No comments about In Nomine Fall of the Malakim (In Nomine: Revelations).

1 comments about Book of the Kindred (World of Darkness).

1. If you already have the sourcebooks for Vampire: The Masquerade or The Guide to the Camarilla, you may not want this book. It provides some information about each of the clans in the Camarilla (Pre Gangrel departure, vampric vernacular, explanations of some terms, the Traditions of the Camarilla as well as the Book of Nod. You may like to buy the book for the stories it contains or for allowing a beginner to read it and get a feel for the World of Darkness rather than throwing the game books at them. I believe that would be the most useful part of this book, for loaning to someone who has not played Vampire: The Masquerade before to learn about what they may have to expect in the games as well as observing current gaming sessions. The stories may give an insight to the new player of the adult horror and themes of Vampire.

1 comments about Starship Troopers: The Citizen's Federation (Starship Troopers).

1. Mongoose and Greg Lynch have simply outdone themselves in the production of the United Citizens' Federation sourcebook for the Starship Troopers roleplaying game.
   
   At a cute 160 pages this book is jammed packed full of information about the civilian universe that the Mobile Infantry strive to defend.
   
   Inside you are treated to an extensive history of the Starship Troopers universe and the then a lengthy discussion on culture and society (in Starship Troopers context obviously!) This section includes a new base class, the 'Fednet Reporter'.
   
   The next section is a smaller one on how the Federation works. This is probably the one section where more work should have been done. Whilst discussions of economics is hardly exciting stuff vis-a-vis roleplaying games; this book seeks to trim a inter-galactic economy down to a few simple concepts - such as a common currency and one super ecomony across the whole federation with fixed prices and wages across the whole board. While this may work for groups of players who just want to squash bugs - the beauty of this supplement is that it allows players to explore beyond that simplistic campaign; but then fixes characters into a rigid economic paradigm that will be counter-intuitive for any player older than 18...
   
   Anyway, that gripe aside, the book then moves on to the enemies of the federation and for once the Arachnids aren't centre stage! Instead we are offered up three human enemies - the Black Cross Mercenaries and the Civilian Militia and common Criminals. All three enemies have their own character class, with relative special features and class abilities. The Criminal even has a number of specialites that s/he can explore...much like the cross-training options avaliable to Mobile Infantry. This was the most enjoyable section for me as it lifted the game beyond the simple Human vs. Aliens genre and allows for some very interesting campaigns. Finally, this section also deals with Rogue Psychics and their special talents - which again offers a range of new roleplaying options.
   
   Following this rather long section is a brief chapter on the Federation at War and the special considerations this entails. Then there is a very long chapter which details the 'core' Citizens Federation. Like most other sci-fi RPG's (Star Wars, Star Trek, Traveller, Mech Warrior, et al)the enteries for entire worlds are rather limited, which is both a blessing and a curse.
   
   Its a curse because it tends to make each 'world' appear as nothing more than a city within the game universe and travelling between them is like travelling between Paris and Berlin (some minor differences - but essentially the same and therefore not really worth the effort - I know that's an overly simplistic example but you get what I mean right?)
   
   Anyway, it is also a blessing because in the time-honoured tradition of GMing, it allows the game master to make just about everything up and no player can whip out their copy and start muttering..."I don't remember that being in here!"
   
   Ideally, I would love a game development company to really spend some time on this issue and to make their respective universes a lot more 'real'. Such as producing a book(s) that feature a slice of the universe complete with each world shown in colour say as a 2d map. With continents, seas, oceans, and other geography (mountain ranges, rivers, etc), also included would be major cities, national, military, ethnic (or species) boundaries. There could be additional maps showing things like tectonic plates (if any), rainfall and other weather patterns - anyway, I digress. Suffice to say that in my opinion, describing a world of ten million colonists as a agriculture world and little else is frustrating.
   
   The book concludes with a discussion on campaign options: such as playing government agents trying to route out dissent (i.e. Civilian Militia) or as colonists on a new world or perhaps as law enforcement...the options are really only limited by the players immagination. I would strongly recommend GM's and players alike have a look at other games such as FASA's Shadowrun, GDW's Twilight/Merc: 2000 or even WotC's d20 modern at a stretch for ideas on alternative campaigns and then work them into the Starship Troopers universe using this supplement - you won't regret it!
   
   Enjoy.

1 comments about Classic Play: Book Of The Planes.

1. this quality book includes some fun new prestige classes, items,and totally unique planes. planes detailed with hazards, places, and new monsters. also has great instructions on portals, travel, and how spells effect other planes such as summoning spells, and rope trick.

3 comments about The Marvel Universe Role Playing Game: Guide to the Hulk & the Avengers.

1. The Avengers. Earth's Mightiest Heroes. With this, the third supplement from Marvel entertainment and Q.E.D. Games, you can take on the role of many Avengers. It's got a great list of stats fols. Great supplement for the best Super Heroes RPG on the market. If you have reservations, don't... buy this game.



2. Once again the people in charge of Marvel roleplaying books have made a blunder. Their inability to even give the complete Avengers roster shocked me! I intended to buy this book til I thumbed through it, and couldn't find updated stats for Hank Pym. If you're at all interested in Marvel roleplaying games go find TSR's old MSH system, while a bit old and out of date both Avengers Assembled and Avengers Coast to Coast are deeper and more worthwile!



3. This book is filled with more information about the Hulk and the Avengers then I could find on any online source. It has a lot of new profiles for heroes and villains encountered by both the Avengers and the Hulk, which naturally leads to a few villains and heroes that have encountered other Marvel characters like Scorpion and Shocker from Spiderman. It's also got a lot of new actions, options, modifiers, and a few advantages, disadvantages, and challenges. It's as big an upgrade to the game as the guide to the X-men was if not bigger. The only thing I thought I would get that I didn't was a better description of Asguard and other magical realms. Oh well, aside from that, it's a great upgrade.

No comments about Dragonsword of Lankhmar (One-on-One Gamebooks).

2 comments about Players GDE to Wizards Bards & Sorcerers (Scarred Lands D20).

1. This book is of good value if you are running a Scarred Lands game. But I find the information to be so specific that it wont make a easy fit to other settings.
   There are plenty of feats and prestige classes to keep every one happy, as well as some new ideas about cabals and sorcerer tradtions (blood lines)



2. Different from the WOTC books, this has a lot more information and story related items that a lot of people will find useful. Some will feel there isn't enough game mechanics. I beg to differ. Captures the feel of the Scarred Lands very well.

3 comments about Fading Suns: The Roleplaying Game (Fading Suns).

1. Fading Suns is a great sci-fi RPG with many elements of science fantasy. With an almost medieval culture in a star spanning setting, Fading Suns features a well developed world and history cycle. If you like RPG's and sci-fi, this is the game for you.



2. This game is one of the best new SF Roleplaying Games in existence today. Written by Bill Bridges and Andrew Greenberg (ex White Wolf developers for Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf), this game is a fantastically broad setting, with elements of Dune, Babylon 5, Call of Cthulhu and Cyberpunk.



3. Man did not rise to the stars on the shoulders of men who came before. He rose to the stars on the shoulders of giants who came before, leaving a network of jump gates to all the known worlds. He rose on the blood and sweat of aliens he conquered and forced onto reservations. He rose on the technology stolen from the alien race the Vau. He rose on the sweat of the serfs after the fall of the Second Republic and the churches declarations of the evil of technology. Man built republics, and empires and tyrannical mega corporations. He built a church to carry himself into a new era of progress, and then a new dark age. He create art and nobility and enslavement and cruelty and beauty and peace and war and murder.
   
   And then the stars began to die.
   
   Fading Suns in a role playing game set in 4999 A.D. in an empire built on the crumbled remains of a great republic. It is a game of nobility and seeking and discovery. It is also a game of hatred and racism and persecution. It is a game where feudal nobility and the ideal of bygone ages rule an empire built on the jump web of a long dead race.
   
   There are three main forces in contention under the rule of the new Emperor. The five noble houses and various minor houses form the royalty which rules the secular life of the people. The church and it's various sects rules the spiritual life of the people. The great merchant guilds rule the financial life of the people.
   
   Fading suns is a game of disparity. Serf toil in the fields behind oxen while nobles live in air-conditioned castles and travel about the sky in nimble flitters. The Inquisition hunts those who would use technology and puts them to the fire, but an uneasy truce, steeped in martyrdom and the redemption of the common man has arisen to allow the noble house use of high tech gear and craft. The guilds seem to hold onto it only by the strength of their monopoly.
   
   Fading suns in a game of mysticism and the occult. Priests wield magic and psychics harness the powers of the mind. Ancients artifact perform miracles that no science can explain and old technologies are often maintained by rote memory alone.
   
   Emperor Alexius is the first Emperor to actually rule the Empire (the original Emperor was assassinated before he could really rule). He has put forth an decree of discovery and exploration (a religious powder keg just waiting to happen). He has created the office of the questing knight and now the cohort (a knights companion). He is pushing the empire forward, where for years it only slid backwards.
   
   But the suns are fading. Why? No one knows for sure. There is obviously no scientific explanation. There is a religious one, however.
   
   When the Prophet formed the choice, he stated that the holy light was embodied in all the stars. He also stated that the vast stretches of space were filled with demons. It is the churches belief that the stars are the light of the Pancreator, holding back the darkness of the void and the demons therein.
   
   And now the stars are fading. Obviously man is flawed. Obviously, his sins are granting demons powers over the light. It is because of this that technology has been decreed sinful. It is because of this that the Inquisition prowls the Known Worlds in search of sinners and heathens. It's because of this they put them to the flame.
   
   This is the universe of Fading Suns.
   
   Fading Suns has been around for a few years now, but at GenCon this year, they released their second edition. For those of you who just want to know the differences, I'll list them first.
   
   1) It's Hardback. This might not seem like a big change, but I hate softbound core books.
   2) A New Jumpweb map. It really looks sharp.
   3) New Alustro's Journal (for those of you who think this is the best part of reading the books).
   4) Updated history brings the game up to 4999.
   5) New character creation method using "Histories" to speed up the creation process.
   6) Alexius has opened up the ranks of knighthood to young knights, allowing begining characters to become knights. He has also created the Imperial Cohort, allowing a noble's entourage to carry a certain amount of knightly power.
   7) The human/alien characteristic has been removed. Cybernetic now go off Ego.
   8) Benefices are no longer used to by starting equipment. You now by the Riches Benefice and use the money to purchase equipment.
   9) The new psychic paths: Sympathy and Vis craft. Also some new theurgy.
   10) Resolution of damage in combat now uses six sided dice (you can still use the old method is you like).
   11) Many weapons from other books have been added to the lists.
   12) A list of common wages and costs have been added.
   13) Revised cybernetic rules.
   14) Starship rules have been added.
   15) A treatment of Passion Play Role Playing.
   
   These are the changes between first and second edition. But what if your new to the game? Read on.
   
   Pros
   
   Fading Suns' greatest asset is it's setting. Hands down. This game is set in a rich and interesting universe. Sure it borrows heavily from Frank Herbert, naming the power point trait "wyrd" and simulating dueling methods using shields that only activate when the damage is above a certain level. It comes together well, however. I had as much fun reading the background material on this game as I do reading some novels.
   
   Fading Suns combines the expandable and the unexplainable into a beautiful union. By the time I was done reading the background I wanted to play this game. The universe is compelling on an emotional level. The more I read of it, the more I want to play.
   
   In addition, unlike some games, they are not afraid to put out source material. They are up to about a dozen support books detailing everything from the church to the merchant guilds to alien races. More are coming. Holistic is obviously a company that is knows that the setting sells a system, not the rules.
   
   Cons
   
   First Edition had more cons than second (the lack of ship combat rules, for instance). Second Edition seems to have tried to address these.
   
   The rules are maybe just a touch ligth for my taste. It's not that I really needed more rules, but there are still things I'm not sure I really understand. There are area, like with cybernetic and starship combat, where I really felt a little more explanation would have been helpful. For instance, it makes reference to people withholding victory dice in duels, so that they do less damage to their foes (thus not activating the shield). It never states whether or not there is a mechanic associated with this. I can only assume there isn't, but I would have like a line or two stating that.
   
   Finally, though the game does a good job of making me believe both the mystical and the scientific at the same time, it fails to integrate them some time. I'm willing to accept that their our demons in the void (they might be a super advanced race, or something unexplainable). I'm willing to except all the stars are fading. I'm willing to accept psychic phenomena and even theurgy.
   
   The problem arises in casual references to tech which don't have any scientific basis. I could give them the radar with a range of 5 AU's (the implications of such a powerful radar system are lost on most people). Most everyone, however, knows that there is not oxygen in space. The explanation of the heat blaster as "super hot flame" was a little too much for me. Maybe Noble Armada explains it as plasma. I'll have to pick up a copy.
   
   Conclusion
   
   This is the perfect game for a group where the gamemaster and players disagree about whether to play science fiction or fantasy. It has all the tropes of the fantasy game (magic, noble houses, a great empire, unexplainable evils, questing knights, etc.) in a science fiction universe where technology is unobtrusive. If you've ever had problems with a game where technology quickly gets in the way of the story, this is the game for you.

4 comments about MechWarrior: Technology of Destruction (Mechwarrior).

1. This is, by far, the best BattleTech universe book I've ever read. It has great background on the Classic BattleTech universe and the MechWarrior: Dark Age universe. It also has some great computer-generated images of the new (and old) 'Mechs, vehicles, power armor, and infantry. A must for any BattleTech or MechWarrior fan.



2. This book truly lives up to its name. You basically have a collection of data on most every category of mech, infantry unit and vehicles in the Mechwarrior: DA universe. The book is primarily an eye-candy book for those Mechwarrior fans who can't get enough. The short story (involving Tamara Duke of the Stormhammer faction and Thos Cardella) is an excellent read which serves to tantalize those who have been reading the DA novels. Astute MW clixers will note that Duke and Cardella were the prizes for the DFA marquee.

   A must have for avid Mechwarrior collectors. Others should be able to live without it.




3. Just for the pictures, if you are a battletech fan youll love this book, battle armor to vtols to trike squads in computer drawings- really cool. it also shows pictures of the board game which i dont play put they still ook cool. the sizing chart is kind of funny and it seems like they though it togethe rin 5 minutes, like mech cougars are as big as assault mech atlases and medium legionairres are bigger than both. I wondered why they barely mentioned aero space fighters and had no pictures of them?? awesome graphics and a good 3 or 4 page short dark age story about stormhammers thrown in but dont use it as a real reference for anything



4. I was told about this book by a friend, a fellow BattleTech fan. I saw it here online and decided to purchase it. While it wasn't wholly a waste of money, I was disappointed that I didn't look into the details of the book carefully enough.

   While having some information about the Classic BattleTech universe that FASA created, the book is mostly about the WizKids version. I don't care for Dark Ages; I've always been perfectly happy with the classic BattleTech, and Dark Ages to me feels like a shift from gritty sci-fi to anime. Many of the faction logos look like low-budget designs that someone pounded out in a weekend, not the elegant ones from the Classic BattleTech series. Many of the 'Mechs are just cheap, lazy redesigns of Classic BattleTech 'Mechs with creative names like "Mad Cat III" or "Mongoose II," and I was surprised to learn that the Atlas now has horns growing out of it's mouth, and a glass-topped head. The Summoner (aka Thor) is even worse, as apparently now the cockpit is a soup can, and the shoulder-mounted missile pack is larger than the torso.

   The images in this book are a mixed blessing. There are some awesome 3D images in it (namely the cockpit view and cutaway images near the center), but fans of Classic BattleTech will likely feel left out. The whole Dark Ages concept feels to me like a colossal raping of everything FASA did.

   In short: If you're a fan of 3D anime-ish walking robots, or if you like MW: Dark Ages, buy this book. If you're a Classic BattleTech fan and don't fall into the two above categories, don't.

1 comments about Modern Player's Companion.

1. There's nothing quite like witnessing the D20 license used by authors who contributed to rulebooks printed by WOTC (Monte Cook comes to mind). You get that impression that the original creators were frustrated by editors who prevented them from implementing their idealized version of the game. Thus, their D20 products are ultimately their ideas, often raw. Sort of a director's cut of "what I would do if *I* ran WOTC.
   
   So here we have Stan! and The Game Mechanics putting together their own book as a supplement to D20 Modern. It's unfair to compare just about anyone else's work to this book, because a lot of these folks worked on the D20 Modern Core Rulebook to begin with. When you've got all that talent, odds are that the book will be good.
   
   
   LIKED: The Modern Player's Companion does not disappoint. It has fantastic art and layout along with clean, readable text. We get a smattering of occupations and then we hop to the first of many gems in the book: class combos vs. advanced classes. See, the point of D20 Modern's class system is that it's not supposed to be thought of as a class system. Rather, it's a system to regulate power increases. Thus, you don't join a lawyer advanced class, you join a combination of Smart, Charismatic, and Dedicated levels so the lawyer can do what he does best...sue the pants off of people. It's a subtle concept but an important one, perfectly illustrated in this book.
   
   Feats and equipment round out characters. Most of it isn't innovative, but was so common that you didn't notice it was missing from D20 Modern. Which is why anyone who plays D20 Modern needs this book.
   
   It also includes equipment packages, an excellent means of kitting out a character without having to go shopping each time (a godsend for GMs!).
   
   
   DISLIKED: The advanced classes cover the gamut of archetypes, from the Survivalist to the Profiler, Enforcer to the awkwardly named Opinion Maker. "Politico" would have been better, but it was used as the title of an occupation.
   
   But that's a minor quibble. Really, the only problem with The Modern Player's Companion is that it covers a lot of generic territory. It's not going to overwhelm you with crazy new feats or weird powers. The book is meant to patch the holes in D20 Modern, and in that respect it achieves its goal. But then, what did you expect from the people who wrote the original game?