Endzeitgeist
First Post
This pdf is 14 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page inside of the front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC and SRD, 1 page ad, 1 page intro to the file and 1 page back cover.
That leaves 7 pages of content. Editing and formatting is top-notch, the b/w-artwork (some of it recycled from other Raging Swan products) is beautiful, as I’ve come to expect from Raging Swan.
In contrast to many other Raging Swan books, Bard’s Tales contains no mechanics, but rather fluff stories for your bard to tell in-game. I really think that this is an AWESOME idea an should be expanded.
However, there is also a problem: Some of the stories/nonsenses etc. are traditional and someone well-versed in folklore may have already heard the stories/know them, essentially paying for the original components. Unfortunately, the piece inspired by the Bleached Skull Gnolls ranks among my least favorite parts of the book – the payoff is too blunt.
That being said, the price-point is very low.
Conclusion:
This is hard to rate due to the lack of crunch. I have to admit that I had high expectations for this one, which have somewhat been disappointed – while the stories, riddles and poems were nice, none awe-struck me with brilliance. Plus, I already knew some of them. That being said, I think that Bard’s Tales is a great idea, just that it should contain ORIGINAL content and needs some polishing – especially the gnoll-story underwhelmed me. The story featuring Arthur was utterly unnecessary and, worst of all, hard to implement.
The rhymes of the rhymes didn’t rhyme.
The stories I liked, I already knew.
Due to the low price, I’ll settle for 1.5 stars. 1 star for people well-versed in folklore, 2 stars for those who aren’t and who don’t have the time or motivation to google stories and rhymes.
I’m hoping for improvements in the future.
That leaves 7 pages of content. Editing and formatting is top-notch, the b/w-artwork (some of it recycled from other Raging Swan products) is beautiful, as I’ve come to expect from Raging Swan.
In contrast to many other Raging Swan books, Bard’s Tales contains no mechanics, but rather fluff stories for your bard to tell in-game. I really think that this is an AWESOME idea an should be expanded.
However, there is also a problem: Some of the stories/nonsenses etc. are traditional and someone well-versed in folklore may have already heard the stories/know them, essentially paying for the original components. Unfortunately, the piece inspired by the Bleached Skull Gnolls ranks among my least favorite parts of the book – the payoff is too blunt.
That being said, the price-point is very low.
Conclusion:
This is hard to rate due to the lack of crunch. I have to admit that I had high expectations for this one, which have somewhat been disappointed – while the stories, riddles and poems were nice, none awe-struck me with brilliance. Plus, I already knew some of them. That being said, I think that Bard’s Tales is a great idea, just that it should contain ORIGINAL content and needs some polishing – especially the gnoll-story underwhelmed me. The story featuring Arthur was utterly unnecessary and, worst of all, hard to implement.
The rhymes of the rhymes didn’t rhyme.
The stories I liked, I already knew.
Due to the low price, I’ll settle for 1.5 stars. 1 star for people well-versed in folklore, 2 stars for those who aren’t and who don’t have the time or motivation to google stories and rhymes.
I’m hoping for improvements in the future.
