Wait a minute. Did this product actually tell me what "d6+1" means?

Yes, it did. And it also told me how to roll a d4, d6 -- "This simple [sic] means that one must roll a normal, six sided once" -- and a d3. Tricky, that last one.

-- This product is an urban encounter chart. The chart itself is simple enough. Roll a d20. 1 = 1d6 Adventurers, 2 = d4+1 Aristocrats, 3 = d4+1 Beggars, and so forth. Roll a second time to see their disposition: Friendly, Neutral, or Offensive. Then roll a third time to see whether their disposition is directed towards the PCs, towards each other, or towards someone else.

And that's it.

There's one (1) mildly interesting idea here: that last roll, which lets you get a wide variety of random encounters. Roll a 6 (Drunkards), a 16 (Offensive) and a 3 (Within Group), and you get some drunks fighting on the street. But make that last roll a 12 (Another Group), and you may get drunks screaming insults at beggars, or muttering to each other as some aristocrats stroll by.

That's fine. And if they'd stopped there and charged, say, 50 cents or a buck, I would have forgiven them the bit about the d6 and given this product three stars.

But this .pdf is 13 pages long. Of what do the other 12 pages consist, you ask. Well, they consist of badly written explanations of the chart, that's what. As in, you rolled, "Drunkards", and "Offensive"... now we're going to explain what happens.

I guess if you assume the reader needs instruction on what "d6" means, then it's reasonable to assume he needs help in running friendly children, neutral merchants, or offensive drunks. I see the logic. Okay.

But does it have to be written in English As A Second Language? Like: "Philosophers: Philosophers are much like performers in the manner that their talents earn a living. Different they are, however, in the fact that a philosopher is more concerned about the elements of society and thought than some form of talented entertainment.

Or: "The trades of the swindler element are quite corrupt, and when such corruption turns foul the behavior of the swindler can become rather hostile and offensive."

Then there's roll #13: Monsters. That sends you to one last chart. (Four charts total. All fit on a single page.) One last d20 roll, and you may get d4+1 Giant Rats, d6+1 Goblins... or 1d3 Vampires. "Only found at night... vampires are a dangerous threat to those who walk up and down the street." But those who lie down on the sidewalk should be fine, I guess.

The funny thing is, I might save the one page with the chart. Even use it if I need a quick urban encounter for color. Like I said -- that's what I bought this for. But I resent paying $2.25 for 13 pages of which 12 are completely and totally useless. By my calculation, Top Fashion Games owes me $2.07, and they're not getting another cent from me until I get my money back. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It reminded me of First Edition. Except, you know, the bits of First edition that nobody gets nostalgic about, because they were silly and really poorly written and, well, bad.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Poor<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Ripped Off<br>

Again, a very generic supplement about any crowded mercantile street in any good-sized city. The supplement is given over to potential encounters on the street with a variety of types of individuals, rather than with specific shops and the like. In brief order many options are given as to how to time events on the street, how often they will be hostile or exceedingly helpful and the like. Like all these supplements it is short, to the point, illustration free, and in general a grand bargain!<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Easy to plug into almost any city encounter table. Easy to use.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Maybe some information about the street itself would be in order, but that might be best left to another supplement.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>