Roleplaying Books

What you have here, is a universe that at first glance seems to be just the old hack and slash. Untill you realize that there's nothing without magic. That ten foot tall sentient golems are as equally valid player choice as a diminutive shadow weaver. That the bag guys own 95% of the planet. That it's a new history, a new story, without even a hint of Tolkein reference anywhere. That the gods are a newfangled idea, who have to earn the trust of the people. It's a world of possiblity. Go find some.

Everstone is a fantastic mix of magic fused with technology. It's your basic high-fantasy world thrown forward in time roughly 2000 years, with the arcane and a rough science forming to create a truly intriguing backdrop for your game.

The author, Jason Moon, is to be congratulated for his first outing in RPGs being such a strong one. There are passages and dialogue that are a bit rough in places, but all in all, this is a great self-contained RPG that's very much worth picking up.

The thing that must be commended first off, is that Everstone: Blood Legacy is the work of one person and one illustrator. This is not a corporate product, but the private endeavor of two guys! Unbelievable.

The book itself is about as thick as the Forgotten Realms Campaign book. The art inside is uniformly black and white, and while none of it is excellent (or even solidly good) none of it is as bad as the kind of stinker art you sometimes get. The biggest complaint is the women, who are uniformly represented without a shred of respect, as a bunch of big breasted teen-hottie bimbos in armor bikinis *sigh*. The high point is the technology, which looks quite slick even in black and white.

Plot synopsis: Mysteriously, over 300 years ago enormous civilization ending monsters, called Hollow Lords, appeared suddenly one night and ended the world in a Night of Terror. Massive, iconic creatures, the Hollow Lords are the apex of entire races of lesser monsters spawned in their image. The races of Lannith petitioned the gods for aid, and the gods as a whole, for no known reason, suddenly turned their backs on all of their servants. Desparately the kingdoms sought to flee before one at a time they became extinct. Fortunately the Hollow Lords were more interested in doing battle with each other than with the mortals of Lannith, and so those races which hid themselves in remote enough locations, were passed over.

After hundreds of years hidden in mountain ruins, a group of survivors--Magi from Everstone--learned through their spy networks that one of the Hollow Lords and all of its progeny, had been brought down in battle. Encouraged they emmerged wielding a rune technology learned from the inhabitants of the ruined civilization (a gnomelike race called the Gavown) and an army to wield it. They managed to push out the Hollow Lords, and establish a niche for themselves on the surface world.

Following their victory, the Everstonians began to search out any other factions that may have stayed alive, trying to build a powerful enough alliance to resist their Hollow Lord foes. They found the Ka'taan, a nomadic race of feline beastmen; the O'grom, a ponderous race of emmaciated elementalists thought related to ogres; the Fey, a race composed of the dreams of other races and divided into the Sylphs who are the masculine ideals of nobility and honor, and the feminine Nymphs who are the embodiment of whimsy, humor, capriciousness and...lust. These they added to the three races of their kingdom, Everstonians (humans), Gavown (the aforementioned gnomish types) and Golems (intelligent runecrafted constructs animated with the thought matrix of their creator, but then evolving beyond it). The gods have even thrown in their weight again behind the fledgling nation, no explaination given for their long hiatus however--causing them to be mistrusted by many.

The magic system is interesting. Magical abilities are bought alongside mundane special abilities per class. Everyone has magic in one form or another. Characters each have a pool of Energy Points which fuel the spells. Every time a character levels up they get a pool of Character Points with which to buy racial or class special abilities and thus customize their character. Characters can even learn the magical abilities of other classes, or even of the gods, through study and periodic Spellcraft rolls.

The book is divided into roughly four sections:
First is the historical section (42 pages) then the character creation section (87 pages) a section mostly devoted to rune technology and vehicles, but also the special combat rules (63 pages) and an atlas section of background description covering the Everstone Valley and its dangers (41 pages). Intersperced between these are inserts of short fiction (which I found to be somewhat amateurishly written and hard to get through) and sidebar descriptions of the various creature of the Everstone universe (which I thought were immensely helpful and creative, though hard to get to, since they're scattered throughout the book rather than in their own section.)

On the whole I found it a great first effort, and unimaginably good to be the product of just one person's imagination. The ideas are really evokative and interesting, and the setting is definitely worth getting excited about. Downsides are that the writing is uneven and unpolished, the art is fair but never great, and the setting is somewhat scattershot: a little of this, a little over here, but never fully detailed.

A fully original and unprecidented setting it isn't. All of it's ideas have their roots elsewhere, from its rune-magic, skyships, and dream-dwelling fae to it's Earthdawn reminiscent post-apocalyptic fantasy setting. It is however very compelling and offers some intriguing new combinations and possibilities for the ideas it provides, and is certainly worth trying out.

Ok the idea to divide the book in 5 aspects that are the Maidens purviews was an excellent move. The one that came with that idea is a genius, really. I thought something like that and when I saw it done, it was WOOOOOAW.

The idea to have technomagic is great. Final Fantasy inspired no doubt.
Creating some sorcerous craft as to be able to manufacture scientific advanced gadgets also a clean move. That they can be repaired and maintained and have high-level power in exchange of certain rituals, oils, reargents and periodic tune ups is great idea. The warstriders rule.

The idea of been able to have Genetics and mutate life is also a nice idea, yet it lacks many more examples, many more rules and somehow needs more clarification cause somehow I felt it small in comparison to all the combat-related artifacts.

The book has over 100 examples ready to use and also ready to tamper with and even enahcing and mixing em.

A must have in the Exalted collection.
Worth every cent! [or peso]

This book is packed full of incredible devices for any one who enjoys Exalted. The book has a wealth of knolage from the first age as well as the age of sorrows.

The book has a few sections in it that divide the items by uses, that is the only way i can discribe it. There is a giant amount of artifacts that have nothing to do with combat, and then others that are. There is a section on warstriders, basicly single man "death machines" that basicly look like Large Metal Robots.

Most of the items in this volume are very well detailed and all have pictures that show you what they would more that likely look like. I don't like saying that IS what they look like because, well, this is RPing people, things change by a player/GM's perception.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, This book rocks and has items that range from pens to armor to boots to Royal Class Warstriders. This book is about gear in the world of Exalted.

P.S. It looks like there is going to be about 4 more of these books. My best guess is that one will be for Sorcery, but that is just one book. If you think of anything else, post it here to give me some ideas on the other ones.

Ah, magical artifacts...and when they're technomagical artifacts, all the better. This is a very imaginative collection of items--combat and noncombat--for Exalted Storytellers to tempt their players with, or to equip opponents with. Vehicles (for getting around the enormous distances of Creation), armor and weapons, battlefield equipment, and a great many things to make life easier (or in some cases, much harder). The section on warstriders is particularly tasty.

This book also expands the Exalted backstory, letting us know how magical-technology developed and was used in the goldan age of the Solar Deliberative, and how it has fallen to its current state.

There are only two things keeping this from getting five stars: First, I was hoping for more detailed rules on artifact construction, to help me figure out exactly how many background points an item is worth. Second, I was *really* hoping for a lot more Sorcery spells! As in the 1st edition, the 2nd Edition core rules have only a few spells, and you would think the first Book of Sorcery would rectify that. Nope: this volume has only artifacts.

For what it is, it's great. We'll just have to wait for a later volume to get those spells.

don't even try to get a game going on without this book. its got all the info you and your players need to know. it has an expandable character types, kung-fu, weapons stats, majic and spells,The dragon kings and there mysterous element based powers,a more expanded look at the realms, and fleashing out that character just becomes a hell of a lot easier,and without a doubt ,tons of more stuff. it your a player, you need this book ,if just to get your gamemaster by his sack. if your a gamemaster, its good to get a jump on your PC's,and besides you gm's might find that something special to terrorize your PC's with. its got goods on artwork and its a really cool read if you just wanna bone up.
enjoy and happy shoppen.

I picked this book up for the Merits and Flaws section, a favorite of mine from all of the previous White Wolf games. What I was treated to was an onslaught of additional ideas, rules, and setting aspects denser than any RP book I've ever read.

Not only do players get their merits and flaws, but a host of completely new character models. Children of spirits, fae, demons, ghosts, and even other Exalted. Mortal heroes and thaumaturgists (the new term for mortal sorcerers). Complete rules for the Dragon Kings, semi-Exalted humanoid dinosaurs from the ancient past. And each one of these comes with at least a few additional charms, merits, spells, what-have-you.

If you're looking for additional inspiration for your Exalted game, this is the place to look! There are ideas in here for dozens of campaigns. I can't even imagine using all of it at once.

This book details a lot of useful extra things that can be used in an exalted campaign. You need to the Exalted core book to play, so people who are new to pen and paper RPG's should pick that up first. Also, if you are new to pen and paper RPG's, you need to pick up a couple hand-fulls of ten sided dice to play.

This book details a lot of merits and flaws that can be used when creating your character. It also details a lot of other options besides the Solar Exalted that you can play as or use as Non Playable Characters (NPC's) to progress the story (The God Blooded, Mortal Magicians, and The Dragon Kings.) There are a few expanded rules, the most useful being an alternative way of going about combat and a few expanded social rules. There is a lot more besides the above, but the above is probably the most useful.

Now for the bad things about this book: there is no index, that makes finding things a pain and is especially bad if your in the middle of a campaign, and the character sheet at the end isn't all-inclusive to the characters listed in the book. For example, if I wanted to make a Dragon King, it won't have any easy places for me to list his abilities, as they are not charms and work more like attributes. You can still list them under backgrounds however, so it's not like you can't use the sheet at all, there is room to fit everything, you just have to improvise a bit. It's nothing terribly major, but it keeps me from giving this a five. All in all, if you want to expand your game, this is probably one of the first books you want to get.

Will make this short. Excellent book. A must have.

Now the long explanation.
Cool moves, different martial arts, the three level of power can be felt.
Even though I dislike the idea that Siderials have SUCH power in their hands and dont teach em it is a great idea. Really. Something that Solars have to ask to be taught.

Powerlevel is cool, moves sound fantastic, setting for the Martial Arts World or Society and the uses of it, how mortals can learn em, how Dragon Blooded can touch Celestial level and how Siderials rule the maximum apex of the Lotus of Perfection. Sublime!

Now this in comparison to Sorcery is way extremely powerful.
That is kinda my complaint in here. Sorcery is supposed to be the most terrific and overwhelming power to have. But the Siderial Martial Arts can undo spells and even reverse em. And many moves seem even more useful than taking actions to cast a spell and spending huge amounts of essence to achive small effects.

Martial Arts is an important part of the setting and this book raises the word when you say POWER! A must have!

This book, although not having much in the way of explaination as to what it was, is action packed with Martial Art Charms and various information for those of us who just love the idea of powerful Martial Artists.

At first I was skeptical due to no information concerning what this book contained, but I decided to get it anyway. I am glad I did. This book details various Terrestrial, Celestrial, and Siderial Forms. It will help fill out your Martial Artist. It also goes into how to be initiated into the ranks of each Tier.

This book is a MUST have for any exalted game.

The Scrolls of Esoteric Wisdom Volume I: Scroll of the Monk (Note: the cover does not mention the Esoteric Wisdom part, but the ad for the Scroll of Lesser Races [sidebar, p.2] mentions that it is the Esoteric Wisdom series) has set the bar for quality of this series within White Wolf's Exalted Second Edition line. Not only does it elaborate on the Martial Arts world within Creation (Fight clubs?) and add several pages of long-awaited weapons (I've been hearing cries for garrotes, kamas, nunchaku, and tonfas ever since I started playing Exalted two years ago), the bulk of the book contains enough supernatural Martial Arts to quench any asiophile's thirst.

The chapter on Terrestrial Martial Arts alone would have been worth the money I spent on this book. The diversity introduced, adding to the flexibility of Martial Arts (and proving that nearly anything can be a *martial* art) has caused nearly every player in a Dragon-Blooded story I'm working on create a martial artist. Yet no two characters are the same. One character was birthed in a brothel, and knows Orgiastic Fugitive Style (the learning of which requires "meditative sex"). Another is an informant for the All-Seeing Eye, and infiltrated the Fivefold Shadow-Hand Association, and learned their ninjutsu-style martial arts. A third prophesied the disappearance of the Scarlet Empress, and has learned the social kung-fu of the White Veil Society ("There is no White Veil Society. It is not cunningly concealed among the... Dragon-Blooded socialites of the Realm... No one would suggest that its members have a political agenda..."). And another is a street rat from Nexus, who learned the rough-and-rumble First Pulse Style while fighting for his life.

The Celestial Martial Arts chapter is a notch less interesting, with most styles reprinted (though updated!) from First Edition. This time around, however, they use the updated battle system, and are all in one place (as opposed to ten different book in the previous version of the game).

Sidereal Martial Arts, finally, is the first time I've seen canon Charms listed with Essence or Ability requirements above six. For example, "Meditative Battlefield Escalation" (p.118), with requirements of Martial Arts 8, Essence 8. Considering that all characters max out at Essence 10, it is apparent that the strength of these martial artists is great (Such as a lesser Charm than the above, which essentially turns the player into the Storyteller for one scene), and though it would take a long and/or high-powered game to bring such powers out, they are entertaining to read ("What if my character could do THAT! Wow...") and possibly just as much to use.

Definitely a good buy. Worth every cent I spent.

Firstly, for those of you who are new to Exalted (or new to pen and paper RPG's for that matter,) you need the core rulebook of this game entitled "Exalted" to play this game. You could try playing a lunar without it, but your game would be lacking many core rules and it would get confusing and frustrating very quickly. A quick search for "exalted" here on amazon will get you to this book, it should be near the top of the list if not at the top allready. This book is an expansion allowing you to play a different type of character in this gigantuan and fairly detailed world. This RPG is made from white-wolf and you can find source material (such as the much-needed character sheets) at thier website to help you. [...]

About the exalted RPG in generall: as allready stated this is a huge world, and there are many sourcebooks such as this one to flesh out the game. The core rulebook will make a complete game in of itself: but with only small mention of all the other exalts and poor examples of other exalted in there it hardly makes for a fully fleshed out game. The game can be extremely confusing to begginers at first. In fact, I highly suggest finding someone who knows what they are doing or who have experience with pen and paper RPG's in General to run the first campain. That isn't to say that this can't be done without one, but it most certainly helps and gets things moving much quicker. Rules for social and physical confrontation are spread wide and can be quite hard to find, although if you buy the Storytellers companion the combat rules are nicely listed on a Dungeon Master's (shortened to "DM") foldup board with many other usefull things you might need quickly, such as weapon prices and such.

If you really want to flesh out an exalted Campain, you need the core rulebook and several sourcebooks. This can get quite expensive unless you have access to several inexpensive used copies. The game is great fun, however, especially if you have an excellent DM who has fleshed out a great story. If you enjoy RPG video games, you will probably like this quite a bit. Do note that this game does not play like Dungeons and Dragon's at all and is a completely different experience.

Exalted: the lunars gives you a new option as a playable character as well as the ability to create other exalted a DM can use however he wishes. It also gives detailed information about Barbarians and Wyld Barbarians and extended Wyld rules. Again, the information can be spread out throughout the book and if you are new to the game creating your first character can be confusing. Luckily, there is a quick sheet covering only two pages of the book which is easy to find because of the pages different color which generalizes how to make a character and can speed the process up quite a bit. However, you will still want to go through a few of the details throughout the book as that quick guide won't tell you the charms you can take or what the backgrounds give you, which you need to know.

Basically, if you are playing exalted and want to further flesh out the game: this book should be one of the first ones you should get, it's absolutely needed if you want to get into some of the finer aspects of the game and will be sorely missed if some of the people playing want to play as something other than a solar exalt, and the first prime candidate for someone who doesn't want to be a solar exalt would be a lunar exalt.

If I could have, I would have given this a 4.5 because of the way the book is organized and because of how confusing they make this for new players. Luckily, if you are getting into gaming it's usually because you have an experienced gamer talking you into it who will kindly show you the ropes.

Exalted, the epic anime-style fantasy roleplaying game from White Wolf Game Studio, continues to dazzle like the sun with this, the second hardcover sourcebook, detailing the barbaric Lunar Exalted, the barbarians that worship them, the chaotic realm known as the Wyld, and the beastmen offspring of Lunar mating.

This hardbound gives the prospective Storyteller endless material to work with, from a chapter on barbarian culture, to a thick and healthy chapter on the Charms (i.e., special powers) of the Lunars.

I heavily recommend this book to all Exalted players.

Exalted: the Lunars is the second hardcover sourcebook for White Wolf's exciting Exalted RPG. The book starts with an introduction vignette, featuring several characters from the main rulebook. Next are two chapters of background, one about the Lunar Exalted themselves and their society and the other about the barbarian tribes they usually come from (and, in some cases, lead). I particularly enjoyed the shapeshifting Charms, numerous amounts of which are detailed in the book, along with two-page write-ups for each Caste similar to the Solar Castes in the main rulebook and the Dragon-Blooded Aspects in Exalted: the Dragon-Blooded (which is also a superbly-written book that I highly recommend). The book also contains an entire chapter of storytelling ideas (for those of you who aren't familiar with White Wolf's games...the Storyteller is similar to a Dungeon Master or Game Master) with info on how to possibly integrate the other types of Exalted into a Lunars story.

The one thing I didn't like about this book was the fact that it's a slight bit shorter than Exalted: the Dragon-Blooded, although it does cover the Lunar Exalted in much detail.

Man did not rise to the stars on the shoulders of men who came before. He rose to the stars on the shoulders of giants who came before, leaving a network of jump gates to all the known worlds. He rose on the blood and sweat of aliens he conquered and forced onto reservations. He rose on the technology stolen from the alien race the Vau. He rose on the sweat of the serfs after the fall of the Second Republic and the churches declarations of the evil of technology. Man built republics, and empires and tyrannical mega corporations. He built a church to carry himself into a new era of progress, and then a new dark age. He create art and nobility and enslavement and cruelty and beauty and peace and war and murder.

And then the stars began to die.

Fading Suns in a role playing game set in 4999 A.D. in an empire built on the crumbled remains of a great republic. It is a game of nobility and seeking and discovery. It is also a game of hatred and racism and persecution. It is a game where feudal nobility and the ideal of bygone ages rule an empire built on the jump web of a long dead race.

There are three main forces in contention under the rule of the new Emperor. The five noble houses and various minor houses form the royalty which rules the secular life of the people. The church and it's various sects rules the spiritual life of the people. The great merchant guilds rule the financial life of the people.

Fading suns is a game of disparity. Serf toil in the fields behind oxen while nobles live in air-conditioned castles and travel about the sky in nimble flitters. The Inquisition hunts those who would use technology and puts them to the fire, but an uneasy truce, steeped in martyrdom and the redemption of the common man has arisen to allow the noble house use of high tech gear and craft. The guilds seem to hold onto it only by the strength of their monopoly.

Fading suns in a game of mysticism and the occult. Priests wield magic and psychics harness the powers of the mind. Ancients artifact perform miracles that no science can explain and old technologies are often maintained by rote memory alone.

Emperor Alexius is the first Emperor to actually rule the Empire (the original Emperor was assassinated before he could really rule). He has put forth an decree of discovery and exploration (a religious powder keg just waiting to happen). He has created the office of the questing knight and now the cohort (a knights companion). He is pushing the empire forward, where for years it only slid backwards.

But the suns are fading. Why? No one knows for sure. There is obviously no scientific explanation. There is a religious one, however.

When the Prophet formed the choice, he stated that the holy light was embodied in all the stars. He also stated that the vast stretches of space were filled with demons. It is the churches belief that the stars are the light of the Pancreator, holding back the darkness of the void and the demons therein.

And now the stars are fading. Obviously man is flawed. Obviously, his sins are granting demons powers over the light. It is because of this that technology has been decreed sinful. It is because of this that the Inquisition prowls the Known Worlds in search of sinners and heathens. It's because of this they put them to the flame.

This is the universe of Fading Suns.

Fading Suns has been around for a few years now, but at GenCon this year, they released their second edition. For those of you who just want to know the differences, I'll list them first.

1) It's Hardback. This might not seem like a big change, but I hate softbound core books.
2) A New Jumpweb map. It really looks sharp.
3) New Alustro's Journal (for those of you who think this is the best part of reading the books).
4) Updated history brings the game up to 4999.
5) New character creation method using "Histories" to speed up the creation process.
6) Alexius has opened up the ranks of knighthood to young knights, allowing begining characters to become knights. He has also created the Imperial Cohort, allowing a noble's entourage to carry a certain amount of knightly power.
7) The human/alien characteristic has been removed. Cybernetic now go off Ego.
8) Benefices are no longer used to by starting equipment. You now by the Riches Benefice and use the money to purchase equipment.
9) The new psychic paths: Sympathy and Vis craft. Also some new theurgy.
10) Resolution of damage in combat now uses six sided dice (you can still use the old method is you like).
11) Many weapons from other books have been added to the lists.
12) A list of common wages and costs have been added.
13) Revised cybernetic rules.
14) Starship rules have been added.
15) A treatment of Passion Play Role Playing.

These are the changes between first and second edition. But what if your new to the game? Read on.

Pros

Fading Suns' greatest asset is it's setting. Hands down. This game is set in a rich and interesting universe. Sure it borrows heavily from Frank Herbert, naming the power point trait "wyrd" and simulating dueling methods using shields that only activate when the damage is above a certain level. It comes together well, however. I had as much fun reading the background material on this game as I do reading some novels.

Fading Suns combines the expandable and the unexplainable into a beautiful union. By the time I was done reading the background I wanted to play this game. The universe is compelling on an emotional level. The more I read of it, the more I want to play.

In addition, unlike some games, they are not afraid to put out source material. They are up to about a dozen support books detailing everything from the church to the merchant guilds to alien races. More are coming. Holistic is obviously a company that is knows that the setting sells a system, not the rules.

Cons

First Edition had more cons than second (the lack of ship combat rules, for instance). Second Edition seems to have tried to address these.

The rules are maybe just a touch ligth for my taste. It's not that I really needed more rules, but there are still things I'm not sure I really understand. There are area, like with cybernetic and starship combat, where I really felt a little more explanation would have been helpful. For instance, it makes reference to people withholding victory dice in duels, so that they do less damage to their foes (thus not activating the shield). It never states whether or not there is a mechanic associated with this. I can only assume there isn't, but I would have like a line or two stating that.

Finally, though the game does a good job of making me believe both the mystical and the scientific at the same time, it fails to integrate them some time. I'm willing to accept that their our demons in the void (they might be a super advanced race, or something unexplainable). I'm willing to except all the stars are fading. I'm willing to accept psychic phenomena and even theurgy.

The problem arises in casual references to tech which don't have any scientific basis. I could give them the radar with a range of 5 AU's (the implications of such a powerful radar system are lost on most people). Most everyone, however, knows that there is not oxygen in space. The explanation of the heat blaster as "super hot flame" was a little too much for me. Maybe Noble Armada explains it as plasma. I'll have to pick up a copy.

Conclusion

This is the perfect game for a group where the gamemaster and players disagree about whether to play science fiction or fantasy. It has all the tropes of the fantasy game (magic, noble houses, a great empire, unexplainable evils, questing knights, etc.) in a science fiction universe where technology is unobtrusive. If you've ever had problems with a game where technology quickly gets in the way of the story, this is the game for you.

Fading Suns is a great sci-fi RPG with many elements of science fantasy. With an almost medieval culture in a star spanning setting, Fading Suns features a well developed world and history cycle. If you like RPG's and sci-fi, this is the game for you.

This game is one of the best new SF Roleplaying Games in existence today. Written by Bill Bridges and Andrew Greenberg (ex White Wolf developers for Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf), this game is a fantastically broad setting, with elements of Dune, Babylon 5, Call of Cthulhu and Cyberpunk.

Just 3 words for you:

Buy this book!

It has new races, Prc's, spells, feats and a good description of what it's like to be a fairie. The layout and art are above standard (as we are used to getting from Bastion Press :)).
So, I can only repeat myself:

Buy this book!

This book was very helpfull in creating a new area of the campaining world. The new races, feats, skill, ect.. where very creative. The best part of the book for me was the detailed list of locales in which the players may visit. Overall I thought this to be an exellent book for anyone wishing to add the fairy realm to their game.

I originally bought this book as a gift for a friend. It almost didn't make it to her. Only a few pages into the book, I realized that I needed to have a copy of it for my very own. My dedication to my friend won out in the end and I'll be ordering my own copy shortly, but I'm counting the days until it arrives.

This is the first D20 supplement I've seen that is consistently useful in every area. Spells, prestige classes, races, feats, magic items, monsters, templates, the description of Faeryland itself, it's all good, meaty useful stuff. If it talks about a major player in the world of the fey, that player is given a stat sheet. If it talks about a magic item, that magic item's described.

The art is excellent, the editing is tight and the format of the book flows very well.

This book misses five stars for a few nitpicky reasons. First of all, it coul dbe a little thicker. Don't get me wrong, this is pretty much a must-buy book if you're going to have the fey take any kind of active role in a campaign, but a few more monsters, and a few more magic items would've added even more depth to this book.

Also, the book has some rather startling errors, most particularly the exlusion of the Mite Fighter feat which is a prerequisite for several feats and prestige classes. Some of the other, more minor error were fixed with errata on the publisher's site, but Mite Fighter exists in a different book entirely. Spells & Magic, from Bastion Press, in case you're interested.

Some of the templates don't seem to be properly balanced as far as how they adjust character level, particularly the high fey and shadow-born templates.

Again, these are minor quibbles and easily corrected. I highly recommend this book.

I have been role playing for a couple of years, but this book is really awesome. I first got to take a peek at it, because one of my gaming buddies had a copy that he let me borrow. I liked it so much that I bought a copy for myself. It's got a ton of information about gaming & tips on how to improve your games if you are already into gaming. I just love this book & would recommend it to novices & experienced gamers alike! It's truly a GREAT resource!

This is an engaging, humorous and fun filled ride through the history, play methodology and general philosophy of tabletop roleplaying games. The author's humor is tongue-in-cheek and non-intrusive, though he does try a little hard at times. Cute gamer jokes aside, this book provides a very easy to understand and enjoyable look at the RPG hobby. From several chapters on the history and background of the pasttime, to ideas on how to get and keep a gaming group together and even examples of typical play, this is a breezy read you won't regret.

This book is absolutely amazing. Being a chemist, I am not of the type for role playing games. However, after reading Sean's book, I soon fell in love with D+D and other RPGs. I have joined a saturday D+D club and I must tear myself away from the game table before 2 AM or I become absolutely obsessed. If you want to find out more about RPG's, this is definitely the book to read.

This book is my favourite role-playing book ever. It contains absolutely no rules, and it contains a plethora of history and myths for Glorantha. It's not designed to give characters some new edge, as so many bacground books do for RPGs; rather it is designed to kick-start brain cells. This is a most excellent book.

This and the other parts of the Hero Wars/HeroQuest line represent one of the few bright spots in gaming these days. Resist the D20! Discover something new.

Realize that the system (any system) causes the world to conform to it, and that the D20 system is nearly impossible to conform to sensibly.

Save yourself! Save your game!

After nearly a decade of roleplaying various games, Glorantha: The Hero Wars has been both the most exciting and confusing experience I've had yet. If you are new to Glorantha, GET THIS BOOK!

Character development in Glorantha is critically (some might say cripplingly) tied to cultural background. The basic books give enough background to start a stunted exploration of the world of Glorantha. A few pieces of info about the locality of Dragon's Pass, the local cultures, and that's it aside from some tantalizing glimpses of other cultures mentioned only in passing.

The problem arises when you want to leave Dragon's Pass. Who are the God-Learners? Why should you care about the Age of Darkness? What's with these distinctly non-Tolkienesque elves? If you sail off the edge of Glorantha's cube, where do you go? You did know that world of Glorantha is a 1600 year-old cube floating in a much larger body of water, and is orbited by the celestial spheres, right?

Most of the Hero Wars books seem to assume that you've been playing in the Glorantha setting already, and don't go too far out of their way to give any details on background. This book goes a LOOOONNNNNNGGG way towards making Glorantha viable for someone new to the setting. A MUST for GMs, and a good aid for players.

It doesn't matter if you have no intention of ever role playing or if you have no idea what GURPS is about, this is a fascinating book for anyone who, like me, wants to see more of an alternate history than the point of divergence and a sporadic description of the world spread out across the course of a book.

This book holds the background information for six alternate histories, each at different points in their timelines. In each section you'll find maps, histories and descriptions for each of the major powers involved in that world along with sidebars that cover some small details of those worlds (rock & roll in the Confederate States of America? It's in there. How to tour in Gernsback? Yep). These are not stories, these are the actual histories involved.

If you're not interested in the gaming aspect, then the tables and charts referring to character types and the likes will be of minor interest, but don't let that stop you.

This is a rare time when I wish that Steve Jackson Games had a fiction line to explore each of these scenarios...

GURPS Alternate Earths may be made to order for a dimension hopping campaign such as GURPS Time Travel, but I believe it also gives gamers an opportunity to see how our own world "might have been" if just one event in history was changed. And it provides opportunities to set whole adventures, and even whole campaigns in those worlds.

The six different "Earths" in this book are almost textbook examples of the now popular "What If" line of SF stories. The first world, "Dixie", gives us a good idea as to what might have happened if the South had won the American Civil War. It covers the time from secession to the time when the Confederate States of America became a superpower. The second world, "Reich 5" give us a chilling look at the world under Nazi rule and the resistance effort still under way years later. The third world "Rome Aeterna", assumes the Roman empire never fell. The fourth world, "Shikaku-Mon", assumes the ancient Japanese Empire conquered the world. The fifth world, "Ezcalli", has details for a strange Earth where the might of the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans is unsurpassed. The sixth and final world is the strangest of all. "Gernsback" starts with a simple postulation: what if Nikolai Tesla's inventions worked and were used by someone with the financial genius of Morgan? Flying cars and broadcast power are common.

There are ideas for adventures, characters, and even whole campaigns for each of the worlds, including several paragraphs about even stranger worlds that diverged from these six. These "reality seeds" give creative GM's even more alternate worlds to explore.

People wishing to use books like Harry Turtledove's wonderful alternate earths books need look no further for ideas of how to recreate his books for a strange parallel world campaign. Highly recommended for GURPS GM's and recommended even to SF fans wanting to explore the ramifications of what might happen if...

This guy must do nothing but read and write. I'm not even sure he takes time to eat. He knows more and more obscure facts about the history of our planet than anyone I've ever met.

Whatever the case, though, I'm grateful, because he's come up with some pretty terrific rpg sourcebooks. This is one of them.

This book offers six alternate Earths, each an imagined world in which something is different from the world we know. Some are set in a past in which something is different; others in a present in which something in the past went a different way.

Such settings make for great fiction--and for great adventures. It's not hard to come up with ideas for such settings, but it is nice when someone's taken the trouble to do the development work for you. A modern Confederate America, an ancient Roman campaign in the New World. Wonderful!

The book can also help you design your own alternate earths by example.

This book is definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a new and different setting for your campaign. If you're done with high fantasy, but you still want magic; if you like metropolises but long for a radically different social structer; if you have any interest in things NOT as they are, then this book's for you.