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Awesome and free. Even if you don't need these counters, they are great for showcasing what the artist can do. The art here might be unrefined, but given the sheer scope and magnitude of his body of work, I'd say this is a pretty good job! Plus, a big evil dragon. What's not to like?
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So I want to start by saying that this product was very enjoyable. It was nearly a treatise on the nature of handbags, and in that sense it was a delightful and informative read.
What I want to say more critically is that while this was very amusing, I was a tiny bit dismayed that it was skewed towards a modern sensibility. Though the lion's share of the humor came from its ensconcement in the trappings of modern purse contents and their idiosyncratic nature, this product then seems well adjusted for modern or post-modern RPG settings.
Which is totally fine, and it works very well for just such a thing, especially for a setting that takes itself less seriously (say Human Occupied Landfill or Paranoia). But I was a little sad to see that there wasn't at least a small page that might have given some fantasy genre items that might be in a handbag, perhaps holding a mirror on our modern customs through this genre parody.
But while I lament, it did not detract from my enjoyment of this product, especially as it was PWYW. I hope you pay for this product, as it is worth the read, especially if you enjoy a sardonic modernist humor. 5 stars!
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Disclaimer: I got a complimentary copy of this product.
This book, the next in the Advantageous Ability line from Dire Rugrats, is true to form as it delivers a plethora of defensive adjustments for your NPCs and monster.
Right off the bat, the passive abilities are well considered, and decently balanced. While the monster design would have you just give a monster an appropriate AC rating, for instance, these abilities are there to add flavor and make a monster feel more interesting because of their outward and inward design, which I know players appreciate.
Into active abilities, they are very neat and flavorful, though I wonder about some of them. Many of these abilities evoke movie scenes and martial arts tropes, such as Taproom Defender, which lets an NPC improve their defenses by interposing random objects. The Blind Monk's Stance is thematically very cool, but it implies that the NPC or monster may need to spend a turn blind and helpless to access it. It'd be better to just allow it to work automatically, perhaps upping the CR adjustment.
For reactive defenses, those requiring a reaction to use, there are some more interesting options. At this point, the abilities seem almost circumstantial. Duck and Cover allows someone to duck behind cover to change 3/4 cover to full cover. This seems like a good idea and GM adjudication over an ability that would alter a creature's CR, but it's kind of neat to see the idea proposed. Human Shield is more of a tactical maneuver. It begs for a book of combat maneuvers, whether they be options for the Battlemaster, or for general use. It rather reminds me of the "Book of Iron Might" put out by Monte Cook many years ago, and I mean that in a good way. I am giddy considering what a book of tactical options could mean for the game, especially as it could expand the possibilities for players who aren't ready to think outside of the box with their actions.
The other reactive abilities are great, and can make a fight interesting and colorful. extending the action without necessarily seeming like you are cheating to keep your combatant alive.
Overall, the product is a solid and short toolbox that can help you spice up your encounters. While the 5th edition fantasy rules tend to go for simplicity, there is space for small chunks of complexity and flair that make encounters and game sessions stand apart, and this product is ideal for helping you to do that. The biggest takeaway from this is as inspiration for your own encounter building, at which this product excels.
I give this product a 4.5, which I am rounding up to 5. The price is right, and while there are a few quibbles, nothing stands out as intractable. Totally worth $1!
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Disclaimer: I received a copy of this product for review.
This product, coming in at 4 pages, not including a cover, encompases some very interesting and great archetypes for characters that go off the beaten path. Many such archetypes are merely fun thought experiments or clever concepts withough good follow through on rules or playability.
Reflections is different. It grants unique options that are both exciting fro their thematic approach, and practical for use at the table. The Semblance sorcerous origin is about toying with illusions in a way that even the Wizard tradition can't match, but makes it an excellent and balanced choice all the same. The Copy Cat Roguish archetype makes for an excellent cat burglar that can mimic opponents and act as a jack of all trades while having some amazing abilities that allow it to in fact copy opponents. I am reminded of the Team Fortress 2 spy, and that is a great thing!
Finally, the pact of the Avatar takes the Warlock's patron concept and cranks it up further to make your warlock literally embody your patron's form. The ability to transform does not seem to have a duration, though that seems to be by design, though I would recommend there being some kind of duration, even if it is something long like an hour. The hand of the patron ability seems overpowered as well, though I believe that is not necessarily by design. The idea is solid, however, but may need some tweaks to avoid being rife with abuse from people who can take advantage of some action economy loopholes.
While there are a handful of issues with the rules as written (Substitute Reality working poorly if overlapped onto a building, or a lack of an action type to activate Beginner's Luck), the product's issues are few and negligible in most games. However, there are a few issues that can't (or shouldn't) be ignored, such as the Turnabout ability of the Copy Cat. I am ok with it mimicing a spell, but letting it mimic dragon's breath seems a bit extreme and not within the thematics of the concept.
Ultimately, this is a solid product that had a lot of thought put into it. I am extremely happy with the way that the rules and thematics were presented, and I give this product 4 out of 5. For a dollar, you won't regret picking this up!
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This is meant as a joke product, so I'll be brief.
This is both hilarious and useful. Why not give these weaknesses to strong enemies and make them manageable at lower levels? Seriously, that's value!
Also, I like that bit of art in it.
Also, I keep seeing that baby wandering all over the place. Get some clothes on it, and keep it out of my yard or I'm calling... I don't know, animal control?
5 stars!
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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this product.
I have to say that this book is amazing. Almost as if they had taken my advice, the writers at Dire Rugrat outdid themselves and made a book of fascinating NPCs that absolutely steal the spotlight.
18 NPCs are offered here. Some are mean, some are not, some can be your friends, and some you would be crazy not to kill, apprehend, or otherwise dispatch. This product does a marvelous job of getting you to want to use these characters in your games. Though each NPC includes notes for ways you could include them in your game, most of them have backstories that make integration easy. They are all written so well that you will WANT to use them.
The character on the cover, for instance, is a halfling by the name of Elba Hasselknot. She is a study in a subversion of the usual halfling stereotypes, but is done in a way that feels organic and natural, as well as interesting. Just as there are humans in our world doing things that you wouldn't expect, so too has Elba's backstory been crafted to explain why she goes around intimidating people for money. And the way it is written, you would believe that Elba is capable and apt at her job.
All in all, this product is a dream for game masters, and could even be the seed for a whole campaign by itself. Imagining a city where all of these NPCs live in tandem, interacting with your players and each other, the mind boggles at the stories that could be told in the mix of passions and personalities. Even so, they are all well enough divorced from any setting or even each other that you can certainly use them apart from one another, and in any setting you might like. They all are robust and could fit in nearly any campaign.
With that, I give this book 5 out of 5, but only because I can't give it any higher. It also gets the Royal Seal.
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Disclaimer: I got a review copy of this product.
Advantageous Abilities: Savage Abilities [5e] is an excellent product that does one thing and does it well. It presents a group of alternate NPC and monster abilities that can make the enemies in your game fearsome, dangerous, and even interesting to fight.
The presentation is wonderful, with the content consisting of about 3 pages, which is great for the price! The first page explains the methodology for using these abilities, including how to calculate the CR adjustments for potent abilities. I am especially happy that they made note that even potent abilities are not substitutes for hp and ac adjustments; you should try to have your monster's hp and ac increase to match their CR AS WELL as give them neat abilities.
From there we go straight into the abilities themselves. Many of them offer neat permutations to combat, such as being able to prevent players from removing negative status effects, or gaining temporary hit points from bite attacks (which is a brilliant way to use that ability rather than to muck about with healing hit points). Some might need minor tweaking (One called "Deep Wound" could be very unfair if placed on a creature with lots of hit dice) but most abilities are fine where they are. Some, like Vorpal Swipe, are brilliantly crafted to be lethal, but also have an option for a DM that might not want to outright kill players with a lucky roll.
Overall, the abilities are great, though may require a close read to understand. This is not a judgement on the abilities, as some of their effects are interesitng and unique, and require careful writing (and reading).
What struck me the most about these abilities is that they are very thematic heavy. They aren't just bonuses to give to monsters and NPCs, but they seem to alter the mood and behavior of the creatures that they are attached to. A creature with the "Heartfeaster" ability isn't just a monster, it is a heart eating monster, and that is how the players will remember the encounter.
This product is, in my opinion, a slam dunk. It provides some clever and very effective abilities that could add a lot of excitement to a game if used correctly. For $1 this is a bargain. What can you buy for a dollar now a days?
5 stars!
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Disclosure: I received this product as a gift from the publisher as part of a holiday promotion.
Angelic Seals is part of the "Deep Magic" product line, the illustrious set of books that sets out to expand the magical options for various systems. In this case, it is a 5th edition product, and a much needed one. It weighs in at 11 pages, with 4 pages dedicated to the cover, credits page, legal info and back cover. That leaves us with 7 pages of actual material which is well used. Formatting is the standard two column format.
First of all, the art and layout for this book are excellent, as is standard for Kobold Press. The introduction to the book is great as well, presenting a strong case for the premise of the book; Angelic firmament magic that taps into the nature of creation to protect. The book excels at giving you a robust if concise bit of angelic magic that brims with thematic flavor and well measured rules. This book will be useful to you even if you don't want angel magic, but be prepared as it is heavy on defensive magic.
The book is divided, short as it is, into three segments. First we are introduced to angelic seals, a pseudo-spell like concept that allows you to evoke powerful effects through symbols and holy words. We start with a sidebar that introduces feats that act as a gateway to the angelic seals, as well as a whole Arcane Tradition that brings Wizards fully into the use of angelic seals. I am actually impressed that Wizards were chosen over a more obvious choice like Paladins, Clerics, or even Warlocks, as Wizards are rarely combined with religious motifs, and the combination here was done very well.
Regarding the feats, there are two. First we have "Heavenly Scribe". It is a good solid feat, in line with the feats that grant access to magic, allowing you to choose an angelic seal that grants you some magical ability. What is unfortunate is that it does not grant the "Greater Seal" ability that many of the specific angelic seals have. Even if there was a second feat that unlocked that ability, it would have been nice to see.
Second we have the "Heaven's Chosen" feat, which is an interesting design choice. It is set up as a not as good as "Lucky feat, but there are a few things at play here. First of all, "Heaven's Chosen" allows a reroll once per long rest, and the reroll can ignore things like disadvantage. This is different from the "Lucky" which gives you 3 luck points, but asks you to use them before a roll is made. Add to that the fact that the "Lucky" feat is not in the SRD, and the charm of "Heaven's Chosen" is apparent. It is quite likely that you will see much use of it on dangerous saving throw rolls that could change the course of a fight.
Now for the Arcane Tradition, called Angelic Scribe, is a further inculcation into the angelic seals presented, and acts nearly as a frame to the mechanic, since it can choose multiple seals and gains deeper access to their powers. You get access to two seals to at level 2, and gain more seals as you gain levels in your Wizard class, making the growth of this archetype very neatly distributed.
At 6th level you gain a Warding Seal, which acts as a slightly modified Magic Circle that covers a large area. The one problem I saw was that the area that it can cover is confusing. It can either cover a 22 foot cube, or an area of 11,000 cubic feet if it is inside of a building. This seems confusing and arbitrary, but I can't necessarily think of a better way to express that it can protect an entire small building. The effect is neat and thematically appropriate though, and does its job by keeping evil things out.
At 10th level you can access the greater seal powers, which greatly expands the powers available to you, giving the wizard a nice repertoire of abilities from which to choose. You can only do so twice per short or long rest, so it doesn't do anything so drastic as to compete with your spell selection.
At 14th level, you gain the Angelic Wrath ability, which lets you and your allies deal radiant damage. In addition, you gain the ability to cast a spell that summons celestials, which is thematic but not overpowered.
Overall, this archetype is solid and impressive, giving a whole new flavor to the Wizard that can match a specific character build or character backstory. The idea of a wizard that studies angelic writing as a path to magic is fascinating and inspiring.
As for the angelic seals themselves, they are something of a mixed bag. They offer a lot of variety, but they are not internally balanced against each other. Some are clearly better than others, making the seal selection somewhat less impressive.
One issue that crops up is that the angelic seals sometimes refer to your Wizard level. As non-wizards can access it by way of feat, I wonder what their effective wizard level might be.
But now onto spells. Overall the spells presented are well build, but there are many concentration spells, making each of these spells a critical choice for preparation and casting. While this does not make them bad, it makes sense to have them be wizard spells, given that a wizard is made to make spell choices and think critically about what spells they prepare. The spells are available to clerics, paladins, and warlocks though, making the spell selection for them much more important and necessitating precision when doing so, especially for paladins and warlocks. That said, the spells are amazing enough to make the choice a tough one, but a good one. As a warlock for instance, I may only want one or possible two of these spells as known spells any one time.
The first spell is angelic guardian, which is very potent and impressive, and grants an armor class bonus that can be dismissed to grant a reroll on a Dexterity save. This bolsters its utility, and the ability to cast it on others is excellent.
The benediction cantrip is another great spell, giving a small modicum of damage mitigation. It is concentration, so it doesn't work if you have other spells, but it is a great holdout. It would make a great spell for non-spellcasters that gain cantrips through other means (such as high elves).
Blade of wrath is awesome and thematically appropriate. Golden sword that deals radiant and fire damage. What's not to like? This is the paladin spell that we didn't know we desperately needed.
Blazing chariot is an impressive spell that creates a flying vehicle! The spell lasts for an hour, and discourages attackers by burning them. The spell itself has excellent and thorough rules for use that make me want to run a chase scene with it.
Blessed halo is a good spell and very useful for various things. It creates light, grants limited healing, and lets you get advantage on Charisma checks against other good creatures. A solid 2nd level spell.
Deva's wings is just thematically very cool. The imagery is amazing. You fly, and can attack with your wings.
The seal of sanctuary spells, like the Warding Seal class feature, seem to be just greater versions of magic circle. I'm not sure how I feel about this, and I can see why these effects exist; they aren't unnecessary. I just wish that they had implemented magic circle as an abbreviated way of saying what the effects do, instead of creating an entirely new effect from scratch each time that does effectively the same thing. Odd quibble, I know. It also seems odd that these higher level spells have hit points that, once depleted, end the spell (specifically, the seal used to power the spell) which makes them slightly more vulnerable than the aforementioned magic circle, but again I don't know how these must play out in playtests and such.
Heavenly crown is an awesome spell that harkens to the Warlord class of 4th edition, and does a lot to play into a tactical mindset. There is some good use of action economy here that is excellently balanced.
Quintessence is a bad ass spell that seems to mirror various Paladin 20th level archetype features, but does it well. It seems to fit an 8th level spell pretty well. Again, the balance is in its concentration duration.
And that's the book!
Final thoughts: This book does exactly what it set out to do, which is to create a slew of angelic powers and spells that evoke the sense that you are tapping into a divine power for the sake of good. The imagery is excellent, the powers are all pretty well balanced, and the spells and seals are all varied enough to justify a small supplement dedicated to the concept. There are some hiccups here, but there were no major errors or problems that I saw, and I can't say that the hiccups detract from either my enjoyment of the book, nor the utility of the contents. This is a solid 5 star product
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Look, this is an amazing setting, and this book is a great showcase of that. I was on the fence about the 5th edition kickstarter, but then I saw that this primer was free and I grabbed it. I was instantly hooked. This is the setting for which I am most anticipating running a game, and it is because of the way that they have set the world up to be compelling.
Not only is this setting about "Conan Meets Chthulhu", but it is also about playing in an age before recorded history when magic is real, but fading, and monsters stalk the Earth for another few heartbeats of history. Glaciers slowly encroach upon humanity like a sword of damocles and the world is equally at risk of falling into barbarity, depravity, or insanity.
Are you bad ass enough to carve a piece of Thule for yourselves, save the day, or just earn enough treasure to ride out the wintery apocalypse? Play the game and find out.
Seriously, this introduction to the setting should be enough to make you want to buy one of their campaign books.
5 out of 5.
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This is the version of Werewolf on which I cut my teeth, and on which I based a Colorado game that occured after I witnessed a terrible forest fire.
Werewolf the Apocalypse is, in brief, a great game of existential dread and perceived physical power raging against a force of corruption that is beyond any sinew or physical act. It somehow encompasses the daily struggle that we have with the darkness within us while also being about a group of super powered eco-terrotists that kill monsters and sabotage corpotate bullies.
Basically, it's a marshmallow sandwich of delicious storytelling and empowerment. If you like werewolves, the environment, or feeling good about being a literal underdog of sorts, you owe it to yourself to get this or some other iteration of the game. The general plot of this book is better than that of the Werewolf: the Forsaken version, but the new rule set will suit this story just as well (or better).
5 stars.
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An interesting primer to the 3.0 ruleset. Though I imagine that this was at one time printed and laid out for free, perhaps, to draw people into the game, the layout itself is attrocious. Still though, the content was good for its time, and the methods they employed to teach the game were laudible.
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Elemental Myrmydons-
This product is yet another wonderful extension of the elementals at a CR 7. However, rather than fitting the normal concept of elementals, they are instead patterend after elemental Myrmidons found in the Princes of the Apocalypse adventure. As such, the standard four (air, earth, fire, water) elemental types are left out, as they are already present in the book, though I wonder if the DMGuild would have allowed that (I don't blame the author for not testing that theory). What I was disappointed by was the lack of explanation, given that the other books in this line did well to explain what the creatures were and what they looked like, giving descriptions of each elemental. Though you can certainly extrapolate that from the other products, it was a missing nicety.
One must also note that these elementals are clad in armor and have weapons, which is only stated in their stat blocks, due to the lack of descriptive text. This makes the myrmidons very distinct from standard elementals, and also quite exciting, given that each elemental type is customized with a certain kind of weapon. Despite not having an explanation, I took this and ran with it, enjoying that we now have well balanced myrmidons for all the elemental variants.
Ultimately, I think that this product is excellent, and needs a bit more polish to be absolutely perfect. Still though, I award it 5 stars.
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Greater Elementals-
An excellent end cap to the expanded elementals. In this product we see all the previous elemental staples and variants presented at CR 10. All the elementals are well balances, though some come out deadlier than others by sheer difference in abilities and focus. This is not a detriment, but just a function of the elemental variance. That said, everything seems to hash out decently well, and the elementals are all nonetheless very dangerous and exciting as opponents.
One thing that I did notice is that there is a wild shift between given elementals in terms of armor class and hit points that MIGHT swing a given elemental higher or lower on CR than I am comfortable with, but this is definitely something that I can roll with and adjust at my disccretion in my games.
Each elemental is also given an additional attack form that targets multiple creatures (usually in a 10 foot radius) that seems to give the creatures a nice tactical option in battle that isn't just three slam attacks.
All in all, I love this product as it gives us just what we need in elementals at a high CR. If I had a request, it'd be that there be more exposition to these monsters, especially to expound on potential tactics and methods.
But really what I want is a compilation. All the books put together in a handy printable reference that collates elementals by type, then by CR.
4.5 stars, rounded up to 5.
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This product is an excellent continuation of the work done so far by Matt Woodfill to provide not only a plethora of elemental types, but also elementals by CR.
In this edition, the elementals presented are all of CR 2. What is excellent is that the elementals presented are not only of the four standard types, but also of the new elemental types presented in Elementals Expanded which came before. This brings a vast variety of low level elementals for your encounter building needs.
So far everything looks good here, but the elementals in question are all slanted towards defense, in that they are harder to kill, but do less damage. While I don't mind this in particular, I would have wanted to see some variance given the difference between elemental types. For instance, a tough earth elemental might be tougher but less likely to do damage than say an ice elemental. Still though, there is a consistency in mechanical balance that is to be admired, and for my purposes I can drop HP and add damage as needed.
The elementals do well to keep to their theme while being dialed down to a proper CR, giving this product a great utility for including elementals in a fight for lower level groups, as minions that can more safely be added to scale a balanced encounter, and for spells that summon or otherwise interact with elementals.
I have not noticed any grammatical or layout errors, though I think that a table of contents or index would have been nice. Still, there are only 13 functional pages, with 20 fully statted elementals.
If I had one desire from this product is that we see a compilation in the future that brings us these elementals by type, ranging from CR 2 to 10* in a manner similar to dragons that are presented at various age categories.
Overall, I give this product 5 stars!
CR 10 elementals are available in another product, Greater Elemental, from the same author.
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This book is of limited scope and use, depending on your assumptions of the 2nd edition ruleset. As it is, mortals and even god-blooded are not anywhere near relevant enough for any game but one with lower level beings (Dragon Kings, Dragon Blooded) or similar. This might be a good minion book, perhaps.
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