Bodies and Souls is a 49 page PDF for from Second World Simulations, and was written by Steven Palmer Peterson. It sells for $5, but I was given a review copy of it. Basically, it's a monster book for d20, but it's a monster book with a twist. It's on templates. (Templates are basically things that can be added to any monster or character and alters it. Like how an adjective modifies a noun.).
I've bought several PDFs in the past, and was often annoyed to find they generally suck up printer ink when printed out, whether by heavy use of graphics (besides the usual artwork, many have header/footer/sidebar graphics that have no point other than to look nice), or by the use of huge black boxes with white text. Thankfully, this PDF is very printer friendly. There is an option to turn off the artwork, there are no header/footer/sidebar graphics, and any boxes use light grey backgrounds, not completely black ones.
The PDF is also well done as a PDF. The table of contents on the front page will take you to the template in question when clicked, and there is a limited but good use of pop-up windows. The artwork ranges from extremely good to good, with one or two so-so pictures. Most of it is drawn, but one seems to be a digitally altered photo of a 1971-73 Mustang. While that shows extremely good taste in cars (I have a '73 Convertible myself), I'm not sure why it's in there.
It starts off with about 5-6 pages of new rules and advice on how to use the templates. It gives some tips on how to use templates for characters, including how player characters can make use of them (it involves spending gold, like making magic items). Also some info on 'Possession' templates, including a new (but fairly simple) dice mechanic called 'Stability'. Basically, it's making x amount of successful rolls out of y attempts.
The rest of the book is devoted to the templates. There are 20 of them. Each one has the template itself and a sample of the template applied to a creature.
The templates are:
Atomic - This is basically like something out of a 50s horror movie. While tricky to work into a fantasy campaign, it's possible. I used this in my game. Worked well.
Bonesmith - This is a template applied to an object. The object then becomes animated, and hungers for bone. (This is one of those that made me scratch my head a bit).
Cutter - This seems to be taken from the company's forthcoming setting. Just what it is isn't terribly clear, but it seems to be some extra-dimensional creature. It 'cuts' through dimensions, thus the name.
Demon Flock - This template is applied to Tiny creatures or vermin. Think "The Birds", only on a smaller scale. Or Poe's Rats in the Wall story. I also used this one. This works well enough, but it's a bit more complicated than regular monsters to run and to create.
Elemental Scions - These are templates to turn creatures (or characters) into something almost out of a comic book. There are 4 of these - Wind, Water, Fire, Stone. The sample for the Stone Scion shows how it can be used in a Dragonstar (or Dragonstar-ish) game.
Faded - This is something of an "anti-template". It makes a monster weaker, though not dramatically so. I used it, and it worked well enough.
Fly Lord - This one is sort of creepy. The monster in question is possessed by a fly demon. Think Beelzebub.
Gray Marble - This one I didn't like much. Basically, this sucks life force from people. Sort of like a living statue.
Insect Scion - Think of the movie The Fly. Pretty creepy, if you don't like insects (like me).
Machine Coded - This is one of those that made me scratch my head a bit. Basically it's people who become emotionless, computer like in thinking. Spock like.
Mechanized - Think of Star Trek's Borg, though it doesn't make you wear skin tight clothing or evil, necessarily. Can also be used as a simple way to cyber-up creatures.
Rabid - Think Cujo. Though the sample is a peasant, and not exactly fearsome. This is meant to be more of a horror style (again, Cujo) than a realistic portrayal of rabies.
Red Candescence - Another template applied to objects. This seems to make them glow and make them evil. This was one of the vaguer ones. I think there was a Phillip K Dick story where machines came alive. This would fit that.
Tiger Scion - This is another weird one. I guess it's like what Dr. Moreau did, splicing animal genes (in this case tiger) with that of other beings. The sample it's applied to is a Bulette.
It then has 3 Possession templates (which happen when a creature is possessed by an outside). One for the Succubus (which features PG-13 rated artwork), Kyton, and the Ghale. The latter is a good outsider that possesses people to help fight evil.
All in all, this is a pretty good product. I was a bit skeptical of it first, but I actually found it useful for both my Deadlands d20 game and a slightly post-modern horror game I run using a combo of the Dragonstar and Blood on the Rhine rules (Looking at the OGL section, it seems the author used both Deadlands d20 and Dragonstar open content bits).
I also liked how the author goes out of the way to make it useful for GMs, and gives advice on how to use each template or rule. The author also has a good grasp on the d20 rules. I also liked the writing style. It's very familiar, with the author using "I" and "You".
On the other hand, some of these templates are not really suited for fantasy games. While I personally plan on using at least half of them, most won't be in my fantasy d20 game. Another problem is that many of the templates are not actually described. For each entry, there is a paragraph of fiction, then it seems to jump right into the advice on how to use it. For instance, the "Red Candescence" template. Just what it is isn't said, just that it possesses objects.
Still, I thought it was a very good product. Fantasy only d20 gamers might not find it too useful, but it's definitely worth a look if you're running a horror, modern day, or science fiction d20 campaign.
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