Fable 3

Ok, i've been away, because I'm at college and college life is really hectic and hard to manage. When i finally do get settled down i will start writing for the paper and then you can expect stuff, but until then...sorry.
But other people will write stuff, this is Soulbanish's review

This is my first time attempting a blog post so please don't eat my soul and devour my remains.

Sometimes, less is more. This is not the case for Fable 3. There will be spoilers in this review so if you care, turn back now.

In the fable series each game has its own options. However, the further along in the series you go, the less options you get. In fable 1 you had the choice between 12 different weapons, Now, we go to Fable 2 where they took out a couple of weapons and put in a few with a net loss of 1 weapon. Not horrible but they should have been more concerned about putting things in than taking them out. Now, lets cut ahead to fable 3. Now you have 4 options. Pistol, rifle, sword, and Hammer.

Now, even if we ignore that, there's still the matter of Will spells. In Fable 1, you had 18 with a fair amount of versatility in terms of character concept. In fable 2, you had 8. Not a lot but there were at least a few that worked for different concepts. Now you have six, all of which are blasting spells and until you get a specific upgrade you can only cast one at a time.

Now, this is forgivable. I can forgive plenty of mistakes if the game itself is good but Fable 3 has plenty of other problems.

One of my least favorite changes was to the inventory. Instead of an inventory, you get what is essentially a dressing room. You get to look through several different mannequins each wearing various items. To me, this seemed like an unnecessary change and they could have focused on something else.

Next, lets talk about the Health bar. It no longer exists. I have no way to tell if my character is dying short of an onscreen D-pad flashing red. Now, not all games need a health bar. For example, one of my favorite games, Super Mario brothers doesn't have one. However, this is because in that game all enemies deal the same damage and you either die in two hits or one. In fable 3 though, damage is variable. In a game where damage is variable such as the Megaman series, a way to measure health really helps.

A really odd thing is that they apparently expect you to play a guy in the game, because in order to get into a Mercenary camp you have to look like a Mercenary that's currently knocked out. The mercenary has a freaking beard. Yeah, you're a girl and you have to get a beard. What.

A new change is that your weapon evolves as you upgrade it. This just changes the look of your weapon. This is a gimmick and does not improve the game for me one Iota. I would prefer that they had focused on other elements than something that's only there for aesthetic appeal. Know what else appeals to some people's aesthetics? More than two types of weapons for each category. Now, I don't deny that looks are important in a game. However, I think they would have been better served by making different options for the various components than a gimmick that I have no clue how to control.

Now some weapons upgrade by you doing specific things. This wasn't a bad idea and there are items for both good and bad characters. However, there are at least two weapons that, if you want to upgrade them, you have to have a lot of sex. I just have to ask why they did this. Who is this supposed to appeal to? Honestly, I don't mind sex being in the game but when I get the swinging sword and see what I have to do to upgrade it? I have to ask what five year old thought that was funny.

Now, let's get onto the plot.

The plot has been done many times before and it wasn't done very well here. Your character is the brother of the evil overlord, finds out he's the “Chosen one” and is helped to reach his full potential by a mentor and a wisecracking sidekick to overthrow his brother and then save his homeland from an unknown force. Now, being cliche isn't bad but this just felt like the writers were being lazy. I didn't particularly care about any of the characters and I didn't particularly hate any of them, with the exception of Reaver. One other complaint I have is that you don't get any indication of when the eldritch abomination is going to attack. On my playthrough I planned on selling the properties I'd bought to finance the resistance. However, due to the fact that I didn't get any indication of when the attack was going to happen (Goes from 112 days to 1) around 650,000 people died. Not as bad as it could have been but if I'd had any indication, there would have been no civilian casualties.

Slight rant about Reaver here. Feel free to ignore it. Reaver to me seems like a complete monster. He has literally no redeeming features and yet, for some reason, you aren't allowed to kill him. I think my problem with Reaver is that there's absolutely no justification for what he does other than that it entertains him. The evil Overlord is attempting to protect his country from an eldritch abomination (Although that seemed to come out of nowhere.) and the Eldritch abomination is an Eldritch abomination. Reaver will kill you if you annoy him. So, you're allowed to kill the evil overlord and the eldritch abomination, but not Reaver? Why not? He's arguably worse than the evil overlord in

Okay, back to the game itself. There are some things I like about the game and I'm going to talk about them here. The Co-op mode in this game? It's actual Co-op. While the second character is somewhat ignored by the plot you get to actually customize that person, and you can take that person back to your own game and play through the plot on your own while keeping what you earned from your adventures with your friends. This alone gets points with me.

Another thing I like is the humor. Maybe it's just that some of the humor appeals to me personally, but I feel like they actually got people to write the jokes for this game.

Another thing they did that I felt was a good idea was getting rid of the experience system from previous games. Those were fairly easy to break and now you have to make some progress in the game to get better upgrades. The game is still pretty easy but it's definitely better.

Final verdict? A 5 out of 10 or average. Some of the stuff they changed didn't need changing, they took stuff out instead of putting it in, and due to the fact that almost nothing in the plot varies, the game feels like it was rushed out. In fact, considering there isn't even a two year difference between the release dates of fable 2 and 3 it probably was. It's still a fun game to play with your friends and the flaws aren't big enough to make the game unplayable. There are probably better Co-op swords and sorcery games out there but this one certainly doesn't seem bad. I just feel they could have done so much more if they decided to delay the release date.

If a decent amount of people like this review I'll review a few other video games I've got lying around.

FACE OF THE BEAST

this is a Homebrew from NeoClassic, so its not mine. Enjoy :)
From
EE



Those who become Faces of the Beast are surprisingly diverse. Some are simple pyromaniacs, others religious zealots obsessed with the ever-approaching end of this world. A few use fire as a way to seek vengeance on those who have wronged them, and rarer still are those who merely want civilization to end solely for the sake of destruction.

A note on inspiration: I was particularly struck by the mask on the man in the picture, as well as his perilously swinging lamp. The notion of scarred by fire, but having no fear of it and in fact choosing it as a weapon of destruction & revenge, struck me. I admit that it was at this point I remembered "Some men just want to see the world burn" from "The Dark Knight," so that has influenced me some as well, specifically giving this class a more twisted, insane edge.

BECOMING A FACE OF THE BEAST
How you would normally become a member of this prestige class.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Race: Any humanoid
Base Attack Bonus: +7
Base Fortitude Save: +7
Alignment: Any nongood and nonlawful
Special: Must have at least part of one's face, torso, arms, or legs covered in scarring from second or third degree burns

Class Skills
The Face of the Beast's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skills Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier

Hit Dice: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+0	+2	+2	+0	These Scars, Double-Sided Flesh (fire resistance 5)
2nd	+1	+3	+3	+0	Fueling the Flames, Double-Sided Flesh (fire resistance 10)
3rd	+2	+3	+3	+1	Furious Defense, Double-Sided Flesh (fire resistance 15)
4th	+3	+4	+4	+1	Iron Lungs, Pyrotechnics, Double-Sided Flesh (fire resistance 20)
5th	+3	+4	+4	+1	Not One of Us, Touch of Armageddon, Double-Sided Flesh (immunity to fire)

Weapon Proficiencies: A face of the beast gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
These Scars: The burns of a face of the beast are an integral part of his identity. They become oddly immune to most healing magic; only a miracle spell or similar can remove them. If the burns are such removed, a face of the beast loses all other class abilities and may no longer gain levels in this class until he gains new, notable, second or third degree burns.
Double-Sided Flesh (Ex): Whenever a face of the beast takes fire damage, he appears to be injured by it as any normal creature would; his flesh turns red, blisters, and bubbles. However, he only feels mild discomfort and takes less damage than normal creatures despite this appearance. At first level, he gains fire resistance five, which increases by five each subsequent level. At fifth level, a face of the beast becomes immune to fire.
Unlike most individuals, when a face of the beast receives magical healing, his flesh does not appear fully healed. Scars from combat wounds are generally light and nearly unnoticeable, but any burns from fire or acid leave a distinct scar upon his flesh, no matter how strong the healing magic.
Should a face of the beast be under the influence of shapechange, polymorph, or alter self, he loses this inexplicable property of his own skin and hence does not gain this fire resistance or immunity.
Fueling the Flames (Su): At second level, a face of the beast's connection with fire allows him to double the rate of expansion of (but not damage done by each section of) any nonmagical fires within one hundred feet. This can be anything from causing candles to burn down to the wick more quickly to speeding up forest fires. This ability has no effect upon magical fires of any sort.
Furious Defense: Once per day, after an opponent has rolled a successful attack against a face of the beast, the face may choose to use this ability. He adds his Strength bonus to his armor class. If the attack is still successful, he takes damage as usual. If it is not, he takes half of what the damage of a successful attack would've been. Immediately after, however, the face of the beast gets an immediate grapple check against his opponent at a +4 circumstance modifier.
Iron Lungs (Ex): At fourth level, a face of the beast's internal chemistry has grown hardier. He is now able to breathe in smoke or similarly contaminated air without penalty, though he can still suffocate by drowning or in a vacuum. Furthermore, he gains an immunity to inhaled poisons.
Pyrotechnics (Sp): Beginning at fourth level a face of the beast can cast pyrotechnics as a spell-like ability once per day.
Not One of Us: At fifth level, a face of the beast's creature type changes from humanoid to monstrous humanoid. From now on, he is not affected by spells or abilities which affect humanoids only. However, this is disconcerting to most humanoids, so he receives a -2 Diplomacy penalty to all such checks dealing with humanoids. He is granted a +2 profane bonus to Intimidate checks thanks to this change as well. This creature type change, and hence skill penalty & bonus, cannot be reversed unless the face of the beast loses his scars (see These Scars)
Touch of Armageddon (Su): Upon reaching fifth level, a face of the beast channels a connection to supernatural fiery and destructive energies. When casting a spell or using a weapon that does at least 1d6 of fire damage, he automatically adds another 1d6 fire damage. For chaotic weapons or spells that deal at least 1d6 variable damage, he instead adds 1d4 fire damage. These two effects can stack with each other but not upon themselves (a fiery weapon only get +1d6 fire damage, no matter how many magical fire properties it has, but a chaotic flaming weapon would deal 1d6+d4 additional fire damage).

PLAYING A FACE OF THE BEAST
Despite the fairly uniform reaction that societies tend to display towards faces of the beast (see below), these individuals tend to vary greatly in motivation, means, and philosophy.
Combat: Due to their class abilities and affinity with fire, it's rare to find a Face of the Beast who doesn't use a flaming or flaming burst weapon, though the particular weapon tends to be a matter of personal preference. Most members of this class are fearless, and tend to favor very direct, offensive combat. However, those who practiced a different combat style previous to entering the class may still retain that, so some Faces of the Beast do use ranged combat or stealthy/hit-and-run tactics. When possible, many choose to fight near or even inside of buildings or wilderness that's on fire, with their Iron Lungs allowing them to ignore any penalties from smoke and intimidating opponents with carefully timed Fueling the Flames.

FACE OF THE BEAST IN THE WORLD
There was no reason to it. One madman in the night, and the whole town of petrified trees, that little gem nestled away in the heart of the elven queendom, now lies charred and dead. - Anonymous traveler and witness of the destruction of Ille Nievere

Civilization has always appreciated fire but likewise realized its destructive capacity must be kept in check. At most, fire is to be used against one's opponents in war; otherwise it belongs solely in the hearth or the midsummer bonfire.
A face of the beast who is recognized as such is usually seen with prominent burns- yet holding a torch or other flaming item. As such, the association between this class and dangerously careless use of fire became widespread, leading to a great deal of distrust and outright hatred of faces of the beast in civilized and frontier regions alike.
Daily Life: It is rare for a face of the beast to choose a sedentary life. They are best suited to wandering, more often alone than not. Their skills at combat allow them to hunt for their own food and fend for thesmselves just fine.
Notables: Allegra (see below) is a good example of how an individual from a fairly ordinary life might end up as a Face of the Beast, but her power is petty in comparison with many who've walked the earth. The Trickster (Rogue 11 / Fighter 4 / Face of the Beast 5) has burned entire cities to the ground with just a bit of patience and the right knowledge of flammable substances. Mielle, a fallen paladin, recognized after her prolongued and near-fatal submersion in acid that she'd been vain, and dedicated herself to destroying the distraction of beauty in all its forms.
Organizations: There are no particular organizations dedicated to Faces of the Beast, since many (if not most) prefer to work alone. However, fire-centric or destruction-based faiths may have one or more Faces of the Beast active in their ranks.

NPC Reaction
NPCs, particularly authorities or those who live in flammable buildings, are likely to react in an unfriendly, if not hostile, manner towards faces of the beast. At best, a face of the beast might be viewed as a useful tool for a dangerous mission which the NPC doesn't want to have to do themself. At worst, they may be attacked upon sight, particularly if there have been any local arsons lately- regardless of whether this particular face of the beast (or any members of their class) were actually involved.

FACE OF THE BEAST IN THE GAME
Face of the Beast is a uniquely flavored but highly adaptable class, with a potential niche or role in nearly any campaign setting.
Adaptation: In your setting, you might decide that Faces of the Beast are in fact members of an evil, fire-centric cult, seeking to make everyone fear and respect the power of flame and its destruction. Alternatively, it might be useful for an odd villian or chaotic neutral pyromaniac, giving some unique powers to an individual with an unusual past shaped, at least in part, by their burns.
For a spellcasting version of this class, only a few adjustments are needed. Drop the HD to d6, change the good save to Will, and move the BAB to that of a Sorcerer. Remove Furious Defense. Add +1 spellcasting level for each level other than the first, and you now have a Face of the Beast variant perfect for a fire mage or destruction-focused divine caster!
Encounters: The PCs might discover a Face of the Beast at the heart of an apocalyptic cult, or perhaps as the high priest's henchmen, stirring up worry or even paranoia in common folk and nobles alike. Alternatively, one might be found as a stand-alone prophet of doom, prone to fits of destruction but at other times remarkably lucid and speaking eloquently of the civilization's inevitable fall through fire. Against an evil empire, either an icy northern one or a flammable agrarian one, PCs may instead find themselves wary but awed by a Face of the Beast fighting for freedom, or at least change.

Sample Encounter
Not all Faces of the Beast are malicious, dangerous folks; some could as easily be allies against a common threat as they could be enemies. It's up to the DM's decision of how to design the NPC's encounter with the PCs as well as the PCs' choice of how to interact with the particular Face of the Beast.
EL 11: Allegra was a tough-as-nails bodyguard for most of her life. Someone carelessly (or maliciously) dumped a cauldron of hot oil on her client as he walked through a narrow street. While she was able to push his out of the way in time, so that he only received minor burns, Allegra was severely injured, cosmetically and otherwise.

Previously, Allegra had never cared too much about her appearance, but her new scars were severe enough that she couldn't help but obssess over them. Resigning from her position, she sought to adventure independently, currently heading to a southern volcanic region, and warn others of the dangers - and power - of fire along the way.

Allegra
Female human barbarian 10 / face of the beast 1
TN medium humanoid (human)
Init +8, Senses: Listen +14, Spot +1
Languages Common
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AC 18, touch 18, flat-footed 18 (14 if immobilized)
hp 75 (11 HD)
Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +4
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Speed 40 ft. (8 squares)
Melee +1 flaming greatsword +14/+9 (2d6+3 plus 1d6 fire, 19-20/x2)
Base Atk +10/+5, Grp +12
Atk Options Rage 3/day
Combat Gear necklace of fireballs (type II), potion of cure moderate wounds
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Abilities Str 17 (15), Dex 18 (16), Con 16, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 11
SQ Double-Sided Flesh (fire resistance 5), literate, Uncanny Dodge, Improved Uncanny Dodge, Trap Sense +3, Damage Reduction 2, These Scars
Feats Improved Initiative, Blind Fight, Combat Reflexes, Weapon Focus (Greatsword), Power Attack
Skills Intimidate +14, Jump +13, Listen +14, Survival +15
Possessions combat gear plus +1 flaming greatsword, +1 studded leather armor, boots of dexterity +2, gauntlets of ogre power, everburning torch, 23 gp

Vulpine fluff, unedited for now

Right, Tempest Fanatic was promised that I’d write some fluff for his race, the Vulpines, and so finally I’m going to actually write up there back ground.  Now I wanted to base them on the Volsci people of pre Roman Italy, but there is very little known about there culture and customs, so I just made up a lot of the details. The Volsci were a nearby tribe who constantly harassed the Roman when they are a small regional power.  So I am using what elements of there culture I could find (if anybody has any good sites about them, let me know) and make the rest up.  Bear in mind, this is the Vulpine’s in my game, where they are trapped between a rather hard savaged land, and a powerful expansionist empire.  Also based it off the fox perception in tales, and the expression “A fox many know many little things, a hedgehog will know one big thing”

            The Vulpines are a hill tribe, but unlike most, they are not nomadic.  Instead, their civilization is a stationary one, with large communities being set up when they can.   However they are often mistaken for nomadic, because they are forced to wander in order to find good land to set up their communities.  Thus small bands of Vulpines are often found moving through their hills or swamps in order to find a suitable place to build.  More confusion is caused due to the nature of their villages.  With the exception of their grand temples, all of the houses are not build out of stone, but are instead tents, or made of wood, or even tree houses, as the Vulpines make a conscious effort to not disturb the environment around them, and try their level best to avoid conflict.  The society is highly communal, with the entire society dedicated to helping each other out, but there is a strong society hierarchy within the community, based very much around how much attention an individual can gain himself.  While officially, there are only three social levels within society, Druid, Warrior, and Citizen respectfully (some societies keep slaves, through only the richest and most decedent, as slaves can’t be obtain in a large enough number to be used for anything other than showing off wealth), in reality, a Vulpine’s position is assured not by their birth or position so much as their ability to call attention to themselves.  Vulpine society is a constant popularity fight, as every indivisual tires to draw attention to themselves in order to make a splash and establish themselves in society, as truly popular Vulpines are able to direct and take charge of the community and act with impunity.  A Vulpin who has establish himself as a social kingpin can decide when the society moves, goes to war, or makes treaties, simply by “suggesting” a certain idea, which there many friends and partitions will take up the cause until it becomes reality.  The only counter to these cults of personality are the Druids, who’s word is law and can at any time override any “community decision”.  Only the most daring and influence Vulpin will challenge a Druid’s veto, and those that do will often find themselves in trouble, often finding their lands stormed upon, their animals rowdy, or, in some of the more shadowy communities, simply “disappear”.

            Vulpines are thus constantly trying to draw attention to themselves and make a splash in their communities.  Great care is taken by ambitious Vulpines to try to attract as much attention as possible to their every action in order to advance up the social ladder, however Vulpines at the top will in turn take great care to try to nip any possible threats in the bud and will try their best to limit the acclaim of lesser Vulpines, often trying to arrange a way to steal other’s credit entirely. In short, Vulpine society is a constant popularity contest, as each individual tries to stay in the public eye so as to increase there personal prestige.  Thus, the Vulpine views on art, writing, poetry, and philosophy are dictated more on how they get attention of the public and keep it.  Thus, a young wealthy Vulpines will learn to play music, and will show off his talents at a party, but most will not learn professionally, nor bother with pieces that are too obscure or complicated to bring positive acclaim, but will instead learn simply for the ability to show off that they are talented.  Singers and poets will produce based on what will get the crowds attention and, if the community is wealthy enough to have a music industry, money.  Dancing is never pursued as an art form, merely as a way to make an impression.  The average Vulpine will know plenty of tidbits about various interesting facts but will mostly focus upon showing off before anything else.  However, Vulpines’ aren’t necessarily shallow, for all of there pretensions, they are a vibrant people, but the view social class as an elaborate game to be played rather than real interactions, (Vulpines are much more honest with the nuclear family), but they find this “game” endlessly amusing, through, unlike humans, Vulpines don’t take it as seriously, as the real details of the community are taken care of by the druids.

 In order to keep this society actually functional, most of the “real” responsibility within the community is given to the warrior and druid class.  The warrior “class” isn’t just any Vulpline who can fight, which is most of the population, but instead professionally trained Vulpine who’s are committed to making sure that the society actually works, and maintaining the order.  Technically speaking, professional warriors, called shield maidens, as they are all female, are apart from the elaborate social structure of the Vulpines, through they have no official authority apart from that granted to them by the Druids, in reality, they act as enforcers of the Druid’s will.  The real masters of the society, through they would prefer not to have to deal with the political intrigues are the Druid/priests, who manage the great temples and try to keep the Vulpine race focused upon the importance of nature worship.  And for all of their foolishness, the Vulpines are deeply committed to the worship of nature, through rumors exist of Vulpines settlements that have departed the worship of nature and have embraced a fully decedent society, through other speak of society where the druids have taken a more active role in controlling society, often mentioned along with rumors of human sacrifice and cruel rites.  The Druids generally however, work to keep the society in check, and all major decisions will need their support, but otherwise focus mostly upon their religion and trying to help maintain the society. 

Due to their urban nature, Vulpines are somewhat reluctantly accepted, earning a well-earned reputation as charmers, as well as tricksters.  But Vulpines do generally attempt to stay on good terms with those who live near by, but they are perfectly willing to fight to protect their land, surrounded as they are by hostile forces.  However, Vulpines are know to try to nip off chunks of enemy land that they use for building community and farming, as their own lands tend to be hard places to set up farms.  Vulpines dislike straight out war with any fraction, preferring instead to raid and harass larger border nations, and will often unite with other fractions when they do go to war.  For example, if a neighboring human kingdom comes into conflict with a Vulpine tribe, the local tribe will send diplomats to all of the local groups in the area to try to pit them against their enemy before attacking themselves.  Vulpines prefer to attack nations who are already weak and struggling, as their small populations and generally peaceful life style mean they aren’t disposed to straight fight with well-organized foes.  However they are dangerous threat if riled and Vulpine raiders can be a plague upon a society for decades if they aren’t stopped.  Vulpines prefer not to go to war against foes who haven’t actually wronged them, or are generally good societies, but if they feel that the community has offended them or mistreated them, and they will have no compunctions about raiding and harassing the outlying settlements.  The tactics of the Vulpines differ from tribe to tribe, the mostly Good tribes will reserve their wraith to enemy solders or theft rather than murder or pillaging, the neutral ones will fight those who resist but otherwise leave the native alone, focusing mostly on taking land, and obtaining food, while evil tribes will try to destroy as many communities as possible until their enemy has had enough and tries to come to terms.  As a rule, Vulpines have no interest in excessive cruelty, even the evil ones, and focus instead on “getting the job done”. However, their raiding tactics, coupled with the fact that they have no problem about allying themselves with gnolls or goblins, lead to Vulpines being lumped with he former as nothing more than “demi human pests” to be exterminated, which has led to intense human/Vulpine tensions.  Vulpines do unite with gobliniod races, but in all honesty, they tend to unite with any race if it will help them in times of war, they aren’t particularly prejudice against any non Vulpine.  They refuse to unite with any race that they feel is “disrespecting nature” however, which normally leads to conflict with both humans, and orcs (and occasionally gnomes).  The only race Vulpines seem to generally like better than others are halfings, due to there witty and urban nature, through halfings have commented upon being disturbed by the Vulpines obsession with social standing.  Vulpines hate Kenders, finding them, as one ArchDruid put it “really annoying…just annoying little buggers.”, and will often try to lead them away from their settlements using what-ever means possible.  Otherwise, Vulpines try to stay on good terms with everyone in the area.  

from

EE