Poisoncraft
Complete Sourcebook On Poison
Review by C. Demetrius Morgan
Synopsis
This review is for the 96-page D20 sourcebook Poisoncraft: A Complete Sourcebook on Poison for use in Any Campaign, written by Justin D. Jacobson, published by Blue Devil Games, and currently available as a PDF from RPGnow for $8.00. A demo is available.
Note: The “printer friendly” PDF is only 91-pages.
Target Audience: The author states, “Experienced gamers.” I would agree with that and add that Poisoncraft is a niche product. Just like the 2nd edition Complete Wizard’s Handbook or Complete Bard’s Handbook were niche products. If you happen to play a Rogue, Assassin, or Politician type character then Poisoncraft will be a must have supplement. Just like the Wizard’s Handbook was for me, back in the day.
Rating: Wow, how to rate this? For the average gamer this product is probably: Poor to Average. However, for those who would like to add a trace amount of diabolical intrigue spiced with a bit of peppery evilness to their lovable scoundrel characters then this is: Great bordering on Must-Have. It’s really a matter of perspective. Keep that in mind while reading this review.
Rumors: What does Blue Devil Games have planned for the future? “We will continue to produce supplements for d20. Our next .. release is tentatively titled Antimagic: Requiem for a Spell and is .. slated for a September release.” Mr. Jacobson also gave a hint of potential things to come. Viz. “We have two great concepts for campaign settings … we continue to work on them and will release when the time is right [and] we are working on a line of M&M Superlink adventures.” But that’s not all: “In addition to role-playing games … a two-player bidding game, tentatively scheduled for release in early July.”
I would of liked to have seen some alternative core classes and more material covering the standard fantasy tropes about herbal poisons and potions. Beyond that I had some real problems reading the PDF as the font leaves something to be desired. The “printer friendly” version, when read on screen, is as much of an eyesore as the full color version. But worst of all I had the old Bard Games “Compleat Spellcaster” and “Compleat Alchemist” in addition to two of TSRs 2nd edition offerings, the “Complete Wizard’s Handbook” and “Complete Bard’s Handbook”. By comparison Poisoncrafter, which at a glance looks to be more a toolkit of feats and prestige classes, actually reads like it was consciously designed to be as close to the old TSR “Complete Handbook” line as possible. When I realized this my initial reaction was: Egad but why! top
Overview: It is a face that I was mildly disappointed with the Complete Wizard’s Handbook from TSR. (And, no, it wasn’t about the price.) In fact that entire line of products became something of a running joke around the gaming tables of the LGS, at least around these parts. But I did buy it, mostly just for the extra spells, which is as good a reason to get Poisoncraft as any other I suppose. Yes, it can probably be plugged into any standard D20 fantasy setting, but I see it as more of a tool kit not a complete sourcebook. (Then can anything really be complete enough for everyone?) Had Poisoncraft been billed as such, or even kept with the title posted at the company website of Poisoncraft: The Dark Arts, I would now be singing this product’s praises in the “Positives” section below instead of writing these words. Instead I am lamenting over all the things the “complete” label had me expecting, but now I am disappointed at not seeing, and it‘s like the Wizard‘s Handbook all over again. The only differences being instead of kits I will never use there are prestige classes. top
Usefulness: As with most D20 supplements this will largely depend on the type of campaign you are running and how much effort you are willing to put into working with the material. Too, the idea of an entire supplement that is designed solely to propagate what could be seen as a negative gamer stereotype by encouraging players to play evil murderous assassins and depraved killer poisoners might leave some cold. Witness the following: “The Poison domain is appropriate for most evil gods and particularly so for gods worshipped by assassins or whose portfolio includes death, evil, killing, malice, murder, serpents, spiders, trap making, or vengeance.” I fear that some may ascribe that as being illustrative of the mentality this tome was designed to feed into. Obviously this sourcebook is not for everyone, most certainly it‘s not something most parents would probably want their teens to read and, sadly, there may one day be a Chick tract based on this. Not suggested for those with a loose grip on reality. top
What you get are 22 general feats, 19 meta poison feats, 31 spells, 6 prestige classes, 20 “Creatures of the Fang” (the Avaranc looks particularly nasty), a dozen or so items, and a handful of adventure starters. I have to say that next to the font issue what disappointed me most was the total lack of core classes. Especially since this is essentially a Complete Poisoner’s Handbook, sans an actual core class called a Poisoner. top
Setting: None. However this material has a definite fantasy tone.
The Game: D20. Which means this should be usable with D&D and most OGL games.
System Mechanics: None. You are going to need the D&D core books.
Characters: Being a D20 supplement there are no rules presented for character creation. What Poisoncraft does offer are six prestige classes: the Darkblade, your stereotypical evil poisoned blade using assassin; Ki Corrupted, an rather pointless evil Monk; Master Poisoncrafter, a prestige class that would have been far better presented as a core class; Toxomancer, despite the silly sounding name this is an attempt to blend wizardry with alchemy and spice it with a bit of naughty sorcerer attitude that will probably appeal to the vainglorious; Tribal Huntsman, another rather pointless prestige class; and the Venomous Changeling, essentially existing somewhere Beastmaster and Druid this is a class specializing in venomous creatures and metamorphoses (into said creatures). top
As many are by now aware I often included quotes, usually snippets, in my reviews. What may not be widely known is that these come from e-mail questionnaires. Distilling the responses as quotable is usually relatively easy. However in recent exchanges I have noted some interesting remarks thus, rather than let them dissipate into the aether unread, I have edited the text into an interview. top
CDM: What was the inspiration for Poisoncraft?
JDJ: One of the PCs in the game I was DMing was very interested in creating his own poisons. Additionally, since our game was somewhat over-powered, the "core" poisons were woefully inadequate. In short, he felt constrained by the limited rules. I began working on my own set of rules that permitted free-form poison creation. It seemed logical enough that poison could receive the same treatment as magic items. As I began working on the free-form poison rules, I started having all kinds of ideas for feats, spells, creatures, etc. That's how the "Complete" part was born.
CDM: Were there any particular influences that led to the creation of the Poisoncraft supplement?
JDJ: The free-form poison creation system was inspired by the magic item creation rules. After I began working on the book, I noticed that Traps & Treachery by Fantasy Flight Games (a spectacular book, by the way) actually had a very similar mechanic. The decision to include alternate types of poison damage came from that book. The Assassin's Handbook from Green Ronin Publishing first introduced me to the idea of meta poison feats (though I didn't particularly like the way they handled it mechanically). You'll also notice an odd attribution on the credits page, thanking Monte Cook for the inspiration behind the poison exposure rules. He wrote an article for his website on handling poison; the exposure rules are a more detailed, mechanic-based version of those rules.
CDM: Who would you say the target audience for Poisoncraft is?
JDJ: Experienced gamers. There's plenty in the book for both DM's and players. But this is fairly advanced stuff. Take the fearsome forest spell. This is a spell that affects all "intruders" in a 5-mile radius. It might be difficult for (1) a beginning player to decide how and when for his character to use such a spell and (2) for a beginning DM to adjudicate its effects. I didn't shy away from including mechanics that required more thought and wisdom to employ. I've always been of the opinion that game material of that type adds a level of robustness and richness that's rewarding.
CDM: If you had to reduce Poisoncraft to a one-sentence description what would that sentence say?
JDJ: I'll do you one better; the one-word description is right on the cover: "Complete." That was a pretty tall order, but I believe the book lives up to it. top
Appraisal top
To be perfectly honest, because this file was such an eye-straining pain to read, I’ve let it slip to the end of my review queue several times now. It was that unbearable to view onscreen initially. Which is a shame because I think it is interesting, but I value my eyesight more than my desire to feed my curiosity. Even so these PDFs are probably fit to be sent to a POD printer, so there you go. Nor is that the only upside. The PDF is not locked so you can save it to a text file. But that’s almost as annoying to read through as the poorly thought out choice of font used in the PDF. Alas, once you get past the horrible font what you have is a collection of mediocre to above average material, depending on the sort of characters you like to play. For instance the Ki Corrupted and Tribal Hunstman prestige classes seem totally pointless. Only in an evil campaign would a “corrupted” Monk be considered a prestige class. But that’s not the real issue. This product boldly claims to be “The Complete Sourcebook” (of poison craft), yet it presents not one but two prestige classes that should have also had a core class. After all for a Master Poisoncrafter to exist shouldn’t there first be a Poisoncrafter? And for a Ki to become corrupted shouldn’t there first exist a Ki core class, preferably presented within this document?
Is this nitpicking? You bet it is! But when claiming something is a “complete” sourcebook an effort to provide as few openings to nitpickers as possible should be made. Even so as a toolkit this product is awesome. I know you just blinked in astonishment. No, your eyes weren’t deceiving you. Alas, and sadly, I have to review Poisoncraft based upon the claim of it being a “Complete Sourcebook”. In all honesty I don’t think that Poisoncraft is as complete as it could be. For instance never once are standard fantasy herbs with narcotic and poisonous properties such as monkshood, wolf’s bane, or henbane mentioned. These were major components in my campaigns of old. While there are some interesting sidebar notes presented there is very little advice, hints, or examples of how a Game Master might better utilize poisons to enhance the plot or mood of a game session provided. Poisoncraft has a rather narrow vision, namely presenting feats and prestige classes for players who want to play borderline evil characters, and the one really good sample tie in is conversion notes for using material from Arcana Unearthed. This is the epitome of niche product. Be aware of that fact when considering your purchase. top
PDF Issues: My eyes! My eyes! Luckily aside from the font issue there are no major problems with the PDF discernable. Search works and you cannot only copy and paste text to your clipboard for editing you can save the entire PDF as a text file. Woot! top
Negatives: The font choice was horribly ill conceived. Oh printed out it looks kewl, but that’s the problem, on screen it’s shite. Also I’m not sure how useful a poisoner’s handbook really would be for the average gamer. But what really caused by eyes to bleed was the fact no really “screen friendly” version of the file is provided. Worse the printer friendly PDF really is just the full color PDF stripped of all color, same fonts and everything, which means the only choices for those who want to read this onscreen is to either pop a fist full of aspirin or not waste their time at all. Not good. top
Constructive Criticism: Seriously I can‘t stress this enough, a PDF is not a book, sure you can use a PDF to do a book‘s layout, but when selling a PDF you really, really, REALLY need to consider that the people buying it are 9 times out of 10 going to be sitting down to read said PDF on a monitor. That’s monitor, as in desktop computer screen, probably flat, though could still be of the flickering tube variety, and probably nothing much larger than 17”. This is why when we reviewers sometimes refer to a PDF as an eBook, because it’s a reminder this is NOT a book, but rather an electronic text meant to be read on a computer screen. That means anything under 10-point font should be used sparingly. Furthermore it DOES NOT HELP to see a table of contents crammed into three columns, especially since the font size chosen is already so G-d awful small. That said I do appreciate the bookmarks even if using them means that the on screen text is reduced in size to a point it becomes unreadable. At this point I am saddened and sorry to say that I have to ask Blue Devil Games: What in the name of all that is holy were you thinking? What? Oh, you have 20/20 vision. I see. Speaking of seeing, some of us wear glasses! top
Positives: Gamers looking for a bit of 2nd edition nostalgia and players of evil characters can rejoice! Yes, you heard me right, if you like to play evil characters then this sourcebook is for you. Do not pass go, do not collect thirty silver pieces, but grab this PDF instead. According to the information on the company web site Poisoncraft is the “first in the Complete line of d20 sourcebooks”, alas so far Poisoncraft appears to be the only offering from Blue Devil Games. Which is a shame given the enthusiasm that the author has for the material. One can only hope this dynamic energy will carry over to future offerings from Blue Devil Games. top
Don't forget the soda and munchies!
Copyright © 2004 C. Demetrius Morgan