mentioned. Noble Astrologist is almost useless now, and god, the legal section is HUGE!

What I want: I would have loved to get more info about the planes, which are the star of the book. I STILL want more convergences, and veil sets tailored for other classes like Radiants and Gurus. And that Vol. 1 in the title makes me salivate.

What cool things did this inspire?: By now, there are a lot of weapon-like veils, and if you add the weapon form of constellations, it could make for a nifty archetype that focuses on them, maybe inspired by Archer Gilgamesh from the Fate/Stay Night anime… I would play that!

Do I recommend it?: YES! It is one of the more inspired akashic books since the original, and deals with many untouched themes and design spaces. Normally, I would take one star off from the score because of the problems the book have, but the great things greatly overwhelms the few bad ones, so 5 Asgardian stars from this reviewer.