Roleplaying Books

Steve Jackson took a good crack at a system to cover the basics of any type of gaming with having a few generic abilities, and basic it around skills, and just some garden variety dice, and not many of.

A lot faster and easier to use than something like the HERO system, so points for that, and there are a huge number of decent and interesting supplements if you want to delve in depth into any one setting.

I have been playing RPG's for almost 10 years now, and it is no small thing to say that this is my personal favorite. I have played D&D, Rifts, Hero, Starwars, World of Darkness, BESM, Marvel Universe, and various others, but this is the one that is my personal choice.

It is a generic game (could you tell from its title) which means that you are responsible for settings and campaign ideas. This can be anything from a fantasy, to sci-fi, to a combination of anything you can imagine.

Character generation is strait forward and easy to understand when you get the hang of it, and your characters actually feel like true story characters with their own strengths and weaknesses built in to the mechanics of the game.

It is fun.

The GURPS system's big selling point, of course, is its flexibility; it's very easy to tailor it to any type of campaign world. It's also quick and easy to learn. The advantage/disadvantage system works quite well and allows the creation of all kinds of interesting characters, without limiting players to a fixed set of character classes. The basic 3d6 mechanic means no fumbling with huge handfuls of dice. Finally, the whole system is balanced to a nicety--I don't think I've ever found a GURPS game mechanic that I thought was seriously "broken."

There are a few drawbacks to GURPS, however. The biggest, in my view, is that it doesn't cope very well with high-powered campaigns. Combat runs fairly smoothly at normal levels, but when people start getting active defense ratings of 14+, the battles degenerate into turn after turn of waiting for someone to roll a critical success on the attack, because otherwise everything gets dodged/blocked/parried. Combat involving large numbers of opponents is apt to drag on endlessly. Magic, while extremely versatile and useful, offers few options for spectacle and drama; all magic is on a "skirmish" level. You'll never see a GURPS mage laying waste to armies or blotting out the light of the sun.

The other problem I've found with GURPS is that it's generic and therefore rather bland; it's up to the GM and the players to provide the "personality" of a campaign. This is particularly evident in the sourcebooks, which offer plenty of tools for world-building, but not much in the way of actual worlds.

If you prefer a lower-powered game with lots of subtleties, and are willing to put in the work to design the game world yourself (or to convert it from another system), I don't think you can do better than GURPS. If you want heroic high fantasy, stick with D&D or similar systems. I usually use D&D when running fantasy and GURPS for modern or futuristic settings.

It may well be a function of the MTV attention spans and the faster lives we all live, however, I have roleplayed for 20 years now and used and created many systems. Gurps is just too cumbersome to use efficiently and making a character can take several hours if you're particular. The backround info is good though and most people I know buy the Gurps stuff just a source info or background material rather than to actually use them as rulebooks in a GURPS campaign.

My playing group has been using GURPS 3rd edtion for nearly 10 years now, and the only little grudge we have with the system is the need to peruse through several books during character generation. Although it has its advantages, like when a player is looking at the Basic set, another one can use the Compendium and so one.

But I disgress. I wanted to inform you that Steve Jacson Games is finally releasing the fourth edition of GURPS, debuting with a two volumes Basic Set. Here's an excerpt from Steve Jackson Games :
"Volume 1 combines information from the Third Edition GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Compendium I, plus hundreds of new and updated rules! This 320-page, full-color hardcover contains everything you need to create and play a GURPS Fourth Edition character.
GURPS Basic Set, Volume 2 combines information from the Third Edition GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Compendium II -- plus our new core setting, with infinite possibilities for timeline-hopping adventure! (You don't have to play in the core setting -- there isn't some game-altering metaplot -- but it's there if you want it.) This 256-page, full-color hardcover contains everything a GM needs to create and run a GURPS Fourth Edition campaign."

So all GURPS fans, rejoice now !

This book is a collection of short stories. All of the short stories go like this: (without any spoilers)

Gotrek- I hate trees
Felix- I hate myself for coming with you
Bad guys show themselves/ first encounter
Builds up to giant monster
People die
Felix and Gotrek kill monster
Run away
fade to black
Repeat

This series of vignettes does have an overall storyline but because it was originally meant to be published separately you'll be reading about how Gotrek hates only Elves more than he hates trees a lot.

I recommend buying the Omnibus, because after you read this one, you'll be longing for more. If you don't like the concept, don't read this series. If you're a bit shaky on the execution, but you think its a good concept, get through this one and start reading skavenslayer.

This was the first book of warhammmer I bought. I was reading at the time some book of Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms. I try to read it and I quit after reading about 50 pages or so.
Some time afterwords after reading the GILEAD'S BLOOD I try it again.. this time I didn't stop.
Some of the previews before say it all.
I like a lot of the dwarf with his bound-code of honor. It's nice to see a character not following some human characteritcs.
I mean... I've read some books with dwarves and elves and some of them put human carachterics in it or the other way around. They follow and never leave the general caractheritcs of a race.
In general I like it a lot.
Something didn't feel right althought.
Gotrek it's almost invencible. I don't like that in a character. But besides that everything fits alright.

Before each battle the Trollslayer passes his finger in his axe making it bleed. I bet his fingers are full of scars lol.

...And I loved every sentence of it! Sure, it's good to read about the exploits of friendship and love with Drizzt or Cadderly, but sometimes you want to get down and dirty with violence and blood!

Trollslayer does this brilliantly, it is a highly addictive book (almost as addictive as an RA Salvatore book). And you become familiar with the characters like you would if you read the Drizzt books. I can't help but laugh everytime Gotrek makes a joke at the expense of an elf!

This book is composed of short stories, but they all connect.

But the beauty of it is: This book shows what Warhammer is all about. It is completely bloody. Fans of WH or gothic fantasy or adventure for that matter, should pick this one up.

Trollslayer is actually seven adventures during the travels of Gotrek & Felix. Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson is a dwarf on a death quest. He roams the land searching for the mightiest of evils to fight and slay until he is finally rewarded with a glorious death that will long be remembered and talked about for generations to come. Felix Jaegor is sworn to accompany the Slayer, however long it takes, even though it could end in his own death. Should he survive, it will be Felix's job to record and report the heroic dwarf's many battles, as well as how Gotrek fell in combat. Here are the adventures within this book:

Geheimnisnacht: Daemon cultists are making sacrifices and summoning dark powers.

Wolf Riders: The pair are en route to Karak Eight Peaks, beyond the Empire's southernmost borders, to hunt for treasure guarded by a large troll. They meet up with a caravan and get hired as mercenaries. But the people seem to be having a long run of ill luck.

The Dark Beneath the World: The pair reach Karak Eight Peaks and enter the mines in search of the gold and to kill the troll guarding it. While there, the pair set out to free spirits of dwarfish ancestors.

The Mark of Slaanesh: Gotrek gets a head wound and has amnesia. Felix is on his own as he sets out to find an ingredient an alchemist needs to create a cure. Of course, the ingredient needed will not be easy to obtain.

Blood & Darkness: The pair go after a sorcerer of Chaos, his mutants, and female Chaos Warrior bent on killing a little girl.

Mutant Master: Felix is reunited with a student he knew during his time in Altdorf. The man is now nothing as he once was.

Ulric's Children: Sorcerer Voorman is using forbidden magic to transform (transmute) himself into something wicked.

**** Gotrek and Felix deal with zombie-like creatures, mutants, cultists, orcs, magicians, trolls, goblins, ogre, and much more during these adventures. Readers follow only the two main characters; there are no secondary characters. As always, author William King keeps a small bit of ironic humor in each adventure. This reads much like an anthology, except each tale starts off where the one before it ends. Very interesting reading, to say the least. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I cannot give a higher review then to say that a writer has finally come forward with an excellent fantasy book. If you like, Robert E Howard, Fritz Leiber, Michael Moorcock, or R.A. Salvatore then you will like this book. Lots of action and no wading through endless pages of boredom. Now if only the major publishers would get their acts together and start printing this kind of fiction again.

I'm not sure if this is a game or a book... If it's a game, why does it say hardcover 320 pages or whatever it was. And if it's a book, or guide of some type, where can I get the game?

It's got a fantastic game engine, unfortunately it came out in a bad year and it was eclipsed by the release of a couple of other games.

It also doesn't really work that well for roleplayers, insofar that there are characters in the game which can 'channel' and shouldn't be able to.

(...)

I've been playing D&D 2nd edition since I was 12 yr's old. I didn't (and still don't) like 3rd edition. I bought this book because I was seduced by the books and I flipped out and NEEDED to RP in the WOT world.

They list all the hero's but what about the Forsaken? How do you make those terangreal's? (prob. spelled that wrong)

Despite these little problems, I HATED 3rd edition, and this book has converted me. I am a 3rd edition Mormon...now! So, if this book can change how I feel, you 3rd freaks and WOT freaks will love this!

I really enjoyed the flavor of this campaign setting. I am a fan of the books, even if they do drag on a bit later in the series. I have little intention of playing in robert Jordan's world, but the ideas this book presents make it a valuble addition to my library.
The two best ideas in the book are charater creation and presitge classes.
The Prestige classes are not just a collection of powers, they form sociteies which dominate the world. This is what these classes should be. That said some are unnessarly difficult to get into (4 ranks in balance ???) but they are essential to society and most characters will aim to join these elite groups.
The character creation process is lovely, requiring the human's free starting feat to be dependant on the area of the world where they grew up. Additionally each reason has favored skills that are treated as class skills. These add real impact to a charaters personality.
The game uses new classes well designed to fit with the setting, nobles who have bard like inspiration and favors to call in.
Both trained and wild channlers and wanderers instead of thieves.
The world itself lends to low magic campaigns, with any magic item (i.e. ter'angreal & angreal) being very rare and monsters so rare they are considered imaginary. The book lists the main charaters stats of course, which make intresting reading. The city and country descriptions are well detailed and full of flavor. The channeling magic system is complex and limited at the same time, and while it works well with the books I am uncertain how it would play. My primary irritation with the book is the amount of reprinted material from the core rule books, such as feats, skills and combat rules.
While low magic is stressed the PC's could become movers and shakers of the world's politics. If I was to run a campaign it would avoid the dragon reborn, mabey by 300 years, and the book gives a few guidelines for playing in other times.
The channeling magic system is complex and limited at the same time, and while it works well with the flavor of the books I am uncertain how it would play. A comprensive list of each weaves would have been nice. There are 52 total, 15 are lost (only known by forsaken or dragon reborn)
Overall The Wheel of Time is a good source book for ideas and methods, but has the flaws of any game based on a book.

I love this game, Read all the books and am a huge fan of this world. The game truly lets u move around in this world (with a good GM that knows his stuff). The rules are clear, characters are very accurate, which gives the overall view an authentic Wheel of time feeling. Only one thing tht pretty much bothers me. There are absolutely no rules in the book about creating ter'angreals or anything in that direction, where players should be able to do so (or DM's). Cause of this I give it a 4 star rating instead of a 5 star rating.

What can I say that hasn't been said already? Well I'll start off with the basics: WARHAMMER FOREVER! This is one of the most entertaining,fun and well-thought role-playing systems ever done!! I like how It's a non-cliche'd,dark game where the p.c's can get arrested for killing that mage who turns out to be the mayor(or someone else of importance)and I also like how the magic system is geared for an evil-themed game(which the p.c's in my current campaign seem to like)I've been playing RPG's for over seventeen years and this is a worthy investment for both your time and money. PS If your playing a mage character in this game play either a Demonologist or a Necromancer and you can't go wrong!

many of the reviews on this page seem to be for the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Game, published by hogshead whereas this is an entry for the Warhammer 40k wargame...very strange.

I was on the bus one day and my friend had this book he was reading. It said Warhammer on the front. I asked him what it was and I'm gratefull I did! This book has helped me to get into the coolest game ever. I was thinking about starting D&D but with all those huge, confusing books and the restrictions to creativity, I was hesitant. With Warhammer You just by this book and maybe your army book and voila! All in all.....well, you saw my rating :-)

Warhammer: Fantasy Role-Play (WFRP) is one of my all time favorite fantasy settings. As a hard-line GURPS freak, I take a lot of flak for that. I can understand why. Most GURPS fanatics hate WFRP character creation. It is rigid with little free choice, and is based on a random roll system, much like d20. I feel that it works for WFRP, and while many (perhaps most) GURPS players end up using GURPS in place of the WFRP system, I would never do that. WFRP works for game balance, it eliminates the rampant munchkinism of d20 and many other systems (including GURPS).

The setting is of course based upon the world of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. It is a grim world. Chaos Beasts will tear out your throat, secret cults infest the cities, Skaven armies hide in plain sight. Magic is rare, and those who use it are often hunted by witch hunters and burned at the steak. There is a definite Lovecraftian influence on the setting (hence I like it).

In WFRP the characters progress through a number of careers. In order to do so, they must earn enough experience points, learn the correct skills and obtain the needed Trappings (equipment). Characters start weak, but can eventually become powerful after taking the advances from two or more Advance Schemes. The only thing you need to think about in preparation for character creation is race: human, dwarf, elf, halfling or gnome. There is very little possible min/maxing. Class (a generalization of several careers) will be chosen based upon how well you roll for characteristics. Your Starting Career is rolled randomly upon the appropriate Class table (Rogue, Warrior, Ranger and Academic).

The rules are based upon percentile skill checks which in turn are based upon the characteristics of the character. That's about all that is needed to be known.

Players often learn a hard lesson about combat. Too often, they jump in all gung-ho from too many years of DnD. There characters end up missing limbs, insane and eventually dead. Combat is VERY nasty in WFRP. The smart player will use combat as a last resort. For those characters that don't die, there are insanity points. Collect too many and you go nuts.

My only gripe with the game is the magic system. Mages will find advancement slow and agonizing. In my humble opinion, that is not all bad, what is bad are the spells are little more than rough cut conversions from the paternal wargame. Realms of Fantazy, does little to fix this. But that is another review.

I have played many role playing systems and I would have to say that by far Warhammer is the best system. It was recommended by a friend, I had never heard of it before.. but I'm glad I took the chance on buying it.

The system of career advancements, skills and the *one* tome of rules (not 5 different books that you need to collect) makes for an excellent game.

Buy this book, you won't regret it!

Aaron Allston single handedly took the fighter in the group from being a tank at the front taking and dealing out damage to a living breathing character.
The skills and details on specialization between the covers of this book make a warrior worth playing again.
The abilities and specialty classes will provide you with infinite role play opportunities.

This book is a definite must for any AD&D afficianado! I remember this one time, my elf-fighter-mage (12/13/3 level, +3 to hit, +5 reaction roll), assaulted a small hut guarded by a giant three headed goat. Using the combat procedures described in this manual and the +5 helm of brilliance I found in the cave of wonders outside of the swamp of despair, I was able to vanquish the drow queen and her awful minions, including the three-headed goat. An awesome buy! :-))))

This book is outdated. I mistakenly bought one called the Complete Druid. Some of the spells could transfer, some were workable. But for the most part you could not tell what could even be salvaged. If you still play 2e go ahead. But don't fool the rest of us into buying it, as most of the rules not only don't work any more, they were probably changed for a reason.

I enjoyed the kits in this book, and the expanded rules on the proficiencies are good. For example, it has advanced rules on running an armorery or weaponsmithing business.
However, the combat rules and most of the other stuff in the book is pretty [undesirable].

In general, the fighter is the class which suffers most of lack of depth. But this book contains some very good kits to compensate that and to turn the boring hack-'n'-slasher into a real serious character. The gladiatior and samurai are my personal favorites to give characters more depth. It also has a good section about combat as it describes new moves and situations (and this book is therefor interesting for all classes actually)

This book is horrible. It makes up stuff about lightsabers and how they work. When I saw this book I bought it immediatly. Little did I know that it was so stupid. First, it talks about weapons in words that you don't understand. Then it shows you the weapons that are on starships. On top of all of that it's in dull no color illustrations that look like they got it out of a drawing book. If you are a major Star Wars fan, like me, don't by it. Don't waste 20$ on it even if you aren't a fan and you like these kinds of books. This book is pathetic, DO NOT BUY IT!

while this book apears to be good, it realy is'nt. the autor made several mistakes in writing. one example of his mistake is when describing the Sun Crusher he says that Maw Instalation was created from funds diverted from the Death Star project when the Death Star was first created and tested at Maw Instalation. also the so called schematics are really just drawings of the outside with very little technical detail.

Another hit in this series, this essential guide offers you information about the weapons and technology in Star Wars. Most of it is Canon, some of it is not. However, any fan of Star Wars Information and such should not be without this book. It is replete with information and knowledge.

I really enjoy the Del Rey Star Wars "Essential Guides...", they are for the most part well written and generally well conceived by authors who genuinely love Star Wars. Bill Smith's work on "The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology" is a fun tech book on everything from blasters and lightsabers to ground based turbo laser batteries, vaporators, comlinks and sensor jamming technology. The book also lists the corporations that produce the equipment people use in day to day life. I find that this tends to add a sense of realism, since no one uses entirely generic items that are provided free of charge to everyone...like on Star Trek.

The book is also well detailed with lots of art, both three-dimensional sketches and line drawings, accompany the text that describes each object. Often, in the case of unique items, Magwit's Mystifying Hoop, explain who used it and why. Unfortunately, if teleportation is so common that performers can use it in their stage acts, why isn't proliferated every where else in Star Wars? Mostly, the art is quite good, though I found a few of the personal weapons to be gimicky and/or poorly conceived of and drawn. Other than this is a great reference for Star Wars fans who might be tired of being buried under meaningless Treknobabble.

When it comes to science fiction, the Star Wars saga is the best. However, the films themselves give very little information regarding the weaponry used by their cast of characters. This is a shame, because the weapons technology of everyone's favorite galaxy far far away is nothing short of fascinating. Finally, a book entitled Star Wars - The Essential Guide To Weapons And Technology was released! Now, fans would be able to learn about the ever-so awesome implements of destruction characters in the films used! Read on for my review of this book.

PROS:
-If you're a fan of the Star Wars films, and you're interested in reading about the the weaponry characters use to destroy one another, you're going to love this book! From the lightsaber to Han Solo's trusty blaster pistol, all the weapons you've come to know and love are in here.
-The book covers the expanded universe! This means the weapons from Shadows Of The Empire appear here, as does weaponry that shows up in later novels, comic books, video games, etc. Even if you're just a fan of the films, the information on the expanded universe will fascinate you.
-This book is readily available in most major bookstores (B. Dalton, Barnes And Noble, Borders, etc.) You shouldn't have any trouble finding it.
-The price for this book is very good, considering all the information it has to offer. This is a worthwhile purchase if you're a Star Wars fan.

CONS:
-The major problem with this book is that it was released circa 1997. This means it came out before 1999, and accordingly the tools of destruction exclusive to the prequel films, Episode I and Episode II, don't appear in here. That's a shame, because I would have loved to read up on Darth Maul's double-bladed Lightsaber.
-The only pictures in the book are black-and-white sketches. I would have liked to see some more detailed pictures, preferably in color.

OVERALL:
If you're a Star Wars fan, I guarantee this book will fascinate you. If you're not a fan of the Star Wars series but know somebody who is, this makes a great gift. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Absolutely fabulous, a must for any Star Wars fan. The information is totally accurate, well-written and well-organized. The only thing is, I was tempted to give it four stars rather than five, because the pictures are horrendous. The picture of Yoda on the cover makes him look evil, and the depictions of Leia barely look like her at all. But, if you ignore the pictures, this book is great!

not a bad book gave alot of information and on some exploits from some of main characters but i would had hoped for a little more detail of some of the stories like they didnt give much information about clones wars or how did palpatine was able to make his new roder with the rising form of the empire or how did skywalker learn about darkside and become his transformation to darth vador. I figure most is based on from the movies but even the authors with the excess to what they have and what they can learn from lucas himself i am sure they could had put a little information on some of these events.

I was always curious about how had everything started and how did it continue. Well, I had two options:
1) browse through the entire comments written about SW books
or
2) get a chronology

This chronology is well written and updated (2001) and leaves the necessary gap for the upcoming next two movies (Episodes 2 & 3).

After reading it I've decided to buy 4 books related to some parts of the history I was interested (what happened between the first 3 movies)

I strongly reccommend it

this book needs a hardback counterpart, it seems like a coloring book...with it's b&w pages and pictures...the info is great but keep an eye out for the enclyclopedia update

I am a die hard Star Wars fan, my room is like a shrine to it. I got the Chronology for Christmas a few years ago, and it's my favorite out of all of the essential guides. It goes into detail about the pre-Republic days, Xim the Despot, and The Hyperspace and Sith Wars. It also goes beyond the fall of the Empire, and the beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. I really loved the early Republic days and how it nearly fell to the collaboration of Exar Kun and the fallen Jedi, Ulic-Qel Droma. My favorite section of the whole guide is the Rise of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Thrawn was the only alien Grand Admiral, (Chiss was his species) and the last to nearly topple the New Republic.

There is a lot more in the Guide, but you will just have to read it.

Libris Mortis: The Book of the Undead should be in the library of any self respecting Cleric of any deity or alignment.

It will inform you of what each type of undead can do and therefore ensure you will be properly prepared when facing them. If you're more inclined to seek controlling such creatures, Libris Mortis will also help you in deciding which kind would be best suited to your needs.

Happy Undead Hunting.

This book is an outstanding resource for dm's and players alike. It has several different functions, without going into the specifics of chapter by chapter reviews (which has already been done).

First, it includes a section on the various "ecologies" of the undead. This is an outstanding tool for designing new undead, designing campaigns and plot hooks for players. Several techniques are described for how undead feed and their effect on the undead psychology.

Second, the book provides for a way to rapidly return a player to the game. Nothing is worse than having a character die early in the session and having to wait for your character to be raised or to make a new character to continue play - with this manual, you can rapidly join back in the game AND have a quest to complete at the same time - either the destruction of your sire, or the raising of your corpse. Much in the spirit of Ghostwalk, this manual allows for the game to go on even when your characters' pulse didn't.

The book also contains a selection of new items and feats geared toward undead. Whether your character hunts undead or is one himself, there is something in here for them. In addition, it is useful for DM's in the same fashion to "bulk up" one of the villians with these additional feats and powers and thus suprise the players.

All in all, another outstanding product from WOTC.

One close look inside this book and you will quicky see that it was written for the Dungeon Master. This does not detract from it's sincere reading enjoyment for everyone. I find the prestige classes offered to be interesting, but mainly for NPC's, the true necromancer was a big disappointment, and has no where near the flavor of the Dread Necromancer presented in Hero's of Horror. Great art thought. I contrary to others am interested in detailed descriptions of the Undead, such as eating habits, this can really enhance the role playing of such creatures, and deepen plotlines. As a PC, you can make good use of some of the items presented here, whether you are a Cleric of Nerull or a Paladin or Pelor. Will you use this whole book in its entirity? probably not, but you will probably use some of it. If you use a lot of undead in your campaign, then this book is dead on for you.

Where to begin? I suppose I should begin by saying that if you can't stand the sight of cysts, and disembodied heads being swarmed and eaten by rats, then you shouldn't get this book. Also, if you can't stand the thought of children perishing then being brought back and being used by an evil Necromancer to sow chaos, then you might steer clear of this book. But if the aforementioned doesn't bother you, or already has your mind filled with a million and a half ideas for your campaigns, then let's talk.

Firstly, let's talk about... oh, I don't know... say, the monsters. There's fluff and there's crunch, first of all, or if you don't know what that means, things that are overall useless and things that have you saying, 'bout time. Brain In A Jar? Who needs that? Grave-Dirt Golem? I know what you're thinking, 'Oh, No! Not another Construct!' but bear with me, while it's not necessarily necessary, it is fun to have a Golem made of dirt, with bones of people who perished and were unlucky enough to have their graves used for the Golem. Besides, it fits a Necromancer, or any class, really, who builds Constructs for whatever reason who likes to hang around graveyards. So yeah, like I said, fluff and crunch. Also, there's fluffy, crunchy creatures including the Slaughter Wight, the Wheep, and the Spectral Lyrist. I'll leave it to you to decide what's fluff and crunch among those, and every other new monster in the book.

Secondly, let's talk about the prestige classes, there's classes like the Death's Chosen, the True Necromancer, and the Pale Master. Now, those aren't the only classes in this book, there's also the Dirge Singer and the Master of Radiance. I'll talk about those. The Dirge Singer, as you've probably guessed, is a prestige class for the Bard who specializes in songs that fill their enemies with sorrow and dread and, by my gathering, I haven't read in detail yet, can control some undead. The Master of Radiance is a prestige class for a druid, but you also have to have some levels as a cleric, at any rate, the Master of Radiance can use spells that channel sunlight and destroy undead who are destroyed by sunlight (blasted vampires). And on the subject of Clerics, I know, they're lame, let's not kid around here, about all they can do is heal and turn undead. But in this book, they can also summon undead. Yes, Clerics of Nerull, rejoice. You can summon undead to do your dirty work, while you use your Inflict spells to keep them at full strength (Instead of doing damage, Inflict Grievous Wounds recovers a lot of damage for that Huge Skeleton you summoned).

Thirdly, and the last I'm going to write about, is the nuts and bolts of campaign planning included in this book. The people who made this book were generous in giving several sample undead to use as minor villains, or use as the big baddie for your newbie players if your a DM. They also included a few scenarios to use if you're running an undead-centered campaign, including World of Shadows in which undead and the living coincide in day to day life, and Undying Rulers where powerful undead like a lich or a vampire rules the land. Needless to say, if you're the DM, you can change things about these and the other campaign over-views presented as you see fit. Do the undead and the living live in harmony and work together in World of Shadows? Did that lich just recently come into power after a very long line of undead in Undying Rulers? It's up to you. Of course, they're not stand alone. You can use these campaing overviews in conjunction with others described not only in this book, but others, as well, but you'd have to be pretty crafty to interweave a whole bunch of them.

It's ultimately up to you whether you want this book or not, I'm just trying to point you in the right direction if you want an undead-centric campaign or at least to incorporate undead into your campaign. Also, it's a pretty good read as is.

I would say that this book is greatly overrated.

A lot of the rules laid out are bland or silly-do we really need rules codifying the eating habits of the undead? Further, the majority of the new undead are absurd and the feats have struck me as... lacking.

More time could have been spent on fluff material instead of trying to cram in as much weird new crunch as possible.

That said, some of the prestige classes are fun to use for antagonists. There are undead varients and premade liches that can provide quick adventure material. I wouldn't say I'm sorry I bought this (I got it cheap), but a good half of the book is useless to me unless I want to make use of the gross-out factor mosters.

This is the first White Wolf product to actually entice me into the World of Darkness. Accomplishing that was done by making the setting truer to the myths of changelings.

If you're like me, and like to get a basic understanding of the whole book before you attempt to run or play, be warned: it's long, and it's heavy; armchair reading it ain't. Knowing that it was part of limited run series, I understand White Wolf had to cram a lot of information into only a few books.

Although I understand why role playing books do it, I don't like seeing things I already understood re-explained ad infinitum. The largest problem with this book is that certain words are missing from sentences, and in one case, the whole first part of a paragraph is missing. Sure, I can tell what is intended, but it's more distracting than simple typos.

Overall, a good buy, maybe they just need a better editor?

The second in White Wolf's limited run RPGs for their World of Darkness gameline, Changeling takes you into the world of the fae. Not your white-washed Victorian fairy tales for children, but the darker stories of trolls that lurk under bridges looking for mortal flesh, goblins who kidnap children, and dark things hiding under beds; creatures born of nightmare and madness. Like I said before kids, its the World of DARKNESS. It's all about Gothic horror!

Whereas in it's predecessor, of sorts, 'Changeling: the Dreaming' you took on the role of a human with a fairy soul, Changeling: the Lost goes back to the original folklore. This time around, you take on the role of a human who was kidnapped and abused by the Lords of the Fae, warped by the very nature of Arcadia, yet somehow, through sheer force of will, escaped and made your way back through the Hedge to find your old life gone. Changeling is a very intense game, but thats part of what makes it so appealing. If thats not up your alley, though, you might want to consider looking for a different game. I've found that theres not necessarily any correlation between fans of Changeling: the Lost and Changeling: the Dreaming. Some fans of C:tD absolutely LOVE Changeling: the Lost, others hate it with a passion. For that matter, some people who hated the old C:tD love the new C:tL. Go figure.

This book is the core of the gameline. Although it contains everything you need to run a Changeling, you still need the 'World of Darkness' corebook in order to play the game (for the basic rules). This book expands upon the life and society of the Changelings - it gives full details on the different Seemings and Kiths, the four Seasonal Courts of the Changelings, the basic Contracts (Changeling's 'magic'), rules for Oneiromancy, information on the Fae, Hobgoblins, Arcadia and the Hedge, sample Tokens and Pledges, systems for Wyrd and Clarity and even a number of sample Entitlements for more advanced characters. Of all the gamelines in the new World of Darknes, Changeling is perhaps the most rich, evocative and inspired. Almost every part of the book will give both Storytellers and Players new ideas. In addition to giving all the details necessary to run a Changeling game, it also includes the sample Freehold of Miami (Changeling's signature city) and several NPCs. This is great for ST's planning on running a game set in or around Miami.

If you are a fan of White Wolf's World of Darkness, then you have to check out this gameline. Its a perfect fit for anyone who wants to incorporate the darker side of fairy tales into their games, or just add trolls, bogeymen, goblins and other creatures from folklore and nightmares. And the book has several supplements available as well: Autumn Nightmares (which expands on the True Fae), Winter Masques (a book for customizing Seeming and Kith to fit your favorite myths), Rites of Spring (all about Changeling magic) and Lords of Summer (covering the politics of Freehold, Court and Entitlements), all of which are brilliant, as well as the forthcoming Equinox Road. However, you can run Changeling with just this and the corebook. Either way, you'll definitely want to pick this book up.

I was a huge fan of the old WoD line, with the exception of this book's predecessor, Changeling the dreaming. it wasn't horrible, it just seemed to make you play a game with less substance than any of the other lines.
so, when this limited run line was released for the new WoD line, it took alot of self convincing for me to actually purchase. and every time i open the book, i realize it was worth every penny. when the nWoD first came out, i jumped head first into VtR, and although fun, certain elements of the core book were simply underwhelming. that is simply not the case with changeling the lost. character creation allows so much creative freedom its almost hard to decide on a clear direction. almost. there is just so much detail in this book, i pick up something new every time i open it. and as though it weren't enough by itself, it seems somewhat easier to shoehorn into a crossover game than most other lines, due to the diversity of characters and things they have in common with the other supernaturals in the nwod. and to top it all off, C:tL seems to have become extremely popular when even compared to the non-limited run games in the nwod. if you're on the fence about this game and are a fan of any nwod games, or any Gothic or horror rpgs that allow for loads of creativity, give it a try, even without playing, it's a good read.

Changeling the lost is a game of coming home to a world that you no longer belong to. Taken from home by the dark fey (something straight out of grimms)an imposter left in your place. The man returns home months or years later to find he no longer has a home, a family a life. This game is wonderful. The dark tones the nod to classic conceptions of fey creatures this is no disney cartoon or happily ever after this is darkness and urban legends in all its glory. Of all the WOD supplements i find this one to be the most complete. It is a well thought out system of pacts and promises as well as containing insight into all you'll need to play a character it also gives the story teller almost all he needs (except for what is in the WOD book) it even contains a full account of a setting in miami and the main players there. overall i love the setting and the tones set by this book i read it from cover to cover over the course of a week and enjoyed every minute. If you love world of darkness or even just the darker aspects of happily ever after i reccomend this game to you.

DISCLAIMER: First off, this is MY PERSONAL OPINION and I know many people will not agree. It's important to remember however that we're all entitled to our opinions and we all have different preferences. My negative review doesn't mean I think the book should be pulled from the shelf or that people should not be permitted to play it, but rather that *I* personally did not find it enjoyable or pleasant. If you do, fantastic! It's just not MY cup of tea.

Onto the review. I'm a long time fan of this book's predecessor, Changeling: The Dreaming. (Henceforth "C:tD") I collected all the books and I greatly enjoyed the theme, setting and style of the books. I never read any of the other lines (Vampire, Mage, etc.) but I did really enjoy what was created with C:tD. There was a brightness to C:tD; a sense of hope and promise. That despite things being bleak, Spring would always still return. Set in a darker version of our real, modern world, it was ultimately a game about hope, promise and Beauty. I appreciated that since far too often we only celebrate ugliness in our society.

So when White Wolf ended the original World of Darkness for their New World of Darkness ("nWod"), I wasn't originally terribly interested. As I said, I never read any of the other lines so it didn't matter to me that they'd relaunched them in different forms. Until, that is, when I heard there was going to be a new Changeling edition.

When I finally got it and started to read, I realized it was VASTLY different from the old C:tD. Gone was the sense of lightness, whimsy and beauty and in it's place was something MUCH darker, ugly and sinister. Changeling: The Lost ("C:tL") isn't so much a revised version of C:tD as it is an entirely different concept all together. Which is perhaps part of why I disliked it so much. I expected more of the same C:tD. What I found wasn't the same at all.

In C:tL you play a human who was abused by the True Fae that has now escaped back into the mortal world. The book makes it VERY clear that every single person was tortured, abused, raped, hurt, beaten and/or any other combination of unimaginably cruel events. That the True Fae are utterly without hearts, morals or understanding and that they put your character through Hell - physically, emotionally, mentally, sexually and more. That you had to fight to get back, tearing yourself further into shreds only to find that when you returned, you were changed. You're now more like they are. Worse, your human life is utterly unreachable to you. You fought through all of it to find either you're now believed dead, too much time has past, or you've been replaced by an impostor who now IS you. All that and there's nothing waiting for you upon your return. Your family is lost to you. Your life is lost to you. Your spouse/partner is lost to you. Your job/career is lost to you. Everything you were before is gone.

Pretty bleak, hu?

Changeling: The Dreaming was, at it's core, about hope. That though things now weren't great, they were going to get better. Changeling: The Lost has no hope. All hope was ripped away from you prior to the game's beginning. You're now left broken utterly to fend for yourself. Oh yeah, and to live life looking over your shoulder to ensure you're not recaptured by the True Fae you escaped from who may or may not be actively hunting for you.

This just isn't my cup of tea. You're forced to play a victim. And, you're constantly reminded how awful things were and how terrible your past was. I feel that the world is already too dark and too bleak and I rather not spend my free time encouraging MORE of that attitude.

Now, I want to be clear that if you like it, more power to you. I make NO judgment calls on anyone who plays the game in ANY way. I'm just saying it's not for me. And I think for many people who may have been the victim of abuse, it may not be for you either. I can greatly see this book and this concept being triggering to people.

So in summary...

If you do not like horror situations, or dark settings, or concepts of abuse, kidnapping, torture and related are troubling to you, do yourself a favor and avoid this line. C:tL is NOT like C:tD at all. If you're expecting something airy and light like the original, you'll be sorely disappointed. When they say it has mature themes, they mean it for these reasons.

Of all the games which have been released about the WoD, this is the one which attracted me the most. The idea of playing a dying race which, rather than being defeated by big bad monsters, are being destroyed because of humans, really appeals to me. Granted, in the beginning storylines will be difficult to make( well, I struggled) once you make the first you'll love this game forever!

This has to be the most incredible book ever written... at least as far as rp books go. I spent some time playing Vampire and Changeling, but neither of those sucked me in and intrigued me like Werewolf does. There are those who bitch and moan about the werewolves being too powerful, and how they are not true to folklore and myth... as for the former: The Garou are MEANT to be the as-kickers of the world of darkness! It's that simple! THAT'S why any leech worth his corpse keeps his ass inside the city! Besides, who cares about historic accuracy? This is, quite frankly, much more interesting.

The dark force known as the Wyrm stands poised to strike down all that is left good and decent upon Gaia, the Mother Earth. Now only the Garou, shapeshifting werewolves with mystical powers and deadly strength, can stand against their assault and prevent the Apocolypse. From the company that brought you Vampire: The Masquerade comes Werewolf: The Apocolypse, a storytelling RPG of the end times and the battle of survival. Play as a Garou from one of thirteen tribes who must battle against twisted, corrupted minions of the darkest force in existence, the Wyrm. Like Vampire, this game is based in the same World of Darkness that is a mirror of our own world. Unlike Vampire, Werewolf is a game of the brutal reality that the world is coming to an end. And with so few protectors left, will the Wyrm succeed in destroying everything?

First, I'd like to say that Werewolf is a very well fleshed-out and detailed book. That being said, I will now justify why I gave it two stars. First, there's the Crinos form. In legend, werewolves (-tigers, -leopards, etc.) simply transformed into an animal...The whole idea of the "wolfman" was created for old movies when the special effects weren't good enough to effect a man-to-wolf transformation on screen. So the whole idea of the Crinos is really quaint and ridiculous. To say nothing of how powerful the Crinos form is... Second is the whole organization Werewolf society and symbolism. Although the werewolf comes from primarily European myths, werewolf society is organized into something akin to Sub-Saharan African tribalism. The werewolves are separated into tribes. (This idea also perpetuated the concept of splitting each supernatural species up into "clans","tribes," etc. which would continue ad nauseum for every World of Darkness game.) The werewolves also worship "Gaia," the great spirit of life and the Earth (who they serve primarily by killing things). I know that African cultures also had their werecreatures, but the combination of horrific monsters with primitive pantheism results in something not horrific at all. Lastly, and worst of all, is the combination of the werewolves' powers and their typical attitude toward other World of Darknes supernaturals. As a whole, they hate vampires, most mages, many wraiths, and sometimes changelings. Granted, it is indeed possible for other World of Darkness supernaturals to defeat werewolves. I don't believe that they're as overwhelmingly powerful as some have claimed. But the werewolves' first and foremost characteristic is their ability to transform into huge, stomping monsters, and their driving goal is to fight the "Wyrm," great spirit of evil. This is most often accomplished by ripping up evil monsters, usually including other supernaturals. The fact that werewolves are wired for combat together with the simple "good vs. bad" or "Gaia vs. Wyrm" plot makes for a very hack'n'slash and munchkinish game.

Werewolf:TA is a great book, and adds alot to the World of Darkness. The Book is well written, and can hold its own next to Vampire:TM. The Systems of the Game work like in Vampire:TM, and people can smoothly go from Vampire:TM to Werewolf:TA without much problems...People may cry that the Garou(Werewolves) are too strong, but in fact they are only powerful in combat. Sure even a Elder Vampire could fall to a low ranking Garou, but a Vampire with a Discipline that allows mind control of a target can make the mightest of Garou fall before him. If you are looking for a Game that has bloody Combat and Great role-playing, this IS the book for you. I plain on giving out a few copies as gifts myself.