A mixed bag, really. Some talents seem like sensible additions to the canon list of talent trees, like the Survivalist tree for Tough Heroes and the Heroic Deeds tree for Charismatic Heroes. Others seem a little questionable to me, like the large number of trees that give you feats and advanced class abilities as talents. Still others seem a bit out of line for a Modern setting, namely the ones flat-out importing the class abilities of D&D barbarians, monks, and rangers. The short selection of Martial Arts feats at the end are definitely more Fantasy-oriented.

I don't know that I'd incorporate many these talents into any of my campaigns as standard options open to all player characters, but some might be useful for making a unique villain. Also, with its focus on melee combat, particulary an obsession with grappling and martial arts, for all classes, I get the feeling that if you want to run a D&D-style low-tech high-magic fantasy setting with the D20 Modern rules set, then this product would be of more use to you. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Another excellent item from Arion Games. The use of detailed 3D CGI images puts Arion several cuts above the standard pritable cardboard minis with somewhat cartoony line-art. As noted, These are strictly alien monsters. While you might be able to use one or two as unusual sentient ETs, the majority are full of nasty teeth, claws, and predatory tentacles. They could also serve flawlessly in D&D as aberrations from the realm of the Mind Flayers, or in a Modern horror game asunspeakable Lovecraftian abominations.

The textures are also a key element in making these beasties lifelike.
I suspect that the meshes are all Arion home-brews rather than ones found at 3D art software support sites. If so, extra kudos. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Nicely done. It presents rules for Vampires as a racial option and as a basic character class on a par with D20 Modern's standard Strong/Fast/Smart/Etc. Hero classes. This is perfect for the situation that is sure to arise in a Shadow Cahsers or Dark*Matter D20 campaign, in which one player wants to be a vampire and the rest don't. Breaking up vampiric abilities into class talents and bonus feats allows me to portray vampirism as something the character is still learning the ins-and-outs of, getting better at it as time goes by and discovering new abilities slowly, thus preventing him from hopelessly overpowering the rest of the party.

I like the various optional vampiric weaknesses to be taken in place of Level Adjustments, and the nifty assortment of Vampire-specific feats will make some particularly nasty villains. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This one will be of exceptional use to me. It presents rules for Werewolves as a racial option and as a basic character class on a par with D20 Modern's standard Strong/Fast/Smart/Etc. Hero classes. This is perfect for the situation I find myself in for an upcoming Dark*Matter D20 campaign, in which one player wants to be a werewolf and the rest don't. Breaking up lycanthropic abilities into class talents and bonus feats allows me to portray lycanthropy as something the character is still learning the ins-and-outs of, getting better at it as time goes by and discovering new abilities slowly, thus preventing him from hopelessly overpowering the rest of the party.

Also, the nifty assortment of Werewolf-specific feats will make some particularly nasty villains.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

A mixed bag, really. Some talents seem like sensible additions to the canon list of talent trees, like the Mighty tree for Strong Heroes and the Need for Speed tre for Fast Heroes. Others seem a little questionable to me, like the Fast Hero's Finesse talent tree and the Smart Hero's Tactical tree, which give you the Weapon Finesse and Improved Critical feats as talents, resepectively. Still others seem utterly out of line for a Modern setting, namely the Dedicated Hero's Animal Friendship tree, which is flat-out importing the animal companion and animal summoning abilities of D&D druids and rangers; or the Fast Hero's Quicker Than The Eye tree that basically allows superhuman speed. And I'm not sure what to make of the Charismatic Hero's Efficacious tree, which simply reprints the official Charm tree and monkeys with it, altering the wording to tweak some things up.

I don't know that I'd incorporate all these talents into any of my campaigns as standard options open to all player characters, but some might be useful for making a unique villain. Also, with its focus on melee combat for many classes, I get the feeling that if you want to run a D&D-style low-tech high-magic fantasy setting with the D20 Modern rules set, then this product would be of more use to you.

<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

Nicely done. The shack comes with some nice little optional touches to customize the structure, such as the screen doors, warning signs, and boards for the windows. The redneck alien is a little cartoony, but not out-of-keeping with a Men in Black style campaign.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Not bad. Useful for Pulp-era campaigns besides the titular 1948 setting, or perhaps even Present-Day campaigns dealing with conspiracies. I see little reason why many of the Occult groups and other secret societies could not be active today, and even Axis powers plots can have a long reach.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Wide variety of conspiracy groups presented. Could be very useful for players as an Introductory Guide to conspriacy groups and secret societies.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A bit thin. If you're avidly researching conspiracy organizations, there's likely little new information to you here. Some of the stock art seems more comic-book superhero or fantasy-oriented, undermining the Pulp period atmosphere from Bloodstone's other 1948 releases.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

A very useful book, this one. Out of 100 adventure ideas, at least half were to my liking. Each adventure hook lists three twists, and in many cases not only did I find at least one twist to my liking, the other two are suitable for addition as further plot complications or as red herrings. Each hook also includes an epilogue to inspire sequel adventures from the consequences.

As much as I found it useful for my upcoming Dark*Matter D20 campaign, there are a few minor details that render it just short of ideal for intefrating into an ongoing campaign. For a start, there are a handful of hooks more suited for "Zombie Apocalypse" campaigns than contemporary horror/investigation. Second, about a dozen hooks are better as isolated one-off games, as they require the players to be escaped convicts, mental patients, dead before the adventure starts, figments of another character's imagination, or otherwise unsuitable for the use of their regular characters in a continuing campaign. Third, another dozen or so hooks seem repetitive, in that they deal with similar culprits committing similar nastiness: demonic cult/jaded rich people/serial killers murder folks, add players, and stir. That last complaint can be dealt with by combining the similar hooks into a single plotline, but the repetition is still mildly disappointing.

Also, be advised that Mr. Desborough is writing what he knows, and many of the hooks are set in the U.K. or based upon elements of European history that don't immediately translate well into a North American setting. If you're planning a U.S.-based campaign like I am, you'll have to work out reasons for your P.C.s to travel to Europe to find the adventure.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Ideas by the duffel bag, and dry British humor in many hook titles and descriptions is always appreciated.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Roughly 25%+/- of the hooks are unsuitable for an ongoing campaign, slight repetetion of themes.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Nifty! A lot of ideas packed into a small space here. The crunchy bits with the new spell and secrets for getting more out of Prestidigitation or turning it into a last ditch offense are always welcome. The fluffy bits with the origin of the spell, the hapless bard who designed it, and the horrific aftermath of his work are just non-stop adventure hooks and neat flavor text bites for the GM to drop anywhere as needed. I had always wondered why there are so few Universal spells, even among the cornucopia of spellbook from 3rd party OGL D20 producers, and this product offers a delightfully unexpected (and useful for sinister DM's) explanation.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Overall, pretty good. The use of fully rendered CGI artwork places Arion Games well above the typical run of printable stand-up minis with traditional line art that usually ends up a bit cartoony. Several aliens are taken from famous sources (The Giger Xenomorphs from Alien, the Arachnids from Starship Troopers, and the Hydralisk from StarCraft are the obvious ones, and I suspect the Beast and Hive aliens may be from Doom or Quake), which I suspect is due to the ready availabity of their meshes on numerous 3D art support sites. If Arion did the meshes in-house, then I commend their skill even more than before.

The only drawback is the focus on bestial antagonists. I was hoping for PC or NPC type aliens rather than just monsters. Given their ability to make characters close enough to licensed sources without being suable copies, I would really like to see Arion make a set of "Alien Heroes" with aliens similar to the traditional PC races of games like Traveller, Star Frontiers, and Alternity. With both of the latter systems having been resurrected through D20 Future, interest in such a set may be on the rise.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

A slight improvement over the previous installment of the Cyclopedia Galactica, The Zizak have some intersting background material with their status as genetically-engineered slaves, and there's a built-in adventure hook for a smuggler campaign with their short lifespans, the use of expensive anti-aging drugs, and the ruling priesthood's disapproval of such measures. However, like the Grallik and the Kildarx, the stats are barely divergent enough from normal humanity to justify being a racial option. It seems odd that they are described as having a natural aptitude for technology, and yet given no corresponding technical skill bonuses apart from a simple bonus to Intelligence. Further, they already have a blanket panalty to Charisma, so why hit them with further penalties to several specific Charisma-based skills? With some serious penalties and only a neglible bonus for the trouble, It's hardly worth giving up the extra feats and skill points for being human.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: As before, visual presentation is nice, and some effort has been put into the "Rough Guide to the Galaxy" look.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

A bit of a missed opportunity. As a race, the Kildarx are little more than spacefaring orcs without the low-light vision. The flavor text mentions three times that they have a greater tolerance for tainted environments than humans, yet the stats do not reflect this at all. I would have expected a bonus to Constitution or to Fortitude saves to resist poison or disease, but the stats say nothing at all on a matter that is, frankly, the only bit of original thinking in the description. As they stand, the Kildarx are indistinguishable from any other stock race of lowbrow beligerent aliens to used as faceless thugs or spaceport brawl instigators.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Graphic presentation is nice, looks like the display of a grungy, abused copy of some Adventurer's Guide to the Galaxy.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Seems rushed and poorly thought out as a race. I would have added more detail about their toxin-resistant abilities, or even mentioning that it is an adaptation their homeworld being drenched in industrial pollutants or such.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

Some delightfully nasty stuff here. While most, like Curse of Warts, Plague of Boils, and Vacate Bowels, are the sort of "harmless" spells used by arcane pranksters or those wishing to humiliate rather than hurt their opponents, there are a couple of utterly horrifying offensive spells here, namely Devein and Maggot Infestation. Have your villains use these two and watch your players flee in panic.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The title is truth in advertising, and these are indeed unspeakably vile spells.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Some worthwhile stuff here. While there's an abundance of flashy damage-dealing spells around, I find that I can never get enough of "harmless" spells that harrass and hinder in colorful, memorable ways. Players will learn to hold a special hatred for the gnome that casts the pride-obliterating "Slapping Hand" cantrip upon them far more than they despise the lich lord chucking 9th-level fire storms and blizzards at them. Further, more "mature" gamers will have endless fun using "Tear" on the structural support links holding all those chainmail bikinis in place.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Another nice little PDF from Bloodstone Press. Useful in any pulp or espionage game, and grounded in some degree of historical realism as well. I distinctly recall seeing the Peskett multi-purpose bludgeon/dagger/garotte combo and the deadly Bulgarian poison-tipped umbrella featured on a History Channel special on real-life James Bond-style spy equipment. So, kudos for the authenticity. While most do less damage than a normal knife or pistol, they are still intriguing as nasty surprises for PCS who may think they've confiscated all of a foe's conventional weapons.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Visual presentation enhances the feel of being a top-secret WWII Intelligence briefing, even down to the "Destroy this document if necessary" warning in fine printy at the bottom of each page.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>