No comments about Lord of the Fries.

No comments about Dungeon Crawl Classics #36: Talons of the Horned King.

No comments about Wheel of Fire (Babylon 5 Roleplaying Game).

No comments about Stargate SG-1: Fantastic Frontiers (Stargate Season One).

1 comments about GURPS Traveller: Sword Worlds.

1. The military writer William Dupay credited the German General Staff with what he called, "institutionalized genius"-with being able to institute a way of reliably producing command of an effectiveness that once was only viable for a legendary conqueror.
   What the German General Staff did for art, Traveler did for storytelling. It was able to create a world as complex sophisticated and detailed as only the greatest writers of speculative fiction could before. It did this by the same method, by the mundane method of using a team of writers to create it's world.
   Traveler is an RPG. RPG's are essentially a folk-art. In a way they are a revival of the traditional storytellers art in a new form. Or another way to describe it is as a play in which the actors choose their own actions and the director or "Gamemaster" must oversee and direct the plot knowing his actors have free will. Many, perhaps most of what I have given is fammiliar to my readers. But Traveller is different. It is a work of genius, a splendid science-fiction world of multifaceted complexity set in the far future. Games can involve political intrigue, exploration, trading and whatever ones heart desires. It is not a utopia, nor a dystopia like many Sci-fi's but a world that is believable. It is a world that is different yet similar to ours. But at the same time, "Vive La difference."
   Sword Worlds is my favorite of the Gurps Traveller series. It describes a cluster of nations and cultures in a group of planets sandwiched between the mighty Zhodani Consulate and the Vast Third Imperium. The Sword Worlders are clannish and traditionalist peoples who emphasize their Germanic and Scandinavian heritage. They are not pictured as perfect and they are forever quarreling with their neighbors and one another. Yet they are survivors and they have a "character" of their own, a contrarian way of thinking and a grim determination to be who they are.
   The Sword Worlds sourcebook is a boon for any who wish to play a campaign set among Swordworlders. And it is a blessing for those like me that do not play but read the book for itself. It gives the political relations between Swordworlder states, substates and alliances, the history of the Sworldworlds and the various and sundry customs of the Sworldworlder people. It gives splendid characters. And it gives a number of preset campaigns that are some of the best in the series. The best campaign of all is the epic "100 parsecs" campaign which could easily be made into a movie.
   Perhaps the best thing I can say about Sword Worlds is that it was not long enough. It is an attractive book and well worth the while of any Traveller fan new or old.

1 comments about Steppelords of Mars / Caravans of Mars (Space 1889 Sci-Fi Roleplaying).

1. Steppelords of Mars grants about 11 pages to detail the Steppe Martians of Nepenethes-Thoth, enough detail for rounding out NPC's and PC's. The rest degrades into a stilted adventure that needs a lot of tweaking to appeal to modern-day role-players. Still it has it moments.
   Caravans of Mars is similar, giving some detailed information on the Eastern desert of the Aetheri/Elysium wastes and introduces several NPC's and the Shaman profession (about 4 1/2 , 4 & 4 pages respectively). The rest is an adventure with the characters travelling by caravan across the Eastern Desert. As with the other adventure, the adventure runs on rails and needs tweaking to make it more enjoyable. One of the best encounters is with Martian bush monkeys - they are cute & funny, but dangerous.

No comments about Vampire: The Eternal Struggle; Set 2.

2 comments about Spells & Magic (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying, BAS1004).

1. I started my gnome as a gemcrafter, wondering if there was something I could do to make that skill useful. I took alchemy, and craft wonderous items as a lark. Turns out, I made the perfect pre-cursor to the Jewel-mage.

   He started his elf as a wizard, in a dragon cult. He took all the other craft item feats for fun. Turns out, he also is the pre-cursor to a Dragon-mage.

   If you're looking for something more to do with your character and the prestige classes you've seen so far just don't cut it, then check out this book!




2. This book doesn't really stretch into new areas. Instead, most of the material are tired old rehashed that you could find simply by googling for it. Sure, it is nice to have it all in one place - and the design is acceptable - but for the price I expected more than you would find in the various net books.

4 comments about Book of the Weaver.

1. Man they should have had this book a long time ago the Weaver is just too fascinating a spirit to ignore... While I dislike the villanous slant that they give the Weaver in this book. ( I am a major Glass Walker fan.) I really loved this book it was long overdue and just makes me wonder if they are going to do a book on the Wyld as well...?



2. The Book of the Weaver is an excellent resource for the Weaver in the World of Darkness. For once the White Wolf-folks have come off their behinds and written a book that actually compares Mage: The Ascension with Werewolf: The Apocalypse (for instance, a new background: Device!). A good run-down on the history of the Weaver is included (and, for once, from a fairly subjective point of view), as well as a guide to the different fractions that, knowingly or unknowingly, serve the Weaver, which will be most helpful. Some good points on shapechangers vs. technomagick helps put things in perspective, especially about implants. All in all, this book is a must for anyone who pretends to know anything about the Triat and technology in the Garou cosmology, i.e. any Werewolf Storyteller worth mentioning. This book is also recomended for Mage storytellers as well, though remember which game this book is meant for. When WWGS will print The Book of the Wyld is anyones guess, but one can only hope that it will be of the same prime quality that Book of the Weaver is of. This is by far one of the best Werewolf-sourcebooks in a long time.



3. If you missed the planetary merits and flaws from the first edition player's guide, well they are now back. Along with that, there are other merits and flaws based on the Incarnae that inhabit those planets, as well as a wealth of new gifts, fetishes, and story hooks, including the fulfilling of the child of two metis prophecy. It continues to explain the cosmology of the Garou where Umbra: The Velvet Shadow left off, particularly the Aetherial Realm. It also explains how Garou view the stars and constellations. Overall, a very good addition to the Storyteller's repetoire for Werewolf, or even Mage.



4. This book is a very useful source for storytellers. It provides a different look at the triad as well as a lot of good information about how to play members of DNA. I would recommend this only for storytellers and not players. I beleive almost all of the information is not covered in other books which is why I gave it 5 stars.

No comments about *OP City of Angels (Demon the Fallen).