Welcome to our little Review section here on the Open Gaming Network.
We take products and review them, intending to give the reader the best chance of evaluating whether this particular release is for them.
There is, of course, a scoring system, similar to that used elsewhere, in a 5-star rating, which we have determined as follows:
1 * – Bad
2 * – Mediocre
3 * – Decent
4 * – Good
5 * – Excellent
The following review is an OPINION piece and only reflects the opinion and tastes (because ultimately, all reviews will be based on personal taste) of the reviewer.
That disclaimer out of the way, let’s get on with the show!
This week we give you Letters from the Flaming Crab: Imaginary Friends
Publisher: Flaming Crab Games
Author: Charlie, Clara, Giorgio, Isaac, Kennedy, London, Lumi, Michele, Oliver
Cover Artist: Charlie, Clara, Giorgio, Isaac, Kennedy, London, Lumi, Michele, Oliver
System: Pathfinder
Page count: 25 ( 1 page cover, 1 page credits, 20 page content and 3 page OGL).
This is a weird one, in that it’s not a “classic” art cover, but considering that the title of the product is Imaginary Friends, it makes perfect sense that the illustrations are some that appear to be made by children (in fact, they are). Does this put me in the right mind? It sure does, it gives me an idea that this is either a product that designed for children, by children or something that’ll appeal to those who are still children at heart. (Not to be confused with those who are childish, as that is two entirely different things in my book).
The book itself focuses on the idea of imaginary friends being real, and protective of children. They all start with a base CR 2 form, and then each takes on a further form if their child ward is threatened. While the base form is CR 2, the manifested forms range from CR 2 to CR 8, depending on the form of the particular imaginary friend. Each form comes with its own illustration (3 of which are used for the cover), and are drawn by children, and (I believe) described by children, and then statted out. Each creature is remarkably well balanced for it’s CR, and each of them is something that I can recall and relate to from when I was a child, or from the children I’ve known myself. There’s a strange pool of color, a gunslinging shark-thing, as well as a robot and a creature made out of shapes. Each comes with different abilities and different names.
If it is not evident yet, I REALLY like these, and the idea of having a protective imaginary friend brings up many scenarios that I could think, especially for those rare adventures where the PCs are children (or played by children, and in need of a protective NPC).
Finally, there are 2 new feats, one which allows you to take an imaginary friend as a familiar and one that allows you to see invisibility once per day, plus granting you a class skill and a bonus on will saves.
This is probably the weakest part of the book, as I’m not sure how much use these imaginary friends would be to the spellcasters who could get them (one of the creatures is only obtainable by a 19th level caster), and the other feat (for see invisibility) is probably too powerful, but that really is my only critique.
And so we come to the conclusion:
Editing here is great, I didn’t notice any typos or errors, and the content of the book itself is new and refreshing. As said, the only weak point, in my opinion, is the feats, but that is such a minor thing compared to the rest of the content hidden within. If you have a group who are willing to embrace their inner child or play child-PCs, then this book is for you.
As such, my conclusion comes in at 5-stars. This product is very likely to see use at my own gaming table, perhaps not for my regular group, but once my daughter grows up, I expect she’ll have an imaginary friend. (though, it was missing a dragon friend… Perhaps there’ll be a book 2? J )
