Test review, to look for pumpkins.

If this has anything to do with Monte Cook, then it's probably a no-brainer.

Yes, I like Monte's stuff.

The precept of the Ptolus campaign setting, Monte Cook does it again with this explorative adventure - this is the 4th time I have run it using the Pathfinder rules - and its extremely exciting.

A must-have for any fans of Ptolus! It really sets the mood for the players and they really feel like they know the city, which they do, of course. A great idea to make a player's guide to a setting, saves the GM a lot of work!

Monte Cook's Ptolus was a well thought-out incredibly detailed product. However, his campaign world suffered from unfortunate timing. When the bottom dropped out of third edition, it kind of left his books stranded.

If you want to know about Ptolus, this is a good place to start.

An RPG Resource review:

This work is an attempt to get around that common problem of your character knowing more about his surroundings than his player does! Distributed as a free PDF or sold as a bundle to pass around the table so that each player has a copy, the purpose is to provide sufficient introduction to the Ptolus campaign setting (calling it a mere 'city' does it a disservice) to enable the play of character who are either natives of the city or have at least had time to look around a bit.

But first, there's a bit of an introduction from author Monte Cook in which he explains how this is a true D&D city, designed from the outset to inhabit the same world governed by the D20 ruleset, where people expect magic and monsters to exist, and where delving into dungeons can provide great rewards as well as great perils.

The book goes on to present overviews of the districts of the city (and where to get the best pastries as well as other commodities), the important families and personalities in town, and a wide range of organisations. You can also read about the local religions, the main one being the worship of a lawful good deity called Lothian, whose church is embedded in the structure of the empire in which Ptolus (at least nominally) belongs. There's a growing tolerance of other faiths, and - fortunately - of arcane spell use, which the early Church of Lothian attempted to ban as deviltry! There is also a 2-page map showing some of the more important locations your character may wish to visit.

Looking wider, there is a very brief survey of the land in which Ptolus is set, including history and other background material. Characters in the campaign may well come from other lands.

The final part of the book looks at how to create a character for the Ptolus campaign. There are background details of the races available, including variations on the standard rules for elf and some dwarf characters. There are also some minor races, of which it is advised that there should only be one representative in your playing group. These include Aram (centaur-like beings), a feline race called the Litorians and the lizardfolk or Assari. Race settled, characters will need names (suggestions are provided) and backgrounds whether as natives of Ptolus or from elsewhere - these last will need to determine what they are doing in the city. Your background can include what you did for a living before becoming an adventurer, coupled with likely character classes you might choose given that background and providing minor benefits and the district you probably hale from. Finally, there are notes about the various character classes and a character sheet.

Overall, this is a very good introduction to the city and will be very useful to anyone whose character is going to visit (or come from) Ptolus - and well-nigh essential if you are going to participate in the Ptolus Campaign.

Read about more products from Malhavoc Press and many other publishers at http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/

An excellent introduction to Ptolus for DMs and players alike, this is a mine of basic of information about the City by the Spire. It helps before and during the campaign. This is both amazing for a free product and a very smart marketing move.

I would have liked to see the mechanics related to the minor PC races included in the PG. But given their theoretical rarity, I can understand why they weren't.