Book picks similar to
Player's Handbook II by David Noonan
rpg
gaming
fantasy
dungeons-and-dragons
30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D Retrospective)
Peter Archer - 2004
100,000 first printing.
Kindred of the East
Robert Hatch - 1997
Those few Children of Caine dwelling in Asia whisper of the monstrous Cathayans--the shadowy vampires native to the East. For too long the Cathayans have lain like sleeping dragons, allowing the Kindred a facade of omnipotence. Now, the new Age is at hand; Yin-daggers tremble in the talons of the Resplendent Cranes, and the Devil-Tigers howl for souls in the dark.May You Live in Interesting TimesKindred of the East is a giant hardcover sourcebook describing the unique and deadly vampires of the East. This mammoth volume includes new character creation rules, new powers, descriptions of the Eastern spirit worlds (plus rules for traveling there), and two chapters full of setting and cultural information.
The Lazy Dungeon Master
Michael E. Shea - 2012
As an experienced dungeon master you've run dozens, if not hundreds of games. You put a lot of work into making your games great. What if there's another way to look at how you prepare your game? What if it turned out you could spend less time, less energy, and have a better game as a result?It's time to unleash the Lazy Dungeon Master.Written in the style of Sly Flourish's Dungeon Master Tips and Running Epic Tier D&D Games, The Lazy Dungeon Master shows a new approach to game preparation, one that takes less time and gives your game the freedom to grow at the table. This book will help dungeon master prepare awesome games for any version of D&D.Based on the real-world experiences of hundreds of dungeon masters and dozens of professional game designers, the Lazy Dungeon Master includes interviews with veteran D&D DMs and a complete toolkit to help you improvise an entire game.Whether you play 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Pathfinder, or the D&D Next playtest; The Lazy Dungeon Master has tips, techniques, and advice to make preparation easier and help you run a flexible and entertaining game.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: NPC Codex
Jason BulmahnJason Nelson - 2012
You spend hours setting up the perfect encounter, your players are out for blood, the swords are drawn—and then you realize that you've forgotten to build statistics for the enemy characters. Or perhaps your players go left when you expect them to go right, leaving you without any encounters prepared.Such problems are a thing of the past with the NPC Codex. Inside this tome, you'll find hundreds of ready-made stat blocks for nonplayer characters of every level, from a lowly forest poacher to the most majestic knight or ancient spellcaster. Whether you're planning out future adventures or throwing together encounters right at the table, this book does the work so you can focus on playing the game.Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook and Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. 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 the new millennium.The 320-page Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex includes:- Statistics for more than 300 characters, including at least one for every level of every class in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook.- Tactical suggestions for every character, ensuring that you get the most out of each individual's gear and abilities in a fight.- Tons of flavorful names and backgrounds to give characters personality, plus ideas for using them in both combat and roleplaying situations.- Statistics for characters with lower-powered NPC classes to help populate your world with ordinary people, as well as characters with specialized prestige classes.- Animal companion statistics for druids and rangers, from level 1 through level 20.- Multiple versions of each Pathfinder iconic character, perfect for pregenerated player characters.- Encounter groups for conveniently crafting battles on the fly.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds
Nobilis
R. Sean Borgstrom - 1999
Once human, each character has been forever changed, imbued with awesome power and terrible responsibility. Heaven and Hell, angels and devils, the Giants and the Old Gods - in Nobilis, all are united in the Great War against the Excrucians, whose goal is to destroy all Creation - but all are divided by their own plots and ancient rivalries, as well.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 3
Jason BulmahnF. Wesley Schneider - 2011
Within this book you’ll find demiliches and demodands, grave knights and goblin snakes, norns and nephilim, imperial dragons and unfettered eidolons, and so much more! Yet not every creature needs to be an enemy, as winged garudas, crafty tanukis, and leonine lammasus all wait to join your party and answer the call of glory.The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 is the third indispensable volume of monsters for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and serves as a companion to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook and Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. 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 bestselling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 includes:- More than 300 different monsters.- Classic terrors from myth and literature, from the frumious bandersnatch and the righteous valkyrie to the cunning dybbuk and elusive kappa.- Hordes of new creatures you can construct, grow, or summon to aid your party in its adventures.- New player-friendly races to let you adventure as canny ratfolk, genie-blooded sulis, and more.- New familiars, animal companions, and other allies.- Challenges for any adventure and every level of play.- Some of the strangest and most beloved creatures from fantasy roleplaying history and the Pathfinder campaign setting.- Hosts of new templates and variants.- Appendices to aid in monster navigation, including lists by Challenge Rating, monster type, and habitat.- Expanded universal monster rules to simplify special attacks, defenses, and qualities.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds
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.)
Strongholds & Followers
Matthew Colville - 2018
Raise armies! Research spells! Spy on your enemies! More than just a set of rules and charts, this book also describes a style of play that assumes your character becomes more interested in influencing the world around them. You’ll still adventure and fight monsters, but this supplement gives you tons of fun things to do during your downtime. It only takes one character building a stronghold to radically change the nature of a campaign and introduce new narrative opportunities for GM and players alike! Huge new story opportunities arise! This book includes tons of examples for GMs to inspire them.
Shadowrun
Catalyst Game Labs - 2007
Magic has returned and creatures of myth and legend walk among us as megacorps bleed the world dry. You're a shadowrunner-a deniable asset, a corporate pawn-using bleeding-edge science and magic to make your meat body and mind betterthan- flfl esh. Stay on the edge, and you may survive another 'run on the mean sprawl streets. The 20th Anniversary Edition is fully compatible with all Shadowrun, Fourth Edition books.
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: 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: Bestiary 2
Wolfgang BaurJames Jacobs - 2010
Within this collection of creatures you'll find undead dragons and mischievous gremlins, shrieking banshees and unstoppable titans, the infamous jabberwock, and so much more! Yet not all these monsters need to be foes, as new breeds of otherworldly guardians, living shadows, and vampires all might take up adventure's call. In addition, new rules for customizing and advancing monsters and an expanded glossary of creature abilities ensure that you'll be prepared to challenge your heroes wherever adventure takes them!The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 is the second indispensable volume of monsters for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and serves as a companion to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook and Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. 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 320-page Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 includes:- More than 300 different monsters.- Creatures both new and familiar, drawing upon the best-known beasts of legend, literature, and Pathfinder RPG adventures.- Challenges for any adventure and every level of play.- Hosts of new templates and variants, including simple templates for on-the-fly creature customization.- Numerous lists of monsters to aid in navigation, including lists by Challenge Rating, monster type, and habitat.- New rules for creating and running high-level menaces.- Expanded universal monster rules to simplify special attacks, defenses, and qualities.- New familiars, animal companions, and other allies.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds
Monster of the Week
Michael Sands - 2012
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.
Legend of the Five Rings RPG
John Wick - 1997
The game uses the Legend of the Five Rings setting, and primarily the nation of Rokugan which is based on feudal Japan with influences from other East Asian cultures.Like most role-playing games, Legend of the Five Rings is played by one or more players and a game master, who controls the events that happen during the game as well as thenon-player characters (also called "NPCs"). An aspect that sets Legend of the Five Rings apart from other games is the inclusion of courtiers and other non-combatant character types as valid player character types. Most role-playing games focus heavily on combat and non-combatants are generally only given as non-player characters, whereas in Legend of the Five Rings it is possible (although unlikely) to play an entire game with no scenes of combat at all.In 1998, Legend of the Five Rings won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Game of 1997.
Age of Rebellion Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook
Jay Little - 2014
Wage guerilla warfare across the Star Wars galaxy as a solider, or provide crucial intelligence to the Rebels as a cunning spy. Face down legions of stormtroopers, steal secret plans and restricted codes, and stay on target in the fight against the ultimate power in the universe. No matter what role in the Rebellion you take, the fate of the galaxy rests in your hands.The 464-page Star Wars®: Age of Rebellion™ Core Rulebook provides everything players and GMs need to begin their adventures in the Star Wars universe, including:Concise rules for character generation and advancementClear descriptions of the game’s skills and talentsConvenient charts of weapons, gear, devices, starships, and vehiclesRules for conflict, combat, and Force Sensitive Emergents in an Age of Rebellion campaignExtensive background information on the Star Wars universe, including a history of the Rebel Alliance and its tactics, as well as pertinent information on the powerful EmpireA wealth of advice for GMs on how to create and run an Age of Rebellion campaignA complete, introductory adventure to launch players into action!