I received a copy of Born of the scale: Drophan by An Eldritch Dream Games (via DriveThru RPG) to review. From their Eldritch Court Races line, the Drophan is a playable race of creatures that are the descendants of Half-Dragons.
The File
The PDF consists of 9 total pages that includes 1 cover page, 1 credits page, 5 1/2 pages of rules content, 1/2 page of items, 1 1/2 pages dedicated to an iconic character, and 1 page of FAQ. The layout and style is simple and looks nice and the art is minimal (Eldritch Dream Games cover image/logo and Iconic portrait). Despite this simplicity the PDF’s file size is 47 MB (most of the PDFs of this nature I have are between 2-10 MB).
The Review
The content begins with the usual introduction, description, society, relation, alignment, adventurer, and name content. I found all of this content to be of a proper length that gets the point across without trying to be too short and without rambling. Inclusion of age ranges was nice, as was a reference to non-human variants of drophan.
The core race content was grouped in a way indicating that the base concept lines up with using Race Points from Advanced Race Guide, and they even provided the Race Point build cost of 15 points, which allows you to compare it to races similar in power, such as aasimar (which is also 15 RP). Beyond that were 9 alternate racial traits, 7 favored classes, and 9 feats ensure that there is plenty of replay with the race, or even that a party full of drophans will be just as varied as a mixed party. I thought the two items were nicely themed and still usable by non-drophan characters. While there were a number of format and layout issues that didn’t line up with the way Paizo products present similar information, everything was easy to read and follow. There was a piece of content missing from the initial PDF but the author its responsive already has a fix on the way.
Adding an iconic drophan to the PDF was a treat. It provides a taste of the race in action, is a look at how the creator sees them in play, and provides a quick way to drop one into a game to introduce them to players without needing to do extra work.
Closing the PDF with this FAQ is a nice touch. My first thought was that an FAQ meant the content could have been clearer, but after a quick read I realized that this FAQ provides quick answers to common concerns about interactions between the racial traits and feats that are similar as well as interactions with existing feats from other products.
The Verdict
If you enjoy the idea of a race of draconic descendants with a new angle and different story, this product has options for you. Alternate racial traits, feats, favored classes, and items all provide plenty of variety that fit the flavor presented. I like what I read, see myself using it, and recommend it to any Pathfinder player that enjoys draconic options. I give it 4 of 5 stars.