At the heart of every fantasy role-playing game is the magic and combat that fans love. Swords and sorcery are the tools that bring fantastical worlds to life, and the designers at Paizo Publishing created a hardback book called "Ultimate Combat" that expands almost every character class, combat option, spell, weapon, feat and archetype in Golarion.
The book "Ultimate Combat" is divided into six chapters full of ideas to flesh out game details. Chapter one covers classes and chapter two covers character feats. Chapter three gives players and game masters options for combat mastery. Chapter four contains rules for vehicles and chapter five has variant rules. Chapter six rounds out the book with a host of new spells with full spell descriptions.
Chapter one introduces all of the rules to run three new character classes: the gunslinger, ninja and samurai. For existing classes there is an armory full of archetypes to bring new flavor to core rulebook favorites. For example, the paladin holy tactician and ranger trophy hunter are new archetypes from among more than 75. New cavalier orders, barbarian rage powers and rogue talents are just a few of the rich details found in this chapter.
Chapter two expands feats from the core rulebook, an advanced player's guide and ultimate magic books. It also introduces new combat feats, metamagic feats, critical feats and teamwork feats. The coolest part of this chapter is a bunch of grit and style feats that are brand new feat categories. For example, a new gunslinger grit feat called ricochet shot lets a player character make shots off of walls or objects to strike enemies. Bullseye!
Chapter three goes beyond the Western-European fighting styles of medieval Europe and introduces Eastern armor and weapons. Rules for firearms, gladiator weapons, primitive armor and weapons, duels, performance combat and siege engines are all here. Of particular interest in this chapter are the illustrations of the exotic and exciting weaponry such as the pepperbox gun, axe musket or the butterfly sword.
The chapter four rules on vehicles cover more than using them as adventure sites or story hooks, but the chapter covers using vehicles in combat such as jumping from a horse cart or a dragon attacking an airship. At just under 20 pages, the rules for vehicular combat are streamlined and easy to use. For example, ramming damage is done based on vehicle size and rolling eight-sided dice. The chapter also has stats for all kinds of vehicles such as wagons, ships, gliders and airships.
Variant rules for combat are available in chapter five. These rules differ from previous iterations by allowing players and game masters to alter the traditional Pathfinder RPG combat system and bring in some exciting new options. One of the great things about Pathfinder RPG combat is the robust system available to gamers, but here gamers will find a variety of options to bring in exciting and fast-paced combat that is satisfying and comprehensive. There are rules for damage reduction, called shots, piecemeal armor, playing with wounds and how vigorous a character is. Gamers can decide what they want to use.
The final chapter on spells presents a brand new set of incantations for almost every spellcaster. Spells are an important part of combat, and having some new firepower is essential. At the game table, it's always cool to pull out something new to amaze friends and fellow gamers. This chapter will not disappoint. Whether it's an anti-paladin deafening an opponent with a litany of thunder or a magus escaping close combat with the spell burst of speed, this book has it covered.
As with all Pathfinder books, the production quality of Ultimate is first rate and looks handsome sitting on the shelf with other game books. Be aware that the artwork contains monsters, heroes, combat, magic and high fantasy images. The book delivers exactly what its title states. There are a ton of new things to enhance a game of Pathfinder, and it's books like this one that will keep the hobby alive for a long time to come.