Ponyfinder by Libertad!

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posted by Libertad! Original SA post

Your avatar is prophetic, for I was working on this review before you posted a reply.




*Aside from the title, there is no artwork inside the book. I'll be sprucing up this review with some MLP images.

Originally known as Ponies for Pathfinder, Ponyfinder details a new fantasy race for the Pathfinder RPG: Ponies! Of note is that the authors' primary intentions were for creating a balanced race, one which would not overshadow the traditional races nor be overly hampered with limitations. We'll see soon if they succeed.



Ponies are a race of equine fey who in ancient times oversaw various aspects of nature. In modern times they delegated much of this, and now live in isolated societies in remote reaches of the wilderness. They are slightly matriarchal and mostly Lawful Good, and they develop a "Brand of Destiny" on their flank upon maturity. Said brand represents a drive, passion, or thing of significant importance to the pony.

The other PHB races tolerate their presence, but ponies usually have to work harder than normal to earn their trust.

Stat-wise, there is a "basic" pony, the Earth Pony: no horn like a unicorn or wings like a pegasus (for bronies, think Applejack). Other varieties of ponies trade in the basic one's abilities for alternate racial traits.



The core Pony's traits are as follows:

The bonus feat alone really ratchets up the pony in versatility. On top of that their type (fey) makes them immune to many forms of spells (sleep, charm person, etc). Overall I'd say they're slightly above the other Pathfinder core races, but not enough to up their Level Equivalency or whatever Paizo is using the Advanced Race Guide.

However, due to their physiology they're limited in what they can wear (no magic rings, etc). They can use mouth as a primary hand but this inhibits verbal spellcasting with spell failure and their hooves are ill-suited to fine manipulations. Finally, a medium or heavy encumbrance prevents somatic components (which require use of hooves).

The lack of hands is a pretty big inhibitor alone, but the prehensile mouths provide some manipulation.



Pegasi have wings and live in the sky. They trade in Hardy for Fly 30 feet (clumsy), can treat any fog or cloud as a solid object in terms of interaction (can walk on clouds), Fly is a class skill, and they have -2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, and +2 Wisdom as replacement racial ability modifiers.

Trading in +2 on saves for flight (even clumsy flight) is a worthy trade-off, in no due part to the versatility and ability to remain out of ground and melee reach.



Twilight Sparkle, by mbarbee73 of deviantart.

Unicorns are born with a horn that helps channel magic. They trade in Hardy for +2 to concentration when casting defensively, Light (centered on horn) and Mage Hand 3/day each, and replaces racial ability adjustments with +2 Intelligence, -2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution.

Not as great as Pegasus, in that both spells can be acquired as at-will cantrips by arcane spellcasters which I assume most unicorn PCs will be.

These three ponies are the most common types. The less common breeds include:



Gem Ponies have ties to the earth, and legends say that their people once had a glorious empire of hope and radiance. They replace the bonus feat racial trait with crystalline skin (+2 AC against rays and can deflect them 1/day as per Deflect Arrows), and Eternal Hope (+2 saves against fear and despair, 1/day can re-roll a natural 1), and has the (Earth) subtype.

Ray spells are a rather common type for offensive-minded mages, and that re-roll of natural 1s can save a PCs' bacon several times in a long-term campaign. I'd say it's a good trade-off.

Seaponies trace their lineage out to the oceans, a hybrid of land and sea. They trade in Hardy for Swim as a class skill, can take 10 on all Swim checks, +4 bonus on Swim, and base speed is reduced to 30 feet.

Underpowered. Why no Swim Speed, like mermaids or aquatic elves? At least the Pegasus gains a Fly Speed! And reducing land speed, that's unnecessary.

Chaos Hunters were rare even during the height of ponykind. Their lineage is a proud one, of tales of heroes and warriors who battled the forces of chaos.

You trade in your bonus feat for a +1 on all will saves (this can stack with Hardy) and a +2 dodge bonus and grapple checks against Chaotic Outsiders.

Too situational for most campaigns. Chaotic Outsiders are not very common adversaries in D&D except as demons. In a demon-hunting campaign, possible but not stellar.



Doppelgangers are ponies who discretely live among the other types, drawing power when they successfully fool people with their illusions. Overall they're quite selfish, but exceptions always abound.

They trade in their bonus feat for the Shapeshifter subtype, a specific pony shape they can change into as a standard action (+10 Disguise to appear as that pony and functions as Alter Self but with no ability score adjustment), and when they successfully use an illusion or enchantment spell on a target they gain a +1 on attack rolls, caster level checks, and ability checks for a number of rounds equal to the spell's duration.

the limited shape change is nothing special, but the +1 bonus can be useful when combined with a beneficial buff spell such as heroism (you and your party benefit). I'd say it's a fine trade-off.

Oh, and the pony types can interbreed. However, they only gain the traits of one parent or the other, not both (so you can't be a Chaos Hunter Pegasus or something like that).

Thoughts so far: I personally feel that the Pony race is overpowered due to the bonus feat and the Pegasus flight option. They make for poor melee fighters (they have no natural weapons and one "hand") and don't really excel over the other races: halflings are still the uber-rogues, Elves still the choice of wizard builds. If anything they kind of show up humans; the races' versatility in ability scores for pony types, and myriad other abilities, puts them relatively on par with the "+2 to an ability score of your choice" and extra skill point.

Next time, Pony feats and fluff text for classes!


Part 2: Feats

So in the next section we have a list of feats for ponies, themed around their nature and abilities. There's so many that I'm not going to bother quoting them all, but I'll cover most of them.

Strong Wings and Adamant Wings allows you to fly in medium and heavy armor respectively. Given that there are various flying mounts for bipedal characters who can wear heavy armor, I'd be more okay with this feat if it didn't have such steep prerequisites (levels 5 and 12+ and Dashing Flyer).

Adept Changeling allows Doppelgangers to imitate the form of any pony they've seen. It's effectively a feat for a Hat of Disguise Self. Could be useful at low levels, but after that it's easily replicated by magic items. Master Changeling allows the pony to assume humanoid forms and wear humanoid-designed equipment.

Extended and Advanced Horn Magic are 2 feats which extend a unicorn's spell-like abilities. Extended grants a permanent Mage Hand effect (indefinite use on one object), while Advanced allows for wielding weapons, shields, and medium loads; off-handed attacks can be made weapons wielded by Mage Hand, including two-handed ones, substituting Intelligence for Strength. They have no prerequisites other than Unicorn (and Extended in case of Advanced), making it really nice for mage knight builds.

Focused Horn Magic attunes the horn to a specific school of magic, granting +1 to save DC of related spells and can Extend said spells 1/day with no increase in spell level. Really, really good.

Practiced Horn Magic uses the pony's Intelligence score for carrying capacity. Combined with Advanced Horn Magic you can lift some really heavy objects.

Oh, and by the way the text is worded, the Horn Magic feats are activated whenever Mage Hand is cast, meaning that an arcane spellcaster unicorn can effectively gain an infinite-use minor telekinesis spell.

Agent of Law and Chaos Sense are for Chaos Hunters; the former grants racial bonuses to aberrations in addition to chaotic outsiders, while chaos sense grants detect chaos 2/day. Agent of Law extends the usefulness of a Chaos Hunter's abilities (there's a lot of aberrations), but Chaos Sense is too few and too situational to matter most of the time. Strike From the Heart grants True Strike 1/day against said creatures.

Cloud Kicker allows a Pegasus to destroy natural and magical cloud and fog effects by kicking it with their hind hooves. For magical ones, a dispel check is used. Given that a lot of Save or Dies and battlefield control spells are cloud-related, this can be pretty good. Weather Pony is the next feat up which allows the pony to move the entire fog/cloud effect with their movement if it's within reach. Mobile battlefield control!

Dashing Flyer increases a pony's natural fly speed by 10 feet and maneuverability by one step each time it's taken. A rather steep feat tax to get a Pegasus with a good speed, but flying's so great in 3rd Edition it's not really a waste.

Day Wing and Night Wing are feats which can be taken by pegasi, where after a ritual to the goddesses of either day/night their wings transform into butterfly/bat wings respectively. Day Wing allows the pony to automatically succeed at all Fly checks related to hovering in place, while Night Wing grants Darkvision 60 feet. Night Wing is more useful IMO, given that the DC for hovering is 15 and can eventually be automatic success at higher levels.

Pious Brand manifests the worshiped deity's holy symbol as their Brand of Destiny. It effectively functions as a divine focus for the casting of spells. Mechanics-wise it doesn't grant much, as losing a holy symbol doesn't occur that often in most games.

The Sea Pony gets the short end of the stick when it comes to feats. Return to the Sea grants a natural swim speed equal to their base land speed +10 feet, while Smooth Rise allows them to stand up from a prone position without provoking attacks of opportunity with a DC 20 Acrobatics (swift action if the result is 30 or higher). Water Burst grants hydraulic push as a spell-like ability 2 times per day. Water Affinity grants +1 Caster Level with water-related spells.

Gem Ponies get to choose from Hopeful Heart, which allows them to reroll failed saves against despair-based effects, while Beacon of Hope grants their racial bonus on saving throws against fear and despair effects to all allies within 60 feet. Lustrous Coat provides additional +2 AC against ray attacks each time it's taken.

Thoughts so far: a few feats are underpowered, some worth the price, a few definitely contain abusive potential. Pegasi get the most feats and the most varied effects in comparison to the other breeds (who are more limited in their choices). Overall this section had enough cool ideas to make it worthwhile.

Next time, ponies and character classes!


Part 3: Ponies and Character Classes

This part covers fluff text for the Pathfinder Corebook and APG character classes, along with new favored class options and other mechanical benefits.

Not too many ponies are barbarians or gunslingers due to the unorthodox fighting styles unsuited to their physiology. They're naturally drawn to the druid and ranger classes due to their fey nature and cultural legacies, while those who follow the paths of Cleric, Oracle, and Paladin are renowned for their faith and idealism. Gem ponies in particular are attracted to paladins. Most pony fighters are surprisingly unicorns, as their Horn Magic and Mage Hand allows them to wield weapons. Summoners and Witches are rare due to reluctance about forging alliances with extraplanar beings who aren't part of their pantheon.

The Favored Class Options are all over the place in terms of balance:


The Bard and Sorcerer options are immediately useful when taken, while Barbarian and Monk are one of the slowest to progress. Unlike a Rogue talent or Witch Hex, +5 to speed isn't going to be that great in the grand scheme of themes or make as great an impact on character power.

The 3 Racial Archetypes are Pony Scholar (Wizard), Witch Doctor (Witch), and Mystic Prancer (Bard).

The Pony Scholar is a more intuitively focused Wizard. In exchange for 2 additional opposition schools, they can use the best of intelligence, wisdom, or charisma for save DCs, spells per day, and related factors. Not worth it. However, at 10th level they can avoid expending a spell slot 1-3 times per day (depending upon level) in exchange for suffering a level of fatigue in exchange for their bonus feat. Totally worth it.

The Witch Doctors pledge allegiance to the myriad spirits of the land instead of a single entity. In exchange for their 8th and 10th level hexes, they can create herbal remedies which can alleviate bleeding/stun/paralysis/sleep and a witch's brew which can eliminate negative levels. The herbal remedies feature is more useful, as it only takes a full-round action to make and doesn't cost anything in components, plus it's one of the few ways to eliminate the stunned condition.

Mystic Prancers are wandering musician ponies with a knack for making friends. They gain the Cunning Linguist feat (ignore arcane spell failure when holding objects in mouth, replaces shield proficiency), +1/2 bard level on Bluff and Diplomacy checks (replaces countersong), and fascinate causes targets to follow the pony wherever they go. Considering that casting bard spells is almost impossible for ponies without this alternative, and trades in a proficiency they'll never use, this option's a no-brainer.

A new Sorcerer Bloodline, Unification, is provided. Such ponies are called to unify the various breeds in harmony. Their features involve gaining the racial traits of other pony breeds as they advance in levels, and treat fey as humanoids for the purposes of cast spells. At 20th level they become fey incarnate, with immortality to aging and DR 10/Cold Iron.

A pretty good bloodline for all the stuff they get.

Thoughts so far: Spellcasters get all the cool stuff, with noncasters falling by the wayside. I suppose it's appropriate, given the magical nature of ponies, but other options should be viable for those who want to play against type.

Next time, Pony Equipment and Pony Spells!


Part 4: Pony Equipment and Spells

The new list of pony equipment breaks convention by having only one magic item. Everything else is 'mundane."

Quadrupedal is a new item template which turns rings, gloves, and other hand slot items into forehoof anklets for 25% to the gp cost. This is a massive increase to the cost of medium and major magic items; I personally would've gone with a flat bonus (+500 gp or so).

Striking Horseshoes and Mouth Kits are pony versions of spiked gauntlets and thieves' tools.

Pony Saddle Bags are equivalent to Pack Saddles, but designed to be easily opened without hands (the mouth).

Saddle Rack is a harness meant to hold a weapon, preferably a piercing one such as a lance. Ponies can fight with two weapons (one in mouth and one in harness), but it adds an additional -2 penalty to two-weapon fighting.



Elements of Destiny are the sole magic item, for 20,000 gp. They're crowns fashioned in groups of 3 to 6, each designed for a specific destiny (the ponies must have the same Brand of Destiny to benefit). When pursuing goals in pursuit of the destiny, the wearers gain a +1 on ability checks, attack rolls, saving throws, and caster level checks. It can be extended to +2 collectively for 5 rounds/day. Against aberrations and chaotic outsiders the base bonus increases by another 1.

I personally feel that the Elements are overpriced. Keep in mind that a 3-6 set would cost 60-120,000 gp to buy (half to build) for some small bonuses which are very situational.


The seven pony spells are mostly low-level and varied, accessible to many classes (from wizards to oracles to clerics and druids).

Blast of Harmony is just like Order's Wrath, but the bonus from an Element of Destiny can be applied to the DC. Said spell can only be learned and cast by ponies.

Flavorful, but would be better as part of the Elements of Destiny for Order's Wrath instead of a new spell.

Human Way is a 2nd-level spell which turns a target pony's hooves into hands for 10 minutes per level. And can wear rings/gloves/etc for this duration (items slide off harmlessly at the end of spell's duration).

I like this spell, too.

Pegasus Blessing functions as the Fly spell, except it can only cast by worshipers of Princess Luminace. It grants the target functional butterfly wings for the spell's duration.

This would be better served as a heading under Luminace's deity entry than a new spell, but that's more an aesthetic thing.

Placate Plants is a 3rd level Druid and Ranger spell which is cast on hostile plant monsters and terrain. On a failed Will save the plant cannot attack the caster or her companions.

It can effect multiple targets, so it's a good spell.

Pony Way is a 2nd-level spell which affects a single living creature with opposable thumbs/digits on a failed Fort save for 1 minute/level. The fingers ball up painfully and held items are dropped, rendering them useless for worn magic items, somatic spellcasting, and manipulating objects.

It's a very good spell to use against enemy spellcasters, as ones without Still Spell will be unable to use their magic for the duration. However it's not too overpowered as a new save can be made as a move action as the target painfully struggles to "open" their hands.

Rainbow Wings is a 2nd-level spell which makes natural flight easier for targets. It increases flight movement and maneuverability based on caster level for 1 hour/level, to a maximum of +30 feet/2 categories up at 12/10th level. Multi-colored hues trail behind the target as they fly.

Sort of limited, but good for pegasus PCs and bipedal PCs riding on flying mounts.

Sticky Hoof is a 1st-level spell which applies a selectively sticky substance to a pony's hooves for 1 hour/level. The target pony can will touched objects to stick to their hoof, and are counted as "held." Shields and weapons cannot be used for their intended functions with this spell, though.

Worse than Human Way, but lower level and longer-lasting, so I guess it's fine.

Thoughts so far: They're nothing special, and more than a few are just reflavored ones as opposed to genuinely new entries. Not as strong as the race and feat entries, but that's fine as they're rather minor as far as things go.

Next time, Pony deities and ponies as mounts/familiars!


Part 5: Pony Deities

Although ponies have their own pantheon of deities, they have little problem worshiping other deities, especially the younger generation and ones living in more cosmopolitan communities. The pony deities belong to no specific breed (with one exception), representing the grandness of ponykind.

Blaze is the Chaotic Evil deity of summer, rage, and vengeance. Theologians believe that she is another side of the Sun Queen bereft of mercy. Most ponies pray to her out of fear and to stay her wrath. Her worshipers are fiery warmongers who give no quarter.


Kara is the Neutral Evil deity of the doppelgangers. It is said that she is the greatest among them, able to wear any guise and slip in anywhere unnoticed. Her plots and schemes are almost unknown, wrapped in half-truths and conspiracies. Few ponies worship her, but she attracts the devotion of doppelgangers and other shapeshifters with promises of power and protection.




Princess Luminace is a Lawful Good mortal unicorn-turned-deity after the rest of the pantheon rewarded her countless trials against the forces of Evil and Chaos. In her mortal life she was very studious, and as a deity she encourages the pursuit of knowledge and the protection of ponykind and the innocent. She often bestows wisdom and advice to the faithful via books, tomes, and scrolls containing knowledge related to their current struggle.



*Twilight Sparkle by FushigiOoka of deviantart

The Moon Princess is the Lawful Neutral ruler of the night. She watches over the world when the sun is down, vigilant against the numerous monsters and terrors which flock to the shadows. Her worshipers are tasked with hunting down and learning of the creatures of the night, and receive divine aid and visions through dreams.



*Princess Luna by atryl of deviantart

The Sun Queen is the Neutral Good goddess of the sun. Ponies believe that she raises the sun each morning with her pure white wings, and her worshipers tend towards positions of diplomacy and leadership so that they can spread her teachings and mercy to the world. She does not communicate with her worshipers directly much, but when she does it's unforgettable as she descends from the heavens on a glorious chariot drawn by massive pegasi.



*Princess Celestia, by MetalPandora of deviantart.

The Night Mare is the Lawful Evil rival and ideological opposite of the Moon Princess. She claims responsibility for vampires, wraith, and other fell creatures which shy away from the sun's lights, and claims that ponies who cannot defend themselves against hardship are unworthy as worshipers and of protection. She and her worshipers believe that ponykind must shed itself of "soft" tendencies, otherwise the weak will hold the rest of them down.



*Nightmare Moon by Huussii of deviantart.


The Unspoken is a Chaotic Neutral primal force which has plagued ponies since before the dawn of civilization. Although not actively evil, his actions are intolerable to order and stability, and his few worshipers delight in spreading mischief and discord.



*Discord by fallenzephyr of deviantart

Thoughts so far: I really enjoy this section from both a mechanical and flavor standpoint. A lot of their cleric domains are not present in Pathfinder Core Rulebook, and it doesn't specify which book contains them. This is unfortunate, as it will add to unnecessary book-flipping in game sessions.

Next time, ponies as familiars and mounts.


Part 6: Ponies as Mounts and Familiars

Ponies as animal companions and Paladin mounts are rare, because in part ponies are intelligent fey who do not like being treated as a common beast of burden. The text recommends against allowing PCs to select ponies as such, but provides stats for lenient GMs.


By RAW, wouldn't a pony not qualify as an animal companion in the first place? I mean, they're not even the right monster type.


Ponies as familiars, on the other hand, are much more common. Many young ponies are eager to learn magic and tag along with a sorcerer or wizard by establishing an arcane bond with them.

A Sorcerer/Wizard with the Improved Familiar feat can select Earth ponies at 5th level, Pegasi and Unicorns at 7th level. Other breeds of ponies are too rare to be selected (seems kind of unfair, dontcha think?).

I've got to say, ponies as familiars are the best thing, and here's why:


That's right, your familiar can cast and learn spells!

Pony familiar stats:


Unicorn Support practically screams "pick me!" to PCs.

Surprisingly, the book has 10 more pages, of nothing but the OGL. Seriously, the amount of sourcebooks they cited probably number over 100!

Final Thoughts: Ponies as a race, and as familiars, are really powerful options, and I feel that the designers did not balance them in accordance with the standard Corebook options. Not that I particularly mind, as precious few of them eclipse god-tier spellcasters.

Would I recommend it? If you're an MLP fan, or like the flavor text of lawful fey driven by destiny, then yes.

Edit: The creator David Silver saw my review when I first posted it on Min-Max Boards, and sought to correct some changes and beef up the underpowered feats. I downloaded the book again, but I didn't see any of the changes implemented aside from a shorter OGL.