Bodies and Souls: 20 Templates

[Messageboard Golem]

Bodies and Souls: 20 Templates provides 20 creature templates for the d20 system; it is a strange mix of horror, comic book, and B sci-fi movie creatures that can fit in a variety of settings, from fantasy to far future. Templates are some of the most powerful and flexible tools in the d20 system and this book is devoted to them.

The book includes possessions, arcane diseases and corruptions, and mystical powers. Several of the templates have special rules for application to player characters; these should help smooth out the problems that typically crop up when allowing players to take templates. In addition to the following templates the book includes rules for making exorcism an exciting conflict and guidelines for how to turn any outsider into a possessor. The templates marked PC ready include alternative rules to ease the use of them for player characters.

Atomic
Bonesmith
Cutter (PC ready)
Demon Flock
Faded
Fly Lord
Gray Marble
Insect Scion (PC ready)
Machine Coded
Mechanized
Rabid
Red Candescence
Tiger Scion (PC ready)

Elemental Scions:
Scion of Flame (PC ready)
Scion of Stone (PC ready)
Scion of Water (PC ready)
Scion of Wind (PC ready)

Standard Possessions:
Succubus Possession
Kyton Possession
Ghaele Hitcher

 

[Messageboard Golem]

First let me state a disclaimer. I was asked by Mr. Peterson, author of this book, if I would review it. He was also kind enough to let me have it for free. On a more finely graded scale my mark for it would be 4.5/5. I have not tested any material from the book in the actual gameplay as of writing this review altrough I do intend to do so in the near future.

Now onto the review itself.
I hold to the school of thought that claims that the principal duty of the RPG designers is not to invent the new concepts per se, but rather to come up with ingenious ways to represent concepts already existing (in the vast body of history, fiction and mythology) within the framework of our games. This book is a shining example of just such an endevour.

It deals with a subject of possesion, a time honoured part of our folklore and one that was due some game-mechanical treatment. Possesion is here treated through the use of Templates, very versatile yet sadly underused part of the d20 toolkit. General rules on the Possesions and Exorcism are given together with 20 possesion templates of various types.

General rules are good. They introduce some very well thought of notions concerning game-balance of templated PC's and mention briefly the "author points" a simple yet brilliant solution to the "crass materialism" of the treasure aquisition part of the DnD game balance. Exorcism is covered elegantly in a way that makes it more then just "and then I cast the spell..." routine. Overall Mr. Peterson shows such a remarkable grasp not only of the d20 game mechanics but of the game mechanics in general that I find some of his solutions to simple problems, such as a game-mechanical simulation of a chess game both more elegant and more accurate the base d20 ones. Besides everything else it is this game-mechanical virtuosity that makes him one of the top few people to watch in a d20 market.

Templates themselves are a hit and miss. That is to say they are hit and miss *for me*. They vary between classic horror/dark fantasy to straight comic-book or b-movie. The later, such as "atomic" or "mechanized" are of no use to me so I kind of lose out on about exactly half a book. Other half or so, however, evoked the best of gothic horror without falling into a cliche or parody which so frequently happens to game renditions of the genre. To name the few, "Demon Flock", briliant game mechanical rendition of "Soulblighter" from Myth, or "Fly Lord", the Belzebub template, will, I am certain, evoke just the appropraite mixture of revulsion and fear in my players. Sheer inspirational value of the few outstanding templates would have ade this book more then worth having for me regardless of anything else.
I fairness I have to say that even the templates I am not interested in ever seeing in my games are written interestingly with atention to detail and game mechanical flourish. It is only very few (elemental possesions) that I found somewhat uninspired.

Some of the best parts of the book deal with the "normal" possesions - that is possessions by the regular demons. This part, including three sample cases of possession, is one that will probably see the most use in my games and is executed excelently from both game-mechanical and DM-advice point of view.
If I have a major objection to this book it would be that this part is too short and number of templates in it too few.

General tone of the book is grim, as befits the subject. In this it deviates from more cartoony gung-ho standard of DnD. It includes the subtle suggestions as to the truly evil demonic behaviour that go much beyond the standard DnD fare. Me being a fan of such atmosphere this was a serious bonus. We can only hope that the upcoming "Book of Vile Darkness" will have this combination of style and gut-wrenching villany.

The boom layout is a tribute to PDF as a publishing medium. It has been used to its utmost to faciltate ease of use while remaing unobtrusive. Art is bearable and only marginaly sub-par. Cartoon of scholar-turned-succubus detracts from otherwise rather mature tone of the book. Mercifully, all art is exceptionaly easy to switch off.

All in all this is a very goof work, one that I would have probably missed and would have been worse of for it. It showcases extraordinary talent of Mr. Peterson and leaves me waiting (even more eagerly then before) for his "Masters of Arms"

 

[trancejeremy]

Bodies and Souls is a 49 page PDF from Second World Simulations, and was written by Steven Palmer Peterson. It sells for $5, but I was given a review copy of it. Basically, it's a monster book, but it's a monster book with a twist. It's on templates. (Templates are basically things that can be added to any monster or character and alters it. Like how an adjective modifies a noun.).

I've bought several PDFs in the past, and was often annoyed to find they generally suck up printer ink when printed out, whether by heavy use of graphics (besides the usual artwork, many have header/footer/sidebar graphics that have no point other than to look nice), or by the use of huge black boxes with white text. Thankfully, this PDF is very printer friendly. There is an option to turn off the artwork, there are no header/footer/sidebar graphics, and any boxes use light grey backgrounds, not completely black ones.

The PDF is also well done as a PDF. The table of contents on the front page will take you to the template in question when clicked, and there is a limited but good use of pop-up windows (for a welcome, and to include some stats from other companies products used under the OGL). The artwork ranges from extremely good to good, with one or two so-so pictures. Most of it is drawn, but one seems to be a digitally enhanced photo of a 1971-73 Mustang. While that shows extremely good taste in cars (I have a '73 Convertible myself), I'm not sure why it's in there.

It starts off with about 5-6 pages of new rules and advice on how to use the templates. It gives some tips on how to use templates for characters, including how player characters can make use of them (it involves spending gold, like making magic items). Also some info on 'Possession' templates, including a new (but fairly simple) dice mechanic called 'Stability'. Basically, it's making x amount of successful rolls out of y attempts.

The rest of the book is devoted to the templates. There are 20 of them. Each one has the template itself and a sample of the template applied to a creature.

The templates are:

Atomic - This is basically like something out of a 50s horror movie. While tricky to work into a fantasy campaign, it's possible. I used this in my game. Worked well.

Bonesmith - This is a template applied to an object. The object then becomes animated, and hungers for bone. (This is one of those that made me scratch my head a bit).

Cutter - This seems to be taken from the companies forthcoming setting. Just what it is isn't terribly clear, but it seems to be some extra-dimensional creature.

Demon Flock - This template is applied to Tiny creatures or vermin. Think "The Birds", only on a smaller scale. Or Poe's Rats in the Wall story. Also used this one. This works, but it's a bit more complicated than regular monsters.

Elemental Scions - These are templates to turn creatures (or characters) into something almost out of a comic book. There are 4 of these - Wind, Water, Fire, Stone.

Faded - This is something of an "anti-template". It makes a monster weaker, though not dramatically so. I used it, and it worked well enough.

Fly Lord - This one is sort of creepy. The monster in question is possessed by a fly demon. Think Beelzebub.

Gray Marble - This one I didn't like much. Basically, this sucks life force from people. Sort of like a living statue.

Insect Scion - Think of the movie The Fly.

Machine Coded - This is one of those that made me scratch my head a bit. Basically it's people who become emotionless, computer like in thinking.

Mechanized - Think of Star Trek's Borg. Can also be used as a simple way to cyber-up creatures.

Rabid - Think Cujo. Though the sample is a peasant, and not exactly fearsome.

Red Candescence - Another template applied to objects. This seems to make them glow and make them evil. This was one of the vaguer ones.

Tiger Scion - This is another weird one. I guess it's like what Dr. Moreau did, splicing animal genes (in this case tiger) with that of other beings. The sample it's applied to is a Bulette.

It then has 3 Possession templates (which happen when a creature is possesed by an outsider). One for the Succubus (which features PG-13 rated artwork), the Kyton (the chain wielding devil, not the robot from Red Dwarf), and the Ghale. The latter is a good outsider that possesses people to help fight evil.

All in all, this is a pretty good product. I was a bit skeptical of it first, but I actually found it quite useful for both my Deadlands d20 game and a slightly post-modern horror game I run using a combo of the Dragonstar and Blood on the Rhine rules. (Looking at the OGL section, it seems the author used some open content from both Deadlands d20 and Dragonstar, so I shouldn't have been surprised).

I also liked how the author goes out of the way to make it useful for GMs, and gives advice on how to use each template or rule. The author also has a good grasp on the d20 rules.

On the downside, some of these templates are not really suited for fantasy games. While I personally plan on using at least half of them, most won't be in my fantasy d20 game. Another problem is that some of the templates are not actually described. For each entry, there is a paragraph of fiction, then it seems to jump right into the advice on how to use it. For instance, the "Red Candescence" template. Just what it is isn't said, just that it possesses objects.

Still, I thought it was a very good product. Fantasy only d20 gamers might not find it too useful, but it's definitely worth a look if you're running a horror, modern day, or science fiction d20 campaign. I give it a B+, which translates to a 4 on this site.

 

[Simon Collins]

Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
This is not a playtest review.

Bodies And Souls is a .pdf accessory giving 20 creature templates influenced by the concept of possession.

Coming in at $5, this is fairly standard for most .pdf's and the good use of pop-up boxes and bookmarks, switch-off art, and light grey backgrounds to sidebars adds to the value, especially when printing. Mono art runs from poor to good. I found the writing style quite difficult at times - more attention was paid to the stats than to descriptions, and explanations of game mechanics were hard to grasp on first (and even second) readings. The style is very informal, almost like the author is sitting next to you explaining what he's done - "I’ve separated off the elemental scions and standard possessions since they group naturally". After a while, I found this a bit annoying - I have only so much interest in why the author has done something this way or that. It also makes for a long, drawn-out discussion where a short clear explanation would have served better. Editing, unusually for a .pdf, is good.

After a short introduction to the material, the author takes some time to discuss the possibility of PCs taking any one (or more) of the templates. The author suggests making these templates available to PCs if they proceed through a ritual, which costs gold to perform (an alternate payment system using 'Author Points' which the players gain in play instead of gold is also suggested - the ritual is then not required). In addition to this, they must sacrifice a level of a standard class, much like taking a prestige class. Each template is given a cost to gain for a PC. A sidebar suggests replacing NPC's magical items with these templates, thus reducing the problem of PCs getting their hands on an over-powerful item after defeating a villain. Some options for gaining these templates on credit or for free are offered.

The next section purportedly deals with possession. However, there are no game rules for how a possession occurs: "I pretty much leave it to the gamemaster to determine how they end up attached to a character or monster. Possessing demons and devils choose targets in some fashion then inflict themselves on the victim, probably through some kind of long and arcane process."
What the book does give is a mechanic for exorcism. The exorcist must succeed at 3 successful Turn/Rebuke Undead checks in a row, and the exorcist must have the Exorcist feat (provided at this point). This extended series of checks is then expanded on - the author terms the extended skill check 'Stability'. Advice is given on using this Stability mechanic with other types of skills, and there is a sidebar on using it for the Search check.

Next up are the templates:
* Atomic - irradiated, with an example crocodile, more suitable for superhero or post-holocaust game than fantasy.
* Bonesmith - evil outsider animates object and imbues it with a lust for bone marrow - messy - with example catapult.
* Cutter - mover between worlds, with abilities to blink, blur, dimension door, teleport, etc. at the cost of intelligence, example is a heavy war horse.
* Demon Flock - evil outsider that can possess flock of birds, swarm of rats, etc., gaining fiendish spell-like powers - very hard to defeat as flock can disperse and regenerate. Advice is given on this subject. A Raven flock example is given. Trad horror.
* Faded - creates a creature fading from the world for one reason or another (GMs call), weaker than standard creature of the same type. Manticore example given.
* Fly Lord - swarm of flies surrounds and is controlled by demonic being. Wizard example given.
* Gray Marble - living statue, drains life force. Ogre example given
* Insect Scion - half-insect receives 'vermin points' to spend on special abilities such as strength, leaping, cocooning, poison, tremor sense, burrowing, etc. Ghoul example given.
* Machine Coded - high intelligence, limited emotion - ally or enemy. Human fighter/wizard example given.
* Mechanized - much like the Borg from Star Trek, these creatures are part machine. Example orc given. Might fit quite nicely with Privateer Press' Iron Kingdoms setting though at first does not seem to fit a fantasy setting.
* Rabid - creature with rabies. Peasant example given.
* Red Candescence - evil red glow that possesses inanimate objects. Greatsword example.
* Tiger Scion - half-tiger, suggested for PCs, bulette example given.
* Elemental Scions (Fire, Air, Water, Earth) - four templates involving possession by elemental beings with appropriate elemental attacks. More suited to superhero game of strong elementally influenced fantasy setting.
* Standard Possessions - three possessions by outsiders - succubus, kyton and ghaele.

Conclusion:
There are some very interesting ideas presented in this book. Unfortunately, they're not presented as well as they could have been. This is partly due to the authors writing style and partly due to the insistence on the use of templates. I felt that some of the templates would have been equally good as Prestige Classes, whilst the powers of the Elemental Scions could have been offered as feats (similarly to Bonding Feats from Green Ronins recent Hammer & Helm). Rabid could have just as well have been presented as a disease (as to a certain extent could Atomic). In other words, the ideas felt as though they'd been pulled into the shape of a template rather than fitting nicely. Some of the ideas were also weak (Red Candescence, Gray Marble, and Bonesmith). I would have liked to see a comprehensive ruleset on possession, not just exorcism.

However, the author has definitely broken new ground with his use of templates in this book, and some of the ideas are excellent (I particularly liked the Cutter, Fly Lord and Demon Flock). The Exorcism/Stability mechanic is interesting and worth further playtesting to see its true benefits.

Several of the templates would be hard to fit into a standard fantasy campaign. The most useful and pertinent rules for standard fantasy campaigns are the ideas on standard possessions and the exorcism mechanic. This is certainly the crux of the book and it seems a shame that further fiends were not given in this section. Along with rules for possession (rather than just exorcism), this would have greatly improved the usefulness of the book.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

By Morgan Grover, Executive Director, d20 Magazine Rack

Welcome to The Critic's Corner. Bodies & Souls is a downloadable product designed for Second World Simulations. Like most other download products, it is available from RPGNow.com, and sells for only $5 (US). B&S has been out for several months now, and many of you may be familiar with it. Those of you who have not yet had a chance to click through its pages are missing out on some great work.

B&S provides 20 different creature templates for DMs to use on their creatures; however, this is not all it offers. Rules for using the templates on PCs, as well as exorcism techniques, are also available. Very well done artwork compliments the pages throughout B&S. With over 45 pages full of text, you will be hard pressed to find another product as well designed and written as B&S, especially for only $5.

Like most other downloadable products, B&S is a PDF document, and requires Adobe Acrobat to read. This file is designed very well, allowing readers to jump to any section of the book by simply clicking the desired area in the contents. For printing purposes, you are able to turn the graphics on or off to help with saving ink. The overall flow of the product is well done, and everything seems to flow smoothly as you read through.

Now, on to the contents! B&S is filled with over 20 creature templates, ranging from fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and technological. A DM who concentrates in a specific area, such as fantasy, may not find everything to his taste; however, those that enjoy a bit of everything will find more than they can handle. Many of the templates deal with some form of possession. Some templates offer possession by specific demons, such as the Succubus and Kyton, while some are more generic possessions, such as the Bonesmith, which feeds off of its victims’ bones. Another example is the Demon Flock, which is in actuality a group of creatures, instead of just one, and makes it just that much harder to destroy. Other templates include Rabid, which is just that, Scions for each element, the Fly Lord, which controls a massive swarm of flies to do his bidding (very mean!), and more.

There is a little bit here for everybody to use, both DMs and Players. Any product that supports both a player and a DM will often demonstrate its usefulness. With the ability to add some of these templates to the players’ PCs, the author has gone through and described several ways in which to handle this, including ideas based on credit, freebies, and partial purchases. Another detailed section describes demon possession, how to handle it, exorcism feats, stability, and search checks.

This is a very well designed product that is usable by a wide range of DMs, and not just those that dwell on specific areas, such as fantasy or sci-fi. The artwork is impressive, the writing detailed and well thought-out, and the overall feel of the product is excellent. Before you get too excited and head out to buy B&S, you must first know that it has a rating of “Mature,” mainly due to graphic content and pictures included in the product. In its entirety, I have found B&S to be an excellent source for ideas, adventure hooks, and basic creature enhancement.

To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.