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This PDF is so much prettier than the ones that were previously offered. Scanning technology has advanced a lot in the years since these materials were last available, and this PDF shows that. The Deities & Demigods book is fully bookmarked and it has a hyperlinked table of contents. It is also fully OCRed and allows for copying and pasting of text out of the PDF and into your own documents. I consider this to be a big win. The quality of the scanning is good too. I printed a page to see how it would look, and the quality was pretty good. Yes, you can print your PDFs.
Unfortunately, the dndclassics.com site will not offer POD versions of these books. I think that is a mis-step, even if Wizards is doing that to make retailers happy. Retailers could easily set up an affiliate site of their own and take a cut of the sales. Not that many retailers would probably do that. Anyway, I understand why they aren't doing POD, but I think they are sticking to an antiquated sales mode. This is meant as a pseudo review, so I won't get into that tangent.
The PDF isn't cheap. Deities & Demigods costs $9.99 to purchase, that is however a lot cheaper than what you'll find on eBay or online retailers, if they have a copy. I would like to see the price drop to maybe $4.99 across the board for the early edition stuff, but the market will take what it takes. This PDF is worth the ticket price. The scanning is good, the bookmarks work and the hyperlinks definitely help. This book (with or without the Cthulhu & Elric material) is the definitive book on deities for your AD&D games, and if you do not have it you really should get yourself a copy of it.
[full review available at http://dorkland.blogspot.com/2013/01/deities-and-demigods-re
turns.html]
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The first module of the great Orcus/Raven Queen campaign for 4e. The module itself tries to harken back to another Keep; The Keep on the Borderlands, but the feel here is very, very different. There is a lot more going on and it can feel very combat heavy and even a touch predictable. But that is fine for a 1st adventure. Everyone is still too busy figuring out moves and markingins and surges to worry whether or not rumor X or rumor Y turns out to be true.
The big feature of this module though is also the quick start play rules. There is lot here that can help the new 4e player and DM. So it you are at all curious about 4e then give this one a look.
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If you are like me then this is it. THIS is what D&D was. Sure I had read a friends Holmes/Blue-book Basic set and I knew of AD&D through the Monster Manual. But this is the D&D book that started it all for me. This is the one that set fire to my imagination.
This is a complete set of rules. Character creation through to 3rd level. Monsters, treasures, dungeons. Everything that ever was or will be D&D had it's start right here (more or less). Honestly this book is not worth 5 stars here. It is worth 6 out of 5.
I almost would say that if I could only play one version of D&D ever, then this might be the one. It lacks the complexity of AD&D or 3e, but anymore I see this as a feature.
64 pages plus cover. Marbleized dice and crayon not included.
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Everything you need to start playing D&D 4e except for people, dice and some monsters.
You have heard a lot about this game to be sure, but the proof is always in the playing. At the incredibly low price of Nothing you can see how the most current version of D&D (as of this writing) plays.
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Tons and tons of magic items for your 4e games. Broken up basically the same way they always have been. Armors, Weapons, Swords, Potions, Wands, Rods, Staves, and Miscellaneous. At 250+ pages with multiple items per page this is a packed book and there is something here for everyone.
Looking at this with an eye towards other editions, you could convert these to 3e without much difficulty. Other editions have more or less the same items (or similar ones) in edition specific books (The Book of Marvelous Magic comes to mind). But still a good selection for the money and a must have for the serious 4e player.
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Deities & Demigods was the first Hardcover D&D book I ever purchased. So it is fitting then it is the first of the re-release (1/22/2013) of the D&D PDFs that I have purchased. For these D&D PDFs I will review the content as it is with the intended version in mind. I'll also look at these in terms what you can get out of this for any other version of D&D. Finally I'll look PDF conversion itself.
First of this is book is an update on the old OD&D Gods, Demigods and Heroes. Presented here are the gods (greater and lesser), demigods and heroes of 15 pantheons. Included are: American Indian Mythos, Arthurian Heroes, Babylonian Mythos, Celtic Mythos, Central American Mythos, Chinese Mythos, Egyptian Mythos, Finnish Mythos, Greek Mythos, Indian Mythos, Japanese Mythos, Nehwon Mythos, Nonhumans' Deities, Norse Mythos, and Sumerian Mythos.
There is plenty of information for build your world myths and the multivesre around your world. This also features the first update to known planes that appeared in the Player's Handbook.
The layout is somewhat like a Monster Manual, which is unfortunate. I can say that back in 82-83 that is exactly how we used it.
The art is now classic in my mind, with some of the biggest names in D&D/TSR at the time.
If you are playing newer editions then all the gods you know about had their start here in this book. All the other deities books are sequels to this one.
The PDF is clean and easy to read. There has been some post-scan cleanup on it so the pages appear very white and not scanned in white.
I feel as good about my purchase today as I did 30 years ago.
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As an adventure module, B1 In Search of the Unknown is lackluster. For the most part it is a simple dungeon crawl. It doesn't compare to the Giant series or even the Keep on the Borderlands for role-playability, so for the experienced old-school gamer this is going to be a nostalgia purchase.
But for the begining DungeonMaster, or the parent that wants to introduce the kids to tabletop roleplaying, this is a great utility piece. The fledgling DM will find that the exercise of adding the proper mix of adversaries or potential allies to the various rooms will give you a solid foundation for one day creating your own adventures. And then supplying those adversaries with appropriate treasure will teach the new DM how to walk that fine line between Feast and Famine; too much and the party becomes too powerful too fast, too little and the risk isn't worth the reward. For the beginning player this module is partly an exercise in "letting Grandpa tell us about the Good 'Ol Days", but the open nature of this module gives you a real opportunity to exercise that imagination that drew you to tabletop gaming in the first place. Most importantly, it gives the new player and the new DM an environment in which to understand the Player/DM dynamic. The structure is loose enough that adjustments can be made on the fly if needed. Bottom line: as long as you don't expect more out of this module than it was intended to be, or as long as you are able to bring the additional storyline yourself to this framework, this is an enjoyable open-ended treasure and monster hunt and a great introduction to the AD&D System.
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All adventurers need good equipment, both magical and mundane, and even the most creative DM sometimes needs ideas for interesting treasure hoards for the characters to, ahem, liberate... so here is a book packed full of goodies to serve both interests. The Introduction explains the organisation of the work: a chapter each for equipment and magical items, plus a couple of appendices mostly for the DM, one with ideas for using magic items and one with them listed by level for ease of hoard creation.
Mainly intended for the character looking for some retail therapy, Chapter 1: Equipment is broken down into sections detailing all manner of gear. It begins with masterwork armour, and also covers weapons, mounts, vehicles and even alchemy - both that which can be purchased and things you can do yourself if possessed of the appropriate tools. Masterwork armour is often necessary for those seeking to enhance their protection with magic, and it also provides an inherent bonus due to quality. Several interesting new materials to use in armour fabrication are introduced, along with fascinating snippets about how they first came to be used, excellent for those who like a bit of background and history to their alternate reality.
Next comes a selection of weapons, this time seeking to augment the common ones in the Player's Handbook with some more unusual items. Perhaps you'd like a triple-headed flail or a repeating crossbow: look no further. My favourite blade weapon, the kukri, is here, so is an executioner's axe and some strange-looking double-bladed weapons which can be whirled around so as to attack with either end. The weapons are followed by the mounts (some of whom class as weapons, don't mix with a warhorse!), and pays due attention to this being a fantasy game by looking well beyond conventional riding animals like horses, camels and elephants. So you can ride a giant ant, a hippogriff, or a shark; with each creature being given full stats so you know what your mount can do and how fast it can travel. There's also equipment and barding (armour) available for them.
If a riding animal does not suit, next there is a selection of conveyances - boats, chariots and the more exotic - along with the rules necessary for using them in travel and in combat. There are also a few ideas for using transportation to bring the campaign world to life. Finally, the chapter looks at alchemy. If you want to practice alchemy yourself, it works pretty much like ritual magic and you need to have the alchemy feat provided herein. Then you need to find out the correct formula for whatever it is that you want to make, before obtaining the right ingredients and spending time in your laboratory. There is a huge list of alchemical items to make - or to purchase if you cannot make them for yourself - along with details of cost, effect when used, and how long it takes to manufacture.
Chapter 2 looks at Magic Items. The items are categorised according to whether they are armour, weapons or implements, or by where on the body you'd wear them (rings, footwear, etc.) along with wonderous items and consumables (one-shot items). There are even items designed for companion animals. For each, there's full details of what it does and how much it costs. The system is versatile - for example, many of the magic armour effects can be applied to different types of armour rather than being only available for one sort. Weapons are given a similar treatment. A nice touch is that the description often gives an idea of the item's appearance, which can be used to good effect by the DM who enjoys having the characters figure out for themselves what the weapon they have found or the armour their foe is wearing does.
Next comes a section on holy symbols, which can be a whole lot more than just jewellry to demonstrate which deity you worship. You might even want to carry a selection to cater for various situations. Other items are also covered here: orbs, rods, staves (the plural of staff is not staffs!), and wands. Moving on, items that are carried or worn on the arms - chiefly shields and bracers - are described, and so on through each body part on which you can wear a magic item. If you happen to have an animal companion or a mount, there are even items which your animal can wear but which you activate using your own actions rather than those of the creature. Most items, as is central to the current incarnation of D&D, enhance your combat prowess in some way, but the collection of wonderous items present a wider range of effects for all occasions. Reverting to combat, an original addition is a range of battle standards each having its particular effect when flown during combat. The chapter rounds off with a selection of potions.
Appendix 1 looks at ways to customise magic items, ways to make them other than mere valuables to be 'liberated' from the monsters you encounter, ways to make them into unique and personal items your character may treasure throughout his career, or which might actually have a part to play in the plotline. One method is to give selected items a full backstory of their own, making them unique amongst similar items. There are also ways of using an item's inherent characteristics and manipulating item levels to make them more interesting and personalised - perhaps an item requires certain conditions to be met before its full powers are released. Appendix 2 is a master list of items by level, to make it easy for the DM when planning treasure hauls.
Overall, this is a good collection of items magical and mundane which can be used 'as is' or adapted to suit your needs, using the Appendix 1 rules as necessary if you want to be systematic and certain that your modified items remain balanced with the rest of the ruleset. A useful tool for the organised DM and, to a lesser extent, players.
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This is an excellent overview of the mechanical aspects of playing D&D 4e, something worth keeping to hand for new players joining your group or as a ready reference as you learn to play.
It dives straight in, after a little bit of waffle about D&D having been the original role-playing game, to describing the core mechanic: state what you want to accomplish and roll a D20, applying any appropriate modifiers as shown on your character sheet, and if you exceed a target number set by the DM, you have succeeded in whatever it was you are trying to do.
After describing in a little more detail how an attack in combat is resolved, the concept of any challege that might need resolution being an 'encounter' is explained. Outside of encounters, characters explore and engage in social interactions, during them things get a bit more mechanical and the dice come out. In noncombat encounters there still is scope for more than die rolling with skill and power use and roleplaying contributing to task resolution.
Powers and levels are briefly explained, and then it's back to combat with a more detailed exploration of what goes on: establish where everyone is, roll initiative, act (and resolve actions by die rolls) in turn, repeat as necessary. Surprise is dealt with, then a closer look at what you get to do when it is your turn, and then what you can do when it is someone else's turn - a bit more than sit and watch, or go make coffee, because you might get an attack of opportunity or other chance to do something.
The discussion on combat - which after all is the hardest part for a newcomer to grasp because this is when it gets rules-intense - continues with criticals, attack types, conditions and more being defined and explained. Then other areas are covered including even some brief descriptions of skills and how you use them.
The whole rounds off with some example characters so you can try these rules out without further ado! It is recommended that you first play with someone who has read the full rules and can guide you through the first few encounters, and you will need the Player's Handbook to be able to generate a character of your own, but this provides an excellent introduction and enough to let you know if you're going to enjoy the game...
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Interesting setting, but I felt that the "zones" separating the different tech levels were a little too much of an arbitrary plot device, and the whole idea just felt like lazy writing. Other than that one element, this was a cool read, and I can only imagine the reactions from players who had this setting sprung on them back in the day.
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One of my favorites of the old modules. I have gone back to this one many, many times.
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Good book on Victorian times, but not my favorite.
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A set of cardboard standups to represent dungeon and building interiors with some minis for adventurers and monsters also includes a D&D B,X,C adventure.
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A super module for the B and X ruleset. This adventure spans the entire Grand Duchy and introduces new monsters and ancient history background for the Known World setting
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Outdoor 3d cardboard props and mini's also includes an advenutre that is a continuation of the plot form the dungeon/indoor props in The Kidnapping of Princess Ariana.
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