Hey there, checking out the spellburst savant from the new Forrest Fire Studios, let's see what we have inside!
What I liked
-The little blurb about the development was amusing, and gives the product a bit of charm.
-Very detailed bookmarks make for a great product, full stop.
-The art in this book is also very solid, definitely a perk for me.
-Deconstruct components is an interesting way of getting around arcane spell failure, making this a fun subversion of normal mechanics while still being new and fresh.
-Fundamentals are slightly clunky to read and the vague associated spells aren’t amazing, but the versatility they add to this class is done in a VERY cool way. For a 5th level caster, these help give a lot of longevity to the class for it’s average number of spells per day, as well as making for a caster who feels more unique than others. It feels like it has shades of the kineticist in its design, but I really like how these are done more, making for a more enjoyable character overall.
-Nova spell is the other big feature to this class, and while others would probably cry ‘OP’ on reflex (metamagic manipulation is a touchy subject), but considering this is a 5th level caster, I think this hits a sweet spot where it’s not TOO powerful while still adding a lot of style to the class (the caveat against dazing spell shows a good deal of savvy as to the designer’s awareness). Really, a lot of the description is wisely placed caveats about how it interacts with metamagic and other things that could cause issues like magical lineage.
The interaction between nova spell and fundamentals does feel somewhat messy, retracting from the cool factor a bit with possible conversations about it, but it doesn’t detract from a very clever use of metamagic manipulation.
-Spellsense is a small bonus but a flavorful one, and one that I think helps fill out the class well. This continues into aura sense, which is the progression of this ability. I almost wanna say truesight comes out of nowhere, but really, it’s a nice final progression here.
-Deconstruct Energy is a great ability that helps us fill up our metamagic jonsing and helps make damage more competitive, something I appreciate. It also helps you keep an elemental caster theme, and that’s always a good thing to me. Deconstruct Intent is another solid metamagic sink, giving us even more fun options here.
-Nova Counter gives us yet another thing to use our spell slots on and more uses for our swift/immediate action. Overall a fine addition to the package, one that feels natural.
-Deconstruct ownership is a fitting capstone and fitting with the theme. It’s powerful, but not too much so, leaving us with a great capstone.
-Spellburst Meditant is the monk archetype, and it has everything it needs even if I’d like it to have scaling damage. But it does what it should, and it does it well, which is something I really like.
-Class substitutions are like mini archetypes, and their inclusion is pretty cool. These often interact with other systems (akashic/psionics/etc), making it better for people who have access to those products, but there’s enough that it’s not entirely a subsystem swap.
-The new metamagic feats are interesting and catastrophic is just silly and fun, as are the metamagic rods that contain it.
What I wasn't sure about
-Not the biggest fan of spells per day being placed with spells known off in a different section, that’s normally in the main class’s table. It’s not a problem, it’s just a little off.
-Intuitive Understanding feels slightly out of place, but not to a point where it’s a big problem.
-Straight up personal preference here; absorb spell is a fine ability, it works as intended, but the limit on how often it can be used makes this less than idea. Goes into not sure since even with the additional uses later, it just isn’t something that I would use since I’m a resource hoarder.
-Gun witch is just cool, and it makes guns cool. I’m not sure of the duration of shooting star cartridge though, making the limited use abilities more confusing. Shooting star cartridges also doesn’t list what it replaces, although I’m assuming it’s the alteration to nova spells. I do like it, but it has some issues.
-Magpie mage has both an interesting name and mechanic; stealing spells. I panned this with extracurricular, but I like it more as a base for a class (again, personal preference). Spell mimicry still doesn’t list what it trades out though. Spell versatility feels like it could have been in the base class and is cool, but will just wreck your spells per day, and still doesn’t list what’s exchanged...Instant imitation does state what it replaces and it’s a fair trade for absorb spells even if it’s limited in uses in the same way.
What I didn't like
-I’m not in love with Extracurricular Studies, it just feels like it could lead to issues with power levels and feels like it encourages people to pouch from spell lists like the ranger/paladin/etc.
-First Strike is just too large of a bonus to me. I’d rather it be lower, rather than ending as a +9 to initiative checks which could also have every other method of initiative boosting added to it.
-Including a FCB section and only having 2 options that weren’t divided up at all makes it feel like this shouldn’t have been included.
-Spellburst Scholar isn’t an archetype which I can get behind. Another pretty complex trade at first that took me a few reads to understand without listing what it trades out and doesn’t feel as fun as the other archetypes represented.
Final Thoughts
Wow, this review went a LOT longer than I expected it to, but I wanted to be thorough with this first review. What I see here is a product with a lot of potential for cool things, and a great way for people who want to play with metamagic to do just that. There’s a lot of creativity here in using blasting spells, a lot of room for clever players to dominate in battle, and a solid product overall. I did have some issues with vagueness and some things being a bit too wordy, and some sections aren’t as tight as I would have liked them to be, possibly leading to table discussions about how certain things work.
Part of me wants to grade it lower, but I think for an initial offering that it’s very solid. I also know that the writer, Forrest Heck, is willing to make changes to a doc for issues that they can, so because of those considerations, I’m giving this a 4.5 rounding up to 5 here. My issues aren’t enough to make me not want to recommend this, and I think this is a great first book from an up and comer that will only continue to get better as she continues writing.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |