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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2010671" data-attributes="member: 18387">Review of Masters of the Wild    Masters of the Wild is, frankly, the best of the Wizards class books.  However, while that sounds great, it is not like the competition was very tough.  Masters of the Wild is the class book for Barbarians, Druids, and Rangers and I feel it does the best to take these classes and expand upon the possibilities.    Chapter 1 is called Nature’s Lore.  It deals with many topics like role-playing these three classes and the different attitudes the basic PHB races have as one of these classes.  It also talks about what the class thinks of other classes and ideas for choosing your wild shape or favored enemy.  Most of this stuff is ideal for someone new to these classes and new to role-playing.  Veterans of the game should still read this chapter at least once as it does have some decent ideas and advice.      Chapter 2 is all about skills and feats.    First it expands upon the Handle Animal skill by going into more tricks you can train an animal companion.  I like what they did, I just had hoped that they would have had more tricks.  The feats are the larger potion of this chapter, and many of them are very specific.  For the most part I was not impressed with any of the feats.  I think some could make good additions to characters and the wild feats (feats that apply to wild shape) are clearly the strongest of them.     Chapter 3 is Tools of the Trade.  The new weapons are interesting and might see some use in campaigns.  The magic weapon section was small.  I think that nature magical items could be greatly expanded on especially for the favored enemy of the ranger, the wild shape of the Druid, and the rage of the barbarian.  All three of these abilities are key to each class, and I’d have liked to see more magical items that build upon them.  It introduces an new type of magical item called an infusion.      Chapter 4 is called Animals.  There is some good information here and it does help with better role-playing your animal companion and help filling in some of the questions one might have with them.  However, I there are areas in this chapter that I really did not like.  The first is the limit of animal companions HD.  Animal Companions are tough and high-level Druids could get a powerful single animal.  However, this new rule really makes the ranger’s companion useless in combat.  The other section that I did not like is the Legendary Animals.  They are there just to justify a more powerful animal companion.  I would have liked to see them be here for a better reason.      Chapter 5 is the Prestige Classes.  By now one may have realized that there are a lot of prestige classes in the many d20 books.  They are not all created equal.  For the most part I think there is a good selection of them in Masters of the Wild.  I’ll make a few comments on some of them.    Bane of Infidels: This is a great bad guy prestige class.  There is a lot of character in here and I didn’t find it that powerful.    Exotic Weapon Master: I think it’s the worst class I’ve seen.  The requirements don’t make sense.  And I don’t see how someone can learn to use all exotic weapons as many of them are very alien and difficult to use.      Foe Hunter: A good idea, but not a good write up.  The class is great against one type of enemy, but none of its powers work against anyone else.      Forsaker: A very interesting class especially in the magic rich worlds we now have.  This is one of the few Prestige Classes that I would actually make a character to fit.    Oozemaster: I may be a little prejudice here, but this is one of the best prestige classes ever.  It has great character.  The abilities are truly unique.  And it takes on of the less liked creature types, the ooze, and it makes them a little more interesting.    Tempest: Another great idea that did not pan on on paper.  The requirements are a little weird.  The class abilities are mostly feats.  However, the descriptive text is one of the best I’ve read.    Chapter 6 is Spells.  Now, I’ve never been happy with new spells sections.  Rarely are there spells that are interesting and creative.  Personally, I think it’s the spells that imbalance the game the fastest.  None of the spells here are ones that I liked.  While they all have some game use they just didn’t speak to me.      Overall I think it’s a solid book with few things that will disrupt one’s game.  This is the book that reading through it gave me the most character ideas both to play and to have as NPCs.  For me that is probably the most important thing I can say about any book.</blockquote>

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