Just a list. I prefer to make up NPCs off the top of my head, based on where the PCs are and what they are up to.

This book is free, and like the other titles in the 101 series it gives you just what it promises: a list of names that can be used as inspirations or story hooks (or word game clues) for GMs as they need them.

Ordinarily, considering that the only thing I have to give up to read it is the time it takes to download it and then go to the trouble of reading the words, I'd give it a five right away. However, in this case, I felt it was a bit lackluster. Unlike (for example) their list of potions, a location is something that a GM is likely going to have to reorganize (at minimum) a night's worth of gaming to include. Similarly, while some of the names were quite interesting, others seemed a bit generic. "Pantry of the Grail" is, when you think about it, the same as saying "Kitchen of the Drinking Glass" or "Dining Room of the Cup." I'm not saying it's bad, but compared to my expectations for this franchise, it's a bit lacking.

Another complaint is that we don't go all the way through the alphabet with these titles. The last five letters of the alphabet are missing. As a bonus to the readers of this review, I will add: Vestibule of the Ancients, Window of the Watchers, Xerxes' Planetarium, the Yestertime Marketplace and the Zoo Of Ooze. Okay, maybe those letters are a bit tricky to come up with names for.

Also: as an unashamed lover of puzzles, mazes and the likes, it borders on the inexcusable that the entries under the letter M don't include any mazes. I give them bonus points for including a labyrinth, though.

In the end, you can't get over the fact that it's still completely free, and it still gives you exactly what it promises. If you need an imaginative name for a place, then it really couldn't hurt you to take a look at this. For all my complaints, it's still earning a 4 out of 5 in my book.

The good news: it's completely free and delivers exactly what it promises. The bad news: it leaves the heavy lifting to you. What I mean by this is that the product is, effectively, a list. This list provides you with 101 names for Potions, Elixirs, Beverages, and the like, and if you're an imaginative person then that is all you'll need. If by casually perusing this list you see a name that gives you an idea, then fantastic.

Another possible use for this would be if you're a GM who creates puzzles, particularly word puzzles, for your players to use. It's an odd fantasy setting that puts a crossword puzzle into an epic quest, but if that's how you roll then this might just be your cup of Tea (and if Tea is your cup of Tea, then I notice that under T, the list includes three Ts.)

Also: if you're the type of person who feels that the Brew Potion feat in d20 games is a bit underdeveloped, then I'd recommend taking the names from this list and seeing what new inventions your mad alchemist can brew up. Have fun. Sincerely.

Lexicon of Dungeons is a 60 page pdf presenting detailed guidelines on building and constructing your own dungeon or underground fortress. The product is written from the perspective of a prospective dungeon builder (i.e. GM, although the content is equally player-centric), and provides all the monetary and asset-based tools required to construct that perfect dungeon. The product is written to be generic and systemless, and, as such, is suitable for any roleplaying game.

The product comes as a single pdf file. Background layout is decent, although there is an awful amount of empty space in the product. Writing and editing ranged from good to poor, and there are plenty of unnecessary typos, spelling errors and other mistakes in the product. I think the presentation could be greatly improved, both by improving editing and layout, but also perhaps by adding additional art to the product. For a 60 page pdf, one would normally expect to see a little more, though obviously not a requirement.

Lexicon of Dungeons provides everything and more information than is required to put together a dungeon. It covers all aspects of construction, from lighting in the dungeon, to hazards, to room sizes and corridor layouts, to defences, and decorations, locks and doors. It's quite a comprehensive guide to dungeon building and actually contains quite a lot of useful information that one would not normally consider. I think any GM that wants to use a dungeon as a backdrop for an adventure will be well served looking at some of the suggestions (mostly obvious but also mostly not considered, such as latrines) in this product. There's lots of useful advice on dealing with intruders, what not to do and what to do and consider, and what features and aspects can typically be found in the dungeon. It's quite detailed, though again the editing makes the organisation look a little hap hazardous and sometimes it feels like a section of the product just tails off without quite finishing.

Having read this product, I wasn't initially sure what to make of it. While there are plenty of guides and products that offer advice on building fortresses and/or dungeons, I've never come across one that actually costs this out, particularly for GM use. I guess if you're playing a party that builds fortresses and one player fancies a dungeon, this side of the product could be useful. Or, on the other hand, perhaps as GM you want to make sure that your rulers don't break the laws of economy. Either way, it was a rather unusual aspect of the product, though not detrimental. Aside from that, I think this product has some really useful content, even though it's presented in a rather unusual and sometimes humorous and flippant style.

As a guide to dungeon building I think this product is very useful, but as a personal preference I wish it hadn't been written as it was. As a more 'serious' product (not to say that it's entirely facetious) and with better organisation and editing this product could easily sit in any GMs library as something that provides tips and information on dungeon building. It's extremely useful in adding realistic touches to your dungeon and making the dungeon 'make sense'. Unfortunately, it's let down by some of the aspects I've already mentioned. Lexicon of dungeons is a decent product with lots of potential.

I was looking for something to help when in a creative slump..I found tons of ideas in this! Excellent material and ideas!

This product has a great entry price and would be a good purchase for your face-to-face game. It has a combination of 19 wooden-floored corridors, three rooms, and four underground river tiles. The three rooms have text describing the room including a random table for room contents.

You have some work ahead of you if you plan to use this set for a Virtual Table Top (VTT). The border on the tiles are a few pixels shy of filling half grid square so there is a bit of space between each tile when you assemble it on your map. Still, for the price it would be easy enough to copy and paste a few pixel 's worth of image to each side to fill in the gap.

These tiles represent a a good starting point for the more "civilised" or below-urban dungeon, with crypt, library, wooden tunnels. These in combination with the river pieces would make it ideal for smuggler intrigue. Nice details. Incredible value for money from Ennead Games.

Pros: A very useful little piece of work with some very clever hooks. You could build a good adventure out of some of them. A good hip-pocket reference for when the party decides that they just have to RP with the shopkeeper. For a freebie, it's everything I could ask for. Cons: Some of the hooks are predictable. Editing and grammar are weak.

Was expecting something more generic, not pure medival. Maybe change title to 101 Medival/Fantasy Jobs & Professions

A handy little memory aid for those times your mind goes blank (we’ve all had them - especially during character generation or when ad-libbing). True, it’s reasonably basic and nothing you couldn’t do yourself but then it is a time saver.

Does what it claims and it’s free. For a time pressured GM or one prone to needing aids to memory it’s a useful tool, but don’t expect it to rock your gaming world - that’s not the intent of the product.

Completely agree with Matthew Reynolds. There is no justification at all for this publication. It does nothing.

The list is very basic, and the profession "Dancer" is actually listed twice. Some more exotic professions would be nice, along with descriptions to those who do not know what a Haberdasher does. One of the old 2E D&D books had a really nice listing of professions that you don't hear of all the time and I was hoping that this would have something similar.

It is what it is. A list, just as it claims. It's really good if you're trying to populate a town or small city, and need something to fill in the area. As a GM, I find information overload and lack of time to be my worst development enemies. So a simple list to focus the ideas can be great. If at this point I can't develop something or figure out a plot hook, I need to go back to the other side of the screen. So thanks to the developers for a handy tool.

Ok, I understand it is free. That's good. And I wasn't expecting much from a free product; maybe just a teaser that might make me consider paying a dollar or two for another list. However, what I got was well, underwhelming. It's literally just a list of professions. Not unusual professions. Not fantastic professions. Just... professions. The blurb had said that they were meant to spark creativity and that they could be used as the basis of a shop or store. I was expecting therefore that there was perhaps a sentence associated with each profession perhaps giving some creative idea for a problem associated with each profession that might need solving, or that perhaps they had a sentence or two about a NPC or shop associated with the profession. In short, I wasn't expecting that I was to be the one who provided 100% of the creativity. There isn't anything creative about this list, and its actually much overblown graphicly for what it is to the point that simple as it is, it would be far more useful if it was far more simple.

Years ago I read a copy of GrimTooth's Traps. It was a difficult experience, because although funny, it seemed to mainly provide the DM with ways in which to extinguish characters which then had to be explained at length because of the mechanical complexity of death dealing gears. Instant kills can be bad enough without being further marred by an argument amongst players about logical engineering.

The traps listed in this book are more forgiving (depending upon the levels of punishment the DM feels the PCs deserve) and suited to a skills checks and some puzzle solving – nearly all the traps are “scalable”. Many of the traps are based on simple concepts and themes which means that they can be adapted to many situations. Some traps may resemble those already found in rulebooks but that doesn't detract from the numerous original traps. The categorisation of different traps works well for ease of reference.

On a first read some of my favourites are the Midas Door (sorry, no spoilers), Room of Silence ("Trigger: any noise above a whisper") and Washing Machine. The latter is wonderfully silly and illustrates that every once in any list of traps there's cruel humour and mockery of the mundane.

Even trap-jaded DMs will appreciate the later sections in this publication which include trap finding feats, skills, spells and equipment along with the Prestige Class of Trap Master.

Much of this publication is tailored towards d20 mechanics, and is therefore very applicable to many rulesets. As the author points out it can be used more generically. It's just if you don't play d20 games you might need to know that "DC of 25" means "difficult" - but it's pretty easy to get the gist when you see a scale of numbers.

I would preferred some illustrations to have been included, even just the odd picture of wounded PCs -but at 1.99 this well above value for money.

I’m looking forward to seeing more Lexicons from this publisher.

Recommended purchase (for sadist DMs). :)