I've been very pleased with the Draconomicon in play. This past Sunday the group fought Ashar Dalon, a 30th level dragon with a Balor living inside it. The encounter is well done and interesting, allowing for mechanical options that makes fighting Ashar Dalon feel unique from simply fighting another red dragon. In fact, Sunday ended the year long 4E Planescape campaign and I can say that the Draconomicon has been a wonderful tool since I picked it up. Were I to run another campaign I'd be very tempted to base the entire game around this book, as I like the support for low to mid level dragons.

Review here!

For those interested in 4E supplements, I consider Martial Power to be quite good once the errata is taken into account. The options are a little closer to the power level of the PHB than later class splats, and I'm generally impressed with the authors' ability to give us lots of options around the same mechanical theme (e.g. defense) while making them quite varied in play. Review.

I've also asked RPGnet to re-post my Guide to RPG Reviews as the first of a column series on writing them. In addition to actual concerns centered around reviewing games, I'm discussing the comped side of the equation and how to go about developing relationships with publishers. Hopefully it will be useful for some folk, or at least an enjoyable read, so if you've never read the first article then take a look.

Diaspora showcases the sort of awesome play ideas that come from gaming groups working together to share their creativity with everyone else. It takes the FATE 3 engine and does far more than simply copying it, instead introducing excellent new systems and a creative setting creation mechanic. For human-driven hard science fiction that's more interested in a person's ability than a computer's effectiveness it can't be beat. Review.

Work has been tough lately, so my apologies for not updating on time. In the last week or so RPGnet has issued reviews of Monster Manual 2 and Chronica Feudalis. Monster Manual 2 really doesn't even need a review except to say that it's more monsters and it works well in play. Anything to help me further diversify 4E encounters is very welcome, as mixing odd monsters doesn't work well for me conceptually. MM 2 Review.

Chronica Feudalis has a lot of potential, but I don't think it goes far enough in breaking new ground. It copies Aspects and dice size escalation straight over from other games and does little to improve upon them. However, the game definitely has heart and I'm sure it will work well for plenty of groups. If you're interested in historical medieval adventure then be sure to check out my review.

Suggestions?

RPGnet doesn't seem to want to support a contest. ENWorld has little interest in Changeling. Other forums, including the WW forums, don't seen to have a whole lot of activity.

I also don't know what kind of contest I'd like to do. I thought about making it review based as a simple award just for writing a World of Darkness review or something like that, as at least then the overall community benefits from another review or three.

The Changeling Contest at RPGnet has come to an end. Thanks to all those who participated, here's the winning post by San Dee Jota.

Goblin Television
Sitting on top of the TV set is a strange black metal box, wired into the jacks on the back of the set. If you opened the box inside you might find some marbles, a piece of quartz, thirteen Kewpie doll heads, and the rotting heart of an owl. Or maybe you’d just find a loose wad of torn pennies from 1986, fast food burger wrappers from around the world, and thirteen used condoms, all stuffed inside a costume wizard’s hat. Each box contains a different mixture of garbage, whimsy, and disgust, tailor made for its user.

What makes Goblin Television so special is that it broadcasts the shows it owner most wants to see. The still ongoing seasons of shows canceled before their time, the season’s worth of reality police episodes where the police officers have to shoot and kill one’s frenzied ex-lovers, entertaining commercials for products that sound good, movies recast with different actors or dead actors in their prime, or news programs from a world where political events turned out differently and better. None of it is real, but it’s comforting to those who watch. And every spring and fall, new programming options become available on GTV’s 13 channels. There’s always something good to watch.

But Goblin Television is jealous and easily provoked to anger. Those who use the GTV adapter boxes can’t watch any other television network provider; not at home or elsewhere, although friends are always welcome to come over and watch GTV on the customer’s set. They can’t use DVR or VCR technologies; GTV gives no consent to illegal recordings, but at least the commercials are interesting too. Finally, no remote channel changer is included with the service and modifying the adapter box to use one will break the terms of service; you have to change the channel by hand. Breaking any of these rules results in the GTV adapter ceasing to work, and the customer is banned from ever receiving Goblin Television services again.

But while the terms of service may seem harsh, the fees are worse. To keep service, the customer must break someone’s heart somehow. The greater the break, the longer the customer’s account is paid up. Breaking a child’s favorite toy is worth maybe a week or two, but if the customer breaks the favorite toy of his own child, that could be worth a full year. It’s rumored that a circle of TV executives for a major network keep their fees paid by promoting brilliant new shows on their network, only to kill the shows after a single season or two. The sorrow it creates is quite small, but spread over even a couple million of people it adds up quickly.

White Wolf sent me a copy of a game I already reviewed, so I'm handing it off to a fan. Simply jump into this thread at RPGnet and post your best Changeling material. Whichever entry I think is the best receives a print copy of Grim Fears, a wonderful antagonist book for Changeling: The Lost.

Of all the books I own, I've used A World of Baby Names far more than any other while roleplaying. A list of names is the most awesome resource imaginable for an RPG, though I had to actually end up with this book before I understood how powerful a book of names can be. I highly recommend this book or a similar one to any group, as it will support you through play for years at a very small cost. Review.

I've had a great time using Open Grave in my current 4E campaign. The undead discussion, monsters, and encounters are all quite useful, especially to DMs who need more undead than that offered in the monster manuals so far. I've particularly enjoyed the named undead, as my campaign has many undead villains and it has made creating fights with those villains far easier. Review.

Unfortunately, Ultimate Toolbox hasn't been quite as useful. While I find that random tables can add spice to a game, and even be a useful resource at times, this book focuses too much on the randomness rather than the actual game support. While it can still be useful at the table, for the very high price it offers little that a Google search can't already turn up. Review.

While I wasn't sold on the 4E cosmology upon 4E's release, Manual of the Planes has done a fantastic job of convincing me that the new cosmology is worthwhile. With so many options for planar adventure, and with interesting discussion of the two border realms, I consider this to be an excellent supplement for any 4E game. I'm especially happy to continue to see nods to AD&D products, such as the inclusion of Sigil here. Review.

I've already read through a half dozen books of the 40ish I received shortly after Gen Con, and am either playing those games now or preparing upcoming playtest sessions. As an educator and attorney I have a pretty busy day, but my law background also causes me to view my role in the ENnies as a contract. That's the same perspective that keeps me going with timely, detailed reviews year after year. Fortunately my many local friends are more than happy to help play any of these interesting games, so I'm certain it will be a fun year for evaluating products.

As for public commentary about specific products, unfortunately the current ENnies policies prevent this. The best I can do is to offer insights into various criteria I'm using to judge the products, and even then I'm stuck focusing in on older games. With over 200 detailed reviews with RPGnet I'm already comfortable judging RPGs, but I've found a new challenge in developing criteria for other items. Miniatures, for example, can be viewed from a variety of perspectives. My main criteria is "Would I want to use this at the gaming table?" but sculpting and overall quality certainly play a role as well. I always like to keep considerations of fun and how a product is in play foremost in my mind, though I admit those can be more subjective in nature. Fortunately, those I play with have a variety of perspectives and I'm often able to take advantage of their feedback to get a few more perspectives in mind before making a judgment.

The Compass of Celestial Directions, Vol. IV: The Underworld continues the tradition of incredibly long Exalted book names just as it does the tradition of wonderful setting information. The Underworld is just fucking cool, and repeatedly I found myself saying "I want to run a campaign based on that" or "That would make for a kick ass session." Any RPG book that can get me excited about adventuring in a given setting has done it's job, and Underworld certainly makes me want to set an Exalted campaign there. Review.

Nosferatu: The Beast That Haunts The Blood also has a long title and a nice bit of setting inspiration. It continues White Wolf's new technique of informing the reader about Clans through examples rather than merely descriptive text. Several interesting NPCs are included, and I consider many of the short stories to be a cut above the fiction I typically encounter in RPGs. Review.

How neat is that?

I appreciate the friendly and active campaigning of the other judge candidates this year. So many great folks gave it a shot that I wasn't too sure I'd make it.

If you're already a Changeling: The Lost fan then Dancers in the Dusk is just the thing to help you focus in on dreams and fate. While it's very much an optional supplement, any Chronicle focusing in on those topics can definitely benefit. Review.

For those who prefer Hunter: The Vigil, Spirit Slayers offers discussion and mechanics for introducing both werewolves and spirits to a Hunter Chronicle. While I find much of the discussion to be bland as the book tries to cater to everyone's notion of werewolves, I do like the mechanical implementation which results in much easier to build adversaries for a Hunter game. Review.

I've broken the 200 review mark at RPGnet. Hooray!

I consider Adventurer's Vault to be an absolutely essential supplement if your group isn't using DDI. A host of magical and mundane equipment is included, and since the core books contain sparse magical items support in this edition of the game I've found AV to really help in spicing up magical items in my game. Do be aware, however, that some of the superior weapons are very strong and are key to many character optimization builds on the Char OP forums at WOTC. Review.

Gangrel continues White Wolf's new style of Clan books, with a focus on inspiring the reader rather than informing them directly. I like the idea and the execution of these books, even if I find them difficult to review as the entries are far shorter than classic short stories. If your group digs vampire and you want something to inspire you then they're well worth checking out. Review.

It's ENnies judge voting time! I happen to be competing.

Here's the link to the folk who are running: http://www.ennie-awards.com/nominations/2010judges.asp

Here's the voting page: http://www.ennie-awards.com/voting/jvoting.asp

Full of goodies for the spellcasters, Arcane Power has a ton of options but it does suffer from the same expansion of character power that other 4E supplements have introduced. Nevertheless, I find the new build options to be fun in play and recommend it to any group regularly playing 4E. Review.

When I first heard about Starblazer I was cautiously optimistic. It wasn't enough to just see a copy of the FATE system with sci-fi trappings. I expected nothing less than a step forward in what FATE can do, or else I was prepared to be harsh with the game. I'm happy to say that Starblazer does everything I wanted it to do and even more. I've used it for Mechwarrior, Star Wars, and Shadowrun. It is my new go-to game of choice, and I suspect it will keep that position for quite some time. Interested in hearing more about the game that brings incredible amounts of fun to the gaming table? Take a look!

I've been busy with a few clients lately and missed a trio of updates. Fans of Lesser Shades of Evil who want to learn more about it's first supplement should check out my review of Inklings of Power. Meanwhile, those playing Hunter: The Vigil who want to bring vampires into the mix might want to pick up Night Stalkers. Finally, if you want to see a clever take on the Scion game then be sure to read about what Jeff Combos did for Scions in WW2 in my review of Scion Companion.

Featuring a lighter version of the Burning Wheel system, Mouse Guard offers a heroic medieval player experience wherein players take on the role of guard mice who have volunteered to protect mouse society from any evil that may befall it. The harshness of the setting and difficulty of their tasks emphasizes how noble these volunteer mice are, and in play the game absolutely sings. Even if you've not been thrilled with Burning Wheel in the past, be sure to take a look at the review. The system changes have made it a much more accessible system, and I suspect this incarnation will work well for some groups that couldn't wrap their heads around the existing system.

Review!

I remember when the Technocracy books were released for Mage: The Ascension. On the whole I loved the group and I enjoyed the books. It was a group that was at the same time extremely sinister but entirely sympathetic, representing more of a desire for security than freedom.

With the Seers, an antagonist in Mage: The Awakening, I didn't feel the same spark I did for the technocracy. They were neat enough in base concept, though not a particularly compelling villain for me. I had high hopes that this book would do for them what the technocracy hardback did for the previous villain group. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Seers isn't a bad book, but a lot of it is a bit dull and I don't feel particularly interested in running the Exarchs as the big bad after reading Seers. That's not to say that Seers doesn't have a lot of neat ideas. It does, especially with describing the nature of the Exarchs, but these ideas aren't enough to make the book really worthwhile.

If you're a Mage fan and want to know more about the Exarchs, or even run a game where the PCs are their servants, then check out my review of Seers of the Throne.