Review of Advanced Races Compendium

So, after my experience with Kobold Press' "Tome of Beasts" (reviewed elsewhere) I began a search locally at my Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS) to find other Kobold Press editions.

What I ended up buying was the "Advanced Races Compendium" - a book created to allow Player Characters to choose from over 20 new races for Pathfinder/  So, I bought it.  What a tome again!  336 pages (with three pages of ads for other Kobold Press books).  Over twenty new races possibly for players.  However, I found that I probably would not use the vast majority of these races for PC's.  Certainty the more evil races should always be NPC's - but the rules for evil races in this book allow for great customization for the GM. 

Everything from Aasimars to Werelions - but a few should have been better off in the Appendix  - which includes much shorter write ups of four races.  Also, a couple of the detailed races should have gone into the Appendix and good races brought out to expanded write ups.  If it had been me, I would have shortened the "Werelion" section to the Appendix, and enlarged the Kitsune. 

Kobold Press has done a decent job of converting these unusual choices to characters that would not overbalance a game.  The Centaurs section is my personal favorite.  About 10 pages of gorgeous art an equal amount for statistics.  Lizardfolk would probably become Serpentfolk in my campaign.  Then, somewhere, there is a Kitsune settlement or two.  The Drow section took me back to my first real exposure to D&D, where I played a half-Drow/Half-Human hybrid that =hated= Drow because they had raped his mother and, oddly enough, conceived him.

Overall, this is just about as nice a book as the fantastic Tome of Beasts (5th Edition).  Every Pathfinder GM should at least take a look at it.  One of my highest recommendations.  If i was allowed, I'd give it 4 1/2 stars for including a couple races that should have been relegated to the Appendix, and at least one race in the Appendix that should have been one of the choices for expansion to a full entry.