Autobots Roll Out!

Want to add Transformers to your Pathfinder or Starfinder game? It's probably not something you've thought about, but now that I've mentioned it, you're kind of interested, right? No? To each their own. However, if your answer is yes, Epic Races: Adapticons has got what you need.

The pdf is 25 pages (including front and back cover, a page of advertisements, three pages of OGL). It gives you everything you need to play a transfor... adapticon in Pathfinder (or soon Starfinder). The book starts with history and origins of the race. To be honest, if I added them to my game I'd probably just straight lift all of that from Transformers. That being said, the background isn't a bad one.

In game terms the designers created the race emulating racial creation rules from the Advanced Race Guide. Adapticons are "multi-formed constructs" which means they have the construct and shapechanger subtype. They are large and get bonuses to Str, Wis, and Con, while getting penalties on Dex and Cha.  They get an alternate vehicle form, though there are also options to have a metallic animal form, or even not being able to transform. There are Pathfinder favored class options and two racial archetypes (Spybot and Transporter). While these are cool, I kind of wish this pdf had came out a little later and we could have seen Starfinder racial archetypes (assuming the game has them). Note that adapticons do use vehicle rules which are found in Ultimate Combat. We get a new vehicle (dwarven dozer), nine feats (metamagic and racial), and several bits of new equipment (some magical, some technological).

Overall, I think this is a fun pdf. It's not a must have by any means, but it's still really cool. The race isn't overpowered and due to its size and actually has some rough drawbacks (beware of rust monsters).

To be honest, I mainly picked it up because I thought it would be cool for Starfinder, and I hope the pdf gets an update once that book comes out.

Starfinder First Contact Review

If you weren't able to pick up the monster/alien manual preview of Starfinder for Free RPG Day, you might be happy to know the pdf available for free on Paizo's website. You can snag it here.

The 20 page document discusses stat blocks and some changes from Pathfinder to Starfinder (and how to convert). There's a lot of familiar, but there's some interesting new stuff.

The book then gives us 12 different stat blocks. They are (in order of CR)

Space Goblin - 1/3
Space Pirate Crew Member - 1
Contemplative - 2
Haan - 3
Ksarik - 4
Security Robot - 4
Space Pirate Captain - 4
Sarcesian - 5
Orocoran - 6
Bloodbrother - 7
Ellicoth - 9
Necrovite - 13

Of these the Sarcesian, Haan, Space Goblin, and Contemplative can be pc races.

I'm going to be honest, I am looking forward to Starfinder, though I'm a bit apprehensive about some of the new rules. Still, this is a nice little sampler.

That being said, I definitely don't feel like it was the best Free RPG Day offering.

Starfinder

Landing in August of this year, Starfinder is a science fantasy rpg that's fully compatible (and the future... setting-wise) of Pathfinder. I'm a bit familiar with some setting info outside of Golarion because of Distant Worlds, People of the Stars, and the Iron Gods adventure path. Initially my interest in Starfinder was very mild. I thought it was a cool idea, but whatever. However, the more I see Paizo talk about it and the more I think about it, the more excited I get.

This Polygon article does a great job of talking about the game.

Our first official taste of Starfinder will be with Paizo's Free RPGDay offering, First Contact.

Pre-orders are up for the core book, monster book, the adventure path, and several accessories.

Also, once I get the book you can be damned sure this is going to happen.

So anyone else interested in Starfinder?

Pathfinder Worldscape Humble Bundle

If you're interested in Pathfinder you should check out the Pathfinder Worldscape Humble Bundle. It has pdfs of several Pathfinder products (including the core rulebook, Beginner Box, and bestiary) and comics. Many of the comics are Pathfinder comics (which tend to contain gaming material). Others are comics related to the current Pathfinder Worldscape storyline (which is Pathfinder meets Red Sonja, Tarzan, and John Carter.

This is what you get:

Email Address Sign-Up
Iron Gods Player's Guide
Pathfinder: Worldscape #1

Tier 1 ($1)
BeginnerBox
Core Rulebook
Fires of Creation (Iron Gods 1)
Lords of Rust (Iron Gods 2)
Pathfinder #1-12
Pathfinder: Goblins #1-5

Tier 2 ($8)
Strategy Guide
The Choking Tower (Iron Gods 3)
Valley of the Brain Collectors (Iron Gods 4)
Palace of the Fallen Stars (Iron Gods 5)
Pathfinder Companion: People of the Stars
Pathfinder: Worldscape #2
Dynamite Exclusive Battle Map Comic Store Invasion
Humble Bonus Map: Infernal Sanctuary
Humble Bonus Map: Feast Halls

Tier 3 ($15)
Pathfinder Society: Year of the Demon Scenario Maga-Pack (27 adventures)
The Divine Drive (Iron Gods 6)
Ultimate Campaign
Bestiary
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Technology Guide
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Distant Worlds
Red Sonja Volume 2 #1-6
Thun'Da #1-5
Warlords of Mars #1-9
Lords of the Jungle #1-15
Pathfinder Hollow Mountain #1-6
26 assorted unique posters showcasing various Pathfinder characters

Bonus Tier ($25)
Red Sonja: Worldscape Special (Physical Copy)
John Carter of Mars: Worldscape Special (Physical Copy)
Tarzan: Worldscape Special (Physical Copy)
Pathfinder Worldscape Special (Physical Copy)
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Again if you like Pathfinder or have ever wanted to mix sci-fi into your game, this is the bundle for you. Iron Gods is basically Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, the campaign.

Pathfinder: People of the Rivers

I recently snagged some Pathfinder books at a great price and decided to keep my little mini reviews going. Today I'm going to talk about Pathfinder Player's Companion: People of the River.

The Basics: People of the River is a full-color 32 page Pathfinder book. The retail price is 12.99. It's a player focused book that describe the people that live in areas that border the Sellen River. The book is a tie-in to both the Iron Gods adventure path and The Emerald Spire and Thornkeep.

The Good: This book has a lot of crunch. It has 29 traits, 6 archetypes, seven feats, a cavalier order, 3 arcane discoveries, a sorcerous bloodline, barbarian powers,10 magic items, 7 spells, and more. My favorite archetypes are the witch ones. First we have the veneficus, which is a witch that specializes in poison. The second archetype is hag of Gyronna. This which dedicates herself to the minor goddesses of hags. Finally there is a really cool map of the Sellen River region that looks like something you could hand your players in game. The other thing that's cool about this book is that it's a good resource for Kingmaker, which takes place in the northeastern part of the River Kingdoms.

The Bad: This book is very divided. The material is either useful for Iron Gods or Emerald Spire, with not a lot of crossing over. It's just odd.

Final Thoughts: If you're playing Iron Gods, The Emerald Spire, or Kingmaker you will probably find this book useful. Otherwise, it's one to pass on.

Pathfinder: Distant Worlds

This is a companion post to my discussion of Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the Stars.

The Basics: Distant Worlds is a full-color 63 page Pathfinder setting book. The retail price is 19.99. There are three chapters. The first is a gazetteer of the Pathfinder universe. Each heavenly body gets about four pages which is an overview, a section on adventuring, important locations, and adventure hooks. The second chapter (which is only four pages). One page of this is a title page, two and a half are pretty bare bones rules and discussion on getting between planets and dealing with other atmospheres, and finally a half page with two spells (planetary adaptation, and mass planetary adaptation) and one magic item (pressure suit). The final chapters gives us six new monsters and a page listing monsters from other books and what planets they tend to inhabit.

The Good: The descriptions of the planets give you a good overview. Each world feels pretty unique (yet archetypal to sci-fi fans). The new monsters are all unique, yet familiar. The Shobad are my favorites, but who doesn't love four-armed tribal warriors?

The Bad: There's just not enough material in this book. I was really disappointed in the lack of discussion of vessels and how to get in between worlds (this is because I'm a Spelljammer fan). Also, the book has tech. If you don't like tech mixing with your fantasy, stay away.

Final Thoughts: With the amount of information that could be in this book, I think it would have made a great hardcover. I also feel like this book and People of the Stars are a part of an incomplete collection. I feel like there needs to be a third book that discusses space adventuring. I don't recomend this one, unless you really just want to read about the other planets. People of the Stars is cool, especially if you're running Iron Gods, but Distant Worlds is a super niche book.

Pathfinder: People of the Stars

My recent purchase of Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition has resurrected my love for Pathfinder. New Year's Eve I stopped by Dungeon Dwellers, the game store in my home town, and decided to pick something up. Since my friends are doing a Pathfinder Spelljammer game, I decided to pick People of the Stars.

The Basics: People of the Stars is a full-color 32 page Pathfinder setting book. The retail price is 12.99. The book is a player focused look at the other planets of the Pathfinder setting. The book has four new races, feats, archetypes, equipment, spells, magic items, and traits.

The Good: The four races are interesting. The nanite using androids and four-armed kasathas are my favorites. Each of the races has it's own class archetype. The brief planet sidebars give a good overview of the planets (at least from a player's perspective) and the traits associated with each are cool. The book discusses non-evil PC's that worship the Dark Tapestry (Elder and Outer Gods), which was unexpected and cool. I like the inclusion of simple gravity rules. This lets players know what to expect when traveling to different planets.

The Bad: This is also a very specialized book. It's definitely not for everyone. I assume most GM's won't allow most of this material in a typical Pathfinder game. Also, while this is fantasy in space material, it is not actually Spelljammer. It never makes that claim of course, but as a lifelong D&D player, my assumption is it would be something similar. While there is mention of a few space ships, none are detailed or really discussed.

Final Thoughts: I really liked this book. It's different and I dig that. I've ordered the GM book Distant Worlds and will discuss it once I get it and have had a chance to read through it.