Keeper of Secrets
First Post
How many times do gamers get that sinking feeling in their stomachs after they put out 10 or 20 dollars for a product that, well, does not live up to expectations? Fortunately it does not happen all that often but when it does, it leaves a really bad taste in the mouth. Alternatively, when a nice product finds its way into a gamer’s hands it really makes for something special. This is certainly the case with Ronin Arts’ Athenaeum Arcane: A Score of Malevolent Special Abilities, by Patrick Younts.
The PDF product is 9 pages long and is a compilation of template powers and special abilities that can be added to weapons and armor. Mostly, the templates are, according to the author, ‘vicious, destructive and evil’ and though not all the abilities are evil, ‘most of them are.’ Therefore, this is really a tool or GM’s to spice up some of their villains, by giving them some interesting extras with their weapons and armor. There are close to 20 different special abilities available. Each of them is interesting and useful in their own right, but there are a few of them that stand out.
Corrupted Ichor, for instance, is a devious little extra that can be added to armor, transforming the wearer’s blood to a boiling acid, splashing it on an opponent when struck. The Void special ability can be added to any shield, giving it a chance to actually suck in opponents’ weapons into annihilation. The weapons stand out a little more than the defensive special abilities. Some of the ones that caught my attention were worth noting. The Corpse Eater adds a taste for dead flesh to the weapon of choice. A weapon with Corpse Eater can absorb the energy in a corpse, redirecting to the wielder, gaining a few hit points, similar to death knell spell. The Malevolence special ability imbues the weapon with evil energy, increasing its effectiveness against good aligned characters. The Rending special ability will tear into living flesh doing additional damage with subsequent hits. A few of the abilities that are presented in the Athenaeum Arcane seem a little bit off kilter – such as weapons that seem slightly overbalanced and a little on the powerful side but with a vigilant GM, this problem could be easily averted.
Each of the items does give an explanation at the end the description, describing what bonuses are factored in for the price increase, what abilities are needed to craft the item and what type of item it is (moderate necromancy, strong evocation, etc.) The only drawback is that some of the descriptions are a little unclear on what is required and there is no explanation in the beginning of the document, setting the standard for price. (I sort of had to figure it out as I was reading – it was not too difficult to draw the conclusions but it was slightly confusing at first).
I can see myself and other GMs using this product, having a lot of fun going into great detail describing the interesting side effects and descriptions that go along with these weird items. Obviously, to do these products the most justice, the GM will have to make the items appear as eerie and bleak as possible, or else they run the risk of merely introducing powerful weapons into their campaign and not putting them in the proper context. In fact, some of these special abilities could be added to weapons to create some minor artifacts, centering small sections of the campaign around a villain trying to get their hands on one of these (and since the item would not be terribly powerful would not wreck the game if the villain actually managed to get it).
One of the greatest things about this product is the price. At $1.85, it is hard to find a reason not to buy this product. Admittedly, it may be somewhat difficult to encourage someone to run over to rpgnow.com to simply buy this product, but I can promise that the next time you head over there to buy a few products, add this into your basket and you won’t be displeased.
I proudly give this product a 3.5 out of 5.
The PDF product is 9 pages long and is a compilation of template powers and special abilities that can be added to weapons and armor. Mostly, the templates are, according to the author, ‘vicious, destructive and evil’ and though not all the abilities are evil, ‘most of them are.’ Therefore, this is really a tool or GM’s to spice up some of their villains, by giving them some interesting extras with their weapons and armor. There are close to 20 different special abilities available. Each of them is interesting and useful in their own right, but there are a few of them that stand out.
Corrupted Ichor, for instance, is a devious little extra that can be added to armor, transforming the wearer’s blood to a boiling acid, splashing it on an opponent when struck. The Void special ability can be added to any shield, giving it a chance to actually suck in opponents’ weapons into annihilation. The weapons stand out a little more than the defensive special abilities. Some of the ones that caught my attention were worth noting. The Corpse Eater adds a taste for dead flesh to the weapon of choice. A weapon with Corpse Eater can absorb the energy in a corpse, redirecting to the wielder, gaining a few hit points, similar to death knell spell. The Malevolence special ability imbues the weapon with evil energy, increasing its effectiveness against good aligned characters. The Rending special ability will tear into living flesh doing additional damage with subsequent hits. A few of the abilities that are presented in the Athenaeum Arcane seem a little bit off kilter – such as weapons that seem slightly overbalanced and a little on the powerful side but with a vigilant GM, this problem could be easily averted.
Each of the items does give an explanation at the end the description, describing what bonuses are factored in for the price increase, what abilities are needed to craft the item and what type of item it is (moderate necromancy, strong evocation, etc.) The only drawback is that some of the descriptions are a little unclear on what is required and there is no explanation in the beginning of the document, setting the standard for price. (I sort of had to figure it out as I was reading – it was not too difficult to draw the conclusions but it was slightly confusing at first).
I can see myself and other GMs using this product, having a lot of fun going into great detail describing the interesting side effects and descriptions that go along with these weird items. Obviously, to do these products the most justice, the GM will have to make the items appear as eerie and bleak as possible, or else they run the risk of merely introducing powerful weapons into their campaign and not putting them in the proper context. In fact, some of these special abilities could be added to weapons to create some minor artifacts, centering small sections of the campaign around a villain trying to get their hands on one of these (and since the item would not be terribly powerful would not wreck the game if the villain actually managed to get it).
One of the greatest things about this product is the price. At $1.85, it is hard to find a reason not to buy this product. Admittedly, it may be somewhat difficult to encourage someone to run over to rpgnow.com to simply buy this product, but I can promise that the next time you head over there to buy a few products, add this into your basket and you won’t be displeased.
I proudly give this product a 3.5 out of 5.
