I love OtherWorld Creations, and I love their Genius Guides. Their Pathfinder creations are worth every penny for the extra content they provide. My favorite so far is the Genius Guide to the Shadow Assassin, but today I'd like to talk about the Genius Guide to the Armiger.

The armiger is an interesting concept. While I was not sold on it by the intro text, I still was curious to see what OtherWorld Creations had in mind when they created the class. The armiger is presented as a survivor of the highest order, resilient and steadfast. I did not immediately see the space the class filled as an important one, but the potential of the armiger talents won me over.

The armiger focuses on armor and distance weapons to bolster allies and keep the enemy at bay. The aspect of the armiger that really interested me was the focus on many uses for armor. The armiger is able to use his armor to blunt some attack damage and gain protection against some environmental threats, and shields are integrated into the combat strategies available to him.

As the armiger gains experience, even more avenues of defense become available. Damage Reduction becomes more powerful and the armiger can even learn some low-level protective spells. Many of these benefits are not limited to the armiger himself, either. Adjacent allies can receive soft (or hard, if the armiger takes the Citadel talent) cover, and the armiger can even switch places with an ally in order to take a blow for them.

Beyond combat, the armiger also has a decent supply of skill points and an eclectic array of skills. The armiger is definitely focused on combat, but it certainly doesn't become useless in any other scenario.

The production values for the Genius Guide to the Armiger are high, as I have come to expect from OtherWorld Creations. The illustrations are interesting and the text and tables are all readable. The section of the PDF on "Using the armiger in your campaign" reflects the thought OtherWorld Creations puts into its Pathfinder products, and as a player and a GM I appreciate their thoroughness.

While not my favorite of the Genius Guides, the Genius Guide to the Armiger is a solid buy for most Pathfinder games. The role may be too secondary for some gamers, but I encourage you to give it a try.