The Jilted Quill
Week One Reviews
Golemancy
From Gerard Shore
Price: $2.00
Golemancy is a short, but entertaining supplement that focuses on, you guessed it, Golems including how they are made, controlled, along with different feats and spells pertaining to Golemancy. The most interesting piece of content is the addition of two new Archetypes: Scool of Golemancy (Arcane) and Elite Controller (Martial) which can really turn up the dial of your character if you want more golem(y?) goodness.
Quality - Presentation and readability of the product.
(Possible Points: 18/20)
Utility - How easy the product can be used for other settings or mined for ideas.
(Possible Points: 8/10)
Innovation - How original is the content?
(Possible Points: 8/10)
Price - The overall value to price ratio according to me.
(Possible Points: 10/10)
Golemancy was the first product that I reviewed for The Jilted Quill and I was very impressed by the production quality of the PDF itself. I was able to read the content without any problems, but there are a few pages where the background gets in the way of the actual text (Pages 11 and 12). I will most certainly be offering the options puts forth in Golemancy to my players as it brings a lot of flavor to an under served spell category. My only wish was that Gerard had gone a few steps farther and offered a few more options such as a divine archetype, think God-fueled golem or a golem driven by the natural will of a forest. Golemancy creates some new options that we haven't yet seen in 5th Edition, and hasn't been covered to a great extant in earlier editions of D&D, but it doesn't go far enough to be considered completely original in my book. The supplement is available for $2.00 via the DMs Guild, which at 20 cents per page of content is a great deal for the options put forth.
Total QUIP Score: 44/50 - Buy this supplement!
Vampires
From Gerard Shore
Price: $2.00
Vampires is a creepy supplement that takes a look at the blood-sucking denizens of the night that we all know DON'T sparkle. Gerard Shore shows us exactly how varied Vampires can be, including races brought into 5E in a new way, powers based on the age of your vampire, four powerful vampire lineages, and the Vampiric class: Strigoi.
Quality - Presentation and readability of the product.
(Possible Points: 18/20)
Utility - How easy the product can be used for other settings or mined for ideas.
(Possible Points: 10/10)
Innovation - How original is the content?
(Possible Points: 4/10)
Price - The overall value to price ratio according to me.
(Possible Points: 10/10)
Gerard Shore continue to impress me with the production quality of the PDFs he puts releases. I was able to read the content without any problems, but there are a few pages where the background gets in the way of the actual text (Pages 11 and 13) just like in Golemancy. I am not too sure about the balance of many of the power options put forth in this supplement. One could argue that if the DM truly enforces vampiric weaknesses, just like they should enforce spell components for spell casters, that characters who use these options shouldn't run the world (too quickly). Woe betide the DM that wants a decades spanning campaign, so prepare for your vampiric characters to bring on the pain as they buy new abilities the older they get with Shore's Powers of the Ancients system. All that being said, I am not the best person to be the final arbiter of supreme balance, so take all that with a grain of (garlic) salt. Vampires revitalizes Vampires for those who just have to suck blood in their D&D games, and the Strigoi class along with the Power of the Ancients system provides some nice crunch for the mechanically inclined. The supplement is available for $2.00 via the DMs Guild, coming in at around 13 cents per page of content which is an even better deal than Golemancy.
Total QUIP Score: 42/50 - Buy this supplement (along with some garlic bread)!
5E Old School & Oriental Adventures
From SRS
Price: N/A
5e Old School and Oriental Adventures is a massive 191 page supplement put out by SRS. The title pretty much covers the basics and it would take almost as many pages as the actual book to cover what's inside. Essentially the book tries to bring some of the mechanical essence from past editions of the game, especially 1st Edition, and spruce them up for use with 5E. Be warned, the exact carbon copy tables of past editions are not here, so move along! The other part of this product covers Oriental Adventures where SRS resurects some sub-races and classes to add some *karate sound* and bushido to your games of D&D.
Quality - Presentation and readability of the product.
(Possible Points: 12/20)
Utility - How easy the product can be used for other settings or mined for ideas.
(Possible Points: 10/10)
Innovation - How original is the content?
(Possible Points: 5/10)
Price - The overall value to price ratio according to me.
(Possible Points: 10/10)
SRS does a great job at bringing a lot of Old School concepts and Oriental shenanigans into 5th Edition. The presentation of the book is black and white, evoking the feel of past editions. The design choice didn't make me want to stab myself in the eyes and/or throw my iPad on the floor in disgust, but it was a little boring to read with the content sea of text only occasionally broken up by islands of black and white art work. The book doesn't take a huge amount of leaps and bounds in terms of innovative content and design, but for those who like the modern take of D&D yet long for some nostalgic changes than this book is for you! The tome is Pay-What-You-Want, so I have no arguments with the price, as you can choose what the value is to you. I would suggest at least $5.00 as SRS has gone to a lot of trouble to bring all these options and tables to the masses that crave some old school play.
Total QUIP Score: 37/50 - A solid product. For the Old School in body (or mind)!
The Mottled Donkey
From Jon Willem van den Brink
Price: N/A
A man's donkey is taken. . . I don't think you understand what I just said! SOMEBODY STOLE A MAN'S ASS! Who does that?! I ask you?!!! Well, you can find out why this donkey is stolen, better yet you get to get down and dirty in Baldur's Gate to do it. Play a card game, or not. Punch a bar wench! Or not. . . The fun doesn't stop in this little adventure from Jon Willem van den Brink.
Quality - Presentation and readability of the product.
(Possible Points: 16/20)
Utility - How easy the product can be used for other settings or mined for ideas.
(Possible Points: 10/10)
Innovation - How original is the content?
(Possible Points: 6/10)
Price - The overall value to price ratio according to me.
(Possible Points: 10/10)
Jon Willem van den Brink did a great job with this adventure. The presentation gets to the point and doesn't spare too much of the reader's time getting down to business. The maps are well made and are provided in a separate document for ease of use in digital play. My only significant gripe was the lack of character portraits, as even a few help me as a DM get into the roles I will have to play when the adventure ensues. You can pay what you want for this title as well and I believe the author deserves more than the average $0.83, at the time of writing this review, for this little gem. I'd trade him my ass for it.
Total QUIP Score: 42/50 - A great jaunt through an urban setting. No donkey left behind!
Hand of the Wychlaran
From Dave Zajac
Price: $2.99
Hand of Wychlaran was a joy to read, as Dave Zajac's presentation of the adventure as well as the design and layout has led me to point to this product for would-be designers and writers on how it should be done. Just like Jon Willem van den Brink's adventure, Dave wastes little of my time getting me into the meat of the adventure while also providing me with high quality maps, info boxes and art to accompany me on my journey of the mind.
Quality - Presentation and readability of the product.
(Possible Points: 20/20)
Utility - How easy the product can be used for other settings or mined for ideas.
(Possible Points: 10/10)
Innovation - How original is the content?
(Possible Points: 10/10)
Price - The overall value to price ratio according to me.
(Possible Points: 10/10)
Dave Zajac hit the ball out of the park with this adventure. The maps and files he provides makes it easy for a digital DM to make this adventure work very easily for his group, and it also makes it easy to print these off for a home game too! I couldn't think of a single slightly negative thing to say about this product, and $2.99 is a very fair price for this gem!
Total QUIP Score: 50/50 - Buy it. Right now. No, really, stop reading this and add it to your cart.
Balance Disturbed (BDC-1)
From Dan Harlan
Price: $1.00
Balance Disturbed is the start of an epic adventure coming to us from Dan Harlan. I enjoyed reading this adventure as it really encapsulates the essence of the DMs Guild to me, where everyone can share their content and bring their stories to life for others to enjoy.
Quality - Presentation and readability of the product.
(Possible Points: 14/20)
Utility - How easy the product can be used for other settings or mined for ideas.
(Possible Points: 7/10)
Innovation - How original is the content?
(Possible Points: 4/10)
Price - The overall value to price ratio according to me.
(Possible Points: 10/10)
Balance Disturbed is the exciting beginning to a what I am sure will be an epic campaign arc. Dan sweeps you along without too much in the way of pleasantries, but the adventure is solid and makes for an easy pick-up. The PDF suffers from some editing where text boxes are split on two different pages and the legal terms start immediately after the end of the actual content. Nothing super major, but the adventure could use a little beautifying, but I am also a little bit of a graphics snob since I work in marketing in my day job! (Don't hurt me Dan!) All that being said, the adventure is easily portable to a different campaign world and for the price of just $1.00 you can have a great adventure with the potential for more epic stories connected to it. I can dig that!
Total QUIP Score: 35/50 - Solid adventure with the potential for more. No imagination in your brain? Buy your imagination from Dan, he's got you covered.
I have really enjoyed reviewing all of these products and I thank the authors for giving me the opportunity. Unfortunately, due to real life circumstances which pertain to buying a house, I will have to put The Jilted Quill on hiatus for an indefinite period of time. I would love to hear any feedback, especially from the authors, as to what I could do to improve my reviews or whether or not I should go into more detail. I tried to be relatively general to engender in the reader a desire to grace these fine authors with their patronage.