Bushido’s staunch and unyielding code of conduct binds samurai to duty, strengthening their character and defining their choices. While some samurai serve the greater good, others use the strictures of Bushido to manipulate the lower ranks and advance their own power.Eight Great Clans form the heart of Rokugan’s culture. Each is defined by its own principles, values, and agendas. Each sees the Code of Bushido in its own way. Each seeks to serve the Emperor with its own unique talents. Take up the soul of your ancestors — the samurai’s daisho — and fight for the glory and honor of your family and Clan. Now is the time for heroes, in a world where Honor is a force more powerful than Steel.The Fourth Edition of L5R is the ultimate edition of the award-winning role-playing game. Inside this tome, you will find:• A game unlike any you’ve played elsewhere. Honor and service are valued more than magic swords taken from wandering ogres. Prepare for the glorious life of the samurai!• A unique Character Sheet. Legend of the Five Rings rules have never been more easy to learn and to play. No more need to flip through pages of rules while fighting your enemies!• A toolbox approach to role-playing in Rokugan. Fourth Edition encourages gamemasters of Legend of the Five Rings to customize their game, adding or removing from their campaigns as they see fit, customizing the game to fit their story lines and players.• A broad history of the Emerald Empire and the beliefs of all the Great Clans, with play options not only the major clans but also for outlying groups such as Imperials, Minor Clans, and the infamous Spider Clan.Draw your blade and join the fight for Rokugan.

     It has already begun." Shadows move out of the shrinking desert, south to the rich and arrogant cities of Sembia. ""Be brave, little man," says the shadowman, and the boy thinks his voice is surprisingly soft. "Stay with your mother. This will be over soon." The shadows swallow him and he is gone." On the edge of a war that will change the face of Faerun, the world will find that not all shadows serve Shade.

    R. R. Tolkien’s fictional universe is as vast as the human imagination, so an atlas is a helpful tool to get around. Consider this book your navigational guide to Middle-earth and the Undying Lands. Maps, images, and vivid descriptions in full color create an enchanting reference to all the fantastical places and creatures that sprung from Tolkien’s mind. The deluxe, heat-burnished cover makes this a charming addition to your Tolkien library.

     - A deep dive into the lore behind some of D&D's most popular and iconic monsters - Dozens of monsters new to the fifth edition to include in your epic adventures - New playable races to allow you to build characters to fit nearly any type of story in your D&D game.The esteemed loremaster Volothamp Geddarm is back and he's written a fantastical dissertation, covering some of the most iconic monsters in the Forgotten Realms. Unfortunately, the Sage of Shadowdale himself, Elminster, doesn't believe Volo gets some of the important details quite right. Don't miss out as Volo and Elminster square off (academically speaking of course) to illuminate the uninitiated on creatures both common and obscure. Uncover the machinations of the mysterious Kraken Society, what is the origin of the bizarre froghemoth, or how to avoid participating in the ghastly reproductive cycle of the grotesque vargouille. Dungeon Masters and players will get some much-needed guidance as you plan your next venture, traipsing about some dusty old ruin in search of treasure, lore, and let's not forget ... dangerous creatures whose horns, claws, fangs, heads, or even hides might comfortably adorn the walls of your trophy room. If you survive.Research has never been so dangerous!

    When the king is slain in battle, the kingdom of Chaldor is left in the hands of the spoiled princess Ellyn, and her guardian, Gailard, as well as the mysterious sorceress Shara, must take Chaldor back from enemies before Ellyn's rivalry with Shara divides them.

    Based on the best-selling CD-ROM game, a fantasy novel fills out the lives of the game's characters, tracing the strange apprenticeship of Atrus to his father, Gehn, who wields the power to create worlds.

    Guric, her uncle and the slayer of Hwelian's family, has released a terrible evil in order to resurrect his beloved wife and gain control of the northern countries. When Hweilan escapes Guric's schemes, she is taken in by Lendri, a Vil Adanrath who has stayed in Faerun to help guide Hweilan to her fate.

     Author Keith Baker's proposal for the exciting world of Eberron was chosen from 11,000 submissions, and he is the co-author of the Eberron Campaign Setting, the RPG product that launched the setting. The Eberron world will continue to grow through new roleplaying game products, novels, miniatures, and electronic games. AUTHOR BIO: Keith Baker is a freelance writer and game designer. In 2003 his proposal for the world of Eberron was selected as the winner in the Wizards of the Coast fantasy setting search.

    On the eve of Guerrand DiThon's political marriage to a rival family, the young noble is visited by a strange, powerful mage who knows more about him than he does himself. Seduced by promises of wizardly might, Guerrand slips away beneath the triple moons and journeys for the Tower of Wayreth. No one thinks he will survive the deadly trek to the tower, but he does. It's only then that Guerrand realizes that he has made many enemies in his journey. One of these foes would not only see Guerrand dead, but the three orders of sorcery destroyed with him.

    The continued existence of alt Kindred, from the youngest neonate to the eldest Methuselah, hangs in the balance.Revelation Without ComprehensionThe Nosferatu Calebros has spent an undying lifetime in his subterranean grotto, piecing together scraps of Kindred lore. Naturally, his clan turns to him to solve the mysterious death of a Nosferatu leader, Petrodon. But Calebros reveals an even deeper mystery behind the murder -- and the murderer. The search for the truth takes the Nosferatu deep beneath New York where something unknown and perhaps unknowable awaits.

    Embedded in English legend and English association, they were set in the narratve frame of a great westward voyage over the Ocean by a mariner named Eriol (or Ælfwine) to Tol Eressëa, the Lonely Isle, where Elves dwelt; from them he learned their true story, the Lost Tales of Elfinesse. In the Tales are found the earliest accounts and original ideas of Gods and Elves; Dwarves and Orcs; the Silmarils and the Two Trees of Valinor; Nargothrond and Gondolin; and the geography and cosmology of the invented world.

    Cooper's highly acclaimed series—Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark Is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; and Silver on the Tree—is now available in its entirety for the first time in an attractive, sturdy boxed set that's perfect for gift giving.

    but there are some patriots who would accept the return of the devil they know, if it meant the return of independence.

    Karen Wynn Fonstad, author of The Atlas of Middle-Earth, The Atlas of Pern, and The Atlas of the Land, draws you into the lives and places of the DRAGONLANCE Saga as never before.

    Dark forces are pitted against him, and each ally must be watched in turn, as treachery leads to deceit and back again in a race against time, the Church, and the mysterious Kli Kodesh, who is more ancient, even, than Montrovant's sire.Only persistence, luck and the power of his own will can see him through to his goal, and any mistake could mean his destruction.The Dark Ages Engulf UsThis novel is the first book of The Grails Covenant, a trilogy of novels set in the world of Vampire: The Dark Ages, which in itself is set in a larger series World of Darkness. While complete unto itself, the trilogy involves characters and plots that continue into The Trilogy of the Blood Curse, a trilogy for Vampire: The Masquerade that begins with The Devil's Advocate.