Fire in the Hole

<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Very versatile and great follow up module<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Phantasmos is a d20 book about dreams. The basic premise is that sleepers' minds travel to another plane, called Somneiros whenever they dream. Phantasmos contains rules for the plane itself, as well as the creatures that inhabit it. In addition, there are new classes, new spells, new uses for skills, and other new rules.

The core of the book is Somneiros itself, a two level plane reachable via dreams and certain spells. Somneiros is a vast and interesting place. There are a number of interesting locations within the realm of dreams. From the City of Lost Children to the Library of Dreams, adventurers will find plenty of places to explore. The biblography lists a number of well-known books, such as Peter Pan and Neil Gaiman's Sandman. The influence of these works is clear in regions such as the Land of Do As You Please, which takes the darker aspects of Peter Pan and builds a region around them. Just reading about these fantastic locations is inspiring and the designers have done a superb job blending common elements of mythology and dream imagery. Even if I don't use Somneiros as the focus of a campaign, I will probably add a number of these realms to my homebrew's cosmology. They are that good.

Those looking for additional rules content will find some good rules for falling asleep, waking up, and sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation in particular is a welcome addition to the game, as the core rules currently lack any meaningful penalty for staying awake all night. A new core class and a handful of prestige classes are probably better suited for those interested in running a dream-focused campaign, though they look to be well designed. If I have a complaint here, its that the prestige classes are a bit too generic. We have the dream knight, the dream healer, the oracle...all fulfilling fairly archetypal roles. Archetypes are good, but I would have liked something a little more outside the norm. The new feats are all tied very strongly to the dream setting, having a lot of use within it but less or no benefit outside. With a few exceptions, I don't see characters taking these unless Somneiros features predominately in the campaign.

Next to the realms of Somneiros, my favorite part of this book was probably the bestiary. There is a nice selection of appropriate monsters here. My favorites include the fear-mongering bogeymen, the dream-eating beshean demons, and the somewhat Lovecraftian guardian cats. While monsters aren't the main focus of this book, I really enjoyed almost all of the creatures presented here. Even the ones I didn't like, such as the tinkerbell inspired never-bells, fit well within the book's theme.

<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: While I don't make a strong judgement before I read a product I'm reviewing, I do try to form a general opinion before going in. This isn't a prejudice, just a rough idea of my feelings toward the book in a generic, conceptual fashion. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with Phantasmos. The realm of sleep is a well-coceived plane that would be a thrill to visit. Setting a whole campaign there would probably feel a lot different than your standard D&D game, but I think it would also be a lot of fun. I like the plane, the creatures, the spells, and the classes. If the subject interests you, pick this book up. At the very worst, you'll find lots and lots of material to inspire you when creating your own "land of dreams."<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Its a shame that a book with such rich verbal imagery has such mediocre art. Its not bad, but it just doesn't do the subject matter justice. Its too bad that some of the works listed in the biblography couldn't have been tapped for their art (impossible for obvious reasons).

I also feel compelled to mention that this is a very niche product. As I pointed out in the main body of the review, you aren't going to get a lot out of the new feats, spells, and other rules if you aren't planning to make dreams and Somneiros a focus of your campaign.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Phantasmos is a sourcebook on dreams from Silven Publishing. The zipped file is four megabytes in size, and contains two PDF files. The main file is just under four megabytes in size, and the second file is a printer-friendly version roughly half that size. Both files are eighty-two pages in length, with hyperlinked tables of contents, and full bookmarks.

The book contains quite a bit of artwork, all of it full-color (though many of those are drawn in dark shades). All of the pages have dark purple along the top and bottom of each page, as well as on alternating sides. Rather oddly, while the printer-friendly file does remove the cover and the page borders, the interior art is still there, in all its colorful glory. This might make printing it something a challenge for people with certain printers.

A brief introduction opens the book, serving as an overview of what it contains, before leading into the first chapter. Said chapter introduces material that helps to work sleep- and dream-related material into your game. It has rules for checks on getting enough sleep, information about the effects of sleep deprivation, the symbology of dreams, how different races sleep and dream, and suggested reading and viewing for further inspiration.

The second chapter introduces us to the heart of the book: Somneiros, the Plane of Dreams. Somneiros is where all dreams mentally go when they fall asleep. Full planar information (as in the DMG) is given, along with overviews of the language of the plane, inhabitants, the gods of the place, and overview of its two layers ? the topmost one being where all dreamers go when asleep (even those in the plane itself), with the lower layer being the more habitable region. Rumors of a third layer are unconfirmed.

The chapter then goes on to cover various areas of the second layer in more detail. Despite being the more permanent layer of Somneiros, the plane is still highly morphic, and the various locations tend to shift their placement. The major differentiating features are that some areas are the relatively benign Dreamlands, whereas others are part of the malevolent Nightmarelands. Areas in each part of the layer are covered, before giving us information and stats on some of the more important people to be found in various places.

Chapter three introduces us to new dream-related mechanics, beginning with classes. It briefly outlines a few changes to existing classes and prestige classes, before giving us a new base class, the Somnist. After this, a half-dozen prestige classes are given, before skills are covered (though only a single new skill, Lucid Dreaming, is introduced). A handful of new feats rounds out the chapter.

The fourth chapter covers dream-based magic. A new spell descriptor, ?Dream,? is given, along with notes on what new monsters (from the next chapter) can be summoned and bound with existing spells, along with spell lists for various classes, before almost thirty new spells are introduced. Following this are a collection of new magic items, along with a new material for crafting weapons, and a few new drugs.

The last chapter of the book covers dream-based monsters. It first details that many of these creatures have either new Dream or Nightmare subtypes. It also covers a few existing monsters (from the MM) that have mild redefinitions under the new rules in this book. After that comes over a dozen new creatures, including several templates, and monsters with various incarnations, such as the different types of dream and nightmare elementals. A new race that is oft-mentioned throughout the book, the syrkri, is also covered here.

Altogether, Phantasmos does a very good job in its presentation of dreams in your d20 game. While the focus here is clearly on the plane of Somneiros, there is still a wealth of new and useful material here whether or not you use the Plane of Dreams in your game. The crunch is excellently done, and the fluff material is also quite evocative (such as the mentions of the City of Nod, the fabled third layer of Somneiros). For players and GMs wanting more to do with dreams in their game, Phantasmos is a dream come true. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This book did an excellent job of combining evocative flavor text with crisp new rules and materials. The new feats, spells, and prestige classes are useful even if you want dreams to just be a backdrop in your game.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The printer-friendly version shouldn't have still have almost all of the artwork retained in it.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Bloodlines

The best way to sum it up is it is a masterful modern mystical mystery, but that might a bit too much alliteration. I am not a big fan of modern games, I prefer my fantasy. But Bloodlines is a nice adventure. It reminds me of a X-Files episode or a good Call of Cthulhu story. It is not as deadly as normal Call of Cthulhu games can be, but it has the same atmosphere of modern horror, mystery, and paranormal activities.

Bloodlines is an adventure for d20 Modern. It comes in a pdf that arrives in a eight and a half meg zip file. Inside there are two versions of the module, the friendly print out version and the nice colorful read on screen version. The pdfs are well put together with good two column layout, nicely sectioned off sidebars, and art placed in and not detracting from the writing. The one screen version is very thoroughly book marked and also has a very complete table of contents.

The cover is a female ghost holding a finger to her mouth in the universal gesture for silence. She stands over the grave of John Blackwell, an important and corner stone NPC in the module. The art through out the book is good, but I am not a fan of this particular style. There are handouts galore in this module. If you or your DM is a fan of player handouts, and I am such a DM, this module has them. There are almost thirty pages of player handouts and DM maps.

The pdf is written by Preston P DuBose. It is put out by a company called 12 to Midnight. It is there third product. There first two are Last Rites of the Black Guard, a Nazi supernatural adventure in the modern day, and Weekend Warriors, a military zombie fest adventure. The company?s tag line is ?Tell yourself it?s just a game?. They seem to have a good knack for modern horror and I hope to see more from them.

Okay, on to the good stuff of this module. This is a mystery and investigation module, not a fighting one. I think it is also a tough module. Players will have to think to get through it and understand what is going on. Some of the NPCs seem a bit obvious, but that is not a bad thing. It is a bit railroaded as a module and Preston, the author, says this upfront and makes no apologies for it. He says a good DM can stay on his toes and make the PCs not realize they are being led, but I am not sure how easily that would be. It is a good module for Role Playing and thinking. I like that but it might be a bit too linear for some people?s tastes.

The module is for fifth level characters. However, while it is for d20 modern it does not have many of the strange things that are presented in that book. For instance it assumes or seems to that the players are going to be all human. It assumes that the world the players play in is very similar to our own. Not every campaign that uses d20 modern will live up to those parts. It would be easy to allow for them, but obviously in a more magical world the mystery and supernatural effects here will seem less scary and puzzling.

The module can also work well for Spycraft, Call of Cthulhu, or other modern game. The meat of the module is the mystery and while it would take a little work there is no reason this cannot work for other modern games. Now, a Mutants and Mastermind game might actually need a lot of work, but for some lower powered superheroes and a clever DM; this could be a really fun and different adventure. It can even work for non d20 games although it would take a little more work for that.

Bloodlines will offer a good mystery and investigation for any modern game. It is a bit linear and that may be a problem for some people, but it does work well here. The module doe not seem to deadly and does leave a nice opening for a creative DM to have fun with.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Horrendous Habitats: Forsaken Hwellan is a 44 page pdf product and the first product in Silven Publishing's new Horrendous Habitats line. Each product in the line introduces an arch villain and its habitat to your d20 game, complete with history, other inhabitants, and more. This first product looks at Forsaken Hwellan, an evil den of madness occupied and run by priests of a plague god. Forsaken Hwellan is habitat suitable for 10th level characters.

Silven Publishing provides both a screen and print version of this product. The latter contains no bordering or art, thought the full text and maps are included. Writing, editing and layout is very good, something that Silven Publishing have achieved almost from their very first product. They certainly deliver something professional and well-presented. Some very good art in contained within the product, and it's bountiful as well, and the artists have done a good job to enhance the look of the product. The maps are good as well, clearly marked and labelled, with no omissions or discrepancies. Overall, a good job and a quality presentation.

Forsaken Hwellan is a seemingly deserted village that was once a meagre little village where inhabitants spent their time tending crops and livestock. Now Hwellan holds a dark secret and sinister people, and this product provides an extensive overview of the village, its history, its interesting location, its people and much more. And when I say extensive, I mean it - no stone is unturned, detail is everywhere (probably more than one would conceivably use) and lots of background and current information is included. It makes for a complete package, even including new spells, magical items, monsters etc. related to Hwellan and the priests of the plague god.

The pdf starts by providing sound advice on using Hwellan, including scaling details, a variety of plausible plot hooks, and hints on incorporating the location into your campaign. The pdf then moves on to provide an extensive overview of getting to Hwellan, including dealing with all aspects of the frozen weather of the forsaken village. The surrounding are detailed, and wandering monster encounters are provided for the journey there and through the mountains around Hwellan.

The next chapters deal with Hwellan itself, providing a thorough history on the plague that struck Hwellan, the rise of the plague priests, the current status of Hwellan and a location-based overview of all the important locations of Hwellan. There is lots of atmosphere here, each encounter written well and clearly to describe in detail the locations of the forsaken village. The locations and encounters make sense within the context of the village's history and present status, and provides a dynamic location for all the horrors that wander around the village. There is good opportunity for roleplaying interaction in the adventure, and certainly more than one way to handle the many perils that the village provides. I quite enjoyed reading through the product, as it provides a thorough and entertaining overview of a cursed place.

The latter parts of the pdf deal with all the new spells, monsters, NPCs, statistics and the like. Full statistics are provided for all the creatures possibly encountered in Hwellan. There are a few stat block errors here and there, but certainly not many and all very minor. New magical items are presented such as the Staff of the Ice-Mother, wielded by the Daughters of Ice, and Bottled Plague. Spells (almost entirely necromantic spells and many associated with the new Disease clerical domain) include Greater Contagion, Wave of Pain, Seven Plagues and Wall of Flies, all spells fitting within the scenario context.

I quite liked this product. It's an all-in-one package, containing all the detail you want, and presents a flavorful location that can be used to great effect in any game. DMs should have fun running the encounters within the village, and roleplaying the various NPCs and creatures while creating an atmosphere of dread. Forsaken Hwellan is an enjoyable product, and a good start to Silven's new line of products.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Horrendous Habitats: Forsaken Hwellan provides an interesting village and location-based encounter area filled with flavor and dynamic creatures and NPCs. It's a solid product, a complete package filled with detail and supplemental information, and an atmospheric premise.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing much. A handful of minor stat block and editing errors, but overall a solid product.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

I quite enjoyed this product, both the spells and "Starlanko's comments" that went with them. Contains lots of spells at a variety of levels (including four at 9th level), with lists of sorcerer/wizard, bard, cleric, druid, and paladin spells.

In the comments for his second product, a spellbook of 50 transmutation spells, the staff members were not taken with the author's use of "metagame" terms in the descriptive text, but I find it extremely humorous. If you're a fan of The Order of the Stick and its style of humor, then this product is for you!

<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The quantity and variety of spells, the tactical advice for using each spell, and the healthy dose of humor evident in Starlanko's "comments."<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: All of the spell lists should have been up front, but the sorcerer/wizard list is in the beginning and the bard, cleric, druid, and paladin lists are in an appendix.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

I rather enjoyed this product, both the spells and "Starlanko's comments" that went with them. Lots of spells at a variety of levels (only two at 9th level), including sorcerer/wizard, cleric, druid, ranger, bard, and assassin spells.

The staff members were not taken with the author's use of "metagame" terms in the descriptive text, but I found it quite humorous. If you're a fan of The Order of the Stick and its tongue-in-cheek humor, then this product is right up your alley!

<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Quantity and variety of spells, with a hefty dose of inside humor.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

I bought this as part of a bundle with Inanna's kiss. I haven't had a chance to play it yet but I was quite satisfied with the quality of the writing and the layout. I think this could be a nice springboard to a modern military campaign, especially with the incredible amount of attention to detail with the maps and their description.

I think the maps and building descriptions could easily be stripped out and re-released as a general military base product with just a little bit of work for those who wanted a more general product.

I will say that the version I downloaded didn't have the extra maps, but still included the links to them in the documents bookmarks section. The extra maps are available for download from the 12 to Midnight site, and well worth the size.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The maps are amazing and I liked the photos that give it that realistic flair.

Breaking out the direct reading parts is nice as well.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing I could find that jumped out at me.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

I bought this as part of a bundle with Weekend Warriors.

I appreciate that the author stated up front both the inspirations and expectations for this adventure. It framed the GM reading of it well.

The author clearly states that it was originally a convention adventure, so it was not developed with any character continuity in mind. I definitely plan on reading this one thoroughly and having it ready "in my back pocket" in case a regular adventure falls through for a day.

It comes with pre-genned characters which the author highly recommends get used for this adventure, as there are some game specifics relating the character's rank.

I think it would take longer than the 4 hours stated, but that be more of a reflection of my gaming group than the adventure itself.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The photos and the blocked-out descriptions of what to read. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It could have included some pictures of the Bradley and Hum-vee for those who aren't familiar (There's plenty of room on that page)<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This 7-page pdf details the Sundown Cineplex, situated in 12 to Midnight's modern-setting town of Pinebox, Texas. The Cineplex was the sight of a grisly orgy of murder during the screening of an occult movie (don't want to spoil the details). A new owner takes over and attempts to restore and reopen the Cineplex, but something goes wrong...

This pdf documents details about the theater and its new owner. It also has plot hooks, stats for the new "inhabitants" and everything else needed to run this as a single adventure or to add this as a permanent fixture in a modern campaign.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Idea is very creative and well executed. 12 to Midnight's stuff is always great game material as well as a interesting read for horror fans.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Not a big fan of the nod made to a certain occult figure (not Hitler, the other reference). Minor quibble in an otherwise good item.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

An RPG Resource review:

This is an adventure that will repay the GM taking the time to prepare thoroughly before the game begins, it's not something to pick up and run. The effort, however, will be repaid and in great measure: it is a well thought out, coherent and fascinating tale of horror to keep your players on the edge of their seats and their characters in mortal terror.

The characters are enticed into the adventure by being invited to take part in a 'geocaching' competition. Geocaching is a sort of treasure hunt with the clues being GPS locations. Don't ignore the 'hook' provided, it isn't just there as a means to get the characters into the adventure, it is itself a part of the adventure... an unusual and welcome touch many adventures ignore.

Once hooked, the characters are led a merry chase through the area, meeting many interesting people who - although all a bit on the odd side - do give the impression of having a life away from the adventure itself. Although there are moments when violence (or running like mad!) are the only ways for the characters to save their skins - even their very souls - most of the adventure involves investigation and exploration, so it may not be the most suitable for groups who like combat-heavy games. Everything is well-supported, with good handouts and frequent checklists to aid the GM to ensure that all the evidence that ought to be available to the characters has been presented - or at least, they've been given the chance to find it!

The whole thing has a compelling underlying logic to it, that you end up wondering if it just might have happened, somewhere, in some alternate reality. The potential is here for an epic horror adventure.

Libem Liborium: The Complete d20 Guide to Books is a sourcebook from Silven Publishing. The zipped file is just over 14.5 megabytes in size, and contains a main PDF file with full artwork, and a printer-friendly PDF. The main file is eighty-six pages long, with a page each for the front and back covers, a page for the credits/legal, one for the table of contents, and two for the OGL. The main file has bookmarks and a hyperlinked table of contents.

The covers to the main file are both in full-color, as are a few maps for buildings found in the book. The remainder of the art is fairly sparse, with several pieces of (rather well done) black-and-white art. The pages all have alternating borders along the sides.

The single-page Introduction to the product goes over each chapter in brief, with a brief sidebar explaining how to use the book. This leads directly into the first chapter, which discusses the presence of literacy in the campaign. The chapter covers different methods of printing, and then goes over a number of different formats for writing things on, such as scrolls, tablets, books, etc. It closes with a measurement for the presence of literacy in a society.

Chapter two covers the methods and economics of creating and selling books. It talks about format to write a book in, and the proper skill checks to write a book. It then goes into how you publish it, including overviews of various benefits and disadvantages of using a publisher (or self-publishing), and the revenue you get from various levels of successful book sales.

Chapter three covers places characters can find books. Sources such as book peddlers, bookstores, and libraries of various types (public, private, etc.) are all covered, each giving statistics for a bookkeeping NPC. The libraries also have maps, with the larger, multi-level libraries having multiple maps to cover the various floors. The chapter ends with other sources for reading, such as newspapers or spellbooks.

Chapter four deals with new skills and feats. The skills here are actually new uses for existing skills. Knowledge and Craft get new subsets, for example. The new Craft uses take up the bulk of this chapter, and offer some interesting new uses, such as how to lace a book?s pages with poison. A single page of eleven feats ends the chapter. Most of these feats deal with book-related skill checks, there?s still two new item creation feats here, and a new metamagic feat.

Chapter five presents five new ten-level prestige classes: the Archivist, who keeps and stores books; the Bookburner, who seeks to control knowledge by destroying access to it; The Counterfeiter, a master or forgery; the Legend Crafter, who weaves the greatest tales; and the Rune Warrior, who draws mystic symbols on his body to increase his battle prowess.

Chapter six presents more than forty new spells, along with six new clerical domains. The spells here add a wide variety of new effects for not only books, but also along wider lines, such as the preservation, or destruction, of knowledge. Spells like Awaken Tome (to bring your spellbook to life) or Reconstruction (which will restore any magic item that has been destroyed) are sure to be useful in your campaign. The chapter ends with handy notes on using Permanency with these new spells.

Chapter seven covers magic tomes and ciphers. Ciphers, here, are magic runes that hold a pre-cast spell, similar to a scroll. Unlike a scroll, they can be on virtually any surface (including flesh) and anyone can use them. Similarly, this book treats magic tomes as a separate category of magic items (to the degree that they get their own item creation feat earlier in the book), and lists a number of new magic books here, including the ones from the DMG in with them.

Chapter eight gives a wide variety of new items, both magic and mundane. It starts with non-magical book-making equipment, giving tables and descriptions for various printing presses, papers, and inks. It then moves into dealing with magic items, the majority of which are wondrous items.

Chapter nine is relatively short, presenting four new deities. Each deity has their name listed, then a pronunciation listing, followed by their aliases, holy symbol (depicted next to the entry also), alignment, portfolio, worshippers, cleric alignments allowed, domains, favored weapon, and then a paragraph each for a description of the deity, their holy days, and their clerics. Two of the gods then have a paragraph on how they relate to other deities.

Chapter ten gives several new monsters: the bimic, the malcontent, the masquerading feddle, the olathe, the octavo and the quarto, the printer?s devil, the print golem, and the tome dredger. Oddly, the malcontent and the olathe are simply ghosts from the MM; which makes it very odd that they each have a full NPC with stats and a background given. Challenge ratings for these monsters range from ? to 12.

Chapter eleven gives a plethora of tables, a large number of them for random book generation. Tables here will let you determine if you find a book, what it?s made out of, its rarity, its condition, its language, any special features, its subject matter, its title, and more.

Libem Liborium calls itself the complete d20 guide to books, and it comes by the appellation honestly. It insightfully analyzes the role of books in your campaign, and goes over every aspect of them, all the while still delivering a great new selection of magic and monsters. Whether you?re interested in covering your fighter with magic ciphers, or having him sit down to write his memoirs, this is the only book on d20 books you?ll need. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This book provided a wealth of detailed information regarding the creation and distribution of books in your campaign. Sidebars cover minor topics that help drive various points home. This book will definately help flesh out your campaign world.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: It seemed somewhat redundant to recategorize magic tomes as a new type of magic item. Also, it was a waste of space to have two NPCs with the ghost template, since that doesn't qualify as adding new monsters. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

RPG Mastery: Tracking is a 34 page pdf product and the first in Silven Publishing's new RPG Mastery line of products. The aim of the line is to take roleplaying elements from typical gaming experience and expand on them in depth to provide DMs and players with more options. This first instalment of the series focuses on tracking and all aspects related to hunting and tracking foes or animals in the wilderness or urban setting.

The product comes as a zip file containing a screen and print version of the product. The print version allows easy printing of the material, although even the screen version is not that heavy in the ink department. Artwork is average, with nothing spectacularly good or bad, although some of the images don't look particularly high quality. Writing and editing suffers from much the same standard, as does the overall presentation. Editing errors abound - simple examples include the chapter numbers being all wrong and the incomplete spell mechanics - and the writing in places is not explicit enough, particularly with reference to the numerous tables provided. Clarity would've been much assisted by references to the numerous tables in the text, particularly with regard to applicability of each table under different circumstances. Generally from a presentation point of view slightly disappointing in the number of errors that there are. The pdf comes with both a full table of contents and a set of bookmarks.

Tracking is a pdf all about the wilderness arts of hunting, tracking and survival. It provides a host of new rules for expanding on tracking (Survival skill and Track feat), each with its accompaniment of tables and mechanical details. The pdf starts by providing a brief introduction and some advice on using the material within the pdf before plunging into the first of many small chapters within the pdf.

There are a number of new options presented here, all mostly useful, and broadly divided into two areas: Wilderness and Urban. The wilderness tracker uses the Survival skill and the Track feat to track or hunt in the wilderness, while the urban tracker uses the Gather Information skill to search and hunt for information, objects or people in an urban environment. Within this framework a number of new options are presented for the numerous skills involved.

Rules for wilderness tracking include rules of competency at tracking (an indication of fame related to tracking), tracking creatures by size, tracking creatures using signs rather than tracks, environmental influences on tracking, tracking intelligent creatures, tracking creatures based on their type, habits and movement; extensive coverage of hunting, and hunting-related skills. Most of the material expands in a useful way on that contained in the core rules, although it's not always explicit in explanation or description. Several examples would've gone a long way to make it easier to understand the rules and how they mesh with the current core rules. For example, the pdf introduces two new feats - Wilderness Tracking and Urban Tracking, although it's not clear how these mesh with the Track feat from the core rules.

The urban tracker is one who is good in crowds and gathering information in crowded areas. Rules are provided for shadowing creatures in cities and crowds, and for fleeing from a particular situation. The shadowing rules are quite interesting, and provide a different way of handling following other characters or gaining information related to them. An urban tracker base class is provided to supplement these rules and build upon them. The class incorporates most of the rules presented here, meaning that it won't be that useful outside the context of the new rules system.

The latter portions of the pdf deal with new magical items, feats, and spells related to tracking. These include numerous scent bags to aid in tracking or avoiding being tracked, and feats such as Footslogger that allow you to move through terrain without suffering movement penalties. Nothing particularly exciting within this section or anything that jumps out, but those who like these rules with find them useful. The pdf concludes with some appendices including a list of random encounters (descriptions only), summaries of all the rules in the pdf (can sometimes be clearer than the preceding text), values of the skin and meat of animals, and a new creature type, the skirmish. The latter is akin to a swarm or a stampede and rules are provided for dealing with mobs and brawls as examples of this type and how to create 'creatures' of this type.

The pdf is in many ways useful in providing several new options, although most appear to actually complicate matters more than make it easier. If you want the detail of an immersive experience with realism and additional factors in-game, then these rules will be something you'll like. They are very focused, and focused on a particular area of the game not frequently used - tracking and hunting, areas that are quite well covered by the existing Survival skill and Track feat.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: RPG Mastery: Tracking contains a number of new ideas and options related to tracking, most that can be used by those that wish to add elements of realism or a more immersive experience to their campaign or scenario. The rules provided expand on existing concepts, widening their scope to areas not covered in the core rules.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: General presentation was disappointing and the pdf is riddled with numerous errors. Text and tables do not mesh well together, and references to the tables and worked examples would've made this much clearer to read and understand. The text comes across as somewhat disjointed, something which makes it difficult to make the most of the additional material provided. The material in the pdf is very focused, and expands (making slightly more complicated) the core concepts of Survival, Gather Information and Tracking. Usefulness of the material can be limited.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Disappointed<br>

What it says on the tin: the PCs are attacked by giant mutant chickens! The encounters are well-designed to provide a tense build-up, then many laugh-out-loud moments as well as situations that should have players genuinely concerned for their PCs at 3rd level or so. For certain scenes, it will work best with a larger party.

This is an unusually large Dispatch issue, basically a complete short adventure. It's followed by a page of Pinebox News that, to me, is richer in adventure hooks than usual - useful in itself.

EDIT: Just received the update containing maps and figures. The map's nice and clear and the Strain C figure is a hoot. A very impressive package.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br><BR>[THIS REVIEW WAS EDITED]<BR>

50 Transmutations

Dire Form is a spell that increases the power of an animal. This spell uses Dire in its name when it does not actually make the animal into a dire animal. There is a very well done Dire template by Necromancer games and it would have been very good to see a spell that uses that template instead of just using the name with no connection to that type of animals.

Down and Out I can see some people also having a problem with as it gives a +10 bonus to disarm or trip.

Fall Up is a good spell that reverses gravity for a short period of time for the caster. I like this and it as a low level spell that would make a good addition to an Arcane Trickster.

Fearsome Familiar is a fun spell that turns one?s familiar into a fighting power. It is not going to be a powerhouse but it will be able to hold its own for a bit.

Flexarmor is a great spell for arcane casters that want to cast in armor. It does have a short duration so unless someone persistent meta magic feats this it won?t be lasting all day.

Gravitational Crunch is a neat spell that affects an area with high gravity making strength checks really hard and creatures take damage each round. It is a high level spell though that allows for both a save and spell resistance.

Holding the Viper is a nice sword to snake type spell. .I like that in destroying the viper one can also destroy their own sword.

Morning Enhancement is a mid level spell that enhances either all three physical or mental stats. It offers a small bonus to each stat but has a very nice duration.

Nigh Destructible is one of the few spells I have seen that has duration in years. It does what it says making something very hard to destroy.

Pit Trap is an interesting spell that can function as both offensive and help characters get around in a complex.

Rigged coin is a nice little cantrip that will have the coin always come up with the same side.

Time Slow is a nicely written weaker version of Time Stop.

That is just a few of the spells in the book. There is a wide variety of transmutation things in here and many have other uses then pure combat. The rules seem pretty sound over all. There is nothing new introduced that will not fit well into a normal D&D campaign.
<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Wide variety of spells<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The descriptive text <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>