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Iron Nugget
War Journal, by Little Red Goblin Games, is a beneficial supplement for DMs who are aiming to get a little more cohesion out of their gaming group. I have had issues with team feats in the past, in that they require every player to take a team feat slot. Asking a player to give up a team slot to be apart of the team seems to sprout the opposite of what you’re aiming to do. War Journal fixes that by creating a party feat in the name of a Party Tactical Archetype. The ability allows a special action for specific tactical formations by the PCs. To balance things out, each party receives a weakness. Neither the action is ever too powerful nor the weakness to harsh.
War Journal also continues two other additions to the game. Heralds allow players to use Heraldry to boost their character and their allies. These symbols that the PCs can create can be placed on armor, flags or shields. There are two classes associated with it. One of which, the Veteran adventure is a pretty neat idea when building a jack of all trades kind of character.
The other system is a new crafting system that allows mundane weapons to be more finally tuned. There are a number of additional modifications you can place on it, and it feels far easier than the normal crafting system.
The Iron Word
The War Journal is a great buy for any DM trying to add some teamwork to a party.
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If there is one thing that makes it difficult to do actual mysteries and investigations in a traditional fantasy RPG system, it is the dependency of the system on skill roles. With a mystery, the adventure only goes on if the clues are discovered, so failing a roll can hinder or stop an investigation. The actual “thrill” of solving the adventure is lost as there was no input by the player, they simply rolled a die the way they always do.
What Makes it Iron
Lorefinder, by Pelgrane Press, is a great start to a fix around that problem. When 3.5 went to Pathfinder , I was on the fense about diminishing skills. It was the argument of having less rolls versus having more diverse schedules. Pelgrane reinstates a lot of skills that were dropped off and breaks out other skills into a separate skill system called Investigative skills. The remaining few skills are still general skills and work the same way. However, investigative skills work in entirely different. They do not require rolling. You receive ranks skills that revolve around investigating, from diplomacy to bluff to knowledge skills to search. When you want to investigate something, you simply go to what youre investigating and say I want to investigate such a thing, the DM then gives you the information, or asks you to spend ranks. Ranks only recover at the beginning of an adventure so these resources must be used sparingly as most individuals only have between 12 to 16 for most of the campaign.
This new system changes the “investigative game” from beating a particular roll to figuring out which skill to use on the clues you find, making for a more rewarding mystery solving segment. The PDF starts off by explaining to you how each of the main classes should be changed and explaining how to convert other classes. Each skill is explained in depth. To add additional motivations to your gaming group, Drives are included to flesh out the reasons why your PCs investigate. A sample adventure is included.
Why its not Iron
The system feels a bit incomplete as it certainly needs some tweaking so that the Charisma, Wisdom and Intelligence do not become dump skills. One of the solutions my group used was to develop a limit for ranks based on the previously mentioned abilities. For instance, all Lore skills are limited by your Intelligence bonus, Cunning skills by Wisdom and Interpersonal skills by Charisma.
Another major issue with the system is it doesn’t do a great job of giving an adequate amount of General Skill ranks to classes based on the current skills of that class. For instance, fighters and fighter classes should have more ranks in general skills because that is the basis of most of their class skills.
The Iron World
Despite what seems to be major issues with the system, small DM changes make them very fixable. Lorefinder is a great product that I can’t imagine not using in a game again. It is easy to integrate and does not complicate the game. Instead, it actually eases up the game by reducing the number of skill rolls and making a once boring part of the game a bit more interesting.
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Enworld Publishing pushes out the fifth installment of this masterpiece of an adventure path, Zeitgeist, with Cauldron Born, a climatic mega adventure that serves as the final piece to the first arc of the Zeitgeist campaign.
What Makes it Iron
As I have said time and time again, Zeitgeist is written by dungeon masters for dungeon masters. I am not talking about a few novice dungeon masters who cling to xp tables and random charts. I am talking about the die hard dungeon masters who still like to create their own side quests and enjoy freedom in a module. Cauldron Born is a very free type of module. In the first Act alone, there are 4 adventure hooks the PCs can explore.
The dungeon master is free to expand or deexpand this as much as possible. If the DM decides that he wishes to act out the major raids on the local crime family, he can draw up some maps and get down and dirty into small squad fantasy tactics. There are options on some hooks to side with the not so good guy to achieve a greater goal. These are things you see parties attempt to do all the time but the restrictions of a module make for a broken adventure if you allow it. In Zeitgeist, its all there.
The 93 page book centers around the PCs attempt to keep peace during the peace talks while exploring a secret organization. The organized thieves’ guild are not the only threat. Other problems include a dark fey army, mad dwarves and a very large and angry golem. The handouts designed are exceptional. Helping catch players up on a yearlong campaign by providing cliff notes of the PCs exploits complete with insults by their boss.
Not So Iron
The book has a couple of awesome subgames in a minigame to take down the organized family and a b-team to show the PCs what is going on in other places. Both of these are good, but felt like they could have been fleshed out more. The minigame needed more ways to get the win condition for smaller actions. After all All Capone was caught on tax evasion. The alternate team is a bit fumbly, frequently breaking up the action of the game for characters the PCs couldn’t care too much about. DMs attempting to correct this should let the PCs make their own b-member characters of 5th level, giving them a slight more chance to survive. Also, only switch once, at the beginning or end of a game session.
The Iron Word
Zeitgeist: Cauldron Born is every bit the epic conclusion to the first arc that it should be. All of the plot threads either complete or further into the next arc. The combat, as usual, is not over done. DMs who want more of something can easily insert it into the many unseen vignettes that occur. I should also note that even if you have not played a single adventure, this one can be easily adapted for a campaign as most of the premises are basic, thieves guild needs to be taken down, king’s in town and attempting to be assassinated and 100 foot golems are never a good idea.
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Enworld Publishing pushes out the fifth installment of this masterpiece of an adventure path, Zeitgeist, with Cauldron Born, a climatic mega adventure that serves as the final piece to the first arc of the Zeitgeist campaign.
What Makes it Iron
As I have said time and time again, Zeitgeist is written by dungeon masters for dungeon masters. I am not talking about a few novice dungeon masters who cling to xp tables and random charts. I am talking about the die hard dungeon masters who still like to create their own side quests and enjoy freedom in a module. Cauldron Born is a very free type of module. In the first Act alone, there are 4 adventure hooks the PCs can explore.
The dungeon master is free to expand or deexpand this as much as possible. If the DM decides that he wishes to act out the major raids on the local crime family, he can draw up some maps and get down and dirty into small squad fantasy tactics. There are options on some hooks to side with the not so good guy to achieve a greater goal. These are things you see parties attempt to do all the time but the restrictions of a module make for a broken adventure if you allow it. In Zeitgeist, its all there.
The 93 page book centers around the PCs attempt to keep peace during the peace talks while exploring a secret organization. The organized thieves’ guild are not the only threat. Other problems include a dark fey army, mad dwarves and a very large and angry golem. The handouts designed are exceptional. Helping catch players up on a yearlong campaign by providing cliff notes of the PCs exploits complete with insults by their boss.
Not So Iron
The book has a couple of awesome subgames in a minigame to take down the organized family and a b-team to show the PCs what is going on in other places. Both of these are good, but felt like they could have been fleshed out more. The minigame needed more ways to get the win condition for smaller actions. After all All Capone was caught on tax evasion. The alternate team is a bit fumbly, frequently breaking up the action of the game for characters the PCs couldn’t care too much about. DMs attempting to correct this should let the PCs make their own b-member characters of 5th level, giving them a slight more chance to survive. Also, only switch once, at the beginning or end of a game session.
The Iron Word
Zeitgeist: Cauldron Born is every bit the epic conclusion to the first arc that it should be. All of the plot threads either complete or further into the next arc. The combat, as usual, is not over done. DMs who want more of something can easily insert it into the many unseen vignettes that occur. I should also note that even if you have not played a single adventure, this one can be easily adapted for a campaign as most of the premises are basic, thieves guild needs to be taken down, king’s in town and attempting to be assassinated and 100 foot golems are never a good idea.
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Iron Nugget
Dark Waters Rising, a short 5th level adventure by Raging Swan Press, wants you to be able to run this game in one easy fun filled session. A lot of adventures make this promise, but far too many leave you either needing more or not having enough. Dark Waters has some great paced writing that allows this session to run and end exactly where you need it to.
The 36 page pdf is well organized and layed out. Many tables and charts point you to exactly what you need as a DM if you just picked this book up and wanted to run it right away. Pregenerated characters are included in case you had players who weren’t prepared to run. Even the statblocks include very detailed and easy to run encounter tips to alleviate prep time. The adventure itself sits on an expandable plot. The writer knows what its like to be a DM, and does not lock other DMs into his preset plot. All that is needed is that the players are after someone. If you wanted to incorporate into your current campaign you can make this person any villain or NPC. If you are just running a one shot then the person is a baker with possible cult ties. The meat of the adventure contains the PCs going into a flooded underground dungeon that is continuing to flood as the adventure goes on. The built in timer is another thing that urges this game to be completed in one session, else it really dampers the urgency. The seven encounters are all quite challenging. PCs who enjoy tough puzzles and boss fights will find a lot to like.
Succeeds
The layout is phenomenal . I like knowing what NPCs are in the adventure before I read it. Too often writers write adventures like they want to surprise the DM. Writers, take some notes and stop surprising us. We just want information so we can run and surprise the players.
Fails at
Not a lot
The Iron Word
This is a great 4 to 6 hour module that can easily be expanded with a creative DM. There are not a lot of twists and turns, but the heart racing pacing makes this a blast to play through.
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Leave it to the folks at Super Genius to figure out a new take on the spell point system. The Genius Guide to the guide to the Riven Mage is the company’s attempt to introduce a spell point class that does not feel like any previous spell point class. The result is a class that has shot to the top of my list as favorite supplemental magic classes.
I have been fairly adamant for years that Dungeons and Dragons archaic spell system of memorize and select should be optional in future editions. The generation of players playing Role Playing games now are ushered in by electronic games that utilize some sort of spell point system. Riven Mage should be a blue print for this type of system. The Riven Mage separates itself from other systems by not dealing with Vancian system at all. Not a single spell from that system is useable with the Riven Mage. Instead, the short PDF includes a list of spells that the Riven Mage can choose. On paper, it does not seem like a lot. The Riven Mage only gets 1 or 2 spells a level and there are no more than 40 or so spells in the book. However, the point system allows these spells to be escalated and have different and multiple effects depending on how many points are put into them. That is how spellcasting should be. I've said it before and I’ll say it a billion times, I have no idea how a wizard can cast fireball but can’t light a piece of paper on fire.
Succeeds
The class allows players to be divine, arcane, bardlike or warrior mage. Additional powers and skills are added depending on which route you go. If I had to do it all over, I’d make this class my default system for my campaign.
Fails
The save bonuses were a tad generous, but that is probably to balance out the character’s lack of an every encounter ability. Builds will have to figure out a way to provide some out of spell use for the character.
The Iron Word
The Genius Guide to the Riven Mage is a surprising take on a Spellpoint Mage. By avoiding the cumbersome Vancian system all together, the Riven Mage allows for more magical flexibility. I let a new player, completely new to D&D, play my npc Riven Mage and she loved its ease of use. This was after I sat down and tried to explain the Vancian system and all its nuances. This is a great class and a highly recommended buy.
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Sneak Attack Press’s Golden Banner is a rare mystery adventure for 6th to 7th level characters. Golden Banner has a methodical, slow pace that a role playing party will thrive on.
The adventure revolves around an old relic recently recovered and now vied over by 2 factions. The mystery revolves around a mysterious faction. Unlike a lot of products, a good deal of time is actually spent on the mystery. There are spies and secrets to be uncovered.
Succeeds
The length of pages dedicated to the mystery portion is pretty meaty and gave my party some fun role playing moments. We loved that there was only 2 real combats in the game. A third, near optional combat feels thrown in towards the end to add some meat to the adventure, but if the adventure ended at the banquet I doubt any group would have a problem with it.
Fails
The layout is a bit wonky. With mystery adventures, it is best to layout all the clues and revelations ahead of time for the DM. Too often adventures are written as if the DM wants to solve the mystery along with the player, and this should never be the case. Also, there are a bit too many remnants from the 4th edition version of the PDF.
The Iron Word
The Golden Banner has just enough of a twinge in its design to make it feel more different than your standard short adventure. DMs will want to really embellish on the role playing parts and go with the party. Though there are only 2 actual combats, my PCs managed to bring out a couple more over the course of the adventure.
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Iron Nugget
I love that Super Genius has continues to play with time. #1 With a Bullet Point: 7 Time Thief/Time Warden Feats is Super Genius doing what few publishers do, continuing to support their previous content.
This splat book provides 7 feats to strengthen the Time Thief. I was very happy that sneak attack was finally added to the Time Thief ability list, making it a much stronger offensive tool. There are also feats that diversify the character, further broadening the class.
The Iron Word
The continued support of the time line of books is very impressive from a publisher dealing with a subject that is very difficult to master. There are two feats that don't feel all that strong holding the rest down. Still, a great supplement if you own either Time Thief or Time Warden.
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Iron Nugget
Succeeds at
Time Travel and any narrative medium is always a going to be a tricky subject. One of the ways I keep My Dming iron is by incorporating some element of time travel into any campaign. It is not easy. Which is why Time Thief by Super Genius is such a successful accomplishment.
Time Thief is a short class PDF that provides a variant roguish type class that bends time to her advantage. The design of the character is very template with Super Genius’s other genius class books. Though the flavor is heavy, the flavor is an illusion to the mechanics of the class. Simple things that belong to any class such such as a +1 here or a haste spell meld well are reflavored to be associated with stopping and bending time. Classes receive time talents, advanced time talents and then powerful aevum, each progressively a larger chunk of time the thief is stealing to perform their tasks. IN the end the character is very well balance.
Failed
Without additional help, I had to really on the feats too much to create offensive for my Time Thief. Some abilities appear to be slightly off balanced with others, but this is fixed with later supplement books.
The Iron Word
Because I feel the core rogue is so one dimensional, I enjoy roguish offshoots that feel like they have gotten it right. Super Genius does another superb job of including strong flavor with basic game design.
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Iron Nugget
Succeeds
Oh Machinesmith, you had me at steampunk. For some reason, publishers are not interested in making a boat load of money and practically ignore the many fans out there who want a touch of steampunk in their Pathfinder. To satisfy our cravings, LPJDeisgns presents the Machinesmith, a meaty 22-page class writeup of a magical alternative class that uses a fusion of technology and magic to produce magical effects.
Having built two iterations of the class, the Machinesmith can hang right in there with the wizards and sorcerers. It even can take spellbooks and prepare spells from it, which means that the class will not be isolated like so many magic alternative classes. The Machinesmith is not just sitting back and launching prototypes though. Much like the alchemist class, the machinesmith design allows users to delve into three types of Machinesmiths. One type will alow the player to sit back in a traditional spell slinging roll, the other two allow players to get into the thick of combat. My favorite is the Morbius weapon.
Machinesmith does not just present one class, it gives a lot of bells and whistles for the class. Feats, spells and archetypes help make the class a little easier to integrate into a variety of campaigns.
Fail
I wish the class was a little more tech and a lot less magical. The class comes off as a better written artificer than truly a mechanical genius from a flavor point of view, yet the abilities are clearly designed for a more tech described class. I also hated the prestige class included. It’s built only for the Machinesmith, which makes it useful as a prestige class. It should have been designed so current classes can get a piece of the tech tree.
The Iron Word
Machinesmith presents a great class for campaigns looking to institute a little more tech into their magical soup. It does not go all out with the tech, which will be a positive or a negative for some.
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Iron Nugget
For all of us DMs and Players who feel that Vancian system has outworn it’s welcome, or at least should share the spotlight, Novice Publisher Lee’s List produces a gem of a system in True Naming: A supplement of magic, language and power.
Succeeds
At its core, True Naming is a skill based magic system easily incorporated into the Pathfinder system. I have seen a few True Naming systems. I believe this is the first time I have seen it used as an entirely self contained magic system. The first part of the book discusses naming in various genres and why you would include it in a campaign. True Names can be as common or uncommon as the DM wishes.
From there, the writer does a complete job of laying down a foundation for Naming Magic. Players simply do not learn a True Name and gain instant power over a creature. Instead, the creature is first weakened and even then, must make a skill check. To weaken the creature, True Naming introduces its magic system. A series of magical words that players can put together to form spells. In truth, they are building their own spells out of specific words. This amount of flexibly is awesome for a DM who does not feel like looking up every single spell just to produce an Ice based Fireball.
Because the powerful True Naming magic can’t be effected until someone reaches a specific threshold, the lesser naming magic felt just underpowered enough. Whereas, the NPC was able to hold his own with the party until the enemy was weak enough to succumb to a True Naming spell. If someone who practices True Naming has discovered the True Name of his enemy, he can unleash devastating overpowered spells.
Fails
The layout work in the 20-page PDF is very tight and, combined with the poor font choice, makes for a difficult read at times. It also misses bookmarks, not necessary but would have been helpful if I just want to go to the class. This PDF is also not for every gamer. Essentially DMs want to take non-Vancian , build your own spell systems out of the hands of out of control power gamers.
The Iron Word
True Naming is a great skill magic system. The flavor of this book is phenomenal, making True Naming sound as rare and distant as it is suppose to. I like the idea of having a class that is strong, but gains an extra boost after the players quest for a secret that gives them an advantage over their enemy. Anyone looking for an alternative magic system should purchase True Naming.
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Iron Nugget
Succeeds
Advanced Encounters: Alternative Objectives, by Sneak Attack Press, is a meaty 40-page help guide to designing a true multilayer encounter. Any DM can throw some monsters in a cave and call it an encounter. Too often this is the default for DMs. If you ever want to achieve Iron DM status, you will want to hardily study Alternative Objectives.
Objectives begins with some great theorycraft- explaining to the reader 6 kinds of encounters that exceed the basic goals of kill everything encounters. Chapter 2 feels like a slight extension of Chapter 1, explaining how to deal with obstacles like skill challenges, non-fighting NPCs and difficulty. After all the theory is out of the way, examples are presented. The examples are well designed mini-adventures.
Fail
The examples could have been more generic.
Iron Word
Strong Buy - Advanced Encounters: Alternative Objectives is a great resource for the novice Dungeon Master who wants to up his game. The design information and examples will go along way in producing memorable encounters that are not just about hacking and slashing.
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Iron Nugget
Succeeds
The Emergency Character Collection, by Run Amok, is a smart accessory for any Dungeon Master. I hate making NPCs. Unless it’s an all important NPC or I am assisting a PC with badassing up their character, I prefer to pull stat blocks from existing sources. Still, too often, I find myself scouring the internet, looking for a great build. Collection helps feel that need, providing 12 characters of 1st, 3rd, 6th and 9th level. The great thing is that the writer doesn't just stop with throwing some character blocks in a book. He takes the time to explain other variants, build theories and slight alternatives. This little bit of extra information will boost this product to the top of your NPC pull list.
Collection does not just stick to the basic classes. You will find examples of the advanced classes like Gunslinger, Magus and Oracle.
Another great aspect to this product, along with the creative and descriptive writing, is the wealth chart included with each character. Even if I don’t use the NPC, having a ready to go set of items of particular areas for particular classes is great.
Fails
None that I can Find
Iron Word
Must Buy - This is one of the best NPC Collections to come along in a bit. It outshines anything that the big boys have produced. The character notes boost this book from a 4 star to a 5 star.
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Iron Nugget
Super Genius Presents: A Brace of Pistols adds a few more layers to Pathfinder’s gun rules. Whereas the 15 page PDF does not reinvent the system, it does add some nice new weapons, feats and items.
A Brace of Pistols gives the reader a good lesson on how exactly a pistol works. The fluff alone is worth the price. If you have any players in your campaign, and they want to use, I’d recommend it as much read. Too often players wanting to use guns think that they are the ones from the terminator movies or even a western. The PDF explains what Flintlock really is and how it works. From there several new guns are introduced that provide a cone effect. In addition, there are cool items that allow you to use guns for traps, bombs or simple concealment. A few feats and spells are scattered towards the back, though many feel similar to player enhancements I have seen elsewhere.
The Iron Word
A Brace of Pistols is a very different kind of supplement. It is best played as an information hammer for those unfamiliar with early age guns. The items are a great find the gunlover in your party, and the feats and spells are nice little additions to surprise put on an NPC and surprise your players.
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Many a fan forums are littered with poor iterations of Pathfinder Classes. Most are simple variations on the existing classes. A few are broken monstrosities that are the pipe dreams of a powergaming player. When looking at a new book of classes, I compare it to the fan fiction out there. I can certainly say that Advanced Class and NPC offers a new, yet balanced, take on the Pathfinder class.
The first go around, the art and layout are unimpressive. The hefty PDF is 50 pages long, but with only 4 classes. Those 50 pages, however, are well worth the price. The four classes feel like how all classes should be introduced. Each class gets a good many pages dedicated to new abilities and tactics. It would have been very easy for Wordcasting Entertainment to simply regurgitate something else that exists and point to Paizo’s current catalogue. However, they push for creativity with Advanced Class, giving 4 fresh feeling classes that are very exciting to play.
For the Player
My favorite class is the Hunter. Like the other classes, it isn’t just “one” set class. There are multiple ways you can take this class. It does not do the class justice to simply call it a spell less ranger. Instead, this feels like a reimagining of a true nature warrior. A player in my campaign built a bear wrestling trap laying smart talker and it’s very much different than my pistol firing game hunting NPC.
For the Dungeon Master
I love that there’s symmetry with each class. Organization leads to balance which leads to happy DMs. Each class is self contained, and allows the writers to balance abilities against one another as opposed to risking the use of existing material. Outside of the Hunter, there is also the Scoundrel, Combat Brute and Battle Commander. Each offers a variety of different play options within each class, and none are like you suspect them to be.
The Iron Word
Advanced Class and NPC is a really good supplement for picking some very unique classes. I love that the writers looked at 4 iconic classes, scrapped them and brought an entirely different concept for each to the table.
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![[PFRPG] The Genius Guide to the Time Thief](images/97/82559-thumb100.jpg)
![True Naming: A supplement of magic, language, and power [PFRPG]](images/4843/107971-thumb100.png)
