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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2010092" data-attributes="member: 18387">By Brad Mix, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine RackSizing Up the TargetThis review is for Oathbound: Plains of Penance. This 160-page book retails for $29.95 and written by Greg Dent and published by Bastion Press.First BloodPlains of Penance details one of the areas outside the main city in the Oathbound campaign setting. This campaign setting is very original and powerful. Heroes are kidnapped from their home world by one of seven mysterious beings and brought to the Forge, the world of Oathbound. Once in the Forge, players are granted special powers, but there is no escape from the world. The campaign world is a mix of high magic and broad science. Chapter one gives a brief introduction to the area and introduces the Queen of the domain, local politics and a few of the more powerful organizations. A nice color map of the entire domain is offered and includes other cities and landmarks. Nearly all travel is done on one of the six rivers that go through the area. While the fastest way to travel it certainly isn’t the cheapest. Inhabitants of the Plains is the next chapter, which takes a look at the natives. Five new races, two new forms of magic, and 5 new prestige classes are detailed. See Critical Hits for more information about the Prestige classes. The new races are Aurads, Dolphins (yes the cute swimming mammal), Hovara, Wild Fey, and Thorns. The Aurads are tall psychedelic looking wanders of the land. They love the outdoors and are rarely found in the city. Next comes the Dolphin. They are given a complete write up including Religion, Relations, Names, and Racial Traits. The biggest racial trait that would exclude picking this race as a PC is Dolphins suffer 1 hit point of damage every round they are on land. Dolphins do make great Monks and Sorcerers however. Wild Fey are more feral breed of Fey that inhabit other worlds. They tend to be loners but will tear you up if you get to close. They remind me of an intelligent walking tiger. The Hovara are the second most unusual race found in this supplement. A cruel race of sorcerous slave traders whose brains are hard wired to derive joy from the suffering of others. These beasts look like manta rays that fly in the air instead of swim in the water. With such a predisposition for cruelty this is better suited as a villain or NPC. We all know GM’s are cruel and delight in the cruelty of their players. The winner for the most unusual race is the Thorn. The Thorn are intelligent plant life that have evolved from basic plants. Thorns are not like the typical humanoid. They have legs and arms but they are shaped that way and are not the natural appearance. To “eat” they stick their roots in the ground and suck up nutrients. A unique form of magic known as Channeling exists and emanates from the Forge’s core. This energy is Divine in nature and allows the certain casters to cast spells without memorizing them ahead of time. There are two classes that use this unlimited energy, Artificers and Disjoiners. The Artificer uses the power of the Forge to create. They can create their own food, water, money, and weapons. The only limitation is the imagination of the Artificer. Special rules are given for this unusual type of spell casting. Disjoiners are ferocious warriors that have learned to tap into the innate magic of the Forge to become a destructive force. The first Disjoiner was the aptly named Pandora. Disjoiners do not learn form others but learn as they go. Constitution is the most important ability and they will go out of their way to acquire magic that will boost their constitution. Chapter 3 is all about the ecology of the Plains. Native animals, plants and microorganisms are detailed. Kind of boring but it gives an important feel to the land. The Druids and their culture is the next chapter. Druids are not just a class but a political force. The laws, religion and politics are discussed and give a good understanding of how the Druid thinks and acts. The other major cities are each given a few paragraphs in chapter 5 and detail some of the unique information for each city. City size, notable NPC’s, important industries, and anything different is included. Just to give you the size and scale of the world, the city of Penance has a population of 40 million. Chapters 6 and 7 detail the northern ocean and wilderness areas the same way as the cities. Chapter 8 is a 34-page adventure designed for 4 to 6 characters of 8t to 10th level. Players in this world are advised not to read the adventure included. I won’t give away any spoilers but this adventure does a good job of mixing action and roleplaying.We are still not done with this book. Appendix A details 7 new monsters and appendix B offers several new items, including some magical. Even a couple of Dolphin weapons are included. Finally appendix C offers 10 new spells. Critical Hits The new way Prestige classes are addressed is original. The concept of taking on a different class is gone. Instead it is replaced with a life altering choice called a prestige race. Taking a prestige race changes the genetic code of the character. Forethought and research are required to take the prestige race along with some serious experience points. Take Focus of the Claw for example. This focus expands and enhances the characters natural weaponry. This is also good for monks who do not rely on weapons. Once the Evolve feat is taken and the minimum level is reached the character can take the prestige race. The first one is the Focus of the Claw is Edged Creature. The cost is 3,500 XP and the character gains a +1 to all attacks and damage rolls. This also allows the character to damage creatures with +1 damage reduction. These enhancements build on each other when the fourth and final one is reach. Lethal Creature requires an additional 11,500 XP cost. This allows +5 bonuses to all attacks and damage, Can damage creatures with +5 damage reduction, Gains Improved Multi-attack feat, No natural weapon is ever considered secondary, and all attacks are at the full attack bonus and full damage. The total XP cost to gain these fantastic bonuses is 31, 500. Quite a heavy price but well worth it for the advantages. Others Focuses include, Force of the Enigma that allows the character to become ethereal and untraceable. Focus of the Huge makes characters larger and stronger. Focus of the Small is just the opposite and Focus of Light allows the character to become light. Critical MissesThe only thing I can criticize this book for is the inclusion of Dolphin as a playable race. While it makes sense to have this in an underwater campaign, it doesn’t add much to this book. The few magic items included for the Dolphin, including Dolphin Spike and Dolphin Exoskeleton could have been removed and those items replaced with something for the other races. But if that is all I can find wrong with the book, then you know it’s a pretty good supplement. Coup de GraceThis is a must have for anyone either playing the Oathbound campaign. If your not playing in this world you should be looking for a way to get your players there. The amount of good information included is great. The book is laid out well and white space is very small. All of the artwork is in color and helps set the tone of this unusual world. If (when) you plan to play in this world do not read chapter 8, as this will ruin the adventure.To see the graded evaluation of this product and to leave comments that the reviewer will respond to, go to The Critic's Corner at <a href="http://www.d20zines.com/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=index&catid=&topic=3" target="_blank">www.d20zines.com.</a></blockquote>

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