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Author : Wizards RPG Team
Number of Pages : 160
Release Date : 2008-11-18
Publisher : Wizards of the Coast
List Price : $29.95
Amazon Price : $17.72
Used Price : $17.72 |
Product Description New options for fighters, rangers, rogues, and warlords. This tome focuses on the martial heroes: characters who rely on their combat talents and keen wits for survival. This book provides new archetypal builds for the fighter, ranger, rogue, and warlord classes, including new character powers, feats, paragon paths, and epic destinies. Martial Power is the first of a line of player-friendly supplements offering hundreds of new options for D&D characters. Customer reviews Exactly what you're hoping for  by .. Meanwhile ()
I probably don't have anything to add to what has already been said, but here's why I like Martial Power.
Each of the four martial classes has interesting new options, and they all have a significant impact on the way you play your character. And many of the new powers and feats will be useful to you whether you choose the new class features or stick with the original ones.
I really like the new racial feats and paragon paths. One of my concerns with the Player's Handbook was that there was very little differentiation among races. With Martial Power options, you start to see a big difference between, say, an eladrin warlord and a tiefling warlord.
Now I finally feel like there are enough gameplay options to flesh out my martial character the way I want. I'm definitely looking forward to similar books for arcane, divine, etc.
Nice, but limited ranged additions by .. N. Gerber (State College, PA United States)
If you are the melee type this book is likely a knock-out. There are many useful additions there. However the only reason I don't give this a 5 star rating is because Wizards of the Coast continues to treat the ranged martial types as second class players. If you enjoy playing a ranged character this book will only have a handful of additions for your character, most of which are only moderately nice.
Made of Epic and Win by .. Michael B. Correia (Castro Valley, CA USA)
A must have for any D&D player with a martial character (Fighter, Rogue, Ranger or Warlord). This supplement doubles your options for powers at every level, provides 12 additional paragon paths for each class, and 10 more epic destinies that are truly amazing. Martial Power also includes new feats for martial classes including more multi-classing feats which allow access to other class features. That being said, each class also received a new feature or two to choose from, making each class that much more diverse. Aside from all the juicy content, the artwork contained also serves to spur the imagination and the layout echoes other 4th Edition publications for easy comparison.
Good Supplement to Martial Classes by .. Archimonde Red ()
This is a very well written book with Good Content for Players of D&D 4.0 Martial Characters. This gives the Martial classes a lot of options and some pretty cool new builds. If you enjoy playing Martial characters for D&D 4.0 this book is a must have if you are wanting to expand your playing options.
Ok, but nothing to die for  by .. deathlemming (North Carolina)
My group and I have used this book fairly extensive over the past month.
While some of the new builds are interesting, this book doesn't really offer anything for players who like a little more choice (feats, exploits, skills, etc). There are several new powers for each character class, but most are nothing more than old powers tweaked a different way. Feats are either extremely situational or too general/watered down to be effective.
Ultimately, this book is not worth WotC's suggested retail price, but I didn't feel ripped of buying it from Amazon.com at a discount.
Related Search : supplement d , martial power , expansion  |
Author : Logan Bonner
Edition : 4th
Number of Pages : 224
Release Date : 2008-09-16
Publisher : Wizards of the Coast
List Price : $29.95
Amazon Price : $15.58
Used Price : $15.58 |
Product Description Hundreds of new weapons, tools, and magic items for your D&D character. This supplement for the Dungeons & Dragons game presents hundreds of magic items, weapons, tools, and other useful items for your D&D character. Whether you're a player looking for a new piece of equipment or a Dungeon Master stocking a dragon's hoard, this book has exactly what you need. The book features a mix of classic items updated to the 4th Edition rules and brand-new items never before seen in D&D. Customer reviews So many items so little time. by .. Aaron Keating ()
For those of you not in the know about the purpose of this product, Adventurer's Vault is a book made with one purpose and one purpose alone in mind.
Items.
A tremendously stupid, high amount of items, so many to the point you will likely never get the full use out of this book. Ever. This book is a Player's Dream come to life, and either the Dm's favorite bag of treats for the player's or his or her worst nightmare if the player comes to the table getting ready to open the book and say "Can I have?".
I suspect there will be many game tables having this moment, as there are a great deal of items in this book each one I think personally appeals to different tastes (beyond the obvious of "it's an option so duh").
To help you sort the items (and believe me there are a ton of items here.) they give you nice reference tables at the start of each type of item (Sorted by level for your conveinence). This is both a boon and a bane. Could they at least space them out in clusters of four on the tables? Having spaces between the differing levels of items not only would have been a nice touch, but it would have made reading the tables much easier than it is. It's like a gigantic run on chart from the bowels of gamer hell. Seriously Wizards, space the tables please. If you really love us, do this!
Annoyingly not spaced out tables aside, most of the items seem to function as they should at least conceptually speaking there's a couple here and there that raise an eyebrow or two, but it's more or less what you would expect for magic items. (The item that allows you to add your Cha mod to sneak attack damage for example is questionable).
I give this product four stars mostly because of the inane not spaced out properly tables that they have in the book. Otherwise I'd give it five.
Ps the "Alternate Advancement Rules" are just spectacular. Basically what they are, are means to hang onto the same item over your career instead of having to "Go to Magi Mart" or hope you find a new item that you can use in a treasure horde somewhere. The item levels with you is the end result. This can be a result of defeating powerful foes and their energies become trapped in the blades, results of heroic deeds, an item reawakening to it's full potential, just to name a few. It's a really nice touch to include this as actual rules. Especially since I can't stand Magi-Marts 9 times out of 10.
near useless book.  by .. Früchlè (Perth, AU)
This is close to the first time I've actually thought about returning a book to get my money back. The mundane items were negligable. The magic items were boring and repetitive. There was little imagination or variety. Most bothersomely, it was 95% all just magic items!
A&D2nd and D&D3rd's 'Arms & Equipment Guide's both had pages of odd and interesting equipment, both mundane and magical to add to a game. Those books sparked ideas for areas, encounters and treasure.. This new 4th edition book is next to useless.
Save your money for the Powers books, which add more flavor and interest in general to the game.
Great supplement for 4th edition! by .. Greenmoepho (St. Augustine, FL USA)
This book is great!
It provides an extensive (and much needed) expansion to the magic items that were presented in the players handbook. In addition, the sections on mounts and alchemy are great new additions to the content. Obviously the sections on armor and weapons are larger than the others, however, there are lots of choices for every class in the game.
Well worth the price. I highly recommend this book for players and dungeonmasters alike!
A fascinating treasure trove of goodies! by .. N. Sarb ()
This book is a valuable addition to my Dungeons and Dragons group. The players were very excited about the selection, new items (dwarves wielding executioner's axes, minotaurs and their khopeshs), and many new enchantments. We have a variety of new takes on the weapons, a plentiful harvest of armors, and more wondrous items than you can shake a fist at. The implements are handy, as they allow the caster characters more variety for item-power relationships. All in all, I am glad I got this book. And it is only $20 on Amazon! Well worth it.
more tools by .. R. Schneidler (milwaukee wi. USA)
it is always great to have more tools to play with and this book provides them
Related Search : adventurer s , vault 4th , d supplement  |
Author : Wizards RPG Team
Number of Pages : 160
Release Date : 2009-07-21
Publisher : Wizards of the Coast
List Price : $29.95
Amazon Price : $19.77
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Related Search : 4th edition , d d , divine power  |
Author : Wizards RPG Team
Number of Pages : 224
Release Date : 2009-03-17
Publisher : Wizards of the Coast
List Price : $34.95
Amazon Price : $23.07
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Related Search : bk 2 , d d , handbook 2  |
Author : Thomas Hardy
Edition : 3
Number of Pages : 512
Publisher : W. W. Norton
List Price : $15.65
Amazon Price : $12.00
Used Price : $4.56 |
Customer reviews Many editions, many printings: get the Norton Critical Edition. by .. Bruce Oksol (San Antonio)
The story is well known; one can choose from many editions or printings. If given the choice, choose Norton Critical Editions for the classics.
This edition includes factual background provided by Hardy's pre-eminent biographer, Michael Millgate, who opines on the "originals of, and models for, Tess Durbeyfield." Absolutely fascinating.
Critical essays include contemporary criticism: Robert Louis Stevenson panned it; Henry James enjoyed it despite it being "chock-full of faults and falsity."
Virginia Woolf's six-page essay regarding "Tess" is worth the price of this edition.
But most illuminating is the verbatim interview with Thomas Hardy himself concerning the ending of the story. When asked why he gave "Tess" the ending he did, he answered: "For the simple reason I could not help myself...When I got to the middle of the story the characters took their fates into their own hands, and I literally had no power."
Reading "Tess" without the supplementary material and criticism will leave you having enjoyed a most wonderful buffet but having missed out on the dessert.
One will also get so much more enjoyment from "Tess" if one reads either Millgate's or Martin Seymour-Smith's biography of Thomas Hardy. I prefer the latter.
Shipper was on vacation so they cancelled the order by .. C. Schultz (CO USA)
The shipper sent an email immediately that they were on vacation so would be cancelling the order. As I did not need the item immediately, I wish they would have just let me know it would be delayed instead of cancelling. I am glad, however, that they let me know. I would try them again. Good communication.
A rating didn't really apply, but it wouldn't let me exit without one.
Defective edition by .. A. Tarumoto (Chicago IL)
I've enjoyed reading this edition for its critical essays and helpful footnotes, but the copy I ordered from Amazon was missing thirty pages. (It turns out that pages 14 through 44 are printed twice, resuming at page 77). They may have corrected the problem in other copies, but don't assume that you'll get the whole book!
Not quite queen of the world. by .. Bruce P. Barten (Saint Paul, MN United States)
Morality is subject to some rolling blackouts in this book. At the end, the law stepped in and made sure that the destruction was mutual. Law seems to be particularly inept in situations where a book is this hard on the reader, and those critics in the Norton Critical Edition who consider this novel almost a crime against literature have a point. If all the characters were being put on trial, instead of merely trying to live, the law would allow each of them to be tried separately because of the doctrine of mutually antagonistic defenses. There were parts of this book I enjoyed: Angel Clare sorting the cows for milking made a lovely theme. Hardy kept referring to the barnyard as a "barton," but I'm sure he wasn't directing that jibe at me, personally, because this book was written long before I was born. I've been to barnyards that were as full of "mulch" as the "barton" described in this book, and Hardy is putting things mildly. I liked the part when Alec had been reformed and Tess discovered him preaching to the Methodists without thinking that he was any better for all the things he was trying to say. Somehow Alec getting on the other side of things was still Alec, and he would have preferred to be happy than to preach all the time. For me, the plot revolved around Angel Clare's need to find a place where he could get money without shame. Alec had as much money as Tess would ever need, and he wanted to give it to her in his own way. There is an early baby problem that Tess didn't tell Alec about until they had more problems than any novelist could make disappear. D. H. Lawrence tried to understand this book in unfulfilled male and female principles, and aristocratic principles which isolated Tess and Alec d'Uberville. I'm glad this book has been appreciated so long that I finally read it. It was an involvement that went further than just feeling like a barnyard.
Haunting... by .. Kelty (Calgary, Canada)
I was reading this book for an assignment in English, and the images that it left in my mind will remain there for a long time. The story of Tess, a truly Pure woman, facing adversities that scare the soul out of me, is a thoughtful and saddening one. The Norton Critical edition is particularily good, containing reviews and poems of and about Thomas Hardy, a major advantage when trying to understand the atmosphere that produced this novel. Though the novel is heavy in description, the description is not out of place. In fact, it is essential to the storyline. All in all, I enjoyed this book, and it made me think and reflect on the values that I believe are truly important.
Related Search : urbervilles norton , tess d , critical editions  |
Author : Wizards RPG Team
Number of Pages : 160
Release Date : 2008-09-16
Publisher : Wizards of the Coast
List Price : $29.95
Amazon Price : $14.99
Used Price : $15.62 |
Product Description The complete guide for building Forgotten Realms characters! Welcome to Faerûn, a land of amazing magic, terrifying monsters, ancient ruins, and hidden wonders. The world has changed since the Spellplague, and from this arcane crucible have emerged shining kingdoms, tyrannical empires, mighty heroes, and monster-infested dungeons. The Forgotten Realms Player's Guide presents this changed world from the point of view of the adventurers exploring it. This product includes everything a player needs to create his character for a D&D campaign in the Forgotten Realms setting, including new feats, new character powers, new paragon paths and epic destinies, and even a brand-new character class never before seen in D&D: the swordmage! Customer reviews A bit "thin" for the price... by .. Greenmoepho (St. Augustine, FL USA)
I was hoping this supplement would contain tons of content for players however all you are really getting is 2 new races, 3 classes and a multi-class.
The paragon paths are interesting, but are more background based than adventuring based.
Could have done without the region descriptions as they are already in the FR campaign guide. This should have been replaced with more feats, rituals, and maybe some realm specific expanded powers for the core classes. Or something else to make playing the Forgotten Realms campaign setting feel more "unique".
All in all I am dissapointed in the lack of new races and classes, but I guess that is what the Players Handbook II is for....
Fogotten Realms Player's Handbook by .. S. Dunsmoor ()
I think that overall this is a GREAT product. It has a lot of very good information. I am not familiar at all with the old 3.5 FR setting, so there was no adjustment period to me. I bought this to run my first game in years, so I am pretty excited and am glad this information covered so much for me!!!
Players Guide for Forgotten Realms by .. K. Martin (St. Louis, MO United States)
A must have for playing in the Living Forgotten Realms. Swordmages are pretty dang cool. Much more helpful than the DM's guide. Some extra feats for core book characters, so at least another staple to have on the shelf.
Lots of crunch. Little fluff by .. Karl A. Rodriguez (San Antonio, Texas United States)
The player's guide is the second part of WOTC's re-introduction of the Forgotten Realms. It follows their new marketing paradigm...lots of mechanics, but little substance and flavor. Granted this book is for the players. The GM is recommended to buy the Campaign Setting. The mechanics are good. I like 4e mechanics, but I am not a fan of the big font, white spaces, and low page count in these books.
A good addition to any D&D 4e game by .. Chris Heard (Malibu, CA USA)
I wasn't really sure whether I wanted to buy this book, since I have never run or played in a Forgotten Realms campaign. However, after previewing the book at a local store, I decided that the book had enough generic or easily-adaptable material to enrich my homebrew campaign. About 1/3 of the book provides a player's-eye "tour" of the various regions within the Forgotten Realms. This information is indispensable if you're playing in the (4e) Realms. The new classes -- swordmage, and the dark pact for warlocks -- and races -- drow and genasi -- can easily be incorporated into any campaign setting, as can at least half of the paragon paths, feats, and rituals. A subscription to D&D Insider will get you the same information in the D&D Compendium, but I like having physical books on my shelf as well. A must-have for playing in the Realms; nice to have for other D&D campaigns.
Related Search : guide 4th , player s , forgotten realms  |
Author : Logan Bonner
Number of Pages : 160
Release Date : 2009-04-21
Publisher : Wizards of the Coast
List Price : $29.95
Amazon Price : $19.77
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Product Description New options for wizards, warlocks, sorcerers, bards, and swordmages... This tome focuses on the arcane heroes: characters who wield strange and mysterious spells and rely on their mastery of magic for survival. This book provides new archetypal builds for the wizard, warlock, sorcerer, bard, and swordmage classes, including new character powers, feats, paragon paths, and epic destinies. Related Search : d d , supplement , 4th edition  |
Author : Bill Slavicsek
Edition : 4
Number of Pages : 456
Publisher : For Dummies
List Price : $21.99
Amazon Price : $10.98
Used Price : $13.05 |
Product Description Explore the fantasy world of D&D and delve into dungeons, slay monsters, and gain treasure! If you've been thinking of playing D&D or you've played before and you want to get up to speed on the all-new 4th Edition, this is the book for you. Here's what you need to know to join the fantasy fun. -
D&D terminology — understand what ability check, modifier, saving throw, AC, gp, hp, and XP mean -
Roll the dice — add modifiers and see if you rolled the d20 high enough to beat the challenge -
Minding your manners — know D&D etiquette so you'll be welcome in any adventure -
Character building — select your character's race and class, and choose the best powers, skills, feats, and gear -
Roleplaying — give your character a background and personality quirks -
Combat — use combat rules, a battle grid, and miniatures to play out furious battles Open the book and find: -
Everything a new player needs to get started playing D&D -
Details on four fantasy races and four iconic classes -
Explanations of every number and statistic on the character sheet -
The best magic items and equipment for characters of all classes -
Advice on roleplaying and teamwork -
A ready-to-use adventure to get you started as a Dungeon Master -
A ready-to-use battle grid with character and monster markers Customer reviews Pay no attention to the other reviews by .. Henry L. Muse (Egypt)
I have not even read this book yet but all of the other reviews are for a book based on 3.5, clearly not the "4th Edition" in the title. If you are a beginner and you buy this book based on thier reviews you will find NOTHING that they are talking about. Everything has changed completely.
Not worth the time or the money by .. Rod F. Aguirre (California, USA)
If you want to learn about D&D, get the 3 official books. There's NOTHING in this Dummy book that you can not learn better in the real ones. It is repetitive, over-simplified and not even entertaining.
This thing is just the rushed product of a franchise (the books for Dummies). A real rip-off. Not worth your time or your money.
Great Title for Beginers by .. Eric A. Kisner (Rock Falls Illinois US)
An Amazing resource for starting players. The D&D books can be overly complicated & confusing to new players & non-RPGers. This Helps ALOT in explaining vast amounts of info. Some of it is a little out of date(it's a 3.0 book)but still a great resource. There are 3 premade characters for 4 of the base classes & notes on all classes that really help you out in the begining. The top 10 spell & monsters lists are a gream way for a beginer player or DM. It includes a premade adventure& sample map!
good book by .. A. Fisher (Sarasota)
i bought this book for my 12 year old son, who is just starting to play D & D. He has really liked this book, and says that is has helped him a lot. It was also recommended by a more experiencecd player.
Base and disappointing example of the worst of roleplaying by .. Kira M. Santucci (Pittsburgh, PA United States)
While this book is easy to read and nicely arranged, there my compliments end. Any experienced roleplayers that pick this book up are likely to be turned off by the twinkish attitude it has. Though it's mainly for learning the technical side of the game, it makes no attempt whatsoever to mention the roleplaying aspect of the game. Much to my horror, I found a whole chapter on min-maxing something that's generally considered one of the worst aspects of D&D, complete with a big encouragement to multiclass solely for the abilities of the classes. I would suggest this book only to those players that only care about killing goblins in dungeons, as real roleplayers that want story and characters will hate this book.
Related Search : dungeons dragons , dummies dummies , sports hobbies  |
Author : Wizards RPG Team
Number of Pages : 160
Release Date : 2008-12-16
Publisher : Wizards of the Coast
List Price : $29.95
Amazon Price : $16.90
Used Price : $16.90 |
Product Description If you seek to stem this tide of chaos at its source, follow my lead--I set out for the dreaded Abyss on the morrow.--Lord Amgar the Bold, Paladin of Bahamut The planes have always been a place of great mystery and danger in the Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game, and the new array of planes debuting in 4th Edition continue that grand tradition. Home to gods and devils, demons and genies, fey and titans, these strange dimensions offer unlimited adventure opportunities for Dungeon Masters and their players. This useful travel guide also comes in handy for players seeking to battle demons, devils, elementals, and other iconic D&D monsters native to the planes. Customer reviews Overpriced, Unimaginative by .. S. Patel (Washington, DC United States)
Pros:
1. A few clever ideas like the ex-proxy of Vecna, and a backtracking on the Blood War. The 4e designers said it was a flaw in prior editions, but given the lack of cleverness in the book I'm not surprised they came around.
2. Sigil, a passing nod to spelljammers, inclusion of some of the Great Wheel planes.
Cons:
1. Way overpriced.
2. Poor artwork, with a few exceptions entering the acceptable range.
3. Crunch is only at the end, making the legal pdfs of planar supplements a much, much, much better buy.
4. How dull can you get? Most of the good stuff in this book was taken from the supposedly flawed cosmology of the past, and the rest is pretty much stuff you could come with by yourself over a lazy afternoon of brain storming.
Short, but full of good ideas by .. John Biernacki ()
Let me get my big criticism out of the way first.. When I see a suggested price on a book around $30, I expect it to be worth that much. I was right off put off by how it only has 159 pages. I mean the player's handbook was only $5 more and twice that size.
With that out of the way, I have to say the content if packed and full of fantastic ideas on how to run a planar campaign. It goes over and explains the new Cosmology within 4th edition, it's quite a bit different from previous editions. (however it also has tips on customizing the cosmology, and even examples of past cosmologies)
The details and descriptions in this book are priceless and there's little in the book I didn't ponder about how much fun it would be to have that happen mid game. If your big into dungeons and dragons, I suggest you take the $30 pill and get this book. It's one of the more useful books so far in 4th edition.
Inspiring, but I wish there were more. by .. Scott Schimmel ()
Manual of the Planes discusses the other planes of the Dungeons & Dragons world -- the areas of reality beyond the mortal world. Its goal is to allow for adventures set among these other realms -- primarily, the Shadowfell, the Feywild, the Elemental Chaos, and the Astral Sea. It mainly succeeds.
The first chapter of the book, Exploring the Planes, deals mainly with traveling to the planes and the characteristics of the planes. It includes a description of the basic cosmology of the D&D world, some advice for creating alternate cosmologies if you should desire to, and some notes about Sigil, the City of Doors, a location which can be used as a center for planar adventures (among other things).
Those who've played Planescape in earlier editions will recognize Sigil, and it's only one of many references to previous editions of the game. Veterans will notice new treatments of such things as the City of Brass, the Isle of Dread, the Demonweb, the Blood War, and spelljammers. Newer players need not worry; the book sets these elements adequately within 4e, so that no previous experience with them is necessary.
The next four chapters deal with the major planes suitable for adventuring: The Feywild, domain of faerie and preternatural wilderness; the Shadowfell, decayed echo of the mortal world shrouded in gloom; the Elemental Chaos, home to such locations as the City of Brass and the Abyss; and the Astral Sea, in which the domains of the great powers float like islands. Each of these chapters has four sections: traveling to the plane, exploring the plane, sample inhabitants of the plane, and sample locations within the plane.
The writeups about the inhabitants and locations are fairly brief. They're sufficient to give the flavor of the place, and hopefully to inspire a GM to flesh them out and adapt them to his game. They are not, however, fully detailed writeups that are able to simply be dropped right into the game. The book leaves much of the design work to the individual GM. Some people might consider this a weak point; I consider it a strength, because it fits my preferred style.
Chapters six and seven introduce more mechanics. Six is a collection of monsters from the planes for the GM to employ -- a little over a dozen of them, of which half are demons or devils. These are useful as adversaries, but there's nothing outstanding here. Still, nice to have.
Chapter seven is for players -- new paragon paths, rituals, and magic items. Here, too, there's not much that makes me pause and double-take, but nothing that leaps out at me as broken, either. It should serve its purpose well enough.
Overall, I'd say the usefulness of this book will depend on the GM using it -- and it is a book for GMs, with little that's of interest to players.
I think that it's the sort of book that will inspire me, even if I use relatively little of its content as-printed in my game. On the other hand, I wish that there was more: more about the Far Realms, more about some of those locations, more about the anomalous realms like the Plane of Mirrors and the Plane of Dreams. It's probably unfair to expect a 160-page book to cover all of those planes in depth, especially when I'd probably end up cheerfully ignoring most of that depth anyway and using my own creations, personally. Even so, it just feels too brief at times.
I like it, though. I like it a lot. This is a product that makes good use of the history of the game and its lore, without becoming a slave to it. It puts new twists on old friends like the Isle of Dread and the City of Doors, and it fits things like spelljammers into 4e without also bringing along the annoying parts like helm-related bookkeeping, phlogiston, and gravity wells. I've been satisfied with supplements that have done much less.
Related Search : manual planes , expansion , d d  |
Author : Wizards RPG Team
Number of Pages : 224
Release Date : 2009-05-19
Publisher : Wizards of the Coast
List Price : $34.95
Amazon Price : $23.07
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Related Search : rulebook d , d core , edition d |
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