For Gold & Glory is an excellent re-organization of the rules for the 2nd edition of the world's most popular fantasy RPG. Clearly a labor of love, For Gold & Glory has compiled all of the mechanics that worked so well -- the solid, fundamental system of the game -- and excised all of the textual bloat that OSR fans will often criticize in the original edition. While, admittedly, slightly more "crunchy" than earlier editions, this book presents the material in a way that highlights its inherent strength and playability, and with a layout that makes the book highly useable as an in-game reference work. And the price cannot be beat when you consider the amount of information provided within it. Though it includes mostly public domain art, the pieces themselves are well chosen and of good resolution quality, which translates well on the full-color printed page.

My only wish is that the creators had the opportunity to expand the game with a supplemental volume or two -- perhaps something that reintroduced some of the classes that were removed from the original version or added in later editions, but designed with the particular flavor of FG&G gameplay.

If you're a fan of OSR gaming, you should definintely pick up a copy of For Gold & Glory. Well worth your time and (minimal) expense!

This is one of the more directly compatible OSR RPGs of the original editions available. (For example, the listings for extraordinary strength are exact conversions.) One unique aspect (that I know) of this compilation are the inclusion of various races (Minotaurs, Ogres, etc) with rules for use as PCs.

So, ultimately, this offers itself as a 2nd Era PHB, DMG, MM, & Demi-human sourcebook. Now to be fair, there are monsters missing (only a few Demons, Devils, etc), but there are still plenty.

In printed terms (and these examples are only in hardback), you have a choice of lulu, drivethru, or a custom job. I have several lulu books and they seem to have gone on the cheap recently. (Rolling pages on only semi-heavily inked pages for HBs.) They are also smaller then drivethru: 8.25” x 10.75” vs 8.5” x 11”. In lulu’s favor, the images seem crispier. I personally prefer drivethru.

One negative is the Strength table where the 3 & 4-5 rows are still double printed. But it's not worth knocking a star off for.