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So, apparently this book was lost — and not just thematically.
It was forgotten by the author/publisher and only released after they realized their collective goof. That being said: it is enticing. The entire premise is based upon that pivotal moment when primitive pony life fled the oceans. Still steeped in chaos, the unformed and unchecked possibilities that the fey races embody, the protoponies became the zero-point for all future (modern and potential) tribes of pony.
Like most of the race/tribe suppliments, First Steps covers a bit of the history, life challenges, and environment of the target race. In this case, the Protoponies are pretty much amphibious, flexible, and impressionable on a biological level. They have strengths that lean towards adapting while simultaneously making their continued existence difficult. Each protopony has, within them, the potential to become another race of pony... or even found their own.
What this means for the player is twofold. You can (potentially) insert a protopony into any environment and be successful (if you survive), and you WILL be noticed. Even among the other races of the setting, protoponies don't quite blend in (unless that's what they're good at). They look a little different, move a little different, and think a little different. They can't seem to decide if the oceans or the land are their home and not even their magics are entirely consistent.
From a thematic point of view, it's that scene with the obelisk all over again: the unlimited potential of a race taking its first true steps into a greater world. There's not much of a culture to speak of, but that's because the only protoponies left are so rare as to be objects of myth. They persist in complete isolation, or have wandered until the demands of the world kill them or cause them to adapt.
It's a unique and fun book to look at how things are related, as well as how the story has the potential to shape the characters. It can be a story hook or a seed for the unknown. Creatures of any kind could, potentially, be related or add their unique qualities to the game where protoponies are involved. Even in the Starfinder age, protoponies could muddy the waters of what is, or is not, possible. It's a short, but valuable, tool for a campagin that incorporates ponies or their lore.
And one other, glorious, addition is the rarity chart — a tool to help GMs and Players alike understand just how much a given critter is likely to stand out in a crowd. That alone is worth the price of admission.
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Creator Reply: |
Thank you for the lovely and well-thought out review. We're super happy you're enjoying the book. |
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A nice book for a quick foray into elemental classing. 5 'elements', one of which works very well for merciful characters or in games where outright murder isn't the goal. Additionally, the class offers a pet option: the Elemental Guide, which functions as a short term summon and semi-familiar rolled into one. As a source for character flavor, or alternately a hook for the storyteller to bring in new elements, it's a nicely made book with enough material to add to, but not break, the session.
From a mechanical point of view, there are a few great options, as well as a handful of rare/useless ones. Then again, variety is the spice of life and a clever or driven character can make use of even the most 'harmless' of things.
The two most interesting options offered, in my mind, are the Elemental Pact of Love (which actively discourages killing or lethal intent) and the Swarm Elementalist (which summons a horde of tiny elements rather than a single being). Both offer interesting play options as well as character ploys with enough flair and benefit to make their respective weaknesses a tempting offer.
Overall, a nice book with a decent enough variety to warrant the $6.99 price tag.
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Bought this a while back, when it first came out. The great thing about it is that it adds a lot of flavor to the world without being simply window dressing.
Includes both 'in-character' views as well as some external information to make the pantheon more accessible. That being said, it's not just filler, either. From a crunchy point of view, you get 13 feats and info on 4 dieties. There's the traditional cover, disclaimer/OGL, title page, and plug for other books (total of 4 pages, all considered) which leaves 11 pages for setting the mood and info dumping.
And for $1.99, that's not a bad deal at all.
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Creator Reply: |
Thanks for the review! I had fun with this book and the larger one it became part of (It's part of a bundle so you get your full 1.99 credit back for buying this, we don't want to cheat anyone for buying early). |
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First off, it's well made, the art is beautiful, the formatting is better than some of the previous offerings, and there was an update BEFORE the book went to print... apparently correcting for some issues from the original pdf. All good points.
The idea is the same as before: add ponies to the world of the single most popular tabletop rpg of all time, in a interesting and functional manner. Do so without infringing upon copyright while simultaneously filling a gap that a huge number of people still desperately want. Oh... and update it to the newest version of that system: 5th edition.
Did it succeed? I'll wager that it did.
The setting fits into the darker and more adult nature of tabletop rpgs that most folks are used to, curbing the 'cute' factor in favor of adding play flexibility and system functionality. Abilities, spells and the like are all fairly well applied, leading to usable characters and entertaining stories. The figures and world lore allow for interaction with non-pony characters (the rules even outlining hybrids) from other races and, indeed, other books. Specialized equipment means you can expect a character from this setting to be viable in other games as well... despite a decided lack of opposable thumbs. It has a full pantheon of gods, a battery of spells and abilities, and appropriately added origins and backgrounds to fit with the setting. You could just as easily run a full pony-only campaign as a 'normal' group or mixed group... something that many other supplements and third party addons cannot claim. It does all this while still presenting an unmistakable "non-human" set of races that fits well into many a traditional fantasy/fairy tale.
That is not to say everything is all rainbows and butterflies.
There are a few issues that exist, at least in the print copy, that were absent in the original pdf. Oddly, this means that the update that fixed whatever problem existed prior to print, actually ended up breaking some other parts. These included ADDING typos into the final copy that were absent in earlier versions, truncating sentences, and presumably losing words or even more in some places. That's not to say that the update was unneeded -fixing a number of problems did presumably occur... but adding typos or cutting off paragraphs should not happen as a side effect. That's similar to a surgeon removing someone's tonsils and giving them a free tatoo that says "I heart Morm"... unrelated and not really all too helpful.
Let me be clear...
The book IS beautiful. I am greatly happy it was made and pleased that I have a hard copy. I will praise Silver Games LLC and David himself just about any day of the week for the work he and his crew have done. Heck, if the pdf gets a shiny new fixing, I ~might~ even be willing to shell out cash for another hardcover. I just wish that the final product, the thing that went to print, the thing I put money down for, had been checked over a few more times before being sent to the printers... and ending up in my hands.
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Any time something is offered up as a free edition or pay what you want, I'm eager to see how it actually stands, so when I took a look through this, I was pleasantly surprized.
From the beginning, there is flavor text, a simple but elegant plot hook, and a very clear destination. There's not a 15 page lead in or nonsensical world building which the players, characters, and GM will never need to know, and there's no overblown gimick to break the rules or characters later on.
It's simple, to the point, and straight forward.
From a campaign point of view, it's a short aside. This is NOT a multisession dungeon crawl or a month long scenario that will delve into the inner turmoil of some off-beat NPC. It's effectively a side-quest or a starting point for a new group... as it should be for new players or newcomers to the setting.
Nothing's branded with "pony-isms", nothing's glaringly one-sided, and nothing's broken to the degree that any RPG player from a classic setting should baulk at it. It's actually mild enough that you could drop every pony aspect at once and likely have players from half a dozen systems play through it without flinching once.
It's simply a well designed little introduction for players.
As for representing Ponyfinder? It's actually a little lackluster. It's not steeped in the mythos or culture, it's not reliant upon outside knowledge, it's not even skewed towards being pony-friendly. Heck... a pegasus could simply ignore most of the 'dungeon' and skip floors. BUT, that can be said for any character, from any system, with non-standard movement options. The downside to this is that, aside from the little village and initial plot-hook, Tower of Misery doesn't really stand out as a PONYfinder product.
It's a module for an entry level party, NOT a PONYfinder module for an entry level party. But it's good enough of a starting point that if you really felt like it, you could drop in orcs and goblins, gnolls, vampires, dwarves and bugbears and run it with a bunch of elves, halflings, and humans.
I just wish that it had a little more substance to it. [Chuckles] But, then again, not every session requires world-shattering epic battles and dillemas that strain the weak-hearted... every party has got to start somewhere.
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Forgotten Past is an example of the reasons Silver Games is doing as well as it is.
Simply put: there's a lot of stuff packed into this book. From history to story hooks, new racial options and feats to equipment and NPCs, this is as close to a fully fledged primer on legends as it is to a supplement for a startup campaign.
Where many supplements will give a single idea a comprehensive fleshing out but will leave how it integrates with the rest of the world out, Forgotten Past does a fine job of making the material both accessible and relavent to the game world as a whole.
You can pick up the core book, Ponyfinder, pick your tribe, make your character, and play your game (just like any other time), or you can go the extra mile and delve into the mysterious history and wonders that Everglow has to offer with so much more from this book.
Physically, the book is beautiful. The artwork is clean and well done. The resolution is a nice high DPI, and the colors are clear. There's very little in the way of complaints that I could make for the visuals (with the exception of a single flipped thumb).
It's also clear that this book has had the benefit of a bit more time than some of the previous offerings. It's set up with slightly less jumpy transisitions and has significantly fewer typos (not that there were a lot with the other books, just that this was much more finished feeling).
The first edition of this does suffer from a screwy bookmark list in the PDF...with dozens of garbage titled bookmarks, but at least they're all lumped together and the functional (ACTUAL bookmarks) are all at the end of the list and fully understandable.
Material wise, the book gives rules and options and examples for races, feats, magic, equipment, hybrids, artifacts, story and plot hooks, NPCs, locations, detail for cities/locations of interest within said sites, new traps, and more critters for your bestiary.
Perhaps even more fun, for avid readers, information and/or stats for some of the places and creatures encountered in the collection of fanfictions of David Silver's own fanfictions make select appearances, which can be a treat in and of itself.
All in all, a very nice addition to the Ponyfinder line.
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