New Magic Item – Personal Master at Arms

Always wanted to train with Master of the Twin Swords Alexandresso Maxitones?  Now you can!  With your own Personal Master at Arms!  Produced by the Mageical Syndicate of Twisting Towers under the direction and with the approval of Master Alexandresso Maxitones himself.  Numbers are limited, buy today!

Personal Master at Arms

These boxes are large enough to carry ones arming doublet but little more and are usually decorated with martial scenes or heraldic devices.  They are sturdy often quite battered.

New L5R Ronin Path – Sairou’s Wolves

There are many dangers on the roads of the Empire, not least among them wandering bands of ronin willing to sell their skills for coin.  Such often turn to banditry when times are lean.

Sairou’s Wolves [Bushi]

Ronin

The ronin Sairou has aggressive recruited and drilled those ronin that follow her banner.  Sairou knows that ronin can rarely equal Clan samurai in equipment or training, but they can excel in dedication and superior application of numbers.

Sairou’s Wolves excel in ambush and small unit combat, she recognizes this and tries to avoid contracts that would places her ronin in open field battle.

Technique Rank: 1

Inspirational Viewing – Ironclad

Ironclad is a movie based (very loosely) on the historical siege of Rochester Caster (1215) by King John of England.

Things it did well:

Rochester Keep

Showing a siege.  Both from attacker and defenders viewpoints and the problems facing both sides including storming/defending the walls, supplies (and lack thereof) and morale.  Also, trebuchet!  The visuals with these medieval siege weapons were quite well done.

Brutality of medieval combat, no sugar-coating of the combat in this film, blood and gore abounds in the combat scenes with everyone fighting dirty to survive.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of quick cuts and shakey-cam usage so it is difficult to actually make sense of what is happening in most of the fights beyond mayhem and bloodshed.

So, if you want to be inspired about running a castle defense (or assault) in your fantasy campaign, give it a look.

Things it did not do well, which you can ignore:

Tuesday Magic Item – Tyrant’s War Banner

The personal guard of Hevron of the Bloody-Handed rallied around their leader, their shields and weapons splattered with the blood of the brave rebels would would tear down the tyrant.  Most of his army had already fled or defected to rebels after the church and the nobility at least came out against him rallying popular support.  The tyrant’s only chance was to make it to port and find a ship to take him away.  But the rebels wished to see him hanged, or worse.

The final assault came with waves of arrows, bolts and throwing weapons disrupting the ranks of the guards followed by a charge led by knights and holy warriors.  At last, it was only Hevron and his bannerman among a sea of sea but they did not sell their lives cheaply and the option to take him alive was never presented.  A cheer went up as his banner was forced to the ground and stained, at last, with the tyrant’s blood.

Tyrant’s War Banner

These banners are use to signal and rally soldiers loyal to a tyrant, they range from the simple and functional to the ornate and richly decorated but the design exemplifies the tyrant’s philosophy in some way.  However, a universal fact is that the banner pole is solidly built and capable of being used as a weapon.

Review – Secrets of the Magus

Secrets of the Magus provides a number of useful tool for expanding on this new class: arcana, feats, an archetype and magic items.  If you need more choices for your Magus, this is a good place to look.

The Secrets of the Magus is a 13-page PDF (9-pages if you remove the cover, OGL page and ads) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Steven D. Russell and published by Rite Publishing.

Review – The Might of the Magus: Advanced Feats

Like the new sword and spell-wielding Magus but feel there are not enough options?  Well, this product will solve that problem for you.  While the new feats are primarily focused on the Magic, two thirds of them can be used by a wider range of classes.  So, if you like sorcery with your swordplay, consider giving this product a look.

Might of the Magus: Advance Feats is a 16-page PDF (14-pages if you remove the cover and OGL page) for the Pathfinder RPG for the Pathfinder RPG written by Sigfried Trent and published by Open Design.  This is the latest volume of Open Design’s Advance Feats line for Pathfinder.

Review – Secrets of the Alchemist: Advanced Feats

If you wish to try the Alchemist class and to expand the options available to these masters of alchemy, the Secrets of the Alchemist is a solid sourcebook.  The feats contained within are mostly applicable to all classes but especially those characters with a crafting or magical focus.

Secrets of the Alchemist: Advanced Feats is a 12-page PDF (10-pages if you remove the cover, ad and OGL page) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Sigfried Trent and published by Open Design.  This is part of Open Design’s Advance Feats line for Pathfinder.

Tuesday Magic Item – Tactician’s Helm

Tactical Pawn

The Mercenary-Tacticians of Yolm work in units of four, selling their services at advisers and trainers but never as combatants.   They can pot out a campaign in minute detail in a minimum of time.  On occasion, these highly skilled specialists have been found working on both sides of a conflict, performing professionally for both sides.

Those who deal directly with the Mercenary-Tacticians often find them cold and unwelcoming but undeniably efficient.

 Tactician’s Helm

These helms are made of the finest steel, reinforced and lined with silk padding.  Traditionally, they are engraved with a chessboard on the interior and some mark of rank on the exterior.  The helm provides adequate protection but not at the expense of vision or hearing.

Review – The Cavalier’s Creed: Advanced Feats

If you wish to understand the Cavalier class and to expand the options available to these mounted combatants, the Cavalier’s Creed is an excellent sourcebook.  The feats contained within are mostly applicable to all classes but especially those characters with a mounted focus.

The Cavalier’s Creed: Advanced Feats is a 16-page PDF (13-pages if you remove the cover, ad and OGL page) for the Pathfinder RPG written by Sigfried Trent and published by Open Design.  This is part of Open Design’s Advance Feats line for Pathfinder.

Ben Wootten’s Mantyd Warrior

Xilan, Mantyd Warrior by Ben Wootten

At the end of last year I was fortunate enough to win an illustration from the very talented Ben Wootten for donating to charity.

This was all coordinated through Craig Higdon’s RPG Character Illustrations site.

Craig and Ben were both great to work with.  I sent a very detailed description (over a page) and was consulted several times throughout the project to ensure that I was happy with the piece.

The piece is of Xilan, one of the Mantyd-caste (sorcerously created insect-human hybrids) warriors from the Land of Far Cathay.  Which, technically, is more Chinese than Japanese but I was still entirely happy with the samuraiko version that Ben came up with.

If people would like to know more about the Mantyd-caste, or the other castes, of Far Cathay or the setting itself please let me know.  I have the campaign notes around somewhere.