Critter Cache: Daemons (Goodman Games and Blackdirge Publishing)

Just as I thought things couldn't be better, both on the monster front and on the critter cache front (MM2 is just out and Fey folk was awesome), we get us some daemon-love. And let me say this immediately. Daemons we need. Don't get me wrong, I love my demons and devils, but it's not always enough. The daemons are perfect to create a more dynamic relationship amongst the evil immortals. After all, a ménage-à-trois is just more fun. The lore sections getting longer and longer, and we are also treated with 5-6 pages of pure unadulterated fluff, explaining the origins of the newest arrivals on the immortal scene, as well as describing where they live. The crunch is the best I have seen from Blackdirge, with very few errors and those are quite negligible.There are some truly sick monsters and powers in there as well, especially Typhon, a 34 level solo, has some powers that will make your players cry. But I could also mention the cacodaemon has a breath that transform people it kills into larva, the chirodaemon that is immune to falling damage and thus attacks by literally kamikaze-crashing into players, the ferrodaemons that get your own sword to attack you, and the minions that explode and daze in a close 5 burst when they die, etc etc. If you like monsters, go buy this now.
Rating:* * * * * *

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Critter Cache: Fey Folk (BlackDirge Publishing and Goodman Games)

Three words for you. I want a Pooka! Okay, that was four words, but it’s still true. Critter Cache 4 is full of great (and small) fey monsters, that you can use to terrify your players when they visit the Fey Realm, or as WotC calls it: the Feywild (sigh). Highest on every adventurer’s kill-list is the Boggart. This otherwise fairly harmless creature suffers from having an aura that makes everyone nearby roll twice on attack and damage and use the worst result. Luckily for the poor bugger, it can turn invisible at-will so it might be hard to kill it, especially if you have your hands full with its allies. Seriously, every arch-fiend/demon-lord/über-lich should recruit one of these Boggarts. Another great monsters is the Spriggan Titan Guard. I can’t wait to use this and spring it on my players. From small to huge in the blink of an eye – that might surprise them. All is not perfect of course; there is a glaring and horrible mistake: The nymphs (there are 5 of them) are all covered way too much up! Seriously, what is that about? I know the GSL has a grand-ma clause, but I do not think you have to go that far . Also, I believe that “Prime Material Plane is a 3e-ism. Nowadays we live in the natural or mortal world. Anyway, joking aside. The crunch seems pretty darn solid this time around. There are a few monsters which are a tad low on damage (most notably the Bolg and Beanne Sidhe) due to their elite status, and also the power of the Red Cap Warrior is a tad odd, considering name and effect. On the other hand, I really like how marking is used by monsters other than soldiers, and it works well. Overall, CC4 is a great product, with great flavor, that complements my (relatively) extensive 4e library well, and many of the monsters therein will definitely be used.
Rating:* * * * *

Critter Cache – Animals and Beasts (BlackDirge Publishing & Goodman Games)

I have got to admit one thing. It’s probably the first 4e product that made me laugh out loud. In one of the encounter suggestions, the following line is found: "1 orc eye of the orcish god (level 5 controller)" – We all know why it says that, but that line just sounds so silly and made me laugh. Anyway, there is little doubt that a lot of people think that the MM could have used some more regular animals. Let me say up front that I am not one of those. Animals and Beasts should definitely fill out the hole left by the MM. As far as I can tell, most if not all animals that were weren’t included have now been covered. We even get a new poison and a nasty disease as a bonus. There are however some issues here and there with the crunch, such as the Dire Ape that can stunlock you to death (Only the ape missing can prevent this, there is nothing you can do), the Tyrant Ape (hello mr. Kong) who seems very weak for a solo (if the crunch followed the fluff, it would be passable, but definitely still on the weak side) and a stomp attack that makes very little sense (I can buy the elephant having 3 reach, but how does it keep a character pinned at 3 squares range. I just don’t see it). Last but not least, BlackDirge continues to explore 3e’isms in 4e. Most notably resist damage with weapon keyword and fighting below zero. I must admit that especially the fighting below zero is not my cup of tea, and I wish it had been done more smoothly, more 4e-like, instead of (sort of) copying the 3e way. Overall, it’s not a bad product, but definitely the weakest of the Critter Cache line, and the one I will use the least.
Rating:* * *

BlackDirge’s Dungeon Denizens (BlackDirge Publishing and Goodman Games)

Overall, I have to say that DD holds a horde of very flavorful monsters, most of which look solid (crunch-wise) and definitely interesting enough to use in my campaign. The art is very 1e’ish, and in general, the monsters are a (good) bit more lethal than monsters of the same level from the 4e MM. He really pushes the envelope on how much a damage a monster of a given level should deal. As a DM who likes to kill his players (according to them), this is cool by me (Yum, yum, Greater Barghest drains two healing surges!). Although the book is far from flawless - there is notably a few issues with a few of the solos. They are either too weak, or they are way over the top; Grave Swarm I am looking at you! The editing or crunch mistakes are kept to a minimum, just like we should expect from Goodman Games. The spread of monster by level is good, although it is a pity that there are no regular monsters over level 19; only elites and solos. On the other hand, they are so many cool things (all monsters are indexed by level, by type and by keyword – just awesome for a DM) in this book that you quickly forget and forgive mistakes. Blackdirge reintroduces stuff like magic resistance and damage reduction in 4e format. Some will love this, some will hate it. He also introduces resistances based on the alignment of the attacker – I can’t say that I am huge fan of this, but it will please some people, that is for sure. As a bonus, we also get one of the sweetest curses (disease) that I have yet to see. I can’t wait for my players having to eat the flesh from the corpses of sentient beings in order to be able to heal. Cannibal Curse FTW!
Rating:* * * * *

Critter Cache: Prehistoric Beasts (Blackdirge Publishing and Goodman Games)

Yeah. More monsters. One can never get enough monsters. Blackdirge brings us 11 brand new spanking dinosaurs, with 3 variants of each. And as a bonus, at least one of each type of dinosaur is suitable as a mount, and they still all come with a description. Yes thank you. Overall I would say there is little groundbreaking, but the monsters have cool thematically appropriate powers, although, if someone would like to be critical, there seems to be a little issue of damage-inflation. Some of these monsters do quite a lot of damage. But who wouldn’t want a mount at 5th level that can daze and stun (save ends). I know my rogue would .
Rating: * * * *

Paths to Prestige: The Fell Knight (Blackdirge Publishing)

First of all, despite the price tag of $1.50, you aren’t getting a whole lot. A prestige class, the corresponding template for monsters, and an example of a MM monster with the template slapped upon, along with a little fluff. Or maybe I am just spoiled. Anyway, the idea of the fallen paladin is fine, because we do not have it per say. We have the evil paladin via the core books, and the paladin that has given up on the gods via the Unbroken of One Bad Egg. So it’s filling a gap, although a very small gap. The problem I have with the Fell Knight is the implementation. For example, at 11th level, all powers you have that deal radiant now deal necrotic; except (because it is a class feature and not a prayer) your divine challenge. Then at 16th level, targets that are affected by your divine challenge take ongoing necrotic takes some ongoing necrotic damage. So your DC deals radiant damage and necrotic ongoing. Not really smooth in my book. Why not have DC do necrotic damage instead?
Rating:* * *

Critter Cache: Big Bugs (BlackDirge Publishing and Goodman Games)

So, finally we got us some more monsters! And they even have descriptions! Okay, I must admit I have never been the biggest fan of bugs, but there are some real gems in this product, as long as you do not look too much at the art. It looks like 1e stuff. Okay, I guess some people might dig it, I sure as hell didn’t. We got ant soldiers that frenzy (get more attacks when they are bloodied), we got an ant queen whose pheromone burst has not one, not two, but three different applications, both offensive and defensive, making it an awesome controller/leader hybrid. There are a few places where the author went a bit overboard, such as a beetle (level 6 brute) which does 2d10+10 damage when it has a target grabbed. Ouch. All in all, a good solid product, filled with some nasty critters to dispense of your pesky players. If you feel that 4e is just incomplete without these kinds of monsters, add another star.
Rating: * * * *