It gives you the basics on running a great game, info for more advanced dungeon mastering, guidelines for creating adventures, and tips for building a campaign. It shows you how to: Handle all the expressions of DMing: moderator, narrator, a cast of thousands (the nonplayer characters or NPCs), player, social director, and creator Use published adventures and existing campaign worlds or create adventures and campaign worlds of your own Conjure up exciting combat encounters Handle the three types of encounters: challenge, roleplaying, and combat Create your own adventure: The Dungeon Adventure, The Wilderness Adventure. The Event-Based adventure (including how to use flowcharts and timelines), The Randomly Generated Adventure, and the High-Level adventure Create memorable master villains, with nine archetypes ranging from agent provocateur to zealot To get you off to a fast start, Dungeon Master For Dummies includes:A sample dungeon for practice Ten ready-to-use encounters and ten challenging traps A list of simple adventure premises Mapping tips, including common scales, symbols, and conventions, complete with tables Authors Bill Slavicsek and Richard Baker wrote the hugely popular Dungeons and Dragons For Dummies. Bill has been a game designer since 1986 and leads the D&D creative team at Wizards of the Coast. Richard is a game developer and the author of the fantasy bestseller Condemnation. They give you the scoop on:Using a DM binder to keep records such as an adventure log, PCs' character sheets, NPC logs/character sheets, treasure logs, and more Knowing player styles (role players and power games) and common subgroups: hack'n'slasher, wargamer, thinker, impulsive adventurer, explorer, character actor, and watcher Recognizing your style: action movie director, storyteller, worldbuilder, puzzlemaker, or connector Using miniatures, maps, and other game aids Using 21st century technology, such as a Web site or blog, to enhance your game The book includes a sample adventure, The Necromancer's Apprentice, that's the perfect way to foray into DMing. It includes everything you need for a great adventure--except your players. What are you waiting for? There are chambers to be explored, dragons to be slain, maidens to be rescued, gangs of gnoll warriors to be annihilated, worgs to be wiped out, treasures to be discovered, worlds to be conquered....

    The modern nights have caught up with these monsters, however, who have fallen from their place as masters of hoary estates to degenerates bound by the callous whims of the Sabbat.The Flesh-Twisted FiendsAs the next entry in the revised lineup of clanbooks, Tzimisce takes one of the classic Vampire sourcebooks and brings it into a modern context. All-new information accompanies revised material, inviting you to add as much depth to your character as you like. The sheer volume of information contained in the new clanbooks (each with 32 more pages than the first-edition books) permits Storytellers to round out their chronicles.

    We move the Wheel of Creation on its forward course and counter those who would freeze the wheel in its tracks."Now if we could only cooperate, we'd be in business!"- Porthos, Drui'shi Master of the Order of HermesMagickal Lore of the AgesA Book of Shadows is a journal of the Path, a tome of revelations for the followers of magick. In this Book of Shadows, mage players and Storytellers will uncover lost secrets of the Traditions and their rivals. This is a valuable tome for mages everywhere!The Mage Players Guide includes:* New rotes, Talsimans, Abilities, Merits, Flaws, and details about the elusive Ahl-i-Batin;* in-depth truths about the factions of magick and the Path of Ascension;* Expanded rules for magick, foci, familiars and more!

    What's more, player rules for a host of creatures let players not just fight aliens, but be them!Inside Starfinder Alien Archive, you'll find the following:- Over 80 bizarre life-forms both classic and new, from the reptilian ikeshtis and energy-bodied hallajins to robotic anacites and supernatural entities from beyond the realms of mortals.- Over 20 races with full player rules, letting you play everything from a winged dragonkin to a hyperevolved floating brain.- New alien technology to help give your character an edge, including weapons, armor, magic items, and more.- A robust NPC-creation system to let Game Masters build any aliens or creatures they can imagine.- New rules for magical monster summoning, quick templates to modify creatures on the fly, and more!Cover art by Remko Troost

    Illustrations.

    Smite bloodthirsty giants, crush treacherous invaders, brave the mysterious lands of faerie, and dabble in Celtic magic. Pendragon is a roleplaying game based on the legends of King Arthur, Lancelot, Guenever, and the Knights of the Round Table. To become a knight of the Round Table you must uphold the chivalric ideals of courage, honesty, fair play, and justice. Armed and armored, you are the law of the land, in a life-or-death struggle to join the fellowship of the Round Table. This book contains everything you need to explore the mysteries and dangers of Arthur's Britain

    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!

    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.

    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.

    For millennia, their world-shaking battles within the clan have been just as intense as their relentless struggles against other Kindred. No other clan has had such an effect on the world of mortals. No other clan can match the effect of the Toreador. Clanbook: Toreador includes:* the history of the clan and the roles it has played in both human and vampiric culture;* ten sample characters suitable for players and Storytellers;* the secrets of how the Toreador use their arts to destroy their enemies.

    

    Advance Your GameThis comprehensive 640-page guide to the Pathfinder roleplaying game provides everything you need to set out into a world of limitless fantasy adventure! Choose from ancestries like elf, human, and goblin and classes like alchemist, fighter, and sorcerer to create a hero of your own design, destined to become a legend! The new Pathfinder rules are easier to learn and faster to play, and they offer deeper customization than ever before!This indispensable volume contains the core rules for players and Game Masters, and is your first step on a heroic new journey!The Pathfinder Core Rulebook includes:- More than 600 pages of game rules, advice, character options, treasure, and more for players and Game Masters!- Six heroic player character ancestries, including elf, dwarf, gnome, goblin, halfling, and human, with variant heritages for half-elf and half-orc!- More than 30 backgrounds like bartender, soldier, or apprentice to further immerse yourself in your hero's backstory!- Twelve character classes, including the alchemist, barbarian, bard, champion, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and wizard!- Hundreds and hundreds of spells, class feats, and other exciting abilities to help you customize your character to become the hero YOU envision her to be!- Streamlined and revised rules to help ease new players into the game while providing the depth of character options and tactical interest that have defined Pathfinder from the beginning!

    Mayday, Mayday... we are under attack... main drive is gone... turret number one not responding... Mayday...losing cabin pressure fast...calling anyone...please help... This is Free Trader Beowulf... Mayday... Traveller, the Science-Fiction adventure set in the far future returns in a new edition, updated and revised for the modern era.

    Will you cut your way through monster-filled ruins and cities rife with political intrigue to emerge as a famous hero laden with fabulous treasure, or will you fall victim to treacherous traps and fiendish monsters in a forgotten dungeon? Your fate is yours to decide with this giant Core Rulebook that provides everything a player needs to set out on a life of adventure and excitement!This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an open playtest involving 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 Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook includes:- All player and Game Master rules in a single volume.- Complete rules for fantastic player races like elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, and half-orcs.- Exciting new options for character classes like fighters, wizards, rogues, clerics, and more.- Streamlined and updated rules for feats and skills that increase options for your hero.- A simple combat system with easy rules for grapples, bull rushes, and other special attacks.- Spellcaster options for magic domains, familiars, bonded items, specialty schools, and more.- Hundreds of revised, new, and updated spells and magical treasures.- Quick-generation guidelines for nonplayer characters.- Expanded rules for curses, diseases, and poisons.- A completely overhauled experience system with options for slow, medium, and fast advancement.... and much, much more!Cover art by Wayne Reynolds

    Will you delve for lost artifacts in the ruins of alien temples? Strap on rune-enhanced armor and a laser rifle to battle undead empires in fleets of bone ships, or defend colonists from a swarm of ravenous monsters? Maybe you'll hack into the mainframe of a god-run corporation, or search the stars for clues to the secret history of the universe or brand new planets to explore. Whether you're making first contact with new cultures on uncharted worlds or fighting to survive in the neon-lit back alleys of Absalom Station, you and your team will need all your wits, combat skill, and magic to make it through. But most of all, you'll need each other.This massive 528-page hardcover rulebook is the essential centerpiece of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, with rules for character creation, magic, gear, and more—everything you need to play Starfinder as either a player or Game Master! The next great adventure in science-fantasy roleplaying takes off here, and the Starfinder Core Rulebook is your ticket to a lifetime of adventure amid the stars!Inside this book, you'll find:- All of the rules you need to play or run a game of Starfinder.- Seven character classes, from the elite soldier and stealthy operative to the physics-hacking technomancer and mind-bending mystic.- Character races both new and classic, from androids, insectile shirrens, ratlike ysoki, and reptilian vesk to the dwarves and elves of the distant future.- An in-depth exploration of the Starfinder setting, including its planets, gods, factions, and threats.- Hundreds of weapons, spells, technological gadgets, magic items, and other options to outfit any character.- Complete rules for starships, including customization and starship combat.- Rules and tips on using Pathfinder RPG content with Starfinder.Cover art by Remko Troost