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Letters from the Flaming Crab: Imaginary Friends $4.99
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Letters from the Flaming Crab: Imaginary Friends
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Letters from the Flaming Crab: Imaginary Friends
Publisher: Flaming Crab Games
by Thilo G. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 07/13/2018 13:49:26

An Endzeitgeist.com review

The, for now, final installment of the amazing „Letters from the Flaming Crab“-series clocks in at 25 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 3 pages of SRD, leaving us with 20 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

The pdf, as always, begins with a nice in-character narrative of the exploits of the planes/world-hopping vessel that grants the series the in-prose name, as well as a brief commentary by the faithful scribe J Gray, who transcribes these letters. I still consider this framing device charming and hope that it will be retained once/if the series returns.

Anyway, the supplement’s base framework and idea is pretty cool: We have kids describing imaginary friends, which are then codified as proper entities. Rules-wise, the imaginary friends can be player-relevant, with a feat allowing you to take imaginary friends as familiars in a variant upgrade feat, with minimum level range spanning 7th to 11th level – yes, these are not exactly weak. The second feat, Wonder nets you one class skill chosen from a list of 4, 1/day see invisibility as a SP and +2 to Will-saves versus illusions, but also imposes a -1 penalty to saves vs. enchantment spells and effects.

So, this is one way to get in on the mechanics herein; the imaginary friends gained are built on a NB CR 2 base form. They defy detection and their presence bestows a bonus to saves versus fear effects to their ward – the ward, obviously, being the entity the imaginary friend guards. Unique: The younger the kid, the more potent the friend can be. Depending on the highest unaugmented/buffed attribute of the ward, they also gain a specific ability suite – as a minor nitpick, the pdf does not specify what happens when two attributes are equally high. Imaginary friends can’t truly be slain and rejuvenate a few hours after being vanquished, and they may 1/day manifest physically, but at great risk – when slain while manifested, they may permanently die!

Now, manifested forms can sometimes great deviate from the regular, incorporeal ones, which also means that we get separate stats if applicable (nice), and that these may even have a different CR! So, here is the adorable thing about this pdf: We get artworks either drawn by kids, or emulating kid-drawings at the very least pitch-perfectly for the imaginary friends!

So, what kind of imaginary friends do we get? Well, there would be CR 2 Animay, a sweet, Tiny girl that has limited bardic abilities and carries an oversized pencil as a “weapon” of sorts. Caloon Ready Freddy was a bit heart-rending, as the red creature has a frog-like head and red skin – it is truly good and, as the book notes, quoting, “When daddy died, he became Caloon Ready Freddy…” – I kinda gulped there. With jumpy legs, hypnotic eyes and a tentacle arm that can be turned into a sensory net, the CR 8 creature is inspiring.

Crocodile B, a CR 5 yellow crocodile that doesn’t like being touched due to a nasty scar, can change shapes and may grab targets regardless of size. Deaths, is CR 7, and came from a fear of dying. Creepy-looking and armed with an adamantine pitchfork, the drawing could have been taken from my own notepads when I was young. Rules-wise, this one is slightly less interesting, with a fear aura and suitable SPs, though. Ella is a Cr 3 classic: An under-stuffed, oversized Medium blue elephant, with an aura of friendship.

Lady Cimini, a motherly mini CR 5 imaginary friend, is vulnerable to air, and gets volcano mystery-based ability. She also is a shapeshifter that prefers hamster form – and while in hamster-form, she can’t cast, but she can assume the shape of a mini volcano! Cool! Magicus is slightly more conservative in rules, as the CN CR 4 floating ghost-like entity in tuxedo and top hat is primarily defined by spellcasting. Mister Bora, at CR 5, wields a massive sword of air and may assume panther form and use abilities in conjunction with this form. Rules-wise, this imaginary friend employs kineticist options, making the character feel different from many comparable creatures. Nice job.

Pat’chin (CR 4) is great regarding the imaginative potential the creature shows: A smiling, benevolent spider-pumpkin-looking thing with arms and a warm smile, capable of carrying immense loads. The pistol squidshark (CR 3) is a tiny shark’s body with a squid’s tentacles and head – they can only jet when moving backward, fly and swim, get the ink cloud – and the ward may grab them and use them as a nonlethal weapon! That is amazing! Damn, as someone who loves squid and octopodes, I wished I had one of these…

Secorit, a rather shy friend, carries a pink, heart-shaped bottle with liquid inside, and sports an aura of honestly. In combat, this CR 5 imaginary friend may use Diplomacy to buff versus foes. Minor nitpick: The rules here are not perfect, assuming (or at least looking like it) an opposed roll, which is not how this works in PFRPG. Shaper is a robot with a friendly face and triangular pieces stacked to form arms of sort , which can btw. be fired! Spotty reminded me of my own two imaginary friend when I was 3 – it’s a CR 3 Dalmatian, only 6 feet long, with spots that oscillate like the rainbow. For me, it was a spotted stallion, but yeah – I can relate. The spots change color, depending on Spotty’s mood, and spotty actually has a calming touch.

Trobot Espenzale, at CR 4, is a dancing robot whose arms extend and contract, represented in the SPs this fellow has, as well as the ability to become quicker. Waterwave, at CR 4, can short-range quasi-teleport and fire concussive blasts. Finally, there’d be Wobinar, swirling light manifesting in a chaotic, hovering mass – easily the most abstract of the friends, an interesting, since kids don’t often gravitate to abstract concepts: Composed of living light, this one has a really interesting angle, with color spray touch. Yes, CLs and DCs are properly noted!

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are very good on a formal and rules-language level – I noticed no grievous snafus. Layout adheres to the relatively printer-friendly 2-column full-color standard of the series, and the pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience. Artworks, as noted, are kid’s drawings, and I really like this here – they emphasize the theme rather well.

The creative minds and sense of innocent wonder of the kids that contributed these friends, Charlie, Clara, Giorgio, Isaac, Kennedy, London, Lumi, Michele, and Oliver, are to be applauded – I bet few kids ever got a writing credit this soon! Anyways, developer J Gray and publisher Alex Shanks-Abel deliver a wonderful little tome that really oozes joy and warm-heartedness. It’s not something most adults could have come up with. I know I couldn’t have.

You see, I can do exciting, epic, dark, horrific, etc. – I’m a pretty adept and versatile designer and GM…but I can’t, for the life of me, do innocent wonder. Perhaps it’s all the cynicism of the age, perhaps it’s me…but true wonder is hard to convey, to replicate, to emulate. This pdf does manage to do just that. The material herein is wholesome, heartwarming, and a pleasure to read. Now, not all of the imaginary friends herein are necessarily, from a pure design-perspective, genius, but they had to conform to the visions of the authors, i.e. the kids…and, as a whole, they do so admirably.

As a whole, I thoroughly enjoyed this book – particularly in conjunction with Everyman Gaming’s excellent Childhood Adventures toolkit, it can make for an inspiring little offering and add some serious fun to a campaign featuring or for, children. As an aside: I could see e.g. a storyline centering on adult PCs researching missing imaginary friends as a unique and rewarding storyline to pursue.

As far as rating is concerned, my final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars, rounded up for the purpose of this platform. This pdf may not reinvent the wheel, but it is a great little supplement to read once you’re tired of darkness, grit, etc.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Letters from the Flaming Crab: Imaginary Friends
Publisher: Flaming Crab Games
by Kim F. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/04/2018 08:49:28

This was originally review 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 )



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Letters from the Flaming Crab: Imaginary Friends
Publisher: Flaming Crab Games
by Santo A. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/30/2017 15:18:13

For a complete review, please check out : http://goo.gl/GAwtXB

This book is imaginative, fun, and a nice break from the norm but is ultimately pretty niche. Even with the 16 new creatures and 2 new feats created by this book I found myself wanting more information about the origins of these mysterious creatures. Templates which allow you the ability to help create your own imaginary friend would be amazing or random encounter tables with story ideas for how to integrate into an already running adventure would have done wonders.

Despite this criticism, I’m happy to have this in my collection, and just based off its creativity alone I would rate this content a solid A-.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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