Monster Classes: Harpy, Imp, Medusa

Monster Classes: Harpy, Imp, Medusa

This installment of the Monster Classes-series clocks in at 13 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page of SRD, leaving us with 10 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

 

So, what is this? In one sentence: It’s Dreamscarred press providing the Savage Species type of “Play monsters”-rules for the context of the Pathfinder roleplaying game. The pdf does acknowledge that this series (or even, individual installments) may not be for everyone – the fact is that most modules are humanocentric and thus, playing monsters can wreck havoc with the assumptions of a given game…more so than players are liable to anyways.

 

Let’s not kid ourselves here – the guidelines presented in the bestiaries aren’t really doing a good job; CR = levels doesn’t work out too well – the concept needs a finer balancing. The series acknowledges exactly this requirement. The solution here would be to employ basically racial paragon/monster classes; instead of progressing in a class, the respective critters advance to grow into the full power array.

 

We begin with the harpy base class, who receives +2 Str and Wis, -4 Int, are medium monstrous humanoids and a 20 ft. base speed. They have darkvision 60 ft. and a natural AC +1.

 

The racial paragon class covers 7 levels and receives d10 HD, 4 + Int skills per level, proficiency with light armor, morningstar and simple weapons, good BAB-progression and good Ref- and Will-saves. The class begins play with 1d4 damage inflicting talons (properly codified as a primary natural attack) that increase in potency to 1d6 at 4th level. 2nd level provides the gliding wings that increase in power to gain a fly speed of 60 ft. with average maneuverability, increasing the speed to 80 ft. at 7th level, with encumbrance/armor/etc. reducing the fly speed. Kudos for getting the flying progression right and universally balanced! 2nd level provides a +2 bonus to Bluff and Stealth, increasing that bonus to +4 at 5h level.

 

At 3rd level, the class learns the captivating song, with the DC governed by 1/2 HD and Cha-mod and a once/24 hours hex-caveat, with its reach beginning at a humble 10 ft., increasing that to 20 ft, at 4th level, then to 50 ft., 100 ft. and 300 ft. Attribute-gain-wise, the class nets +4 Dex and +6 Cha for a total of 10 gain…and guess what. While I would have loved less focus on Cha…I don’t have an issue with this monster class. I actually like it. Kudos!!

 

After that, imps would be up next: Imps receive +2 Dex and Int, are Tiny evil and lawful outsiders, have a slow speed, darkvision 60 ft., fire resistance 10 and immunity to poison. They also gain +1 natural AC. The monster class covers three levels and sports full BAB-progression, good Ref. and Will-saves, d10 HD, 6 + Int skills per level and proficiency with simple and martial weapons. At 1st level, the imp may assume beast shape I (not properly italicized) to assume raven or rat form, with 2nd level unlocking the shapes of a boar and giant spider. 1st level also nets cold and acid resistance 5 that increase to 10 at 3rd level. At first level, the imp receives a primary natural sting – as a nitpick, the racial traits list the reach of the tail as 5 ft., while the attack is a sting. As a Tiny creature, the imp very much needs the wings that grant a fly speed of 15 ft., increasing to 30 ft. and 50 ft. over the progression of the class. The SPs of the creature increase from 3/day detect good and detect magic to constants at higher levels, with 2nd level adding 1/day augury and at-will, self-only invisibility at 3rd level…which makes me really wish the class was a bit longer.2nd level nets see in darkness and 3rd level has DR 5/good or silver, fast healing and immunity to fire as well as poison.

 

Attribute-gain-wise, the imp receives +4 Dex, +2 Wis and +4 Cha, for a total net-gain of 10. The imp class, while suffering from the big Tiny drawback, feels like it could have used 2 levels more for a wider dispersal of options – with all jammed into 3 levels, it feels busy and the lack of a non-sting attack option with reach hurts and shoehorns the race in a role. Not perfect.

 

The third monster race herein is, surprise, the medusa, who is a monstrous humanoid with +2 Dex and Int, darkvision 60 ft. and +2 to Perception. The racial paragon class covers 8 levels and receives d10 HD, 4 + Int skills per level, proficiency with simple weapons +longbow and shortbow. The class gets full BAB-progression and good Fort-saves. The medusa begins play with one primary snake bite attack at 1d4, properly codified. 2nd level nets +1 natural armor, +1 at 5th and 8th level. 3rd level yields all-around vision and 4th level yields poison. 6th level provides the signature petrifying gaze that needs to be directed at a full-round action with a range of 30 ft., with 8th level constantly affecting all creatures within 30 ft. The save DC, in an example for a slight inconsistency in the series scales based on 1/2 class levels + Cha-mod, not using HD – I’m not complaining there, mind you; I think it’s smart to cap the DC there! Attribute-gain-wise, the medusa receives +2 Dex, +8 Con, +2 Wis, +4 Cha for a net-gain of 16 points. With which I am okay, particularly since the gain does not pertain the most abuse-prone stats.

 

Beyond these, the pdf contains several feats for better talon attacks, 1/week commune, better harpy-songs, etc. -a solid mix. As always, we conclude with a glossary of subtypes etc.

 

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are pretty good on a rules-language level, but on a formal level, there are a couple of series oversights – from excess bullet-points to layout being less easy to read regarding table-placement etc. and the missing italicizations, the pdf feels a bit rushed in that regard. Layout adheres to DSP’s solid two-column full-color standard and the pdf comes with solid full-color artworks. The pdf has no bookmarks, which constitutes a comfort detriment. The pdf does come with a second, more printer-friendly version.

 

Jeffrey Swank’s latest monster class-supplement is actually better than most; while usually, I have to look no further than the total of the attribute-bonuses to see problems, but here, the series actually presents two valid paragon classes that gain attributes, etc. – yes…but do that pretty well and balance the gains and ability-progressions versus one another. The imp is the weakest one of the options, still very much hampered by its size and the too tightly compressed ability gain; Still, this leaves me, for the most part, actually liking this pdf. Hence, my final verdict will clock in at 3.5 stars, rounded up for the purpose of this platform.

 

You can get this pdf here on OBS!

 

You can get the whole subscription here on OBS!

 

You can directly support Dreamscarred Press here on patreon!
Endzeitgeist out.

 

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