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Spider Tales, Spider Tales, really nice, Spider Tales
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.
Introduction
So, The Fisherking author has more under his sleeve, even if under another publishing house (Azoth Games in this case). Apparently the first in a line of products, Akashic Tales: Spider’s Stories is a book inspired by West African folklore. This book includes new veils, an interesting class hack, a constellation, a new race variant that includes traits, and a couple of feats, all of them with a spider theme.
What’s inside?
11 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 3 bucks (nice), which include:
-a short but nice introduction, which includes the names of the West African source material!
-The Spider’s Stories veil set: Before I go into the veils themselves, I have to mention something. This set as a whole is unavailable to any single class (but see below), which is a bit weird but not unheard of. The 8 veils include all akashic classes to date except the Rajah (weird since it is mentioned in the sources) and the Kheshig (which to my knowledge wasn’t published by the time Spider’s Stories went out); it is nice to have all this information, but I wouldn’t include it in the bind section since so many abbreviations and levels make it look cluttered.
Father White Ant’s Dashiki lets you break and sunder easier and with a bonus, and binding it lets you summon a variant “rust monster” or even break weapons and even veils passively. Gourd of Wisdom gives you a liquid that helps you with intelligence-based skill checks, letting you reroll failed ones with a bonus and, if the veil is becomes suppressed because of damage, gives you the option of destroying it, splashing you and your allies and giving all an insight bonus to an intelligence skill, chosen individually, and binding it lets you make a kind of potion. Lashing Spinnerets is reprinted here (from Akashic Mysteries), as is Spiderweb Wrappings (from City of Seven Seraphs). Sun’s Fiddle is an unusual veil that can be shaped in three different slots, and it helps you with performance checks and gives you some light-based powers; its binds lets you fascinate as a bard, make specific creatures dance irresistibly (as the spell, which by the way is not italicized), and air walk/teleport.
Thunder’s Kindness gives you a magical cold iron quarterstaff that has some food-related qualities and deals improved damage with essence, and when bound becomes enhanced and can become animated as the “animate object” spell. Tortoise’s Shell envelops you in a plate armor that you become proficient with and that can retract into a jug that can produce palm wine and increases your carrying capacity, with essence enhancing the armor; binding it lets you fly or get protection from death. Trickster’s Web is a multi-purpose veil that helps you to make traps, lure people into them, and making escaping more difficult for people you trap; binding it gives you the awesome ability to bind people in a web of lies, literally!
-The Spider’s Son constellation. This one can be chosen with the Astrologist feats from the Zodiac book, and replaces another constellation. It is tied to Fire, so I would rule that it replaces another Fire constellation as normal. It can appear either a classed humanoid champion (a spider-kin Griot bard, both found in this book) or as a magical fiddle that imparts you knowledge of the Light of the Spider’s Son melody, a powerful song that can be maintained as a standard action, which increases the essence capacity of a single receptacle to all allies within range as long as it is maintained, and it can be woven into the bardic performance or raging song class abilities. Investing essence in the fiddle give you a climb speed and letting you climb using only your feet.
-Griot class template for brads and skalds. Basically, you lose all spellcasting and some other abilities in exchange for charisma-based veilweaving, and you use the Radiant veil list but add all the Spider’s Stories veils to it. You also get some flavorful and thematically fitting abilities.
-Storyweaver Werespider-kin Skinwalker heritage. An interesting option especially for rogue-like characters, and it includes two flavorful traits.
-4 feats. These include 3 racial feats for the Storyweaver and the Akashic Talespinner feat that lets you specialize in a veil set.
Of Note: This first entry in the series is very flavorful and vast. Apart from all the akashic goodness, it includes a cool race! And I have to make a character with the Trickster’s Web, since it is a really cool veil! Also, including the sources of the stories goes that extra step and changes it from a pure recreational book into an educational one. Links would have rocked!
Anything wrong?: Apart from a few editing mistakes, I found Thunder’s Kindness and Tortoise’s Shell too strong. The former because of the damage it can cause if enough essence is invested in it, and the later because of its automatic proficiency and lack of spell failure. A single feat will give all arcane classes access to a powerful armor that doesn’t impede their spells, AND that they are proficient in. You know you have a problem when an option is too good to pass. Who needs “mage armor” or “bracers of armor” when you have this option? I would add spell failure and add a caveat to the proficiency, requiring levels in a veilweaving class to get it. The Griot’s “ballad of tales manifest” can become problematic, since you can change a veil into a limited use one, use all of its uses, and then when the song ends it reverts to its original shape. I would add a caveat so that you can’s shape a limited use veil with this ability. Finally the Akashic Talespinner feat is too strong compared with the veil-set specialization feats found in Akashic Realms 1, since it mirrors their top ability (I would limit it to just 1 veil, all if you have the full set shaped, and as an extra give you access to the whole set), even if it doesn’t give you an extra point of essence like all akashic feats.
What I want: To see the next instalment of the series!
What cool things did this inspire?: As I said, a roguish character, probably an eclipse, that uses the Trickster’s Web, or even a rogue archetype specializing in it!
Do I recommend it?: Yeah! Even if the things I mentioned makes it sound otherwise, this book is full of goodies that might just need a final polish to be astounding. I think this book would be a 3.5, rounded down, if it were not for the rich inspiration coming from its source material. So I will give it a 4, and will be willing to give it the full 5 if polished.