Games Books

I like crafting very much. Greeting cards hold an especially dear place in my heart and I love to make them constantly. Just about everyone I know has received at least one homemade greeting card from me at one time or another. So yes, I'm always on the lookout for new books on the subject. This one, I have to say, is great!

It has innovative projects rnaging from the colorful, really creative ones to subtler, more elegant ones. There really is one for everyone and the instructions are very clear, detailed and, simple to follow. No crafter, regardless of skill, will have any trouble completing any of these cards.

The authors did a great job of writing this book. Also worthy is the creative use of rather unusual materials (for a card at least). I've been working with paper for a long time now and it still helped move some things inside of me which helped me come up with a whole set of new ideas on how to work and what to do. The pictures are great, you'll enjoy them and they'll inspire you to create some new, totally different projects of your own.

This is one book you'll definitely enjoy.

The first word that came to mind when I saw the projects in Making Greeting Cards with Creative Materials was "artsy". The next word was "collage". I think those two concepts neatly sum up the style and involvement level you can expect from this multimedia craft book.

Author MaryJo McGraw is clearly an experienced artist who has explored many techniques, but whose first love is obviously the paper arts. Although this is a book on greeting cards, there were a lot of projects that would work on a different scale for other purposes, such as embellishing scrapbooks; and many of them could be frame able art in their own right. The designs and color choices reflect rich, muted tones and multilayers of materials such as fibers, charms, gold leaf, wires, inks, watch pebbles, beads, punches, stamped papers and photos. Often the card shapes and closures are not the standard rectangular format. The processes are carefully explained and illustrated as though to first-timers, but the results will make you look like a terribly sophisticated artist.

If you're hoping for ideas that would make for good quantity mailings such as invitations, be aware that most people would probably not have the time or money to make these cards in bulk: these are complex labors of love that are definitely not suited to mass production. Never once did I read a suggestion that the reader purchase ready-made embellishments or stickers, because the emphasis here is on handcrafting rather than time efficiency. For the crafter who has special, personal sentiments to express however, these are the ideal medium for that individual touch to the recipient.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

This book is an excellent starting place for skill building.

I don't know how the woman does it, but MaryJo McGraw has produced another winner. One might think that by the fourth book, her ideas and designs might be repetitive, but McGraw's latest foray into the seemingly overly crowded subject of "greeting cards" shows that the well is still quite full.

The title says it all and the paper artist/craftsperson who is looking to expand their skill and designs they will be pleased with the concepts that McGraw presents in this well illustrated and clearly written guide. She takes you beyond rubber stamps and beyond cute...many of the designs are just downright art but on a smaller canvas. More than a few of the cards are just...well, they are just too cool for words.

If you want to make cards just out of your rubber stamps, don't buy this book. If you want to expand your creative possibilities and make cards out of some very interesting stuff, then you should buy this book.

If you want to make greeting cards that are "oh, so sweet" don't buy this book. If you want to make greeting cards (or adapt the designs for other paper arts projects) that will knock the socks off the recipient then buy this book right now.

Dear prospective owner,
This book is definitely artsy and collagey as per the other descriptions--in what I would describe as a Stevie Nicks-kind of way. That said, it is very helpful for the beginner cardmaker like me.
My only caution if you're stocking up on how-to books is not to make my mistake and also buy the Everything Crafts Create Your Own Greeting Cards (Ed. Courtney Nolan), because 80% of the material in this book appears there as well. Save your $$ and buy this one--it has full color photos throughout.

"The Mensa Genius Quiz-A-Day Book" contains 366 puzzles (including one for leap years). The puzzles cover a wide variety including cryptograms, picture puzzles, math puzzles, riddles, palindromes, Tom Swifties, and more. The book is divided into months and at the start of each month there is a description of how the month got its name and some other interesting facts about the month. The answers are at the back of the book and each answer tells what percentage of Mensa members got the right answer for that particular puzzle.

"The Mensa Genius Quiz-A-Day Book" is a good book for people who want to keep their mind active by doing at least one puzzle a day. The puzzles are varied in such a way that if you find a puzzle tough one day, the puzzle the next day won't seem as hard. My favorite puzzles are the word puzzles (palindromes, anagrams, riddles, mini-mysteries, etc.) while I'm not too fond of or particularly good at the math puzzles. For the most part, the book is evenly divided between the types of puzzles, but there are a few times when it seems like there are several of the same type of puzzle in a row. Although the book says Mensa, you don't have to be a Mensa member to do the puzzles (I'm not). The answer section gives a detailed explanation of each answer, which ultimately helps you solve similar types of puzzles. By the end of the book you should be able to solve or at least have an understanding of how each puzzle works.

"The Mensa Genius Quiz-A-Day Book" is hours of challenging fun for everyone.

I have purchased several of the Mensa books. There is a challenge to outwit the Mensa and I offer it to my friends on occasion in the form of a game.

My husband and I got this book to do together. We enjoy solving the quizzes and finding out the percentage of Mensans who got them correct. We gave it 4 stars because we think there are too many word puzzles. We were hoping for more number puzzles.

I bought this book prior to my taking the aptitude test that got me into Mensa. It was both fun and helpful and I at least felt a little smarter coming out the other end. I would recommend this book to anyone contemplating taking any similar test or just for a fun and challenging read. I sent this and a couple of other Mensa books to my niece and nephew. It went over pretty good with everyone in the family.

I've belonged to a couple of high-IQ societies, including Mensa, in the past, and once talked to Dr. Salny over the phone about IQ equivalents for the MAT, or Miller Analogies test, which was the one I qualified on for Mensa. Dr. Salny, who was at the University of New Jersey at Rutgers the time, was very helpful in that regard and I wanted to mention that.

This is a great collection of puzzles put together by Dr. Salny to help you keep your mental muscles tuned up, whether you're a Mensa member or not. In fact, one of the things we've learned about the brain over the last 50 years is that in many ways the brain is truly like a muscle--use it or lose it.

I was a grad student in the brain sciences and also formally studied the IQ and psychometrics area for a while, and I had some comments about the problems with testing high IQs that I thought I'd post here, especially on the problem of testing very high IQs above 150 or 160, particularly for adults.

Various writers, researchers, and members of other high IQ societies have attempted to solve this problem by constructing their own tests and standardizing them. They also claim to be able to standardize these high-end IQ tests using various special procedures and statistics. However, the problem of standardization for these sorts of tests has really never been resolved very well. Hence, many claims of IQ's that high are really just that--claims. That isn't to say that people who score high on things like the Mega test or the Langdon LAIT and so on might not have IQ's of 180, just the reliability and accuracy of such scores isn't that great.

The other problem is that the human brain is quite complex and we really don't know how to adequately test its capabilities except in the crudest sense. Most IQ tests examine a half dozen factors at most (although the well-known DAT, the Differential Aptitude Test, looked at 9 factors, but then it was technically an aptitude test and not an IQ test) and there are actually dozens or perhaps hundreds of factors involved. The eminent cognitive psychologist and psychometrician, J.P Guilford's Structure of Intellect model postulated 120 different types of intelligence (most if not all of which I find more convincing than the more standard factor models).

Another problem is the factor subtests still correlate highly with each other; for example, the typical verbal subtest correlates at the .75 level with the math subtest, although the spatial ability tests seem purer. A .75 "r" or correlation means that half the variance in one test is accounted for by the variance of the other (since the variance is the correlation coefficient squared). Hence, the factor subtests aren't very "pure," as they say, and correlate too highly with verbal skills which is too narrow a subset of skills and also is likely the most socio-economically influenced.

That having been said, ironically, the most egregious criticism of IQ tests is that you can show that the most complex IQ test known is only about 10-15% more accurate in predicting, say, college grades, than a 40 item, 20-30 minute vocabulary test.

And finally, for the coup de grace, the most famous IQ study of all time, the Lewis Terman study at Stanford in the last century, tested tens of thousands of kids and then followed 1400 of them with IQ's of 140 and over throughout their lives. A couple of dozen were as high as 180. Although a distinguished group in later life in that many of their achievements were impressive, there were no Nobel Laureates in the group. In fact, they passed over two of them--Luis Alvarez and William Shockley--who didn't test high enough to be included, both of whom later won the Nobel Prize in physics. Oops.

The second coup de grace is that research has shown that further IQ points above 120 is not as important as good social intelligence in ensuring success in life. And an IQ of 120 is enough to do anything--with few exceptions-- such as being a physicist or mathematician. After all, James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA helix and Nobel Laureate, only had an IQ of 118. And in another classic study by Getzels and Jackson, children who were high on tests of creativity with average IQs of 120 had grades as high as those less creative with average IQs of 140.

Another thing you can see right away from visiting a few of these high-IQ society web pages and reading the discussions there, is that many of these people (most of them are men) are obsessed with the IQ business and about which test is the best, who has the highest IQ, and who gets to belong to the most exclusive societies. This produced an odd competitive race as various people attempted to form ever more rarified and exclusive and cliquish groups. There have been literally dozens of these, but most have never gone anywhere and died out after a few years, or never even got off the ground.

They also get into various inter-society and internecine debates, as I said, about who gets to belong to which high-IQ society on the basis of which test, each one claiming their test is the best, when, as I said, there really isn't any way to validate them that accurately. They've even gone, in one case, to the trouble of suing each other about the issue of the legitimacy of the testings, since few of these people are licensed psychologists. It really is a tempest in a teapot and they should go get a life. The whole thing would be funny were it not for the fact that they take the whole thing so seriously.

Of course, to some extent this is the pot calling the kettle black since I have belonged to a couple of these societies too in the past, but I also see the silliness of it all, not to mention, as I said, that it seems that for the vast majority of these people this is the only real distinction they seem to have.

I didn't knew how to play blackjack at all before reading this, but this book explains you all the rules, the strategy, how to count, and more in a very clear way. I cant figure out better ways of teaching you the secrets of the game. To be honest, it's well explained but definitely it's not easy to count cards, if it were everybody would be doing it, and if you can't do it, at least you will do much better in normal play without counting.

High recommendations for this book. Straight forward and unconfusing instructions. Hornik also educates the reader the about the subtleties of, and what to expect while sitting at a blackjack table. With consistent practice (play with your friends), you will play without initimadation!

I bought this book for many friends who frequent Vegas and all of them raved about it!

This is the first book I read about Blackjack. The book is short but very concise, you can read it in a couple of days. If you haven't read a book about Blackjack make this one your first. And let me tell you why, the book is not confusing and the author does a great job explaining why Basic Strategy works. The author explains the probabilities behind Basic Strategy, knowing why you should hit or stand makes it easier to memorize the strategy. Also, the books has exercises and drills that will test your knowledge and help you refine your game.

As for the Basic Strategy Chart, I will use the one published on the WizardofoddsDOTcom website since most casinos use multiple decks 4+ and the dealer hits soft 17. Learn the rules of the casino before playing. Also I recommend complementing this book with John Bukofsky's "Blackjack: Play Like The Pros". John gives more detail in other areas and offers a more in-depth analysis of the game. However, note that if you've read Mensa Guide to Blackjack you will gain a better understanding of what John is trying to teach you.

If you can only afford one book then get this one, this one does a better job of helping the beginner player understand the game. I recommend reading this book once and then re-reading it a second time. And if you are an advantage player, well you won't be learning anything new here...

Mensa Guide To Blackjack is a no-nonsense handbook of tested and proven techniques to win at casino blackjack. Written by a former professional solo and team blackjack player, as well as a member of the MIT Blackjack Team, Mensa Guide To Blackjack explains card-counting strategies and dispels common myths - one does not have to be extraordinarily skilled at math to count cards; card-counting is neither cheating nor illegal; and no one can be arrested for card-counting. Card-counting will get one banned from a casino, if one is suspected or caught doing it, because casinos know card-counters can win - therefore Mensa Guide To Blackjack offers simple exercises and techniques to practice until card-counting becomes so ingrained, one won't give away telltale signs while doing it (although betting and winning too much at high-limit tables may well tip a casino off!) Chapters cover both basic blackjack and rules variations, betting to win, refining basic strategies, playing with a team, and much more. An absolute "must-read" for anyone who wants to play casino blackjack to win.

Permit me to rave about "The Mobius Strip." Then buy it, read it, and enjoy its many flavors. Math buffs will find it as mouth-watering as a bowl of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. The aesthetically inclined will be delighted by its initial simplicity and the helpful illustrations that enable them (and me) to grasp the book's mathematical profundities.

Always the entertainer, Cliff Pickover takes the stage with "Mobius Limericks to Get You in the Mood." Soon after we see a photo (by Paul Mobius) of his father's skull with Beethoven's skull grinning in the foreground. Shades of P.T. Barnum! And this is only the introduction!

Although the ideas in the book are presented with exceptional clarity and treated with utmost respect by the author, he does reveal his dry sense of humor upon occasion. Here is one of my favorite nuggets on page 11:

"One of the most mystifying Mobius arrangements is the sandwich Mobius strip, created with just two strips of paper. I have known people to ponder this for hours while listening to Pink Floyd without ever fully appreciating what they have beheld."

This gives you some idea of what's in store for the perceptive reader. The book swiftly advances beyond parlor tricks, toys, patented inventions, sailor's knots, the Book of Kells, and other amazing items until we find ourselves soaring into the realm of transcendental reality. One gets the feeling that the Mobius strip is the skeleton key to infinity. But then, so is the Klein bottle. So is Alexander's horned sphere. So is the Penrose triangle. So is M.C. Escher's art! The book is filled with these enigmatic jewels of understanding.

As the complexity of the kaleidoscope intensifies, Cliff Pickover suddenly becomes a fractal Will Rogers, dazzling us with topographical rope tricks. Strange loops are explained as he twirls them before our very eyes! Your mind is turned into a pretzel as your train of thought is twisted into a trefoil knot made of interlocking, multi-colored puzzle pieces. Notice the cover!

You may have to listen to the Moody Blues, Tangerine Dream, Enya, and Pink Floyd to fully grok the cosmological essence of all he has to say in this sweet little book. But it is well worth the effort. In the final chapters he connects all this to games, mazes, art, music, architecture, even literature and movies. Your powers of observation will only increase as you plunge deeper into Pickover's topographical ocean.

If the book of nature is written in mathematics, then the works of Clifford Pickover can safely be said to be a great Cliff's Notes version!

In all his work, Pickover has a genuine gift for making the abstract accessible and meaningful like here where he discusses perhaps the most famous creation of August Mobius: the Mobius strip.

To make one is very easy: 1) cut out a piece of paper in the shape of a ruler, 2) take one edge of the paper, turn it 180 degrees and 3) join it with the other end of the paper.

As a result of this operation, you will have created a circular looking object with a kink in the middle. That kink does something fascinating: it makes it so that if you trace your finger along the surface of the object, you will find that it only has one side!

As paradigm defying as this may seem, it litterally opens the door to interesting discussions about the various topologies (or surface formations) an object can assume. It begins a discussion of different dimensions and the exotic mathematics that describe them.

Filled with easy to follow discussion and lots of pictures, Pickover takes great pains to make sure he never leaves any readers behind.

This book is great and those who really enjoyed would be well advised to also read Pickover's Surfing Through Hyperspace and also his Time: A traveler's guide.

The mobius strip - a continuous loop with only one side and one edge - was popularized by the illustrations of M.C. Escher, yet few know of its history and the evolution of its concept. Drive Clifford Pickover here provides a lively survey of the strip from the mid-1800s when Drive Mobius described it, to its influence in the fields of math, science, engineering, and the arts. It's more than a concept: it offers up new methods of thinking and discussions here include related shapes and ideas as well.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

In 1633, Galileo Galilei said, "The universe cannot be read until we have learnt the language and become familiar with the characters in which it is written. It is written in mathematical language... without which it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word." And so begins Dr. Pickover's amazing roller-coaster ride through a breathtaking array of topics in science and art.

Some of the book deals with topology and "glistening shapes that span dimensions." Other portions concern the M�bius strip in countless settings, from molecules and metal sculptures to postage stamps, literature, architectural structures and models of our entire universe. The strip is featured in countless technology patents, which decorate the frontispieces of each chapter.

In some of the most impressive chapters, Pickover deals with endless loops in literature and mythology. He also coaxes readers to question the way they see the world and think about reality. For example, readers will become more conscious about what it means to visualize a one-sided object or what it means to have orientation-reversing paths in space.

Pickover also has a penchant for knots, and he notes that knots have been crucial to the development of civilization, where they have been used to tie clothing, to secure weapons to the body, to create shelters, and to permit the sailing of ships and world exploration. He also suggests that knot patterns have been found on burial stones engraved by Neolithic peoples. Today, knot theory has infiltrated biology, chemistry and physics. Pickover writes, "In a few millennia, humans have transformed knots from ornamental engravings on rocks to models of the very fabric of reality." I enjoyed this book immensely and recommend it to all readers interested in the science of imagination.

WoW! Another great book by Clifford Pickover. Math buffs and recreationists alike will love this book. This is a readable, non-technical tour de force of the Mobius band and its ubiquitous presence. Don't be fooled by my "non-technical". The concepts covered here will stretch the mind of most anyone not already thoroughly immersed in rubber geometry. The strip wends its one-sided way through knots, magic tricks, toys and games, hyperspace, art, architecture and even literature.

My only plea would be to have some of the illustrations in colour.

Highly recommended!

I won't get into details, as the other reviewers here have already done a great job. Monte Cook has never let himself be constrained by the conventions that hinder the mainstream rpgs. This book has near-endless customizability--each class, spell, and even race has many options. The book contains rules, setting, and a good bestiary. If I had one gripe it would be the selection of races. Cat-people and dog-people? Come on! At least their backgrounds are fleshed out and believable. Better than your standard Tolkienesque fantasy races, which have been worn out, resurrected, and beaten to death again by many games. This book is full of original ideas, and it just begs readers to introduce their own. There are some great supplements, too, but this is all you need.

Get this one. Just buy it, sit down read and be amazed as you see all that was DnD change into what it should have been for a very long time.

From what I understand, Arcana Evolved (previously a black and white book called Arcana Unearthed and a thin paperback Diamond Throne setting primer now married in one book with color versions of mostly the same art from the first book) is the attempt of Monte Cook to make use of the benefits of the Open Game License to push past what he saw as meaningless and arbitrary restrictions imposed on "Official" D&D material.

His goals are commendable. He wanted to get rid of arbitrary game mechanics that limited the growth of characters (like alignment requirements or race based limitations on multiclassing). He also wanted a clean Player's Handbook, that DM's could use for any fantasy setting, without a bias toward the published setting. Unfortunately this is not Arcana Evolved.

Most of the classes in Arcana Evolved cannot be multiclassed. Some, such as a combination Warmein/Unfettered (Only use heavy weapons and armor/Only use light weapons and armor) are so flatly contradictory as to be a joke in our group. The Oathsworn (basically a monk) can't use any weapons or armor at all. The Magister "disdains the way of the sword" having chosen to channel all of his magic through a staff, whereas the Mage Blade channels all of his magic through an athame or key weapon. Champions are so fanatically devoted to a single ideal that it endows them with paladin-like abilities. Hard to see that devotion leaving room for any other class pursuits.

The races have also given me fits when trying to create non-Diamond Throne settings. As opposed to races like gnomes or elves that can hop settings with very little baggage, there are some races in Arcana Evolved that are really tough to transplant. Sibbecai, for example, are a race of jackalmen raised to sentience by the Giants in Diamond Throne, which is responsible for a lot of their cultural identity. So you either keep that bit of history in every setting (which would be very odd) or you are forced to create a new origin for them that keeps their personality, but does not recreate the Diamond Throne history every time. Likewise the Mojh are a group of humans who have transformed themselves into draconic hybrids out of devotion to the hated Dramojh who were once owned the Diamond Throne's inhabitants as slaves. Hard to break the Mojh apart from the Dramojh of the Diamond Throne--not impossible, but it certainly doesn't seem like a step toward a clean PHB.

Now what Arcana Unearthed has going for it is impressive. The classes are beautifully developed, even if they don't stack very well, and full of fresh, exciting ideas. The weapons list is one of the few I've seen in D20 products that expands on the standard list of D&D weapons to provide some fun new inventions like battle claws, spikesticks, and dire weapons. The list of feats is huge (the summary list is two full pages in tiny eight point font), with a much greater focus on drama and customization. It's divided into General, Ceremonial (connected with the custom of recieving a true name, a big part of the Diamond Throne setting) Item Creation (only a few, but organized based on the duration and nature of the enchantment, rather than whether the item is a staff, rod, or a ring, which always seemed a bit arbitrary) and Talents (Feats that define inherant qualities of the character, and as such must be picked up at character creation or not at all).

The character classes are a bit mediocre. While they're not the typical elves and dwarves, they're not too much more original than that. You have jackalmen (Sibeccai), lionmen (Litorians), halflings that metamorphose into pixies (Faen, two kinds), half-giants (called Giants, but closer to the D&D style half-giant in look), red-skinned pragmatist near humans (Verrik) and a yuan-ti style race of transformed dragon-men (Mojh). There's also a mechanic for leveling up in race instead of class. I'm not sure how I feel about this. While it adds a certain amount of customization to characters, it tends to feel a bit like an arbitrary mechanic--as though someone can grow larger, or gain a breathweapon or claws and teeth through experience? Age maybe...special ritual perhaps...but probably not through multiclassing in your race when you level up. That's just weird.

The art in the book on the whole is rather good. There's only a couple of bad pieces and quite a few that are really nice stuff. Most of it is printed too small--stuff relegated to the margins or a dollar sized art insert, forcing you to squint at it. Likewise the layout is awful. Most of the book looks like it's printed in 8-point font broken into two columns. There's no white space, no rest for your eye. It's dense and impenetrable. Every page feels like every other page. It can get really straining and claustrophobic if you have to read too much of it in a sitting.

So yeah, the content is pretty darn good. Not what I think the authors were trying to make at all--but good stuff nonetheless. The layout and tiny font are excruciating, though the art now being in color helps a bit. Could definitely use more art and graphical playing around with.

Arcana Evolved is, for the most part, a very well-thought out variant of D&D. There are new races, new base classes, and a whole new spell system. Except for the magic system it sticks pretty closely to the d20 rules, so it's recognizable to the average D&D player.

For those of us who dislike the "Vancian" magic system in traditional D&D where spell casters have to memorize spells but forget them once they're cast, the new spell system is a vast improvement. At it's core it's a spell slot system much like sorcerers in 3.x D&D, but more flexible.

The spell system also lets you do a variety of things to change the power of the spells. You can cast it diminished, using a lower level slot but with less effect; you can cast it heightened, using a higher level slot for more effect; and there are spell templates that can tack on an additional effect (for example a Fire Mage would add the Fire template to do additional Fire damage).

That's the "Aracana" part of AE. The "Evolved" part refers to the concept of racial levels. Instead of ECL modifiers from D&D, several of the races have racial levels you can (optionally) take in lieu of a class level to gain the speical racial traits. In addition for all races (including humans), there are "evolved" levels. These take the racial traits and augment them.

All in all IMHO, an interesting variation on D&D. It still has many of the d20 quirks though (especially annoying is the miserly allocation of skill points)so if you really, really detest 3.x D&D because of things other than the magic system, you won't be happy here either. Everyone else should give it a try.

I will give you a quick overview of the product itself. Second, I am going to talk about its appearance, ergonomy and detail its contents. Third, I will tell you what I think are the "Critical Hit" and "Critical Miss" of this book and finally conclude with my overall appreciation of the product.

Overview

Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved can be purchased in PDF format on DriveThruRPG.com or in hardcover format at your local game stores, Amazon.com and gaming websites. It is 432 pages long, one of the first "mammoth volumes" of its kind.

First and foremost, Arcana Evolved combines materials of Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, The Diamond Throne (detailing the default setting for Arcana Unearthed) and the Player's Guide (which was provided with the Arcana Unearthed DM Screen). If you want a "group price" for these books buy Arcana Evolved. If you have Arcana Evolved, you do not need these books at all (but for the actual DM Screen I was talking about, which is a nice product in itself, but that's another review altogether).

Arcana Evolved isn't just a compilation of previous Malhavoc products. It adds little bits and pieces to the award-winning Arcana Unearthed and makes something new and refreshed out of it. These "bits and pieces" include a new character race, a new character class, new options for your character's development on a "mechanical" level. But it also adds in terms of background, if you are interested in new ideas for your Arcana Unearthed or D&D games: the Tenebrian Seeds allowing access to "Evolved Levels" and the "Return of the Dragons" to the Diamond Throne (or your homebrew setting), for instance.

Lay Out

The first impression people get when they open Arcana Evolved is usually one of awe. First, the book is huge (more than four hundred pages, as precised above). Second, it is a full-color volume. One could expect a very confusing lay-out as a result - lots of color equals less clarity, right? Not with this book. Colors enlighten the product while not covering or confusing its contents. The lay-out is simple and efficient. The art is sometimes just okay, and sometimes outstanding, but always colored with taste. The overall impression it leaves is one of beauty, simplicity/clarity and coherence (there is a lay-out "theme" in tones, fonts and so on. This is one of these little details making for me the difference between very good and outstanding books).

The Actual Contents

Introduction: New Possibilities - This obviously presents Arcana Evolved to the reader, with its scope, its ambition, the themes and concepts that inspired it, how to use the book and how to create/level up characters. This is an important section for this review, since it states the goals of the product: bring the power back into the DM's hands, increase the player's choices, base the game on the notions of character choice, uniqueness, use a background made of rituals and traditions. With these goals in mind, we can actually know more or less objectively if Arcana Evolved fulfills its mission or not.

Chapter One: Abilities - nothing particularly new for a D&D player here. It presents the main ability scores used in AE, none of which are new. It also presents the classic tables of bonus spells and, something new here though, rites. Combat Rites are used mostly by the Ritual Warrior, the new character class in this book, but also other, revised character classes, such as the Oathsworn (at mid-level) and Warmain (at high-level).

Chapter Two: Races - First, the actual races are: Humans, Dracha (humanoid, medium-sized dragons), Faen (little feys between the PHB elves and halflings which can transform into the tiny, flying Sprytes), Giants (a noble, civilized race whose society is centered on the concept of ritual and tradition), Litorians (lion men), Mojh (humans who decide to become more draconic to uncover the mysteries of magic), Runechildren (kind of "Chosen Ones" who defend the world against agressions), Sibeccai (whose physical appearance is akin to the Egyptian god Anubis - they were animals who have been "elevated" to sentience by the giants) and Verrik (some near human beings with crimson skin. They have a cursed, heavy past and have a close relationship with magic).

Some little things change from Arcana Unearthed. For instance, the Mojh can no longer gain access to a breath weapon. This is mainly because of a larger, more significant change: the introduction of the Dracha, which is also part of an even bigger change - the Return of the Dragons to the Diamond Throne (see below). The Dracha seem very fun to play. They have a sort of "coolness" about them akin to the dragons many of us love. It's actually great to be able to play a draconic character without having to wait for high levels to do so or rely on various templates that may seem "wrong" or "artificial" when I added to a given character concept.

The main particular feature here compared to D&D is the introduction of Racial Levels and Evolved Levels. Racial Levels were already present in Arcana Unearthed. They allow players of all races but humans to take a few (between 1 and 3) levels that increase their racial abilities. Giants become bigger and stronger, Mojh gain magical spell-like abilities and the like. This is all simple and yet, original. The new additions here are obviously the "Evolved" levels. These are additional racial levels any character (including humans) can take if they've been exposed to the Tenebrian Seeds of the dragons. They are a plot device in the hands of the DM. In other words, this allows game master to monitor how these levels are accessed. Nice way of justifying them.

Chapter Three: Classes - They are: Akashic (a Jack-of-all-Trades using various skills and abilities reached through a new concept named the "Akashic Memory", which is akin to an alternate plane combining all the memories of all sentient individuals through the ages), Champion (a dedicated warrior more open-ended in its purposes and allegiances than the Paladin), Greenbond (a sort of Shaman spellcasting class. The Greenbond is a healer and represents the force of "The Green", the lifeforce of all things, which is the opposite of "The Dark", the force behind dark and unnatural forces creating aberrations and undead), Mage Blade (the archetypal fighter/mage with a focus on his chosen weapon, called an Athame), Magister (the best spellcaster of the lot which, besides spells, develops various flavour abilities related to his staff and his use of magic), Oathsworn (an unarmed fighter devoted to the fulfilment of his Oaths, which he can change once they have been fulfilled), Ritual Warrior (a warrior using Combat Rites, which are comparable to feats used in a "spell-like" manner - i.e. with a number of uses per level per day), Runethane (a spellcaster able to create runes, foci of various magical effects), Totem Warrior (a fighter developping traits related to his chosen animal totem), Unfettered (the archetypal fighter/rogue), Warmain (the ultimate tank) and Witch (a primitive spellcaster focusing on manifesting particular aspects of her chosen specialty which could be Wood, Winter etc).

These classes all follow the same pattern of description: short introduction, then description fields such as Adventurers, Background, Races, Other Classes (how they combine with this class in a party), NPCs, Hit Die, Class Archetypes (describing what kind of roles they can fulfill in the game), Skills, Class Features (with the usual table summarizing the class progression). It is interesting to note that there are no "favored classes" and the like. Players can multiclass their characters freely, which is a major element of AE's gameplay when combined to racial, evolved levels, prestige classes, and other options (like those proposed by the excellent supplement Transcendence, which among other things introduces players to Ability levels, Substitution levels and more - with these two books it becomes virtually possible to take levels in every aspect of character development).

Same thing as in the races above: there are minor changes, albeit more of them. Some classes needing to be more balanced have been slightly modified for the better. For instance, the Greenbond had too few skill points (which one of the players of my gaming table experienced the hard way). This is fixed here. Oathsworn and Warmain can now use Combat Rites.

There is one major addition here of course: The Ritual Warrior. One big change when compared to the D&D Player's Handbook is the many ways in which the player can specialize and/or customize a character. The Akashic abilities one chooses with the character progression. The Causes of Champions. The Runes of Runethanes. The animal Totems of Totem Warriors. The Manifestations of the Witch. All these game elements make sure that almost no character with the exact same levels will look alike.

Chapter Four: Skills Nothing important changes from Arcana Unearthed here. There are differences when compared to the D&D Player's Handbook: there is no "Profession" skill, the available Knowledges are different (more specific to the particular flavour AE with Knowledge (Ceremony) and various racial Knowleges for instance). Differences that make the gameplay easier mostly by combining these or those skills together. But nothing groundbreaking.

Chapter Five: Feats and Talents -There are two new types of feats when compared to core D&D: the Talents, which are feats that are only available to first level characters, and Ceremonial feats, which require some type of ritual performed on the character and a True Name to be gained. True Names are one of these cool additions typical of Arcana Evolved: it's not a "groundbreaking" idea but everything's in the flavour. Each character either has a True Name or not (this is called an "Unbound" character). This defines which types of feat the character starts the game with, and which feat categories he has access to in the future. This is also important for some spells (such as Raise The Dead) which require the True Name of the target to be performed correctly. Another thing worth mentioning: metamagic feats which allow a spellcaster to gain access to "Spellcasting Templates" which are described in Chapter Eight: Magic.

Chapter Six: Equipment - This chapter mostly describes the base equipment for characters, the weapons, the items particular to the Diamond Throne and the like. I like the new ways in which you can personalize your equipment (with crystal, devanian, dire weapons and armor, for instance, which are nice additions to the classic masterwork piece of equipment).

Chapter Seven: Playing the Game - This is the core system, the reason why a DM wouldn't need a Player's Handbook to play Arcana Evolved. All the rules are here: combat, actions, types of damage and so on. It also details the mechanics of Hero Points, which can be used by the players to tweak the rules in the favor of their characters with panache. A good idea, much more opened to personal interpretations (and possibly powerful) than the similar mechanics of the Eberron Campaign Setting, for instance.

Chapter Eight: Magic - The big chunk that makes Arcana Evolved different in its gameplay than D&D. This isn't as different from D&D that one could believe, however. At least not as different as Elements of Magic would be.

There are still spell slots and spell levels, but new mechanics have been implemented to allow more flexible uses from players and DM. You can for instance use spell slots of inferior or superior spell levels to fuel your casting. Or you can cast superior (heightened) or lesser (diminished) versions of each spell with a slot of one level higher or lower than the one indicated in the spell's description. Another original feature is the way spells are not prepared daily like in D&D. You have a list of spells prepared yes, but you can keep this list as long as you want. You don't have to "revise" your spells each morning. Prepared spells are used in the same way sorcerer spells would be: you can cast the same one several times or just once, up to your number of slots per day for this spell level, or even more when you use higher or lower slots.

Perhaps it doesn't seem like much when you read it but it breaks the overall rigidity of D&D's spellcasting. Add to this the Spell Templates, which allow you to apply effects (like Flaming, Blessed, Cursed, etc) to all the spells you want, and you have a very adaptable, very open-ended magic system.

Also included are all the rules related to the magic items of Arcana Evolved. Nothing incredibly original there.

This chapter is the part of the book many fans are raving about, and for good reasons, I think, since spells are such a huge part of the D&D experience.

Chapter Nine: Spells and Combat Rites - The list of spells available is changed when compared to the PHB. There are no alignments in Arcana Evolved, and thus no alignment-related spells. There is much more balance in the spell selections. No "magic missile". No "save or die" effects. This is a bit underpowered compared to D&D spells, but with the heightened and diminished versions of each spells, the spell templates and all the other options available to spellcasters, this is in fact just as powerful.

The main particular feature here is the presence of Simple, Complex and Exotic spells within any given spell level. Most spellcasting classes only have access to Simple spells or some Complex spells with a particular descriptor. Only magisters have free access to both Simple and Complex spells. Exotic spells are unique and rare - a character may use these only through specific feats, usually.

Combat Rites are akin to temporary feats. They allow you to score a critical on your next it. Or move faster. Or add to your Armor Class by taking a particular stance. In use, they are like spells: your character can use a number of them per day. There are divided per "rite level" the same way spells are. These are great addition to the game: they give to warriors the same potential flexibility as the spellcasting characters. It was about time to have someone come up with that kind of addition to the core rules, wouldn't you think?

Chapter Ten: Diamond Throne Gazetteer - The contents of this chapter are mostly taken from the Diamond Throne supplement to Arcana Unearthed. There are some changes though: first, the Tenebrian Seeds and the concept of evolution, experiments of the dragons that led to the creation of the Dramojh (the bad buys of the setting) are introduced. Second, the Dragons are back, and they intend to recover what is theirs: the Lands themselves now in the care of the Giants. This may be the source of endless adventures with the PCs torn apart between Dragons and Giants and both of their claims on the Diamond Throne. What really makes this background addition flavorful is that none of the factions is either "right" or "wrong". They are both understandable and somehow justified in their claims. This makes for great role-playing moments potentially.

Another thing worth mentioning is the way the Diamond Throne and all its geographical, historical, sociological elements are described: they are summarized and leave the DM as the real master behind the world. As a DM, you can choose to interpret this or that element of the background as you want. It makes the Diamond Throne "your" world more than any other published world could be while still detailing what is absolutely essential to it.

Chapter Eleven: Prestige Classes - They include Beast Reaver, Crystal Warrior, Darkbond, Dragon Kith, Esoteric Mage, Giant Paragon, Knight of the Axe, Mage Priest, Nightwalker, Ollamh Lorekeeper, Rune Lord, Somnamancer. I have not much to say here, apart of their balance which is perfectly fine, and their design, which covers many of the possibilities for character development while tying each particular class to a concept or another of the setting itself. That's in my opinion what Prestige Classes are for: to give more flexibility to characters while tying them mechanically to the world around. That's exactly what these Prestige Classes do.

Chapter Twelve: Creatures - This chapter includes Alabast, Chorrim, Cyclops, Dark Warden, Dragon, Dream Hunter, Evolved Creature Template, Harrid, Inshon, Radont, Rhodin, Shadow Troll, Slassan, Undead Creature Templates, Xaaer (Death Ooze).

Let's just say the basics are covered: the setting-specific grunts, higher level grunts, and various classics from the Diamond Throne. The Dragons are especially original. No dragon is defined by its color here. They are each unique creatures, and all the rules to build them are presented here. The Corporeal and Incorporeal Undead templates are really winners because they allow you to create creepy baddies with virtually any creature from any source you might possess. Which is especially cool when used with the undead-creation spells given in this book.

And that's it. An annex describes possible conversions between AE and D&D, the character sheet is well organized and designed with good taste (like the book itself - see the Overview above). Same thing applies to the Index, particularly useful for a mammoth like AE, and the mandatory OGL follows.

Critical Hit

First, let's remember why Arcana Evolved is conceived the way it is: : bring the power back into the DM's hands, increase the player's choices, base the game on the notions of character choice, uniqueness, use a background made of rituals and traditions.

Here is the Critical Hit, in my opinion: AE does exactly what it's supposed to do. It opens horizons for players and DMs in terms of character customization, game setting and rules flexibility. It offers many options, none of which seem superfluous or useless. Everything can find its own appeal in an Arcana Evolved game. Most importantly, and this is the real critical hit, it lets the reader open the "hood" of the system to find out how it works: it provides guidelines to create your own causes for Champions, totems for Totem Warriors, and so on. In clear, it gives you the tools to make this game your own.

If only for an understanding of how the d20 system works and can be modified in original new ways, this is a must for any DM and player of the game.

Critical Miss

Arcana Evolved suffers from its Critical Hit. As it offers more and more options, variants, possibilities for DMs and players, it is not a product for beginners. Sure, it is always possible to use it with newbies, but the DM would then have to know the system inside out and be able to break it down for the players. This isn't "D&D for Dummies" in clear. Which is great for some gamers, and a potential source of headaches for others, not because it is especially "complicated" (it isn't any more complicated than D&D is), but because there is so much stuff in there, so many game elements and so many choices for DMs and players.

Conclusion

In the end, the versatility of AE is its best trait and worse enemy at the same time. It all depends what you want out of your game: something simple where newbies can come in and play without much to explain, or a complete game allowing you to "put your hands in the motor" and make it your own.

If the second approach is the most interesting to you, you will rave about Arcana Evolved like I do. Even with newbies, it is possible to have great gameplay (I run a tabletop campaign with five newbies to RPGs), but it will require some work and patience on your part as a DM.

Once that is said, Arcana Evolved shines for its own qualities: it is one of these rare products on the d20 market exploring new ways in which to use the d20 mechanics while doing it with talent and knowledge such as none other than one of its original designers could have. And, away from these gamist considerations, it is simply an awesome, fun game to play: all the archetypes are here, all the options are available to have some great game sessions out of this product. You can buy Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved with a blindfold covering your eyes: the probability of being disappointed is nearly non-existent.

This is exactly the bank I was looking for. There is a place to save for church, savings, and fun stuff. The bank is large enough to hold plenty of money and it is also easy to get the money out. We are very happy with the bank!

Awesome tool to teach your kids at a very young age (about age 3) how to begin dividing up their money. Works great for us!!

Wonderful tool to help even small children understand saving, spending and tithing. We bought one for a 3 year old and a 5 year old. They both love the bank and understand how to use it.

Just a basic bank, what came in the box is just like the picture and description - a bank with three slots in it. The stickers came on a sheet that you had to peel off and stick on the bank, and they were a little hard to get off, but then again, maybe I'm sticker-challenged!

I have heard wonderful things about this giving bank and finally decided to implement it with my 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son. Obviously the 2 year old is a little young for the concept, but I drew up a chore chart and at the end of the week they each get $3.00 and each dollar goes into the separate banks. I explained each bank and my 5 year old cannot wait to give her money to "those who don't have any". It's a great teaching tool!

This product full of ideas on setting up and teaching Kindergarten. With the continious changes in education I was a little unsure about where to start. The author offers great ideas and input using the NCTM Standards. This is a great resource for new teachers, and teachers who are new to teaching Kindergarten.

I have had the honor of seeing Ms. Leuenberger adapt the very principals that she writes about in her book in her own classroom on "The Vineyard". Believe me, these strategies and lessons work. I suggest that each school have this book available for their Kindergarten teachers. The suggestions and ideas in this book make "Meeting the Standards" easy and fun.

I love how this teacher writes about how she sets up her classroom and keeps it organized. She also has some helpful strategies for setting up learning centers, journal writing and how to make your morning message fun, and much more!
I think the ideas in this book will be really helpful in the years to come.

Constance Leuenberger's book is an excellent combination of educational philosophy coupled with ideas, ideas, and more ideas!
An easy read that would be a GREAT resource for ALL new Kindergarten teachers and a wonderful resource to help experienced teachers remember how important developementally appropriate strategies are.
This book is full of great ideas, strategies, and tips that are simple and ready to implement. Another strength is how the author shares thoughts for teachers of half day and/or full day programs.
Constance understands how young children learn. She knows that we must teach the "whole" child....from their academic to their social well being.
This book is an excellent addition to your professional library.

This is a 'must have' book for any teacher at any number of years teaching experience. What I really like about this book is 'at a glance' one can pick up ideas/tips that are ready to try 'NOW'.

As a poker player and a businessman I have for years realized the close correlation between the skills needed to succeed in both arenas. Krause and Carter do an outstanding and insightful job of making these correlations quite clear for the reader and their use of keywords to assist the reader in digesting and recalling these skills is very useful.

This book touches on a number of topics that are considered by some to be taboo in business today. I would like to thank them for being so open and blunt about these topics. Even if one's character does not allow them to use all of these tactics in pursuing their successes at least they should be informed enough to recognize when some of the more questionable tactics are being employed against them.

Success in business and poker require an understanding of the game, an ability to react quickly to uncertain situations, and be prepared to take calculated risks knowing when the reward justifies such risk taking. The authors do an outstanding job at pointing out to the reader how to recognize these opportunities, determine the risk/reward payoff, and identify which tactics and strategies can be employed to achieve optimum results.

Krause and Carter have successfully defined the game in business today and given readers the foundation for success. All that is needed is the strength of heart to understand yourself, your opponents, and which tactic suits you for the attainment of your goals. This book is not about a quick fix or even a big one time score it is about making the changes that can positively impact you over the long haul. Just like poker, success is not measured by your performance on a particular night or during a specific tournament, it is measured by your long running results from the time you began playing the game until you ultimately stop.

Read this book, apply what suits your own character and player type, then go out there and get in the game with confidence in knowing that you are equipped with the tools of success!!

Hundreds of people play 'no limit' poker, but few realize its strategies can be used to get ahead in business and life. NO LIMIT explores connections between poker and business, showing how Texas Hold 'em, the most popular version of the game, holds many keys to business success. Any game players who know Texas Hold 'em well and are interested in business concepts, as well as business libraries, will find here a fine opportunity for success and strategic planning.

It was a good read. Very clever of you guys to center it around the national phenomenon of poker playing. I happen to be the worst poker player ever to attempt the game - I used to be pretty good at bridge tho' - but my son plays, my nephews play, my brother-in-law plays, etc. Even in JAX there are several thriving poker rooms with more opening all the time. I can see why college professors would refer to and use the book since a large portion of their audience probably plays poker.

The book was easy to read and kept my attention. I like the use of acronyms to help with retention. I guess that's why we use them so much in our field. I also enjoyed the off-hand buried references from the OZ books. I guess the chapters on The Land of Oz and Getting to Know You were two of my favorites - probably because I do a lot of that intuitively. I think I am a mutated Wizard. I truly lack the "keen desire to dominate and wield power" (more about that later), but a lot of the rest of it sounds like me.

I am not sure if these next paragraphs have more to do with my X chromosome, my ENFP Myers-Briggs, or my somewhat limited spiritual gifts of mercy, service and encouragement; but this wouldn't be an honest and complete review without this part.

I am not personally motivated by winning. I think this is probably an X chromosome thing, but please never quote me by name on that - I'll get drummed out of my gender. What motivates me is service and gratitude. What keeps me going is believing that I have made a difference. If someone actually thanks me - that's the gravy. That's one reason why I loved working for you so much - you were always so good about thanking. The reason I blame it on the X is that my son, who is also ENFP, cares deeply about winning. He is in law school now, and even though he has a highly defined sense of justice, etc., at the core of it he just wants to WIN. He loves to compete in his areas of highest confidence, like moot court and trial team competitions. I really believe that a high percentage of women in the work force are motivated more like me than they are by WINNING. They probably would never admit it though. The ones who try hard to compete and make winning central tend to be the least happy and the most bitter. I think we take losing more personally than the Y crowd. We internalize it (I'm a bad person) and it makes us miserable. I think the book was important for me to read because, even though I'm not energized by the winning thing, I need to understand the people around me. I have always worked and I will be working for some time still. I need to understand other people's motivation and behavior in order to survive.

On the ENFP front, I am not big on planning and life-time commitments (the P) and I lead with my gut A LOT (the F). Parts of the book made me tired and a little depressed because they depend on characteristics I don't possess. I guess I could do it (like anything else) if I were willing to pay the price, but I'm not. The good news is that the book affirms that my highly developed intuition (the N) will probably keep me in the game even if I don't win much which I don't really care about anyway. I learned some things I can keep though - things where the value of the hand comes up positive for me - and I'm going to work on those.

On the "mercy and encouragement" side, the parts about manipulation, subterfuge, intentional disruption - that all creeps me out. Setting somebody up to fail is not something I would consciously do, even though I probably have done subconsciously. My least favorite parts were the ones about exploiting character flaws and the D-I-S-C-A-R-D. That said, I am a realist and I do believe in the doctrine of Total Depravity, so I have rather low expectations of the human race (including me). It is important for me to be reminded that there are people out there who would do me harm in order to advance and it's good to study exactly how they might do it. I do like to be safe and understanding where the threats are and what I need to do to parry the blows is great information.

Summary: Good read - clever, smart, entertaining, thorough. Imparts a lot of information in relatively few pages. Is designed for take-away action. I recommend it for everyone who has to interact with other humans (grin). Even if you wouldn't plan to use the offensive strategies and tactics, the defensive possibilities are invaluable. I plan to order it for my son. He grew up in an X household and I think it will feed his Y soul.

Once you pick up No Limit and start turning the pages, it will not be easy to put down. This book is extremely easy to read and more importantly, apply. Krause and Carter's clever use of acronyms and overall structure make the content very easy to pick up and maintain. After reading this book, I've been able to increase my level of performance at work through applying the No Limit strategies.

Poker, business, and life require a strategic decision making approach that positions you for the best possible chance for success. This book will help you enhance, transport and modify your Friday night poker methodology into your professional & personal relationships creating a competitive advantage over your competitors.

Everyone wants to be a winner but not all possess and nurture the skills necessary to win. This book is not about a one time, quick fix for success or the bluff that gets you the promotion or project you've had your eye on. It is about applying the skills addressed by Donald Krause and Jeff Carter to your everyday life in order to know yourself, know and understand the players in the game you play and increase your odds. It is about striving to be the winner, cultivating the attributes of greatness from within, and learning from failure-yours and those of others- to not just win the big pot but all those little ones that make us get up everyday and pursue our aspirations.

Now, the first Nuisances is absolutely hilarious. It's creative and unique, and adds a whole new dynamic to your regular D20 campaign. The directors cut gives you a whole lot more of that, it takes what Nuisances did well and does it even better, and the full color art looks great too. I look forward to even more Nuisances stuff in the future.

Expanded with a new introduction, still crazy, developed to deliver laughs and groans in play as well as in reading, this is a worthy return to one of Skirmisher's deserved flagship titles.

There is, quite possibly, no other fantasy roleplaying game book as irreverent and off-color as this one, and I would not have thought something with so many scatological references could be so funny. Nuisances: Director's Cut is, however, absolutely hilarious, and even better than its predecessor, Nuisances: A Comprehensive OGL (d20 System) Sourcebook for Fantasy Role-Playing Games. I am glad to have a copy of both, however, as the original is available in print format and this expanded version only on CD-ROM as a PDF.

You can't keep a good half-human down! This latest edition of the highlariously playable Nuisances has been playtested and expanded upon to give gamers more to groan about and DMs more to smile about, and vise versa! Nothing like an already tiny halfling with the Dwarfism defect (which grants and extra Feat choice as well) to really ankle bite and frustrate the legions of tall gnolls around the countryside!

Seriously- the first Nuisances book made me laugh until I cried and my stomach hurt so of course when I saw this extended version, I had to own it... The beautiful new design is awesome and the additions to the original material made buying this book worth every penny! This book is a lot of fun and anyone who likes d20 games needs to have it!

I have bought several books on cooking with venison. I thought the pictures were beautiful. However, once I started cooking and pulled one of the books out, I quickly realized I only had a few of the ingredients needed. Those books went back on the shelf without another glance. Quick and Easy soon became my middle name once I had a family, but I didn't want to rule out taste either. Oh Deer is perfect! The recipes are easy, quick to prepare, and oh so tasty. Most of the recipes have the same k