Player’s Guide to the Dragon Empires
Player’s Guide to the Dragon is an epic fantasy supplement for the Midgard setting for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game written by Adam Roy and published by Kobold Press.
By Venus De Coy
Learn more about Player’s Guide to the Dragon Empires here
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From the coin swarm to the wyvern’s sting, this is an astonishing collection of feats, spells, and exotic animals and dragon magic, ready to customize any PC from the exotic lands of the dragon bazaars! Player’s Guide to the Dragon Empires is currently available on DriveThruRPG, Paizo and PFsrd20 shops for 4.99.
CONTENT
The Dragon Empire region is the exotic land of Sultana. It’s a land of elemental gods and unstoppable legions of freaking dragons. This 30-page collection of materials provides players with a regional overview, plus a whole bunch of new material:
- An overview of the region, its titles, and heraldic devices–and the harem assassins! (Yes, wenches with knifes.)
- 7 New Archetypes for the Oracle, Cavalier, Fighter, Druid and two for the Monk classes.
- An array of new items, animal companions, and even MAGIC RUGS!
- 17 new spells for elementalists, sorcerers, and dragonkins for both the Pathfinder and Midgard systems
- 25 new feats and dozens of regional traits for the Dragon Empire.
- Advice for playing drakes or dragonkins as PCs– That’s right, play freaking dragons!
OVERALL
So when I originally was given this item to review, I thought it would be another fantasy setting setup for those who want to play dragons. But Kobold Press decided to not only incorporate dragons and dragonkind, but to do so in a setting that is taken straight out of Arabian Nights. That’s pretty darn ballsy for them to incorporate two themes that could be done on their own together. But I am happy to report that it has paid off, and this is something you should put in your campaigns as soon as possible.
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 9 out of 10
Presentation of Layout: For the most part, Player’s Guide to the Dragon Empires keeps a clean and simple format. The artwork is placed and formatted well. The bookmarks are a little off, which makes searching for specifics a little harder, but they keep the format in the style of Paizo’s Pathfinder products; which means there is a section for cities, archetypes, items, traits and so on. This of course makes up for the bookmarks being a off a bit.
Ease of Mobility: Mobility wise, you can tell that although they design their works for print, the mobile version is still light enough to not be cumbersome for the tablet/E-readers. The bookmarks are off, only showcasing the chapters and not breaking down as much as I would like, but because the supplement is done in a format that most Pathfinder readers are used to already, I am willing to overlook it.
Mechanics: 9 out of 10
Mechanically, Player’s Guide to the Dragon Empires is adequately sound. The traits can be easily manipulated to make a character overpowered in the wrong hands, but that’s not necessarily the writer’s fault. I do love the magical items, especially the magic rugs. Paizo did something similar, but didn’t take it to the level that Kobold Press has, which is another reason why the 3rd party business is a good one; because you have the luxury to take something and expand it to improve not only the master system, but the 3rd party involved as well.
Value Add: 10 out of 10
Player’s Guide to the Dragon Empires is worth it’s weight in gold. (Figuratively and literally) What I love is that this is a complete product. If you were to take it and run an adventure solely based off the information provided, you would have enough material to run a campaign and last you quite a long time. Now granted, that is the point, but I have already seen quite a few products that don’t do half of what they say they should. So I am insanely impressed.
Overall: 9 out of 10
At the end of the day, this supplement is a great one. I am noticing that those in charge of Kobold Press have products rivaling even Paizo Publishing in quality and content. If Kobold Press have given up Kobold Quarterly to dedicate their time to products like this, then watch out 3rd Party Publishers, you have some real serious competition on your hands.
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