5 comments about Deluxe Player Character Sheets (Dungeon & Dragons Roleplaying Game: RPG Accessories).

1. Well, I've been playing D&D for over 18 years and these are some of the best character sheets I've seen. I used to have some great ones for 2nd edition that I'd rank as high as these, but that was a long time ago. Sure, I could nit-pick about a few things. But over all I really couldn't ask for anything better. I say they're worth the price.



2. These are great. I thought for some reason they'd fold over on the top...But they don't. Instead, it's the normal character sheet, modified a bit(Like having a rage area for the barbarian:Nifty), and made to take 4 pages. It's usefull, fun, but nowhere near worth 15 bucks.
   
   I like it anyway.



3. Helpful for individual classes, but need to photocopy as only one copy of each included.



4. this is the best place to find them there the same as the hobby shops if not beddder



5. These are pretty good sheets. My only dislike is the print is small and a bit hard to read without using reading glasses. Other than that, they're pretty all-inclusive, and the specialty sheets are very good.

5 comments about Faiths of Eberron (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement).

1. Faiths of Eberron presents additional details on the various religions of Khorvaire, from the Sovereign Host to individual druid sects. New feats, prestige classes, and magic items are found here alongside adventure locations and a broad overview of each religion. No matter what faith your character follows, there's something in this product for everyone.
   
   Unfortunately, this is one of the most boring products I've ever read. The writing is wholely uninspiring, and otherwise interesting ideas are quickly drowned in technicalities that do little to flesh out the religion in an interesting way. Further, the information on the various faiths is vague/simplistic/unhelpful. This is a product that will spend four or five paragraphs explaining that one religion doesn't pray, all because there is a subsection about praying for each religion. Significant amounts of information is repeated from the Eberron Campaign Setting, more than is necessary to discuss the various religions.



2. This supplement, a guide to the most prominent faiths of Eberron, fulfills its promise almost to perfection. The core elements are expanded well and interestingly, with the strongest development coming in the form of explications of the ideologies behind the the various faiths. The book's only failing comes from not enough development of the lesser known religions, and as usual, from Wizards' mystifying need to add crunch where none needs be; the most egregious examples of this are in the numerous pages wasted on map key descriptions (this is a supplement on religion in Eberron, not a collection of one-off adventure locales) and in the bizarre inclusion of a couple pages of construct grafts at the end of the chapter on "Other Faiths" (how exactly does this material fit the theme of the book, guys?). If Wizards really wanted to divide the wordcount this thin, they should have split this book and its critically important content into two volumes, but I highly doubt we can expect to see a Faiths of Eberron II any time soon. Otherwise, this book is exceptionally well done, and the writing itself -- mechanics elements notwithstanding -- is very accomplished; so much so that I for one would have liked to have seen more. My gaming crew and I have enjoyed the work of these authors in the past, and we look forward to reading their upcoming collaborations -- Cityscape and Dragonmarked -- with eagerness.



3. My first copy of this book was missing 18 pages. My second had two pages glued together. The editor missed a number of mistakes, mostly repeated half phrases and such. The "Dargon Below" was about where I reached my limit.
   
   I liked the content that was there but it left me wanting more. My perspective on the Sovereign Host changed, I have a much better idea of how the Vassals would view the world and interact with the players, but I really wanted more legends and lore. If there is any book that should explain how the Shadow became separated from Aureon, shouldn't it be this one? And while I have a better idea of how the Silver Flame religion shapes the people of Thrane, I wanted to know how the ACTUAL silver flame that's burning in Flame Keep effects the place.
   
   The descriptions of the church hierarchies and member names (like Cardinals and Vassals) was just enough detail for me to hang my own plot elements on.
   
   I can't see the Lord of Blades as a religion, unless I take the option they presented of making the LoB an abstract entity. Otherwise what happens when a cleric becomes higher level than Blade himself? Likewise the Inspired church actually creating clerics.
   
   I need to re-read the Druid sections. I can't buy the Children of Winter accepting and creating undead, or the Greensingers wanting to "manifest" all the other planes but spending all their time and devotion on just one. I can see people doing those things but I can't call them Druids. Still, reading that section put me in the mood to create some "dynamic clashes" for the Eldeen Reaches.
   
   One of the gems that really made me think was the second paragraph of the "Areni and the Divine" side-bar under the Undying Court. That's a creation myth I can hang nearly all the other religions on. I want more of those!
   
   There were a few points where I felt that the new content contradicted the ECS. For instance the ECS says Blood of Vol "believe that blood is the source of life and that undeath is the path to divinity" and makes it sound like becoming undead is a way to cheat death, but FoE says undead have made a sacrifice to serve and are pitied (because they have no blood) and have missed "the door to life everlasting". The ECS says Deathless are "strongly tied to the plane of Irian...the birthplace of all souls" but FoE says "the Areni claim no knowledge as to the origin of souls". More than once I felt like FoE drifted away from the themes I picked up in ECS.
   
   Overall, FoE made me think, it gave me some ideas, but it wasn't up to the standard set in ECS.



4. I do like how they filled in some of the huge gaping holes in Eberron's theology, but Eberron's Theology isn't the most interesting.
   
   If you plan on running a lot of games with Eberron then I would recommend it to you.
   Though for the other gamers that wish to play in Eberron there are some nice additions to the game that you might find interesting, but I will not say it is a must have.



5. This book was an incredibly useful tool. It cleared up any question I had about "Eberron Faiths." I fully recommend it as one of the most useful titles for anyone running or playing an Eberron game.

2 comments about Dragondown Grotto (Dungeons & Dragons Fantastic Locations Accessory).

1. Like the other Fantastic Locations, this one has two battle maps (double sided) and an encounter booklet. The art is uniformly well done and the maps can be easily flattened and laminated at your local office supply store to increase their durability.
   
   These are some of the nicest accessories published by WotC, in my opinion. They get plenty of use in DDM Skirmish and my home RPG campaigns.



2. Next to nothing has been said about this product--I think in part to avoid spoiling the mystery of the module. It makes sense, but its tough to buy something if you have nothing to go off of but the (admittedly pretty awesome looking) front cover art. I hate sealed packs for just that reason. So here you go...details!
   
   The Premise: Your adventurers happen to discover the location of a hatchery, deep underground in the forested wilderness, that has been taking in discarded but still viable dragon eggs, hatching the wyrmlings and selling them to evil persons as guardians or mounts. You are to go and retrieve some of the eggs for an interested collector, but things take an unexpected turn...
   
   What you need: The pack contains maps and the adventure, but you need to buy all the minis yourself (or acceptable stand-ins). It seems a shame to go all out and get these lavish maps and then have to represent the monsters with dice. I would recommend picking up a few packs of the War of the Dragon Queen (Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Product) minis and then buying what you don't get piecemeal on one of the stores that sell individual minis (Paizo.com is good).
   
   1 cool looking kobold
   8 lizardfolk + leader type (preferably blackscales)
   2-4 ogres (met in twos, so you can recycle the minis)
   1 cool evil mage guy
   6 hobgoblins + leader
   4 specters
   1-4 dragonnes (met individually, so you can recycle the minis)
   1-2 cadaver collectors
   
   Some dragons (these can get pricey so you might want to improvise...)
   1-2 red dragon skeletons
   medium silver dragon (v. young)
   small black (v. young)
   large green dragon (young adult)
   huge black dragon (mature)
   
   There's indications I've seen advertised that the kit also includes adventure seeds for other adventures, but haven't seen anything about that from looking over the materials.
   
   The maps themselves however are beautiful and a lot more varied than I would have imagined. They unfold to 21x30" each and are lavishly drawn and colored. Three are full page maps (Spawnscale Hatchery--a big underground aging temple/dungeon locale, Dragondale Grotto--which is rocky badland with copses of trees sinking into a wide circular chasm in the middle, and the Dragon Graveyard--a big gray wasteland with walls of mounded dragonbones piled up like hedges and a big dias in the middle) and two interconnected half page maps (Forest Cliff Lair which is half underground passages with a treasure hoard in one corner, and half wilderness with a river cutting diagnally through it and a little magical stone circle)
   
   I thought the adventure was a good romp, definitely on the higher power end of things, but more of a "situation" adventure than a "Fantastic Location". Certainly it has the most dungeons and dragons I've seen in a Dungeons & Dragons adventure. They say it's scaled for "mid-level" play, most of the encounters are from around 6-11 CR.
   
   So yeah, that's the details without ruining the adventure.

1 comments about Champions of the Force Booster Pack (Star Wars Miniatures Product).

1. "Champions of the Force" is the fifth expansion set in the Star Wars Miniatures Universe, which started with the Rebel Storm Starter set back in September, 2004 (see more about the minis game itself in my addendum below). There are 60 different figures in this set. Each booster comes with seven durable, pre-painted minis (including one rare OR one very rare figure).
   
   The first thing I look for in any expansion set are how many characters I recognize from the movies (vs. those that appeared only in the books). I am particularly interested in figures from the original trilogy. Unfortunately, there are only 9 figures from the original trilogy in this set. However, some of them are very good, and definitely worth getting (for example, Hoth Trooper with ATGAR Cannonn Luke Skywalker Young Jedi, Yoda of Dagobah, and Snowtrooper with E-Web Blaster). There are also a few great new common figures from the original trilogy in this set (most notably the Sandtrooper, R5 Astromech Droid, and Ugnaught Demolitionist)
   
   Further, though I am not a big fan of the prequel, there are about 15 very good to excellent new figures from these movies as well (for example, General Windu, Queen Amidala, Qui-Gon Jinn, Darth Maul, and Darth Sidious). The rest are either from the books, or generic/minor characters that I have never seen or heard of before (however, some of the generic characters are also very good - especially for use in the Star Wars RPG).
   
   In sum, this expansion set is only fair for those interested in the original trilogy, but is very good for those interested in the prequel. Also, by my count there are 25 figures with light sabers, making it among the best of the expansion sets in this regard (i.e., if that's the way you like to play this game, you will definitely like this set).
   
   ADDENDUM: (Please note that I include this addendum at the end of all my Star Wars minis reviews, so if you've read it before, there is no need to read it again.) If you want to play the Star Wars minis game as it was designed to be played, it is best to have at least one starter (each starter comes with game instructions, a map, a D20, terrain tiles that are very helpful and add great variety to the game, and more). I like the Rebel Storm Starter the best because it's from the classic era/trilogy, but the Clone Strike and Revenge of the Sith starters from the newer movies will also work. If you don't want to invest in a starter, you can also get one of the three "Ultimate Missions" books, as each comes with a double sided map and a few smaller terrain tiles (again, I like the Rebel Strom Ultimate Missions book the best because it is also from the classic era/trilogy). Or, you can buy the "Attack on Endor" scenario pack, which comes with TWO double sided maps (in addition to a scaled AT-ST that is fully usable in play). The main point here is that you'll need some type of map/grid. If you don't want to buy a Star Wars one, generic ones are also available at most gaming stores (you can use your imagination to set the scene, or draw terrain with an erasable marker right on the grid). Of course, the minis are also useful for the roleplaying game (RPG) - in which case you may not need a starter or map, but will likely need the "Core Rulebook" instead. Finally, they are just fun to collect for those who like all things Star Wars!

3 comments about Desert of Desolation: A Dungeon & Dragons Miniatures product (Dungeon & Dragons Miniatures Game).

1. There's a good reaason why this brand-new product has already had its price slashed by more than 50% -- it's shabby, low-quality junk, bad even by Wizards of the Coast's abyssmally low standards. The most egregious problem was that there was almost no facial detail on the humanoid figures. Some of the so-called "rare" and "uncommon" figures which I received didn't even have eyes painted in! How hard is it to get a ten-cent an hour Chinese wage slave to poke a dab of paint on the "face" (read: "shapeless blob") of a figure which costs a fraction of a cent to produce? These figures are "rare" or "uncommon" only because Wizards deliberately under-produces the most desirable figure types to create an artifically high demand on eBay and elsewhere, creating an artifical market so that people will buy these packs in bulk and then break them up for sale as individual figures. Other sets have held their value through the years, and it IS possible to turn a profit on some figures, but that sure as h*ll isn't happening with "Desert of Desolation" -- a 50% price cut shows that the bubble has burst. Stay away from this set, folks. Buy "War of the Dragon Queen" for really nice figures, and don't think for a moment that D&D minis are an "investment" -- by the end of 2008 you'll be able to trade pogs for them. (Remember "pogs"? Weren't THEY a good investment? D&D minis are headed for the same garbage heap.)



2. After opening over a case of these minis, I can say that I'm quite underwhelmed by the miniatures in this group. There are plenty of repeat creatures - a large fire elemental, 2 more drow, 2 more yuan-ti, a new umber hulk, manticore, and drider. Do we really need more drow or elementals?
   
   There is simply not a lot of originality in this set. The gelatinous cube - a long icon from the earliest days of D&D - finally appears in this set as a rare, but it is little more than a clear plastic box. I could just as easily use a clear box that originally contained dice or something else.
   
   There were a few other minis which I thought were underwhelming. The visejaw crocodile resembled something I could buy as a souvenir in Florida. The warhorse was just a horse with saddle (which appeared to be too large for the scale of other minis). My daughter has similar-sized horse miniature toys. Finally, the macetail behemoth is an ankylosaurus, and you can find one in any package of dinosaurs at a toy store.
   
   There were a few interesting minis in the lot - a farmer (complete with pig) was amusing, finally giving us some commoner figures. But these were in the vast minority.
   
   What WotC needs to do is perhaps release warband packs - maybe a dozen minis that are thematically linked (orc war bands, drow and driders, elementals, adventurers, etc). That would allow a GM to pick up a pack for an expected encounter. Grenadier and other metal mini manufacturers did this long ago, and it worked well. Then WotC could devote the major minis expansions to being nothing but monsters.



3. My 10 year old son has taken an interest in D&D and these miniatures were a terrific way for him to get into it. While I've read a lot of complaints about the quality of these figures from a collector's point of view, from the unobsessed point of view of a mother who likes to see her child play imaginative games, these sets are just great for kids. The minis provide a bridge for kids to cross between toys and the more complex rulesets of pencil-and-paper D&D, and I suspect that was their intent.
   
   They are inexpensive, so I can buy him a couple of boxes every month. He gets the biggest charge out of waiting for the mail and opening the boxes to see what he's gotten this time. For parents who remember D&D when they were young, these make excellent gifts for your kids. They are a great alternative to video games -- and believe me, I love anything that peels my kid away from the computer -- while there is structure for the game, there is also plenty of room for the kind of imagination that made D&D so interesting to so many of us.
   
   It is true that the older packs are less interesting and lower quality, but it is trivial to go to the Wizards of the Coast website to examine the figures that are available in the different series before you decide which series you want to buy. My son has already gotten several of the better figures in the 10 packs that I've bought so far, and there have been many happy hours spent waging epic war between beholders, elementals, fiends and innocent bystanding salt-shakers.

1 comments about Fantastic Locations: The Frostfell Rift (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement).

1. I have all the "fantastic locations" maps, this one surprised me with a two storied building. The module is not that great but it works just fine with inexperienced players and a little modifications in the plot would make it great for those game groups looking for a visual description of the setting, but If you're looking for a good module, I don't think this is good for you, only if your interest is to bring more maps to your miniature battles.

No comments about World of Warcraft Adventure Game.

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

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



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

5 comments about Serpent Kingdoms (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Supplement).

1. Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, is the best-selling author of hundreds of stories, game products, novels, articles, and other material set in the world of Faerûn. His most recent titles for Wizards of the Coast, Inc., were Elminster in Hell and Hand of Fire. He is also the author of the Band of Four novels published by Tor Books.
   EricC. L. Boyd has written articles for both Dungeon® and Dragon® Magazines and is the author of Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark™.
   Darrin Drader has done design work for Asgard and d20 Weekly online magazines



2. Serpent Kingdoms is a Forgotten Realms release, which means it's going to be long on story and background and consequently a little short on feats, classes and other "crunchy" bits. This isn't a bad thing, it's just the way things are and you have to understand that any time you buy a book that's about a particular campaign setting it's going to have a lot more story and a lot less crunch than other books.
   As far as content goes, I found the backstory interesting and several of the creatures mentioned will be making an appearance in my game shortly. I'm not running FR, but I do have a vile reptilian dictator to play with and Serpent Kingdoms gave me some great stuff I can drop right in, some ideas I can use with a little work, and some inspirations for my own game. Not bad for a gamer whose bookshelf beats most game stores.



3. Serpent Kingdoms continues the recent tradition of better FR products, improving substantially on such below average fare such as Races of Faerun and the Player's Guide. However, the new power of the Sarrukh and the information on the Yuan-ti religion contradicts other sources and seems to be setting the stage for a revision of Set's relationship with the Yuan-Ti.
   
   I would recomend this book only to those looking to set a campaign outside of the usual areas or those who are very interested in the Yuan-Ti. The Sarrukh are too limited in number and location to be of much use in a gaming sense, though the information about them makes a great read.
   
   The background on the Lizard Kings, Nagas, and other reptilian species is specious at best.



4. Readers who buy these books should have an understanding that they can be great for inspiration purposes. People who get disappointed seem to do so because of some tidbit of reference material they were hoping would be there but wasn't. However it seems to me that there is still tons of other useful refernce material contained in these books to keep one occupied for a very long time. I agree they are pricey, but the material contained cannot just be scoffed at.



5. Good Background book if you plan to use any of the reptile type races in your adventures. Easy read, put together well, very usable.

No comments about Vade Mecum: The Cthulhutech Companion.