Sign in to create or edit a product review. If you're looking for a hex map, this is a durable one that looks great and is very big. My group is about to use it for the first time to play D&D with hex-based terrain and maps instead of grid-based terrain. Should be interesting... I have both the scarab blue blood/gold and the scarab scarlet/gold sets and they are the two most beautiful sets of dice I own. Both of them have swirls of color that light up when you look over them. The numbers on them are plenty big and are in bright colors, making them very easy to read. All in all, they are great dice. Well, I posted a detailed review of this book...and I went to preview it and it got eaten up. So instead I'll just sum up what I said in a few bullets below. Plus I'll start a discussion about this so we all can discuss the book. -Better art than Monster Manual IV.
That's pretty much the gist of it. Like I said, I'll start a discussion so we can all discuss the book. This book is a very worthwhile thing to own. The quality of the binding, pages, and art are all excellent, and I hope this is what the Pathfinder books will be like. I was excited to see that they had an index of every ecology article ever printed, and I believe they picked a good batch of ecologies for this book. However, I hope to see further volumes at some point with some of the other great ecology articles out there. This book has some terrific art, and the layouts and everything are nice; however, after getting it, I'm not really sure if 35 bucks was worth it. Not the best issue of Dragon (compared to some of the really great ones that we've gotten lately), but a damn good one for sure. The article on the Horde is very in depth and interesting. It has enough material for even a non-FR gamer to find something to use. The article on Dagon was very cool, especially since Dagon is one of the most mysterious demon princes. The ogre mage ecology was okay, but I like the two ogre magi variants that are mentioned. The comics are hilarious, and the OotS comes with the greatest punchline ever in a comic. (They're grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!) The article on ranged weapons was very cool looking, but I've not read it all the way through yet. Lastly, the preview of Final Fantasy XII was very cool, though I had been hoping for a little more detail. Like the previous reviewer said, you'll only like this book if you're an undead fan. However, I am an undead fan. I admit that having him fight the zombies with a rapier was kind of weird, but otherwise I found it to be a great read. This is how D&D should be. Hundreds of rooms wtih monsters and treasures. Truly, October issues are always themed to be creepy. Last year's issue 336 was what I thought was the ultimate of creepy-themed issues. I was wrong. This issue of Dragon had everything that should be in an October issue, nay any issue at all, and more. The Core Beliefs on Vecna is my favorite one yet, and the ecology of the Wight was just plain awesome. It made me renew faith in the weaker of the undead. The variant vampires are very interesting and can make for an awesome new villain. The monsters of Xoriat is not only cool for Eberron, but for any game in general. Being a Far Realm/Xoriat lover, this article made my smile widely. The comics are hilarious (Rich Burlew understands how I feel when I'm waiting for my initiative to come up in combat), and the class acts are really good and useful. (Pluss there's a pic of a kenku martial which is just too awesome/funny for words.) :) Great issue. :) War of the Dragon Queen is officially the best DDM set ever. It comes with the best huges that can be offered, and has some pretty cool normal minis too.
Great set, can't wait for the next one. (They say it'll be even better. :) ) Wow! This issue is the finest issue of Dungeon in ages. It tops issue 134 as my favorite issue of 3/3.5 edition. "Urban Decay" is a short adventure, but a cool one. It is a really good adventure to start a campaign with, as well as a good adventure to run for a new player. "The Weavers" is a great adventure set in the Styes (a cool town as it is) about all things demonic and arachnoid. The obox-ob worshipping chitine is an awesome final boss for the adventure. (I've always been partial to chitines.) "Mud Sorcerer's Tomb" is a masterpeice. It is a "Tomb of Horrors"-style adventure done right! Most crawls from so long ago get ruined when they are re-made, but this was a work of art. I applaud you, Paizo staff. The Critical Threat article in this issue is also awesome. We get stats for Downer Tarantula! 'Nuff said! And, of course, as my review title refrences, we get Kyle Stanley's caricature of Orcus...big gut and all. :) A lot of cool monsters lurk between the pages of this book, but there are some really dumb ones as well. The skiurid, for example is a shadow squirrel. :(
Too many dragonspawn, though. And the classed monsters are just okay. Few of them made me think, "WOW! I GOTTA USE THAT!" This was the first Dungeon issue I ever got. I loved it. Fallen Angel convinced me to use the Eberron Campaign Setting. Touch of the Abyss was a great adventure for just plain D&D. Istivin is a great city to use for any campaign. Lastly, the Winding Way is THE best adventure I've run in just about ever. I think that it is a issue worthy of 5 shiny purple stars! Not the best issue ever, but nowhere near the worst. I really enjoyed the Imps of Ill-Humor and the Magic Schools. The staff article was pretty good. The big article on Boccob was very good. I like the way this new column has started. I didn't like the lack of the Bazaar of the Bizzare, but oh well. The ecology of the Spell Weaver, and that funky Spell Weaver spellbook were both good articles. Lastly, hooray for OotS finally being in Dragon. (It was hilarious!) After waiting for a long while to get this issue, I was happy to se that it was worth the wait. This is truly the best issue of Dragon EVAR! -Monsters of the Mind-
-Demonomicon of Iggwilv: Zuggtmoy-
-Lords of Dust-
-Other Articles of Interest-
-Drow Outpost-
Great issue. Just a great, great issue. :) I just checked this out to see if it would be fun to run a stand-alone apocalyptic campaign.
The Order of the Stick is a comic for any D&D fan, and just gets funnier and funnier. I recommend it to anyone who likes jokes based on game rules, game content, and game context. -Lord Doombringer of the Dark Fortress of Minestrone |