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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeGKushner" data-source="post: 2009580" data-attributes="member: 1129">Wrath and Rage is a sourcebook designed to augment both players and GMs options when using orcs and half orcs.  The book introduces new magic items, prestige classes, monsters, feats, and other goodies to help flesh out the bare bones provided in the Monster Manual.The book starts off by providing some concepts to the GM as to what orcs are in the campaign setting.  Are they a brooding, savage race that doesn’t advance by class, but rather by size?  Are they a race that wipes out their foes and then breeds until they can move onto another land?  Are they a race whose noble gods were tricked by the elves long ago and now seek revenge against those elfin hosts?Chapter two brings us Green Ronin’s interpretation of Rage Channeling Feats but these are different than those found in Heroes of High Favor: Half-Orcs.  Most of these provide the character with a bonus on a skill, ability check, or saving throw for the use of a raging feat.  One of the stranger abilities is Ghost Rage where you spend one of your rages and can now affect incorporeal creatures.  Some of the feats follow the Eye of He-Who-Watches path, a metamagic feat that leads to a chain of feats relating to ‘eye’ magic.  For instance, the Eye of the Basilisk allows the caster to cast spells that are ranged touch attacks as a gaze attack instead. One of the things I didn’t like is that several of the feats take the old “Use this stat for this skill” which is fine in and of itself, but it should just be one feat, not several. Some of the feats are questionable in terms of game balance.  With Full of Surprises, you gain two exotic weapon proficiencies, each one normally costing a feat in and of itself.  Another example is Rugged.  The character gains a bonus to Fortitude saves and Constitution checks.  In standard D&D games, the bonus to Fortitude itself is a feat.  Now in certain cases, if the requirements are higher, then the feat is more powerful, but the same scaling used in say Masters of the Wild, doesn’t appear to be followed here.  Despite these problems numerous feats are appropriate for any barbarian with a savage feral feel to them.  Strangely enough, several of the feats revolve around the leadership feat and can be used by any aspiring warlord, orc or human, to augment his fighting forces.Those more interested in prestige classes have seven new ones to select from here.  Not as many as Heroes of High Favor, it’s interesting to note that the classes don’t cross over with Heroes either though.  Each prestige class is listed with name, background information, requirements, class skills, features, weapon and armor proficiencies and special abilities.  Sample NPCs are provided so GMs can get to using this PrCs right away.Like the Bad Axe book, several of these classes seem more suited for NPCs.  Take the Bride of He-Who-Watches.  These female orcs are separated from other females and taught to take arms in the name of He-Who-Watches.  In doing so, they lose their own identity but gain strength for their patron god.  This includes the ability to smite good, issue challenges for one on one combat and gain bonuses when fighting with other brides.  Another strange one, The Honored Host, is a orcblood who has died due to infection of parasites and been brought back to life.  These strange creatures can place their vermin in others, speak with vermin, and have other strange abilities that most player’s aren’t going to jump up and down for.Of more interest to player though, the cutthroat takes the whole assassin half-orc image to another level with specialized abilities that allow him to blend into human society, wielding weapons and poison with great ease.  The only PrC here that reminds me of one from HoHF: HO is the Soul Gorger, a hunter who eats his enemies to gain power from their remains.  The power gained depends on the level of the Soul Gorger who gains greater abilities to devour his enemies as he rises in levels.  He’ll start with skin, work his way through lungs, brain and heart, and finally be able to consume the whole enemy.Overall the PrCs here didn’t do much for me.  Too many of them were of the five level variety and most of them fit into the NPC category.  As a GM using the Scarred Lands with a campaign focusing on the Plains of Lede with its orc hordes, that’s great.  As a player, there’s not much meat.  Where’s something like the Painless, orc berserkers that feel no pain and fight on after they die?  Where are the Evolved?  Black Orcs who gain size and mass as they increase in levels?More meat for GMs is included in the small chapter, Creatures.  This section covers some of the ‘allies’ and other beings encountered with orcs.  The good thing about the templates is that each one has example creatures.  In addition to the new monsters, a listing of monsters found with both savage orcs and warlike orcs is provided.  For templates, the Anathema, a creature whose being is soiled by the presence of the orcs, joins the likes of the half-orc template, and the rabid creature.  Those looking for normal monsters have their choice of two new dire creatures, the axebeak (dire ostrich) and the dire rhinoceros, as well as the two new giant vermin, the giant leech and giant slug.Of more interest to me is the section on the Gods and Their Servants.  Instead of just providing a listing of gods, the author provides a sample pantheon, The Great Warband, and the Patrons, beings whose origins can provide the GM with some room to play with various aspects of the orcs in his campaign.  The Warband provides eight gods with a format similar to the one found in the PHB.  You get the name, symbol, alignment, favored weapons and domains, as well as some background information.  Symbols are illustrated for reference.  As far as the Patrons go, these beings provide the GM with two options.  On one hand, these six patrons are weak outsiders gods, roughly equal to demigods.  On the other, they don’t grant spells but rather, grant summoning abilities to their worshippers.  Even more interesting is unlike the gods, these patrons are statted out.  For example the All-Eater is a colossal ooze while Gwullgi is a death slaad of impressive abilities and Shedim is a demon prince.  While the Great Warband has it’s uses in campaigns that aren’t heavily detailed like Karathis setting from Fiery Dragon several published campaigns are working away from this line of thought including the Scarred Lands, Kalamar, and Green Ronin’s own Book of the Righteous.  In these settings, there are no ‘racial’ gods.  The Patrons however, fit in perfectly with almost any type of campaign, especially if you make then non-divine.For those who need more options for their orc cleric though, Chapter Six, Spells & Magic provides new spells for adepts, Clerics, Sorcerers, and Wizards. Those looking for new domains have ten new domains to choose from.  These include some that I wouldn’t normally associate with orcs like command, cure and lycanthropy, to those that make great choices like breeding, murder and savagery.  The former domains are associated with the patrons for those using them as weak demi-gods.  The spells are listed by class and level with a brief description then by class.  While there’s not a ton of new spells, the range is good.  For example, if you’re a cleric, you can case something as simple as Endure Sunglight, a 1st level spell, to spear of vengeance, a 7th level spell that creates a magical spear to attack your enemies.   In addition to the spells, there are tons of new magic items as well.  For each, each of the patrons has a magical ring given to the orc race that shows their bond.  Players and GMs will enjoy the new weapons that include new siege weapons as well as some new, less castle intensive style weapons.  The Strap Crossbow is a tiny weapon used by cutthroats while the Arbalest is a weapon so huge that it takes two creatures to use it.  The Battering Axe is a huge weapon that requires a lot of strength to use while the different Footbows are so massive that it takes a 20 or 22 strength to string it.The book closes off with an appendix of typical NPCs.  Because they’re orcs, it helps a GM set up various power levels in his campaign.  Need an encounter with a group of ten 3rd level barbarians?  You’re covered.  Need a quick table for clerics of he-who-watches?  You’re covered up to 20th level.  The tables include all basic stats and equipment in addition to feats selected at various levels and ability score increases noted in the stats themselves at the appropriate level.Art is top notch.  The orcs here have a variety of poses all done by Toren Atkinson.  Layout is standard two columns of text broken up by illustrations, and important tables that summarize information.  Thankfully Green Ronin has ditched the black background on the tables and the soothing gray is much easier on the eyes.  The interior covers aren’t used and the D20 license takes up a single page.  For those keeping score, the entire text of the book is OGC.  Most of the editing is good.The book has some serious flaws though.  For one, how can it be a guide to playing full-blooded orcs without the racial stats?  You’ll either have to have AEG’s Monsters book or do the math utilizing the Monster Manual entry and the rules from the Dungeon Master’s Guide.  If using the latter method, the bad news is the stats will probably be wrong.  Taking a quick look, the Orc gains no Con bonus.  In addition, it suffers from being a dual-purpose book in that it’s a GM and player book.  The player portions are weak in terms of new prestige classes, and weapons.  If I was a player given a choice between the options in this book and Heroes of High Favor: Half Orcs, the latter book would win out as it’s aimed squarely at the player.  For GMs, the book is an excellent value but misses some crucial elements.  Where are the racial stats?  Where are the full statted out racial variants like orclins, black orcs, and mutant orcs like four armed or two headed varieites?Wrath and Rage is a good book but compared to Hammer & Helm, isn’t in the same category.  The latter offered more player oriented prestige classes, spells, domains, and weapons for the dwarven race while many of the goods in Wrath and Rage can be utilized by orcs, but don’t have the same cultural feel.  Part of this may be just that the orcs have never received this much detail in the first place and Green Ronin is helping to define it.  Part of it may be that the book has solid competition for the player’s dollar with Heroes of High Favor: Half-Orcs.While its player use is minimal outside of the feats, Wrath and Rage is perfect for those GMs who wish to augment their NPCs with new feats, prestige classes, weapons and magic.</blockquote>

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