(Edited a few typos)

This is the expanded version of a game created in just 24 hours as part of a special RPG design challenge. Vs. Monsters is a (sort-of) horror RPG set in a 19th century America that never really existed. Think of a movie by Tim Burton based on a fairytale by H.P. Lovecraft and Lewis Carrol, and you'll begin to have the right idea. The basic premise is that the players exist in a gas-lit town surrounded by harrowing mountains and an evil forest. Within these locations-town, mountains, and forest- exist murderers, madmen, and horrific monsters. It is up to the PCs to go out and deal with these menaces.

The book begins with a brief forward in which author Phillip Reed tells us, in poetic form, that his cats would not have approved of this game. This, I believe, sets the tone of this game perfectly. There is something off-putting about the way Reed describes his feline companions, and there is a bit of sarcasm here as well. Throughout the rulebook, Reed continues to maintain a wonderful balance of wit and horror. It's a combination that results in a very fun read. I absolutely flew through the 40 pages of this short PDF, enjoying every minute of it. And I read nearly every word. That's saying a lot for an RPG book.

Simplicity is the main focus of this book. The rules system uses a deck of playing cards for all task resolution. Success is determined by drawing a certain number of cards and comparing the highest card to a target number. In cases where success or failure is not important to the story, the GM simply decides what happens. While I generally prefer dice-based mechanics, this has the look of an easy, intuitive system. The author doesn't mention it, but it occurs to me that standard playing cards could be replaced with part of a Tarot card deck, adding immensely to the flavor of the game.

Speaking of flavor, vs. Monsters positively oozes creepy atmosphere. The black-and-white art, which is almost entirely period-looking stuff, helps set the tone. This is offset by Reed's conversational tone, which helps convey the game's rules-light, laid-back style. Reed mentions in the credits that a friend encouraged him not to refine the tone of the writing, and I'm glad he followed this advice. Its one thing to tell me that vs. Monsters is meant to be played and enjoyed a certain way, but it is ultimately more effective to show me through use of the "author's voice." In other words, when Reed says of the optional initiative rules that you "may read them if you want to...I'd rather not", he's making his design approach to rules in this game pretty clear.

Vs. Monsters is obviously a labor of love. Its a unique game, and one that could only have been created out of a mad 24 hour design frenzy. Players of a proper RPG experience level and mindset could get a lot of millage out of this simple set of rules and its wonderful setting.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: A game such as this must be looked at in the context of what it is trying to be. Vs. Monsters is a simple game in which players battle horrific creatures set against an evocative, gloomy background. It is part fairy tale, part ghost story, and part monster hunt. It succeeds in all it sets out to do, and it does so in such a fun and interesting fashion that its both a pleasure to read and a pleasure to play.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Although it has been carefully revised and beautifully spruced up, you can occasionally see glimpses of the original hastily-written game bleed through. There are typos here and there, and the game seems a bit short on explanation in places. The author also relies pretty heavily on the reader to figure out the point and tone of the game. I think that vs. Monsters is a little like jazz, you either get it or you don't.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

A lot of companies have tried to use the d20 rules to recapture an "oldschool" feel, reminiscent of the classic 1st Edition AD&D Adventures, but few seem to grasp the essence of those early modules quite as well as Goodman Games and their Dungeon Crawl Classics line. These are adventures that eliminate all trappings of pretension and focus on the meat of the adventure: exciting encounters, interesting locations, and clever puzzles.

Vault of the Dragon Kings is something of a special adventure. It was used as a "tournament" module at GenCon Indy 2005. More than 25 teams of gamers tested their mettle against this perilous dungeon. This is your chance to follow in their footsteps. A scoring system and special tournament rules are included for those interested in running this adventure as a competitive event between several groups of gamers. For players looking for a more standard gaming experience, the normal d20 rules apply.

While Vault of the Dragon Kings in intended for 10th level characters, I have a feeling that a party of that level would suffer a lot of deaths. This makes sense, considering the tournament nature of the adventure. If I were running this for my home group, I'd probably wait until the party reached 14th level or so. The adventure was meant to be a challenge and PC deaths should therefore be expected, especially at the levels suggested by the authors.

Many of Goodman's previous selections have been full of puzzles and this adventure is no exception. Fortunately, the designers were smart enough to craft the puzzles in such a way that failure to solve them doesn't generally result in the adventure grinding to a complete halt. Stuck PCs might have to take on a difficult fight, or simply absorb a lot of damage, but they can still go on. One exception is a lever puzzle encountered early in the adventure. Even with the solution, I find the whole thing confusing. There are other puzzles that I do enjoy, so this might just be a question of personal taste.

Goodman has done a pretty good job with the adventure presentation. There are nice rules reminders throughout, cutting down significantly on the amount of times I had to crack open a book to see just how something worked. In an adventure this large and involved, little touches like this are greatly appreciated.

There were a few spots where the design could have used a bit of revision. Take, for example, the read-aloud text for area 1-4. Here the author devotes five paragraphs (some 290 words) to describing a large chamber. Granted, there is a lot to see here, but asking a group of players to digest that much text in such a big piece is a bit unrealistic. The handout illustrations help to alleviate this problem immensely, and Vault of the Dragon Kings contains a bunch of them.

I should also point out that the size and scope of this dungeon is really very large. There are certain items that have different effects in certain rooms, giving the PCs reasons to explore and re-explore their surroundings. This adds a nice level of depth to the adventure, and it rewards clever players who let themselves get into the dungeon's backstory.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Vault of the Dragon Kings is a great example of a large, classic style dungeon crawl. There's a lot of things to do here, an interesting backstory, glittering treasure, and a bunch of monsters to kill. Goodman Games lives up to the expectations, delivering something thoroughly modern with an old-school flavor.

The GenCon extras, which include the scores of the various groups and a piece of short fiction are a nice little bonus.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The backstory is fairly involved for an adventure of this type, which may make hurt Vault's portability. In addition, the adventure is both big and deadly, making it best suited as a campaign-concluding adventure for potent PCs.

Finally, because of the size of the place, there were a few areas that I just didn't care for. One room, in particular, contains what can only be described as magical medieval surveillance monitors. Not a game breaker, by any means, but enough to make me want to tweak things a bit before running them for my own group.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Phantasmos is a d20 book about dreams. The basic premise is that sleepers' minds travel to another plane, called Somneiros whenever they dream. Phantasmos contains rules for the plane itself, as well as the creatures that inhabit it. In addition, there are new classes, new spells, new uses for skills, and other new rules.

The core of the book is Somneiros itself, a two level plane reachable via dreams and certain spells. Somneiros is a vast and interesting place. There are a number of interesting locations within the realm of dreams. From the City of Lost Children to the Library of Dreams, adventurers will find plenty of places to explore. The biblography lists a number of well-known books, such as Peter Pan and Neil Gaiman's Sandman. The influence of these works is clear in regions such as the Land of Do As You Please, which takes the darker aspects of Peter Pan and builds a region around them. Just reading about these fantastic locations is inspiring and the designers have done a superb job blending common elements of mythology and dream imagery. Even if I don't use Somneiros as the focus of a campaign, I will probably add a number of these realms to my homebrew's cosmology. They are that good.

Those looking for additional rules content will find some good rules for falling asleep, waking up, and sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation in particular is a welcome addition to the game, as the core rules currently lack any meaningful penalty for staying awake all night. A new core class and a handful of prestige classes are probably better suited for those interested in running a dream-focused campaign, though they look to be well designed. If I have a complaint here, its that the prestige classes are a bit too generic. We have the dream knight, the dream healer, the oracle...all fulfilling fairly archetypal roles. Archetypes are good, but I would have liked something a little more outside the norm. The new feats are all tied very strongly to the dream setting, having a lot of use within it but less or no benefit outside. With a few exceptions, I don't see characters taking these unless Somneiros features predominately in the campaign.

Next to the realms of Somneiros, my favorite part of this book was probably the bestiary. There is a nice selection of appropriate monsters here. My favorites include the fear-mongering bogeymen, the dream-eating beshean demons, and the somewhat Lovecraftian guardian cats. While monsters aren't the main focus of this book, I really enjoyed almost all of the creatures presented here. Even the ones I didn't like, such as the tinkerbell inspired never-bells, fit well within the book's theme.

<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: While I don't make a strong judgement before I read a product I'm reviewing, I do try to form a general opinion before going in. This isn't a prejudice, just a rough idea of my feelings toward the book in a generic, conceptual fashion. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with Phantasmos. The realm of sleep is a well-coceived plane that would be a thrill to visit. Setting a whole campaign there would probably feel a lot different than your standard D&D game, but I think it would also be a lot of fun. I like the plane, the creatures, the spells, and the classes. If the subject interests you, pick this book up. At the very worst, you'll find lots and lots of material to inspire you when creating your own "land of dreams."<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Its a shame that a book with such rich verbal imagery has such mediocre art. Its not bad, but it just doesn't do the subject matter justice. Its too bad that some of the works listed in the biblography couldn't have been tapped for their art (impossible for obvious reasons).

I also feel compelled to mention that this is a very niche product. As I pointed out in the main body of the review, you aren't going to get a lot out of the new feats, spells, and other rules if you aren't planning to make dreams and Somneiros a focus of your campaign.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The book begins with a forward by Clyde Lewis, host of the paranormal radio program Ground Zero. In it, Clyde tells of his experiences with a strange picture that may or may not have shown an extraterrestrial. The picture supposedly drew a lot of unwanted attention on Clyde, including a mysterious man in black who warned him to cease his investigations. Clyde's story is a perfect example of the kinds of things covered in this book. He happened upon something that may or may not have shown an alien. Suddenly, agencies unknown took a personal and sometimes very dangerous interest in making sure that the evidence Clyde found went away. There is a lot of vagueness to the story. Who exactly was this "man in black?" Was he an agent of the government? An alien creature? The product of Clyde's imagination? And what was so damning about the picture that it warranted such intense intimidation? Such questions are better left to professional investigators, or the player characters in a d20 Modern RPG.

Alien Invasion tries to cover a lot of ground. There is a small section discussing the history of alien activity on earth. Within, events such as Roswell are described in brief detail. Sometimes these seem to be written from the perspective that aliens are very real, and that these events involved actual extraterrestrial encounters. The battle of Los Angeles, for example, states that the event served as an example of the "inability of the U.S. Military to defend American soil against an alien invader." The Roswell section claims that one of the witnesses found actual E.T. bodies. However, the actual meaning of these events is left largely up to the GM. I would have enjoyed a little more explanation here. If we're playing in a setting in which Roswell was the sight of an actual alien craft, who were the aliens that crashed here? Why did the government cover it up? I think a few suggestions would have been helpful in filling in the details.

As expected, there are a number of organizations discussed in this book. From government projects like Majestic-12 to cult groups such as the Raelians, Alien Invasions definitely draws its inspiration from the real world. There are good and bad points to this. On the one hand, using actual groups and government agencies lends a certain familiarity to the campaign, and helps to build the verisimilitude. On the other hand, the authors have to be careful when dealing with groups who, at their worst, could be actual dangerous cults harming actual people. I'm not a member of the ultra-politically correct crowd or anything, but a certain amount of caution should be advised here.

Finally, there are a lot of new rules introduced in this book. A lot of them center on investigations. There are rules for determining the validity of photographic evidence, rules for questioning UFO witnesses, and rules for handling PC abductions. For the most part, these rules are fairly straightforward and well written. The alien abduction stuff is particularly good, since its based on actual personal accounts of such events. Cattle mutilations, on the other hand, are less well designed. The book gives some suggestions for how and why the mutilations take place, but I was left feeling uninspired. I'm not sure what I was looking for exactly, but the short paragraph given just wasn't it. The included cow stats amused me, however. Particularly the Bull Rush feat.

In addition to these new rules, there is the usual assortment of alien equipment, new feats, magic and psychic powers, and various alien species. Most of these rules are also very good. The species section in contains a good mix of the usual suspects. Creatures such as the elohim, the grays, the reptoids, and the chupacabra will be familiar to conspiracy theorists and sci-fi gamers alike. I would have liked a larger explanation on the background of some of these creatures. Some of them are detailed throughout various sections of the book, while the rest get only a brief mention in one chapter.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Alien Invasion is a well-researched book with all of the proper tools for running a d20 Modern campaign in which alien conspiracy theories are the main focus. The rules are well crafted, the writing is good, and art and layout is very professional.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The book lacks somewhat in organization and detail. Information is sometimes spread throughout the chapters, with no real centralized spot for finding details. The setup isn't terrible by any means, but its not ideal either.

Also, the writing seems to lack a certain level of explanation. Although I couldn't put my finger on it at first, after a few read-throughs it became clear to me what was missing. Alien Invasion assumes that you're already somewhat familiar with the creatures and events it discusses. If you aren't, you're going to have to do a little further research to really grok what this type of campaign is all about. The book does include a number of links to help you get started, which is a nice touch. If you're like me and you're already familiar with the sasquatch / UFO connection, el chupacabra, and crop circles, then this disadvantage won't be so bothersome to you.

We'll call the final score 3 1/2 stars and round up for size and delivery.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

A number of gaming companies have tried to tap into an "old-school" feel, harkening back to the classic days of fantasy roleplaying games. Few companies are able to evoke this nostalgic design style as well as Goodman Games. Their adventures emphasize the best things about some of the early modules, while still maintaining the high standards of design and quality modern gamers have come to expect.

Like other adventures in this series, The Transmuter's Last Touch gets right to the meat of the adventure. Although the author gives a few suggestions on how to get the PCs involved, the vast majority of the module's 20 pages are devoted to the dungeon and its denizens. I really enjoy this kind of "less is more" philosophy. Giving too much background can sometimes make an adventure harder to use. A complicated and detailed backstory makes an adventure less generic, and therefore requires a lot more work on the part of the DM to insert it into his or her campaign world. Transmuter's Last Touch gets the balance just right. Essentially, kobolds have taken up residence in the lair of a long-dead wizard. The lair contains a legacy of sorts; a lingering residue of transmutation magic that alters its occupants in strange and unpredictable ways. The kobolds have learned to harness this "background magic", using it to give them an edge over their enemies. The PCs, after being drawn into this plot however the DM sees fit, must battle these magically mutated kobolds in their strange lair.

The adventure includes all of the things you'd expect of a good dungeon crawl. There are traps, hidden treasures, and an ill-tempered dire weasel. Alright, so dire weasels aren't as iconic as sharks with lasers, but at least they're ill-tempered. The designers give the kobolds in each area tactics, which should help to ensure that the little buggers offer the proper challenge to the party. The authors are also careful to note some of the logic behind where the various traps and other dungeon features came from, giving the DM some tools to improve his players' sense of verisimilitude. There is just enough detail to make things seem cohesive without bogging the adventure down with useless background information.

Finally, the areas of transmutation magic that can temporarily "mutate" the kobolds help to give this adventure a unique flavor. Not only must the PCs face a group of enemies who enjoy a home-turf advantage, but they must also contend with fire-breathing kobolds, quickened kobolds, and other magically-altered baddies. The fact that clever PCs can also tap into these transmutation "pockets" and gain their own enhancements makes things even more interesting.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The Transmuter's Last Touch is a nice little adventure that incorporates some of the best things about D&D's truly classic modules. It's not trying to be a stunning work of plot and intrigue, nor is it offering a unique and never-before-seen adventure concept. Instead, the Transmuter's Last Touch is simply a fun adventure full of the kinds of things that make D&D dungeon crawls enjoyable. It has background without getting bogged down in small details, interesting yet familiar monsters and encounters, and some nice old-school art.

While the authors are going for a classic feel, the adventure design is thoroughly modern. The enemy tactics are sound and the game mechanics are spot-on. This is a nice, professional adventure that I'd love to run for my group.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: This sort of adventure isn't for everyone. If you're looking for an adventure filled with plot, or the kind of thing you can build a campaign around, other products will serve you better. If your group doesn't enjoy dungeon crawls, then they probably won't like Transmuter's Last Touch. The background details are here, and certain elements could definitely inspire a creative DM to build further adventures, but those kinds of things aren't the focus of this product. This is a dungeon crawl against a lair of kobolds...with a twist. If that's not your cup of tea, then you might want to look elsewhere for your adventure needs.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

Autumn Arbor is a two-in-one kind of product. In one aspect, it?s a detailed city that can serve as a setting backdrop for your Mutants & Masterminds campaigns. But it?s also a complete super hero universe, with a long history and a full roster of good guys and bad guys.

The first thing that struck me about this book was its length. Weighing in at around 200 pages of content, Autumn Arbor is positively crammed with information. City locations are given mostly brief information (a paragraph or three on each), but there are a lot of locations described. Downtown hotspots, government buildings, businesses, churches...everything you'd expect to find in a real city is here, with just enough detail to be useful to the GM. The book organizes locations by city district, which is a very good way to structure things. It can be a bit hard to find a specific type of location, especially if you aren't familiar with the city's layout, but a good use of bookmarks goes a long way to alleviating this problem.

The designers included a lot of small details that can sometimes go overlooked in a product such as this. Lists of local radio and television stations, info on the area sports teams, and detail on local religious history are invaluable to the GM trying to heighten the players' sense of verisimilitude. I probably don't need to know, for example, that a child's buffet meal at Kountry Citchen is $4.25, but it's a neat little nugget to toss in if it comes up. On the other hand, descriptions of public transportation, politics, and city industry help the GM keep things efficient and logical.

No city is complete, of course, without people to live in it. In addition to the mundane NPCs like the mayor, Autumn Arbor is home to a sizable group of super-powered individuals, which the setting calls Neos. Like any comic book rogue's gallery (real or RPG), there are characters here that you will like and others that you won't. Vanguardian, for example, is a character that I really enjoyed. The Vignette Gang, on the other hand, is not my cup of tea. Fortunately, the setting can exist independently of most of these characters. If you took the time to replace the few heroes and villains you didn't like with ones from your own imagination, you'd still have a big, nicely detailed city that was designed with supers in mind.

The world in which Autumn Arbor exists is a comic book version of our own earth. There are a lot of common conventions here, but everything is well written and presented in an original fashion. As with the characters, if you don't like what the designers have come up with, it isn't too hard to remove the city from their world and plant it in your own. Included advice also gives you the tools for using the city in different comic book eras, such as the Golden or Silver ages.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Autumn Arbor is a highly detailed campaign with a rich setting and long history. Plenty of advice makes the book a diverse tool for a GM looking to tinker, and the level of information ensures that those wanting to use the setting as-is won't be disappointed.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I didn't like some of the characters. Its not that there's anything wrong with them, and most of them fit nicely with established comic book archetypes, but a few just didn't click with me.

Also, while the art is good overall, in some places it wasn't to my liking. Art is very important to me in comic book RPGs, as they're based on an entirely visual medium, so I tend to weigh it critically in a product such as this.

And speaking of weighing heavy, I can't imagine the amount of ink and paper a book this size would eat up. While not a concern if you plan to run Autumn Arbor from a laptop, the size of the book may be a problem for more traditional gamers.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

The cleverly titled Sons of the Gun begins with an interesting introduction in which the authors describe the influence of firearms on comic-book superheroes. The gun-toting hero (or anti-hero), the book argues, is merely a modern interpretation of age-old character archetypes. I tend to agree, and I also happen to think that gunslinging superheroes make for interesting characters. This book contains 10 such characters, each suitable for use as a villainous addition to any supers campaign using the Mutants & Masterminds rules set.

In addition to each NPC's full stats and description, Sons of the Gun describes each character in a number of innovative ways. The first, called Origin in a Box, gives the GM ideas for tying a new hero's origin in with the origin or background of each villain. The Origin in a Box sections contain some neat ideas, and each is supported with fully detailed items, templates, and other rules bits.

The second new feature is called Story Point. These sections give the GM a few different hooks for working the new NPCs into his or her existing campaign. These sections often contain details such as new organizations and hero teams, but each is written in a generic enough way that a resourceful GM can use them with only slight modification.

The In Game section of each villain's description gives advice for working the villain in to an adventure. Where the Story Point focuses on how the character is connected to the world at large, this section gives more concrete ways the characters can be introduced to the heroes over the course of one or more adventures. This is where the real "adventure hooks" for each villain are listed.

Next, each villain is given an "Endgame", which describes a likely resolution to the character's plans...whether through his or her death, capture, or some other means. Coupled with the In Game information, the GM should have enough tools to introduce the new villain, put him or her in conflict with the PCs, and wrap things up at the end of the story arch.

As for the characters, it's hard to pick a best of this lot, as they are all very good. The authors did a nice job designing villains with a wide variety of backgrounds and powers. Sons of the Gun contains, among others, a villain with cursed handguns possessed with the spirit of an old west outlaw, a precognitive former CIA agent, and a soviet android. There are some similarities between these characters, and you certainly won't be able to make use of all of them. However, I could see at least three of them fitting right in to my current campaign, and I'll likely use a few more some time down the road.

Finally, the designers intended this product to serve as a kind of introduction to their campaign setting, called the Infiniverse. To this end, the book contains an appendix detailing a number of individuals and organizations that are mentioned in the villain descriptions. There are some things in this section that are certainly worth stealing for your own home campaign, and I look forward to seeing more products in this line.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: This is a PDF with a very professional look to it. The ten villains detailed herein are well designed, and a Mutants & Masterminds GM should find at least a few that he can drop directly into his current or future campaigns. The added details, such as the End Game and Origin in a Box sections are very helpful, and they make this book stand out from similar NPC collections.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Whenever a book of characters is written around a single theme, there is bound to be some overlap. While I think that the authors did a good job making each character unique, no GM is going to be able to easily work 10 gun-toting villains into his campaign without things feeling a little overdone. Of course, Sons of the Gun wasn't written so that you would use all of its villains in one shot, so this is a very small point.

Also, the villains herein have strong connections to NPCs and organizations from the Infiverse setting. The authors did their best to make these groups generic enough that a GM can file off the serial numbers and tailor things to suit his or her campaign, but its worth pointing out that some work will have to be done in order to make these characters work for everyone.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

The concept behind Ten Ideas with a Twist intrigued me. In my experience, a GM can never have too many adventure hooks. These are traditionally one or two sentences describing an adventure idea or event, intended to help the GM overcome writer's block. This product takes the idea of adventure hooks a step further, offering ten one-page adventure ideas, each with a surprise or deviation from the expected norm.

This is a 10 page PDF, with one page each devoted to a single adventure plot idea. There are no graphics or illustrations, making the PDF look rather plain. There aren't even any lines or headers to divide the text. A book like this doesn't need a whole lot of embellishment, but at the very least some lines, shading, and boxes could have been used to make the text a little more pleasing to the eye.

None of the adventure hooks in this product are bad, but few of them really stand out either. The biggest disappointment was the lack of anything that felt all that "twisted" to me. I was expecting to see some common fantasy plots that took unexpected turns. Instead, a got a handful of decent adventure hooks that pretty much go in directions you've seen before. That's not to say that these ideas couldn't be shaped into workable and even memorable adventures, it is just that the authors failed to deliver anything really different. Of the hooks, I liked Enemy Within and Possessive the best.

Ten Ideas uses a bit of a strange design. The hooks, at a page each, give more detail than typical adventure hooks. Important NPCs are often named and described in basic class / race terms. It would have been nice to see the designers go a step further. A few stat blocks for the villains, or the occasional new rule or monster would have helped make this product even more useful. While not strictly necessary, little touches like this would have gone a long way toward earning this PDF a higher rating.

The text of Ten Ideas with a Twist is riddled with typos and minor grammatical errors. The word item, for example, appears misspelled as "iten" no less than five times. In one place, the authors use the word "despered" which, from context, I can only guess is supposed to be "despaired." These aren't major errors, but they happen far too often to go unmentioned. At times, the grammatical mistakes do hurt the flow of the text, making for an awkward read.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: I like the concept: a series of one page adventure hooks, each with an unexpected twist. Some of the ideas could, with some work, be turned into decent adventures. The hooks are good for getting the GM's creative juices flowing, if nothing else. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: This really isn't a very professional product. The layout is plain and boring and there are several spelling and grammatical errors throughout. The ideas behind the hooks aren't really anything you haven't seen before. While they're more detailed than the kinds of adventure ideas you find in, say, the Dungeon Master's Guide, the extra information doesn't really add up to a lot of added value.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

EDIT: I erroneously claimed in my first review that no demo was available for this track. I'm not sure how I missed it, but thank you to the publisher for correcting my mistake. I've corrected my error in this version of the review.

"Hack the Planet!" Hackers, 1998

A successful cyberpunk/sci-fi RPG game needs a few things. A cast of futuristic outsiders that live outside the law? Check. A gritty, urban spawl to serve as backdrop? Check. Plenty of guns, cyberware, and high-tech security systems? Check. Cool techno soundtrack? ...What, no soundtrack?

Bailey Records is here to add the music to your sci-fi gaming. Hack the Planet is a musical track in the tradition of soundtracks from movies such as the Matrix, Hackers, and certain video games. Its very good background music, and it fits the sci-fi genre well.

One of the things I liked best was the length of the song. At 5 minutes and 18 seconds, Hack the Planet is just long enough to be looped two or three times during the background of a particular scene or encounter during your game. At $1 for the download, Hack the Planet is an inexpensive starting place for those looking to get started with building a gaming soundtrack, or for those looking to add to an existing collection. The file is in MP3 format, making it very portable and playable for nearly anyone with a computer.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: I really like the sound of Hack the Planet. It sounds a bit like high quality video game music, which works great as RPG background music. If used for Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, d20 Modern, or another sci-fi genre game, I think that it would greatly add to the players' immersion in their characters' actions. While Hack the Planet is just a single track, it is a good start toward a full soundtrack.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Hack the Planet is a nice length for a single track, but I would prefer to see products like this available as full album downloads, or at least grouped in a more logical way.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

This product is an MP3 audio file of a song called Lonesome October Nights. According to the information accompanying the download, it was originally part of a CD soundtrack for an independent Call of Cthulhu-inspired film entitled The Charnal Gospel. The original CD has apparently sold out, and the company has decided to release individual tracks for download via RPGNow. For a roleplaying gamer, these songs are meant to be used as genre specific background music, helping to set the atmosphere for a roleplaying game session.

Lonesome October Nights is 1 minute and 30 seconds long. It begins with an ominous rumble, accompanied by a rapid, insectoid screeching. As the screeching fades and the rumble builds, a soft chiming rhythm begins. It is reminiscent of the Tubular Bells theme from the Exorcist, only slower, quieter, and more suppressed. As the song progresses to the end, the sounds grow in volume and begin to blend together, rising in volume until finally fading out at the end.

Whew! I now know why I'm not a staff reviewer on an independent music website. Music may be a universal language, but it sure is hard to describe. To put things into less abstract terms, Lonesome October Nights is good background music. What little recognizable tune it has is very brief and highly muted. That's a good thing, as you don't want your players humming along with the music while they're battling the minions of Hastur. Background music should stay firmly in the background.

Lonesome October Nights is also creepy, which is the whole point of the composition. Relating it to Call of Cthulhu, it immediately reminded me of the Insects from Shaggai. The industrial buzzing, building to a noisy crescendo, brought to mind a number of other creepy images as well. Which leads me to the other use of RPG background music: gamemaster inspiration. There are certain songs that I like to listen to when I'm writing up a new adventure. They help get me in the mindset to imagine scenes of great cinematic action, or crawling shadowy dread, or whatever is appropriate to the genre I'm working in. Cthulhu-like horror music is a little harder to find, which makes a product like this one a welcome addition to any RPG soundtrack.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Lonesome October Nights is a good addition to any horror themed music library. It is very mood setting and well produced, and subdued enough that it stays in the background. If you use music in your games, or you'd like to begin amassing a collection, this is a nice piece to grab.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: At only a minute and a half, I thought the song was a bit short. It also doesn't really loop very well, as the end of the song clashes a bit with the beginning. Background music needs to play continuously in the background, and Lonesome October Nights barely lasts long enough for a few rounds of an encounter. I'm afraid that, by the time the GM begins setting the scene, the CD will have moved on to the next track. If the track looped with itself and was longer, I think it would better serve its purpose.

That said, it's a nice little piece of ambient horror music, and I'm interested to hear the rest of the CD.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

Death of Dr. Null is the third of Lame Mage's adventures featuring the archetypical megalomaniacal super-scientist Dr. Null. You can find my reviews of the other two adventures here on RPGNow as well: Day of Dr. Null and Battle on the Bay Bridge. This adventure can stand alone, or it can work in concert with the other two scenarios either over the course of a campaign or as one long adventure.

My favorite thing about this adventure (and this series) is Dr. Null himself. He's cliched, to be certain, but cliche is a good thing in this case. Every good comic-book universe needs a mad scientist that wants to conquer the world, and the evil doctor fills that role perfectly. He?s literally without conscience; a super-powered sociopath that views himself as something more than human. Used correctly, this is a character that could become a mainstay villain in your homebrewed superhero world; your own Lex Luthor or Dr. Doom.

The adventure itself is laid out in fairly abstract fashion. The main action is broken into a number of specific scenes. Within each scene, the GM is given enough detail to ensure that the players understand what?s going on, while still focusing on exciting scenes and interesting encounters. This works particularly well in the first section of the adventure, which is similar to a classic exploration style ?dungeon crawl.? Rather than bore players with the minutiae of wandering around through a largely abandoned complex, Death of Dr. Null helps the GM cut right to the action; just like a comic-book.

In order to facilitate the GM, the authors have included a lot of good advice. This ranges from general tips on running the adventure, to ideas for getting the PCs involved, to notes on the tactics and abilities of the bad guys. The authors also try to anticipate areas where things may not go as planned, helping the GM to cover his bases in case the players go off the adventure?s course. This is all very helpful, and it shows that the designers understand the super-hero genre and how to best utilize the strengths of the Mutants & Masterminds system to support the plot.

Over the course of reviewing this series, I?ve come to really like the way Lame Mage writes M&M adventures. Their designs do a good job capturing the feel and flow of comic books. The adventures are also very flexible, meaning that they can be tweaked to fit a number of different groups and play styles. This is partially due to the abstract design style, but it is also because of the way the villains and events are written. Dr. Null, as presented, is a pretty over-the-top kind of enemy, in the vain of Dr. Doom. He would work just as well, I think, in a more grim campaign that focused on his evil nature and twisted superiority. On the other hand, it wouldn?t be much of a stretch to run Dr. Null as a tongue-in-cheek cartoonish villain, ala Cobra Commander. He does, after all, have an animal enlarging ray at his disposal.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Death of Dr. Null brings the story of the evil doctor full circle, and it?s a nice conclusion to the mini series. The designers at Lame Mage have really gotten their style down, and I think that this is one of the better attempts I?ve seen at effectively capturing the flow and action of comics. They know their stuff, and I look forward to seeing more adventures from them in the near future.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Despite my praises for Dr. Null, he is not for every campaign AS WRITTEN. I emphasize the last two words of that sentence because Dr. Null can be adapted without too much effort to fit either a number of play styles. This adventure, on the other hand, isn?t as flexible. I can see how giant automatons and tentacled monstrousities might not fit in everyone?s game.

I also would like to see some art that looks more comic-book. The art in here helps, and its pretty well-drawn, but the black and white really takes away from the four color feel.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

I'm not generally a fan of computer generated graphics. Even the best of them look too artificial for my tastes. I was surprised, then, to see how good the printable minis look in Cowboys II.

The key, is the scale of the pictures. When I zoomed my Acrobat in as far as it would go, it was easy to see that these minis are very detailed computer-generated images. Zoom back out (or print the minis for use), and you could almost swear these are photographs. Honestly, the realism is that beautiful.

The set doesn't contain a lot of minis, but what it has is certainly a good start. There's a wide selection of old west staples, including a handful of cowboys (and a cowgirl), a mountain man, bounty hunter, and a preacher. Two of the minis probably aren't politically correct: a slave and a whore, but they certain fit the genre.

Perhaps most impressive are the large vehicle minis, featuring a chuck wagon and a stagecoach. All of the minis look nice, and assembling them is as simple as printing to cardstock, cutting, and gluing the two parts of the base together. There are two styles of each mini, giving you the choice between a triangular two-sided mini or a more pyramid-shaped three sided version.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This is a nice collection of attractive, easy to use paper minis for any game set in the old west. The final product looks very professional, and the three dimensional stand-up style minis have some advantages over traditional counters. Were I running a western game, I'd definitely seek out the first Cowboys set after seeing this one. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: While there is a nice starting selection of minis here, it would have been nice to see just a few more. I'm not sure how these are created, but I wonder if the designers could have made a few small alterations (such as clothing color) to help increase the usability of each mini. That way, three cowboy minis could become nine, or twelve, or whatever.

I also would have liked at least a link to some instruction for assembling the minis. It isn't hard to figure out, but some tips and explanation would have been welcome all the same.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The poor, misunderstood bard. He doesn't get much love...or respect. He's a support class without much support, and I'm always glad to see new bard related supplements.

To this end, The Le Games gives the bard their ?17? treatment, which usually means that the book in question contains more than 17 of whatever it offers. In this case, however, the precedent has been broken. 17 Bard Spells actually contains 17 Bard Spells. As with the rest of The Le's products, these new rules come at a very inexpensive price. This book is also one of the better looking products I've seen from this publisher. A lot of the art looks like clip art, but its GOOD clip art. The layout is simple but clear, with nice bookmarking throughout.

17 Bard Spells presents its new spells as part of an item called ?the manual of the minstrel.? This is a spellbook with a very clever illusion-based security feature. There is also a magical journal hidden in the back of the book where previous owners have detailed their exploits. These are neat ideas, but one obvious question comes to mind: what use do bards, who are spontaneous casters, have for a spell book? The rules answer this by giving characters that possess the book a number of bonus spells per day. Not bad, but it still doesn't fully answer the problem that bards can't really learn spells from books. Finally, the book grants a HUGE experience award to anyone that reads it, making it somewhat on par (though not quite) with a minor artifact. That's not a flaw, but it does make the book harder to drop into any given campaign.

I'm either hot or cold on most of the spells. Spells like Switch (which allows the caster to magically swap the contents of two containers) and Perfect Addiction aren't overtly powerful, but they could certainly be put to good use by a clever player.

Other spells seem too close to existing core spells. Silent Sneak, for example, is probably workable, but it fills a niche already covered by Silence. Seductive Kiss, as far as I can tell, is just Charm Person with a flavorful descriptor.

There are also a few spells that are either too powerful or just oddly designed. Honesty Aura is way too powerful for a 1st level spell. It basically grants the bard an 85% chance of succeeding at every Bluff check for a number of minutes, regardless of the skill ranks of the bard or his targets. It is a clunky spell, and it doesn't work within the standard d20 rules at all.

Improvised Spell is a good idea, but it lacks mechanics. Basically, it allows you to just make a spell up on the spot, without giving much instruction on how to adjudicate this. A secondary effect allows the bard to cast this spell to duplicate the effects of a lower level spell.

Overall, though, there are some clever spells in this book. Like the bard itself, these bard spells are not overly powerful, but they offer a creative player a lot of options.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: With 17 spells at a mere $2 and change, 17 Bard Spells is certainly worth the download. Creative players and GMs will find a couple spells usable right out of the box, and the rest should work fine with a little tweaking. Even the poorest of the spells in this collection should serve as inspiration for a GM looking to make some homebrew bard spells.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The Ley continues to play fast and loose with d20 rules. A few of these spells are just poorly designed. Thankfully, these are in the minority.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Disciples of Darkness II presents a new prestige class called the Soul Harvester. These villainous characters are clerics that use the souls of their slain enemies to enhance their unholy power. The book details the prestige class, gives advice on using it in play, stats an example Soul Harvester, and offers a new deity.

The Soul Harvester collects souls by sacrificing or otherwise murdering good-aligned creatures. In game terms, he gets a number of ?essence points? for each creature killed. These essence points can in turn be spent to boost the Soul Harvester's combat abilities, add temporary enhancements to his weapon, and alter his spells. In addition, the Soul Harvester wields a custom weapon (generally a dagger) that grows in power with his advancement in the prestige class.

There is a kind of morbid style to the writing. The authors are clearly trying to evoke the grim and evil nature of the Soul Harvester. For the most part, the writing succeeds. The opening bit of fiction, which describes a Soul Harvester sacrificing a paladin, is pretty gory, and it certainly shows the dark nature of the class.

While the game mechanics in this book are sound, I don't really care for the Soul Harvester as written. This is a prestige class that will most likely be used by GMs rather than players, and I don't think its very well designed from that perspective.

The primary problem is the essence point mechanic. The points are gained by killing good-aligned creatures, which creates a fun roleplaying opportunity if the Soul Harvester is a PC. As an NPC, however, these scenes will seldom be played out (except when the PCs are battling the Soul Harvester, of course), which means that the GM will just be arbitrarily assigning numbers. Most of the abilities are fairly transparent, meaning that the players won't really appreciate the fact that their adversary is gaining strength by battling them.

Even the Soul Reaver's scariest ability, which allows him to consume the very soul of a slain opponent, works better on paper than in actual play. This ability requires the Soul Reaver to place an invisible mark on his enemy. If the enemy is then killed within a certain number of rounds, his soul goes to the Reaver. The problem is that the mark is difficult to detect. It is likely that the target player will have no idea that his character is now marked for soul-death, which removes any fear this may have otherwise created.

The new god is something of an extra feature. He's an evil hobgoblin deity, and he fits his role well. I wouldn't purchase this product specifically for the new god, but its a nice touch that makes sense within the scope of this book.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The idea behind the Soul Reaver is a good one. An evil cleric that uses the souls of his enemies as fuel for his powers is a neat concept. The class is balanced, the writing is fairly good, and the art and presentation are well done.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The Soul Reaver isn't poorly designed from a mechanics standpoint, I just don't think it works at the table as well as it could. The rules should better reflect the class's flavor, and his dark abilities should be more outwardly obvious to the players. As a villain, the Soul Reaver is very capable of killing the good guys...he just doesn't pack the horror he should.

This isn't a bad product by any means, just an average one. Three stars overall, three and a half if you're running a campaign with evil PCs.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

A point I often mention in reviews of superhero products is that art is especially important in these types of games. Comic books are, after all, a visual medium, and any game emulating comics should strive to also emulate their art. Arbor Productions obviously agrees with me, as Of Gods and Men is a great-looking PDF with really good comicbook-style art. There are some 11 NPCs detailed in this book, and each is illustrated in full color. And they all look pretty darn good.

The first half of this product focuses on the characters. There are both heroes and villains represented here, and all are of a somewhat mystical bend. The characters are presented in typical M&M fashion with game statistics, background, description, and tactics. Also, each character is connected to one or more other characters, giving the GM a number of ready-made adventure hooks. The authors do a pretty good job presenting a decent variety of NPCs while still maintaining the mystical theme.

Among others there is a psychic, a few demons, an ancient Hindu deity, and a magic absorbing robot. GMs with a less magical setting could probably rework a few of these characters to better suit their home campaign, replacing mystic origins with something more mundane. Its also worth noting that many of the characters have an east indian origin or flavor. In the world of comics, Hindu mythology is a largely unexplored avenue, so the various NPCs drawn from it's legends all feel very fresh and original. The author has clearly done a little research, and it adds to the product value.

After the character descriptions, Of Gods and Men presents a short adventure that incorporates the various NPCs. The adventure centers around the unveiling of an artifact discovered near Mount Vesuvius. The artifact, which was recently brought to a local museum, brings all manner of unwanted attention from various mystical forces, and the heroes get caught in the middle. Its pretty good, if rather short, and it provides a nice starting point for a GM looking to utilize the entire group of new NPCs.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Of Gods and Men is the first in a series of products meant to give the GM a number of useful NPCs and a mini-adventure in which to use them. If the rest of the line is like this, good things are in store for Mutants & Masterminds fans. The art alone is very nearly worth the price of admission, and an M&M GM is certain to find at least a few new villains to throw at his players, if not an entire mini-adventure.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The adventure is really more of an encounter than anything else. Its good, but it begs to be fleshed out more fully. Also, GMs with campaigns lacking mystical elements will find the NPCS in Of Gods and Men less useful without some reworking.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>