Roleplaying Books

This role playing book is by far the most intriguing and masterful game I have ever been lucky enough to find. It takes place in an alternate world where certain people began manifesting super powers beginning in World War I. The super powers themselves are nowhere near as important as the story behind the game though.
Those with the power used it for good or evil, through the years and Normal people began to have mixed fear and respect for the Deltas as they were called, until the attempted assassination of JFK ended with the first lady and governor of Texas dead at the hands of Deltas.
Since that fateful day Kennedy has remained president and kept control of the nation through absolute fear of the delta threat. Registration and mandatory government service are required upon immediate discovery of super abilities and the American dream dies as a nation cowers in subservience to a tyrant.
Sound familiar? This book came out before the events of September 11th but to read it one would think it was a direct correlation to the fear that has spread like wildfire.
No matter where you stand politically this game holds tolerance and courage up as the foundation of our great nation and presents a much more gritty and realistic world of caped crusaders. All of that topped off with a quick and easy system that supports great potential for detail and an amazing background story I recommend this for all gamers who strive for more than hack and slash, and for all citizens who strive for more than to keep their heads down.

"The Magic Box" is a supplement for the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" roleplaying game that makes it clear that magic is powerful and available in serious measure only to the right person with the right knowledge (i.e., Willow), otherwise it is dangerous and unpredictable (i.e., early Willow). This volume by John Snead combines background from the show with more creative meanderings, along with quotes, stats, suggestions, and painted symbols for your game playing edification. However, even if you are more interested in the dearly departed television series than in playing a game (my hand is raised at this point), this is still a fun look at magic in the Buffyverse (through season six).

This book is broken down into six chapters and an appendix: (1) The Witchy World includes speculations on the history of the supernatural, specifics on magical organizations and their use, as well as a look at the latest and most potent mystical adversaries from the television series; (2) The Magical You reveals more details on the show's magical cast members, discussing new backgrounds, qualities and drawbacks. There is also a new group of archetypes and an update on a few magical favorites from the Original Cast; (3) The Art of the Arts presents the new game rules for magic such as power boosting, virtual magic, and varying side effects; (4) Magic, Light and Dark includes all the spells from the series that are fit to print; (5) Beyond Magic covers psychics and super-science, which are different from magic in the Buffyverse, but still need to be considered; and (6) Orphan Trouble is a ready-to-run "BtVS" roleplaying-game episode "in which the new kid on the block is far more naughty than nice." The Appendix includes a handy guide to potential spell elements and conversation notes for importing regular unisystem metaphysics to your games (and they say television and roleplaying-games are not educational).

The book is filled with those pithy quotations that made "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" a test of your pop culture knowledge, boxes containing additional information and supplemental charts and tables, and fiction sections or cut scenes that give you a sense of what sort of scenarios you can play out in these games. There are other supplemental volumes to the Corebook available, with the "Slayer's Handbook" for the heroes and "Monster Smackdown" for the villains. These books are filled with photographs and illustrations, with gorgeous production values, so that they will appeal to fans of the series whether they play the game or not. Final Note: Unlike the other volumes form Eden Studios "The Magic Box" is a trade paperback and not a hardback volume.

Its a very nice product, its a source book and a handbook. We really like it, and the stuff it adds is cool.

This is perhaps the greatest setting book White Wolf has made for Vampire: the Masquerade. Suleiman managed to do a wonderful job weaving together major themes, landmarks and Arabic words (as well as cultural sources like the books of Naguib Mahfouz and al-Jeel and Shaabi music) to give an outsider an understanding of what Cairo is like. The history section is also well done, exploring every aspect of Egypt's history from pre-dynastic times to the Romans to the Arab invastion and the Crusades to the Mamelukes to the British and ultimately Egypt's independance. All of this is very well researched but also does a wonderful job placing vampiric politics in the shadows behind mortal history. The conflicts of the Setites, Children of Osiris, Assamites, Ashirra and European Clans are all secretive and far-reaching but don't directly affect mortal history. Anyway, whats really nice is that the information is detailed enough that with but a couple changes you can run the material in this book in any time period.

The book then goes on to detail the vampiric divisions of Cairo, elysiums, historical landmarks and so forth. Lots of maps and so forth. It then examines the different clans in Cairo, based on where they hold power, as well as various vampiric factions such as the Ashirra, the Hajj (Islamic Nosferatu), Sabbat, Inconnu and Disciples of Anubis (bunch of Gangrel practicing Egyptian magics). Mortal organizations like the Arcanum, the Cult of Isis, the Ikwhan al-Safa (Muslim witch hunters), Setite cults and the Akritai (Orthodox Chirstian version of the Society of Leopold). It also features a new Thaumaturgy path developed by the Setites, and a couple Akhu rituals. Most of the characters are pretty interesting, though a couple (like ibn Khaldun and Kahina) are based off real life historical personalities. Not sure why White Wolf would go back to doing that.

The last chapter gives an overview of major themes in Cairo that STs can use. Things like basic beliefs of Islam, the Ashirra sect (Muslim vampires described in more detail in Veil of Night and other books), Mosques and Churches with True Faith, the Setite Courts of Egypt and some metaplot stuff. Lots of Mummy crossover potential, with the old feud between Sutekh and Osiris, plus some other cool secret stuff. Really a great and useful book for running any games in the Middle East.

Since the amazon.com description doesn't give too many details, here's what you get with the d20 Call of Cthulhu Gamemaster's Pack: A tri-fold GM screen, four handy bookmarks, a booklet of official-looking forms, and a largeish booklet that comprises the Gamemaster Pack proper.

The screen is complete and stands up well, but is slightly smaller than most screens I've worked with. The side facing the players features the incredibly cool artwork for Chaosiums current edition of the Call of Cthulhu RPG. Unfortunatley, the screen doesn't have the game's skill list, so you'll need another method to keep track of which skills can be used untrained and other skill details. Other than that oversight, the screen is so handy that I hardly have to consult the rules book while playing.

The bookmarks are nice and functional. Each is customized for a different section of the rules and features a mini-index of relevent information. Between these and the information on the screen, finding information during a game session is not a problem.

The book of forms is rather useless to me. While it is nice to have official looking forms (dental records, asylum records, etc.) as play aids during a game, these are all customized for an Arkham setting - little use in my Chicago-based games!

The main Gamemaster Pack book is largely comprised of a nice adventure, "The Lost Temple of Yig". The 30 page strikes a good balance between adventure and exploration. Game stats are given for both the d20 and the original version of the RPG. Further background for "The Lost Temple of Yig" or your campaign is given about its Vanguard Club. The official errata follows, which isn't as bad as you'd think - it just seems that some of the authors of the original book didn't communicate too well as most of the errors are internal inconsistancies. A conversion system for using original Call of Cthulhu material with the new d20 version is pretty straightforward - you determine the level of the character you're converting and buy skills and feats from there. Next up are the record sheets, which along with the GM screen, are the shining stars of the pack. There is a redesigned two-page character sheet (with an old-school insanity track), minor character sheets, and monster master and minion sheets. The graphic design of these sheets (and the whole package) is outstanding.

Overall, while I would've preferred paying a little less for just the screen, bookmarks, and sheets alone (errata should always be free!), the adventure and background information is good enough that [this]is a bargain for the whole package. More than a screen, this is a pack to make any d20 Call of Cthulhu Gamemaster's job easier.

The ultimate compilation of Car Wars material. This book features vehicular combat of all types (with the noteable exception of tank combat and submarine combat). Types of vehicles included are (but not limited to): motorcycles, compact cars, station wagons, pickups, vans, three wheelers, boats up to yacht sized, and helicopters. Design rules are included to make your own vehicles. Combat is done on a scale of one inch equals 15 feet with one second turns. All vehicles come with weapons and armor. Types of weapons include anything from machine guns to missiles to flamethrowers to lasers. Scenarios include anything from highway combats between two cars to helicopter attacks on other vechicles to arena combats (demolition derby with weapons). This games was one of the first designs to come out of Steve Jackson Games in 1981 or 82.

Cardboard Heroes is a book of full-color, stand-up miniatures for use with any fantasy role-playing game, such as Dungeons & Dragons or GURPS Fantasy. You cut them out yourself. There are over 400(!) miniatures plus counters representing such things as treasures, dropped weapons, pits, fires, oozes, and snakes. The miniatures include everything from warriors to wizards to elves to orcs, as well as undead, golems, animals, giants, dragons, oriental characters, and many others. A few types were overlooked, like mounted characters and fairies for instance, but in general the set is very complete. If you want miniatures for your fantasy campaign but don't want to pay for the lead or pewter variety, then this is a must have. With Cardboard Heroes you'll be able to assemble a huge army of attractive miniatures for your game for next to nothing.

Enid Blyton's Adventure series (and other books) are a sure hit with kids! I read them many times as a child and was excited to find them so my kids can read them! The books series has great morals, adventure without terror, and applauds creativity and bravery. I am so glad they are so easily available at this time.

This was the third book in the Central Casting series, and each one got progressively better as time went on. The only thing I could possiblly fault this book for is bowing to the PC police.
Central Casting: Heroes NOW! is designed for any era of 20th or early 21st century games (Though some of the information about technology and geography is a little dated), from Wild West, to Pulp, Horror, Espionage, and SuperHero. Even time travel. The books are designed to allow you to plot out significant events in your character's history from before birth through adulthood, and the personality ramifications of each encounter. You will need a complete set of dice, including d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20.
While some charts are very similar to previous volumes, Heroes NOW! has the advantage of being able to define many more stable elements of modern times, and take advantage of what was learned from Heroes of Legend and Heroes of Tomorrow.

Though now out-of-print, with a little effort, you should be able to find a copy for $40-45.

I highly recommend buying a copy of this book to help whenever you are in need of assistance breaking through writer's block.

Happy gaming, and may the dice roll in your favor.

This is the first WoD 2.0 storyteller screen I bought and I must say:
Big Improvement to the old ones !
The cardboard is very thick and sturdy - you can kill your pet hampster with it ! (kids don't do this at home !)
The content is very clever picked:
approx. 50% WoD basic rules (combat, damage, etc)
and 50% Changeling (pledges, bedlam rules, etc.)