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Matthew
2007-11-12, 11:16 PM
I thought that people might be interested in this:

RPGNow Thanksgiving Giveaway (http://www.rpgnow.com/thanksgiveaway.php)

Kizara
2007-11-12, 11:22 PM
You= Win.

Thank you.

Edit: Also, any reccomendations? Alot of it seems like suppliments or addons to RPGs I don't use or have any use for.

I already DLed the music and dungeon tiles thing, since those seemed non-system reasources.

RTGoodman
2007-11-12, 11:36 PM
Wait - so these are all just free to download?

That's pretty awesome.

Matthew
2007-11-12, 11:49 PM
Edit: Also, any reccomendations? Alot of it seems like suppliments or addons to RPGs I don't use or have any use for.

I already DLed the music and dungeon tiles thing, since those seemed non-system reasources.

Heh, yeah, that's typical of Giveaways. That said, if you've never perused RPGNow there are hundreds of other Free Items available. Just choose to browse by price. As for today's special Giveaways, there wasn't much there. The Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classic was the highlight for me. Europe 1483 and Brothers By my Side are traditional war games, and they look pretty dodgy in terms of production value. D6 Powers, The Collected Character (RuneQuest) and See Page XX are probably the best of the remainder. Forbidden Kingdoms is a really bad scan, but actually quite interesting to browse.

No, I'm looking forward to the next few days. Pocket Conan D20, Tomb of Horrors, Rolemaster Express, RuneQuest and The Last Tome are high on my list. That Ptolus Sourcebook looks interesting as well. There's a few other interesting looking items, but I have no idea what they'll be like. (For instance, Echoes of Heaven/Throne of God on Friday is a mighty 40 MB and is supposedly 200+ pages of campaign setting and adventure).

RTGoodman
2007-11-13, 12:01 AM
Some things I'm looking at getting: Goodman Games adventure thing (already downloaded); the UNORTHODOX Fighter (because the Cleric one that I just downloaded is pretty cool); the RuneQuest core book; Broadsides!; Tome of Horrors Revised; maybe the Complete Spell Cards; the Conan RPG (Pocket Edition); and maybe the Book of Challenges.

Kizara
2007-11-13, 12:09 AM
Heh, yeah, that's typical of Giveaways. That said, if you've never perused RPGNow there are hundreds of other Free Items available. Just choose to browse by price. As for today's special Giveaways, there wasn't much there. The Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classic was the highlight for me. Europe 1483 and Brothers By my Side are traditional war games, and they look pretty dodgy in terms of production value. D6 Powers, The Collected Character (RuneQuest) and See Page XX are probably the best of the remainder. Forbidden Kingdoms is a really bad scan, but actually quite interesting to browse.

No, I'm looking forward to the next few days. Pocket Conan D20, Tomb of Horrors, Rolemaster Express and The Last Tomb are high on my list. That Ptolus Sourcebook looks interesting as well. There's a few other interesting looking items, but I have no idea what they'll be like. (For instance, Echoes of Heaven/Throne of God on Friday is a mighty 40 MB and is supposedly 200+ pages of campaign setting and adventure.)

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

Matthew
2007-11-13, 12:13 AM
No problem. I missed the RuneQuest Core Book off that list accidently, I'm looking forward to that as well. Actually, speaking of runes, there's another free RPG here: RuneQuest: Slayers (http://www.thalcos.com/rq.htm). The production value is high because it was a cancelled project.



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At a Glance Reviews of Monday's Downloads




Time Master Screen (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=925&it=1)

PDF Quality:
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Publisher: 54°40’ Orphyte (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=29)
Retail Price: $9.95 [$4.98]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: Unrated



The Chronicles of Ramlar - Official Soundtrack (Part One) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50184)

Sound Quality: Professional
Cover Art: Professional; I like the AD&D 2e style, though the characters seem a bit inactive (colour)
Interior Art: None
Contents: 5 Tracks from the 16 Track Album, totalling about 25:00 minutes; includes The Dawning (Track 1), Stones of War (Track 9), City of Secrets (Track 12), The World Below (Track 13) and Mountains of Madness (Track 15).
Publisher: Bailey Records (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=636)
Retail Price: $5.00 [$4.75]
Matt’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated
Moisturiser




E-Z Tiles (Dungeon Set 1) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=12234&it=1)
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Publisher: Fat Dragon Games ( http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=346)
Retail Price: $5.99 [$5.99]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: 4 out of 5



Spiritual Warfare (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=16546&it=1)

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Publisher: Golgotha Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=444)
Retail Price: $7.99 [$7.99]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: 4 out of 5



Dungeon Crawl Classics #51.5: Sinister Secret of Whiterock (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50985)

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Publisher: Goodman Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=36)
Retail Price: $2.00 [$2.00]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: Unrated



Europe 1483 (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=20112&it=1)

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Publisher: Guild of Blades (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=409)
Retail Price: $6.95 [$5.95]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: Unrated



D6 Powers (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3515&it=1)

PDF Quality:
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Publisher: Khepera Publishing (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=128)
Retail Price: $25.95 [$17.99]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: Unrated



Brothers by my Side (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50667)

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Publisher: Lock ‘n Load Publishing (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=2192)
Retail Price: $14.95 [$14.95]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: Unrated



Moebius Adventures - Core Rules (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50940)

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Publisher: Moebius Adventures (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=2204)
Retail Price: $24.95 [$10.95]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: Unrated



Forbidden Kingdoms - Master Codex (Babbage Edition) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2691&it=1)

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Publisher: OtherWorld Creations (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=97)
Retail Price: $15.99 [$12.99]
Matt’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: 5 out of 5



See Page XX, Volume 1 (The First 24 Columns) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50677)

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Publisher: Pelgrane Press (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=340)
Retail Price: $3.95 [$3.95]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: Unrated



Rune Quest - The Collected Character (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=25881&it=1)

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Publisher: Sceaptune Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=806)
Retail Price: $6.95 [$5.00]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: Unrated



Dreadmire Bonus Material (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50994)

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Publisher: Spellbinder Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=2154)
Retail Price: $0.00 [$0.00]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: 1 out of 5



Ados - Land of Strife (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=17962&it=1)

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Publisher: Tangent Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=535)
Retail Price: $9.95 [$9.95]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: Unrated



Unorthodox Clerics (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=18218&it=1)

PDF Quality:
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Publisher: The Le Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=127)
Retail Price: $3.50 [$2.50]
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: 4 out of 5




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...and that's your lot.

Kizara
2007-11-13, 12:24 AM
No problem. I missed the RuneQuest Core Book off that list accidently, I'm looking forward to that as well. Actually, speaking of runes, there's another free RPG here: RuneQuest: Slayers (http://www.thalcos.com/rq.htm). The production value is high because it was a cancelled project.

Why do you reccomend runequest as an RPG?
I mainly play 3.5 DnD, with a wee bit of experience with 2ed (BG2) and White Wolf (played a V:TM game, once). If you think its good, sell me on it, I wouldn't mind trying something new if it's wrothwhile.

I know I enjoyed Star Wars Revised Core.

Matthew
2007-11-13, 11:58 AM
Why do you reccomend runequest as an RPG?
I mainly play 3.5 DnD, with a wee bit of experience with 2ed (BG2) and White Wolf (played a V:TM game, once). If you think its good, sell me on it, I wouldn't mind trying something new if it's wrothwhile.

I know I enjoyed Star Wars Revised Core.

RuneQuest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuneQuest) is a good game. I wouldn't recommend you drop all of your Dungeons & Dragons stuff and invest in RuneQuest, but it is a good alternative to Dungeons & Dragons and currently supported by Mongoose Publishing, who are reasonably big players. You can pick up their Signs and Portents Free Electronic Magazine for additional RuneQuest content. At the end of the day, though, it's a high quality freebie and I definitely wouldn't pass it up.

I have just finished downloading today's selection. I have browsed through RuneQuest, which is a really nice PDF, Twilight 2000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_2000), which is a really bad scan of the 1984 edition, but a great concept, and D20 Modern - Thrilling Tales (put together by Admant Entertainment, who do a lot of this sort of stuff), which is similar to Forbidden Kingdoms (available both today and yesterday for some reason), but nicer looking and probably with better content (I really like their Villains, such as 'The Master of the World'). Pulp era D20 is quite attractive to me, but I doubt I will ever get the time to Home Brew it, so this is nice.

Jimbob
2007-11-13, 12:22 PM
Matthew - just a quick question about runequest. My group have been playing this for a month now (as one of your people enjoy it so and wanted to run a runequest campagin) I just cant get my head around it. Dont you think with all the tables a bit confusing, having to look up all the time. And that any monster is really deadly and a couple of heavy hits can kill a campagin off.

Matthew
2007-11-13, 12:42 PM
Hey Jimbob. Yeah, perhaps I should have been clearer... RuneQuest is a good alternative to Dungeons & Dragons for people who want more 'realistic' (read complicated) and 'deadly' combat. I suppose it could be described as something of a half way house between Dungeons & Dragons and RoleMaster (also available today). It's not a 'Rules Light' game (But, then again, neither is Dungeons & Dragons 3e). In that respect it's more like War Hammer Fantasy Roleplay (First Edition) than Dungeons & Dragons. Like any game, once you become familiar with it, it becomes much easier to play and challenges easier to gauge.

Kizara
2007-11-13, 12:53 PM
Hey Jimbob. Yeah, perhaps I should have been clearer... RuneQuest is a good alternative to Dungeons & Dragons for people who want more 'realistic' (read complicated) and 'deadly' combat. I suppose it could be described as something of a half way house between Dungeons & Dragons and RoleMaster (also available today). It's not a 'Rules Light' game (But, then again, neither is Dungeons & Dragons 3e). In that respect it's more like War Hammer Fantasy Roleplay (First Edition) than Dungeons & Dragons. Like any game, once you become familiar with it, it becomes much easier to play and challenges easier to gauge.

Heh, that is actually the sort of information I was looking for. I found white wolf's system more refreshing in some ways to DnD, and was looking more in that direction instead of something 'grittier'. I like my heroic high-fantasy. :)

Thanks for the informed opinion though.

DrummingDM
2007-11-13, 12:56 PM
This may just be the greatest link ever posted, anywhere.

Subotei
2007-11-13, 02:02 PM
Cheers for posting the link - Twilight 2000 is a blast from the past!

I second your comments about RQ - I play the 3rd Edn quite regularly - its not for people who like to reap their enemies like corn.

Matthew
2007-11-13, 11:56 PM
Heh, that is actually the sort of information I was looking for. I found white wolf's system more refreshing in some ways to DnD, and was looking more in that direction instead of something 'grittier'. I like my heroic high-fantasy. :)

Thanks for the informed opinion though.

Okay, well at least I got round to the point in the end. :smallwink:


This may just be the greatest link ever posted, anywhere.

Heh, I'm sure there are replicas on many Forums... but it is a great offer.


Cheers for posting the link - Twilight 2000 is a blast from the past!

I second your comments about RQ - I play the 3rd Edn quite regularly - its not for people who like to reap their enemies like corn.

No problem. Yeah, I often wonder if Conan D20 will eventually make the transition to Rune Quest.



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At a Glance Reviews of Today's Downloads



Thrilling Tales (Omnibus Edition)
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. 217 pages.
Cover Art: Good, pulp style image (Colour)
Interior Art: Good, a mixture of photographs and pulp art (Black and White). However several images have been reproduced from Forbidden Kingdom.
Content: A variant for D20 Modern, D20 Pulp. Interesting and genre appropriate Advanced Classes, Feats, Skills and Equipment. A discussion of pulp gaming, cult design, adventure design, timeline, Nazis and the Thugee. Several NPC Villains, including Doctor Sin and The Master of the World. Pretty cool. 216 pages



Hot Dudes 01
PDF Quality: Um… okay I guess. 2 pages.
Cover Art: A computer generated image of some guy (Colour)
Interior Art: Computer generated Paper Miniatures (Colour)
Content: Nothing I am ever going to have a use for… though Foch002 is pretty cool looking… Quiet you! 1 page.



War of the Burning Sky 1 – The Scouring of Gate Pass
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. 65 pages. Printer Friendly version provided, as well as a Map Booklet (Colour)
Cover Art: Good, some kind of evil looking sorceress or something (Colour)
Interior Art: Average to Good, not much of it though (Black and White).
Content: By all accounts an excellent Adventure Module, but suffers from some grammatical and spelling errors (though these may have been corrected by now). NPC statistics are printed twice, but the second lot are all at the back. Not including those, 48 pages.



Twilight 2000
PDF Quality: Scanned Book; pages were thin, so suffers from bleed through; searchable, but not bookmarked. 104 pages. No doubt this would be a bitch to print
Cover Art: Average to Good, ragtag group of soldiers (Colour)
Interior Art: Professional and evocative (Black and White).
Content: This was first published in 1984. The concept is great and this book is brimming full of ideas and information. I don’t know what the rules are like and, even considering their bold claim of an innovative new system, I have my doubts. Even if the rules turn out to suck, this makes for a great sourcebook for any system you might want to adapt it to. There’s even a starting adventure to usher you on your way into the post third world war environment. Hard to get an accurate page count as this was a boxed set, maybe 96 pages.



The Kandris Seal
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. 135 pages.
Cover Art: Average, pastel of the Kandris Seal and three cultists (Colour)
Interior Art: Average to Good (Black and White).
Content: A D20 Sourcebook, originally for the Hero System. Basically it details a cadre of demons, its servants, adversaries and their relation to the rest of the world. There’s really too much in the way of rules and not enough in the way of concept material for my liking and it retains confusing references to the previous system. There are plenty of detailed NPCs, but I would have liked for there to have been more in the way of locales and concepts. Still, it is a tried and true concept and I would definitely take a look at this if I were intending to run a D20 'Shadow Chaser' type game. 128 pages.



Role Master (Express Version)
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked. 90 pages.
Cover Art: Professional, but not to my taste (Colour)
Interior Art: Professional and attractive (Black and White)
Content: Exactly what you would expect. A condensed version of the Role Master rule set and just about as complex. If you have ever been curious about exactly what this game entails, this is your chance to find out. I particularly liked the Combat Example, especially as it took 3 pages to describe 1 Round! Takes me back to my Middle Earth Role Playing days... Also includes the short adventure In Search of Valen. 88 pages.



Future Armada (Venture)
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. Battle Map Booklet also provided, for which there is a Printer Friendly version and six images. 34 pages
Cover Art: Professional computer generated image of the ship (Colour)
Interior Art: Professional, images of the ship and deck plans (Colour)
Content: A Privateer Class Light Freighter for D20 Future, The Venture comes complete with deck plans, area descriptions, NPC Crew and scaled battle maps. Also included are six very cool looking images of the ship in flight. A very useful supplement for anyone planning to run a D20 Future or Space Campaign. I have seen a few of these, but this is far and away the best.



The Last Tomb
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. 50 pages.
Cover Art: Fair, a computer generated image of a skull (Colour)
Interior Art: Fair to Good, a couple of full page illustrations (Black and White)
Content: A Dungeon Crawl for D20 Fantasy; first in a series intended to be particularly difficult. Seems okay to me. Includes six pregenerated Player Characters, a few new Magic Items, Spells and a Monster. 32 pages of Adventure, 16 page Appendix.



Simply Prestige
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked and very plain. 34 pages.
Cover Art: Good, some kind of Black Smith in a manly pose (Colour)
Interior Art: Average to Good, each Prestige Class has an illustration (Black and White)
Content: 28 pages of Prestige Classes and Feats. It is what it is. I liked the Chaos Lord.



Ptolus: The World of Praemal (Part 2)
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. A lot going on, though. 64 pages.
Cover Art: Disappointingly Average; not as nice looking as the Player’s Guide or Bonus Map Book (Colour)
Interior Art: Professional, if a bit variable. (Mainly colour, some Black and White)
Content: 64 pages of Campaign Setting background, maps and some campaign specific Races. Very useful if you’re running Ptolus and a nice showcase if you’re interested in the Campaign Setting. A welcome addition to the Player’s Guide and Bonus Maps I already have. If I were going to run a ‘full on 3e D&D Campaign’ and I had some money to spare, I would definitely consider Ptolus. 56 pages.



Mindscape Music (To the Marrow)
Sound Quality: Good
Content: Not my preferred listening.



Rune Quest
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked. May take a lot of ink to print. 130 pages.
Cover Art: Professional, Runes aplenty (Colour)
Interior Art: Professional (Black and White),
Content: The Core Rules to Rune Quest 4e by Mongoose Publishing, complemented by yesterday’s freebie, The Collected Character. More realistic and deadly combat than Dungeons & Dragons, additional free content, including Adventures, available through Mongoose’s Free Electronic Magazine, Signs and Portents. 128 pages.



Forbidden Kingdoms*
PDF Quality: Scanned, readable and searchable, but not bookmarked. 307 pages.
Cover Art: Low Quality Resolution of a compass against a bright orange background (Colour)
Interior Art: Average to Good. Nice enough for Thrilling Tales to want to steal. (Black and White)
Content: D20 Pulp. This was produced several years before D20 Modern and Thrilling Tales, which follows the same basic pattern. There’s a big chunk of exposition and world history, about a third of the book, followed by a lot of rules for the sorts of things you would expect. The more I think about it, the more I would like to see True20 Pulp, still can’t really complain. 300 pages.

*A more extensive look through this product shows that it was drawn upon for many other supplements, including D20 Modern and Unearthed Arcana.



The Elemental Dimension of Magic
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable and searchable. Not bookmarked.
Cover Art: Plain (Colour)
Interior Art: Average, two full page images (Black and White)
Content: All too brief, 16 pages, interesting idea



Bits of Darkness (Dungeons)
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked
Cover Art: A bit too Old School for my liking (Colour)
Interior Art: Professional (Black and White)
Content: Really quite an innovative idea; basically generic descriptions to insert into your Dungeon. 21 pages of content, 1 page OGL, 18 pages of descriptions in card form.



Neo Fighters (Fire Knight)
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. Portrait and Landscape versions provided.
Cover Art: Computer generated, not my cup of tea (Colour)
Interior Art: Average (Black and White)
Content: A new Base Class; you have probably seen it all before



Claw, Claw, Bite (Issue 9)
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. 24 pages.
Cover Art: Poor, I would say, a stretched out portrait (Colour)
Interior Art: Variable, mainly shopped photographs (Colour)
Content: A resource for D20 Fantasy. Basically, a collection of various Classes, Feats, Items, Encounters, Monsters, NPCs and Locations connected by a Campaign Setting called the Ten Princedoms. Quite an interesting idea, I liked the Atheist Domain. 21 pages.




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...and that's it for today.

RTGoodman
2007-11-14, 10:07 AM
Is anyone else having trouble downloading the free stuff today? I just tried several of the products, and keep getting the same error message. And when I try to contact them, only the top part of the page loads, so I can't really do anything?

Any suggestions? I'm running Firefox, and I already cleared my browser cache and tried logging out and logging back in, but none of that helped.

What's worse, there's actually some stuff I'm really interested in today...

Matthew
2007-11-14, 10:11 AM
Yeah, it's just come online. Click the 'Contact Us' at the bottom of the page and paste your error mesage there. I have done so already, as I had the exact same problem. Probably too many people trying to download or something.

[Edit] Seems to be working for me now.

RTGoodman
2007-11-14, 03:00 PM
Okay, I guess it was just site traffic or something.

Also, has anyone played The Veggie Patch (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=20710&it=1) game? Sounds pretty interesting, but I'm not sure that it'd be fun.

Matthew
2007-11-14, 03:18 PM
Never played it, but downloaded it today. My girlfriend seemed interested at the prospect of having a Carrot Player Character, but then she discovered Tales from the Wood and decided she would rather be a Rabbit.

It's probably worth steering clear of Heroic Visions, Chimera and Future Nexus, unless you really want to trawl through several hundred pages of RPG Systems with low production values. Affiliates Player's Guide is pretty much along the same lines. Highlights are Broadside, Untapped Classes (Marksman), The Tome of Horrors (fantastic Monster resource) and Heavy Gear Blitz.

Lazy Games Masters (Troglodytes) does exactly what it says on the tin, which is not much. The Town of Umberham is basically a poor man's Ptolus. Way, way, way too much crunch, but an amazing achievement to purview. If I get the time, I'll give them all short reviews, as with above. Did anybody find those helpful, by the way? I actually found writing them to be quite a fun excercise.

RTGoodman
2007-11-14, 04:20 PM
If I get the time, I'll give them all short reviews, as with above. Did anybody find those helpful, by the way? I actually found writing them to be quite a fun excercise.

Yeah, they seemed pretty helpful to me. Having read through "The Veggie Patch," it seems like it'd be a cool game for a break from regular D&D (though, with all the new gaming systems I'm getting for free this week, I'll probably try to give them a shot also).

The Chimera system sounds pretty neat from the description, but I haven't had a chance to read through it yet.

Also, since you didn't mention it, I'll go ahead and give a breakdown of the "Unorthodox Fighters" thing. Like the "Unorthodox Clerics" supplement (that was a free download on Monday), the UF basically gives 5 variants on the Fighter class. They range from decent (The Bastion, a defensive-type guy), to the mediocre (The Legend Seeker, a fighter with signature moves and groupies and stuff) to the downright stupid (the Dogfighter, a Fighter that literally gets dog companions as class abilities).

There are a several grammar and editing mistakes (for instance, there's a paragraph the intro that you can tell is cut-and-pasted from the Cleric version, because it even says something like "The five Cleric variants in this book..."). Also, there are a few puzzling things (for instance, the Bastion starts with a +1 Will save that only advances like a poor save, which is completely out-of-the-norm for d20 class design).

Overall, I'd say it's probably not worth it. I'd probably give it a 3 out of 10. If you really want a book of variant from this company, though, check out the "Unorthodox Clerics," which I thought was really well done (and would even consider including in a homebrew world).

Lord Tataraus
2007-11-14, 04:24 PM
Hey, keep up the reviews! I've been lurker in this thread for awhile and your helping my decisions a lot! Thanks!

(a few more exclamation marks for good measure: !!!!!!!)

Sepp
2007-11-14, 04:36 PM
Hey, keep up the reviews! I've been lurker in this thread for awhile and your helping my decisions a lot! Thanks!

(a few more exclamation marks for good measure: !!!!!!!)

Yeah, I have to agree. The reviews where really helpful and I appreciate them.

Matthew
2007-11-14, 09:48 PM
Here we go again...



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At a Glance Reviews of Today's Downloads




Affiliates (Player’s Guide)
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked. 124 pages.
Cover Art: Good, computer aided drawing (Black and White)
Interior Art: Fair, a mixture of photographs and amateur hand drawn portraits (Black and White)
Content: Basically a modern day private underworld espionage RPG. About half of the document is devoted to the rules system, character generation, equipment, combat and skill resolution, which all appears to be fairly standard stuff. The other half of the document describes some of the game setting and the shady private organisation, Smythe Affiliated, and NPCs for whom the Player Characters work. Seems okay, but the product release schedule never got beyond the Games Master’s Guide. The concept is interesting and the organisation could probably be incorporated into another game system. 122 pages.



Propz: Minute Dungeon
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable and bookmarked, but not searchable. 25 pages.
Cover Art: Fair, a computer image with a photograph of the assembled dungeon (Colour)
Interior Art: Good, photographs and dungeon map plans (Colour and Black and White)
Content: If I had the time and ink cartridges to spare, I would definitely build one of these three dimensional dungeons. Whilst not of the highest quality it would be an improvement on the backs of cereal packets I currently use. The fully assembled dungeon does look pretty cool, but I can’t help thinking that this is a luxury item more likely to sit proudly on the shelf than much play once assembled. 10 pages of instructions, 14 of the dungeon.



Monkey, Ninja, Pirate, Robot Deluxe
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. 64 pages.
Cover Art: Plain stick figure art (Black and White)
Interior Art: Plain stick figure art (Black and White)
Content: RPG. This isn’t the first Atomic Sock Monkey product I have encountered nor am I completely unfamiliar with the Prose Descriptive Qualities System. As you can probably guess, this part comedy and part parody. Character generation, character sheet, cards, task resolution, mojo rules, aliens, Games Master advice and a short 14 page adventure entitled Invasion of the Mojo Snatchers. For a bit of wacky fun, you can’t really go wrong.



Dead Men (and Women) Walking
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. The cover, however, is a very poor scan. 176 pages.
Cover Art: Average, don’t know what that little freaky thing is, but I suppose it’ll feature in one of these stories (Colour)
Interior Art: Good, there are five images (Black and White)
Content: I would be lying if I said I had read any of these, but they all appear to be zombie fiction, so I might get round to it. There appear to be 25 individual stories and over 160 pages, so probably about 80,000 to 100,000 words.



Tales from the Wood
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable and searchable. There are two versions, Landscape and Portrait, only the Landscape version is bookmarked and is slightly longer at 58 pages to the Portrait versions 54. The Cover, Map and three Character Sheets, only one of which is blank, are provided separately. PDF borders are a bit garish and don’t sit well with the presentation overall. 59 and 63 pages respectively.
Cover Art: Good, evocative drawn image of several animals in the forest (colour)
Interior Art: Good, sketches for the most part (Black and (White)
Content: A rules light RPG where players take on the roles of various animals or a Gnome and have adventures in the forest. There is some potential for violence, as it takes a Watership Down approach. The rules seem fairly conventional. A good concept RPG for playing with young children or as a welcome break from reality for adults. Three short adventures are included at the back of the document, altogether taking up 12 pages. 58 pages.



The Town of Umberham
PDF Quality: Landscape, clean, easily readable and searchable (thank goodness). 214 pages. A Printer friendly version is also provided. 213 pages. The maps are also provided individually for Campaign Cartographer, so you can alter them with that software.
Cover Art: Poor, computer generated image (Colour)
Interior Art: Average to Good (Black and White). All Maps are done with Campaign Cartographer.
Content: A D20 Fantasy Supplement. The sheer enormity of this project has to be respected, but it is an excellent example of one of the problems that plagues rules heavy games, the complexity and size of Non Player Character statistics. About 70% of the room allotted for description is taken up by mainly useless information that is dispersed throughout the document and really should have been minimised and confined to an Appendix. Either by design or by accident, some of the NPCs do not conform to the default expectations of the game. The colour maps produced with campaign cartographer are a bit garish to look at, I actually prefer the black and white printer friendly version. That said this is a very detailed supplement and contains several adventure locales. 211 pages.



The Lazy Games Master (Troglodytes)
PDF Quality: Portrait, plain, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked. 60 pages.
Cover Art: Below Average silhouettes of two Troglodytes (Black and White)
Interior Art: None
Content: It is what it claims to be. A huge collection and index of Troglodytes of various levels and classes and no exposition beyond a couple of rules clarifications. A curiosity, but that’s about it, I wouldn't buy any more in the series on the strength of this. 58 pages.



Future Nexus
PDF Quality: Portrait, plain, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked. 250 pages.
Cover Art: Poor, some sort of spaceship (Colour)
Interior Art: Poor, should have left it out (Black and White)
Content: This RPG is clearly a labour of love. The first two hundred or so pages are entirely devoted to explaining the rules system, only four fifths of the way through the document do we finally get a comprehensive exposition as to the setting that the rules support. Apparently, the Oriental East rose up some time in the 21st Century and avenged themselves on Westerners everywhere, establishing a new space empire with plenty of Samurai and their trappings. Unbeknownst to them, a Western style Republic was established nearby and in the 35th century the Republic and the Empire are at war. There are also Aliens and Mental Powers, the Galaxy is a big place, after all, but then so is the RPG Market. A few supplements were published for this, but I couldn’t recommend it. It might be worth reading the history section for inspiration. 250 pages.



Heavy Gear (Blitz)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked. Would probably take a lot of ink to print. 83 pages.
Cover Art: Professional, very evocative (Colour)
Interior Art: Professional, mix of photographs and art (Colour)
Content: This is a Science Fiction Tactical Game and I like it a lot, but then I like Mech Warrior as well. It’s well supported and much loved. You’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t download this. The imagery may be ripping off Gundam, but it’s great. The rules are all clearly laid out and look fairly easy to grasp. 60 pages of setting and rules, 12 page scenario, 9 pages of Data Cards, Reference Sheets and Counters.



Untapped Classes (Complete Marksman)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. 41 pages.
Cover Art: Good, plain with some black and white weapon images (Colour)
Interior Art: Professional, mainly character images (Black and White).
Content: This D20 Fantasy Supplement presents the Marksman Base Class, three Prestige Classes, three NPCs and a bunch of Feats. The twist is that the Classes have a lot of Psychic Material that builds off the Untapped Potential Supplement. All in all, a neat product, though it could have done with a contents page. 39 pages.



E-Z Dungeons (Items 1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked. 8 pages.
Content: Much like the Minute Dungeon, this a collection of templates for building three dimensional models for your dungeon, but in this case the subject matter are tables, chests and bookcases. The photograph of the assembled pieces looks good, reminds me of MB Hero Quest. However, much like Minute Dungeon, I cannot see myself getting very much use out of these once assembled. 4 pages of instructions, 4 pages of templates.



Broadsides (Naval Adventuring)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked. 130 pages.
Cover Art: Professional, a Sea Serpent attacking a Ship (Colour)
Interior Art: Professional, some variability (Black and White)
Content: A Fantasy D20 Supplement released before 3.5 appeared. Still, plenty of cool stuff here, new Equipment, Skills, Feats, Prestige Classes, Spells, Monsters, NPCs, discussion of travelling by sea, combat on the ocean and exploration beneath the waves. Worth picking up, in my opinion. 128 pages.



Tome of Horrors (Revised)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked (Oh the horror!). Would take a lot of ink to print out. 451 pages.
Cover Art: Professional, fake tome (Colour)
Interior Art: Professional, mainly monsters (Black and White)
Content: A Fantasy D20 Supplement first released for 3.0 and now revised for 3.5. Every Monster from previous editions and then some who didn’t make it into the 3.5 Monster Manuals can be found here. Ju Ju Zombies, Skeleton Warriors, Demon Knights and Orcus himself. Don’t pass this up, it's fantastic. 450 pages.



The Veggie Patch
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked. 42 pages.
Cover Art: I believe that it’s a photograph of a pumpkin (Colour)
Interior Art: Reasonable, maps and plant sketches (Black and White)
Content: Well, it’s an RPG where you play a vegetable. I don’t suppose the quality matters have as much as the concept, but suffice to say that it is rules light. 38 pages of game, 1 page Character sheet, 2 pages of counters.



The Elemental Dimension of Magic
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable. Not bookmarked.
Cover Art: Plain (Colour)
Interior Art: Average, two full page images (Black and White)
Content: All too brief, 16 pages, interesting idea



Unorthodox Fighter
PDF Quality: Landscape, clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. 39 pages. Print Friendly Portrait version. 38 pages. Word Document version.
Cover Art: Below Average, female warrior, two versions one with inverted colours (Colour)
Interior Art: Average to Good, picture for each class (Monochrome)
Content: Five Fighter Base Class variants. Not much in the way of archetypes, just more narrowly defined Fighters, both in purpose and Abilities.



Complete Spell Cards (Updated)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked.
Cover Art: Below Average, a Wizard presumably (Black and White)
Interior Art: Poor (Black and White)
Content: Basically, all the core spells in template card form, ready to be printed out onto cardboard. Nice if you like to have your Spells in Card Form, otherwise useless.



Chimera
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. 148 pages.
Cover Art: Good, symbolic (Colour)
Interior Art: Good, lots of variation (Black and White)
Content: This is a universal RPG that makes use of the Open Game Licence. It seems to have dispensed with levels and the open ended Attribute Table, preferring a system of traits. This actually appears to be not a bad little rules system, especially if you like your games to remain deadly but still feel like Dungeons & Dragons. This reminds me of D20 E6 and also a little of True20. It’s certainly a system worth examining further. 144 pages.



Behind the Spells (Vampiric Touch)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. 6 pages.
Interior Art: Good (Black and White)
Content: To my mind, this is without doubt the sort of thing that ought to be put out for free by fans or submitted to a magazine.



Heroic Visions
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked.
Cover Art: Absent from the PDF, would have been computer generated image (Colour)
Interior Art: Average, computer generated image, not to my taste (Colour)
Content: A Super Hero RPG. This book is composed entirely of character creation rules until around page 100 where the focus shifts to NPC examples and a small bestiary. I think I like this even less than Future Nexus.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------


...and that's it for today.

brian c
2007-11-14, 10:52 PM
Has anyone ever played Affiliates, or had exposure to it other than just seeing this pdf? I got the Player's Guide here and it looks really interesting, I was thinking about paying $12 for the GM Guide and running a game for some friends

RTGoodman
2007-11-14, 11:49 PM
Has anyone ever played Affiliates, or had exposure to it other than just seeing this pdf? I got the Player's Guide here and it looks really interesting, I was thinking about paying $12 for the GM Guide and running a game for some friends

Apparently no one has ever played it. :smallbiggrin: Looking at their website, the company seems to only have ever released the Player's Guide and GM Guide (or whatever they're called). There's a list of Supplements (http://www.affiliatesrpg.co.uk/supp.htm), but it's been a couple of years since the game came out, but it looks like none of them have been made. And there's a community page there, but it's currently unavailable.

I'm not into the whole Mafia thing, but if that's your kind of thing, I'd say just get a group and go for it.

Matthew
2007-11-15, 12:02 AM
I would say that's a fair assessment. Affiliations, Future Nexus, Heroic Visions and Chimera all look to have had minimal impact and no success. For the first three I could care less, but Chimera I am starting to warm to.

brian c
2007-11-15, 12:08 AM
I would say that's a fair assessment. Affiliations, Future Nexus, Heroic Visions and Chimera all look to have had minimal impact and no success. For the first three I could care less, but Chimera I am starting to warm to.

Hm, yeah. I read through the entire Players Guide, and while it wasn't edited very well and the plot seemed a bit hokey, I like the overall feel and the way the game mechanics seem to work ("seem to" is the key phrase, since I haven't gotten to test them out yet). I'll give it a try, and I may end up recommending it.

RTGoodman
2007-11-15, 12:19 AM
Well, I've finally had a chance to look through the Tome of Horrors, and I agree that it's probably the coolest thing I'll download this week.

I mean, it includes everyone's favorite Flumphs, plus a 3.5 update of the Wolf-In-Sheep's-Clothing (http://www.headinjurytheater.com/images/d&D%20beasts%20wolf%20in%20sheeps%20clothing.jpg)! Oh, and the Stench Kow. And Lucifer. And the Froghemoth. And actually, a good many of the creatures on this page (http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article73.htm).

How could I have never seen this book before!? It's amazing!

Matthew
2007-11-15, 12:21 AM
Hm, yeah. I read through the entire Players Guide, and while it wasn't edited very well and the plot seemed a bit hokey, I like the overall feel and the way the game mechanics seem to work ("seem to" is the key phrase, since I haven't gotten to test them out yet). I'll give it a try, and I may end up recommending it.

It's certainly worth giving it a go. The concept is transferable to another system, but if it's the system you like, then you may end up transferring other concepts onto that!


Well, I've finally had a chance to look through the Tome of Horrors, and I agree that it's probably the coolest thing I'll download this week.

I mean, it includes everyone's favorite Flumphs, plus a 3.5 update of the Wolf-In-Sheep's-Clothing (http://www.headinjurytheater.com/images/d&D%20beasts%20wolf%20in%20sheeps%20clothing.jpg)! Oh, and the Stench Kow. And Lucifer. And the Froghemoth. And actually, a good many of the creatures on this page (http://www.headinjurytheater.com/article73.htm).

How could I have never seen this book before!? It's amazing!

It certainly is. Definitely my pick of today. Still, I was surprised how much I liked Heavy Gear and Chimera especially. Still, tomorrow it's D20 Conan that will be topping my list. That said, tomorrow's other freebies seems quite interesting.

Maerok
2007-11-15, 12:44 AM
What do I do with these EFW files I keep getting when I try to download the ZIP files?

Matthew
2007-11-15, 12:49 AM
What do I do with these EFW files I keep getting when I try to download the ZIP files?

Are you trying to extract the Zip Files and getting a 'can't be moved message'? If so, don't worry about it. Those files weigh 0 Bytes, they appear to be a tagging system. Just delete them.

Maerok
2007-11-15, 02:02 PM
Could somebody grab the Revised Tomb of Horrors, and Gunslingers and Gamblers (this is on today's list) for me? My computer isn't letting me download... :(

Matthew
2007-11-15, 03:32 PM
Review of today's Freebies coming shortly



--------------------------------------------------------------------------


At a Glance Reviews of Today's Downloads




The Depths of Ruin (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50770)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked. Not print friendly. 45 pages.
Cover Art: Average, the Title is too large, but the image is quite nice (black, red and white)
Interior Art: Professional, nice variety. Maps could have been prettier (black and white)
Content: A short D20 Fantasy Adventure Module for four Level 7 Player Characters. It involves a village, wilderness travel, a castle and a dungeon. It seems a bit linear, but fairly solid. Really could have done with a printer friendly version.
1 cover page, 1 title page, 24 pages of adventure, 8 pages of NPCs and Monsters, 9 pages of maps (marked and unmarked), 2 pages of OGL
Publisher: Dungeon Dwellers’ Guild Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=524)
Matt's Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



Gunslingers and Gamblers (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=12224&it=1)
[I]PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable, bookmarked and a print friendly version is provided. 94 pages.
Cover Art: Professional and evocative of the old west setting (colour)
Interior Art: Professional and consistent with the cover art (colour)
Content: An Western RPG with an ‘innovative’ poker dice mechanics. The production values on this are pretty high and there’s a good balance between mechanics and exposition. If you run out of material there are a couple of reasonably priced supplements available.
1 cover page, 1 page of contents, 34 pages of rules, 17 pages of setting discussion, 8 pages of equipment, 8 pages of NPCs and monsters, 4 pages describing Harris County, 6 page introductory adventure, 8 page glossary, 2 pages of appendices, 2 pages of index, 2 page character sheet, 1 back page.
Publisher: Fat Jonny Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=517)
Matt's Rating: 5 out of 5
Independent Rating: 5 out of 5



F Space (Reference Manual 2.1) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=28089&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable, bookmarked and reasonably printer friendly. 133 pages.
Cover Art: Very good, reminds me of RIFTS (colour)
Interior Art: Very good to professional (black and white)
Content: A Space RPG. This is the condensed version of their second edition rulebook and runs on the FEDRPG system. The front cover isn’t the only thing that reminds me of RIFTS in this document, it was a bit difficult to navigate and heavy on rules. I actually quite liked it, though. I think combat would be a pain to run, but it’s probably quirky enough for me to put up with, though perhaps not for a lengthy campaign. The system appears to be based around skills and careers. There are basic careers, advanced careers (which run the usual gamut, but are not definitive), psychic powers, pulse rifles, aliens, mechs and beast men. Even if you didn’t end up using the system, it’s an interesting read. I wish there was more information on the setting provided.
1 cover page, 1 blank page, 1 title page, 1 page of credits, 1 contents page, 48 pages of character creation, 58 pages of rules and equipment, 26 pages of setting exposition, 1 odd page, 3 page index, 2 page character sheet.
Publisher: F Space Publications (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=2131)
Matt's Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



X Crawl (Rule Book) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1588&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked or particularly printer friendly. 242 pages.
Cover Art: Professional, but despite claims on the cover to the contrary (black and white)
Interior Art: Professional, cartoonish and no doubt better in colour (black and white)
Content: This appears to be a fun take on D20 Urban Arcana. The setting is very detailed and the production values are high, though this version suffers from being black and white (like we were going to print the colour version!) and the three dungeon maps are oddly iffy, a choice which must be part of the setting ethos. The premise of the campaign is that the Player Characters are making a career for themselves on televised and sanctioned dungeon crawls run by DJs (Dungeon Judges) for fame, money and the entertainment of the masses. They can also participate in unsanctioned crawls, should they dare. Honestly, it looks like a blast, parodying modern culture and gaming in one fell swoop.
2 cover pages, 1 title page, 1 contents page, 110 pages of alternate history setting exposition, 52 pages of mechanics (new rules, classes, skills, feats , spells and equipment), 16 pages of Games Master advice, 36 page three level dungeon crawl, 7 pages of monsters, 5 pages of Deities, 4 page sample team, 3 page character sheet, 2 index pages, 1 OGL page and 1 back page.
Publisher: Goodman Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=36)
Matt's Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



Grunt Fantasy Miniature Combat (Third Edition) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=18512&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked; reasonably print friendly. 39 pages.
Cover Art: Below Average, a castle and some eagles (black and white)
Interior Art: Below Average (black and white)
Content: This appears to be a relatively simple war game set against the backdrop of an eternal war between order and chaos. It is well supported and inexpensive, but I think there are better games out there.
1 cover page, 1 title page, 3 pages of narrative, 23 pages of rules, 2 pages of maps, 3 pages of counters, 2 record sheets, 4 pages of cards.
Publisher: Guild of Blades (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=409)
Matt's Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: 4 out of 5



Fading Suns (Player’s Companion) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=593&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked; reasonably print friendly, 211 pages.
Cover Art: Professional, not that I like it (colour)
Interior Art: Professional, but variable; several full page images (black and white)
Content: This is a sourcebook for Fading Suns. I have always liked the concept and the imagery associated with this setting. This document is light on mechanics and heavy on exposition, but still fulfils its purpose as a character creation resource expansion.
1 cover page, 1 title page, 1 credit page, 1 contents page, 2 index pages, 1 advert page, 1 logo and 1 back page.
Publisher: Holistic Design (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=17)
Matt's Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



Godsend Agenda (Super Link Conversion) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=13114&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked, but not really print friendly. 211 pages.
Cover Art: Professional and appropriate (colour)
Interior Art: Professional, and there’s a lot of it (colour)
Content: A Mutants & Masterminds super link sourcebook for the Godsend Agenda Campaign Setting. The production values on this are very high, which means you might as well buy the print version of this sourcebook as print out the PDF. It provides a few rules tweaks with regard to character creation and a smattering of system alterations before launching into a detailed setting history, tons of information about NPCs and organisations, plot hooks and guidance for running the game. What I did notice was a distinct lack of maps, which I think would have been nice to have.
1 cover page, 2 contents pages, 204 pages detailing the setting, 2 index pages, 1 OGL page, 1 back page.
Publisher: Khepera Publishing (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=128)
Matt's Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: 5 out of 5



Conan (Pocket Edition) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3588&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked and not really printer friendly, 394 pages.
Cover Art: Professional and an absolutely fantastic image, even if reused (colour)
Interior Art: Professional, not much of it understandably (black and white)
Content: A condensed and pocket book sized version of the excellent D20 Conan RPG mechanics; Very cool. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, go and do it.
1 cover page, 1 contents page, 2 credits pages, 380 pages of Conan, 10 index pages, 1 OGL page and 1 back cover,
Publisher: Mongoose Publishing (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=45)
Matt's Rating: 5 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



Another 13 Shades of Darkness (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50247)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable, bookmarked and reasonably print friendly. 233 pages.
Cover Art: Good, but culled from elsewhere; a young modern day vampiress (colour)
Interior Art: Average to Good, similarly culled from elsewhere and consequently variable; there’s an image for each villain and many other characters. (colour).
Content: A super link sourcebook for Mutants & Masterminds. A collection of thirteen super villains, their allies, their adversaries, adventure ideas and three potential strongholds. This sourcebook is very strong on ideas and keeps the mechanical information to a minimum. There’s also a short section with some new equipment and spells. Professor Purgatory and the Ordo Ultima would be worthy adversaries for any group of would be super heroes.
1 cover page, 1 title page, 1 contents page, 1 introduction page, 33 pages of solo super villains, 65 pages detailing the Ordo Ultima, 63 pages detailing potential strongholds, 35 pages of NPCs, 7 pages of devices and spells, 24 pages of additional adventure ideas, 2 pages of OGL.
Publisher: Plain Brown Wrapper Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=547)
Matt's Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: 4 out of 5



Dice & Glory (Rule Book) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=25126&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable, bookmarked and printer friendly. 208 pages.
Cover Art: Average, a slightly comic pastiche of fantasy and future motifs (colour)
Interior Art: Average to Good, usually amusing and with several full page images (black and white)
Content: Yet another universal RPG system. On the title page there is a samurai riding a dinosaur against a knight who is riding a motorcycle, sounds like fun. Even though this document lacks an OGL acknowledgement, it clearly borrows from it and many conventions are retained, such as attributes, levels, classes, skills, feats, saving throws and hit points. Despite retaining classes and levels, most of the character’s abilities are purchased. This reads like somebody’s extensive house rules for AD&D, but the concepts are so generalised and recycled that they lack substance.
1 cover page, 1 title page, 3 contents pages, 5 pages of character sheets, 180 pages of rules, 6 pages of tables, 6 character sheets, 5 record sheets and 1 back page.
Publisher: Ranger Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=805)
Matt's Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: 5 out of 5



Open Core (Quick Start) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=28759&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked and not really printer friendly. 39 pages. Accompanied by a supplement about which the same could be said. 12 pages.
Cover Art: Professional, really captures a feeling of unified diversity (colour).
Interior Art: Average, culled from other sources (black and white).
Content: A light RPG that makes use of the Action and Open Core systems. Characters are point built, having Attributes, Skills, Abilities, Disabilities and Action Points. The game uses a 3D6 + Attribute + Modifier = Target Number. A necessary supplement that accompanies the rules is Guns and Money, which provides a details for wealth, weapons and armour, but is printed in an entirely different style and with a black and white cover that contrasts with its heavily shaded interior.
1 cover page, 1 title and contents page, 34 pages of rules, 1 OGL page, 1 page of adverts.
1 cover page, 1 title page, 9 pages of equipment, 1 OGL page.
Publisher: Seraphim Guard (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=662)
Matt's Rating: Under Review
Independent Rating: 3 out of 5



17 Monks Feats (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=23442&it=1)
PDF Quality: Both landscape and portrait versions provided, clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked, reasonably print friendly. 15 and 14 pages respectively.
Cover Art: Above Average, a stylised photograph of an oriental statue, perhaps an Oni (colour)
Interior Art: Above Average, about a dozen images each in a different colour (mono)
Content: Well, it is what it is. Seventeen D20 Feats for the Monk Class. Some are better than others, even given the prerequisites. The ability to do Attribute Damage, avoid attacks via a Reflex Save and apply double Strength Bonus Damage to Unarmed Strikes are fairly standard fixes. Some of them are not very well thought out, such as the ability to strike on an opponent's turn, but using up your own attacks. You can find the same sort of stuff on many a Home brew Forum. However, in my opinion, the problem with the Monk, is not the Feats available, but the Feat system itself.
1 cover page, 1 title page, 9-10 pages of Feats, 3 pages of OGL.
Publisher: Le Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=127)
Matt's Rating: 2 out of 5
Independent Rating: 4 out of 5



The Storytelling Adventure System Guide (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=51010)
PDF Quality: Landscape, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked, appears to be reasonably print friendly. 12 pages.
Interior Art: Professional design, no actual art (black and white)
Content: This is exactly what it claims to be. It looks to me as thought it was culled from a larger resource, but since I don’t own any World of Darkness books myself, I can’t be sure of which one it might be. In any case, it seems like a pretty good guide and advertisement for the Storytelling System.
1 title page, 9 pages of exposition, 2 pages of scenes.
Publisher: White Wolf (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=1)
Matt's Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



The Resurrectionists (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=24518&it=1)
PDF Quality: Landscape, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked; reasonably print friendly. 45 pages.
Cover Art: Professional (black, red and white)
Interior Art: Professional, but a bit inconsistent (black and white)
Content: A short adventure for Vampire the Requiem. Looks okay to me, though I can’t claim to be fully versed in the intricacies of the system. The plot seems to revolve around the reappearance of a fugitive vampire, a matter of interest for several power groups. The Player Characters are charged with capturing him for an unnamed patron and the action proceeds from there over the course of nine scenes.
2 cover pages, 38 pages of adventure, 2 pages of maps, 3 pages of scene cards.
Publisher: White Wolf (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=1)
Matt's Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated




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..and that's your lot.

Sepp
2007-11-15, 04:26 PM
Thanks again for these reviews. Some of them I had just skipped over, but on reading your post, I went back and gave them a second look. Appreciate them.

The VP
2007-11-15, 04:53 PM
Could somebody grab the Revised Tomb of Horrors, and Gunslingers and Gamblers (this is on today's list) for me? My computer isn't letting me download... :(

I've sent you a PM with a link to my copies of them.

Matthew
2007-11-15, 04:59 PM
Thanks again for these reviews. Some of them I had just skipped over, but on reading your post, I went back and gave them a second look. Appreciate them.

No problem, I live to serve... well, so long as I feel like it, anyway. Still, glad to be of service.

Bender
2007-11-15, 05:03 PM
No problem, I live to serve... well, so long as I feel like it, anyway. Still, glad to be of service.

Keep up the good work, it's really helpful. :smallsmile:

Crow
2007-11-15, 05:45 PM
That Conan RPG is pure Win. I highly recommend grabbing it if you can.

Matthew
2007-11-15, 07:11 PM
That Conan RPG is pure Win. I highly recommend grabbing it if you can.

I agree, though my version suffers from confused layout and repetition of content on pages 92-96.

Also... I think I hear the death knells of D20, there's a huge sale going on over at Paizo. 90% off a lot of items, mainly D20 Freeport and D20 Thieves' World.

Paizo Green Ronin Sale (http://paizo.com/store/sale/greenRonin)

RTGoodman
2007-11-15, 08:08 PM
Yeah, I've been meaning to buy the Conan d20 RPG for about 10 months now, but never got around to it. (We were going to play it last Spring, but the DM decided to try out the HERO System's "Hyborian Age" system, and I just never went back to get the d20 Conan book). The quality's good, and if I could get a group together that could, you know, meet more than once every three months, I'd definitely try to run it.

I'm not as confident about the "Gunslingers & Gamblers" though. I was really excited (I've been thinking about running a d20 Modern Past Wild West game, at some point), and this seemed interesting. The core mechanic (the "poker dice" thing) seems really weird and almost hokey to me. I don't know, though - I may give it another look at some point.

The only other thing I downloaded from today's stuff was the "17 Monk Feats." I liked some of the other stuff from that company, and was expecting this to be really awesome. I was a little let down, though. Some feats are really good (maybe bordering on over-powered), some are mediocre, and some just bad and/or silly (you can shoot beams of pure ki out of your hands, and the color changes depending on your alignment!).

Matthew
2007-11-16, 08:54 AM
Yeah, you might be better off picking up Green Ronin's D20 Western as a print book in the Armageddon Sale.

The 17 Monk Feats were iffy, but then that's pretty much waht I expect from new Feats. I think it's more the inability of the Feat system to support that kind of character than anything else.

[Edit]

Anyway initial review of today's downloads is complete, but if you want to download something from the above list there's not much time left! I heartily recommend Godsend and X Crawl!

Hmmn, it seems my comments on Conan didn't go up, oh well, I'm sure you don't need me to recommend it, it's D20 Conan!

YPU
2007-11-16, 10:33 AM
the friday downloadrun has started, so go check it out and tell us what you think.

Matthew
2007-11-16, 11:46 PM
Well, I had some serious problems downloading these documents today and several items still haven't downloaded as advertised, so I'm going to have to contact RPGNow about it. Basically, 17 Magic Weapons and Super Console appear to be corrupt, Honour and Corruption does not include the free Web Enhancement and at least one document is labelled 'Screen', which suggests that there may be a Printer Friendly Document that is not included.

Anyway, let's see what we have:



--------------------------------------------------------------------------


At a Glance Reviews of Friday's Free Downloads




Honour and Corruption (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2776&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked, but not printer friendly, 32 pages.
Cover Art: Good to Professional, borrows from classical art (colour)
Interior Art: Good to Professional, borrows from classical art (colour)
Contents: 1 cover page, 1 advert page, 1 contents and credit page, 26 pages of contents, 2 OGL pages and 1 back cover page
Publisher: Alea Publishing Group (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=52)
Retail Price: $3.95
Matt’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: 4 out of 5



Neiyar - Land of Heaven and the Abyss (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=12028&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked, but not printer friendly, 186 pages.
Cover Art: Missing; the advertised cover looked nice…
Interior Art: Average, but variable (colour and black and white)
Contents: 1 title and credits page, 1 blank page, 1 contents page, 175 pages of contents, 2 index pages, 2 pages of OGL and 4 character sheet pages
Publisher: Bards and Sages (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=348)
Retail Price: $9.00
Matt’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: 4 out of 5



Stuff to Beat Up 1 – Tech Terrors (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=15975&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, bookmarked, but not searchable and not printer friendly, 2 pages.
Cover Art: Below Average, computer generated (colour)
Interior Art: Good, but computer generated (colour)
Contents: 1 cover page and 1 page of paper miniatures
Publisher: Dakkar Unlimited (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=75)
Retail Price: $3.95
Matt’s Rating: 2 out of 5
Independent Rating: 4 out of 5



New Gods of Mankind – New God’s Handbook (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=28596&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked, but not printer friendly, 162 pages.
Cover Art: Good to Professional, stylised combat (black, white, red and yellow)
Interior Art: Professional, but variable (black and white)
Contents: 1 cover page, 1 title and credits page, 2 contents page, 151 pages of content, 2 pages of index, 1 page of author biographies, 3 character sheet pages and 1 back cover page
Publisher: Dark Skull Studios (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=2167)
Retail Price: $24.95
Matt’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



City Supplement 1 – Dweredell (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=27955&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked; reasonably printer friendly, 14 pages.
Cover Art: Good to Professional, ruinous pillars (colour)
Interior Art: Good, but maps only (black and white)
Contents: 1 front cover page, 1 title and credits page, 9 pages of content, 1 map page, 1 OGL page and 1 back cover page.
Publisher: Dream Machine Productions (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=2142)
Retail Price: $6.49
Matt’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



Action Philosophers #1 (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=15997&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable, bookmarked and reasonably printer friendly, 35 pages.
Cover Art: Average to Good, stylised comic book (colour)
Interior Art: Average to Good, stylised comic book (black and white)
Contents: 1 front cover page, 29 pages of story, 1 page of recommended reading, 1 page of author biographies and 1 advert page
Publisher: Evil Twin Comics (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=53)
Retail Price: $2.95
Matt’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: 5 out of 5



The Echoes of Heaven (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=20592&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable, bookmarked and reasonably printer friendly, 207 pages. An 18 page preview is also provided.
Cover Art: Good (colour)
Interior Art: Good to occasionally Professional, but regional maps produced with Campaign Cartographer (colour and black and white)
Contents: 1 front cover page, 1 title page, 1 credits page, 4 contents pages, 1 map page, 190 pages of content, 5 index pages, 2 advert page, 1 OGL page and 1 back cover page
Publisher: Final Redoubt Press (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=729)
Retail Price: $19.99
Matt’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: 5 out of 5



The Throne of God (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=20592&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable, bookmarked and reasonably printer friendly, 55 pages.
Cover Art: Good, but a rehash (colour)
Interior Art: Good, but some rehash and repetition (black and white)
Contents: 1 front cover page, 1 title page, 1 credits page, 3 pages of maps, 47 pages of adventure, 1 OGL page and 1 back cover page.
Publisher: Final Redoubt Press (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=729)
Retail Price: Free with The Echoes of Heaven
Matt’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: 5 out of 5



Quirin Adventures #5 – The Secret of Maevis (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=25000&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable, bookmarked and reasonably printer friendly, 35 pages. A 7 page supplement and a 35 page printer friendly version are included in the download.
Cover Art: Average, plain (colour)
Interior Art: Average to Good, nice maps (colour and black and white)
Contents: 1 front cover page, 1 contents page, 29 pages of adventure, 8 page appendices of items, monsters and NPC statistics, 4 pages of maps, 1 OGL page and 1 back cover page. 7 page supplement includes 1 contents page, 4 pages of contents, 1 coupon for $1 off Quirin Adventures #2 and 1 OGL page.
Publisher: Game Master’s Choice (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=646)
Retail Price: $5.49
Matt’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: 3 out of 5



Empires of History Enhanced Membership (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=24105&it=1)
Contents: 1 Text DocumentPublisher: Guild of Blades (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=409)
Retail Price: $9.95
Matt’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



The Fantasy Sagas (Player’s Guidebook) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=26744&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable, bookmarked and very printer friendly, 175 pages.
Cover Art: Blank
Interior Art: None
Contents: 1 cover page, 1 title page, 3 contents pages, 140 pages of mechanics, 4 character sheet pages, 12 archetypical character sheet pages, 2 index pages, 11 blank pages and 1 advert page
Publisher: Ironwood Omnimedia (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=2044)
Retail Price: $10.53
Matt’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: 5 out of 5



Hero Quest - Hero’s Book (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=12427&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked; reasonably printer friendly, 66 pages.
Cover Art: Good to Professional, a bit cartoony for my liking (colour)
Interior Art: Good to Professional (black and white)
Contents: 1 front cover page, 1 title page, 1 contents page, 60 pages of contents, 1 character sheet page, 1 advert page and 1 back cover page
Publisher: Issaries (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=79)
Retail Price: $4.95
Matt’s Rating: 5 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



Mundi Animalia (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=20380&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked; reasonably printer friendly, 84 pages.
Cover Art: Poor, some kind of psychedelic static (colour)
Interior Art: Below Average, two images (black and white)
Contents: 1 front cover page, 1 credit page, 1 contents page, 80 pages of contents and 1 index page
Publisher: Red Anvil Productions (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=630)
Retail Price: $10.00
Matt’s Rating: 2 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



Strike Force (2136 Tech Manual) (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50035)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked; reasonably printer friendly, 184 pages.
Cover Art: Poor, hand drawn (colour)
Interior Art: Poor, hand drawn and computer generated (colour)
Contents: 1 front cover page, 1 blank page, 3 contents pages, 177 pages of contents, 2 blank pages and 1 back cover page
Publisher: RolePlayersInk (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=2175)
Retail Price: $32.99
Matt’s Rating: 1 out of 5
Independent Rating: 1 out of 5



E-Adventure Tiles - Introductory Set[/B] (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=51074)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable and searchable, but not bookmarked; printer friendly, 28 pages.
Cover Art: None
Interior Art: Professional, computer generated (colour)
Contents: 1 title page, 27 pages of battle maps and 1 advert page
Publisher: Skeleton Key Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=80)
Retail Price: $7.99
Matt’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated



Gamescapes Story Maps - Pirate Set 2 (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=27867&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, but not searchable or bookmarked; printer friendly, 19 pages.
Cover Art: Good to Professional, I would have liked to see the ship in action (colour)
Interior Art: Professional, computer generated (colour)
Contents: 1 front cover page, 17 pages of battle maps and 1 back cover page
Publisher: Talisman Studios (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=112)
Retail Price: $5.95
Matt’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: 4 out of 5



17 Magic Weapons (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=19169&it=1)
PDF Quality:
Cover Art:
Interior Art:
Content:
Publisher: Le Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=127)
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: 4 out of 5



Super Console (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3479&it=1)
PDF Quality:
Cover Art:
Interior Art:
Content:
Publisher: Valent Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=28)
Matt’s Rating:
Independent Rating: 3 out of 5



Book of Challenges (Dungeon Rooms, Puzzles and Traps (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3736&it=1)
PDF Quality: Portrait, clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked; reasonably printer friendly, 130 pages.
Cover Art: Professional and evocative (colour)
Interior Art: Professional (black and white)
Contents: 1 front cover page, 1 title page, 1 contents page, 125 pages of dungeons, puzzles and traps 1 advert page and 1 back cover page
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=44)
Retail Price: $21.95
Matt’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated




--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sorry for the delay, but that's your lot... get 'em while their free!

Matthew
2007-11-17, 03:08 PM
Well, it's all over (and has been for some hours now, but I've been busy); I hope everybody got something worthwhile out of RPGNow's Free Giveaway, I know I did! Anyway, I quite enjoyed writing these reviews, even though they could have admittedly been better, so I think I'm going to start reviewing more of their Free stuff, since I downloaded most of it last year...

So, I was wondering, since these reviews took various forms, what did people find most useful (if anything)? I was thinking I would do them like the last lot, but with some commentry prior to the 'details'.

Anyway, let me know what you think.

Sepp
2007-11-17, 03:18 PM
Anyway, I quite enjoyed writing these reviews, even though they could have admittedly been better, so I think I'm going to start reviewing more of their Free stuff, since I downloaded most of it last year...

So, I was wondering, since these reviews took various forms, what did people find most useful (if anything)? I was thinking I would do them like the last lot, but with some commentary prior to the 'details'.

Anyway, let me know what you think.

I, for one, would like that. Some of these books that I have skimmed are really neat (Heavy Blitz, Conan, Gunslingers and Gamblers) while some of them weren't (Strike Force). Reviews would be nice, I like the layout from post 33 the best. The comments told alot more then just the 1-5 numbering scale, and helped me choose what fit my tastes, rather then just downloading all the high ranked ones and finding out later I wasn't interested.

So, if you do decided to Review more of their Free stuff, I would be grateful.

Now I just need to find someone who plays these games... :smallbiggrin:

YPU
2007-11-17, 03:39 PM
i agree with sepp, and actually I would appreciate it if you would write reviews of other books as well.

Lord Tataraus
2007-11-17, 03:56 PM
I, for one, would like that. Some of these books that I have skimmed are really neat (Heavy Blitz, Conan, Gunslingers and Gamblers) while some of them weren't (Strike Force). Reviews would be nice, I like the layout from post 33 the best. The comments told alot more then just the 1-5 numbering scale, and helped me choose what fit my tastes, rather then just downloading all the high ranked ones and finding out later I wasn't interested.

So, if you do decided to Review more of their Free stuff, I would be grateful.

Now I just need to find someone who plays these games... :smallbiggrin:

Thirded :smallbiggrin:

Crow
2007-11-17, 04:16 PM
Fourth'd :)

Matthew
2007-11-17, 09:33 PM
Okay, sounds like a consensus, cool. I'll compile a list of potential reviews and see where we go from there.

Yeah, Strike Force 2136. I couldn't believe it when I saw that the guy was charging $32.99 for that as a PDF! I considered giving it a 0, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to set a precedent for going lower than 1.

With regard to none free items, I'm planning on staying away from D&D Official Books, as they get a lot of coverage already.

adanedhel9
2007-11-17, 11:16 PM
Errg, my business trip completely screwed me over on this. I was only able to get one night's worth of downloads, the rest the hotel internet was barely functional.

Well, at least what I grabbed looks interesting.

Matthew
2007-11-17, 11:23 PM
Aw man, that's unfortunate. What did you manage to get?

RTGoodman
2007-11-18, 01:00 AM
Well, I only managed to get the "Book of Challenges" for Friday's free downloads, but I'd have to say that overall this week has been good. And Matthew, great reviews - I look forward to reading more if you do them for other stuff.

[Also, I just noticed this tonight, but the Revised Tome of Horrors book that was downloadable earlier this week (i.e., basically the best thing all week) is, as far as I can tell, all open gaming content!]

Matthew
2007-11-18, 02:47 AM
Too bad, some of the other downloads were pretty good. I have to agree, it has been a really good promotion. To judge by the jump in Order Numbers on my account, RPGNow got something like 150,000 Orders during the course of this week, the total of which currently stands at 750,000.

Yeah, Tome of Horrors was intended to be used by other companies in publishing adventures and stuff; pretty cool.

[Edit]

I was just tidying up some of the previous reviews when I discovered this and decided to give it a quick look over. It's usually $10.99 (though worth more like $6.00, in which case it might have got 4 out of 5), but today it appears to be free. You might as well give it a whirl...


The Hunt for House Vy’ann (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3016&it=1)
A short urban adventure for D20 Fantasy that pits the Player Characters indirectly and directly against a group of Dark Elf Assassins. This is the first in a series expected to be inserted as ‘side quests’ into existing campaigns, but it looks like there was only one sequel; includes a new Deity and a 4 page Prestige Class. Intended for 4-6 Player Characters of around Level 8. It looks okay to me, though it will probably require some skill and additional work on the part of the Game Master to run smoothly.
PDF Quality: Clean, easily readable, searchable and bookmarked; reasonably printer friendly, 32 pages.
Cover Art: Average, a computer generated image of a Drow (Colour)
Interior Art: Average, about a half dozen illustrations (Black and White)
Contents: 1 front cover, 1 title and credit page, 19 pages of Adventure, 9 page Appendix, 1 OGL page and 1 back cover.
Publisher: LichHaven Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?cPath=335)
Retail Price: $10.99
Matt’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Independent Rating: Unrated

How's that format?

adanedhel9
2007-11-18, 08:42 AM
I was only able to get Wednesday's downloads. Saw Tuesday's and Thursday's, but couldn't grab, and didn't even get to see Friday's.

I haven't taken the time to look in depth at what I got, but some of it looks good. I'd just like to have more of it. Ah well.

Subotei
2007-11-18, 08:52 AM
Crom! I can't believe I missed the Conan download :smallannoyed:

Matthew
2007-11-18, 10:48 AM
Aw man, that's really unfortunate. Ah well, at least you guys managed to get some products. There's still plenty of free product available on RPGNow and I'll be sure to point them out in the coming days and weeks (hopefully).

Bender
2007-11-18, 03:29 PM
I checked out the free stuff they have and was overwhelmed. Before mindlessly downloading everything (more or less what I did with the thanksgiving stuff :smallredface:), some reviews would be great indeed.

I've got uncorrupted versions of superconsole and 17 weapons btw, and could mail them to you if you want. I haven't really checked them out yet, superconsole does have a nice concept: you're roleplaying a character inside an rpg-based computer game :smallcool:
(how legal is it to copy/distribute free gifts? Coming to think about it, what's the difference between these pdfs and other pdfs I might or might not have downloaded in a less legal way - except for far superior quality)

Ulzgoroth
2007-11-18, 03:37 PM
The watermark, for one. Which I suspect is, at least in theory, an anti-copying enforcement tool.

Also, your account at rpgnow ought to have legitimate records of the sale (for 0 dollars and 0 cents) of the PDF.

Matthew
2007-11-18, 03:50 PM
I checked out the free stuff they have and was overwhelmed. Before mindlessly downloading everything (more or less what I did with the thanksgiving stuff :smallredface:), some reviews would be great indeed.

Yeah, that's how I felt when I first discovered them. What I am finding is that reviewing the items gives me a reason to look at them and become familiar with the publishers and material, whilst at the same time being able to give back to the community, which works out nicely.


I've got uncorrupted versions of superconsole and 17 weapons btw, and could mail them to you if you want. I haven't really checked them out yet, superconsole does have a nice concept: you're roleplaying a character inside an rpg-based computer game :smallcool:

Thanks for the offer, but I actually managed to get none corrupted versions in the end, just haven't got round to reviewing them yet! I also managed to get a copy of Quests and a couple of other missing items via my RPGNow Account, as even Free Downloads are now recorded (which wasn't the case a year ago and must be part of their recent site upgrade).


(how legal is it to copy/distribute free gifts? Coming to think about it, what's the difference between these pdfs and other pdfs I might or might not have downloaded in a less legal way - except for far superior quality)

Short answer, not very.

RPGNow actually issued this statement regarding that every time I downloaded an item:


Thanks for participating in our ThanksGiveAway promotion. We hope to see you back each day this week from Monday November 12 to Friday November 16 for a new selection of free titles.

We hope you enjoy the selections you have downloaded. If you find something new that interests you, please consider supporting the publishers who made ThanksGiveAway possible by offering their hard work to you for free. All of the participating publishers have lots more great titles available for download on site at reasonable prices. Plus, this week you get an additional 10% credit back into your account on all products you choose.

We would really appreciate your passing the word on to your gaming friends about ThanksGiveAway week and encourage them to come and take advantage of the free RPGs each day. We do ask that your friends come and get their own copies; even though the products are free this week, they are not intended for anyone to redistribute. Our reward for running the promotion is getting more gamers to try the wonders of downloadable RPGs and to try our site. Thanks again!

Bender
2007-11-18, 03:59 PM
So it does pay of to read these kind of messages. I must have seen that message a ridiculous amount of times and auto-not-read it every time. :smallamused:

Anyway, since you did download those two items, but they where corrupted, they should be on your legitimately downloaded list. So there is no harm in someone mailing them to you if you're interested. (I don't know if you have to be, but I feel like I have to offer, considering the time you spent writing these reviews) (edited away due to obsoleteness)

Matthew
2007-11-18, 07:16 PM
(I did an edit above before I saw your second post)



So it does pay of to read these kind of messages. I must have seen that message a ridiculous amount of times and auto-not-read it every time. :smallamused:

Yeah, I know the feeling.


Anyway, since you did download those two items, but they where corrupted, they should be on your legitimately downloaded list. So there is no harm in someone mailing them to you if you're interested. (I don't know if you have to be, but I feel like I have to offer, considering the time you spent writing these reviews)

Thanks again for the offer, but that's how I got none corrupted versions in the end [i.e. by accessing my account and exploring the options].

[edit]
Argghh, a plague of edits... Ah well, I think we're on the same page now. :smallwink:


Hey guys, I dunno whether Cold Blooded Games (http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=78) have gone bust or what, but apparently, the entirety of the Dog Town RPG series are available for immediate free download. I don't have time to review these books, so I'm just giving you a heads up to check them out.

Sepp
2007-11-18, 07:22 PM
Thanks for the heads up.

Matthew
2007-11-21, 12:07 AM
Okay, so I was thinking that I would start with something easy, but for future reference, here are a bunch of things freely downloadable from RPGNow and other places that I am considering reviewing. If there's anything here that strikes your interest, let me know and I'll bump it up the list as far as I can...



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Free RPG Systems

OSRIC (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=29401&it=1)
Labyrinth Lord (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=51024)
Star Frontiers (http://www.starfrontiersman.com/)
Four Colour System (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50837)
SLA Industries (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=24798&it=1)
Witch Craft (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=692&it=1)
Maze & Minotaurs (http://storygame.free.fr/MAZES.htm)
Violence (http://www.costik.com/Violence%20RPG1.pdf)
Powers & Perils (http://abroere.xs4all.nl/pnp/books.htm)
Basic Fantasy Roleplaying (http://basicfantasy.org/)
Rune Slayer (http://www.thalcos.com/rq.htm)
SAVAGE (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=28931&it=1)



Free RPG Systems (Quick Starts)

Castles & Crusades (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=28543&it=1)
Earth Dawn - Kaer Tardim (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=12486&it=1)
Lejendary Adventures (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=29089&it=1)
True20 (http://true20.com/files/True20_quickstart.pdf) (You will also need to download the True20 Previews (http://true20.com/support/))
Savage Worlds (http://www.peginc.com/Games/Savage%20Worlds/Downloads/SW%20Rev/TestDrive4.pdf)
D6 Septimus (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=28542&it=1)
Shadow Run 3e (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1868&it=1)
Traveller T20 Lite (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=28813&it=1)



Free D20 Fantasy Supplements

The New Argonauts (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1557&it)
Swords Into Plowshares (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=28812&it=1)
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------


...okay, that's your lot.

Sepp
2007-11-21, 10:23 AM
Wow... thats a lot of options. *paralyzed by indecision*

Matthew
2007-11-21, 10:46 AM
Heh, and, of course, that's why I'm doing these reviews and starting small. I'm planning on reviewing The Chronicles of Yrza the Crow first, as Alea are a fairly small D20 Fantasy publisher, but I have always been somewhat intrigued by their low magic Feudal Lords Campaign Setting.

Sepp
2007-11-21, 10:54 AM
Well, I have heard of OSRIC, so I think I am going to look at it. I heard it is like 2ed, and I was rather curious. I started with 3.5, and I did try to read the 2e stuff just to see why there was all the '2e vs 3e' threads. And honestly, it confused me to no end.

But I heard something about OSRIC being a streamlined version of 2e, so maybe it is simpler to understand.

Matthew
2007-11-21, 11:07 AM
Arguably, OSRIC is not really a game system at all, it's an OGL for publishing 1e Advanced Dungeons & Dragons compatable material. Technically, it's a masterful accomplishment, but it's not really intended to be playable (though an expanded version is imminent). You're probably better off taking a look at Labyrinth Lord, which is written as a complete playable system and is the equivalent of Basic Dungeons & Dragons; take a look at OSRIC afterwards.

Tweekinator
2007-11-21, 11:33 AM
I read that New Gods' Handbook and it was pretty nice. Didn't see anyone else mention it, so I thought I would and see what others thought about it as well.

Sepp
2007-11-21, 11:35 AM
Arguably, OSRIC is not really a game system at all, it's an OGL for publishing 1e Advanced Dungeons & Dragons compatable material. Technically, it's a masterful accomplishment, but it's not really intended to be playable (though an expanded version is imminent). You're probably better off taking a look at Labyrinth Lord, which is written as a complete playable system and is the equivalent of Basic Dungeons & Dragons; take a look at OSRIC afterwards.

Oh, I see. Well, that saved me some time, thanks.


I read that New Gods' Handbook and it was pretty nice. Didn't see anyone else mention it, so I thought I would and see what others thought about it as well.

It was well done. I skimmed it, not a complete read through, but I liked it. I am not sure if I will ever get a chance to use it, of course.

Matthew
2007-11-21, 12:01 PM
I read that New Gods' Handbook and it was pretty nice. Didn't see anyone else mention it, so I thought I would and see what others thought about it as well.

I thought it was pretty good and the production values were impressive. However, it is only one of two products available in that line, so it's staying power is currently an unknown quantity. I will have to go looking for related Web Sites to sound out what the Fan Base is like.


Oh, I see. Well, that saved me some time, thanks.

No problem, glad to be of service.

__________________________________________________

Temporary Index of Reviews

Full Reviews

AA2 The Red Mausoleum (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84248) [AD&D]
AA3 The Curse of the Witch Head (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80923) [AD&D]
AA4 The Prison of Meneptah (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78801) [AD&D]
Valtor the Mighty (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80868)
Feudal Lords (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64226) [D20]

[B]Short Reviews

Collection One (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3510215&postcount=7)

Time Master Screen [TM]
The Chronicles of Ramlar - Official Soundtrack (Part One) [D20]
E-Z Tiles (Dungeon Set 1) [Generic]
Spiritual Warfare [SpW]
Dungeon Crawl Classics #51.5: Sinister Secret of Whiterock [D20]
Europe 1483
D6 Powers [D6]
Brothers by my Side
Moebius Adventures - Core Rules [MA]
Forbidden Kingdoms - Master Codex (Babbage Edition) [D20]
See Page XX, Volume 1 (The First 24 Columns) [Generic]
Rune Quest - The Collected Character [RQ]
Dreadmire Bonus Material [D20]
Ados - Land of Strife [D20]
Unorthodox Clerics [D20]

Collection Two (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3516067&postcount=15)

Thrilling Tales (Omnibus Edition) [D20]
Hot Dudes 01 [Generic]
War of the Burning Sky 1 – The Scouring of Gate Pass [D20]
Twilight 2000 [T2]
The Kandris Seal [D20]
Role Master (Express Version) [RM]
Future Armada (Venture) [D20]
The Last Tomb [D20]
Simply Prestige [D20]
Ptolus: The World of Praemal (Part 2) [D20]
Mindscape Music (To the Marrow) [Generic]
Rune Quest [RQ]
Forbidden Kingdoms [D20]
The Elemental Dimension of Magic [D20]
Bits of Darkness (Dungeons) [Generic]
Neo Fighters (Fire Knight) [D20]
Claw, Claw, Bite (Issue 9) [D20]

Collection Three (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3521085&postcount=23)

Affiliates (Player’s Guide) [Aff]
Propz: Minute Dungeon [Generic]
Monkey, Ninja, Pirate, Robot Deluxe [MNPR]
Dead Men (and Women) Walking [Fiction]
Tales from the Wood [TftW]
The Town of Umberham [D20]
The Lazy Games Master (Troglodytes) [D20]
Future Nexus [FN]
Heavy Gear (Blitz) [HG]
Untapped Classes (Complete Marksman) [D20]
E-Z Dungeons (Items 1) [Generic]
Broadsides (Naval Adventuring) [D20]
Tome of Horrors (Revised) [D20]
The Veggie Patch [VP]
The Elemental Dimension of Magic [D20]
Unorthodox Fighter [D20]
Complete Spell Cards (Updated) [D20]
Chimera [Ch]
Behind the Spells (Vampiric Touch) [D20]
Heroic Visions [HV]

Collection Four (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3524698&postcount=33)

The Depths of Ruin [D20]
Gunslingers & Gamblers [G&G]
F Space (Reference Manual 2.1) [FSp]
X Crawl (Rule Book) [D20]
Grunt Fantasy Miniature Combat (Third Edition) [GFMC]
Fading Suns (Player’s Companion) [FS]
Godsend Agenda (Super Link Conversion) [M&M]
Conan (Pocket Edition) [CD20]
Another 13 Shades of Darkness [M&M]
Dice & Glory (Rule Book) [D&G]
Open Core (Quick Start) [OC]
17 Monks Feats [D20]
The Storytelling Adventure System Guide [WoD]
The Resurrectionists [WoD]

Collection Five (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3532293&postcount=43)

Honour and Corruption [D20]
Neiyar - Land of Heaven and the Abyss
Stuff to Beat Up 1 – Tech Terrors [Generic]
New Gods of Mankind – New God’s Handbook [NGoM]
City Supplement 1 – Dweredell
Action Philosophers #1 [Comic]
The Echoes of Heaven
The Throne of God
Quirin Adventures #5 – The Secret of Maevis [D20]
The Fantasy Sagas (Player’s Guidebook)
Hero Quest - Hero’s Book [HQ]
Mundi Animalia [MA]
Strike Force (2136 Tech Manual) [SF]
E-Adventure Tiles - Introductory Set [Generic]
Gamescapes Story Maps - Pirate Set 2 [Generic]
17 Magic Weapons [D20]
Super Console
Book of Challenges (Dungeon Rooms, Puzzles and Traps) [D20]

Bonus Review (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3537045&postcount=53)

The Hunt for House Vy’ann [D20]

__________________________________________________

Index of Reviews (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3552310)
Index of Free Stuff (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3550807&postcount=63)

OSRIC (http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/osric/)
Labyrinth Lord (http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.htm)

Adventure Competition (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4317636&postcount=1)