an interesting mechanic. unfortunately i dont have the cords dt needs nor can i aford them right now. looks like an interesting system for those who wish to invest.

It seems very interesting. Excellent presentation too. I'll like to see in future info about character creation.

I was hoping to see something that maybe I could print out a few cards for my friends and we could test out an encounter. Unfortunately this wasn't the case. I'm very interested in this and am planning on adding in to the kickstarter, but I was hoping this file would have given me more of an idea of what we were looking at.

Sans doute le monde le plus intéressant publié par un éditeur non officiel pour la 4ème édition de D&D. Un monde médiéval proche du nôtre, plus gritty ; cette introduction au monde offre tout pour commencer, le livre est plein de petits systèmes pour faire coller D&D4 à ce monde si particulier, et on trouve les dieux et un atlas global (qui ne rentre pas dans les détails malheureusement) ; le livre est très beau, très professionnel niveau mise en page. On en a pour son argent, dommage qu'il n'y ai pas d'option de PoD à l'heure où j'écris ces lignes !

The writeup of monster reactions based on Wisdom, Intelligence and Charisma was interesting reading. The 5 new monsters were well written; the rest of the material was somewhat scanty and mostly aimed at the Feudal Lords setting. Still, the low price makes it a worthwhile addition.

Very interesting to demonstrate how distinctive a setting element, such as a titled house, can become, with rules support infusing the general feudal ideal with their elemental, wilderness and wolf affinities.

Quite delightful to find one of the few gaming supplements that taken on one of the most-neglected of legendary monsters, the Anthropophagus, aka the Blemmye. Good, interesting treatment- I'd never thought of linking them with undead, but the ghoul connection does make sense. Quite the good product.

This is an excellent tile set. The colors are bright and crisp. There are 6 different colored pavilions so a good variety there. I was very satisfied with this product. Possible additions to make even better would be weapons racks and a quintain. But that is a minor issue.

This product line went out of print a while ago, but the fine folks at Alea Publishing Group have been kind enough to reintroduce them. (Thanks for that, by the way!)

Anyway, the character theme (formerly subclass) is a fascinating extra piece of character development based off of multiclassing XP penalties. In this case, it gives some paladin-like abilities to a faithful character to use to represent their religion in battle. It's a neat idea, and it's executed well. In fact, as Alea finished re-releasing the line, I'm planning to base a PC group around the use of subclasses.

I was looking through RPG Now for some art to use on a cover, and this collection has both some very excellent pictures and has a very reasonable price compared to most other similar products. I've used one picture on a product so far, and would definitely use others should the opportunity arise. The pictures might not be particularly sharp, but look very much like painted images. Most are atmospheric rather than detailed, which--for my purposes--works perfectly.

Oracle of Orcas is a free, single adventure module (Exploit) for Dungeons & Dragons designed with a generic theme allowing it to be dropped into virtually any adventure series or campaign. The adventure has a somewhat vague storyline that allows a GM to create much of the details as to why these encounters are occurring and even when.

Oracle of Orcas is designed for characters of 9th Level and part of Alea Publishing Group’s Feudal Lords campaign setting. However, the actual encounters are standard enough that they can easily be fit into any campaign setting.

OVERALL

Oracle of Orcas is a great set of encounters that can be played in a single-game session or tied into an ongoing campaign. This module could be inserted in-between an overall storyline or used as a launching point for new adventure ideas. Considering it is designed for 9th Level characters, you can’t simply use it as a launching point for a starting campaign. However, the underlying story points can be extracted so that a new campaign can be created with these items in mind.

RATINGS

Publication Quality: 9 out of 10 Many publishers release free products but don’t keep with a high-quality publication. Oracle of Orcas has a wonderfully smooth layout and presentation with only a few minor issues here and there. One thing to note is that, for a free product, the stat blocks look great and are extremely easy to read.

Storyline: 6 out of 10 The storyline is loosely developed throughout. This has its own inherent positives and negatives. As an adventure that is able to be placed within any campaign, a loose storyline allows the DM a certain level of flexibility in how they use the encounters. The negative side, which is fairly important, is that the individual encounters are not tied together well bringing the PCs from the end of one encounter to the beginning of the next encounter. There is a definite storyline that the adventure aims to create, but key points to the storyline seem to be missing.

Desire to Play: 9 out of 10 The encounters are very well written, easy to use, and should be fun (unless you’re only into strict dungeon crawls or pure role-playing). The collection of encounters is geared toward groups who like a combination of combat and non-combat with the option for a certain level of role-play. Another key point that makes this adventure more desirable is the flexibility of the setting, giving DMs the opportunity to place it within the campaign they have already created.

Overall: 8 out of 10 Overall Oracle of Orcas is a great set of encounters, and you cannot beat the price. For a free adventure module, it is a very high-quality publication and a great combination of combat and non-combat. Oracle of Orcas is also a great, free demonstration of Alea Publishing Group’s ability to make quality publications.

Well, this preview sounds good (nasty!), but this whole "no actual human" concept is not really that new. There is a game from Poland namely "Robotica" which is already "running" and this whole concept from Dead Age seems very similar. Well, I am still curious about how Dead Age will turn out at the end, but if you are hungry of apocalyptic, no-human world give Robotica a try if you have the opportunity. It is well worth it, in my opinion.

While the supplement may be short, there’s no shortage of great material contained throughout. This multiclass provides a number of new options for playing a more humanistic setting, introducing royalty into a campaign, or simply creating another unique character for the players to explore. One thing to note is that the Noble multiclass is meant for those with strength in melee and not magic as the majority of the powers are Melee Weapon based with a mixture of ranged Psychic attacks.

For a small publisher, the quality of the layout and presentation of the content is superb! Alea Publishing has followed the high quality displayed by the Player’s Handbook and keeps true with its purpose and material. The new powers are in-line with what is presented in the Player’s Handbook but with new ideas and flavor text that enhance this new multiclass. The only thing it truly lacks is an expanded description of what a Noble truly is, be it narrative or by presenting “build” options. The publication could benefit from a more 3-dimensional look at the Noble as a character and not just a multiclass. To add to all this wonderful material, Alea Publishing has included all the Power Cards for these new powers in the back of the supplement.

Needless to say, I really like the idea of being able to create a Noble as a multiclass, especially a Noble Warlord. Not only are new powers presented, but these powers draw upon a new “source” (bloodline). I find this to be a fantastic way of presenting original ideas into a system that already is filled with lots of powers and mechanics.

It’s tough to add to the comments already stated about the new material added throughout. The option to create a Noble character can be quite valuable to those seeking more role-playing opportunities or those looking to make their characters more unique than the ones otherwise found. The Noble multiclass also has a more humanistic feel for those looking to move away from the standard fantastic races or those trying to recreate a typical feudal system from Medieval times.

Overall I highly recommend GMs and players taking a look at the Noble multiclass not only for it’s possibilities but for the setting that could be created around the use of Nobles. Just taking a look at this supplement makes me want to see more of the Feudal Lords setting for Dungeons & Dragons.

A great addition to any home brewing session but the rules may seem a bit strange at first, players may want to take more flaws and no merits or opt out of regular feats for merits. Follow the rules in the pdf and no serious issues should arise. Not compatible with D&D insider services. Welcome to 4.1.2

One of the complaints I've read about that's used against the 4e GSL system, is that the wizard class got a serious reduction in power. Under the old 3.5e OGL system, a high level wizard was truly a force to be reckoned with, able to use an immense volume of powerful spells in displays of both destructive power and versatility. Under the 4e GSL, the number of wizard powers has reduced, and access to versatility is largely a function of rituals. Inside combat, though, you're limited to those handfuls of powers that are available to the class. Whether it is intentional or not, Alea Publishing's Player Options: Ancient Wizard Magic, offers a fairly neat way to enhance the character's versatility by using rituals to allow one to effectively gain an alternative power, thereby increasing the wizard's combat versatility.

Player Options: Ancient Wizard Magic is a short 18 page pdf product presenting new rules and mechanics for Ancient Magic Rituals and ancient magic in general. The product comes as a wonderfully presented pdf file, with some good, if perhaps a little suggestive, art, good writing, wonderful flavor and a bag full of new and interesting powers and mechanics. The writing and editing is top notch, as is the overall design and layout of the product. I suppose the only thing missing from the product is a summary table, something that's always a useful feature and allows one to quickly select those bits of information you're interested in. Bookmarks are also fairly limited. Overall, though, a professional effort from Alea Publishing Group.

This product introduces the concept of ancient wizard magic. Essentially magic has changed through the centuries of its use, and had become much less bonded to a particular wizard that it originally was. This bonding of magic to a wizard is the way ancient wizards used to cast their spells, and this product details how, through the use of rituals, more modern wizards can gain access to ancient magic. Ancient magic is by and large a means of using a ritual to replace an existing power with a slightly more powerful ancient wizard spell. The product provides plenty of flavor for each ritual and its associated power, along with useful and intriguing details of some powerful and respected ancient wizards.

Around forty new powers are introduced, and these cover pretty much all levels up to 30, different kinds of at-will, encounter and daily powers, as well as attack and utility powers. There's quite a lot to choose from, and while some powers fall into the rut of being very similar to other existing powers, there are some useful new rules and mechanics for these powers. One thing that can definitely be said about this product is that it brings something new to the gaming table, and something that's worthwhile looking at.

As mentioned earlier, while I'm not sure the concept was intended to be used this way, it does provide an avenue through which powers can be switched, even if only for a short while. I think that's a concept that can go a long way in the 4e GSL game, and can be played with and modified in a number of different ways to make it suit the game style of the group or the world the campaign setting is set in. This concept can go a long way beyond the use of ancient magic rituals, though the flavor there is fairly strong as well. I guess that's one of the things I liked about this product - these powers presented here don't only offer new mechanics, but also associated flavor. Having a wizard learn a new power is very different from having one learn the ancient power of a legendary wizard.

Overall, I think Ancient Wizard Magic is a splendid product. It introduces something new, creates plenty of scope for fiddling with the mechanics and expanding it, and does so with plenty of flavor and good presentation. This is one of the few products for the 4e GSL that really brings something new to the table that can be quite useful within the scope of the game. This could make rituals far more useful than they already are, and improve on the versatility of the wizard class (or other classes, should this concept be expanded). Player Options: Ancient Wizard Magic is well worth looking at for those wishing to expand the class or the influence of wizards and magic in their game. I'm really starting to like the Player Options series!