5 comments about Rolemaster Standard Rules (#5500).

1. This system is unbelievable! I've played D&D 2nd and 3rd ed., GURPS, and many others, and none of them can even be compared to the greatness of this system. This is, no doubt about it, the BEST RPG system there is! The combat, the spells, the character creation, all worked to perfection. It's possible to leave your character EXACTLY like you want. The ONLY possible disadvantage to this system is that its extremely complex(which can be a good thing for those who are experienced players)and so it takes quite a while to create a character, for begginers i suggest sticking to simpler systems and then buy this RoleMaster. I think, no, I'm SHURE that this is the best system I've ever seen in my entire life, I'ts worth the cost!!!



2. Okay, people, if you are interested in purchasing the Rolemaster system, here is what you need to know. Firstly, the black and white illustrations are terrible, and one some pages the print is not centered perfectly. ICE publishes a hard back version of the standard book, something players who get into this game will want to buy. This soft backed version of the book should have been bound with lay flat binding to aid in photocopying (see below).
   Now on to the meet of the game...
   The rules for character generation are complex, and can be a 95% diceless generation if desired. This is a nice break from players who feel that d20 system rules are too random. This allow players to design exactly what they want to play. The book could have been laid out better, to aid in new players understanding the rules. If will take a few read throughs and flipping back and forth to determine all the "hobby ranks", development points, proffesion bonuses, racial bonuses, etc. etc. to calculate all the stats.
   There are ten basic stats, too many in my opinion. I like GURPS' system with four basics stats allowing every stat to be very influential on the character.
   This is not a "player handbook" as other RPG core books are. Players will have to purchase the Arms Law book to have complete explanations of weapons, three Spell Law books (Essance, Channeling, and Mentalism Laws), Character Law (for extended character generation rules), and Gamemaster Law (the equivent of D&D's DMG) to have what Rolemaster calls the "standard system". All are neccessary to fully enjoy the game's versitility.
   Is it worth it to buy these books and spend the time learning all the rules and tables? Depends...
   Rolemaster is for you if 1) you have "improved" other FRPG with homemade rules, skills and combat tables. Buy rolemaster instead 2) Combat is fairly rare in your games but in the combat that is there you want to be very descriptive and real 3) You are a seasoned gamer and are looking for something other than the generic d20 system games and other RPGs that are all getting to be the same. Rolemaster has a very "old school" feel to it. 4)You like "low fantasy" adventures. Rolemaster feels very grounded, but can be made high fantasty by GM. 5) You think having players who can shrug of five strikes from a halberd swung by an giant and three quarrels stiking in him from his goblin buddies is STUPID. Getting hit in the chest with a halberd swung by a normal man HURTS and rolemaster reflects that. 6) As a player character, you sigh as you attack the troll because there is no way you can heroicly slay it (like the hero you are supposed to be) because you know the troll has more hit points than your longsword is capable of doing in one hit. No matter how big and bad the troll is, jamming your sword through his jugular and into it brain will HURT it, no matter who you are. Rolemaster reflects that, and even low level characters can get in deadly strikes. 7)You don't think being assured of victory against the troll becasue you have four attacks a round, weapon specialization, weapon mastery, a plus 80 vorpal long sword of freezing and blah blah blah is very heroic either.
   Rolemaster is not for you if... 1)You are not willing to invest some time in learning a "heavy system" 2) You hate tables. Everything is based on a percentile roll applied to a table. Everything. And everything has its own table. Everything 3) You are looking for a fast playing game. Rolemaster does not have to be slow, but it can be. There are other systems where combat is fast and furious and colored by the imagination. In RM, everything is detailed, explained, and goes to a table. 4) Combat is constantly going on in your game. Playing out a dozen fights before the main fight in a night's worth of gaming may not be possible for all but he most experienced players. 5) This is your first RPG, especially if you have to learn it by yourself. The rules might over shadow the fun of the RPG. Look into D&D,GURPS, or Lord of the Rings Role Playing Game.
   Overall, I do not think it is a bad investment. I will with hold the "best RPG" title. I would have a hard time dealing this out to any RPG. It all depends on what the gaming group is looking for in its RPG. There are a few things I would recommend doing though in a RM game: 1)Photocopy all the tables for a GM's notebook and order them in an alphabetized list with dividers clearing marking the tables. There are so many tables the game will get slowed down with flipping pages, especially if there is only one copy of the basic rules in the gaming group 2) download MERP Lite copyright 2000 by Craig Pay (run a search on Google, and apply the rules to Rolemaster (MERP and RM are compatible systems). This will speed game play up dramatically. Save the ultra technically rules for the "big showdowns" with the big bad guys worthy of the time. 3) Don't let "rule lawyering" slow the game down. Keep the game flowing.
   Anyway, hopefully with this information you can make a better informed decision on what the Rolemaster system really is. As always, happy gaming!!



3. Rolemaster is a system in the same mold as GURPS... both are good flexable systems that alow you to create diverse universes... but in order to do so... you have to either invent your own rules from scratch... or buy dozens of books... Rolemaster's character creation system is on par with Hero System (AKA Champions) for complexity... but it doesn't allow you the flexability of character creation that Champions does. Rolemaster is alternative for D&D, and good for low powered games... but It's far from the best system out there.



4. The best thing I can say about Rolemaster is that is injects a much-needed dose of realism into RPG's.

   When I finally got sick of playing DnD, it was because I had seen a character standing and laughing in front of a guard who was shooting him repeatedly with a crossbow. The crossbow was completely ineffective on the high level PC and this was, obviously, ridiculous. Being shot with a crossbow in real life will put a damper on your day and DnD just didn't reflect that. Even experienced adventurers should be wary of being shot in the head.

   The same situation in Rolemaster plays out somewhat differently. First off, the PC would never intentionally be in such a situation but if he was, then there would be a good chance that the crossbow bolt "enters through the eye, penetrates the brain, and kills the target instantly." whether that PC was level 1 or 100.

   This means that as the PC's gain levels, it is not that they become unreal and unheroic juggernaughts of strength and immunity, but rather that they know what to do, which skills to use, and when to cut and run. In short, it means that the system encourages roleplaying and solving of problems in an intelligent way rather than just trusting your godlike abilities yet again.

   This also works in reverse of course. Even the lowliest of characters can get in that lucky hit with his sword and fell the evil demon. It's unlikely, but it's possible, and that's what really makes the system come alive.

   With literally hundreds of styles of magic, from traditional fireballs and healing magics right through to invading dreams and aging targets years in a second, the mage players find more than enough to occupy their time and flesh their characters out.

   Are there any downsides to Rolemaster? Yes there are. It is a complicated system and requires a lot of book referencing and page flipping. I would recomend that the GM print himself a fast-reference booklet of the more commonly used Critical Tables before starting play in order to keep game flow uninterupted.




5. I have been gaming now for the better part of 20 years. I have played a staggering variety of fantasy rpg's: AD&D 1st and 2nd,D&D, D&D 3 and 3.5, Rune Quest, Pendragon, Earthdawn, Warhammer 1st and 2nd, Cthulhu Dark Ages, D6, Masterbook, Torg, GURPS, and about a dozen others. Here's the truth about Rolemaster from a seasoned GM and Player.
   It is not the best fantasy rpg out there. My personal vote on that front goes to Earthdawn for setting and magic and Pendragon for system and vision. That said, it blows D20 out of the water. D20 is an absurdist game at best, with characters surviving ridiculuous situations, a dee dee dee magic system where you turned retarded after casting, thousands upon thousands of rules cover minutia the likes of which only a rules-freak would get into, and prestige classes that should just be freaking classes. D20 sucks.
   Now, compared to games that don't suck, Rolemaster is one of the finest "generic" fantasy rpg's on the market- if not the finest. It has a massive variety of magical types and styles, of professions magical and otherwise, races, monsters, and glorious weapons. There are all the requirements to build your game world- any game world- fromthe ground up.
   The system is NOT complex. If you can read a chart, you can play and run Rolemaster. It is, in fact, one of the simplest game engines I've ever seen. Everything is resolved by chart. It is unwieldy, but not complex. Arms Law- the combat system- is worth getting into Rolemaster alone! Spell Law is simply incredible. The spells add to the character and the "class" you play, instead of being generic, come-one-come-all spells.Rolemaster is great. But not perfect. It has a big flaw- that's why I gave it only 4 stars. The character creation system sucks. It is too big and takes too long. Skills are divided into categories and skills, and every imaginable task is covered by a skill. It's too much. It needs scaling back.
   Now, here's where I go back to praising the game. It requires little imagination and less effort to change this problem. Most of Rolemaster is like that, see. Instead of a D20 style games where every rule resonates through every other rule, Rolemaster is modular. You can dump entire parts of the game out and IT STILL WORKS! For example, you can leave off attributes (I run with 6 myself), you can leave off skill categories (my favorite trick), you can leave off talents and flaws (but why would you want to), etc. You canb leave off the magic system, if you are so inclined. It still works. It is immanently flexible and adaptable.
   Rolemaster is not for every one. It's just for everyone who likes exciting combat, depth and breadth of magic, realism, and choice. It is for GM's who wish to build their own vision instead of playing in someone else's. It is not complex at all. The charts are always gathered in a central locale. Arms Law has all of the combat charts. Spell Law has all of the magic charts. The rulebook's first appendix has all of the skill charts. That's all you need to play. Honest. Those 3 groups of charts do it all.
   I recommend this game to you. If you are sick of D20 and want a "generic" fantasy rpg you can't do better.

4 comments about *OP Shining Host, The (Changeling: The Dreaming).

1. the point of a larp is to have fun, is it not? after all it is just a game. changelings have the most fun because their goal in life is just to have fun! i didnt even read this book until after i played, and even though it ran smoothly, i am glad that i did, because i learned aspects of the game that i didnt even know that i didnt know! clean wholesome fun for the whole family (or something like that!) two thumbs up



2. This is a truly sad game, but filled with woders and glamour, too. People argue that changelings don't fit into the World of Darkness, but they're really the most tragic characters. Locked away from their glorious Arcadian home, they wage a constant battle against a banal reality not their own and the madness of the Dreaming. The Court intrigue and dynamic characters make this game a joyful experience, whether woven into a Vampire and Werewolf campaign, or standing as a Freehold chronicle. And that Faerie Magic!



3. This book was awesome! I highly recommend it to anyone who is into role playing games. It is a must have! And if you've never experienced a role playing game, get this book! It's a great way to start!



4. Okay, as a veteran of White Wolf Games (tabletop and LARP), I challenge anyone to play a more noble and delightful game than Changeling. It was pure magic on tabletop, even better in Live Action. How could you NOT want to those "merry wanderers of the night" known as the Fae? IF you've ever used your imagination, then I know you remember the magic and glory of all those fairy tales you dreamed of and acted out. So go on, break out the old carboard helmet and sword, and let the chimerical magic work it's charm. There's always time to play. This book will show you how to do that, and let your friends come along as well. Play this, and you'll even make more. Who knows? You might even meet a Lord Oberon or Lady Titania. And don't forget Puck. ;)

5 comments about Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved.

1. I will give you a quick overview of the product itself. Second, I am going to talk about its appearance, ergonomy and detail its contents. Third, I will tell you what I think are the "Critical Hit" and "Critical Miss" of this book and finally conclude with my overall appreciation of the product.
   
   Overview
   
   Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved can be purchased in PDF format on DriveThruRPG.com or in hardcover format at your local game stores, Amazon.com and gaming websites. It is 432 pages long, one of the first "mammoth volumes" of its kind.
   
   First and foremost, Arcana Evolved combines materials of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, The Diamond Throne (detailing the default setting for Arcana Unearthed) and the Player's Guide (which was provided with the Arcana Unearthed DM Screen). If you want a "group price" for these books buy Arcana Evolved. If you have Arcana Evolved, you do not need these books at all (but for the actual DM Screen I was talking about, which is a nice product in itself, but that's another review altogether).
   
   Arcana Evolved isn't just a compilation of previous Malhavoc products. It adds little bits and pieces to the award-winning Arcana Unearthed and makes something new and refreshed out of it. These "bits and pieces" include a new character race, a new character class, new options for your character's development on a "mechanical" level. But it also adds in terms of background, if you are interested in new ideas for your Arcana Unearthed or D&D games: the Tenebrian Seeds allowing access to "Evolved Levels" and the "Return of the Dragons" to the Diamond Throne (or your homebrew setting), for instance.
   
   Lay Out
   
   The first impression people get when they open Arcana Evolved is usually one of awe. First, the book is huge (more than four hundred pages, as precised above). Second, it is a full-color volume. One could expect a very confusing lay-out as a result - lots of color equals less clarity, right? Not with this book. Colors enlighten the product while not covering or confusing its contents. The lay-out is simple and efficient. The art is sometimes just okay, and sometimes outstanding, but always colored with taste. The overall impression it leaves is one of beauty, simplicity/clarity and coherence (there is a lay-out "theme" in tones, fonts and so on. This is one of these little details making for me the difference between very good and outstanding books).
   
   The Actual Contents
   
   Introduction: New Possibilities - This obviously presents Arcana Evolved to the reader, with its scope, its ambition, the themes and concepts that inspired it, how to use the book and how to create/level up characters. This is an important section for this review, since it states the goals of the product: bring the power back into the DM's hands, increase the player's choices, base the game on the notions of character choice, uniqueness, use a background made of rituals and traditions. With these goals in mind, we can actually know more or less objectively if Arcana Evolved fulfills its mission or not.
   
   Chapter One: Abilities - nothing particularly new for a D&D player here. It presents the main ability scores used in AE, none of which are new. It also presents the classic tables of bonus spells and, something new here though, rites. Combat Rites are used mostly by the Ritual Warrior, the new character class in this book, but also other, revised character classes, such as the Oathsworn (at mid-level) and Warmain (at high-level).
   
   Chapter Two: Races - First, the actual races are: Humans, Dracha (humanoid, medium-sized dragons), Faen (little feys between the PHB elves and halflings which can transform into the tiny, flying Sprytes), Giants (a noble, civilized race whose society is centered on the concept of ritual and tradition), Litorians (lion men), Mojh (humans who decide to become more draconic to uncover the mysteries of magic), Runechildren (kind of "Chosen Ones" who defend the world against agressions), Sibeccai (whose physical appearance is akin to the Egyptian god Anubis - they were animals who have been "elevated" to sentience by the giants) and Verrik (some near human beings with crimson skin. They have a cursed, heavy past and have a close relationship with magic).
   
   Some little things change from Arcana Unearthed. For instance, the Mojh can no longer gain access to a breath weapon. This is mainly because of a larger, more significant change: the introduction of the Dracha, which is also part of an even bigger change - the Return of the Dragons to the Diamond Throne (see below). The Dracha seem very fun to play. They have a sort of "coolness" about them akin to the dragons many of us love. It's actually great to be able to play a draconic character without having to wait for high levels to do so or rely on various templates that may seem "wrong" or "artificial" when I added to a given character concept.
   
   The main particular feature here compared to D&D is the introduction of Racial Levels and Evolved Levels. Racial Levels were already present in Arcana Unearthed. They allow players of all races but humans to take a few (between 1 and 3) levels that increase their racial abilities. Giants become bigger and stronger, Mojh gain magical spell-like abilities and the like. This is all simple and yet, original. The new additions here are obviously the "Evolved" levels. These are additional racial levels any character (including humans) can take if they've been exposed to the Tenebrian Seeds of the dragons. They are a plot device in the hands of the DM. In other words, this allows game master to monitor how these levels are accessed. Nice way of justifying them.
   
   Chapter Three: Classes - They are: Akashic (a Jack-of-all-Trades using various skills and abilities reached through a new concept named the "Akashic Memory", which is akin to an alternate plane combining all the memories of all sentient individuals through the ages), Champion (a dedicated warrior more open-ended in its purposes and allegiances than the Paladin), Greenbond (a sort of Shaman spellcasting class. The Greenbond is a healer and represents the force of "The Green", the lifeforce of all things, which is the opposite of "The Dark", the force behind dark and unnatural forces creating aberrations and undead), Mage Blade (the archetypal fighter/mage with a focus on his chosen weapon, called an Athame), Magister (the best spellcaster of the lot which, besides spells, develops various flavour abilities related to his staff and his use of magic), Oathsworn (an unarmed fighter devoted to the fulfilment of his Oaths, which he can change once they have been fulfilled), Ritual Warrior (a warrior using Combat Rites, which are comparable to feats used in a "spell-like" manner - i.e. with a number of uses per level per day), Runethane (a spellcaster able to create runes, foci of various magical effects), Totem Warrior (a fighter developping traits related to his chosen animal totem), Unfettered (the archetypal fighter/rogue), Warmain (the ultimate tank) and Witch (a primitive spellcaster focusing on manifesting particular aspects of her chosen specialty which could be Wood, Winter etc).
   
   These classes all follow the same pattern of description: short introduction, then description fields such as Adventurers, Background, Races, Other Classes (how they combine with this class in a party), NPCs, Hit Die, Class Archetypes (describing what kind of roles they can fulfill in the game), Skills, Class Features (with the usual table summarizing the class progression). It is interesting to note that there are no "favored classes" and the like. Players can multiclass their characters freely, which is a major element of AE's gameplay when combined to racial, evolved levels, prestige classes, and other options (like those proposed by the excellent supplement Transcendence, which among other things introduces players to Ability levels, Substitution levels and more - with these two books it becomes virtually possible to take levels in every aspect of character development).
   
   Same thing as in the races above: there are minor changes, albeit more of them. Some classes needing to be more balanced have been slightly modified for the better. For instance, the Greenbond had too few skill points (which one of the players of my gaming table experienced the hard way). This is fixed here. Oathsworn and Warmain can now use Combat Rites.
   
   There is one major addition here of course: The Ritual Warrior. One big change when compared to the D&D Player's Handbook is the many ways in which the player can specialize and/or customize a character. The Akashic abilities one chooses with the character progression. The Causes of Champions. The Runes of Runethanes. The animal Totems of Totem Warriors. The Manifestations of the Witch. All these game elements make sure that almost no character with the exact same levels will look alike.
   
   Chapter Four: Skills Nothing important changes from Arcana Unearthed here. There are differences when compared to the D&D Player's Handbook: there is no "Profession" skill, the available Knowledges are different (more specific to the particular flavour AE with Knowledge (Ceremony) and various racial Knowleges for instance). Differences that make the gameplay easier mostly by combining these or those skills together. But nothing groundbreaking.
   
   Chapter Five: Feats and Talents -There are two new types of feats when compared to core D&D: the Talents, which are feats that are only available to first level characters, and Ceremonial feats, which require some type of ritual performed on the character and a True Name to be gained. True Names are one of these cool additions typical of Arcana Evolved: it's not a "groundbreaking" idea but everything's in the flavour. Each character either has a True Name or not (this is called an "Unbound" character). This defines which types of feat the character starts the game with, and which feat categories he has access to in the future. This is also important for some spells (such as Raise The Dead) which require the True Name of the target to be performed correctly. Another thing worth mentioning: metamagic feats which allow a spellcaster to gain access to "Spellcasting Templates" which are described in Chapter Eight: Magic.
   
   Chapter Six: Equipment - This chapter mostly describes the base equipment for characters, the weapons, the items particular to the Diamond Throne and the like. I like the new ways in which you can personalize your equipment (with crystal, devanian, dire weapons and armor, for instance, which are nice additions to the classic masterwork piece of equipment).
   
   Chapter Seven: Playing the Game - This is the core system, the reason why a DM wouldn't need a Player's Handbook to play Arcana Evolved. All the rules are here: combat, actions, types of damage and so on. It also details the mechanics of Hero Points, which can be used by the players to tweak the rules in the favor of their characters with panache. A good idea, much more opened to personal interpretations (and possibly powerful) than the similar mechanics of the Eberron Campaign Setting, for instance.
   
   Chapter Eight: Magic - The big chunk that makes Arcana Evolved different in its gameplay than D&D. This isn't as different from D&D that one could believe, however. At least not as different as Elements of Magic would be.
   
   There are still spell slots and spell levels, but new mechanics have been implemented to allow more flexible uses from players and DM. You can for instance use spell slots of inferior or superior spell levels to fuel your casting. Or you can cast superior (heightened) or lesser (diminished) versions of each spell with a slot of one level higher or lower than the one indicated in the spell's description. Another original feature is the way spells are not prepared daily like in D&D. You have a list of spells prepared yes, but you can keep this list as long as you want. You don't have to "revise" your spells each morning. Prepared spells are used in the same way sorcerer spells would be: you can cast the same one several times or just once, up to your number of slots per day for this spell level, or even more when you use higher or lower slots.
   
   Perhaps it doesn't seem like much when you read it but it breaks the overall rigidity of D&D's spellcasting. Add to this the Spell Templates, which allow you to apply effects (like Flaming, Blessed, Cursed, etc) to all the spells you want, and you have a very adaptable, very open-ended magic system.
   
   Also included are all the rules related to the magic items of Arcana Evolved. Nothing incredibly original there.
   
   This chapter is the part of the book many fans are raving about, and for good reasons, I think, since spells are such a huge part of the D&D experience.
   
   Chapter Nine: Spells and Combat Rites - The list of spells available is changed when compared to the PHB. There are no alignments in Arcana Evolved, and thus no alignment-related spells. There is much more balance in the spell selections. No "magic missile". No "save or die" effects. This is a bit underpowered compared to D&D spells, but with the heightened and diminished versions of each spells, the spell templates and all the other options available to spellcasters, this is in fact just as powerful.
   
   The main particular feature here is the presence of Simple, Complex and Exotic spells within any given spell level. Most spellcasting classes only have access to Simple spells or some Complex spells with a particular descriptor. Only magisters have free access to both Simple and Complex spells. Exotic spells are unique and rare - a character may use these only through specific feats, usually.
   
   Combat Rites are akin to temporary feats. They allow you to score a critical on your next it. Or move faster. Or add to your Armor Class by taking a particular stance. In use, they are like spells: your character can use a number of them per day. There are divided per "rite level" the same way spells are. These are great addition to the game: they give to warriors the same potential flexibility as the spellcasting characters. It was about time to have someone come up with that kind of addition to the core rules, wouldn't you think?
   
   Chapter Ten: Diamond Throne Gazetteer - The contents of this chapter are mostly taken from the Diamond Throne supplement to Arcana Unearthed. There are some changes though: first, the Tenebrian Seeds and the concept of evolution, experiments of the dragons that led to the creation of the Dramojh (the bad buys of the setting) are introduced. Second, the Dragons are back, and they intend to recover what is theirs: the Lands themselves now in the care of the Giants. This may be the source of endless adventures with the PCs torn apart between Dragons and Giants and both of their claims on the Diamond Throne. What really makes this background addition flavorful is that none of the factions is either "right" or "wrong". They are both understandable and somehow justified in their claims. This makes for great role-playing moments potentially.
   
   Another thing worth mentioning is the way the Diamond Throne and all its geographical, historical, sociological elements are described: they are summarized and leave the DM as the real master behind the world. As a DM, you can choose to interpret this or that element of the background as you want. It makes the Diamond Throne "your" world more than any other published world could be while still detailing what is absolutely essential to it.
   
   Chapter Eleven: Prestige Classes - They include Beast Reaver, Crystal Warrior, Darkbond, Dragon Kith, Esoteric Mage, Giant Paragon, Knight of the Axe, Mage Priest, Nightwalker, Ollamh Lorekeeper, Rune Lord, Somnamancer. I have not much to say here, apart of their balance which is perfectly fine, and their design, which covers many of the possibilities for character development while tying each particular class to a concept or another of the setting itself. That's in my opinion what Prestige Classes are for: to give more flexibility to characters while tying them mechanically to the world around. That's exactly what these Prestige Classes do.
   
   Chapter Twelve: Creatures - This chapter includes Alabast, Chorrim, Cyclops, Dark Warden, Dragon, Dream Hunter, Evolved Creature Template, Harrid, Inshon, Radont, Rhodin, Shadow Troll, Slassan, Undead Creature Templates, Xaaer (Death Ooze).
   
   Let's just say the basics are covered: the setting-specific grunts, higher level grunts, and various classics from the Diamond Throne. The Dragons are especially original. No dragon is defined by its color here. They are each unique creatures, and all the rules to build them are presented here. The Corporeal and Incorporeal Undead templates are really winners because they allow you to create creepy baddies with virtually any creature from any source you might possess. Which is especially cool when used with the undead-creation spells given in this book.
   
   And that's it. An annex describes possible conversions between AE and D&D, the character sheet is well organized and designed with good taste (like the book itself - see the Overview above). Same thing applies to the Index, particularly useful for a mammoth like AE, and the mandatory OGL follows.
   
   Critical Hit
   
   First, let's remember why Arcana Evolved is conceived the way it is: : bring the power back into the DM's hands, increase the player's choices, base the game on the notions of character choice, uniqueness, use a background made of rituals and traditions.
   
   Here is the Critical Hit, in my opinion: AE does exactly what it's supposed to do. It opens horizons for players and DMs in terms of character customization, game setting and rules flexibility. It offers many options, none of which seem superfluous or useless. Everything can find its own appeal in an Arcana Evolved game. Most importantly, and this is the real critical hit, it lets the reader open the "hood" of the system to find out how it works: it provides guidelines to create your own causes for Champions, totems for Totem Warriors, and so on. In clear, it gives you the tools to make this game your own.
   
   If only for an understanding of how the d20 system works and can be modified in original new ways, this is a must for any DM and player of the game.
   
   Critical Miss
   
   Arcana Evolved suffers from its Critical Hit. As it offers more and more options, variants, possibilities for DMs and players, it is not a product for beginners. Sure, it is always possible to use it with newbies, but the DM would then have to know the system inside out and be able to break it down for the players. This isn't "D&D for Dummies" in clear. Which is great for some gamers, and a potential source of headaches for others, not because it is especially "complicated" (it isn't any more complicated than D&D is), but because there is so much stuff in there, so many game elements and so many choices for DMs and players.
   
   Conclusion
   
   In the end, the versatility of AE is its best trait and worse enemy at the same time. It all depends what you want out of your game: something simple where newbies can come in and play without much to explain, or a complete game allowing you to "put your hands in the motor" and make it your own.
   
   If the second approach is the most interesting to you, you will rave about Arcana Evolved like I do. Even with newbies, it is possible to have great gameplay (I run a tabletop campaign with five newbies to RPGs), but it will require some work and patience on your part as a DM.
   
   Once that is said, Arcana Evolved shines for its own qualities: it is one of these rare products on the d20 market exploring new ways in which to use the d20 mechanics while doing it with talent and knowledge such as none other than one of its original designers could have. And, away from these gamist considerations, it is simply an awesome, fun game to play: all the archetypes are here, all the options are available to have some great game sessions out of this product. You can buy Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved with a blindfold covering your eyes: the probability of being disappointed is nearly non-existent.



2. Get this one. Just buy it, sit down read and be amazed as you see all that was DnD change into what it should have been for a very long time.



3. From what I understand, Arcana Evolved (previously a black and white book called Arcana Unearthed and a thin paperback Diamond Throne setting primer now married in one book with color versions of mostly the same art from the first book) is the attempt of Monte Cook to make use of the benefits of the Open Game License to push past what he saw as meaningless and arbitrary restrictions imposed on "Official" D&D material.
   
   His goals are commendable. He wanted to get rid of arbitrary game mechanics that limited the growth of characters (like alignment requirements or race based limitations on multiclassing). He also wanted a clean Player's Handbook, that DM's could use for any fantasy setting, without a bias toward the published setting. Unfortunately this is not Arcana Evolved.
   
   Most of the classes in Arcana Evolved cannot be multiclassed. Some, such as a combination Warmein/Unfettered (Only use heavy weapons and armor/Only use light weapons and armor) are so flatly contradictory as to be a joke in our group. The Oathsworn (basically a monk) can't use any weapons or armor at all. The Magister "disdains the way of the sword" having chosen to channel all of his magic through a staff, whereas the Mage Blade channels all of his magic through an athame or key weapon. Champions are so fanatically devoted to a single ideal that it endows them with paladin-like abilities. Hard to see that devotion leaving room for any other class pursuits.
   
   The races have also given me fits when trying to create non-Diamond Throne settings. As opposed to races like gnomes or elves that can hop settings with very little baggage, there are some races in Arcana Evolved that are really tough to transplant. Sibbecai, for example, are a race of jackalmen raised to sentience by the Giants in Diamond Throne, which is responsible for a lot of their cultural identity. So you either keep that bit of history in every setting (which would be very odd) or you are forced to create a new origin for them that keeps their personality, but does not recreate the Diamond Throne history every time. Likewise the Mojh are a group of humans who have transformed themselves into draconic hybrids out of devotion to the hated Dramojh who were once owned the Diamond Throne's inhabitants as slaves. Hard to break the Mojh apart from the Dramojh of the Diamond Throne--not impossible, but it certainly doesn't seem like a step toward a clean PHB.
   
   Now what Arcana Unearthed has going for it is impressive. The classes are beautifully developed, even if they don't stack very well, and full of fresh, exciting ideas. The weapons list is one of the few I've seen in D20 products that expands on the standard list of D&D weapons to provide some fun new inventions like battle claws, spikesticks, and dire weapons. The list of feats is huge (the summary list is two full pages in tiny eight point font), with a much greater focus on drama and customization. It's divided into General, Ceremonial (connected with the custom of recieving a true name, a big part of the Diamond Throne setting) Item Creation (only a few, but organized based on the duration and nature of the enchantment, rather than whether the item is a staff, rod, or a ring, which always seemed a bit arbitrary) and Talents (Feats that define inherant qualities of the character, and as such must be picked up at character creation or not at all).
   
   The character classes are a bit mediocre. While they're not the typical elves and dwarves, they're not too much more original than that. You have jackalmen (Sibeccai), lionmen (Litorians), halflings that metamorphose into pixies (Faen, two kinds), half-giants (called Giants, but closer to the D&D style half-giant in look), red-skinned pragmatist near humans (Verrik) and a yuan-ti style race of transformed dragon-men (Mojh). There's also a mechanic for leveling up in race instead of class. I'm not sure how I feel about this. While it adds a certain amount of customization to characters, it tends to feel a bit like an arbitrary mechanic--as though someone can grow larger, or gain a breathweapon or claws and teeth through experience? Age maybe...special ritual perhaps...but probably not through multiclassing in your race when you level up. That's just weird.
   
   The art in the book on the whole is rather good. There's only a couple of bad pieces and quite a few that are really nice stuff. Most of it is printed too small--stuff relegated to the margins or a dollar sized art insert, forcing you to squint at it. Likewise the layout is awful. Most of the book looks like it's printed in 8-point font broken into two columns. There's no white space, no rest for your eye. It's dense and impenetrable. Every page feels like every other page. It can get really straining and claustrophobic if you have to read too much of it in a sitting.
   
   So yeah, the content is pretty darn good. Not what I think the authors were trying to make at all--but good stuff nonetheless. The layout and tiny font are excruciating, though the art now being in color helps a bit. Could definitely use more art and graphical playing around with.



4. Arcana Evolved is, for the most part, a very well-thought out variant of D&D. There are new races, new base classes, and a whole new spell system. Except for the magic system it sticks pretty closely to the d20 rules, so it's recognizable to the average D&D player.
   
   For those of us who dislike the "Vancian" magic system in traditional D&D where spell casters have to memorize spells but forget them once they're cast, the new spell system is a vast improvement. At it's core it's a spell slot system much like sorcerers in 3.x D&D, but more flexible.
   
   The spell system also lets you do a variety of things to change the power of the spells. You can cast it diminished, using a lower level slot but with less effect; you can cast it heightened, using a higher level slot for more effect; and there are spell templates that can tack on an additional effect (for example a Fire Mage would add the Fire template to do additional Fire damage).
   
   That's the "Aracana" part of AE. The "Evolved" part refers to the concept of racial levels. Instead of ECL modifiers from D&D, several of the races have racial levels you can (optionally) take in lieu of a class level to gain the speical racial traits. In addition for all races (including humans), there are "evolved" levels. These take the racial traits and augment them.
   
   All in all IMHO, an interesting variation on D&D. It still has many of the d20 quirks though (especially annoying is the miserly allocation of skill points)so if you really, really detest 3.x D&D because of things other than the magic system, you won't be happy here either. Everyone else should give it a try.



5. I won't get into details, as the other reviewers here have already done a great job. Monte Cook has never let himself be constrained by the conventions that hinder the mainstream rpgs. This book has near-endless customizability--each class, spell, and even race has many options. The book contains rules, setting, and a good bestiary. If I had one gripe it would be the selection of races. Cat-people and dog-people? Come on! At least their backgrounds are fleshed out and believable. Better than your standard Tolkienesque fantasy races, which have been worn out, resurrected, and beaten to death again by many games. This book is full of original ideas, and it just begs readers to introduce their own. There are some great supplements, too, but this is all you need.

No comments about Runebound Second Edition Adventure Variant Expansion: Cult of the Rune.

1 comments about Ravenloft: Champions of Darkness (d20 3.0 Roleplaying).

1. Okay, this one read like a playground seesaw. Sometimes it was really good. The new feats and prestige classes were amazing. But sometimes it was just plain bad. Jander Sunstar is listed as Chaotic Evil, though his description in his novel and short stories, as well as the description in this book, show him as noble and self-sacrificing. He's also missing MANY feats. To top this off, the adventure ideas in the book aren't really very imaginative. Overall, the book is worth the money for the feats and prestige classes, alone. Just don't expect much more.

2 comments about World of Darkness: Mysterious Places.

1. Mysterious Places is an excellent companion to Antagonists (1588464784) and Ghost Stories (1588464830), althoughy it's premade settings have more in common with the latter than the former.
   
   As part of the "World of Darkness" role-playing system, Mysterious Places provides a variety of backdrops (along with inspiration and a few monsters) for any mortal, Vampire, Werewolf or Mage chronicle. Storytellers playing "mortal" games might find this book most useful (unlike Antagonists, which has several entries with supernatural protagonists in mind), but with a few adaptions, any of these stories could be challenging and interesting for even the most jaded players.
   
   The only thing this books could use is a greater variety, and perhaps more for supernatural characters to interact with and challenge.



2. MYSTERIOUS PLACES is a supplement to the core book WORLD OF DARKNESS, commonly called the "mortals" line. This means that the material is not specific to any particular supernatural race but can be used with any of them, or be part of a non-supers story. I think of MYSTERIOUS PLACES and its companion books, ANTAGONISTS, and GHOST STORIES as Storyteller aids; they have characters, places, or storylines that you can drop into your current chronicle either as something to do when things get slow (as one writer put it, "when the plot seems to be going nowhere, have men with guns burst into the room") or as story seeds to get your own creative juices going.
   
   MYSTERIOUS PLACES is specifically a collection of (mysterious) locales, each of which is presented with a history, associated characters, at least one plot device, different possible reasons for the player characters to become involved, and potential resolutions to the problems that the location poses. There is also information on how to adapt the setting to other types of territory: how to run a particular scenario in a downtown location rather than a rustic village, for example. The mystery is really what drives the plot for each location, so a lot of investigation is called for (in this case, the "guns" from the above quote are metaphorical). I believe the writeup for each location has enough depth to sustain a dedicated group poking at shadows without the Storyteller needing much prep ahead of time. It's not written in a story-line format, such that the investigators must do A to get to B to accomplish C; however, one could reasonably sit down, open the book, and play a few sessions straight from the chapter, provided the ST is familiar with the material from that section and limits the amount of outside influence in the story. It seems that MYSTERIOUS PLACES has this in mind, since each of the locations is designed to emphasize isolation.
   
   In the final analysis, I believe that MYSTERIOUS PLACES is effective as a collection of story-seeds, with sufficient depth to the scenarios to be played from the book with no other preparation, although the ST needs to be able to run extemporaneously or have a good memory. As an aesthetic note, I found that I wasn't too fond of the scenarios as written on the first read, but I am more excited about them on the second and third. There are always changes that I would make for a better story, things to be added or subtracted. And this is probably the goal of the book, which is to take each location and make it your own. [As an addendum, I was pretty underwhelmed by the opening fiction. It involves particle physics, and as a particle physicist, it's hard to see any cosmic horror any smashing electrons and positrons together, unless you are working out the Feynman diagrams by hand . . . Sanity score ... dropping... ugh]
   
   I am listing the "mysterious places" below, and I'll try to reveal as little of the mystery as possible. If you don't want any spoliers, here is a good place to stop.
   
   
   1. The Swimming Hole: At the bottom of a body of water, there is a cave where you can trade your blood for wishes. As ol' Ben Franklin used to say, "If men were granted half their wishes they'd double their trouble." Even more interestingly, the force protects the water and the owner wants to drain it; too bad for everyone nearby.
   
   2. The University: An unlikely cult has awakened a powerful force that seems to be the embodiment of the university itself
   
   3. Swamp Indian Hollow: An undertaker makes "puppets" out of dead bodies, swamp grass, and stuff. The puppets live. What I find particularly creepy is that they don't even have enough will to be malicious (like zombies); they hide and wait. Neither does their creator have any plan for global domination; he just can't stop making the puppets. Oh yeah, and you can "wear" the puppets too, to effectively be one. That's pretty messed up right there.
   
   4. The Village Secret. There really is a fountain of youth; it cures what ails ya and you can live a long, long time that way. Why haven't we heard about it yet? Because of the village.
   
   5. The Statue of Weeping Alice: Someone discovers that when you make a sacrifice to the statue in the town square, good things happen. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the good. If you've ever met human beings in a crowd, you know where this is going. The fun part is where do you draw the line
   
   6. Hillcrest Center for Assited Living: Lotsa old people = lotsa secrets. Some people take secrets to their grave; this is your last chance to catch them before they do.
   
   7. The Whispering Wood: An arboreal Bermuda Triangle, except you need to be BAD to get there. And once you are, you ... change ... to show what kind of bad you are.
   
   8. The Junkyard: sort of a mechanical version of #6.
   
   9. The Empty Room: It's not really empty if you're stuck there, huh? For this mystery, I'd rather cut away all the fluff to get to the bright, shiny core: you're trapped in an empty room, you don't know how you got there, and you don't know how to get out. That's good enough for me.

3 comments about *OP Mage: The Ascension 1st ed. (Mage the Awakening).

1. I think that the author of this book really streched for material. He also added to much artwork. The up side to this book is the fact that it adds a little finess to mage.



2. Forget Revised, this is what the game is really about. A generic setting in which you can launch a game in any time, any where, with any who. The revisions made from visionary-but-glitchy First edition make it much clearer and smoother to run.

   Has everything you need to start an Ascension War chronicle (whether you want to get involved in the War or not is another matter), including details on the Technocracy, governments, secret organisations, the Umbra, the Digital Web, and a little on history.

   Magick is appropriately powerful, and the game flows much more than the "crunchier" games like Vampire or Werewolf. It's a harder game than those, requiring more in the way of maturity and intelligence, but far more rewarding. And you don't have to play some kind of freaky monster.




3. The excellent and very different Mage game, with its unique magic
   setting, and the opposing forces and sides here at times made you feel
   if you had fallen into the Illuminati books, or a Jerry Cornelius tale.
   
   A truly eerie and odd setting, so well done for a very different magic using game. Nice work.

1 comments about Crypt of the Sorcerer (Fighting Fantasy).

1. This is one of several role-playing game books by Steve Jackson and/or Ian Livingstone. It's a storyline where you can follow several paths in your search for the story you want to follow.

4 comments about GURPS Bestiary : Monsters, Beasts, and Companions (3rd Edition).

1. this book was an excellent source of info on creatures that are revered in myth i like the way it gives biological type discripions then lore on the beasts very good



2. GURPS: Bestiary is a collection of monsters, beasts, and animal companions that will enhance any campaign.

   Although the format of the book might take a little getting used to, since the animals are not in complete alphabetic order, but presented in related sections, once you get past this small hurdle, you'll wonder why other books don't do it.

   Starting with "Creatures of the Wild", it gives GURPS game stats for over 99 animals that you might find on Earth today. Then, in "Domestic Animals", it continues with over 14 more creatures that man has managed to tame. In "Vermin", there are over 10 creatures that can liven up times when you can't think of anything else to do to characters in your game. In "Prehistoric Animals" there are over 40 more, and not just limited to the usual dinosaurs either. In "Mythical and Legendary Creatures", there are stats for 17 more creatures, some of which you may not have ever heard of before. In "Speculative Creatures", there are 12 more really unusual animals.

   And that's only half of the book. The other half is dedicated to Game Mastering animals, hunting and trapping, creating animals, and finally, a section which allows you to create animal non-player (and possibly even player) characters which includes some templates for samples of creatures used as NPC's.

   At the back of the book is a master chart for all of the animals presented, plus a guide for what habitat those creatures would normally be found in, plus a comprehensive master index.

   There's a total of over 200 creatures to use in games. Those familiar with GURPS will find this a good reference source for any genre, and those not familiar with GURPS will find that conversion to whatever system you normally use is not difficult.

   I'd recommend this to anyone who uses GURPS book regularly, whether you are an experienced GURPS GM or someone who prefers to use Steve Jackson's books as reference material for their own favorite systems.




3. This book reads more like a naturalists compendium of creatures then it does a sourcebook for a role playing game. It goes into great detail about a great number of natural creatures that are unlikely to have much use in most adventures.
   
   The sections for magical/mythical creatures is rather small and quite imcomplete. It lacks most of the common creatures found in most fantasy adventures such as orcs, trolls, goblins, etc.



4. This is the GURPS book dedicated to animals you can find in your local zoo. While this may not seem exciting to some, it can be very useful in a game world. Almost every nature based character will want a animal friend to help them out, so this is a great book to have. In addition, you can use this as a great "monster guide" at times. Throw the regeneration, damage resistance, and hyper strength advantages on a bear and you have a monster bear ready to bring a world of hurt down on unexpecting adventurers.

No comments about Civil War Illuminated Poker Deck.