Warriors & Warlocks generation walkthrough

Posted on April 19, 2009 by greywulf

Here’s a quick runthrough of how character generation works in Warriors & Warlocks (the fantasy supplement for Mutants & Masterminds). The end result will be Jessie the Barbarian from the previous blogpost, and I’ll be showing how we went from blank sheet to finished character in just a few easy steps. That’s the plan, anyhow.

As this is going to be a character in our low-fantasy PL6 game, Jessie has 90 points to spend.

1. Concept
Every good character needs to start with a concept. This is the “spark” which sets the whole chargen process going. It could be as detailed as a handwritten multi-page biography, or as simple as “dude in blue armour”. In Jessie’s case I had my render of her to work from, and the idea of a lightly armoured two-weapon fighting warrior woman.

2. Base stats
In M&M character generation can be approached in any order with (almost) any section omitted if it doesn’t apply. If you want a character with no Powers, lacking in Feats or no Skills (which would be a bit weird, granted) then that’s cool. Stats though, you need.

I begin with Jessie’s. I’m going to use a few of the professional templates from the W&W book and they’re going to add to her stats, so I just jot down how I envision Jessie to be without her training.

Str 12, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 16

Jessie is limber, attractive and healthy, but not necessarily the person you’d go to for advice. Perfect.

Points spent: 20

2. Templates
As Jessie is human we’re going to skip the Racial Templates and move straight on to the Professional ones. File these under “optional-but-darned-useful”. For Jessie, I’m going to use two of them – the Soldier/Mercenary and Ranger/Scout. No fiddly multi-classing rules here! Just apply what you want, and pays your points.

These two templates give Jessie bonuses to her Strength, Constitution (+2) and Wisdom. All that outdoors living does wonders for a gal. She also gains skill ranks in Climb, Intimidate, KS:Nature, Notice, Stealth and Survival as well as the Attack Focus (Melee), Dodge Focus, Favoured Environment and Track feats. Nice.

Incidentally, I like how the Ranger template uses Favoured Environment rather than Favoured Opponent. As with anything else in M&M, you’re free to change it if your concept differs, of course.

Str 13, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 16

Climb +9, Intimidate +5, KS:Nature +5, Notice +6, Stealth +9, Survival +6
Attack Focus:Melee 1, Dodge Focus 1, Favoured Environment:Northern Wastes 1, Track

Points spent: 36

3. Saves, Attacks and Defences
So far we’ve spent 39 out of 90 points – we’re not even half way there! Now it’s time to look at Jessie’s saving throws and combat ability. First, let’s bump her saving throws up a tad.

Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +3

That’ll do.

Unlike D&D (or pretty much any of the other D&D clones out there), your character’s skill at attacking or defending aren’t tied to your Strength or Dexterity, but bought separately. This has the happy side effect that it’s possible to create a character who’s extremely agile but completely unskilled in combat (a DEX 18 ballet dancer, for example) or someone who is frail but deadly (a STR 6 wizened old Sensei).

For Jessie I want someone who is highly skilled with her paired longswords, but pretty handy with any other weapon she may find along the way. At Power Level 6, the maximum she can hope for is +6 to hit, +6 damage – but those numbers can be juggled around and traded 1:1. Fantasy combat is usually high skill/low damage as we could go as far as +10 to hit, +2 damage (a master knife thrower, for example) or +2 to hit, +10 damage (orc rager with massive warhammer). So long as the total doesn’t exceed 12, it’s all good.

Juggling the numbers a little, I give her Attack +6 and bump her Attack Focus:Melee to 2. This gives her +8 to hit with melee weapons. Her longswords will do +4 damage (ie, DC19). Perfect.

The same thing applies to defences. Her maximum Defence is +6, Toughness +6 but these numbers can also be traded between each other. Want a heavily armoured soldier? Defence +2, Toughness +10. Nimble rogue? Defence +10, Toughness +2 – or anything in between.

I settle for Defence +6 with Dodge Focus bumped to 2 giving her a total Defence of +8. Using Dodge Focus is cheaper than buying full-on defence (1 point as opposed to 2 points) but it doesn’t apply if she’s flat-footed. In M&M if you’re caught unawares your Defense is halved – in Jessie’s case, that means her Defense would be +3. It’s a fair price to pay to keep the points costs down, methinks.

Attack +6 (Melee +8), Defence +8
Dodge Focus 2, Attack Focus (Melee) 2

Points Spent: 70

4. Featses
We’ve got 20 points left to spend, and Jessie is looking good already. She’s already got a healthy selection of feats, but I want her to have plenty of choices in combat and out. Time to spend some more points.

As she’s going to be wielding two swords, the first feat on the list is Ambidexterity. This lets her use her off-hand without penalty. As neither weapon is short, she’ll be able to make two attacks at a -4 penalty to each. So, that’s one attack at +8, or two at +4/+4. Got that?

I picture her as more of a blade-dancer than berserker, so instead of barbarian rage I pick All-Out Attack. She can lower her defences (by up to -5) and increase her attack bonus by the same amount in combat, and change the numbers round-by-round. If she’s using two attacks she can choose which attack gets the bonus, and share it in any proportion. For example, she could lower her Defence by 4 and allocate +3 to the first attack and +1 to the second, using them to swipe at two different foes for +7/+5, or split it evenly for +6/+6. Or just make a single attack for +12. Choice is good!

Next up is Animal Empathy. As a Ranger from the Deep Wilds I want her to have a good connection with the natural world. I make a mental note to bump her Handle Animal skill when we look at Skills.

I could go on cherry-picking feats but instead just head for the Fighting Styles on page 65 of Mutants & Masterminds. These are pre-selected bundles of feats which simulate a certain combat style. Sword-fighting (which I rename Twin Blade Style for Jessie) is just 7 points and gives us Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Improved Block, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Power Attack and Taunt. That’s a LOT of combat options which means the Jessie can vary her combat potential from round to round switching between defensive, offensive and damaging as the need arises. Add in Block, Disarm and Taunt options and she’s like a twin-bladed dervishing ranger of barbarian goodness. Oh yeh.

But we’re not done there.

All-Out Attack, Ambidexterity, Animal Empathy, Attack Focus (Melee) 2, Dodge Focus 2, Favoured Environment:Northern Wastes 2, Fighting Style:Twin Blades, Track
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Improved Block 1, Improved Disarm 1, Improved Initiative 1, Power Attack, Taunt

Points spent: 81

5. Skillses
I bump up Jessie’s Bluff, Handle Animal and Swim skills. Bluffing in combat is a great tactical trick, and Jessie’s Taunt Feat means she can to the whirling swords thing while her opponents look on in awe then run away. Or something.

Bluff +9, Climb +9, Handle Animal +7, Intimidate +5, KS:Nature +5, Notice +6, Stealth +9, Survival +6, Swim +7

Points spent: 85

6. Equipment
Equipment can be bought in two ways in W&W/M&M – either with cash, or with points. Paying points for equipment is the route to go if the item is something that’s intrinsic to your character concept. These items are as much a ‘part of you’ as anything else on your character sheet. Going the cash option either means making a Wealth check or spending cold hard gold pieces at the local store. Buy a dagger, and you’ve got a dagger. Pay points for the dagger, and you’re That Guy With The Dagger.

In Jessie’s case, she’s That Gal With Two Swords, so it’s two longswords, for 2 points.

Twin Longswords +8 or +4/+4 DC19

Points spent: 87

7. Powers
There’s just 3 points left, and that’s enough to give Jessie a couple of tricks up her sleeve. As she’s a Barbarian Ranger it’s tempting to buy her an Animal Companion or a touch of shapechange to allow her to morph into a Hawk. But no.

Raiding Warriors & Warlocks, I like the idea of her having a couple of signature moves with her paired blades. These are roughly akin to 4e D&D’s Powers, except she can use them as often as she wants and they’re entirely optional. Don’t want ‘em? Don’t buy ‘em!

I pick Agonizing Strike but lessen the effect to Sicken to make it cheaper, then add Blinding Strike as an Alternate Power. This makes it cost just a single measly point, but she can’t do both effects in the same round. Well, duh.

Agonizing Strike (Nauseate 2, DC12, Sicken)
- Blinding Strike (Dazzle 4, DC14, Sight, Alt Save:Fortitude, Range:Touch)

This being Mutants & Masterminds, we’re only limited by our imaginations, the points costs and GM’s permission. If we wanted Jessie to be winged, able to morph into a tree or possess mystical shamanistic powers, it’s all good.

Points spent: 90

And there you have it. One character, done.

“Jessie”, PL6 90pp
Str 13, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 16
Tough +3, Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +3
Attack +6 (Melee +8), Defense +8, Init +7

Bluff +9, Climb +9, Handle Animal +7, Intimidate +5, KS:Nature +5, Notice +6, Stealth +9, Survival +6, Swim +7
All-Out Attack, Ambidexterity, Animal Empathy, Attack Focus (Melee) 2, Dodge Focus 2, Favoured Environment:Northern Wastes 2, Fighting Style:Twin Blades, Track, Equipment 2
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Improved Block 1, Improved Disarm 1, Improved Initiative 1, Power Attack, Taunt

Agonizing Strike (Nauseate 2, DC12, Sicken)
- Blinding Strike (Dazzle 4, DC14, Sight, Alt Save:Fortitude, Range:Touch)

Twin Longblades +8 or +4/+4 DC19

Character generation in M&M is a thing of beauty. You’re creating a unique individual who should fit your original concept as closely as possible. This means generation can be time consuming, especially for your first few characters where you’re learning the ropes. It’s well worth sticking with though – while it might look detailed when broken down, I created the above character in 5 minutes flat using the frankly awesome Hero Lab generation software. Which I still need to review.

A blogger’s work is never done, eh?

Just some random two-weapon fighting barbarian ranger babe

Posted on April 18, 2009 by greywulf

Want stats? You got ‘em! Here she is all stated up and ready to go for Warriors & Warlocks!

JSRTWFBRB, aka “Jessie”, PL6 90pp
Str 13, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 16
Tough +3, Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +3
Attack +6 (Melee +8), Defense +8, Init +7

Bluff +9, Climb +9, Handle Animal +7, Intimidate +5, KS:Nature +5, Notice +6, Stealth +9, Survival +6, Swim +7
All-Out Attack, Ambidexterity, Animal Empathy, Attack Focus (Melee) 2, Dodge Focus 2, Favoured Environment:Northern Wastes, Fighting Style:Twin Blades, Track, Equipment 2
Accurate Attack, Defensive Attack, Improved Block 1, Improved Disarm 1, Improved Initiative 1, Power Attack, Taunt

Crippling Strike (Nauseate 2, DC12, Sicken)
- Blinding Strike (Dazzle 2, DC14, Sight, Alt Save:Fortitude, Range:Touch)

Twin Longblades +8 or +4/+4 DC19

Character du Jour: Cirwaen Esgarelion

Posted on April 9, 2009 by greywulf

She stood apart, her head cocked to one side as she listened to multiple conversations in the bazaar. Making her choice, she moved forward. “I hear you need a guide.” she broke in, “I know that part of Ptolus well. If you wish, my blade and bow are yours.”

Dirty little secret: Cirwaen doesn’t know it, but she is the last heir of Esgarel, a small conclave dedicate to the evolution of the elven race. They saw the decline of the elven peoples as something to be fought against rather than accepted placidly. They adopted the urban style of the humans and tried to push the boundaries of magic far beyond what most folks would consider sane. Now, they’re gone. Where? How? Why? That’s for Cirwaen to find out!

Notes: Here’s two firsts – a Character du Jour for our upcoming Warriors & Warlocks game, and my first “proper” render using Carrara. This is DAZ Studio’s big brother, and usually costs cold hard cash to own – but grab this month’s edition of 3D Artist magazine and the full release of version 6.2 is on the front cover. Works wonderfully it does too! More on that though, another time.

Oh, and Warriors & Warlocks rocks my world. Just so you know. I could rap geeky about all the good things in this statblock (Silent, sure-footed, trackless elves? Now THAT’s flavour! Take that, Fey Step teleporting elf silliness!) but I won’t. I’ll save that for another time too.

Cirwaen Esgarelion, Elven Ranger/Spy, PL6 90pp
Str 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 14
Tough +1/+2 (Leather), Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +4
Attack +4, Defense +10, Init +3

Acrobatics +7, Bluff +6, Climb +4, Diplomacy +10, Disable Device +4, Disguise +6, Gather Information +6, KS:Arcane Lore +4, KS:Nature +4, Notice +9, Search +4, Sense Motive +5, Stealth +11, Survival +9

Attack Focus:Ranged, Attractive 1, Favoured Environment:Urban, Precise Shot 1, Sneak Attack 1, Track, Well-Informed, Equipment 3
Cat’s Feet (Concealment 1:Hearing, Passive), Longevity (Immunity 1:Aging), Super-Movement 2 (Sure-Footed, Trackless), Super-Senses (Low-Light Vision, Extended Vision)

Longbow +5 DC18, Range 40′
Esgarel Aelfblade, Masterwork Longsword +5 DC18, Crit 19-20

Review: Warriors and Warlocks Part Trois

Posted on April 3, 2009 by greywulf

Ahhhh, magic. Where would our fantasy role-playing games be without it? In a pretty good place actually, and one of the magical options presented in Warriors & Warlocks is to take magic out of the hands of the PCs and use it only as a GM-controlled plot device. This is particularly good if you’re running a “Swords against Sorcery” style campaign where our heroes are battling against the minion hordes of Pax Tharka clad only in loincloth and sandals. But there’s more.

The Magic chapter in W&W presents a range of options for how magic could work in your game; it’s up to the GM to pick one, some or all of them. At one end of the scale there’s the “just take the Ritualist Feat” option where casting magic is time-consuming, costly and best reserved for only skilled practitioners all the way through to variations on the Magic Power from the core Mutants & Masterminds book. Again, there’s not a lot of new rules in here – merely costed out tweaks to what’s already there. But it’s pure inspiration gold.

“The Efficacious Evocation of the Everbright Gate requires the nail clippings from a pregnant Wyvern taken during a summer solstice – you do have those, right?”

We have Magical Mastery where the caster pre-selects his “prepared” spells and can change them with an hour’s research or prayer. Each spell can be used as many times as you wish (unless you’ve limited them to reduce the points cost, of course). For example, a wizard with Magical Mastery 3 has 15pp worth of spells memorized – a Fiery Blast, a Shield and touch of Flight, for example. Give him an hour with his spellbook and he could replace those with a single Teleport should the need arise. The player and GM agree what spells he has written in his book, and he can transcribe others as they’re discovered. If you want, Divine magic could work just the same – just replace the words “research his spellbook” with “prays to his gods”.

Vancian magic, done right. Old schoolers, you need this book.

That’s one option. Next up is Sorcery. Your magic powers are innate, possibly due to birthright, bargaining with Higher (or Lower) Beings or a quirk of fate. You can take one Power and any Alternate Powers you wish to pay for, but using them is tiring. Each time you cast magic the player makes a Will save. Fail, and he’s Fatigued. There’s also the option that your Sorcery could be Corrupting, damaging your very soul and turning you to the Dark Side of the….. sorry, wrong genre. On the bright side, taking the Corrupting Flaw does make the points cost cheaper, so it’s not all bad.

There’s plenty more options, but if those two don’t whet your appetite, I don’t know what will :D

There’s magic, and there’s magical. W&W also provides ways to inject a little Magic into any character through clever use of low rank Powers. How’d you like to play a character with Godlike Presence (2 points per rank! cheap!) or Hunter’s Eye (Postcognition, requires a Survival check – just 2 points). My favourite is Riastradh – Warp Rage from Slaine which turns your character into a raging bestial creature akin to Hulk with porcupine quills. 25 points of unholy awesomenes. Mummy.

Want something a little more subtle? How about Wolf’s Ears for just 1 point. That extends your hearing range from 10′ to 100′. There’s a whole slew of examples which show how to use low-rank, low-cost Powers in your game to make it just a touch more magical. This wulf approves.

What you won’t find in the Magic chapter of Warriors & Warlocks are any spell lists. This might come as a disappointment to some, but makes sense given M&M’s open Power framework. It’s easy enough to model any magical effect using Powers (heck, I’ve already done D&D’s 9th level spells myself) but a few worked examples would have come in handy for new players of the game. And I suspect there’ll be many of those.

Rounding out the last third of the book is not one, but three campaign settings. We have the iconic piratical Freeport complete with Very Lovely Map (which is, incidentally, Very Lovely). There’s Freedom’s Reach, a fantasyized (is that a word?) version of Mutants & Masterminds’ own Freedom City setting, and The Lost World. No prizes for guessing what you’ll find in there!

Of the three, Freeport is unsurprisingly the strongest and most appealing, though personally I plan to take this system for a spin through the wayward streets of Ptolus. More on that, another time.

Overall, it’s an excellent supplement to a truly brilliant rules system. The artwork might not be up to Wizards’ glossy productions but the quality of the writing and design is streets ahead. This is a game that makes you want to sit down and start playing immediately. It’s 3e D&D done right. It’s 4e D&D done right.

Does that make Mutants & Masterminds the next 5th Edition D&D? Quite possibly, my friend. Quite possibly.

You want it, right?

Review: Warriors & Warlocks Part Deux

Posted on April 2, 2009 by greywulf

Moving rapidly on. Straight after the racial templates in Warriors & Warlocks we have the professional templates. As with the racial ones these exist to aid character generation not restrict it, and the player is free to use, adapt or ignore them as they see fit. The provided templates are:

Bard
Druid
Magician
Ranger/Scout
Soldier/Mercenary
Sorcerer
Spy
Templar
Thug/Cutpurse/Pirate
Warpriest

Yes folks, you CAN create a Gnome Bard! Take that, Players Handbook One! As these aren’t classes as such (merely pre-bundled packages of abilities, skills, feats and powers), “multi-classing” is simply a matter of taking more than one of the templates and paying the points. You can create something as simple as a Human Thug (3 points), or as complex as a Bestial Fey Shapechanger Pirate-Mage (34 points). Or not at all. Or anything. I’ll stress again: templates are ENTIRELY optional, and they’re merely a starting point. At Power Level 6, your character has 90 points to spend, so even that Bestial Fey Shapechanger Pirate-Mage is going to be far more than just the sum of his race and chosen profession.

If you want to get up and running quickly with a character, 9 Archetypes are provided. Four of them are geared toward PL6 play and cover the four classic D&D character classes – Divine Champion, Half-Crazed Warmage, Silver-Tongued Rake and World-Weary Sellsword. Pick one, customize a little (or a lot) and you’re ready to play. For PL8 we’re given the Legendary Weaponmaster (Druss, Inigo Montoya and countless others), MIGHTY-THEWED BARBARIAN (which has to be written in all caps, by law) and Timelost Hero – a guy who’s fallen through a wormhole from the modern world into D&D land, complete with heavy pistol and 2,500 strong rebel army. Oh yeh!

The Power Level 10 Archetypes are the Cursed Wanderer and Demigod Adventurer. These serve as excellent examples of how to re-create Elric and Beowulf for true larger-than-life Epic adventuring.

The Archetypes do a great job of showing the differences between the three Power Levels without being preachy or prescriptive in any way. I like.

I could rave about just how great this book is page-by-page. But I won’t. I’m not going to tell you about the Villain Archetypes which provide seven ready-made nemeses for your players. I’m not going to tell you about the bestiary (which is excellent, but all too brief), magic items, sidekicks or stunts. You’ll have to buy the book and find out all about those yourself.

But I will tell you about magic.

Next time.

(And after that I’ll be back onto Lazy GM’ing! Promise!)

Review: Warriors & Warlocks

Posted on April 2, 2009 by greywulf

Ok, I lied about Tunnels & Masterminds. Except I’m holding in my virtual hands something that is, in many ways, just that very thing: an unholy mixture of Mutants & Masterminds and a kickass awesome fantasy role-playing game. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Warriors & Warlocks.

Let’s start with just the facts, ma’am. It’s 145 pages long, costs $16.95 and available right now as a pdf from all the usual places you get pdfs from. It’ll be available in Real Dead Tree format in a few weeks time from all the places you get get dead trees from too. You need a copy of Mutants & Masterminds to play. The pdf version of that is just twenty bucks meaning the whole package is half the price of the D&D Core Rules bundle. Does that mean it’s half the value? Oh Gods no.

Look, this is hard for me. It’s really, really difficult to write about Mutants & Masterminds without sounding like some raving fanboi who wants you all to stop what you’re doing RIGHT NOW, rush out, buy it and play M&M instead of those other, inferior, games you’re currently playing. So I’ll try to remain calm. Cool, even. If this comes across that I’m in anyway unenthused about the product, or it’s underwhelming, trust me. I’m raving on the inside, ok?

Warriors & Warlocks deals with the fantasy genre as seen through the eyes of comicbooks. It’s role-playing in the world of Conan the Cimmerian, Red Sonja, Elric, Beowulf, Slaine and even Prince Valiant. If it’s made the transition from black and white text to four-colour panels you’ll find it here. This puts it at a slight tangent to 4e D&D. Whereas Wizard’s baby has morphed from being “a fantasy role-playing game” into “the D&D role-playing game” where Dungeons & Dragons is a whole sub-genre unto itself, W&W is the real deal. It’s literate D&D. It’s a role-playing game that clearly loves, supports and pays homage to the great authors of the fantasy genre instead of trying to shove them under the carpet and forge ahead down an Intellectual Property fuelled road.

Damn, it’s even got Conan on the cover. What more do you want?

This is a very rule-lite supplement – in fact it’s more of a genre book in that it goes into detail about the history and common tropes of the setting while providing pre-stated heroes and villains along the way. More on those in a mo’. If you were expecting a book full of rules that turn Mutants & Masterminds into a fantasy rpg you’re going to be disappointed. I’ve said it many times already: M&M is a stunningly good generic system that merely pretends to be a superhero rpg (like Clark Kent in reverse, kinda). It doesn’t need ‘more rules’ to be able to handle any setting you throw at it. In that regard, W&W is somewhat reminiscent of the old GURPS supplements of yore.

It does add two new skills – Gambling and Navigation – to the mix, and suggests new uses for the existing ones. There’s also a lot of new Feats too which better reflect the tropes and fighting styles found in fantasy. My own favourite is Oathbound. This gives a +1 to Aid Another when helping folks who share your allegiance, and a +1 attack bonus against opponents who oppose your allegiance. Flavourful, and usable in and out of combat. I love it!

Ok. I’m teasing you. You want to know about character generation, right? Oh boy.

W&W suggests three possible starting points for the game. There’s Power Level 6, 8, or 10. PL6 is what it calls “Heroic”, though that’s not to be confused with 4e D&D’s Heroic Tier. This is starting point if you want to run a low-level, street-level campaign where gritty realism is the order of the day. I’d say it’s roughly comparable to low level 3rd Edition D&D. PL8 is “Cinematic”. This is firmly 4e D&D power level, and ideal if you want to game in a style akin to action movies. Finally, there’s PL10 (the superhero norm in M&M), “Epic”. Our heroes are demigods and archmages who wander the worlds righting wrongs on a massive scale. Think of it as 4e D&D’s later levels and you won’t be far wrong.

I’d expected the chapter on character generation to provide a few pointers in the right direction, offer up a grab-bag of Archetypes and set you on your merry way. Which it does, but it also provides much, much more. One of M&M’s (many) strengths is that character creation can be as flexible as you want it. At the one end of the scale you could just take a pre-built Archetype, scribble your name on the top of the sheet and start playing immediately. Or you could take the Archetype and use it as a base, juggling a few points around to fine tune the concept. Right at the other end of the scale you have a completely blank sheet and freedom to do whatever you want (and the GM allows). Unlike D&D where it’s a pregen OR blank sheet, M&M is a sliding scale.

Let’s say you’re generating a character for Warriors & Warlocks for a Power Level 6 game. you’ve got 90 points to spend, and fancy playing a Scout of some kind. W&W provides a whole range of templates that are essentially pre-built packages with the points cost worked out. You could take one (or more) of them, tweak it a little and still have lots of points to spend fine-tuning your character. Or you could ignore the templates completely and create your own unique, one-of-a-kind character. Or your own race. Or organisation. Or anything.

Here’s the Racial Templates:

Beastkin (Aquatic, Avian, Feline, Lupine, Reptilian, Ursine)
Dhampir
Dwarves
Elves
Gnomes
Goblins
Halflings
Bestial
Celestial
Divine
Elemental
Fey
Infernal
Living Construct
Shapeshifters
Wilder
True Shapeshifter

As you can see, there’s a cheeky nod to 4e D&D in that list with the Celestial, Infernal, Fey, Wilder and Living Construct templates :D Some of the templates are designed to be mixed-and-matched to create half-breeds. There’s no reason why you couldn’t create a Fey Elf (*cough* Eladrin *cough*), Infernal Gnome or (my own personal favourite) a Celestial Living Construct. Take Bestial on it’s own and you’ve got your Half-Orc, or add it to another racial template for extra fun (Bestial Ursine Beastkin, anyone?). As everything it’s points-based it doesn’t matter whether all of the races balance with each other as the cost comes from your fixed pot of points. Take an expensive race (the Living Construct weighs in at 33 points) and you’ll just have fewer points for other things. That’s a fair price to pay.

I’ll stop there. Review, Part Deux, coming soon!

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