knight_isa
First Post
Seas of Blood: Fantasy on the High Seas
Mongoose Publishing
ISBN 1-903980-08-9
128 pages (art on inside covers, 2 pages copyright/TOC/OGL, 2 pages index)
$19.95
I read a lot of reviews when trying to decide which seafaring book to buy. My FLGS didn't have any of them, nor did any of my friends, so based upon reviews alone I decided that Seas of Blood was closest to what I wanted, being concerned primarily with above-water travel.
Seas of Blood is all about seafaring. Prestige classes, rules for nautical travel and warfare, magic, monsters and ships are all included. Art ranges from passable to very good, and is usually relevant to the text. There are several computer-rendered pieces, which I think look bad in grayscale print, and a few bare-chested females, which I'd really rather not have in an RPG book. Outside margins are a bit wide, but the other margins are fairly tight. As this was written in the UK, British spelling is used (which doesn't bother me). Relevant (but mostly unnecessary) flavor text in shaded boxes is scattered throughout the book. It is, for the most part, a very attractive book.
Men of the Sea. This section discusses the role of existing character classes, offers an alternate druid (the sea druid), a 5 level NPC sailor class, 3 prestige classes (Buccaneer, Reaver, and Navigator Wizard), new skills (Profession(Navigator) and Knowledge(Seamanship), which is interchangeable with Profession(Sailor)), new feats, and information on hiring crew and mercenaries. Things for the most part seemed sound, though I doubt that I'll ever use the sailor class, and I'll probably convert all instances of Knowledge(Seamanship) to Profession(Sailor). 4.5
Nautical Travel. This section covers navigation, movement (both oared and sailed), weather conditions, visibility, seaworthiness, long voyages, and possibility of mutiny. Everything seemed straightforward enough. 5
Battles on the High Seas. This section explains the stat-block format used in the next section and covers ship-to-ship combat and crew combats. The ships use the same size names as creature, but they mean something different when applied to ships. I personally prefer to have one sizing convention, though some other people like the approach Mongoose took.
This section also introduces Structure Points (SP) that are sort of like HP for structures (1 SP is roughly equivalent to 10 HP). I was unsure about this at first, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. The only bad thing about SP is that I'll have to convert HP systems used by other works into SP. While on the structures this shouldn't be too difficult, the weapons part might be, as weapons inflict a different about of SP than HP, if they inflict SP damage at all.
A subset of Mongoose's Open Mass Combat System is presented as the method of resolving crew combats. It looks very simple and well done. I just might have to go out and buy The Quintessential Fighter just so I can get the rest of it.
I must point out that some of this section seemed repetitive. There is a paragraph on page 38 that is almost identical to a paragraph on page 45. There may be more instances like that, too. I first read this a few weeks ago, and remember the feeling of deja vu more than once, but looking back that is the only example I could quickly find. 4
Ships of the Seas and Ship Deck Plans. These sections detail all sorts of historical and fantastical sea-going vessels, offer up ship templates (cursed ship, death hulk, ghost ship, and skyship), and cover shipboard weaponry (including cannon, if you want to use them) and equipment. There is a profile for each ship, and deck plans for the top deck of all the ships except the Dwarven Floating Fortress. There wasn't any detailed custom ship building instructions, but there were such a variety of ships that I think I'll be able to find what I want. What I would have really liked to see but didn't was deck plans for all the decks. I've needed such things in the past, and I imagine that I'll need them in the future. 4
Sea Magic. This section presents 22 (by my count) new spells, some new magic items and rules for creating magical shipboard weaponry and intelligent ships. Almost everything seemed okay, but I think that the Skyship spell may be a bit overpowered, due to its 1 hour/level duration. [4.5]
Trade and Commerce. This section contains a way of handling trade via the Profession(Merchant) skill as well as fishing. This section seemed well done, although I noticed that the prices on precious metals (gold, silver, and copper) are off a bit (for instance, a pound of gold is worth 100 gp, even though 100 gp weigh two pounds). The was a small box detailing what the typical merchant might be like, but it would have been nice to have a couple of sample stat-blocks. [4.5]
Underwater Adventuring. This section covers the dangers of underwater travel, as well as the impact on attacks, spellcasting, and spells. 5
Monsters of the Deep: 11 new monsters, each one with an illustration. I don't think I'll ever use most of them, and none of them made me say, "Wow, I can't wait to use that!" 3
Campaigns on the High Seas, Designer's Notes, Nautical Glossary, and Rules Summary: These sections contain just what you'd think they'd contain. The Nautical Glossary was especially useful to a landlubber like myself. [4]
Conclusion: Overall, I thought this was a very good book. It's a bit more than a 4, but not quite a 5. I'll go with a 4, because I really want the below-deck plans and I really don't want the artwork that featured bare-chested females and don't need the all of the boxed flavor text. If Mongoose produces a free web supplement with the other deck plans I'll revise this review and give the product a 5.
Mongoose Publishing
ISBN 1-903980-08-9
128 pages (art on inside covers, 2 pages copyright/TOC/OGL, 2 pages index)
$19.95
I read a lot of reviews when trying to decide which seafaring book to buy. My FLGS didn't have any of them, nor did any of my friends, so based upon reviews alone I decided that Seas of Blood was closest to what I wanted, being concerned primarily with above-water travel.
Seas of Blood is all about seafaring. Prestige classes, rules for nautical travel and warfare, magic, monsters and ships are all included. Art ranges from passable to very good, and is usually relevant to the text. There are several computer-rendered pieces, which I think look bad in grayscale print, and a few bare-chested females, which I'd really rather not have in an RPG book. Outside margins are a bit wide, but the other margins are fairly tight. As this was written in the UK, British spelling is used (which doesn't bother me). Relevant (but mostly unnecessary) flavor text in shaded boxes is scattered throughout the book. It is, for the most part, a very attractive book.
Men of the Sea. This section discusses the role of existing character classes, offers an alternate druid (the sea druid), a 5 level NPC sailor class, 3 prestige classes (Buccaneer, Reaver, and Navigator Wizard), new skills (Profession(Navigator) and Knowledge(Seamanship), which is interchangeable with Profession(Sailor)), new feats, and information on hiring crew and mercenaries. Things for the most part seemed sound, though I doubt that I'll ever use the sailor class, and I'll probably convert all instances of Knowledge(Seamanship) to Profession(Sailor). 4.5
Nautical Travel. This section covers navigation, movement (both oared and sailed), weather conditions, visibility, seaworthiness, long voyages, and possibility of mutiny. Everything seemed straightforward enough. 5
Battles on the High Seas. This section explains the stat-block format used in the next section and covers ship-to-ship combat and crew combats. The ships use the same size names as creature, but they mean something different when applied to ships. I personally prefer to have one sizing convention, though some other people like the approach Mongoose took.
This section also introduces Structure Points (SP) that are sort of like HP for structures (1 SP is roughly equivalent to 10 HP). I was unsure about this at first, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. The only bad thing about SP is that I'll have to convert HP systems used by other works into SP. While on the structures this shouldn't be too difficult, the weapons part might be, as weapons inflict a different about of SP than HP, if they inflict SP damage at all.
A subset of Mongoose's Open Mass Combat System is presented as the method of resolving crew combats. It looks very simple and well done. I just might have to go out and buy The Quintessential Fighter just so I can get the rest of it.
I must point out that some of this section seemed repetitive. There is a paragraph on page 38 that is almost identical to a paragraph on page 45. There may be more instances like that, too. I first read this a few weeks ago, and remember the feeling of deja vu more than once, but looking back that is the only example I could quickly find. 4
Ships of the Seas and Ship Deck Plans. These sections detail all sorts of historical and fantastical sea-going vessels, offer up ship templates (cursed ship, death hulk, ghost ship, and skyship), and cover shipboard weaponry (including cannon, if you want to use them) and equipment. There is a profile for each ship, and deck plans for the top deck of all the ships except the Dwarven Floating Fortress. There wasn't any detailed custom ship building instructions, but there were such a variety of ships that I think I'll be able to find what I want. What I would have really liked to see but didn't was deck plans for all the decks. I've needed such things in the past, and I imagine that I'll need them in the future. 4
Sea Magic. This section presents 22 (by my count) new spells, some new magic items and rules for creating magical shipboard weaponry and intelligent ships. Almost everything seemed okay, but I think that the Skyship spell may be a bit overpowered, due to its 1 hour/level duration. [4.5]
Trade and Commerce. This section contains a way of handling trade via the Profession(Merchant) skill as well as fishing. This section seemed well done, although I noticed that the prices on precious metals (gold, silver, and copper) are off a bit (for instance, a pound of gold is worth 100 gp, even though 100 gp weigh two pounds). The was a small box detailing what the typical merchant might be like, but it would have been nice to have a couple of sample stat-blocks. [4.5]
Underwater Adventuring. This section covers the dangers of underwater travel, as well as the impact on attacks, spellcasting, and spells. 5
Monsters of the Deep: 11 new monsters, each one with an illustration. I don't think I'll ever use most of them, and none of them made me say, "Wow, I can't wait to use that!" 3
Campaigns on the High Seas, Designer's Notes, Nautical Glossary, and Rules Summary: These sections contain just what you'd think they'd contain. The Nautical Glossary was especially useful to a landlubber like myself. [4]
Conclusion: Overall, I thought this was a very good book. It's a bit more than a 4, but not quite a 5. I'll go with a 4, because I really want the below-deck plans and I really don't want the artwork that featured bare-chested females and don't need the all of the boxed flavor text. If Mongoose produces a free web supplement with the other deck plans I'll revise this review and give the product a 5.
