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As well-described by earlier reviewers, this world-segment can be slotted-in readily to many fantasy campaigns, with its nicely-detailed history, town maps, hidden history, and fascinating new creatures, the latter especially a reminder of the dangers of the wild outdoors. This is a setting that another Ancient Awakenings product, "Dryden: Hero or Horror" could be quite easily added to, as a similarly untamed, largely instinctive, race of beings. Sadly though, the promised supplementary materials on the variant elf race of the Valley, the Eldalar or Ice Elves, seem never to have been published, and the Ancient Awakenings website has now apparently vanished (mid 2013).

Perhaps a little more might have been made of the Valley. Some variant architecture could have been used to help better deal with the temperature extremes suggested (typically below -20° F/-30° C on a winter's day, the winter season lasting six months), and the presumed, if unspecified, level of snowfall resulting from an average 40% precipitation-days year-round. Its location in the far south of a continent provides the climatic situation, yet no mention is made of the extremely variable day-length such a location should create, around or polewards of 60° latitude - assuming, as seems the case, the real-world Earth as its basis. The vegetation and options for arable and pasture farming during the four-month summer seem inconsistent with a sub-arctic region as well, along with - rather contrary to the book's title - the never-freezing 100 miles/150 kilometres-across inland sea, the Lake of Tears. Although this freshwater Lake has a small salt content, this would not be enough to stop it at least partly freezing in a typical Valley winter, given that coastal-bay seawater can start to freeze over below about 10° F/-12° C. Of course, such "problems" can always be overcome in a fantasy land by invoking a magical effect, or even a subterranean heat-source, but this has not been done here, which seems something of an oversight.

Overall though, these quibbles do not detract too substantially from this otherwise excellently-presented work, and its astonishingly low price.

Dryden: Hero or Horror seriously undersells itself. At 10 cents it is likely to be ignored and that would be a shame. While I think today it could be released with some slightly better presentation of the art (the art is good, but quality of the scan seems bad) for a much greater price, there is plenty here for nearly any flavor of the 3.x d20 game. Dryden are a race that can interbreed with other races, even monsters. For this reason they are listed as a character race, a monster and a monster template. It is also for this reason it carries a "for mature audiences" tag, but there is nothing here that I would not consider to be PG-13. Differing information is given for fantasy, modern and future versions of the game and some plot hooks. If you like the idea of a quasi-parasitic race then this is a good product. I like it since it designed to be used in multiple flavors of the same game and show the flexibility of the d20 system and this race.

And it is only 10 cents. Grab it before the publishers realize that giving something away that is this good is a bad idea. ;)

Okay, this review is four months overdue, so I might as well do it now before I completely forget.

Basically, I bought this product back in December '09 on a whim for a mere $0.10, and quite frankly, I found it to be worth every penny and then some. In a nutshell, this document introduces a new PC race for the d20 Fantasy and Modern systems--one whose background can be altered to fit any setting, from classic fantasy to modern sci-fi to far future space opera, and boast unique abilities to boot. Whether you choose the Dryden to be a long-forgotten fertility spirit of the dark forest, the product of a biogenetic experiment gone awry, or a bizarre and disturbing alien species from the distant stars is up to you. However, no matter what the origin, the basic nature of the Dryden as a hedonistic hermaphrodite born to breed with any sentient species it wants is unmistakable. Needless to say, this race is not at all suited for gamers age 17 or under or for gamers who are sensitive to sexually themed elements in RPGs. On the other hand, gamers 18 and up who have a strong stomach for this kind of content will be happy to discover how far John Bowden went to define the Dryden’s place in any OGL setting, from giving it its own d20 Modern Racial Class (including Talent Trees) and describing each of its three forms (Natural, Hybrid, and Tangle) to delicately yet succinctly describing its mating habits. The document also gives examples of how to use this race in d20 Fantasy, d20 Modern, and d20 future settings and even gives a sample story for each genre. The d20 Modern even goes as far as to offer a venue where an adventure could take place. Furthermore, even though Bowden gives a clear warning on page 2 about the content in this PDF, I also give him credit on presenting said content in a mature, sensible fashion and discussing the Dryden’s sexual nature in an upfront, straightforward fashion without milking the race’s hedonism for all it’s worth and turning the document into a glorified porno. I will admit, however, that even I was turned off by the artwork from the Wide version of the document, from the nude Dryden women in the border and on page 13, the Dryden baby scene on page 14, and such. Thankfully, the artwork from the Print version of the PDF was tamer, so at least the reader can have an option between which of the two formats he or she wants to look at, depending on his or her level of intestinal fortitude.

In short, Dryden: Hero of Horror is worth checking out, especially if you’re fortunate enough to be able to buy it at the price I did. I don’t necessarily recommend it for gamers under the age of 18, however, even with author John Bowden adamantly warning the reader of its content. Then again, if you’re 18 or older and have a both an open mind and a strong stomach for a new, flexible PC race for your fantasy or sci-fi campaign that has a distinct flavor in more ways than one, then feel free to drop the dime and download this file. It’s actually pretty useful.

What's the difference between a Teleportation Circle and a Gateway? Not really all that much. All this product really does is introduce a whole bunch of new rules and a prestige class to allow you to do what you can already do with existing spells in the Player's Handbook. With the exception that you need to waste precious skill points on a gateway skill to really maximize the power of the gateway spells.

A fine location sourcebook for a starting level campaign. Well detailed descriptions of each of the settlements in the area, with information on important people and the politics of the area. Plenty of pre-generated encounters and some new critters that are well suited to the setting. This is NOT an adventure module, but a generic setting book that can be dumped into just about any sort of fantasy game world. I like these sort of supplements, because the background information can be used across multiple game systems. So even if you aren't running a d20 style game, you want to pick this up just for the maps and the source material (and at the current price (ten cents), why wouldn't you pick this up?)

This was an interesting product, but if you are after background and ideas then it might seem a little thin compared to the D20 content. The D20 rules seem OK but I haven't played D20 too much recently. I found the way they implemented choices to customise the Dryden's abilities interesting. I would had liked a bit more info/ideas on the dragon-king setting but in a small PDF, for its price, this was a nice balance of rules and info. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

"Not intended for the callow youth."

This product reminds me of way back when in the feral days of junior high school, when boys drools because girls rules, and because teenage hot-headiness droves them up the tree!

I will try to keep it in an optimistic light, even though to be honest with you all, this book leaves me quite shaken...

1) This book is obsessed. It had mother-eating babies, intra-marital cannibalism, atypical homicides, nudity, bestiality, and a mythopoetic-derived history. It even has insanity. Yes, I know we all have some of those dark thin in us; I just am not in a mood for this Freudian stance everyday. I mean that this book is distrubing and haunting.

2) This book contains alternate acts of lust -- in all the wrong way. The few mortal female characters are married, at one time or the other in their own story arc. And if they are miraculously spared (by being fey), then they are a victims of love, or their mothers were. Also, to tops, I had not yet found any stats for any generic mortal women in this book. Probably that last was because all the generic mortal?s stats were all male. It is also sooo difficult to read.

3) This book does not have an index, and the .PDF is not easily searchable. Which may make it very hard for anyone to make any substantial claims and write reviews of any scholarity. In fact, the whole book sounds sort of as poorly worded this review you are reading now. However, if anyone does have any question about the outrageous claims I have made, please contact me (mitchelle wongchaowart).

The antithesis, though, is that it does make for some wild fancy for perhaps some... nihilistic rpg fantasy, eh (?)

However? TO be completely open and fair to the production team of the book: half of my main interest is on games really are in are in the relms of the constructablity of sets, group theory, and other mathematical adventures. So my entire review should be seen in that light. And no, I never play using ad&d or d20 systems.

<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The interplay of the poetic mythologeme was its genius. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The inherited senseless violence and Freudian sexual undertone of this module seems excessive.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

This was a little disappointing. There are better products out there.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Like any source material, it's an easy way for a busy GM to hunt for ideas.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Most of the magic items aren't really magical; they're bad jokes. And they're jokes that just about anyone with a knack for puns can come up with.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

Dryden: Hero or Horror is a product from Ancient Awakenings Publications detailing a new race, the Dryden, for a Fantasy, Modern, or Future d20 game.

The zipped file comes with three PDFs. The main file is fifty-seven pages in length. It has a color cover, with black-and-white interior artwork. It?s worth mentioning the borders on every page display a naked Dryden female. Likewise, this is the only file with bookmarks. The second file is the same product, but minus the borders and other objectionable interior artwork, weighing in at thirty-four pages. While this is obviously meant to be the printer-friendly version, it?s odd how the cover and the rest of the illustrations remain, and the tables are colored. Wouldn?t it have made more sense to remove all the artwork and change the colors to grey? The last file is an eight-page reprinting of just the Dryden racial class and feats. Obviously, this is meant to be printed and given to players. Again, however, colored tables and the color cover in this file seem contradictory to how this is meant to be a printed file.

Wisely, the product opens with a warning about using material that could be considered offensive in your game, reminding the reader that just because they?re not offended doesn?t mean others of the gaming group won?t be.

The entirety of this product is about the new race presented, the Dryden. The Dryden are a hermaphroditic race of hybrids, unable to breed with each other, only with non-Dryden, to produce Dryden offspring. They have three forms: that of their non-Dryden parent, that of a tangled mass of vines, and a hybrid form between the two. Mechanically, this is handled, not with a template, but with a feat. If you have this feat (Born Dryden), then you?re eligible to take levels in the Dryden racial class. Furthermore, the class allows you to take various Dryden-specific talent trees. In this way, there are Dryden with different powers and abilities; perhaps even some who don?t even realize they?re Dryden!

Once the basics are laid out, Dryden mating habits are covered. Dryden are natural hermaphrodites, and are able to breed with just about anything. For a Dryden, their apparent gender is just that, an appearance, nothing more. They can impregnate, or be impregnated by, almost anything, and the resulting offspring has the Born Dryden feat. Rules here cover how a Dryden can forcefully mate with another creature, and the repercussions of doing so. After this, rules cover the effects of pregnancy. Three different pregnancies are covered, a normal-length one for Fantasy games, a month-long one for Modern games, and one that?s almost-instantaneous for Future games.

After this, the book divides itself into sections. The first one covers Fantasy games. After opening with a bit of fiction, it gives the Fantasy history and society of the Dryden, which in this case are nature creatures that get along with the nature-loving elves quite well. Their Fantasy biology is also covered. Oddly, at this point, the Fantasy section then shifts and begins discussing a theocracy rules by a green dragon Dryden. Stats for Bereverak, a great green wyrm with ten levels in the Dryden racial class are given. Following some supplementary information, a ?profession? template is then given, showing the new powers that Bereverak?s sorcerer-wives gain while pregnant from him. After that are basic stats for one of his Dryconian children, and a short sidebar on the theocracy he rules.

The Modern section opens in the same format. Fiction is given, then the history, society, and biology of the Dryden, which here are the product of genetic tampering by scientists. Following this are a map and room descriptions of a Dryden safehouse.

The Future section likewise gives us fiction, history, society, and biology of the Dryden. Here, they?re a sadistic species of invading aliens, conquering worlds and taking slaves. Stats are then given for a pair of psionic Dryden twins.

Altogether, this book presents an interesting race for inclusion in any d20 campaign. The idea of using a combination of feats, racial levels, and talents make the Dryden extremely versatile mechanically, and the different backgrounds for campaign types given highlight this magnificently. However, the warning at the front of the product is correct in that some players won?t be comfortable with this product, given how Dryden can (and do) mate with almost anything, and how rules are given for mating by force. If this isn?t a problem for you and your players though, the Dryden offer a large amount of potential for a campaign of any stripe. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This product pulls no punches in the subject matter, and handles mature concepts (such as mating by force) well. The Dryden as a race have very flexible mechanics, and put that flexibility to good use in the different backgrounds presented for each campaign.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some mechanics were glossed over. Dryden have multiple forms, but what type of action it was to change forms wasn't listed in most cases. Also, the printer version could have done away with the cover, artwork, and colored tables.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Overview: This product describes a valley and the places, people and creatures within it. It is designed to be added to any campaign setting. The product is generic in some areas, NPCs are not named, there are no references to places outside the valley and so forth, so that it can better fit into any whatever setting you are using.

There are 3 files. A JPG cover. The standard version of the product and the Print version which has no shaded backgrounds.

CR: The valley appears to be a challenging area for characters between 1st and 8th level, or higher, depending on the number of players. A few simple additions could continue to make the area challenging for higher level characters.

Art: The art is classic ink drawings which are simple to print and well done. There are some really neat snow pictures which make tremendous use of the white spaces.

Monsters: Every monster is stated out, meaning there are blocks of information for them. Most of the monsters are taken straight from the SRD (from the Monstrous Manual) but some are new and a number have minor variations ? such as the arctic versions of animals.

NPCs: Writing NPCs is a lot of work and there are a lot of NPCs in this book. Each NPC is detailed from CR 1/2 up to CR 6. This gives the game a lot more flexibility and allows the DM to build mixed groups of opponents or allies.

Mixed in with the NPCs are ?rules to remember?, reminders on how to use skills especially for the NPC these rules are next to. This is very important because it points out to the DM potential strengths of the DM that might go overlooked. A lot of NPCs are built to perform a certain task very well and may have skills, abilities and feats which synergy that the DM might miss otherwise.

I am undecided if it is a good or bad thing, but there are no unique NPCs. Each NPC is a generic woodsman, merchant and so forth. This is the theme for the product to better allow it to be added to any setting so perhaps it was the best choice. With the stats all done, a DM only need make a few notes to flesh out these generic NPCs into unique ones.

Maps: There are ten pages of maps. I always like to see maps because it gives the players places to go and allows them to better visualize where they are going.

Equipment: There is a list of the standard equipment from the Player?s Handbook but there is availability. This is a nice touch and adds a theme to the setting. Some items are more easily available and others may be very hard to come by. This helps maintain the setting. For example, while it is possible to get oriental weapons, it may be too hard or time consuming for the players to bother pursuing them. This cuts down a little on the min/maxing.

Cold: This book has new cold rules. There are several levels of cold and the appropriate saving throws required to endure them without taking damage. Wearing clothing improves the cold level. The better the clothing, the less severe the weather affects that player. This makes it well worth picking up a masterwork winter cloak made from a creature that had cold resistance ? such as a winter wolf. I like this because it gives mundane equipment importance without resorting to making them magical.

Standard Fare: There are no classes, prestige classes, feats, spells or even many new magic items to distract from what this product is ? a well detailed location. There is nothing here to min/max players or make them more powerful. It is an interesting place where which you can explore and enjoy adventuring in.

Bookmarks: There are no bookmarks in the PDF. I rarely use them so this has little impact on my impression of the product. I use the Find command and depend on the Index and Table of Contents. The table of contents is clear and organized. There is no index but the product is short enough that creating one is not absolutely necessary.

• Edit: Since writting this review it has come to my attention that I have worked with the writer, John Bowden. We worked together on the charity book Heroes of Hope. I have not changed the review, only added this notice. -

<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Rather than an entire adventure, this is a location you can insert into a campaign setting. It is fleshed out with a lot of NPCs, new monsters, locations and even new rules regarding the cold.

Cost: At 68 pages and with the amount of work put into the book I was expecting it to cost considerably more than it does. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: About my only complaint is that the animals have no descriptive text. DM?s not familiar with them will have to refer to the Monstrous Manual. I would have liked to have seen a paragraph or two describing the creature in brief and its role in this setting.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

The Dryden: Hero or Horror? is a supplement for D20 fantasy, modern or future, presenting three different yet similar creatures named the Dryden. The fantasy version is a plant creature, the modern one an experiment gone wrong and the future version a parasitical alien race. Each version is slightly darker than the last. In all versions of the Dryden, sexuality is involved as the Dryden as a species can only reproduce by mating with other races; this is why it carries a mature tag as well as a discussion in the introduction on ?How NOT to use this book?.

The Dryden itself is a meta-template, by taking the ?Born Dryden? feat, the 10-level Dryden racial class is made available. Each level of the Dryden racial class gives the character another choice of racial abilities organized in various trees (this organization will be familiar to D20 Modern players). The ability trees allow the Dryden greater control over their various plant-hybrid forms, the ability to adopt new shapes, rapid healing, and similar tricks. A mid-to-high level Dryden will have a variety of interesting options available to it.

The fantasy Dryden are the most benign of the variants, mystical plant-human hybrids, they are guardians of their homes in the forest, and, to a lesser extent, nature in general. Friends to the elves, these Dryden usually reproduce only with willing partners (though they are not very choosy in who they partner with animal or humanoids are as likely to be selected as mates) their prodigy forming the next generation of guardians. But there are evil Dryden as well, such as Bereverak, God King of a Thousand Wives, a Dryden-Dragon who is breeding an army of his hybrid-dragon children to assist him in his plans of conquest.

The modern Dryden are the ?children? of Anna Dryden, an experimental subject, who have escaped. With their ability to blend in with humanity, they have become humanities greatest enemy, able to infiltrate and consume the skills they need. The modern Dryden are a thing of horror movies, either suspense or slasher as suits the play style of the campaign. A Dryden safe house is presented for the modern game, it should present a serious but necessary challenge to defeat the expanding threat of the Dryden.

The science fiction Dryden are a parasitical alien race, who reproduce by consuming the genetic material (and bodies) of other races. Not only are they parasitical but they are sadistic by nature, enjoying toying with and torturing their victims before consuming them. The Dryden race is constantly expanding looking for new sources of mates and raw material, constantly consuming whatever they encounter, they are an implacable alien threat. The future Dryden are useful as both generic villains or as part of a horror scenario like they modern version.

Overall, the Dryden are an interesting race, but not suitable to all games or styles of play. The source material provides a variety of options for use of the Dryden in various sorts of campaigns but keep in mind the comfort level of your players before introducing them.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Interesting concept, wide range of campaign uses.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some people will be uncomfortable with the subject matter, limiting it overall usefulness.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

It's a lot more tasteful than the disclaimer would seem to indicate. Mind, that isn't a complaint. It is an interesting product, one with a great deal more potential than is fully explored. Again, that isn't entirely a complaint. The Dryden can be used in any number of different ways, and a few minor tinkers can add exponential possibilities, as can developing a few alternative interpretations to the Dryden's existence.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Rather than presenting an idea, it presents a concepts and has several ideas about the concept. It is, in point of fact, a product I wouldn't be too put off by my nephew reading (though given the sidebar graphic I wouldn't let him read the printer un-friendly version).<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A little lethargic on the content that would be useful to all readers.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Think Stargate or even the Riftwar saga by Feist. Do you want a game that has Gates that skip the travel time? No more boring land travel is needed. This has a lot of potential for some neat campaign ideas.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The flexibility of this supplement was nice, as was the depth of background material and other flavor. It wasn't nearly as racey as the preamble makes it sound (although I still wouldn't recommend it for kids). The violent nature of the Dryden life cycle is described fairly graphically, and the art shows some skin, but most everything that would be of a purely sexual nature is left to the imagination of the reader. There was also not a lot of things added just for the sake of titilation... anything that was sexual or graphically violent was relevent to the nature of the Dryden ecology. The title is also a bit misleading, as there is small mention of the Dryden as any kind of 'hero' (and then only in the fantasy setting really), and vastly more attention paid to them as a horror prospect.

<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Flexibility and depth were good. Plenty of flavor, but the technical specs are there if you need them. Addressed in a well-rounded manner. This is a very legitimate and usable supplement regardless of your setting or world system.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I thought $7 was pretty steep for what ended up amounting to a single monster, even if it was made out to be a playable race (which would be kind of difficult to incorporate into most campaign worlds). It was well done, but it would have had to be over-the-top amazing to really merit that price tag... and I don't think it really made it.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>