5 comments about Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition.

1. The new 4e Dungeon Master's Guide is an interesting book. As someone who owns both Dungeon Master's Guides from 3.5, I can spot many similarities to both. On one hand, this book makes the 3.5 DMG2 feel like a dry run before the new edition was released. It probably was, as Tome of Battle was a test drive of many of the 4e combat rules. On the other, it bears many similarities to the core DMG's before it. All the way back to 1st edition.
   
   One of the main uses for previous DMG's was the magic items. Now that those are in the PHB, what we're left with is a book that feels like a training manual for new DM's, that has just enough information to keep many veterans from leaving it on the shelf. If you've been a DM in the past, this book isn't all that necessary. I counted maybe 60 of the 224 pages that were geared toward the experienced DM. Chapters 3, 4 and 10, plus a smattering of other pages, are all really felt I needed. The rest is geared toward newcomers.
   
   This DMG is therefore a double edged sword that perhaps should have been split into two books: one for the veterans that's filled with charts and tables, and another for the newcomer who needs guidance before jumping in. Instead, we have one book that wants to be both. And as both, it does and OK job; just not a great one.



2. I realize that there is a WoW (World of Warcraft) game for the tabletop already, but the 4th edition of Dungeons and Dragons comes closer to the actual game than any other system out there.
   
   The classes are more individualized, each one having their own succinct spells, maneuvers, and abilities. It's definitely less homogenized than in previous editions.
   
   The Core Rules Books of the 4th addition, including this one, are easy to navigate and understand, even for someone who has never played.



3. I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons since the first boxed set and I have looked forward to each new version and this is no exception. Each new version has tried to improve on the core Dungeon and Dragon experience until now. This new version is not really a new version but an entirely new game with very little of the flavor or magic feeling of the original. Now it feels more like a version of WOW or another of the online games. I am not knocking the online games they can be great if that is what you want to play but if you are looking for an intense good old fashioned role playing session with a group of your friends this new version is not for you unless you are under 12. If you are an experienced role player I would suggest that you save your money and stick to 3.5 there should be a lot of second hand material for that around and several other good companies are still supporting it like Necromancer Games. I wish those people bought Dungeons and Dragons as they know what D&D should feel like. Also look for the games put out by pazzio publishing the company that used to put out the Dragon and Dungeon. In short if you are a veteran of the Dungeons and Dragons and enjoyed the old game save your money or better yet spend it elsceware there are a lot of fine games out there unfortunately this company is no longer make such products.



4. I had been running a game for about a year when I picked up the 4th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide. I have to say, it improved my game tremendously, and I highly recommend it, especially to relatively new dungeon masters. Here's why.
   
   The book provided the guidance I needed without getting in my way. No assumptions were made about my DMing style, or the style and motivations of my players. Instead, the authors recognized D&D as a flexible game played by very diverse people, and provided advice to make the game work for everyone.
   
   There is a section on the different archetypes of players and what their strengths, needs, and motivations are. I swear in my group I have one of each, and could never quite figure out how to deal with that. The DMG didn't pass judgment and say my power gamer was bad and how to force him to be more like my storyteller, it gave tips on keeping everyone happy but keeping them from stepping on each other's toes.
   
   The encounter design section not only talks about how to make balanced encounters, but also how to make them interesting. There are ideas about terrain, monster roles, and hazards that help a lot. Last night, an encounter I previously would have done as "3 goblins pop out from behind a tree and whack you with swords" turned into a flaming arrow whizzing past them, setting trees behind them on fire and scaring their horses tied to the trees. They look up in time to see another flaming arrow coming from a single but powerful-looking hobgoblin sniper high in another stand of trees, and the arrow promptly sets one of the party members on fire. The melee fighters ended up trying to chop down the tree he was in, which I didn't expect, but I figured it's a large wooden object and quickly flipped to a page in the DMG that told me about how difficult it should be. A lot of advice scattered throughout the book combined to make it a much more interesting encounter than I previously would have done.
   
   There are also sections on improvisation and what to do about actions the rules don't cover. A lot of people have complained about the lack of specific rules for things like craft and trapmaking, but I found I preferred using the general guidelines laid out in the book. There were less rules for me to keep track of, it sped up the game by not having to look up obscure rules all the time, but it was still easy to scale the difficulty as appropriate.
   
   The one thing I dislike about the book is the huge number of mechanical mistakes. Almost all of these have been fixed in an errata which is freely downloadable from the website, but it is still annoying to have to consult the errata when something doesn't seem right.



5. This DMG is a decent read and somewhat interesting. I have allot respect for James Wyatt however find this edition to be pretty much a snore. It has a lot of good points to consider when running a 4.0 game, however its more of a book of systems to keep a game on track rather than a cool guide for bringing your world to life.

4 comments about Hunter: The Vigil.

1. I was a BIG fan of Hunter: The Reckoning and think that Vigil is a nice update to the new World of Darkness. It allows for players to get super high tech or super-natural like powers, as well as Hunters to remain people with weapons and the truth. It really seems to depend on what the group and storyteller would like.
   
   The idea of Tactics are well done and interesting and I can't wait to see them in play. In a nutshell they are group efforst at attacking denziens of darkness with pre-meditated crippling (social, physical, and mental) effects. I.E. Dentisry involves grappling a monster and then bashing it's teeth out.
   
   The new 'practical experience' idea is something I have to play with to get a better vibe, but it's one concept that might help give the Hunter's an edge.
   
   It should be noted that there is not a template per se (i.e. super natural trait) but there are a few tricks for the characters to pick up to even things out a bit. I honestly enjoy the idea of the characters being overwhelmed (a la Cthulhu games).
   
   I think it's worth the buy to use as player characters or as potent NPCs alike, and that future products should continue to impress or at least help generate ideas for your World of Darkness game.



2. When Hunter: The Reckoning came out, I was overjoyed. As a Storyteller, I enjoy telling stories from the human's perspective more. I find their struggle against the odds more in line with my skills and intents for telling stories. What I got was a good book, but it kind of took the focus in a more action-oriented, "blockbuster" arena. I still used it, but I thought for all the cool skills and abilities, it was missing something. So, when Hunter: The Vigil came out, I had high hopes that it would reinvent the series in a fashion more appealing to the kinds of stories I wanted to tell. It does that and more.
   
   Hunter: The Vigil is a nice sized guidebook with plenty of clarification and subtle tweaks to rules already established in the core WoD guide. One of the biggest changes comes to the ways in which players can get back Willpower. It's a slight tweak that allows Hunters to get much needed (and, now, used) Willpower back, allowing them to "risk Willpower" on a roll that is for The Vigil (think gambling that your character will make the roll).
   
   But what is the Vigil? The best way to describe this new structure is to think of a Hunter as a candle, fighting back the darkness. Those called to The Vigil are each candles, forming cells and larger organizations throughout the world. This structure is very fluid, allowing Storytellers and players to play through the game from various perspectives.
   
   It also provides some terrific factions (called Conspiracies) to place your character in (or not). You can easily have your players form a small cell that doesn't know a wider organization exists. Or you can have them formally enrolled in one of the factions. Each conspiracy also showcases a huge variety, from the Lucifuge who believe they are Satan's children and want to atone for their evil ways to The Long Night which mimics and draws from Evangelical christians to what I find as the most intriguing group, The Cheiron Group. What's also great about these factions is that there are ways of creating antagonists between each group, providing some variety. Each group approaches the hunt differently, and there are some terrific story points that can be created with the factions not always agreeing.
   
   Of course, the guidebook wouldn't be much fun without providing some interesting ways to deck your characters out for the coming fights and The Endowments listed in the book are terrific. What I appreciate about the Endowments is, again, the flexibility. Depending on which conspiracy(s) you want to utilize in your game, you can make your Hunter group as supernatural or science-oriented as you choose. Some of the powers are pretty spectacular like one of the Benediction abilities that allow skilled Hunters to bring recently deceased people back to life (though they come back a little off), to the Lucifuge's ability to create fire. Other abilities are more equipment based.
   
   One of the Endowments allows players to equip themselves with ancient weapons embued with magical properties while another Endowment allows players to utilize the top, new equipment. One such piece of equipment is The Bleeder that causes supernatural creatures to excrete blood, but doesn't work (very well, at least) on non-supernatural foes.
   
   Then there's the one that combines magic with technology. This is the more macabre area with one such ability allowing users to take a piece of skin from a vampire and replace a part of their neck with it. Even more disturbing (but functional), the piece of skin will wiggle whenever vampires are near. Very cool.
   
   The rest of the book plays out as you'd expect; it's a good guide and reminder of rules established in the core book, but it also tweaks some rules to help give Hunters a little more delineation from a normal human. Whether you want to have a story involving a Hunter cell that has to scrounge the local pawn shops for a means to defend themselves, or a more powerful/supernatural group, Hunter: The Vigil will fill that demand.
   
   I debated from the beginning what the rating should be. But, as I was reading through the book and getting more excited about utilizing the groups, characters and skills, I realized just how much I could squeeze out of this guide. For that alone, it was worth receiving high marks. I was really impressed with this book and definitely recommend it to those who want to play from the human side of things.



3. Hunter is a very pro-active game. In a sense, it doesn't matter whether your mortal character is built according to the Hunter rules or not. Unless he goes out into the dark and tries to push the monsters back, he's not really a hunter. That's what makes Hunters different from ordinary mortals and why they have a full game line: their obsession drives them, pushing them to extremes that regular people can't match. That's true for their physical abilities and their ingenuity, but also in their morals and sanity. For example, with many players seeing The Dark Knight, Batman is often presented as a Hunter model. He's good, but to my mind, Heath Ledger's Joker is not just an awesome example of a slasher, but of a fallen Hunter too.
   
   Some people have evidently been calling this a core content update for the World of Darkness mortal game. While White Wolf may not like that perspective, there is a huge amount of material that can be used in any mortal and perhaps any game. Chapters 2 and 4 are the Character Creation and Special Rules chapters. The main innovations here are Practical Experience, Tactics and the Professions. Tactics are, usually, tactical applications of teamwork to achieve some specific effect. The names pretty much sum those up, for example Controlled Immolation and Dentistry (that's not so much removing teeth as smashing the mouth). Practical Experience supplements normal experience to an extent, and is earned solely through hostile encounters with supernatural beings. Hunters can deal civilly with supernatural beings if they choose, but only taking risks gets them practical experience for it. Professions describe various character types and give some specific benefits for Hunters from their day jobs. The Professions are not based directly on job-defined definitions, but what your character regards himself as. A science writer for instance could be based on the Academic, Journalist, or Scientist professions, just as the obvious choices. There is also a big section on equipment, which both adds new items and expands on previous descriptions. For any game that involves a character trying to be a part of the mortal world, the new equipment and Profession descriptions are wonderful additions.
   
   Chapter 3 features the sample Compacts and Conspiracies. The Compacts can be defined as groups that share a common obsession. The Conspiracies are a bit more my style, as they are defined by the obsessions of their founders, rather than a necessity for all members. I don't genuinely like any of these organisations, however. The writer's intent seems to have been to give a strong dark side to all of them, forcing the question of how to fight monsters without becoming monsters. A good idea, that would have benefited from more work in giving any good qualities other than monster hunting. Also, the organisations seem rather generic and reinforce negative stereotypes. The only organisation engaged in systematic criminal activity are the Muslim drug-runners. The sinister corporation comes from Europe. Finally, the write-ups are more about the history and nature of the groups, while knowledge of how they behave seems to be left to the many references to them throughout the rest of the book. The chapter also has the Endowments for the Conspiracies and rules for making new groups and Endowments. That includes an unexpected gem: three or four research groups or strategies for each Conspiracy. They are well written, imaginative, and for a research type like me are brimming with story ideas.
   
   Chapter 1 belongs with Chapter 5 and the Appendices as part of the Storytelling and Antagonist sections. Chapter 1 has a history section and discussion of the philosopy of the hunt, but it also has a section on what Hunters know and believe about the supernatural. I actually prefer it to the rules-based section in Chapter 5. Chapter 5 provides neat categories for the 5 previous game lines, whereas Chapter 1 depicts Hunters evaluating a supernatural entity based on what they see it do, not what the rules say it is. The Dread Powers system is based on that, too. People wondered how White Wolf would represent their supernatural beings without reprinting all of their rules. The Dread Powers represent the physical or mental effect a Hunter sees or experiences. It's a simple system for creating direct physical opponents for Hunters to face. Apart from that, the Storytelling section has an emphasis on Hunter vs Hunter conflict. It's definitely an area that deserved exploration, but it's given too much prominence. The monster hunt should almost always be at the forefront of a Hunter story, and I would not enjoy a Chronicle that consisted primarily of political infighting within an organisation and/or combat with Hunters outside it. Having said that, cults also get a prominent mention. (I predict the sixth book will be about cults.) Cults make good enemies for Hunters in particular because they force Hunters to confront the ethics of dealing with humans in the service of the supernatural rather than just the monsters, and the question of how different Hunters really are from those cultists. A question the book specifies that Hunters don't think to ask very often.



4. I have to admit that I wasn't too thrilled to hear this was the next line from the New World of Darkness, but once the spoilers started coming on White Wolf's webpage I started to change my mind.
   
   Then I got the book. It was sooooooo much better than I had anticipated.
   
   The gist of it is this: you play a mortal, with no special powers, no special resistances, no special anything, really. Sure, you've got Endowments that the higher level Organizations--such as Task Force Valkyrie Advanced Armory, Aegis Kae Doru Relics and the Cheiron Group's Thaumatechnology--grant you, but at that level you lose a bit of personality as you become part of a group, a team that may, in the end, try and go beyond the scope of the lone group of hunters out scouring the world of creatures that should not be.
   
   This book, along with the World of Darkness Core rulebook, has everything you need in it to set out against the denizens of the night. You don't even need the other five Core books--Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf the Forsaken, Mage the Awakening, Promethean the Created or Changeling the Lost--as there is a section in the book detailing a quick and easy assembly of monsters that your Hunter can face off against.
   
   That isn't to say that HtV isn't as readily compatible with the other systems. Just that the game was designed so that the other books weren't necessarily needed in order to hunt vampires, werewolves or whatever. (A good thing, too, as that could deep into your pockets.)
   
   I was never a big fan of Hunter the Reckoning, and actually like the new World of Darkness tons better than the old, but this game along and blew me away with its simple and practical approach to making a hunter that can make a stand against those things going bump in the night.

5 comments about Player's Handbook, Version 3.5 (Dungeon & Dragons Roleplaying Game: Core Rules).

1. Dungeons and Dragons is still the best and most popular table top role-playing game on the market today. My only complaint about this book and the game in general is the sheer volume of companion books you have to get in order to play the game. It'd be nice for them to break down one day and make a good all-in-one product for a change.



2. Really it doesn't need reviews by me, there are plenty. If you're ordering it you've probably already held one and you know what it does and what is in it.
   All I can really say is that Amazon shipped it out fast, UPS (or who ever delivered it) got it here in 2 days, regular shipping, and it was in perfect condition.



3. This is the say all end all when it comes to D&D. With character creation, detailed explanations of combat, skills, feats, and an impressive starting spell library, this book is a must for all players.
   
   If you're new, this is a wonderful text to get a feel for the game. As reference material, I give it an A+ (yes, even for Dungeon Masters).



4. The drawings are a little cartoonish...but still a great book. Now I just have to find some Die Hard D&D players.



5. The 3.5 system allowed for massive customization and character creation, as long as you have an imaginative group and a DM who is good with making house rules to bring things down to earth, then this was the best D&D system to date.
   The forth edition really seems set to drain the money out of one's pockets. There's the miniature push, the web site subscription that should help you to solve problems that the books themselves create, oh and the common place D&D material that was left out of the basic books to lure one to have to buy the additional books, hooray.
   I'm glad people are this interested in this system and I hope more people discover it.

5 comments about Threats of the Galaxy (Star Wars Accessory).

1. This book, Threats of the Galaxy, is a great addition to the Saga edition game. It provides over 100 stock characters, a couple of new character trees and a couple of vehicles. So, is this product for the just gamer who is always a character and never a GM, probably not. Because it is for the most part characters, the everyday player won't find much use out of it.



2. I'm a fan of both the Star Wars Saga Edition, and the new 4th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons. I picked up the new 4th Ed material including the Monster Manual (MM) before picking up Threats of the Galaxy (TotG, a Star Wars "Monster Manual"). Unfortunately, the quality of the two could not be further apart. While I understand the intent of the authors of TotG, I certainly feel that they could've borrowed much more heavily from the style and layout that the MM offers to the GM. The layout isn't nearly as tight, and the lack of pictures for the NPCs is glaring when put side by side. The way the MM displays each race, giving you information and tactics for every iteration of that monster really helps the GM in crafting tactical, intelligent, believable enemy NPCs. TotG does none of this.
   
   TotG also intersperses actual game mechanics throughout the NPC entries, instead of compiling this into a "New Game Mechanics" section at the end. This requires the reader to hunt and peck throughout the whole book to find that game mechanic that now wants to be used. Bad layout! What makes this most frustrating is that since the book was released in May of '08, the authors must have had access to what was being produced for 4th Edition, and could've seen the improved layout and incorporated it into their product. Either this is a horrible lack of communication, or a horrible oversight of WotC's product management. I'm obviously not suggesting that they should've updated Saga Edition to 4th Edition, but layout and tactics is not a 4th Edition game mechanic. It's just good sense.
   
   While I plan on using TotG as a reference, I am certainly going to have the MM right next to it, trying to cross-reference Star Wars NPCs with similar monster tactics and powers in the MM. It's a pain for the GM that the TotG authors could have alleviated by taking a look around at the new direction RPGs at WotC are taking.



3. Threats of the Galaxy is the first of the many great sourcebooks for the Star Wars RPG coming out this year. The Threats of the Galaxy sourcebook is the ultimate source for all villians in the Star Wars Universe: Darth Maul, Stormtroopers, Crime Lords, Gamblers, Dark Jedi, and all other creatures of the galaxy, including NPC that can aid PCs: such as Jedi Knights, Jedi Masters, and other characters. Much like a Monster Manul for D&D, Threats of the Galaxy is a perfect selection of NPCs and enemies to go through with both PCs and GMs.



4. What "Threats of the Galaxy" provides is tons of character types and a few creatures and droids for your characters to beat up and dispose of. You could think of this as the Monster Manual for the Star Wars universe. GMs will find this to be very useful for their campaigns. However, there isn't much help for scaling the levels of NPCs or creatures, so you'll still have to bit of work. Also, there isn't much support for creating your own characters or creatures. You'll have to hunt and peck for types of characters that will be able to match the levels of the characters in your campaign. It's a bit of inconvenience, but the characters that are in this book are very solid.



5. Threats to the Galaxy is more of a Game Masters reference than a players book. I've found that most of the Saga edition supplements (so far) are geared more towards the GM but with some interesting player options thrown in as well. I think this will change once Wizards of the Coast release books for all of the different Star Wars time periods. Threats gives you stats on some of the baddest characters, both specific and general, in the Star Wars galaxy. If you are a player of the Saga edition of the Star Wars RPG game then you should pick this up!

No comments about Manual of the Planes: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement (D&D Rules Expansion).

5 comments about The Icewind Dale Trilogy Collector's Edition (A Forgotten Realms(r) Omnibus).

1. Overall I enjoyed this series, the first I've read from Salvatore. The characters are interesting and most of it was developed pretty well. My major beef is that the combat lost all interest to me early on - and there's a lot of it throughout the series. The problem is that the odds are always overwhelming and the heroes generally come out of it with a few scratches. Every new battle seemed like it was 5 or 10 to 1. Why not 100 to 1 then? After I realized that the heroes were always going to come out fine, it was just a matter of seeing how it played out, which was sometimes interesting, but mostly just unrealistic due to the odds. [Spoiler] I kept hoping that Salvatore would have the guts to kill off a major character, but even when it seemed like he did, that character comes back. The hordes of enemies can't seem to touch our heroes and they're apparently all imbeciles for not resorting to ranged weapons / more advanced tactics once in a while. You might argue that this is keeping with the spirit of D&D-based games, but I don't think so. You survive in the games by having a well balanced party and ways to get healed.



2. I grew up having only read J.R.R. Tolken. These books are great! I never picked up another fanasy book thinking how could any another be as good.
   It wasn't till last year a friend gave me Homeland. That's were it all started for me. I just started The Legacy. I cannot put these books down. So far I have been immersed in this awesome world R.A. Salvatore has created. Some freinds of mine say they are envious that I am enjoying these books for the first time. I am glad I have many more to go.
   I highly suggest Starting right with The Dark Elf Trilogy, Icewind Dale Trilogy, Legacy Of The Drow Collectors Edition, Paths of Darkness, then on to Cleric Quintet. Your in for some great reading!



3. Second favorite trilogy right behind the (The dark Elf Trilogy) I cant say enough about these books. Salvatore has really opened up a new and wonderful world for me to explore. Read the Dark elf trilogy first then read the Icewind dale trilogy and you will be a Salvatore fan for life.



4. I got interested in this series because of, one, the author who is a very well known name in the Realms story line and two, I played D&D with my 2 sons several years back under the origional rules and magic before any updated or "improved" versions, when we stopped playing I was a 10th level cleric. It took a while to get back into the story line because of the time lag between then and now but after I did the story flowed better and was easier to understand what was going on. It was very predictable at times but, as in the game, there is always a way out if you think about it and use your imagination. I have since ordered other trilogies with Drizzt Do'Urden and enjoy them very much. He is a most interesting character and the stories are fun to read. You can look into the character and his philosophy and, at least to me, see that they relate very much to the way most people think someone should be. Honorable, trustworthy and above all a devoted friend willing to go the extra mile to help his friends, to live his life as he believes, to follow his ideals. Everyone should do that but few do.



5. Bottom Line: Try before you buy
   This is the first of Salvatore's books I've read, and it is apparently his first book, which might explain a lot. It's hard to say sometimes from the first book, whether the author's storytelling will get better (or you might be more interested in it) the more books they write. Some do, some don't, and some are hits and misses the whole way through.
   I was moving along, okay, not riveted to the book, but moving along with it. And then I came to the part with Kessell and the crystal shard, and that just put me at a dead stop, do not pass go point. It was very weak, and the magic (part of the foundation of the story) seemed hokey. It was not believable at all, and if the reader doesn't believe in the story, or world building, or characters, there's a problem.
   I tried to pick the book up again, and maybe skip past that part, but I just couldn't.
   I'd recommend for fantasy, Lorna Freeman, Robert Jordan, LOTR of course, Holly Lisle, The Briar King, Cast in Shadow, even Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince.

5 comments about Starships of the Galaxy (Star Wars Roleplaying Game).

1. After picking up the Star Wars SAGA roleplaying game from Amazon, I went to the Wizards of the Coast website to look up any potential printing errors in the book. While I was looking around, I read about an up and coming supplement dealing with starship options. It piqued my interest, so I pre-ordered a copy of it on Amazon.
   
   A month later, the book arrived and after spending about a week using it, I can say it was very much worth the money.
   
   ---
   
   "Starships of the Galaxy" is at heart a gathering of ship statistics, paragraphs of ship descriptions within the Star Wars timeline and pieces of art sprinkled throughout.
   
   There's good variety here: most if not all of the movie ships were covered, including the medical frigates (seen at the end of The Empire Strikes Back and during Return of the Jedi), Cloud Cars (seen in The Empire Strikes Back), Super Star Destroyers (around the middle to end of Return of the Jedi) and more. In addition to what was seen in the six films, there are also entries that come from the Expanded Universe novels, like Xizor's Virago (from Shadows of the Empire). These were a nice touch that managed to cater to both casual and hardcore fans.
   
   In some cases, the descriptions were a little skimpy - you'd either read about who used the ship, or when and where it was conceived, but rarely both. Mostly though, they did get the basics of the vehicle across.
   
   The art is a mixed bag in terms of style - some were very straight, bright and blocky, giving the ship a technical drawing feel (like the X-Wing, and it appears the artists did work for the d20 Modern supplement "d20 Future"). Others were a bit blurry, colorful and seemed to make the ship look like it was engaged that moment in the heat of battle (such as the Virago). Both were done well, however. So, consistency aside, I was very pleased.
   
   Though smaller than the rest of the book, there is a section on starship maneuvers and tactics. While these are reserved for campaigns set primarily with vehicle combat as the main conflict, there are some good single options that work for a mixed theme campaign.
   
   To top it off, the covering is solidly build and the pages aren't thin and easily bent. The low page count (160) might turn some away (and I was skeptical myself after Wizards lowered the average from 192 to 160) but as long as the content stays at this level of quality or rises, the cost will be justifiable.



2. This newest version of the Star Wars Starship guide is great for those Smigglers, Bounty Hunters and Ace pilots that want to buy,steal or build their own custom made ship.



3. I like the book, and I love how extensive it is and how well it explains just about everything you need to know about a starship. It really embellishes the starship battles and makes it much more immersive into the Star Wars Universe everyone knows and loves.
   
   The only drawback is that much of it goes so in-depth that the typical group will not take the feats necessary to use most of the book. Unless you have a campaign centered around a group of pilots, much of the book will be largely unused.
   
   But, it is a necessity should you choose to make a campaign of snub-fighter jocks or members of the Imperial Navy or a party who just wants to design and build their own ship.



4. The Starships of the Galaxy sourcebook for the Star Wars RPG is a nice addition to the series of sourcebooks that are coming out this year. Along with Threats of the Galaxy that came out a couple weeks before it, Starships of the Galaxy puts more depth and definition into your sessions with chases, dogfights, and all the great things that makes a Starship in Star Wars a Starship. Having great Starships, Freighters, and Capital Ships from the Star Wars universe. From Starships like Luke Skywalker's X-Wing and Darth Vader's Tie Fighter, then Freighters like Han Solo's Millenium Falcon and Knights of the Old Republic's Ebon Hawk, to Capital Ships like the Corellian Corvette and the Victory Class Star Destroyer, it's all here. For fans of the Star Wars RPG and fans of Star Wars period this is a great book to add to your collection. With nice stats for all the Starships for Star Wars. If you enjoy the game and enjoy the Star Wars universe this is a definite must buy!



5. I think my biggest beef with this book is the way the ships are organized. Instead of alphabetically ordered (even the four new templates like junker and prototype are in with the ships in alphabetical order instead of a little section of their own)I think it would have made more sense to have the ships catagorized by size, function, or the best prolly would have been by who used or made them. Like... all the old republic ships in one section, then new empire, then the independants... I dunno, it just get's very dissorganized when they do it alphabetically. My other beef being I guess even though it is labeled "Starships" I was hoping to see some land speeders or bikes, a few walkers... land craft I guess, I wonder if that means they'll come out with a land craft book or just put them chunk by chunk in the other supplements which seems to be what they're doing. Seems the KotR book has speeders and bikes and the Unleashed book has some too so.... In order to play the game you have to buy all the books anyways right? One last beef... The templates in my opinion are pretty useless, nice attempt, but really... if a gm wants to make a ship a junker... you don't really need a template, just make some of the stats lower...
   On to the pluss' of this book. There is enough selection of ships (barely) to put together a battle. There are maybe a couple of fighters, freighters, transports, capital ships, etc from each era of play from each faction. There are pictures for 99% of the ships which is allways good and the art is exceptional. I guess I do have another beef with this book which was actually the first thing that annoyed me, there are only about 4 schematic layouts for ships... so there are all these ships but only about four of them have blueprint layouts (dynamic a.k.a. ebon hawk, sith infiltrator a.k.a. Darth Maul's personal transport, and of course han solo's ride.. I'm pretty sure there's one more... oh yea, one other space transport) which bummed me out because I was looking to throw some space pirates into the campaign and would have liked to work with some actual ship layouts instead of making them myself and I guess it would have gotten pretty rediculous with the sheer size of some of these ships but they could have done a few more of them. The ships have brief descriptions of who made them and why which is good for tying them in to your campaign as well as a capabilities section which is good for basically letting you know how that ship was used. One of the best parts of this book was the modification part which was laid out and explained very well. There are new talents and feats which were interesting but seriously I think unless the GM let's it be known that it is going to be a campaign heavy in space most of them are pretty useless to a standard campaign, more for building specialized characters. There is one cool feat enabling someone to literally make a ship from the ground up and I think that's cool. I reccomend this book for two people and two people only... The GM who wants to throw an occasional small scale starship battle into the campaign (although get ready for a headache cuz the rules and specs on how to do this are complicated) and the player who wants to be a specialized character, the player who really wants to be an ace pilot and have a personalized ship that is capable of more than just getting the party from point a to point b. Hey, no group is complete without a han solo right? beats calling a taxi all the time and really helps flesh out a character. Sooo... I'd say this book is more for the player looking to flesh their character than for the GM

No comments about Arcane Power: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement.

No comments about King of the Trollhaunt Warrens: Adventure P1 (D&D Adventure).

5 comments about Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual: Roleplaying Game Core Rules, 4th Edition.

1. the book is by far the weakest of the three core books.
   
   The good:
   The new mechanics focus on the "screen time" devoted to each monster and keeps things simpler. Most entries provide knowledge check info with DCs and useful info. Book is colorful and includes lots of creatures and variations
   
   The bad:
   Other than the DC check knowledge, background info on the creatures is really sparse. In some cases variations in a entry don't even have a phsyical description of how they are different. Templates would be better served in here than in the DMG (though that's a minor quibble).
   
   Overall, still well worth the money if you are going to run a game.



2. This is the best of the 4e core books for me, but still left me feeling a bit sour.
   
   First the good. In the tradition of the 1st edition AD&D Monster Manual, this book dispenses with lengthy descriptions of monsters and instead focuses on stats. Only in rare circumstances do we get lengthy prose regarding a monster's motivations outside of being fodder for the adventurers to beat up on. Filling in the details is left to the DM. The new stat blocks are straightforward and much easier to use than their 3.5 counterparts. Special abilities are in the stat block rather than hidden amongst the monster's descriptive text. That's a welcome change indeed. Also, one of my favorite things from the last two 3.5 MM's is carried over: knowledge checks to see what our heroes might know about their current foe. All in all, this is a very easy to use book.
   
   Then there's the bad news. There are a lot of monsters missing from this book when compared to its 3.5 counterpart. Yes, some of the new core monsters were pulled from books other than the first MM, but leaving out monsters as classic as metallic dragons reeks of a mandate from marketing. Just like with the PHB, things many veteran players expect have been left out for the sole reason of saving them for another book to sell. You want your metallic dragons and the rest of the giants? Buy `Monster Manual II'. Then there's the artwork. A friend and I spent about 10 minutes playing `spot the recycled art' with this book. Roughly 10-15%, maybe more, is culled from 3.5 books. Were the contracted artists unable to meet their deadline for new artwork, or did someone at Wizards decide to cut the budget? You be the judge.
   
   So what we're left with is a very well designed Monster Manual that's easy to use, but missing a significant number of iconic monsters and wholly original artwork. That's good for a 3 in my book.



3. I have been playing Dungeons and Dragons since the first boxed set and I have looked forward to each new version and this is no exception. Each new version has tried to improve on the core Dungeon and Dragon experience until now. This new version is not really a new version but an entirely new game with very little of the flavor or magic feeling of the original. Now it feels more like a version of WOW or another of the online games. I am not knocking the online games they can be great if that is what you want to play but if you are looking for an intense good old fashioned role playing session with a group of your friends this new version is not for you unless you are under 12. If you are an experienced role player I would suggest that you save your money and stick to 3.5 there should be a lot of second hand material for that around and several other good companies are still supporting it like Necromancer Games. I wish those people bought Dungeons and Dragons as they know what D&D should feel like. Also look for the games put out by pazzio publishing the company that used to put out the Dragon and Dungeon. In short if you are a veteran of the Dungeons and Dragons and enjoyed the old game save your money or better yet spend it elsceware there are a lot of fine games out there unfortunately this company is no longer make such products.



4. The other reviews are right. This is no longer D&D, it's simply a board game. A board game involving stats. The monster manual has virtually no actual description of the monsters. No ecology, no habits, no history... just numbers. I was looking forward to this... extremely disappointed. Basically all I paid for is a bunch of pretty pictures. The 4th edition should have been released as a separate product from D&D. Maybe as an add on. If you don't have the time to play a real D&D game, you could play this board game version. The 4th edition is nothing but a waste. It really is a shame.



5. This product is purely a straightforward down to the point book of creatures with stats, nothing more. There is hardly any interesting tidbits about the monsters and their behaviors. No ecology or terrain types or lair fluff and barely any aquatic monsters which irked me.
   
   The tactics are clearly laid out. While the stat blocks are interesting in keeping the players on their toes the creatures themselves are more like video game automatons with push button type functions (much like the player characters). Not recommended for those who love interesting juicy monster books. Considering the thickness of this volume most of the space is consumed by stat blocks making this volume a snore to enjoy outside of DMing sessions.