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d20 has some great ideas. Classes that act as a sort of archetype of character development, feats so that you can have more options as to more refined development, and quite a few prestige classes (or, in this case, advanced classes) to fill even more specific niches.
There is one thing that all of the above lacks, though, and that is the actual character in the character. And that is where this book comes in. Now you can get some drawbacks (which tells you what your character can't do) and distinctions (which are little perks, but you can get extra feats, which I do highly suggest).
Many gamers feel that taking a drawback is somehow making their character weaker. In a sense that is true. However it has two benefits: one, you get a distinction of similar value, and two, you have made your character distinct from all of the others. You have something fun to role-play.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Drawbacks! They are great. Take a flaw and your character will no longer be a flimsy cardboard cutout.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I found many of the distinctions to be lame. I just go for an extra feat, because all of the rest seems to be useless (to me, anyway).<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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It is hard to comment on clip-art, as its use is limited. However, the art is decent, especially if you like guns. And I do.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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An interesting idea. It is essentially a way to make d20 become more of a points-based system. It is like playing GURPS with all of the d20 dice and characteristics.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: It is a good attempt. I like to fiddle with systems, and system conversion can be difficult at times. This is not a system conversion per se, but it can be.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It is the apples to oranges comparison. It is like having d20 on one hand and GURPS on the other. Both have their pros and cons, and neither are inherently better than the other. Of course, some may find this to be exactly what they are looking for. Me, if I want to play d20 I want to play d20 (with all of its rules), and if I want to play GURPS I want to play it by its rules. They do not really mix all that well (but this is a very good attempt at doing so).<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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A great addition to Deeds Not Words. It starts with about 14 pages of feats, about 14 pages of weapons and armor (including quite a lot of improvised weapons), about 6 pages of combat rules, and about 60 pages of NPCs and setting data.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Can you say options? I like how it has a lot of combat options. When you have superheroes beating each other up, the more options the better. Hit locations are handled quite well.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It has a bunch of NPCs in it. Granted, this is considered a virtue for most people, but I would rather it had more rules and crunchy-stuff.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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No more pansy Anne Rice vampires. No more silly Buffy vampires. This isn't a re-hash of VAMPIRE: the Masquerade, either. This is something different.
No longer need a vampire suck out blood, even though most of them do. It can drain other things, too. A soul, for example. Emotions, for another. Granted, both of those have been done before, but these vamps got style. There is sufficient background for each type so as to be able to insert it into just about any campaign.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: There are some really great ideas. Who doesn't like a new twist on such a nifty creature? Vampires are great!<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The writing style. It is very informal. Granted, quite a few authors write informally in RPG materials these days, but I am used to the good ol' T$R days. Informal writing style reminds me of the crap that Palladium puts out.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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A great way to handle martial arts in d20. Quite a few of the modern martial arts are presented. Maneuvers are feats, much like they are in all other d20 products that have combat maneuvers.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: A good job at turning martial arts into a bunch of feats<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I don't think that martial arts should be turned into feats; it is lame to have to be high level before you can have a bunch of maneuvers. Having skills would be better.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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This is a good book if you want to have lycanthropes in your game. In fact, for that it is a must-have. The data is pretty generic, being insertable in most campaign settings. The Lunar Knights are a prestige class that wields weapons made completely of energy.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: A great overview of how to successfully handle lycanthropes in a campaign<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Better art, perhaps. Then again, I can't complain much as it is better than what I can do.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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There is an evil society that likes to make up interesting variations of the arena. The contestants can be volunteers, or they can be captured, either way they had better find a way to survive. This is the "Running Man" of a fantasy setting.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: If you want to have a hack-n-slash dungeon delve without the absurdities of dungeon delving, here you go. It is a great thing to spice up any game that needs more excitement and bloodshed.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It is not for long-term campaigns. Rather, it is best used as a side adventure.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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I used to look at the boxed set at the local hobby shop, considering its purchase. I had starting gaming with the Basic Set in '83, and bought the Expert, Companion, and Master sets after that. Hey, at $15 a pop that is a lot of money for a kid, at least then. I never did buy it, though. I mean, playing a deity bas some pros and cons. It isn't like you can go fight orcs or something.
Most people do not want to play deities as characters. There is a certain charm to the whole concept, though. It reminds me of the Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: A great set of ideas for running a game where the PCs are deities.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Could use more data on the society and campaign setting. Much was left to DM creation, which is not in itself a bad thing, but ideas are good.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Now a character can have a cool staff that the character earns. It gets more powerful as he does. No more need to replace your staff when you need a better one.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: An interesting way to earn a signature item of power<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Spending levels on a magical item? What if it is lost or destroyed?<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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Now a character can have a cool sword that the character earns. It gets more powerful as he does. No more need to replace your sword when you need a better one (it just doens't "cut it" anymore).<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: An interesting way to earn a signature item of power<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Spending levels on a magical item? What if it is lost or destroyed?<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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A great book for any form of mounted travel. Chariots are also included. Finally, a chance to play a mounted warrior. There are a lot of neat options for mounts. There is a great amount of detail on horses as well.
If you ever have a character that wants a mount, this is where you will get it.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Great data on horses and other mounts<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Could benefit from yet more mounts. Another supplement perhaps?<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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I like this book. It has a lot of neat ideas. The artwork is decent (a lot better than I can do, so I can't complain). I recommend it to anybody. Even if people don't want to use what it contains, it is good to get ideas flowing in your mind.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: It is written in a way that the contents can be "ported" to any setting.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Some of the items were mere "hacks" of equipment that already exists. I did not like some of the weapon stats (but that is easy enough to change).<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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A very well-designed super hero system. It also works as a good way to create races (much better than the silly Savage Species).
I have used it most recently as a unique way to handle psionics in a D&D game (as opposed to the usual psionics rules). It has proven to be most interesting when used in this way.
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This is a very well-done product. It works best as its own genre (i.e. not tossing it into a game, like having super heroes in D&D). Still, there are plenty of things that can be incorporated into other settings.
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