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zzz-Cities & Settlements 3.5
Publisher: Troll Lord Games
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/22/2005 00:00:00

A hidden treasure.

Troll Lords is not my usual fare, but I have enjoyed products by them like Path of the Magi. I am always interested in "setting component" type products, and when I saw Jeff Ibach (of AEG's Toolbox) was heading it up, I figured it might be a worthwhile purchase.

I wasn't disappointed. For the price, it delivers a lot of useful little towns that your players should have fun with. Each has both mechanical and setting flavor detail. With this product in hand (or on hard drive), you needn't expose your players to a stream of generic villages on the journey to the adventure. And each locale also has adventure hooks, both for those within or passing through the village.

Despite the headline of the title, there aren't any formal "city" sized settlements in this book. This makes it quite likely that it will fall beneath the level of settlement that are typically given much attention in full sized settings. As such, it should be easy to use most of this material with most settings.

<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Lack of Bookmarks. Though the book is 3.5, the psionics in it are not.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
zzz-Cities & Settlements 3.5
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Book of Fiends
Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/13/2005 00:00:00

The classic sourcebook on Demons and Devils, with an all new section on Daemons, creatures with plots revolving around sin (specifically the seven deadly sins). This last aspect makes them all the more convenient to write plots around or give PCs personal involvement. New material has also been added to the other sections, and two new core classes, the thaumaturge and unholy warrior, are included.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Legions of Hell is an old standby section, and Hordes of Gehenna is a new favorite.

I especially appreciate that Green Ronin took the time to apply errata to the electronic version (in this case, psionics has been updated to the 3.5/XPH version; the hardcover was originally written to the old psionics handbook where it was used.)<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Armies of the Abyss still is not my favorite section. To much of the material is hentai-inspired or otherwise gross or silly in an attempt to be edgy by including references to sex, and continue this trend with new creatures added in this version. (Living demon semen? Nothankyou sir, not in my game...)<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Book of Fiends
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Metablades Expanded Edition
Publisher: Genjitsu Gaming
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/13/2005 00:00:00

A fun book with a lot of options for a popular fantasy gaming archetype that sort of got "left" behind in the 3.5 upgrade. With this book, there is not just a handful of ways to make a fighter mage, but a plethora.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I am not a big fan of OA-style fighting styles, and some of those are a bit on the potent side. On the other hand, some of the prestige classes come of a bit weak.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Metablades Expanded Edition
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Complete Guide to Fey
Publisher: Goodman Games
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/09/2005 00:00:00

A hidden treasure. It's almost a "fey building toolkit". Can recreate the fey in the core book or make your own. Definitely consider this if you have a campaign featuring fey or even on with fey as PCs.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: I like toolkit products, I like fey... what else is there to say?<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Complete Guide to Fey
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The Second World Sourcebook
Publisher: Second World Simulations
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/09/2005 00:00:00

One of the most intriguing settings and toolkits out there, curiously ahead of its time.

Second World sourcebook presents a parallel earth as a fantasy world, but is also flexible enough to use your favorite fantasy game world as a destination for modern characters. Being able to use Earth and plug in fantasy ideas is a very convenient setup.

The way that the warden powers shapes the world can be used to plug in a variety of different setting locales; I use Nyambe, Freeport, and Legends of the Samurai. It's also my world of choice when running published modules. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The in-depth discussion of converting between d20 modern and D&D. The idea of warden powers The pact system (Marilith forensic surgeons and summoned bio weapons... how cool is that?)

<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some of the setting elements could use fleshed out a bit more. If there were room...<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
The Second World Sourcebook
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Legends of the Samurai Hardcover
Publisher: RPG Objects
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/09/2005 00:00:00

A fine resource for gaming in medieval Japan or a fantasy version thereof. Classes are well done, closely based on fact and legend behind the classes. Very playable in different types of games in the setting.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Well researched, well balanced.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Samurai should segue into Ronin class better. Could perhaps use a little more setting material.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Legends of the Samurai Hardcover
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The Dread Codex
Publisher: Adamant Entertainment
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/26/2005 00:00:00

A nice little collection of undead creatures and other undead related crunch, updated (theoretically) to 3.5 rules.

Some of these creatures you will recognize if you have many other d20 references, but some were new to me. There are a lot of neat little purpose built and interesting undead creatures in here, such as flying skulls with a hatred for magic items or a prestige class to allow ghouls to become ghasts.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Some of the art is awesome. I especially dig the cinder ghoul.

There are "in your campaign" sections that provides some ideas for using the creatures. Some of the advice is pretty apparent (like observing that some treasure is from dead adventurers), but some of it is well considered and should spark some ideas for using these creatures in your game.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The layout is not the best, especially for an Adamant product. Creature descriptions start in the middle of a column. The placement of art could have served both to deal with the column arrangement issues and to have presented the art better.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
The Dread Codex
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Lions Den Press: The Iconic Bestiary -- Classics of Fantasy
Publisher: Purple Duck Games
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/25/2005 00:00:00

An unusual product to say the least, but a nice one to have. Classics of Fantasy provides different takes on some classic creatures. So if you want snake-men, chaos-spawm, or psycic alien entities, either because you are a publisher who can't tap into the wizards IP, or are merely a GM who wants to go a fresh direction or wants to surprise your players, this is a nice book.

In some places, while the author taps into the same basic concepts, he turns some things around. For example, the Ophiduan social caste is reverse from that of the Yuan-Ti; the most human ones are the nobility.

I also like the Ei'risai. Randomized traits were sort of an afterthought with the slaad; the concept is a lot more central to the Ei'risai.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Ophiduans and Ei'risai, mainly.

Cover art is also good.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Being a fan of the XPH, I would have much rather seen the Ophiduan's and the Phrenic Scourge magical abilities expressed in those terms. (Incidentally, Malhavoc's Hyperconscious contains such a beast, an open content mind-flayer like alien psychic entity.)<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Lions Den Press: The Iconic Bestiary -- Classics of Fantasy
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Blue Rose - The Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy (True20)
Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/25/2005 00:00:00

Blue Rose is intended as a system to represent the "Romantic Fantasy" genre, which Green Ronin defines as various novels with authors such as Marion Zimmer Bradly, Tanya Huff, Dian Duane, and others, marked by strong female protagonists, often with psychic powers, and a nature-friendly outlook.

The book has a setting revolving around this style of play, and a system to support it. The system is a stripped down version of the d20 system (no d20 logo, hence they are free to provide basic chargen details.) It reduces the class set to three classes, uses a background system to add further details. The spell and magic system are skill-and-feat based. The 3-18 statistic range of classic d20 is replaced by simply a stat modifier for each stat.

The setting does not feature the standard Lord of the Rings inspired races, but a new set of races.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The system. It's a good adaptation, much truer to the ideal of a "simplified d20" than C&C.

I love both Stephanie Law's and Jennifer Meyers' artwork, and the whole book is simply beautiful.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I thik they went just a little too far in cutting corners on classes; it leaves you too little flexibility with skills as your character advances.

Other than the races, the background of the Aldis setting is pretty typical of a d20 fantasy setting. On first blush, the nations and cultures of the setting seemed a bit uncomfortably like charactures of modern social issues.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Blue Rose - The Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy (True20)
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MEG: Artificer's Handbook
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/25/2005 00:00:00

Of all the MEG products that have been hitting PDF, this is the one I was waiting for. Strangely enough, I don't really agree with the author's main fist-shaking tenet: that paying XP for magic items is a bad thing.

But I do like the slot method for creating items (as opposed to the spinstery old-school "you stop for tea and you have to start all over again" approach) and the types of items you can create with it.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Great system and ideas. The slot mechanic also removes the artificial distinction between bonus and normal items, which also makes conversion of pre-3.5 material easier<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I don't care for "generic" style item creation feats; it doesn't leave particular classes or organizations with special and unique item creation capabilities, which would strip campaign specific elements of flavor (fortunately, this is easily ignored.)

Art also wasn't the greatest; this is from before Soler was doing his best stuff.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
MEG: Artificer's Handbook
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Aasimar & Tiefing: A Guidebook to the Planetouched
Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/25/2005 00:00:00

A very nice sourcebook of character options for planar gaming in general, not just for planetouched characters.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The planetouched creation system is just what the DM ordered when it came to peicing together some of the odd individuals that haunt the corners of planar games.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some of the PrCs are a little weak or otherwise did not grab me conceptually.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Aasimar & Tiefing: A Guidebook to the Planetouched
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Six Living Planar Gates
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/25/2005 00:00:00

An imaginative selection of gates/portals for use in your planar game. Just using one of two of these should empasize to your players they aren't in Kansas anymore.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: One of the entries is a bit TOO bizarre for my taste, and if you read into it just a little it seems tack to boot.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Six Living Planar Gates
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Creator Reply:
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "tack" but I'm fairly certain I know which entry you're talking about. It wasn't until after publication that someone suggested to me that the Princess as a gate was a little . . . suggestive. I never even considered it as I was writing, instead thinking fairy tale strange when the idea came to me.
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Advanced Player's Manual (d20 3.5)
Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/25/2005 00:00:00

Provides a bevy of new character options for the game, including a luck statistic, new core character classes, a race customization system, more detailed treatment of skills, and a variety of new feats and spells.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The Eldritch Weaver makes for a great variant spellcasting class with some spell like abilities; does a much better take on the "Warlock" concept without kicking the existing spell system to the curb.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Skip repeats his quirky mass combat system from "Cry Havoc" here. Why a mass combat book is in a "Player's" manual is one head scratcher, but more importantly, it's just not a great system. Very table-reliant and it has some odd rules for unit sizes.

I am generally not a fan of new core classes but I was particularly not jazzed to see a MORE combat oriented cleric variant.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Advanced Player's Manual (d20 3.5)
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Fantasy Player's Companion: Fantastic Stunts
Publisher: Ronin Arts
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/25/2005 00:00:00

These stunts are based on the action point rules in the Unearthed Arcana book; if you were looking for an electronic version of those, these are they.

The stunts are basically additional options that you can use with action points.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Makes for a great action point handout to print out and pass around the table for player use (except for the following...)<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I wish they had repeated the text about metamagic feats from UA. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Fantasy Player's Companion: Fantastic Stunts
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Bow & Blade: A Guidebook to Wood Elves
Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing
by Alan K. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/25/2005 00:00:00

I hear complaints about all the elf books out there...

And to be honest, I am not seeing too many. I figure people forgot that this is not second edition anymore.

Well, at any rate, I opened this book expecting something more typical of elf supporting material and was presently surprised. Yeah, there is some of the typical stuff you might expect for elves, like elfy prestige classes (one of them being the soul archer -- very cool) and spells (canopy walk should make fans of Lodoss War all happy inside), magic items and feats.

The twist of the book is the elemental elves... five new elven subraces. Yeah, I know, you are tired of FR elven subraces. But these subraces make magic of elves seem authentic. These races are LA 3 and gives elves the abilities they are legendary for. Tie this up with the material on a new elven deity, it's a great package, with both good ideas and good mechanical support.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Bow & Blade: A Guidebook to Wood Elves
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