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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="Psion" data-source="post: 2011145" data-attributes="member: 172">WarriorsWarriors is a character option sourcebook aimed at enhancing the warrior NPC class in d20 system fantasy games. The book is written by Michael J. Varhola, Paul O. Knorr, and Sharon Daugherty. The book claims to be written to 3.5 standards with some exceptions, but a quick glance reveals many 3.0 conventions are still used (like animal empathy as a class skill.)A First LookWarriors is a 128 page perfect-bound softcover book priced at $19.95.The book cites artists Sharon Daugherty, Bobby Ketros, Phil "Shade" Kightlinger, Lissanne Lake, and Geoff Weber. The cover is adorned with a decent painting of troops in combat with a wyvern-rider. Some of the text on the cover is near unreadable due to being of a similar blue color to the floor in the background.The interior is black-and-white. Some of the interior art is decent, but most is primitive, lackluster, and/or not of professional quality, with some characters with jarring proportions. Much of the better art is freeware clip art, some of which I recognize from Fast Forward books.A Deeper LookWarriors is arranged into 6 chapters and 6 appendices. The chapters are all related to mechanical character options, while the appendices detail other items of concern to warriors such as heraldry and chariot rules.The first chapter is prestige classes. The prestige classes include Aerial Calvaryman, Beast Driver, Charioteer, Combat Engineer, Dueling Master, Executioner, Forester, Gladiator, Marine, Mechanist Infantry, Militia Leader, Mountaineer, Nomadic Calvaryman, Sheriff, Watchman, and Zealot.As the emphasis of this book is roles for rank-and-file warriors, most of the prestige classes have fairly simple to get into, with BAB requirements of 1 or 2, and skill ranks requirements of 4. Many have attribute requirements as well. Some follow 3.0 conventions, such as using exclusive skills and using 3.0 skills and skill names.The classes all have a good deal of background, but many fall short of what I consider to be the basic requirement for justifying a prestige class: can the concept be realized fairly with the existing classes, feats, and skills? In all to many cases, the answer seemed like "yes." Many of the classes seemed like fighters with a tighter selection of feats and skill bonuses or other class abilities dropped in at odd levels. This being the case, it seems like most of these concepts could have been made by taking a fighter with the appropriate feat selections.The gladiator is probably the most innovative of the new prestige classes. The gladiator comes with a list of "fighting styles" that it can select from. Gladiator combat styles are similar to feats, the character gains attack, damage, and perform roll bonuses when fighting with the weapon and armor specified for the gladiatorial style.The second chapter, fortunately, seems to address the aims of the book more adroitly. The chapter introduces what it calls warrior subtypes. The subtypes bear some resemblance to the idea of a variant class, though in the text is implies that a feat is required and have prerequisites like a feat.Each subtype describes how to change the warrior's standard proficiency selection to make it match a specifically trained warrior type better. Some also have specific benefits and advancement requirements. All have a list of standard equipment that they would need to perform as the given type of troops.Many of the subtypes correspond to historical roles for regular troops like calvarymen, archers, and pikemen. However others correspond to less regular figures, such as thugs, foragers, and traders. A GM could use these to quickly flesh out low level soldiers in a game.The third chapter covers skills. Many of the entries are new categories in knowledge, craft, and profession skills as well as new uses for existing skills. Some skills introduce steamtech and similarly advanced technologies to the game. Most of the skill descriptions are fairly detailed, and DCs for sample tasks are provided.In addition to the new skill categories are new base skills, such as signaling, smell, taste, and torture. The first and the last could have easily been tucked under profession, but otherwise do not seem problematic. Smell and taste, while I see the justification, seem a bit too specific for d20 fantasy games to me.Even if you feel these new skills are justified, the authors commits the cardinal sin of introducing new, non-category skills: they fail to define which existing core classes would have these skills.The fourth (brief) chapter addresses new skills. There are (naturally for a book on warriors) some combat related skills such as anticipatory shot (a somewhat odd feat that let's you "gain the benefits of surprise) and combat leadership (which allows you to give bonuses to allies once per combat). Some are equipment related (like charioteering and mechanist armor proficiency). Finally, there are specific versions of normal feats like aerial mounted archer. This last one seems the most dubious to me, in that feat usually aren't this specialized.The equipment chapter is a bit heftier, and contains a variety of items from exotic weapons (like chakrams) and armor (like gladiatorial armor), mechanist (semi-steamtech) items, siege engines, lighter-than-air vehicles, elephants and riding gear, and gunpowder weapons, along with additional rules to use these items.The spells chapter provides a number of spells, mostly related with physical combat as well. Many of the new spells fall into the category of Battle Runes, which are describes as being most appropriate to primitive spellcasters. These spells all require painting on the beneficiary's body, and provides a number of enhancements to the target (such as save bonuses, AC, attack rolls.)One spell struck me as a little potent: the third level cleric spell flesh wounds converts all normal damage to subdual damage for a significant period of time. This seems a bit potent defense for a third level spell, and it seems to me could use a reduction in duration or a cap on how much damage can be converted this way (like the psionic power biofeedback.)The first appendix introduces new magic items. As you might expect, there are several magical weapons (including siege engines). In the same vein as the battle runes, many of the items seem themed after primitive concepts like fur cloaks, clawed gloves, and fetish-like jewelry.The second appendix contains two creatures. The first is the theran war elephant (which sports a picture of an elephant with blades grafted to each tusk and a third in its trunk.) The war elephant is classified as an animal, but is rather intelligent, able to organize into units and advance by character class. Not a bad concept, but technically flawed as per the rules, animals only have intelligence of 1 or 2.The second new creature is the Narasinhai. These are lionlike monstrous humanoids with the characteristics typical of lions (e.g., pounce and rake). As is common with these sorts of creations, they are a warlike society.The third appendix contains a number of sample characters made with the rules in the book. The fourth and fifth have rules for chariots and elephants respectively. The sixth appendix contains a small treatise on heraldry, mostly similar to classical European models, but with some additional ideas for nonhuman heraldry.ConclusionsWarriors strength is its details warrior variants and equipment. In a low magic or military campaign, the sorts of details these chapters provide allow the DM to simply create troops with a good amount of detail and variety.As mentioned, I was not impressed by the graphical presentation of the book, and nor was I convinced that some skills and feats and most prestige classes are all that compelling to use in a game.Overall Grade: C -Alan D. Kohler</blockquote>

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