An Endzeitgeist.com review

This supplement clocks in at 30 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 2 pages of advertisements, leaving us with 24 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This review was moved up in my reviewing queue at the request of my patreons.

After a brief introduction, we’re introduced to the Fiendish Wastes – what’s that, you ask? Well, picture a section of hyperspace where planar boundaries collapsed, fusing a section of the abyss with hell. Yes, that means demons and devils in the same region. No, the results are not pretty. When attempting to cast a spell in the fiendish wastes, a character must succeed a Will save versus DC 18 or have the caster level reduced by 2. I assume to a minimum of 1, since no notes are provided for a caster level that sinks to 0 or below, though one could conceivably argue that spell failure would be a possibility. So yeah, this needs a bit of clarification. On a natural 1, the caster may also suffer from one of 7 nasty mishaps, which can result in confusion, fire damage to the caster, etc. The sequence is not 100% clear in all cases: “As soon as the spell is cast” could be read as when it is cast or after it is cast; the latter would make more sense. “Before the spell can be cast” is an example of a more precise wording here. Then again, I’m nitpicking here, since SFRPGs concentration-rules only fail your spellcasting on an attack that hits you or on a botched save – since the effects sport neither attack, nor save, they are functional. Two dangerous, poisonous gasses are provided as well, and the pdf mentions the boiling hot swamps, volcanoes and the passage f time in this hellish region.

Now, the majority of the book is devoted to something many a GM will rejoice to see: We have translations of classic demons and devils to Starfinder, all of whom receive their own full-color artworks. Now, these beings are not simply 1:1-copies of the classics, mind you – these fiends have been through hell (haha!), and now obviously seek to escape their hellish prison. 9 demons are included, covering babau, balor, dretch, glabrezu, hezrou, marilith, nalfeshnee, succubus and vrock. Babaus get tactical pikes, balors monowhips and dimensional slice as a sword weapon property…so there are some cool upgrades here. At the same time, I kinda face-planted, since it looks like a common glitch from PFRPG will continue to haunt me in SFRPG – there STILL IS NO SUCH THING AS UNHOLY DAMAGE. Now, as a whole, the pdf has done a pretty good job at getting rid of remnant Pathfinderisms, though e.g. the succubus’ profane gift erroneously refers to full-round action instead of full action. Cool: Mariliths can crush you into unconsciousness!

The pdf also includes 4 different devils, the hamatula, barbazu, osyluth and cornugon are provided. These are no less deadly, mind you, including 3/day swift action invisibility and e.g. white star plasma doshkos. Now, particularly cool would be that we actually get two new, fiendish ships . the abyssal readrazor, which clocks in at tier 10 and sports maw-like mass drivers, chain cannons, etc. The second ship would be the tier 6 hellish soulreaver, fitted with coilguns and heavy laser cannons. Now, it should be noted that these ships don’t have a hyperspace engine when encountered in the wastes; outside, they do. You see, a central plotline you can develop with the fiendish wastes, is that the fiends want to get out…and hence can really use the spare parts of your PC’s ship. Or, well, perhaps they are making a soul-powered hyperspace drive? In case you’re wondering encounter-level and power suggestions are provided for all level-ranges, and we also get an adventure hook for each level-region.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good on a formal level. On a rules-language level, the majority of the book is very crisp and precise, with only few minor guffaws that don’t overly impede rules-integrity. Layout adheres to a rather beautiful two-column full-color standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience. The full-color artworks for demons and wastes and starships are copious and original – this is a beautiful book.

Michael Ritter’s supplement poses a simple question: Do you want your classic demons and devils? If the answer to that question was a resounding “yes”, then there will be no way past this supplement, simple as that. The Starfinder-conversions of the fiends have been undertaken with an eye towards being faithful, while also reflecting the new options and changed spell-engine of Starfinder. In short, this is a supplement well worth checking out, one that delivers exactly what it promises. Now, personally, I would have loved to see more ships, fiendish tech, etc., but it would not be fair to penalize the pdf for that. As a whole, I consider this supplement to be worth getting. My final verdict hence will clock in at 4.5 stars, rounded up due to in dubio pro reo.

Endzeitgeist out.

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Close Encounters: Hyperspace Fiends

Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!

Product- Close Encounters: Hyperspace Fiends System-Starfinder Producer- Fat Goblin Games Price- $6.95 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/222888/Close-Encounters-Hyperspace-Fiends?affiliate_id=658618 TL; DR-Horrors from the low planes in the upper skies! 98%

Basics-Where we’re going, you don’t need eyes to see! Close Encounters: Hypersapce Fiends is a new book in a series bringing old fiendish monsters and things from Pathfinder into space with Starfinder. This book bring demons and devils into space, TOGETHER! Turns out hell and the abyss collapsed into one horrible thing and now they’ve joined a tag team battle against the universe, if they can stop knifing themselves in the back!

Theme or Fluff- The base Starfinder game is devil and demon poor, but this book brings all your classics back, and their stats feel like they should. There are even some crazy fiendish effects on magic, some ships that are stated out, and some environments traps that can affect your players should they enter the lower plane. There is also story to backup why these two age old enemies are working together to kill everyone. Overall, I like what I’m seeing here as it’s a great way to bring back some fun Pathfinder elements to your Starfinder game. 5/5

Mechanics or Crunch- All the crunch is right. The CR are good and the monsters hit the places they did in Pathfinder with basic updates of the mechanics to fit the slight changes between the systems. I love what's here, and it’s going to fit mechanically well into any game where the GM would like to put a Technomancer in Hell. 5/5

Execution- Is this available in PDF since its past 2015? Check. Is it hyperlinked even though its less than 40 pages? Check. Ok we've hit all the basics to make me happy. Now the extras! This book has lots a art with the creatures looking like the demons you’re used to but with a Starfinder art twist. There are demon/devil ships, but I would like a few more and some close up art of them. The art for the ships isn’t bad but its only one picture of the two new ships. The book even includes the rough seeds on an adventure from levels 1 to 20. Also, my favorite devils the low level lemure isn’t in the book, so that makes me a little sad. Finally the price is a tad high as its about $7 for a 30 page PDF. These are by no means going to keep me away, but it's something to note. 4.75/5

Summary-Fat Goblin was one of the first on the scene making Starfinder Compatible products and they have really demonstrated what you can do as a third party publisher. Its some fantastic material. I love putting demons and devils in my game and now I can easily do so. This is only GM book. It's fun, but honestly players need not apply as there are no player specific material here. GMs get fun new toys and things to inflict on their players. It's not perfect with a few minor things like price and some minor monsters being left out, but in total, this is a great resources if you want to put some horrible demons and devils into your game. 98%

This very nicely illustrated PDF takes the conventional demons and devils of Pathfinder but gives them an SF makeover that would make the Event Horizon proud. The concept of the Fiendish Wastes introduces an interesting concept, in which the planar realms of the Abyss and the Nine Hells have somehow collided and bled through in to the Drift, creating a new dimension which has captured both demon and devil, and in turn both twisted them for the worse and forced them to work together to try and escape their prison, so they can get back to their rightful dominions. To this end the fiends seek to build drift-navigable ships and they need a hyperspace engine to escape their fate. It includes some guidelines on using the concept of the Fiendish Wastes as well as fourteen adaptations of demon and devil for Starfinder as well as two ships and some adventure seeds. The artwork is incredibly evocative and will probably make you (like me) want to find further ways to repurpose these bad boys for your own adventures.

If you get one supplement for Starfinder from a 3PP, I suggest you check this one out. Well worth it, and will go far toward realizing your own Event Horizon incident in the Pact Worlds for sure.

Original Review: http://realmsofchirak.blogspot.com/2018/01/starfinder-reviews-close-encounters.html

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product for the purpose of this review.

This is a 30-page, full-color product. The book focuses on a region of hyperspace called the 'Fiendish Wastes', created by accidentally mixing the planes of Hell and the Abyss through hyperspace engines. As such, it's home to both Devils and Demons (who explicitly do not like each other, but are willing to at least pretend to work together in order to work home).

Aside from offering a flavorful realm to explore, though, this is mostly just a setup for the bulk of the bulk: Starfinder conversions of the Babau, Balor, Dretch, Glabrezu, Hezrou, Marilith, Nalfeshneee, Succubus, and Vrock demons, and the Barbed, Bearded, Bone, and Horned devils. In addition, there are two new ships - the Tier 10 Abyssal Dreadrazor and the Tier 6 Hellish Soulreaver.

Following this rules content, the book includes some advice on setting adventures in the Fiendish Wastes at various levels (2-4, 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, 14-16, and 17-20, each with a unique adventure hook), and closes out with a copy of the OGL.

This book is pretty handy as both a flavorful setting and a quick conversion of some common infernal foes (if you'd like to add them to your Starfinder game without doing the conversion yourself). It's a solid product overall - and while it's clearly not for every game, Close Encounters: Hyperspace Fiends accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do.