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GM Mastery: NPC Essentials
Series: d20 / generic
Publisher: RPGObjects
Type: GM Aid
Media: PDF
Review: here
Review Intro:
NPC Essentials carries the d20 logo; whereas I appreciate the marketing strategy there I have to say that it doesn’t do justice to the sheer universal scope of the guide. The advice for GMs on running NPCs can be applied to any game, any setting and at any time. The use of the d20 logo is justified though since sample mechanics and attributes are all for that system and there’s an intelligent study on Challenge Ratings too.
Prices change but at the time of writing this issue of GM Mastery costs $8.95 from RPGNow and although that’s a bit more expensive than the discounted ~$5.00 products on sale there, GM Mastery is still very much cheaper than traditional dead tree products and at 84 pages in length its also at the large end of the scale in the PDF range. There’s also some rather well known names attached to it. The author’s Johnn Four of Roleplaying Tips and Dragon Magazine fame. The online publishers are RPGObjects and they set out to get the very best from the possibilities of PDFs by giving free versioning updates to those customers who have already bought the product. That means if they fix typos, add more examples or more pictures then you don’t loose out, you download the update for free. The association with RPGObjects also goes a long way to explaining the presence, appearance and technical panache of www.gmmastery.com.
Yes, yes, yes – I can hear you think in a frustrated way – that’s all very well but is NPC Essentials any good? To which I can reply; yes, yes, yes!
NPC Essentials really is a wonderful product. It’s an essential product – and even if you’re a GM with dozens of years of experience I still think you’ll benefit from NPC Essentials. [ more ]
Prometheus Rising
Series: d20
Publisher: Vigilance Press
Type: Campaign Setting / Sci-Fi
Media: PDF
Review: here
Review Intro:
Prometheus Rising is a new PDF Sci-Fi d20 RPG from Vigilance Press, the small company behind the super-heroic (a carefully selected term since I’ve been told that Marvel own ‘superhero’ as a trademark) Vigilance RPG.
Prometheus begins with a page of great story. There are hints of a rebellion, The Company, space prisons, strange technology and more. The tagline for the download on its virtual shelf at RPGNow announces “95 Worlds, 1 Destiny" and the front cover of the download itself says “95 Planets, 1 Destiny". I was all set to soak up this new campaign setting and so after quickly reading through the new character classes I took to scrolling down the PDF quickly to skip through the rules to read about it. It’s not really there; instead there are clues. The clues to the campaign setting (I can’t really use the phrase “world setting" perhaps “galaxy setting" will do) have been slyly scattered throughout the product. There is the gazetteer though and this has been nicely expanded in version 1.1 so that flavour hungry gamers like myself have more to get our teeth into. The gazetteer is the first access point into the 95 worlds of the galaxy; that 95 tallies up as 9 plants and, I guess, 84 moons.
Prometheus Rising is a galaxy of rules. There are about 70 pages of them. You pick up hints of flavour from the text that patterns the game mechanics, although its worth noting there’s been a healthy injection of more since the first version of the document was released in early August (2002). The character race chapter talks about people being “rewritten" straight out of the gate and its only until you’ve read a few races that the term is explicitly described as the art of generic modification. Then in the Euros character class (from Europa the moon) freely talks about The Prime as an alien form of life and there’s just a little information as to what on earth is going on with these aliens in this section; there could be more, there could be a sourcebook entirely devoted on the Prime but I think what’s offered is just enough to temp a GM into allowing them. [ more ]
Encyclopaedia Arcane: Chronomancy
Series: d20
Publisher: Mongoose Publising
Type: Time Magic / Fantasy
Media: Paperback
Review: here
Review Intro:
Temporary paradox, permanent paradox, awakened, celerity and an entirely different magic system than the Dreaming system used by the fairies. I’m talking about Mongoose’s duel Encyclopaedia line of course. Which product line did you think I was talking about? If you thought I was talking about White Wolf then I was probably being too harsh; terms like "paradox" go hand in hand with any discussion on temporal magic and it would have been wrong to avoid it just because reviewers can think of other products that use the same terms. I don’t imagine terms like "paradox" or "awakened" are copyright either, whereas I recall from the fine print in my Pocket Grimoire Divine that the authors of that compilation had to site the copyright to the "Domain of Time and new time spells in The Tide of Years to the authors of that Penumbra book. Whereas it is probably all right to copyright hard written spells I’m glad Mongoose came up with Chronomancy and the Chronomancy spell school and left it open. Chronomancy sounds better than Time anyway.
I’ll jump straight to nearly the end of the book for this review and take a look at the chapter A Games Master’s Guide to Chronomancy. For a start, it sounds better than "Advice for Games Masters" and more importantly, at 8 pages long this is actually a helpful and worthwhile inclusion in the book. The author, Robin Duke, is clearly aware of what an absolute headache chronomantic magic is for GMs and yet how attractive it is for players and sets out to offer some tips and tricks on how to resolve these issues. One of the suggestions is that despite the power of chronomancy or any individual wizard there are always more powerful Gods of Time or Fate who might censor, watch or even change the results the chronomancer might receive. In other cases, any attempts made by the time-mage to read the future might only present "the most likely future". You’ll also read here that the author thought that despite the headaches any RPG supplement on time simply could not avoid the issues of time travel or fortune telling. These two issues are addressed as well. I think we all know that cryptic riddles and enigmas are a great way to present an unclear future to your players – but, as is always the case with advice like this, the fact that its next to impossible to wing such a riddle is ignored. This is supposed to be a review, but here comes my tip for GMs blessed with stupid players: use a qualifying statement slyly. In it’s boldest form (and which still seems to be overlooked by those really gullible players) such a statement might appear as, "I predict years of pain and anger drenched in blood for the fighters among you who fail to restrain their rage". [ more ]
Giant Monster Rampage
Series: Unique System
Publisher: Mystic Eye Games
Type: Giant Monster combat / Godzilla-like
Media: Paperback
Review: here
Review Intro:
Stomp! Crush! Destroy!
Giant Monster Rampage is a set of rules from Mystic Eye Games, perhaps better known for their The Hunt: Rise of Evil d20 series, that gives us the means to turn our old monster toys and leg… oh, sorry, stackable plastic blocks into a giant monster war game. The old monsters toys, when you find some on a similar scale, are, of course, the models for the battling giant monsters and the stackable plastic blocks will briefly be buildings before they’re destroyed in titanic battles.
It’s not a complex set of rules. The back of the book suggests the game is suitable for players 12 years of age and older. I’m [age censored] and it appeals to me! Giant Monster Rampage is an easy read. It’s a lightweight book, 56 pages in total and that’s large enough to escape the dreaded staple binding. There are plenty of pictures inside; pencil sketches rather than colour or even stills from those infamous Japanese movies but the black and white illustrations are enough to get the ambience across. [ more ]
The Slayer's Guide to Rules Lawyers
Series: d20
Publisher: Mongoose Publishing
Type: Humour / Spoof
Media: Paperback
Review: here
Review Intro:
Ah yes. The dreaded Rule Lawyer. The inside cover of every Slayer’s Guide is given over to a quick biological study of the creature in the guide. This is what the researcher has discovered about this infamous fiend.
1) Note the mimicking of the humanoid.
2) Paper thin skull provides extra room for useless facts.
3) Sticky fingers adapted for page turning, note the clammy handshake.
4) (on dice – always found nearby) Perhaps some kind of symbiote? Maybe the true intelligence behind the fiends!
5) Feet, soft and vulnerable through lack of use. (the researcher speculates "Caltrops?")
The Rules Lawyer gains d4 hit points per level, has access to the new feat "Harangue" and such spells as the Necromantic "Leech The Fun". [ more ]
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