One of the coolest features of this issue of the zine is six new classes. Who doesn't love new classes? My guess is people that don't like fun. I kid... The authors actually discuss how some groups don't like having too many classes and while I don't agree, I get it. What are these new classes? They are:
- Acolyte - these religious zealots have divine abilities, but aren't traditional divine casters. They have six divine skills (which replicate magic abilities), can create and use divine magic items, and can heal with touch. The divine skills are percentile based skill checks (like thief abilities)
- Gargantua - "Big Siblings of Humankind" gargantua are 7 1/2' tall humanoids, they are able to open barred doors better than the average adventure, like giants they can also hurl rocks, gargantua are essentially D&D's goliaths.
- Goblin - as I mentioned recently, I love goblins!, members of this humanoid class gain an AC bonus against creatures larger than humans, can detect construction tricks, have infravision, can move silently like thieves, and have an affinity with wolves (which they can ride)
- Hephaestan - these demihumans have mental powers, have bonuses when listening at doors, can knock folks out by putting pressure on nerves, and look similar to elves.... yeah you guessed it these are OSE Vulcans. Okay, now that I think about it the name is a give away too...
- Kineticist - these warriors can use mental powers to harness force, the have enhanced AC, mental defenses, honestly they feel like Jedi to me
- Mage - these students of the arcane are similar to acolytes, they don't cast spells on their own, but can create and use magic items (including scrolls), they have innate mage armor, can heal and allow a new saving throw against a negative effective, and can imbue mundane staffs with arcane magic when they wield them
The previously described gargantua, goblin, and hephaestan are given racial statistics if you choose the race and class are separate rules from Advanced Fantasy.
The zine introduces rules for black powder firearms. There is a basic discussion of firearms, rules for who are proficient with what types, new specialists adventurers can hire, as well as equipment listings and rules for specific types of guns and accessories. I've toyed around with running some OSE Freeport and these rules will be very useful if I do that.
There are a few new optional rules to modify your OSE games. There's a new rule that introduces combat talents. These are six new fighting style/combat tricks that give fighters new flair and help them differentiate from their peers. These are reminiscent of the Battlemaster fighter subclass abilities from 5e. Another new rule is d6 thief skills. The author admits that "fixing the thief" is a very common old school rules tweak so he presents an alternative to the standard percentile skills. In addition, there are some discussion of adjudicating thief skills. These are guidelines and rulings related those class abilities. One thing I really like is a discussion of whether a non-thief can attempt the skill and what their chances are.
I am extremely pleased with this zine. The content is very useful and I got it at a great price. I was able to snag print and pdf for five bucks because it from EF's Reanimated section. That means it has some sort of imperfection. Honestly I don't see any noticeable issues with my copy. I definitely want to pick up the other two issues. If you're interested Necrotic Gnome's product page will direct you to where you can snag it.
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