This is an extremely detailed book that would likely be perfect for a campaign, or a section of a campaign world, closely based on real world Norse history and legend. However, this book's exceptional fidelity to the source material would also likely make it difficult to integrate with other campaign styles. There is a good deal of inspiration that one could use in creating a viking-inspired character or culture, even if not playing in this specific campaign world, but there is very little that can be used by other characters or non-viking campaigns.

This supplement describes a potential enemy race for player characters, essentially as an alternative to drow. Indeed, in many respects, winter elves are similar to drow, although adapted to a different environment. The first third of the book gives a brief description of the race and their culture, and is followed by a longer back-story explaining how they came to be corrupted by demons.

Much of this is generally useful background info that could be uncovered by the PCs as their encounters with the race grow. That, until they're ready to strike at human civilisation, they will have mainly been hiding out in arctic wastes does at least mean that their sudden appearance makes as much sense as it could do for a previously unknown race.

The second half of the book focuses on rules. There are five prestige classes, with a good mix of different abilities,and five feats associated with themes of cold and pacts with demons. Three cleric domains are provided, for vengeance, hatred, and demonic powers. There are eight new spells, all but one built around cold; one is 8th level, but the majority range from 0 to 3rd, and are suitably powered. There are also two new exotic weapons (both rather powerful) and a magical material for crafting clothing and armour.

A nice addition is the inclusion of three encounters (ELs 5, 10, and 15) providing examples of how the race might be used in game. The book concludes with rules for generating a werewolf that turns into a winter wolf, rather than the regular sort; these are written as a character template rather than a monster stat block, and so can be added to any humanoid or giant.

The artwork is good, although the layout, writing style, and even grammar are mediocre in places. Still, the basic ideas are good enough, and the rules parts seem to be well done. If you're looking for something new to take the place of drow, without being too radically different, this isn't a bad place to start.

Well worth the price! My players have always wanted a 20 level Arcane Archer class instead of the Prestige Class option and this book delivered it. And the additional options presented will surely find themselves incorporated into other areas of my campaign. You can spend $5 and buy a hamburger with fries, or you can buy this book which you will use for years to come. I highly recommend this product. As do four out of five elven archers.

?Shadows of the Shinobi? is a 36 page PDF from Secular Games. This supplement is designed with an d20 oriental campaign in mind but could be used in a standard d20 game if you are not opposed to the current cultural mash-up that is seen in many products. This supplement provides you with 5 different approaches to the ?ninja? concept, their associated prestige classes, relevant feats, new spells, new magic items and a number new pieces of equipment. The PDF is fully-bookmarked in landscape format, it has color art throughout. Additionally the products zip file contains a coupon for the Arcane Archer product by the same company, a print-friendly version that is portrait and clocks in at 26 pages, and an advertisement for a product called Lines of Legend: Winter Elves.

The first major chapter of the book covers 10 pages of the book. It covers the five ninja traditions that will be developed into prestige classes later in the book. Each of the traditions has a section of narrative that places the character type within a story and then background information on the class. Many of the traditions are clan based. The five traditions and roles are:

Igasaki ? a clan of ninja devoted to assassination, disguise and sabotage. They are social creatures who infiltrate and gain the trust of their victims. Inpo ? a school based association of spies and killers who enter without being seen and escape without notice. They are shadow agents. Sakurazuki ? divine spellcasters whose bodies nurture worms that carry their divine judgment to their foes. Shattered Lotus ? assassins who harness their own ki energy to a state of perfection. They do not depend on the stealth that other ninja must rely on. Hidden Temple of Bishamon ? followers of the god of war who have been cursed to never feel the warmth of daylight again. They are of the samurai caste and can manipulate shadow magic.

In this chapter I began to notice a number of strange or awkward phrases. As I read I found the flow of the book broken up from time to time by a strange sentence or word choice here or there. Most of the time, it looks like this product was written in one language and then the text was converted into English. The words are well translated but the meaning hasn?t always been. So sometimes you may need to read a sentence twice to piece together what was originally meant. The punctuation and grammar structure seems to be better than some products written wholly in English.

The next chapter of this product presents five prestige classes, one for each of the ninja traditions in roughly the same order (the Sakurazuki related class has been moved to the end.). The classes and details on their abilities are:

Igasaki Disciple ? a saboteur and poisoner this class is quickest reached by a 7th level bard or rogue of the igasaki family. Through training they gain access to poison, explosives, sneak attacks, sabotage and bonuses to a number of trickery related skills. The number of skill points an Igasaki Disciple gains per level is missing from the screen version of the product but not the print friendly version.

Inpo Agents ? a spy and assassin this class is quickest reached by a 7th level rogue or bard. As they advance they gain improvements to sneak attack (at rogue rate), bonuses to stealth, spells with a dedicated list and use them like bards (similar to the assassin PRC in the DMG), improved coup de grace and eventually invisibility at will.

Lotus Warrior ? a martial arts with access to elemental related powers is probably quickest reach by a 7th level ranger. Monk levels stack with this class to provide enhanced unarmed damage, armor class bonus, speed, and flurry of blows effectiveness (though you would need to be a monk 8th to qualify). Besides increasing monk benefits, the class gains minor damage reduction, sonic attack (1/day), elemental sheath for weapons (1/day), a fire breath weapon (1/day) and eventual ability to become intangible. The two cone effects are missing their ranges.

Shadow Saints ? The shadow saints are samurai who have fallen victim to a terrible curse and not exist in darkness shunning the light, a fighter with a high intelligence could be one of the first to qualify. Shadow saints have good attacks with two good saves and d8 for hit points. Their first level ability makes them invisible to anyone not looking for them if they are near shadows, this is significantly more powerful than the Shadowdancer?s Hide In Plain Sight ability. They also gain the ability to cast shadow magic a limited amount of times per day, some immunity to illusion spells, a stunning fist that disables, damage reduction and bonuses to attack at night.

Worm Doctors ? Are divine spellcasters who are infested with magical worms, a neutral cleric is probably the first class to meet the prerequisites. The class gains increased divine spellcasting at 9 of its 10 levels as well as six additional abilities that grant you resistance to disease, empower spells by sacrificing Con, maximizing spells by sacrificing Con, make portable healing tonics, advanced healing and eventual regeneration.

One nice thing about many of the PRCs is they grant access to a small number of ?ninja?-centric weapons that the player can chose. The prestige classes break with convention in a number of minor ways:

Only some of the class abilities have (Ex), (Sp), or (Su) identifiers. Standard capitalization schemes for d20 products are not strictly adhered to. Spell lists are not alphabetized. Armor and Weapon Proficiencies are detailed in a 3rd edition fashion.

The product then has four feats, eight weapons, four pieces of equipment, a spell and three magic items. The feats seem well designed and focused to complement the previous material. The weapons are weapon that you would expect in a ninja based supplement. They are listed as Small, Medium, and Large instead of in the 3.5 revision format of Light, One-Handed and Two-Handed. The equipment section has climbing claws, climbing hooks and homemade explosives (though the mechanics of what the explosive actually can accomplish are absent). There is a magic disguise kit, magical sword, and suit of magical armor. Strangely all the magical items are carrying multiple auras instead of the most dominant.

The rules text for the prestige classes and the ninja tools have been defined as open game content. The spells and magic items were not. On the credits page it indicates that some material in this work was taken from or derived from issue 115 of Dragao Brasil but it is not credited in the section 15 of the product. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Topic addressed with a good number of variations. Sharp layout and graphic presentation. Some very unique character concepts with solid backgrounds for the classes to exist in world..<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some issues with the product not being 3.5 compliant. Breaks from convention may make elements of the product feel unfinished. I have some balance concerns with 2 of the prestige classes (but would adopt the other three with only minor changes). There are some issues with the grammar, word choice, or sentence structure that read "funny" to a native english speaker.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This product was very useful in running games set in oriental cultures. I use it in my own game worlds. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: It has a decent selection of classes for the orient.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Wish it had a print verison. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

A very good representation of ninja specialization as a whole.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I liked how well each class is fleshed out. The stories really help with the flavor of each prestige class.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There is no core ninja, or suggest for using the existing WOTC ninja.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Shadows of Shinobi is an excellent write up about ninjas for the D20 system. The layout is very professional and the prestige clases are great. I think it is an excellent product. I've always loved ninjas and have been involved in rpgs since the late 70's. For the price I was impressed with this product.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The layout and art are excellent.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There is not much too not like about this product. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

As another reviewer mentioned, this does not address the Arcane Archer prestige class directly. I find that the new feats provided here offer many opportunities for enhancing any archery character, and especially a character following advancing with the Arcane Archer prestige class.

I was very impressed with the 20-level Arcane Archer class at the beginning of the PDF, providing a very well-balanced core version of the Arcane Archer as an alternative to the multi-class approach generally used. It makes for an excellent means for quickly creating a NPC, though for a PC, I do tend to prefer the greater flexibility/variety that the multi-class option offers.

As for the various prestige classes offered, I found them to be well thought out, and offer some interesting variants over the basic Arcane Archer class. With the exception of the Eldritch Bow class, they all share the same complaint that I have of the Arcane Archer class ? the lack of spell level progression. When there are other prestige classes provided by the core rules, including one that grants spell level progression in both arcane and divine spell casting at each level, I have always felt that the lack of such spell level progression in the Arcane Archer class was a serious short coming.

Overall, I enjoyed this a great deal, and plan on using it to add some real variety and spice to the campaign I am running. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Provides great food for thought and variety.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Did not fix what I see as a fundamental flaw in the Arcane Archer class - spell level progression.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Great PDF, and would have certainly made it into my personal library as a print book. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: New Spells, New Feats and a decent arcane warrior base class. What's not to like?<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I would have liked to see suggestions for making the class for more than just elves.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Excellent!!! an exellent and very complete book. A "must buy" to rolplayers.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Advanced Character Guide Arcane Archer

<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Creative alternatives to the Arncane Archer<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Doesn't really enhance the class as much as replaces it<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Not what I expected. As I have a character in Living Greyhawk campaign moving towards the core AA, i wanted to see suggestions on feat selecting, class selection, and other things that i could review and perhaps improve my character with.

Instead I got a new 20-level class, a buunch of NPCs (of varying levels), a few new spells, some new magic, and a handful of archer feats and styles.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Lots of interestuing crunchy stuff. Enjoyable to read, interesting to think about. The author(s) do take the time to comment of their design descesions which is nice.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Wasn't what I expected, but other than that I like it.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>