Over the past few weeks, on my blog, The Dump Stat, I have been taking a look at the Campaign Setting, Amethyst: Foundations, a new supplement produced by Dias Ex Machina and Goodman Games. Now, that I have had a chance to really look into this product a lot deeper, I would like to give it a full review.
If you have already read my review of this product, over at my site, some of this might feel a bit familiar. Amethyst is a game setting that takes what we have always come to accept about the Fantastic world of D&D and blends it with a futuristic, post-apocolyptic version of the earth we know so well.
The lore of the world, is both complex and fascinating, deftly mixing two worlds, the magical world of the Echan, what we see in classic fantasy, with the technological world of the Techan humans, a futurisitc version of us earthlings. However, the game is not about these two worlds living peacefully in perfect harmony, but rather about the disruption that magic has on the technological world and vice versa. But, enough with the summary, I want to get into what I liked and disliked about this setting, and the book itself. The book itself is a glorious hard cover volume that fits perfectly on my shelf beside all of my other 4e books. The Cover art is really good, as you can see above, but the back cover is just as appealing. The book is about 300 B&W pages, and contains a Character sheet and a full map of the North America region in the back of the book. The cover art is a very good example of what you will find inside. The book’s art is of incredibly good quality and takes a much more realistic tone than that of what we usually see in products put out by Wizards of the Coast.
I found that the images in the book helped to add to the tone of the setting; rather than playing in a Fantasy world, we are playing in a different version of ours, so having more realistic imagery makes a big difference. My only complaint is that I would have liked to see more artwork. There were some sections of the book that were virtually void of pretty picutures. For example, the powers section in each class entry had very little art to break up what I would consider to be a very mechanics heavy part of the book.
I would have liked a couple of images in that section to help illustrate some of the powers, or even just to provide something gorgeous to look. The full page image on page 4 and all of the chapter heading art is just amazing. When you compare that with the lack of artwork in some of the sections, the book has a bit of a balance issue in this respect. The writing in this book is excellent and absorbing. I found myself getting sucked into the book pretty easily. I have very few negative things to say about the writing here.
Chris Dias and his team of writers did a great job. Let’s take a look at these sections one by one. Chapter 1: The Choice This section provides an introduction to the world and outlines what the world is really about.
I found the writing here to be some of the best in the book. It clearly states exactly the kind of game you are going to be getting into when you play a game of Amethyst. Also, the Glossary section in Chapter 1 proved very useful in providing a quick place to look up important terms that are presented later in the chapters detailing the world of Amethyst. Chapter 2: Races in Amethyst This section made it very clear to me, when reading, that we were not going to be dealing with classic fantasy when it comes to Amethyst. One of the decisions that the designers made when writing this campaign setting was that they were not going to be using any of the traditional races that are presented in WotC material; you won’t be seeing any Dragonborn here. In my opinion, this section was a big plus. It takes a lot of work to imagine an entire world and the designers could have taken the easy way out and used the races that already exist in 4e, but instead, they developed their own races, each of which has its own unique area of focus.
I liked the fact, although the races may be familiar, they are still different and separate from what we have seen so far. Rather than use the existing 4e races in conjunction with Amethyst, I have been thinking more along the lines of how I could use the races in Amethyst in my more traditional fantasy style setting. The one critique that I had of this setting was that some of the images didn’t fit the image I had in my head for the race presented. The Organizations section in this chapter, though very short, was excellent and I wanted more.
I did a full post on The Dump Stat already about this section, but I really, really liked the idea of giving the player group a thematic and mechanical boost for tying their origins together. I know how many times I have had problems with players taking drastically different backgrounds and then trying to make the party fit, but this mechanic gives them a reason to all know each other from the beginning. Chapter 3: Lifepath Amethyst did something similar to Dark Sun did; they present an additional template, which you can add to your character, during creation, that gives some mechanical benefits, but also add a lot of flavor to the character. I liked these life paths a lot. Though many of them were very setting specific, I found that I could probably use a few of them as stand-alone templates in a game based in a different world.
Chapter 4: Classes Amethyst presents several new classes for Techan characters, those that wield technology rather than magic. These classes, again, take what we know about the mechanics of 4e and twist them into something different. I really liked the multiple roles element of these classes; rather than simply assigning a single combat role, and pigeon holing a character into one specific combat style, they give them multiple roles, which to me, is how 4e should have been from the start. Good stuff here. I could see myself playing any one of these classes when I get a round of Amethyst with my players. Chapter 5: Paragon Paths I found this section lacking.
With 4 new classes and a huge world to game in, I expected to see more Paragon Paths than that which was presented here. All of them seemed pretty solid; they gave some good Echan paths, as well as some good Techan paths too, but I wanted more of them, which, as I understand it, will be coming in the second book that is in the works now. Chapter 6: Skills and Feats This section presents a host of new options for Characters in Amethyst. 4 new Skills are outlined – Demolitions, Engineer, Sciences, Vehicle Operations and a new use of the Athletics skill, which seemed to be a bit out of place. The Feats in this section were great, especially all of the ones which are keyed off of the Lifepaths presented in Chapter 3. It is worth noting that the Feats for weapons and tech are great.
If you want to put guns into your D&D, using the tech in this book, in conjunction with the feats and classes, is a great place to start. Chapter 7: Equipment Of all the things that attracted me to Amethyst, technology had to be number one. Being able to run a D&D game with high-tech guns has always been something that I wanted to do. So, when I heard about Amethyst, I knew I needed to do a review of this game.
The equipment section in this book is everything that I hoped it would be. You get a grand host of new toys to play with, including a range of firearms which not only covers simple, traditional guns, but also includes Vapor Rifles, Pulse weapons, Rail Guns, and all kinds of other goodies from grenades to Gaus repeaters. I could not have asked for more. The way that weapons are broken up and divided by level is also extremely well done. Not only equipment, but vehicles are also presented here, lots of them, and they are awesome. The crunch on all of it seems very well balanced, though I admit that I haven’t had a chance to playtest it yet, but from my number crunching, it seems perfectly within the already established ranges for damage and proficiency.
Did I forget to mention power armor. They did exactly what I would have done. Things like mechanical armor, take up multiple equipment slots and cost more based on the number of effects that they tie into one piece of gear. Chapter 8: Expanding Your Character This section fell flat to me. I felt like it could have easily been rolled into other sections of the book. Although the presentation of new rituals is great and dandy, I think organizationally, that this section could have been totally broken up separated. Though the section was very short, it does present some valuable information to support the setting.
Chapter 9: the World that changed and Chapter 10: The Look of the World These two chapters cover all that you need to know about the world of Amethyst and there is a lot of world to learn about. I particularly liked the descriptions of all of the Bastions that are described here. I don’t want to get into summary here, but I will say that these sections give you everything you need to know in order to run a great sandbox game.
I wanted NPC’s though. There were not a lot of big names provided to match all of the big story presented here. It would have been nice to have some figures, names, etc. To go with the giant world that is Amethyst. Chapter 11: Monster The problem that I had here is that with rejecting a lot of the traditional races and monsters in 4e, Amethyst rejects a lot of the current beasties available; this section was just not long enough. The choices in creatures in Amethyst are very limited, which means that you are going to have to go into the other 4e books to find creatures to put up against the players, if you intend to have creatures in combat, without getting too repetitive.
I had no problems with the creatures that were in the book. Cancer Dragons?! But, I wanted more in this case as well. Chapter 12: Adventures The adventure ideas here were great. This wasn’t a long section, but it was a good one. However, my caveat to this is a matter of priority.
I think a few hooks in this section would have been enough for me. I don’t think this section needed to be quite this long and with areas, like that on Monsters, and the section on Organizations being pretty small, I think emphasis could have been put on those areas and this section could have been skipped.
It wasn’t bad, I just think that it could have been better suited elsewhere. Wrapping things up, I think Amethyst is a really great product. I would buy this book just for all the rules on guns and equipment. The book is priced right alongside all the other products for 4e that are out there and this book is a lot more content heavy than most. But, the book does have a few minor issues. Several sections seemed to be a bit long and over-specific, while others seemed to be a bit short.
I would have loved to see more monsters in this book and maybe a little bit less about adventures, but these minor complaints are exactly that, minor, I give this book a 5 out of 5. I look forward to the next one, which I think will solve a lot of the issues that I found with Foundations i.e. Wanting more and more of it.
There seems to be more and more SciFa settings coming out these days. And no, SciFa is not a typo, because I am referring to those games and settings which blend elements of Science-Fiction and High Fantasy into one really mind-blowing package –Science-Fantasy seems the only way to describe the genre. In my long gaming career, I first encountered a setting like this many years ago when I was invited to play in this new RPG named Shadowrun from a company called FASA.
My first experience with the game was less than enthusiastic, as I couldn’t figure out why you’d clutter up a perfectly good Gibson-esque cyberpunk-style RPG with elves and orcs wielding magic. But over time I grew to enjoy it, and even ran a few campaigns myself with friends not yet familiar with how cool SciFa could be.
Now, not only does Shadowrun RPG still exist, published by Catalyst Games these days, but a plethora of other RPGs as well, including Monte Cook’s Numenera which is due out sometime later this year. One such SciFa setting which has recently been adapted to the Pathfinder RPG system is the Amethyst setting by Dias Ex Machina. DEM offers Pathfinder fans access to a science-fantasy setting which is set in an alternate reality of Earth’s future, where magic returned as an apocalyptic force which threatens humans and technology at every turn! Amethyst: Renaissance. Authors: Chris Tavares Dias. Illustrator: Nick Greenwood (cover); Joshua Raynack (cover design); Nick Greenwood, Katherine Dinger, Jamie Jones (interior); Jeremy Simmons (cartography). Publisher: DEM (Dias Ex Machina).
Year: 2012. Media: PDF (399 pages).
Price: $14.99 (available at ) Amethyst: Renaissance is an alternate-reality futuristic setting designed for use with Pathfinder RPG, where Earth has suffered a natural apocalypse, which caused a resurgence of magic and an invasion of mythological creatures. The sourcebook comes complete with everything needed to create and play characters in this post-apocalyptic high-tech/high fantasy setting. This includes details on character races, backgrounds, new skills and feats, classes, and prestige classes.
In addition, characters gains access to new weapons and equipment native to the setting, which include fae weapons as well as high tech firearms and gadgets, as well as rules for using firearms in combat. Amethyst: Renaissance includes new magic spells and magic items, information about the Amethyst setting, a map and gazetteer of the new Earth, new monsters and a monster list of those applicable from Pathfinder RPG, ideas for running an Amethyst campaign, and an introductory 1st Level adventure. Product Quality The production quality of Amethyst: Renaissance is excellent, with a great layout, and an engaging writing style by the author. The content is revealed in a logical fashion, with each chapter detailing material pertinent to some part of character creation for the players, or for running a campaign in the setting for the gamemaster. The sourcebook has a table of contents and fairly complete index for navigation, but the bookmarks in the PDF were a bit underwhelming. In my copy, they consisted of straight list of chapter and section titles as they appear in order throughout the book, and many of the entries were keyed to the same page or not keyed at all. The artwork in Amethyst: Renaissance is quite stunning, despite being gray-scale, and there is plenty of illustrations depicting the various fae races, new classes in action, weapons and gear, monsters, and campaign locales.
There are also a sprinkling of action/adventure scenes throughout the sourcebook, which enhance the enjoyment of the read. The cartography in Amethyst: Renaissance is fantastic, as seen in the settings version of North America (Canam), and in the location and dungeon maps which appear in the sample adventure. A New Path to Adventure Amethyst: Renaissance offers Pathfinder RPG fans a very different setting to explore than a traditional high fantasy realm with elves and dwarves and dragons in it. Many of those fantasy elements are present in Amethyst: Renaissance, but there are also elements of high-tech and post-apocalyptic survivalist which are not typically found in a fantasy world. In this case, Amethyst: Renaissance uses our own planet Earth as a template for a setting, set in the future, after a natural apocalypse not only devastates the planet, but also brings back a magic power, and an “invasion” of races and creatures from myth and legend.
And I put invasion in quotes specifically, because, according to the theme of the setting, these fae creatures are actually from pre-historic Earth before the dinosaur-killing meteor fell – technically, that makes modern humans the interlopers, as the fae were here first! And so, some of the great dynamics of the campaign setting arise from a tension and incompatibility between high magic and high technology, and that of the fae culture clashing with human culture. And if that wasn’t enough, there is also a survival against monsters dynamic present in almost any RPG setting – “good versus evil” is the least of the players’ worries here in Amethyst. As I have discussed the Amethyst setting in previous reviews on EN World News and on the site when it was released for D&D 4E, I offer these links to curious readers who want to find out more about the setting in detail: I should also note that Pathfinder RPG fans should put aside any concerns that this setting was first released for D&D 4E. After reading both sets of rules, I can honestly say that the author was able to create some fairly awesome rules and content for this version of the Amethyst setting that was not available for the other game system due to mechanics and rules structure.
In Chapter 1 (“Fundamentals”), the author presents the short story of a character named Aiden, who shows up in story fragments later in the book to illustrate concepts about the game and the setting. There is also some description of the history and origins of the forces which cause the magic-apocolypse, and a brief glossary introducing some of the names and ideas which are part of the setting. The second chapter (“Creation”) delves right into the nature of the fae races in general, and then into specific listings about the eight different fae player-character races, humans, and a race of anthropomorphized Kodiak bears.
Each listing contains details about each race, including appearance, tips on roleplaying, and possible names, as well as stat modifiers and racial powers like any other Pathfinder RPG character race. The author also offers players the option to create human-fae and fae-fae mixed blood characters, as well as rules for their powers and traits. Note that human-kodiak crossbreeding does not occur, but apparently fae-kodiak dalliances have occurred, and is a possible playable race option. Perhaps furry and long ears in one package might appeal to some gamers out there. Chapter 3 (“Backgrounds”) offers characters a list of organizations and traits to choose from to tie their characters into the setting. There are 14 organizations to belong to, and at least three members of an adventuring group must choose to be active members for the group to gain the benefits.
The more than 40 traits are used just as the rules in Pathfinder prescribe, although some traits are deemed very powerful, and count as two selections. Overall, there is a lot to choose from here, and players will find this section a good starting point for their character’s history. Chapter 4 (“Classes”) details the Pathfinder RPG classes used in Amethyst, as well as the new high tech classes (techan) available to human characters. Most fantasy classes from Pathfinder are available for both fae and humans who have embraced magic and become enchanted (eachan). There are some restrictions when playing the setting as “canon”, which include bards, paladins, ranger, sorcerers, and psionic classes. The author details any modifications required for the Pathfinder classes, and most of those are fairly minor. I have to say that I liked how the author adopted the techan classes to Pathfinder, and although many of them use high tech weaponry, they do not appear grossly overpowered.
Most of techan character classes have selectable powers and abilities, so characters with the same class can be quite customized. Some even have a specific number of uses per day per level, which are kind of like spells – non-magical of course, but using science and technology instead.
Players should find no trouble using the techan classes, as they have the same advancement tables found on Pathfinder RPG classes. The fifth chapter (“Skills and Feats”) of Amethyst: Renaissance introduces five new skills – Demolitions, Engineer, Regional History, Knowledge (Sciences), and Vehicle Operations – which are useful for integrating the high tech characters into a world of science-fantasy. The skills are very detailed, particularly Demolitions and Vehicle Combat, the latter taking several pages detailing not only basic vehicle operations but also tricks, stunts, and combat maneuvers. The remainder of this chapter details all the feats available to characters depending on their racial and trait choices, as well as feats covering general fantasy characters and techan characters. There are even traits available to handling explosives and vehicles, as well as a selection of martial arts feats for building a character versed in MMA. (For the record, the author has a great sense of humor when it comes to naming feats, and I nearly choked on my libation when I read one in the demolitions section called simply “Wilhelm Scream.” Need I say more?) Chapter 6 (“Equipment”) is a bit misleading, in that it covers quite a bit more content than just what guns, swords, and vehicles are available to characters.
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This chapter opens with information about the currency of the setting, and covers the plethora of eachan and techan weaponry, armor, ammo, and gear available. But the author also discusses rules for handling enhancement bonuses for techan (non-magical gear), which he calls tech levels. The author also covers the EDF (or Echan Disruption Field) which can play havoc with high tech gear – magic is very much the nemesis of technology in the setting, which is a bit of a reversal from the trope of magic being destroyed by tech. However, the author has still made the techan gear pretty interesting, and much of it is modifiable with new attributes and powers.
(I should mention here that the artwork of the guns, armor, and vehicles in this section are really cool looking! Kudos to the artist who came up with the illustrations!) Chapter 7 (“Prestige”) has an offering of more than two dozen prestige classes available to characters, all of them strongly and thematically tied into the setting. All of them have pre-requisites of one sort or another, and many of them are tied to specific races and traits, as skill requirements. Like the character classes, the author does a good job here of interpreting the settings themes into Pathfinder RPG rules, and there are plenty of options here for almost any character to choose from. The basic principles of how magic works in the setting is covered in Chapter 8 (“Magic & Spells”), as well as a game mechanic called Saturation, which is how much magic is absorbed by a character over time.
Fae and eachan characters are already magical, but techan characters must beware this effect as it can make them start to disrupt their own equipment! Another new game mechanic introduced here is that of Corruption, which is the effect of a dark and evil presence in the world, Ixindar, upon all characters. This can cause an alignment shift to Lawful Evil and other detrimental in game effects. Personally, I like these mechanics, and they really offer an element of suspense and danger when traveling through the brave new Earth of the Amethyst setting. The remainder of this chapter includes rules on increasing the rarity of high level spells, as well as some modifications to existing Pathfinder RPG spells.
There are also magic items in the Amethyst setting, and Chapter 9 details their creation and which Pathfinder magic items are considered to be part of canon for the setting. The author also details several artifacts specific to the setting, and their history, powers, and influence on characters.
Chapters 10 (“Settings”) and 11 (“The World”) detail the world setting. The former chapter discusses the effects of enchantment on the history and culture of the world, including religions, travel, and even warfare. Chapter 11 delves into specifics about the various realms and locations in the world, including the great city-states (called bastions) and the various lands and wildernesses in the Amethyst setting.
No Pathfinder RPG-based setting would be complete without foes for the heroes to combat, and there are plenty of those discussed in Chapter 12 (“Monsters”). The author has a list of suggested monsters from Pathfinder which are appropriate to the setting, as well as monsters which are not used because they have been replaced with setting-specific entities.
Elves, goblins, and certain other creature types have been replaced by a fae racial type or creature, and the author details more than a score of new beasties for use in an Amethyst campaign. The final chapter (“Campaign”) offers advice for the gamemaster on running the setting, reacting to character decisions, and creating adventures. This chapter also contains a very nifty 1st Level adventure series called The Single Stone, which can be used to start off a campaign, and a short story written by the author for more flavor and ideas on what it is to be part of the world of Amethyst. Overall Score: 4.67 out of 5.0 Conclusions I continue to be impressed by the Dias-Ex-Machina’s Amethyst: Renaissance setting with each review I write!
It is a detailed and vibrant Science-Fantasy setting, and transports gamers to a dangerous world which is post-apocalyptic, futuristic, and high fantasy all at the same time. Of the versions of this setting I’ve reviewed, I’d choose the Pathfinder RPG version over the others because it seems to capture the right blend of mechanics and rules to make the setting really come alive. The price on this sourcebook is quite a steal given how much content is in there, and promises a lot of game hours of play in a very interesting and different alternate-Earth setting! So until next review I wish you Happy Gaming! Author’s Note: This Reviewer received a complimentary copy of the product in PDF format from which the review was written. Grade Card (Ratings 1 to 5) Presentation: 4.0 - Design: 4.0 (Solid design and presentation, but PDF bookmarks really need to work in a book this big) - Illustrations: 4.0 (Awesome cover and interior art; excellent cartography) Content: 5.0 - Crunch: 5.0 (Massively crunchy; cool character classes; great adaptation to Pathfinder game mechanics) - Fluff: 5.0 (Very detailed setting; lush descriptions; short stories great reading for immersion) Value: 5.0 (It’s a players handbook, monster manual, and setting guide all in one package.
Just like my I’ve somehow managed to score another roleplaying book for review here. This year’s podcast hosting fees have finally paid off! Is a Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition setting from Dias Ex Machina and published by Goodman Games. It describes a setting where magic clashes with technology, and provides the tools to do that in D&D 4th edition. The art isgood? The art is very evocative and there’s quite a bit of talent there.
A lot of it was quite excellent. However, I can’t help but notice some oddness in regards to it. That elf on the cover, for instance.
It looks fine at this size, but you see the picture up close and, well, I detect some roots. It kinda looks like the basic skeleton of the figure was designed in Poser and then heavily Photoshopped to hide those roots. This is weird. I detect a lot of that sort of thing throughout the book. Here’s another example: Okay, there’s a nice looking city and the figure looks good.
But look at that railing! It’s hideously fake and computery! All right, I don’t really mean to be complaining about the art, because most of it is phenomenal. There’s even some color pieces mixed in throughout the book. My one complaint in that regard is that some of the colors in the power headings are very dark and it was difficult for me to tell if they were actually colored or not. I only have the PDF so I hope the printed book has these colors a little brighter, but I did look at the book on several different computers (and an iTouch) and noticed it on each, so it wasn’t just a bad monitor. The editing could also use some work, unfortunately.
It’s certainly not bad for an RPG product. I detected a few errors, but nothing that will bug most readers. The part where it jumped out at me was in the small bits of fiction scattered throughout the book. These don’t look like they’ve seen an editor at all. I have a feeling that these were written in layout after the editor had gone over the main text. These needed another once over. But enough negativity!
Let’s dive into the actual game! Amethyst is a postapocalyptic game in which the forces of fantasy landed in a modern world. As is pretty common in these sort of things, magic is anathema to modern technology, which led to the breakdown of civilization.Sigh. Just once I’d like to see a game where magic and technology work together in peace and harmony. Amethyst actually does a decent job at explaining exactly what this would entail, as well as highlighting some important things about the interactions that wouldn’t normally come up, so I can’t complain about Amethyst’s committment to the magic vs. Technology debate.
All right, I’ve tried to write this basic world view several times now and I keep failing. At first, I blamed my comprehension or reading skills, but I think I’ve finally come to the conclusion that Amethyst doesn’t explain itself that well. So, I’m going to write this as best I can, and just put question marks near the areas I’m not sure about. Amethyst takes place on Earth (?) (There’s a big section titled “Earth” but the first sentence says that the world was once called Teros, so I guess it isn’t Earth. At least, the map looks kinda like North America (and the bastions of York and Mann are right where New York and Manhattan are), except the continent is called Canam.
A long time ago (?), a gate opened on the moon (?) that led to the reawakening of magic. The fae came through this gate (but are on earth now?) and their presence began disrupting technology. Another gate opened as well, opening in Russia, but this one was a dark gate, with evil magic or something in it.
Five hundred years later (?) is the current setting of the game. Humans have carved out several city-states, called bastions, where technology still works. Surrounded by fae kingdoms, they struggle to maintain their lifestyle and their technology. The namesake of the game, Amethyst, is apparently some sort of dragon god, and there might be another god called Mengus (?), but maybe not.
There’s a decent world section in the book describing the landscape of Canam, along with the various Bastions and kingdoms throughout the land. I thought that chapter was pretty decent, as it gave some concrete information on the world. However, if you haven’t already noticed, I really didn’t get the rest of the world background. It sort of reads like English is the not the author’s first language (although that sounds like I’m insulting him for living in Canada). The writing just feels slightly disjointed and, well, odd. Thankfully, the rules section of the book doesn’t feel that way to me. They’re clearly written and straight-forward.
Some of the rules phrasing is not how they would write it in a WotC product, but that’s always a hazard of 3rd party products. First up, we have the races of Amethyst. The only race that survives from the 4e Player’s Handbook is human as Amethyst presents a wealth of new fae races. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel all too attached to any of them. While a lot of them fit into the traditional mold (elves like the forests, short people build stuff, etc.), they didn’t offer anything in the way of powers that were as evocative as those in the 4e Player’s Handbook. In fact, some, like the Tilen, felt really underpowered to me.
The classes saw a lot of changes as well. Only the martial classes survive unscathed. There are no divine classes in Amethyst as religion is treated the way it is in the real world, derived from faith and not the ability to cast spells (A stance I happen to agree with). Only the wizard survived for the arcane classes. I honestly am not sure why the warlock didn’t make it. I certainly see the Pacts as not exactly fitting the setting as established, but I could see something like Mengus or even Amethyst making pacts with arcane-users.
This book only covers the first Player’s Handbook, so I’m not sure how the 2nd and 3rd Player’s Handbook would fit in. This game also provides four new classes for ‘techan’ (technology-using) characters. These are: the Grounder (a heavy-weapon ranged combatant), the Marshal (a leader-type), the Operator (a medic/mechanic support class), and the Stalker (a sniper/light-weapon ranged combatant). For the most part these classes are really well done. They’re obviously based around using technology, which in modern times means guns. The Grounder, for instance, has lots of area bursts, suppressive fire capabilities, and other powers you’d associate with ranged attacks.
As the SAW-carrying member of the party, they dish out a lot of damage across a wide area. They even have a few “fun” powers that replicate cool moments from films.
For instance, the Feeling Lucky power allows them to make an attack after their weapon is out of ammo. The problem I have with all of these classes is a weird one: the author doesn’t seem to know what D&D Roles mean, mischaracterizing almost every class. For instance, the Grounder is classified as a Defender/Controller. The reasoning in-game is that because the Grounder is dishing out the most damage, he should draw the most attention. Uh, no, the people who dish out the most damage are called Strikers. In addition, the Grounder doesn’t even gain a Mark until a Daily at level 5. The Area Denial class feature does allow the Grounder to ‘mark’ an area of the battlefield in which to make an immediate interrupt basic ranged attack in for a turn which could act as a Defender-worthy ability.
The Marshal is classified as a Defender/Leader. He does have a Marking ability as an at-will, but it doesn’t have any effects above and beyond a regular Mark, unlike all the Defenders in the 4e Player’s Handbook. In addition, he doesn’t have the traditional 2/times per encounter allow-an-ally-to-spend-a-healing-surge that most Leaders have. While I do think a lot of the Marshal’s powers are pretty cool, these two faults don’t make him good at either role that he’s been assigned.
The Operator is a Leader/Striker. His powers are divided between medic and mechanic powers. As weapons in Amethyst tend to stop working around magic, he has lots of abilities that boost these saving throws or make recovery happen faster. The Operator actually does have a 2/times per encounter allow-an-ally-to-spend-a-healing-surge power, so that’s good. However, the Striker role isn’t really there.
Certain powers allow the Operator to scale up his weapon’s damage to the next die type. Since this is only a potential two extra points (usually) however, I still think you’d be better off with a ranger or rogue for sheer damage potential. I also question the utility of a striker who will need to spend many actions on performing healing or fixing equipment.
The Stalker is a Defender/Striker. Again, I’m not seeing the Defender part of this. There’s not a Mark until much later and it, again, doesn’t do anything extra.
However, I think the Striker ability is actually pretty cool for this class. Basically, the higher the attack roll over the target’s AC, the more effects are laid on the target (various powers increase this as well, so it’s not all just down to rolling extremely high). The Stalker splits his attacks between very effective Sniper attacks and two-gun-fu sorta attacks. It’s kind of a weird mix in a class. Unfortunately, this isn’t a playtest review, as I’m really curious to see these classes on the battlemat. While I think their Roles are misapplied, I do think they’re overall good classes. I worry about a few things, like their ability to actually defend themselves and keep themselves alive through healing, and it’d be interesting to see how an all-ranged party does.
There are lots of techan-specific prestige classes as well. Each class doesn’t get as many options as the 4e Player’s Handbook provides its classes. There are a few prestige classes that any class can take, but whether they will aid your particular build is an exercise for the reader. There’s plenty of feats as well for the new races and classes.
I particularly like the vehicle feats. Operating in a similar manner to divinity feats, they grant extra encounter powers that are used when piloting a vehicle.
Amethyst Foundation Nh
I like that these are placed in feats, as they allow all of the techan classes to use vehicles with few sacrifices. Amethyst also has plenty of modern technology to equip characters with. The weapons seem well done. I’m particularly impressed with the Technology Level rules. Simply put, Technology Level is the same as Magic Bonus. It’s so simple it hurts. Modern weapons then follow the standard idea of magic weapons in D&D, having minimal levels, and encounter/daily powers.
Overall, I’m impressed in how much the modern weapons still felt like modern weapons, while fitting pretty seamlessly into the D&D magic item economy. The game also offers vehicle rules. These are better than the mount rules in regular D&D. The game also offers a bunch of monsters all statted out.
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I didn’t notice any problems there. The book finishes off with an adventure.
It’sokay (It’s actually fine, but suffers from some of the earlier complaints I had about writing style and obtuseness.) Overall, I probably wouldn’t buy this book. For one, I’m not that into D&D. I’m sorta curious to try out some of the modern techan classes, just to see how it works. If you’re working on a Shadowrun conversion, for instance, I think Amethyst answers almost all of your modern class needs. The world as presented in this book, however, just leaves me confused.
I’m not really sure what’s going on with it. None of the “magic returns” stuff felt all that flavorful or interesting to me. I’m also a little bit tired of the concept of magic and technology not being able to get along. So, overall, the setting didn’t appeal. “Madainn mhath” (Hello) English is very much my first language.
Thanks for the review and I appreciate your honesty within it. I will defend our artist, however. I know that Nick sketches his art with a pencil on a paper pad, and then scans that into the computer for final detail.
If you see our video commentary on it, you can follow his progress from sketch to final. This refers to characters and not backgrounds (as you are right on the latter). Second, Amethyst’s distinction in clashing fantasy against technology was designed to be in direct opposition to the very games people often compare us to. Both Shadowrun and Rifts boast settings where you can wield both magic and technology on the same character. In addition, I will also mention Warmachine, Warhammer, and all the Final Fantasy games as products which mix the two worlds.
Amethyst proposes a world where a character cannot have the best of both sides. Oh and the Stalker was meant to be a Controller/ Striker. That was my bad. The others I will still defend (to coin a phrase). I am surprised you liked the vehicle combat rules. That was the section I was most worried about. ? Thanks again and I respect your opinion (though still defending mine).
I think of Shadowrun as a game where magic and technology don’t mix. Casting spells on a technological item becomes harder and harder the higher tech it is. Implanting cyberware kills your magic stat. While it is possible to mix the two on one character, I think Dumpshock would laugh at you for attempting to do so. (But Dumpshock would probably laugh at you anyway – they’re mean). But I do see your distinction.
I’m just not that taken with it. Re: vehicle rules.
Well, they’re not the most in-depth, but they’re good enough for a battlemat in which vehicles are not the primary focus. And I think making the vehicle powers come from feats makes it easy enough to pick up without it being the main focus of your character. That I’ll buy. The minor minion-killer at-will was a nice touch.
Which side will you choose? Which weapons will you wield? Earth is torn between the order of science and the chaos of fantasy.
These two worlds cannot mix. Venture into lands once claimed by skyscrapers and factories, now overrun by elves, goblins, and dragons. Choose your path and commit to the quest. Monsters will hunt you; machines will track you. No gods will help you; no prophecies will choose you. The fate of the world rests with you.
The critically acclaimed Amethyst setting, now for the! Part II of my review: The following two chapters deal with the leitmotifs of the Amethyst Renaissance setting, ranging from familiar foreignness and constructions of alterity to eschatological ramifications of the cataclysm that was the second hammer and the canonical continuation of human religions, belief, ideologies and science as well as covering the plethoras of alternative models for society as introduced by the Fae and adapted by the echan races - which, of course, is anything but unilateral and in fact a topic not to be neglected. The corrupting influence of Ixindar, transportation and travel, languages, ideologies and warfare - you name it and these pages provide. A gazetteer of the world, introducing us to the bastions, their tech levels, to the kingdoms and also the homes of the worst infections is also provided and makes for a nice lead-in to the new beasts- While most beings can work in the Amethyst-setting, several creatures are replaced by races unique to the setting and thus, the bestiary section kicks off by introducing us to said replacements.
Special mention in this section deserves the beautiful representation of the fae and the 'degenerated' subtypes that have developed from them. The corrupted Dragons of Ixindar also get a nice treatment herein and the pdf hints at the worst of these beings and their special strengths. In Chapter 13, the DM gets the grand gamut of inspirations for campaigns - whether you and your group would go for a theme of echan/techan differences, mixed groups or campaigns focused on a place, this section provides even further ideas and guidance for DMs before presenting us with a beginner's adventure, which serves as a nice starting point for both echan and techan or mixed groups.
A nice module, though I would have preferred an echan and a techan start scenario. After that, the expertly written narrative that leads us throughout this massive tome concludes and an Index finishes this massive tome.
Conclusion: Editing and formatting are very good - I noticed not a single wording that would have impeded my understanding of the text or rules, though I did notice several passages where text was in italics that wasn't supposed to be. Generally, though, the formatting is excellent. The layout adheres to a drop-dead gorgeous b/w-2-column layout with graphics on the borders and no printer-friendly version, which is a minor bummer. The artworks, oh the artworks: They belong, tops, to the most iconic, awesome, evocative and brilliant pieces I've seen done in b/w and the couple of full-color artworks herein are no less dazzling in their beauty. The pdf comes with extensive bookmarks, though no nested bookmarks, which is a bit of a pity, since nested bookmarks would have imho further improved the ability to navigate this massive book. The pdf also comes with high-res jpegs of 3 full color artworks, a map of Canam and 4 different wallpapers. Now, this review took me much longer than anticipated due to several reasons - first of all would be the ambition of the setting: Essentially its endeavor of creating a what-if-scenario that is logical is laudable - what is truly stunning, though, is the variety of play styles it can accommodate.
Yes, you can play a fantasy campaign laced with sci-fi elements in this setting. Just as easily, you could participate in a technology vs. Magic, scifi vs. Fantasy war of the worlds, a gritty cyberpunk scenario or even explore themes of ideologies, races, conflicting society models or a theme of technical evolution vs. Chaos that is stagnant in its magical creations etc. Amethyst Renaissance accommodates all of these playstyles and infinitely more. Secondly, this review took forever to write due to the crunch being so different from what we usually see in PFRPG.
Due to the peculiar nature of magic an technology in the setting, checking the balance of the classes, PrCs and options makes for a monumental task I can only hope I partially achieved in completing. Balance is precarious and there were many an instance where I actually thought that a given race, feat or other class option was overpowered, since e.g. Automatic hits and similar concepts are used. However, the setting's unique balancing factors like the EDF and ideological differences/conflicts, tech levels etc. Also mean that there are a lot of uncommon factors that mitigate the relative power of the races and options herein. To make matters perfectly clear: This is probably not a setting to scavenge from, since just about all crunchy elements are tightly inter-connected both with crunchy and fluffy bits to weave a complex tapestry of both exciting and uncommon options. Amethyst Renaissance is also, and that should be stressed, an intelligent setting: Its logic, coherent approach demands a mature approach both on the side of the gaming group and the designers, as the elements that are relevant social topics in our everyday world still matter in this setting, including unpleasant topics like racism, fanaticism and the escalating clash of ideologies.
All while retaining an identity beyond the sum of its component parts. Is this pdf universally balanced? Hard to tell, even for me.
If a DM is not careful with regards to feats, equipment etc., I can see such a game being hard work - this is not the fault of this book, though, as the parts actually DO work they way they are intended. Another note for all the people with extensive PFRPG-libraries and a minor problem I see with this pdf should be mentioned, though: Rules concepts like teamwork feats, solo tactics or the gunslinger's grit mechanic have not found their way into this setting. Instead, we have setting specific solutions and rules-representation, which, while they do enhance the individuality of the setting, also mean that adding other content to the setting could prove to be problematic. It is also due to this that I hope we'll get more techan equipment, vehicles etc. In future supplements - introducing other content could prove to be a decision that should be carefully considered. Finally, I feel compelled to mention one thing: As per the writing of these lines, I really hope for a print version of this book - BUT: This pdf is cheap. Ridiculously cheap in fact.
15 bucks for 400 pages? Of content of this quality? Now if that is not an excellent bang-for buck ratio, I don't know what is. I'd honestly be hard-pressed to mention another book that marries stellar artworks, a truly unique and smart setting, innovative rules and interesting ideas while being this damn affordable- At the low asking price, Amethyst Renaissance is a total, complete steal.
What's my final verdict, then? I've thought.
Amethyst Foundation Reviews
I've calculated. I've pondered. Is this book perfect? No, there are some minor formatting glitches. There is the lack of nested bookmarks.
I'm new to Amethyst and have no idea how this one and its prior d20-incarnations interact. What I can say is that this pdf made me want to play in the setting. That its races came more to life to me on these pages than just about ALL races I've reviewed this year. That the ideas are often not adhering to standard PFRPG-solutions, but work well and in unique, special ways.
That the base-classes rock hard and feel cool. That I love the creative ideas, twists and all the unique 'clash of culture'-style pieces of information. If my review left you even remotely curious and/or you're looking for a truly new, unique and versatile setting, I'd strongly encourage you to check this pdf out - Amethyst Renaissance is clearly a professional book and a labor of love. And at the low price, I can still justify to give this book my full blessing - thus, my final verdict, in spite of the minor blemishes that can easily be neglected, will be 5 stars. Reviewed here, on DTRPG, posted about it on RPGaggression and sent it to GMS magazine!
Endzeitgeist out. So, I'm up to page 98 or so and I'm really impressed so far. I've spotted a number of formatting issues (new paragraphs a sentence too early, use of 'for all intensive purposes' instead of 'for all intents and purposes'), but nothing that has really impeded my understanding of the text. The artwork (black and white) is very good and the lack of colour in the text does not feel like anything is missing. Rather, the black and white artwork seems to work better than colour given the style of the layout. Nice work on getting those two elements working so well together.
The little details is what makes this so great. Things like how magic does not extend into space, or the section in each racial write-up which explains why that race is the 'best choice evar!' , or the fact that the book does not shy away from issues like prejudice, racism, or sexuality. I'd also love to see some of the rules like Technology and Magic Disruption available for use elsewhere, and the tech classes are another thing it'd be cool to be able to use as well (minus setting details and other PI you'd obviously not want to share). Please consider updating the document to include a product identity and open content statement (needed to comply with the terms of the Open Gaming License). One thing I'm noticing as I work my way through is there are a number of 4E mechanics references in the text (move, minor, and standard actions), and a number of areas where the more disassociated mechanics from 4E could have been converted better (and probably fairly easily) to a more associated mechanic.
There's a number of spots where the disassociated mechanic pulls me out of the setting and comes across as very board-gamish. This wouldn't be so bad, but it really stands out in this product given how well pretty much all the other rules and mechanics integrate into the flavour of the setting, probably more so than I've seen before in any other setting. I'm up to equipment now and really liking what I see. Dias Ex Machina wrote: YES!!! Now available for sale in PRINT. Anyone that has purchased the PDF that wants to take advantage of the combo-PDF/POD need only message me and I'll send them a discount coupon for the print edition.
I'll need your email of course. And if you love it, pass the word.
(and yes, if you purchased it from Paizo, you'll still get the coupon to purchase the print from RPGNOw.) This offer still good? Just bought the Pdf frome here, and it looks very well done.
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