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.

    Detailed in this 192-page core supplement are the most prominent religions and deities of the Realms. Each divine power is covered in depth by an entry that includes information about the deity's appearance, personality, worshipers, portfolio, aliases, domain name, superior, allies, foes, symbol, worshipers' alignments, avatar, manifestations, church and specialty priests. The information on each religion includes its core dogma, day-to-day activities of priests, holy days and important ceremonies, major centers of worship, affiliated orders, and the priestly vestments and adventuring garb of members of the clergy. Finally, each entry contains spells specific to each of the religions - some new, some long unavailable or hard to find and some updated to conform with the current AD&D game rules. Faiths & Avatars includes: • All the greater, intermediate and lesser deities of the Faerûnian pantheon • The honored dead, including Bane, Bhaal, Moander, Myrkul and Leira, among others • Expanded and clarified specialty priest classes and specific spells for all religions with priesthoods • Color illustrations of priests from every faith in ceremonial dress • Four additional general priest classes now official to the Forgotten Realms campaign setting: crusaders, monks, mystics and shamans.

    

    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

    Take the plunge into the infinite depths of the Abyss; the wild passions of Arborea; the immeasureable randomness of Limbo; the howling madness of Pandemonium; and the glorious battlefields of Ysgard.Inside this tome, you'll find the following:The Book of Chaos, a 128-page guide for the Dungeon Master to the places, creatures, and special conditions of the five Chaos Planes;The Travelogue, a 48-page player's guide to these planes, profusely illustrated with full color maps and illustrations;Chaos Adventures, a 32-page adventure book containing 3 adventure outlines for each plane—that's 15 adventures in all!Monstrous Supplement, a 32-page booklet detailing 15 new monsters, including new tanar'ri, the inhabitants of Yggdrasil, and the ever-changing creatures of Limbo; andFive fully detailed maps of the realms of Chaos.

    Learn about Greyhawk's deities, heroes, monsters, arcane items, magical spells, and much, much more. A book for lovers of Greyhawk and players of all fantasy role-playing games.

    Following on the success of the handbooks dealing with elves, gnomes, and dwarves, it provides all the information necessary to play intelligent humanoid creatures as PC's. Illustrations, many in color.

    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.

    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.

    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)

    Player's Option Rulebooks present an alternative approach to AD&D characters. Custom-craft your next PC, selecting the profession, skills, and abilities you want! Characters can even have additional ability scores such as Stamina, Muscle, Balance, and others. New proficiencies, talents, and updated psionics round out the Player's Option character. Be ready for anything with Skills & Powers!

    

    Illustrations.

    Another is Elminster's beloved and the infamous Witch-Queen of Aglarond. The third is the Lady Mage of Waterdeep, peer and consort of Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun, and the fourth is a Harper and one of the famous Knights of Myth Drannor. The fifth is a leader of the Harpers and a legendary bard in her own right, and the sixth is a dead - perhaps undead - witch. And the seventh? She's the one who wild tales are whispered about all across Faerûn around many a fireside late at night.But who are they, really? Their very names conjure up romance, allure, and power - Storm Silverhand, the Simbul, High Lady Alustriel. Sages say they are among the Chosen of Mystara, archmages who wield magic few can dare to stand against. Yet these seven do not seek to rule the world, and they often stay quiet and hidden for generations.That hints at another thing. These seven seem immortal, never aging as the long years pass. Just who are these Seven Sisters, and what are their secrets?Read this tome, and learn what the Zhentarim, the Red Wizards of Thay, and the Cult of the Dragon could not, despite performing many fell deeds in the attempt. Learn the stories of these great ladies, and their aims and strivings - and browse among over a hundred new and spectacular spells! Dungeon Masters and players alike will find this volume an essential sourcebook of Realmslore, and a handy guide to archsorceresses peerless in power.

    Edited by Eric HolmesThis version of Basic Dungeons and Dragons (the cover reflects the 2nd printing of the "Holmes version" is the followup to the Orignial D&D sets.