From a vast survey of primary sources ranging from eighteenth-century strategists to modern hobbyists, Playing at the World distills the story of how gamers first decided fictional battles with boards and dice, and how they moved from simulating wars to simulating people. The invention of role-playing games serves as a touchstone for exploring the ways that the literary concept of character, the lure of fantastic adventure and the principles of gaming combined into the signature cultural innovation of the late twentieth century.

    The "Dungeon Master's Guide II "builds upon existing materials in the"Dungeon Master's Guide." It is specifically designed to facilitate play, especiallywhen the Dungeon Master has a limited amount of preparation time. Chapters include discussion on running a game, designing adventures, building and using prestige classes, and creating campaign settings. Ready-made game elements include instant traps, pre-generated locations, treasures, and a fully realized and rendered town. JESSE DECKER is the development manager for Wizards of the Coast, Inc.whose recent roleplaying game design credits include "Complete Adventurer"(TM), "Races of Stone"(TM), and "Unearthed Arcana"(TM). DAVID NOONAN is an RPG designer/developer at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Recent credits include authoring "Complete Divine"(TM) and co-authoring "Races of Stone "and "Unearthed Arcana." CHRIS THOMASSON previously served as Editor-in-Chief of "Dungeon"(R)Magazine. His design credits include "Fiend Folio"(TM) and "Monster Manual"(TM)"III," as well as "Bow and Blade "for Green Ronin Publishing. JAMES JACOBS is the associate editor of "Dungeon"(R) Magazine and has published numerous articles in "Dragon"(R) Magazine. His most recent credits with Wizards of the Coast, Inc. include co-authoring "The Book of Aberrations," "Races of Faerun"(TM), and "Frostburn"(TM). ROBIN D. LAWS, game designer and novelist, is best known for the roleplayinggames "Feng Shui," "Heroquest," and "Dying Earth," along with, "Robin's Laws ofGood Gamemastering."

    This mental manipulation is not magical, nor is it the stuff of superstitious gossip. It is the art of psionics.This supplement for the D&D game provides psionic character classes and prestige classes, psionic skills and feats, a psionic combat system, and a plethora of psionic powers, items, and monsters -- everything you need to include psionics in your campaign.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.

    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

    Whether you're a player or a Dungeon Master, the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Rules Cyclopedia is now the comprehensive sourcebook you need for the original fantasy role-playing game! For ages 12 and up, the Cyclopedia contains the complete game system and hundreds of features including:

    100,000 first printing.

    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

    This is the essential volume for the well-equipped Dungeons and Dragons character.

    This 128-page accessory expands the living world of the druid in the AD&D 2nd Edition game, bringing new homes, character kits, personalities, spells, magical items, herbal lore, and a hundred details on druidic society, sacred groves, and high-level aspirations. This book has it all—don't leave the woods without it!

    The truth is magic'ae the universe can be crafted with a simple working of your will. Mages have taught this truth throughout the ages, but the proponents of technology have crushed the mystic masters. Join the last stand in the war for reality.Mage: The Ascension places you in the midst of supernatural intrigues and inner struggles. The more secrets you learn, the more important your wisdom and power become. Mage drags spirituality and metaphysics screaming through the streets of a postmodern nightmare.The heroes of Mage: The Ascension, revised in the tradition of Vampire: The Masquerade, have lost their war for reality -- but the struggle continues in this quintessential volume. All of the Traditions are updated and elaborated upon, along with the history of mages in the World of Darkness. Explore the revised rules for the Spheres, Resonance and Paradox. See the devastating changes that signal the end for the Ascension War.

    Within this tome you'll find fire-breathing dragons and blood-drinking vampires, vile demons and shapechanging werewolves, sadistic goblins and lumbering giants, and so much more! Yet not all the creatures in this book are enemies, for some can serve lucky heroes as allies or advisors, be they summoned angels or capricious nymphs. And it doesn't stop there—with full rules for advancing monsters, adapting monsters to different roles, and designing your own unique creations, you'll never be without a band of hideous minions again!The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is the 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 Bestiary includes:- More than 350 different monsters.- Dozens of monstrous variants to modify creatures and keep players on their toesNumerous lists of monsters to aid in navigation, including lists by Challenge Rating, monster type, and habitat.- Extensive rules for creating effective and balanced monsters.- Rules for advancing monsters by hit dice, template, or class level.- Universal monster rules to simplify special attacks, defenses, and qualities like breath weapons, damage reduction, and regeneration.- More than a dozen feats tailored especially for monsters.- Suggestions for monstrous cohorts.- Two dozen additional animal companions.- More than a dozen different wandering monster encounter tables.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds

    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.

    This exciting world is complete with soaring cities, viscious wars, and a gritty mean-streets style that harkens back to the traditions of film noir.The Eberron campaign setting is updated into the 4th edition D&D family with the Eberron Campaign Guide. Featuring all of the character elements from the core rulebooks, this updated version of the Eberron world is a must for any gamer that likes the magic-as-technology, film noir, high-adventure campaign setting that was chosen from over 15,000 game submissions.

    Illustrations.

    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!