No comments about The Drow War, Book 2 - The Dying of the Light (Drow War).

1 comments about Complete Guide to Drow *TOS (Complete Guide).

1. This book is in my library, and I have not regret the purchase. This is somewhat the Cliff Notes of the original AD&D Drow of the Underdark. - However they Do not have Eilistraee, the diety, mentioned in here, and they add a few new items in it. The New stuff is some new Weapons and armor, Magic Items and Poison, Prestige Classes, Spells and my FAVORITE Mutations. The Mutations is a grabber and makes you want to use one of the races as a PC for your next game or for a DM, build your new Villain or Foes.
   
   This book is definitely a MUST for the Player or the DM that want a spin or new ideas for Drow. This book is a must have, and if you can get it cheaply - It is definitely a WIN_WIN for you!

No comments about Drow Trilogy Book 1 - The Drow War.

5 comments about Plot and Poison: A Guidebook to Drow (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying).

1. Just reading the discription, and looking at the cover has me excited about getting this book. My group of players are usually up to there necks in drow intrigue. So this should help flesh out our adventures nicely. Not to mention that on occasion, I have a drow player character.



2. This is a good source of material to create either your own drow characters or a group of marauding villains. The first chapter gives you details for making them "real". It includes sub-races, being a drow elf,and a history from their point of view among other things. It also has alternate natural spells for YOUR drow elves. ie fire spells to replace what they normally start with. Chapter two gives a pantheon of gods for them to worship(no Lolth).Chapter three gives you new and old creatures of the underdark. It includes a template for drider characters and of course drow elves as well. Chapter four has prestige classes. Includes a new kind of bard called the deepsinger and something for every other class as well. The last four chapters detail spells, equipment(repeating hand crossbow), skills, feats, and magic items. All in all this is a wonderful source of ideas and can help fill in the blanks for your own band of merry marauders.



3. Whether you're a casual fan of the Dark Elves or a long time lover of the Drow this book will have something for you. It grants amazing insight into playing this mysterious race as well as presenting a mind numbing number of options for character customization. From prestige classes(such as the mutating Creature Cultist to the demanding Dominant) to sub-races(such as the barbaric Drey and rules for creating Half-Drow of any race) to martial art styles, new magic spells and domains and finally new magic item descriptors and even a new magic item type(the verminous magic item which are magic items created from living verminous creatures). One of the few books I feel warrant a "must have" status.

   The reason I drop it down to 4 stars instead of 5 is due to the header font type they use. It's a bit difficult to read. Aside from that this is simply a superb book.




4. I was really torn to buy this book, I bought a drow book from one company before and it was terrible. So I was alittle afraid to buy Plots and Poisons but because it was Green Ronin's and I always am impressed by their products I decided to go ahead. All I can say is that once again Green Ronin put out a book that takes a wonderful creation to greater heights. For the first time in a while I am afraid for my player's character and they should be too.



5. Once again, WotC's D20 system claims another casualty. This book carries on the crass misportrayal of the Drow as a race of dominatrixes in Boris Vallejo strap outfits, whose primary vise of their universe is sexual perversity. They mutilate the Drow pantheon, and while much of the artwork is indeed beautiful and well-done, there is a particular emphasis placed upon depicting pointless nudity and fetishist situations. Much of this book, I found sickening, and it wasn't the graphic descriptions of violence.
   
   That said, there ARE some useful things in the book, like a description of Drow name honorifics, and some of the aspects of society have thankfully not been tampered with by the fanboys. Some of the subraces are interesting, particularly the Drey, and the martial arts styles are a blast. Just.....avoid the bits about the Drow society centering around leather and whips, and please keep the mind out of the gutter.

5 comments about City of the Spider Queen (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Setting).

1. It's a good epic adventure designed to take the characters from 10-18th level. It does that remarkably well because the monsters and villans are smartly designed and planned and the book is well laid out with clear maps and excellent descriptions.

   Still there are a few problems.
   1). Some of the monsters are tougher than their challenge rating suggests. Drider Vampires are a good example.
   2). Any party without a rogue and a cleric are in for a rough time. This might seem self-evident, but not every party has one.
   3). There isn't much downtime. The author makes this a clear point, but characters with item creation feats might as well have spent them in skill focus profession bum. 8 levels is a long time to go without creating any items.




2. The storyline is good, especially if you enjoy killing the drow.
   One aspect of the adventure that is both good and bad is its length. The adventure is LONG and allows for very little downtime. This means characters have no time to make magic items and worse, wizards in the party don't even have time to learn new spells forcing them to rely on their "free spells" they gain for level advancement.
   Absolutely can't be done without a cleric, I wouldn't even try. The monsters are tough and a huge portion are undead with level and ability score draining ability which means you need a cleric who can use restoration not to mention healing.
   Descriptions are good and the adventure does a good job describing how enemies react to PCs such as countermeasures they employ, alert postitions, and battle strategies. Also the "Powered up" stats given for enemies that cast spells on themselves before combat means you don't have to add in the various spell effects yourself.



3. This is an awesome awesome adventure which did almost everything right when it was written (without seriously cheating the players). But then Wizards of the Coast changed all of the magic right from under everybody by releaseing 3.5e.
   
   In this 3.0 compliant adventure...
   - Almost everybody has spell resistance
   - Most casters use haste to get extra partial actions which are usually used to cast Lightning Bolt
   - Drow can use darkness when they don't want to be seen
   
   But in d20 3.5e,
   - Spell resistance is easily bypassed by most conjuration magic (except for healing).
   - Haste doesn't give casters much of any advantage except footspeed.
   - Darkness has been nerfed from "darkness" to "shadowy illumination".
   
   This has two major overall impacts:
   - Drow shouldn't be studying any magic other than conjuration. Everybody's got spell resistance, so anything short of Cloudkill (which SR does not apply to in 3.5) is a waste of time.
   - The straight Drow encounters are still going to be really pretty weenie.
   
   If you've still got the 3.0 books about, this is a great adventure, loaded with atmosphere and plot unparallelled by the other adventures I've seen (which generally result in the heroes saving the day just in the nick of time despite having taken 5 years of downtime to craft magical items). Otherwise, you may want to alter the Drow -- or at least reinstate the old SR rules -- to ensure that this adventure plays as well as it did a couple of years ago. Because in d20 3.5e, the overrated dark elves are the least of anybody's problems.



4. I bought this adventure hoping for maps and info on Menzoberranzan, as in all the novels I've read, it was referred to as the City of the Spider Queen, City of Spiders, whatever. Instead it's about Myrmidea or whatever, a city I'd never heard of, and I've read 3 of the 6 War of the Spider Queen novels. However, it IS an excellent adventure, from what I've read in it, and, having bought it for a VERY good price, I got my moneys worth and then some.



5. I completely agree that when this was written for 3.0 it must have been much harder. It does require some fixing, especially the all Drow encounters. It took about 3 months of playing time (3 hours 1/week) to get through, and the PC's gained 4 levels out of it. They did manage to emerge twice before finishing it, but my group is very experienced. It was a good module though, even though it needs a little updating. It's not going to make the PC's rich, not that I remember anyway. I used this module plus the Underdark supplement. Really fun times.

5 comments about The Drow of the Underdark (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons : Forgotten Realms Accessory).

1. This book is very very cool. It has gods, and stats, and expanded information of Drows (underdark elves) if you wish to play a drow, this is a 200% must buy!



2. A detailed journey through the drow world. The Drow of the Underdark is perhaps the only book which will give you precise details and also a lot of aid in creating a drow PC or NPC. Going through everything from drow history to magical items, the Drow of the Underdark is a must for all players. It's adaptability is unmatched yet, and is useable by all players.

   Better yet, it has a cover unlike many of the other Forgotten Realms expansions. A black paperback cover inlaid with gold.




3. This is the best D&D rules supplement I have ever purchased. It contains so much information about the drow (dark) elves. It talks about their religion, their language, and a sect of drow that are good aligned. If you have any interest in ever including drow in your campaign this is the book for you. I use the drow- english dictionary in it all the time. It makes interesting puzzles for my PCs. Even when I am not playing D&D I use this book; it has some cool drow names that I like to use as names for some of my MUD characters. Without a doubt this is the most useful D&D book I own short of the Monsters Manual.



4. AN EXCELLENT BOOK THAT GIVES SOMEONE THAT IS NEW A VERY GOOD UNDERSTANDING AND BACK GROUND OF THE DROW UNDERWORLD



5. This is by far the most detailed resource book ever about drow that I have found besides just reading the novels. It is very enjoyable to read if you are a drow fan or a underdark DM, or simply wish to have a basis on how to rp your drow. I use it as a bible when it comes to my players bickering on how drow are and what this book says is final as far as I am concerned. If you do not give this book 5 stars I suggest you look at yourself and ask how anal you really are. If you can find a better resource book please let me know. So far this is the winner in my opinion.

5 comments about Underdark (Dungeons & Dragons d20 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Accessory).

1. This is a source book that is really ment if you are running a Forgotten Realms campaign and want to expand into the underdark. If you are looking for material for a home-made campaign this might not be the right book for you. It does offer a lot of background info about places, people, and events in the underdark of FR. Some of it can be adapted for home-made but most will not be of use.



2. I guess if you are an old school player this book may not be up to your standards, but if you're a new school D&D guy like me this book is great. Tells you a lot of things about some hardly talked about underdark races and places of interest. Sure you may find it in the novels but they are "cliffnoted" in this version. Also has some very sweet arse monsters and if you plan on building an Underdark campaign it comes in very handy with geography. Being a drow fan I am, and no not due to Dritzz, this book has my recommendations for some help in Lloth based drow but it is a bit lacking. I could go on but to sum it all up, you like the Underdark or creatures in it I highly suggest getting this book to help you in the aspects it has to offer unless you read the novels enough to just know. That is why I give it a 5 star, for one it does what it says, Underdark. Tells you a summed up describtion of it and places of interest.



3. I am an avid DM particularly in the Underdark and I thought frankly that it really was two hundred pages of nothing save for a few paragraphs. I have found more useful information from my old box sets and Drow of the Underdark supplements than this book provided. The maps were completely worthless and the city descriptions were paltry at best. Gone are the days when forgotten realms books were jam-packed with useful DM information ready to pop into a campaign. If you are looking for a general overview of the Underdark then it fills the need, however my imagination works much better than this book.



4. Initially going through the book, its full of excellent ideas and information, all the things you want to know about the Underdark. It was only when I started to look things up , I found that there was no index. How can a reference book have no index! Then after reading through the geography section trying to find what I was looking for I noticed , half the paces on the map have not enteries, which was quiet frustrating.
   Overall, what there is is excellent, but it seems like the only wrote half the book.



5. What group doesn't want to delve the mysterious depths of the Underdark? And as a DM, you should make them go, especially when the grouop gets to be high enough level to cast Teleport, because instead of being able to go home every night, they are stuck in the endless caverns until they walk out. And its dangerous, what with the terrible creatures that lurk in the dark. Fun for everyone!

5 comments about Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying).

1. I am co-DM in a campaign and we decided to go with the "quick" version of this setting. I'm not sure if it is better in the earlier stages but so far it seems like this book was rushed. There are some mobs on the maps that don't have a map key while others do, and the maps for the encounters in the pits are somewhat confusing. This is a fun campaign setting, our players are really enjoying it, but if you are going to DM it make sure you go over it thoroughly before each game. Some things that should quick to find are a bit tough to navigate for players that are into the role playing aspect more. They are in there, just spread out and seemingly disconnected. Not a good campaign to pick on spur of the moment, but it is fun to play and DM if you have the time for it.



2. As a player and a DM for over 20 years,I was anxious to see this 3.5 update of the classic early gygax era modules,I read through the new adventure and was astounded that they suggest this module is suitable for a 9th level group,the first encounter alone states that even though it is highly challenging a fully empowered and rested group should prevail.This is the mind set throughout the book.Several Demon lord aspects abound in the module which I find that most characters would have difficulty defeating that were less than 14 th level.Although the book states these encounters may be avoided,most players will invariably face nearly every one.
   I enjoy the flow of story but any player familiar with the game would laugh at the concept of 9th level characters "plane traveling" and surviving the rigors associated with dealing with the denizens of aforementioned alternate planes.This module should have been designated for 12th-16th level players which would be more in line with the game mechanics.



3. This thing sucks. I was expecting something really interesting and would involved politics of the Abyss, but got a hastily thrown together group of encounters. The plot line makes little sense. The hook to get the PCs involved makes little sense. The reasons for why most NPCs would assist the PCs makes little sense. From a combat perspective, it's probably decent as a dungeon crawl. (I haven't run/played it, so I can't say how balanced the encounters are) You'd have to totally ignore the plot and story to enjoy it, though. Unfortunately, this follows in line with almost all of the adventures that WOTC has put out in the last 4 years. They're great dungeon crawls if the PCs are okay with just being led along by a string of encounters. You're left in the end wondering what the hell the reasons for the adventure even were. They could have done sooooo much more with NPCs like Grazz't and Orcus and the interplay of politics between the demon lords. I'm very disappointed. The only plus side is the pages and printing and diagrams are visually nice and the encounter format is concise. I'd rather have the encounters placed back right into the main text, however, 'cuz I don't want to have to "refer to appendix C for monster and environment details" kind of junk.



4. I'm running this now (the party's near the end of Chapter 2), and so far it's quite a bit of fun... if you're in the right mindset.
   
   If you're looking for a wacky jaunt across the planes, merrily killing drow and demons, this will probably work for you. If you're looking for an adventure with plot & complexity, you'd best look elsewhere. I was looking for a pretty brainless adventure I could run once a month for some gaming-deprived out-of-town friends. My prep time is somewhat minimal, so this seemed like a good buy.
   
   The format of the adventure actually is pretty easy to use. You get all the material for a single encounter on one page, or two facing pages, along with full stat blocks. That layout makes my job as DM pretty easy while I'm running the game. It's somewhat annoying while I'm *preparing* for the game, but once I got used to it, it worked.
   
   I'd give it 5 stars for the material and for the presentation, but the stat blocks are awful. I'm not talking about the new stat block format - I *love* the new stat blocks (top section is pre-encounter, second is player's turn, third is monster's turn, fourth is detail, fifth is exposition), but the stat blocks are full of errors. I don't know that anyone really did proofreading on this book. (Two Examples: Ratatosk damage assumes small-size weapons while the creature's size is listed as Medium. Rule-Of-Three's dagger attacks don't include the magic bonus.)



5. Wow! This massively rich Dungeons & Dragons experience is a weaving of expert writing, deliciously devilish (or demonic)creativity and deadly challenges--sure to please any veteran or new explorer of the outer planes of existence.
   
   Whether you are a DM wanting to take your players on a plane-spanning adventure, a hardened warrior seeking to right unthinkable evils, or spellcaster seeking to push the envelope on your powers, this is an adventure you don't want to miss! Playable over the course of a single weekend, I can't recommend a better mod for PCs of level 9-11.
   
   Familiarity with extraplanar worlds is helpful, so check these books out also:
   
   Planar Handbook (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
   planar handbook
   
   Good gaming,
   Tyrskald

2 comments about Fantastic Locations: Fane of the Drow (Dungeon & Dragons Roleplaying Game: Rules Supplements).

1. buy it with an open mind, good for beginners. advanced players can skip this...



2. The maps included work great with miniatures and classic D&D game scenarios. The module that comes with the maps is not that great, is a fair adventure scenario for new players. First: The enemies are just that... enemies, no twists or interesting plot that might hook the players more than killing guys. Second: It doesn't motivate the players or Dungeonmaster to work on the characters. It's just Hack and Slash. But the maps are GREAT! Two of them are favorites among my players.

5 comments about Drow of the Underdark (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying).

1. Yhis is a fine deal for a DM with 20 or so dollars in his or her pocket. I reckomend this book for a DM or a player with a DN who will allow his or her players to use this material because, 1 this book is comprehensive and thorough in scope and delivery, 2 has some extraordinary art, 3 is well written with intelligent ideas for DMs who want to add something extremely evil to his or her game, 4 the players who get this book will mainly want it for a few new uses for skills and maybe to play a Drow or to be a thorn in a Drows backside.
   
   I hope this helps you.



2. This book offers some really good incites on drow life. I liked the feats and the equipment listed. I find it to be a good resource book.



3. ...which is actually exactly how it should be. For hard-core role-players, it's really more about the story, and this book does add some really poignant perspectives and insightful ideas about Drow society and methods of using them within a campaign. Unfortunately, there is a tendency in RPG's (and D&D is the prime example of this) to feel obligated to include new character mechanics, new equipment, and new rules in every supplement. Ultimately, all this does is weigh down an RPG whose core books might be well-balanced and graceful, but with the addition of each supplement becomes unbalanced and clunky. Most of the new classes and feats offered in this book are frankly not worth reading, let alone including in a campaign. Sadly, this content takes up space which could have been used to expand upon the truly solid foundation of story content and flavor that the book does deliver.



4. By and large it is a good comprehensive look at Drow society. That having been said, I think that the Drow are a fascinating villain in any campaign and one book really isn't enough to do justice to them. To really get a good idea of their mindset, I recommend more reading... Anything by R.A. Salvatore or the War of the Spider Queen series.



5. I bought this book expecting it to have the Forgotten Realms: Drow of Underdark from 2nd Ed feel and content. It really wasn't that kind of book.
   
   It's informative and a decent read. But as others have said it doesn't have any real new material or expand upon interesting locales or NPC's from the novels that are out there.
   
   So it's ok, not bad but it could have been way better. It's got a nice cover though.
   
   -Joe