Player's Advantage Rogue is the first in a new player focused series from Mystic Eye Games. Clocking in at 104 pages at $19.95, it's roughly a little less expensive than other books of its size, most of which fall into the 96 page at $19.95 count.
The book has several elements to help it stand out from similar books. The first is character concepts with advice in stat, feat, and skill selection. Next, a reuse of open game content from other companies. This allows them go gather many feats suitable for rogues and add them to the game. Then multi-class combinations, similar to Dragon magazine, where they take two classes, give it a name, and stat out level progression from 1st to 20th level. The next is core classes, and prestige classes. These elements combine to make Player's Advantage Rogue something to look over when making your next rogue.
For those new to role playing, the first chapter, Archetypes provides some great ideas that are more fleshed out than those found in Wizards of the Coast Hero Builder. These archetypes provide the name, a quick quote, description, vital abilities (stat arrangement), related feats, related skills, basic tactics, variants, multiclass combos and racial information. This is great for those who've never played a thief without thinking of their skills as an acrobat, burglar, explorer, hoodlum, pretender, scout, tinker, or urbanite. The information is quick and easy to read.
Those who hate alternative core classes or variant core classes, should skip over chapter two as it provides specialized core classes. Some are taken from other sources. The stealthy nanala is updated from Nyambe while the psychic pilferer, who gains some small amount of psionic power, reduced sneak attack, and ability to evade damage through evasion and trap sense, is a modified version of the class from Fantasy Flight Games Path of Shadow.
Other material includes the ninja, a minor spellcasters with sneak attack, they are dangerous combatants with abilities ranging from unarmed combat and poison use, to fast movement and dodge to the more mundane and typical specialized rogue is the sea dog. These individuals master movement on a ship and wield weapons of the sea like the cutlas or rapier. The thugge is a master of strangulation and those who want to form their own Cult of Stranglers or other cult based on historical India or Glen Cook's take of them in the Black Company, can now do so.
Each class is set up similar to the player's handbook. This includes background notes, adventurers, characteristics, alignment, religion, background, races, other classes, role, and game rule information. For those playing in high level campaigns, you'll be pleased to note that there is Epic information included.
Those GMs who want some more variety in their NPCs have the spy and the thug, two lesser powered individuals. The thug is updated from Dragonstar Starfarer's Handbook according to the text, but I recognize it from Traps and Treachery, both from Fantasy Flight Games.
Prestige Classes are always interesting to me as I get to see what new tricks designers can pull out of their sleeves. Here we get some masters of darkness like the darksoul and shadow lord, to dark murderers like the recidivist who blind themselves to gain power. Like the previous section, it's very standard layout and setup, including epic notes and material.
There were some elements missing. One of my favorite types of rogue is the dreaded knife fighter. While the eldritch envoy and shadow lord are both interesting prestige classes that expand a spellcasting rogue's options, a knife fighter of some sort is much more standard and common.
Those who've played the game and want more out of their character than a single class rogue will enjoy chapter four, killer combos as it breaks down class combinations with background, related archetypes, recommended races, pros, and cons. Each combo has a chart with level, class levels, bab (base attack bonus), saving throws, average hit points, skill pints and abilities gained. These rang from con men and judges, to things I wouldn't think of personally like the monastic infiltrator, a monk rogue and the urban mercenary, a ranger, rogue, fighter.
Chapter five covers feats. Some aren't going to be appropriate for every campaign as many of them come from Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, like First Strike. This feat grants you bonus dice damage to your sneak attack. It's fine for that variant d20 system as the Unfettered, a fighter-rogue variant, doesn't get the full allotment of sneak attack damage dice a rogue has, but for a normal d20 fantasy campaign, might be overpowered. Perhaps some type of label as to what campaign this type of feat would be appropriate for is needed.
This is true with other feats designed to help rogues armor class. Improved Dodge, taken from the good old Assassin's Handbook, coupled with Sanguar from Nyambe, could give a 6th level human a +4 bonus, which can increase higher as the character goes up in levels. Sanguar is for a setting with little to no metal armor and spell restrictions on protection spells but someone who hasn't read that book (Nyambe) won't know that.
Most of these feats though, are going to be right at home in a standard campaign and those playing in an Epic campaign will have many options open to them.
If you're looking for exotic materials to outfit your character, you're not going to find too much here. The buckle knife and stiletto are old classics, and while the steel ball is an interesting throw weapon, there are dozens of other resources for weapons that rogues can pilfer through. The new weapon templates will add a little dazzle to a campaign though, like blackened, where your weapon is darker than normal and gains a +2 bonus to sleight of hand checks. This section could've used more such devices and more alchemical items to spruce things up.
One thing almost out of place here is chapter seven, powers, spells and magic items. It's not that there are a lot of spells, only five in all, and some of them solely for the psychic pilferer, it's just that you don't associate rogues with spellcasting. The magic items include several new properties like rogue friend, where you gain +1d6 sneak attack damage or slayer, where you gain +2d6 points of sneak attack damage.
It's perhaps too small a section though and could use some artifacts or relics to give it some personality. If you're going to include epic material for the alternative core classes and PrCs, how about the magic items to go with them? AEG's Relics for instance, has several weapons that could've fit here perfectly.
Chapter Eight is another one that seems out of place as it covers monsters, more appropriate for the GM, not in a book that's the Player's Advantage. It's a short section with a few templates and example creatures. Some of them are in my opinion, silly. The half-dragon, half rat for example, or the half-dragon, half dire rat.
Another chapter best left out of a player's guide is chapter nine, no-player characters. If I'm a player, I really don't need to see any NPC's unless it's a design as a character build so I can see how its done. Sure, as a GM, I appreciate having new characters to act as patrons, enemies, allies or rivals for the characters but this isn't DM's Advantage Rogue. Players will however, be able to use these characters as idea generators. Adaja for example, is a half elf whose ranger, rogue and fighter and acts as a enforcer for a guild.
The books utility is diminished a bit if you're a collector of all things d20 as you may have seen some of the material before. Some may wonder at the use of core rules like archetypes and combo lists but I say it may be the way of the future. Dragon magazine has done this for a long time. The Heroes of High Favor series uses multi-classing with the favored class to showcase racial attitudes and abilities. Goodman Games is working on The Power Gamer's 3.5 Warrior Strategy Guide, a book using the SRD, math, and examples to show how best to build your character. While the era of the PrC may not be over, it looks like some companies are trying to move beyond that using what's already there.
The book uses standard two column layout for most of the product. Tables and other important information are pulled out in gray boxes. The art is handled by Philip James, Hunter Frederick McFalls and Illy Astarkhan. Having a limited number of artists gives the book a fairly unified feel despite the differences in style. My own favorite is the female half orc counting her coins. The use of white space is good in most instances, better than Sword & Sorcery's recent Scarred Lands Player's Guides. Interior covers aren't used, a page is used for notes, another page for the excellent e-Adventure Tiles from Skeletonkey Games.
Some of the things I like about the book are that when it does use content from other companies, it lists where the item came from. This is great for those who are interested in the product in the first place now. One of the things I didn't like was the player focus seemed lost at the end. Instead of monsters and NPCs, how about a collection of new uses for old skills or thieves guild patrons and rules for running your own guild?
If you're a new player to 3.5 and looking for a good resource of original and time tested materials, Player's Advantage Rogue is your book.
