It is a deep intellectual dive into the literature of science fiction's past that will fascinate any serious role-playing gamer. Author Jeffro Johnson, an expert role-playing gamer, accomplished Dungeon Master and three-time Hugo Award Finalist, critically reviews every single work listed by Gygax in the famous appendix, and in doing so, draws a series of intelligent conclusions about the literary gap between past and present that are surprisingly relevant to current events, not only in the fantastic world of role-playing, but the real world in which the players live.

    Description of every kind of elf abound. Rounding out this information are 11 new kits; new optional rules and suggestions for running elven campaigns; and special elven equipment, spells, and magical items. Forget what you thought you knew about elves - The Complete Book of Elves sheds new light on this mysterious race!

     Their battles in the Overworld have spilled over to ours. Armed with abilities and weapons granted by their divine parents, the Scions stand as humanity's only defense. This book includes: • Six ready-to-play Scions—the offspring of the Gods • Rules to create your own Scion from one of more than 50 gods from six different pantheons • The adventure, "The Long Road to Heaven," using the Storytelling Adventure System Scion: Hero is the first book in a new Storytelling game series from White Wolf Publishing. 336 page hardcover.

    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)

    Fortunes are decided. Kingdoms are lost. Entire worlds are created. This book will teach you to bring your fictional realm to life with simple step-by-step instructions on how to draw authentic fantasy maps. Set the stage for adventure by illustrating domains, castles and battle lines, mountains, forests and sea monsters! Learn to create completely unique and fully functional RPG maps time and time again on which your world can unfold.All the skills necessary to create awe-inspiring maps are covered! Landscapes. Add depth, balance and plausibility with rocky coastlines, towering mountains, dark forests and rolling plains. Iconography. Mark important places--towns and cities, fortresses and bridges--with symbolic iconography for easy-to-understand maps. Typography. Learn how to place readable text and the basics of decorative script. Bonus instruction teaches you to create fonts for Orcs, Elves, Vikings and dragons. Heraldry and shield design. Depict cultural and political boundaries with shields and colors. Advanced cartography. Includes how to draw landmarks, country boundaries and political lines. Build roads to connect merchants and troops, troll cairns and dragon lairs. And complete your maps with creative backgrounds, elaborate compasses and thematic legends. 30+ step-by-step demonstrations illustrate how to construct an entire fantasy world map from start to finish--both digitally and by hand!

    With abilities that reach nearly beyond the scope of mortal imagination, the splendor of the gods humbles even the greatest of heroes.This supplement for the D&D game provides everything you need to create and call upon the most powerful beings in your campaign. Included are descriptions and statistics for over seventy gods from four fully detailed pantheons. Along with suggestions for creating your own gods, Deities and Demigods also includes information on advancing characters to godhood.To use this supplement, a Dungeon Master also needs the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual. A player needs only the Player's Handbook.

    Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master uses the experiences of thousands of GMs to help us focus on how we prepare our games, how we run our games, and how we think about our games. It includes practical steps for focusing our preparation activities on those things that will bring the biggest impact to our game. Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master builds off of the concepts of the well-received GM's guidebook Lazy Dungeon Master, updating that book with five years of new experiences, new approaches, and new observations of the way people prepare and run RPGs. This new book is a completely self-contained work, which does not require anyone to have previously read The Lazy Dungeon Master. Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master offers a new focused approach for preparing and running our roleplaying games. The book includes an eight-step guide for lightweight game preparation and is focused on how we prepare for our games, how we run our games, and how we think about our games. Prepare what benefits your game.

    Replacing the original Outer Planes Appendix, this new and enlarged compendium includes full-color illustrations, reintroducing many of the best mulitplanar monsters from a wide variety of out-of-print sources.

    Traveling alongside other intrepid characters, these heroic creatures carve their places in legend with sword, spell, tooth, and claw.This supplement for the D&D game provides everything you need to play a monster as a character or to make the monsters your heroes fight even more formidable. Inside are over 50 all-new monster classes that show how creatures develop their characteristics and abilities as they gain levels. Along with new prestige classes and monster templates, Savage Species also features new feats, spells, magic items, and more.To use this supplement, a Dungeon Master also needs the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual. A player needs only the Player's Handbook and the Monster Manual.

    In Game Wizards, Jon Peterson chronicles the rise of Dungeons & Dragons from hobbyist pastime to mass market sensation, from the initial collaboration to the later feud of its creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. As the game's fiftieth anniversary approaches, Peterson--a noted authority on role-playing games--explains how D&D and its creators navigated their successes, setbacks, and controversies.Peterson describes Gygax and Arneson's first meeting and their work toward the 1974 release of the game; the founding of TSR and its growth as a company; and Arneson's acrimonious departure and subsequent challenges to TSR. He recounts the Satanic Panic accusations that D&D was sacrilegious and dangerous, and how they made the game famous. And he chronicles TSR's reckless expansion and near-fatal corporate infighting, which culminated with the company in debt and overextended and the end of Gygax's losing battle to retain control over TSR and D&D.With Game Wizards, Peterson restores historical particulars long obscured by competing narratives spun by the one-time partners. That record amply demonstrates how the turbulent experience of creating something as momentous as Dungeons & Dragons can make people remember things a bit differently from the way they actually happened.

    It seems so easy. Just a sip, a taste, and you're better than all the rest. You can suck up a bullet wound to the gut. You can knock your enemies through walls with a shove. You can have all the night has to offer without sacrificing your body and soul to it. This deal is too good to be true. Yeah. That's what Faust said. And now the Damned want their due. ...You Know You Want It! Ghouls: Fatal Addiction is a Vampire: The Masquerade sourcebook detailing the half-human servants of the Kindred. Whether you need a few new whipping boys or just want to taste the lash yourself, this book has everything you need to create ghouls as player or Storyteller characters. Watch out, though. This book just might make Renfield wake up and smell his fix...and the master who lives by blood might die by it, too. Ghouls: Fatal Addiction includes:* Rules for creating vassal, independent and revenant characters.* New Merits, Flaws, Derangements and other Traits to help you roleplay a codependent blood-slave.* Secret societies, ghoul "games," and clan-specific information on how vampires treat their servitors.

    This guide explores the hidden lore and secrets of magic in the Forgotten Realms game setting. From the history of magic to magical variants (including gem magic, spellfire, and the mageduel), magical creatures, locations of power, and advanced options for creating magic items, this book covers what a Dungeon Master or the player of a spellcaster in the Forgotten Realms setting needs to know. * More than 200 new spells * Almost 200 new magic items * 11 new prestige classes To use this accessroy, you also need the "Player's Handbook," the "Dungeon Master's Guide," the "Monster Manua"l, and the "Forgotten Realms"" Campaign Setting."

    The amazing illustrations come from a variety of renowned illustrators, including Jean-Sébastien Rossbach, Leonid Kozienko, Benjamin Carré, Isaac Hannaford, and 343's internal art team, too.For the first time ever, the timeline of the Halo universe is available in one place, charting humanity's battles against alien forces of the Covenant, Forerunners, and the Flood--making this book an absolute must-have for Halo fans.

    Contains prestige classes, feats, combat tactics, weapons, and a discussion of the role of fighters and monks in the campaign world.

    Run game, non-player characters, magic items (including intelligent and cursed items, and artifacts), dictionary of special abilities, item pricing, and more.