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This
massive sourcebook for the aquatic unfathomable depths is 100 pages long, 1
page front cover, 2 pages editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 1 page
kickstarter-backer-thanks, 1 page poem and 1 page back cover, leaving us with
92 pages of content, so let's take a look!
So what is
the Azure Abyss? Essentially, it is the aquatic equivalent of the Underdark -
the unfathomable depths and after a basic introduction including a glossary we
delve into the hostile terrain that is encountered in the very lowest depth of
the sea - abyssal depths and hadal depths - 10.000 ft beneath the waves until
20.000 feet for abyssal zones and below that, the hadal zones. Terrain, from
trenches to sediment to mini-ecosystems that spring forth from the cadavers of
massive beings to finally cold seeps, infectious slimy warts and mussel beds.
Hydrothermal vents, acidic zones, megaplumes (essentially aquatic volcanic
eruptions) and 6 forms of geologically poisoned areas as well as pools that act as teleportation
gateways further suffuse the depths, making for a crunchy and thoroughly
intriguing toolbox to spice up your terrain.
The second
chapter details deep sea-races and kicks off with a revisited section on other
aquatic races that allows you to create deep sea versions before providing new
aquatic races, which of course include buoyancy information and depth
tolerances. The first would be the Asterak, who gets +2 to Int and Con,-2 to
Str, count as merfolk, get darkvision 60 ft, may 1/day utilize shocking grasp, electricity resistance
5, can control their bioluminescence and are susceptible to low depths. beyond
these luminescent creatures, we also get aquatic dwarves - the austorian
Dwarves. They get +2 Con and Wis, -2 Cha, pressure and geopoison immunity, slow
swim speed, darkvision 120 ft., breathe only water, get +2 to appraise, cold
resistance 5, +2 to saves versus poisons, spells and spell-like ability, may
move on land at 75% of their speed, stonecunning, +4 to CMD versus bull rush,
trip and proficiency with austorian weapons.
And then, we get perhaps one of the insanest,
most badass races to ever spawn - if the artwork doesn't blow you away, I don't
know what will - Echinns are essentially giant humanoid sea urchins - glowing
tentacle-like fingers, arachnoids-resembling eyes, bristling spines. O M G.
Want. Crunch-wise, they get +2 to Str and Con, -2 to Int and Wis, Pressure and
Geopoison immunity, are gilled anthromorphs, get a normal swim speed, low-light
vision, can use bioluminescence at will to glow like a torch, get natural AC of
+2, cold resistance, +4 to saves versus poisons, echinn weapon familiarity and
poisonous spines. Usually I'd complain about the racial attributes gearing them
too closely into the melee-roles - but seriously, they simply are TOO COOL.
If you read
Alluria's Remarkable Races Compendium, you'll enjoy the aquatic take on the
Obitu - neither dead, nor undead, these beings get +2 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Cha,
darkvision 60 ft., +4 to saves versus disease/poison, improved initiative as a
bonus feat at 1st level, +2 to acrobatics, escape artist and sleight of hand,
5+ 1/2 character level negative energy resistance and immunity against sleep.
And no, they are not undead - they just look that way and thus you won't have
to deal with all those pesky immunities. Viden Oculi look somewhat like a
beholder - with long rubbery tentacles that act as legs and hands and two of
them featuring additional eyes - it's a weird creature to describe and one
you'll have to see to truly get. The Viden get +2 to Dex and Wis, -2 to Str,
are small aquatic aberrations, can secrete slightly acidic tears as slime from
their eye, get 30 ft. swim speed, all-around vision, can shed bioluminescence
as a torch, suffer from light blindness, are pressure sensitive and choose two
detect spells of the first level, which then are constantly active for the
creature. Unfortunately, at least personally, I consider that ANNOYING AS ALL
HELL. I hate the detect spells and
having to consider two that are permanently in effect just sucks - sorry. It's
just busy-work for the DM who will have to look at all those pesky auras all
the time. Annoying.
The final
new race would be the Abyssal Rusalka, a feykith with a lower torso resembling
a jellyfish. These embodiments of deadly beauty get +2 to Cha and Dex, -2 Str,
count as feykith, can exude luminescent blood that provides concealment 1/hour,
may shed bioluminescence as a torch, get +1 to DCs of enchantment-spells they
cast and those of cha 15+ may use charm
person 1/day - but what's rather cool is their shirt of tentacles: It
AUTOMATICALLY drains 1d4 hp from foes, healing 1 hp to the Rusalka. They may
suppress this ability. And I like its idea -though the execution made me
cringe...for a second. Creatures have to begin their round in the Ruslka's
square (!!!) - not an adjacent square, but the Rusalka's. This is enough of a
limitation for me - hence: Two thumbs up!
Deep Drow
and anthropomorph crossbreeds of Seafolk and Echinn complete this chapter
before we get tables for all the vital
age, height and weight/depth tolerance etc.-tables and dive into a discussion
of existing classes in a Deep Sea context and get into a new base class, the
Angler. Anglers get d8, 6+Int skills per level, 3/4 BAB-progression, good
fort-saves and proficiency with light and martial weapon as well as light armor
proficiency. And the class is interesting indeed - essentially, its angle
(pardon the pun) is battlefield control: They may, via preparation, change
5-foot square upon 5-foot square, into a deadly area - impeding defense, movement,
offense - make hindrances only happen to one character etc. - as well as
creating traps much like those of the ranger to further pepper the battlefield.
Per se a great class, though honestly, I would have loved to see more
hindrances/traps, though Drop Dead Studios' "Vauntguard"-class could
easily be scavenged for more traps - at least that's what I'll be doing!
We also get
3 10-level PrCs: First would be the Halionaut, who gets d10, 6+Int skills, full
BAB, medium fort-saves and essentially are masters of the depth diving, being
able to divine how warp pools work, gaining favored terrains both planar and
common and terrain mastery for these new terrains, all depending on the chosen
terrains. Interesting PrC, though not one that blows me away. Myxinmaves get
d6, 4+Int skills per level, 6 levels of spellcasting progression and are all
about the hagfish - their slime covering the myxinmave's body with protective
coating. They also get a giant hagfish servant, a bite attack that only works
against foes with flesh, immunities to all things putrid and an armor of living
hagfish as well as the option to transform partially into the creatures, the
option to become flexible as if boneless and a poison before gaining a hivemind
as a capstone. Cool PrC with some disturbing imagery... (And yes, we get a full
page of rules for creating hiveminds and determining their stats - and eventual
spawning spellcasting prowess...)
The final
new PrC is the Seductor,, who gets d8, 6+Int skills per level, 1/2
BAB-progression, medium will-saves, 5 levels of sneak attack progression and
essentially are the secret agents of the depths, combining deadly sneak attack
with touches that may charm and paralyze foes. while hiding their alignment.
Again, not a bad PrC, but not one that got me overly excited.
After that,
we're introduced to Special materials and weapons of the deep (the latter
coming with full color artworks!!!) before getting, of course, more feats - 21
to be precise. I won't go into details for every one of them, but I will
mention the following: Eating special materials to heal yourself, emit a siren
song 1/day, dazzle with bioluminescence, expand
poison clouds and Viden may take a whole array of feats to transform
their base forms and finally even see slightly into the future. Of course, some
new toys for anglers , sharper spines for echinns, etc.. can also be found here
- my favorite feat, though, would be the female ceratiodi piscean's Dual Mind -
after having mate graft himself into your side, you may now use your mate's
mind to gain two weapon fighting and ignore dex-requirements for the follow-up
feats, get +1 favored class and +4 to saves versus mind-affecting effects.
Weird and cool.
Speaking of
cool - the 10 new spells are absolutely glorious: Ever wanted to make a foe
want to attack him/herself? Or create acidic zones? Yeah. Extinguish pesky
bioluminescence? Yep. Or merge part of your body with a greater creature,
highjacking its body for your purposes, essentially becoming a parasite? Now
THAT hasn't been done before! After 8 new magical items, we dive into the
campaign setting specific part of the book with A LOT of awesome adventuring
potential.
The Deep
Sea Bestiary deserves special mentioning - Alluria's monsters usually at least
are good, as are their artworks. Seriously, you have to see this book's
bestiary to believe in its existence. We get a minimum of at least one
signature ability for each one, but the artworks - OMG. I've never seen
anything like it. Seriously. Paizo-level and beyond. These artworks can stand
their ground, toe-to-toe with the industry-leader and perhaps even surpass
them. Yes. That good. This bestiary may be the most beautiful one I've EVER SEEN.
From the disturbing deep sea dragons to squid imps and the alien grandfather
worm, these artworks will BLOW YOUR MIND. And the best thing about them is:
Their crunch lives up to these artworks. From the humble to the CR 23 behemoth,
these creatures are glorious, ooze iconicity and set the bar higher for ANY
monster-book out there. Have I mentioned starfish people that manage to look
badass?
We also get
a pronunciation guide, a list of deep sea critters by CR (including the
Bestiaries and Alluria books!), an index of tables, an art index and 1 page of
cardstock minis.
Conclusion:
Editing and
formatting are top-notch, I didn't notice any glitches - which is a massive
feat at this length. Layout adheres to Alluria Publishing's drop-dead-gorgeous
2-column standard and the pdf comes fully bookmarked, though sans
printer-friendly version. Expect a massive drain on your printer (or get this
in full color print). I HAVE to mention the artworks - even by Alluria's
insanely high standards, they are insanely beautiful. They actually are the
best-looking artworks I've ever seen in any 3pp-book. They surpass many 1st
party publisher artworks, whether Paizo or WotC. It boggles the mind, incites
imagination. Thoroughly impressive - the artists have been up to their a-game!
At first, I
was blown away - the new races actually included two ones I'd want to play and
WILL include in my campaigns - something that rarely happens! When the class
and PrCs didn't stand up, at least for me, to the predecessor-pdf's
awesomeness, there's nothing particularly wrong with them, but still - my
enthusiasm was slightly dampened. And then, via feats and spells and items, the
book once again managed to build up tense expectation that was released in a
blast in the bestiary and campaign setting information. While I first thought
this would clock in as 4 stars after reading the class-section, I can wholeheartedly
recommend unanimously ALL THE REST of the book - from terrain to fluff, from
crunch to creatures, we get a massive array of superior content that provides
some of the coolest creatures to have ever featured in a given bestiary - to
the point where any verdict not a 5/5 and a seal of approval would be a
disservice to this book's stunningly awesome content - so there you have it.
GET THIS! Even if you don't play beneath the waves - for aberrations and
strange cthulhoid creatures, there is so incredibly much to scavenge here that
I'll guarantee you won't regret getting this, even for usage above the waves.
Don't let this gem slip through your hands and dive right into its depths here on OBS!
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