Counter Collection II is the second such collection of gaming aids published by Fiery Dragon Productions. As with the first, these counters are a mixture of personalities and monsters. Both types are not absolute appearances, but iconic representations, and none of them come with labels printed upon them. The purpose for these two features is to make it easy to swap out or reuse counters when a GM decides to introduce a new monster or when an NPC changes shape. The wisdom of this decision should be self-evident.
There are eight sheets in all. Them are giants, dragons, demons and other commonly-used outsiders, common animals and (magical) beasts. The counters represent sizes great and small, and they come in full color artwork by Claudio Pozas. (Who is, by the way, a class act of a professional and a gamer.) There is an arrow pointing to one end of the counter. This is used to indicate the counter's orientation or facing. (Yes, I'm aware that there is no facing by default in the rules.) Removing them from the sheet may require the aid of either an X-Acto knife or a pair of scissors, but this is not common. Use is as easy as placing them on a mapboard, and storage as easy as using a small bag or box. The counters are a wonderful alternative to miniatures, and I am glad to see this product on the shelves.
There is a bit more to the product. The cover contains an eight-page insert (of sorts) that contains three prestige classes: Brotherhood of Form Idealist, Gnome Combat Miner and Red Smile Assassin (a.k.a. Death Jester). The three classes have their roots in the house world of Kalendia, so they do represent specific organizations; this is the best--some say only--use of the prestige class concept in D20, so on its face I must applaud Fiery Dragon for doing it this way. Each one of these classes also have a specific concept in mind, a concept that doesn't work well using multiclass combinations (etc.), and that is the second reason for why I like what I see here.
The Idealist represents a monastic order of crafters who travel all over Kalendia restoring abandoned buildings, structures, etc. as the path to perfection. The requirements include 10 ranks in a Craft skill, 5 in Knowledge (architecture or engineering) and a Lawful alignment. This is well-done, as it cements the concept of the class before any character would take levels of it. Once accepted, a new Idealist gains Monk-like abilities and abilities that allow Idealists to repair or destroy objects/constructs. Honestly, I think that this is one of the best Monk-like prestige classes that I've seen yet.
The Gnome Combat Miner is another class that's focused upon abilities that deal in mining and objects. It took a few minutes and a cup of coffee to look over the class abilities and see how well they express the concept, but it does work. The Miner is a warrior class that is an expert combat engineer/commando, and the abilities reflect this; he becomes a master of the Gnome Hooked Hammer, gains awesome powers related to object destruction and some other Rogue-like abilities to represent commando abilities (Uncanny Dodge). Given that the class's requirements are heavy on feats, Base Attack Bonus and ranks in both Profession(miner) and Knowledge(architecture or engineering) it looks like a good class for multiclassed gnomes who are rogues and fighters.
I dig it.
Finally, the Red Smile Assassin is a rogue-like class that represents a specific order of professional killers that specializes in killing the target while disguised as a clown or fool. In addition to the expected ranks in Bluff, Disguise, Perform and Pick Pocket a character must meet with a current member and make him laugh through telling the member a joke that he's never heard before. Failing to do this will probably get the character killed. That's quite tough, so I expect some power to compensate for the risks; I see that it is there, albeit packed into only five levels (instead of the 10 for the previous two classes). A Death Jester gets bard-like musical powers, the DMG Assassin's Death Attack, bonuses against mind-effecting magic (such as Enchantments, Charms and Compulsions) and increased Sneak Attack damage (up to 3d6). It's a great alternative to the DMG's Assassin class, and I'm glad that it exists.
Finally, there's a set of new magic items. Three are swords; one is a construct-slaying sword (Bane vs. Constructs, and a new ability that ignores up to 10 pts. of Hardness), one is a demon bound into a sword and an artifact that's so powerful that succeeding in the Will Save still robs a character of all actions but Moves and Move-Equivalents while within its area of effect. The last is a dagger that acts like a lie-detector when pressed against a target. All of these are cool, and they are definately good examples of how to make magical items for publication in generic fantasy adventure products. Would-be designers take note of these.
For the price, you get great bang for your buck. Get it now.
Go to forum!
(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)