The world is not only Awakened -- it's wired. Cyber and bioware implants make your meat body better-than-flesh, while the wireless Matrix enhances your perceptions with hyper-real senses. Deals are made in steel and lead more often than gold or nuyen; success and failure live only a razor's edge apart. Creatures of myth and legend walk the streets, while the arcane skills of spellslingers are in high demand. Above it all, monolithic megacorps bleed the world dry, sabotaging each other in covert cutthroat competition as they go to war over the bottom line You're a shadowrunner, a street operative, scratching out a living on the mean sprawl streets. You may be human, elf, dwarf, ork or troll. From lethal street samurai to well-connected info brokers, spell-slinging mages or code-cracking hackers. No matter what, you're a -- professional corporate pawn or "deniable asset," -- you get the job done. Shadowrun, Fourth Edition offers a completely new rules system that is simple, integrated and accessible. The state-of-the-art has also been advanced, introducing a new level of augmented reality, new gear, new magical discoveries, and more. This hardcover rulebook contains all the rules gamemasters and players need to create characters and ongoing adventures set in the popular Shadowrun universe. Note that the Shadowrun, Fourth Edition will replace the Shadowrun, Third Edition rules set. Source material from previous editions will still be compatible.

    I wish you joy o'th' Worm!"We are the small voice that whispers to you in the lonely hours of the night. We call to the darkness within all of you. We came from the dark, and to the dark we shall all return..."Called the corrupt by even the most crooked Ventrue, the Setites are almost universally mistrusted and feared by the clans of the Camarilla, and scorned by the Sabbat for their unwillingness to share in the Vaudalrie.Clanbook: Setites includes:* Extensive history of the followers of Set* All new Merits and Flaws for Setite characters* Ten complete character templates!

    Each revision integrates user feedback received since the original product release so as to address the specific wants and needs of the player and Dungeon Master audiences. The overall rules system remains intact, with changes targeted specifically at elements of game play that were considered under-powered or incomplete. These revised editions also contain bonus content, such as new feats, that are exclusive to these editions. In addition, the new and revised content instructs players on how to take full advantage of the tie-in D&D miniatures line planned to release in Fall 2003 from Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Overall changes to all the titles include making complex combat easier to understand and provide more information on interacting with and summoning monsters. Specific changes include the following: the Player's Handbook received revisions to character classes to make them more balanced, and there are revisions and additions to spell lists. Amazon.com ReviewThe Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition Player's Handbook contains all the rules you need to create characters and begin adventuring with the world's most popular role-playing game. Newcomers to the game will appreciate this book's clear explanations, effective examples, pleasing layout, elegant rules, and brilliant art. It's never been easier to create and role-play a heroic human ranger, cunning elf wizard, or any other fantasy character from the game's 7 races and 11 classes.Old-school players will likewise be pleased, as the outdated AD&D rules system has been given a thorough overhaul. Gone are almost all the old restrictions on race and alignment. Halfling sorcerers, half-orc paladins, dwarf barbarians, and gnome monks are now possible. THACO, negative armor class, funky saving throws, inflated ability scores, heat-based infravision, and just about every other needlessly complex rule has been reworked into a faster, more consistent, and more fun system. Players can choose unique special abilities for their characters as they gain levels, which means that even two fighters of the same race and class can have very different abilities. The end result of all these changes is a dynamic game with more customized characters.Almost every page has some form of new artwork, and the art almost always serves to explain a concept or illustrate a point. The book is filled with example montages that help to show the difference between human, half-elf, and elf, or relative size differences between creatures, or what the various levels of cover and concealment look like. These illustrations make the rules much more clear. The style of the artwork is consistent throughout the book and is a definite departure from older editions of AD&D. Instead of the classic medieval artwork of Larry Elmore, the new book has the spiky, leathery, Mad Max-meets-Renaissance look of the Magic: The Gathering card game.We would have preferred less radical artistic changes, but we love everything else that Wizards of the Coast has done with Dungeons & Dragons. The rules are fast and clear, and the characters--including the new sorcerer class and the return of the monk, barbarian, and half-orc--are fabulous. If you're new to the D&D game, then this rule book is the perfect introduction. And if you're an old-school gamer who played D&D back in the day, then welcome to the new era of D&D.

    Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Setting)This book contains nearly everything you need to run a bare-bones version of Forgotten Realms: it details various regions, cities, people, world, cosmology, monsters, deities and other items of interest, such as NPCs people have learned to love and hate.It also has new rules, prestige classes and feats that are Faerûn-specific, but which can be ported to other game worlds as well.

    Fortunately for GMs, the Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide is here to back you up. Packed with invaluable hints and information, this book contains everything you need to take your game to the next level, from advice on the nuts and bolts of running a session to the greater mysteries of crafting engaging worlds and storylines. Whether you've run one game or a thousand, this book has page after page of secrets to make you sharper, faster, and more creative, while always staying one step ahead of your players.The 320-page Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.The Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide includes:- Tips and tricks for preparing and running a better game, suitable for beginning GMs and battle-hardened veterans.- Step-by-step walkthroughs for creating campaign worlds, cities, cosmologies, feudal systems, and alternate dimensions.- Difficult player types, and how to handle them gracefully.- New rules for subsystems like hauntings, chase scenes, fortune-telling, gambling games, mysteries, and insanity.- Charts to help you generate everything from interesting NPCs and fantastic treasures to instant encounters in any terrain.- Advanced topics such as PC death, game-breaking rules, overpowered parties, solo campaigns, and derailed storylines.- Sample NPC statistics for dozens of common adventuring situations, such as cultists, guardsmen, barmaids, and pirates.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds

    The Empire of the Dragon-Blooded -- an invincible colossus -- stands astride the ruins of the First Age. For millennia, the scarlet Empress held the world in her steel grip. But the empress is no more, and the Realm spirals toward chaos and civil war. Its enemies descend -- demon princes, deathlords, skin-changing barbarians and the twisted and inscrutable Fair Folk hammer at the gates. In this time of darkness are reborn the solar Exalted, heroes of legend once slain by the Dragon-Blooded. Will these living legends herald the return of the Golden Age... or the end of creation?Exalted is the latest hardcover rulebook addition to the World of Darkness -- -- but not the one you think you know. You've never seen or even dreamed of this land before, yet it's hauntingly familiar. Become one of the Exalted, one of the heirs to an Age of Heroes, now cast down and disparaged. Will you rail against the tyranny of the oppressive Realm, seek your destiny in the dangerous Threshold, or throw in with the bizarre creatures of the wilds? The fate of this new world is in your hands.

    The players guide to Werecats for Werewolf: the apocalypse changing breed book I.The Shadow Children walk the twilight days unafraid,For none may rival them in their sleek majesty.None can equal their ferocity:The jungle trembles like smoke at our furious roars,The sun grants us strength to slay the rain,With a blow from our paws we shake the earth.None can equal their honour:The wisdom of forever rides behind our yellow eyes,Trails unfold before us in the shadow or Thunder's wings,We run the South Wind among the Stars.None can equal their cunning:The dead in the dark corners whisper secrets to us,We hide the names of things in mist-words and snow-speech,We dance madly in the most hidden of places.I bow to Selene and Gaia; may our deeds nourish our beloved relatives.Jaya!Bastet includes: Tribe details, templates, stories and characters New abilities, backgrounds, merits, flaws and magics Werecat lore, other creatures and more

    Slowly but surely, Auston succumbs to the dark call. Can he resist the Embrace, the gateway to an eternity of damnation? And will his master's dark command threaten the most beautiful, most perfect love he has ever felt?

    Corruption from without and within has caused the destruction not only of the Garou's environment, but also of their families, friends and culture, which extends in an unbroken line to the very dawn of life. No matter how righteously the Garou hold themselves, no matter how they prey on their destroyers, the corruption spreads.Now the time for reconciliation is past. This grave insult against Gaia can end in only one way: blood, betrayal... and rage.At last! The long-awaited revision of the classic Werewolf Players Guide, this second edition is packed with information on the Garou, their packs, moots, caerns and duels. Also detailed are the other shapeshifters, from the merciless weresharks to the sagacious werecats. Includes plenty of Gifts, rites, fetishes, talens and totems, as well as expanded combat systems and essays on understanding the world of Werewolf: The Apocalypse.

    Whether you're designing your own monstrous helpers as an enigmatic summoner, brewing up trouble with a grimy urban alchemist, or simply teaching an old rogue a new trick, this book has everything you need to make your heroes more heroic.The Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.The 336-page Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide includes:- Six new base classes: the monster-hunting inquisitor, the explosive alchemist, the noble cavalier, the prophecy-haunted oracle, the monster-crafting summoner, and the hex-weaving witch.- More than a hundred innovative new feats and combat abilities for characters of all classes, including Steal, Point-Blank Master, and Bouncing Spell.- Variant class abilities, rules subsystems, and thematic archetypes for all 11 core classes, such as the antipaladin, the hungry ghost monk, and the urban ranger- Hundreds of new spells and magic items, from phantasmal revenge to the Storm King's Cloud Castle.- A wealth of fantastic equipment, such as fireblast rods and fortune-tellers' cards.- New prestige classes like the Master Chymist and the Battle Herald.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds

    Want to explore an epic history of your own creation, hundreds or thousands of years long, all in an afternoon? That's Microscope.You won't play the game in chronological order. You can defy the limits of time and space, jumping backward or forward to explore the parts of the history that interest you. Want to leap a thousand years into the future and see how an institution shaped society? Want to jump back to the childhood of the king you just saw assassinated and find out what made him such a hated ruler? That’s normal in Microscope.You have vast power to create... and to destroy. Build beautiful, tranquil jewels of civilization and then consume them with nuclear fire. Zoom out to watch the majestic tide of history wash across empires, then zoom in and explore the lives of the people who endured it.Mock chronological order.Defy time and space.Build worlds and destroy them.A role-playing game for two to four players. No GM. No prep."Microscope is incredible! A truly brilliant design. Also, the book is extremely well done. Highly recommended."-John Harper, designer of Agon & Danger Patrol"Ben Robbins' Microscope may be the clearest-written game text I've ever read - which is helpful, because it is also one of the most innovative games I've come across in a long time. Microscope engagingly challenges assumptions and upends long-held conventions of play while delivering a singular and satisfying evening of gaming. And "fractal role playing" is no joke - the minute you finish, you'll want to dive back in and explore some interesting sliver of the vast history you just built."-Jason Morningstar, designer of Fiasco"It's been a long time that a game captures my attention like Microscope. Bypass the hype, it's a truly remarkable well-instruction'd game"-Andy Kitkowski, founder of story-games.com

    There are monsters out thereAnd you are mean enough, smart enough, crazy enough, or hurt enough, to fight them.Maybe you'll defend your hometown from evil.Maybe you'll take to the road and hunt them down.Maybe you have magic powers to fight with.Maybe your name appears in an ancient prophecy.One thing's for sure.You aren't going back to your old, safe life.Monster of the Week is an action-horror roleplaying game for 3-5 people.

    There's no need to guess the rules. You'll learn spells, monsters, travel, magic lists and combat rules.

    This product is designed to be the sole core rulebook for all modern roleplaying game settings using the d20 System, which is the basic rules system for the Dungeons & Dragons&reg roleplaying game. Thematically aligned with the highly popular heroic fantasy and horror genres, this book will build on the strength of the growing d20 System while attracting new players. The product contains everything needed to run an entire campaign, as well as four campaign models and adventure hooks to add to existing campaigns. Author Biography: Bill Slavicsek is the vice president and director of roleplaying game design at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. His most recent credits include the Star Wars&reg Roleplaying Game Revised Rulebook and the Dungeons & Dragons Clue&reg game for USAopoly. Jeff Grubb is an award-winning game designer whose recent credits include Manual of the Planes and Enemies and Allies for D&D and the Ice Age Cycle novels, which are set in the Magic: The Gathering&reg universe. Rich Redman is a member of R&D at Wizards of the Coast whose recent credits include Deities and Demigods, Defenders of the Faith, and the Monster Manual II.

    Now the World's Greatest Super-hero Roleplaying Game is even better! Mutants & Masterminds, Second Edition, takes the best of the original edition and supercharges it to make it the most complete, detailed, and fun super-hero game yet! In this 256-page hardcover with a stunning new cover by Ramon Perez, you'll find a complete roleplaying game that's a perfect starting point for your own comic book adventures. Mutants & Masterminds, Second Edition, has everything you need to create your own super-heroes and villains. It also offers more than a dozen ready-made super-hero archetypes and even more ready-to-use super-villain archetypes, plus two introductory adventures so you can start playing right away. Don't let your super-powers fall behind! Mutants & Masterminds, Second Edition, will take your game (and your heroes) to the next level!