3 comments about Realm of the Ice Queen: A Guide to Kislev (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay).

1. Realm of the Ice Queen is wfrp supplement that is aimed at covering the Land of Kislev, the Empires closest neighbour.
   
   After a run of excellent WFRP supplements, notable Tomb of Salvation and Nights Dark Masters, I had really high hopes for this book. Unfortunately they where is several area's dashed.
   
   The book starts well, Chapter one presents a workman like brief overview containing the usual mixture of useful details and quotes, and Chapter Two is the section on history. There's nothing wrong here that I can see, and the two chapters provide a good introduction to the region.
   
   Chapter Three leads into Kislev politics and its here in my opinion that cracks first begin to show. Obviously dealing with such a large topic in seven pages is a heroic effort, but due to the low page count this is not treated with wfrp's traditional depth of topic, and is essentially a list of factions and how they deal with the Tsarina.
   
   This is followed closely by a chapter on Law, which is probably one of the highlights of the book. It's overview of the states twin legal system is pretty comprehensive. This includes crimes, punishments, politics and a section of the Chekist secret police.
   
   Religion and Custom really more covers the Cults and Arcane Orders, and you get the feeing the small section on Birth's marriages and Funerals really belongs back in chapter 1. I think here it is worth pointing out the *Huge* improvement upon Knights of the Grail. Unlike Grail Damsels, Ice Witch's and various other orders are fully detailed. There is an issue here with the Cult of Morr, which this section says the people of Kislev never understand how the Empire can worship. Kislev city itself has a Temple of Morr and says that unlike the rest of Kislev Morr is well respected within the city. Erengrad has a Temple of Morr with no notes of it being unusual, and the stanista of Bolgasgrad is said to be dominated by its large Temple of Morr...
   
   Chapter 6 is what should be the Meat and Potatoes of the book, the actual Guide to Kislev. Ironically, as with Knights of the Grail, it's this core purpose that it doesn't fulfil. It starts badly, choosing to depart fro the topic in hand by introducing a plethora of new exposure style rules which really should have been relegated to unobtrusive sidebars. It then compounds this by splitting the entirety of the country into five areas, often with les than half a page said on each. There's no gazetteer, no examples of population sizes, army sizes or any other information at all on any of the settlements, even the ones that are briefly detailed. Clearly this is a layout issue, with the most important segment of the book being crammed into less than six and a half pages. On the other hand, the Region Map, (as with all the Art work,) is excellent. It is only on A4 but as you can download a massive version for free, I feel that is scant grounds to criticise.
   
   Chapter seven provides information upon Kislev's three principle cities. The contrast between this chapter and the former is dramatic, with each city well detailed. Indeed each is more detailed than Altdorf, which gets its own book. There is very little to criticize here, although the number of structures made of solid magical ice did strike me as a little off tone for wfrp, its nothing that cannot be easily ignored. Out of the three Praag is probably the best, rife with references to things such as Ariaka and even bloody Tzarina Katharina. Again sadly there are no population details, or indeed any stated out NPCs.
   
   Chapter eight is the rules, which is sadly full of what I found to be several minor annoyances. Focusing on the positive, this does have all the required stuff for character generation, including a Kislev name tables which is fiendishly complete in detail. The first annoyance s the introduction of a New Feat called "Provincial Expertise" which codifies the +10 region rule in Sigmar's heirs. The problems with this is one, its not a rule that I think needs codifying as its an obvious bonus and secondly there are no guidelines to how to apply it to other characters not from Kislev, essentially meaning there's now two systems. The next section is equipment, which is pretty solid and contains a few nice new additions, New Arrows of use to any archer, the Berdysh (Not sure this needed special rules tbh,) and a couple of bows. Theres also info on coinage and a set of stereotypical Kislev items, horses, dogs, booze, tents clothing and a Trained bear. Prices all seem in line with OWA at least, so there's no uber inflation or bargain weapons here.
   
   This section is however brings my second minor annoyance, as it is the first one where you come across the new "Dark Heresy" which came as a bit of a shock. Essentially the secondary stat line is removed and you get a line below listing Attacks, Movement and Wounds. This undeniably saves a bit of space, but the loss of clarity and familiarity makes me doubt that it is worth it.
   
   New Careers also suffers from a change of template, first the "Career Entry" section has been moved above the profile, which I find quite annoying when trying to ascertain Career paths at a glance. But by far the second most annoying thing about this book is they have decided to replace the nice easy to comprehend list of Trappings with a piece of fluff text telling you more about the Career. This is to me a disastrous choice of layout, not only taking up more space but actually managing to provide less information. Terms such as "some" and "most" dominate these descriptions, leaving the poor GM and Player actually at a loss for what the exact trappings are supposed to be.
   
   Apart from that the Careers are pretty well done. I question the hard requirement in the special conditions to go through Noble to be an Ambassador, due to some Tilean Republics not having any, and on top of that how exactly are the people of a far off land supposed to magically know who is a noble and who is a charlatan? The Ice Witch Career gets to go from +2 magic straight to +4 which, after my own playing about with the concept, strikes me as a big mistake. Oh and two careers have as entry routes "any" which I rather feel should have read "none"
   
   On the plus side, all the careers do fill a new niche, and I especially like that fact that Horse Coper is now official. (Also a Career for Bears!) The only other major addition here is a new Academic Knowledge (Spirits), which tbh probably will not see much play outside of Kislev.
   
   Chapter Nine is magic, and again its worth noting that this chapter is a Huge Huge improvement upon Knights of the Grail just by existing. It introduces a new type of magic called witch lores, which get 8 spells and there own table to roll on when you get a casting double. This seems to be the basis for a start of the much awaited third way of magic, and is to be commended. Petty Magic (Ice) and Petty magic (Hag) combine there own spells with those from Petty Magic (Arcane and Hedge)
   
   There's some nice Lesser Magic spells, including Ghost Shield which operates very much as an old style Zone spell and Glamour which is probably going to make the compulsory list of spells to buy for every evil NPC. The two witch laws seem pretty balanced and it's nice to see some old Ice Magic favourites. The Three major Kislev gods also get Divine Lores with six spells each, more than enough I would have thought.
   
   Chapter Ten is a scenario, which looks OK. As I am not a fan of scenarios I will skip over it apart from to note that this is the only source of Stated NPCs in the whole book. After seeing Manfred detailed in Night's Dark Masters I really did hope to see the Ice Queen detailed in this book, and I think it's a shame she is not.
   
   Finally there's a Bestiary at the back. Some of these, (Elk, Bear, Troll,) seem mainly redundancy for people without the Old World Bestiary. Of the rest, Eyeless ones are blind undead, Frost Fiends are Bat winged, White furred and otherwise un described, Glimmers are a new type of Ghost, Indrinka are a type of horse that deliberately cause avalanches and Nippers are small imp things that lay eggs in your flesh. None of these massively grabbed me tbh and all seemed a bit D&D. The last on the list though, the Firebird is utterly inspired. And is a prime example of how to take something and warhammerfy it correctly. It will certainly see play in my campaign... somehow.
   
   In summery, the book has a nice collection of misc stuff with a kislev theme, but as with the dire Knights of the Grail before it, it actually fails in its prime job, which is to cover the region in enough depth to actually easily base a campaign there. Too much of this book is dedicated to providing bells and whistles and next to none is spent actually doing the hard work so the GM wont have too.
   
   A good effort and a marked improvement, but still no where near to claiming Sigmar's Heirs crown.
   
   ** Usability
   *** Liked



2. This one of their best guides for outside the Empire. It covers everything a GM need to run a game up north, or just visit. It also has everything a player needs for backgrounds. Includes rules for ice witches, hags, and a number of additional careers. Nothing you need to run a game, but a good resource, and good read.



3. Given Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay's long history of bouncing from publisher to publisher, this might be one of the last few supplements that are worth picking up. Realm of the Ice Queen is a sourcebook for Kislev, which in the WFRP Old World is something like Czechloslovakia and something like historical Russia. Standing to the north and east of the Empire proper, Kislev stands directly in the way of the raving hordes of Chaos, and as you might expect this makes the people of that region a little different. Packed with cultural details including politics, military factions, ethnic and regional groups, new Kislev-specific careers and even a new form of magic for spellcasters, ROTIQ is an excellent sourcebook and if you're a WFRP player or collector, you won't be disappointed. Better than "Night's Dark Masters" and just as interesting as the "Tome of Corruption" or "Children of the Horned Rat". And since Black Industries isn't doing WFRP any more, this may be one of the last really decent supplements to come out for the game-- it remains to be seen whether the new publisher will continue to put out books of the same quality and excellence. So go get this one, and the "Tome of Salvation" and keep your fingers crossed for proper support from the new publisher, FFG.

4 comments about Vampire Daeva Kiss of the Succubus (Vampire the Requiem).

1. There is an old saying about storytelling, "show, don't tell". This Clan Book is all about showing instead of telling. (Come to think of it, the saying applies to the Daeva themselves, too.) It is almost entirely a collection of autobiographical stories either by a Daeva, or about a Daeva. The variety is incredible. It starts off with an account of a mortal's mutual obsession with a Daeva, and also features cartoons and a movie script.
   
   The themes of this clan come through crystal clear in this book,as Ventrue did not manage to do. The major theme is love. Are the Daeva capable of inspiring and feeling true love, or are they dead hearts manipulating human erotic programming? Does the past matter, or is the present all there is? It's basically a hundred pages of Daeva showing the choices they make, and how these shape their Requiems. The writing is generally excellent, although the movie script is deliberately written in an over-blown style that almost overshadows what it shows.
   
   The artwork also works to show the Daeva off. On the White Wolf forums, their Q&A about this book explicitly states that the artwork was intended to treat the Daeva as sex objects. It works. We view them as sex objects ... and they view us as blood banks. Both may get what they want, but we end up dead as a result. That's what the art shows even before you get to the text.
   
   Technically, the only books you need to read to follow this are the corebooks. Obviously, you will get much more from it the more Vampire books you have read. However, there are so many ties to the Ventrue Clan Book that I think you would have to read it in addition to this for this to have full value. This book also seems to tie in with the upcoming Hunter: the Vigil, too. It mentions the neo-Masquerade, which seems to be that Kindred can take advantage of the popularity of vampire fiction to communicate almost openly. (It uses the term without telling exactly what it means.) On the flip side, the game is about individuals. The issue isn't whether the Masquerade falls, it's whether an individual Kindred gets identified by witch finders.
   
   The Appendix features one new bloodline and a few new merits and devotions. Rather surprisingly, it also contains a section on role playing the Daeva. It talks about how to treat the Daeva focus on Vices and bringing that into the game. It also directly states that gamers must respect the limits of other gamers when it comes to sensitive topics.
   
   In explaining why they chose to do Clan Books, one of White Wolf's reasons was to create books that were more accessible than the corebooks to people new to the World of Darkness style and perhaps even to role playing. That is the one failure I would say the book has. This is for mature role players in every sense of the word.



2. This is an excellent read, if you are just looking to be entertained. If you are looking to expand on a gaming system, it is a total waste of time. There is less than 3 pages, total, of anything that you can add (mechanically) to your game. It could have been done as a $7.99 novel, and saved customers a great deal of disappointment.



3. First of all, I must say that the artwork and graphic design is supurb. Unfortunately beyond the physical appearance of the book there is little to appreciate. This is not a conventional RPG supplement; it contains only a few pages of new mechanics. The majority of the book is made up of short fiction pieces which I personally found rather lack lustre. Essentially, if you want a book that will help you run a vampire game, this is quite useless. If you want unimpressive vampire fiction, go for it.



4. I'm starting to think that a lot of people have misconceptions of what the clan books are all about. They aren't rule books, they are a collection of writings and short stories that are all 'in character', even the index is written in character on this book.
   
   As a source book the game fails. It only contains a few pages comparatively that actually pertains to game play. From rules to bloodlines to new disciplines and devotions. But these rules are just the icing on the cake. The appendix to the real valuable information.
   
   This book is about the Daeva clan. Not in game rules. Not supplementary game play mechanics. But about the vampires of this clan. The writings in this book, the short stories, the collections of past history, are of the highest caliber of Pen & Paper 'fluff' as some would call it, I have ever seen.
   
   What this book does is give an incredibly powerful and intimate view of the clans history, their current struggles and daily life. It's less a book the games ST would need for rules, and much more about how the Daeva 'live' and how they spend their nights. The information within can be invaluable to any player wishing to flesh out their Daeva character or getting some insight on the mood and feel of the Daeva clan.
   
   Everyone knows, (or should know), that Mood and Theme are amongst the most important mechanics in any World of Darkness game. The Daeva 'clan book' exudes more Mood and sets such a dark and horrifying Theme I've ever seen in any World of Darkness book I own. The writing is simply amazing and can help you 'feel' your Daeva on a level you could never imagine.
   
   When I first picked this up I had seen mixed reviews, and just simply after the first story, entitled Kevin, drew me into the world of the Daeva and wouldn't let me go. When I finally finished reading it, the sun was starting to rise. It set the mood for the entire book which lived up to that first story in an amazing way and gave me such an amazing insight into the Daeva that any characters of the Clan I make from now on will have a depth I simply couldn't have attained before buying and reading this 'clan book.'
   
   So in the end, if your looking for a book of rules... of supliments, you won't find it here. However if your after finding an intimate, murderous, passionate and absolutely intense idea of the daily un-lives of the Daeva, their past and the over-arching Theme and Mood of the clan, you can find no better source than this book.

1 comments about Ultimate Adversaries (Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Rules Supplements).

1. Ultimate Adversaries is primarily a tool for the Gamemaster. I also like to think of it as the companion piece to the Galactic Campaign Guide. Where the latter book focused on the planning and development side of running a campaign, Ultimate Adversaries gives the GM a variety of the actual villains and creatures that might inhabit the setting.

   Chapter One: Villains begins with detailed descriptions of 47 non-player characters. While we have received large numbers of NPCs from other sourcebooks before, the ones presented here are considerably more detailed. Each character has a picture, and in addition to the usual background and basic description, each NPC profile also lists goals, preferred tactics, and roleplaying tips. Also included are notes on how the GM can transplant the NPC into each of the main eras. These characters run the entire range from troublemaking dilettantes to psychotic bounty hunters and desperate con artists. Levels are from 2 to 15 (challenge code B to G), with most falling around level 6 or 7. This is a tough crowd, but only a few of them actually fall into the high-level supervillain category. Some of the characters aren't even bad people, but each NPC's unique motivation and personality sets the stage for opposition to the heroes. Though there are a few clichés, it is the extensive setup for each character which earns the title "Ultimate" and which should be most helpful in providing memorable encounters.

   Because each character is completely ready-made, the GM can easily take whichever NPC he likes and insert it directly into his campaign with minimum preparation. Some GMs won't like that method, preferring instead to create everything from scratch. Not everyone has the time or ability to do that though. For the GMs who fall into that category, this section is a boon.

   Chapter One also includes a brief section on ready-made generic organizations, including mercenary companies, crime syndicates, and resistance movements. By selecting from a broadly similar type, this allows the GM to introduce encounters with a new organization while eliminating most of the paperwork.

   Chapter Two: Creatures is by far the largest section of the book. Basically, this is the Monster Manual for Star Wars. Over 80 creatures are presented, from the mighty Krayt Dragon to the tiny Voorpak. Most of this is new material, but a number of creatures from earlier sources like the Alien Anthology and NJO Sourcebook make revised appearances. Every creature has a full description and labeled picture. Challenge codes range from A to H, with the majority around a rating of D. Also included are a number of new templates, including Enlarged, Shaped, and Sithspawned. With so many options a GM should have no problem giving his players plenty of creatures to fight.

   Chapter Three: Droids briefly describes 8 new droids as well as 3 Separatist droid vehicles, including the Hailfire Droid. Also included at long last is a table of specific traits which may be applied to any droid produced by one of the 22 major droid manufacturers.

   Finally, the Appendix lists new combat techniques, weapons, armor, equipment (including several pieces of droid-specific equipment), one new vehicle, and two new starships. Also included is a reprint of the Transfer Essence force skill, reprints of the feats Multidexterity, Multiweapon Fighting, and Sith Sorcery, and a table listing all opponents in the book by challenge code.

   As a side note, Ultimate Adversaries is probably the best-looking, most well-organized, and error-free Star Wars RPG product yet. The artwork is truly top-notch, particularly the character portraits. The layout is tasteful and information is easy to locate. Furthermore after a few readings I saw a mere handful of typos.

   My single complaint is that there could have been a greater variety of high-level villains and creatures. This could have been easily accomplished by eliminating some of the content reprinted from other sources.

   Overall, Ultimate Adversaries performs exactly as advertised. It has the potential to be an extremely helpful tool for a new or moderately experienced GM due to the prepackaged nature of some of its material, but veteran GM's may be turned off for the same reason. However in my opinion even veterans should consider it for the Creature section as well as its general wealth of ideas. The casual player could certainly use the book as a spur for new ideas too, but this is not advised if your GM plans on using it himself! Ordinarily I would give Ultimate Adversaries a 5, but because it is directed at a limited audience, I am instead giving it a very strong 4.

4 comments about Grudgelore: The ultimate book of dwarfs (Warhammer).

1. Anyone even looking at this book probably likes dwarfs. If you're a fan of Warhammer fantasy dwarf lore this is a great read, with everything from dwarf-style anecdotes to maps to language. My only complaint is that it is short :( ... but I guess you cannot hardcode too much history in an environment intended for player creativity.



2. The format of the book is nice. It display beautiful pictures and it is very pleasant for the eye overall, like all the book published by Black Library and Game Workshop in general.
   
   However, I found the content of this book less interesting than the previous publication of this type such as Liber Chaotica and Libris Necris to name only two of them. While it cover the many wars and adversairies the dwarfs had to face in their history, I found each of these stories a bit redundant. In some way, I guess the idea of creating a tale about the dwarf centred on their Grudges was presenting this risk. At first, it was interesting to dive into the Dwarf culture through this aspect. It does succeed, at first, at creating something unique and immersive about the dwarf culture or point of view. Unfortunatly, I don't feel the writers have completely succeed to build each episode as something very different and original in their essence and dynamisme. Then, after the first chapter, the other sections leave an after taste of "déjà vu".
   
   While it is not a total failure, the book present some qualities and interests, but the overall doesn't allow me to give it more than 3 stars.



3. This book was not in any way bad, low quality, lacking in skillful writing, or otherwise not good enough, but it lacked anything to make it really stand out. Where as most of the recent books of this type have been smaller, pocket hardbound editions, this one seemed to me to be made to be put in a stack with the WHFRP books and hauled around. Personally, I prefer the smaller "prop" like books that carry a more authentic feel to them. While they may lack pictures, they make up for it in authenticity and fun. Refering to your Witchunters Handbook during a role-play session is always fun.
   
   That being said, the content here really does do an amazing job of more or less condensing many thousands of years of dwarfish history in what feels to be a scant number of pages. It lacks a central story or narrative to pull the reader through, unlike other similar books. The content could have been fleshed out more with a few lengthier short stories in my opinion, and that would have added considerably to its bulk and entrainment value. The illustrations in the book range from amusing (Dwarven Womenfolk) to downright amazing (The Slayer Vs. Dragon) with none of them being bad or out of place. The number of different art styles thrown onto a page is sometimes disconcerting, as is the layout of the text in places.
   
   Three out of five is all this gets from me, where as the Witchunters Handbook scores an easy five... if you only have the money to spend on one neat gaming prop, I recommend that one unless you are an absolute Dwarf fanatic.



4. This is definitely a great read for those interested in a primer on Dwarf lore in the Warhammer fantasy universe. The artwork and stories are excellent, and the history is fascinating. The only drawback to it that I found was that it was a short read. For the price though I found it well worth it.

5 comments about Manual of the Planes (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying).

1. I picked up this book from Amazon some time ago and find that it is vital to my nwn module creation. Since acquiring this book, I have added into the module the plane of celesta, the plane of hades, the shadow plane and the planes of fire and air. My players LOVE the new areas. They let you use and create new cool critters to throw at them and expand your imagination! It has been SO fun creating these planes because you can use your create a custom area using only your imagination! Spice up your higher lvl chars lives, throw them in the shadow plane, but you will need this book to make sure you get it all right.



2. I've never understood DnD's reasoning (in any of its incarnations) for building the particular planar structure that it uses for all is worlds. if the Greeks and Babylonian and all those old civilizations made up their own cosmos, why did the creators of DnD think their world's needed to rip off those wonderful inventions instead of making up their own. Now, I realize they have tried from time to time, but no self-respecting DM will use all the junk in this book.
   The only useful part of this book is the planar characteristics. They should have spent 90% of the book on that, and 10% on examples. Then they would have gotten a 5 star vote from me.



3. If you will excuse a brief rant before I begin--why oh why do the game designers nowadays believe I will be mad if they tell me what their own setting is like? Do they think I don't have enough brains to change or tweak something if I don't like it? Everyone seems so bent on not interfering with my GM given right to be the lord of my own games that the companies are terrified to actually give a straight answer as to what their products are actually about.
   
   That said, let me tell you what this book IS (cause the WotC guys NEVER will). This book is the cosmology for the roleplaying setting of Greyhawk. Forgotten Realms has its own cosmology. Dragonlance has its own cosmology. Eberron has its own cosmology. Each setting since third edition came out has its own planes, gods, and everything. If you're looking for one overarching cosmology for every D&D game, there ain't no such animal. Not anymore. Once you get your head around that you will have a lot less headaches and start liking this book a lot more.
   
   Why the switch? There's a couple of good reasons for this. First, toward the end of 2nd edition it was hard to play in a game setting without running into characters who were transplants from some other world, bouncing around either through planeshifting magic, or a spelljamming ship, or a planescaping door from Sigil, or some kind of natural portal. It was far to easy to hop from setting to setting and all the crossovers started to take their toll on the integrity and mood of each campaign world. Second, in the last edition the vast number of gods from every different D&D world (including all the gods from real world mythology) had to be shoehorned into just over a dozen divine planes. Some of the choices made little sense, and all of the planes just got too crowded! Third, there was a lot of fiction produced for the various game lines, and a lot of the authors (Weis & Hickman of Dragonlance and R.A. Salvatore of the Forgotten Realms in particular) loved to add their own little bells and whistles to the planes in the novels. They would talk about planes that didn't exist in the canon setting, or would create unique mechanics for how the planes functioned in their books that didn't mesh very well with what was set up in the books. Now with the cosmologies separated, the characters in a game are likely to be from the same setting, the gods in each setting have plenty of elbow room, sharing their realms with at most half a dozen fellow gods, and the backlog of cosmological oddities due to narrative licence on the part of various authors can be divvied up effectively to each respective setting.
   
   So understanding that, how good is the book? Well the art is fabulous full color stuff by some of the best artists in the business. The descriptions of each plane are more than lavish, with individual locales set up within each plane that spark the imagination and get one wanting to dive in and play. Acheron is particularly cool: an eternal battleground covering the faces of infinite numbers of scrapmetal cubes drifting in a black void lit only by the bonfires of various war camps on distant cubes. Often the great masses will slam into one another, spinning again off into space, crushing flat entire armies. Wow!
   
   Unfortunately some of the graphs and explainations of how planes interconnect are pretty confusing, thick stuff. After a while all the coterminous/coexistant/transitive/subjective planes start to run together and the overlapping circle graphs surrounded by large bronze calipers and thick magnifying glasses don't help too much. There are also some features of the cosmology that bend the perceptions a little--like the fact that there are rivers and other geographical features that run from one layer of a plane to another, and even flow onto other planes, often even when the planes are suspended floating in void with no physical connection between them, or sometimes you have mention of infinite planes like Bytopia, that are flat rolling grasslands in the middle and gradually more mountainous until you get toward the edges where the mountains are impossibly tall and craggy (but then it's an infinite plane, right? So how are there "edges" to an infinite plane? Argh. Head...hurts)
   
   The extra races and monster races are awesome. It is particularly great to see GOOD art of githzerai and githyanki (mind you it's not just good, it's sweet!) and the templates are useful. The rules for making your own cosmologies seem a bit weak and appologetic unfortunately--because this is a place where the book could really shine. Likewise the ideas for the Prestige Classes are wonderful, but the actual abilities of each class are fairly lackluster. The special planar spells just struck me as unnecessary and not very thrilling. Where they might have included a section detailing the cosmologies of their other published settings (Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance...Eberron wasn't out yet) which would have quadrupled the value of a book like this, they instead included some "example" alternate cosmologies. Some are very very cool--like the Far Realm and the Great Tree, but most seem like only partly developed afterthoughts. Interestingly the "alternate" cosmologies presented here which are said to be only examples with no tie to the D&D standard cosmology--end up in the Epic Level Handbook with races attributed to them and tied into the Greyhawk history. Wierd.
   
   So final word. I think the book is great and I love having it in my collection. I think it's use is limited greatly by the fact that it only covers the Greyhawk setting, which is unfortunate in the extreme. Moreso I find the whole philosophy of not wanting to challenge the authority of DM's by making any decisions as far as their products go to be infuriating and frustrating. Nonetheless the ideas in this book are first rate and wonderfully laid out. I just wish the guys who write these books could decide what their settings are like and then have the guts to stick to it!



4. As a DM in an ongoing campaign, I need all the help I can get. I get 5-6 different supplements a year. Partially to find new challenges and partially to keep abreast of what's happening out there in Gamer Publishing. I really liked this Planer Handbook (3.0) and I never felt the need to upgreade. It has all the info on all the inner and outer planes, atmosphere, who lives there, how to get there etc etc. I'm not sure what the difference is between the 3.0 version and the 3.5 version, but it can't be much. I say stick with this one.



5. Seriously, the 3.5 equivalent (Planar Handbook) is the worst piece of garbage ever made. People actually want information and rules on the planes, not adventure sites (which anyone can create themselves). Planar Handbook even referred to this one. So, can you think of any reason why not to buy this instead? Me either.
   
   As far as books go, it has plenty of good spells (although some in Planar Handbook were okay too), it has huge amounts of info on the planes themselves including the various layers of places like Carceri. This also forms a good suppliment with the DMG 3.5 since the former adds details on the traits of the land throughout the plane for exploration purposes, and the latter adds towns and special sites to each plane. By comparison, the only thing Planar Handbook adds (besides the worthlessly contrived touchstones, "dance around the statue 6 times to activate") is planar breaches and some good class abilities for characters.

2 comments about WOD Innocents (World of Darkness).

1. This is a *self-contained rulebook* for playing children (up to 12-13 years of age) in White Wolve's World of Darkness. However, this is NOT a role playing game for children. It contains very adult themes, albeit, from the perspective of a child. In it you play an "innocent" who lives in a world of horror and the supernatural. Imagine the world of Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth or The Orphanage, but you play the little girl of boy. The book contains all the rules you need to play these child characters, you dont need the World of Darkness corerulebook. That said, it integrates seamlessly into Vampire, Werewolf or Mage, or particularly Changeling.
   That said this game may not be for everyone. If you are not interested in exploring horror and supernatural themes from the point of view of a child; if you dont want to play stories in which you are a child living in an adults world, with little protections other than those granted by adults, caregivers or social agencies; if you want a character less empowered to change his world and who must live by the rules of a society that still see's them as "innocents," then this game will definitely NOT be for you. White Wolf has the reputation for publishing books that are edgy (yet innovating). This book is one of them.



2. I'm always the first to ask to play a child in games. I find it fun to try and see the world from their point of view. This game lets you do just that. It gives children a slightly different stat list and a number of skill points based on their age. And, it fits nicely into any other WoD game (I actualy know nothing about Promethian but it fits well with everything else I've read).
   
   The only thing that bugged me was the fact that the adults they stated had the same charecter sheets as the children. I suppose this is to make the game playable on its own without other WoD books (and it is), so it's really not all that bad since you can just stat adults out normaly if you have the books too.
   
   You also get really good ideas for how to make your story scary. They give you cool little stories like the hoover that kills people and the murdering something that creeps through your window at night. I know some people who are put off by the game because you are playing normal mortal children... but that's the fun of it. The slow immersion into a world that isn't supposed to exist. They even give you the tools to grow up your charecters into adults. Who knows, your little Sally Sunshine could become a vampire, or be stolen away by the Fae, or change into a werewolf on her 15th birthday. Or she might not survive the next two days.
   
   I would not play this game if you have a problem with you charecters dying. I mean, the GM should be aware that children arn't really going to be able to stand up to a werewolf, but you do have a very good chance of dying. (Though to me that just makes it more fun)

2 comments about Vampire: The Requiem Dice Set.

1. I have this set of dice and I'm very pleased with them. The dice themselves feel good in your hand, with a pleasing weight and texture that I've noticed myself and also had friends I was gaming with who used them comment on.
   
   That said, the bag that comes with the dice is nice to have, but not of particularly impressive quality if you're a stickler for that kind of thing.
   
   Play with these dice in the New World of Darkness setting is very easy, as the numbers that ordinarily mean a success (8, 9, and 0) are highlighted to make it easy to see how you did at a glance.
   
   If you want to use them as regular d10s, or for the old World of Darkness, it IS slightly more difficult to read the numbers 1-7 because they're in black on black-and-red dice (8, 9, and 0 are in silver). It's really not difficult enough to matter, but worth mentioning. I doubt I'd have even thought of it as difficult, except for the contrast with the ease of reading the silver "success" numbers.



2. This is a bag of 10 sided dice for use with Vampire: the Requiem. If you are new to the Storyteller system, you probably need a lot more d10s than you already have lying around. The color is marbled red and black, with black for successes (8-10). The successes are easy to read, but failure numbers (1-7) kind of blend in; the color of the dice themselves is quite attractive. The bag is red felt with the Vampire logo (fanged skull) painted on. If you, like me, have an unreasonable need to roll dice for characters that is pertinent to their species (mortals/vampire/werewolf/mage) then these will do nicely.

3 comments about d20 Menace Manual (d20 Campaigns: d20 Modern).

1. I bought this more on a whim but it has restarted my interest in d20 Modern. The book has three main sections which bear mentioning. First up is the critter book. No matter what kind of game you play critters are absolutely essential. There's something for virtually everyone in the first section. Alternity fans rejoice! You will old friends and foes in here as the Fraal return and are expanded slightly to make them available to UFO conspiracy enthusiasts as the enigmatic Greys. Weren are back as sasquatch with an interesting explanation on why their here. The weird winged humanoids have also returned to meet and in some cases become PCs. Next is a bunch of cardboard cut-outs for a given GM to play with in stock NPCs and they even gave some sample teams to possible use. Finally there is a faction book with real and made up organizations. Among the intriguing new comers are an extreme terrorist organization loosely based on Al-Qaeda and a bunch of would be world conquerors (Cooobraaaa! Whoops, wrong game ;)) as well as the American agencies CIA and FBI. Anyone interested in more adversaries and possible allies of any d20 Modern type campaign would be well served by this book. There are suggestions for some of the groups in the suggested campaigns or if you want to design your own campaign, this gives some more options, something that is always warranted.



2. Got the book, read it, and now it sits on my game-shelf for the rest of eternity. Waste of time and resources!!!



3. I thought this was a well-written, well-made book. It has a ton of information on so many different organizations that you should never run out of bad guys, though it would be fun to try. In addition to the info on the many organizations it has it's own monster manual. It would be nice to have picture of all the different baddies but there are only so many pages I guess. All in all I think this book would be very helpful to most campaigns.

4 comments about Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Old World Bestiary, Vol. 1.

1. I have to say I like this "monster companion" much more than some of the other rpgs that are out there at the moment. Instead of giving one or two paragraphs about the monster, and the main focus being on the statistics of the monster, this supplement to the WFRPG is a delight. It examines the ins and out of what makes up a creature in the Warhammer world, whether the normal orc style bad guy to the demons and the dragons. This is not an index of monsters, this is (and this might sound silly) the National Geographics of monster exploration. What makes up a creature in the Warhammer world? What provokes the creature on and off the battlefield or dungeon or city, what action does the creature normally take in day to day, why does the monster do as he does? A GM worth his or her salt will look at this book and truly see villains and creatures to be encountered in the vast campaign of Warhammer, not some lvl 2 goblin that is placed in room 5 like some games are designed. We GMs are tired of just having creatures for the sake of placing them into some room to be encountered, after encountering another creature beforehand in the earlier room. We GMs, like this book hands us, want meat in our creatures, we want them to have their own reasons and whys, we want them to have their own character for the sake of the game world's dynamics. What might be a simple orc encountered in a dungeon in another game, becomes a 3-dimensional villain in this game's makeup.



2. First thing: Amazon is mistaken, this isn't a Warhammer Novel. It's a supplement for the second edition of the Warhammer RPG.
   
   That being said, it's the best supplement they've put out (the line is currently in the process of putting out the Skaven sourcebook: Children of the Horned Rat)
   
   It's also the best "Monster Manual" I've ever seen, a must for all Warhammer FRP GMs, unlike the rest of the series (which honestly has been quite hit-and-miss, unfortunately).
   
   The reason it's so great is that there's a beginning section detailing all the monsters using the "peasant superstition" method WFRP players have come to love (and sectioning them off by "Chaos Beasts", "The Undead", etc), and leave all the monster stats alphabetized in the back of the book for quick reference by the GM.
   
   While the whole line is a bit pricey, the Old World Bestiary easily merits it's purchase to a WFRP GM, especially at the Amazon discount.
   
   Here's a list of the monsters outlined in the Old World Bestiary:
   
   Banshees
   Beastmen
   -Bestigors (leaders)
   -Centigors (centaur beastman)
   -Gors (horned beastman)
   -Ungors and Brays (barely-horned and non-horned beastmen)
   Chaos Cultists - 4 different cults
   Chaos Dwarves
   -Bull Centaurs (dwarf centaurs)
   Chaos Marauders
   Chaos Warriors
   Daemons - 5 different types
   Dire Wolves (undead with skull-like heads and glowing red eyes)
   Dragons
   Dragon Ogres (Ogre/Dragon centaur)
   Dryads
   Elven Corsairs
   Fenbeasts (basically a swamp-golem)
   Ghouls
   Giants
   Giant Rats
   Giant Spiders
   Giant Wolves
   Goblins
   -Night Goblins
   Great Eagles
   Griffons
   Harpies
   Hippogriffs
   Hobgoblins
   Hydras
   Manticores
   Minotaurs
   Mummies
   Mutants
   Ogres
   Orcs
   -Black Orcs (biggest and strongest orcs)
   -Savage Orcs
   Pegasi
   Rat Ogres (exactly what the name implies)
   Skaven - 4 different clans
   Skeletons
   Squigs (big furry balls with big mouths)
   Snotlings (kobolds)
   Spirits
   -Ghosts (not usually evil)
   -Poltergeists (tricksters)
   -Spectres (mostly insane ghosts)
   Treemen (treants)
   Trolls
   -Chaos Trolls
   -River Trolls
   -Stone Trolls
   Unicorns
   Vampire Bats
   Vampires - 5 clans
   Warhawks
   Werecreatures (the Were template)
   Wights
   Wild Boars
   Wraiths (look like death himself)
   Wyverns
   Zombies



3. While I feel this book could have been longer, overall I've been impressed with the book and it is already one of the more extensively used in my Warhammer collection. Like most GM's who create there own material, (even if it is just as filler between pre-fab adventures) I find a useful guide to critters is indispensible. This one fits the bill nicely, although I do hope they follow it up with Volume 2 as I am looking forward to an even wider array of creatures to select from.
   
   For those familiar with WFRP, most of the old favorites are here. Some of the more esoteric ones which were never popular have been removed to make room to expand on the more popular ones, and a few new creatures which are popular in fantasy genre in general have been added.
   
   For those who are new to WFRP, the 'Slaughter Margin' is a useful tool for guesstimating the challenge of various encounters for a beginning party so that you don't inadvertantly annihilate your party before they really get hooked on the game and all it has to offer. It's also somewhat handy for experienced gamers from the first edtion who are still getting their hands around the second edition rules for much the same reason.
   
   The book is laid out in basically two sections, the players section and the GM's section. This is a bit of a misnomer, since really neither is really meant for player's eyes. However, it is handy in that it seperates knowledge for the GM in a very convienient fashion. The 'players section' includes different viewpoints of the monsters which can be used to give the players background without giving them a list of the monster's statistics. The GM's section contains ways to modify individual encounters to make them tougher (or easier) without sacrificing credibility. It also holds all the stats of the monsters in a concise format including their armor, skills, talents, mutations, weapons, and any special rules.
   
   The Player's Section includes a 'Common View' which is how the monsters are percieved by the inhabitants of the Old World in the form of quotes from various persons ranging from a retired mercenary, to a farmer, to a church official, to a scholar. The interesting thing about these is they are not always based in fact, and some are flat out wrong or misguided, which is in keeping with what the characters would 'know' when encountering a new creature for the first time. These are good for player's who use their 'Common Knowledge' skill successfully to find out how much they know about what they have just encountered in a dark alley. (As a GM I also find this section very handy when foreshadowing an encounter.) It also has a 'Scholar's Eye' section which is a supposedly informed perspective by a researcher of the monster in question which can also be mistaken but is generally more reliable and is useful when players make an 'Academic Knowledge' skill test. Finally, there is an 'Our Own Words' section which gives a paragraph or two describing the monster from it's own perspective. This is particularly handy when a player decides to capture or otherwise parley with a monster rather than simply destroy it and move on.
   
   The GM's section goes into a fair degree of depth on the social structure of the greenskins, beastmen, and skaven as well as the various factions therein and their relationship to each other, as well as detailing various statistical differences between them. While it clearly leaves room for a sourcebook on each for future expansion, it is more than enough for detailing the occassional encounter.
   
   Also found in the GM's section are: the aforementioned 'Slaughter Margin' which ranks monsters in terms of difficulty (Ranging from Very Easy to Impossible) for a standard soldier with half the advances of his first career for easy comparison to help guesstimate encounters until new players and GM's are used to the new system; new skills and talents available to some of the monsters; an expanded chaos mutation table, and a selection of new spells for magic using monsters. This last section is particularly useful for getting the attention of players when they go to slaughter yet another skaven or greenskin and suddenly find themselves facing spells they have never seen before and cannot find in the core rule book. (What can I say? I enjoy keeping them on their toes.)
   
   The book is as well illustrated as any of the second edition books, and in fact may be slightly above average in that regard.
   
   Throughout the book are margin notes which detail things such as daemonic auras and chaos armor. These notes are placed well, almost always next to a relevant entry and provide useful but non-essential detail which is handy when running an encounter or for dealing with players who want to ask esoteric questions or strip every corpse for every last brass penny.
   
   I was initially annoyed at the way the monsters were organized into sections according to type. Forest creatures are grouped together, undead, greenskins, etc. Being a long-time gamer, I'm used to everything being alphabetized. However, I am starting to realize that this is not as large a problem as I had originally thought. The index is comprehensive and alphabetical, and when planning an encounter in a particular environment I find it increasingly handy that other denizens of the same terrain are close at hand. I almost never have an encounter involving a single type of creature anymore, which has the players frequently looking past the initial attackers now waiting for the other shoe to drop. Even if there is no second wave or boss running things, it creates the feel of paranoia that I like for them to have without treating them unfairly.
   
   My only real frustration with the book is that I wish it had been thicker, 128 pages is a bit light for a resource book. I was pleased however, that this is (so far) the first book they have created for the second edition which didn't contain an adventure eating up a substantial amount of the page count. As a resource book, I would have been more than a little annoyed to see a portion of the pages go to a one-use adventure which I may or may not even use.
   
   Overall, aside from the original rulebook, this has been my most used book. WELL worth the money I paid for it.



4. Yes, the old V1 had these monsters (and more) but this updated version with "what the players know" and what the GM knows is one of the best ideas I've seen in a long time.

5 comments about Masters of the Wild: A Guidebook to Barbarians, Druids, and Rangers (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying Accessory).

1. This book is very useful, especially for rangers and druids. Barbarians won't gain as much from it, but overall it's worth the money.



2. The bread and butter of any guidebook is to (a) flesh out classes in rich detail (b)have new/cool feats (c)have really new/cool prestige classes. Unfortunately, this book fails on two fronts. Any player, except for the very new, would consider the information plebian. My biggest disappointment is in the prestige classes, which are geared for NPC's or, at best, solo adventures. For example, Deep Woods Sniper, Geomancer, Bloodhound, Foe Hunter, Verdant Lord, Forsaker, Windrider, Watch Detective, are all too specialized, requiring a severe limitation of campaigns. And don't get me started on the Oozemaster (what were they thinking?). I did like a couple of the prestige classes (Tempest, Animal Lord). Finally, the feats are solid, but favoring barbarian classes, which is good because barbarians were ignored for prestige classes.



3. 3 classes noticably underplayed in the d&d world are represented here.

   The barbarian comes out the poorest in this book, because much of it focuses on the druid. But all in all, it's a good book for me, because I play druids and bards best.

   The new classes are interesting variations on the way the game works. Queen of the woods, beastmaster . . . it's most interesting to say the least.

   If you play druids and rangers, buy the book. You might want to buy the book if you're playing a barbarian and are stumped for ideas.




4. This booklet was disappointing. There was very little new information or cool prestige classes for barbarians. If druids or rangers are your thing, they have slightly more interesting content here, so take a look.



5. Offers excellent updates for the greatest classes in the D&D Game! My favourites are the new Druid spells! Excellent resource for expanding my campaign! Just don't forget to put the book down and sleep once in a while!