As is my custom, I don’t review stuff I write since I find that in bad sport, but I do want to write a preview of the book for anyone interested.
So, what is a Yishi? It is a variant of the alchemist class, heavily influenced by Chinese history, myth and pop culture (as well as Japanese and other Asian countries). I started to work on this “small” book, with the intention to write only the class and some light support material, but it grew at least 5 times the intended length LMAO. Each chapter starts with some fiction about a Yishi master and a group of martial artist that look for her help, and each fiction introduction is linked with the theme of each chapter
Chapter 1: Here is the variant class. How is it different from an alchemist? First, it loses bombs and mutagens (and are barred from all discoveries that use or grant similar abilities), plus their poison save is not as strong (although it also applies to disease and pain effects too, and can apply to more things with discoveries). In return, they get some minor martial arts (damage equal to a monk half their level), AC bonus based on Int, a Ki pool they use mainly to heal or harm (around the power of lie on hands, plus at higher levels they can inflict or cure certain conditions), Inner Alchemy (basically cantrips for extract users) and some bonus ki feats. The changes modify the role of the alchemist, changing it into more of a support character with some debuffing options. There are also some new discoveries tailored for the variant class, although some can also be chosen by alchemists.
Chapter 2 is all about “Ki Imbalances”, basically any type of malady. There is at least one of each type (including esoteric ones like infestations, drugs and madnesses), and each is based on fiction. There is some support for some of the latter Pathfinder rules for diseases and poisons and in some cases, there are stats for both the core and variant ones. Some examples are a divine curse for those who overindulge, an addiction to fight (shoutouts to Cody from Final Fight/Street Fighter), or small ki-infused grubs that require an antidote every couple of days or the host becomes berserk and later dies (yeah, this is inspired by the work of the most famous Wuxia writer out there)
Chapter 3 introduces 3 flavorful “Ki Deviations”, which follow the rules for Corruptions. There are 3: an over-generation of Yang and Ki energy (basically you become something like a saiyajin but your body can’t handle it), a body-horror-esque one where your meridians make your energy flow in reverse transforming you into a monster, and one where you develop a 2nd, evil personality (this one inspired in one of Honk Kong’s most famous manhua, Storm Raiders).
Chapter 4 Introduces a new type of grafts called Ki Prosthetics. This one was my favorite to write! It includes grafts inspired by Storm Raiders (the Fire Qirin arm, which here works like an enhanced unarmed strike or buckler, but not both at the same time), Sekiro (the clockwork arm), Naruto (a weak version of the sharingan), Ninja Scroll (poisonous blood or using the body like a living hive), Street Fighter (Juri’s Tandem eye), and even the X-Men! (certain skeletal reinforcement) There are a couple of original ones too.
Chapter 5 is the longest. It includes new traits, feats, some optional rules for learning alchemical recipes (so learning/finding new ones becomes exciting), legendary herbs, and even a couple of magical items (inspired by Final Fantasy and Dragon Ball). There are also some Ki tomes (following the rules from a great book by Legendary Games, Meditations of the Imperial Mystics), a new neutral organization, The Healer’s League, with 4 factions, and 3 new akashic veils (one new and two inspired by certain Wuxia online game about winds meeting).
Chapter 6 includes 3 archetypes. The yishi gets 2, a debuff-focused one that learns a darker side of alchemy and uses mu instead of ki (I have been wanting to write this one for years), the other an akashic veilweaver (basically changes extracts for veils), and the last archetype is based on the titular character Iron Monkey, based on the movie of the same name (a doctor by day, kung fu vigilante by night).
Chapter 7 includes stats for 3 yishi. One is a generic 1st level human one, but the other two are characters from the fiction section who also adorn the cover of the book (made by hand by one of my best friends). They also have variant races that will appear in a future product, one is a vishkanya, the other an aasimar, but you don’t need to travel in time since the extra info is in their stat block.
Finally, the Epilogue includes information for the campaign setting in development, the Lands Between Heaven & Hell. It includes Jianghu-inspired factions (Tai Lin temple, Celestial Immortal sect, plus some inspired by history instead of fiction… there are two inspired by one of my favorite games: Wandering Sword), some planes (Heaven and Hell, this last one already covered in another product), several neighboring countries (a K-Pop-inspired Korea, an inverted history Japan, a psionic Tibet, and an Antipodism diarchy, which is an interesting form of government, inspired by Persia and Zoroastrianism), and the new and variant races from the lands between (heirs of the Monkey King, animal and mushroom folk, variants of vishkanya, half-giants, tieflings and aasimar, among others).
I had an absolute blast writing this book, especially the fiction section. I hope from the bottom of my heart that you will enjoy reading it. If anything described here piques your interest, please consider buying the book HERE!
NOTE: My dashing editor changed the order of the book, so it might not appear in the exact same order that it is here.