Slashdot Mirror
Dungeons, Cities, and Psionics
It's time to check in with the table-top scene, with a slew of products from earlier this year. With one exception, everything I have to discuss today is from Wizards of the Coast (WotC). The well-known maker of Dungeons and Dragons is having a banner year, a year they've been referring to as the 'Year of Dragons'. Their draco-specific products will get a look here on the site in a month or two, and later this month I should have a full report on the 4th Edition of the Shadowrun RPG. Today, though, we've got demons, psionics, epic-level play, and a second Player's Handbook. Oh yeah, and a 670-page, $120 sourcebook called Ptolus. Read on for my impressions of these great excuses to throw a d20.
Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss
James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Ed Stark
$29.95, 160 pages
The first in a series of sourcebooks detailing the denizens of the outer planes, Hordes of the Abyss is a title squarely aimed at the GM. Penned by some well-known alumni of Dungeon magazine, this text is a rare accessory, in that almost every D&D GM could make use of it at one point or another. Because of the popularity of the Abyss and its denizens throughout Dungeons and Dragons lore, after a certain point you can be certain your players will either be fighting, summoning, or visiting creatures from this horrific lower plane. It follows the same template as most location-specific sourcebooks; there are new feats, monsters, and spells, and a large section detailing the geography of the area. The most enlightening part of the book deals with the powerful, but fickle, demon princes that rule over the various layers. They're given statistics, but I find the material on who's squabbling with who much more interesting. If your players are even vaguely interested in traveling the planes, plot hooks like Graz'zt's war with Demogorgon or the machinations of Dagon are great ways to get players interested. This is a textbook example of what a great GM accessory should be; concise, specific, and heavily detailed.
Players Handbook II
David Noonan
$34.95, 224 pages
The Dungeon Master's Guide II (DMG II) gave GMs the tools they needed to run a better game. The Player's Handbook II (PHB II) aims to provide players with the tools to make and run a better character. There are some crunchy bits here, with new classes and spells filling out parts of the book, but even more space is spent on coming to understand your character and their place in the world. Every class is given a new look, examining not only what it can do but what role it should play in an adventuring party. How to act as an adventuring party is also explored, with game mechanics assigned to roleplaying elements like camp preparation and team-building exercises. Gamers familiar with White Wolf's titles will recognize the section on character backgrounds: archetypes that a player looking for a hook can exploit to get inside the head of his new avatar. While I'm very glad to have it on my shelf, I don't see this as a required text for every D&D player. There's nothing in here that a player absolutely has to have. New players are probably going to get more out of it than veterans; those who do purchase it will be getting a lot for their money.
Power of Faerûn
Ed Greenwood and Eric L. Boyd
$29.95, 160 pages
Power of Faerûn is a GM-specific text that offers reams of advice for dealing with players that are powerful enough to move mountains, found kingdoms, and win wars. Where many other WotC texts focus on mechanics, Power has almost no references to the D&D rules-set; consumers who like their sourcebooks crunchy should be advised. What Greenwood and Boyd fill the book with, instead, are hundreds of plot hooks and guidelines for running high level campaigns. If your players want to become nobility, build a keep, and tame the frontier, this book has exactly what you'll need. It's set in the Realms, of course, but many of the suggestions they make could be easily translated to other fantasy settings with a little work. I'm not sure how many DMs actually run epic-level campaigns, to be truthful, but it is still one of the more useful Realms supplements I've read. While the book is intended for epic play, every chapter is essentially a framework for an entire campaign. I highly recommend this to GMs looking for inspiration and a campaign workbook.
Complete Psionic
Bruce R. Cordell and Christopher Lindsay
$29.94, 160 pages
Unlike the other 'Complete' books, which provide variations on a theme for the core classes, Complete Psionic only increases options for campaigns which use the 'mind magic' introduced in the Expanded Psionics Handbook. With rules for psionics-using races, several new classes, abilities, and monsters, GMs that have a use for this material will be undoubtedly pleased. As far as I know, though, only a small percentage of campaigns actually use the obscure rules referenced in this book. Most campaigns stay close to the D&D world described in the core books, which have no mention of the sometimes confusing and often broken mechanics associated with psionics. Thus, for something like 99% of all D&D players and GMs, this book is completely useless. Considering the high utility factor of the other books in the 'Complete' series, or even the 'Races' series, the narrow focus of this text seems disappointing and wasteful.
Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire
Monte Cook, Sue Weinlein Cook, Todd Lockwood, et. al.
$119.99, 640 pages
A tour de force project from Malhavoc press, Ptolus is breathtaking (and backbreaking) to read. When I mentioned it earlier this year in connection to the freebie Player's Guide, I had no idea what I was getting myself in for. I sat down to flip through the book after last month's Gen Con, intending to skim enough to get an idea of the setting and pass on to you the salient points. Instead, I delayed this article by reading through the entire text cover-to-cover. The reason? It's special. Frustratingly, it's hard to pin down exactly what's special about it without doing a lot of arm waving. Ptolus isn't likely to bring many new players to D&D, being as niche and jargony as any other setting you're likely to encounter. I also don't think the well known settings that WotC publishes have anything to worry about; the Realms and Eberron are going to continue to outsell the books associated with the 'City by the Spire'.
Despite that, I found Mr. Cook's offering to be invigorating. A campaign setting built during the development process for the newer editions of Dungeons and Dragons, Ptolus is the hand-worn world used to test many of the concepts found in the Player's Handbook and Dungeons Master's Guide. Despite being so closely associated with core D&D, the setting still has enough deviation from the norm (guns, a few new races, technology) to make stale situations fresh. The book's astonishing size is due to the sheer amount of detail available. Each district of the city is described, as are important factions, several dungeons, the history of the world, technology, and magic. Probably the most surprising element of the text is its accessibility. Although there is a mountain of information available, each chapter is laid out in an intuitive fashion. Each district description contains only what's useful for running that area of the city; there are shops and streets listed, but no attempt is made to flesh out every single building. The book's utility is aided by sidebars on every single page (containing page references to key elements), several detailed glossaries and appendices, dozens of maps, and copious illustrations.
The book's extraordinarily high production value is breathtaking to behold. Not just the value of the layout, paper, and binding (although those are all amazing) ... the production value of the world has been polished to a mirror finish. That's really what makes Ptolus special; years of running characters through this setting has made Mr. Cook's vision crystal clear. His deep understanding of the 'City by the Spire', and his talent as a GM, is passed undiminished to the reader. As someone who runs games regularly, I found the book almost leaps from your hands with sheer potential. Some settings and sourcebooks leave you bewildered, wondering when you'll actually make use of the content you've purchased. Ptolus not only made me want to run games in the setting, it's inspired me to make other games and worlds better.
Given the cost, I expect few people will rush out and purchase this massive setting. Via DriveThruRPG, though, you can buy the entire book in sections in PDF format. Heck, if you're even vaguely interested the first chapter is free for the taking. At the end of the day, the Ptolus line is a testament to what a small publisher can do if with the proper inspiration. I don't think that this Mr. Cook's opus is going to change the way the industry works ... but I certainly hope it opens some eyes.
James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Ed Stark
$29.95, 160 pages
The first in a series of sourcebooks detailing the denizens of the outer planes, Hordes of the Abyss is a title squarely aimed at the GM. Penned by some well-known alumni of Dungeon magazine, this text is a rare accessory, in that almost every D&D GM could make use of it at one point or another. Because of the popularity of the Abyss and its denizens throughout Dungeons and Dragons lore, after a certain point you can be certain your players will either be fighting, summoning, or visiting creatures from this horrific lower plane. It follows the same template as most location-specific sourcebooks; there are new feats, monsters, and spells, and a large section detailing the geography of the area. The most enlightening part of the book deals with the powerful, but fickle, demon princes that rule over the various layers. They're given statistics, but I find the material on who's squabbling with who much more interesting. If your players are even vaguely interested in traveling the planes, plot hooks like Graz'zt's war with Demogorgon or the machinations of Dagon are great ways to get players interested. This is a textbook example of what a great GM accessory should be; concise, specific, and heavily detailed.
Players Handbook II
David Noonan
$34.95, 224 pages
The Dungeon Master's Guide II (DMG II) gave GMs the tools they needed to run a better game. The Player's Handbook II (PHB II) aims to provide players with the tools to make and run a better character. There are some crunchy bits here, with new classes and spells filling out parts of the book, but even more space is spent on coming to understand your character and their place in the world. Every class is given a new look, examining not only what it can do but what role it should play in an adventuring party. How to act as an adventuring party is also explored, with game mechanics assigned to roleplaying elements like camp preparation and team-building exercises. Gamers familiar with White Wolf's titles will recognize the section on character backgrounds: archetypes that a player looking for a hook can exploit to get inside the head of his new avatar. While I'm very glad to have it on my shelf, I don't see this as a required text for every D&D player. There's nothing in here that a player absolutely has to have. New players are probably going to get more out of it than veterans; those who do purchase it will be getting a lot for their money.
Power of Faerûn
Ed Greenwood and Eric L. Boyd
$29.95, 160 pages
Power of Faerûn is a GM-specific text that offers reams of advice for dealing with players that are powerful enough to move mountains, found kingdoms, and win wars. Where many other WotC texts focus on mechanics, Power has almost no references to the D&D rules-set; consumers who like their sourcebooks crunchy should be advised. What Greenwood and Boyd fill the book with, instead, are hundreds of plot hooks and guidelines for running high level campaigns. If your players want to become nobility, build a keep, and tame the frontier, this book has exactly what you'll need. It's set in the Realms, of course, but many of the suggestions they make could be easily translated to other fantasy settings with a little work. I'm not sure how many DMs actually run epic-level campaigns, to be truthful, but it is still one of the more useful Realms supplements I've read. While the book is intended for epic play, every chapter is essentially a framework for an entire campaign. I highly recommend this to GMs looking for inspiration and a campaign workbook.
Complete Psionic
Bruce R. Cordell and Christopher Lindsay
$29.94, 160 pages
Unlike the other 'Complete' books, which provide variations on a theme for the core classes, Complete Psionic only increases options for campaigns which use the 'mind magic' introduced in the Expanded Psionics Handbook. With rules for psionics-using races, several new classes, abilities, and monsters, GMs that have a use for this material will be undoubtedly pleased. As far as I know, though, only a small percentage of campaigns actually use the obscure rules referenced in this book. Most campaigns stay close to the D&D world described in the core books, which have no mention of the sometimes confusing and often broken mechanics associated with psionics. Thus, for something like 99% of all D&D players and GMs, this book is completely useless. Considering the high utility factor of the other books in the 'Complete' series, or even the 'Races' series, the narrow focus of this text seems disappointing and wasteful.
Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire
Monte Cook, Sue Weinlein Cook, Todd Lockwood, et. al.
$119.99, 640 pages
A tour de force project from Malhavoc press, Ptolus is breathtaking (and backbreaking) to read. When I mentioned it earlier this year in connection to the freebie Player's Guide, I had no idea what I was getting myself in for. I sat down to flip through the book after last month's Gen Con, intending to skim enough to get an idea of the setting and pass on to you the salient points. Instead, I delayed this article by reading through the entire text cover-to-cover. The reason? It's special. Frustratingly, it's hard to pin down exactly what's special about it without doing a lot of arm waving. Ptolus isn't likely to bring many new players to D&D, being as niche and jargony as any other setting you're likely to encounter. I also don't think the well known settings that WotC publishes have anything to worry about; the Realms and Eberron are going to continue to outsell the books associated with the 'City by the Spire'.
Despite that, I found Mr. Cook's offering to be invigorating. A campaign setting built during the development process for the newer editions of Dungeons and Dragons, Ptolus is the hand-worn world used to test many of the concepts found in the Player's Handbook and Dungeons Master's Guide. Despite being so closely associated with core D&D, the setting still has enough deviation from the norm (guns, a few new races, technology) to make stale situations fresh. The book's astonishing size is due to the sheer amount of detail available. Each district of the city is described, as are important factions, several dungeons, the history of the world, technology, and magic. Probably the most surprising element of the text is its accessibility. Although there is a mountain of information available, each chapter is laid out in an intuitive fashion. Each district description contains only what's useful for running that area of the city; there are shops and streets listed, but no attempt is made to flesh out every single building. The book's utility is aided by sidebars on every single page (containing page references to key elements), several detailed glossaries and appendices, dozens of maps, and copious illustrations.
The book's extraordinarily high production value is breathtaking to behold. Not just the value of the layout, paper, and binding (although those are all amazing) ... the production value of the world has been polished to a mirror finish. That's really what makes Ptolus special; years of running characters through this setting has made Mr. Cook's vision crystal clear. His deep understanding of the 'City by the Spire', and his talent as a GM, is passed undiminished to the reader. As someone who runs games regularly, I found the book almost leaps from your hands with sheer potential. Some settings and sourcebooks leave you bewildered, wondering when you'll actually make use of the content you've purchased. Ptolus not only made me want to run games in the setting, it's inspired me to make other games and worlds better.
Given the cost, I expect few people will rush out and purchase this massive setting. Via DriveThruRPG, though, you can buy the entire book in sections in PDF format. Heck, if you're even vaguely interested the first chapter is free for the taking. At the end of the day, the Ptolus line is a testament to what a small publisher can do if with the proper inspiration. I don't think that this Mr. Cook's opus is going to change the way the industry works ... but I certainly hope it opens some eyes.
I'm attacking the firstpost!
Wizards of the Coast bought TSR, the real maker of D&D.
As far as I'm concerned, theres no reason to ever throw a D20
-d
"Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
In this advanced age geeks press a button on their random number generator, using the background radiation of the universe as a source of entropy, to provide an output in the range of 1-n where n is determined by the characteristics of the die placed on the optical scanner.
Beep beep.
I'm impressed by the survival of this genre, especially with electronic and internet-enabled versions available. You don't have to go out looking for some friends to get together and play for hours and hours. You just turn on the PC and fire up text MUDs or MMORPGs. And with all of the challenges of the old and the advantages of the new, this still survives? Impressive indeed.
"Beauty is the ultimate defense against complexity." - David Gelernter
you can be certain your players will either be fighting, summoning, or visiting creatures from this horrific lower plane
I didn't realize they had MBA's in D&D... so much for escapism.
"If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
Geeks who do not own a set of dice should be a bit more careful with how they throw around the term. D20 is to geek as sword is to knight. But the Power of Faerun book makes for a good read, if you are interested in the forgotten realms campaign setting. Otherwise, not necessarily the best addition to your book library.
D20 has the potential to be a great system. Take a look at Castles and Crusaides for example. There are other excellent systems out there to play with, however. Look at what's available from White Wolf for example. Vampires, Mages, & Werewolves, oh my! Plus now Frankenstinian monsters, and more to come. The new WoD system (That's World of Darkness) is really excellent. I own every single core book, and darn close to all the suplimental material. Hey - they're so good that Sony ripped them off to make Underworld - how bad can it be?
But this is slashdot. A slashdoter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber!
Another printing of Dungeons and Dragons manuals.... Is this anything but another attempt to suck every last penny from loyal players.
I slipped and fell on my 8-sided dice.
Ouch.
Remember: Everytime you buy something from Hasboro/WOTC, you're paying money to a company screwing writers over.
- California Insider
Gfft! Gbah! Pfft! Fffeh! Mvvt! Grrp!
I know, I know... The pedant in me _knows_ "Maker" != "Inventor", but I think it should be a law that either "TSR" or "Gary Gygax" be mentioned in any sentence introducing D&D, regardless of how many people have been at the helm since day one.
https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
I tried this thing once and was kicked out for not being cool enough. It all seemed too social to me, even. Well, I'm a committed transhumanist who wants to become a Jupiter brain. Does that make me a nerd again?
I'm playing a Duskblade out of the PHB2 in a Rappan Athuk 3.5e game at my office. I'm loving it quite a bit. We've also got a Dragon Shaman running with us who seems to be enjoying his character as well.
No mention of Dreamblade in this summary? It's WotC's new minis game, and I like it quite a bit. Maybe this was just for RPG-type stuff, though.
"You will pay for your lack of vision..." - Emperor Palpatine to Ray Charles
As a small publisher of RPGs myself, I feel compelled to point out that there's much more out there than WOTC and White Wolf. There are a slew of small publishers putting out great, critically acclaimed material, both in PDF and print format. I draw your attention to the ENnie awards (complete list of 2006 winners can be found right here, which this past year rewarded not only big guys like Paizo Publishing and White Wolf, but smaller pubishers like Green Ronin and Guardians of Order, as well as really little guys like Atomic Sock Monkey Press (for the excellent super-hero game Truth & Justice and Dog Soul Publishing (for their Baba Yaga book, which I penned. Check us out. We may not be as well known as the other guys but we're just as good.
D&D is good if you want to play a kill them and take their stuff style of game... which isn't a bad thing if you enjoy it. D&D can be used for other things, but it's not the best tool for the task of many other styles of games. Check out Burning Wheel for one. It's a great system for fantasy RP similar to what you find in D&D setting, but with a different direction for what the game rules encourage players to explore. If you like to focus primarily on character's past, ethics, beliefs, goals and dreams, then this game suits that style of storytelling much better than D&D.
Alot of people cry and moan about Dnd, that its to complex or that its to simple or that they just dont like using D20. All of these always make me feel sad about the next generation of table top gamers, its like we are a dying species that people are trying to activally hunted to death. It also makes me sad when I see book products for prices over $20 or when the writers play a game of one ups manship with one another. Not only are fewer people enjoying role playing, but the ones who do play are more concerned with the "roll" aspect of it. I hope these books don't subscribe to the same idea that options and variety make for better game play, I hope that they are more about having fun with the game...
then again i guess some people enjoy that aspect of the game....
tiger hand.
come on, you don't know tiger hand?
http://www.rockpapersaddam.com/one.html
semper ubi sub ubi
and later this month I should have a full report on the 4th Edition of the Shadowrun RPG
Later this month? It's been out for a year already, and you're just getting to it?
A nifty little book called Mother Hydra's Mythos Rhymes.
I got my twelve sided die and I'm ready
to roll with a wizard and my goblin crew.
My friends are comin' over to my mom's basement
bringing Funions and the Mountain Dew.
I got a big broadsword made out of cardboard
and the stereo's a pumpin' Zepplin.
It's that time of the night, turn on the black light.
Let the Dungeons and the Dragons begin.
IT'S D&D!
Fightin' with the legends of yore.
IT'S D&D!
Never kissed a lady before (Nope. Nuh uh)
Now the Lord of The Rings, the Dark Crystal and things
we use these as a reference tool.
And when we put on our cloaks and tell warlock jokes
we're the coolest kids in the school (No we're not. I know)
Now attack's a real bastard, but a fair Dungeon Master
has hitpoints and charisma to lend
I rehearse in my room or what I call the Dragon's Tomb
when I'm not out with my girlfriend.
IT'S D an... Wait wait, whoa, whoa. You got a girlfriend?
Yeah... Yeah... No.
IT'S D&D!
Warriors who terrify
IT'S D&D!
Virgins, till the day weeeeeeeeeeee DIEEEEEEEEEEEE!
"Dungeons and Dragons" by Stephen Lynch
If this signature is witty enough, maybe somebody will like me.
put this invention to use ! design us a light-emitting table-cloth, so we can game (works for other table-top games too i guess) on an interactive map !
Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
Carnage Blender
Tis Free!
Is there a good site to find local games/players?
I agree with the premise: Complete Psionic was a pretty bad book. So bad, in fact, that some denizens of the D&D Psionics board banded together and wrote an alternative supplement that is easily 10 times better.
But don't go bad-mouthing psionics in your review. The base system is clear and well-thought-out. It's not broken at all, although it is misunderstood. It's even part of the core rules and SRD, so there's no reason why you can't read about it for yourself. No, Complete Psionics is bad because it lacked anything good. Nearly all of it was recycled from Dragon magazines or other supplements. There were nearly no good PrCs or powers to speak of. There were a handful of good ideas in there, but 80% of it was drek that nobody would use. That's why Complete Psionic was crap.
As the editor of a gaming news site called The Gamer Hotsheet and podcast (same name, site) that covers RPGs, wargames, board games, CCGs, etc., it's good to see traditional gaming getting attention on Slashdot. The industry is still doing well, but I think it would be doing a lot better if it could get more mainstream attention. Even though I've been involved in hobby gaming for many years, even I had no idea of some of the really cool stuff out there until I started publishing the news on my site. Articles on sites like this help more people realize that there are some very cool games out there that are far more fun and challenging than old classics like Monopoly (not that there's anything wrong with that game). Kudos to Slashdot for helping keep the pen-and-paper gaming industry alive.
no book will I ever buy and no RPG will I ever play again.
This book has a very nice premise but I have one problem. The demon princes seem extrodinarily weak. Graz'zt for instance is listed and set up as a CR 22 creature. A Balor is what, CR 19 or 20? This means a half dozen Balors not happy with Graz'zt could come along and off him and then kill one another for rightful place on the throne. A ruler on a Chaotic Evil Plane better be powerful enough to shred the most powerful of his commanders without thinking twice because otherwise his Chaotic Commanders will turn on his sorry butt. Fear and power is how they would have to rule.
I thought I was reading a press release. Whats up with this?
Gadget News at Gizmo.com
Hasbro bought out WotC a few years ago and they're running the company about as innovatively as MS is in software.
They've closed all the WotC retail stores which were a great spot to play the games. They paid lucas huge amounts for the rights to star wars, destroying seveal other good games made by others.
" (limited number of copies, long waits in line, and a LOT of lucky people didn't get one)"
there, fixed it for you.
Cheap shot, but I couldn't resist.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
It did win awards.
And the book is available, I got one;which I would happily sell to you for 1000 dollars.
How much do you want to play a knight in Westeros.
Personally, the game isn't deadly enough for the series.
If I was to play a game in that world, I'd use Savage Worlds;but hey, thats me.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Monte Cook used travel guides as examples of how to do the layout for the book. The end result is the book is very DM friendly. There are reference and side notes on every page. It is the City of the Invincible Overlord for a new generation and much better in quality.
For me it has set the bar on what level of detail I want for my worlds.
Beside the book is beautiful with pictures/art work on every single page. I highly recommend buying the book.
"Only one thing, is impossible for god: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." Mark Twain
Psionics haven't been broken since the Expanded psionics handbook leveled the playing field and essentially made psionics like spellcasting but with a points system instead of a per day system. So far I've had three of my players play psionic characters with little hastle getting them used to that as opposed to arcane/divine spellcasting... however the complete psionics handbook is, in my opinion, mostly useless. The only new class that doesn't use 'psionic mantles' that were introduced in the same book (remember 'modes' in the original psionics book?) is the lurk; and honestly the prestige classes really don't impress most of my players. The sole exception being our munchkin who loves this book. go figure.
My AD&D texts haven't moved from my filing cabinet in 10 years. Do people still play with them? Dice, paper and pencil? How very retro.
Fiendish Codex - Cool. I can always use a few more demons in my campaigns. My players hate them because I tend to play them as *gasp* intelligent adversaries that use tactics. Greater Teleport at will, yes indeed. Players Handbook II - Eh, pretty useless, really. This whole kick on creating a bunch of new base classes is getting really old, especially when those classes start losing the whole "role" aspect of roleplaying. The character development chapter is interesting, but not nearly comprehensive enough. This one's of pretty low value, in my opinion. Power of Faerun - As a DM currently running a near-epic campaign right now, I must say there isn't enough source material to do it well. The rules are scattered and disjointed, and the only true sourcebook dedicated to it hasn't been updated for 3.5 (unless you count the update booklet). Avoid epic levels like the plague unless you want a big DMing headache. Complete Psionic - Every time I make a character, I think, "Hm, maybe I'll play a psionic character this time." Then I get over it, no matter how much extra material gets printed. If you want to play a psychic, stick to gothic-punk RPGs; it just doesn't seem to mix well in a fantasy setting.
That is something to be thankful of, not lament. I am thankful that Gygax started Chainmail, and then D&D... but I have seen his later works. He is just not my type of writer. I am REALLY happy to see where the 3.5 editors took D&D.
Google (you can even click the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button) for "bloodninja".
First few times I read this, I was laughing so hard I was crying.
Karma: NaN
hehehehehohohoho
bloodninja
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Good grief...we're in the middle of an RPG Renaissance, and the best we can get is articles about the latest splatbook from WotC??
l
How about some of these highly acclaimed and cutting-edge RPGs?
The Mountain Witch - http://www.timfire.com/MountainWitch.html
Don't Rest Your Head - http://www.evilhat.com/?dryh
Dogs in the Vineyard - http://www.septemberquestion.org/lumpley/dogs.htm
My Life with Master - http://www.halfmeme.com/master.html
The Burning Wheel - http://www.burningwheel.org/
Weapons of the Gods - http://www.eos-press.com/products-wotg.html
-PARANOIA is fun. D20 is not fun. The Computer says so.
-The Computer
I think we D&Ders sometimes forget: this is an open system. You should not just go by whats in the books but also use your imagination and make something that is truly yours. I have no problem with people using what WotC gives us, but they seem to give us a whole lot of stuff we really don't need.
Review of Multiple D&D books, save vs. suck:
Failed.
Diplomacy is the art of saying, "Nice doggie!" until you can find a rock.
computer game lovers say tabletop is ancient and tabletop people say that computer games just don't feel right. I think the best solution in the future would actually prove them both wrong. Someone's eventually going to make a tabletop game with a holographic or VR overlay that hooks into a computer with a system to track real world piece movements and actions and add in explosions and overlays and HUD's and other cool special effects :) That would be the coolest ever!!!! For now I guess I'll just have to stick with a switchboard, electric matches, and tin foil balls of KNO3 and powdered sugar (which has a tendency to light the board on fire)
now stop reading and go play Dance Dance Revolution!
https://secure.slickwebsitedevelopment.com/bunkerh illgames.com/description.php?II=1082&UID=200609121 7304471.41.111.22
Many of the support sections are computerized, leaving the fun parts for the Ref and the players.
The 2nd Edition Spycraft is the sweet spot to be right now, they are putting out several variant settings for many different genres, the Spycraft rules are more 'general' for modern gaming, and they have thankfully gone away from d20(tm) licensed (close, but fixes many problems). The Spycraft 2.0 rules are some of the most clean and solid RPG rules I have ever seen, and you get all you need in a single book (so no PH+DM+MM).
Some of the cool mechanics include the trivial ability to scale and knock out "bad guys" as either thugs or mobs, no more CR, huge statblocks and other clunky d20 mechanics.
Very nice reviews, thank you. A question: Do you know if Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss would work with the D20 Modern System? Thanks!
Hi:
The Ptolus supplement looks very useful. If someone is going to sell a product that large, they should at least sell DVD versions of it.
Uneek.
Hey,what about nethack?