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The Argyle Lorebook |
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Average Rating:4.7 / 5 |
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The Argyle Lorebook is one of the best campaign settings I've seen in a long time (back to the 1980's!) for any genre. The Land of Argyle is obviously a labour of love - a lot of work and passion has gone into this product, and it shows. The world setting is logical, the geopolitical situation is well thought out and magic takes a back seat. I haven't played in this world yet, but my feeling is that this low-magic campaign setting can lend itself to "neo old-school" play; that is players ask questions and use their wits, and the game master weaves the story instead of everyone relying on dice rolls.
Although the book is targeted at DnD/D20, it can be easily be adapted to any system. I intend to use it with QUERP by Greywood Publishing, along with Dungeon Crawl Classics: Saga of the Dragon Cult by Goodman Games to run a very simple hack 'n' slash campaign. However any adventure campaign that involves the player characters foiling the return of a great evil (especially if that evil wielded great magic or was undead) would work well in this campaign setting. Throw in the historical, political and economic tensions between the various races and city-states, and deep and complex roleplaying experience is possible as well.
If Silver Oak Studios can keep up the exceptional quality, I will eagerly look forward to more products. My only suggestion is to keep the current format of the campaign setting, which is relatively system neutral and/or easily modifiable.
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The Argyle Lorebook is a 160 page pdf d20 campaign setting, the first product from a new publishing company called Silver Oak Studios. It's always good to see new publishers step into the d20 market, and Silver Oak studios have done well with this campaign setting that details the land of Argyle, a land with an interesting background and scope. Silver Oak Studios have already populated their website with additional material for the lands of Argyle - it's good to see publishers give good settings the support they deserve.
The Argyle Lorebook comes as a single pdf file, including both extensive bookmarks and a full table of contents. On top of that, there is a wonderfully useful glossary and index at the end of the pdf. It's a beefy pdf to want to print out, but the borders, background and art is light enough that it should easily be possible. Artwork within the pdf ranges from good to excellent, and there are some interesting and provoking images within the pages of the pdf.
The main map of the lands of Argyle is a little disappointing in that it doesn't detail a huge amount of the campaign setting, mostly the major cities and a few other locations. Their website provides a download for a higher quality map, but it still lacks a lot of detail. I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not, or even whether it was intentional in the light of perhaps future products. Empty maps provide DMs with the opportunity to fill details in as they like, whereas full maps make less work for DMs that want to get started. Given the amount of detail put into the areas of the pdf that are on the map, it's disappointing to see very little said about the rest of Argyle. The geography section thankfully does provide a little more in the form of smaller maps describing the immediate lands surrounding the major cities of Argyle. A neat feature of the map is that it is hyperlinked to the relevant text in the pdf. A good presentation idea.
Writing and editing is good, the latter only revealing some minor errors scattered throughout the pdf. The writing is fluid and vivid, and easy to read in a way that captures the imagination. The Argyle Lorebook as a campaign setting details a huge amount of material that is largely 'fluff' in nature. There is very little 'crunch' which is probably a good thing since most of the mechanics that is in the pdf is based on the 3e ruleset and not the 3.5e ruleset. Given the small amount of it, it should not be too difficult to make the minor changes involved. There were one or two instance where the mechanics weren't the best, mostly in reference to giving races a +1 modifier to an ability score rather than +2, which is generally not the best design.
The pdf is divided into seven main sections, each covering a different aspect of Argyle - history, races, classes, prestige classes, pantheon, geography and guilds. Most of the material is applicable to both DMs and players, although DMs may wish to not reveal some of the information about Argyle to all players. Argyle is a low-magic setting, for those players and DMs interested in that type of campaign setting, and does a good job of presenting a grim and struggling land wishing to escape the clutches of a past brought about by the powers of magic.
The first section of the pdf presents a history of the lands of Argyle as told from the perspective of a fictional tale involving members of each of Argyle's races. Not only does this give a brief overview of the land's history, but it also indicates how the race relations have developed. I quite liked reading through this, as it immediately set the tone and scope for the setting, and the roleplaying opportunities that the land provides. One of the excellent features of this chapter is the timeline - so few campaign settings provide one, and I personally find it immensely useful as a brief summary of major events. Argyle's history is largely dominated by the Age of Dominion, an age where the mage-kings of the land enslaved the various races and cultures of Argyle, eventually resulting in a devastating plague. The 'end' of the mage-kings has resulted in a land that fears magic, and is very tense about its use.
Section two details the races of the lands of Argyle as well as how these races relate to each other. All the standard races are present within the campaign setting - dwarf, elf, halfling, gnome, half-orc, half-elf and human. Each race is detailed in vivid detail describing its history, its location and culture, religion, relationships to other races, suitability as adventurers and mechanical details. While only the core races are used, the background and history provides something that it tantalisingly different to the norm, and should make for good roleplaying opportunities.
I particularly liked the creation myths of the races. For example, each dwarven race was created associated with one type of ore. When the god of the dwarves completed his creation, he wiped his hands clean on the forests of Argyle, scattering his divine creative power and accidentally creating a new race of dwarves. Sidebars scattered throughout the section detail such things as the Forsaken (elves cut off from the other elves by severing the Cord that connects them), languages in Argyle and Dwarven Slayers (expelled dwarves). It's a good and often fascinating read, and captures the feel of the setting within the races as well, making them part of the campaign world in tangible way.
The third section details the races as considered from the point of view of the various classes of Argyle. All the standard classes are present, and each is discussed in impressive detail regarding races' attitude and applicability to each class. The write-ups also serve to expand on further racial tribes, groups and cultures that are scattered across the lands of Argyle. One of the fundamental aspects of Argyle is that magic is feared and its users hated. This is touched upon in this chapter when discussing various spellcasting classes, such as the cleric, wizard and sorcerer, but it would've been nice to see a chapter devoted to magic, its nature, etc.
The fourth section presents a new prestige class, the ShroudWalker, and a NPC based on the prestige class. The Shroud is a undead filled area of fog in Argyle's North Cape, and none know of its origin or purpose or nature. Shroudwalkers are devoted to eradicating undead on Argyle, and gain a whole host of undead-related abilities making the Shroudwalker the ultimate undead-destroying machine. A strong prestige class, but very focussed.
Section five details the pantheon of Argyle. The gods of Argyle are divided into two groups - the scions, gods created by the creator and responsible for destroying the creator, and ascended, mortals that have ascended into godhood. The pantheon describes each of the gods in terms of their dogma, followers and mechanical details. The scions include Argarath, Barana, Chorolos and Mirimil, each responsible for creating the races of Argyle and some of its foul beasts and gods (Grollob, a god created by the scions, not the creator and hence a 'failed' effort). These are also very powerful, in the sense that they allow worshiper clerics access to all domains, something which in concept seems like a good idea, but might not be in practice. I'd have preferred to have seen them given domains associated with their creed or tasks, rather than simply all. The afterlife is also discussed, providing a rich indication of what happens when creatures die. The ascended are also described in rich detail, and this pantheon should provide an exciting description of the gods of Argyle.
Section six is the largest in the pdf and details the geography of Argyle, for the most part the major locations and cities where Argyle's races reside. As mentioned earlier, the maps are disappointing in that they do not contain a lot of the information within this section, making it difficult to find any specific location on the map. Only ten locations are described in detail, but wonderfully so, and give a rich flavor to the campaign settings, its cities and its regions. It contains some interesting and innovative descriptions and areas. The ten locations described each contain details on demographics, culture, city/location, places of note in the city, organisations, surrounding lands, regional history, and rumours regarding the city and its lands.
The ten cities described are Aberdan (a human city without a king), Argon (home of the dwarves), Caern Tor (a human port city on Argyle's Halod Isle), Estellond (the elven homeland), Hemdale (a dangerous human settlement near the Shroud), Hozz Le'Dayth (the gnome homeland), Nirre (a mixed race trading city), Port Hope (a largely human port city), Shroudgard (another bastion against the Shroud), and Soberdan (a city of brigands and thieves). Each city and its local lands is described in wonderful detail, giving the DM and player a good indication of the life in the city and its relationship to Argyle. Cities sometimes come with maps, which would allow DMs to easily run city-based campaigns in Argyle. The meatiest section of the pdf, but also the best, with tantalising reading, interesting cities and locations, and many ideas for adventuring.
The last section gives a detailed overview of the guilds of Argyle. Mayn of these are touched upon in the various city writeups, but this section gives a complete overview of the guilds, including such details as members, emblems, fees, admittance and background. A fascinating read with some good and useful guilds, including BoneWatch (warriors of the North Cape), Dire Hounds (ruthless bounty hunters), and the White Mages (devoted to changing the perceptions of the populace regarding mages and magic). A total of 11 organisations are detailed, each receiving about one page of attention and expanding on already given information.
The pdf concludes with a set of appendices, which contain details on the Argyle calendar, seasons and festival days, iconic characters of the campaign setting (with exceptional art), and a monstrous society, the Black Renders, a group of troglodytes.
The Argyle Lorebook is a fascinating glimpse at the lands of Argyle. It's very well detailed and interesting, and for the most part very complete. This is a flavorful book contains vast amounts of detail on all things pertaining to Argyle. The history, cities, races and organisations tie together nicely to form a useable framework and a strong campaign setting. The setting combines a good mix of roleplaying with low-magic adventuring and combat, as well as intrigue and much mystery. It's well written, solid, and well worth a look for those interesting in trying a different, solid setting. I certainly look forward to seeing what else Argyle and Silver Oak Studios have in store. For a first product and setting, this is very good.<br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: The Argyle Lorebook presents a flavorful and detailed description of the lands of Argyle. Once a land dominated by mage-kings, it is now a place haunted by its past and with a hatred of magic. The races and history blend in well, as well as the numerous extensively detailed geography elements. An unique setting with an interesting flavor. Very good art and writing throughout the pdf.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The maps was slightly on the sparse side, and didn't contain a fraction of the detail presented in the text. More smaller maps would've made the maps more useful. The setting is not strongly supported by new mechanics, and that which is there is mostly based on the 3e ruleset. I would've preferred to see a stronger mechanics base, something that will hopefully be evident in upcoming releases from Silver Oak Studios. A few minor editing errors here and there.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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Creator Reply: |
Peter, thanks very much for the excellent and thorough review! We take all review comments very seriously, and are working hard on future additional Lorebook material which we hope will satisfy many of the points reviewers have made. In fact, The Argyle Lorebook has just been updated as of July 8, 2006, to correct a few minor spelling and grammar errors as well as update all mechanics and stats to v.3.5.
Thanks again for taking the time to review the Lorebook, we truly appreciate it. :)
-Mike and John. |
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Really good settings make you want to figure out a way to carve out a part of your campaign world and place it inside. The Argyle Lorebook is one of those settings. The cultures feel different from other d20 products, the world?s flavor feels unique and the writers do not try to reinvent the basics by adding new mechanics, they simply rely upon good writing.
The book is nicely laid out with a lot of information compacted within its 160 pages. The artwork is equally impressive, with a vivid use of colors and atmosphere.
The setting really lends itself to low to mid magic campaigns. A harsh mage ruled government caused a lot of havoc in Argyle?s history . Though a plague managed to wipe out the Mage leadership, the land still frowns upon magic usage. As you find out throughout most of the book, there are no mechanical changes, but the descriptions of the land and characters adequately convey how difficult wizards and sorcerers in the land are treated.
For the DM
I have never been one for long narratives in the beginning of a book. I often find them unnecessary or thrown in to show offs the writers desire to be a fiction writer. However, the prose before the crunch here really gives the reader an understanding of the world. The reader plays the fly on the wall, overhearing a conversation between a party of different races about the history of the world. I was just happy to finally hear gnomes and half-orcs with a voice in a book.
After the History is laid out, the Argyle puts a different spin on Races, Classes and Prestige Classes. Most of the stats are the same as in the PHB, but the descriptions are quite different and most of the races have slightly different variations. Classes are given a similar makeover as well. The writers really show how you can tweak information without revising stats and abilities.
With the unique magic take though, I did notice the lack of a magjc chapter. Even if new spells were not to be included, I think a chapter devoted to explaining just how magic works and doesn?t work in the world would go wonders to making the book complete.
The Iron Words
Without introducing a new batch of stats and numbers, Silver Oak Studios delivers a compelling take on the original classes, races and feel of a Dungeons and Dragons setting. I enjoy the low magic feel of the campaign world, but needed a bit more clarification on what I should be expecting magic wise in the game.
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<b>LIKED</b>: Good writing and no pointless additions<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: There's no magic chapter which could really help clarify the atmosphere of the world. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>
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The Land of Argyle
In the world of PDFs there is a lot of variety. There are PDS of lots of print books and PDFs that seem to be more gaming pamphlets then books. One interesting aspect of PDFs is that it seems a lot more new companies are showing up in the market through PDFs. So, it is a good way to see new people and the ideas they have. This PDF is the first by a new company. And like few before them they show they have a lot of ideas and can produce a good campaign book.
The Land of Argyle is a campaign setting by Silver Oak Studios. The PDF is one hundred and sixty pages, well organized, good book marks, nicely laid out, and some really nice art. The writing is mostly done by Mike Huck and Brad lead with help from John Mayhew, Dan Gwarthney, Don Gallihue, Kenneth Delie, and Scott Baerst. The book also comes with what is becoming an endangered species in RPG books; an index!!
The book has a lot of good things going for it. It starts with a nice little story that shows some of the differences between races in how it all got started. It is a nice take and has some lively characters in it. It then goes on into a nice creation list and a very complete three and a half page time line. The book has the details to run the campaign that is for sure.
The races are familiar and brought to the world. There are elves and dwarves and gnomes and halfings and humans. And there sub races for gnomes dwarves, and halfings. I prefer unique races rather then sub races but these are nicely detailed and can be fun. There are also half races present here. All the races are details first. The mechanics are few and at the end placing an emphasis on the written word and not the rules. I like that approach a lot and in a game like D&D that seems to have the rules ruling the day it is a pleasant surprise to see it is not always the case. There are no unique races aside from the sub races present here.
The classes? chapter presents something that is pretty much unseen in this day and age of d20. It has no new classes in it. There are a few new prestige classes in another section, but the Classes Chapter does the great job of showing the reader how the classes from the Players Handbook fit and are viewed in this world. If that was not enough the book also gives motivations and thoughts of the races on each class. This might be the first setting that I can honestly have a clear picture of how each class fits in and works into the setting. And then I can have each player know how the races feel on them and the reasons a race would be a certain class. The book makes things easy on the DM with these kinds of information and will make players understand the world and the roles of classes a lot better.
The Prestige Classes actually issues forth my first disappointment with the book. Though it truth it is not much of one. After reading about all the classes from the Players hand book and how they can be used I was hoping to see the prestige classes from the Dungeon Master?s Guide given the same treatment. Alas they were not. There is a single prestige class presented in here and it is called the Shroudwalker. It is a classed aimed at eradicating all undead. It seems like a fairly balanced class with a number of good abilities though some like the turn undead ability they get will be a bit weak if the character did not have it before. There is also a sample NPC of this class presented.
I am not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing that I can not summaries what the campaign setting is about easily. There is a lot here and it feels more like a world that is flowing and living. It seems many campaign settings have a twist or central theme to them. Argyle is a fantasy setting with rich history and lots of things going on. It seems to be able to support a lot of different styles but traditional fantasy will be its forte. Wizards are not well liked and the elves are very militant. Everyone does not get along and there is much possibility for adventure. As such it might be a little overwhelming for new DM?s. I like that it is complicated and not easy. It seems to a rare trait in books these days.
The meat of the book is the setting. It presents the gods and their religions. This chapter is about the gods but does not stat the gods. It has dogmas and portfolios. To put it simple it is for worshiping the gods and not fighting them. There is first the Creator, Ko. He created the Four who are referred to as Scions and then there are the Ascended, mortals who become basically gods. The chapter also gives the reader the afterlife. This is another area that other settings fail to present.
In the end Argyle is a living setting. The book is well written and interesting. There are many side bars for the DM to on such things as currency. The calendar is fully presented and there is a glossary of terms. And in the end it is a greatly detailed setting.
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<b>LIKED</b>: Level of deatil, complete setting, well written<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>
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I have been following the progress of "The Land of Argyle" for a long time. It was a happy event when I read the announcement that the lore book was available for purchase. I have been involved in D&D as a player, DM, and CPRG enthusiast since the late 1970s. As a DM I have run campaigns set in the World of Greyhawk, Dragonlance, and the Forgotten Realms to name a few. In all my years of gaming I have never encountered a world setting that intrigued me more than Argyle.
Megan's review is very thorough so I will focus on the elements of Argyle that make it most attractive to me as a campaign setting. The first thing that struck me about Argyle was the world's thorough and unique history and racial backgrounds. Argyle is a well thought out world where the motivations of each race can be traced back to specific and detailed historical events that have evolved over thousands of years. This makes it a pleasure to develop new characters for the setting. Argyle is a harsh world rife with racial animosity and diametrically opposed factions. In some ways this makes the world feel more "real" much in the same way as a good fantasy novel. Suspension of disbelief is easy in Argyle as history, rivalries, and racial tension all "make sense". Also, many of the elements diverge from traditional fantasy settings. Argyle is a totally original work and is a breath of fresh air when compared with the more mainstream campaign settings.
Another feature of Argyle that I enjoy is the low magic setting. The tyranny of the human Mage Kings in Argyle's past has resulting in magic being feared and reviled by common folk. This dynamic makes playing in the setting more challenging and enjoyable in my opinion. Wielding magic can be dangerous as most of the world’s inhabitants will not tolerate it. Magic users will, in most civilized areas at the least be run out of town, and at the most extreme be killed on sight. The relative rarity of magical items also adds to the fun. A character who has developed over time and slowly accumulated a modest collection of magic items makes each of those items that much more special. I have always been turned off by how ridiculously common magic and magic items are in most campaign settings. Too much of a good thing is just that. In Argyle, magic is mystical and dangerous and this dynamic is extremely appealing to me from a role-playing perspective. It also makes my job as a DM more enjoyable. In my opinion the rewards of adventuring are much more meaningful when magic is mysterious and rare, as opposed to when everyone is running around with +7 swords of infinite smiting and magic users sling fireballs and summon demons while filing their nails...
Lastly, the world is just plain cool: Rival human city-states rebuilding after the plague and racial wars that took away their dominance. Dwarves and Elves retrenched in their native homelands ever vigilant of the human’s potential to return to power. Feral Halflings roaming and ruling the great plains unopposed. The ancient and mysterious towers of the Mage Kings. The mystery of the spread of the Shroud and the source of the undead minions that roam there. Magic despised and magic users persecuted. The tension is palpable and this makes Argyle an ideal place to kick off a campaign. If you buy one new campaign sourcebook this year I encourage you to give Argyle a try. You won’t be disappointed.
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RPG Resource Review
The Argyle Lorebook is an introduction to a new campaign setting, the Land of Argyle. It's one of the best thought out settings I've read in a long time, with everything building on everything else, internal logic hanging together, gods with genuine connections to those who worship them - who in turn have clear reasons for their choice of deity - and a vast back history that puts everything into context. Even if you don't want to adventure in Argyle, it's worth reading as a 'how-to' devise a setting of your own.
The Land of Argyle is, in the present day, a low-magic setting with a considerable amount of racial tension between humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and gnomes... never mind any 'monstrous races' that you may encounter. This is all soundly based in the history of the land, and lends itself to some excellent role-playing potential.
The book begins with a group chatting in an inn, with a human bard being put straight on matters of myth, legend and history by some of his non-human companions. This develops into a discussion of the actual history of the setting beginning with its creation myth, which links various deities to the races that each was responsible for, and then explains how a period of domination by human Mage-Kings gave rise to hardship and eventual rebellion by the other races subjugated during this period, cleverly using the different lifespans of the various races to differentiate between their views... there are dwarves and elves alive who remember those days, while it's rather dusty history, several generations back, to the short-lived such as halflings and humans. It's still not a good idea to use magic in public - difficult upon occasion if your magic is innate such as that of a bard or a gnome, as opposed to the result of study as would be the case with a wizard. Even clerics have to be cautious unless they are well-known in the community, as many don't trouble to differentiate between arcane and divine magic and attempt to lynch the caster regardless!
Next comes a discussion of the different races, looking at individual racial history, attitudes and customs as well as at game-related things such as attribute modifications (usually close to those of the Player's Handbook standard, but not always identical) and favoured classes. There are also notes on how each race views the others, which helps in setting up the racial tensions so prevalent in this setting.
This is followed by a similar discussion of the basic classes available (the standard Player's Handbook ones with the exception of the Paladin). For each, there are notes on how you get into that particular trade, the opportunities available, which races are more or less likely to follow that path and how it is viewed by society as a whole. One prestige class is also described, the Shroudwalker, who is a specialist slayer of the undead. This is accompanied by the lifestory of a renowned Shroundwalker including his statistics at several stages of his life.
Next it's time to look at matters religious. There is one creator, Ko, who made the world itself, the flora and fauna, and humans. He also made 4 subsiduary gods, the Scions... who quarrelled with Ko over the minor matter of them attempting to create their own sentient races, and either ran him off or imprisoned him - nobody's sure which, but Ko has not been around for a very long time. He still has some followers, as well as the Cult of Reckoning who believe that rumours of a horribly-burned man who appears before momentous events is actually Ko, and that sightings can be used to predict the future.
The four Scions, after one abortive attempt that resulted in the creation of a horrible monster (which went on in its turn to create the monstrous races), managed to each create one of the other races: Dwarf, Elf, Gnome and Halfling... known as a result as the Scionic Races. Each has been retained as a patron deity by the relevant race, although these are not the main focus of religious veneration. Throughout the ages, the Scions have observed the behaviour of all the created races and when an individual shows especial devotion to a particular ideal, cause or concept, that individual is raised to immortality or 'Ascended' and these Ascended are the ones around whom most religious cults have arisen. Several are described, with details about their lives and deeds which caused them to be selected, as well as about the cult which has grown up around them and information on their priesthood - including likely robes, beliefs and spells. Many of the Ascended have been devoted to 'evil' causes as well as to 'good' ones - the Scions appear to be guided by a need to maintain balance rather than to reward the worthy. Quite a few are described, but there is plenty of scope for DMs who enjoy such things to invent their own along similar lines.
The rest of the book is devoted to a detailed Gazetteer of the Land of Argyle, which is all hyperlinked to a world map right at the back. If you are reading while online, the map is also hyperlinked to a larger version on the Silver Oak Studios website; this map is also available for download if you care to visit. For each location there are notes on demographics, culture, the city itself and places of note within, major organisations, the surrounding area and regional history... and hearsay about the place for those who have not yet been to see for themselves! This last is a nice touch for those whose games include exploring the setting as well as more conventional adventuring.
Finally, there are notes on some of the major guilds and organisations which characters may wish to join (or with whom they might interact as patrons or enemies...), and, as appendices, the calendar, some noteable 'iconic' characters and a note on monstrous societies.
Overall, this provides an intriguing introduction to the Land of Argyle, with plenty of material to start adventuring there (although naturally one hopes there will be more!). It can be a little difficult to distinguish between what is 'common knowledge' that any character might know and what is the 'underlying truth' that really belongs in the DM's domain - I would recommend allowing players to read the history and the notes on their chosen race, religion, class and hometown, but restrict the rest until they have an opportunity to find out for themselves in the course of the game. It's an impressive debut work for new publishers and authors, and I for one look forwards to more about the Land of Argyle.
You can read information and reviews about product from many publishers at http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/
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