This was a neat little pamphlet that further extended what was shortly touched on in the d20 Core Rulebook. For a whole $1.50 without any tax or shipping, it's definitely worth getting just to have one your computer, or spend an extra buck in ink to print and have it on hand for any time your PCs are in a "situation" and ask you "What do I see around me?"

I liked this bundle of a couple short pamphlets, and although I haven't used any in-game yet, I like the ideas and stats that were presented. There were non-lethal weapons I haven't heard of, although I'm still a little confused as to what a couple things (ADS-something grenades and CS ammo) actually were. The cheap price was also accurate for what you got - 10 pages of simple stuff without any tax or shipping involved. The bundle itself is nicely priced, but it would also have been nice just to have seen both together in the same comprehensive pamphlet as one long table, and then the descriptions coming after it.

I liked this short pamphlet, and although I haven't used it in-game yet, I like the ideas and stats that were presented. There were non-lethal weapons I haven't heard of, although I'm still a little confused as to what a couple things (ADS-something grenades and CS ammo) actually were. The cheap price was also accurate for what you got - 10 pages of simple stuff without any tax or shipping involved. It's nice this and the other Riot Control Weapon Focus came in a bundle, but it would also have been nice just to have seen both together in the same pamphlet as one long table, and then the descriptions coming after it.

I liked this short pamphlet, and although I haven't used it in-game yet, I like the ideas and stats that were presented. There were non-lethal weapons I haven't heard of, although I'm still a little confused as to what a couple things (ADS-something grenades and CS ammo) actually were. The cheap price was also accurate for what you got - 10 pages of simple stuff without any tax or shipping involved. It's nice this and the other High Tech Riot Control Weapon Focus came in a bundle, but it would also have been nice just to have seen both together in the same pamphlet as one long table, and then the descriptions coming after it.

An RPG Resource Review:

This product presents a range of nonp-lethal but effective means of riot control - probably more likely to be used on your characters than by them, if your players are anything like mine!

Information is presented in three sections: a rather disjointed 'history of...' collection of paragraphs about each weapon, comprehensive tables giving the appropriate game mechanics and then notes on each weapon. I feel that it would have been more appropriate to combine the history and notes into one. In particular, there is no mention of what an Active Denial System actually does until you reach the notes section, which is a bit confusing.

Overall, though, it is a good introduction to non-lethal weaponry, especially that used by law enforcement, and provides enough information for the GM to use other measures than bullets when things get out of hand.

An RPG Resource Review:

There are always times when the need to defend yourself arises when your normal combat equipment is not to hand - perhaps your character is safely (he thought) tucked up in bed, or he is visiting a place where carrying weapons is inappropriate or illegal. Never seems to stop the Bad Guys, so...

This work consists of two parts: a table listing a wide range of things that you might find in an emergency to thump or throw at a Bad Guy, and a minimal descriptive list of each item (which is a little bit given to stating the blindingly obvious). The table gives you the basic game information you need to fight with each item: damage, critical, damage type, range increment, size, and weight; and also the purchase DC - as if you are going to pause to pay in the middle of a brawl!

Overall, the real use of this product is to give you the necessary mechanical details to use improvised weapons, and perhaps to jog your mind if wondering just what would be the best thing to grab...

Tome of the Gish is a small d20 product from Aleph Gaming. The zipped file is not even 200 kilobytes in size, and contains a single PDF of the file. Said PDF is seven pages long, with a page for the cover and two pages for the OGL. Given its brief nature, there are no bookmarks, nor is there a table of contents. The only artwork to be found here is the orange-colored cover image on the first page.

A short collection of feats, Tome of the Gish has no introduction nor afterward. It immediately begins listing its fourteen feats in alphabetical order following the cover image, and when done with them it just moves on to the OGL and then stops. Further, while I can appreciate a file being printer-friendly, I can’t help but think that a little more presentation regarding the book’s visual design would have helped alleviate how stark the product feels otherwise. However, this is a book that doesn’t give you anything other than the bare minimum; there’s no explanation of what a “gish” even is.

All of those things are rather poor, but might be forgivable if the feats – which all relate to spellcasting – were real gems. Unfortunately, while a few of them are nice, the majority of them range from being just okay to being broken outright (the Channel Touch Spell feats, for example, state that you must cast the spell, and then wait to make an attack with them on your next turn – which directly contradicts the rules regarding how touch spells can be cast and then you make an attack with them, all at once). It’s also notable that one feat, Combat Casting, is the exact same feat from the PHB. There are no tags after the feat names to denote which are metamagic feats and which are general, either.

The kindest way I can think of to summarize Tome of the Gish is to say that this book needed to go through several more rounds of editing, and needed higher production values. While some of the ideas here are, if not innovative, then at least good. However, good ideas need good presentation, or they’re useless, and that’s a pitfall that this book fell into big time.

Weapon Focus: Improvised Modern Weapons is the 3rd product in Aleph Gaming's Weapon Focus series of products. This series explores weapons from different genres and sources, providing something a little more for each of the weapons in each product. Improvised Modern Weapons takes a look at different modern implements that can be used as weapons when one is in a pinch. From the home to the office, and the restaurant to the bar, this product contains a wide variety of weapons that can be used when the unexpected happens.

Aleph Gaming is a relatively new publisher, having released their first product just over a month ago. As a new publisher they've done well to produce good-looking short pdfs for the d20 market. Improvised Modern Weapons is no exception, and is presented well and in line with other products in the series. The overall look and feel of the product compares well with other market leaders in short pdf publishing, something on which Aleph Gaming should be commended.

The pdf starts by presenting the rules for using improvised weapons. Most of these rules are already contained in the d20 core rules, but are given here for easy reference when using the long list of weapons presented in this product. The remainder of the product is essentially one long table of improvised weapons, from alarm clocks to dinner forks, to the odd Ming vase one might have lying around (which will break if you throw it, in case you're wondering). Most items also get a brief description on their use, something that may or may not include special rules. In most instances the descriptions are fairly self-explanatory and in check with how one would imagine a particular improvised weapon being used. Some of the weapons are a little odd, for example, wielding a 40 lb. filing cabinet as a weapon. Here bulk more than weight would probably play a larger role in allowing one to use something like that as a weapon.

Having looked through the product I was left with the impression that there needed to be something more to it. The advertising blurb for the product and the series promises a lot, but this product doesn't really deliver anything significant other than the big table of weapons. While it is imminently useful, to make a product good or even great, one has to go the extra mile, and this product didn't. From that point of view it's somewhat disappointing that something new and unique wasn't brought to the d20 Modern gaming environment. Given that, this product isn't really anything more than an average summary of common implements that can be used as weapons. Useful, sure, but lacking in anything that would make it good or great.

I have an old school D&D mindset that its best to specialize in one thing than it is to be okely dokely at two. Thus the Gish player was never really a fan at my table. Most of these are a fault of the system, not necessarily a fault of the player’s build. Despite try after try though, there is always someone or some publisher always willing to throw their hat in the ring to achieve the impossible.

Published by Aleph Gaming and written by Daniel Burnet, Tome of the Gish hopes to achieve with a small collection of feats what prestige classes, alternative skills and other supplements have pretty much failed at. For the most part, the book’s feats can be quite useful as a majority of them are there to reduce the penalties that spellcasters receive for having levels in a combat class. The feats seem to achieve their goal, despite some questionable balance issues. For instance, there is one feat that seems like it costs too much, asking for two spell slots for a simple +1 to bonus. That is a couple of magic missile shots.

Balance issues to the side, the major problem is the flavor of the feats. The book reeks of mathematical number crunched powers with no real reasoning behind them. One feat, obviously aimed at a barbarian magic user build, allows the barbarian to be able to concentrate during a rage. The feat essentially tells you what it does, but it misses the colorful reasoning that a lot of these types of books like to give us.

For the Player I thought the favored enemy feat was the best in the book. Aimed at rangers, it allows for special bonuses to your hated enemies when casting a spell.

For the Dungeon Master

The Spell Defense would be my second favorite. A simple feat that adds a bonus against spells when in total defense.

The Iron Word Tome of the Gish really lacks a lot of polish, even considering that it is coming from a small publisher. I was disappointed with the amount of white space and lackluster title page with no reference to the publisher. Several of the feats are beneficial, if you can get past the lack of flavor. Still, a good number of the feats are rehashes from the OGL heavens and those with questionable requirements. Unless you are willing to try something new, I can not see an experienced min/maxer discovering anything that they already did not try to get past their DM with in here.

Weapon Focus: Improvised Modern Weapons is a short product for Modern d20. As the title says, the focus of the book is on using modern objects as improvised weapons. The single PDF of the book is quite small, not even 200 kilobytes, and is ten pages long, with two of those pages being the OGL. There are bookmarks here, though you likely won’t need them. Likewise, the only art is the logo for the product in its title, and company logo at the end of the book.

Improvised Modern Weapons opens by briefly discussing how almost anything can be used as a weapon, and how most ordinary people would end up having to use improvised weapons if they were ever in a combat situation. It then quickly restates the rules regarding improvised weapons, and lays out the format for the table on the next page.

Said table gives weapon listings for more than sixty standard items you’d find in modern Earth, from cell phones to bookcases to keys, which can be used as weapons. Following this, each and every item listed gets a description, usually just a sentence or two. Most of these just briefly recap what the item is, though several have supplementary rules for using them.

In the end, Improvised Modern Weapons is a list of weapon statistics for ordinary items, nothing less and nothing more. While certainly handy to have, I can’t help but wonder if more could have been done with this product. Where’s the feat that will reduce the penalties for fighting with improvised weaponry? Where’s the “improvised weapon master” advanced class? Where’s the section regarding using these for subdual damage since they weren’t designed to be weapons (it’s unlikely that you could bludgeon someone to death with a purse, for example)? This isn’t a bad product to have, but it didn’t even try to go the extra mile regarding what it presents.

An RPG Resource Review:

Of particular use in law enforcement, non-lethal weapons are popular for riot control and similar uses. The ones covered here are CS gas, pepper spray and the taser. Each has a short history of its development and use, followed by the relevant details to allow them to be used in a D20 Modern game.

When affected, a character has to make a Fortitude save but interestingly however well he does he suffers considerable adverse effect. I'm glad to say I've never been on the receiving end of a taser or pepper spray, but in the case of CS gas I do know people who suffer no more than mild watering of the eyes (similar to the effect of peeling an onion) - and I can complete the standard army drill of removing a gas mask in an affected enclosed space, reciting name, rank and serial number, and then replacing the mask without ill effects. There is, however, mention of the protection afforded by a respirator or even a damp cloth.

Overall, a useful summary of the game effects of the 3 weapons discussed; although it would have been interesting to see a little more of how targets are actually affected and mention of some of the other non-lethal weapons available (water cannon, bean bag rounds, rubber bullets) or in more experimental stages (foam, sonics and the like).