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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Old Fezziwig" data-source="post: 1489488" data-attributes="member: 59">Chapter II: UnderwaveUnderwave is a small cave complex located underwater that functions as a mobile sanctum for the faithful/favored of Dorana, goddess of vengeance and the sea in the Celestial River pantheon.  It's a cool location (and the book provides a nice map of it), but it feels very high magic to me.  Given Dorana's influence over it, that makes sense, but I almost wonder if it would be more useful if it had been specifically designated as a pocket plane.  Dorana herself is CN, and the writeup given is flavorful and interesting.  In the introduction, it was suggested that paladins interested in justice could find solace in the worship of Dorana, which led me to think about having Dorana as a neutral goddess with lawful and chaotic aspects (the lawful aspect granting the Law domain; and the chaotic, Chaos).  This is a quibble, though, and largely came about because I found the text to be thought-provoking (particularly as I consider using the Celestial River pantheon in my homebrew--I'm becoming less ambivalent as I go on with the book, and really like the idea of gods that don't easily fit into neat little containers).  Belgard, "a rabble-rouser, a revolutionary, and a troublemaker," was a neat sample character and could be really well-used as a source of plot hooks (or an entire campaign), particularly if the campaign is heading towards a swashbuckly feel (okay, so that's not a word...).This section is followed by a new weapon, new feats, new spells, and a PrC, the Lightning Bearer.  <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The lightning blade, the new weapon, was okay.  I have a thing about double weapons (I can't picture them being used effectively, except for the quarterstaff), so it didn't really do much for me.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The feats focused mostly on revenge and unique uses of the lightning blade.  I liked the former, particularly Attune Vengeful Magic, which had a little bit of a voodoo-ish vibe.  The Vengeful Fury chain presented was nice, and it could be used to good effect with rather heroic characters.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Vengeance domain power seemed to be of limited use (a character taking it would depend on the DM's making it worthwhile), but I'm beginning to see this limit as a feature rather than a drawback.  If the Cleric class is really that overpowered, maybe domain powers should be more limited.  That said, I'd still change the Civilization domain power as suggested earlier; with the low number of skill points a Cleric gets, it probably wouldn't matter at all if Gather Information became a class skill.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The spells were fine, but not as good as the spells in the Oracle chapter.  I felt the same way about the new magic items.</li> </ul>The Lightning Bearer PrC was decently interesting and looked reasonably well balanced, although I'd have to playtest it to really see how I felt about it.  Thematically, I thought the powers were pretty cool, particularly the Thunderous Strike and Retributive Strike.I still really like the book.  Although I may seem a bit critical, it's only because the ideas are really making me think about how I'd use them, which hasn't happened to me in a while with a gaming book.  I'll post more later, but I need to keep on grading papers right now.  best,Nick</blockquote>

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