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One of many generic fantasy supplements, these are darn good bargains. Lots of quick-use ideas are packed into small space, with no illustrations to undercut the page-count. Fun, cheap, and of good general use!<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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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>
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While this is a class that will not find wide favour in the fantasy world, despite the fact that the rise of plate armour and gunpowder arms happened pretty much similtanteously, it is still pretty well done. I could quibble about a few of the points (the rifle, as opposed to the musket, seems a bit out of place in a fantasy enviroment, for example), it is a generally interesting product. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Full class with many options, as well as good discussion of equipment.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I found the 18th century illustrations a bit distracting from a general fantasy-medieval feel. The reload rates for firearms are ridiculously fast.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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A bit less useful than the other offering, in that I don't generally keep track of "evil holidays", but this is still a good and helpful supplement. Lots of interesting ideas on who celebrates what and why.
Again, the author is a very nice guy. Even though I've never met him personally, he is easy to get ahold of by e-mail and very helpful all the way around!<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The genericness of the information is incredibly helpful. Races, timing of holidays, and moneys spent are listed in such a way that it is easy to transport the information to many different gaming worlds.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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A fun little supplement to add a bit of colour and background to almost any campaign. One of the aspects that I really enjoyed is just how generally useful the supplement could be -- most of these holidays could be used in any environment.
I also have to say that the author, through e-mails, is a very kind and helpful person. When I bought one of his supplements and the file had a bad extension, he e-mailed the corrected file to me THE VERY SAME DAY! Now that is personal service!<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: This is a very generic fantasy supplement -- even though it talks about "elves", "gold pieces" and the like, there are notes on how to take this beyond any given set of rules. The holidays are also set to seasonal cycles, rather than calendar dates, again making them transferable. Many of the holidays are a lot of fun, too!<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Once again, a supplement filled with so much idea-fodder for games that you will have a blast. Have merchants in your group? Want to have them? Want to flesh out that fair or bazaar a bit more? Want to put in obscure magical ingredients? This is a great place to go.
If you are running something other than D20/D&D you'll need to do some price conversions, etc., but this is still a good bargain for any semi-medieval setting.
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In the 3.0 PHB, Necromancy got the short shrift. Since then there have been half a score of books on the topic. Why? Because most folks think in these terms: Necromancy = Cool.
This volume does a fine job of adding in a thorough-going Arcane spellcaster Necromancer class (like several other books, working against the notion of "Divine magic users make the best Necromancers" line found in the core books). The class seems well thought out and would make a useful villain in my games.
As with most "Pure Evil" supplements, I think of this in terms of NPCs, rather than PCs. I prefer my games heroic, but that is a personal taste. Be that as may be, you will find lots of spells, items, and just evil thoughts on how to run a necromancer in this book -- next time the party heads into The Dark And Forbidding Tower they will have a challenge on their hands!
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Lots of fun and lots of story for very little money. A great bargain!
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Okay, let me just say this straight up -- this is a FUN supplement! Even though I am not running a game currently using the Forbidden Kingdoms system, this city guide has given me literally dozens of ideas for games as far flung as Castle Falkenstein and Arcana Unearthed; heck, I could pull material out of here to spice up Ars Magica! There are so many clever characters, background stories, and just bits of fluff (like how one is supposed to truly appreciate absinthe and why the Eiffel Tower could be significant in a host of different settings) that I think I will get more mileage out of this than any other single city supplement I have ever picked up.
Bravo!
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Creator Reply: |
Thanks for the great review Angus! |
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A lot of useful information on military orders, religious, historical, fantasy, and otherwise. I could quibble with many minor historical points, but overall it works well for both giving extra background to a character and widening the PrC options available.
Good, solid work.
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Not a bad little prestige class, but I am uncertain as to whether I would ever actually be able to use it in a campaign. A very powerful offensive (and personal defensive) magus subtype with steep entry requirements. I like the fact that the PrC is tied to an organization, making it, well, /prestigious/.
The class would require a higher magic world, however, than what I usually run.
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Great thought material, both for PCs and NPCs! If every character went through this book, answering at least notable percentage of the wide variety of questions, players would find more fully-rounded characters for them to play. The tips on /how/ to play are character are also wonderfully useful.
This is a supplement for going well beyond the simple numbers-n-crunch aspect of gaming and into actually taking on a role. Consider it Method Acting 101, with a gaming emphasis. There is nothing scary in the pdf, just sensible.
Overall, I think this work will make for richer worlds and more intricate characters, both those created by the GM and by the players themselves. Kudos!
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Creator Reply: |
I felt the emphasis really needed to be drawn away from the hack and slash elements of the game. In recent years, the interest in roleplaying games has been renewed by computer gamers turning to pen and paper. However, coming from games like Diablo and Neverwinter Nights where all the emphasis is on combat, I felt there was a sore lacking of material to encourage and teach good roleplay. Hence the book. Glad you found it useful. |
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Intriguing. There is a lot of material in here beyond just NPCs and criminal organizations. Many sites are fully developed and the hooks provided can be a lot of fun (Maegrin's Marvelous Menagerie is both imaginative and full-on creepy!). As with many rpg cities there are probably too many events going on to make for a stable city, but they are fun in a purely fantasy environment.
Ultimately, I wonder if some of the other "quarters" of the city of Liberty will get a similar treatment.
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I can certainly quibble about the interpretations of certain myths-into-D20 weapons, but this collection will certainly spark a lot of imaginative ideas. I give great kudus to the group for looking beyond the obvious (Excalibur) to find some of the well-loved, but less generally well known (Blue Blade of Oberon).
Lots of fun and provides fantastic quest items!
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WOW!
Okay, had to get that outta my system.
I have been pouring over this book for the last three hours. Between reading the book itself, crosschecking ideas on the 'Net, and going back for more, I cannot say enough for this volume. In here is a step-by-step process for creating a world from the magma up (or from the edges in, depending on the shape of your world and whether or not it rests on the back of a large turtle). There are sections on weather, axial tilt, ecosystems, predator base, types of societies based on the geography present, why Chaotic and Evil societies might be considered possible, and many, many other matters.
In other words there is a gigantic gob of great GM goodness here. Everyone even thinking of creating a game world will find wild food for thought there!
BRAVISSIMO!
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