Avery Alder's Monsterhearts has been one of those games I that I have wanted to review and play some more ever since I first encountered the First Edition all the way back when I was introduced to it at Gen Con.

Monsterhearts is a game on what it like to play teenage monsters. Monsters as metaphors for teenage life and feeling a little outside the norm. I think it is something everyone can relate too I think. The system is an easy one, based on the Apocalypse World Engine, something else I have wanted to delve into further. The base mechanic is simple; 2d6 + whatever mods (depending on the game), get higher than 10 for a success, or a 7-9 for something weird.

Characters have playbooks (much like many PBA games) but they also have a "Sex Move" they can use on other characters. They are teens afterall.

Don't expect a lot of combat here or a detailed combat system, this is not "Supernatural", this is Buffy in the early seasons, Twilight, or Carmillia the Web Series.

I am giving 1st Edition a nudge up in the ratings because that is the edition I played at Gen Con and the woman running it did a hell of job!

Avery Alder's Monsterhearts has been one of those games I that I have wanted to review and play some more ever since I first encountered the First Edition all the way back when I was introduced to it at Gen Con.

Monsterhearts is a game on what it like to play teenage monsters. Monsters as metaphors for teenage life and feeling a little outside the norm. I think it is something everyone can relate too I think. The system is an easy one, based on the Apocalypse World Engine, something else I have wanted to delve into further. The base mechanic is simple; 2d6 + whatever mods (depending on the game), get higher than 10 for a success, or a 7-9 for something weird.

Characters have playbooks (much like many PBA games) but they also have a "Sex Move" they can use on other characters. They are teens afterall.

Don't expect a lot of combat here or a detailed combat system, this is not "Supernatural", this is Buffy in the early seasons, Twilight, or Carmillia the Web Series.

150+ pages. A superb retelling of the legend of Boudica, the Queen of the Iceni Celtis in Roman Britian. This cleaves close to the legends we have all heard with the addition of some interesting (and some hated! [we are supposed to hate them]) characaters.

The art is fantastic and each character is carefully crafted.

For the history buff there are plenty of little "Easter Eggs". The "Bar Bar Bar!" was a favorite. I paid $4.00, but printed it would be worth a lot more.

If you are a fan of the story, the time or of Celtic Britain, then this is a must buy.

Nearly 100 pages of solid crunch for d20 3.x. No art. No fluff. Just a bunch of ready to go undead and other nasties.

The title may say Lazy GM, but a lot of work went into this title.

Great source book for Rangers, Druids and other herbalists.

A very interesting, if a bit crunchy, universal RPG system.

The game has a great character creation system and that really seems to be the gem of this book. The other sections; skills, combat, are also good and support the main system well. I have not played the game, but it feels like one that will take just a little used to at first. I can see this working great for the right group and even one that can really make it shine. There is a great game here, it will take the right group to find it.

The book itself is 140+ pages, black & white art. The book listed originally at $24.95 but is now Pay What You Want. I think this is actually a great plan for this book/game. Sell the core at a cheaper, or nearly free price, and sell the additional books.

A collection of creatues from various 3.x sources converted back over to "Advanced era" stats. What it lacks in art it makes up for in number of monsters (typically two per page). Lots of 3.x faves here, ready for your OSR games!

A fun adventure with a great premise. Not long and could be played in an afternoon. The document suffers from some minor layout issues. (TIP: Don't use Drop shadows in printwork.) Overall though fun. Pay a buck or more and have a good time.

An OSR Zine, but filled with more usuable content than some books.

We get a new Elvish-Demon Lord, some elf-sub races and a castle to adventure in. I immediately decided that all of these are connected and the Demon Lord, Erebus has these elves in his castle.

There are some patron saints of Good. Some magical tools and some new lycanthropes.

What can be more low level than going after some orcs? Especially demon-worshiping orcs! Well if that is your jam then this is the adventure for you. This 16 page (12 of actual text) features a cavern of orcs just like the good old days. Nothing too out of the ordinary here, but just good old 1st level fun. Can be played in an afternoon.

A while back my players ran into the Demon Bat-God Camazotz. He managed to get away with the what he thought was the heart of the Sun God (it was his liver). Since then my players have been itching for a rematch against him. This adventure might just be the thing.

While the creature here is listed as "Servant of the Bat God" a little tweaking and I could make this into a coastline being terrorized by the Bat God himself.
The characters have three days to complete their task, so it's a nice tight adventure, exactly what I want, and it weighs in at just under 60 pages.

In any case there is a lot of good stuff here to use.

A fun comic along the lines of Buffy meets Laura Croft. Kendra was raised by Dracula but she seekes to kill him. Anything more would be spoilers.

A race for the Otherverse America setting, but can be adapted to other games. The Wiccae would be called "Witch breed" or even "the Sidhe" in some other games they serve the purpose of an off-shoot human race not bound by the same rules that humanity has enforced on themselves over the millenia.

Some good ideas here that can be adapted to other games.

On one hand this is a good class that fills a certain niche in many games.
On the other it is also perpetuating the worse sterotypes of the Romani culture.

Personally I say take this book, add some of the newer Pathfinder materials and redo it as a Cartomancer; a diviner that relies on cards to tell the future or curse.

No fluff, all crunch. But prefect because of it. Page after page of Lizardman stats that you can drop into any 3.x adventure.