It took startling leaps of imagination as well as careful thought and planning to create places like these: places that readers and players want to come back to again and again.Now, eleven of adventure gaming's top designers come together to share their insights into building worlds that gamers will never forget. Learn the secrets of designing a pantheon, creating a setting that provokes conflict, determining which historical details are necessary, and so much more.Take that creative leap, and create dazzling worlds of your own!Essays by Wolfgang Baur, Keith Baker, Monte Cook, Jeff Grubb, Scott Hungerford, David "Zeb" Cook, Chris Pramas, Jonathan Roberts, Michael A. Stackpole, Steve Winter, with an introduction by Ken Scholes.

    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.

    They are the blood-drinking fiends of whispered legends - Kindred, Cainites, the Damned. Above all, they are vampires. Their eternal struggle, waged since the nights of Jericho and Babylon, plays itself out among the skyscrapers and nightclubs of the modern world. But the vampires' grand Masquerade is imperilled, and the night of Gehenna draws ever closer.Until the End of All ThingsThe new edition of Vampire: The Masquerade is an updated, revised version of the popular classic. In this mammoth volume can be found all 13 clans, all major Disciplines, and a host of brand-new information on both the Kindred and the. . . things. . . that hunt them. This book compiles everything that a Vampire player and Storyteller needs to know about the Kindred and the World of Darkness™ for the new millennium. Plus, the new edition provides all-new information on the changes that afflict the clans, and on the beginning of the end of the Camarilla. Finally, the first of the Storyteller rulebooks is the best again.

    In addition to 25 new regional feats as well as new prestige classes, spells, monsters, and magic items, there is also background content on 60 cities and sites of interest, including extensive story content gathered from a multitude of Forgotten Realms products and articles.To help both players and dungeon masters use the book without players stumbling onto things they shouldn't, additional material for running a campaign is isolated in a single section of the book and includes adventure hooks.To use this accessory, you also need the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual.

    There are heists, chases, occult mysteries, dangerous bargains, bloody skirmishes, and, above all, riches to be had — if you’re bold enough to seize them.You and your fledgling crew must thrive amidst the threats of rival gangs, powerful noble families, vengeful ghosts, the Bluecoats of the city watch, and the siren song of your scoundrel’s own vices. Will you rise to power in the criminal underworld? What are you willing to do to get to the top?In this stand-alone game, you’ll find:* Rules to create your scoundrel using the following character archetypes: the Cutter, the Hound, the Leech, the Lurk, the Slide, the Spider, or the Whisper.* Rules to create your crew, built from types like Assassins, Bravos, a Cult, Hawkers, Shadows, or Smugglers.* A robust core mechanic which puts the fiction first—the strength of a character’s position (desperate, risky, or controlled) matters just as much as the character’s ability scores.* A lightning-fast mechanic for planning criminal operations to cut through the usual slog of planning at the game table.Rules for alchemical experiments, gadget tinkering, and weird occult powers—including rules for playing Ghosts and other strange beings.* A setting guide to the haunted city of Doskvol, with all the maps, factions, NPCs, schemes, and opportunities you need to run an exciting sandbox game.

    You will explore untracked wilds, fight desperate battles, forge bonds with isolated communities, and reveal the secrets of this harsh land.Are you ready to swear iron vows and see them fulfilled—no matter the cost?

    Maybe you and your girlfriend figured you could scare your wife into a divorce, but things went pear-shaped and now a gang of cranked-up Mexicans with latex gloves and a pit bull are looking for you.It seemed like such a good idea at the time.Fiasco is inspired by cinematic tales of small time capers gone disastrously wrong - inspired by films like Blood Simple, Fargo, The Way of the Gun, Burn After Reading, and A Simple Plan. You'll play ordinary people with powerful ambition and poor impulse control. There will be big dreams and flawed execution. It won't go well for them, to put it mildly, and in the end it will probably all go south in a glorious heap of jealousy, murder, and recrimination. Lives and reputations will be lost, painful wisdom will be gained, and if you are really lucky, your guy just might end up back where he started.Fiasco is a GM-less game for 3-5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with six-sided dice and no preparation. During a game you will engineer and play out stupid, disastrous situations, usually at the intersection of greed, fear, and lust. It's like making your own Coen brothers movie, in about the same amount of time it'd take to watch one.

    From emotionless sociopaths to raving lunatics and everything in between, the Malkavians nonetheless command startling insight. Does what they know drive them to madness or does their insanity allow them too peer into a world the rest of us fear to see?The Method of MadnessAs part of the revised lineup of clanbooks, Malkavian takes one of the classic sourcebooks for the game and brings it into a modern context. All-new information accompanies a re-examination of earlier concepts, allowing you to add as much depth to your character as you like. The sheer volume of information contained in the new clanbooks (each 32 pages longer than the first-edition series) permits Storytellers to round out their chronicles.

    Sections address life in a feudal culture, the duties of the nobility, and the true meaning of knighthood. You'll find a complete system for the design and construction of castles, new BATTLESYSTEM rules for the resolution of sieges, a quick resolution system for massive military campaigns, and an assortment of generic castles to spark your imagination.

    This campaign guide offers both players and Gamemasters a wide array of new options that can be used to craft a unique roleplaying game experience. As the galaxy plunges into one war after another, the forces of the Republic, along with their Jedi allies, struggle to protect themselves from hordes of invading Mandalorians, tyrannical Sith lords, and traitorous allies on every front. Featuring new game material drawn from a variety of sources, and including characters, weapons, vehicles, and droids, this book presents an entire campaign during the violent days of the Old Republic. This book also contains new Force powers, Force techniques, and Force secrets for Jedi and Sith characters, as well as new options for characters of all classes. Players can take advantage of new talents, feats, and other options to play a Mandalorian neo-crusader, a Republic soldier battling against the forces of Darth Revan and Darth Malak, or a Jedi in exile on the run from the Sith.

    But in the desperation of these last days, the world will take all those it can get: heroes, blackguards, madmen, and whoever else is willing to stand against the coming darkness. Will you fight the demons - or will you burn it all down and dance among the ashes? Who will you become when the world dies? Shadow of the Demon Lord opens a door to an imaginary world held in the grip of a cosmic destroyer. Enter a land steeped in the chaos and madness unleashed by the end times, with whole realms overrun by howling herds of beastmen, warped spirits freed from the Underworld, and unspeakable horrors stirred awaken by the Demon Lords imminent arrival.

    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!

    The battle becomes increasingly political as opportunities to gather allies and gain advantage present themselves. From Waterdeep to the Sea of Moving Ice to Thay, it is a race against Evil. Succeed or succumb to the oppression of draconic tyranny. Win or lose, things will never be the same again. • The second of two adventures in the Tyranny of Dragons™ story arc, The Rise of Tiamat provides everything a Dungeon Master needs to create an exciting and memorable adventure experience. • Fans of the Dungeons & Dragons® Roleplaying Game can get a sample of what this product has in store for them through the D&D Encounters™ in-store play program. • Adventure design and development by Kobold Press.

    Whether sinister or seductive, ferocious or foul, the creatures lurking within these pages will challenge the most experienced characters of any campaign. This supplement for the D&D game unleashes a horde of monsters to confront characters at all levels of play, including several with Challenge Ratings of 21 or higher. Inside are old favorites such as the death knight and the gem dragons, as well as all-new creatures such as the bronze serpent, the effigy, and the fiendwurm. Along with updated and expanded monster creation rules, "Monster Manual II" provides an inexhaustible source of ways to keep even the toughest heroes fighting and running for their lives. To use this supplement, a Dungeon Master also needs the "Player's Handbook" and the "Dungeon Master""'s Guide." A player needs only the "Player's Handbook."

    No forgiveness. No respite. There is only war.The Dark Millenium takes a horrific toll upon Mankind's realm, for the galaxy is beset by the flames of war. In this nightmare future, Humanity faces utter damnation. The galaxy has split along its length, torn by apocalyptic acts of violence to disgorge the horrors of the warp. Every one of the Imperium's million worlds is beset by Chaos incarnate. Scenting blood, warmongering alien races descend to conquer even as the enemy within rises up, utter disaster stayed only by the daily sacrifice of untold billions. Only the armies of the Immortal Emperor stand between Humanity and midnight-black oblivion. Foremost amongst them are the Space Marines of the Adeptus Astartes, dauntless champions forged anew as the ultimate protectors of Mankind.You can enter this universe of horrors, today, if you dare. But remember this is a a more terrible era than ever before, and there is no peace amongst the stars...The Games Workshop hobby allows you to collect, build, paint and play within worlds of boundless creativity and imagination. Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop game for two or more players, where you control an army of Citadel Miniatures representing the Imperium of Man or one of its many enemies. As well as telling the story of the Dark Millenium, this books provides all the rules you need to fight a variety of battles in this dystopian setting, and has essential information about collecting, painting and gaming with Citadel Miniatures.(publisher's description)