Book picks similar to
Arcana Unearthed: A Variant Player's Handbook by Monte Cook
rpg
gaming
fantasy
rpgs
GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns
Steve Jackson - 2004
. . or literally anything else! GURPS has been the premiere universal roleplaying game for almost two decades. The new Fourth Edition makes it even better!GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns combines information from the Third Edition GURPS Basic Set and GURPS Compendium II�plus our new core setting, with infinite possibilities for timeline-hopping adventure! (You don't have to play in the core setting�there isn't some game-altering metaplot�but it's there if you want it.)
Drow of the Underdark
Robert J. Schwalb - 2007
Everything you want to know about drow and their subterranean homeland - as well as some things you didn't want to know - can be found in this tome. This supplement is intended for players who want to play drow characters and Dungeon Masters who want to run D&D adventures and campaigns featuring drow.
Night's Black Agents
Kenneth Hite - 2012
Bush's War is winding down. You were a shadowy soldier in those fights, trained to move through the secret world: deniable and deadly. Then you got out, or you got shut out, or you got burned out. You didn't come in from the cold. Instead, you found your own entrances into Europe's clandestine networks of power and crime. You did a few ops, and you asked even fewer questions. Who gave you that job in Prague? Who paid for your silence in that Swiss account? You told yourself it didn't matter. It turned out to matter a lot. Because it turned out you were working for vampires. Vampires exist. What can they do? Who do they own? Where is safe? You don't know those answers yet. So you'd better start asking questions. You have to trace the bloodsuckers' operations, penetrate their networks, follow their trail, and target their weak points. Because if you don't hunt them, they will hunt you. And they will kill you. Or worse. Night's Black Agents brings the GUMSHOE engine to the spy thriller genre, combining the propulsive paranoia of movies like Ronin and The Bourne Identity with supernatural horror straight out of Bram Stoker. Investigation is crucial, but it never slows down the action, which explodes with expanded options for bone-crunching combat, high-tech tradecraft, and adrenaline-fueled chases. Updating classic Gothic terrors for the postmodern age, Night's Black Agents presents thoroughly modular monstrosity: GMs can build their own vampires, mashup their own minions, kitbash their own conspiracies to suit their personal sense of style and story. Rack silver bullets in your Glock, twist a UV bulb into your Maglite, keep watching the mirrors E and pray you've got your vampire stories straight.
Street Samurai Catalog
Tom Dowd - 1990
A predator-for-hire in the savage urban world of Shadowrun. You've devoted your life to honing your combat and martial skills. The tools of your trade are airfoil grenades, form-fitting body armor, and an Ares Crusader machine-pistol. An expansion for Shadowrun, the Street Samurai Catalog will let you outfit yourself with the latest equipment available on the black market: retractable hand razors, ultrasonic sights, enhanced reflexes, and maybe a rangefinder for your cybereyes. Whatever you need to get the job done, you can find it here, but it won't be cheap. And remember to watch your back before someone decides to make you yesterday's news.
White Plume Mountain
Lawrence Schick - 1979
WHITE PLUME MOUNTAIN is from the Special ("S") series; like others in this series, it is meant to stand on its own and is a complete ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adventure. The recommended number of players is four to ten, with levels ranging from fifth to tenth.Introduction:White Plume Mountain has always been a subject of superstitious awe to the neighboring villagers. People still travel many miles to gaze upon this natural wonder, though few will approach it closely, as it is reputed to be the haunt of various demons & devils. The occasional disappearance of those who stray too close to the Plume reinforces this belief.Thirteen hundred years ago, the wizard Keraptis was searching for a suitable haven where he could indulge his eccentricities without fear of interference. He visited White Plume Mountain, going closer than most dared to, & discovered the system of old lava-tubes that riddle the cone & the underlying strata.With a little alteration, he thought, these would be perfect for his purposes. The area already had a bad reputation, & he could think of a few ways to make it worse. So, taking with him his fanatically loyal company of renegade gnomes, he disappeared below white Plume Mountain & vanished from the knowledge of men...
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Basic Game
Cam Banks - 2012
It's one thing to stop an alien invasion or throw down with the Juggernaut, but sometimes you have to make the hard choices when you're saving the world. With the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game books, that great power and great responsibility is yours! Based on the Cortex Plus system, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying takes the award-winning events in the history of the Marvel Universe and gives you all of the heroes, villains, key decision points, and rich background you need to fight your own battles and forge a new destiny!
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition
James JacobsMichael Kortes - 2012
An attack by crazed goblins reveals the shadows of a forgotten past returning to threaten the town—and perhaps all of Varisia. The Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path begins with this goblin raid and takes players on an epic journey through the land of Varisia as they track a cult of serial killers, fight backwoods ogres, stop an advancing army of stone giants, delve into ancient dungeons, and finally face off against a wizard-king in his ancient mountaintop city. This hardcover compilation updates the fan-favorite campaign to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game rules with revised and new content in more than 400 pages packed with mayhem, excitement, and adventure!Celebrating both the fifth anniversary of the Pathfinder Adventure Path and the tenth anniversary of Paizo Publishing, this new edition expands the original campaign with new options and refined encounters throughout, incorporating 5 years of community feedback.The Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition contains:- All six chapters of the original Adventure Path, expanded and updated for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.- Articles on the major locations of Rise of the Runelords: sleepy Sandpoint, the ancient Thassilonian city of Xin-Shalast, and others.- Revelations on the sinister magic of Thassilon, with updated spells, magic items, and details on tracking sin points throughout the campaign.- A bestiary featuring eight monsters updated from the original Adventure Path, plus an all-new terror.- Dozens of new illustrations, never-before-seen characters, location maps, and more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds
Complete Scoundrel
Mike McArtor - 2007
You know how to take advantage of every situation, and you don’t mind getting your hands dirty. Take the gloves off? Ha! You never put them on. You infuriate your foes and amaze your allies with your ingenuity, resourcefulness, and style. For you, every new predicament is an opportunity in disguise, and with each sweet victory your notoriety grows. That is how legends are made.This D&D supplement gives you everything you need to get the drop on your foes and escape sticky situations. In addition to new feats, spells, items, and prestige classes, Complete Scoundrel presents new mechanics that put luck on your side and a special system of skill tricks that allow any character to play the part of a scoundrel. Tricky tactics aren’t just for rogues anymore.
Fate Core System
Leonard Balsera - 2013
Fate Core is that engine.
Fate Core is the latest evolution of the award-winning Fate roleplaying game system from Evil Hat Productions. We’ve streamlined and clarified the rules while maintaining the system’s trademark flexibility. Name your game; Fate Core can make it happen.
Inside, you’ll discover:
Easy-to-follow rules for character and world creation.
Rock-solid storytelling advice for players and GMs to produce the best play experience.
Clearly-defined systems to guide players both new and old.
New and improved approaches to character actions, aspects, compels... and more!
TELL YOUR TALE. ROLL THE DICE. EMBRACE YOUR FATE!
Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook 2: A 4th Edition D&D Core Rulebook
Jeremy Crawford - 2009
New classes, races, and other options for your D&D(R) game.This book builds on the array of classes and races presented in the first
Player's Handbook
(R), adding both old favorites and new, never-before-seen options to the game.The book adds a new power source for 4th Edition D&D; classes using the new primal power source include the barbarian and the druid.
Player's Handbook 2
expands the range of options available to D&D players with new classes, races, powers, and other material.
Monster Manual 2: A 4th Edition D&D Core Rulebook
Rob HeinsooGreg Bilsland - 2009
Classic monsters such as centaurs and frost giants make their first 4th edition appearance here. In addition, this book includes scores of new monsters to challenge characters of heroic, paragon, and epic levels.
Monster Manual IV
Gwendolyn F.M. KestrelKolja Raven Liquette - 2006
Sure to be popular with both Dungeonmasters and players, this supplement to the D&D(R) game provides descriptions for a vast array of new creatures. Each monster is illustrated and utilizies a new statblock format that facilitates faster gameplay. In addition, each monster gets more pages than used in previous supplements to detail sample encounters and pregenerated treasure hordes. Also included are details on how to incorporate creatures in a Forgotten Realms(R) or Eberron(R) campaign. This product is tied to 2006's Year of the Dragon theme, which will be the target of marketing from RPGs, novels, and miniatures brands.
Arbiter of Worlds: A Primer for Gamemasters
Alexander Macris - 2019
This primer will teach you how to build living, breathing worlds for your players to explore; how to host game and manage game sessions; and how to create powerful experiences of adventure that your players will talk about for years to come. Learn the secret to becoming a judge, an adversary, a worldbuilder, and a storyteller and become an arbiter of worlds! “Every Macris campaign starts with a rich, open world; the edge of a massive map; and the ability to find adventure in any direction. After playing in a dozen of his campaigns, I can assure you that Macris is the best prepared, most thorough GM on the prime material plane. He balances “deadly adversary” and “the party’s greatest supporter” perfectly. I’ve been lucky to contribute to some renowned video game worlds, and to discus world design with some of the most accomplished writers alive. And I’m honestly not sure there’s been someone more thorough at and passionate for world building than Macris since ... maybe Tolkien? (Okay, maybe G.R.R. Martin, but he’s not as organized or efficient.) It takes organization, creativity, and careful technique to build a massive world efficiently and deliver it effectively, and Macris can show you how he does it.” - Dr. Michael Capps, award-winning videogame executive, writer, designer (*Gears of War*, *Fortnite*, *Unreal Tournament, Unreal Championship*) “Armed with decades of experience as both a player and a designer, Macris cuts to the marrow with razor sharp insights in an unapologetic and often painfully insightful analysis of every imaginable facet of being a Game Master. From implication of play inherent in a game’s design, to world building, to the often delicate nature of unspoken social contracts inherent in the hobby, the guidance found in Arbiter of Worlds is a much-needed breath of fresh air to veterans of the hobby and a forged-in-the-fire bootcamp for those taking their first steps behind the screen.” - James M. Spahn, Ennie and Origins Award Winning RPG designer “A superb read. He makes his points the way you would expect a Harvard-trained lawyer to do. If you read this book, you are going to come out knowing real things you did not know before that will help you run games at the table…” - Courtney Campbell, Hack & Slash