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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeGKushner" data-source="post: 2325026" data-attributes="member: 1129">For Rogues or not for rogues... that is the questionThe Book of Roguish Luck Written by Wolfgang BaurPublished by Malhavoc Press96 b & w pages$19.99ISBN: 1-58846-785-6The Book of Roguish Luck is the latest in the “might series” following Eldritch, Hallow, and Iron. Interior art is handled by Tyler Walpole, and he does a fantastic job of illuminating the lurkers in shadow. He uses the same cast of characters in many illustrations, which gives the book a story like feel in terms of watching the characters progress. Layout is simple two-column with no borders and is very clean and easy to read.  While there is no index, the table of contents is fairly comprehensive. Written by Wolfgang Baur, this book brings more game mechanics to the table, many of which have a ‘roguish’ element to them. Or do they?What does that mean? To me, a rogue is about well, being an adventurous thief. One who has a lot of skills and can take advantage of an opponent’s blind side. It’s more about being stealthy then about standing toe-to-toe with the enemy.Now some of the material in here does just that, but most of it seems focused on other things and some of it is just not appropriate for games trying to minimize paperwork and keep game balance.The book starts off with three new core classes. Now that’s a big step, as most companies just can’t do core classes right. They’re not too bad here though. The bandit is a bit of rogue ranger and seems pretty sound in most aspects. About the only thing I’d probably nix is their special ability “Pounce”. It allows them to make a full attack action at the end of a character. Now originally when they get it, that’s only going to be one attack, unless using two-weapons or having a monk’s flurry of blows ability via-multi-classing but it just seems broken. The appealing things about this class are the special abilities that the user can select from. Because the user can select them, not all bandits will have the same ability, or at least, not in the same progression.The Guttermage and the Shadowsworn, while having something to do with the lower end of the social spectrum, really don’t have a lot to do with rogues. Now the guttermage is a fascinating class in that they are like hedge wizards and don’t go to a school to learn their magic and their spell books often resemble something that feel out of the trash. The shadowsworn is a master of magics that are tied to the plane of shadow. This isn’t the Book of Eldritch Might however. As the author goes into things relating to assassination and swashbuckling latter, why not provide those as variant core classes?Following are three PrCs. The first, the Deadheart Gangster, is a ‘Mafia’ style character who gains in connections and presence as he gains levels. Interesting take on it, especially as they gain an unarmed attack but another mob style character is not something I’m in the market for. The Fortune Hunter on the other hand, is a class tied into the Luck mechanic introduced in the book and is a full fifteen levels. At that many levels, it would’ve been a simple matter to make this a core class as opposed to a PrC. While lacking a rogue’s sneak attack, they gain some of their other abilities like Evasion and like the bandit, special abilities, some of which include abilities that the bandit has, like making a shot to the eyes of an enemy. Their abilities with Luck don’t make a lot of sense until you read the section on Luck and some notes on how to use this class, both in terms of requirements and abilities, without using the Luck mechanic, would’ve been appropriate.The last, the Silvertongue Charmer, is a socialite whose abilities allow them to move undetected and then strike. They also have minor spellcasting abilities, gaining spell advancement every other level. The odd thing though, is that they have a separate chart for spells known if they had no spellcasting ability before. Something different I believe than I’ve seen before. In terms of mechanics, Chapter Three, Sneakier Attacks, is going to have it’s fans and haters. For example, they provide two break downs for ranged sneak attacks. The attack against a moving target, and the attack against the stationary target. The difference? The range increment at which sneak attack is allowed is greatly increased. For example, using a heavy crossbow against a stationary target allows you to shot someone 100 feet away and still get your sneak attack bonus. Several players hated it, several loved it. Makes assassination a much more real threat if the bolt comes from three times the distance the players are normally used to, and with the –10 to spot check from range alone, that sniper is probably getting away.Gangs and Guilds, Chapter Four, reminds me a bit of the Canting Crew by Troll Lords in that they give you some ideas on how a rogue’s guild can be assemble and what it’s stat block is and some Thieves’ Cant to spice up the game session. Sample guilds are provided for the GM to add to his campaign and those looking to house the players will enjoy the material on Guild Taverns and Gambling Halls, each with assets and specialties. If used, it can provide some useful tools for a GM but if put to the side, as I did Canting Crew, the language and ideas soon become lost among a sea of supplements.Moving on to Chapter Five, we have Gambling. I can see the appeal of putting gambling in a rogue book, and the different games detailed can provide for some entertaining nights as the players try to match wits against the other gamblers in the city who they compete against. The nice thing about this chapter is it doesn’t just deal with the mechanic aspects, but also talks about the different types of gambling. Perhaps the players are betting on a griffon race? Perhaps they are playing a specialized game where only a handful of people know the rules?Anyway, the next chapter, Luck, is a big one. The basic luck system looks like it wants to supplant the Action Point system found in d20 Modern, Eberron, and Unearthed Arcana. In that I think it fails. Luck Points are randomly rolled per level with the dice based on your class. Personally, one of the things I like about Action Point is that I can go with the base or I can control them using methods from Grim Tales or other sources. This is too random for my taste. Then again, I use a fixed hit point method in my games too.Luck Points, in essence, allow you to reroll an attack or skill check for one point or a saving throw for two luck points. In some ways the author did his best to flesh out luck points, such as by providing rules for how to regain luck (through spells and level advancement), how NPC’s use luck, and even a Luck ability score. Here I think the author fails though. “Roll the Luck ability score at the same time that all other ability scores are generated…” Luck score provides bonuses to the luck dice rolled each level. Not a terrible idea in and of itself, but what about those who don’t roll their stats? At least the Book of Erotic Fantasy noted that point buy should “add points equal to a score of 13” when dealing with their new stat, Appearance (App). My experiences may not be the same as everyone else, but in the last two years, I haven’t played any games where I rolled my stats. They’ve all been point buy or one or another sort.Chapter seven continues the move away from rogue into the mage realm as it provides new spells. Now it’s not a huge annoyance, but some of the spells are from the Complete Book of Eldritch Might, others from Arcana Evolved, and some from the Assassin’s Handbook. In addition, I don’t think game balance is maintained with all the spells. The biggest offender here has to be Black Hand. This is a 4th level spell that does 1d3 points of permanent Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution drain and temporarily adds them to the caster. The most interesting thing about the spells here is the flavor. For example, Chaming Lie, a 2nd level Bard or Gutter Mage spell, is subtitled ‘Trust Me, Boys’. Still, with 80 spells, there are some that are useful, even if only for flavor but at 80 spells, it’s a big chapter, especially odd for a non-spellcasting core class.Chapter eight introduces a new type of feat, the Luck feat. These allow you to do different things with your luck points. Great for those games using them but a complete waste of ink for those not using them. For other feats, some seem to have 3.0 hold overs. For example, Weapon Panache is an equivalent to Weapon Finesse in that you substitute one stat to hit. In this case though, they limit it to one weapon.Individual GM’s will have to determine the viability of some of the feats like Ambush, where you gain a bonus die to sneak attack damage or Slashing Strike, where two of your sneak attack dice become d8s.Chapter nine moves the focus back to the rogue with new equipment and magic items. Several new arrows, some old and familiar by now like the cutting arrow, are introduced along with some specialty rogue tools like glass cutters and rappelling harnesses. Unfortunately, there are no specific rogue weapons, just a few weapon properties, and where they could’ve had a few artifacts suited for rogues, we get a few interesting items that act like feats. Take Fingerless Gloves with a +2 bonus to Sleight of Hand and Open Locks or Lifter’s Gloves with a bonus to Disable Device and Open Locks. Interesting but no shadow gems? No armor of darkness?Rogues continue to get some new tools and ideas in chapter ten, Burglary and Housecracking, as it includes details about different types of lock and key construction, as well as information on different rope tricks and how best to case a site. The chapters end with Bribes and Contacts, with different tables and rules to represent the levels of bribing. For example, the CR of the target will influence the amount needed, and the target’s wealth will provide the Diplomacy DC to be rolled.  Contacts to help gather information are included, as well as rules for fencing stolen goods.The appendix is supposed to be a conversion for Arcana Unearthed but really only converts the spells, and since some of the spells came from Arcana Evolved in the first place, we get no entry for those. The most disappointing thing about this section is the weak information on the core classes and prestige classes. No notes on the changes in requirements. No notes on what type of spells the characters can use (simple, complex and exotic), and no real effort made to modify the feats, which is odd as the feats in Arcana Evolved are generally not on the same power level as those in the Player’s Handbook.For me, too many pages are used on optional rules and an expanding those optional rules and for providing spells and feats that won’t fit in any but the most powerful campaigns. While it’s one of the few 3.5 rogue books out there, I think some GMs may be just as well with the original Traps and Treachery from Fantasy Flight Games or Path of Shadows from the same company, both 3.0 books but both which a much more narrow focus on the rogue. If you want more magic for your thief types and want a few more options on thieving rules, the book has some potential. If you’re looking for new spellcasting core classes that have some different flavor, this book may be for you. If action points aren’t doing it for you and you want to try another variant, luck points may be more to your liking. The book has potential for those who can appreciate it for what it is.</blockquote>

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