The Quintessential Rogue is the second in Mongoose Publishing's Collector's Series line of class support accessory books. Bound in a style reminiscent of 2e
AD&D's "Complete" books, each of the collector's series tomes promises to be a collection of material that'll make playing the class in question easier, more varied, and more fun. Expansion of options is rarely a bad thing when done well, but is
The Quintessential Rogue as diverse and useful as the class it explores?
From the start, I was impressed with the author's writing style, which was much smoother than the experience I had with Mongoose's
Slayer's Guide to Sahuagin. The book is relatively attractive too, with predominantly decent art, though I quite dislike some of the drawings of women done by Renaldo Batista (because they tend to be exaggerated and look alike). The cover is bland, and the emulation of the "Complete" covers is a dubious marketing ploy. Exactly how to jacket a book of such diverse material is a problem, though.
That material starts with character concepts, which are a great feature of this product, and an underutilized possibility in the market today. Stemming from the admonition in Chapter 6 of the
Players Handbook, the concepts modify the core rogue class slightly to fit a certain vocation, such as scout, spy, or pirate. I can't make any generalizations about the modifications Mearls suggests in each concept, simply because they run the gamut from decent to very poor in design. Missing from this section is a list of skills on which each concept character might focus, though a DM could take some of the bonuses and penalties as suggestions of such, instead of using the worst of the lot as is.
Generalizations remain hard to come by when looking at the prestige classes in
The Quintessential Rogue. They're varied, and some of them have very nice abilities, while remaining balanced and fun to use. The commando has some excellent sniper and wilderness talents that set the class apart from both rangers and rogues, while the crusading footpad might prove to be a lich's worst nightmare. Two of the classes are clearly derivative of literary or cultural icons, but that doesn't ruin them at all. Conversely, other classes have requirements that are too easy, like the deep tracker, for which any ranger could qualify easily at 3rd level. Some, like the executioner, have hard requirements and limited skills (including the lack of either skill required for the class in the class skill list), but are still too powerful for my taste. Others may find a character that can deliver an extra 3d6 with every attack fine for their worlds. I don't.
New skill uses suggested by
The Quintessential Rogue are another mixed bag. Many of these ideas are quite creative, like using Balance against foes (in a way I won't spoil), or using Bluff with spellcasting. Others already have rules in the PHB, on which
The Quintessential Rogue deigns to expand with some panache. (Squeezing into tight places just became a more exact science.) That style disappears with other applications, like a terribly arbitrary damage rule for rappelling, or giving characters with Alchemy what amounts to free Knowledge (nature) skill.
No few feats are clunky in their mechanics as well, either too powerful, or conversely providing little benefit. Poison Reaper allows a character to collect venom from slain creatures, which should probably be relegated to a skill check, but has goofy and arbitrary dose results. The daily limitations placed on many of the feats that modify sneak or other attacks make them seem equally contrived and unreal. A character with Blinding Strike can only use it against a given foe once per battle, even if the foe has a chance to recover from the first such strike. Arcane Sensitivity allows a character to sense if an item is enchanted (not
detect magic in general), but it's usable only once per day. Sometimes one gets too much for the price of a feat instead of too little, like Splintering Strike, which not only allows a character to make sneak attacks against constructs, but also allows more damage than a normal sneak attack.
There are more examples of such questionable things, but other feats work well. Feats like Expert Climber and Eye for Quality fill nice niches in the would-be rogue's repertoire by modifying valuable skills. Hair Trigger Reflexes and Lightning Grab are very roguish indeed, and add spice to a character. Thus,
The Quintessential Rogue eludes any general statement again, much like the wily character type it explores.
That character (and others) can now choose from a variety items found in the book, but some aren't recommended. The padded club is just plain silly, and at least the scoped "sniper's crossbow" didn't mention gnomes in its description. Leather armor constructed from the hides of some magical beasts has special abilities (and exorbitant cost), but begs the question, "Does the skin really retain the creature's abilities?" In some instances this question must be answered in the negative, such as rust monster leather that corrodes anything which strikes the armor. Now a properly enchanted suit of such hide might be a better idea.
Better ideas are found in the same sections. Quick-Change Plate does mention gnomes, but it's pretty sweet (whatever you do, do
not pull this pin). Other magic items hide weapons in plain sight or hit a foe with multiple attacks from one attack roll. I'll be using some of these ideas in my campaign, even if I don't have ubiquitous, diminutive inventors in that world.
Unlike stereotypical gnomes, the poisons found in
The Quintessential Rogue are very interesting and diverse, and each is given with its method of delivery, difficulty of detection, saving throw DC, damage, cost, and Craft (poisons) DC. While I found the warfare uses suggested for some to be far-fetched considering their cost per dose, the detection DC is a great idea. Now if your character's drink is poisoned, he might notice before it's too late. The Craft DC is particularly welcome, considering the book also contains detailed poison creation rules.
Those rules are clear, simple, and concise, and they work well. The only item I missed while reading them was a sample creation or two. Since there are so many new poisons in the book, it's not unreasonable for one or two of them to have been deconstructed as illustrations. I also had issue with the final step of creation possibly resulting in the crafting character being poisoned by a poison he has
failed to create. The rules here also don't really comply, or fit into, the rules for using Craft as delineated in the
Player's Handbook. Still, they're quite useful--even more so than those found in
Song and Silence by Wizard's of the Coast. Having both is a real boon.
Less useful are the trap construction rules. These rules are, as stated in the book (but not on the back cover), quick and dirty, resulting in simple traps. Further, the mechanics produce traps that are easy to find and disable, even with spectacular successes with a Craft (traps) skill check. They also don't deal with the trap's final Challenge Rating, which is essential to adventure design. Unlike the poison mechanics, the trap rules in
Song and Silence book by far outshine these in inherent usefulness and in creating traps that are viable in play.
The Quintessential Rogue ironically includes a totally new method for creating magical traps with the Use Magic Device skill. While I like such innovation and bravery, these rules aren't anything I'd use. First of all, the devices that hold the magical energy themselves must be created by a spellcaster--one with feats that would allow such a character to help build the trap in question without the need for such a mechanism. The gadget is terribly expensive, and when it's charged (via very difficult skill checks), it is dangerous to handle. Despite all this effort, traps created using these contrivances are easy to disarm, relegating them to the position of a dull addition to a lackluster set of trap rules.
Not so dull was the reputation system. While such a thing is a good idea, the execution here falters a bit compared with the system in the first-edition of [/i]Star Wars[/i] d20. The potential bonuses from reputation can be unwieldy, considering that reputation acts as and ability score, modifying certain skills when a character is recognized. Suggested ranges (in miles) at which reputation might be effective are only useful in a campaign with easy travel and spread of information. Further, having such a bonus affect skills like Perform and Profession is highly questionable, even though the system in
d20 Modern does the former to a lesser degree. The chart that denotes the situations that affect a character's reputation (and associated modifiers to the score) only has one negative modifier: -1 per three months not spent adventuring. This is illogical, since very famous persons don't suffer from fame fall-off as quickly as their lesser, and many famous persons don't "adventure" at all. Darth Vader can sit on that Star Destroyer for years, and he's still going to be infamous the galaxy over. The lack of any other penalties to reputation (such as one for acting contrary to your current repute) makes it harder to adjudicate, so this system doesn't shine like it could.
The Quintessential Rogue truly shines in the area of campaign material, such as law, law enforcement, however. The overview of legal systems, how they're related to alignment, and how to DM legal entanglements (including corruption) is a real gem. Equally splendid is material on those who enforce the law. Instructions for creating police (my word) in cities and towns are clear and very useful. My favorite aspect of the section was the Vigilance score, which is used to determine whether or not the guard actually responds to a disturbance. Excellent.
The rules Mearls has offered for creating organizations are as exceptional (depending on the level of detail one wants). Rules for loyalty, activity, interactions, and income are all here, and they're simple enough to be easy to use, yet complex enough to sharply define groups such as spy rings, guilds, and trade cartels. Further, the resulting system actually creates a meta-game within the game, in which players can engage in strategic allocation of resources, manpower, and time to make profit and expand their empire. This system isn't just useful for
D&D either; it's easily transferable to many other d20 products that lack such a feature. I can see players and GMs using these rules for a smuggler's ring in
Star Wars, a drug cartel in
d20 Modern, or a terrible cabal with a far-reaching power base in
Call of Cthulhu. Those are all "bad" organizations, but the rules aren't limited like my examples. One could easily make an upstanding merchant house for
Fading Suns or define the alliances of the Twisted Earth in
Darwin's World, each complete with good alignment and agenda, thus avoiding the low-end of the spectrum
The low points I found in the organization system itself were few. One is a reference on a chart that suggests the loyalty of the group is seriously and adversely affected by increased wealth in an organization. The other is the Guildmaster feat requirement for a character to use the rules at all. That feat requires a character be 10th-level, which inherently results in every character that becomes the head of a guild being 12th-level, unless he or she kept a feat in reserve somehow. (The core rules don't say you must choose a feat when it's acquired due to advancement, nor do they say you lose that feat if you don't choose immediately.) Arguably, though, running a guild should require some skills that allow the character in question to perform duties required for organizing a group, and the rules should incorporate such skills into the checks made for advancing the guild. These are minor problems though, and easily alterable should one desire to.
What isn't alterable is the fact that one cannot use these rules to produce organizations for publication since they aren't OGC. This actually harms the publisher, because the rules are good enough that others might use them in a way that doesn't remove the value of their appearance in this product. At least permission to do that could have been granted. The closed nature is actually unclear though, since the Open Game Content in this book is
not clearly delineated at all. The only thing that does offset it is a declaration at the front of the book about anything that's derivative of the SRD. Thanks Mongoose, that's very elucidating. What is clear is the intent to make outside use of this content very difficult.
Clearly,
The Quintessential Rogue isn't quintessential, unless you want really great rules for making complex campaigns centered on law and organizations. It is a handy part of any player's or DM's arsenal, and its utility beyond the scope of
D&D is a definite plus--too bad Mongoose didn't market it as such, or at least clearly add it's innovative rules to OGC canon (new standard anyone?). If this release can be taken as an indicator, the Collector's Series looks promising. I'm glad I laid my greedy little paws on this part of it. $20 is more than reasonable for this bag of baubles.
(3.75,
This review was originally written for
Gaming Frontiers on 11/18/02.
