Role Playing Books

Heretics of Tarantia is rather unique among RPG modules in that the hack-n-slash elements are downplayed in favor of stealth, intrigue, and diplomacy skills while not sacrificing any gaming enjoyment. Tarantia is the capitol of Aquilonia and called "The City of Wonders". The module is set during the time of Conan's reign as King of Aquilionia however business of the kingdom finds him away from his throne as his councilor and chancellor Publius is left in charge. The module's preface explains that until the time of Conan, only the worship of the god Mitra was permitted in the city and all other religions were banned. Conan changed this to allow freedom of religion (since he himself called upon Crom). This did not sit well with the priests of Mitra who use the King's absence to strike a blow against the other upstart cults, specifically the Cult of Asura.

Led by Constantus, Priest of Mitra and leader of the Brotherhood of the Bull, they have made dark alliances with wealthy nobleman as well as Stygians to rid Tarantia of all worship of Asura. The adventure is designed for 4 - 6 players from 5th to 7th level of experience. The players will find themselves caught up in this deadly game of conspiracies and intrigue when they come upon a dying priest of Mitra who warns them about the Brotherhood.

Players in this module will have to use their wits and charisma as much, if not more than their sword arms as they will eventually make contact with Publius and reveal what they've found as he will request (strongly!) the players aid in helping to find out further information about who is behind the plot and then stopping them. The players will need to gather information, perform interrogations, and use other methods of stealth to achieve their goals. But it's not all stealth...there will be a fair dose of battle as well as the players explore both the city and its underbelly to win the day.

A different type of adventure, but fun; the writers know Conan's world and its history and have done a wonderful job of capturing the look and feel of the savage Hyborian age. Another great Conan product from Mongoose!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

I like Shem, it has all the elements for a great regional setting book, too bad they went to a 2nd edition and B&W, making this book now obsolete with the 2nd edition Conan, which I will not get, I am sticking with my original stuff or until they come out with a runequest version at least.

Any fan of the original Conan novels will want this book. It has maps and drawings of the races and good explinations for the Conan series. I am glad to have added this to my library along side my Conan novels.

This book is sure to satisfy the legions of Zelda fans. Although only the first two Zelda games are covered, many will agree that those two are the very best versions. Full of hints and tricks, readers will breeze through the game in no time. If you don't want complete spoilers, the guide can still help readers in who have trouble in specific areas. Finally, if you have already mastered the game, the book is still a great read and going through the game again, using the guide, will show you new things that were probably missed the first time.

Lots of fun with one of the best games ever.

This book is an amazing book with so much information that will blow you away. The book took many years to write....
when you read it you will understand why. There were a few slow parts in this book, but overall a five star. Reading
second world war books is somewhat like taking a large Jig Saw puzzle and putting it together piece by piece. After
reading over 30 W.W.II books, Body Guards of Lies put a big part of the puzzle together for me. It's unbias not like
some of the books I have read from USA authors. it's a must read ...you will not be disappointed.
DJM

Roleplay a hunter-gatherer in a world filled with mysticism and mystery. The world is loosely based on the Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime. You carry everything you own, you barter for all goods, you have nothing more complex than a sharp rock tied to a stick with sinew. As limiting as it sounds, all the mysticism and mystery of the world makes it a good roleplaying area. Think of any legend you've heard about how the world started (e.g. How Coyote Stole The Sun), it will make a good game.

The book itself is well-written, as are most of the CORPS books.

Cowdog Caper is the second book in the "Little Lucy" series, a delightful, soon-to-be-quintet of picturebook stories meant for young readers age 4-8. What makes these books unique is that their canine stars, Little Lucy, Dizzy, Pete, Verne, and Spike, are all real, live dogs! Dressed in charming outfits and gently captured on full-color film by professional photographer Rick Zaidan, these adorable creatures bring the exciting adventure story of good dogs looking to round up a "bad dawg" and his heist to life! The first book in this wondrous and imaginative series, Cool School Stories, is also very highly recommended.

Plenty; both good and bad, has been written about the original Creature Collection. Most of the bad comments centered on the large number of statistical errors and some pretty sub-par artwork. The artwork never bothered me, but the stats for many of the monsters had to be seriously edited to make them usable in a game. Muffed stats torpedoed many a monster. It was obvious that the book was rushed to market in an effort to beat the first 3.0 Monster Manual to the shelves.

Despite its shortcomings; however, the Creature Collection was full of creative beasts that I have found much use for. The Creature Collection Revised keeps all of the original's monsters, but fixes the statistical errors and even has some improved artwork. As part of the revision, this book is now compatible with the 3.5 version of the D&D rules as well. If you're considering buying the original Creature Collection, skip it and get this. If you already own the original, this book is well worth the price of updating.

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

Cry Havoc is an excellent value for DM's and players who have been waiting to send their campaigns and characters to war. Although it is marketed as the Malhavoc's third event book, Cry Havoc goes beyond its predecessors by presenting detailed yet accessible systems for unit combat and army combat fully combatible with D&D 3.5.

The Event
The first two chapters of Cry Havoc (Preparing for the Event and Integrating the Event) are identical in nature to those in Requiem for a God and When the Sky Falls. They help the DM add a war to his campaign by considering where to place it, what countries or forces to involve, what type of war is being fought, and what role the PCs will play in the conflict. Like the other event books these chapters include sidebars with checklists and key terms.

Unit Combat
In terms of pages, Chapter 3 (Unit Combat) takes up about half of Cry Havoc, for good reason. It presents rules for running unit combats ("from several dozen to a few hundred troops") in a manner which is very similar to standard D&D combat rules.

Battles take place on a one inch grid where each inch equals a fifty foot square area. Each battle round lasts one minute rather than six seconds. Stats for units (groups of 10 or more creatures) are written out before the battle on unit record sheets, and units are represented by a single token or counter. During the battle both units and individuals move about attacking, casting spells, and so on. Individuals operate as they please, but units follow general strategies (attack the nearest enemy, move toward the rendezvous point, reatreat to the base line) unless they receive orders from commanders. Units must make morale checks when they take damage (and in certain other situations). There are also sections dealing with siege weapons, cover, concealment, terrain.

The treatment of units is both balanced and easy to understand. Units have statistics just like characters (attack, AC, saving throws). They also have skills, feats, spells, and special abilities (if the majority of the creatures in the group have those things). Sample units have been posted on montecook.com as a web enhancement. Units make single attack rolls (rather than rolling for each member of the group, and the result is a number of hits (rather than all hits or all misses). Units also roll saving throws and skill checks as a group. Units can be combined into formations and divisions.

Despite the attention given to units, individuals are no less important on the field. The results of PC's, NPC's, and individual creatures like dragons can have a large impact on the combat. Individuals can do almost all of the things they could do in standard D&D combat, but Cry Havoc also adds the option of command. While giving commands prevents an individual from using their own combat abilities to the fullest extent, it does allow them to maximize the effect of allied troops. There are seven pages worth of orders that allow units to undertake special actions or gain combat bonuses.

Overall, Chapter 3 is quite thorough. Important rules are stated more than once, useful information in presented in tables, and example diagrams are sprinkled throughout the chapter to demonstrate relevant rules (attacks of opportunity, cover, morale failure, etc).

Battlefield Magic
On the one hand, Chapter 4 represents an incredible effort. Part of the chapter gives the battlefield rules and uses for more than 120 of the spells from the Player's Handbook. Several pages are devoted to handling monster special abilities. Every element of spells is addressed, from the area of effect to durations to the particularities of the different schools of magic.

On the other hand, the rules for units of spellcasters is one area where abstraction interferes with the imagination. When a unit of spellcasters casts, they all cast the same spell. When they need to make a Concentration check, they all save or they all lose the spell. When another unit is hit by a spell which does not deal direct damage, they all save or they all fail their save. While the melee and ranged combat rules allow for partial effect (even the unusual melee actions like disarming, grappling, or tripping), the rules for spellcasting are all or nothing.

There's still potential for spellcasters in unit combat, but it seems like spellcasters (characters and monsters) lose a lot more in the transition from individual to unit than other creatures.

Army Combat
Chapter 6 presents a completely different battle system, this one capable of handling armies with millions of combatants and wars which last for months. This is very useful for DM's who want to handle the results of battles or wars where PC's are not directly involved or are only involved in the periphery. The chapter also includes rules on raising, supplying, and moving armies.

For each army involved the DM generates army statistics (defensive power, offensive power, manuever rating, command rating, scout rating). The statistics are modified by factors like weather, terrain, fortifications, and how well supplied each army is. The statistics can then be used to determine the results of combat at three levels (an entire war, a single battle, or each hour of a battle). Each combat is resolved with a series of dice rolls, the outcomes of which determine which side got surprise, how long the fighting last, how many casualties were suffered, etc. The rules of individual battles also allow the sides to chose tactics and account for player actions (killing enemy commanders, etc).

Miscellaneous
Chapter 5 presents rules for using skills and feats in unit combat. Chapter 7 introduces three excellent prestige classes. The artwork and layout are excellent, similar to the other products from Malhavoc Press.

This is a fantastic value for anyone interested in incorporating unit and army combat into their D&D game.