Customer Reviews:
Expedition to the Demonweb Pits--Demonically Good!.......2007-09-06
Wow! This massively rich Dungeons & Dragons experience is a weaving of expert writing, deliciously devilish (or demonic)creativity and deadly challenges--sure to please any veteran or new explorer of the outer planes of existence.
Whether you are a DM wanting to take your players on a plane-spanning adventure, a hardened warrior seeking to right unthinkable evils, or spellcaster seeking to push the envelope on your powers, this is an adventure you don't want to miss! Playable over the course of a single weekend, I can't recommend a better mod for PCs of level 9-11.
Familiarity with extraplanar worlds is helpful, so check these books out also:
Planar Handbook (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
planar handbook
Good gaming,
Tyrskald
Running it now..........2007-06-13
I'm running this now (the party's near the end of Chapter 2), and so far it's quite a bit of fun... if you're in the right mindset.
If you're looking for a wacky jaunt across the planes, merrily killing drow and demons, this will probably work for you. If you're looking for an adventure with plot & complexity, you'd best look elsewhere. I was looking for a pretty brainless adventure I could run once a month for some gaming-deprived out-of-town friends. My prep time is somewhat minimal, so this seemed like a good buy.
The format of the adventure actually is pretty easy to use. You get all the material for a single encounter on one page, or two facing pages, along with full stat blocks. That layout makes my job as DM pretty easy while I'm running the game. It's somewhat annoying while I'm *preparing* for the game, but once I got used to it, it worked.
I'd give it 5 stars for the material and for the presentation, but the stat blocks are awful. I'm not talking about the new stat block format - I *love* the new stat blocks (top section is pre-encounter, second is player's turn, third is monster's turn, fourth is detail, fifth is exposition), but the stat blocks are full of errors. I don't know that anyone really did proofreading on this book. (Two Examples: Ratatosk damage assumes small-size weapons while the creature's size is listed as Medium. Rule-Of-Three's dagger attacks don't include the magic bonus.)
Are these things written with a dart board?.......2007-06-12
This thing sucks. I was expecting something really interesting and would involved politics of the Abyss, but got a hastily thrown together group of encounters. The plot line makes little sense. The hook to get the PCs involved makes little sense. The reasons for why most NPCs would assist the PCs makes little sense. From a combat perspective, it's probably decent as a dungeon crawl. (I haven't run/played it, so I can't say how balanced the encounters are) You'd have to totally ignore the plot and story to enjoy it, though. Unfortunately, this follows in line with almost all of the adventures that WOTC has put out in the last 4 years. They're great dungeon crawls if the PCs are okay with just being led along by a string of encounters. You're left in the end wondering what the hell the reasons for the adventure even were. They could have done sooooo much more with NPCs like Grazz't and Orcus and the interplay of politics between the demon lords. I'm very disappointed. The only plus side is the pages and printing and diagrams are visually nice and the encounter format is concise. I'd rather have the encounters placed back right into the main text, however, 'cuz I don't want to have to "refer to appendix C for monster and environment details" kind of junk.
Challenge rating ill concieved.......2007-06-12
As a player and a DM for over 20 years,I was anxious to see this 3.5 update of the classic early gygax era modules,I read through the new adventure and was astounded that they suggest this module is suitable for a 9th level group,the first encounter alone states that even though it is highly challenging a fully empowered and rested group should prevail.This is the mind set throughout the book.Several Demon lord aspects abound in the module which I find that most characters would have difficulty defeating that were less than 14 th level.Although the book states these encounters may be avoided,most players will invariably face nearly every one.
I enjoy the flow of story but any player familiar with the game would laugh at the concept of 9th level characters "plane traveling" and surviving the rigors associated with dealing with the denizens of aforementioned alternate planes.This module should have been designated for 12th-16th level players which would be more in line with the game mechanics.
Rushed camgaign.......2007-06-08
I am co-DM in a campaign and we decided to go with the "quick" version of this setting. I'm not sure if it is better in the earlier stages but so far it seems like this book was rushed. There are some mobs on the maps that don't have a map key while others do, and the maps for the encounters in the pits are somewhat confusing. This is a fun campaign setting, our players are really enjoying it, but if you are going to DM it make sure you go over it thoroughly before each game. Some things that should quick to find are a bit tough to navigate for players that are into the role playing aspect more. They are in there, just spread out and seemingly disconnected. Not a good campaign to pick on spur of the moment, but it is fun to play and DM if you have the time for it.
Book Description
Monster Manual IV is the most recent volume in the best-selling Monster Manual line. Sure to be popular with both Dungeonmasters and players, this supplement to the D&D® game provides descriptions for a vast array of new creatures. Each monster is illustrated and utilizies a new statblock format that facilitates faster gameplay. In addition, each monster gets more pages than used in previous supplements to detail sample encounters and pregenerated treasure hordes. Also included are details on how to incorporate creatures in a
Forgotten Realms® or
Eberron® campaign. This product is tied to 2006’s Year of the Dragon theme, which will be the target of marketing from RPGs, novels, and miniatures brands.
Customer Reviews:
More monsters than your adventurers can cleave..........2007-09-26
Of the additional MM supplements, this one is by far my favorite. As a DM who enjoys immersing my players into the eternal struggle between the evils of the dragon goddess Tiamat and those of the Good Dragon King Bahamut, the spawn of Tiamat are a frequently encountered enemy in my adventures. For those who are used to the format of previous editions, the monster statistics block had a slight change, but not to worry! Everything you need to know is still there. It took me some getting used to, but I think most DMs will find it convenient. Take advantage of the myriad creatures within, but be warned, there may be more monsters than your adventurers can cleave.
Too much wasted space.......2007-08-23
Although it has some interesting critters, I found the inclusion of so many NPCs a waste of space. NPCs like those presented here should be doled out on the web. The book should be all about new monsters, not modifications of existing monsters. It's not the worst book I've seen from Wizards of the Coast, but it's definately one of the worst.
I thought it was bad, but then it was invaluable!.......2007-07-18
In the beginning, after my original read of the MMIV, I had the same thoughts as many of the other reviews. The new stat blocks, being not like the old stat blocks, were a nusience to read. The extended information on ecology, encounters, knowledge, treasure, and whatnot, while kind of useful, sucked up space where more monsters could have been. And the endless inclusion of well-known monsters with class levels was just a waste of space. I mean, what DM worth their salt couldn't throw a few class levels on an orc or drow when they needed them?
And then there I was, ten minutes to my next session with a burning need to have a pair of lizardfolk barbarians fight my players. Yeah, I could have added some attack bonuses and whatnot on the fly, but then I realized, "Wait! I have the MMIV! That has more lizardfolk types than I could possibly need! And they're statistically correct!" Thusly, my game was saved.
Yes, any DM worth their salt can add a few class levels to monsters... if they have the time. For us more harried DMs, having pre-generated leveled monsters is a boon beyond reckoning. And the maps can be used over and over again. Certainly I've used a cavern map of mine at least four times with my current group. Each time it was the lair or corridor or ambush site of totally different creatures, and the group thought it cool each time. The geode caverns of the gnoll tribes could be used for any wilderness encounter, and etc.
The various encounter suggestions are excellent as well, as they occasionally provide ideas and adventure seeds. As I also play in the Realms and Eberron, suggestions for how monsters tie in to both places works on multiple levels, or can give people ideas on how monsters can fit into their own worlds.
As for the monsters themselves, I have to say I like 'em! I haven't had a chance to use a lot of them, because I have over a dozen monster books, and there's only so much death you can throw at your players in a single session. However, there were some excellent constructs, fey, and plants, always favorites of mine, in addition to some nasty oozes, elementals, and aberrations. I don't often use demons, devils, and various outsiders that often, so I can only say they look suitibly evil/good/neutral.
The reason this book gets three stars instead of higher, is that there are less monsters for the buck, even though what is there is perhaps more useful. Also, switching the format for the stat blocks makes me sad, as I have to constantly search for the information I used to be able to find in a snap. Yes, perhaps I will eventually get used to the new format, but right now it just drives me up the wall.
Monster Manual 4.......2007-05-13
This is the latest installment in the Monster Manual series. It is filled with new creatures and monsters and some that are revamped from earlier versions. Easy to use, nicely illustrated this book is worth the money spent. Having been a gamer for over twenty years, I have come to appreciate the way the newer books are laid out and illustrated. This book is a def. add to any gamers collection.
Lackluster monsters, poor layout.......2007-03-28
The 4th monster manual showcases Wizards' new 'encounter format' for monsters, and reflects a new philosophy on what a monster manual should contain. While some of the changes are helpful, the majority just pad what is otherwise a very thin and lackluster book. Here's the breakdown:
The good: Lore sections, so you know how difficult it is for your players to know something about the monsters. More robust ecology and society sections. A few gems like the joystealer, justice archon, and spawn of tiamat. As with all Wizards products, excellent artwork throughout.
The bad: It's 221 pages long, but only 145 of those actually contain new monsters. The rest are canned lairs (pretty, but otherwise useless) or rehashes of existing monsters with class levels (already done for you in the Dungeon Master's Guide). And even the new monsters are padded with large block quotes (distracting, not at all useful), large headlines and paragraphs for what should be single lines of text (the alignment and treasure entries) and descriptions on how the monsters fit with the Forgotten Realms and Eberron settings (which should be left to the respective setting books).
The new presentation for the actual monster statistics isn't my cup of tea, but that could just be a lack of familiarity - while the new layout is more compact (the only part of the book concerned with saving space) and breaking down statistics by use in the combat round seems like a good idea, the layout works better in published adventure stat blocks than as a stand-alone manual. Monster descriptions (what they actually look like) gets broken up into two sections, often on different pages, and listing things like damage reduction and resistances separate from special abilities makes it difficult to tell what makes a monster cool and different at a glance. Plus when you do figure out what the monsters do, they're often rather unimpressive, or of dubious balance.
The 2nd edition Monstrous Manual fit statistics, habitat, society, and ecology information, plus an illustration, all on a page or two. That was 14 years ago. In the Monster Manual IV the same information takes three or four pages. There are better ways to spend your money.
Amazon.com
It's not easy for duck parents to find a safe place to bring up their ducklings, but during a rest stop in Boston's Public Garden, Mr. and Mrs. Mallard think they just might have found the perfect spot--no foxes or turtles in sight, plenty of peanuts from pleasant passers-by, and the benevolent instincts of a kindly police officer to boot. Young readers will love the mother duck's proud, loving protection of her wee webbed ones, and those with fond memories of Boston will enjoy familiar locales, from Beacon Hill to Louisburg Square, and over the Charles River--often from a duck's-eye view. Robert McCloskey, creator of Blueberries for Sal, never fails to elicit happy story-time giggles from youngsters, and his soft, brown-toned, Caldecott-winning illustrations make this gentle world come alive. (Ages 3 to 8) --Karin Snelson
Book Description
This classic tale of the famous Mallard ducks of Boston is available for the first time in a full-sized paperback edition. Awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1941, Make Way for Ducklings has been described as "one of the merriest picture books ever" (The New York Times). Ideal for reading aloud, this book deserves a place of honor on every child's bookshelf. "Robert McCloskey's unusual and stunning pictures [have] long been a delight for their fun as well as their spirit of place." — The Horn Book
Customer Reviews:
A love letter to Boston.......2007-08-07
Mr. and Mrs. Mallard explore all the nooks and crannies of Boston and the Back Bay, before settling on the perfect place to raise their family. A true love letter to the Boston of 60 years ago (complete with Irish cops!), it is a classic that speaks to people from everywhere, and families worldwide, on the love and nurturing that parents show for their children.
A classic for a reason.......2007-06-25
This book was read to me, and I read it endlessly to my little sister and my daughter. Now I am reading it to my great-nephew, age three and a half, who fell instantly in love with it. He always lets out a little "whew!" of relief when Mrs Mallard and the ducklings make it through the gates of the Public Gardens. After about the fourth reading (there were two on that particular day) we went to a little park nearby where he insisted on playing out the story with me, complete with Mr and Mrs Mallard's dialogue. It is a ritual now.
This is an astonishingly involving book for small children. There is a practical but manageable level of threat (of traffic, which is very real and genuinely important for three and four year olds) with the assurance of adult help when it is needed, and the constant reassurance that they are being looked after. And adults can read it forever without getting bored!
Great value.......2007-02-15
This is the turtle back book. It is glued and stitched. It should hold up. If this book is going to get alot of use spend the few dollars more and get the turtle back.
Make Way for Ducklings.......2007-02-13
I grew up reading this book and when I became a teacher it was one of the first in my classroom. A classic. A must read for all young readers! Great drawings too!
Make Way for Ducklings.......2007-01-18
This is a great story for children. We bought the book for our daughter to use in the Speech and Hearing Clinic at OSU, and for her work with children at the public library story hour during the summer.
Book Description
The Blood of Dragons Flows through Your Veins
In ages past, dragons ruled supreme. Now their distant scions, the races and individuals who carry their blood, live among the great empires of the world, where they forge their own glorious legacies. You can be among them. Embrace your draconic heritage, and the spoils of the world can be yours!
This supplement for the D&D® game provides detailed information on the psychology, society, culture, behavior, religion, and folklore of the dragonblooded races, including kobolds and half-dragons. This book introduces two new player character races: the dragonborn (existing characters reborn in a new draconic form to combat and destroy the spawn of Tiamat) and the spellscales (artistic, philosophical beings with a penchant for sorcery and a thirst for new experiences). It also provides new prestige classes, feats, spells, magic items, equipment, and guidelines for crafting adventures and campaigns involving dragonblooded races.
For use with these Dungeons & Dragons® core books
Player’s Handbook™ Dungeon Master’s Guide™ Monster Manual™
Customer Reviews:
Kobolds get some culture.......2006-10-29
The highlight in this work is the nice elaboration of kobold culture. It helps show why the scaly, little munchkins are so interesting.
The rest of the book is fairly lackluster.
A new look on kobolds.......2006-07-06
This is a great supplement on dragonic characters. While not too impressed with the spellscales and reborn dragon like creatures, I really enjoyed the handling of kobolds and their options. All in all, if you are an avid collector like me you will want this book for your collection. If you are not avid, then I would suggest hoarding your money :)
Give this book a courtesy flush.......2006-03-26
Remember how freakin' cool Lords of Madness was? The aboleth, the illithids, the FLESHWARPER? Even had "Innsmouth look"-style feats, so you could get your Call of Cthulu on with your 7th level druid what with the tentacles and the pseudonatural wild shape and all! MAN, it was COOL! Well, I felt great about finally getting Races of the Dragon, all hoping it would be half as awesome as Libris Mortis or Complete Adventurer and everything.... And... about half-way through this book I felt like I had just found a turd in my green salad.
Everything magical is devoted to the Sword-of-Shanarra ripoff sorceror class, (and not a thing for wizards, HELLO???), the fleshgrafting rules contradict the rules in EVERY other book with Flesh grafting (Fiend Folio, Libris Mortis and Lords of Madness if you're counting), and the new races are just plain STUPID. And I do mean STUPID: "Hey, look at me, I'm a 'spellscale,' I LOOK like a freackin' purple elf with some painted junk on my face." But you know, for those of you who always wanted to play a kobold, now you get your shot, 'cause hey, they rack up in here, man, let me tell you. Oh yeah, and the art's not worth much, either. Don't even bother with the feats, they reek, too; MAYBE the spellcaster tactical feat that lets you do the really obvious "This time for sure!" spell-casting to hit a critter or overcome SR. It doesn't take a whole lotta brainpower to make the sorceror even dumber, and they did that much right.
One good thing, an EXCELLENT thing, in fact: 7 new Power Word Spells. Of course, there are problems here, too. "Power Word: Pain" is, technically speaking, broken as hell: 1st level wizard spell that does 1d6 + 1d6 / round to one target; up to 4d4 rounds depending on current HP much like all Power Word spells. That's only first level if the damage is nonlethal, buddy; 2nd or 3rd at least.
I'll let people take any of them, though, if they also spend spell slots on "Mighty Wallop" and "Greater Mighty Wallop", though -- I kid you not there are spells with those names in there. If you can cast either of them without laughing, you DESERVE "Power Word: Maladroit", too. I guess these guys wanted to make up for the purple painted elves by using a fancy word for "Clumsy." All in all, the weakest effort I've seen out of WotC so far, even worse than Weapons of Legacy. If you want to spend money on a D&D book, get Lords of Madness or Sandstorm, instead.
Races of the Dragon is great but not cream of the crop........2006-03-23
Races of the dragon had some great content. The Dragonborn of Bahamut were great. Great information on kobolds, although if you have dragon or dungeon magazine all of this information kind of feels like it has been covered before. The book is great as a player resource if a DM allows the books use in thier campaign. Overall, it was a great resource for WotC's 'Year of the Dragon' releases.
Who wants a bunch of ugly-looking lizards?.......2006-03-22
As far as style goes, I found this pretty boring from what I saw in the bookstore. Glad I never bought it, Races of Eberron is much better, as it has three great races (fourth isn't so hot) including one Living Construct type.
In fact, from Races of Eberron I made one Changeling Druid who has near complete Cold Adaptation and Heat Adaptation (from environment series), and a Warforged Monk which was effective against lycanthropes.
What can Races of the Dragon possibly give you? Flying creatures? Firebreathing creatures? You could be better off with weaked-down angel or better yet just a birdfolk race (like Raptorans in Races of the Wild, which by the way also has more variety with its Catfolk). As for firebreathing, a feat could probably give you the whole fire-eating/fire-blowing act and save you the whole freakish thing of having weird blood.
Book Description
A new D&D sourcebook detailing the major races of the Eberron™ world.
Races of Eberron provides Dungeons & Dragons® players and Dungeon Masters with an in-depth look at the new races of the Eberron™ Campaign Setting, including changelings, the kalashtar, shifters, and the warforged. The book includes extensive information on each race, plus new race-related feats, prestige classes, spells, and equipment. In addition, this book highlights the other major races of the Eberron world, including elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs, and drow.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent resource.......2007-06-28
Races of Ebberon is an excellent resource for the Dungeons & Dragons Ebberon campaign setting. It gives players more backround information on the various races and power groups to take role-playing to a new level. This book also introduces new feats and spells to take your character in new directions.
Great material but not worth a separate book.......2007-01-07
The Races of Eberron supplement is well-written, well-organized, and contains a relatively extensive set of information for anyone interested in incorporating the new races presented in theh Eberron Campaign Setting into any generic campaign. The information is complete, and the book does include feats and other means of specialization for each race that cannot be found in the Campaign Setting.
Depsite all of these plusses, though, the supplement suffers from trying to fill a niche that has already been filled. I had a chance to read both of this product and the Campaign Setting before I purchased them, and though I did purhcase both I feel a bit ripped-off. Like I said, there is enough new content in the Races of Eberron supplement that it was worthy of purchase, but this book is another entry on the list of Wizards' attempt to make us buy the same material twice. It's a frustrating trend that I see developing.
Like I said, the book is worth buying, but it gets four stars because I do not feel that the new information is worth the full price of admission. I would buy the Campaign Setting first because for $10 more you get a great deal more material that you can also integrate into any generic campaign with a bit of imagination.
A product for both those who own Eberron and those who don't fails to please everyone........2006-09-15
This product details the four new races introduced in the Eberron Campaign Setting (hereinafter "ECS"): the Kalashtar, the Changeling, the Warforged, and the Shifter. While it clearly has a strong Eberron focus, the stats for these races along with their feats from the ECS are reproduced here for any DM who wants new races without having to purchase the ECS. Discussion on inserting these races into more traditional fantasy worlds is presented as well.
The book falls flat in a variety of ways, however. The racial write ups are the height of bland, saying very little that a person of average intelligence would not naturally realize. While there are occasional gems in the race write ups, such as the discussion of different philosophies among the changelings, even those interesting bits of insight are repeatedly used until the reader is tired of them. The racial setting material adds extremely little to the Eberron setting, though it may be of more use to a reader who is completely unfamiliar with Eberron.
New feats, spells, prestige classes, substitution levels, and other mechanical additions are presented. They're a mixed bag. Many of the feats and prestige classes do a good job of expanding on the potential conceptual focus of the existing races. The racial substitution levels are likely the best part for many gamers, though some of them do very little to change the base class.
Great Book! For Eberron..........2006-01-29
If you are playing the Eberron campaign it will really help you get into the head of those races you are.
Great Acessory!!.......2006-01-29
Races of Eberron has added depth to the new races presented in the campaign setting plus offers insight into the standard races from the PHB and their culture (per the Eberron Setting). It also offers new spells and racial feats.
Races of Eberron is great for those playing in the Eberron campaign setting or looking to spice up another setting.
Book Description
A new D&D adventure for first-level characters.
Scourge of the Howling Horde is a D&D adventure for first-level characters that pits heroes against a menacing tribe of goblins and their monstrous allies. It showcases a new encounter format designed to help Dungeon Masters run memorable encounters more easily. It also includes sidebars that contain useful advice such as differences when running the adventure for new players or for seasoned players.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel works for Roleplaying Games R&D at Wizards of the Coast. Her previous design credits include Races of the Dragon and Fantastic Locations: Fane of the Drow.
Customer Reviews:
For beginners only.......2007-08-07
First, just to be clear: if you have ever run D&D campaigns in the past, do not get this adventure. Contrary to the marketing, it is purely for first time DMs.
And while I'm contradicting the marketing... this adventure has nothing to do with The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde. Do not buy Scourge of the Howling Horde if you're looking for an introduction to The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde. I fell for this, and was extremely annoyed.
For experienced gamers, this adventure has little to offer. Aside from the simplistic concepts that even a novice DM could have created, there are significant gaps in logic that really ruin this for me. The final encounter is a great example, as was previously commented on. Another example is the hobgoblins wielding long swords and wearing studded leather armor, while in a chest (but only if they have the key to) are a magical long sword and magical studded leather armor.
They may be hobgoblins, but they are not that stupid.
There are additional issues, I am avoiding any spoilers in the players might take advantage of.
Scourge?.......2007-05-21
Scourge of the Howling Hordes marked my second attempt after a long period of time in running the game rather than just being a player for many years. And this is a good module for the beginning DM... whether they have many years of experience or are truely beginning. However, it does suffer from a couple of problems.
1. Getting the party to the caves where the Horde is. As written, the townspeople aren't sure just where the attacks are coming from. Second, unless someone picks up on the trail from the initial ambush that is some distance out of town, it may be hard to get the party to go back to that point and investigate to get a lead on to the location. Possibly there should be a ranger or other woodsman connection in town that can give some guesses as to the location. Or a recent attack in the village that can serve as an in town jumping off point for finding the trail.
2. The layout and tactics of the goblins are fairly well designed and laid out. The entrance to the complex might need further description as I had to come up with something that also made for some interesting plans as the party had to attempt to approach unseen as long as possible across a semi-open stretch of lightly forested land next to a cliff.
3. The final encounter was a severe let-down. Its a wonder that the goblins ever accepted Noax as someone to be feared... even for them. There were several more difficult encounters through out the complex (either as written or through the use of tactics that caused the fight to become more difficult). The party had as much trouble with Noax as kicking a puppy. They almost felt sorry for how much of a push-over Noax was... This was in part because the module stresses warning the party what they are about to encounter in several ways and having them fully prepared to face Noax. Also, Noax chose his lair very poorly... which only made the party all the stronger against him. I feel that a modification in the lair and less warning would have made the encounter with Noax more of the climax it was supposed to be. Also, some way that Noax might have been able to better able to join in or in some way be a presence in other sections of the module would have been nice... some way to build him up to be something more important or dangerous. When running it, I did have Noax make a retalitory strike on the village after the party withdrew to heal and prepare for the next assault on the complex. However, even then, the best he was able to do was drop alchemist's fire on a house as his own abilities were too weak to really cause any real effect... though the party trying to figure out what happened in the absence of any tracks was somewhat interesting.
So, while a good module and having a lot of nice points, it also misses some others. But then that is where the DM has to step in and make changes or come up with something.
Another great adventure.......2007-05-13
This like Howweling Horde. Is great for begginers,but it also can be used for those players who have been looking for a launching site for a campaigning group with moderate experince.
Excellent for beginners!.......2007-03-04
I have not been playing D&D for many years as I am rathe rnew at it but I was considered good enough to start DMing by my group. That being said this book was excellent in that it lays everything out very effectively and the adventure started within a few hours. My regular DM with years of experience was impressed with how good I ran the game and I could not have done that without this book making things much more simple for me. If you are brand new to being a DM or to D&D in general this is a great book. If you are a veteran of the game this book probobly will not be that beneficial to your campaign.
Great for quick sit-down-and-play!.......2007-02-03
This is definately the funnest 1st level advenvture I've ever run as a DM. I'm new to the DM game, and I absoultely can not express how great it was to literally buy the adventure, pick everyone up, and start playing (all within a few hours). The format and monster tables are great, I really look forward to buying more of these adventures that cater to DMs that want to let their player have a great time, without 3 months of preparation for the campaign. 5 stars!
Book Description
Everything a player needs to know to play evil or morally ambiguous characters in the Forgotten Realms setting. Champions of Ruin™ is a comprehensive guide to playing evil characters in the Forgotten Realms setting. Many aspects of play are covered: vengeance, ambition, evil vs. evil, corruption and
moral failure, loyalty and betrayal. The book also discusses types of evil- lawful, chaotic, and neutral-as well
as morally ambivalent characters such as anti-heroes and rogues. Elder evils of extreme power are discussed along
with tools, feats, spells, evil places and planar touchstones, and guilds and organizations that evil characters can
join. Two new races are also introduced.
Customer Reviews:
JUST SAY EVIL!.......2005-06-24
Champions of Ruin is the newest sourcebook for Forgotten realms. A 160 page book detailing everything you ever wanted to know about playing an evil PC. The book introduces new races, spells, feats, and magic items. The new races are nothing to write home about, with the best being probably the Drow/Demon halfbreed called the Draegloth. Myself, I'm a little sick of Drow...Curse Salvatore for making them so popular and romantic!
The feat section is pretty nice with several new and interesting feats for evil characters tapping fighters, clerics and spellcasters with some interesting feats. There are also over 30 new spells in the book. of course the main thing that players are probably interested in is the new prestige classes. The book has some great new prestige classes that detail how to create the class, it's various features, and advice on playing these characters. Other chapters cover things such as evil places such as temples, shrines, etc...There's a chapter on various evil NPCs as well.
The art is pretty good throughout and I think the book is a welcome addition to DMs and players.
Evil on Faerun just got smarter, meaner and stronger.......2005-05-31
Champions of Ruin is Wizard's newest book in the Forgotten Realms product line. The contents of the book can be combined perfectly with the info found in Lords of Darkness, and the book is also the - dark - twin of Champions of Valor, a sourcebook Wizard's will publish at the end of this year.
The book is nicely edited, and - as usual with Forgotten Realms products - beautifully illustrated.
The book has the usual chapters (like new races, magic, feats, prestige classes and magic items for evil), and also describes evil organisations, places and NPCs (both "normal" level, and epic NPCs). It also includes ideas for using the contents of the book in an evil campaign, or simply in a normal campaign.
The book adresses mostly the Dungeon Master, but players will also find interesting things within. Most probably a player will not want to buy the book for him/herself, especially as knowing the contents of the product too well may ruin the excitement of the game.
Average customer rating:
- My kids love this book!
- Wonderful
- I loved this book as a kid!
- Play I Spy
- great first book
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Each Peach Pear Plum board book (Viking Kestrel Picture Books)
Allan Ahlberg
Manufacturer: Viking Juvenile
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Board book
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ASIN: 067088278X |
Amazon.com
"Each Peach Pear Plum. I spy Tom Thumb!" In this engaging, interactive book for the very young, familiar nursery-rhyme characters such as Mother Hubbard and Baby Bunting sneak their way into the gentle drawings. Even young children who might not know all the fairy-tale stars can find them lurking in the cupboard, on the stairs, or deep in the woods. In the happy finale, the whole cast meets up for plum pie in the sun, where the little one on your lap will gleefully find everyone. An American Library Association Notable Book. (Baby to preschooler)
Book Description
A children's favorite, now available in a board book edition
In this book
With your little eye
Take a look
And play "I spy"
This interactive book invites young children to play the classic "I spy" game. The rhymed verses give youngsters clues about who to look for in the detailed illustrations. Little ones will be delighted when they spy Tom Thumb, Jack and Jill, The Three Little Bears and many other nursery rhyme characters hiding in the pictures. This sturdy new board book edition is perfect for a book that will be picked up again and again.
Customer Reviews:
My kids love this book!.......2007-08-06
I read this book to my own children, and I just bought it for my grandchild.
We would read this book every night and they loved it!
Wonderful.......2007-06-08
What a wonderful, and exciting way to get a child involved in problem solving, and reading experience
I loved this book as a kid!.......2007-04-24
I read this book over and over when I was little and then I taught my younger brother to read with it! Great book for small children!
Play I Spy.......2007-03-30
"In this book with your little eye take a look and play I spy"
This is a nice little book which takes characters from well known nursery rhymes and fairy tales and places them in an eye spy game.
The book has a lovely rhythm and the detailed illustrations provide plenty to look at. It is fun searching for the hidden characters, and the pictures can be used to extend and create your own I spy game with your child.
great first book.......2007-01-13
Our tot loved this book, starting at about 6 or 9 months, and for many thereafter. It has great illustrations - not too simple, but not too complicated. They have fun details to hunt through; besides the characters, there are little bunnies and birds, etc. on each page. The script is excellent - not too many words, and a good rhyme scheme. The text on each page alludes to what's coming next. Very good first book.
Book Description
New rules for running a d20 Modern campaign set in the past.
This new rules supplement provides everything players and gamemasters need to participate in adventures in the time period between the Renaissance and World War II, including new character options and rules for early modern firearms. It begins with an exploration of the historical period between around 1450 and 1950, then provides rules for creating characters and campaigns that blend realism and fantasy. d20 Past also presents alternative campaign models, along with all the rules needed to play swashbuckling pirate adventures, Victorian horror investigations, thrilling Pulp Era escapades, and more, including three ready-to-play campaign modules.
Customer Reviews:
D20 PAST.......2007-08-08
I BOUGHT THIS FOR MY GRANDSON AND HE JUST THINKS THAT THIS IS THE BEST BOOK HE HAS GOTTEN IN A WHILE. HE REALLY IS ENJOYING THIS THE THE ONE D20 FUTURE. HE LOVES THEM BOTH AND GIVE THEM BOTH 5 STARS.
Well, I bought it...........2005-10-24
I admit I expected a bit more...
Three campaign models are discussed here in some detail - pirates, pulp fiction and...something else - gothic stuff, I think?
The equipment list and monsters are a bit skimpy, tables are reproduced, artwork is nice, but the whole seems to lack a bit. On the good side, it contains descriptions of all sorts of archaic personal firearms (now I can equip my post apocalyptic mutated badgers with gatling guns and pepperbox pistols - but I could have figured that stuff out anyway, I suppose). The Sailing combat rules are solid also.
I guess for the price its a good buy, but not quite what I was expecting.
Not what I was hoping for.......2005-07-14
If you are looking for new classes, vehicle stats, and Open Gaming content, then this is NOT the book for you. I was hoping to find some good stuff in this title that I could use on a broader scale, but it's pretty much just bland and useless information. The kind of information you can easily find for free online. The only redeeming section in the whole book is the part on gun powder weapons, everything else is pretty much just a miss-mash of bad ideas.
What I was hoping to find were new character classes like: Pirate, Black Smith, Sailer, Merchant, Baron, etc. Instead all the book offered was a prestige class called Explorer and another for a Shaman. There are hardly any good stats for transportation devices or anything on inventions or inventing.
Finally, what little in this book that is usable is not part of the OGL. So, for example, all the stats on gun powder weapons cannot be utilized into another campaign book or resource book to keep rules standardized. This is irritating because the content is unoriginal and part of western civilization's history and should therefore be part of the OGL, not copyright protected.
Perhaps I was expecting too much, but I felt like a lot was missing and most of the information and content presented wasn't useful enough to make the book worth while.
Could have been much better.......2005-04-10
I had high hopes for this book. Too bad it didn't live up. Once you see how skinny the book is, you will start to be concerned.
First, what the book does well. It gives a nice general overview on how to translate d20 Modern occupations, skills, and feats to less modern eras. The book also does the best job yet for showing how to have a d20 Pirates/1600's setting, complete with a sample adventure. The various advanced and prestige classes (Explorer, Musketeer, Shaman, and Sorcerer) for that era are also well done.
Sadly, once you are done with the section concerning 17th-century adventuring, the book drops down in value fast. Instead of giving general guidelines for the eras in question, d20 Past force feeds two campaign settings that are only moderately described. (It gives 24 pages for 17th Century, but only 16 for "Shadow Stalkers" (Victorian) and 15 for "Pulp Heroes" (1930's)) Outside of the rifles rules that were presented in the first chapter of the book, there is nothing to recommend getting this book instead of prexisting d20 books like Forbidden Kingdoms from OWC or Masque of the Red Death from S&S. The adventure models are weak for those eras, and the prestige classes are nothing special.
With nothing on how to deal with the Wars of the eras (Napoleon, American revolution, American Civil War, WWI), and the exceptionally-poor-for-WotC artwork in the book, the only reason to pick up this book is if one wants to do 1600's settings using d20 Modern rules. All others should look instead at the books I previously mentioned.
Book Description
A complete guide to integrating planar travel into any D&D campaign.
This new guidebook is specifically designed to make travel to other planes of existence an easy part of any
D&D campaign. The rules are written in a modular fashion, allowing players and Dungeon Masters alike the ability to choose only the material most suited to their current campaign. Considered a complementary product to Manual of the Planes™, this title contains a wealth of new material, including new rules subsets, player races, feats, spells, magic items, equipment, and vehicles.
Customer Reviews:
It was okay..... MOTP was better, but I have to give this credit........2006-05-02
This was a rather good book considering that is expands the planes for about 30 pages from the DM's Guide to a whole book. The planar sites such as Sigil and The City of Brass are very well done in this book. The touchstones and some of the new items, spells, and monsters are worthwhile. There are new prestige classes and some pretty cool new races. Overall, the book had hight points and it had some bad points. Normally I would give a product like this a neutral 3 sars, but , considering the planar sites, I will be nice and give it 4 stars...
WTF? MOTP (a better book) has 224 pages, this has 192. What gives?.......2005-10-13
It's newer and 3.5 i guess. A "player's handbook to the planes". Lame. If WOTC are going to rape the collectors and completests, why not give 'em more bang, more quality and more quantity. Merge the MOTP with this book, give us 450 pages and charge the same price. The 2004 "Expanded Psionics" book gave you +64 pages (224 total) over the 2001 "Psionics Handbook". It's rape, but at least they gave you more. In April 2006 they're coming out with yet another Psionics book with only 160 pages (with the most poorly named title ever) called "Complete Psionic" -- which is meant to "complement" the Psionics Handbook. Well, if it's meant to "COMPLEMENT" the other friggin' book it's harldy "COMPLETE" now is it!!!
The Planar Handbook is Lacking Planar Information IMO.......2005-07-12
192 pages with to many pictures (didn't bother counting this time but expect at least 10% of the book from flipping throught it) and no rear index.
12 pages of reprinted 3e material on aisimar, tieflings and other planar beings from savage species and the monster manual which should have been devoted to developing new planar beings (maybe a movanic deva, a pitfiend, a balor, a planetar or solar (for an epic progression) and a marid or dao instead of the janni reprint).
34 pages of more or less worthless material IMO devoted to planar touchstones and the planar touchstone feat. Personally I thought these pages should have been devoted to fleshing out the 3E planes with a few blurbs about highlights of visiting the planes. Pages which could have been more usefully utilized to update and expand on existing 2E planar material if nothing else.
Personally liked the City of Brass particularly since it was mostly new material. Also liked a few of the classes but trading out a level of sense trap for portal sense didn't seem balanced at all.
I wouldn't recommend purchasing it for $29.95 unless you have money to burn as it just isn't that useful even in a planar campaign.
Waste of time and money.......2005-06-21
Of all the books wizards of the coast has produced for D&D, this is the only one where i could not find any useful or neat information. THis is basically the same as the manual of the planes but without anything useful to the DM
On the right track...........2005-04-30
With the comming out of The Manual of the Planes, I was very disappointed in WOTC reconstruction of the planes. The whole point of the planescape system was the flavor, the roleplaying. MotP completely destoyed that flavor, making the wohle of the planes rules and whatnot. At last, they came out with the Planar Handbook, and while it doesn't completely redeem WOTC for destroying the planes to begin with, it does take a huge step in the right direction, bringing back the Lady of Pain, Sigil, and several of the factions. Heck, the factions, and the whole idea that philosophy is waht controled existance in the planes it what made the system! Hopefully WTOC will continue this path of redemption and come out with more material on planar philosophies, factions, and adventures for one of the best systems designs created by TSR.
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