The GM’s Miscellany is a great collection of remarkable tables with tons of variety and interesting things. But these tomes are also tools that you can use to build aspects of people, places and things that can stand out in ways that will make your players remember the subtle detail of an elaborate door or magical fountain and so much more (There’s four books - Dungeon, Wilderness and two Urban volumes). These are very useful books with information for every GM. I bought the four PDFs with the hardcopies, and I am thoroughly pleased in the value of information and the quality of the products.

After considering a number of books on world building I have recently purchased the following volumes from Raging Swan Press:

• Urban Dressing Vol I
• Urban Dressing Vol II
• Dungeon Dressing
• Wilderness Dressing
• The Thingonomicon

For each of the above I purchased both the PDF and the softcover versions. Quality and breadth of content is top notch. No excuses now not to provide more context in my fantasy world. Even just one or two dressing/events for every locale/NPC will dramatically increase players’ involvement and it will contribute to generating a more credible setting. I also find the content great to use as a starting point upon which you can develop more or less elaborate plots/hooks. PDFs are provided in two formats. One for normal visualisation on electronic devices, one optimised for print. They come with a handy and precise table of content. The printed volumes are solid and very high standard. Especially for the price. I have used many systems in the last 30 years. I now use official WOTC books for monsters, objects and rules, whereas Raging Swan products can cover every other aspect of the world building process. I will definitely keep an eye out for further books from this great publisher. Well done!

I originally purchased the pdf version of GM's Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing (System Neutral Edition). After looking forward I decided It was well worth purchasing the Hardcover Edition. Which I did. The book is magnificent. It makes it so easy to come up with beautiful descriptions quickly. There is information on Altars, Doors, Walls, Floors, Entrances, Pits, Pools., etc You name it, if it is in a dungeon it is probably in here. In less than 30 seconds you can turn to the page and find a random description for a dungeon object. Your players will love you, and you will love it. Coming up with detailed descriptions on the fly can be really difficult, especially if you need 3 or 4 in short order. This solves that problem for your dungeon dives. I went from being an "ok" DM to a "really good" DM in short order. So helpful.. Thank you Raging Swan Press! They also have Wilderness Dressing and Urban Dressing books.. It is worth your time to take a look.

Note: this review refers only to the .pdf version of the product. Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition reintroduced me to the world of tabletop gaming after a 20-year hiatus. For the past year, I’ve been DM/GM-ing a game in a homebrew campaign setting. Mechanics such as thac0 may be long gone, but an old problem persisted – my players missed all the plot hooks to go left, and began to travel right. I didn’t have anything planned for the direction the party was exploring. I improvised a dungeon beneath a well, but soon became aware of how underprepared I was. What is the dungeon’s purpose? What rooms are there, and why do they exist? What are all the interactive parts, creatures, clues, and foreshadowing? In the end, my dungeon lacked flavor. The look on my players’ faces revealed their boredom. I later researched tools to help me to be more prepared in the future, and discovered this product by Raging Swan Press. GM’s Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing is an immense tome of concepts that can be added to any DM/GM’s dungeon. It encompasses everything you could ever want to create a dungeon. Doors, secret passages, light sources, altars, graffiti, statues, pits, and more classics are present. I encourage you look over the list in the product description. GM’s Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing gives each of these various categories characteristics, appearance, and features. Take a throne for example. This product provides a whopping 117 various aspects that a throne might have. For example, “The blood soaked sleeve of a green shirt, ripped at the shoulder and used as an impromptu bandage, has been discarded on the back of the throne.” This isn’t just flavor – it’s a potential plot hook! Perhaps elsewhere in the dungeon the players can encounter a zombie wearing a green shirt with a missing sleeve. The dressings help boost my own creativity and help my game feel more immersive. If my math is correct, GM’s Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing contains 208 pages of content that are all filled with dungeon aspects that make my job as a DM/GM easier. The material will no doubt enhance the experience of my players. Since this is a system neutral resource, any mechanics (e.g., difficulty classes) can be quickly adapted to D&D 5e. For example, “The sounds of sobbing emanate from the well. Perceptive characters realize this sound is actually the sound of running water issuing from far below.” As the DM/GM, I can set a difficulty class for this, such as Wisdom (Perception) DC 14. If you are a DM/GM looking for dungeon ideas or variety, look no further. This tool will help you brainstorm interesting locations for your players to explore and interact with. I highly recommend this product. Additionally, check out http://www.ragingswan.com/-, where you can download several great materials for free.

I've had the PDF version of the version of this book for some time, but I found myself using it so often that I decided to buy the hardback. It is quite simply the most useful idea generator I have on my desk. If you're a DM I highly recommend you pickup a copy. If you make up a lot of dungeons it's a must. It will keep your ideas fresh and surprising for your players.

If you've got a game in 2 days and don't have anything generated simply read through some of the charts. It will seed you with a dozen stories in no time. I'm a busy guy with a full time job and children so this book has become as important as my DMG.

I highly recommend the hardback as well, it's got a quality binding and frankly the paper is a better quality that the current WotC books.