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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2008784" data-attributes="member: 18387">IntroductionFinally I get to do the first review on a product at EnWorld! I have looked forward to this product and will try to keep this review informative and concise, so hold you breath and prepare to dive into it. Good nautical supplements have not been foundin abundance for the longest time until suddenly last year Age of Exploration, Seas of Blood, Skull and Bonesand now finally the Seafarer's Handbook kicked the genre into gear. FFG have consistently deliveredhigh quality d20 supplements and this encouraged me to buy the Seafarer's Handbook first (that and the factthat I'm a succor for Hardcovers). The BasicsThe Seafarer's Handbook is a 176 page perfectly bound hardcover. The design style is reminiscent of the other Legends and Lairs supplements: Traps and Treachery, Mythic Races and the upcoming Spells and Spellcraft. The artwork is excellent to say the least. FFG have managed to chooseartists whose artwork is both cool and classical at the same time and I the illustrations in the Seafarer's Handbook added tremendously to the atmosphere of the book.Chapter by Chapter AnalysisChapter 1: Seafaring AdventuresThis chapter is basically a miniature PHB for Undersea adventures. It includes: - Races: 3 new races Merfolk (four subspecies), Half-Merrow (Merrow are aquatic ogres) and    Aquatic Elves (two subspecies). All the races are quite well-done and allow players access to what is basically    aquatic versions of Humans, Elves and Half-orcs. I few more races would have been nice though,    a Merfolk/Elf crossbreed, Sirines, Tritons and similar races would have made nice additions.   The races are well-done, however, continuing FFG strong grasp of the d20 mechanics. The    Half-Merrow might warrant ECL+1 instead of ECL+0 as it is but it would be in the very low end    of the ECL+1 category. - Prestige Classes: Surprisingly only one Prestige Class made its way into this product. Its a    rather interesting class called the Reef Warrior. As a PC class it is of little value but    as an NPC class it is a good opportunity to introduce the alien nature of the aquatic races. - Skills: Good practical walkthrough of the existing skills and their usage underwater. The    chapter also introduces one new skill: Alchemy (Underwater), which makes perfect sense.  - Feats: As with skills, we are first given a brief guide to applying existing feats underwater.    What follows is a large selection of really, really good feats. Many of the feats are - refreshingly -   not based around combat and those that are a most welcome addition to the evergrowing list of feats.   My personal favourites include: Barroom Brawler, Child of the Sea, Great Lungs, Naval Heritage,   Polar Bear Skin, Pressure Survival, and Weapons of Opportunity. There are really no bad    feats in here except maybe for Create Manikin. It's a great way to introduce Vodoo style magic to a setting but may be quite a tad overpowered. The two most interesting are Parry and Riposte, though, two feats whose mechanics   would be a very interesting addition to the core mechanics of the game (introducing them   as feats is a fine way to go about it nonetheless). Parry allows you to hold attacks and use    them as parries. You simply roll against a DC equal to your opponents attack roll - this is    the way parry was always supposed to be handled! With Riposte you are also allowed a free   follow-up attack on a succesful parry. (... as a sidenote: This is exactly similar to the    parrying/riposte mechanic of Danish rpg VP. FFG has a Danish Director. Wonder if there's a connection...) - Equipment: Pretty much the usual stuff you'd expect: Goggles, Waterproof Scrolls and Swimming   Gear. The section includes 8 new aquatic armors, various tools and some weird stuff like    acid bulbs and Jellyfish Paste. - Spells: Overall good stuff. An Undersea domain and a fair selection of aquatic-themed spells.    No campaign is really complete without Air Breathing, Whirlpool and the thoroughly missed   Tidal Wave (Tsunami from 2E Spells and Magic). - Magic Items: The usual pretty much. A new weapon quality "Waterbane" and a three pages of    magical items. Some nice keepers here including Lacedon Cloak, Ring of Aquatic Survival, Sharkskin   and the horrible powerful artifact called Ship of the Gods (it fires fireballs - really!). - Underwater Combat: This had particular interest to me and I was curious how it would add up to    Skip Williams's article Water, Water Everywhere in Dragon 291. The first nice addition is the   -1 penalty you gain to swimming checks underwater for each round you had to hold your breath.    A logical and welcome rule. Unlike Skip Williams, the Seafarer's Handbook applies different modifiers to the different   weapon types when you use them for attack underwater. Bludgeoning weapons suffer -6 while   Slashing suffer a -3 penalty (SW assigned a flat -2 per square swung through). The rules    in this section makes underwater combat a bit harsher but also more realistic. Furthermore, the   the rules for combat are a fair deal more complicated than Skip Williams simplified (but practical)   3 Dimensional grid system. They take factors such as Positional Advantage, Balance and Buoyancy into account   using a longer (but very well done) mechanics. The first chapter rounds of with a few notes on aquatic creatures ON LAND.Chapter 2: Seafaring CampaignsChapter 2 features detailed descriptions of everything you'll need to run a seafaring campaign.The chapter is divided into the following sections:Adventures and the Sea: Elements of Sea Adventure, Coasts and Islands, Ships at Sea (Weather and Hazards), Seagoing Vessels (Crew and Complement, Motive Power, Draft, and Underwater Vessels). Ports of Call: Sea Trade, Politics, Mixing Cultures, Life in a Port City (this section includesa sample city - Kaaluntor - a well-detailed and inspiring setting). All in all this is a very good chapter. The material is a fairly captivating read and you'll find most of it instantly useful. The Ports of Call section is probably the easiest to integratedirectly into your existing campaigns. Nothing beats the atmosphere of a harbour city does it? Chapter 3: Undersea AdventuresI've always had a particular love for alien settings such as the Planes, The Underdark and Dragonstar and "The Underwave" presented in chapter 3 is a fine addition to any campaign world.It explores the intriguing world below the waves. You'll find details on Undersea Terrain and Environments, Aquatic Civilisations. I especially enjoyed reading the sections about Undersea Dungeons. Exploringa huge shipwreck at the bottom of the sea would be a really original adventure indeed. The sectionon Lost Cities immediately brings images of adventurers searching for the lost treasure/knowledgeof an Atlantis civilisation to mind.What follows is maybe the best single section of the book: The Underdeep. Its basically the Underdark of the oceans. The Sunken Mountain, The Drowning Pit and the well-thought out trade city of Silentdark are great places for your PCs to explore. In addition the section includes stats on Deep Drow in caseyou want to torment your players further.... The chapter concludes with a small selection of monsters: Aquatic Template (priceless), The Abyssal Shark (nasty - Deep Blue Sea sprung to mind instantly here),Coral Golem (a logical contruct of the Underwave), Drowned Dead (Aquatic Zombies), and the return of the Hippocampus (Aquatic Horse basically). All the monsters are very usable and pretty generic - more would have been nice but spending more space on other details was a good decision overall. We've got pretty of aquatic critters in d20 already....Chapter 4: Ship ConstructionI imagine that many have been awaiting detailed guidelines for ship construction, so here they are!This chapter has everything: Detailed information about Hulls, Propulsion, Ship Castles, Weapons, Ship Qualities(Feats for ships basically) and Hiring a Crew. All highly customisable. Chapter 5: Ship DesignsThis chapter presents 20 sample ship designs ranging from Ahenken-Athi's Floating Palace to the Ghost Ship. You'll find classical ship types such as the Barbarian Longship, Cog, and Slave Ship, andmuch more exotic ones like the Druid Lairship (think "Medieval Jacques Costeau" - this shipgave me the idea for a great adventure all by itself) and the two submarines: The Deep Crawler and the Iron Whale.The deck plans are well done and the ships are pretty cool. Looking forward to taking some of these babiesfor a test ride....Chapter 6: Ship Combat Let is be said immediately: The naval combat system here is fairly complex and may bog down play a bit.On the other hand the system seems to be a very good portrayal of naval combat and it should providejust the right "epic" feel to a battle between to good ships and their crews. You'll find detailedinformation of the effects damage has to the sails, deck and hull of a ship as well as a lengthy sectiondealing with Fire! Finally, Ramming and Broadsiding, Boarding, and Swashbuckling is covered. You'll be wise to give this a good read-through before you engage your PCs in naval battles and boarding actions. If you dothis book will definitely help you bring such combat situations to life.Finally, we get 1½ pages of Sea Conditions and their effect on ships. The Weather Effects includedare Light, Moderate, Strong, Severe, Windstorm, Hurricane, and Tornado. Not particularly exciting butessential nonetheless. Conclusion If you want to take your adventures to (or below) the high Seas this book is just right for you. It's a concise and essential guide that will cut down your workload considerably. I've oftenconsidered running a long adventure in the aquatic realms but the lack of general detail given always put me off.After buying this book, I am certain that my players will see there fair share of nautical adventures in the months and years to come. This book will grow on you - trust me.....-Zarrock</blockquote>

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