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Adventure Havens: Tavern Tales
von Nathan C. [Häufiger Rezensent] Hinzugefügt am: 05/24/2006 00:00:00

It may not have Norm, Sam, Woody and Diane, but Adventure Havens: Tavern Tales delivers you enough creative taverns with over two dozen quirky individuals to mold your own version of Cheers into your campaign world.

Tavern Tales is a neat little resource that provides a dozen taverns ready to be plopped into your fantasy campaign world. Each tavern has an exclusive back story, patrons and quests. Bearing in mind that similar products with only one or two places detailed cost the equivalent price to Adventure Havens, this product is a steal.

For the DM: The backgrounds of the taverns average about a paragraph or two in description. This is a big change from the products that tend to detail every single room and its history. I found this feature positive. It delivers a good enough description of the overall building, and then focuses on what makes a good tavern a good tavern?It?s patrons. Let?s face it, Cheers was not the number one comedy on TV because of the well constructed stools. It was the people, and Tavern Tales realizes this. Each of its NPCs is provides a statblock and a unique description that ties it to the tavern. The quests merge everything together. The taverns become more than just a place to receive the quest. They become a part of the adventure. The mini adventures are skeleton enough for the DM to expand or condense however he or she chooses.

The Iron Word: Adventure Havens: Tavern Taless gives DM?s the trifecta of hurried material for a campaign. At some point, every DM has had a point where they did not have a place, NPC or quest after their PCs deviated from the main adventure. The basic artwork in the book represents its skeletal approach. Each tavern is basic enough to be a nice diversion, and has the capability of being expanded to become a place where everyone knows the PCs name. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: They got it right about what makes a tavern a tavern by focusing on the patrons and quests. I also like how each Tavern has its own logo. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There are no bookmarks, though the table of contents does link you to each Tavern. IF they were going to use this as the main mode of navigation, they should have had links back to the table of content for each tavern. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



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Challenges and Rewards
von Dennis K. [Verifizierter Käufer] Hinzugefügt am: 04/02/2006 00:00:00

This product provides some simple but effective means to determine CRs and gauge rewards, making nice additions to the SRD. However, this publication is more of an essay than a book, IMO. The Cover, ToC, and OGL license take up 1/2 of the publication. You only get 3 pages of content. While, it is nice to not have pages and pages to read through in a reference; that is also partly why you buy a book-- for the flavor text. Then, just add on a reference sheet that GMs and players could print out and use in their games. In this manner, I feel that more could have been done to enhance the meaning, context and usage of the rules outlined in this publication. Overall, I would think this would make a nice add-on for bundling with another product or as a promotional. [Update Note: I've adjusted my Quality rating up to Acceptable and Overall rating to better reflect what I do like about the content, namely the suggested rules mechanics. I'll admit that I do use the rule mechanics in this publication for my games, so I am finding the content useful. However, I just can't shake off my disappointment in the value and presentation of the content. I also notice that the publisher has lowered the price by nearly half since I purchased it earlier this year, so IMO the value is better now than when I purchased it. (No, I don't want any money refunded, etc. I'm just being honest here.) Finally, I appreciate the publisher's reflections and feedback on my initial comments; I think that it was appropriate for me to expand on my initial review. Thanks.]

<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: This product provides some simple but effective means to determine CRs and gauge rewards, making nice additions to the SRD.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The Cover, ToC, and OGL license take up 1/2 of the publication. You only get 3 pages of content.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>



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Kommentar des Verlages:
We always like to hear back from customers. Yes, the product is short, but when it comes to calculating experience for special circumstances, who wants to wade through 20 pages of text? The product is deliberately short and concise to make it easy to use. Other than the page count, was there another issue you had with the product, because from your first sentence it sounded like you liked the product, but your rating doesn't reflect it. We appreciate feedback we can use, so if you could flesh out your review a bit more it would be appreciated.
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Challenges and Rewards
von Chris G. [Häufiger Rezensent] Hinzugefügt am: 02/04/2006 00:00:00

Challenges and Rewards

The game of D&amp;D is built for combat. The easiest way to gain levels is by killing things and the DMG does suggest getting XP in other ways but really fails to say exactly how that can happen. I would have thought that someone would have come out with rules for this type of thing years ago. But the long wait is over, or so it seems. Challenges and Rewards is a PDF that has ways for gaining XP through skill use, breaking things, and other actions out of combat. Challenges and Rewards is a small PDF by Bards and Sages. It is written by Julie Ann Dawson and Josh Benton. The PDF is one of the smaller I have seen coming it at only seven pages. And with the OGL taking up two pages, the front cover and a page for the table of contents and then art on most of the pages this is actually much smaller then those seven pages might suggest. There are no book marks in the PDF though they really are not needed for a one of this material and this size. The art is okay. The layout is in a rare single column format that is also just okay. The book starts with skill checks for experience. It has an equation for how to figure out what the CR of a particular task is based off the DC of the skill check and potential rolls of the skill check. The book does stress that not every skill check should award XP. Only those that are rather important like swimming to save drowning and important NPC or picking a difficult lock. It does not give the DM guidelines for figuring out what is important or what is not; so the DM will have to make some judgment calls with this. The equation seems to work but I am sure there will be some odd instances especially at higher levels where it can break down. The breaking things section is really simple. I am not going to reprint the equation they use but it should be simple to use and the CR?s determined by this will be low and at higher levels the PCs will not gain XP from just breaking things. And that seems to be about right as breaking things at higher levels is not all that impressive. Gaining XP from contests is similar to the skill checks. The equation is the same and even though contests are usually opposed rolls of some type there is enough similarities between the two that allow this to work. It can potentially have the same problems at higher levels but I think that is less likely to happen in these types of contests. Creating magical items is an odd way to get XP since in making them one uses XP. I like the idea here though because it is not just making magical items for the party and player; this is making magical items to help people or give away or fix the broken holy sword of a famous NPC knight. The CR?s here look like they can get pretty high at higher levels but I like the idea behind this way. The last way is through sacrifice. This usually involves money like making a large donation to a church or actually returning a merchant?s stolen gold to him. Of course the key here is it has to be a true sacrifice of a gift and be meaningful to the character and possible to the campaign. Overall I like the idea here of awarding XP for non combat activities. The attempt here is good. Some of the equations could be a little simpler and at higher levels I can see some of these breaking down a bit. This is a product for DM?s who have a good idea on what XP should be awarded for like important activities and not just climbing az random wall.

<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Giving another option for gaining XP<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some of the ways will break down a bit at higher levels. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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Challenges and Rewards
von Don R. [Häufiger Rezensent] Hinzugefügt am: 01/26/2006 00:00:00

Challenges and Rewards from Bards and Sages Publishing does exactly what its first page says. It offers a few hard and fast rules that allow GMs to give a decent amount of experience for non-combat challenges. The idea is a good one. Giving a set of equations by which to figure non-combat experience saves a GM interested in doing so some trouble. With rules to reference, he doesn?t give too low or too high by his own misestimation of the numbers.

The first section of the supplement gives an equation for figuring experience from any skill check. It uses the DC of the check along with some creative use of a character?s skill level to ascertain a CR for the check, and requisite experience is then assigned using that CR. This is an intuitive solution, I think, to the problem of non-combat experience. Offering a fairly simple equation makes things much easier on everyone and nobody can argue with it, so long as they?ve agreed to the rules.

Further rules in the supplement cover how to assign XP for other situations, like contests and item creation. What?s very nice about the supplement is that it uses the same basic principles as for skill checks, with minor modifications for other types of non-combat actions.

A potential balance problem is cleared up easily. The authors urge throughout the supplement that XP is not to be given for every single skill check made, only for skill checks that were highly beneficial or significant. This leaves part of the question in the hands of the GM while still offering rules. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: A great idea. I know that I and many people I know wish that d20 was more role-playing friendly, and this supplement allows it to be. Using Challenges and Rewards, a character is not stifled every time he wants to do something other than combat. The chosen equation is only slightly modified for different situations, and so the consistency is nice. It makes for streamlined usage. It?s also good that they cover pretty much any non-combat situation where you might want XP.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The basic equation isn?t exactly easy to remember. You?ll be keeping this book on the table for constant reference, and you?ll need a calculator. Of course, that?d hardly different from normal XP. I?m also not sure how well the whole thing balances, and I imagine you won?t know until you submit it to some fairly rigorous playtesting. I?m also not sure how useful the whole supplement will be to a whole lot of people.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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Challenges and Rewards
von Derek H. [Verifizierter Käufer] Hinzugefügt am: 01/15/2006 00:00:00

A rather simple, but useful system for those DMs who want more use of skills.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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Kommentar des Verlages:
Thank you for the comment. We're always glad to hear back from customers. I would hope when you have the opportunity you will flesh out your review a bit, so we can better hear about what you liked and didn't like.
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Soul's Requiem: Of Blood and Shadow
von David P. Hinzugefügt am: 12/28/2005 00:00:00

Hmmm, this is one of the products that makes you wish you could split your ranking. The world presented in this comic is kind of a cross between the World of Darkness and a typical fantasy setting. While not related to any specific RPG, there are elements here that RPG fans will enjoy, and I can see the world being branched off into a campaign.

I found the storyline interesting, but the delivery was a bit off. The artwork was pretty simple, which is good, since I think sometimes some artist tend to get too creative. But there is also a lot of white space wasted, and it would have been a better presentation is the artist had done a better job of employing the space on each page instead of spreading it out so much. It's a 24 pg product, but probably could have been reduced to 18-20 with a better use of the page space.

The Shaddow are a type of psychic vampire, for lack of a better term. They feed off the souls of the Children of Light, who in turn feed off of a strange substance that materializes during the mist nights. This mana is used not only as food, but also as a source of energy (both mundane energy such as fire and magical energy). The main character is a half-shaddow, who fights against his dark nature to help the Children of Light. The plot is a classic one, with a few interesting twists along the way.

As the first of a promised series, I hope the artist spends a bit more time fleshing out the design more. If possible, I?d split my rank for this one, giving it a 4 out of 5 stars for story and concept, and a 3 for design.
<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Cool story concept<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: layout needs a bit of work<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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Soul's Requiem: Of Blood and Shadow
von Sean H. [Häufiger Rezensent] Hinzugefügt am: 12/27/2005 00:00:00

Soul?s Requiem: Of Blood and Shadow is a PDF comic book, introducing the fantasy world from Scott Jasmann?s imagination.

The world seems to be a mixture of dark fantasy and role-playing themes (one of the characters says ?I need a Cleric? for example). A world locked in a struggle between the beings of Shaddow, who are both soulless and bloodless and must consume the souls of living beings to survive, and the Children of Light, who are trying to keep their souls and bodies intact. It is a highly magical world, with time measured by ?mist nights? that leave behind crystalized mana that is required by the Children of Light for most things, food, fire and magic.

The main characters are involved in the conflict between the Shaddow and the Children of Light: Grythe and Scythe, two brothers, are warriors who fight against the Shaddow. Dredlox, the half Shaddow, who is compelled to help those with souls. And Talla, a Shaddow Slayer with the ability to call upon an inner light.

The format of the product is alternating pages of comic art and text. Unfortunately, the art is rather crude and it is difficult to determine what is going on in most of the panels. The pages of text are done in a large font and rarely fill the page and in doing so, only convey the barest minimum of information.

While it is an interesting background, as an introduction to a gaming world, Soul?s Requiem: Of Blood and Shadow is barely acceptable, and as a stand-alone work it has very little to recommend it. The world seems to be interesting and have potential, but it is hard to dig out the information from the format it is presented in.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Interesting ideas.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Not easy to read.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Poor<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



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The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore
von Jim C. [Verifizierter Käufer] Hinzugefügt am: 10/08/2005 00:00:00

Top marks for the concepts in this book. I particularly like the way that the books are organised by the foibles and intentions of their authors, more than by the game rules.

The game mechanics are not so good. In places they are confused, or perhaps just confusing, as when the text refers to fighters being unable to gain ranks in Open Lock. More broadly they are just too strong, especially for non-magical items costed in the hundreds of gold pieces. Some of these problems can be fixed by fairly obvious adjustments, others (such as the two books of monster lore) would need me to devise entirely new mechanics before I'd be prepared to use them in a game.

Just to be clear, I've rated on my enjoyment and inspiration from the work, which both are considerable (on flavour text, if you prefer). As a rules document I found it deeply flawed.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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September and Other Stories
von Devon G. [Verifizierter Käufer] Hinzugefügt am: 10/08/2005 00:00:00

I originally wrote this review for epinions. So if you don't mind, instead of recreating the wheel, I'll just post it here in an abbreviated form.

This collection of sixteen short stories and poems is clever, original, and often funny. The first few stories, according to the intro in the beginning, were inspired by a "Call of Cthulhu" campaign she was playing in. The first story "A Candle for Imbolc" introduces the character of Natasha Collins, a professor of philosophy and religion who has the ability to interact with spirits and other assorted supernaturals. Natasha is one of three sisters (the other two are a doctor and an archeologist) who come from an affluent family. But don't think these stories are another girl-power clique. All three of the sister struggle to be successful in their fields, and the greatest challenge they face comes from their own mother, a tradition-bound matriarch whose only desire is for her daughters to marry and have children. The interaction between the sisters and their mother makes for some entertaining dialogue.

In the first story, Natasha decides to go speak with the spirit of a man who died on campus after examining some sumerian candleholders. In "The Horror in the Attic" we get a classic Lovecraftian tale with Natasha investigating the apparent suicide of a construction worker on her mother's friend's property, only to uncover a strange alien intelligence.

These stories are followed by the novella-length September. In this, Natasha's sister is finally given the chance to head up her own expedition to uncover the tomb of a forgotten pharaoh. Throughout the first stories, you're left wondering if the events really happened or if Natasha is just delusional. Indeed, nobody else around her sees or experiences any of the things she does. But the scene with her psychologist made me do a double-take, and I had to read it twice before realizing what had just happened.

The rest of the stories change gears dramatically. "To Dine With A Demon" gives a theological twist to the old sell-your-soul theme. A few of the stories appear to be "real-life" tales from Dawson's own life, not so much horror stories but simultaneously creepy and amusing snapshots.

Dawson has a very concise writing style. She doesn't waste words, but gets right to the meat of her story. That combined with her wit and dark sense of humor makes for an enjoyable collection of scares. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Original ideas for some pretty traditional themes. Great dialogue.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Not a big poetry fan, so the poems didn't do anything for me. A few copyediting issues, but minor and nothing that takes away from the stories.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



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The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore
von I. P. [Häufiger Rezensent] Hinzugefügt am: 10/05/2005 00:00:00

?The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore? is an interesting attempt to provide dungeon masters with descriptions of books that can be introduced into a campaign. The novelty to be found here, beyond the thought spent imagining what books might be included, is the weaving of game mechanics into the effect of these books on player characters. This is a very short product, but the product is presented well. The PDF is 14 pages long including the front cover, two pages of coupons, and the Open Gaming License text covers two pages.

Included are descriptions of the 23 volumes that make up the Encyclopedia of Skill Lore. The author has also included additional content that reaches far beyond those 23 volumes. First, there is a group of six additional books with a variety of impacts on the reader. Then the author describes six new items that all maintain the ?book? theme.

In addition, the author provides a background history for the books so that dungeon masters can incorporate the books into a campaign using elements of the provided history as plot hooks. The history is actually a short story concerning the first owner of the books and how they fared over time. Providing a history in short story format works very nicely as a source for potential plot hooks, and is an improvement over the simple lists of plot hooks that are sometimes provided in products such as this. If a dungeon master would prefer to incorporate their own elements into the history they can change the history as much or as little as they like.

Despite the relative shortness of this product, it delivers on its promise to provide the concept behind a quest that can be incorporated into any campaign. It also could simply be used to ?freshen up? the items available to a party and perhaps get the players thinking about additional elements of roleplay. If you want some prepared books to spark your imagination, this product has 29 books for your reading pleasure. You can then jump off from them to expand the literature available in your campaign to include as many different books as you desire.

To rousing gaming and ample rewards, I. Perez<br><br><b>LIKED</b>:

  1. Short story style description of the history so that dungeon masters can incorporate it immediately into a campaign.
  2. Interesting topics for the books and interesting effects on the reader. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>:
  3. This was such a good idea that it could easily have been expanded to either include more books or to provide some supplemental aids to a dungeon master looking to incorporate these products. Perhaps maps for one or two locations where one or two volumes might be found, or perhaps guidance to dungeon masters on adding additional volumes.
  4. Given the brevity of this product, it?s current price ($3) is slightly beyond a deal. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>


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Neiyar: Land of Heaven and the Abyss
von Chris C. [Häufiger Rezensent] Hinzugefügt am: 10/03/2005 00:00:00

Neiyar is an interesting setting, with enough new races, classes, and gods to keep a player or GM occupied for some time. It does have some serious flaws that need to be addressed.

The primary location, the island of Neiyar, is a matriarchy where outsiders are a way of life. This alone makes it pretty unique as a game setting, as not many games actively make guys, the majority of the gaming crowd, the power minority. The book is crammed full of setting background, religions, races, classes, cities and maps, and everything necessary to run a campaign. Story hooks are included in the location settings for ease of use. It very much takes the appearance of someone?s homegrown setting, a place that was nurtured from infancy over a long period of time.

That appearance is both its blessing and its curse. The setting has a very plain and poor layout. The editing is good, but nothing stands out. At just under 200 pages, I began to look for any splash of color like a man in the desert thirsting for an oasis. The art is varied; the vast majority being (bad) clip art and low quality drawings. It was a surprise, then, that the pages would occasionally hold an illustration of some quality. The divergence was somewhat confusing and I wonder if they ran out of money for art.

There are extensive sections on cults and organizations and new monsters. The first appendices start on page 138 of 192, and cover a broad variety of subjects. It includes everything from a glossary of terms and sample myths to a starting adventure. The actual text of the book, after the index (which is nice, by the way), ends at page 185. The rest of the book is a character sheet and some ad space.

Overall, the layout and presentation of Neiyar was confusing and frustrating. With all of that in mind, though, there are some valuable and worthwhile things in the setting if you have the time and inclination to look.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The setting, in general. The level of detail and thoroughness of the locations, the people, and the organizations of the land.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The format and layout are bad, as is the art (for the most part). Some bookmarks would have been very helpful, especially for a book that nears 200 pages. It works better as a printed doc and, if you have the money to print out 192 pages, it is in a good format (no color) to do it.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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Kommentar des Verlages:
Thank you for your thoughtful review. I appreciate your concern about the lack of color, but Neiyar was originally designed as a strictly print work, and color would have doubled the price. And I couldn't justify doubling the price just to add color! One of the things we strive to do is keep printing costs down so that the books are affordable (I have a personal problem with $40 campaign books, myself). Color maps are available for free download on our website at www.bardsandsages.com/neiyar for those who want them. The art issue was more a lack of any one artist being able to dedicate enough time to all of the pieces needed than anything else, though many folks who have purchased the print version have told me they liked a lot of the art. And thank you for pointing out the index. It's always been one of those things that drove me nuts about RPG books, and there were many lost hours of sleep making sure it was as complete as possible ;)
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The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore
von Steven T. [Häufiger Rezensent] Hinzugefügt am: 09/29/2005 00:00:00

One of the biggest changes to D&D in the 3.X editions of the game is he addition and codifying of skills. No longer is the game hindered with a complicated system of Weapon Proficiencies and Non-Weapon Proficiencies. Now we have a clear, simple, and most importantly usable system of skills. Making the most of these skills is a key part to ?tweaking? or ?min-maxing? any character. Any source that can improve these skills is a big help to a player. Bards and Sages have given the skill based character a real shot in the arm with their release of The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore. At its most basic, the Encyclopedia is a collection of books that can train characters studying them in a variety of skills. How wide a variety? How about this wide?

Animal Training and handling Appraisals Covert Activities Cultural Studies Craftworks: Artistic Expressions Craftworks: Fabrics Craftworks: gems and stones Craftworks: glass and pottery Craftworks: metals Craftworks: wooden Gymnastics Language Constructions and Speech Patterns Mechanical Devices Mental Acumen Nature Studies Occult Studies Performance: acting and speech Performance: Music and dance Planar Studies Professional Development Psychology Religious Studies Survival

After a suitable period of study, the reader of a volume receives a competence bonus on one or more skill checks. Of course, they one get this bonus if an Int check reveals that they have properly absorbed the material. There?s a well thought out, and easy to use system of study included here that could easily be used as an adjunct to the standard experience system if you wanted to add a level of complexity ie. Training times, etc.

In addition to the books in the Encyclopedia, there are a number of other books included that offer similar effects, as well as a collection of book-related items both magical and mundane. These items are one of the better portions of the PDF. In general they are items that would be of great use to wizards and other knowledge based adventurers. Things like the Portable Library Shelf and Pen of Scribing would be exactly the kind of treasure one might find in a wizard?s study. All the items in the book are well balanced, and fairly low powered. They would make good loot for beginning parties, and should remain useful throughout an adventuring career ? which is more than can be said for the average +1 weapon. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The book related items are a lot of fun. They would fit perfectly into any number of arcane libraries, wizard's towers, or necromancers workshops.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The bonuses provided by the books all vary. There doesn't seem to be any pattern or balance to the books. this is offset by the proper item creation costs being adjusted accordingly, but I would have prefered a standard bonus package per book.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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The Manipulative Player's Guide to Sympathetic Magic
von Shane O. [Häufiger Rezensent] Hinzugefügt am: 09/29/2005 00:00:00

The Manipulative Player?s Guide to Sympathetic Magic is a short PDF based around the idea of faking casting spells in order to convince the target that you?ve ensorcelled them (sympathetic magic).

Characters need the Sympathetic Magic feat in order to try and fool someone in this manner. Once they have it, they can essentially try and get real effects from faking spellcasting. This is done in two parts: first with a successful Bluff check versus their Sense Motive check, and then by them failing a Will save. If both of these occur, you?ve successfully convinced someone you?ve cast a spell on them.

Of course, it?s not quite that easy. There are a host of limitations to what sort of magic you can pull off (and even to whom you can fool; it won?t work on people who know it?s bogus). Likewise, a series of circumstances are listed that could grant you bonuses to your Bluff check, and even more are listed for the target?s Sense Motive check.

Following this, two other sections are outlined: curses and exorcisms. Cursing someone is basically just an opposed Bluff check. For an exorcism, you and the possessing demon are both making Bluff checks versus the target?s Sense Motive. If you win three times, the demon is expelled (and likely very angry).

The Manipulative Player?s Guide to Sympathetic Magic presents itself in a very personal manner. The writing style has a strong personal voice, to the point where it?s more like a written transcript of the author actually speaking to you. Even in the sidebars outlining the bonuses and penalties to the various checks, the writing is in an informal style. This may put some readers off, as this may seem odd to how most other products rigidly segregate their fluff and crunch.

While I initially had some balance problems with these mechanics, I?ve since realized that there probably aren?t going to be any major problems here. While this would let a 3rd-level character try and cast a 5th-level spell, the odds of success are low. Further, since it seems likely that one?s adventuring comrades will likely know the person using this is a fraud, it won?t work on them.

The product has no table of contents nor bookmarks, but is short enough that it doesn?t need them. There is no printer-friendly version included; since this product has roughly three illustrations, and colored sidebars, and totals only seven pages, this likely won?t be much of an issue either.

All in all, the idea presented here is quite interesting, and opens up some intriguing possibilities. The major flaw of the product is how the narrative style works against casual skimming for information of exactly what can and cannot be done. While the sidebars on what grants modifiers to the various skill checks, it would also have been helpful to have a table outlining exactly what effects could and could not be replicated (and who they would and would not work on) using this feat. Altogether though, the book presents an idea that works quite nicely for the cost presented.

Editorial note: This is a revised review of the product, based on changes that were made to it shortly after the original review was posted.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The idea presented here is intriguing and new.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The writing style seems too casual. It could have used a table to quickly summarize what spells the feat lets you mimic, and who you can fool.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>



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Kommentar des Verlages:
Thank you for the thoughtful review. I appreciate your concerns about game balance, particularly your concern regarding "Although the modifiers would be against him, there?s nothing to stop a 1st level character from faking a fifth level spell." The reality of gameplay, however, is that it would be almost impossible for a 1st level character to pull off a fake 5th level spell. With the -6 penalty to the bluff check, and considering that you can only put so many skill points into a skill at first level, it's highly likely the character is suffering a penalty on the check to begin with. The few times one of my players attempted to pull a stunt like that, they ended up blundering so badly it lead to serious altercations with NPCs! Ultimately, it depends on the DM if he feels he can keep the PCs in check.
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The Manipulative Player's Guide to Sympathetic Magic
von Mark C. [Häufiger Rezensent] Hinzugefügt am: 09/29/2005 00:00:00

Well hi, I'm the third staff member to review this product. It seems to have generated a lot of interest among us and this will give it a very solid three stars I'm sure.

This is a clever little system that basically expands the scope of the Bluff skill. This system is based on using Bluff to convince someone you are performing magic upon them. It is great for characters who want to perform faith healing or play mind tricks on others. It is a good skill for diplomats, performers, barbarians or even spellcasters who want to add a little smoke and mirrors to their arsenal.

At a shy seven pages, two and a quarter spent on license and advertising, this is the shortest product I have looked at. It is based on the Sympathetic Magic feat, which is never actually listed anywhere but if you read the whole article the requirements, benefit and special conditions are explained.

There is a very narrow field of effects with this system, discluding anything that has a visual effect, Will save, does damage and spells above 6th level or higher. Of course, at the cost of a single feat, there should be some significant limits. I see care has been included to prevent abuse. If you attempt to keep bluffing the same person over and over, they gain a cumulative bonus to their opposed check each time.

Product Revision: The addition of a little art and shaded text boxes really smarten up the product. The feat is now included as a feat. All of these features make the product easier to use and clearer.

<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: This really expands the Bluff skill which encourages social activities in a system mostly geared towards combat. Its good to see this kind of work being done. The revisions have made the book easier to read. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There is a question and answer section which treats the reader as unknowledgeable.?Can I do this with sympathetic magic?? ?Haven?t you heard of such-and-such before!? It is meant to sound salesman-ish I am sure. - This was changed in the vision and reads much clearer now.

I would have liked to have seen a longer product. This is a great concept and could easily have been expanded into a Class or Prestige Class with a number of abilities. It could even be expanded into a variant magic system with new kinds of spells, feats and uses for other skills.

<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>



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Kommentar des Verlages:
We've actually been considering expanding on this with a more substantial supplement that would also include the Hearth Magic Skill we introduced in our Neiyar: Land of Heaven and the Abyss campaign setting. Thanks for the imput and the ideas!
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The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore
von Josh B. [Häufiger Rezensent] Hinzugefügt am: 09/28/2005 00:00:00

Tired of that smarmy mage next store flashing off his fancy attribute and skill boosting items, while you're stuck doing things the old fashioned way? Maybe you just can't get out to adventure as much as you'd like, and you're sick of the rogue down the lane showing off the latest trick she's learned. Bookworms everywhere can rest easy: The Encyclopedia of Skill Lore is just what you need.

The book features a simple, easy to read layout; highlighted by colorful, cartoon-like images.

The Encyclopedia itself is presented first. Made up of 23 non-magical volumes this makes the encyclopedia ideal for campaigns and settings with little to no magic, or simply handy to provide lower-level characters with a bit of a boost. Used properly, each volume provides one or more skills with a competence bonus ranging from +2 - +6.

Following the Encyclopedia, several other unique books are described. The volumes range from a tome discussing the craft of war and nature of valor, to a treatise on divine miracles. Each work provides its own set of bonuses; though in some cases certain conditions must be met for the reader to make full use of the information provided.

The final section of the book is given over to describing book and library related items. There is a mundane item in the form of false books. A mild spelling errors occurs in the description of these items; transforming false books from an overused clich? into a highly clannish clique. An alchemical compound for protecting the pages of books is described, along with three new wondrous items. The most interesting, amusing and perhaps unbalanced of these is a book whose purpose is to show you other's point of view; which has the nasty habit of causing potential alignment shifts from simply perusing it.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: A well put together book, its contents are an interesting change of pace from the average d20 sourcebook.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The content is fairly narrowly focused, but if this sort of thing appeals to you, then there's really nothing here to dislike.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



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