What in the underworld is Fengdu?
DISCLAIMER: This preview and design diary is based on a PDF penned by yours truly, and as such, I will refrain from giving it a score.
Introduction
Under Azoth Games, Vladimir Rodríguez released a new book under the new Between Heaven & Hell line of products, this time focusing on a new race of monitors, similar to psychopomps but with a strong Chinese flavor. Expertly edited by James Ray, this is the author’s second full book. This is a preview of the product in the style of my reviews.
What’s inside?
26 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 6.5 bucks, which include:
-Yīnjiān, a planar rift between Hell and Utopia, with all the planar statistics (including infusions), traits, denizens and even an encounter table. In the setting of The Lands Between Heaven & Hell (BH&H from now on), this plane is supposedly below the ground. Wait, a new setting? If everything goes according to plan yes, a new Asian-flavored setting with many literary inspirations.
-Fēngdū, at the center of the plane is the fabled Ghost City, where the souls of the people go to be judged and then rewarded or punished before reincarnation. There are notes about the 8 Lords of the Underworld, who rule the plane.
-New Creatures and Rules: Here, a new concept of Script-like abilities is introduced, which are similar to Sp abilities but using the Scripts of the Rune Magic system by Ascencion Games. There is even a template, the rune-marked creature, who get script-like abilities depending on their HD. There are three sample progressions for ease of use, and even a “ruinous rhino” sample templated creature.
-The Míngchá, the underworld officers, a Lawful Neutral race of monitors heavily influenced by Asian myths, part of the Celestial Bureaucracy that rule the cosmos BH&H. They take the place of the Psychopomps in the setting BH&H. This section starts with the subtype traits and a campaign option of treating the míngchá like angels, having an alignment of Lawful (any) to increase their potential usability. After this, each individual míngchá is presented with three adventure seeds.
-Yīntóng are the least of the míngchá, small child-like CR 2 outsiders that can become familiars. I based their design on the main character of the Jigoku Shoujo anime. They study to go up in ranks, trying to become either warriors or scholars, and have two opportunities to do so, failure transforming them into a variant of dusk walkers.
-Míngwèi, the guard of the underworld, these CR 5 medium outsiders look and fight like warriors, are good at battling the undead, and can go up in rank to become a Shòutóuguǐ.
-Mínglì, the clerks and scholars of the underworld that do all the heavy paperwork. As CR 10 outsiders, these guys use their script-like abilities along side the fruits of their study, represented by some type of “casting”. They normally study truemagic, a magic subsystem by Interjection Games, but they can study any Int-based wondrous powers and stats are included for them, 5 to be exact for a total of 6, and notes for including more. They can study even further to become Fǎguān, the most powerful of the míngchá.
-Shòutóuguǐ, the beast headed ghosts, are the huge guardians of the gates of the underworld, boasting a CR 14 and a suite of few but powerful script-like abilities. They can also conjure and then throw tombstones that, if inspected, bear the name of the target! They are designed after the iconic guardians of Chinese and Japanese myth, ox-head and horse-head, but with any beast head possible.
-Fǎguān are the mythical red judges, who have the task of deciding the fate of all denizens BH&H. With a CR 18, they are like Mínglì on magical steroids, have a zone of truth aura, and wield a powerful enchanted hammer.
-Binding the míngchá: this section is exactly as the name suggest for characters that want to summon the aid or counsel of one of the underworld officers. Also, the fabled Hell Money is mentioned here, useful for paying the favors of the míngchá.
-(N)PC: Yōulíng Hòuyì the ghost huntress, a level 7 scribe magus kensei that uses the new origin for the dusk walkers. She has info on how to use her as either a PC or an NPC (with gear for both), with suggestions on how to modify her.
-Character Options: this section includes the underworld bloodline for bloodragers and sorcerers, which is designed to be taken along the scribe archetype. The bloodrager one is good against undead, while the sorcerer one makes you a míngchá light. As a preview of their powers, both gain resistance against the same energies that míngchá have (negative and sonic), the bloodrager impedes the creation (and later summoning) of undead around them, while the sorcerer summons underworldly chains from the floor and can intercede with the courts of the underworld to spare your allies.
-3 special objects: Bone Lotus is a plant that has supernatural powers when ingested and can be used as an ingredient for akashic cooking. Phantom silver is as strong as steel and is powerful against incorporeal creatures. Yin Realm bamboo has an unusual reaction when doused with blood.
-Bonus Content: The Ojha, a veilweaving version of the Demon Hunter class from the Heroes of the Jade Oath book. Each of the Demon Hunter traditions teach you how to shape a themed veil that doesn’t count against your number of veils shaped or slots. This has the cost of slowing your progression in your demon hunting tradition. Another (N)PC is shown herein, Tamoghna “Tamo”
Rakṣaka the dispeller of darkness, an 8th level ojha demon hunter from the power of the vanquished tradition, which lets you transform into a fiend to fight fire with fire! Like the dusk walker, this guy has info on how to use and level him, and has both the gear of an NPC and a PC. His description also unveils some info on future products.
Of Note: Having a whole monster race that uses a 3pp subtype of magic was the goal of the book, and I hope I made the concept justice. The ohja came late into the party but I really enjoyed the result. Also, the different origin of dusk walkers here is perfect for those players that are not good at making backstories ;)
Anything wrong?: I think I didn’t include as much info as I would have liked about the setting, but I will try to change that in the future.
What I want: To expand the Celestial Bureaucracy! I already have some ideas on how to tackle the celestial counterpart of the míngchá.
What cool things did this inspire?: The adventure seeds are just an example on the many opportunities to use the míngchá. Also, the ojha is a great opportunity to learn about the oldie but goodie Heroes of the Jade Oath book.
Do I recommend it?: If what I just wrote piques your interest, then by all means.
You can find the book HERE