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Zephyrus Base Class
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 02/21/2019 05:02:27

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This base class clocks in at 11 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 3 pages of SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 5 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

The zephyrus base class has a full BAB, gets d10 HD, 4 + Int modifier skills per level, and sports good Fortitude and Reflex saves. The class gets proficiency with simple weapons as well as all polearms and spears and all armors and shields, excluding tower shields. Being clearly inspired by Final fantasy’s dragoons (if the cover artwork wasn’t ample clue), the class begins play with leaping charge, the option to use a full-round action to charge and inflict +1d8 damage with it, increasing said damage by a further +1d8 at every two levels. This is noted in the class table as well for your convenience. The zephyrus adds class level to Acrobatics and always counts as having a running jump. At 3rd level, when the zephyrus uses the charge action, he may move through the spaces of allies unimpeded; at 5th level, the class gets up to one 90 degree turn while charging; 9th level nets the ability to ignore difficult terrain while charging and 13th level unlocks the ability to charge through the zephyrus opponent’s spaces, though this does provoke AoOs. Starting at 17th level, the charges of the zephyrus no longer provoke AoOs form leaving the square the zephyrus charges from.

At 3rd level, the class reduces armor check penalty by 1 (minimum 0) and increases the maximum Dexterity bonus allowed by the armor by 1, increasing this by a further 1 (properly worded!) for both every 4 levels thereafter. This culminates at 19th level, when the zephyrus reduces armor check penalty to 0, may always use full Dex-mod, and when in light armor or no armor, he gets improved evasion; in heavier armor “just” evasion. Potent, but at 19th level, justified.

Also at third level, we get leap attack, which is a standard action attack versus a foe threatened for +1d8 damage, which increases by a further +1d8 at 7th level and every 4 levels thereafter. This would be as well a place as any to note that this is once more noted in the table (nice) and that both bonus damage abilities come with precise verbiage regarding critical hit interaction. 4th level nets fast charge (+10 ft. speed when running or charging, +5 ft. for every 2 levels thereafter), again, noting the distance on the class table. Starting at 4th level, the class also progressively reduces falling damage incurred. The capstone is cool: When you hit with a leaping charge (that’s the first level charge attack), the foe gets a save (DC 10 +1/2 class level + Strength modifier) and take 20d8 bonus damage on a success (!!). What happens on a failure? Well, to nitpick – it’s not properly stated, but the flavor mentions dying, so yeah…not ideal, but it kinda works. Thankfully, the ability has a witch-caveat that prevents you hitting a target more than once per day with this brutal attack.

The class also sports customization options in the form of lancets. These are somewhat akin to bloodlines and orders in that they provide a set array of tricks that unlocks over the levels. 5 lancets are provided, and each comes with a basic ability: These include free bull rush, dirty trick or trip attempts at -2, +4 to atk instead of +2 when charging, instead gaining a bonus to damage (at a slightly increased AC penalty), swift action Acrobatics after a charge (cool!) or penalty-less leaping charges. Beyond these, the lancets also add ½ class level to skill checks. (Skills have not ben properly capitalized.) Beyond these, each lancet features four ability-progressions: 2nd level nets a bonus feat (not capitalized properly), and the second of these set feats is gained at 10th level. The other abilities are gained at 8th and 15th level. For 8th level abilities, we have e.g. better maneuvers for the maneuver-based lancet 8gets rid of the -2 penalty for the maneuver added to the leaping charge), while another provides a tightly codified cleave-like bonus attack at the cost of AC penalty; better Power Attack charging, taking 10 when using Acrobatics to move to a new position after a charge, getting a dodge bonus – these basically build on the respective lancet themes. Same goes for the 15th level abilities, making the lancets feel like distinct ability-progressions that make sense.

Conclusion: Editing is good on a formal and rules-language level; on the formatting side, we have quite a few deviations from the standard, but no deal-breakers per se. Layout adheres to the two-column b/w-standard of ARMR Studios, and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length. The hand-drawn b/w-artworks are nice.

I’m horribly nostalgic for the old Final Fantasy titles; it’s one of the very few things that manages to tug at my heart’s strings. Heck, I grinded out all of FF V’s jobs, including the mimic. Thus, the zephyrus hits a kind of sweet spot for. The class is not exactly the pinnacle of excitement, and I probably wouldn’t want to play one for a prolonged amount of time, as it’s very much a charge-based class, though one lancet does allow you to be pretty decent at setting up flanks/skirmishing, so that’s a plus. Then again, this class does come as PWYW, and it imho is worth a donation – or, well if you want to make a dragoon NPC (curse the inevitable betrayal!), then this has you covered without requiring much work, so there’s that. Usually, this would be a 2.5 to 3 stars-type of class, but taking the PWYW-nature into account, I will round up from my final verdict of 3.5 stars. It’s worth taking a look to save time.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Zephyrus Base Class
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Monstrous Menagerie Vol. I
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 02/13/2019 06:02:28

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This supplement clocks in at 14 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 3 pages of SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 8 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This little collection of monsters features handdrawn artworks for all of them, and starts with the Cr 5 Arachne, whose kiss features the regurgitating of eggs into the mouths of unwitting victims; with Strength drain (odd choice) to denote whether your body can get rid of the eggs, strong webs and poison, this one is a pretty solid critter. Feats are erroneously lower capped, but that’s aesthetics. At CR 18, the Azgal Worm is a Huge vermin that secretes acid, which damages nearby targets. Striking them is thus not conductive to weapon durability and also splashes nearby targets with acid on every hit with a non-reach weapon. Their bite is also highly poisonous AND ignores item hardness. With rather potent natural weapons, they are pretty deadly. Interesting: Their chitin can be harvested to make armor and weaponry. Minor nitpick: The profession chosen here, skinner, is pretty uncommon.

On the other hand of the power spectrum, the CR 2 Coqui is Fine magical beasts, a tiny golden frog that has a soothing song that can help withstand mind-affecting abilities. They can turn this song into a damaging sonic burst and can grant beneficent glyphs to those pure of heart. They may be chosen as Improved Familiars starting at 7th level. The CR 8 Spinal Lasher is a gaunt undead that has four dangling vertebrae that it can use to lash foes. These carry a curse that impedes healing, and these undead, shadow- and mirror-reflection-less, also get a 1/day enervating breath. Neat, though e.g. initiative value is one too low - +3 Dexterity modifier +4 Improved Initiative = +7, not +6. Finally, there would be Shagga the Pale, a CR 11 scarred witch doctor 13, who comes with an adventure hook as well as a new witch hex, the Pale Plague that prevents a body’s decay. While called “plague”, this doesn’t actually confer a contagion. The statblock of this NPC also sports some minor snafus.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are okay on a formal and rules language level – while precise in many aspects, I noticed a couple of hiccups in the statblocks. Layout adheres to a printer-friendly two-column b/w-standard, and the pdf sports some solid DIY-style artworks for the critters. The pdf has no bookmarks, but doesn’t necessarily need them at this length.

Angel “ARMR” Miranda’s critters herein are actually more interesting than I anticipated. There are some neat ideas here, and while not world-shaking or perfect, there would be the fact that this is PWYW – and it’s certainly worth checking out and leaving a small tip for. All in all, my final verdict will clock in at 3.5 stars, rounded up due to n dubio pro reo and this being a PWYW file.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Monstrous Menagerie Vol. I
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Crusader Base Class
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 04/18/2017 09:09:24

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This base class clocks in at 10 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 6 pages, so let's take a look!

The crusader depicted here gets d10 HD, 4 + Int skills per level, good Fort- and Will-save progression, full BAB-progression and proficiency with simple and martial weapons as well as light and medium armor and shields, excluding tower shields.

The crusader begins play with a so-called shade, the remnant of a famous hero that guides the crusader via telepathy and in the dreams of the character. The shade may attempt to communicate with other creatures, but doing so negates all crusader class abilities for 24 hours, making it a sucky base fighter sans bonus feats etc. for that duration. This shade ties into the guiding combat mechanic. At 1st level, the crusader may enter a trance as a move action, which allows for an offensive or defensive stance. A defensive stance yields +1/2 class level (minimum 1) to AC and Ref-saves, while the offensive stance yields that bonus to CMB and melee/ranged weapon damage rolls. Stances may be changed as a move action. The ability lasts until combat ends (enter here my long rant on how per-encounter abilities suck, make no sense in game and need a precise time measurement here). This ability may be used once at 1st level and an additional time every three levels tehreafter.

2nd level yields + Wisdom modifier to initiative (not a fan and keep that far away from mythic gameplay...) and also +1/2 class level to all Knowledge checks, allowing them to make them all untrained. This is somewhat problematic, as RAW Knowledge (local) of even the most obscure region suddenly works. 3rd level nets uncanny dodge and 8th level provides improved uncanny dodge.

Guided knowledge is can 1/day net you a bonus equal to 1/2 class level + Wisdom modifier to a skill check, with an additional daily use every 3levels thereafter. The ability specifies that it's gained at 6th level, while the table stipulates 3rd level - so, which is it? NASTY glitch. Starting at 5th level, the crusader may choose one weapon he is proficient with each day and gain +1 to atk and damage for that day, which increases by a further +1 at 11th and 17th level. Starting at 11th level, the crusader may switch the weapons to which this benefit applies as a swift action Wis-mod times per day, minimum 1. 14th level crusaders may always act during a surprise round and as a capstone, he gains both offensive and defensive bonuses when using guided combat and is always treated as flanking a foe.

Now, there are a total of 4 different types of shade included in the deal - these, beyond flavor, influence a grand total of one ability - guided strike, which is gained at 4th level and may be used 3 + Wis-mod times per day - until that point, you have basically zero choice, zero player agenda in the chassis. These guided strikes...could use some clarification. Can guided strike only be used during guided combat? I assume no, but then again: The ancestral shadow's ability for guided strike lets the shade attack for as many attacks as the crusader rained down upon his foes in the full-round action preceding it. Granted, it only works for full-round actions, but the damage output here is rather low due to a lack of buffing options for most other campaigns. You have to roll twice as many dice with not that significant chances of mattering, which further bogs down gameplay, so not the biggest fan here. Each shade also comes with a linear array of guided strike abilities, which are gained at every even level after gaining guided strike - 6th, 8th, etc. These include iterative attacks for the base ability, Hammer the Gap (not properly capitalized and a really opaque mess: You are supposed to add up damage before applying it to DR - got ya. Only the crusader's? Or also that of the shade? The ability also refers to the base ability by the wrong name, in a needlessly complicating hiccup.

The Feral Shade has basically the Vital Strike, standard action based version of the guided strike ability - which means that it'd see much more use in my games. Big plus: The strikes of the shade actually become magical this time around. The Noble Shade can use standard actions to attack roll twice and take the better result, though if it's a threat, the second roll is used as the crit confirmation, keeping things in check. Here, we actually get Vital Strike etc. feat-chain-wise as bonuses, though once again, formatting of feats deviates from the standard. Finally, the stalwart shade,c an, as a standard action attack and gain a +2 AC bonus until his next turn. This increases, but the wording falls apart once it is unlocked for full attacks. You see, the base ability ties the bonus granted to the attack...and the 6th level upgrade makes that +3 for a standard action single attack. When using it in conjunction with a full attack, that is lowered to +2...okay, got that. But does the crusader get the bonus for each attack in the full attack? The bonus granted is dodge and that stacks with itself. The other options provide swift aid another, bonuses to saves, etc.

The pdf also provides two feats: One for additional uses of Guided Combat and one for additional uses of, bingo, Guided Strike.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are not perfect on either a formal or rules-level; I noticed several formatting issues and the table/ability-discrepancy is a big no-go. Layout adheres to a printer-friendly 2-column b/w-standard and the pdf sports some nice, hand-drawn b/w-artworks. The pdf has no bookmarks, but doesn't need any at this length.

Angel "ARMR" Miranda's Crusader base class is interesting - though its name is grossly misleading - this class has exactly nothing to do with religious wars or anything like that. The biggest issue of the class would be player agenda - it has exactly one meaningful choice, at 4th level - 1st - 3rd level crusaders are all the same. Worse, each shadow locks you into a none-too-efficient progression of abilities. Don't get me wrong: I like the concept very much; the visuals are cool and full of roleplaying potential. But the class feels a bit unfocused; the knowledge from beyond angle, the eternal training companion shtick, has been done before and better. The Living legend archetype by Dreamscarred Press in particular knocks this straight out. That being said, while I don't like the execution and think it seriously needs choice, better shades and a more profound impact of shades on how the class actually plays, the pdf does offer some concepts that a talented designer or GM can easily homebrew into something unique. Hence, and due to the PWYW-nature of the class, I will settle on a final verdict of 2.5 stars, rounded up for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Crusader Base Class
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Vindicator base class
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 03/10/2017 03:57:09

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This base class clocks in at 11 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 3 pages of SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 5 pages of content, so let's take a look!

The vindicator presented here is a full-BAB-progression class with good Fort-saves that receives 4 + Int skills per level, has d12 HD and proficiency with all armor as well as simple and martial weapons, but not shields. The class receives Diehard at first level.

The eponymous vindication ability of the class can be activated 1/level, + an additional time per 3 levels after that and may be maintained up to class level + Constitution-modifier rounds, with activation and ending action being swift actions. (As a nitpick, the Con should be the full word, not the abbreviation.) Vindication reduces the maximum hit points of the vindicator by an amount equal to twice his level, but also nets the class a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls with all natural and manufactured weapons.

Vindication also acts as a gateway of sorts for sacrifice: While the ability is in action, the vindicator can deal 1d4 non-reducible (nice catch!) damage to himself as a standard action to inflict twice the dealt amount to all creatures within a 15.-ft.-cone, with a Ref-save to halve it. Now usually, I'd complain about the lack of a damage-type, but I'm relatively okay with it here. The ability requires a free hand and increases by +1d4 for every 2 levels beyond first. It can be used 1/2 class level (minimum 1 caveat missing) + Constitution modifier times per day.

At 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter, the vindicator receives a so-called ardor, which basically can be summed up as the talent-array of the class. The vinidcator may thus reduce his maximum hit points to create a weapon from his blood with scaling enhancement bonuses, which is cool visual-wise, but sports some typo-level glitches. Said weapon can then be used to inflict Con-governed bleed damage, fuse it with the sacrifice ability for a combo strike, increase the affected area of the sacrifice ability, become immune to fear or employ sacrifice faster a limited amount of times per day. At higher levels, stopping the aforementioned bleed can become pretty difficult and fortification is part of the higher level options as well, though it is not properly formatted.

Now a pretty problematic aspect of the class, in fact my main gripe with it, lies in the monstrous hand. You see, flavor-wise, this guy feels a bit like Guts, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 3, DMC 4, etc. in that he can wield larger weapons at higher levels in one hand - and per se, that is cool. However, at the same time, the monstrous hand is not really codified as a rules-entity...but several abilities do reference it in rules-language, referring precise to that hand, with negative levels. Now granted, there is an ardor that is called "monstrous ARM", but how such a confusing and problematic hiccup could slip in this baffles me. So yes, the aspect of the class is functional, but more confusing than it should be....which is a pity, for, from reach to more creative options, it is not bad in the way it's presented.

Beyond the ardors and their customization choices, the vindicator also receives better damage output and retained functionality at negative hit points (not being staggered when using Diehard, for example...), increased AC when wielding one-handed weapons, being resilient to bleeding damage...the class has some cool tricks.

At the highest levels, we have sacrifice-like nova (that should have been the capstone) and an increase of vindication's base bonuses to +4 as the capstone...which should have been part of a scaling of the ability.

The pdf also has a feat for extra vindication-uses and extra ardor and two favored class options, for dhampir and tiefling, to be precise.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are the weak spots of this pdf - while not bad, there are formal hiccups (sentence suddenly switches to past tense) and some deviations from rules-language formatting and presentation. Layout adheres to a relatively printer-friendly two-column b/w-standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, but I can live with that at only 5 pages.

Angel "ARMR" Miranda's Vindicator is actually one of my favorites of his designs I covered so far - it juggles some relatively complex concepts and its general HP-reduction engine is interesting and per se pretty well executed - not perfectly, mind you: If you roll really poorly on HP, this will not be fun. That being said, the class has some surprising and unique tricks that can make this a rewarding choice if you can get past the hiccups that exist herein. Now usually, I'd frankly rate this further down, but as a PWYW-offering, I consider it worth checking out - even if only for the purpose of mechanics/idea-scavenging, this could well make for at least an interesting adversary for the PCs to face. So yeah, this may be a flawed little class, but it does have heart and shows that the author cared. At PWYW, it is worth looking at and leaving a tip. My final verdict for the pdf will clock in at 3.5 stars - and this being PWYW, I'll round up. As a non-PWYW-offering, I'd have detracted a star and rounded down instead, but yeah. Take a look - it's worth that at least!

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Vindicator base class
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Umbra Base Class
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 03/09/2017 07:03:43

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This base class clocks in at 10 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 3 pages of SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 4 pages of content, so let's take a look!

The umbra class presented herein receives d8 HD, 6 + Int-mod skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good Ref- and Will-saves and proficiency with simple weapons as well as hand crossbow, rapier, sword cane (nice!), shortsword, kukri, starknife and (composite) shortbows as well as light armor and bucklers. The class also nets 30 ft. darkvision and low-light vision at first level, which makes it too dippable from the get-go, even before the other options, but that just as an aside. Darkvision increases to 60 ft and 120 ft. at 6th and 11th level, respectively, with 17th level providing see in darkness.

The umbra begins play with a shadowcraft pool equal to class level + Wisdom modifier (the pdf annoyingly uses the three letter attribute shorthand in an unnecessary formatting deviation),a pool that replenishes at midnight, just fyi. The pool is used to power the so-called shadowmancies, SPs, of which the umbra has one at the start and learns an additional one at 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter, with save DCs clocking in at the traditional 10 + 1/2 class level + Wis-mod for them, if applicable. Basically, we have point-based casting of an extremely limited list with a shadow-theme here. A plus, formatting-wise: Spells are properly italicized. Nice.

The class also gets shadowstrike- the option to attack an adversary's shadow to inflict damage: in order to do so, the umbra must focus on a shadow as a move action (dismissal also takes a move action), with duration of the focus being 1 minute or until the creature is slain. While thus focused, the umbra receives -2 to AC, Perception and attacks versus creatures that are not the target of his focus, but the class does deal an additional +1d4 damage, +1d4 at 4th level and every 3 levels thereafter against a target of the focus. Nitpick: The ability makes this damage behave as precision damage, but could be slightly more precise here. Still, this is nitpicking - the ability per se is interesting.

Starting at 2nd level, the umbra may generate shadow bolts to target creatures affected by the focus - this is a ranged touch attack that provokes AoOs and inflicts 1d4 untyped damage, +1d4 at 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter and the ability is treated as a spell of 1/2 class level -1 - and such a bolt costs one shadowcraft pool. Starting at 7th level, umbras deal + 1/2 class level damage versus flat-footed foes (+ class level at 14th level) and regains 1 shadowcraft point when doing so. Hand me the bag of kittens to slaughter, please.

15th level nets hide in plain sight and 17th level allows for the combination of shadowbolt and shadowstrike, with 20th level providing a sufficiently powerful insta-kill attack. The three feats allow for a larger shadowcraft pool, more shadowmancies or a decreased point cost for one. The class comes with favored class options for drow, fetchling and dhampir.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are good on a formal level. On a rules-formatting and presentation level, there are a couple of deviations from the standard to be found. Layout adheres to a two-column b/w-standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.

Angel "ARMR" Miranda's Umbra is per se an interesting construct - the focus-based infinite challenge-y alternative to sneak attack deserves further scrutiny for its potential. At the same time, the class feels a bit confused in what it wants to do: On one hand, he have the alibi-level restricted flexibility of shadowmancies and the very few options that provides; on the other, we have the pseudo-warlock-y blasting. And then, thirdly, the aforementioned sneak alternative. And none of the 3 come together particularly well. Unlike in comparable classes, the engine-components do not feel like part of a whole and exist, for the most part, separate from one another.

There are a precious few interactions, but as a whole, this feels like three parts of potentially cool classes, forced to inhabit a single chassis. I believe that all three, to a degree, could have carried a class with varying success, but their combination here feels like less than the sum of its parts....somewhat disparate, if you will. This does not make the class a trainwreck or anything, but it also means that, even with the PWYW-bonus, that this is far, far off from the amazing ethermagic, Path of Shadows of similar offerings out there.

In the end, even with the PWYW-bonus, I can't go higher than 2.5 stars, rounded up for this one.If you're looking for design-inspiration or for the shadowstrike-chassis to build on, then this is still worth downloading and leaving a tip for, though.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Umbra Base Class
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Templar Base Class
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 01/30/2017 04:38:43

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This base class clocks in at 8 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 4 pages for the templar base class.

The templar has d10 HD, 2 + Int-mod (lower cap'd in the pdf) skills per level, full BAB-progression and good Fort- as well as Will-saves. They gain proficiency with all simple and martial weapons as well as all armors and shields, except tower shields. The templar can cast arcane spells gained from the class (and only those) sans arcane spell failure. 4th level nets prepared arcane spellcasting based on Intelligence at -3 levels, with spells drawn from the sorc/wiz-list. As soon as they can cast spells, they may do so with hands full - and here the "only templar spells"-caveat is missing.

The class begins play with at-will detect magic and the option to 1/day chastise another as a swift action, which is basically a variant smite sans the bonus to atk, but with + class level to damage and a -2 penalty for attacking other targets while the ability is in effect. It may be used an additional time per day at 4th level and every 3 levels thereafter, though the ability itself does not spell that out - you need to look at the table to deduce that.

At first level, the templar also pledges an oath - these basically come with flavorful adventuring modifications and provide a passive benefit and an active benefit: These include gaining proficiency with tower shields, Arcane Strike as a bonus feat or an increased spell level of +3 (for full CL). The active benefits interact with chastise and provide e.g. DR, attack bonuses, save bonuses and AC - the standards, all of which scale with the chastise daily use progression. 2nd level provides eldritch hands, which is a temporary hit points granting variant of lay on hands, governed by Int (not properly capitalized in text), with 1/2 class level + Int-mod daily uses and 1d10 + 1/2 class level gained for use. This is upgrades to 2d10 + class level at 14th level.

The temporary hit points last an hour and touching others is a standard action, personal sue a swift action. 3rd level nets a familiar at full progression (WTF?), with 10th level providing Improved Familiar for free. 5th level provides at-will mount, though it can't be recast until its duration expires, so no mount spamming, which represents a nice catch. This upgrades to phantom steed at 11th level.

6th level and every 3 thereafter net a bonus feat chosen from combat, metamagic, Spell Focus or Spell Mastery or an Arcane Discovery.

Starting at 8th level, as a standard action, the templar can generate a 1-round aura that increases CLs or arcane spells by 1 and their DC similarly by 1, usable 3 + Int-mod times per day. 11th level allows the templar to expend two uses of chastise to grant all allies within 10 feet the ability to chastise, though they need to do so before the templar's next turn. Sooo, can the chastise once? As often as the templar? Before or after expenditure? Do they deplete his chastise-uses? That one could be more precise. The aura is a bit too opaque. It is upgraded by another +1 and a decreased activation action at 17th level. The capstone makes the templar immune to mundane weapons (Yay at this level?) and allows him to once per chastise double the damage bonus, add a targeted greater dispel magic AND end the chastise, allowing for a flexibility the class could have used sooner.

The pdf sports a feat for +2 chastise uses and the eldritch vindicator, a cold iron bastard sword that becomes more powerful in the hands of a templar...bingo, it's basically the equivalent of the good ole' holy avenger etc. It also sports some minor formatting hiccups.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are decent - the rules-language and formal criteria, for the most part, are solid, if not always perfect. Layout adheres to a printer-friendly two-column b/w-standard and the b/w-artwork's nice for a PWYW file. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.

The templar by Angel "ARMR" Miranda is a decent take on the arcane paladin - nothing more, nothing less. It is, in short, a pretty basic rules-operation, with the oaths being the one source of player-agenda apart from the spells. The class's spellcasting engine is pretty brutal, but has to make up for the loss of mercies...which brings me to another point - this is basic and it could have been interesting: Adapting arcane mercies or tapping a substitution ability into the sellcasting instead of going the standard route could have made this guy really interesting. As written, it is a decent take on the trope, though I've seen better. On the plus-side, this being PWYW means that you can check it out rather easily and determine whether it's for you or not. If you need a quick arcane pala class with minor rough edges and sans frills, this may be worth taking a look at. My final verdict will clock in at 2.5 stars, rounded up by virtue of being PWYW.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Templar Base Class
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Chemist Base Class
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 12/01/2016 11:35:51

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This base-class clocks in at 7 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 3 pages of content, so let's take a look!

The chemist-base class presented here receives d10 HD, 4 + Int skills per level, proficiency with simple and alchemical weapons as well as all armors and shields, excluding tower shields. The class gets full BAB-progression as well as good Fort-saves.

Unfortunately, we have a minor hiccup in the first ability of the class alchemical study, namely that they add + level, not class level, to Craft (alchemy)-checks. The class begins play with 1/day alchemical smite: This is activated as a move action and adds acid, cold, electricity or fire damage equal to the class level. The ability lasts for class level + Int-mod rounds and a weapon thus modified is treated as an alchemical weapon for master of alchemy. You get +1/day uses at 4th level and every 3 levels thereafter.

2nd level nets poison resistance, which improves by +1 every 3 levels thereafter. 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter net you your choice of either a bonus feat (combat feat or Brew Potion, the latter not being properly capitalized) or an alchemist discovery chosen from a small selection, with most focusing on gaining mutagen/enhancing it. 4th level unlocks extracts, which proceed to scale up to 4th level, acting as basically alchemist -3 levels, akin to how ranger, pala, et al deal with delayed spellcasting.

5th level provides some serious overkill regarding math: +1/2 class level "to all saving throws allowed by his alchemical weapons or items" - or at least that's what I think it's supposed to do. It could also mean that the class gains this bonus to avoid damage from his own alchemical items...but ultimately, no matter how you read it, the ability is lacking in precision. 13th level nets resistance 5 to acid, cold, electricity and fire, which increases by +5 at 16th and 19th level. The aforementioned master of alchemy wold be the capstone, which doubles the threat range when using alchemical weapons and also lacks a verb somewhere. I don't know what "their damage improved one step" is supposed to mean. Additionally, crit multiplier is increased by one and they cannot be disarmed or sundered...which is a sucky flat-out immunity. Not even gods? Seriously? When not go with a big bonus instead?

The pdf also offers a new discovery: Variable smite lets you change the smite element at the "Cost of an additional turn of his alchemical smite" - does that mean round? Or activation? No idea, opaque, next.

The pdf then concludes with 3 alchemical weapons, all of which come with nice b/w-drawings/artworks. The first would be a 1d8 touch AC-attacking palm that deals 1d8 acid damage that can be opened as a move action, lasting one minute after being opened. Chilled Scourges would do the same for cold, but open up a question: The palm is, flavorwise, a glove, which eliminates that item-slot. The scourge is not...so...why? Finally, the lightning rod would do the same...well, for electricity. Same question applies.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are pretty good on a formal level. On a rules-language-level, some ambiguities have crept in, though. Layout adheres to a solid two-column b/w-standard and the b/w-artworks provided are nice. The pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none at this length.

Angel "ARMR" Miranda's chemist is per se a decent class in theme; the full BAB-alchemy-user is a neat idea and one I most certainly can get behind as a huge fan of the witcher; that being said, it falls pretty flat. Alchemical smite, the one active class feature at low levels, sucks hard and the class, as a whole, just feels wrong; just feels like it doesn't really get to do what it's supposed to do. The chemist presented here isn't that good at blowing stuff up, at adding cool effects to his weapons...at pretty much the niche chosen for it, theme-wise. It is not a bad class per se, but it certainly can use a power-upgrade, more options...you get the idea. As a whole, in spite of the fair proposition of this being PWYW, I can't go higher than 3 stars on this fellow.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Chemist Base Class
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The Thingomancer Prestige Class
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 04/19/2016 08:01:35

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This pdf clocks in at 9 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 3 pages of SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 3 pages of content, so let's take a look!

Thingomancers possess and use many...things. As such, they need to be chaotic, have Craft Wondrous Item and be able to cast 3rd level spells and have at least 5 ranks in Appraise...and Craft (backpack making). The PrC nets d8 HD, 6+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, 1/2 Will-save-progression and full spellcasting progression. Thingomancers also gain proficiency with all martial weapons.

At first level, they get the Thingamajig-ability, crafting a special backpack that has the characteristics of a bag of holding type I, with the caveat that he can only have one of these and may retrieve items from it as a move action. This upgrades to type II at 5th level, type IV at 9th level.

Also at first level, the PrC learns Thingomancy, adding class level as a bonus to Perception to detect objects (i.e. not creatures) and UMD. Starting at 2nd level, the PrC gains Eschew Materials as a bonus feat (formatting flawed: Feats are depicted in capital letters, not italicized) and the thingomancer is always treated as though he has 2K Gp worth of costly material components, though the value is taken from the total gold he has - no cheesing possible...kudos!! This GP-amount increases per level beyond 2nd by +1000 GP. The capacity to pull costly components from thin air refreshes upon resting. At 3rd level, Thingomancers get their class level as a bonus to Disable Device (not properly capitalized in the text) and may disable magical traps.

Starting at 3rd level, the thingomancer may draw mundane objects from his thingamajig, though they evaporate after 24 hours. The ability can be used class level + Int mod times per day. Here, I have an issue: Can the thingomancer produce specific items like e.g. the key for the lock there? At 4th level, the thingomancer may call forth weapons and even ammunition, with enhancement bonuses equal to 1/2 class level, lasting for 1 hour before exploding in confetti. At 7th level, the thingomancer can draw forth masterwork mundane items and gets +3 daily uses.

At 6th level, the PrC gets a pool of class level x 1000 GP gold, usable for crafting purposes only. the pool refreshes every week...and wrecks the WBL assumptions completely. While this may not be much of an issue, in crafting intense games or long-term games à la Kingmaker with plenty of downtime, this is deadly.

Starting at 8th level, the thingomancer can expend a spell slot or prepared spell of 5th level or higher to duplicate the effects of a rod of wonder. Additionally, when activating such an item, he may roll twice and choose the results. On a nitpicky side, this ability lacks the activation action, though I assume rod of wonder activation as a baseline for the action to activate the ability. As a 10th level capstone, he may call forth a deck of many things and draw a single card. If he does have the item, he may discard up to Intelligence modifier cards sans activating them, but must draw an equal amount of new cards. The duplication of conjuring forth the deck also lacks the activation action.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good on a formal level, though I've read books by the author with more precise rules-language and less minor formatting hiccups. Layout adheres to ARMR Studios' two-column b/w-standard and the pdf has no bookmarks, but needs none. The b/w-artworks provided are surprisingly nice for a PWYW-product - kudos!

Angel Miranda's thingomancer is a solid take on the crazy prepared-type of character and the theme. That being said, it is a tad bit less precise in activation actions than I would like it to be - while drawing items can be assumed as a baseline, actually spelling it out would have been nice. The lack of a specific-items caveat is a bit annoying, but the one thing one really needs to be careful with is the crafting pool: While perfectly feasible in fast-paced campaigns, any campaign without stringent time frames can make the tons of free crafting gold at 6th level very strong.

And yes, due to my propensity for cursed items (or those that belonged to powerful entities), I have ample experience with crafting-heavy PCs...and yes, such a free gold-pool kills basically the main means of reigning such characters in. This does make what would otherwise be a surprisingly cool PrC problematic. That being said, this is still a PrC available as "Pay What You Want" and as such, its minor glitches do pale somewhat. My final verdict will hence clock in at 3.5 stars, rounded up due to it being PWYW and in dubio pro reo.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
The Thingomancer Prestige Class
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Zauberer Hybrid Class
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 04/15/2016 06:24:46

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This PWYW-class-pdf clocks in at 11 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 3 pages of SRD, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 5 pages of content, so let's take a look!

Zauberer (German for Wizard, btw. - and the same word in singular and plural) would be a combination between sorceror and magus. Class-chassis-wise, the Zauberer received d8 HD, 3/4 BAB-progression, good Fort- and Will-saves, 4+Int skills per level, proficiency with simple and martial weapons and light armor. Zauberer do not incur spell failure while in light armor and yes, the rules-language is precise enough and allows for no means to cheese this via multiclassing - kudos. Zauberer cast spells from the Sorceror spell-list and begin with 3 cantrips known and receives spontaneous spellcasting of up to 6th level, governed by Charisma and drawn from the Sorceror's spell-list.

At 1st level, he gains a so-called Mag pool equal to 1/2 class level + Charisma modifier. He may expend said points as a swift action to grant a +1 enhancement bonus to the weapon wielded for 1 minute, increasing by +1 every 4 levels beyond 1st. These bonuses stack with inherent bonuses of the weapon and themselves and 5th level unlocks the usual weapon properties, which consume their equivalent of bonuses. The minimum +1 to hold the properties is maintained, preventing cheesing. Spell combat is adapted to Charisma and 2nd level provides Spellstrike and a sorceror bloodline. The Zauberer gains the bloodline arcana of the chosen bloodline and the ability takes multiple bloodline-granting classes into account. Bloodline Powers are gained two levels after the sorceror, at 3rd, 5th, 11th and 17th level, but treats his Zauberer level as his sorceror level for the purpose of their numerical and non-numerical parameters and effects. So far, so expected.

At 4th level, the class becomes more interesting: Here, the class gains the ability to deliver rays as melee touch attacks and the ability takes multiple-target ranged touch attacks and the like into account. 6th level provides the spell pool-based option to cast spells by expending mag points equal to spell level. Metamagic feats may not be added to spells powered by the mag pool. As a nitpick: The ability, while clear in its intentions, does not specify that the spell thus powered does not expend the spell slot of the associated level. At 12th level, only 1/2 mag points (minimum 1) are required to power the spells and the Zauberer may modify these spells via metamagic feats by expending additional mag points equal to the spell-level increase and sans casting time increase.

6th level provides medium armor (and casting in it), 11th level unlocks heavy armor. At 7th level, Zauberer count as though they were 1/2 class level fighters for prerequisite purposes and 10th level + every 3 levels thereafter provide a bonus combat, item creation or metamagic feat.

At 8th level, the class may spend + 1 mag pool point to increase the balde-enhancement duration to 1 hour and 9th level provides +2 to concentration checks when using spell combat or spellstrike, with 14th level eliminating AoOs when using either. 15th level provides spell critical: When he confirms a critical hit, he may cast a spell as an immediate action that contains the target of the crit among the AoE. This is slightly problematic - since the class gets sorc-spells and these include spells with LONG casting times, the lack of specifications regarding limitations of eligible spell casting duration mean that the class could theoretically cheese casting times. At 18th level, 7 cleric spells, one for each level, are unlocked and as a capstone, the class gets +2 to atk, damage, penetrating SR and increases spell DC by this amount when using spell combat and spellstrike.

The class sports a supplemental feat that increases mag pool-size by +2.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are rather tight regarding rules-language and formal criteria - neat ob! Layout adheres to a two-column b/w-standard and is pretty printer-friendly. The sketches of the character are solid, considering the PWYW-nature of the book. The pdf has no bookmarks.

Angel Miranda's Zauberer is a surprisingly well-crafted hybrid that plays different from what I expected - the ray-in-melee-trick is interesting (and can result in pretty nasty sudden death-boom-touch-combos) and the class plays surprisingly different from the already rather flexible magus: Instead of flexibility, the theme here is potency and the Zauberer does the job well. The spell-list-difference also results in different playing experiences, allowing the Zauberer to be more "blasty." While there are some very minor hiccups and while this won't win an innovation prize, it is a surprisingly solid take on the spontaneous magus concept that has more unique identity than I expected. Taking the fair Pay-what-you-want-model into account, this definitely is worth a tip. My final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Zauberer Hybrid Class
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Monstrous Menagerie Vol. I
by Craig C. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/07/2015 21:38:48

Nice little job by ARMR Studios on this small little bestiary. The monsters were extremely detailed and quite well executed. And for the price (free), you can't beat it. I'm looking forward to seeing what they put out next!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Monstrous Menagerie Vol. I
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Zauberer Hybrid Class
by Me M. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 06/04/2015 17:33:21

I really liked this hybrid class! Magus and Sorcerer is such a great combination, I don't know why no one made a hybrid for it before now. The abilities from the parents classes that the author gave the hybrid class mesh together really well. At the same time, the class has been balanced very well, it's good, but it doesn't give the bank away at the same time. I would definitely allow this class in my games. The artwork for the file is really nice too. I would have liked to see it nice and colored out all the way, but it still looks good! Not too mention the product didn't cost me anything, so I can't really complain! I give this product 10/10 stars! :)



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Zauberer Hybrid Class
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Vindicator base class
by John S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/31/2015 05:52:26

It just seems a little to complicated, this could also be a variant as apposed to a stand alone class in my humble opion



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Vindicator base class
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