PDF reviews at DriveThru RPG

Blazing headache today.
I was holding on to this post for a rainy day, but today is good.

Some more DriveThru RPG reviews.  No theme today. Just a bunch of random pdfs that caught my attention.
I am trying out a new database to keep track of my reviews now too.

Action! System Core Rules (Free Version)
Good game for action/adventure RPGs.
It is designed to focus on "realism", so no super science or magic, but perfect for say a spy, detective, cop or any other type of action game.
4 out of 5 stars


Bardic Lore: Riastradh
Very cool for any Celtic flavored game and cool for any game to be honest.
The warp-spasm of Cú Chulainn is something that has been in the stories of the Ulster cycle, but never really implemented well in a game. This is a pretty good way to do it.

If you are running a Celtic game, then this is a good product to have. Great price as well.
5 out of 5 stars

Out for Blood
If there was anything you ever wanted to know about vampires or those that hunt them then this is your book.
In the 200+ pages there are 18 new prestige classes, new uses for skills, feats, and of course tons of vampires. There are a handful of new spells and campaign ideas for using or hunting vampires in your game.
What I liked best about this book though was the Fist of Light Prestige Class. It was exactly what I was looking for in one of my games and I was happy to see someone else had done all the work for me.
The layout is very clean and clear and easy enough to read onscreen. The art varies, but most it is rather good.
5 out of 5 stars


Paths of Power
Ideas and options for alternate magic systems in d20. Lots of great ideas here and can be used as a tool kit, options or just a way to give characters a different feel.
5 out of 5 stars

Teenage Demon Slayers
I do not own or ever have played a Pocket Universe game, but I was working on a "magical high school" campaign for my players and I saw this. I saw Jeff Dee's name and picked up a copy.
It makes for a good resource and translating the ideas to other games or systems is fairly easy.
It can't comment on the playability of the material, the readability was fine.
4 out of 5 stars

Campaign Builders: Modern High
Campaign Builders are quick books to help you get started with a campaign mode. In this case a modern high school (and two popular variations, the Horror High and Ninja School).
I grabbed this for ideas to help with a anime/supers/magic flavored high school game I Was working on at the time and it was a great help. The coolest feature here (and since used in other games) is the "Allowance" mechanic. This might not be the first place it has been used like this, but what they do have here is very good.

It is a great product for the price. I might have liked to see more school types and paid a little more, but all in all I am very happy with it.

4 out of 5 stars


Venture 4th: Pact of Ghosts
An interesting addition to the 4th edition game. I liked many of the powers and did not feel they were too overpowered or underpowered. I also liked the different flavor they gave to the Warlock class.
3rd party publishers of D&D4 material are at a severe disadvantage. They can't add their material to the DDi and that makes them less attractive. But if you can get past that this is a very good class build and one I plan on using in my games.
4 out of 5 stars


Silver Age Sentinels D20: Stingy Gamer Edition
Silver Age Sentinels is a fantastic d20 based supers game. It has the problem of being "that other d20 Supers game" and never got the foothold in the market it would have.

This version includes all the rules but is missing some of the text that I felt made SAS worth buying.

4 out of 5 stars

Villains for 2.0
You get 10 detailed NPCs/concepts/archetypes to use either as heroes or as villains for Mutants and Masterminds 2nd ed.
The art is comic book fare, but that is actually to it's benefit here. The archetypes are not particularly original, but they are afterall archetypes.
If you need a bad guy quickly then this is good product. I bought it for just one of the archetypes and was happy with the rest.
4 out of 5 stars

Character Builder Complete: Celtic
A 36 page, form-fillable character folio with a celtic theme. "Builder" is a bit of a mis-nomer, there is nothing here that contains rules, but nearly everything is here to build a character of any class. For d20/OGL 3.x.
4 out of 5 stars

Librum Equitis - Volume 2
Twenty new prestige classes and some new spells.
The book is good if you are looking for some more prestige classes, but I found I never used any of them myself.

I did like the new spells.
4 out of 5 stars