genshou
First Post
Please note that I have received a complimentary copy of this product for the purpose of writing a review.
The What, Who, and How Much
The Man-At-Arms Advanced Class comes to us as an 8-page PDF for either modern or fantasy d20 rulesets as part of the Modern Medieval line by Sword’s Edge Publishing. The first page is a cover, the next five pages detail the class that gives the product its name, and the last two pages are the Open Gaming License and the back cover. The purchased product comes in three forms: The aforemented eight-page version in PDF featuring artwork, a six-page PDF missing the artwork and back cover, and an RTF for easy copy & paste of the Open Gaming Content. This product is solely credited to Fraser Ronald of Sword’s Edge Publishing. At the time this review was written, the listed price on the EN World GameStore was $1.25 in US dollars.
At first glance,
The front cover has artwork in the same style as the other Modern Medieval advanced class book I just reviewed, though this one features a mounted soldier with better-looking texturing. A quick skim through the pages reveals some nice full-color artwork appropriate to the medieval period and the mounted soldier, along with half a page of fluff on the class and a nice-sized chunk of crunchy goodness. Two versions of the Man-At-Arms are presented, one using the talent/bonus feat scheme of d20 Modern’s basic classes and the expected Defense and Reputation progressions, and the other designed for fantasy d20 with no Defense or Reputation, and pre-selected class abilities instead of flexible talents. The classes appear solid and well-designed for the archetype.
The All-important Language Analysis
I did notice a few spelling errors in the text, though not a ridiculous amount. Funny thing is that when placed under a British spellchecker, one particular word throughout the text stops lighting up, but some other sections of the document light up like a Christmas tree. Though the Grammar Police would have found a few things that they’d say are written incorrectly, sometimes the language just has to be written outside of form when describing things in a role-playing game, and it all sounds fine when read aloud.
Easy to Understand?
All the rules are simple enough to read and I didn’t have any problems grasping the concepts.
The Artwork
The cover art is a simple art style, but still ends up looking very cool. The borders are in color and look very stylish, and the full-color art on each page is appropriate to the class and the time period to be represented.
Down to Crunch Time!
Section I will detail the statistics of the class and how well they are balanced with each other.
Section II will go into detail on class abilities and whether or not they are balanced.
First, a little info on the difference between the two versions of the class that are presented. The version for Modern follows the talent/bonus feat design of the Modern basic classes, something I think more advanced classes should do. The fantasy version has all class abilities except bonus feats pre-selected, focusing more on cavalry abilities than on the abilities in the Unit Skills talent tree.
Section I
Like many other advanced classes for Modern, the Man-At-Arms has Base Attack at 3/4 class level. It has high Fortitude and Reflex saving throws, odd for a cavalryman but not unbalanced. The class’s Defense bonus is mediocre, and it has a fair Reputation bonus to reflect the fact that the cavalryman earns more recognition than a footsoldier. With its d10 hit die, the class is excellent at taking the damage it can dish out, and at 4 skill points per level (5 for humans), there’s plenty of opportunity to max out Ride and still get a Knowledge or other esoteric skill.
I think the abilities turn out a little on the powerful side, but not enough to make the class game-breaking unless mounted combat is going to happen often.
Section II
The Man-At-Arms has a few selectable talents having to do with fighting as a unit, though most of the crunchy bits are related to horseback fighting. There’s the classic lance-bearing charge that is covered, as well as horseback archery. With the right selection of talents, a number of different aspects of cavalrymen can be made more heroic with this class. I can see some of the bonuses possibly getting out of hand, though. The way the Speed of Horse talent can combine with Swift Target or Charge talents can grant some hefty bonuses that can mean a serious advantage. In a D&D game these bonuses wouldn’t be as amazing, but in a Modern game it’s harder to find a way to get them so high. I’d have to playtest a bit with the class to know for sure, but it just seems to me to have an avenue for brokenness.
All right, I’ve had enough crunchies for now. Normally I’d nitpick now, but I don’t have anything to nitpick about this time (surprisingly).
For What It’s Worth
For a little over a dollar, I’d take this thing if I wanted it for a game I was running. There’s enough enjoyment in here to beat a little burger without any challenge.
Would I Buy This?
Like with the Mercenary advanced class, my feelings are mixed. It’s a good product, but an esoteric one. The typical cavalryman would be a Strong or Toough Ordinary, and thus wouldn’t have an advanced class. For the military game, though, this would be a great class for the cavalryman PC. I might buy it, I might not. For my game setting where the PCs are forced to be soldiers when their kingdom is invaded, I would definitely want this.
Will I Use This in My Next Game?
I don’t think this niche will be needed for some time in any of my games, so I doubt it will see any use in the foreseeable future.
Conclusion and Individual Ratings
I was somewhat disappointed that this class was so similar to the Mercenary I recently reviewed, but it’s a fairly good product and met my expectations in most areas.
Design & Layout: ***
Proper Use of English: *****
Innovativeness/Originality: **
Artwork: ****
Descriptive Text Flavour (Fluff): ****
Usefulness: **
Balance: **
Clarity: *****
Value for Price: *****
Overall Quality: ****
This product slightly exceeded my expectations overall, but it was mediocre in a few critical areas. For its price, though, I can’t think of a reason not to recommend it. The Man-At-Arms stands at attention as he is awarded 4 stars.
The What, Who, and How Much
The Man-At-Arms Advanced Class comes to us as an 8-page PDF for either modern or fantasy d20 rulesets as part of the Modern Medieval line by Sword’s Edge Publishing. The first page is a cover, the next five pages detail the class that gives the product its name, and the last two pages are the Open Gaming License and the back cover. The purchased product comes in three forms: The aforemented eight-page version in PDF featuring artwork, a six-page PDF missing the artwork and back cover, and an RTF for easy copy & paste of the Open Gaming Content. This product is solely credited to Fraser Ronald of Sword’s Edge Publishing. At the time this review was written, the listed price on the EN World GameStore was $1.25 in US dollars.
At first glance,
The front cover has artwork in the same style as the other Modern Medieval advanced class book I just reviewed, though this one features a mounted soldier with better-looking texturing. A quick skim through the pages reveals some nice full-color artwork appropriate to the medieval period and the mounted soldier, along with half a page of fluff on the class and a nice-sized chunk of crunchy goodness. Two versions of the Man-At-Arms are presented, one using the talent/bonus feat scheme of d20 Modern’s basic classes and the expected Defense and Reputation progressions, and the other designed for fantasy d20 with no Defense or Reputation, and pre-selected class abilities instead of flexible talents. The classes appear solid and well-designed for the archetype.
The All-important Language Analysis
I did notice a few spelling errors in the text, though not a ridiculous amount. Funny thing is that when placed under a British spellchecker, one particular word throughout the text stops lighting up, but some other sections of the document light up like a Christmas tree. Though the Grammar Police would have found a few things that they’d say are written incorrectly, sometimes the language just has to be written outside of form when describing things in a role-playing game, and it all sounds fine when read aloud.
Easy to Understand?
All the rules are simple enough to read and I didn’t have any problems grasping the concepts.
The Artwork
The cover art is a simple art style, but still ends up looking very cool. The borders are in color and look very stylish, and the full-color art on each page is appropriate to the class and the time period to be represented.
Down to Crunch Time!
Section I will detail the statistics of the class and how well they are balanced with each other.
Section II will go into detail on class abilities and whether or not they are balanced.
First, a little info on the difference between the two versions of the class that are presented. The version for Modern follows the talent/bonus feat design of the Modern basic classes, something I think more advanced classes should do. The fantasy version has all class abilities except bonus feats pre-selected, focusing more on cavalry abilities than on the abilities in the Unit Skills talent tree.
Section I
Like many other advanced classes for Modern, the Man-At-Arms has Base Attack at 3/4 class level. It has high Fortitude and Reflex saving throws, odd for a cavalryman but not unbalanced. The class’s Defense bonus is mediocre, and it has a fair Reputation bonus to reflect the fact that the cavalryman earns more recognition than a footsoldier. With its d10 hit die, the class is excellent at taking the damage it can dish out, and at 4 skill points per level (5 for humans), there’s plenty of opportunity to max out Ride and still get a Knowledge or other esoteric skill.
I think the abilities turn out a little on the powerful side, but not enough to make the class game-breaking unless mounted combat is going to happen often.
Section II
The Man-At-Arms has a few selectable talents having to do with fighting as a unit, though most of the crunchy bits are related to horseback fighting. There’s the classic lance-bearing charge that is covered, as well as horseback archery. With the right selection of talents, a number of different aspects of cavalrymen can be made more heroic with this class. I can see some of the bonuses possibly getting out of hand, though. The way the Speed of Horse talent can combine with Swift Target or Charge talents can grant some hefty bonuses that can mean a serious advantage. In a D&D game these bonuses wouldn’t be as amazing, but in a Modern game it’s harder to find a way to get them so high. I’d have to playtest a bit with the class to know for sure, but it just seems to me to have an avenue for brokenness.
All right, I’ve had enough crunchies for now. Normally I’d nitpick now, but I don’t have anything to nitpick about this time (surprisingly).
For What It’s Worth
For a little over a dollar, I’d take this thing if I wanted it for a game I was running. There’s enough enjoyment in here to beat a little burger without any challenge.
Would I Buy This?
Like with the Mercenary advanced class, my feelings are mixed. It’s a good product, but an esoteric one. The typical cavalryman would be a Strong or Toough Ordinary, and thus wouldn’t have an advanced class. For the military game, though, this would be a great class for the cavalryman PC. I might buy it, I might not. For my game setting where the PCs are forced to be soldiers when their kingdom is invaded, I would definitely want this.
Will I Use This in My Next Game?
I don’t think this niche will be needed for some time in any of my games, so I doubt it will see any use in the foreseeable future.
Conclusion and Individual Ratings
I was somewhat disappointed that this class was so similar to the Mercenary I recently reviewed, but it’s a fairly good product and met my expectations in most areas.
Design & Layout: ***
Proper Use of English: *****
Innovativeness/Originality: **
Artwork: ****
Descriptive Text Flavour (Fluff): ****
Usefulness: **
Balance: **
Clarity: *****
Value for Price: *****
Overall Quality: ****
This product slightly exceeded my expectations overall, but it was mediocre in a few critical areas. For its price, though, I can’t think of a reason not to recommend it. The Man-At-Arms stands at attention as he is awarded 4 stars.
