Roleplaying Books

The Bastion of Faith is perfect for someone who wants to unite PC's under the service of a Lawful Good diety. Affiliation with the temple gives non-priest characters significant benifits. A new specialty priest and lots of new magical items and priest spells.

This book gives an excellent, highly detailed, description of a very large, metropolitan temple. Not only do you get a detailed religious order, complete with descriptions of how they interact with non-members, but you get an interesting sub-plot, and sub-religion -- there's a bad apple in the barrel, and it's rotting...

I really like this product: you get a detailed map of a very large religious order's major citadel; you get detailed information on how the order works, and how they interact with the populace; you also get a wicked twist of what you think is a bastion of good. For the details, you'll have to purchase a copy.

The fault that I see is that the religion is very detailed about its beliefs, but this makes it hard to incorporate if you alreday have a detailed mythos for your campaign world. My mythology is quite complicated, but it's cohesive, and it works. This 'module' (resource book, mostly) has a well developed, thoroughly described, religion -- this makes it somewhat difficult to adapt to my mythology.

If you're looking for a highly detailed, coherent temple complex (good aligned), then this is worth your investment. Just purchasing it for a reference work is worth your while. If you haven't developed a detailed mythology for your campaign world yet, even better: this work will provide you with a fully fleshed out, lawful good (for the most part...), cult to start you in the right direction. All in all, I give it 4-stars because of the fact that you can't easily adapt it if you already have a detailed mythology; otherwise, I'd rate it 5-stars.

Actaually I give it more like 3.5 stars... About the book: Inshort, great if one would cut some parts away that make it only abitbooring. I dont want to ruin anybodys's reading time so I wont take out examples... But many of thelonger parts are necessary. It could have been a little "cut down" so to say but no one/book is perfect so I give it 4 stars when it actually is 3.5

Blavatsky's transcribed messages from beyond, the heart of the Book of Dzyan, are revealed in a satisfying blend of fantasy and mysticism which probes the occult and psychical research. Moving away from the Lovecraft focus of other projects, The Book of Dzyan provides the initial volume of a project series on occult topics.

Of course one should expect that from the father of the third edition d20 system. The previous reviewer is accurate about the content. I personally didnt think it was quiet as good as some other products available but its a added bonus that the content requires no review if your players want to use it. Its that well balanced.

The Book of Hallowed Might is an excellent sourcebook for divine spellcasting characters. Highlights include cool prestige classes (such as the Knight of the Pale), interesting feats (which tie in concepts like oaths, religious conversion, etc) and a large number of great new divine spells. There's also an alternate ranger and a few variant paladin classes.

On par with much of Mr Cook's previous material, including the excellent Books of Eldritch Might, Requiem for a God, etc. Highly recommended.

I realy enjoyed this book, good resource for most players. The book is available online free from TSR's homepage. Good luck in finding it.

THE book for all who wish to build castles in the ADND world. With complete instructions for building your castle from the conception stage to the random encounters whilst building it. Numerous examples are evident, and there are even sections on the history of castles, chilvary, and even special racial castles are included. There is only one problem ... and this is that the entire book is available in electronic form (scanned & OCR'ed), from the TSR Inc. homepage at: www.TSRInc.com/Games/ADND/Core/Scanned/DMGR2/CASTLE.ZIP

This book has a great deal of detail on roleplaying in the Celtic age. Most of the game specific stuff is relegated to the later half of the book. The modifications made to standard D20 look well balanced, with several new core classes and prestige classes to give your games a Celtic feel. There is also details on Celtic gods (although it's suggested that Cleric not be used as a class) and Celtic monsters (although not enough for my taste).

The first half (or so) of the book gives a good background on Celtic history and society, such that no one should have trouble getting into character.

All-in-all a good introduction to Celtic roleplaying, although I could have used more Celtic specific monsters.

The book is basically divided into two sections, the first half is an historical introduction to Celtic life and the history of the Celts between 100 BC and 100 AD. This was one of the best written and most informative overviews of Celtic life that I have ever read. Using sources ranging from Greek and Roman records and memoires, Irish legends, and the archeological record, the book covers everthing from warfare, daily life, diet, and the role of women, to religion, class structure, and technology (pointing out for example that the Celts invented or brought to Europe soap, chainmail, horse shoes, wooden barrels, steel swords and etc.)
My only complaint about this first section is that a bibiography would have been nice. The author also celtic swords as being four feet long and nearly impossible to wield one handed. Every celtic sword I've seen from archeological finds were three feet or less and usually had small grips only suitible for one hand use. All in all though I learned several facts and fascinating anecdotes I hadn't known about, which I later verified from other sources. Anyone intersted in the celts should love this book.
The second half with the D20 material is equally fascinating, and introduces several new combat rules and rules on social aspects such as prestige which could be applicable to many other genres.

First off, the art in this book is fantastic. Creepy at times, but when you're talking about nasty-looking gadgets made by powers whose very nature would tear your mind from its roots, that's to be expected. In the copy I have, the pictures suffer from some coloring issues (it's a bound printout of the free version of the supplement that came with my copy of Ptolus), but I've seen the original in stores and on my computer screen.

The chaositech is . . . well, staggering. The melee weapons along fostered a half-dozen ideas for memorable encounters with twisted foes, and it actually gets better from there. My favourite bits are the Malefic Haunting items, chaos creations that have ghosts stitched into their very fabric. It's reminiscent of the best parts of the old Wraith setting for Storyteller, but with rules that work well in a more dice-intensive system like d20.

Some have complained that the prices and abilities granted by chaositech items place them well outside the range of anything the party could every hope to have, but that's sort of missing the point. Chaositech will eventually make the PCs into drooling idiots or homicidal maniacs, and the book's replete with suggestions on how to show that to the party. Offering a PC great power, but at the price of their sanity and most likely their soul - DMs should LIVE for chances like that.

Another five stars for Monte Cook, who continues to prove himself one of the most unique game designers out there.

Fantasy super tech, mutations and cyberwear all geared to the service of a group chaotic outsiders whose goal is entropy. This book has a lot of goodies for DMs although a lot of what is in here is very, very powerful the price for this power can be quite steep. Designed to slipped rather seamlessly into virtually any campaign this little tool box is a treasure trove of toys that can be used for great effect by any DM for a good old fashioned scare or used as "Things Man was not Meant to Know"

This book gave alot of useful info along with maps and many charactors to use in the citys of berlin and L.A.

The Chicago Chronicles, a story supplement for Vampire the Masquerade, consists of three volumes. There are many game sessions worth playing in the three volumes and spectacular city guides to Chicago and Milwakee.

The second volume provides an updated city guide of chicago which details all of the major players left in the city after the adventure "Under a Blood Red Moon"--which is also included in this volume.

The adventure is quite stimulating, featuring an all out war between Lupines and Vampires in Chicago. Whereas the city guide provides all one needs to know to role play a campaign in Campaign.

While this volume can probably stand on its own, it is very helpful to have the first volume as well. The first volume helps to acclimate the players to Chicago prior to having to engage in a challenging all out war in the city.

The odd thing about the three volume set is that the adventures detailed in the third volume seem to chronologically come before the events set in the second volume.

Again, these are wonderful supplements that are great to revolve a role playing campaign around. But, if nothing else, they are also fun reading that can inspire any other campaign.

After months of anticipation, "Cloak & Dagger" has arrived. This work reveals, for the DM of course, some startling events in the lands of Faerun. This source book is filled with a myriad of realms lore and information, as well as hooks for bringing these nefarious organizations to play in your realms campaign. For many of us, this is what we've been waiting for, and calling to the powers-that-be about. Finally, these intrigue riddled organizations are made flesh for the cunning game master: The Shadow Thieves, The Knghts of the Shield, The Iron Throne, and the Night Masks to name only a few. But more importantly, it reveals a great shift in the balance. What is it? I won't ruin it, but I'll tell you it has to do with the Zhentarim, and Manshoon himself! If you're a Forgotten Realms DM, and you want to spice up the intrigue in your campaign, even if you don't like using power groups in your games, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. You will not be sorry!

This book proves to be excellent source material for many of the power groups of TSR/Wizard's Forgotten Realms campaign world. In fact,if the upcoming 3rd edition sourcebook proves anywhere near as insightful, it should enhance the Realms' potential as a complete and true alternative to the current "Greyhawk-centric" layout of most the 3E materials currently being published. The book proves to be insightful, especially for DMs who run a Realms campaign, and it will spoil some storyline if you are more of a player than the game referee. Despite high praise, there are some aspects that may not please all fans. But first, let me state the excellent parts. What this entails is the efforts to develop details and story growth for some the Realms most famous and infamous groups. This material should prove good to developing and expanding a FR game adventure with new plotlines and activities. For several factors, this is important for game play and development. First, in recent years we have seen the campaign world material focus on geography and history, while casually or only briefly discussing many of these groups within. This left many a GM in the lurch, forced to come up with solutions that may not have been detailed or ideal for their campaign. By adding more details, and often a framework of villains, the book improves the group structure for adventures and encounters. Groups like the Rundeen and The Iron Throne(now of Baldur's Gate computer game fame)are given a deeper explanation and motivation than slavers or evil merchants, explanations that were casually tossed in to add flavor. Second, it adds much needed storyline to more familiar groups in FR adventures, like the Zhentarim and the Harpers. While I don't agree with all the new plots, these more-familiar and popular organizations were in need of an infusion of new dynamics, either to make them more realistic villains to fight or more interesting as heroic allies. Those players who have been involved as Harpers should be thrilled at the new adventures, while foes of the Zhents will find them more powerful and crafty to deal with than previous material had conveyed. The other added plus is that the more generic or marginal organizations mentioned in novels or modules have gotten some detail as well. Here, the book shines by giving attention that fleshes them out moreso than before. The Shadow Theives, The Westlake criminal society(plus city layout); The Unseen, and even a secret society of evil elves(if you read the Dungeon Crawl modules, you know where this going) all come into focus more. This information provides many a gamemaster with an alternate source of material than just encounters with the more famous groups(i.e. Harpers, etc) of the Realms, especially if your players have grown bored of them. While all this makes for great source material to GMs, and plot stories to fans of the Realms, the book isn't without some flaws. Let's start with the fact that you really must be versed in the Forgotten Realms; this isn't material that translates well into a generic campaign. Without trying to say too much, the plots involving Manshoon and the Zhentarim are very complex and could create confusion if you aren't familiar with the villains' histories and details. While some explanations are added for help, there is an intention to leave enough left unanswered to further future gaming. However, this convultion isn't always helpful to game structure and some may find it be too much. In fact, some may find that the storylines are too much change to add to a campaign involing those groups. Also, the excellent detailing found in this book is not evenly distributed. Some groups have more material, perhaps too much that can bog down your interest, and others very basic information or blurbs. For example, the Men of Bailisk or the Cloak Societies are briefly mentioned, and associated with other entries, usually a broad one like the Zhentarim or the Knights of the Shield. This doesn't really add to the possible areas of devlopment for adventures the DM could flesh out. To sum it up, CLOAK & DAGGER does a great job developing and revealing the power groups of the Forgotten Realms. The materials sticks close to its source, developing the mystery, manipulation and detailed intrigue lots of gamers associate with this game world's high adventure. Some, however, may find the changes too confusing to use in their gaming campaigns without careful application. You'll find it good and creative, but not as complete as one would like in some parts.

I wholeheartedly agree with the previous review. this is an absoultly wicked RPG! Unfortunally,as it is presented in exactly the same way as it was in 1980, it is in a rather confusing format for those of us gamers who are used to suberb books from Palladium that read easily. However this is , as said, easy to adjust to.

This is a collection of books that are reprinted from the original 1980's versions. It is an outstanding game and the reason why Palladium Books survived to this day to be the best Role-Playing creators on the market.

The game is not compatible with current games published by Palladium, it is the original verison with no modifications. Individuals used to the gaming systems of Rifts or Heroes Unlimited will have to adjust, but the games is well worth the adjustment.

This is a solid collection of non-Mythos CoC scenarios set in New England in the late 1920's and the 1930's. It would be easy to change it to earlier in the 1920's if desired. There are four scenarios which can either be played separately or linked to form a modular campaign. It's an especially good choice if your gaming group does not have the time or inclination to plow through an extended, continous campaign. The scenarios feature plenty of investigation and roleplaying, as well as possibilities for combat. It's classic supernatural horror brought to gaming.

Coming Full Circle is yet another excellent sourcebook of Lovecraftian horror produced by Pagan Publishing. This book contains a wealth of game-related material on the more legendary myths of New England. Here the witch, the phantom, and the vampire of ancient legend take center stage to the sanity- blasting eldritch horros of the Cthulhu mythos. Additionally, this sourcebook offers great material for psychic investigators (ala late Fox show "Millenium"). I highly recommend this book for serious players and readers of Lovecraftiana.