Sly Flourish's Dungeon Master Tips


Michael E. Shea - 2010
    You’ve read both Dungeon Master’s guides. You’ve run a few games. You pick up ideas here and there on the net. Or maybe you're an old grizzled vet who has run games for 20 years.Maybe your game is feeling a little stale. Maybe your encounters didn’t run exactly as you wanted them too. Maybe you feel like you're stuck in a rut. Maybe you feel a bit overwhelmed when you have to come up with an exciting, creative game every week.You’re not looking for a huge tome on game theory. You don’t need yet another take on world-building. You’re looking for some practical tips you can use today to help you focus your energy in the right places and make some kick-ass D&D games for you and your friends. You want something you can read quick and start using right away.My friend, here is the book for you.This book was written to give you solid usable tips to help you build your story, design exciting encounters, and run a great game when you’re at the table. It’s a short book, designed to be read quickly and referenced often.Oh yeah, and it’s got some awesome original artwork by Jared Von Hindman of Head Injury Theater.This is a completely original book. Every chapter was written from scratch to help you focus on what’s important and get past some of the roadblocks we all face when designing a D&D game.

Player's Essentials: Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms: An Essential Dungeons & Dragons Supplement


Mike Mearls - 2010
    Each class comes with a set of new powers, class features, paragon paths, epic destinies, and more that beginning players can use to build the characters they want to play and experienced players can plunder for existing 4th Edition characters. In addition to new builds, this book presents expanded information and racial traits for some of the game’s most popular races, including dragonborn, drow, half-elves, half-orcs, and tieflings.

The Watchman: Preventing the Apocalypse One Bullet at a Time


Arthur Bradley - 2020
    Loved it!"★★★ A clever mash of X-files, Tombstone, and Dresden Files! ★★★In 1885, President Grover Cleveland commissioned a special group of agents to investigate paranormal activities plaguing the nation. Unwilling to accept failure, he granted each the authority to operate outside the law. His directive was simple. No rules. No excuses. Just get it done.Remy Kincaid and his cynical steed, Fable, head to the town of Wharton, Texas, to investigate the disappearance of several young children. As clues lead them from a decrepit old house to an abandoned silver mine, they soon learn that an ancient evil is trying to release itself upon the world.★★★ If you enjoyed The Survivalist Series, you'll love The Watchman! ★★★

Call of Cthulhu: 7th Edition Quick-Start Rules


Sandy Petersen - 2013
    — one of the original publishers of paper roleplaying games and has been in business for over 30 years. Chaosium is famous for the excellence of its game designs, and has won many Adventure Gaming Industry awards.All you need to play Call of Cthulhu for the first time is this Quick-Start guide, some polyhedral dice, plenty of imagination and your friends.Welcome to the worlds of Call of Cthulhu!

Legend of the Five Rings RPG


Rich Wulf - 2005
    For one thousand years, the Empire of Rokugan has stood as a bastion of nobility, honor, and virtue. These lands are ruled by the samurai, powerful heroes who carry the katana and wakizashi as their badge of rank. Eight Great Clans vie with one another for supremacy over these lands, all under the eye of the mighty Emperor. And to the south, the Shadowlands, the eternal enemy of Rokugan, waits for the next opportunity to disrupt all that these foolish mortals have built. It is a land of intrigue, wonder, and adventure. Welcome to the third iteration of the Legend of the Five Rings Role-Playing Game. This player's guide will provide players and GM's with all of the setting, culture, and rules needed to create characters in the Legend of the Five Rings world and stage ongoing campaigns in Rokugan. While this book contains an updated version of the familiar rules, conversion rules will be included so that none of the many previous volumes set in this world will ever be obsolete. The best Asian style fantasy setting roleplaying game of this generation returns to its roots with its release this summer. Legend of the Five Rings 3rd Edition returns focus to the Roll and Keep(R&K) system originally released in 1996. Conveying a deeper sense of realism, the R&K system best simulates the tension, reality, and lethality of Samurai drama. Look for it more information in the coming weeks here at L5R.com. * Thrilling fantasy setting based on the myths and culture of Japan, China, and other Asian nations * A new generation of the beloved Legend of the Five Rings roll and keep system.* Streamlines existing rules without making previous products obsolete.* Excellent sourcebook for Rokugani culture and history

Arcana Unearthed: A Variant Player's Handbook


Monte Cook - 2003
    IntroductionChapter 1 - AbilitiesChapter 2 - RacesChapter 3 - ClassesChapter 4 - SkillsChapter 5 - Feats and TalentsChapter 6 - EquipmentChapter 7 - Playing the GameChapter 8 - MagicChapter 9 - SpellsAppendix (Index)Intended as a full (drop-in) replacement for D&D 3.x PHB; published under the Open Game License.

Dungeon Master's Screen: A 4th Edition D&D Accessory


Wizards of the Coast - 2008
    Easy-to-reference rules and tables appear on the inside panels of the screen; these are designed for the Dungeon Master's eyes only and comply with the rules in the 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Mythic Adventures


Jason BulmahnTracy Hurley - 2013
    Many adventurers pick up swords or call upon strange powers in times of trouble, yet only a few are chosen by fate or the gods to change the course of history. These are mythic heroes—legendary figures whose every footstep shakes the heavens. With Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Mythic Adventures, it's your turn to change the world. Choose a mythic path and take on unbelievable powers by completing mythic trials tied to your character's story. Each mythic path works in parallel with your character class, allowing you to continue advancing in your chosen calling even as you seek a greater destiny. Best of all, you can start playing a mythic character at any point—even as early as 1st level!Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Mythic Adventures is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds on more than 10 years of system development and open playtests 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 a new era.Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Mythic Adventures is a 256-page hardcover book that includes:- Complete rules for playing mythic characters of six different paths: archmage, champion, guardian, hierophant, marshal, and trickster.- New mythic feats for every class, such as Powerful Shape, which allows druids to transform into enormous animals, or Deadly Stroke, which lets a mythic character dispatch even a formidable enemy with a single blow.- A whole grimoire of new and supercharged spells. Bring down a castle with a mythic meteor swarm, transform the landscape with terraform, or make every memory and record of someone disappear with mythic modify memory!- Tons of monsters enhanced with mythic abilities and ready to challenge your heroes, from dragons to vampires!- A hoard of new mythic magic items and artifacts. Brandish the sword of inner fire, capable of burning even elemental creatures, or turn your enemies to stone with the medusa-headed shield aegis!- A complete mythic adventure for 7th-level characters.- Advice on running a mythic game and forging your own legends.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box


Jason Bulmahn - 2011
    Scores of monsters, challenges, and advice give gamers the tools to create their own worlds and adventure, providing countless hours of gaming excitement. With streamlined rules and a focus on action-packed heroic adventure, this deluxe boxed set is the ideal introduction to the world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and the best starting point for a lifetime of pulse-pounding adventure!

Complete Ninja's Handbook


Aaron Allston - 1995
    This 128-page accessory gives you all the information you need to role-play exotic ninja, lone wolf operatives, and other character types - new character kits, special rules, and descriptions of the ninja's unique weapons and equipment. The Complete Ninja's Handbook brings life to these shadowy figures of myth and legend.

Basic Roleplaying: The Chaosium RolePlaying system (Basic Roleplaying)


Charlie Krank - 2008
    BASIC ROLEPLAYING is designed to be intuitive and easy to play. While character attributes follow a 3D6 curve, most of the other BASIC ROLEPLAYING mechanics are even simpler. Virtually all rolls determining success or failure of a task are determined via the roll of percentile dice.

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

The Lost City


Tom Moldvay - 1981
    Food, water, and wealth await heroic adventurers inside an ancient pyramid ruled by a strange race of masked beings.This module includes a cover folder with maps, and a descriptive booklet with a ready-made adventure for the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Basic game. It also includes enough information to continue the adventure beyond level 3, using the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Expert game rules.

Domains of Dread: Ravenloft Campaign:


Steve Miller - 1997
    Features new rules for creating heroes native to the domains, adapting magic to the demiplane, and dealing with fear and horror checks when the characters experience the true terror that dominates the Ravenloft "RM" campaign.Night is Falling. The Mists are RisingEmbrace the Darkness.Enter the dark and macabre world of Ravenloft.But beware -once you begin to walk among the mists and shadows,you can never leave.Domains of Dread is the core rulebook for the second edition of the award-winning RAVENLOFT campaign setting - the original fantasy horror role-playing game. Within the pages of this book, players and Dungeon Masters will discover the darkest secrets of the Land of the Mists, including many never-before-seen features:Detailed guidelines on designing anything from short-term horror adventures to long-running campaigns of twisted terror.Complete rules for generating player characters native to the Demiplane of Dread.Four new character classes specifically designed for use in RAVENLOFT campaigns - the avenger, the anchorite, the gypsy, and the arcanist!An all-new player character race - the half-Vistani!Updated and expanded descriptions of the Demiplane and the foul lords who rule its tortured domains!Revised fear, horror, and madness checks to enhance the terror.New rules for power checks, plus thirteen detailed steps that lead from grace to absolute corruption!Summary of content:1: The Demiplane of Dread: general description of Ravenloft, as well as a history and theories about the nature of the dark powers, and an overview of the technological levels in Ravenloft (from Stone Age to Renaissance)2: Domains of the Core3: Islands of Terror (Bluetspur, G´Henna, I´Cath, Kalidnay, Nosos, Odiare, Souragne and Vorostokov)4: Clusters (Amber Wastes (Har'Akir, Sebua and Pharazia), Zherisia (Paridon and Timor), the Burning Peaks (Vecna and Kas's domains) and Pockets (Davion, The House of Lament, The Nightmare Lands and Scaena)5: Secret Societies - short chapter on nine secret societies - Keepers of the Black Feather, Green Hand, Circle, Church of Ezra, Vistani, Carnival, Kargatane, Fraternity of Shadows, Unholy Order of the rave)6: Fear, Horror, and Madness rules7: Powers Checks rules8: The Path of the Priest - changes in the priest class9: The Way of the Wizard - changes for wizards.10: Mazes of the Mind - changes for psionics11: Forged of Darkness - changes for magical items12: The Whispered Evil - curses.13: Tenets of Terror - discussion about the general nature of Ravenloft adventures and campaignsAppendix: ability scores, character races, character classes (some new: Avengers (paladins), Arcanist (wizards), Anchorites (priest of Ezra), gypsy (bard)

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Class Guide


Jason BulmahnTim Hitchcock - 2014
    Incredible powers also await existing characters, with more than a hundred new archetypes and class options. Prepare characters for their most legendary adventure ever with massive selections of never-before-seen spells, magic items, and more!The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Class Guide is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 15 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.Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Class Guide includes:- Ten new base classes—the magic-twisting arcanist, the ferocious bloodrager, the cunning investigator, the daring swashbuckler, the formidable warpriest, and others.- Variant class abilities and thematic archetypes for all 29 base classes, such as the counterfeit mage and the mutagenic mauler.- Nearly a hundred new feats for characters of all classes, including style feats, teamwork feats like Coordinated Shot, and more.- Hundreds of new spells and magic items, such as feast on fear and skullcrusher gauntlets.- An entire armory of amazing equipment, from vital new adventuring gear to deadly alchemical weapons.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds