Roleplaying Books

Warriors is a great addition to the fantasy roleplaying game genre and a boon to anyone seeking resources that can be used to realistically and compellingly expand the capabilities of combatant classes. I ahve used this one in my own game and been very pleased with it.

This is a great book to add that 'extra' realism to D & D. Varhola's history and writing background, added to the obvious expertise of the other authors, lets the players add a level of realism and history that makes a good game far better //

This book is full of intriguing ways to flesh out warriors, fighters, and even paladins, rangers, and barbarians. Suddenly, you have a huge number of options to help breathe life into your medieval or fantasy army, or even the local thugs in the streets. The book has a definite historical flavor, which I like quite a bit. I enjoy the references to ancient times, as well as African and Asian history. The prestige classes and the concept of subtypes gives the normally rigid warrior sudden flexibility. Skirmisher has done a great job of turning out a book that I will actually use, instead of something that will collect dust on my bookcase.

As a DM, I am always looking for new material to make my games more 'realistic' and different. This book is an excellent resource to spice up the warrior class. I am looking forward to purchasing more material from this company.

This book is great for any DM. Both amateurs and veterans will find this book able to help them create quests and their DMing ability.

This book is a hoot! If your looking to add quirky things to your D&D Campaign, look no further!

This book is great! Not only is it tounge-in-cheek (and other body orifices) immature adult humor in the D&D world, but it is also very usable in that same D&D world. With the introduction of Defects, as the opposite of Feats, it opens up a whole new world of possibilites and character development. A great read, and awesome supplimental, and an increbible buy!

This book has more First Edition Feel than anything I've ever seen, including First Edition. More wandering prostitutes, more random obscure colours and more random exclamation points than you'd believe possible as well as some seriously aggravating iconic NPCs and monsters.

This book greatly expands any DM's aresenal of interesting scenerios. This book is a must have for all DMs. Not only does it give new and amusing monsters to fight but also offers new prestige classes such a pimp. Great book.

With its fresh feel that puts traditional gamers' "panties in a bunch", this product is a must have for any DM who wants to add some extra color to his or her game. With a variety of new (and often amusing) feats, as well as the ever-defining defects, your NPCs will become memorable aspects of the world you craft for your players. Stop wasting your money on the same old d20 material that every other company puts out and get this book!

thare is no real story to speek of its more a colection of WoD historys and myths but thows not into the "world od darkness" may not want to or nead to read this but its still intresting

well illustrated version of the classic liturature to those who dont read anything befor the 16th century, informative the parts "left out of the bible" or taken ut. good read tok me less than2 hours
if any one knows of a better version of this book let me know
Still G

This is quite an enjoyable book. The Chronicle of Caine is complimented with Beckett's alternate theory of Clan Caine and Clan Abel. The Chronicle of Shadows is full of wonderful quotes a Noddist character could recite. And the Chronicle of Secrets is perfect for bringing about Gehenna. But while this book is worth buying, I just want to point out two problems with it that bothered me.

The first is that "The Tale of the First City" goes from pages 46-55, and has only one footnote throughout it. Some scholarly insights would have been useful. The second is minor, but worth correcting. On page 53, substitute the name Giovanni with Cappadocian. The Giovanni clan came long after the Cappadocian clan, and were not a part of the original Antidiluvians.

Otherwise, this is a wonderful source book and a good read as well. I highly recommend it to storytellers for Vampire: the Masquerade.

Exactly like as the title says. It is a great read, but unfortunately the book will leave you wanting for more.
The Book of Nod presents the history of the vampires as thought for Vampire:The Masquerade. This novel can be enjoyed even by those that are not familiar with the Masquerade setting and other novels. It offers the big picture, explains how the vampires came to be, has great quotes and "commandments", if you will, that vampires are supposed to live by. You will understand the vampire clans and what their traits are and the reader is bound to have a favorite one out of the bunch.

This little book was made to be a resource for the Vampire Masquerade game but it can definitely be read and enjoyed by fans who have no idea what Vampire Masquerade even is.

This short book, which can be read in like 30-60 minutes, shows the origins of the vampires, and their sects, and shows their 'fall from grace' from heaven and why they were shunned by all.

And while the book might be extremely short in length, the build quality easily makes up for that. There are wonderful drawings, indexes, and footnotes litered throughout the book. And the silver lined pages, attached cloth bookmark, and smooth hardcover scream quality like no other.

This book is a must read for any vampire or horror fan who wants to learn a bit more on vampire history and their origin.

I have been gaming for over 15 years, ond only recently picked this up and played at a con. I love it. It's simple, easy to learn and play, and has an inherent flexibilty that makes it easy for Keeper's to make a judgement call on events not covered in the rules. (When in doubt, the Luck roll is a good bet).

If you want real horror, ignore the WoD and make it Cthulhu!

The Call of Cthulhu system, as written in the 5.5 and 6.0 versions, is one of the most complete systems I've ever found.

That is amazing, considering exactly how LITE the rules system is. There are very few hard and fast rules, with almost everything being handled by percentile dice. The system is very organic, with characters increasing in skill by performing them.

The characters in a Call of Cthulhu game are more 'real' than some similar games from other companies. They have a great sense of depth due to the occupation system used. Also, considering how lethal combat is in the game, you are greatly encouraged to think your way out of problems.

One other area that has been found by my group to be important is the ease of transfer from one 'style' of play to another. Whenever we are wanting to run any type of realistic game set in any era, we always look to the Call of Cthulhu rulebook for ideas. So far, we have run a wild west game and several other genres using the rules in this book.

The works of master horror writer H.P. Lovecraft of the 1920s have influenced almost every single good horror writer to date, from Ann Rice to Stephen King. COC is likely the best RPG ever put to print, and the publisher Chaosium just makes things easier for players by adding content from their various supplements with each new edition. A typical game session has your characters snooping around for clues, and interrogating various NPCs (non player characters), and then implementing a course of action. The climax of a campaign also often (unfortunately for players) includes one of the hideous deities of the Cthulhu Mythos, such as Azathoth, Cthulhu himself, Dagon, or, possibly the worst, Nyarlathotep, trickster god with a thousand avatars or "masks". COC is the only game that has ever given me, as the gamemaster, chills reading a supplement in the middle of the day. I also recommend picking up one of the numerous Cthulhu Mythos anthologies of short stories. Prepare to be scared

I first read these tales in an "Armed Services Edition" of HP Lovecraft stories, back in 1944! Sitting underseas in a US Navy Submarine in the South Pacific, scared to death, and lonely for home, these stories gripped me so completely, I forgot my real fears of war.

That old book, now tattered and yellowed with age, was read by my son and daughter, who now want to pass it on to my grandchildren. It's time for me to replace it with a new Penguin edition before is falls apart, totally!

Lovecraft's writing has many weaknesses, flowery language, poor characterizations and vague plots. I see all these faults now, but they never bothered me when I first read him. Women don't seem to be a part of Lovecraft's world, and that is a shame. His stories were too short to correct these faults. Modern full novels, in the Lovecraft tradition, like "The Riddle of Cthulhu," are written with many of HPL's faults corrected; like the inclusion, for example, of unforgetable characters, romance and a believable plot. Still, the "Call" is the source and the classic horror book. You must experience these classic stories, then move on to today's modern "Lovecraft Style" novels!

Doesn't it tell you something, that *every* review for this edition of this book gives it 5 stars? (Some of the out-of-print editions have reviews here too.) And let's face it, us RPG enthusiasts are not the sort of folks to shy away from criticizing.

Some people will say the Basic Roleplaying rule-set is outdated. It's true that games like Unknown Armies and Godlike are pretty cool, and I know people who are using those rules for their CoC games. But just try introducing a newcomer to those rules, or getting someone who's only played D&D before to convert. They get dizzy, I tell you. Nope, for a simple, elegant rule-set that just about anyone can grasp right off the bat, Call of Cthulhu's Basic Roleplaying has still got it, after more than 20 years. The rules fade into the background, where they belong.

And unlike other games with their multivolume core rulebooks and endless splatbooks that you *need* if you want a fully fleshed-out campaign, everything you really need is right there in this one rulebook. Heck, every time Chaosium does a new edition, they comb all the supplements for spells, monsters, skills, and so on, and add them into the new edition--to save you time and money! Chaosium even printed the entire short story, "The Call of Cthulhu," in this edition, so newbies can get a taste of what it's all about.

If you've got an older edition of CoC, you don't need to buy this one--the rule changes are quite minor. Unlike D&D, a new edition doesn't make everything you already know obsolete--"editions" of CoC are back-compatible with older editions and old supplements. Chaosium does new editions to keep the book in print and to make it a little better every time, not to force the fans to spend money. I bought it because my old book was getting worn out, and I wanted a more durable hardcover edition. Now I can loan out the old book to players. But I'm really happy with the little changes, and it's nice to have some of the information that used to be in adventures and supplements all gathered together in one book.

This isn't just an update to the 3.5 rule set of d20/D&D, this is a whole new book! With the addition of like 50 pages, new classes, NPC archtypes, sub-types, equipment, etc... this breaths new life into tired old cities in any campaign. A must for world building and small adventures in or near a city!

This book is by far one of the best OGL/d20 books for DMs on the market. Finally the most forgotten NPC class gets the respect it deserves. With so many OGL/d20 books coming out that lack usable content, this book is a welcome addition to my considerable library. The expanded class descriptions, with its customizability is phenomenal. And some of the new feats, well, my players are now begging for permission to use this book. Keep it coming!

- Chris

Another great Skirmisher resource. I'm really getting to the point that if Skirmisher publishes a d20 book, I'll buy it sight unseen! Another must buy!

I found the experts book to be incredible. It expanded the breif and uninformative experts described in the DM handbook very well. A must-buy for all DMs.

As a new DM, I found the material in this book to be invaluable in populating the major city for my PC's to play in. The standard WotC books provide a little too general information on Experts for a novice DM to easily dive in and begin creating a somewhat realistic world. I faced the challenge of filling in those gaps myself, but was lucky enough to come across this book at my local game seller. It is exactly what I needed.

Since I'm far from being a history expert, particularly on the daily lives of folks in medieval times, I found the first chapters describing the various types of experts (in broad categories of craftsmen, entertainers, professionals, scholars, and tradesmen) to be a fascinating read. It fully answered simple but important questions like "What is the difference between an armorer, blacksmith, and weaponmaker?"

The most valuable part of the book is the chapter on new skills. This chapter really gives nitty gritty details that are useful to my campaign. For example, there is a table in the section describing the Craft (Armorsmithing) skill with the self-explanatory title "Armor Creation Requirements, Times, and Costs". One of my PC's was looking for an armorer to craft him a mithral breastplate. I could easily tell him how much it would cost by using the DMG, but figuring out how long it would take, and who (if anybody locally) would have the skill to do it would be a much greater challenge. With the above table in hand and using the sample Expert provided in a later chapter as a template, getting this together was no sweat!

The only thing I'm unhappy with is the font that is used for many of the headings. It is very difficult for these old eyes to read. A minor quibble, but it is frustrating nonetheless.

I can't judge how valuable this book is for experienced DM's, but for an inexperienced DM that is building a world or extending an off the shelf product this is a must have!

If you play D&D/D20... you NEED this book. There isn't anything else to say about the matter. Its that easy. This is one of the most comprehensive and helpful books I have come across within this genre... and what's more, its entertaining with great illustrations... you will NOT be disappointed!

This book put a realistic extra dimension into nearly any d20 driven game, especially D&D!

Other systems have had helpful guides for filling out the average town with something other than cardboard cutouts - now finally d20 has as well. While the book is a bit flawed in many of its assumptions about a few experts, overall it provides value for the dollar. Something that you cannot say about many of the d20 books.
For those looking for a better source about townsfolk I would look at Mystic Stations Design C&S material or the various Harn products.

Moreso than anything else I have seen, this book underlines the value of the d20 licensing system, and expands in the most invaluable way upon the rudimentary description of the Expert NPC class in the current Dungeon Master's Guide. A must for serious DMs who want to incorporate interesting Craftsmen, Professionals, Academics, Entertainers, and Scholars into their games--and a good bet for players who want to try their hands at playing such characters.

A great reference for filling out my campaign world. Gives you enough details that you can just grab interesting characters, and the rules and flexability to creat every inhabitant of every town.

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

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

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

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

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

I first picked up this book a few years ago because of the cover (I am something of book cover whore. I am easily pleased.) and I've never regretted it. I've never come across another book that was able to mix comedy and horror so well. As hilarious as this book was there were also numerous scary moments that didn't lose any of their power when it was preceded by a light humorous moment.

Anybody who reads it will fall in love with Fenberg and his multi-named brother who have to fend off curses, werewolves and vengeful rednecks to save the people they love. The story is off and running from the first page and you won't want to put it down, so don't!

My only complaint is why hasn't John Boston written another book?!

it was exhausting to read. Ingenious, witty, amusing, well-written, yes. But it's like being in the company of someone who is always "on," and quick with a witticism or comeback. Sometimes just a normal paragraph or two would have been nice, especially at 320 pages. There was a dip about 5/6ths of the way through that made me not want to pick it up again, but it does race towards the conclusion at least. Worth reading, but too clever for its own good.

It's great, great fun. Read it. Enjoy it. Lend it out and share the experience with others. "Naked Came the Sasquatch" has quickly become one of my favorite books and I recommend it to all. If you loan it to someone and they don't like it I believe you have justification for ending any relationship you have with that person. I knew I was hooked when I started to end my conversations with my brother with "ps - bed wetter".

The suspense in this book is great, but it isn't just the tense moments that make it so good. Normally when a book gives you a rundown of the character's life it's kind of dull. Boston takes these character development areas and makes them wet your pants funny. It's the first book I've ever read that didn't have a single dull moment.
Keep in mind that I have a warped sense of humor.

I was lucky enough to have been working in a bookstore when this book first came out. I walked past it everyday and it always caught my eye so I finally bought it. This may be the best book I have ever read. It has great characters, fantastic imaging from the descriptions, suspense, murder, humor, and monsters. It has gotten to the point that when I read this book, I actually visualize it as a movie with Bruce Campbell playing the main character Michael Fenberg and Janine Turner as Elaine Mitikitski(oh if it would only happen). It's a truly visualizing book from the reflections of Tuberski's See-Em-Dead Zoo Bar and Grill Massacre to Fenberg's giant truck to the Mogonogonovich Brothers brutish antics; it's a riot and so enjoyable. You'll read this book until it falls apart (then you'll tape it together over and over again).

I have recommend this book to numerous people and all of them are grateful for having got it. I got my wife to read it and well to make a long story short, we read it so often that I've had to buy three replacements because they get worn out (my prize one is I managed to snag a John Boston autographed copy). By all means, have no doubts, GET THIS BOOK! You will not be displeased.

This is a great game and a good break from D&D. The flavor is gritty and dark. The fact that characters advance through careers is more logical than D&D. All and all a good buy and fun to play.

As an avid AD&D player, that has also sampled other RPGs with friends, I enjoy Warhammer immensely. This is a concise core book that is great for players and DMs alike. Being used to a D&D type of world, it's hard to get used to the idea that magic is ultra rare and frowned upon due to Chaos. But, that's a great twist with this game. Those of you looking for a difference RPG system to try, I'd highly recommend this one. The core book is a must of course. ;)

A Fantasy role playing game from those whacky guys that made Warhammer 40K. As a consequence, this is much grimmer, nastier and dirtier than some of the fantasy roleplaying games out there, so if that is not your thing, and you want a more lighthearted high fantasy type of approach, then do not get this game, you likely will not enjoy it at all.

Long-time gamers searching for a change of pace should definitely take a look at Warhammer Fantasy RPG's unique setting and d10/d100 system. I enjoy it much more than your typical d20 system, and the Old World "low fantasy" setting feels more gritty and realistic than your typical D&D game. You don't have to worry about picking the right class and skills, either; your starting profession, skill set, and gear is a package mostly determined by the dice and you take it from there. Since everything is based on D10 and percentage rolls, it's easy to determine your character's limitations and strengths. This makes a campaign easy to get started, even for new players that don't know all the rules since game play is very intuitive and moves along smoothly. Experienced GM's- give this one a try. Fun alternative to your d20 games, and it's also a great way to introduce new players to RPG's. The book itself is very high-quality and gorgeous. There's enough information here to put together a variety of campaigns and there's so many careers and paths to take your characters that you'll never be at a loss for something new.

I was worried when they announced a second edition of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay rules. Part of the appeal of the WFRP rules is that they are so simple, and I feared fiddling could only make things more complicated. But now, having played several sessions with the new rules, I can honestly say that the changes were a great improvement. They managed to keep the simplicity that encourages role-play over power-gaming while cleaning up some of the more clumsy elements (the magic system is a notable improvement). The same career system is in place, but the careers choices have been balanced well enough that there's a good reason to choose any of them, unlike the old rules where some few careers were hardly worth considering.

Someone who has never played before and doesn't know the rules could have an entire character rolled up and ready to play in as little as 30 minutes. The entire process is die rolls, so you don't have to make decisions that require knowing the rulebook, like when you have to choose skills or spells in other games.

The history of the world is quote a bit lighter than in the previous rulebook, and in my opinion easier to read. Where previously even though it was interesting it was pretty dense and dry, but the history has been rewritten now to be a bit more interesting and relevant for the players.

They've removed a few things that used to be included, for instance in the back of the book there used to be maps and images of common buildings but that has been moved to a supplementary book (the Game Master's screen, I believe). That's unfortunate but I can live with it.

If you're used to playing with more complicated rules, like d20, Rifts, GURPS or similar, I highly recommend trying out the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay system. See what it's like not having to worry whether your mace does more damage than your longsword. In WFRP the story and the lives of the players are the focus, instead of the rules. Less "roll-play" and more "role-play".

In the short-run, it's like Shadowrun only without anything in the way of mysticism or magic. It's all metal or nothing in this game.

Plenty here have praised the games mechanics, so I won't dive into that... ditto the excellent storyline (I haven't actually GMed a CP game in almost 10 years, and haven't played in five, yet I'll still flip through the rulebook every so often just to read about the local color and stories provided)

If the game has a downfall it is only in that the story lineage is a little dated by modern standards (although strangely prophetic). As 2020 is fast approaching us (being 12 years away as of this writing) much of what was theorized as being "part of the future" has actually come to pass: The internet (ok, not QUITE as they have invisioned it, but can it be far off?), cellphones, corperations wielding vast political power, even modern stem-cell research is a harbinger to the body limb-regrowth capabilities tauted in the game, ditto with cyberlimbs/prosthetics.

The game itself is still very much worth playing. Only now instead of a "dark future", the game has instead become more of a "grim alternate reality"... or alternately, you could just move the game's story ahead 20-30 years and adjust accordingly :)

I highly reccomend it. If I could find another regular crew to play with locally, I'd be all over it!

Out of the whole cyberpunk movement and craze, it would seem that a role playing game was a natural. This had an interesting setting and information, and was appropriately brutal. This would lead to characters having the life expectancy of at least a little more than a paranoia clone, so you had to do something about that if you wanted to feature violence in your games.

I was stationed in Vilseck Germany with the 2nd of the 63rd Armor when I friend told me about Cyber Punk. It was almost a year before we found someone with the books, and immediatly set up a game. It was a game that I have never forgoten. It sits in my mind like the begining of Secret of Mana, forever a defining factor in my oppinions.

This game does tend to drag with its role to hit/role to dodge rules, but it is more believable then any other game I have seen or played. The setting for Cyber Punk is OURT world, with OUR history. It is science fiction. We can look at our own lives, make few changes to the timeline, and see that it IS possible. In reality, these things would never happen, but in the game, it is easier for us to adapt to this new world because it is so close to our own. Realy, what has changed? The world has met a sort of anarchy, like in Mad Max. The government is now run by Corporations. Bionics are common enough that you see people with mettle limbs on a regular basis. This world is more real then any other I have seen, and this makes more believable. Since it is more believable it becomes easier to enter your charactor and enjoy the game.

If I had to rate all the games I have played, I would put this on tope, even with its long combat and ineffectiveness with machine guns.

CP 2020 is by far the best pencil and paper RPG, this is all you need to get started. Playing CyberPunk will open your eyes to the world and the direction it is heading in and also opens your creativity and imagination. Everything from the weapons, the armor and the stat system whips AD&D. Anyone who doesn't like the whole fantasy ideals and/or combat system of AD&D needs to give CP a serious look-see.

If you like CP:2020 check out the CyberSphere MOO, well coded and reasonably closely based on CP.

Telnet on over to:

cs.vv.com:6969
or
cs.vv.com:7777

I've ben GMing for something like fifteen years and this is the system I always return to. If I want to run someting of my own, this is the system I base it on.

Slim-line, fast, flexible, simple, expansive, effective. All words that describe Talsorian's game mechanics - it simply does not get any better.

As for the universe - this is a REAL world of darkness. No bright dawn, no happy ever after. Only your wits and tech, style and edge. No right or wrong, only power and death, a world of grey areas that seems only just around the corner.

If you are a gamer and you don't have this - get it now.

If you aren't a gamer but love the Dark Future setting, it's worth it.

Magnificent.