A Review of the Role Playing Game Supplement The Genius Guide to Loot 4 Less Vol. 10: Fezzes Are Cool!

The Genius Guide to Loot 4 Less Vol. 10: Fezzes Are Cool! by Owen K.C. Stephens is a role playing game supplement published by Rogue Genius Games (originally as Super Genius 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 the tenth and last supplement in a series which details low-value permanent magic items.

The PDF is available from RPGNow for $3.99 but was purchased at the greatly reduced price of $0.20 as part of a special bundle. This is a thirteen page PDF with two thirds of a page being the front cover and one page being the Credits and Open Game License.

The supplement opens with a long explanation as to the intent of the series, something that many of the supplements after Vol. 1 have tended to shorten. The aim is to provide permanent magic items – no one-shots or limited charge items – under 2,500 gp that can be used to make treasure more interesting and varied, rather than everyone having +1 weapons and armour, to help build wealth for lower level characters and give mid level crafters more items to create.

This supplement covers headgear of all types, not just fezzes, including masks and other items worn on the face. There are first two optional rules, both for item creation. The first allows characters with Craft (armorer) to create helms and helmets that are wondrous items with the Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat instead of Create Wondrous Item. The second allows spellcasters with class skills in Knowledge (nature) and survival to create wondrous items that are masks with any magic item crafting feat, not just Create Wondrous Item.

Next are the wondrous items themselves. There are 22 items in total, and one comes in three different varieties, with the suggestion that more can be made. None of these are armour but they are interesting and have a variety of uses. There is another Swiss Army Knife device, like the rod of many uses from Vol. 3: Hot Rods and the belt of many uses from Vol. 8: Belt One On – this is the hat of many uses which can be reshaped into many different items by stretching, tearing and damaging it, after which it can be returned to a normal hat. One of the titular fezzes is the fez of escape – which does not do what it says. Despite being blazoned with “Fez of Escape” in many languages, generally those of the most common threats, it simply renders the wearer invisible if they are knocked unconscious, helpless or paralysed; the theory is that the attacker(s) will believe the wearer has teleported and not look around for an invisible body.

The domino mask is a cut price hat of disguise. This will only allows the wearer to have one disguise, as disguise self, which must be chosen when the mask is worn for the first time. The mask is always visible when the disguise is used, but not otherwise, and said disguise must incorporate some type of traditionally disguised theme – think Zorro for example. Ideal for superheroes too.

The Genius Guide to Loot 4 Less Vol. 10: Fezzes Are Cool! in Review

The PDF lacks bookmarks and, despite its length, these would have been useful given the number of items. The text maintains the old three column landscape format used by Super Genius Games, which is intended to be easier to read on screens and tablets, but is less true with smaller tablets and not convenient for printing. No errors were noticed. There are a number of black and white illustrations; not specifically of headgear but all of people wearing such. Many of the illustrations are recognisable as being by Larry Elmore, who has done a fair few character portraits, and the others are similar enough in style that they match fairly well. Presentation is above average for the series.

The title of the supplement would seem to be a clear reference to a line from the Eleventh Doctor “It’s a fez, I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool.” – itself a variant on his “bow ties are cool” line. Another popular culture reference is perhaps the fez of storing, which allows items to be stored inside it – perhaps a reference to the late Tommy Cooper, a comedic magician who wore a fez.

There are as usual a number of Behind the Scenes sidebars which explain how the prices of some items were determined; useful, given how poorly such are covered in the Core Rulebook. One of these even covers a major problem in magic item design and pricing – spells in a can are considered to be poor magic items that should be avoided, yet pricing is based on such, making more interesting items hard to price.

This is one of the more interesting supplements on the Loot 4 Less series. Although none of the items are armour, they do cover a wide range of fairly different uses, some more useful than others. The Genius Guide to Loot 4 Less Vol. 10: Fezzes Are Cool! can be found by clicking here.