Outstanding product. Now I can finally run chase scenes the way they should be run. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

"Ace Reporter" is one of many entries into d20 pulp added by Adamant Entertainment. The small guide adds significant flavor text and describes how this common archetype has been used throughout most of the pulp sub-genres. Unfortunately, the 'hapless victim' class probably isn't for most players, and the special abilities of the class are a bit nonsensical. This winds up splitting the value of the product between a good, short, reference and a bad character class. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The flavor text and use of artwork are very true to the and provides a good feel for the character archetype. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The class rules are a bit nonsensical, with oddball 'powers' assigned to her where other, albiet more mundane, abilities probably would have worked better. Definately a class for NPCs only, which somewhat ruins the point. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

Excellent stepping board for adventures, and it will at least steer you in the right direction. The categories are vague, but thats what imagination is for.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: It was very simple to understand, and was worth the price.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Another great addition to the Northern Crown setting! I bought this as soon as it was available but waited to actually run the included scenario before commenting. It was excellent! The article on Le Dragon Rouge was excellent, too. Even before this issue came out, I had planted seeds of this secret society in my campaign, and now I have even more background information to weave into the campaign.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The adventure is first rate and worth the price of this issue alone.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I'd still like to see a little more content in each issue and I'd like to see them coming out a bit more often.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

I'm writing this review with a heavy heart to be honest. I'm a big fan of Skull & Bones and the previous six issues of Buccaneers & Bokor (just ask Adamant Entertainment how many times I've hassled them about details on when the next issue is coming out). However, this issue sees the e-zine expand into fantasy pirates - something that I have no interest in whatsoever. I'm not stupid though and I hope that this expansion proves worthwhile to Adamant Entertainment, even if I won't be along for the ride anymore.

Onto this issue itself. It's not a bad one, consisting of three sections. The first Nautical Fantasy article (taking up 11 pages), the final part of the Governor's Prize series (taking up 23 pages), and the Sea-Witch prestige class (taking up 4 pages).

Of these articles, the final part of the Governor's prize is my favourite but, to be honest, that's no surprise as it's the reason for my anticipation for the issues (and I've not even been able to run them yet!). The Sea-Witch prestige class is reasonable, but I'm not keen on adding in magic to my campaign (outside of that already provided in Skull & Bones) so I doubt I'll use it. As for the Nautical Fantasy article, well... sorry, but I haven't read it yet. It's just not something I'm interested in.

<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The climax to the Governor's Prize series of scenarios<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The Nautical Fantasy article. I'm just not into fantasy pirates.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

The 'class guides' for Thilling Tales are interesting small purchases for d20 pulp gaming. Each guide presents the basic rules and concepts for an 'advanced' class, and Femme Fatale delivers here largely as expected.

Unfortunately this particular class is heavy on the 'rules for role-playing' aspect, giving rule-interpretations of abilities and feats that should logically be role-played out. As such, if you're playing a pulp-oriented game that emphasizes character interaction, this class may not be the best choice for you. On the other hand, if you're rules-heavy, this may give a quantifiable 'appeal' that rules-lawyers may demand.

The class has been given a d20 treatment many times and in many formats. As such, as a stand alone product, this may not be of value to you if you have a similar class from another game (such as Adventure!). As part of a larger set, though, it makes up for this deficiency by adding a common archetype with flavor. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The guide presents a pretty solid, basic overview of the Femme Fatale class, giving you all the basics you need to play it. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Unfortunatley, the guide gives little more than that. More examples, more 'meat' to the guide would have gone a long way to being more value for the purcase.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Excellent ideas to expand the possibilities for using the Craft (Alchemy) skill. The wording is clear, the whole is well edited, and suggested ingredients are included for each substance. In addition, there are indices to the substances by price and creation DC in the back, which are quite useful.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: It's clear and presents good ideas for things the players can do with the Craft (Alchemy) skill, or even just buy from an alchemist for use. Attractive layout, ease of reading, and eye for everyday uses make this a good inclusion to any fantasy campaign.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Bookmarks weren't necessary (for 16 pages) but would have been nice, as well as some "behind the scenes" explanations or discussion for the DC's and the costs.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Skillful Stunts by Adamant Entertainment is part of Adamant?s D20 Master Kit series which provides setting independent rules options for D20 fantasy. This product is eight pages (seven after OGL) long with a clean layout and a few B&W illustrations, with examples are clearly set aside in shaded boxes.

The purpose of Skillful Stunts is to both allow for more cinematic combat in the D20 system and to allow a wider number of skills to be useful in combat. It uses a very simple system to determine the DC of the stunt ?the player is encouraged to be creative in describing the stunts and examples for almost all skills are included? and if it is successful, the character gains a Stunt Point. The DC for stunts can be voluntarily increased with the payoff being additional Stunt Points. The stunt points can be traded in useful combat bonuses (extra damage, lowering an opponent?s armor class, save penalties).

Additionally, multiple skills can be combined into a single stunt, such as ?the Stare? which uses Intimidate, Concentration and Gather Information. Combined stunts are more difficult but potentially gain one Stunt Point for each skill used and it encourages players to be creative. It is suggested that character be limited to one stunt per level per session (though, you might want to make it one successful stunt per level), which seems like a reasonable balancing factor, and ?of course? the villains can use them too.

Skillful Stunts is a nice system for encouraging creative and cinematic play in D20, if such appeals to your play-style, take a look.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

NOw this is fun. A very VERY easy way to generate a one shot missino in my space opera setting.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: roll this roll that, get a campaign, throw in some cheese, hey presto!<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: nada<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Modern Dispatch #78: Cyberpunk Adventure Generator by Adamant Entertainment is a short PDF design to provide a seed from which to design cyberpunk-styled adventures. This PDF is a slim six pages (five after the OGL) with a single piece of Matrix-styled art with a fairly clean layout. However, the layout uses both red and black and might cause some problems on the charts when printed in grey scale.

The product is exactly what it claims to be. A system for generating cyberpunk themed adventures. Taking its cue from screen writing, it breaks the basic adventure components down into this formula: ?The main characters must [DO] [SOMETHING],at [LOCATION], but have to contend with [COMPLICATIONS] while being confronted by [OPPOSITION].?

With each piece filled in by a random roll on a table consisting of an eight by eight grid (so you need eight-sided dice). As you can imagine, this gives the possibility of a lot of different result (more than a billion according to the document). Equally, if a Games Master has an idea for part of an adventure, these charts can be used to flesh it out: not sure of the opposition? Roll those dice.

Three short examples on how to flesh the basic rolls out into a scenario framework is provided to wrap out this product.

If cyberpunk is your genre, and while released as a D20 product there is nothing here that prevents it use with any cyberpunk-styled setting, this product will almost certainly prove to be worth its low price.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Solid adventure, with plenty of hooks and space for customization if you want. In fact, this is two adventures in one, as the events can have either a mundane or supernatural explanation, and only the last encounter really changes.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The dual nature is brilliant. Even if a player has read it, they can't be sure if the mummy is real or not.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Short, concise PDF that does just what it sez and does it well. Lets you add an "Expert" into your game without having to have him be a mega-level NPC to pull off the feat. Well worth it in my opinion!<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Exactly as advertised, well written and designed rules.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Maybe could have used some non-stock art to liven up the text or illustrate an example, but that certainly does not detract from the product.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Consisting of only a few tables, and a very basic descriptions this product is lackluster at best. While it is a great start, without a bit more exposition of actually utilizing the tables and handling the superheroic nature of possible events, its really not worth it. Plus for a short product its page numbering is munged: There are two page 9's (one should be page 3), while not a horrible error, its really noticeable. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The product is inexpensive, well organized, and simple to use.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It really is little more than the license, a one page explanation, and charts/tables. Something that should be inside a fuller more robust product (full game, or full superhero GM book) <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The best rules for d20 based chases I have ever found. Things become abstract and cooler all at the same time. Cement trucks and pedestrians can suddenly appear or not, resulting in very cinematic sequences.

The only flaws are in the layout of hte pdf and the lack of guidelines with regards to aireal and space chases. Given the difficulties of those last two, I can understand and forgive.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The basic premise and most of the rules and exectution.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Layout is somewhat confusing. No Index. Not enough guidelines on three dimensional use.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

At first I was kind of put off by the first 12 pages being characters. Personally I don?t need more characters. There are plenty of books, Blogs, and websites full of characters for M&M. and if characters are going to be in every issue then maybe devote 2-4 pages to them not 12. What I did like is that the characters presented were useful in the storyline that followed in the other articles presented, at least it was a thoughtful process and served a purpose as a whole rather than just sticking some random characters in there for filler. Next came a section on Archetypes. To me archetypes are just another name for prestige classes, character kits, hero packages, and so on (eventually I'm sure I?ll see an ?Anti-Paladin Archetype?). Here again, there are so many of these ?Archetypes? floating around in cyberspace do I really need three more? The insider Info section was good. It gave a rundown on a hero who used the Internet to set up ?workshops? globally so that when he fought evil far from home he always had a nearby place to repair his equipment. I enjoyed that article; it was inventive and showed some real ?out of the box? thinking. The fight scenery section gave a too brief overview of a south pacific island, it?s people, origins, and it?s spiritual guardian. I would rather have seen the extra effort and pages go towards fleshing this island out more, instead of towards 12 pages of new heroes. Following the island section is a three-page adventure using the various preceding articles. As I stated earlier I admire the fact that most of the preceding information fed into the adventure, but again the material could have been fleshed out better. The issue rounds out with a pair of articles on different types of teams and setting up a group. While the team types article was interesting the setting up a group was nothing that many publishers already add to their rulebooks in the ?how to run a game? section. Overall it wasn?t a bad read, but it didn?t rock my world either. I applaud the effort and I?ll probably plunk down the cash for another issue or two, just to see how it goes, but right now for almost $6.00 you?re not really getting too much. I would suggest maybe adding more articles on gaming techniques and novel uses for powers already in print. Another thing that might be nifty is to add some cardboard cutouts to end pages. Maybe each issue could have a building of some type, which one could print up on cardstock and use during actual play. And after several issues of collecting these buildings and sceneries you could have a city center or galactic outpost. One of the things I always hear about super?s games is that beating up bad guys gets boring after a while. That may be because GM?s are having a hard time thinking of original material for a sustained supers campaign. This is where ATA could help. The wheel has already been invented; the thing to do now is to show people different things they can do with M&M rather than just foiling the super crooks at the First National Bank.

<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>