Magic World is an excellent build of BRP tuned for fantasy role-playing games. It whittles down the behemoth Basic Roleplaying to a tight, user-friendly core, and throws in a sample setting to boot. Sadly, as of this writing, Chaosium no longer supports MW, but if you're interested in BRP but a little overwhelmed, take a look at this book and see how lean you can make your game.

This supplement for Nomad contains more space ship options, some rules clarifications, and an alternate space ship damage system. Options extend both to earlier technologies like chemical rockets and the Orion Project and components available only in the Galactic and Cosmic Ages like Advanced Organic Hulls (your hull is alive), Force Hulls (your hull is a solid force field), and Gravity Drives (you use gravity not thrust). Rules clarifications include both core concepts like Position and specific options like cargo space for shuttles. (It's an external hatch, not a hangar ... although "Spacecraft Go" gives you hangars if you want.) The alternate damage system promises to be faster but deadlier. All in all, if you want more and more realistic options for your Nomad spacecraft, you MUST get this book.

Faster Than Light: Nomad has the feel of classic science fiction RPGs but with modern and streamlined rules. One could use these rules for just about any science fiction game, from near-future cyberpunk to classic far-future space opera. However, Nomad’s sweet spot is in its Early Interstellar Age, where FTL space ships take a week to transit between stars, interstellar radio is far in an inconceivable future, and pirates still ply the inky black. It's the Age of Sail meets space opera, and I'm here for it.

The Fighting Fantasy books passed me by -- I once found Sorcery and wondered what it was -- but a few years ago I discovered the AFF softcover. I was transported back to my first taste of RPGs, Metagaming's Melee and Wizard, where characters had only two or three characteristics, all directly relevant to the rules.

AFF characters have up to five: SKILL (how good you are at ... everything), STAMINA (how much punishment you can take), LUCK (how well you do when SKILL can't help you), and for magic-users MAGIC and (sometimes) MAGIC POINTS. Characters in AFF can also take Specialty Skills in particular tasks and Talents for an extra edge or advantage. Combat is straightforward: all combatants roll two dice, add SKILL and modifiers, and compare; if a character rolls higher than his target, the target takes damage. The rules have a few artifacts from the original FF books, e.g. roll under SKILL for unopposed tests but SKILL + 2d6 for opposed tests, but those simply add to its charm; an optional rule makes all uses of SKILL consistently roll-over.

Despite simple mechanics there's a wealth of information here: skills, talents, four forms of magic (Minor Magic, Wizardry, Sorcery, and Priestly Abilities), the history and geography of the Fighting Fantasy default world of Titan, GM advice, sample monsters, treasure, and optional rules. In short, this book everything you could want from a fantasy RPG, save a long list of monsters (that's Out of the Pit) and a detailed gazeteer (that's Titan).

Despite (or because of) its simple framework, AFF is an excellent vehicle for fantasy role-playing (and beyond, if a recent Kickstarter is any indication). In my mind it's on a par with RuneQuest, Warhammer Fantasy, classic/OSR D&D, and many of the newfangled indie systems elsewhere on this site.

Essentially a reprint of the Cypher System Rulebook's vehicle combat section, followed by write-ups for thirteen vehicles as artifacts. The vehicles are a mixed bag:

• the inevitable: a colossal battle robot, a Dragonfly-class transport ship, a phone box sized time-craft that's bigger on the inside

• the classical: the Argo, a flying carpet, a golden skiff reminiscent of a mythological vimana

• a "Rebel Universe" collector's set: a hover bike, an "Imperium strider", a strider with missiles, a starfighter with room for a pilot and astrogation robot

• the legitimately impossible: an Estate surveillance van bigger on the inside, a flying throne on eagle's wings, a Strange-ship with room for hundreds of crew

If you don't have the CSR and/or are looking for write-ups of classic or unusual vehicles, this is probably worth $3.

Based on an article in Kobold Quarterly, this takes dwarf cliches up to eleven and creates a species both familiar and alien: creatures born from the earth itself, obsessed with perfection, for whom a punch to the jaw is more eloquent than words. This supplement explores the culture, language, and psychology of this take on dwarves.

Others have complained about unbalanced feats in the WF series. I can't comment on how well or poorly the Pathfinder stats work, since I don't use Pathfinder. Also, if you're fine with plain old D&D/Pathfinder/every-other-FRP dwarves this supplement might not be for you. If, however, you want surly, drunken, perfectionist dwarves with hidden depths and an inhuman mindset, pick up this supplement.

Someone considering this font should know it doesn't work in modern versions of Windows and Word, at least for me.

I first saw this several years ago, and with the discounted price I thought I'd try it (and two other VShane fonts). On Windows 7 and Microsoft Word the Dark Urth hieroglyphics just plain don't show up; I get the regular alphanumeric values instead. I tried WordPad with the same result. I even tried "Insert Symbol", which renders the symbol in the grid ... but on the page all I get is "1" "2" "A" etc.

Curiously, the other two fonts I bought -- Draconic and Wizard Kanji -- worked fine, although Draconic is a little light. It's just Dark Urth that doesn't work. I'll give it a shot on my old MacBook, just for completeness's sake, but I'm not hopeful.

The publisher's web site goes to a blog, which refers to a Facebook page, which as far as I can tell has no support for this font at all. This font, and maybe all of these fonts, might be abandonware.

Caveat emptor, guys.

Essentially Trauma is a medically correct and system-agnostic version of Arms Law's critical hit tables. Each chapter details all the things that can go wrong with a hit location (Head, Chest, Abdomen, Arm, Leg), with tables at the end for random results. Unlike Arms Law, these trauma results apply after combat; during combat, this supplement reasons it's faster and easier to use existing game systems and assume adrenaline hides immediate. It also describes what first-aid and medical techniques of the past, present, and near-future can ameliorate or repair the damage. If you're at all curious about what really happens to the human body when it's stabbed/sliced/bludgeoned/burned, or you think medical accuracy would enhance your game, buy this supplement.

There's not much I can add to the other reviews. The Enforcer allows players to become a modern warrior trapped in a fantasy world, or some variation thereof. I hope SGG continues the series, e.g. a skill-based expert, a gadgeteer, a robot/cyborg, and/or an alien/mutant/psychic with unusual "racial" powers.

This supplement is a mixed bag. Harem Mages, artist-wizards who depict their ideal woman/man and bring them to life, didn't do anything for me. I can't imagine any player taking this as a prestige class, and the whole idea seems, well, adolescent. Living Toys, "pseudo-constructs" brought to life through magic, shows far more range, from children's toys and tutors to living fencing dummies and, yes, animate sex toys. Not only can PC and NPC mages make toys with a few feats, Living Toys make interesting characters; they have racial traits based on their original purposes but room to grow beyond their masters' intent. The supplement ends with feats for mages and living toys alike, and a few mediocre magic items. If rules for Living Toys are worth $3.50 to you, or for that matter if Harem Mages sound interesting (despite my reaction), maybe you want to pick this up.

"The Flux" expresses a simple but elegant idea: player characters live multiple lives, in multiple worlds, under multiple RPG systems. As someone who owns far too many games I've never played, it's a brilliant narrative device to justify putting away D&D/Vampire/whatever for a while and trying something different.

Past worlds disappear and others take their place, and the "soul" of a character (namely the player) reincarnates into a similar character under the new rules. Those old character sheets, however, still serve a purpose in a brave new world. Old worlds may return, and old lives pick up where they left off ... or not. More intriguingly, player character has a chance to remember an old life well enough to borrow its abilities, but in doing so risks the wrath of the current world.

Unfortunately, the GM may risk the wrath of his players, if (as the author suggests) he surprises them with a brand new world and brand new rules. As cool as the Flux is (as a concept), GMs need to know their players well enough, or need to have cowed them enough, that they'll go along.

For 14 pages of content $5 is a tad overpriced. The contents, however, do get the old brain-meats working.

This ship projects space shuttle technology a few decades into the future, using existing science. The text could use spell-checking and cleaner formatting, but otherwise it's a great tool for someone running a near-future, hard science fiction game.

This map is a boon for anyone running a near-future or hard-science SF game. Gravity comes solely from the rocket's acceleration, and the placement of airlocks, decks, compartments, and control stations follows from a consistent set of assumptions. The text, on the other hand, badly needs spell-checks and a clearer layout. (From communications with the author, he will address these issues in an update.)

It's a promising start for Blue Max Studios.

I'm not sure why the previous reviewer confused this product with the BRP Quickstart, but this product does contain 400+ pages of role-playing goodness. This book is a solid foundation for a DIY game, in any genre: fantasy, science-fiction, horror, historical, post-apocalyptic, or mashups yet to be devised.

The core system will be familiar to players of RuneQuest, Stormbringer, Call of Cthulhu, and nearly every other game Chaosium ever printed. However, the author has included a plethora of optional and variant rules culled from BRP's rich history, from hit locations and strike ranks to EDU and Sanity from Call of Cthulhu, to skill category bonuses and skills over 100%. (There's even a handy checklist of all optional rules for GMs to provide players.) On the paranormal side, the book presents two different magic systems ("magic" from Magic World and "sorcery" from Stormbringer), mutations, psychic powers, and super powers, Allegiance, and creatures from prehistory, mythology, and possible futures. Anyone who wants to emulate a specific game, e.g. Call of Cthulhu, can.

Granted, the book is a little weak on science-fiction, but SF is such a wide field that no reasonable-sized book can encompass them all and other genres too. Likewise, it doesn't contain every creature ever made, but it has common ones and enough examples to extrapolate from. Also, don't expect a detailed treatment of every genre and historical period ... but the GM section includes a rundown of broad historical periods. There's only so much that can fit into 400 pages, after all.

For a straightforward campaign in nearly any genre, this book is all you need. GMs with more specific or outre ideas might need to do a little work ... assuming they can't borrow from previous Chaosium RPGs, Mongoose's RuneQuest, or fanzines and websites, which use practically the same system.

Rites of the Dragon is written as Dracula's own journals, written over several centuries. They tell of his death as a human, his "rebirth" as a vampire by the hand of God, and his ongoing attempts at self-improvement which became the Coils of the Dragon. It ends with a charter for the Ordo Dracul, defining the roles and rules of the organization.

After reading The Testament of Longinus, I found this book a little disappointing. Unlike that book, this one is written as a straightforward first person narrative, albeit reflecting Dracula's shifting priorities and philosophies. The way the three "brides" of Dracula parallel the original three coils is a little too pat.

Each page contains no more than a few paragraphs, dominated by artwork of varying quality. I don't get the sense of a document new members of Order Dracul might receive. The spartan style of The Testament of Longinus, or a reproduction of a hand-written manuscript with varying styles, might have helped.

No doubt, Rites of the Dragon helps to flesh out the Ordo Dracul, and gives players insight into its founder and its philosophical underpinnings, but its execution left me cold.