So I very recently picked up Azoth Games' PF1 supplement
Between Heaven and Hell: Fēngdū (affiliate link), and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.
This is another winner from Vladimir Rodriguez, the guy who wrote
Akashic Expansions: Tai Lin, which is a product that I found very inspiring, so it's great to see that he can turn out consistent hits. Introducing an entirely new plane of existence, along with its planar denizens, can be a tall order, but he does a great job of doing so.
What's most notable about this is that a lot of esoteric options are put on the table here. Several of the stronger mingcha (the new "family" of planar creatures native to the new plane introduced here) are explicitly outlined as having different suites of powers. What kind of powers, you ask? These can be scripts (from Ascension Games'
Paths of Magic), truemagic (from Interjection Games'
Strange Magic), veilweaving (i.e. akashic magic), psionics, psychic magic, and more! Of course, the product makes sure to link to a couple different wikis where the relevant Open Game Content can be found, but you're still going to want to make sure to double-check what's here. Even the new plane of existence itself makes sure to reference lesser-known options like
planar infusions and what special qualities its
petitioners have.
It's not just its commitment to the outré that makes this product work, however. It's also the little touches that the author puts into various aspects of the place. For instance, we get descriptions (but not stats) for the eight rules of the eponymous city of Fēngdū, get multiple adventure hooks for each new monster that's introduced, and are even given a new narrative background for
duskwalkers (that being
mù xíng zhě, the "twilight walkers").
My single area of disappointment is that, while it does cover "
hell money," it only does so in a brief sidebar noting that it's essentially just notes worth X number of gold (or silver) pieces, which can be utilized when calling a mincha via
planar binding spells. I was kind of hoping for a wider application of that concept, in that it allows for the living to influence the dead's afterlife...but on reflection, I can't really hold that against this product, if for no other reason than PF1 hasn't really systematized that in the way such a thing would require.
Overall though, this has proven to be a very inspirational product, and of course I love seeing various disparate options being brought together and meshed into a cohesive whole. Hopefully we'll see more from "El Vlado" (as the author styles himself) in the near future!