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Deities and Demigods by Rich RedmanJeff Easley
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White Plume Mountain
Lawrence Schick - 1979
WHITE PLUME MOUNTAIN is from the Special ("S") series; like others in this series, it is meant to stand on its own and is a complete ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS adventure. The recommended number of players is four to ten, with levels ranging from fifth to tenth.Introduction:White Plume Mountain has always been a subject of superstitious awe to the neighboring villagers. People still travel many miles to gaze upon this natural wonder, though few will approach it closely, as it is reputed to be the haunt of various demons & devils. The occasional disappearance of those who stray too close to the Plume reinforces this belief.Thirteen hundred years ago, the wizard Keraptis was searching for a suitable haven where he could indulge his eccentricities without fear of interference. He visited White Plume Mountain, going closer than most dared to, & discovered the system of old lava-tubes that riddle the cone & the underlying strata.With a little alteration, he thought, these would be perfect for his purposes. The area already had a bad reputation, & he could think of a few ways to make it worse. So, taking with him his fanatically loyal company of renegade gnomes, he disappeared below white Plume Mountain & vanished from the knowledge of men...
Exalted (Exalted, #1)
Alan Alexander - 2006
The natural history we know is a lie, a falsehood sold to us by wicked old men who would make the world a dull gray prison and protect us from the dangers inherent to freedom. They would have you believe our planet to be a lonely starship, hurtling through the void of space, barren of magic and in need of a stern hand upon the rudder. Close your mind to their deception. The time before our time was not a time of senseless natural struggle and reptilian rage, but a time of myth and sorcery. It was a time of legend, when heroes walked Creation and wielded the very power of the gods. It was a time before the world was bent, a time before the magic of Creation lessened, a time before the souls of men became the stunted, withered things they are today. This is the story of that time. THIS IS THE STORY OF THE EXALTED.
Menzoberranzan: Boxed Set
R.A. Salvatore - 1992
The priestesses of Lloth, the Spider Queen, demand (and receive) complete respect from the citizens of this mighty city. But what of the common folk - the drow of non-noble birth, the humans, and others? What is their lot in life, in this magnificent den of intrigue?Three books in this boxed set explain the ways of Menzoberranzan in detail. Book One: The City gives the reader a tour of the streets and districts, a wealth of information on various practices and customs, and an overview of daily life for each class of citizen (and non-citizen). Book Two: The Houses presents all eighteen major and minor Houses of the city, including the Matron Mothers and their immediate families, as well as any important advisers and associates. Book Three: The Adventure gives players a chance to take their characters into the web of deceit and intrigue woven by the denizens of this famed city.Additionally, this boxed set includes:Four connecting poster-sized maps of the city proper;one poster map of the House Baenre compound;a poster showing the rivalries and alliances among all eighteen major and minor houses; a 16-page House Do'Urden retrospective and the collected essays of Drizzt; twelve cardsheets containing in-depth statistics on main characters from Houses Nurbonnis and Millithor, and small maps for use in the adventure; and a full-color poster of the stunning box cover art by Jeff Easley.
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
Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People Who Play It
David M. Ewalt - 2013
Even if you’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons, you probably know someone who has: The game has had a profound influence on our culture. Released in 1974—decades before the Internet and social media—Dungeons & Dragons is one of the original ultimate nerd subcultures, and is still revered by more than thirty million fans. Now, the authoritative history and magic of the game is revealed by an award-winning journalist and life-long dungeon master.From its origins on the battlefields of ancient Europe, through the hysteria that linked it to satanic rituals and teen suicides, and to its apotheosis as father of the modern video game industry, Of Dice and Men recounts the development of a game played by some of the most fascinating people in the world. Chronicling the surprising history of D&D’s origins (one largely unknown even to hardcore players) while examining the game’s profound impact, Ewalt weaves laser-sharp subculture analysis with his own present-day gaming experiences. An enticing blend of history, journalism, narrative, and memoir, Of Dice and Men sheds light on America’s most popular (and widely misunderstood) form of collaborative entertainment.
The Vampire Player's Guide
Andrew Greenberg - 1991
A large portion of the book's text is reprinted, updated, and revised from the previous version of the Players Guide to fit the Second Edition's rules and formatting style. Notable among the new content in this edition of the Players Guide is the introduction of two new bloodlines, the Daughters of Cacophony and the Samedi, along with their respective signature Disciplines.
Playing at the World: A History of Simulating Wars, People, and Fantastic Adventure from Chess to Role-Playing Games
Jon Peterson - 2012
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.
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
Exalted
Christopher Moeller - 2001
The Empire of the Dragon-Blooded -- an invincible colossus -- stands astride the ruins of the First Age. For millennia, the scarlet Empress held the world in her steel grip. But the empress is no more, and the Realm spirals toward chaos and civil war. Its enemies descend -- demon princes, deathlords, skin-changing barbarians and the twisted and inscrutable Fair Folk hammer at the gates. In this time of darkness are reborn the solar Exalted, heroes of legend once slain by the Dragon-Blooded. Will these living legends herald the return of the Golden Age... or the end of creation?Exalted is the latest hardcover rulebook addition to the World of Darkness -- -- but not the one you think you know. You've never seen or even dreamed of this land before, yet it's hauntingly familiar. Become one of the Exalted, one of the heirs to an Age of Heroes, now cast down and disparaged. Will you rail against the tyranny of the oppressive Realm, seek your destiny in the dangerous Threshold, or throw in with the bizarre creatures of the wilds? The fate of this new world is in your hands.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Brian Campbell - 2000
Corruption from without and within has caused the destruction not only of the Garou's environment, but also of their families, friends and culture, which extends in an unbroken line to the very dawn of life. No matter how righteously the Garou hold themselves, no matter how they prey on their destroyers, the corruption spreads.Now the time for reconciliation is past. This grave insult against Gaia can end in only one way: blood, betrayal... and rage.They've been pushed to the brink of extinction. They've learned that they fight not one great enemy, but two. They've been hunted and slain, corrupted and cast down. But they'll be damned if they're going to stay down and die quietly. They're Garou, and their war is for the world itself.The werewolves' very society is shaken, but even with their numbers reduced, they continue to fight. Years of development culminate in this rulebook -- the shifts in the tribes, the discovery of hidden enemies, the signs of the End Times. Rewritten from the ground up, the Revised Edition of -- Werewolf: The Apocalypse chronicles all these changes, and gives you the chance to join the werewolves' war at its most intense.
Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG
Joseph Goodman - 2012
You're an adventurer: a reaver, a cutpurse, a heathen-slayer, a tight-lipped warlock guarding long-dead secrets. You seek gold and glory, winning it with sword and spell, caked in the blood and filth of the weak, the dark, the demons, and the vanquished. There are treasures to be won deep underneath, and you shall have them.
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
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.
Fate Core System
Leonard Balsera - 2013
Fate Core is that engine.
Fate Core is the latest evolution of the award-winning Fate roleplaying game system from Evil Hat Productions. We’ve streamlined and clarified the rules while maintaining the system’s trademark flexibility. Name your game; Fate Core can make it happen.
Inside, you’ll discover:
Easy-to-follow rules for character and world creation.
Rock-solid storytelling advice for players and GMs to produce the best play experience.
Clearly-defined systems to guide players both new and old.
New and improved approaches to character actions, aspects, compels... and more!
TELL YOUR TALE. ROLL THE DICE. EMBRACE YOUR FATE!
GURPS Fantasy
William H. Stoddard - 2004
It discusses the genre in depth - with all its subgenres and inspirations (myth, novels, movies, etc.) - letting you design just the kind of fantasy setting that you want.GURPS Fantasy gives detailed, concrete advice - from the basics of the landscape itself, through its inhabitants and cultures, to the details of believable histories and politics. It also examines the nature of supernatural forces, and discusses the impact of wizards, monsters, and gods. And, of course, it looks at the many different ways that magic and users of magic can work in a fantasy world. And, perhaps most importantly, it advises GMs and players alike on the kinds of characters appropriate to fantasy - including ordinary folks, people with fantastic powers, and nonhumans.Whether your model is Tolkien, Jordan, or Leiber, this book will let create a town, a country, or an entire world. Like all Fourth Edition books