Jon Brazer Enterprises

Fight the Dark Side

The Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane details the deadly and frightning monsters that go bump in the night. More than 50 brand new monsters for your Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, these monsters will frighten players and challenge their characters in new and exciting ways. This monster book is the latest in the award-winning Book of Beasts series and is the bestiary to the Shadowfall series, premiering in 2012.

The PDF is now available to DriveThruRPG/RPGNow as well as Paizo.com. The print book can be ordered at your local game store or your favorite gaming web retailer. Order the print book today and get the PDF for free.

Last week I tried my hand at my first Legend faction. I received some good feedback and I am trying again. I know you are looking for a custom heroic ability or spell to go with the faction, but I want more practice in private before showing off any attempts in that direction in public. Again, we appreciate any constructive feedback you may have.
EDIT: I’ve made some changes due to reader feedback (including the name itself)

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Cult of the White Raven (Divine Cult)
Morrigan is considered the Protective Mother of the World by those that follower her. In artwork she is frequently depicted as a beautiful woman, an ugly hag or a white raven, and it is said she can transform herself between the three forms. While there are stories of her protecting her loved ones in battle, she is more known for whispering in the ear of those about to go to war, whether to stop or encourage the fight is unknown.
The goddess’s followers consist mostly of women. Men are allowed to join the Cult of the White Raven and can even become an acolyte. However, men cannot advance higher than that station. The role of priest and high priest are only for women.
Publicly, the Cult of the White Raven tells its followers to be peacemakers and to help smooth other hostilities. There are whispers the cult encourages fights between groups the cult does not like in the hopes their enemies will weaken each other. Cult cells with affluent members or those near major centers of political importance frequently earn their money as spies for hire (and for the cult itself). Cult shrines in smaller locations that possess few wealthy backers tend to serve as a brothel.
The most influential of Morrigan’s current high priestesses, Bridgatia the Long Feather, has been more active than her predecessors in seeking out blackmail. Her spies pay well for their information and use that information to influence the slave trade. On a more local level, they help men, women or children in abusive situations get help and sometimes even get their freedom. Some say that Bridgatia wants to make the Cult the only source of “entertainment” within her reach. Many that have been freed because of the Cult’s actions fully believe that the high priestess wants to end cruelty towards women and those unable to stand up for themselves.
Most of Morrigan’s worshipers consist of those that feel they owe a debt of loyalty to the goddess for their freedom. Other worshipers are those that want to help those in need in a quieter way than fighting. Some prostitutes and courtesan come to the Cult of the White Raven of their own accord, mostly desiring to help make a difference. The Cult helps them advance in their position, giving them greater access to information and ways to influence the larger world.
Divine Magic: Aphrodisiac, Beast Form (raven), Disarm, Fear, Shield
Lay Members
A Lay Member is anyone that worships a shrine to Morrigan. A male Lay Member must make a monthly offering to the Cult of the White Raven worth at least 5 CP or must service cult customers for one day every month. Female Lay Members are not required to service cult customers but may do so and receive payment for their time. Additionally, female Lay Members and rescued male Lay Members are permitted to turn down customers to the cult for any reason.
Initiates
Initiates must have Perception at a minimum of 40%, Seduction at a minimum of 25% and three other cult skills at a minimum of 30%. They must all dedicate at least 1 POW to their Pact with Morrigan. Initiates are expected to serve as the cult’s seductive spies and must serve the cult for at least one spying mission each month lasting up to three days.
Acolytes
White Raven Acolytes are the Cult’s eyes and ears. Acolytes are called upon for spying missions for a full week each month and are expected to help manage the Lay Members’ work. Acolytes must have uncovered a minimum of three substantial secrets during their spying operations, dedicated at least 3 POW to their Pact with Morrigan, have their Perception skill at a minimum of 60%, and Pact, Seduction and any three other cult skills of at least 50%.
Priestesses
Only women can ascend to be a White Raven Priestess. Priestesses are expected to oversee brothel and the spy network activities as well as conduct ceremonies. Few Priestesses perform spying missions. Instead Priestesses trade their services for Influence, whether for the Cult’s benefit or the benefit of one of its customers. An Acolyte cannot ascend to the Priesthood until the Acolyte influences a change in an organization. This change can be getting someone appointed to a significant position, altering a business’s operations within the region, or similar. Also, Priestesses must dedicate a minimum of 5 POW to their Pact with Morrigan, must have their Influence, Pact, Seduction and any three other cult skills at a minimum of 80%.
High Priestesses
Each High Priestess of the White Raven Cult serves as a dedicated concubine to a powerful ruler. They routinely alter and even initiate treaties and major agreements. To become a High Priestess, a Priestess must, with her skill and magic alone, stop a war that was not directly started the Cult of the White Raven. High Priestesses must dedicated 7 POW to their Pact with Morrigan and possess five cult skills at 100%. Three of those cult skills must be Influence, Pact and Seduction.
Cult Skills
The Cult of the White Raven offers training the in the following skills. Pact is mandatory as one of the five skills for joining and advancing within the cult: Courtesy, Influence, Insight, Pact (Morrigan), Perception, Persistence, Seduction, any Dagger style.

This whole week we’ve been previewing the Book of Beasts: Monsters of the River Nations. Earlier we took a look at the unquiet giant, darkling, appendixes and the Monsters from the Bestiaries. As our final installment we’re showing you the Table of Contents. Click on the image to see the enlarged version of the page.

Look through and you will see a wide variety of CRs from low to high level monsters. We’ve got sub CR 1 monsters like the Dull Mite and the Monkeybat and we’ve got high level monsters like the Champion Helblar and the Starak. We wanted to make sure all levels of play were supported with this book, not just the early levels. We hope that this monster book will be invaluable to those that have been asking for high level support while still enhancing the low and mid level games.

One last thing we have been saving. We raised enough to print enough quantities of our Free RPG Day adventure to get 3 in every box! That’s right. So now there is more than just the one copy that goes to the store’s best Game Master. Now there is enough for others to that have been excited about this or those that have never heard of us to grab yourself a copy.

I hope you have been enjoying these previews as much as we have had sharing them with you. Tell your local game store today to preorder you a copy. Don’t forget our PDF Guarantee allowing you to get an electronic copy when the buy the print version.

PS: Oh and look what just arrived!

This whole week, we’re previewing the Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane. Monday we started with the unquiet giant. Tuesday saw the darkling. Yesterday detailed the book’s appendixes. Today we’re looking at how the Book of Beasts helps to create a full environment for Shadowsfall. Click on the image to see the enlarged version of the page.

As you can see, we combed for all three of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiaries for you for all monsters that work best in the setting and listed them all for you. All the monsters listed on this page are monsters that we encourage you to use straight out of those monster books with no variation. But really, the Plane of Shadows has … well … just about everything the material plane has. As we described at the top, you can use any monster you want with the darkened template applied. We also wanted to make sure that we empowered GMs to use any monster they want to come up with their ideal story. To that end, we described how a normal monster that normally would not be on Shadowsfall could be found there. That last bit has more details in Shadowsfall: Shadow Plane Gazetteer, but we wanted to give you a start now.

Tomorrow is our last preview of the Book of Beasts. We’ll show you the table of contents so you can see exactly how many monsters there are in the whole book, their names and their CRs. Tell your local game store today to preorder you a copy. Don’t forget our PDF Guarantee allowing you to get an electronic copy when the buy the print version.

We’re doing previews all week of the upcoming Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane. Monday we previewed the unquiet giant and yesterday we previewed the darkling. Today we’re taking a look at the Appendixes in the Book of Beasts. Click on the image to the left to see an enlarged version of the image.

The three most common monsters on the Plane of Shadows are Shadows, Skeletons and Zombies. However, all these of these appear in Bestiary so they are not new monsters. Skeletons and Zombies are templates so you can make your own pretty easily. However, we wanted this to be a real resource for GMs playing a Shadowsfall game so we gave added a few appendixes to the book. Each of these appendixes fill a 2 page spread of pregenerated monsters. While we did a few low CR versions of these templated monsters, we gave them a little shake up. As you can see in the image, the cave fisher shadow has an incorporeal filament attack that can attach to a creature’s shadow, something a normal shadow does not possess, but still familiar to those that have fought a cave fisher before. Additionally, we also have high CR versions on the second page. Expect to see a CR 21 ancient dragon shadow, a CR 16 Fighter/Rogue Half-Elf Skeletal Champion, and a CR 17 sorcerer gnome juju zombie.

After these three appendixes, we have the darkened template. This template describes how most creatures that spend generations on the Shadowsfall end up being altered by the Plane. This is similar to a celestial/fiendish templated creature.

Up next we have the parts that turn this from a book of monsters to a true bestiary in its own right. The next few appendixes are the Universal Monster Rules, Feats, New Creature Subtypes and Creatures by CR. All the rules from the Pathfinder Role Playing Game Bestiary 1-3 that were used in this book are collected into one place so you do not need to reference another book if you need to reference a particular ability. Same with feats. All the feats used in this book that cannot be found in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook are collected here. So Flyby Attack comes right after Combat Patrol and Bloody Assault.

Tomorrow we’re releasing the Monsters from the Bestiaries page. This will help you in your game to make full use of your monster books and make a true environment setup for your game.

Incase you had not heard, the Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane left the printer and is on its way to the warehouse. Soon it will be working its way through distribution. Be sure to tell your local game store today to preorder you a copy. Your game store can give you a PDF copy of the book when you do.

Yesterday, we previewed the unquiet giant. Today we’re taking a look at the Dread Gargoyle. Like yesterday click on the image to see a larger version.

The dread gargoyle emphasizes is one example of a themes we wanted in Shadowsfall: that monsters here are recognizable, but they’re twisted and far more dangerous. A number of monsters including the black worm, dull mite, onyx ooze, and spectre lord are all similar to the monsters that we all know and love, but have been changed either by having been on the Plane of Shadows for generations or by “living” in a place that is ideal for them. In the case of the dread gargoyle, there are lots of ruins around, allowing it ample living space. Spectre lords, by contrast, are not held powerless by the dim sun of the Shadow Plane.

These creatures are not merely the same as their material plane brethren with more hit dice and higher attack bonuses and DCs. Oh no, my friend. These creatures possess new and dangerous abilities that make them more than the creatures your players expect. May evil GMs everywhere rub their hands together in glee.

Tomorrow we take a look at the the most common creatures in Shadowsfall: shadows, skeletons and zombies. Pre-order this book today at your local game store or at your favorite gaming website and get the PDF for free when you do.

Bad aliens! Bad aliens! Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

Ok, I won’t torture you with my singing.

We’re excited to announce we’ve got two new d66 being released today. First up is d66 Criminal Hideouts. Need someplace imaginative for the alien your characters are searching for to hide, look no further. This list covers everything from low-life drug dens to high class private floating islands. Grab some new ideas where to stash your NPCs today.

Also up, we have d66 Planetary Bureaucracies. Sooner or later, everyone has to deal with some type of government bureaucracy. Name your offices something unique and a little troubling like the Vargr Registration Office or something totally opposite of what it actually does like Institute of Peace and Justice for the office in charge of oppressing the masses. Give your planets their own flavor with their own Planetary Bureaucracy Names.

Grab these and other d66 lists today at DriveThruRPG.com

In my spare time (both seconds), I keep up to date on other RPGs. One that I’ve been following is the Legend RPG. I’m not sure if I should provide support for it. So please, tell me what you think. If there were a bunch of these together in one product, would you buy something like this? Are you looking for something different or presented a different way? Would you want these with NPCs? I’m sure you’d like to see custom spells/heroic abilities, but I didn’t want to go to far on my first attempt. Please leave your thoughts as a comment.

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Bronze Star (Chivalric Martial Order)

While calling a member of the Bronze Star a heartless mercenary is not true, it is not far off. The Bronze Star exists to bring order to the varying mercenary bands that rove the country side. It serves to make contract negotiations more prosperous and passage between nations easier. Plus it helps to train its members to become better fighters.

The Bronze Star has a code of conduct that its members are sworn to uphold. This code includes: never fight another member of the Bronze Star in paid combat, do not turn a blind eye to someone being threatened, do not break local laws unless paid to do so, pay those that help you what they are owed, and obey the Grand Masters of the Bronze Star. Despite the sworn oath, there are few repercussions for failing to obey. Only paying what is owed and obeying the Grand Masters see significant action when members break these tenants. The other tenants exist for good public relations with hiring nations. A lord is more likely to hire a mercenary company had the company prevented his citizens from being eaten by trolls and kept good relations with local guards.

The single biggest service is that it provides schools to teach train military units. Members receive a discount for all training they receive at one of the Bronze Star fighting school. Knights are in charge of teaching new recruits the basics of weapon fighting. Knight Captains train new officers how to effectively order their units in battle. The Grand Masters train veteran officers and generals how to effectively run a war.

Payment in the Bronze Star is done by shares. The amount of money collected is divided by total number of shares of everyone in the Bronze Star’s actions plus the Bronze Star’s shares. The Bronze Star’s has a number of shares equal to half of all those participating in the military action (minimum 1).

Common Magic: Bladesharp, Heal, Protection, Strength

Heroic Abilities: Heroic Aura, Mighty Blow, Severing Slash

Men-at-Arms

To be among the Men-at-Arms in the Bronze Star, characters must possess either a sword or spear style at 30%. Men-at-Arms are not official members of the Bronze Star but may join in a mercenary fight where Men-at-Arms are required and receive a payment. All Men-at-Arms each receive 1 share for their participation.

Squire

Squires are official members of the Bronze Star and are required to have a image of a bronze star on their armor at all times. This is typically stamped and painted onto metal armor or pinned onto cloth or leather armor. Most squires earn their money by adventuring although some routinely take part in sanctioned Bronze Star actions. All squires must have a sword or spear style at 50% and any four other order skills at 30%. Squires are each paid 3 shares.

Knight

Knights are the most recognizable members of the Bronze Star. With a large bronze star embedded into the middle of their armor, they are easily recognizable walking down a city street and on the battlefield. Being knighted requires slaying a known foe or monster, a sword or spear style of a minimum of 70% and four other order skills at 50%. All Knights receive 5 shares.

Knight Captain

Being a Knight Captain means being a deadly force on a battlefield. Minstrels sing songs of their battles and everyone in the region from kings to commoners has heard the Knight Captain’s name. The horse’s armor is decorated in Bronze Stars. A Knight Captain must have a sword or spear style at 90%, any four other order skills at 70%, the Teaching skill at 30%, and one of the order’s Heroic Abilities. Additionally the Knight Captain must be selected for promotion by the school’s Grand Master.

Grand Master

Each of the four Grand Masters is in charge of a fighting school. Although seldom involved in fighting directly, a Grand Master mainly stays with a king or general, orchestrating the war from afar. When a Grand Master enters battle, it is typically to lead the King’s forces because the Grand Master is more capable than the general. Grand Masters receive 20 shares for any military action they directly participate in. To be a Grand Master, the character must possess a sword or spear style at 110%, four other order skills at 90%, the Teaching skill at 50%, and any 2 of the Order’s Heroic Abilities. Once those are met, the potential Grand Master must defeat another Grand Master in a non-lethal single combat. There are only four Grand Masters at a time.

Order Skills

The Bronze Star offers training in : Common Magic, Evade, Resilience, Ride, Track, Any Lance Style, Any Spear style, Any Sword style, Long Bow style

 

With the Book of Beasts: Monsters of the Shadow Plane PDF going on sale next week, we’re spending this week showcasing the monsters in the book. First up is the Unquiet Giant. We’re starting with this one because it is one of our favorites. Click on the image to the left to see the full preview page. First thing you should notice is that this is a CR 13 monster. That’s big because 22 of the over 50 monsters in this book are CR 10 or higher, with the top being 21.

The next thing we want to draw your attention to is the Feats section of the stat block. We placed the relevant penalty/modifier next to Power Attack. I know when I am GMing a game, I have enough numbers flying around in my head that I don’t need to figure out what the appropriate penalty/modifier for the Power Attack is. Hero Lab is our inspiration for that addition. So I’d like to say a “Thanks guys,” to the crew at Lone Wolf Development for that. We did the same for Combat Expertise as well.

Lastly, I want to call your attention to the quote between the stat block and its descriptive text. As we mentioned in our last preview, the quote gives a bit of inworld perspective of the monster either from the monster itself or from others. The unquiet giant’s text in particular is a reference to Andre the Giant’s character in the Princess Bride. When I decided to put in game quotes into the monster book, that movie was one of the first references I thought of and wanted to make sure it went in there. I am glad it is a reference to one of my favorite scenes.

Follow along all week to get more insights and spoilers from new Book of Beasts. Pre-order this book today at your local game store or at your favorite gaming website and get the PDF for free when you do.

The great adventurer, abjurer and researcher, Riyal Starlight, has explored much of the world. Throughout his travels he documented many of the dangerous and unusual hazards he has lived to tell the tale. Now within these pages, he shares his findings with you.

Riyal’s Research: Traps brings you two dozen new traps for you to endanger your player characters’ very lives. These traps range in from CR 1 to 19 and include traps from the best kobold designers, traps from ancient temples, and traps in active castles and shops. These murderous menaces will enhance your world and your adventures.

Grab your copy today at Paizo.com or at DriveThruRPG.com