No comments about Skaven.

1 comments about Changeling Screen (Changeling).

1. This is the first WoD 2.0 storyteller screen I bought and I must say:
   Big Improvement to the old ones !
   The cardboard is very thick and sturdy - you can kill your pet hampster with it ! (kids don't do this at home !)
   The content is very clever picked:
   approx. 50% WoD basic rules (combat, damage, etc)
   and 50% Changeling (pledges, bedlam rules, etc.)

4 comments about Realms of Mystery (Forgotten Realms Anthology).

1. Many of the mysteries are unfounded, since they are brought to light, or lead up to where you can figure their intent befor the conclusion. "The Rose Window" by Monte Cook, Monte being a relatively new author for TSR Forgotten Realms books, has the mysterious ending that I feel was really what this book was trying to emmulate. There was not a precise ending like most of the other stories, but where Loremaster Jaon says if you read this, you can "right my wrongs!" I believe all the authors from Elaine Cunningham through Ed Greenwood had good stories, but the Mysteries were concluded, even though I liked the conclusion by Ed Greenwood a lot. This book is a definite keeper, and it is a welcome addidition to my collection. I still prefer books that have a single plot and the same characters through the whole book, but I think that this just adds to the knowledge of some of the character's we have already come to know. Also, adding an excerpt from R.A. Salvatore's "The Silent Blade" was a good idea. You'll want to purchase it also, if you don't already own it! See ya'll later!



2. Since I'm not familiar with the Forgotten Realms fantasy line (this is the first book that I've read), I found several of the stories rather confusing and complicated with creatures and worlds I've never heard of before. But if you're a FR fantasy fan--or just a fantasy fan, in general--then you'll probably enjoy these 14 stories:

   1) "Speaking with the Dead" by Elaine Cunningham -- When a gnome is murdered, a young bard and his elven servant try to prove their caravan leader's innocence. A little slow at the beginning, and confusing, but it has its moments.
   2) "A Walk in the Snow" by Dave Gross -- Another (somewhat better) murder mystery, this one of a wizard being murdered and an innkeeper in charge of solving it.
   3) "The Rose Window" by Monte Cook -- Upon bringing a rose window into his church, a loremaster notices unearthly shadows in its panes. A captivating story, though the ending does leave you hanging a bit.
   4) "The Club Rules" by James Lowder -- A butler is accused of murder and a young explorer is assigned to prove his innocence.
   5) "Thieves' Justice" by Mary H. Herbert -- While stealing a horse, a horse thief and her friend stumble across a dead man, resulting in the friend being accused of murder. One of the best stories here.
   6) "Ekhar Lorrent: Gnome Detective" by Steven "Stan!" Brown -- A rhyming gnome detective with "a sixth sense about murder" investigates the death of a cyclops. An interesting murder plot with an unforgettable, if not slightly annoying, character.
   7) "The Devil and Tertius Wands" by Jeff Grubb -- An adventurer and his genie set out to recover a stolen family heirloom for a beautiful stranger. Another good story.
   8) "H" by Richard Lee Byers -- One by one, a band of adventurers are killed in their sleep, leaving only a blood-written letter "H" as a clue. Fast paced and well written.
   9) "Strange Bedfellows" by Keith Francis Strohm -- A dark priest saves a captain's life, and, in return, asks for a powerful dagger.
   10) "Whence the Song of Steel" by J. Robert King -- A bodyguard is hired to protect two opera tenors from death threats.
   11) "An Unusual Suspect" by Brian M. Thomsen -- An amnesiac sets out to avenge his friend's death.
   12) "Darkly, Through a Glass of Ale" by Peter Archer -- A merchant observes the happenings in a warring city. Dull and complicated.
   13) "Lynaelle" by Thomas M. Reid -- A young sorceress is accused of killing her teacher. Jumps right into the action on the first page (the first sentence, really), but then drags a bit during the back story.
   14) "The Grinning Ghost of Taverton Hall" by Ed Greenwood -- An estate is haunted by a ghost who appears just prior to someone dying.




3. I'm a big fan of short stories, and this book has some good ones. Characters tied in from other novels and products. I especially liked Bentley Mirrorshade and the Friendly Arm Inn, which fans of the Baldur's Gate computer game will recognize.



4. This is the last in an abruptly ended series of 4 novels that tries to take mystery/suspense stories and put them in a D&D setting. In this anthology it's a lot of misses with few hits. I won't go too deeply into the misses. Suffice to say that they are the bland, almost generic, style of modern fantasy. If you've read any of the other Forgotten Realms novels, then you should be familiar with this style. But since these stories revolve around the solving of a murder, the author has to come up with a device so that some magic-user doesn't use a spell to speak with the dead. This is similar to a lot of Matthew Reilly novels, where Mr Reilly likes to use a device so that the characters don't overwhelm the stories with their blazing guns.
   
   There were a few stories that really stood out. The first is 'The Devil and Tertius Wands' by Jeff Grubb. I enjoyed the main character, who reminded me a little of Cugel, from Jack Vance's 'The Dying Earth'. Kind of a rich, pompous snob. The plot was a generic hard-boiled plot : a man hired by a woman to recover a McGuffin. But the pace was brisk, the style was entertaining, and there was just enough humor. The next was 'H' by Richard Lee Byers. This time the plot is a classic suspense plot: a group that's slowly being picked off by an unseen enemy. In this instance, it's a group of treasure hunters/adventurers. I liked the economy of writing this author displayed. The chase could have been drawn out through 200 pages. Instead, the author uses 22 tense pages. He also set up the right mood for this story without going overboard and ending up with a stinky piece of Lovecraftian cheese.

1 comments about Professor Dalrymple's Deluxe Patented Fairy-Catching System (Professor Dalrymple's).

1. I gave this Fairy Catching Kit to an 8 year old little girl for Christmas -- she really loves fairies. Her Mom said she has not stopped playing with it since she received it! What's especially so cute -- is the tiny cage!! Even her (almost) 50 year old Aunt said she would like one for her birthday...so it seems like it's the perfect gift for fairy lovers of ALL ages!

1 comments about Creatures of Middle-Earth (Middle Earth Role Playing/MERP #2012).

1. This expansion really helps in makeing your gaming quests more exciting, it gives you more options and creatures to fight. If you like lots of big fights and monsters this is a great book for you to use in your games! It gives stats, OB's,DB's, and all kinds of stats and information like where demons,fish,insects,birds,riding animals and mammals come from and a litte history on them also, a great expansion!

5 comments about Ensemble Studios Official Strategies & Secrets to Microsoft's Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.

1. I haven't read Prima's guide, but I have been very pleased with this one. It focuses on multiplayer which is what I like, and it offers a good amount of detailed tips that will help you become very competitive on the zone. The poster could have been better and some color photos would have been nice, but I bought the book to become a better AOK player and it has definitely helped me acomplish that.



2. The book is well-written, but is pretty weak in the multiplayer/online content section. I'd like to see a book written by real online gaming experts. But it has a lot of great single-player tips.



3. I love Aok and play both rm and dm multiplayer. As a hardcore fan and as someone who has a zone rating of 1750 and has played many other games not rated the guide isnt very useful. If you are a beginner its pretty good and if you like the campaigns it is good it also has some basic rules and concepts. One thing I hated is that it has no strategies for deathmatch games. I love dm and it is fast moving and has tons of battles the book has no strats and i guess you just have to learn the hard way to win like i did. I wish there was a multiplayer book with advanced strategies but oh well.



4. Having played AOK for about a year (mainly against the computer - some online) I thought I was an OK player. I had strategies that worked for me most of the time and I could generally hold my own against any civilization up through the moderate level of difficulty.

   With this book, I learned three strategy tips the in the first several chapters that immediately made the game more enjoyable and my efforts much more effective against the bad guys.

   There are tips sprinkled throughout the book from players who don't work for Ensemble Studios but who are very successful players. These tips were generally helpful as well, and gave some insight into some unorthodox strategies at times.

   Shortcuts and hot keys are emphasized and highlighted throughout the chapters. This guide will definitely have you practicing the use of hot keys more than ever (if you don't already).

   There is considerable information related to multi-player games as well, such as how to complement your partner and how to know what opposing forces can lend each other in terms of help. I am not sure what the "hard-core" multiplayer readers who rated this book poorly are looking for, but it gave me great insight into being a better team player.

   The book does not go into the minute detail of what steps you should takein what order, in every game and every scenario. Certain AOK websites have taken this process to the level of art, and maybe that is what some people are looking for. The book does, however, provide insight into Ensemble's mindset in designing the game and also gives the average-above average player a great boost in terms of knowledge.

   If you want to be sure that you are employing as many time-saving tips and shortcuts as you can, and you want to hear what tactics are employed by outstanding players, buy this book. If you are a highly rated Zone player, or can smoke the computer on the Hard difficulty level or above, you probably do not need this guide anyway.




5. I'm revising my review, because after playing the game for awhile, I realized the advice I poo-pooed actually comes in handy. HOT KEYS ARE ESSENTIAL. This is probably the most critical piece of advice I overlooked, a piece which this book covers well. There are also good tactics for each culture. I recommend this book. For context, my original review appears below:

   I was disappointed with the "secrets" contained in this book. I'm only a beginner and it didn't really tell me anything I didn't know or couldn't figure out for myself. Some of the lame advice included "use hotkeys," "listen for the audio clues," and "use combined arms." Section on Diplomacy was weak and it didn't really mention how to handle a game against several computer opponents which always tend to gang up on you. Scenario section looked quite helpful if you play the scenarios, but I don't. I would recommend this book for raw beginners, but not anyone above that.

1 comments about School of Illusion: A Compendium of Illusion Magic (Legends & Lairs, d20 System) (Legends & Lairs).

1. me start off by saying that the prestige classes and general information included in this volume are well thought out and a pleasan change of pace. The new spells included in "School of Illusion" are fun and sync well with the prestige classes offered in the book. The spells are also original and not just simple knock off's of existing magic. Thats said I do have a few complaints -really just gripes - 1. The book is way to short, take out the useless "Visual guide to illusions section" which has no real use other than to take up page space and he book is only 55 pages long. I don't know why current gaming coumpanies feel that they can publish a book this short and still charge $14.95 for it when non-gaming books well over 400 pages sell for the same price-its realy disapointing to see. 2.The above mention "visual guide to illusions section" is such a ploy at filler its a joke. Five pages of charts for no reason. Fantasy Flight Games should make a compendium out of all of their School "of" books and quit selling these tiny little single school books. Ok, I am over that now. If you can get past the high price for small book thing the info is usefull, the magic items are unique and the prestige classes fun-my favorites are the Master of the Unseen and the Devoted Illusionist. Hope this help. Jake (JK)

3 comments about Van Richten's Guide to Fiends (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons : Ravenloft, No 9477).

1. If you thought that TSR "toned down" the fiends because of religious pressure, think again! Even if you think you already have all the stats on fiends, this book adds some new diabolical powers, including possession! A fiend can even use your body to enter the Prime, sending your character hurtling into the Abyss in its place! The only disadvantage is that you'll need the Planescape Monstrous Compendium to make much use of it, as Van Richten is a Clueless and doesn't know the full stats for fiends



2. This book treats fiends mostly as average intelligence monsters with little in the way of "supernatural" powers. It is a pale shadow of the original 'fiends' presented in the 1st Ed. AD&D game. Since it is designed for the Ravenloft setting, many of the powers and abilities are difficult to translate into another setting. The limitations built into the creatures' make-up are part of the Ravenloft setting too -- again, it makes it difficult to translate it into another game setting. If you are looking for insights into the netherworld, this isn't it! If you are a Ravenloft fan, buy it if you must, but there are better resources available.



3. I recomend this source book for any DM who wishes to run a deamon in Ravenloft. This book will destroy all the preconceived notions you have about fiends; Van Richtan rewrites typical D&D cannon for a fresh revitalization of the traditional views of the Planscape-typical monster. These masters of darkness are unlike anything you have ever witnessed --- foes of awsome power with the power to tempt even the stoutest of heroes, the most faithfull priest, and the holiest of Paladins. No Ravenloft collection is complete without it!

1 comments about Rifts Sourcebook One (Rifts).

1. Now in a new edition that has been completely revised and expanded, Kevin Siembieda's "Rifts Sourcebook One" is a 160-page compendium of robot creation rules and player characters featuring twenty robots from Northern gun, Triax, and Titan Robotics. There are sections devoted to power armor, vehicles, weapons, and other diverse equipment elements. The villain Archie Three and his evil henchmen, the mysterious Republicans and their secret history are laid out, as are notable monsters (with updates on their doings), adventure ideas (including a complete adventure introducing Archie Three), and other gaming concepts and initiatives are a part of this basic and strongly recommended addition to the role-gamer's reference shelf. Nicely illustrated with black-and-white images, "Rifts Sourcebook One" is a seminal resource for literally hours and hours of exciting and imaginative game play. Also very highly recommended from Palladium Books as part of their 'Rifts' series of gaming manuals are: "Rifts: Chaos Earth" and "Rifts: Hell Is Coming".

No comments about L5R Complete Exotic Arms Guide (Legend of the Five Rings Role Playing Game).