Librum Equitis, Volume One
The strange synergy of the d20 and Open Game licenses and the wonderful world of online publishing have spawned a small industry of game companies hoping to ply their d20 wares. One of these is Ambient, Inc., which seems to have sprung up out of nowhere.
Some of these companies produce stuff that is not worth the paper that they are printed on . . . and considering that they do not come printed on paper, that is saying a lot. So is Ambient worth the plunge?
Well, if I did not know the author (M. Jason Parent) in some capacity, I might have been inclined to pass this one up. It just so happens, however, that he is one of the staff members at the Realms of Evil website, and I have seen his ability to spin a prestige class. So I gave it a look.
Librum Equitis, Volume One is quite simply a collection of prestige classes for use in typical d20 system fantasy games. Most products that feature prestige classes also feature a menagerie of other material, such as background material, feats, and spells. Yet not here. Librum Equitis, Volume One is just prestige classes, and as the author put it, "nothing more, nothing less."
A First Look
Librum Equitis, Volume One is a 34-page PDF format download, priced at $5.00. The document takes advantage of the bookmark feature of the PDF, making it easy to jump right to the class you are looking for.
The first page is a mock book cover with a title depicting a claw shaped stamp on a rose-hued pattern. The remainder is black and white and is totally devoid of any art. The layout is generally decent without any major gaffes. The text is clear and readable and has a good typeface density. The paragraphs use rather deep indentation, however, which I found somewhat jarring. The entries are spaced such that each prestige class starts on a new page. This causes some wasted whitespace.
Librum Equitis, Volume One is available online at www.rpgnow.com.
A Deeper Look
It is typical for me to break out the prestige classes one by one in any review that I do. As this product is just prestige classes, though, and some of them have some strong associations, it behooves me to analyze them by categories:
Missile Weapon Oriented Prestige Classes
There are a number of prestige classes devoted to the pursuit of combat. Heading up the list, there are no less than four missile weapon oriented prestige classes: the imperial crossbowman, the longbowman, the military archer, and the sniper.
The last three of these share a common mechanical approach. Each of them only have a "medium" BAB advancement, but have a class ability with their chosen weapon that gives them a competence bonus large enough that they are slightly better off than a warrior of the same level with their chosen weapon. I thought that this was pretty slick mechanically speaking, and balanced since it does consume the character's class abilities.
The only drawback to this is the fact that the primary weapon bonuses from different classes technically should not stack since they are all the same type of bonus. A sniper requires another class as with the primary weapon ability as a prerequisite, so by the letter of the law it would get little more out of the ability. Considering that these classes deliberately have an impugned BAB to help pay for this ability, that would make this class very weak. This could be easily remedied by inserting an "all levels stack for the purposes of this ability" tag, similar to the one for the many classes that have the uncanny dodge ability, or by clarifying that they stack.
The imperial crossbowman is a short (5 levels) prestige class. It starts with the ability to use any crossbow regardless of type or exotic quality, and a "brutal shot" that is basically a sneak attack. The pinpoint accuracy class ability, OGC material cribbed from Sovereign Stone, lets the character generate an attack bonus by aiming over several rounds. The only ability I find questionable is penetrating shot, which lets the crossbowman attack as a ranged touch attack by taking a full round action. This struck me as a touch giving, as by these rules even a dragon's impressive natural armor is as butter to the crossbowman. It does not seem like this ability meets the intent of the touch attack rules.
The longbowman is specialized in hitting targets at extreme range. In addition to the primary
weapon ability already mentioned, the longbowman's abilities extend his range increments and at higher levels allows him to fire beyond 10 range increments.
The military archer is an archer trained to fire his weapon as part of a unit. A human character can be qualified to take a level in this class at 2nd level. In addition to the primary weapon ability, the military archer receives bonuses when firing against massed units, as well as improved versions of the Rapid and Point Blank Shot feats.
The sniper is a short (5 levels) prestige class. As mentioned, it requires the primary weapon ability of one of the other classes as a prerequisite. In addition to its own primary weapon ability, the class gets a bonus to Spot checks, an improved pinpoint accuracy ability (as described above), and a sneak-attack like ability that can be used at very long range.
Melee Oriented Prestige Classes
There are a number of classes whose abilities primarily optimize their ability to engage in melee combat in some fashion.
The chosen warlord is a warrior type (or occasionally a cleric or paladin) devoted to a deity with the war domain. The chosen warlord can inspire courage, receive a personal blessing to aid her in combat, bless others, and smite enemies. At first glance, I did not like the spirit of the fray ability, which simply doubles the character's attacks; however, if you think about it, it is not that much more powerful than a haste or whirlwind attack in most circumstances.
The dirty monk is quite simply an unarmed combatant that does not quite have what it takes to be part of a normal monastic order and so goes to less reputable dojos for training. Dirty monks receive some basic abilities of the monk, but learn a variety of dirty tricks in lieu of standard monk abilities. The base attack bonus advancement of the dirty monk is listed as a wizard's, but I spoke to the author who assured me this was in error.
Feral ravagers are humanoids or giants with a natural reach of 10 feet or more that have learned to use their girth to roll over smaller creatures. The feral ravager receives a variety of abilities that lets it take advantage of its great size and reach.
The knight channeller is a warrior who learns to use positive energy in different ways. This does include turning undead, but that is really not the class' forte. At various levels, the knight channeller can choose from a list of various abilities that she can use by channelling positive energy, such as improving weapon threat range, knocking enemies back, or providing energy resistance.
Similar to the military archer, the phalanx is a specialized prestige class available for low-level characters as part of a unit. The phalanx receives benefits in combat when acting as part of a unit, including receiving the benefits of one-quarter cover and bonuses to Will saves, trip attempts, and so forth.
The raseri are members of an undisciplined race who can go into a sort of improved berserker rage. This rage is similar to the barbarian's, but has the hazard of having the razeri turn against allies. They receive improvements to their berserking ability, as well as other combat techniques such as cleaving.
Rounding up this category is the swashbuckler, a witty, agile fighter. Swashbucklers can use their Intelligence as a bonus to AC and Reflex saves. As they go up levels, they receive fairly standard abilities such as evasion, as well as a few abilities that stem from the swashbucklers brand of combat, including uncommon footing (negates penalties in combat due to fighting while standing on unusual surfaces) and pressing attack (can force an enemy back and cause an AC penalty).
Arcane Prestige Classes
What prestige class compilation would be complete without a few prestige classes for the bards, sorcerers, and wizards in your party?
The dark minstrel is a strange twist on the bard. The dark minstrel must have witnessed a great tragedy, and now relates the morose tale to others. The class gains a number of music related abilities similar in nature to the bard's, except with a more "disturbing, haunting" theme to them. For example, song of sorrow causes opponents to suffer morale penalties to attacks and Will saves, and cacophony causes confusion. In addition, dark minstrels have their own spell list and advancement, which is different than the bard's spell list.
Lords of sorcery are wizards who have learned to cast some of their spells spontaneously, as a sorcerer does. Lord of sorcery is a brief (5 levels) class. The character must choose a specialty school and barred schools (or additional barred schools) as a specialist does. As they rise in level, they gain the ability to use spells of higher and higher levels in the chosen school spontaneously.
Tainted warlocks are spellcasters who harness negative energy and add it to their spells to inflict additional damage. At higher levels, they can boost the power of their spells against good creatures. Though simple, I like the idea of the tainted warlock. The tainted warlock, however, only receives one spellcaster level per 3 tainted warlock levels, and only receives bonus spells at the other levels. Considering this tends to reduce the basic damage the warlock inflicts, I thought that this was over-compensating for the abilities that they get and so the tainted warlock ends up a little weak. (It is an idea I will rewrite for my own use, however.)
Two-fisted sorcerer of T'arg is probably the most unique class in the bunch. Yet like the tainted warlock, it is a simple idea with a lot of charm. The two-fisted sorcerers are a band of brawling sorcerers (Ambidexterity and Improved Unarmed Strike are entry requirements). Two-fisted sorcerers gain the ability to cast two spells simultaneously. At first they can only do it with 1st-level spells once per day, but as they gain levels, they acquire the ability to cast higher-level spells and use the ability more often.
Divine Prestige Classes
There are a couple prestige classes intended primarily for divine spellcasters.
Corpulents are the chosen priests of deities of greed and gluttony. As they gain levels, they grow in girth and get slower, but eventually gain abilities to envelop damage resistance and the ability to envelop smaller creatures.
The new treant is a druid or nature-oriented cleric that is chosen by the treants to become more like them. The new treant slowly gains qualities of trees and gains the ability to wild shape into plant-class creatures. At low levels, this is a simple tree; but at high level, this can be something useful such as a carnivorous tree, a shambling mound, or (eventually) a treant.
Mixed Magic Prestige Class
There are a few classes that can be used by either arcane or divine spellcasters.
The initiates of Cordun are followers of an ancient cleric/sorcerer named Cordun. To become a member of the class, you must have access to 4 spells on a special list in the book, and 4 necromantic spells. Initiates gain the ability to give up some of their existing spells or spell slots and use them as a pool from which they can cast initiates of cordun spells or necromancy spells. This is a nice spin on a necromantic cult, and a nice alternative to the true necromancer in Tome & Blood. It also occurs to me that this class is a good fit story wise for the cult depicted in Fiery Dragon's Swords Against Deception adventure in To Stand on Hallowed Ground.
The zombie master is a divine or arcane spellcaster that strives to improve her mastery of animated zombies. The zombie master gains the ability to control more undead, bolster them against turning attempts, and eventually the ability to use her animation spell spontaneously. This class may be a little powerful for arcane spellcasters, as the class has better hit dice and better saves than wizards or sorcerers, and also has full spellcasting advancement and a decent selection of abilities.
The Stragglers
Of the remaining three classes, one is psionic in nature and two rely on pure skill.
The bounty hunter's forte should be apparent: the tracking down of fugitives of some sort. Bounty hunters have a selection of skills to aid them in this pursuit, in addition to a sneak attack ability, bonuses against their chosen target, and a penchant for exotic weapons.
The practical ones are essentially assassins that do not use magic. They have many of the non-magical class abilities of the DMG assassin (such as sneak attack, death attack, poison use, and uncanny dodge), but they also gain a number of talents useful in their profession, such as an extraordinary ability to conceal small weapons, a blindsight ability, and the ability to move more rapidly while using Hide and Move Silently.
The psycho pyretic is a psionic character who has learned to master emotions of rage to launch withering psionic assaults. As they advance, psycho pyretics gains additional psionic power points from their inner anger, learn to increase the DC of their psionic attacks and manifest them more quickly, and learn a new psionic attack mode, brain burn.
Conclusion
If you have a taste for prestige classes, Librum Equitis, Volume 1 is probably a must buy for you. The concepts herein are good, and for the most part they are well executed (in some cases I daresay they are mechanically quite clever). I found a few of the classes underpowered (such as the tainted sorcerer), and a few I would tone down just a bit, but on the whole a much better selection than most printed products give you.
That said, in comparison to other products of the same type, Librum Equitis is not quite king of the hill. There are other $5 PDFs that are just as imaginative, but have better presentation. The effects of presentation are not lost on me: some art might have better brought the prestige class concepts to life, as I found was the case with Tome & Blood. Further, if you are going to have a book of just prestige classes, some ways of rounding it out to make it feel more meaty would have been nice. For example, new spells for some prestige classes or sample characters might have been just the right touch to put this baby over the top.
Still, $5.00 for a nice selection of prestige classes is not that much to ask, and I know I will use many of them and I am not the least bit disappointed with my purchase. Ambient earned my money with this one.
-Alan D. Kohler
