Lots of useful information in this book for running merchant caravans and figuring out trade in your fantasy world. Highly recommend!

They remind me, in approach, of the classic Hack & Slash treasure document. Table after table attempts to exhaustively catalogue the subject matter. These two PDFs (this one and Locks, Vaults & Hiding Places) don't quite reach the transcendent heights of -C's classic though.

The LGT starts off strong, with tables for a book's shape, size, material, subject matter and age. Tables for the filing system a library uses. Tables for the experts' interpretation of a book. Anything and everything you could need to stock a library!

On the downside, it's plagued by formatting problems and really disorganized. There are sections or headings - it's just table after table after table mixed together, unrelated entries side-by-side. Sometimes a new magic item is thrown into the middle! If I want a specific table, like "lost in the library," there is no way to know that it's on page 3 between the table for "number of buildings in the library" and the description of "The Book of Worthless Facts and Useless Information." Of course the short length of the document itself means it can't ever take that long to find anything, but... didn't we learn from the 1e DMG?

Sometimes instead of a table, there is a list or a few suggestions on a given topic, like "Specialized Libraries: Medicine, Law, Religion, Magic." I feel as though these could have been cut, moved to their own section or expanded into full tables. They seem like afterthoughts, and probably should have been cut completely or expanded.

Overall, these PDFs are rough around the edges but can be useful if you look past the formatting and other issues. For a buck the LGT is worth a look. If Hamilton did a real editing pass, trimmed the fat and expanded a few sections, added headings, etc, these could really be great resources. But they aren't there yet.

originally posted at terriblesorcery.blogspot.ca

It begins on the right foot with Hamilton recounting stories of assisting his father - a locksmith - in his work and offers food for thought on the field. It's nice to see someone drawing on their life experiences for a gaming supplement. I had high hopes for this one because I find integrating traps, secret doors and such into my dungeons pretty tough.

Unfortunately, just like the LGT this one is riddled with errors, awkward wording and other symptoms of an overall "rush to press." The tables for locks and keys are pretty good, but the Hiding Places section is sorely lacking (do we really need a "what is hidden?" table with entries like "Good guys hide something from bad guys.")

Actually, I think the best parts of this supplement are not the tables. When Hamilton is laying out his thoughts about locks, or describing a thief's thought process in the Entrances & Exits section, I felt I was learning something useful and interesting. Still, these blurbs lose focus towards the end, and are in serious need of a cleanup. Also, despite the cover art there wasn't anything about traps in there at all!

Overall, these PDFs are rough around the edges but can be useful if you look past the formatting and other issues. LV&HP is on the level of "long, rambling blog post" right now. If Hamilton did a real editing pass, trimmed the fat and expanded a few sections, added headings, etc, these could really be great resources. But they aren't there yet.

originally posted to terriblesorcery.blogspot.ca

This product starts with a little blurb about the author's experience with locks and his father's locksmithing knowledge that was passed down, interesting and gives some background on why he wrote this. There are tables in here for random locks, vaults, and hiding places all as the title advertise. There are 13 pages in all, the cover depicting a thief taking some trap bolts to the back it seems with his surprised dungeon compatriot looking on. Subtitled A Game Master's Toolkit for How Valuables Are Secured and this product delivers, sections on lock material, size, decoration, condition, etc are included and vary enough to really make them unique. The section on Vaults goes over some reasons a vault would be used, by whom, and where it may be located along with methods for securing it and guarding it. There are more tables with variables for determining how well it's hidden, who hid it and why. Entances and Exits is sort of a bonus section covering city gates and how they operate along with some ideas about getting through or around them and those that watch them. There is a little bit of info on city jail/prisons and how they may have extra security features in them and finally a piece on thieves and some ideas about their motivations and playing them. Overall a well done product that is PWYW and suggested at $1 which i paid and consider it well worth it. You can tune in to the Follow Me, And Die! podcast on Anchor or your favorite podcatcher to hear the author talk about gaming and such.