Useful titles and information. The details this tool can provide to you in your RPG, is very useful. Coming up with names of books your players find in a library, can be a tedious task. While titles of books may not prove to be particularly useful, it can serve a very subtle purpose, namely helping your players suspend their disbelief! It is also useful in that it creates the illusion that you, the GM, have mapped out seemingly every little detail in your campaign world -- even if you really haven't! You might be surprised at just how far this level of subtle detail will go in aiding your players' enjoyment of your game world. Cheers!<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Not bad at all. Useful filler information to help your players maintain their suspension of disbelief. The price is low enough, and the information is useful as well.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

As a DM, I have been requested to include overwritten supplement after overwritten supplement over the years because a character wants to do a certain ?archetype?. More often than not, I have told these players to look at the current source material and see if they can be creative and put together a character without introducing broken character class 723.

Thus, a series like NPG, is a fine addition to the d20 universe. NPG, published by Darkquest Games, takes a class and provides templates of various archetypes for this class using skills, feats and options already available in the core material. This may be obsolete for the experienced player, but for a novice player or dm looking for a quick archetype stat, it can be a valuable resource.

NPG Rangers introduces four traditional ranger type characters. Each of them are given at least a two page write-up that includes typical feats, skills, maneuvers, tactics, adventure hooks and quotes. There is also one a statblock for one low level character of the archetype included. The artwork is kept to a respectable minimum and the writing is straight forward, not venturing off heavily into explanations of the mechanics or theory. Each archetype is given the same treatment, which makes all four types usable.

For the Player Veteran players will probably gawk at the idea of someone telling them how to build their hunter, but for novices or lost on a character archetype, the strategies on character build and tactics is necessary advice. And by novice the player does not have to be new, I could think of several players who have been playing for 4 or 5 years whom could use guides like this for character builds.

For the DM The statblocks are accurate and can provide good NPCs at low level by using the information of the archetype as apart of the characters background. I would also recommend a DM to buy this for a player whom often has problems with character builds and wants to play a ranger in the near future. .

The Iron Word NPG Rangers is well designed for a core novice audience. I could have used a few more archetypes, but the ones inside are solid and are very typical builds for the type of character. There also could have been more level progression advice s well as it is the latter levels that provide much more of a problem when character building. I also am not sure if the title is appropriate from a marketing point of view. It sounds very much like NPC Rangers, and may scare off players whom do not look closely at the title. Despite its faults, those whom have problems with archetypes and builds could use this book as a nice stepping stone to a character. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: - the builds are all accurate for the archetypes they are presenting

• the book does not offer advice on non srd sources. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: - seems like there should have been one or two more archetypes
• more definitive level progression would be nice
• the title may scare those whom don't look twice away<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Hoards is a 66 page d20 pdf product featuring an entire book filled with new items of treasure and magic for your fantasy campaign. This product is a standalone product published through Dark Quest Games by the now no-longer in the business Enkwell Press. This product is partially the result of a fan contest to generate new treasures, magic and hoards, and the eclectic nature and creativity behind the items shows that it is the work of no single author. Hoards covers the entire range of treasure, from new coins to new art, to new miscellaneous mundane items to new magic items in all categories.

The product comes as a single pdf file which contains useful bookmarks to navigate through the pdf to sections of interest. The layout and design is good, each page featuring a border and consistent use of fonts and font-sizes is mostly maintained. A good selection of decent art is also present in the pdf. Editing and writing are good as well, and its apparent that some effort went into getting this right. Judging by the look of the prices and descriptions of the magical items, the mechanics is solid and well. Overall, this is a well-presented and good quality product that's been put together in a pleasing way.

This product is all about treasure of all kinds. Not only does it present a whole host of new items, both magic and mundane, to use in your game, but it adds some flavor elements to many items to make them a little bit more than just standard magical items or mundane items. These include histories, legends, creation origins, detailed descriptions and the like, all adding up to a useful addition to every item in the product. Not only that, but most items are furnished with skill DCs so that players can determine if they know a little bit more about any particular item. Whether this will allow players to identify the item is up to the DM in question, but it's a useful addition, particularly in campaigns where magic is rare.

The product presents items from each of the tables presented in the standard treasure generation rules, so there are new coins, new mundane items, new art objects, new minor and major magical items, and even new minor artifacts. Each type of item is very well represented, with a whole host of new and interesting items to choose from. Where appropriate, the product has created new tables to randomly roll a selected treasure from. A lot of thought and effort has gone into the creation and description of each item, and there are some wonderful flavorful description and some unique items in the mix. Magic item products often fall into the trap of generating what can only be called standard fare - items of magic that follow the conventional rules and essentially bring nothing new to the game. Hoards does well to avoid this, both in the descriptions of flavor and in the mechanics behind many of the items. The product contains a selection of items that most DMs will look at and think they've found something interesting and useful to their game.

Towards the end of the product a number of sample hoards are presented. These include gold piece values for each item in the hoard, so that DMs can select appropriate replacements if they so desire. There are hoards for each encounter level, and a number of different themed hoards such as a stone age hoard, necromancer's hoard or the treasure from a hobgoblin patrol. Lastly, a number of tables are provided to alter the flavor and descriptions of items, as well as to generate antique items typically found in wealthy homes.

Hoards is a good product which contains a flavorful selection of new items, both magic and mundane, for your d20 fantasy game. The product goes beyond the standard item descriptions to provide unique flavor, and the mechanics often supports this with interesting and unique items that bring something new to the game. There is a very healthy dose of items present in the product, and most DMs and players will find this useful.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Flavorful selection of items and signs of creativity and uniqueness between the items. Provides an extensive selection of items to choose from. Hoards is a well-presented and useful product for players and DMs alike.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Organisation could've been a bit better as the various item categories seem to run into each other, which means you can easily miss a category of magical item, for example, with only one or two items in the category. A few page breaks would've made the organisation a little clearer.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

One of the first things about Hoards that caught my eyes was the presentation. With the exception of the cover, the book is in black and white. The internal art is fairly sparse, and all of the pages are bordered by a simple drawing of jewels and coins. While this sounds fairly muted and basic, it actually comes together to create a very nice package. The look of Hoards is very understated, and it works very well.

This product is a collection of treasures that can be easily added to any hoard. The usual suspects are all represented here: coins, gems, art objects, etc. In addition, the authors have included random treasure charts and updated the charts from the DMG to include all the selections from Hoards.

Each treasure is described in detail, complete with relevant statistics such as weight and value. Even the most mundane of valuables, such as the coins, are made interesting in this book. The Wolf's Piece, for example, is a silver coin minted to commemorate the end of a royal curse. When the curse proved to be still very much alive, the nobility halted the coin's production. This increased the coin's value, but it also gave it a dark reputation among certain peoples. Each piece of treasure has appropriate Appraise DCs for assessing its value, as well as a list of the necessary skills and DCs for knowing its history and background.

There is certainly enough treasure to keep the DM and players interested. My favorites were the various art treasures and unique coins. Items of that nature are great for spicing up a treasure hoard. I think a big part of this book is about making valuable items, both magical and mundane, interesting and unique. The book really does a good job achieving this end. Even a magic item such a Dawnsong, a fairly standard flaming sword, comes across as something special.

The book ends with number of sample hoards; ready lists of treasure for the DM lacking the time or interest to roll off the charts. There are also a couple of appendixes to help add variety to any hoard. The first, appearance anomalies, is a simple chart of random physical alterations that change an item's cosmetic appearance. The second is an easy means of generating common antiques that could supplement a more typical treasure.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: By its nature, treasure in D&D can become a bit mundane. After a while, one pile of gold is very much like another. In the real world, great treasures usually have an equally rich history. Hoards allows the DM to easily add this aspect to his campaign. The items are clever and creative, and the inclusion of the treasure charts makes the book very useful alongside the standard lists in the DMG.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: While I'm pleased that random charts were included, I must admit that they are a bit hard to follow at times. It also would have been more helpful to include them in an appendix, rather than scattering them all about the book.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

An RPG Resource Review:

I cannot think of a better reason to brave all the dangers of adventuring than acquiring some goodies... and neither can my characters. Hoards is intended to aid the DM by providing a wide ranging yet balanced array of items with which to tempt and reward adventurers. It is a combination of level-based tables of likely treasure and some fine individual items that will be treasured by those fortunate enough to find them. There are also 'themed' hoards, as it is likely that the goodies you can steal from a necromancer's tower and somewhat different from what you'll find in the back of a bugbear's lair.

The first part provides a range of tables to help you decide what treasure there is to be found. It is all cross-referenced according to the CR of whoever the adventurers beat up to acquire it, very useful for those who require precise game balance at all times - and a useful guide for anyone who wants realistic and sensible amounts of loot to be found.

Coins and metals - and a few gems - are the subject of the first few tables. This is a lot more interesting than it might sound, as a selection of ideas for antique coins, strangely-stamped ingots and the like are provided, it is not a case of merely increasing the size of the adventurers' wallets! Like all specific items mentioned in this book, as well as its appearance, weight and value there is a 'Background' section which puts a bit of a story to it. Naturally, some of them won't fit in with your world, but the ideas are valuable and details can always be changed to suit.

Next come what are described as 'art objects' - a mix of works of art and some things that might be better described as trade goods. Still, imagine the adventures that might ensue if our intrepid explorers return with a beautiful bolt of purple silk and sell it to a dressmaker, prompting much intrigue in town as the fine ladies vie to have the best ballgown for the forthcoming New Year Ball! There are also 'mundane items' - many far from it! - which can be mixed in to create a hoard that is unique and interesting in more ways than just its monetary value.

Magic items have not been forgotten, of course, and there is a fine collection of well-detailed things - including armour, shields and weapons - to add to your hoard. Bardic knowledge skills will be handy to discover as much as you can about what you find, usually advisable just in case... Rings, staves and other common magic items are not forgotten either.

There are some fun wondrous items listed - I like the idea of a pair of gloves which become attuned to a task and carry on even after you have taken them off. Imagine the reaction of a nervous horse which suddenly finds that it is being groomed by a pair of gloves holding the appropriate brushes with nobody in sight! The Chest of Infinite Spell Component will come in handy in any campaign where mages are expected to account for component use... although it has a habit of distributing random components rather than the one you are actually after. While many of the items will spawn ideas just as you read about them, a few specific plot hooks are scattered throughout the book for the DM to use if he so wishes.

After a few intelligent or cursed items and a couple of minor artifacts, the work moves on to some ready-made sample hoards, including 'themed' ones designed to be used in specific situations. A table of hoard value against encounter level is also provided, so that DMs can select or swap out items without making their hoards too unbalanced. It winds up with fun ideas like a table of antiques, and ways of randomising the appearance of otherwise normal hoard items to make them a bit more unusual or distinctive.

Overall, this is an incredibly useful work that deserves a place in every DM's hoard - it will make the task of providing treasure for eager adventurers to loot so much easier.

This 10 page PDF (13 with front cover, Credits & OGC declaration) provides a fully-fleshed out group of 4 NPCs, each of whom are part of a SAS (UK Special Air Service) Patrol, 12 Patrol in this case, for use in D20 modern campaigns. Information is provided on how to use 12 Patrol in a campaign. Each character description includes a stat block, two lists of common possessions, one kitted for when the character is operating ?in the field?, and one in plain clothes/undercover missions. Also provided are a number of role-playing blurbs for each character, a story hook is provided for each character, providing reasons why they might be involved with the PC?s, Also included are notes on Personality, Aptitude, Failing, Goal, Motivation, some sample quotes, and also notes on the type of tactics the character would employ in a standard combat, a long range engagement, a short-range engagement, and a melee battle.

The four NPC?s are T. James Mackay, the multi-lingual survival specialist, and commander of 12 Patrol (Smart Hero 2/Fast Hero 3/Soldier 2/Infiltrator2/Gunslinger 2: CR 11.) Next is Staff Sgt. Jack Lewis, the hard drinking 12 Patrol ?Shooter? (Fast Hero 3/Dedicated Hero 2/Gunslinger 1/Soldier 4; CR 10.) Ready for inspection next, is Sgt. August MacDonald, the blunt, gregarious Scout for 12 Patrol (Dedicated Hero 3/Fast Hero 2/Infiltrator 2/Soldier 3; CR 10.) Rounding out 12 patrol is Sgt. Daniel Allen, the nigh-arrogant and religion grounded 12 patrol medic (Dedicated Hero 3/ Smart Hero 2/Soldier 2/Field Medic 3; CR 10.) All of 12 Patrol are highly competent, as befits Special Forces members, so the GM will want to be careful to not overshadow the PCs. As in other Teams products by DQG; the NPC?s have well drawn personalities and include hooks for including them in your campaign.

Also included are stats for several uncommon and in some cases, newly adopted weapons. The Colt Canada C7A1 & C8A1 (Canadian M16 variants, adopted by UK forces), the HK53A1 (a cut down version of the German HK33 assault rifle, basically an over-gunned SMG that fires the 5.56 NATO rifle round). The Heckler & Koch MP7 PDW (Personal Defense Weapon), a very new (I hadn?t heard of it, and I lurves me some Gun Porn) subcompact automatic used by 2nd line troops, vehicle crews and other personnel who don?t carry assault rifles. It entered production in 2001, British MP units adopted it in 2005, and it was just adopted by German troops. It fires 4.6x30mm HK ammo, a special low-impulse, high-velocity ammunition, capable of penetration of current military body armor and helmets at ranges of 100 meters and beyond. Last is the Sig Sauer P228 auto-loader, a compact version of Sig?s fine P226 automatic pistol. There are no illustrations of the weapons, which is a minor failing, especially with regards to the MP7 and HK53, as most people will never have heard of nor seen them, even closet Gun Pron lovers like myself.

The PDF is laid out in a two columns with a comfortable amount of whitespace; however, a sans serif is used throughout for the body text, which appears to be Arial or a similar font, which makes extensive reading a bit tiresome. The header uses a red texture over a set of ?3d? bars, with a similar bar graphic for the footer of each page. Each character section is highlighted by a grey button done with a pillow emboss which is both pleasing and makes for quick referencing. As this was the screen version, I don?t know if the header and footer graphics are included in the print version, if they are, they will suck up quite a bit of ink. The art is fairly sparse, each character has a line-art head shot, one of which looks oddly disproportionate and off. Also included are a couple pieces of stock art. The cover features a gray swoosh above a montage of military/espionage stock photos, and looks ok. Overall the layout and graphics are passable, but didn?t provide a cohesive feel to me.

Overall, this is a good product, providing D20 Modern GM?s with a believable squad of SAS Operators (though they could have been made to feel a bit more characteristically ?British?). They can be readily used by a GM, with little work, either as a group or individually. I recommend it to GM?s running a SpecOps type of campaign.

<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Character failings and motivation RP blurbs. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Serif font used as body text. No Gun Pron Pics!<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

There is a niche for everyone.

Clothing Bits, by Darkquest Games, skillfully fills a niche that few, including this reviewer, thought existed. Every new cloth and dye feels distinctive and adds an innovative new element of the game in the short pages of this PDF.

Clothing Bits is the kind of PDF for those DMs whom, like myself, have serious RPGers in their game who enjoy detail. I can think of several instances in the last few years that my players have needed special clothing; in particular, when courting dignitaries or attending special functions. Also, if you are a player, you can add a new element to your snobby noble or dignified cleric by getting him some new duds from this book.

Clothing Bits consists of 8 exotic cloths, 19 magical cloths and 13 magical dyes in its 13 pages. Each can be used to describe the fabric or makeup of garments in your game. The amount of detail for everything is magnificent. Even the exotic cloths, which have no special properties, are so detailed enough to spawn adventure hooks from. The magical dyes and clothes hold back, almost too much, from being overpowered. However, this technique bolds well with the simplistic approach of the writing to make every item useful and non-campaign specific. For crunchers, a convenient table is located in the middle of the book that contains the price and weight of each item.

For the Player Clothing Bits is for the detailed player whom wants his characters look to represent his role playing. Whether you are going for a savage tribal person or a stuck up elf, there is a cloth in this book that will bring it out. The magical garments are a good addition for a player and low powered enough where I could not see too many DMs having a problem with them. I think every Barbarian should have Barghide, a ceremonious cloth that holds special meanings to a warrior. If you are going for a diplomat, try describing all of his wears as being Behir Silk, a rare fabric ten times the cost of normal silk.

For the DM This makes the idea of tailors and garment stores pretty useful in a game. I like thinking of the idea of players wanting to figure something out, and traveling to Ogolf the Taylor for some Blink Dog Saliva dye or Dire Feline Blood Dye.

The Iron World This product is for anyone whom likes a lot of flavor in their game. There are over 40 items to satisfy the detailed PC and DM. A different type of item book, Clothing Bits is worth adding on to an order and keeping on the hard drive for that niche moment. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: - Great writing and detail. Everything is given a special touch

• There is no "specific" campaign flavor which makes the items easy to import into a campaign
• The magical items make since and are not overpowered or "there" to be there <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: - I would have liked to see a complete garment or two, though its no biggie
• Sadly this is a niche product for those whom like this level of detail. Unite my people. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This 9 page PDF (12 with front cover, Credits & OGC declaration) provides a fully-fleshed out group of 5 NPCs, each of whom are part of a Hit Squad, for use in D20 modern campaigns. Information is provided on how to use the Hit Squad in a campaign. Each character description includes a stat block, a list of common possessions, also provided are a number of role-playing blurbs for each character, a story hook is provided for each character, providing reasons why they might be involved with the PC?s, Also included are notes on Personality, Aptitude, Failing, Goal, Motivation, some sample quotes, and also notes on the type of tactics the character would employ in a standard combat, a long range engagement, a short-range engagement, and a melee battle.

The five NPC?s are ?Fat-lip?, a rough tumble riot-girl melee specialist. ?Professor?, a self-assured mastermind the de factor leader and poison expert of the hit squad, ?Sarge?, the squad?s demolitions expert and ?wheel-man?, or in this case wheel-woman. Next in the roster is ?Smoke?, the squad?s overconfident theatrical gun-slinger. Rounding out the roster is ?Tiny?, the squad?s genial sniper, though he actually uses a Battle Rifle and not a sniper rifle. The characters are all CR 6, except for the Professor who is CR 8, and thus are all pretty competent. All of them have 2 or 3 levels in an advanced class as well.

All of the character?s come off as being fairly colorful personalities, more suited to a Hong Kong action movie than a gritty military or espionage thriller. This provides GM?s with an advantage in that most of the characters are interesting character?s in their own right, and thus can be readily featured in an adventure as a supporting character.

The PDF is laid out in a two columns with a comfortable amount of whitespace; however, a sans serif is used throughout for the body text, which appears to be Arial or a similar font, which makes extensive reading a bit tiresome. The header uses a red texture over a set of ?3d? bars, with a similar bar graphic for the footer of each page. Each character section is highlighted by a grey button done with a pillow emboss which is both pleasing and makes for quick referencing. As this was the screen version, I don?t know if the header and footer graphics are included in the print version, if they are, they will suck up quite a bit of ink. The art is fairly sparse, each character has a well-done line-art headshot, also included are a couple pieces of stock art. The cover features a gray swoosh above a montage of military/espionage stock photos, and looks ok. Overall the layout and graphics are passable, but didn?t provide a cohesive feel to me.

Overall, this is a solid product, providing D20 Modern GM?s with a flavorful group of off the shelf NPCs to drop into his game with little work, either as a group or individually. I recommend it to GM?s who are looking for some interesting characters to use in their games, or as a readymade group of rivals or antagonists for their players. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Character failings and motivation rp blurbs.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Serif font used as body text<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Hoards is an average thriller, even boring in places. However, as you flip through the pages and the plot begins to unravel ?voila?. You reach a fantastic ending that makes it a worth while purchase. Then the next time you read it, you can just flip straight to the good parts at the end.

Hoards, by the now defunct Enkwell Press ad Darkquest Games , is primarily a book of treasure tables and unique items to populate those tables. Crammed into the 66 pages of the book are new types of coins, gems, art, armor, shields, weapons, rings staffs and various other magical items. Hoards does not do much new with the tables. After figuring out the CR of the encounter, you use one of the charts to calculate the value of the treasure you would find. You then roll various other rolls to determine if there are various other items outside of coins in the treasure, including special coins, and what is the quantity of these various items. There is a lot of rolling evolved, something I do not see DM?s doing a ton of for treasure generation these days. I was hoping that from the description of the product, there would be one or two more interesting ways of generating treasures introduced, but alas, it seems to be the same process with an additional roll or two added.

The many new items have very descriptive text that captures the essence that they are treasures. Each item entry contains the value, weight and knowledge roll DC to determine its origin. Most of the descriptions are very well thought out and possess a nice little adventure hook Nugget inside. It really adds some additional value to the mundane items. There is a problem, however, in that some of the descriptions are too detailed ,conveying names and places that may not exist in your campaign and may be difficult to place.

Toward the end of the book is where the hoard of this book lies. The last 10 pages or so contain Sample Hoards and Themed Hoards. Sample Hoards are level by level examples of random treasure collections. Themed Hoards are even cooler, as they are place by place examples of hoards.

For the DM If you love the randomness of treasure this is a nice table book. However, using it only for random tables is not giving the book much justice as this may be its weakest quality. The Themed Hoards in the back and Sample Hoards are where this product really shines. There are over 20 different types of themed hoards from Drow patrols to Necromantic ones. If the dollar value is not enough, you can always pad it with selected magical items or gold.

The Iron Word

The table parts of the book are pretty routine and seem like a bit more rolling than normal. The items are cool, with a few uniquely created ones (in particular the magical weapons, rings, and cursed items.) But the final 10 pages is what sells the book and makes it a useful tool worthy of a desktop link on your computer.

LIKED: - The sample hoards section is very helpful

• nice artwork, though i would have liked to see more for the items
• They gave a lot of thought to different types of mundane items. Some are more useful than others

DISLIKED: - Table generation seems excessive and confusing at points. I wish at some point table books would come with optional excel generation files. Or even better ones that work with table generating programs.

• The hoards section was not big enough. Not to sound ungrateful, but I'd have liked to see another 5 pages of this stuff. A whole book would be worth the price of admission.

Hoards is an average thriller, even boring in places. However, as you flip through the pages and the plot begins to unravel ?voila?. You reach a fantastic ending that makes it a worth while purchase. Then the next time you read it, you can just flip straight to the good parts at the end.

Hoards, by the now defunct Enkwell Press ad Darkquest Games , is primarily a book of treasure tables and unique items to populate those tables. Crammed into the 66 pages of the book are new types of coins, gems, art, armor, shields, weapons, rings staffs and various other magical items. Hoards does not do much new with the tables. After figuring out the CR of the encounter, you use one of the charts to calculate the value of the treasure you would find. You then roll various other rolls to determine if there are various other items outside of coins in the treasure, including special coins, and what is the quantity of these various items. There is a lot of rolling evolved, something I do not see DM?s doing a ton of for treasure generation these days. I was hoping that from the description of the product, there would be one or two more interesting ways of generating treasures introduced, but alas, it seems to be the same process with an additional roll or two added.

The many new items have very descriptive text that captures the essence that they are treasures. Each item entry contains the value, weight and knowledge roll DC to determine its origin. Most of the descriptions are very well thought out and possess a nice little adventure hook Nugget inside. It really adds some additional value to the mundane items. There is a problem, however, in that some of the descriptions are too detailed ,conveying names and places that may not exist in your campaign and may be difficult to place.

Toward the end of the book is where the hoard of this book lies. The last 10 pages or so contain Sample Hoards and Themed Hoards. Sample Hoards are level by level examples of random treasure collections. Themed Hoards are even cooler, as they are place by place examples of hoards.

For the DM If you love the randomness of treasure this is a nice table book. However, using it only for random tables is not giving the book much justice as this may be its weakest quality. The Themed Hoards in the back and Sample Hoards are where this product really shines. There are over 20 different types of themed hoards from Drow patrols to Necromantic ones. If the dollar value is not enough, you can always pad it with selected magical items or gold.

The Iron Word

The table parts of the book are pretty routine and seem like a bit more rolling than normal. The items are cool, with a few uniquely created ones (in particular the magical weapons, rings, and cursed items.) But the final 10 pages is what sells the book and makes it a useful tool worthy of a desktop link on your computer. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: - The sample hoards section is very helpful

• nice artwork, though i would have liked to see more for the items
• They gave a lot of thought to different types of mundane items. Some are more useful than others<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: - Table generation seems excessive and confusing at points. I wish at some point table books would come with optional excel generation files. Or even better ones that work with table generating programs.
• The hoards section was not big enough. Not to sound ungrateful, but I'd have liked to see another 5 pages of this stuff. A whole book would be worth the price of admission. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Finally! Someone is paying attention to historical gamers! Here are some excellent, gritty-looking reward posters. The historical accuracy is pretty darn good, and there's nothing more valuable to get your players in the right mood. Overall, these six posters can serve as fluff all the way up to solid adventure hooks, with a stop as useful props along the way. That's a pretty good value for the money. Still, since these posters lack artwork, I'd like to see their price come in around $1.50, like other publishers do for their prop packages of this size.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The fonts looked great. They had the right feel and the weathering on them was excellent.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: These were priced just a bit too high. Maybe add a few more posters to the set or reduce the price to $1.50. Still, at $2, there's no reason to quibble.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Death: Guardian at the Gate is a book all about a Death Goddess, her priest, and their priesthood. It is a 72-page pdf filled with rich detail. Gillian Pearce did all the art and it?s nice and seems to work for the book. The text is well organized, easy to read with fine margins and decent density. The Death Goddess herself is Neutral Good, so this is a different approach to a death god then is usually seen.

The first chapter deals with a new death goddess named Lady Pale. It is written as a story describing who she is and it really gives the reader great description into her and her personality. She would be really easy to use as an NPC in anyone?s game. I really like that they made her a mortal raised to godhood as I think that gives her a level of humanity that really flows off the words.

The second chapter goes into the priesthood. The priesthood is very well written and described giving all the details and more anyone could need. It talks about the faith, the clothes, the food, the structure, as well as many other subjects concerning it. The level of detail is rich, easy to use, and adaptable to any setting. It also lists two prestige classes the Lady Chosen and Shade Warden. The Lady Chosen are people chosen by the Pale Lady to further fight undead. It?s an interesting class, but I feel it?s on the strong side getting all the benefits of a cleric with many additional abilities. Shade Wardens cause death and further that end of the Pale Lady?s business. The class actually seems a little weak. In the description it says one only needs a single level of cleric with access to the Death domain, but under prerequisites one has to be able to cast Slay Living which one has to be a 9th level cleric to do. So, this class is not as wide open as they suggest.

Chapter three is about the mental attitudes of the priests. It discusses their views on art, music, drugs, education and a few other topics. Again, I really like the detail that is presented. It is well thought out and easy to use.

The fourth chapter deals even more with the priesthood as a whole. It has some prestige classes like the Harrowed. They are responsible for funeral rights. While the class is interesting it can be qualified for at first level and that seems really easy for a prestige class. There are many prestige classes here that are relatively easy to qualify for. The classes are well described but I feel that there isn?t enough given up or tough choices for them.

Objects of a magical nature are the subjects of the fifth chapter. Each is well presented and tells one a little about the object, its use, and its powers. It has jewelry and other items of a less conspicuous nature. Many of the items are able to made with the craft items feats. There are also lost relics detailed in the same level of detail towards the end of the chapter. The items all seem well thought out and nicely done.

The sixth chapter is on rituals, myths, and legends. Chapter seven gets into the spells, and then the last few chapters have a hymn, a nice little story, info on the great library, and a final revelation about death and life and everything.

The level of detail in this book is incredible. It takes a single goddess and fully defines her, her priests, the priesthood, everything. My biggest concern is the level of detail; I think there actually might be too much of it. Seventy-two pages is a lot for the working of one god. Unless the Pale Lady is going to be a major focus in a campaign I feel that many of the details will be wasted and become not important. The book is a good read and could serve to really flesh out PCs and NPCs alike. The death goddess is a unique take and offers many ideas of how to use her and her priests. If we get a full pantheon developed like this then I think it will be an amazing thing.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The d20 market has seen book specializing on classes, races, weapons, spells, prestige classes, feats and many other broader categories. This book takes a class feature, the acquisition of the familiar and the familiar itself, and greatly expands upon it. I am not sure how many other class features can be broadened and looked this in-depthly. It would be interesting to see animal companions and the paladins mount dealt with like this book. I feel those are the two obvious choices that lend themselves to this type of product that can take a subject and expand upon it greatly. I would very much like to see Steve Creech, the author of this book, take those class abilities and do with them what he has done with familiars.

Dweomercraft Familiars is the latest pdf by Dark Quest Games. They have been a solid company when it comes to pdfs having produced some of very good books like In the Saddle: Horses and Other Mounts and Death: Guardian of the Gate. I imagine those are some titles that people do not know of but they should. However, this review is about one specific book by them. As I said it is written by Steve Creech and a few other people like Michael Hammes, Neal Levin, David Woodrum, Rowan Flowers, James Justice, Shawn Muder, Darren Pearce, and Amanda Woodrum. That is nine people given writing credit on this book and the writing is pretty seamless. I imagine that is not so easy to do to get nine voices to sound as one. That is just the first of the many impressive things about this book.

Familiars is a one hundred and twenty four page pdf. The cost is a cheap six dollars and ninety five cents. It is cheap for the size and cheap for the quality. The book also comes in a print version for people who prefer that. The pdf one though comes in a zip file that is under two and half megs in size. That file unzips to a pdf that is a bit under three and half megs in size. That is a good size for the pdf of this length. The pdf however does not have any bookmarks in it. It does have a very complete three page table of contents though. I would have liked to see them have those as bookmarks though.

The book is presented in an easy to read two column format. The layout is very well done making it easy to read on the computer screen as well as once it is printed out. There are no borders to eat up ink when it is printed and there is not a lot of art that would do that. The art is a mixture of pieces that I like and do not like. It is all down by the same person, Ceredywn. The art is very appropriate to the topics of the chapters it is in and of a good consistent style. Some of the pieces are a little too cute looking and I was rather disappointed that neither of the new oozes presented in the book was pictured.

One of the things that Familiars does very well is show what familiars can do. At the beginning of almost every chapter there are stories about familiars. These are well written little tales that give good examples of a familiar in action. They offer the familiars personality and intelligence so that they become more then a scouting tool. Personally, I am rarely a fan of the use of fiction like this. But this shows us that when it is done well in both writing style and content that it just adds so much to the book giving examples and details in practice. The stories do a good job of breaking up the book and helping it flow together making it easier to read all in one sitting.

Okay, on the meat of this book. The first chapter deals with the master and the familiar. What sorts of races choose what sort of familiar? What kind of personality does my familiar have? Why should I curse a player who kills off his familiar? And what sort of curses can I use? These are just a few of the fun questions this first chapter answers. It does start out with what races prefer which familiars it includes many of the common races and even minotaurs and medusa plus many more obscure races. However, it does not include dwarves. I guess this is just an oversight as I cannot imagine how one could purposely include what familiars and Ettin likes but not the ones a dwarf does. The personality of the familiars is done through a table of traits. A player can roll randomly for a few of these traits to help define the familiar. There are thirty two options here but a few of the options are just broad categories like phobias. However the text directs us to appendix five for a list of phobias and there is no appendix five, list of phobias, or even a single appendix. The curses are an optional rule to pester the player who looses his familiar. I really like the idea of having the death of a familiar be just a penalty in experience. It can really add something to a character to try to overcome the death of a familiar and the curse he his left with.

The Players Handbook has a very limited list of familiars available to the Sorcerer and the Wizard. There have been a few books that have feats and options to expand upon this list, but they all pale in comparison to the new familiar types this book offers. In the new origins chapter there are feats for the summoning of vermin familiars to undead familiars to inner planar familiars. Each costs a feat and requires a certain caster level to have such a familiar. Some though seem a little difficult for what one can get with it. From there the chapter goes into detail on what a familiar is. It covers a lot of area even the poltergeist of a former familiar. A lot of thought and intelligence was placed into this section. It defines a familiar and answers many of the questions that the Players Handbook does not. I will consider this a must read for any character that decides to get a familiar.

What type of familiar should a character take? Why some types of familiars are better then others and what can one expect from familiars of a particular type? The next few chapters cover?s these questions and many more. Each familiar type gets its own chapter devoted to it and in that chapter things are fully detailed. There might be new spells, new feats, and new creatures for each familiar type. There are chapters on each of the following: Outer Planar Creatures, Undead, Constructs, Avian and flying creatures, Reptiles, Rodents, Vermin, Exceptional Beasts, Monstrous Humanoids, and Oozes. And yes, my eyes do sparkle when I see a chapter on Ooze familiars.

Each chapter begins with reasons why to choose a familiar of this type and why not to choose a familiar of this type. These sections go into the reasons for and against with a thorough understanding of familiars. It also discusses a bit the types of people that most commonly will have familiars of these types. These are an NPC and a PC concept goldmine. Obviously, that is not the intention of this section but I am always on the look out for good starting ideas for characters. I consider it a good bonus in a book.

There are many, many new types of familiars presented here. Each is also listed with a bonus the wizard or sorcerer gets from having this type of familiar. The division of familiars per chapter though is uneven. As one might expect there are more familiars presented for the Rodent and Exceptional Beasts chapters then the Undead and Ooze chapters. In each chapter there are also ways to upgrade ones familiar. This involves spending experience from the caster and seems like a good way to balance the new powers and abilities of the familiar. Spending experience for things other then item creation seems to be a touchy subject for some gamers. I am of the opinion it is a good thing and enjoy seeing new options one can use their experience for. These chapters cover a lot of information and make choosing the right familiar a pleasant chore.

Magical items are the backbone of many campaigns and characters and a familiar has his needs as well. There are not that many items presented here for the familiar but the ones that are here are solid examples of the possibilities for a familiar. There are even a few cursed items here as well. Then the book goes into class levels for familiars, the possibilities of any class acquire a familiar, and some familiar based prestige classes for a character.

One of my favorite things to do first when I read a d20 book is look at the Open Game License. It might seem like an odd thing to do, but one of the great things the OGL allows is the building and using of other people?s materials. In the OGL it will list any sources that were used in this book. Familiars includes over thirty such sources. As I read through the book I did recognize some of the material from the other books, but the inclusion of them was pretty seamless and not obvious. It would be nice to see a page included that said what specifically was used from each source so that people can then see what they liked and possible seek out the original source for more similar ideas.

Overall this is a great resource for Familiars. I do like it much better then the Mongoose book Familiars: Crouch Monkey, Hidden Toad. Though that book does offer some options that will work well with what is presented here. Troll Lords also has a book on Familiars coming out and I can only hope that that one is a as good as this one. If so, there will be no excuse for a flatly played familiar ever again.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

When it comes to history, there is often a disconnect between how things were and how we imagine them. Take the old west, for example. The image that comes to mind for most of us probably isn't a very accurate representation of what life was like on the American frontier. Sure, the basics were the same, but I think that we can all agree that the Old West wasn't really the way Sergio Leone depicted it on the silver screen. Still, Hollywood's version is an exciting place, and I imagine that most RPGs set in that genre take more influence from the cinema than the pages of history.

I believe the disconnect between history and imagination is part of the problem with this product. According to the creators, these six posters are based on authentic wanted posters from the era of the American West. I appreciate that kind of attention to detail, but wanted posters in the Old West were apparently really boring, because these six are rather uninspiring.

Each poster lists a crime, describes the suspects, and details who to contact to collect the listed reward. The text uses large and authentic-looking fonts, all set on a brown parchment-like background that can be turned on or off using Adobe's layer settings. There is a nice fading effect on the font, and the posters do look like something out of the past. Unfortunately, they don't look anything like the way I imagine Old West wanted posters. Where is the faded picture of the grizzled villain? Where is sizzle to hook the players' interest and spur them to adventure? What we have here can be fairly easily replicated by anyone with a few clever fonts and some time. Historical accuracy is all well and good, but I think the creators should have aimed for something closer to cinematic accuracy.

On the positive side, there are some pretty good adventure hooks contained in this product. One of the posters is for "Dynamite Jane", also known as "Jane Goodheart" and "Mary Goodheart" among other aliases. This strikes me as a decent name for a reoccurring NPC. Another poster describes the crimes of the "Black Dog Gang" and directs prospective bounty hunters to a "Grant Silverton" for the reward. There are clearly a handful of NPC and adventure ideas here. The question, then, is whether or not you're willing to pay for six adventure hooks and a couple of NPC ideas presented in a wanted poster format.

I should also give at least cursory mention to the fantasy version of the posters included in this download. These are identical to the Old West posters, except they make small changes in detail to give the posters a fantasy feel. A group of Mexicans, for example, is changed into a group of elves on the fantasy version. Dynamite Jane, for some reason, remains the same on both versions. The details of the crimes themselves are also unchanged, meaning that the fantasy posters still talk about train and bank robberies. In one case, the poster clearly offers a reward of $5000.00. Not exactly common currency in your typical fantasy world. So, despite a few changes here and there, the alternate posters are probably only useful to someone running a fantasy game set in the Old West. This particular gaming niche is probably not large enough to warrant the alternate posters' inclusion. Sure, its a free extra, but I'm not sure that its a free extra anyone's going to use.<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: If historical accuracy is really important to you, then you'll appreciate the look of these wanted posters. If you're running an Old West game, you'll likely find a few useful adventure hooks in this product. The biggest positive here is the price.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Amalara has done a good job putting these together, but the final effort is probably something you could do yourself with a little creativity and some old-time fonts. Art, which is not something most everyone can do, would have really added to this product. These wanted posters are pretty pedestrian when you come down to it, and I can't really call this a recommended product.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Disappointing<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>