Review: Raging Swan Press – Half-Goblins of the Tangled Wood (Pathfinder)


Product Name: Half-Goblins of the Tangled Wood
Publisher: Raging Swan Press
Author: Creighton Broadhurst
System: Pathfinder
Setting: The Lonely Coast
Series: TRIBES
Theme: Epic Fantasy
Type: Supplement
Link: http://themysticalthrone.com/?p=28955

Half-Goblins of the Tangled Wood is the next supplement in the TRIBES series for Pathfinder, published by Raging Swan Press and set within The Lonely Coast setting. This supplement is similar to the other TRIBES supplements with one slight change, there is more focus on the Half-Goblins race/bloodline and less focus on their surrounding environment. Instead of creating a single Tribe/Clan of a typically mundane creature race, the Half-Goblins are introduced as a new, complete bestiary that reside within the Tangled Wood area of The Lonely Coast.

CONTENT

Half-Goblins of the Tangled Wood centers around the introduction of the new creature race half-goblins. To keep with this theme, the supplement starts by diving directly into the details of this new race. These details include ecology, society, traits, incorporating them into a campaign, names, tactics, player characters, and lore. This particular creature race dwells within the Tangled Woods of The Lonely Coast setting. They don’t necessarily have a specific location, but rather anywhere within this area is possible. The supplement then dives into describing dwelling area including a wonderfully drawn map.

Half-goblins have an ancestry; to illustrate this, the supplement takes a look at their bloodline which basically translates into what goes into creating additional half-goblin variations. This also includes battle feats, new spells, and new magic items (although these are not necessary when creating variations). To wrap things up, although not too quickly, the supplement dives into different variations of the creatures, 12 total ranging in CR from 1/2 to 3, and four creature characters ranging in CR from 7 to 9.

OVERALL

The TRIBES series of supplements is a valuable series for almost any Dungeon Master. Not only do they breath life into mundane creatures, but the introduce new versions of these bestiary or introduce new ones. Half-Goblins of the Tangled Wood introduces the Half-Goblin bestiary and not only brings it to your game, but gives the DM multiple versions and a few fleshed out NPCs. Add to that some new feats, spells, and equipment and the DM finds themselves with a wealth of new material at a great price.

RATINGS

Publication Quality: 10 out of 10
Half-Goblins of the Tangled Wood utilizes a small change to layout by moving the encounter stats to the locations where they correspond to the different creature stats instead. This helps to bundle all the applicable mechanics together instead of flipping back-and-forth to find the creatures that correspond to the encounter given 6 pages prior. Everything else follows the typical high-quality of all other Raging Swan Press products, especially the great looking illustrations and the fantastic looking map. As always, Raging Swan Press makes stat blocks very easy to read.

Mechanics: 10 out of 10
The spread of creature stats is quite vast and even includes 4 creature characters. But the true mechanics that shine is the introduction of the half-goblin creature race which not only includes the basics of ecology, society, and traits, it also includes information about their bloodline, tactics, player characters, names, and a small sampling of lore. This supplement is one of the most complete supplements that focuses on a single creature race.

Value Add: 10 out of 10
The value add is in the new mechanics, allowing the DM to incorporate an entirely new creature race into their adventure or campaign. The 4 creature characters drastically add to this value too.

Overall: 10 out of 10
Half-Goblins of the Tangled Wood is definitely the best of the TRIBES supplements I’ve read (so far). Not only does it incorporate a new, easier to read layout, but it is stuffed with variations on the new half-goblins race including creature characters, feats, spells, items, and encounters. While you may come to expect this, based upon previous supplements, there’s no shortage of great content.

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