Faction: Tear Sworn by Chris Bayes is a role playing game supplement published by Fat Goblin Games for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. This is a faction intended for use with the Shadows Over Vathak setting.
The supplement is available as a 13-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $3.41 but was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. One page is the front cover, one the front matter, one the Contents and one the Open Game License.
History gives details on how the faction came to be. This happened when a paladin returned home and discovered his town had been overrun by undead created from the townsfolk. He and one child were the only survivors and swore never to let such happen again, and an order built up around them with a goal of fighting the undead.
The order’s symbol is looked at and the goal is to keep the dead at peace and stop them from being raised as undead. This is a Lawful Good faction and the leader, and the other survivor, are described. The best class choices are covered, as is the faction’s headquarters. How to join the faction, its secrecy and rituals and some faction adventure hooks are given.
The ways to gain and lose prestige are listed, as well as the resources at different levels of TPA and CPA. Following this are the traits and feats for the faction, some faction-specific equipment and who their allies are.
Faction: Tear Sworn in Review
The PDF is bookmarked with the various sections linked. The Contents is to a similar level of depth and is hyperlinked. Navigation is good. The text maintains a two-column format and some minor errors were noticed. There are a variety of colour illustrations. Presentation is good.
This does what it looks like; provides details on a new faction. This is most useful if factions are being used in a setting; otherwise, it is more of a description of an organisation with some less-usable parts. The faction could perhaps have been gone into in more detail, with complete descriptions of the leaders, example rank and file NPCs and the headquarters, but it provides a decent basis. Though the faction is intended for use with the Shadows Over Vathak setting, there is very little to really tie it to that setting and an undead-fighting faction is easy enough to drop into many settings, making this broadly useful. Faction: Tear Sworn is a decent little supplement and it can be found by clicking here.
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