Kingbeast's Lair

-== What is it? ==-

The Book Of Dragons is a supplement for Fantasy Hero (5th Edition) by Hero Games. It was penned by the illustrious Steve Long. The Book Of Dragons was released in January 2009.

The book has a color cover and an entirely black and white interior. It is 8.5? x 11? and is 144 pages in length. I am reviewing a print copy that I bought. I have not used the material in my campaign…YET! :}

-== What I Like ==-

I really enjoyed the more exotic and esoteric entries in the book. Making up stats for your run of the mill fire breathing dragon is not that tough. It gets a bit more interesting when you introduce things like undead dragons or dragons based on various animal crosses. For example the Dragon-Bear is a cross between a Dragon and a Bear.

One section of The Book Of Dragons is dedicated to dragons from international cultures and myths. This section includes entries from Aztec, China, India, Norse, and Vietnam to name just a few. I really enjoyed these entries as they are often very different than the standard “fire lizard”. Steve Long’s infamous research library really shines here.

There is also a few pages dedicated to dragon personalities. Although some of this information is new a portion of it is pretty standard stuff.

There is a section of The Book Of Dragons which is dedicated to dragon related weapons and armor. I thought this section was a really nice touch…I actually wanted to see a few more entries in this section. 😉

The Book Of Dragons is not only about dragons. It actually has entries for several large baddies for Fantasy Hero. In this vein there is a section of the book on combating gigantic monsters. This section is really fun. It gives rules for climbing on gigantic creatures and how they can be beaten. It really reminds me of the PS2 console game Shadow of the Colossus. Awesome! 🙂

The wrap around color cover by Anthony Cournoyer is a bit dark but it is VERY well done. The style is vaguely reminiscent of the work done by Last Unicorn. Sweet cover.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

Early on in the book many of the dragons are extremely similar with something like 25% of the text at most being different. When I read these entries I felt it might have been nicer to see some type of shorter notation which could have been used to save space or to potentially combine entries. For example, the various dragon ages could be combined into a single smaller entry. It is not a big issue and is more complete in it’s current form.

With some of the extra monsters in The Book Of Dragons it sometimes seems like the author is trying to stat out a god where maybe the stats should simply be left out. One of these entries is a giant castle creature. Do you really need the stats for a castle that is really a creature? (Note that I could not find a map for the throne room for this entry even though it is mentioned several times in the text and is critical to the encounter.)

The interior art in The Book Of Dragons is a mixed bag. It is VERY hit or miss. I really enjoy the pieces by “CNS” which I think must be Christian N St. Pierre. He did the killer Mummy Dragon picture and one at the end that shows a group of characters taking down a flying dragon.

-== Summary ==-

I was pleasantly surprised by The Book Of Dragons. When I first started reading the book I felt it was not that interesting. As the book progresses it gets more and more esoteric and quite fun. If you are looking for some big beasts for your Fantasy Hero campaign look no farther.

You can pickup the supplement at Noble Knight Games at this URL for $22.95. Amazon has The Book Of Dragons for $26.99 at this URL. You can get a PDF copy at DriveThruRPG for $18.99 at this URL.

I give it 8 out of 10 paws.

-== What is it? ==-

Savage Worlds:Explorer’s Edition (SW:EE) is a universal role-playing game system that is published by Pinnacle Entertainment Group. It was written by several primary authors including Shane Hensley, Paul Wade-Williams, Simon Lucas, Joseph Unger, Dave Blewer, Clint Black, Robin Elliott, and Piotr Korys. There are also many other contributers listed on the title page that I will not repeat here. The Explorer’s Edition was released in 2007.

SW:EE is a soft cover book has a color cover and a vibrant color interior. The book is 6? x 9? and is 160 pages in length. There is a 2 page table of contents, no index, and a 1 page advertisement at the end. (Note that you can download a PDF index from Pinnacle if you really want one but I don’t think it is needed.) I am reviewing a first edition print copy that I purchased. To play the game you need SW:EE, a set of multi-sided dice, and a deck of cards with the jokers left in. (The cards are used for handling initiative.) I have not played the game I have only read the book.

-== What I Like ==-

SW:EE uses simple mechanics that are easy to grasp. In most cases results are determined using a single die with modifiers. This is a big plus for any RPG but it is not as common for universal systems. SW:EE is not a crunchy heavy system. The rules are focused on high action and fast combats. Don’t expect tons of realism from SW:EE.

One big plus is that there are a ton of support products for SW:EE both from Pinnacle and other publishers. There are settings available in almost every genre. Some that really stand out to me are The Savage World Of Solomon Kane (based on the wonderful novels by Howard), Rippers (Victorian magic), Necessary Evil (superhero), and Hellfrost (fantasy). (Watch this space for a review of Hellfrost by Triple Ace Games. I am pretty impressed by the Hellfrost setting. 😉 )

Normally when I write reviews I mention the price in the Summary section only but for SW:EE the price is exceptional. The core book is a paltry $9.99. That is a total steal for a universal system of this quality.

The interior artwork and layout in SW:EE are beautiful. In fact I have to seriously hunt to find a picture that is only average. There are many interior artists listed so I will not mention them all now.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

I was a bit disappointed that SW:EE did not have an example combat. I would much rather have had this than the adventure at the end of the book which is essentially useless. Instead of the adventure in the book I would forward folks to the many excellent One Sheet Adventures that can be downloaded form the Pinnacle site. These One Sheet Adventures are PDF modules that often include characters. These are a great way for folks to start playing quickly.

Another noticeable omission from SW:EE is that there is not a blank character sheet or any sample characters. I personally like when core book lead readers through the creation of a character with an example sheet. Saying that there are several PDF character sheets on the Pinnacle download page.

In a couple of places in SW:EE the text mentions going to the Pinnacle site to get certain PDFs. In two cases I could not find these files. When I posted a question on the Pinnacle forums about where these files could be found it was not answered. 🙁

I also noticed a few typos and areas of book that are not completely clear. The good news is that you can download a neat Cut-and-Paste Errata PDF from Pinnacle. This is a PDF that one prints then literally cuts up and tapes into SW:EE. This is a pretty neat idea that I wish other publishers would try. 🙂

The cover artwork by Cheyenne Wright is only fair in my opinion. It is made to look like a travel logbook but the effect is not well executed. The yellow and red Savage Worlds logo that was also done by Cheyenne Wright is very cool. I love the old map inset with compass background.

-== Summary ==-

SW:EE is one of the best universal systems I have read and I a love universal RPGs. The first incarnation of Savage Worlds was the winner of the 2003 Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Game and I can see why if it was anything like this updated product. Pinnacle’s tag line for SW:EE is right on the money…”Fast! Furious! and Fun!”

You can get SW:EE for $8.95 at Noble Knight Games at this URL. Amazon has it for $9.99 at this URL. The PDF can be had at DriveThruRPG at this URL for $9.99.

I give it 9 out of 10 paws.

-== What is it? ==-

Dungeon Crawl Classics #5 – Aerie Of The Crow God (DCC#5) is an old school D20 adventure for characters from levels 7 to 9. It was written by Andrew Hind and is published by Goodman Games as part of their Dungeon Crawl Classics series of adventures.

I have purchased print and PDF copies of the revised version of the product. (To be specific I am reviewing SKU GMG5004R.) The revised version includes a follow on adventure called Seed Of Evil and updated stats for D20. Both the print and PDF copies will be reviewed as part of this article. There are some spoilers in this review so stop reading here if that is a concern. 😉

The book has color covers and an entirely black and white interior. It is 8.5? x 11? and is 64 pages in length. There is a 1 page table of contents and a half page OGL statement but the rest is content. I have converted the adventure to Fantasy Hero and run it for a group of players as part of my ongoing Spirit Storm campaign. Please keep the fact that I have not run the adventure using D20 in mind when reading this review.

-== What I Like ==-

The thing I like most about DCC#5 are the encounters. Each encounter is different but they hang together on a strong theme. The theme involves the invasion of a powerful forge by an evil crow goddess and her minions. The characters must scale a desolate rocky island to gain access to a tower then a hidden temple. Encounters are scattered along the ascent, in the tower, and in the temple. The temple encounters are my favorite as they vary in flavor and type of opponent. 🙂

DCC#5 was a perfect fit for my campaign. It required little to no rewrites for me to use the encounters as they are laid out in the module. I needed a raven themed big baddie with a magical forge…um…needless to say I was shocked when I discovered DCC#5. That said I do think this adventure could be easily adjusted to fit any campaign. The basic themes are ones that are not hard to integrate into any story and the adventure does provided several hooks for the GM.

Front and back cover artwork by Chuck Whelon and Brad McDevitt respectively are not great but the interior work is actually quite good. Interior pieces were done by Jason Edwards, Brad McDevitt, Stefan Poag, and Brian Tarsis. The maps are good except for the tower map. I had trouble figuring out how the tower levels connected and was forced to draw pencil arrows as aids.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

One aspect of the story for DCC#5 is around a collection of intelligent weapons. I did not like that part of the story as it does not fit my campaign world too well and the PC were not ready for items like these to appear. The good news is that this is not fundamental to the plot and I did not have a problem removing them entirely.

Although I did not run Seed Of Evil it did not feel as polished after reading Aerie Of The Crow God. As a follow on to Aerie Of The Crow God it might be fine. There was also an extra dimensional aspect to the adventure that is not to my taste. If you are hip to running adventures where part of the dungeon is in another dimension then it might work just fine.

One minor issue with the modules is that they could have picked different things for player handouts. For example, one of the handouts is a stack of skulls. There is nothing special about it at all. Why the handout? There are several handouts that struck me in the same fashion. I would have much rather had a handout of the cool chain shrouded ghast encounter! 😀

The PDF copy of DCC#5 has a few broken links to the maps for Seed Of Evil but other than that it worked great for me. Note that I contacted Goodman Games about the issue and they fixed it almost immediately.

-== Summary ==-

DCC#5 was a 2004 ENnie nominee for Best Adventure and I think it deserved it. The encounters and theme are very strong and the adventure can easily be molded into most campaigns. The price point is also wonderful at $7 to $9. Cheap and fun…what else do you want!?! 🙂

You can get a copy of the module from DriveThruRPG at this URL for $8.99. Goodman Games OFTEN has sales on DriveThruRPG so if you wait and watch you could probably score a copy even cheaper. 😉 Noble Knight has copies at this URL for $7.95. Several sellers have the module for sale at Amazon for around $6 at this URL.

I give it 8 out of 10 paws.