[Kraken Eye] Esoterica: Grafted

[Siberys]

I'm pleased to announce Kraken Eye's first product, Esoterica: Grafted!

Grafted are not born. They are created. But few come into being willingly. Whether an innocent lifted off the streets, a criminal condemned to torture, or an insane mage that took his experiments a half-step too far, the grafted are forever marked as outsiders. Their mortal flash fused with metal, the grafted must find their way in a world where a grafted's blades signify all that is pariah. This six-page booklet includes rules for playing a grafted in the 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Roleplaying Game. Herein, you will find;

• How to become a Grafted, a being who has had metal fused with their mortal flesh.
• Information regarding roleplaying a Grafted.
• Feats and paragon paths for Grafted Characters.
• Emblems, a new form of magic item that bestow enchantments on natural weapons.

 

[Urizen]

I saw this over on rpgnow and thought to myself "Holy crap that looks cool."

I haven't bought it yet, but I will.

Very nicely done, especially for your first product. I have a particular soft spot in my heart for grafted weapons, and emblems sound very interesting.

Keep 'em coming!

 

[fissionessence]

I'm having a little trouble understanding this supplement, after having read through it.

Does the grafting stuff replace all of your racial stuff? Or does it get added on? If it gets added on, aren't you basically getting a free power?

~

 

[Siberys]

The feat says that you gain the racial traits listed, so yes, it does give you an extra encounter power. I considered having the grafted power replace an existing power (probably an encounter attack 1), but in comparison it didn't seem like an attractive choice. Plus, I wanted the power available throughout the adventurer's career, not one that would be retrained away later.

A precedent for this sort of thing exists in the Dhampyr article from DDI (the Vampiric Heritage feat, specifically). After designing the grafted as a stand-alone race, I re-designed it to follow that paradigm.

 

[fissionessence]

Oh, it's a feat. It doesn't actually say that anywhere, and the stuff about "choose your graft when you create your character" made me think that it's a racial option or something. If it's a feat it should indicate as much, as well as saying it needs to be taken at first level. (If it doesn't need to be taken at first level, then remove the text that says to choose your graft at character creation.)

As a mini-review to anyone considering this purchase:
Apart from the issue I talked about in the previous paragraph, I think this is an overall worthwhile product if you want to use grafts. The shiv power is a too powerful, even more than a lot of other stuff which crosses the line a little bit. For example, the dhampyr stuff was a 'bloodline' feat, and you can only take one bloodline. You can be grafted and have a bloodline, stacking powers on top of each other.

~