How about a movement based feat for Pathfinder?
You’re light on your feat. So light, they can’t even touch you.
|
Prerequisites: Dex 13 |
|
Benefit: When taking a 5-foot step, you move 1/3 of your total movement instead of just 5-feet.
Normal: You can only take a 5-foot step.
How about a way to sup up your dragon breath attacks in DnD Next?
Dragon Breath Master
You are a master of the element within!
Thoughts?
Book– The Sundering Book IV: The Reaver
Author – Richard Lee Byers
Price- $19
TL;DR– An Ok Realms story. 73%
Basics– Set sail for adventure. The Reaver follows the story of Anton Marivaldi, former sailor turned pirate. Anton and his crew kidnap a boy prophet of Lathander, a formally dead deity. Anton is betrayed by his crew, and escapes with the boy. The two have different goals with one trying to sell the other and the boy trying to make his way across the world on a quest he doesn’t understand, but they work together as they can’t survive alone. Along the way they encounter the church of the evil sea god Umberlee, Thay wizards, a plan to save the Sea of Fallen Stars, and possibly redemption and rebirth.
Setting– The book does feel like it belongs in the Forgotten Realms. I’ve always considered the Forgotten Realms to be the “God” setting with much of what’s going on having to do with evil gods making plans against the good people of the Realms. This story is entirely motivated by a good god plans to help the world, an evil gods power grabs, and a lich trying to become a god. 5/5
Characters– The book falters here a bit. Anton is the “main” character even though the book is an ensemble cast. He gets the most screen time, but he also tends to be the one I have the most problems with. He’s a cold hearted pirate! But, then he decides to give it all up and help the boy. He says he’s this monster stating every horrible thing he’s did before the story starts, BUT, given the slightest provocation, he only does good, honorable things. It felt a bit disingenuous as if he was merely boasting. 3/5
Story– The book falters a bit here too. It runs a bit longer then it needs to. When you get into the story, it’s not bad, but I found myself asking “Is this the end yet?” a few too many times. Also, the book is a bit hard to get into. You don’t really like the main character for the longest time, and since you spend a long time with him, it’s hard to get into the book. Brevity and trimming a few of the scene might have helped this story. That said, I also wanted a bit more in the end. The book kind of ends abruptly with the character making some quick plans and the book just ending. Everything is resolved, but I felt like it needed a bit more. 3/5
Summary– Of the Sundering books, this one is probably my least favorite so far. I’m glad I read it, and anyone who loves the Realms should sit down and read this too. But, if you want a good introduction to the world of the forgotten Realms, this might not be the best choice. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s not the best book I’ve ever read. 73%%
Audiobook Bonus Round!- I listened to this book as an audiobook. That may have hurt my impression of this book. Eugene H. Russell IV isn’t a bad narrator, but he has the habit of breaking into Shatner-esque diction. Some passages were amazingly clear, but others sounded as if a computer had read the passage with awkward pauses inserted between words. 3/5
Movie- Mr. Peabody and Sherman
tl;dr- An awesome blast from the past. 100 %
Basics- Based on the smaller cartoons set during the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, Mr. Peabody and Sherman is a family movie covering several different themes from growing up, loving your family, and the relationship between a dog and his boy. The movie starts with a short movie with a different alien race finding a home. This short movie has nothing to do with the main movie. The main feature starts with Mr. Peabody and Sherman going on a short adventure in revolutionary France, then the movie really kicks in gear with Sherman going to school and meeting a bully. Sherman bits the bully in self-defense, but Mr. Peabody must prove that he’s a fit parent by meeting with a social worker and the bully parents. Sherman has to make friends with the bully, but in doing so he shows her the time machine. And, together they screw up time. Sherman and Mr. Peabody have to fix all of time, fix their relationship, and find a way to prevent the evil social worker from separating them forever!
Plot- I loved this movie! A lot of movies based on classic cartoons all too often don’t reference the source material enough. Mr. Peabody and Sherman’s first act starts with a section that could have come right out of the cartoon it was based on, bad puns and all! From there the plot get better as nothing is out of place and it really does hit home a great message about family and growing up. 5/5
Acting- The characters felt like they should have. I watched the cartoons when I was younger and these characters felt like they came from that show. The new characters are interesting, but they feel like they belong in the world. All the voice actors did great jobs bringing these characters to life. 5 /5
Visuals- This movie is completely computer generated. If you don’t like that update from the classic hand drawn style, you won’t like this. However, I liked the style and the characters did look like they should have. The movie does take some visual cues from the Sherlock Holmes movies as Mr. Peabody goes into strange meditative state invovling lots of math blurring across the screen. It’s a novel addition that I enjoyed. I’d like to watch it in slow motion and see if the math adds up. 5/5
Summary- This is an excellent family movie. Don’t expect an epic where characters have massive characters arcs like 12 Years a Slave, but for a movie aimed at kids, it covers a lot of ground and make you feel happy when you leave the theater. If you made me choose, I’d still go with The Lego Movie as a better movie, but this one is an amazingly close second. My one gripe has to be Odysseus. He gets made out to be a moron! But if you can look past one minor character, you will have an amazing ride! 100%
Movie- Total Recall
tl;dr- We can remember it for you wholesale and not as well! 76.7%
Basics- This is a remake of the classic 90’s movie. The main character Douglas Quaid has a dead end job that he hates, and to escape the boredom, he tried Total Recall, a mental vacation agency that make you remember awesome events without them actually happening. Midway through the procedure he is attacked by government goons, and he finds out he’s the only man who can save the resistance with his memories having been previously removed. He begins his quest to save the world, but along the way he constantly questions if any of this is real.
Plot- The plot isn’t bad, but its not as well done as the original. The story moves pretty quick, but it’s not as engaging as you don’t really feel for the resistance or the poor like you did in the original. Also, the end bad guy has a somewhat questionable plan and for some reason has to oversee it personally. That could be a factor that plays into the paranoia that plays through the movie, but that seems too smart for this movie. 3/5
Acting- The acting is ok. Its not the worst I’ve seen, but I wouldn’t say its the best. Some great moments, but overall the actors do a decent job more often than not. No Oscars, but not Razzies. 3.5/5
Visuals- The is a big budget movie, so the movie spent lots of money to make its self pretty. However, while this one is good, I almost felt the original was better here too as you get awesome 90’s graphics AND mutants. Here you get pretty CGI and robots. 5/5
Summary-This isn’t a bad movie, but when I show my brothers Total Recall, this won’t be the version I show them. Both versions have a undercurrent of paranoia, but this one just didn’t make me feel for the lower class people. I’m glad I saw this one, but I won’t have much to remember from it. 76.7%
How about a feet for DnD Next?
Mobile Assault
Prerequisite: Charger
You are a mass of muscle and blades streaking across the battlefield
Thoughts?
Product: Pathfinder Player Companion People of the Sands
Producer: Paizo
System: Pathfinder
Price: $12
TL;DR: An EXCELLENT PATHFINDER SUPPLEMENT! 100%
Basics: Come on down, hope a carpet and fly! People of the Sands serves as a guide book to Osirion, Rahadoum, Thuvia, and deserts in general as well as being the Mommy’s Mask Players Guide. The book starts with the ancient and no so ancient history of Osirion. Then, it moves to the different types of people who live there. The centerfold of this book is a beautiful, weathered player map of Osirion. Next, the book discusses the three major desert modern day nations of Golarion. The last section of the book transitions to more player focused offerings covering two new player prestige classes, new magic and normal items, and then the players guide for Mummy’s Mask.
Crunch or Mechanics: This book is full of mechanics. It full of new feats, spells, items, and two prestige classes (one of which is open to any class). While the book is mostly geared to alchemists, cavaliers, inquisitors, and sorcerers, it honestly has something for everybody. I LOVE it when supplements do that! 5/5
Fluff or story: Again, this is an amazing book. This book is full of detail regarding history, people, and the societies of the desert. It’s not only “just” the standard book of facts, it’s FULL of small details like sayings that different group use. That might just be filler to some people, but it helps me learn a little bit more about the people and their society. Heck, I’ve read a lot of Pathfinder books, and I learned new things from this book. 5/5
Execution: This book follows the standard Pathfinder Player Companion line layout: start with who the book is for/ask you GM section, then the real information. I love that and the rest of the layout. It makes the books read well. The test is broken up enough with headings and other thins often keeping the page from being just two columns/wall of text. I liked the art as it’s the standard Pathfinder quality. If you ignored the text and just looked at the book, this is an example of how to layout and design a good RPG supplement. 5/5
Summary: I really liked this book. I felt it was worth my money. The book has lots of background, but it didn’t skimp on the mechanics. Honestly, the book felt like a 50/50 split between the fluff and crunch. My only complaint isn’t the books fault. I liked when the adventure path player guides were separate books. That part almost felt tacked on as the book covered so many different topics. However, even that section added more options for the players. When I’m working out and the bike rings to tell me I’ve gone far enough, but I can’t put this book down so I keep going, you know you have a winner. 100%
How about another spell for DnD Next?
Caustic Spells
You’ve spent a lot of time learning how to cast spells not using Draconic, but more evil, vile tongues. Languages the hurt the ears of those who hear them.
Thoughts?
While I didn’t love Star Wars Saga Edition for a lot of reasons, I did love the condition track. I like the idea of being able to subdue an enemy instead of mercilessly beat the down. Also, in a lot of RPGs, the “More then None, Ready to Run!” attitude is a bit to pervasive. I want a slightly more realistic approach to combat. To that end, I present the condition track.
Basically, as you lose hit points, your condition gets worse. For every quarter of your HP total you lose, you gain a -1 wound penalty to all actions and saves. This represents you physically becoming less able to do anything as you become more and more broken. When you are healed up past a quarter mark, you lose the would penalties associated with being that wounded. When you have a -4 penalty, you pass out. While this would normally be you’ve lost all your hit points, spells could easily fit in this space that allow you to impose conditions on enemies like a stunning blast. To be kind to both the GM and players, I think the saving throws you make when a character has less then 0 HP should not have the wound penalty as this would kill players far to often.
When you lose constitution points from say a wight, you would track your current hit points relative to your previous maximum, not your new maximum. This way a wight will leach away your life just like any other creature.
I would also suggest when you take damage equal to double your constitution score, you have to make a constitution saving throw DC= Challenge rating of the creature that damaged you.
Thoughts?
Game: Red Dragon Inn
Producer: Slugfest Games
Price: $40
Set-up/Play/Take Down: 1Hour
TL;DR: An good, light card game. 92.5%
Basics: Let’s drink after the adventure! This game takes place after the adventure. The heroes have saved the day, and, more importantly, gotten paid! Each player takes the role of either the wizard, the fighter, the druid, or thief. Players take turns playing cards from a character specific deck. Each turn a player can discard cards and draw up to five. Then the player can play one card. These cards are typically attacking other players, healing yourself, or gambling. When gambling players play cards to have the last card that says they win the round and take all the money. When you hurt other players you reduce their fortitude. Other cards a player can play are cards that you can play off turn in response to other characters. After your action, you take the top card of the drink deck and give it to another player. After buying drinks, you drink any drinks you have in your drink pile. These drinks typically increase your alcohol content. When your alcohol content equals your fortitude, you pass out and lose. If you gamble and lose all your money, you get kicked out of the bar. Last man or women in the bar with money wins!
Mechanics: The game is a card game and forces you the do the best you can with the cards you are dealt. Each player has almost the same deck of cards with each individual character having a slightly different deck with some character specific powers. The character specific powers are a nice mix to the game. Also, the game is pretty simple to play and is quick. However, like all card games, the game is a bit random as your deck can be a major factor in if you win. If you can’t use the cards you have, you will definitely lose the game. 4.5/5
Theme: The game has a decent amount of theme. The decks make you feel like your character. It’s not a perfect fit, but the art is nice, consistent, and entertaining. The names of each card give some nice flavor. Also, the drink deck adds some theme as each drink has a life of its own. However, the game doesn’t completely build a world. Just a small group of people around a bar table. 4/5
Execution: I really like the parts that come with this game. The card board coins are nicely done. The cards are of decent quality. The art is well done. The player boards are also high quality. Well done all around. 5/5
Instructions: Hands down great. My version of the game came with the instructions AND a set of instructions to cover the frequently asked questions and errata. I LOVE this. The instructions teach the game well make this a well done instruction set. Any game that I don’t have to rush off to board game geek midway through gets a five. 5/5
Summary: When I’m out teaching games to non-gamers, this is the game I bring. It’s not hard, it’s not complicated, and it’s quick. All this makes this game an excellent introductory game. However, if you wanted something with a bit more meat on its bones, then this isn’t the game for you. But if you want to get just one may game in with your hard core gamer friends and its three AM, this is an excellent game to bust out, especially if you’ve all had a few beers during the night! 92.5%
Throat Punch Games 