Friday, March 12, 2021

Fiend Folio Review I-L

The reviewing comes forth once again.

Ice Lizard
The Firedrake's frosty counterpart. Pretty bland. Basically just a less powerful dragon with an ice theme.

Imorph
A fun gimmick, it mimics its opponents shape and attack patterns, but only one at a time, so missed opportunity for it to split off into multiple sub-sections that mimic each player and one core. The organ that when eaten grants polymorph is sweet and a good incentive to interact with this creature. Could maybe use something give it more distinct visual appearance however. As well, what does this creature do? Is it a wizard experiment? Does it exist as part of ecosystems somehow? 

An iron cobra being commanded to guard a treasure, protect the owner, or  assassinate a target (Alan Hunter, AD&D Fiend Foli… | Iron cobra, School  games, Old school

Iron Cobra
I love this thing, its literally just a metal snake that does what you command and has some poisonous fangs but I love it anyway. A bit sparse in abilities that make it unique (the hidden compartment for poison is nice) but 'big magic robot snake' is a strong enough concept it stands on its own (at least to me, but Im biased because I like big magic robot snakes).

Jaculi
Ehhh, they're snakes that leap at you? Not the worst of creatures but a bit bland. Could be spiced up with like, how people interact with them. Maybe they get used to make traps?

Jermlaine 
These guys are pretty neat enough, tiny evil people who will beat you up and wreck mischief. Bane-midges is a delightful name also. However they don't really speak to me in anyway. So I guess Im pretty neutral on them. 

The kamadan resembles a large leopard with 4-7 snakes emerging from its  shoulders. It appears to be … | Dungeons and dragons, Fantasy role playing,  Roleplaying game

Kamadan
Honestly this things pretty bitchin' even for how sparse it is. Sweet aesthetic, an interesting power (breath is a cone of sleep). But it does lack a certain je-ne-sais-quoi that would make it amazing. Namely it needs some motivations/behaviors/basically any kind of point for interaction that's not just combat. Maybe something that builds off of the sleep breathe. Does it kidnap people? Put them to sleep and eat their dreams?

Kelpie
A bit disappointing that they didn't play up the horse features but lump of seaweed that tries to lure you to your doom is fun enough. Some of that old 'evil sexy seductress stuff' and 'females' being immune (blech). The bit about kelpies perhaps having been created by a sea-lord angry that people did not pay proper respects is cool.


Kenku
Its interesting how much Kenku have changed since this original one which is described as having the head of a hawk and has a rather noble bearing (quite the difference from the scraggily crow things of nowadays). The bits concerning polymorph and disguise feel wonderfully appropriate for the Kenku, but the other spells fall a bit flat since they don't really tie into the theme very well. I love the detail about them freely giving out treasure that will crumble to dust later, not enough of that sort of thing. Stuff like the treasure and the disguising feel delightfully folkloric, though its muddled by the naturalist bent many of these entries take.

Khargra
Sold if odd. Got a reason to interact (the guts full of precious metals) got a unique feature (eats metals and rock) and a fun aesthetic (leaps out of stone like a fish). Could use some more concrete points of interaction, and the design is... odd. But a good enough being even if I couldn't see myself using it anytime soon. 

Killmoulis
Not particularly my cup of tea but not bad either. A good 'spirit negotiation' type problem for the players to solve. the detail about cat/dog antagonism is excellent, especially since it offers a route for the players to take in order to remove one if that situation would arise.

Deep Dive - The Kuo-Toa — Dump Stat Adventures

Kuo-Toa
Bestist. right up there with bullywugs. Love me some fish people. A bit iffy in areas (oh their naturally unstable and prone to insanity that's nice :I ) but underground fish people is such a strange & strong theme. I love the detail about them coating their shields with glue, and I utterly adore the bit about two kuo-toan priest's joining hands to shoot lighting, that's just mwah (I can't help but imagine it looks a bit like lightening bending from Avatar with the wide stance and pointing fingers). My biggest criticism is that there's lots of bloat and meaningless details (like the random table of strength scores ???). But their a soldi and fun concept to work with.

Lamia Noble
Meh, people with the lower body of a snake. Could be very evocative and cool in the right hands. But with just the text in this entry they're pretty boring. However I'm partial to snake people and I think they could be turned into something delightful with some work.

Lava Children
A pretty good aesthetic but like many of these entries lacking in strong hooks besides 'fight it'. The detail about just ignoring metal is good. 

Lizard King
L I Z A R D  K I N G
K I N G  L I Z A R D
They've got a trident and they mean to use it.
All Hail The Lizard King

That is all. Further reviewing in progress.

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