2 comments about Vampire Players Guide, Revised Edition (Vampire: the Masquerade).

1. This book tells me that White Wolf is Pissed! This book tells how VtM is not a game just about killing and being a demi-god. I know, I know, this comes as a shock for some of you. This book also gives good advice for storytellers, like "George has a strength of 5; average strength is 2... why the hell does George have a strength of 5, did he work out a lot, no...he was a hacker geek? This does not make sense!" The only reason I give this book 4 stars rather than 5, is because we all love the fiction that goes with it(well, at least I do...) and, sorry to say, this book has no fic. Questions, comments, b!%ch outs? E-mail me at son_of_lux@yahoo.com



2. As the title suggests this Players Guide is not the same as most other White Wolf supplements. This book is more along the lines of the Storytellers Guide in focus. What you find instead of reference towards the overall metaplot are articles by White Wolf writers as to their opinions on how to play the game itself. As the ST Guide was geared towards helping people ST better this Players Guide aims to give players more insight into playing.

   There are articles ranging from creating mortal characters, to exploring Sabbat packs in depth, to vampires and sex. The tone of the book is one that's more conversational. Like a talk you may have with a ST as to their opinions on the game itself. It helps guide players into creating more well rounded characters as well as considering their larger role in the WoD setting. Unlike older guides you won't find lists of weapon stats or magical weapons.

   Cons:

   -Some of the articles come off as 'talking down' to players
   -No fiction or hints towards metaplot
   -The articles are opinions of writers rather than actual canon
   -At least 2 of the sections seem to drag on longer than necessary
   -STs may find more use from the articles than typical players

   Pros:

   -Writers from WW actually give their tips into the game they help create
   -Gives great ideas towards new character concepts, mortal characters, and making stereotypes unique
   -Worthwhile advice for STs and players alike
   -Suggestions for new chronicles (Legacy of Damnation and Pack/Corterie centered games)
   -A more conversational tone makes the book easier to read

   As with every book that WW publishes they stress that the 'Golden Rule' is the only one that matters. Keeping that in mind I found this book to be a great addition to my library.

3 comments about Dungeon Crawl Classics #29: The Adventure Begins.

1. I've been enjoying this book. I needed something for low-level characters to play, and this book fits the bill. There are a number of good, enjoyable, adventures in this collection.
   
   They've also been helpful in getting ideas for my own adventures. These aren't just dungeon crawls, and some are quite creative.



2. I'm a long time Dungeon Master and write most of my own material due to the lack of long term or starter modules. When I first heard of "Goodman Games" I must say I was dumbfounded. Time & time again I've referred back to the `old-school' modules of those times past at my gaming table when I had a fresh batch of Players; this book brings back more than the nostalgia of the artwork, the whole presentation will make any veteran DM snicker more than once behind the DM screen (see also the DM screen; Dungeon Crawl Classics #39sold by Goodman Games). Ha'Zah - Goodman Games!



3. Some really excelletn designs in here, including two excellent killer mage towers (tower of the black pearl, mage maze) and a clever little mystery in a merchant's basement (the latter is the type of brainteasing puzzler that I would like to see more of). A lot of filler, though. I would have rather seen these clever designs expanded. As it is, however they make nice short adventures. There's one about flying Kobolds that looks appealing too (how can you say no to flying Kobolds?).

3 comments about Aliens Unlimited (Heroes Unlimited).

1. This is the best accessory to Heroes Unlimited. Everyone who plays superhero games has dreamed of taking the battles and wages of war beyond the planet Earth to Outer Space. Now you can wth the perfect addition and must for Heroes Unlimited players to give a switch and new turn to the game. If you are tired of the same old Superhero saves the city you should run or play this Role-Playing Game. I loved this because it gives new flavor to the Superhero world.



2. My friends and I use this as Rifts resource regularly. We use the alien races often and the weapons/equipment section, which offers generic items, literally dozens of them, minus the backfrouns and pics, so there's more bang per page. Probably a hundred guns, plus armor, bots. AND.. that means they can be given your own names, etc... This is an all rouns good books, even if I haven't done a great job presenting it. USEFUL INFO for once.



3. For some reason, Palladium Books relies heavily on an untalented artist to fill its pages with mediocre art. Wayne Breaux is that artist and he must work for cheap because he's featured in almost every book. His art inspires backwash of stomach acid and the disgusted aversion of eyes that accompanies any glance at the aftermath of a train wreck.
   
   The text parts, though, are good. There are tons of aliens and they're grouped well into categories like dog-type aliens, humanoid aliens and so on. I enjoyed reading the text and using the alien races in my campaigns as much as I loathed seeing the scrawlings and scrapings called "art" on each page. Just get the book and white-out the art. You'll thank yourself for it everytime you open the book.

No comments about d20 Freeport Companion.

1 comments about Conan: The Free Companies (Conan Roelplaying Game RPG).

1. A book of extremely unprofessional conception, design, and execution. Amateurish in extreme. Future editions--if any--must feature heavy revision. However, it is, in fact, a superb model for how *NOT* to publish a book.

5 comments about Traveller's Handbook (Traveller T20 D20).

1. This is easily the best d20 old-game-to-new-game adaption I've seen in the last couple years. It is fully developed - tons of skills, classes, feats, and equipment. The combat rules are logical and lethal. Starship combat, psionics, and planetary generation are well-designed and incorporated, drawing on twenty years of game development. The "Imperium" background is vague enough to allow plenty of flexibility when designing the setting while still providing enough of an inspiration framework to avoid doing it from scratch.

   The game is a hard-science sci-fi roleplaying game - more Star Trek or Foundation than Star Wars. Belongs on every gamer's shelf.




2. The long wait to a modern vision. The best game produced with out being backed by a movie. Mark Miller wrote the forward and you can tell he is happy about the product that was his baby, and now all grown up, setting another standered in RPG's. Thank God for this book, saved me from giving up gaming.



3. T20 is a really great game. It may look a little pricey, but you get a lot of bang for the buck (unlke many expensive White Wolf books, this one is packed with info).

   I highly recommend this if you like the d20 system. I doubt that Wizard's d20 Future will even hold a candle to it.




4. I'm a big Traveller fan. It was one of the first RPGs I ever played and the first I GMed. I've owned products from every incarnation of it, even the dreaded Gurps Traveller, and own almost all original (or Classic as it's now called these days) Traveller products.
   
   Physically, this is an impressive book. It's heavy, and it's huge. That's the first thing you notice. The next thing you notice is the price tag (...). Though after a quick mental "D'oh!", you realize it's priced reasonably, given it's size. (...)
   
   Traveller 20, or T20, takes the tack that Fading Suns d20 took - ditching all the regular d20 classes and introducing several new ones. Herein lies much of the problems I have with T20. Although realistic, several of the classes are simply terrible at combat. They have a Base Attack Bonus progression which ends up at +5 when they are 20th level. Again, this is somewhat realistic, especially for classes like the "Academic". But I think it's bad game design. You're going to end up with many characters simply worthless in combat. No one likes playing the far future version of Richard Simmons. By using the weakest normal Base Attack Bonus progression (where it ends up at +10 at 20th level), you're giving the character a much better chance of being useful, yet aren't stretching reality too much.
   
   I also found it odd that the Army class has a fairly weak base attack bonus progression - the average one in d20 terms, that ends up at +15 at 20th level. The Navy is even worse. Not quite as bad as the Academic, but weak (the weakest normal progression, like that of a wizard). Should military classes be worse at combat than a Mercenary? Maybe the Navy, but not the Army. And should Mercenaries be on par with Marines? Marines are considered to be the toughest regular fighting forces around (and this is especially true in the Traveller universe). So I'd definitely say no.
   
   While presumably not everyone will run a combat heavy game, Traveller always had a strong criminal and mercenary slant since the begining (early on, it was more or less "Thugs in Space", where the PCs were criminals or toughs.) So this great imbalance between the classes is perhaps a bigger problem in a game like Traveller than other SF games.
   
   I also have problems with the concepts of some of the core classes. The "Traveller" class for instance. Does that really need a class? No. And why is "Mercenary" a core class? I don't really get how you can become a mercenary from the get go, once you're 18. It seems like it's something that you can't start out in, but can become on after a tour in the military or somesuch. I.e., essentially a prestige class. In fact, this is likely why in the original Traveller, which didn't have classes but had careers, there was no mercenary or "Traveller" career. Though they did follow the classic Traveller careers fairly closely (which is good, as early reports about the game had them doing something complete different and very wacky), I think they should have followed them much closer.
   
   In a way, all core classes are somewhat similar in that all their special abilities are bonus feats. Some of the feats are exclusive to that class, but they all get the same number of bonus feats (about one every other level).
   
   There are 3 prestige classes - the Big Game Hunter, the TAS reporter, and the "Ace Pilot". By contrast, these do have some special class abilities which aren't feats. But the Ace Pilot is a really dorky name. I can't help but think of Red Dwarf - Ace Rimmer. I think the first two should have been regular, core classes (well, maybe a generic reporter or media class). I also think some more prestige classes were needed. Special Forces, for army characters. Assassin. Lots more.
   
   I also think Psionics should have been handled as a prestige class. Not only does it makes sense (that's one thing prestige classes are for - secret societies and such), there are balance reasons for it. As it is, Psionics are largely handled by feats and by random luck. If you have psionics, you might have powers in one of 5 different areas, or spheres. Each different power requires a feat to be taken, and each sphere is also a skill which needs to be built up. Okay, except that all spheres are not equal. Telepathy has 7 different powers or feats. Telekinesis has one. Teleportation has one. The latter two are potentially very powerful, depending on the character's PSI ability.
   
   So, while I think most new classes are okay, some are flawed pretty badly, either in execution or concept. Even as NPCs classes, they wouldn't work. And as there are no NPC classes, the workload on the DM or Referee is going to be increased a lot. For some reason, many don't realize that part of the reason for the NPC class was to make things easy on the DM - the original ones are all very simple, with no special abilities or powers (other than the adept and it's spells). This is somewhat mitigated by the large appendix of stats for NPCs. But still annoying, IMHO.
   
   Another interesting idea, but flawed (or so I think) is how characters gain past experience, called Prior History. This is similar to past versions of Traveller, and is almost a game of it's own. But in essence, the problem is it ends up producing characters that have a wide variety of character levels (each year of prior history, they get 1000 xp, plus possible bonuses). One PC might have a 3rd level character. Another might have a 10th. While this is perhaps realistic (though honestly, older is not always better), it largely defeats the whole purpose of having character levels (which is to make combat ability easier to gauge, as well as general competence).
   
   While Prior History has balance problems, it also is quite confusing. I can't quite figure out how college works. Characters in it get XP, but what class are they? Academic? Any class they want? It doesn't say. And multiclassing is confusing. On the one hand, it says anyone can apply to a service class until they are 33, but in the multiclass rules, it says those classes can't be multiclassed into unless you have prior experience in that class. So how do you multiclass into it? And the Mercenary career - the text mentions an Academic might want to multiclass into that, but Mercenary is restricted to those who were in the Army, Navy or Marines. And why can't Scouts be a Mercenary? They were in a military service, and are as good in combat (in T20 terms) as the Army and better than the Navy. Or Rogues? While not in the military, they are good at combat as well.
   
   It doesn't help that the only example of prior history is as simple as you can get: a character that starts off a rogue and stays a rogue his entire career (he's also immensely fat, perhaps this was meant to be a Marlon Brando/Godfather reference). Gee, thanks for the help. So in making up characters, we just ignored the multiclass restrictions in the prior career, and no one took university.
   
   Speaking of combat, T20 introduces several new combat rules, most pretty major. For one, there are no more hit points. Instead, there are stamina points, which are more or less identical to hit points (and go up every level). There is also "Lifeblood" points, which are based on a characters constitution and are fixed. The explanation of this is actually hard to find in the book. It's in the combat chapter, but rather being the first thing explained, it's buried after a long section on starship sensors. WTF?
   
   Anyway, since there are two types of hit points,armor is handled a bit differently. Armor increases armor class, but also has a damage reduction value. This reduces the number of dice a weapon does, to a mininum of one. The remaining value is then subtracted from that remaining die (which was the high roll). It's confusing to explain, but is actually fairly clever.
   
   Example:
   
   Alec is wearing cloth armor, which has a rating of 6. Homer comes along and shoots him with a Laser Rifle, which does 3d10 damage. Homer rolls for damage and gets a 7, 10, and 4. Alec thus takes 21 stamina poinst of damage, which is easy enough to figure, but the lifeblood damage would be 6. The cloth armor has a rating of 6, so that means 6 dice would be removed from the total. But there's only 3. So 2 of the 3 are removed, leaving the roll of 10 (the highest). From that roll of 10, 4 is subracted, leaving 6. (4 because the armor rating of cloth armor is 6, but 2 of that was used to remove dice).
   
   I find this pretty clever, and it seems to work well enough, though it has some quirks. They've also managed to keep weapon damages and armor value consistent with other d20 stuff. Another change is that strength no longer helps in melee combat, it's dexterity, like in missile.
   
   About 110 pages of the book is on design sequences for vehicles and examples of vehicles. While many Traveller fans are in fact people who love to design stuff, I think this really would have been better suited for another book. It's also really only suited for Traveller games, as Traveller tends to make certain assumptions about it's starships that don't really apply to other universes. (For one, their expense. Ships in Traveller are insanely expensive. Contrast that to say, Star Wars, where starships are priced like cars. Or most SF games where they are more like ocean ships. This is one of those things I never liked about Traveller. There's no real reason for starships to be that expensive, given the technology levels - robot construction, contra grav, computer design, all would drastically reduce the cost of starships. But they still cost 200 million credits+, even for a small ship. I also don't understand how it can take years to build relatively small ships either. But I digress).
   
   Basically, by comparison, in 35 pages or so, the Imperial Encyclopedia fro



5. This is a comprehensive and well executed adaption of D20 to Traveller. Traveller is a game I've held in high esteem since I was a young teen in 1983. The other reviewers do a great job of describing what's appealing about Traveller, so for the sake of brevity: ditto.
   
   But not only that. It's a better D20. Here are the areas where I think T20 does better than D20:
   1. Armour exists not only to deflect weapons, but to reduce damage.
   2. Being more experienced doesn't make weapons less damaging. A sword or pistol is always a dangerous thing to have pointed at you.
   3. People who work together have different backgrounds, different levels of experience, and different ages.
   4. Magic Powers (in this case, psionics) are built on the existing skill system and bought with skill points.
   5. In many cases, you can compensate for poor education by having high IQ, poor charisma by higher social standing, etc.
   6. Experience points for completing objectives, rather than winning fights.
   
   If you like lots of combats where your character takes a half-dozen 10-point sword wounds in a row and comes out fighting, and you get masses of XP for this, then this game isn't for you.
   
   If you like a lot of variety with exploration, role-playing, a few *very* dangerous fights, space ships, high-tech, low-tech, utopias, hell-worlds, commerce, aliens, etc, then try this game.

No comments about Legacy of Blood (Dungeons and Dragons Module CM9).

No comments about Something Rotten in Kislev (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: The Enemy Within Campaign).

No comments about *OP Werewolf Players Guide (Werewolf - the Apocalypse).

1 comments about Hunter: The Reckoning Players Guide.

1. It has a similar layout to White Wolf's other Player's Guidebooks. New Merits and Traits (Internet Savvy, Uneducated) new classes (the Hermit and the Wayward) and an absolute ton of ideas on how to create and play an average human being (a surprisingly difficult task at times).

   I have most of the stuff that has been put out for Hunter so far, and this would come right after the Survival Guide in order of usefulness and game expansion. The Hermit class is EXTREMELY interesting (they hear voices from the Messengers constantly) and the Merits/Flaws really help to round out a character (there's a fair bit more than just the standard merits/flaws that find their way into all the player's guides).

   The roleplaying tips and ideas are realy nice, especially concerning what types of people are likely to pick up a given creed. There are some interesting rules presented on changing creeds as well (you were an innocent, but you've seen enough, etc.) which make good sense. A whole section on Bystanders is a nice addition as well (they hint that many Bystanders are failed Hunters - ones who heard the call but failed to act).

   There's more here than I can lay down, suffice it to say if you've picked up the main book and want to delve deeper into the roleplaying of Hunter this is definetly a worthwhile purchase.