Ogres of the Olden Lands is both a monster book & PC book rolled into one, in the Olden Lands ogres are a menace and a boon. These monsters in this pay what you want title are very dangerous highly unpredictable are a species unto themselves and the author does a good job of getting this very well across. These are tribes of creatures that have traits, habits, norms and a society that is just this south of the usual races of PC's and they're very well detailed in this title. The random tables for ogres and ogre magi are fantastic and add in a bit more color into a race of 'monsters' who are at once menacing and yet understandable. Given the author's background in anthropology its very understandable how he's able to breath new life into a pair of monsters from the Monster Manual that have only been regarded as big dumb humanoids. Here they're anything but. The real star here is the the half ogre PC class everything that I've come to expect from the race that appeared in the pages of Dragon magazine and several old school rpg sources instead here we have a working PC racial class with real motives and dangerous intentions. Yet they're not only playable but well done too boot. They're certainly well done with several other random tables to add in even more customization options to your PC's. This product also features an ogre encounter system, just perfect for generating complete parties of these brutal and dangerous warriors as well as their Ogre Magi counterparts. Make no mistake these are some very dangerous customers and they should never be taken lightly. This is a living and breathing race of dangerous warriors going about their business in a society with its own rules and ethics, even though these are a some what alien species in many respects. There is a section on advice for generating your own ogre PC's and this is done in such a way give practical advice and really down to Earth guidance with these creatures making them feel realistic and solidly done. Finally we get a series of maps detailing the lands and world of the ogres of The Olden Lands. Finally we get the Gorge of Ogroth a place of mystery and legend steeped in Ogre lore, the perfect place to drop a party into the deep end of it. A ton can be done with this twenty page piece of OSR gaming goodness, since this is a Labyrinth Lord compatible product its just perfect for use with a wide variety of OSR products. I can honestly see using this book as a part of a Mutant Future Advanced Mazes and Mutants campaign. With all of the information here its easy to see these races appearing in the post apocalyptic wastelands. Ogres make the perfect bogey man and mutation platform in a post apocalyptic jump off point. There is so much detail here that its possible for Ogres to be used as a contact race for a game of Star Ships and Space Men 1st edition with little issue. Seriously these are one of the more versatile races of monsters turned player character races that I've seen and the product is that well done. This product could be used to create a subrace of sword and sorcery characters, monsters, NPC's and plenty more. Because of the LL style of stats in this product and the fact that the advanced companion is considered in the PC and NPC generation options this book gives a ton of bang for its buck. I can even see using this product with an OSR game such as Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea. I don't own a single Castles and Crusades book but I can see given the gaming fluff that there is plenty of sparks and fire to start a blaze of bonfire proportions for a wide variety of OSR style games. Given the amount of time, details, ecology issues, and more for the societies of the ogres this title gets a five out of five from me. Do yourselves a favor and grab this baby today! Highly recommended. Eric F Sword and Stitchery blog

Ogres are the boogeymen of the Olden Lands. Or at least that is how they are depicted here. I love what James is trying to do with the ogres here. Give them something more of the supernatural. It works to be honest and for how little this book costs you have no excuse not to be using this to spice up the ogres in your own game. Ok though, I do plan on using this information for goblins instead! The random ogre feature tables for both Ogre and Ogre Magi is just great.

Though the STAR of this book is the Half-Ogre as a player character. Gamers of A Certain Age (like James and myself) grew up on a steady diet of fantasy and the half-ogre is the result of that. Either from the pages of Dragon magazine or the pages of Piers Anothony, the half-ogre was something that was sure to show up in someone's game in the early 80s. This half-ogre does that memory justice.

As a bonus we get the lands of the ogre and full color maps!

This book is designed to be used with any Old-School game. It is overtly labeled for Labyrinth Lord and dual-stated for Castles & Crusades, but really you could pick up anything from the *D&D family and play these.

The look of the books is certainly Old-school with the Souvenir/Soutane font. The layout is crisp, clean and easy to read. Like other books from this publisher it lacks art (save for the maps), but I don't think it is lessened because of it.

All in all a great addition to my game library and something I plan on using in my own game world.

Wow, this may be my favorite JMG product yet. Ogres always had so much more potential than they were ever afforded - so many old D&D modules treated them like nothing more than big orcs or small giants. Once again, James' background in anthropology shines through, as he builds a rich cultural background for ogres that gives them real depth and motivation. Highly recommended.

Are there ogres in your game?

If there are, and you view them as anything more than mere cannon-fodder to be mown down in swathes by brave adventurers this product is worth a look, especially if you play Labyrinth Lords or Castles & Crusades. (Even if you don't, a lot of the ideas could be used to effect in any fantasy game.)

It begins with a discussion of what ogres actually are. Whilst based in the Olden Lands and with some references to that setting, it would be a trivial matter to locate them in your own campaign world. There's material about various ogre cultures, just like any other race there are more than one and ogres from one community will be quite different in outlook and behaviour from those who come from the other side of the world.

Then it gets more mechanical (game mechanics, I mean) with notes and tables on ogre magi and their powers. This will aid you in creating truly individual ogre magi rather than having every single one encountered being exactly the same, with the same powers and abilities. They can be just as individual and distinctive as any player-character wizard... and the tables are well-ordered and systematic so that it is not massively time-consuming to create them.

Next comes a system for generating ogre encounters. Using this you can design a whole group, determining just who is in it and where they come from as well as what they are doing when encountered. That's nice - makes it feel as if the characters are interacting with a living world in which there are other folks going about their own business when encountered, rather than a job-lot of ogres doing nothing but waiting for the party to come along so that an encounter can take place.

If interest in ogres as 'people' has been whetted by now (and if you've studied the material so far thoroughly it probably has been) the next section explains how to create ogre characters. Finally, there's a preview to one of the places that ogres come from in the Olden Lands, the Gorge of Ogroth. Sounds fascinating, and ought to be well worth a visit...