5 comments about Tests of Skill: A d20 Adventure and Sourcebook for Fantasy Role-Playing Games.

1. Just when you think d20 reference books have all gone flat, out comes Skirmisher with one that rocks! A must buy for the serious gamer.



2. This is the most impressive sourcebook I've seen in a long time. It is essentially a conglomeration of encounters all set in the same general area. While many of the encounters seem a bit overpowered, each has a number of non-combat options to make them easier, or even completely avoidable. I LOVE this, and try to do similar things in just about all my games. If you think ahead and use all of your abilities, your encounters should be much easier than just storming straight ahead. The guys at Skirmisher understand this, and have come up with what I think are some really interesting scenarios. Perhaps the best compliment I can give this book is that I will use it enthusiastically in my future games. And the AC/DC references don't hurt a bit, either.



3. There's nothing better than writers who are combat vets - with an important part of the game knowing when NOT to fight; Knorr and Varhola share their knowledge of tactics with you. Reading this will make most people better players //



4. This is a refreshing sourcebook filled with interesting scenarios that will challenge and refresh your game. Say good bye to the dry, repetitive "kill the monster" adventures. Its a breath of fresh air to have your players utilize that dusty section of their character sheet that tracks their skills.



5. This a great addition to any d20 campaign, but particularly D&D ones! It finally gives playable options for overcoming obstacles sans fighting. Well there is fighting and battle scenarios in the book, but their are also lots of scenerios, and ideas for more, that involve more thinking and skill use then base attack score and spells per day. A good buy!

No comments about The Stars Are Right! - Nine Disturbing Tales of Mankind's Corruption (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying).

No comments about Mutants & Masterminds: Agents of Freedom Sourcebook (Mutants and Masterminds).

2 comments about Asylum (World of Darkness).

1. It's a book,I kinda liked it. That's why I got it...I would do it again.



2. There's some great stuff in this book, no mistake, lots and lots of ideas for stories, some of them more detailed than the usual White Wolf vagaries. But White Wolf, as usual, overdoes it on the atmospherics and underdoes it on the crunch. They just don't seem to get that what we want in a book about asylums is a book that will cut down on the prep time for running a chronicle in an asylum. A good map, for example, is a pretty key, labor-intensive part of running an authoritative chronicle. But this book lacks one.
   
   There's page after page on the fictional Bishopsgate Asylum, for example. And, while a lot of it is great hooks and playing material, some are just ideas for stories, and most would take a decent amount of time to develop. But that's fine--any decent ST will end up customizing a lot, anyhow. I got some really good ideas for my campaign here.
   
   But what's less fine is the lack of a map for Bishopsgate! I mean, you know that in the end it's going to come down to a running gunfight, or fleeing from a Gauru patient undergoing her first change, or a game of cat and mouse with a vamp...then what? I have to scribble out a map in on graph paper? If I pay $27 for the book, I don't want to have to do that stuff myself. I can come up with atomspheric stuff like crazy; it takes me forever to come up with a good map. That's the part good writers ought to do as a matter of course, and good editors ought to insist on.
   
   On the WW forums, the designer says:
   
   "Truth be told, we elected not to include detailed floor plans because asylum floor plans are readily abundant with a Google search."
   
   In other words, sort through all junk on Google: we were too lazy to do it. Sure there's some good stuff on there, but it all needs work, and most of it is unusable, or from 1800s asylum that would need to be updated to modern day, or it only includes the first floor, or it's a completely unreadable scan from an ancient piece of microfilm, etc.
   
   A little less atmospheric fiction and a little more actual useful content, next time, please. The lack of the sort of crunch that actually cuts down on ST prep-time is something consistently lacking in this sort of WW supplement. For me, this lack cuts a whole star off the rating. Too bad, because the rest of the book is quite good.

2 comments about Heroes of Might and Magic III : Prima's Official Strategy Guide.

1. This book includes the secondary skill probabilities, total city resource costs, the exact differences between the AIs, and some other useful information. The walkthroughs of each level are also helpful.

   In some ways I was disappointed: much of the information can already be found in the manual; many of the strategies are commonsense.

   If you really love Heroes 3, or are having a hard time with one of the maps, it might be worth your time to pick up the book. Otherwise, you can probably find the useful data you're looking for on the web.




2. There once was a game called Heroes, They said it was a game for zeroes. I bought the game without delay, To prove those people were totally gay. I think this book is really great, and for Heroes 4, I just cant wait!

1 comments about Corporate Enclaves (Shadowrun: Core Setting Book).

1. I'm a longtime Shadowrun fan. I own virtually every book. This is the worst of the lot. I don't need cursing and was SHOCKED by it. Drek,fragging and other classic SR slang was just fine. There were very few comments from traditional runners and the runner commentary was smaller than what I was used to and prefer. I don't like the new type,layout and the art was spotty at best. I would've preferred more attention to the other enclaves and found the 'new' LA less than inspiring. Runners as trid stars?Ugh.

2 comments about The Warhammer 40,000 Quiz Book: A bumper book of 40K brain busters (Warhammer 40, 000).

1. So you think you're a Warhammer 40K expert, eh? You think you know everything? Well then prove it! And prove it with this Warhammer 40K quiz book and over 1000 questions of varying degrees of difficulty. There are four levels of questions: Trooper, Veterans, Commisar, and Lord High Militant. Within each of these levels are numerous pages on subjects such as Orks, Necrons, Ultra Marines, Imperial Guard, The Horus Heresy, weapons, and more, with each page having ten questions. The Lord High Militant section will challenge even the biggest Warhammer 40K with questions such as, "What is the species name of the Tyranid Norn Queen?" and "How many Necrons guarded the tomb of the Night Bringer?"
   
   But it's not just questions...you'll also find several other puzzles to keep you busy for hours such as crosswords, word searches, mazes, weapon recognition, and many more. This 160 page book will challenge any level of Warhammer 40K fan! Great fun, well-written and designed. Excellent for reference as well and yes it does include the answers, too. Pick one up today!
   
   Reviewed by Tim Janson



2. If you are a Warhammer 40K fan this is a great book to have in your collection. The questions are divided into different levels of difficulty and thus have something for every level of player. You will learn more about the 40k universe than you ever thought existed.

No comments about Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game.

2 comments about Atlantis Bestiary (Atlantis).

1. This is the matching "Monster Manual" for Atantis: The Second Age, which is to say it's the update for Bard Game's Atlantean Trilogy Bestiary Book.
   
   However, it should be noted immediately that A:tSA is based on the OMNI (orginally the Talislantian-exclusive) system, and not the older 'Trilogy books.
   
   The book itself is standard fair and useful for any GM for A:tSA but gets a big negative from me due to its size. It's completely incompatible with the main rulebook dimensionally in any sort of fashion. It's not even at least exactly half-sized, but some strange stock that's slightly larger then half-sized.
   
   It may sound silly, but if you've ever walked with books any distance uniformity is a positive thing. There was really no reason to do this other then the fear of the book being otherwise somewhat thin and no desire to add content.
   
   Not cool. Three stars for what's inside & two for the obnoxious size issue.



2. I dont agree with the other reviewer below, the books size is nice, makes it more handy at the GM table were my space is at a minimum anyhow. The only thing lacking is an index, but since the monsters are all in alphabetized, who cares?.
   
   This book works with any OMNI system fantasy setting also, I must have.

No comments about Dungeon Crawl Classics #21: Assault on Stormbringer Castle.