RPG Books

Looks like FASA got their act together for this book and really gave what both players and GM's can use. The background information is clear and concise, the game effects are balanced and well-thought-out, and the new rules enhance the depth of the game. Clearly worth the money.

Shadowrun, despite being my all-time favorite gaming universe, was a complete money drainer, with an excessive amount of supplements to purchase in order to flesh out your campaign.
3rd edition and its updates however, seemed to consolidate and condense better, focusing on game mechanics and rules rather than pictures and colorful quotes from fictional characters.

Magic in the Shadows is no exception, as it compiles all three previous magic books, updates their mechanics, and also introduces new 3rd edition magic rules, skills, and abilities. Although the 3rd edition books are not as colorful or fun to read as previous books, they do a much better job of actually providing rules and mechanics to streamline your game.
This book is a must have for anyone with "awakened" characters, because it covers the rules for initiation, a process that makes a magical character uber-powerful.

I remember when I first played Shadowrun how much of a pain using magic was. Fasa has finally come out with a much needed update for the magic system. This is an excellent source book that expands the system for magic and makes it very easy to use. No longer is magic confusing and hard to understand; now it is a breeze to play a magic using character in the Shadowrun world.

Heh. I remember my troll mage. He kicked so much, well, you know. And to think, that wouldn't have been possible without this book. So wonderful. Magic becomes so much easier with the updated rules. And rules for making your own spells? Exquisite. Although some of the combinations are so powerful that my GM disallowed them. Dam. Ah well. Anyway, the point is that I can assure you that if you're playing a magic user in Shadowrun 3rd Edition, you'll want, nay, you'll NEED, this book. Get it. Now! Enjoy!

Magic in the Shadows, while long overdue, is most definitely worth the wait. It's a little dry in places, but anything with this much information and rules clarification is going to have that problem. Overall, the book is well worth cover price because of its excellent organization and clear writing. Shadowrun's magic system needed a major overhaul, and this does the trick beautifully. An absolute must-have for anyone, player or GM, who deals with magic in Shadowrun Third Edition.

came on time and in great condition. Still prefer 1st ed and 2ed over 3rd ed and up any time.

If you are reading this review, and you want to play the new 4th Edition D&D, you have come to the wrong place.

Unearthed Arcana was written in 1985. I was about 10 years old and was playing AD&D, which consisted of the Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manuals 1 and 2, and the Fiend Folio. That year however, Gary Gygax and Jeff Grubb decided to try to add a further dimension to the 1st Ed game.

This game not only adds dimensions, it adds a number of "fixes" to the game to raise problems that had come about from the initial books.

Problem 1 - the level limits for non-human characters were too low. This book addresses this by giving higher ability score characters higher limits. (GOOD)
Problem 2 - the fighter subclasses do not have distinct enough roles. This book separates the Paladin to become a subclass of Chavalier, and the Barbarian becomes a new class of fighter. Therefore, we have the "knight" style classes, Chavalier and Paladin, and the "warrior" classes - Ranger and Fighter, who get weapon specialisation, and the "tanking" brute class the barbarian. (GOOD)
Problem 3 - charisma is not physicial attractiveness, but personal magnetism. Solution - introduce (redundant) seventh attribute = Comeliness. (BAD)
Problem 4 - characters not heroic enough. Solution - make uber powerful characters who are rewarded for rolling high ability scores. Encourage players to cheat or do anything to raise ability scores. (BAD)

It appears that after Unearthed arcana, for all its great new spells, magic items, class changes, and variation of the races (now you can play a Drow = dark Elf, and history was never the same again) fuelled the creation of mega-powerful characters. Ability scores rise in importance. The new race subtypes add an element of richness into the characters that was welcome. The new classes were generally good (with the exception of the comical Thief-Acrobat) but a DM might wish to be cautious before introducing all the changes here. However, this book is full of something that I see lacking in the newer volumes of the D&D products - imagination.

I've found some of this book unique enough and copious in content.... Well, there's a section on pole arms in this book which is outstanding, filled with [historical] data. In geocities/timessquare/dungeon/9939, you'll find a pole arms section in which I've taken the time to post this out-of-print invaluable material. [And there's a link at the bottom of the page. =)]

This is an outstanding book, and is worth almost any pricetag for its original and truly unique content. It litereally is unearthed arcana.

This is the book that changed a casual passtime into an obsession for me. It adds a new layer of depth and magic to the D&D system. It was here that Dark Elves became player characters, the barbarian was introduced. Paladins became the horsemen they always should have been. Here are advanced spells, weapons & armor, character classes (thief-acrobat, higher level druids, cavaliers, and more), and races. At last you could be more defined that simply "elf" or "dwarf." This book loosened up the system a bit and allowed for player individuality and choice. I love this book so much that I still prefer to play 1st edition D&D-- though I have played many many other systems-- because this book allows for so much freedom and creativity.

I KNOW this book is good, because someone always ends up stealing my copy (the true mark of a book's greatness), but I always replace it-- and it's worth whatever I have paid for it.

It's so good, I think it would make interesting reading for a non-gamer. I gave it five stars because they don't allow six.

Highest possible recommendation.

This is the final piece in the puzzle that is the AD&D rules - Gary Gygax's last major contribution to the game system, before the diluted 2nd edition came out, is displayed in its full glory here. It's obvious that this is a work for intermediate and advanced players, since some of the races and classes here (and the attribute-rolling system!) are over-powered for easier, beginning campaigns. In addition to the dark races (such as the Drow, Duergar, and Svirfneblin), and the advanced classes (such as the Hierophant, Acrobat, Cavalier and my fave, the Barbarian), there's also new weapons, hundreds of new spells, hundreds of new magical items, the deities of the demi-humans, and much more. It's sure to add an entirely new level to your campaigns!

Planet Nine strikes again! Bruno the Bandit is tall, dark, and luckless from a family of bandits. Even though he's in his thirties, Bruno is still living at home with his mother, father, companion/sidekick/will rat him out in 5 seconds micro-dragon Fiona and "Uncle". A firm grasp on pop-culture is necessary to get all the gags, jokes and jabs as Bruno seeks ancient books of forbidden knowledge, endures prison, his world's version of Peoples Court and daytime television and even marriage...to an another man. I'm not going to ruin any plotlines, so you'll just have to pick up a copy to find out the rest!

If you stumbled across Sluggy Freelance and liked it, give Bruno a try.

Bruno is really one of the better strips there is on the net. Its great he got a book out, too.

This is definetly one of the better comic strips out there. Bruno the Bandit is completely original, and fresh, the main character contiues to surprise me. Bruno is not only a dumb crook, murderer etc, but also greedy, selfish, and at times meaner than his enemies. It makes hime very interesting to read about, you'd think he would rather save the world than make a few gold sovergeins, but not Bruno. He kills baby unicorns, and clubs baby seals, all to further his own ends and this makes the book very refreshing from other strips, for he continues to save people, usually out of shear stupidity! I recommend you to purchase this book!!

Like many internet comics, I stumbled on this gem by accident. I read the strips abounding with weird wizards, sassy micro-dragons, clumsy rouges, goat-headed Goddesses, bartending demons, and various other oddities, laughed so hard my sides hurt, and got addicted. Unlike certain other reveiwers who have no basis for their mindless dislike, I think Bruno is one of the best internet comics out there, parodying everything from pop culture to classic fantasy stories. Ian McDonald has terrific insight, and I hope the strip continues to be successful for many years to come.

This is the "typical" story of your rogue that has it all done by brute force and not necessarily the smartest way. That would not have been anything special if we hadn't got Fiona, the always present Micro-dragon sideckick. With her inteligence, sarcasm, and great humour that turns this stupid/smart robbers pair in one of the funniest around.

Excellent book but leaves out info on ships like Imperial Frigate and Corvettes that the Imperials used also along with the ships in the book. They also could have put in a better rank insignias system in the book showing the ranks but otherwise Really Good.

It is very detailed but lacks several key points such as stats for TIE's and imperial walkers. Weapon ammo would be nice. Good starship section

Very detailed, but lacks: Walker info & stats; TIE info & stats; Sandtrooper info & stats; Timeline; Details of smaller Imperial ships; Costs for Imperial ships & equipment (sometimes useful).

This book is best used in conjunction with the Rebel Handbook and the Star Wars Sourcebook. Between the three of them most information is covered. (maybe this one DOESN'T cover TIE stats, but there's a nice chart in the Sourcebook that has all the different starcraft lined up.) Good flavor. Excellent illustrations, in words and in pictures. I recommend this book the the serious Star Wars fan.

This book is great. It was definetly mad efor the star wars fan. The problem is its out of print :( I got my copy ,after finding it listed here,in a large book store under roleplaying.It not just for roleplaying though.So go get it if you the avid fan or just the average day fan.If you like the Empire youll love this book.Statsd on TIES or not.

I really enjoyed this accesory. All the charachters are fleshed out and belivable. Its added a lot to my planescape campaign.

In this book you can see people in Sigil that think in very strange forms. people that think in your factions and they living for something.

If you like Planescape, you'll love "Faces". It's certainly my favourite PS release to date; the forty-plus characters described are all incredibly original, detailed and exciting; the artwork's fantastic; and -- the real reason I love this book to pieces -- each character's intricately linked to the others, creating a great web of intrigue and deceit. And that's _exactly_ how I see Sigil. Buy this book. You won't be disappointed.

This book is alot of fun to read! Instead of just giving game information on the NPCs (Non-Player characters), the reader is also given an idea of each character's believable personality and story. These guys aren't cardboard cut-outs. Before long, the reader starts to feel like they're actual people who live next-door!

The best part is that each characters' story is connected to each other in some sort of indirect network.

TSR did a good job in making a living, breathing book. Not only is this a game reference book, but a well-crafted story book too!

This book also has strong connections to FACTION WAR and IN THE CAGE: A GUIDE TO SIGIL. It also has some connections to the other Planescape products.

What I like about this book is that it is all Char development. Every NPC in the book is linked to every other NPC in the book. I think its useful for DM cause it gives 40+ NPC of all lvl that the PC can more realisticly meet. Cause com on how many Faction high ups will give the pcs at low lvl the time of day? Where this book gives you the common fock who really keep the city of door interesting and on its feet.

This is a very fun RPG game. Great for one shot sessions. Imagine Logans Run mixed with Monty Python. You play a Clone in Alpha complex. You have six clones. You will need them .The computer that runs the complex is insane. You go on troubleshooting missions for the computer and try to have traitors arrested or killed. You are a traitor, as is everyone else on your team. You just don't know it yet ! It pits the players against each other and the DM runs them through scenarios. Its really fun. And goofy.
The computer is your friend. Hail the computer. Remember happiness is mandatory. If your not happy report for termination.

This is the single most entertaining RPG book on my shelf. As far as reading the material goes, it's a perfect example of what you can do by turning normally frowned on RPG behavior into a drop dead riot of a game. The emphasis here is on the drop dead part.

While the text of the game goes to great lengths in instilling in the reader a sense of how the game is supposed to be played, in the end there are only two rules that need following.

1. The GM is always right.
2. Happiness is mandatory!

It's that simple, and it couldn't be more fun to read this book. Once you understand that every bit of it is cleverly written to convey the theme of Paranoia to the reader, you don't feel like you are being lectured yet again on the proper application of an attack roll. Rather you are learning what it is to be a GM/Player of this great game.

I only hold one complaint which is so minor that it didn't even effect me giving this game a perfect score.

Normally I don't find it necessary to print two seperate books for the core of a game. I actually prefer many games where GM and player information can be easily included together in one well laid out tome. Basically I don't think it's normally necessary to have to have two or more books to play and run a game. However in this case I think I would've preferred a division of the book into a distinct Player's guide and a distinct GM's manual. I think this is truly one of those games where the player's are better served to discover the ins and outs through regular play. In the case of Paranoia, the fun is in the failure.


ADVICE TO ASPIRING TROUBLESHOOTERS:

If you intend on playing this game, take the books advice and don't read the GM only section. Trust me when I say the tension caused by the unknown is the bread and butter of an enjoyable Paranoia session.

If you're the one buying the book for your group, gather the money together from fellow players and give this as a gift to your GM. He'll thank you, and any GM worth his weight will itch to run this game once he gets his hands on it. After all, what's the point of owning a book you are only supposed to read 48 pages of. PLAY THE GAME FIRST, AND THEN AFTER A WHILE BUY THE BOOK FOR YOURSELF. DON'T RUIN THE FUN BY READING TOO MUCH!

All in all, even if you do intend to ignore my advice and read it all, you'll have a blast doing so. I haven't had this much fun reading an RPG in a long time (with the possible exception of Godlike).

STAY ALERT! TRUST NO ONE! KEEP YOUR LASER HANDY!

Paranoia XP is the newest and in my opinion best version of the Paranoia game line. Here are people who need not apply (just to get you guys on to games better suited for your playstyle):

Gamers who like heavy combat tactics needn't look into Paranoia XP. Most of the weapons will kill a clone in one shot.

Gamers who like strategy in character generation or advancement needn't look into Paranoia XP.

Gamers who tend toward heavier systems (D&D, Rifts, HERO, GURPS) probably should tread with caution, as Paranoia XP's system is one die roll-under for everything. The rules are simple: roll a d20, get under Skill. Then if the GM decides you succeed, you succeed.

Gamers intent on character growth and development can find some support for such here, but under Classic rules, characters die often and hilariously.

If you like intra-party harmony, a good idea for nearly all RPGs, shouldn't look here. Paranoia is about backstabbing your fellow Troubleshooter.

If you enjoy having larger than life heroes, don't look into Paranoia XP. Paranoia XP characters are incompetant, ignorant, and insane.

Well, if you're still here, you either don't care about the above, or you're still interested to hear about the game itself, well, here goes:

By the way, you might have noticed I'm not bothering with any "HAPPINESS IS MANDATORY!" or "NOT AVAILABLE AT YOUR SECURITY CLEARANCE!" stuff, because I know it can be quite offputting to those looking into the game. It's an "in" joke, and using it against people who aren't "in" yet is a bit mean and/or foolish.

The game is about a complex, an underground post-modern utopia called the Alpha Complex, which is run by an AI called The Computer. Or it would be a utopia, if The Computer wasn't insane and paranoid, looking for commie mutant traitors. The Computer has security cameras everywhere, and regulates everything in the complex: air, food, plumbing, industry, economy, etc. Everything. But that's not the worst of it.

The mass of population is heavily medicated, usually happy in their existence mowing about the complex and doing their assigned duties. But not the player's characters! They have gotten the honor of being moved up in security clearance, from a lowly INFRARED to the slightly less lowly RED. Their job has been reassigned to Troubleshooter, and they get a laser gun! They go on fantastic suicidal/impossible missions for The Computer to root out commie mutant traitors, secret society members, and other sabateurs of The Computer. There's only one problem...

All the characters are mutants, and all belong to a Secret Society (perhaps even Communists). All the characters are traitors. And it's not like players don't know that everyone is a traitor. Instant mayhem, just add water and stir.

If this sort of game doesn't interest you, Paranoia XP is not for you.

This is one of the best RPG's I've come along in a long time...it's extremely unique, fun, relevant to the times, and hillarious! Imagine a dark, dystopian, 1984-like future...except more comic, more insane, and more deadly. It's worth it to buy just to read the book, it's written very well with a dashing brand of twisted humor. My brother loved it too, and just *had* to borrow it once he had read through a bit.

The rules though, I have no idea about...whenever I GM an RPG, I just skip most of the rules and run things in a more story-based, freeform way. So that I can't vouch for...but even if they suck, the setting should make up for it :)

The new Paranoia XP (PXP) is a refreshing breeze for the game. Well written, obviously very thought out, without the problems of 5th edition. It's hard to give a review without comparing it to older editions, of course. Suffice to say that this might be the edition that brings Paranoia out of gaming limbo.

Everything is well thought out, from mutations to secret societies to the history and functioning of Alpha Complex. The increased use of personal computers, PDAs and the Internet is now reflected in PXP. The humor is present, but in measured doses, and there was (thank goodness) no attempt to go "over the top" with things. No acronyms simply to make funny acronyms, for instance. Character creation is notably different from previous editions (no stats for Strength, Intelligence, etc.), but now characters can improve themselves. With the addition of three play styles - Zap, Classic, and Straight - they may actually live long enough to do so! ("Straight" Paranoia, for instance, presumes a dark, gritty, realistic game, while Classic is 1st/2nd edition style, and Zap is simply "everyone shoots everything and each other".)

The downside? Well, the index isn't as helpful as you might think, and it's hard to find the chapter breaks. Several times when I wanted to look up a specific table or information, I ended up leafing through the book to find what I wanted.

Also, a mention on the artwork. Jim Holloway was the original Paranoia artist in 1984. He's been tapped again for PXP, and it appears his style has not evolved or improved in 20 years. Paranoia purists might enjoy it, but I was hoping for something a little more updated, more in keeping with the times. No, that doesn't mean I wanted a "manga" look, but there have been other Paranoia artists (Greg Guler, Valerie Valusek, Brian Schomburg, Sonya Obrochta, etc.) who might have been used. I've played Paranoia since 1st edition, and Holloway's artwork has not aged well. Unfortunately, the official word is that Holloway's art will continue to appear in PXP products.

Art and index issues aside, this is a good return to the series' roots. Old-school Paranoia fans should be pleased. I hope PXP will bring new fans into the fold as well.

I learned a ton, and I really enjoyed beating the game with the guide! I'm going to try to beat the game without the guide. =^P!

This is the best guide for you if you need help with Super Mario RPG! Even if you don't need help it tells where all the secrets are so it's cool to have anyway. If you LOVE Mario RPG or just like to play it then get this book!!!!

it has every thing you need to know about mario rpg!!!

About two or three years ago, I bought Mario RPG used without the manual. Then I got this Book. This book is the Bible of Mario RPG players' Guides. The strategies are excellent, The detailed descriptions of the areas and characters (although the Bestiary is a little off) in the game are as useful as they get, and it outshines even Nintendo's official player's guide in terms of usefulness. Although yes, it is in black and white as one fellow reviewer said, this small fault is nothing compared to the sheer volume of information contained in this book. If you only buy one player's guide for this game, let this be the one. It'll be the ONLY one you'll ever need.

This is such a cool guide. I love it so much. So good with boss strategies, all the strategies and helps you out a lot. I still play the SNES but this the best of the super mario RPG guides. Even if it is B&W the only thing that doesn't make sense is the Bestiary it isn't complete but anyways it don't matter, if you follow the walkthrough it gets you through the game more then Nintendo powers guide did for me.

Sure, I started out on D&D like everyone else, but the Original Traveller (note capitalization) was my first true love. The day that little black box appeared in my life (supplied by my mom, who is an even bigger SF devotee than me) was a life changing moment. Yeah, my D&D players refused to convert (half their players died in character generation, the other half fell to The Charmax Plague) and went on strike until I relented to DMing D&D again. What do you do if your friends hate your girlfriend? Get new friends!
Which I did not do, by the way. But I have carried that little black box from move to move, it's corners getting fuzzy with love...
Much credit is due to Mongoose Publications for doing such an excellent job of taking us back to those halcyon days of free traders and d6 fun. My only complaint (and it's small but pertinent) is the change on the character sheet from hexidecimal values... it made things simpler, not harder, when your basic traits were a simple line of six figures. (It looks way cooler, too.) Still, the decision to maintain the appeal of the iconic black cover with the red stripe makes this old gamer feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Buy it. Buy it. Buy it.

I began playing Traveller way back in 1977, and have played, run, and written for various editions of the game ever since. I'll admit that I ordered the book with some reservations, as I saw it as a step backwards.

Happily, I was wrong. Mongoose Traveller is an excellent repackaging of the feel of the Traveller early days with updated rule concepts that bring everything into the 21st century. Character generation is smooth, the dice mechanics are simple to remember and use, and the rules in general are easily grasped.

My only complaints are with the artwork. Traveller has a feel, one developed over the last 31 years, and the artwork in this book had more of a WH40K look to it. Also, the equipment selection was very limited.

This is a good buy for fans of Traveller from the old days, or anyone looking for a simple SF-RPG.

A worthy upgrade for fans of classic 2d6 Traveller, although the book tends to be much more focused on rules and random generation than on providing information about the Traveller universe, especially compared to previous Traveller releases. This lack of setting shouldn't be a problem to those who are already familiar with the Traveller Imperium, and the openness invites those who are unfamiliar to create their own futuristic setting in the vein of Starship Troopers, Judge Dredd, Firefly, or Star Trek (the rules even include notes on alternate rules for different universe settings, including different types of FTL travel and variations on world generation). And though it may be lacking in the area of story material, the book includes all sorts of supplementary material that other, more financially focused publishers might withhold for further publication. The book contains everything you could possibly need to run your own campaign, from world creation and interstellar trade, to aliens and thorough random encounter tables (it really is possible to play a campaign with no premade material, and just randomly create settings and encounters). That said, Mongoose is releasing plenty of supplementary material in further books, which ought to provide the details about the Traveller setting that the core rule book lacks, as well as expanding player options (such as more detailed rules for playing aliens, as well as alternative career paths) and Referee tools (760 Patrons, for example).

As exemplified by its cover, and true to Traveller tradition, the book isn't flashy. It has simple, retro, grayscale illustrations, in addition to straightforward deckplans and an example sector map (I actually prefer the illustrative simplicity, although I've heard others complain). The focus is really on the rules, on their clarity and playability. A comprehensive index to the book gives it an on-the-fly advantage over "Thousand Suns" and "Serenity" (or at least over the version of "Serenity" that I have).

The randomness of character creation in Traveller has always been both a blessing and a curse. Players want to be able to create and play compelling characters, and the Traveller rules aren't always so friendly; a player may find his bright-eyed naval pilot wannabe, after failing to pass the Navy's entrance exams, quickly degrades to an aged drifter plagued with multiple enemies and a limited skill set. The new rules seem to be tackling the sense of uncontrollability in character generation, and the changes to the generation process are very compelling. Each term spent in a career will yield--in addition to somewhat random skills or characteristic improvements--events which are interesting but loosely defined, allowing the player to fashion the background and "feel" of the character, even if he or she can't control the nature of the events. Furthermore, a Connections Rule has been added which encourages (through the reward of precious skill points) PCs to know each other through the events in their backstories. And for added insurance, each character in a Traveller campaign gets to select a number of skills from a skill set related to the campaign's general theme, thus ensuring that a pilot or medic will be available despite a lack of such skills in their backstories, or, at worst, some redundancy of skills among the characters. The rules also accomodate a couple point based character generation systems, but they're not as fun.

The book's list price is somewhat expensive, but I was able to get it for about $25 after taking discounts and memberships into account at my local bookstore.

This new edition of Traveller is, quite frankly, much better than I expected. It manages to evoke the style and mechanics of the original edition while consolidating information and updating content to feel slightly less dated. The whole game seems designed first and foremost with the goal of being playable.

The book is well-bound and sturdy. The layout isn't fancy or flashy, just black and white with grayscale tables. The art is mainly black and white line illustrations. I might have hesitated to pick this up at the $40 it retails for at most game stores; that price is the result of the brutal pounds sterling to U.S. dollar exchange rate (Mongoose is a British publisher). Incidentally, the Amazon price is the best one that I have found for this game, and brings the price point very much into line with other rpg core books.

As for the contents, they are well-written, nicely organized, and easy to read. The game starts with a very brief introduction to the Traveller setting and the dice conventions. Basically, you roll 2d6, add the level of any appropriate Skill and any positive or negative modifiers for a relevant attribute (Dexterity if shooting at someone, Intellect if trying to crack a computer code, for example) and try to roll an 8 or higher to succeed.

The next 43 pages cover character creation. Just as in the original Traveller, players roll their character's six core attributes (Str, Dex, End, Int, Education, and Social Status) and then choose from a wide variety of career paths (Agent, Army, Citizen, Drifter, Entertainer, Marines, Merchants, Navy, Nobility, Rogue, Scholar, or Scout). Each career path has three specialized sub-paths that players must choose from. For example, an Agent could be a law enforcement officer, an intelligence agent, or a corporate espionage person. You don't get to just choose your skills in the standard character creation system--you roll to gain entry to a career and must make survival and advancement rolls to continue in it. Fail and you get kicked out of that career, collecting benefits based on how many four-year terms you've served. Then it's off to try another career path. Once you've served 4 terms overall, you start making aging rolls, which start off pretty kind and get harsher the longer you serve. Most players will probably start with 4-6 terms, which generate either a decent range of average skills or a few excellent skills and some basic knowledge, depending on how well you roll.

The process is really a lot of fun--there are lots of events on the tables designed to spark creativity and help create both a backstory and ties to other characters. There's also a simple point-buy system if you prefer that approach.

The next twelve pages deal with skills, with examples of tasks for each skill at varying degrees of difficulty. Then you get nine pages on Combat, seventeen pages on Encounters and Dangers (lots more tables here in the old Traveller tradition), nineteen pages of Equipment (which covers a very good range of armor, weapons, vehicles, and other gear), and about 47 pages on designing and operating spacecraft, including game statistics and deck plans for 18 spacecraft common to the Traveller setting. This is followed by rules for Psionics, Trade, and basic World Creation.

It's a very complete package, with pretty much everything you need to play a game in the vein of Firefly or classic Imperial science fiction in one book. The rules for creating aliens aren't very sophisticated as presented in this volume, but you can do most of the humanoid style aliens you see on television shows. The random roll tables are actually quite thorough and often creative in the types of events they produce. Career events are nicely tailored to each general career path, for example. It's all clearly done with the goal of producing usable results/inspiration for gamemasters without requiring lots of planning or lengthy writeups for NPCs (spaceships may require a bit more, but there are plenty of premade designs to choose from).

There isn't a whole lot of background fluff on the Traveller setting, but the mechanics/equipment provided reflect the assumptions of the Traveller backdrop quite well. Being more generic actually makes it easier to adapt these rules to other settings. I particularly like how the descriptions of the technologies feel less dated than the original Traveller material (based in 1970s science fiction) but stay grounded and easily accessible to most consumers of contemporary cinematic science fiction, much less readers of more sophisticated written s.f.

Overall, this is a very nice set of core rules that pleasantly surprised me with its accessibility, clarity, and quality.

The flavour has returned to 'classic traveller'. Mongoose rules seem to take all the good stuff from the latest generation of games (d20, White Wolf etc) and elegantly blend them into the original traveller setting. The basic task system uses 2D6 and you make checks against a target number and add your skill and ability bonuses, so players from d20 and d6 etc will have no problem getting into this system. The skills system has been updated to include 'modern' concepts such as opposed checks, degrees of success, timeframes, chained/sequenced and teamwork checks.

Character creation allows for a broader range of backgrounds than CT and optional rules are also given for point based creation, instead of traveller career based creation. At first parse, all the original elements of the game are included in this book - including much material (eg. deckplans) that used to be in supplementary material.

The text is well layed out and the black and white artwork is first class. I can remember when GURPS traveller came out, I was generally pretty disappointed because it was basically just a conversion tool to bring your Traveller campaign over to GURPS Space rules, and the artwork let it down. However I still have the GURPS stuff because the library data (background fluff) by Loren K. Wiseman was excellent. Mongoose have left the Imperial fluff stuff to a minimum much like the original traveller book. To address this they have released a separate book for the Spinward Marches sector (the default traveller setting).

If you liked the classic hardcover Traveller Book, then you'll LOVE this because it is magnitudes better. As a generic SF rpg, I think its much better than GURPS Space, as well. It certainly got me thinking about starting up a 'hard-SF' campaign.

Very detailed, artwork is solid, if not outstanding. Gives a fine format for exploring Martin's world.

There is only one thing you have to know: no Spellcraft skill because magic is a legend or it is a dead.

I redesign the character sheet (the one it came with sucked which is the only complaint I have about it) and it brought a tear to my eye not having to worry about spell slots or any of that sort of mess.

No magic, magic items, Power Word: Kills or some god coming down to smite you. It is just you, the enemy and the ground in-between. You make your own in this world, you forge your way through either might or wisdom, sword or diplomacy.

Like a great man, a Giant of a man some might say, once said, "It is not so much what we do as why we do it." When you could run away in fear for your life but you chose to stand and regain your honour, right your wrongs and possible make your world a better place to be even it it meant losing your own life, then you know you have struck gold when it comes to a roleplaying campaign.

Sure it has all the levels, skills points and the like but to be honest, I never cared about the levels in this game. I think whatever age or level we start off with is fine by me.

If you are a D20 vet and wanting to try this, take time to learn how Reputation and Influence works. It is a little different but it adds a lot to the world.

If for nothing else, my brother, "Mister Casual About All Things Gaming", can't stop talking about the game. That is for the first time in 15 years. That is the greatness of A Song of Ice and Fire.

I haven't gamed in more than 10 years, and don't really plan on starting again - but this book is worth buying for ANY fan of Song of Ice & Fire series.

Gorgeous artwork & fascinating bios of the characters of George R.R. Martin's books are the main highlights of the book for non-gamers - but the more you delve into the mechanics of the game, the more insights into the world it reveals.

And another pleasant surprise - an introduction including a very detailed & impressive overview of the history of fanstasy writing. Given me lots of new (to me) writers to check out.

This book is a remarkable achievement in d20. It offers several innovations, and also pares away some of the more ridiculous aspects of the system as we have known it. But even more impressively, this publication is distinguished in its tastefulness, outclassing any other d20 game with its maturity of style and imagination. This is gaming for grownups.
This 495 full-color hardback is a comprehensive rulebook and campaign setting. If you didn't already own the core rulebooks, you wouldn't need to get them, because it's all here--handbook, DMG, and bestiary rolled into one. The bestiary, of course, is very small, because this is a low-fantasy (almost historical) setting. You won't find a catalog of abberations, walking funguses and extraplanar half-whosywhatsits. You won't find dozens of ridiculous, superheroic, micro-niche prestige classes. And you won't find elves, or gnomes ... or any such breeds. Who needs them? Magic and mosters are gone . . . except for a few surprises here and there, which are really special.
What do you find? The heart of the game is human drama. You have Realpolitik, war, alliances and betrayals, intrigue, spying and struggle. In order to cultivate this kind of gaming experience, they draw on the work of one of the greatest living writers of science fiction and fantasy, George R. R. Martin. (Read the novels, if you haven't already.) But the game also contributes a promising innovation with the rules for Reputation and Influence. These mechanics are to the social and political what the Base Attack Bonus is to combat. Influence points are a way of measuring a character's power in the social sphere, and of adjudicating a character's efforts to get others to do what he wants.
In standard d20 games, a character with a high Diplomacy skill may be effective in getting people to have a friendly disposition towards him, but how do you determine what a friendly disposition actually gets you. Now there is a mechanic for determining that. An Influence check is used to call in a debt, command, persuade or otherwise coerce someone to actually do what you want (whether they like you or not).
Reputation is a way of defining how you are perceived by others, in terms of specific characteristics. For example, a character may get several reputation points as a Ruthless Brute, which will come in handy when he wants to Intimidate and hinder him when he wants to gain trust.
There will be combat, of course, though perhaps not as frequently. (Wounds take time to heal when you don't have potions and spells ready at hand.) In place of lightning bolts and acid arrows, they have added more options and possibilities in hand-to-hand combat. First of all, armor gives you DR rather than an AC bonus. (Shields are different). Armor classes will tend to be not quite as high as we are used to, but on the other hand damage will be smaller too. However, if you want to deal more damage, you can opt for one of several types of called shots, which allow you to customize your attack strategy based on your opponents defences. There are also some good rules for becoming fatigued due to the encumbrance of armor. Only playtesting can tell, but it seems to me that combat strategy may be more interesting in this game. More deadly? You'll have fewer hitpoints. On the other hand, there's the Shock Value feature, which makes it a lot more likely that you'll be temporarily incapacitated long before your hitpoints are gone. Characters at first level will have about the same number of hitpoints as comparable D&D characters, but as your character advances, you'll gain fewer hitpoints. I think the reason for this is that average damage dealt by a hit will not increase as much either. It might turn out that first-level is more survivable and higher levels are more dangerous than in D&D.
Perhaps my only complaint about this game is that it may be more difficult for the Gamemaster. The setting is not nearly as static as something like the Forgotten Realms. Things change in this world, and fast! So, if the GM has any intention of staying true to the novels, he will have to think carefully about the timeline and know what's going on in the story. And Martin hasn't finished writing novels yet! If the future is being determined in the imagination of George R. R. Martin, then there are some limitations on how much the players (or the GM) can change).
Another challenge for the GM will be that without monsters and abundant treasure, he will have to keep things interesting in the story arc, or the game will fall flat.
On the up side, players should be able to plug into the drama of politics and war fairly easily. There should be less of a problem coming up with motivations for your character to "go adventuring" (Ugh!) You won't need artificial motivations, because by the nature of the game your character will have loyalties and enemies, not to mention the task of keeping his corpse from being eaten by crows!

Absolutely awesome. Very true to the setting.

Some of the rules are a bit clunky and take a bit of effort to switch over from standard D20, but overall makes for a MUCH better experience.

Since I learned about the existence of Savage Worlds, I had been itching to try it. Pirates of the Spanish Main was my chance to GM it, and oh, was it a great experience! The rules themselves are simple (even simpler than in "standard" Savage Worlds, with things like death and critical injuries removed), the ship battle rules are awesome, the setting is chock-full of ideas for great adventures. My biggest selling point, however, is how easy and fast it was to create and run adventures using the Savage Worlds system. I might also add that although the book is focused on Pirates (a la the Pirates of the Caribbean movies), you don't have to use the setting that way if you don't like (in my case, we played a game of 16th century military intrigue between Spain and England in the Caribbean) If you want to try the SW system, don't know where to start, and have even a passing interest in Pirates, buy this book!

he book wasn't quite what I was looking for, but the idea behind the game it talks about is pretty good.

Powered by the Savage Worlds RPG system, Pirates of the Spanish Main is a stand-alone book and is all you need to kick off your very own high-seas swashbuckling adventure! All the Savage Worlds rules are in here, tailored to the Pirates genre, so there is no need for a separate rulebook. This game takes place in the pseudo-historical world represented in WizKid's Pirates of the Spanish Main collectible ship combat game, and many of the characters and ships in that game are present as NPC's in the RPG. That game, in turn, was spawned from various pirate stories and movies such as Treasure Island and Pirates of the Caribbean, and the fantastic atmosphere from those sources carries over into the RPG. If you've ever wished to strap a rapier around your waist, board your ship, and set sail for adventure, this is the game for you.

I have been running rpg campaigns for years. Everything from rifts to cyberpunk. D&D to AD&D. Blue Planet to Serenity. I love the gaming world and this rpg has to be one of my favorites. Its simple structure and rules make for quick and easy game play. The GM is released from the frustration of keeping track of so much stuff and is allowed to spend more time on beautiful plots and wild adventures. This is a great game for beginning gamers and experienced ones. Check it out and you will not be disappointed.

Can't say enough good stuff about this book. Visually it is fantastic! The art and layout look great. As if that weren't enough, the content is even better.

The award winning Savage Worlds RPG game system has been modified and streamlined to fit the pirate genre and it suits it perfectly. They've left the pirate appropriate rules from the core system and added some new stuff to add more life to the setting. Ship combat rules, fencing schools, and a great mission generator are included. This game should be the perfect RPG compliment to the ship collecting game that it is based on (but not needed to play).

BTW, this is a stand alone product. You do not need any other books to play... just this one. Hehe, as if you'd need any more :)