This is an amazing setting. The book is written in a way that really makes you feel like the city is alive, and the "Running an Urban Campaign" chapter really helps you emphasize that. The different districts all have their own unique flavor that is thuroughly discussed within their own chapters, complete with helpful hints by the writer. The book is rather hefty, and if you don't buy the pdf and just buy the hard copy you do not get the many handouts refererenced in the book. It is also dated, using 3e mechanics, but the stat blocks are not necessarily needed to run a game from this book. The biggest downside to the book is thatany of the important points are not connected, which is great if you want to use them alone. But it is somewhat of a challenge to string multiple major plot points together, although the book does give you dozens of plot points to choose from.

This immense campaign setting is better than I could imagine any urban and dungeon resource. I have it in hardcopy and now electronic form. The electronic form makes it perfect for reading anywhere, and for extracting pictures and maps. This is a 1st - 20th level (multiple times) set of games, many of which are fully developed, plus ideas for dozens more. Monte Cook is amazing!

For years (during D&D 3.0 and 3.5) I followed Monte Cook and most of his work. But when D&D 4th edition was announce I lost interest and lost track of role playing games . . . until a few weeks ago when I read "Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World" by Jane McGonigal. That book rekindled my interest in role-playing games.

Then, on Google+, I saw an announcement about Ptolus being available at DriveThru RPG as a PDF. I bought it because I wanted to see how how Mr. Cook handled creating and presenting a game campaign within the d20 rules.

Not only did I get the kind of education I wanted, I got excited about possibly dusting off my D&D 3.5 books and running a pair of games in Ptolus -- one running the pre-made games like "The Night of Dissolution" and "Dark Tidings" to name two. The other group I want to run using my own stories created with some of the hundreds of story hooks Mr. Cook has seeded in the Ptolus Campaign Book.

One feature that absolutely blew me away is, besides having a useful index in the back, the Ptolus book has item specific index running in the side margin so something that is mentioned in the text (such as the Delvers Guild), has a page listing on the outside margin of the page where you can go to get a full description of that item, spell, group, person, location or whatever. It is useful for your first time through the book and doubly useful when you begin to make your campaign. Very clever.

The outside margin is also used for DM tips, information about how Monte used a particular item in his campaign and additional information supplementing the main text.

This is a great product.

What can I say... this is an amazing product. I wish I had purchased a hard copy, back in the day, when that was an option.

It has taken a while to even get a feel for the campaign/city. There is so much material and in great detail too.

I'll definitely get a lot of use out of this product and recommend anyone who is on the fence to purchase this -- it is worth it. Probably the highest quality product of its type out there.

It's pretty much impossible to describe all the goodness of this product in a short review—or even a long one. I have never seen any campaign setting--much less one that's really just a single city--presented with such great care and thoroughness. If you're looking for a new setting for a 3.5e d20/OGL campaign, and you're interested in urban adventures, look no further. From the gazetteer to prestige classes to new spells and monsters, this product offers incredibly rich play experiences. Malhavoc also publishes several adventures for the setting, and SkeletonKey Games offers a poster map of the city (well, if you assemble it as such after printing) and miniatures-scale map tiles especially for Ptolus. I would still be running my Ptolus campaign if I hadn't upgraded to 4e (converting or recreating Ptolus in 4e stats was far too daunting a task)--and if I ever go back to 3.5e, I'll also go back to Ptolus.

Ptolus has completely reinvigorated my campaigns. There's so much material in this book, I don't think I'll ever fully exhaust it. It's become my favorite setting and I measure all other supplements to its high standards. Ptolus works well on its own or as a drop-in into your setting of choice. There are specific adventures included and backgrounds and history for a number of 1-20 campaigns.

I've been using the PDF version for almost 2 years now as it's almost impossible to find a hardcopy version. I highly recommend checking this product out.

The world of fantasy gaming may never see another setting as lovingly and richly detailed as Ptolus. Designed as the test bed for D&D 3.0/3.5, Monte Cook's creation captures the high magic atmosphere marked by wonder and mystery. A mix of urban and dungeon settings, only the inveterate wilderness wandered will ever wish to leave. Whether you intend to run the campaign itself or use it as a model for another city, Ptolus makes for a living and breathing canvas of matchless detail and originality. Details abound and yet lack incongruity as each piece fits seamlessly. Laws, taxes, government, coinage, gods, and trends are outlined and the list keeps going. Other settings address these issues as well but never with the same attention and artfulness. Lavishly illustrated and mapped with a keen eye, Ptolus is a visual extravaganza. Although Ptolus is a creature of the 3.0/3.5 D&D edition, much of the setting may be easily converted to the recent 4E release albeit with some changes in atmosphere due to how arcane casters are treated now. Dungeons that are detailed in Ptolus will require some work but the overall city setting can be used with few real changes even though it is not consistent with the 4E Point of Light meta-setting. I cannot recommened this product highly enough to any players of the 3.0/3.5 editions of D&D but anyone who appreciates lofty production values and peerless imagination should also get this product. It is the Hope Diamond of settings!

The whole Ptolus setting is a remarkable achievement and is priced appropriately as a PDF. If you are looking for an interesting setting to play in, this one is a good one. If you are looking for something easily adapted to your own world, this probably is not. This setting is unique and proprietary enough that any conversion is difficult.

This is THE only setting I use in Dungeons & Dragons. I preordered the physical book and jumped on the chance to purchase the PDF book. For those who don't want to buy the physical book, this is a great option. The greatest aspect is the fact that I can print out specific pages I need to use. Allows me to put a little less wear and tear on the physical book going back and forth between pages. Highly recommended!

I own the hardcopy, but got the PDF so that I could easily copy/paste snippets into my notes. The book, and the PDF, are worth every penny... easily the best sourcebook I have ever used.

Enough detail that you're never lost, adrift in an unfleshed out area; but also not so well defined that there's no room for your own creation. The city is vast, and while there are about a hundred or so areas that are given full descriptions, that leaves thousands, tens of thousands, empty for your own characters to move in.

I only wish that the page numbers from the original book had been converted into hyperlinks in the PDF.