Minotaurs of the Black Hills
Minotaurs of the Black Hills is an epic fantasy supplement from the Tribes series for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game published by Raging Swan Press and written by Creighton Broadhurst
By Aaron T. Huss
Minotaurs of the Black Hills is another Tribes supplement for Pathfinder detailing the black hills, the minotaur inhabitants and their winged masters, the Yith. It contains an excellent amount of source material along with the applicable in-game stats to easily place this tribe into your own adventure or campaign or use them in conjunction with The Lonely Coast.
CONTENT
Minotaurs of the Black Hills is essentially broken into three different parts: black hills, Scarlet Axe minotaur tribe, and the Yith masters of the minotaurs. Starting with the black hills, the supplement contains a beautiful, hand-drawn topographical map along with a detailed description including: flora and fauna, three caves, three citadels, terrain features and random encounters. The Yith masters are an integral part of the minotaur tribe bloodline and include: sorcerer bloodline, ecology and society, lore, lairs, combat tactics and a single stat block. The minotaurs, the focus of the supplement, contains a wealth of information surrounding the tribe and the different members of the tribe considering their essential archetype. This is coupled with an amount of material to further flesh out the tribe’s uniqueness. These detailed descriptions include: ecology and society, lairs, lore, combat tactics, five notable personas, two creature characters, four minotaur stat blocks, alternate sorcerer and ranger class, new feats, new sorcerer spells, new magic items and three scalable encounters.
OVERALL
Minotaurs of the Black Hills is another great addition to the Tribes line of supplements for Pathfinder and more importantly a great tool for any GM to have. These minotaurs make for great encounters for mid-level characters seeking a challenge other than the norm.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 10 out of 10
Raging Swan Press always has a clean and simple layout and presentation in all of their Pathfinder products. Minotaurs of the Black Hills follows that standard perfectly and includes some excellent illustrations depicting these minotaurs and, more importantly, a beautiful hand-drawn topographical map of the black hills.
Mechanics: 10 out of 10
Keeping in the Raging Swan Press traditional Tribes style, Minotaurs of the Black Hills not only contains stats for the different minotaur builds but also includes new feats, spells, and magic items. Almost as an added bonus, you get the mechanics for the Yith master race of the minotaurs.
Value Add: 10 out of 10
The most valuable part of the Tribes series of supplements is their effectiveness for GMs in a rush, in need of random encounters, looking for new source material, or those that are just too lazy. This is due to the fact that the encounters are fleshed out and contain scaling options plus each creature contains all applicable stats. It should be noted that the black hills contain all applicable terrain stats as well.
Overall: 10 out of 10
The Tribes supplements from Raging Swan Press have a definite purpose that they not only continue to fully support, but continually get more valuable with each subsequent release. The minotaur is an excellent creature to throw at a group of adventurers and now you can do with with more life and depth. I may be slightly biased, but the way these creatures are brought to life and given purpose is an excellent concept for an ongoing series of supplements.
