I Know What I Like

When I first started this site, I made an informal decision to avoid reviews of RPG products. Not only are there plenty of other people out there reviewing games, but I worried that my employment with Wizards of the Coast would impair my ability to be perceived as a "neutral" judge of product quality.

That was then. Over the intervening months, visitors to my site have gotten to know me reasonably well, and (I hope) understand that my opinions are much more shaped by my love of the industry than by my current employer.

Here, then, are this site's first two RPG reviews. I can't promise that this will be a recurring feature on the site. I only plan on reviewing products I like--by definition, material I'd strongly consider using in my own campaign. You won't see any negative reviews here, and I'm not looking for recommendations for "my next review."

Hammer & Helm

A Guidebook to Dwarves

Author: Jesse Decker

Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing

I'm generally dubious of "race books." Such books tend to favor fluff over useful rules mechanics, which I find to be a waste of space. I know what elves and dwarves act like, and I hardly need to pay money to learn about the birth rates of hobgoblins. Even though Hammer & Helm opens with some flavor text about dwarven archetypes, it quickly dives into crunchy rules bits and doesn't let up for the rest of its 112 pages.

Anyone running a campaign that features dwarves prominently should pick up a copy of this book. It makes me wish that my current campaign had more of a dwarven presence in it, so that I could introduce bloodgift feats, clanheart spells, and the many other intriguing concepts presented by author Jesse Decker (editor of Dragon magazine).

Decker also demonstrates good knowledge of some of the nuances of 3rd Edition design work. For example, he doesn't fall into the trap of designing every prestige class as a 10-level masterpiece; instead, many of the dwarf-oriented prestige classes here are properly designed as 3- or 5-level "side treks" or "flavor classes" for a character, rather than being intended as the character's primary career.

It's true that Jesse is a friend of mine, and a regular in my Bloodlines campaign. But that doesn't change the fact that Hammer & Helm is one of the better D20 sourcebooks I've seen. I look forward to seeing Jesse's name on future products.

Swords of Our Fathers

Author: JD Wiker

Publisher: The Game Mechanics

This electronically published product from brand-new D20 publisher The Game Mechanics demonstrates the value of finding an intriguing topic and then spending the proper amount of time, effort, and words to appropriately cover it for a game product. In this case, the topic is "making magic swords into unique, non-disposable items." This isn't the first time the topic's been discussed--James Wyatt's Oriental Adventures presents one treatment of it--but as far as I can tell, it's the most complete and well-thought-out presentation yet.

Though perhaps best known for his work on Wizards of the Coast's  recent Star Wars RPG, JD Wiker is a veteran of the gaming industry, including some very solid but largely unsung work on the short-lived (but much-loved) Dark Matter campaign setting for the Alternity RPG. (He also sat next to me in R&D for a few years, so there's your disclaimer.) In Swords of Our Fathers, JD turns to D20 fantasy, and that's to the great gain of D&D players everywhere.

As with race books, I've seen various treatments of "self-improving" weapons, and most have either been of very limited use or (worse yet) largely unplayable in a real campaign. All too often, the system relies on DM fiat, unrealistic roleplaying restrictions, artificial limitations on magic items, or an unwritten compact between player and DM regarding "what's really happening" in the game to allow the weapon's improvement. I find these solutions unpalatable at best, and insulting at worst.

So you can understand my trepidation when I heard the topic of The Game Mechanics' first product. The four men who make up the company--JD Wiker, Rich Redman, Marc Schmalz, and Stan!--are all friends of mine, and I had every expectation that they'd publish good material, but I just didn't think this subject had much potential for a high-quality, useful book. Boy, was I ever wrong.

Within a few pages, I was hooked. By the time I got to the second or third sample blade, I was wholly sold on the execution of this difficult concept. By tying the weapon's advancement to a prestige class, the author has created a very real way of measuring a character's devotion to the blade. By basing each prestige class's total ability package on the specific blade, the system makes every character who uses these rules unique while still relying on a central mechanic to make it all work. 

This is an extraordinarily solid book. It could easily have underdelivered, presenting a half-baked system that didn't take into account various realities of D&D campaigns (lost or broken weapons, for instance, as well as legends to spice up a campaign), or overreached, trying to be all things for all characters (the four basic prestige classes match the four basic character archetypes, allowing just enough flexibility to allow any character to pursue the path of the blade scion). Instead, the author said exactly what needed to be said, and no more (an obvious advantage of electronic publishing). I highly recommend Swords of Our Fathers for any DM looking to add some variety to the magic weapons present in his game, and I'm eager to see what comes next from The Game Mechanics.