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A host of humorous handles for your nautical naming needs. It's as the title says, 100 ship names. Some of them are interesting puns on ships and what ships do; others are fairly normal and serious names; and the best are Gnome jokes. Perfect for pulling a random off-the-cuff name for whatever ship is trying to reign in the unruly pirates your players are sure to be in a sea game.
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It can be quite difficult coming up with ship names sometimes, so if inspiration fails this might help. Wish it had been around when assorted characters of mine ended up on vessels such as the Hognose, the Keep Moving Forward or the Profitess...
Ok, so this consists of an hundred (mostly) plausible names for ships. Fantastical they may be, but just as much use for painting on the side of your starship as on a sailing vessel in your local fantasy world.
Mostly plausible? Well - #49 is 'A List Of Lees' (wonder where that came from?). # 93 (The Virtue's Last Reward) is plausible, but #66 'Advanced Dinghies and Deckhands' might raise a few eyebrows and #32 - A Legitimate Business Ship (No Piracy Going On Here (Seriously We Promise)) - sounds like every bunch of characters that ever set sail or headed for the stars!
There are some good gnome jokes as well. Hope any gnomes in the party are tolerant. What's that. Gnomes ARE a joke? Now then, play nice! This product is good for a laugh even if you decide not to use any of the names for your ships.
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This product is only 2 pages, with no cover page, but don't be deterred by that. I found all of these traits to be interesting little hooks to help flesh out Villains (or any NPC). Now some of these are odd, skin is studded with gems, and may not fit all genres. However the mass majority are superb little gems to make your NPCs be much more memorable.
We have all fought the evil Baron and didn't really remember his name, because he was just the villain and didn't need a name. But enter the Baron, who is so grotesquely fat, that his fat rolls squeeze out of the armour he has somehow managed to get on, and who things he is stunningly handsome, and you have a memorable villain.
I was very pleased with this product. I received an excellent collection of traits, I can not wait to start sprinkling into my game.
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Originally posted at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/04/02/tabletop-review-quest-o
f-the-wizards/
The following is from the description of Quest of the Wizards on the above link:
“Quest of the Wizards is a game about playing Wizards. Squishy, fragile, “killed by a house cat” wizards, but at the same time; all-powerful, Wish casting, Fireball slinging, ”wizard-supremacy” Wizards. These Wizards seek out secret, forbidden knowledge found in forgotten dusty tomes in deep dungeons.
This is a poorly designed game, based on a poorly designed idea that I had. I was probably drunk. I had some people playtest it. It didn’t go so well. I think I changed some things, but I can’t really remember.
It has all of the old school charm of an old school. The kind with asbestos everywhere and rusty lockers, and showers with what you hope is mold growing on the floor. It has all the new school sensibilities of a new school, that is, I don’t know, sensible or something. My dad did the art. He does some pretty sweet tattoos.”
When I read that, I knew I had to see the whole book. It just sounded too funny to not be interesting. As it turns out, as fun as that description is, the game is actually quite serious, though it makes pains to keep things relatively simple while offering a rich game experience.
qotw1QofW has players playing as Wizards. That much is clear. However, it’s not all about learning new spells and using them. Instead, what really makes the game tick is the use of lackeys. A wizard spends gold to hire lackeys to that player’s specifications. You can hire specific levels, specific races, and specific abilities. The goal of each battle is to keep your wizard from being hit, and to use your lackeys to turn the battle in your favor. In essence, the game is a tactical RPG, but one revolving around keeping your main character alive. It’s interesting.
None of this is to say your wizard is unimportant. Rather, they are a key component to your strategy. Choosing what spells to learn, when to implement them, and when to move is incredibly important. Movement in battle relates to various “arcs” around the wizard, and changing your spot on the board can open up a slew of different spells and abilities. The options become interesting. Do you choose offensive magic and use your lackeys for defense? Do you hire a few strong lackeys or several weak ones? Do you take spells that enhance your lackeys, or focus mainly on yourself? There is room here for experimentation and differentiation. It’s nice.
The game keeps its rules quite simple. You only need d20′s and d6′s. In order for an attack to hit, it must overcome the opponent’s defense, and there are few modifiers to make things tricky. Two charts keep leveling simple and straightforward. You’ll always know how you’ll progress, and you don’t need to write too much down. Leveling is done whenever the GM feels its appropriate, as there is no experience points to dole out.
The rules of the game are so concise, they take up less than half of the book. The rest of it is dedicated to a sample campaign, complete with a couple of maps to help players learn the game and see how things can work out. The campaign has numerous encounters to help players get the hang of the arc system and how to use the lackeys effectively.
qotw2Where the game stumbles is in its lack of material. A GM is going to need to come up with pretty much everything here. There’s no list of monsters to pull from, so trying to create a balanced encounter could be difficult. The spell lists only go up to level three, so it becomes necessary to create new spells if the player character goes any higher. This is especially odd since the level tables go up to ten. There’s no system in place for equipment, and how that could effect some things. Some players may find this freeing, as it leaves creative people room to experiment, but this game is definitely not for those unwilling to spend the time to prepare for it.
The game also gets better the fewer players there are. More players means more and more dice rolls and more time spent figuring out where everyone is in relative to each other. This makes the game ideal for a intimate one on one session, but a pain for anything bigger than a few players. In the end, this is an interesting game with some nifty ideas. The combat system alone is worth a look for those searching for a more tactical experience. Just be warned that the game does not provide much, and that you’ll need to use some creativity in order to get the most out of it.
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If you are running a game set in Ancient Rome, grab this at once! If your game is set in another place or time, it's still worth a look as the dishes presented are exotic enough (yet strangely familiar) to offer up as the height of culinary arts in some remote orbital station in the far future or the capital of a mysterious fantasy kingdom.
There are occasions when it might be politic not to tell diners the precise details of what they are eating. (After seeing my mother's face when I told her what 'calamari' was when eating in Venice, I didn't tell her about the snake a few years later in China...) Of course, evil GMs might tell the players how delicious the meal served to their characters was, and only reveal what was in it later... (and then call for rolls to avoid vomiting!).
Now Mustard Beans (green beans cooked with crushed mustard seed, honey, nuts, and vinegar) served alongside Poached Sole (sole poached in wine and broth) would be a treat for anyone, but one might be a bit more cautious about Sow Womb (pig uterus, udders, and belly are cooked with broth, pepper, and loveage). There's a tendency to eat odd bits of pig, there are several others that I'm not sure I'd fancy, at least, not if I heard what was being served before I'd tried it!
It's these little things that make the alternate reality of your game world come alive: dig in and make use of them!
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This is a rather fun little 'beer & pretzels' game of wizardry, drawing on both fictional and gaming stereotypes of what a wizard is: weedy, secretive, over-reliant on magic to the exclusion of all else...
Hone down the core of an RPG wizard - you know, the sort from old-school D&D with no hit points or skills to speak of but who might, if he survives against all the odds to reach high levels, one day be able to blow everyone else away with a raised eyebrow (even though he still has no hit points or skills to speak of) - and send him out to face the world, armed only with his spells and whatever lackeys he can hire to do the heavy lifting. For that's the gist of it. Everyone plays a wizard, and there is a horde of hirelings to help keep them alive. It's quite refreshing to have a wizards-only game that isn't solely about fighting arcane duels with each other!
To get you going, there are some pre-generated wizards (and their lackeys) and an introductory adventure. The whole thing is redolent of old-school D&D, the stuff I played as a student, and a lot of the way in which these wizards work is inspired by that ruleset. There is scope here to recapture the flavour of those early days, to see just how far magic alone will take you... and to have some fun along the way.
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This is an excellent eclectic collection of musical instruments to keep any bard character entertained as he decides what to play in his next concert... and there are some really unusual ones that are maybe better suited to a far future campaign - after all, there will still be a need for musical entertainment.
It can be amusing in game too... I once put a #35: Laser Harp in the corner of an abandoned alien spaceship some of my Traveller characters were investigating and had quite a lot of entertainment as they tried to figure out what it was from the description. (If you don't know, watch a Jean Michel Jarre concert, it's the laser beam array that he 'plays' by breaking the beam with well-gloved hands!)
Some are more or less different names for the same thing. A Moog is just a kind of synthesizer, for example. And someone needs to pay attention to odd characters, as the A-sharp (or is it A-flat?) clarinet has come out as A? clarinet which leaves me little the wiser (possibly like the seagull which has just perched on top of the chimney on the Sistine Chapel roof - I'm writing this as the Papal election is in progress with a webcam window open to check for smoke!).
Pass me my Balalaika and I'll play you a tune!
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When it comes to fantasy, I feel like the mindset of the dungeon adventure should really expand and take an imaginative leap beyond the desolate underground. This list completely delivers on its promise and on that imaginative flavor. The product contains 100 Dungeons across 9 pages. Each Dungeon has a description of a few sentences to a small paragraph. They vary in length but the author is skilled in conveying a lot of content in a small amount of words. Rather than being all holes in the ground these Dungeons are very distinct, with different premises and stories and different terrain, from a city of mirrors to a castle in the sky to a game of strategy that has taken on a life of its own. This product is a great value for its cost and sure to give your dungeons a creative shot in the arm if you incorporate and expand upon the material.
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Having originally trained as a botanist, plants always feature in my world-building and it can be fun to come up with authentic-sounding herbal remedies to add flavour to any fantasy mediaeval-style setting (or indeed to research genuine herbal remedies, a copy of Culpeper's Herbal can be useful). That's probably going a bit far for most people, so here's a delightful list of an hundred healing herbs to drop into your game.
Many of the 'remedies' listed here were used in mediaeval times, a few even worked. It's up to you to determine how effective they'll be in your campaign - take #95 Potato: a potato carried in the pocket cures toothaches and guards against minor ailments... to the modern mind this is pure superstition, but in your alternate reality, perhaps it really is effective!
Here's another example - #52 Peppermint: rubbed on afflicted areas to relieve aches and pains; when worn or consumed as a tea, mint cures stomach ailments; added to healing potions and mixtures... well, a mint tea can be settling if you've just eaten a rich meal.
As you can see, it's more than a mere list of herbs, the sort of advice that the village wise woman will give as she hands it over is included too, so you can introduce these as appropriate, and deliver suitable in-character patter. Mediaeval apothecaries also practised herbalism and were consulted much as one might have a chat with a pharmacist today, and an apothercary shop can be a flavourful addition to a town or city in your campaign world. At least after reading this you'll have some idea of what might be found on the shelves.
I'm sure I don't need to remind you that if you are poorly in the real world, go see a medic (or a REAL medical herbalist) for your remedies, do-it-yourself herbalism is not a good idea unless you are very certain of what you are about and sure of your plant identification.
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This is a fascinating collection of myths and legends concerning dragons from around the world. You might use them to inform your own campaign world's dragon legends - how much truth there is in them you will know and the characters will have to find out. Enterprising bards may find resources for their stories and songs here as well.
I'm glad that Y Ddraig Goch (the red dragon) makes an appearance, with the traditional legend of a vision in which a white dragon fought the poor thing to a standstill, being a prediction of England conquering Wales!
Dragons from all over the world are here - Chinese, Albanian... even places I've never heard dragon legends from! The Portuguese dragon Coca gets TWO entries, for some reason, but at least each says something different about her. But Hittite, Iranian, Levantine, Norse or English - Y Ddraig Goch Ddyry Cychwyn! (The Red Dragon takes the lead!)
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Publisher Reply: |
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Glad you enjoyed it! The duplicate Coca has now been replaced by the Piasa, hailing from the draconically underrepresented North American continent. |
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You could spend a hour or two doing internet searches for names of the devil, or pay a buck to get this.
For a dollar it's not a bad deal. One page with 101 names. No references, but all CC licensed.
Suitable for any game that has demons, devils or one that just needs an name with evil connotations.
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I bought this product with the thought of the times when the players suddenly take interest in what should be a background NPC. A quick list like this really helps to flesh out characters. And the fact that's it's 100 traits makes for fast random rolling.
Some random groupings: (21) has delusions of grandeur, (47) Thinks he's more important than everyone else, (95) Absentminded, but brilliant inventor.
(36) Colourblind, (59) Constantly fidgets with a coin, (72) Unlucky in love.
Just pick some traits and the characters practically start forming themselves.
As a final note, while this does say Villager traits, these could be the traits for people in the big city, people in the spaceport at the edge of known space, or the traits of sentients other than human. I'm pleased with my purchase of this product.
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I was unsure what this would offer with the preview being so small. However, the three samples in the descriptions and the mass of text I could see in the preview (and the very reasonable price) swayed me to give this product a try.
And Wow! This truly is a list of 2452 Occupations. Sure every entry is the title and a brief one or two word sentence but that's all you need.
There is no need for a skill listing telling you the Bonesetter needs some sort of medicine or heal skill, or that the Fur Cutter needs survival or some sort of nature lore skill. Placing the appropriate skill for the job is pretty easy.
I'm not sure how a boarder or a freedman are occupations but I'm very happy with the added depth this can give any campaign set in some sort of a 19th Century.
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From "a mutton joint" (100 Mediaeval Foods #1) to "An ascetic master lives down here, and you just fell through the roof of his rude hermitage, thank you very much" (100 Pit Contents #100) this product gathers together the most eclectic collection of lists about just about everything, being a compilation of Lee's Lists product as released so far.
They're a real boon to any fantasy GM, whatever ruleset you choose to use, giving you ready access to summary information about a whole range of topics: food and drink, occult and other tomes, names from various cultures, things you might find in XXX locations and a whole bunch more. Perhaps your mind goes blank when someone asks what's for dinner, what disease they've got or for the name of the next NPC they meet. Go hunt for the relevant list, roll your dice, and tell that pesky player.
I find them even more useful when planning games. Just reading through a few sets ideas a-spawning, from little snippets to whole adventures if not campaigns. This is something that really belongs in every GM's toolbox, and represents excellent value too.
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This is a massive 357 page compilation of ”Lee’s Lists” that have been previously published individually, and together forms an excellent inspirational tool for GMs that are looking for plot and campaign ideas.
The lists come in a number of varieties – names (Japanese, Chinese Surnames, Roman, Internet Handles, Norse Weapon Names, etc.), historical and cultural color (Medieval Foods, Strange Pets, Fantasy Slurs, Medicinal Herbs and Their Uses, etc.), plot and story elements and events (Baffling Riddles, Campaign Inspiring Movies, Tavern Names, Nasty Surprises for a Starship Crew, Adventuring Motivations, Village Adventure Ideas, etc.), objects (Items Found in a Kitchen, Steampunk Inventions, Fine Art Items, etc.), character traits and types (Style Quirks, Fantasy NPCs, Fantasy Jerks, Memorable Villain Traits, etc.), and locations (Eerie Landmarks, Fantasy Villages, Genuine Imaginary Cities, etc.) Most lists are comprised of 100 entries, but some fall over or under that number (19th Century Occupations, for example, has 2452 unique entries!).
A handful of the lists are silly, and of very limited use (101 Dalmatians, 50 Shades of Gray, Excuses Not to Run Your Game This Week), but the majority of them are much more inspiring. Some, such as “10,000 Fantasy Quests,” consist of a set of tables of items to choose from (or roll on) to piece together a desired result. This is a very mixed bag of material, if I haven’t quite made that clear enough by now.
Caveats: There is no index, table of contents, or any sort of noticeable organization. Looking for material for a specific genre may involve browsing the entire PDF, and using the lists on the fly will likely involve doing a keyword search. The best bet might be to print out the lists you like best and keep them in a binder for reference.
At $30, the PDF is a bit on the pricey side, but there is a massive amount of information gathered here. While some of the lists are comprised of simple one or two word entries, some (such as 100 Swords and 25 Nasty Chemicals), have extensive history and/or background included. GMs who are looking for something to inspire fresh ideas for their new or ongoing campaigns will find a goldmine here that is well worth the cover price.
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Publisher Reply: |
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Thanks for the review William! One note, the PDF is bookmarked, so you won't be entirely lost when trying to hunt down a list. The concern is noted though, and I'll see about getting a table of contents in there and updated. |
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