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Fantasy Ships of the High Seas
Publisher: Avalon Game Company
by Andrew M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/17/2006 00:00:00

For $4.95 I am not certain how much one can expect; however, I expected more than this. &#8220;Fantasy Ships of the High Seas&#8221; is a 24 page PDF that offers 21 pages of material (not counting License, cover, ads and so on). The first 10 pages contain a table of contents, introduction and some statistical material followed by 11 pages of ship maps (the primary reason I was attracted to this product). Overall the look and feel of the product is promising (regardless of occasional incorrect word usage) until you get to the ship plans, which while not entirely unusable, are entirely disappointing. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Some of the material is good and the discussion on tactics in a fantasy game where a single fireball can wipe out a ship has some good thoughts to be mined. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The &#8220;beautifully elaborate (and historically accurate) deck plans&#8221; are anything but. Poorly drawn by hand on graph paper these are ugly maps. As for historical accuracy how historically accurate is it to have root masses growing from the masts in a clipper ship? Again this is about Fantasy ships, so how much can I gripe?

The biggest gripe I have is that there are many better products out there that cover the material much more thoroughly and effectively. The only reason I saw to get this product was the deck-plans, which are so very poorly done. So if you want an inexpensive primer to nautical gaming then this may have some material for use but for anyone with any background in the subject save your money. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Fantasy Ships of the High Seas
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Trollops Of Destiny
Publisher: Dark Quest Games
by Andrew M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/17/2006 00:00:00

This was a fun little supplement that I am glad I picked up. It details quite a few NPC women who are all quite different and all add spice to a campaign and provides a serviceable portrait of each with their entry. The work is completely portable to any game system as no game statistics are provided. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: All the NPCs are well thought out and have well written and fairly unique background stories, motivations, strengths and weaknesses. All information is clearly presented. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: A few typos and poor grammar but no serious drawbacks considering the price. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Trollops Of Destiny
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #4: Bloody Jack's Gold
Publisher: Goodman Games
by Andrew M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/17/2006 00:00:00

Dungeon Crawl Classics #4: Bloody Jack's Gold is a great adventure, well presented and edited by Goodman Games. It is 36 pages long including front and back cover, and 4 maps. The adventure does have that great episodic feel of 1st edition modules (complete with an Earl Otis cover) with a piratical flare added, the art is average to good without taking up too much space and adds to the feel nicely. If you run a nautical campaign this adventure drops in with grace and ease (soon to be used again for tormenting characters in my Skull & Bones campaign) but can easily fit into any ongoing d20 campaign.

As with all the other DCC modules I have seen this is packed with adventure, flavor and serious danger. The writing is sharp. Joe Crow tosses in asides to the DM and with his flair for detail makes for an entertaining read. Your players will hate this man and that, my friends, is a good thing.

The treasure trove - if your characters are good enough and persistent enough to find it (luck will not and should not do it for them) - is on the large side. However, it comes with some strings attached and is also wonderfully low on magical items to loot so there is some balance. Once found there is the not-so-small task of dragging it all back to the surface - if the PCs miss one secret door that will mean taking it down a couple dungeon levels before taking it back up and out. Then there is getting it all back to the ship. No small order. Getting rid of that treasure will be tough and just recovering it may make the PCs some powerful enemies (imagine being hunted by the equivalent of the Spanish or English Navies in the 1600s). Goodman Games was thoughtful enough to produce a web enhancement for this product on their website allowing a DM to sic Bloody Jack on the PCs after they have sailed away with the goods.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This adventure is tight and can have many repercussions if you incorporate the history into your setting. In short this adventure was a great read and a grand success at the gaming table. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Um, I thought of something: Art. It can always be better and could have used more player hand out art!<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Dungeon Crawl Classics #4: Bloody Jack's Gold
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Dark Shadows on the Isle of Breezes
Publisher: Grinning Goblin
by Andrew M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/19/2004 00:00:00

Well, ahoy maties? Dark Shadows on the Isle of Breezes is 57 pages of PDF that I am sorry to say I would not have bought had I but known about the fluff? You know, poor to middling art as handouts, low end maps by today?s standard and a ?generic game system? that make up dang close to 55% of the module. Realize that (not counting the cover) the adventure background starts on page 5 and the wrap up is on page 19 so you end up with 15 pages of adventure and 6 pages of maps (some redundancy here as several maps are included in the text of the adventure). Page 20 has an Encounter summery chart of dubious value and pages 21 to 37 hold a cast of characters in Grinning Goblin?s ?generic? system. One per page? At the end there are 3 pages of D&D 3e stats for the encounters.

I find it hard to believe the price they are asking for this. I would have rated this higher if I had paid a buck or less for it?
<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: The adventure is salvageable once you get past the somewhat clunky beginning. However, anyone who has an established nautical campaign will need to re-write much of the adventure (particularly the first encounter and the second half) to suit tastes and abilities. But once started properly the adventure should roll fairly well. Some good ideas show up in this adventure.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Fluff, fluff and more fluff. Some astonishingly lame sound files and really poor execution.

The layout bothers me a lot and is designed to waste toner/ink and paper. The double columns and their margins are all crammed into ? of the available page. All the pages are toned and so is some of the text (Why? Why? Why?). What is worse GG has locked down the file so you cannot copy and paste it to another program, change it to a more printer friendly format or otherwise edit the file in any way save to print it.

Speaking of editing - a copy editor could have caught some of the typos, incorrect word usage and awkward phrases.

The multi-media sound files are ridiculous. If I actually used them in a game my players would look at me like I was daft. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Poor<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Dark Shadows on the Isle of Breezes
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The Enchiridion of Mystic Music
Publisher: S.T. Cooley Publishing
by Andrew M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/19/2004 00:00:00

This supplement is what everyone who loves bards and music has been waiting for. From the introduction on to the end of the volume it is obvious that Spencer Cooly ?the artist formerly known as the Sigil? ;-), loves bards, music and the magic inherent therein.

You get three files: 42 pages double-column .RTF, 44 pages double-column of printer friendly .PDF and 48 pages double-column onscreen .PDF.

The book covers new feats, classes, compositions, spells, monsters and most importantly ties these elements together with the concept of ?Mystic Music?. I have not play tested any of the information here but it is well thought out and looks very balanced. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: This book has densely packed material that is well written with interesting illustrations and some truly original ideas. It is well executed and more than worth its cover price to any gamer interested in bards. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Ummm... <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
The Enchiridion of Mystic Music
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Corsair: The Definitive D20 Guide to Ships
Publisher: Adamant Entertainment
by Andrew M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/06/2004 00:00:00

'Corsair' is well put together and highly readable. As advertised, it targets the time of the Golden Age of Piracy: Sloops, Schooners, Galleons, Corvettes, Frigates and more make up the ships detailed. While this is not high fantasy material it seems very portable and I can see someone converting a First Rate Ship of the Line into a Melnibonean Battle Barge.

It has in depth descriptions of the various classes of ships complete with good classic ship illustrations; this is a rich section that I was surprised to find missing in ?Skull and Bones?. The rules are tailored to work explicitly with the D20 system and seem playable while covering mass combat, cannons, sailing, storms and weather? They lean away from the Hollywood style of close range broadsides for a more realistic approach where you start firing at longer ranges (start thinking along the lines of the first half of ?Master and Commander - Far Side of the World?).

A nicely done set of ship plans (including a cross-section) plus a crew roster and ship record sheets round it out. If you have any desire to run a campaign at sea or even just do a little maritime adventuring I highly recommend this product. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Corsair rules and examples are clear and concise, rooted firmly in D20 game logic. The material is dense yet readable and well organized. The ship descriptions are rich with game detail and illustrations. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There are some minor problems. The ship plans are labeled as a Brigantine but look more like a frigate. While the quality of the ship illustrations overall is good there are some pictures of people that are fairly low in quality, while not that bad a problem they detract from an otherwise outstanding product. The only real annoyance for me is the blue tint on the page edges, which did nothing to make a black and white print of this product look any better. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Corsair: The Definitive D20 Guide to Ships
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Distinctive Items Of Snobbery, Vol. 1
Publisher: Dark Quest Games
by Andrew M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/06/2004 00:00:00

This was a pleasant little excursion into what all the nouveaux riche will be buying this holiday season? ;-) Even better it gave me some ideas of my own on how to develop and strip characters of their hard-won spoils.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Good descriptions of items that a character could purchase, commission or (of course) find. For the price this was well worth it. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It was too short. I would have liked to have seen a few more items. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Distinctive Items Of Snobbery, Vol. 1
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