recap: labyrinth lord bestiary III - beyond the megadungeon

Roll d12 for your doom.  Then roll 2d6-1.  Use both.  Nobody said it was fair...

1. Bakalpanga
2. Estarabat
3. Foulroarer
4. Jiskavi
5. Klovinnig
6. Myrk
7. Niamis
8. Plagueridden
9. Rock Ape
10. Qut-Qua 
11. Tattooed Alaunt
12. Widow Millipede

review: divine favor - the druid

Metric: Acorns.  Mistletoe berries has a rather more innuendo-laden connotation.  In addition, if you squash them, the resulting pulp makes a real mess.  Stick with the humble acorn.
DISCLAIMER: Review is based on a PDF copy provided by Open Design.
Overall: 5 acorns (quality content expands the druid's horizons).
This Divine Favor is a pleasure.  Fans of druids will rub their hands at the expanded options here and GMs will consider dusting off that druidic campaign they've been thinking of.  The layout is the usual Open Design quality and the price is very reasonable.

Content: 5 acorns (balanced, elegant and versatile options galore).
The introduction mentions the signature abilities of Pathfinder druids.  Wildshape is given it's due and advice on spells and feats are offered.  Then it's straight into the new stuff.  Wildshape options draw from a common idea but execute it differently.  Nature's multitude lets you become your very own rat pack or murder of crows.  At higher levels you become your own herd of dire boar.  Swarm shape lets you become an army ant column or mass of scorpions.  Included is a variant for animal companion flocks; druids with this option get scary quickly but fans of George R.R. Martin will approve. Druidic archetypes allow players to tailor a druid to fit a campaign instead of belonging to a generic cookie-cutter lineage.   Each group of archetypes (moon druids, greenmen, elemental shamans) have their own distinct sub-specialisms.  While the over-critical may wonder why not play a cleric, changes are smooth enough that the druid isn't lost in translation.  Next some new domains and subdomains, allowing a stronger flavour and some unexpected options for druids.  A GM will need to give some of these a bit of thought to see if they fit.  The domains are balanced and jaded players may be surprised by the options available.  New animal companions goes esoteric with oozes, plants and worms as well as lizards and slugs; these are distinctive companions brimming with options and memorable encounter hooks.  Finally new feats offer options balancing combat utility (totem aspect), lore (primeval counsel) and metamagic.  Even animal companions can get in on the action (healing tongue).

Art & Layout: 4.5 acorns (a layered layout and well-formed with it).
Divine Favor - The Druid combines the usual mix of Christophe Swal cover (an excellent piece with a druid waiting to pounce) and woodcut interior artwork.  The layout is textured yet clean.  The lack of interior colour is a minor niggle though the quality of the interior art is consistently good.  I was a bit surprised to see a lack of Ogham script but the hidden message in roleplaying game supplements trope has been somewhat done to death.

In conclusion, druids are a class popular with certain players.  The wealth of options and diversity here makes this one of the stronger entries in the Divine Favor range.  Players of druids will love some of the options and GMs will appreciate how these can be combined to create memorable, distinctive encounters.  The idea of a dwarven druid with nature's multitude and a wildshape of brain ooze would make s scary encounter.  That's just one example of how versatile this book is.

orctober - tusks of blood

Orctober rumbles on. Over at Aeons & Auguries, there's an excellent look at orcish architecture just begging for geomorphs.  Siskoid ponders how orcish refugees face the fall of an evil empire.  And at Meatshield.Net, an unexpected approach to orcish diplomacy.

Beefing up orcs is a typical response if a referee underestimates party firepower.  Orcish wereboars are an unexpected escalation but as Hallowe'en approaches it seems apt.  Plus, why let the hill giants have all the fun?  Orcs hulking out under the full moon and with boar friends sounds fun - I pity any shieldwall facing that.  Orcish boar riders are a staple of fantasy wargaming.  Orc-wereboar hoplites with boars fighting cheek by jowl feels right.  Perhaps not so unexpected after all.

Their culture may be less extremist than traditional orc culture but every inch as selfish.  I peg them as Neutral Evil, might-justified and nasty-tempered, too selfish for obsessive hate or psychosis.  With their  resistance to ordinary weapons, their savagery makes them natural skirmishers.  Lunar rages and extreme selfishness makes them poor mercenaries.  This is a group placated or avoided rather than allied with.  Their hatred for elves comes from competing in a shared environment - the latter know how effective silver arrows are.  Their attitude to regular orcs is usually contemptuous and foreign tribes are offered a chance to swear a painful blood oath.  Sharing blood with lycanthropes is often a changing experience...

jiskavi

No. Enc.: 1d4 (2d4)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 60' (20')
Fly: 240' (80')
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 1d8+2
Attacks: 1 (beak)
Damage: 1d4
Save: M1
Morale: 6
Hoard Class: None

The jiskavi is a cadaverous vulture tainted by sinister magics and made eternally hungry.  Each round a jiskavi feasts on a corpse, it regains 1 hit point up to it's maximum and there is a 10% chance the corpse is spoiled and cannot be raised by a raise dead spell.  If a Chaotic wizard feeds it their own blood once a day for a week (doing at least 1 point of damage to the wizard) the jiskavi heals the wizard 1 hit point per round it feasts after it is fully restored until the corpse is spoiled (after 10 rounds or 10 hit points are healed).  Jiskavi cannot harm or touch anyone under a protection from evil spell.