I'm a little skeptical about Ironhill Citadel's claim to be the most detailed citadel ever mapped, but it certainly is the most detailed one I've ever seen.

When I saw the price, I was at first questioning who would pay $20 for a map. Then I saw how many maps Ironhill Citadel had. There's easily enough to run a whole campaign in the city with only a few frequently visited areas. The detail is good, though at times the line art ran together for me, and there were a couple times when little nitpickings about how the type ran through other lines at places distracted me from the map. However, I will say this. There's a lotta map here. The concurrent rooftop and dungeon maps don't hurt either (though I had a little ADD with Assassin's Creed style stuff running through my head, so I may be biased pro-rooftop).

The Rule the Dungeon feature is useful for people, and I like the simultaneous blueprint/black maps, even if they make it a little harder to figure out what's going on while still in the digital side.

For $20, my only gripes with this product is that you'll have to do the printing yourself (and it's a lot of printing, depending on what you want), but with two poster-sized maps, and more maps than most people have table for, I'd say go for it. No digital option for those of us who use digital tabletops, but I guess there's reasoning behind that that I can't argue with.

Harp SF isn't the most clear product (I found myself confused at several spots, though typically the confusion cleared when the point of ambiguity was cleared up later), but it's still very well written.

It uses a nice system with enough precision to be playable, but not so much that it's over-encumbering (though 80 skills is a mixed bag: versatile, yes, but also a little much, though admittedly these can be fine-tuned on a per-campaign/game basis).

The Fumble and Critical Tables were a nice touch, it's been a while since I've seen detailed critical charts, rather than just a "Take double damage and have something cute happen". I mean, it's not perfect, and I feel like at times you could run into places where they weren't applicable, but they'd be a stretch.

I like it, it's a decent break from the average, the art is good, the setting is decent, the price is not the cheapest, but you do get a coherent, well done product with enough content to be worth it.

There is a lot I like about Altus Adventum, but ultimately it fails to stand out in any particular way.

The setting blends Western and Eastern fantasy, and generally touches on most everything. However, it doesn't feel particularly original, and while the rules are at least not a direct d20 system, they're a little more obtuse than would be nice, and needlessly complex.

The art is generally decent, but it feels like it's drawn from way too many places and at times there are pieces that could have used a quick once-over with blur so the lines aren't just pure black or pure white, which is something I'd really expect from an older book, and with better art mixed in it's unacceptable.

That said, for $9, you get a lot, but it's not specialized and focused. At least it does come with an example scenario, which is an often-overlooked feature.

Ah yes, I forgot to review this back when I read it, which is surprising, given how much I enjoyed it.

Shattered Empires is a great game. It has a nice blend of originality, balance, and a great style.

There's not really much more to say, it's a fantasy game, but with hints of Renaissance era technology.

I wish I had more to say about this, but I'd definitely give it consideration as a well-rounded fantasy game with enough originality to keep a group on their toes.

Blood Dawn is a busy product. It's a mix of traditional fantasy with post-apocalypse, with a sci-fi background for the fantasy elements. It's somewhat confusing, but I actually like it.

The blending of pseudo-arcane elements with a typical Fallout styled post-apocalyptic setting seems difficult, but with the evidence of such forces as the Rooks, it is explained in a manner that does not compromise the setting. Setting-wise, Blood Dawn is typical with fringes of excellence. There is, however, heavy subject matter that may be disturbing or hard on certain players (the major bad-guys faction commits Holocaust style genocide and uses chemical warfare).

Blood Dawn's d20 based system is very comprehensive, and is superior to the d20 OGL system. It is quite well written, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Blood Dawn is a transfusion of fantasy into a post-apocalyptic setting, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a solid setting (it would not be too far of a stretch to compare it to Fallout).

When I first saw this product, I was skeptical, but something in my gut made me give it a second look.

The setting is a somewhat standard science-fiction (though it does, at least, utilize entirely unique races, though nothing remarkably revolutionary) scenario, something of a mix between Schlock Mercenary and a more gritty, realistic science fiction (all the settings that pop into my mind are not necessarily homogeneous between times, but a close fit would be classic Traveler). It has a lot of content for the length.

The writing, however, is the number one thing I'd wish to address. It's great. The art, the writing, everything comes together to turn the book into a good read. Not necessarily one for beginners, but one that's definitely professional grade. The art is, by some accounts, old, but I feel it is retro, rather than low-grade, since it shows a high degree of artistic quality, even if the technical grade makes one think of books a couple decades old.

Ah yes, that takes me to the other part I liked about this product. It's like a mix of perfect nostalgia with a entirely new thing, like rediscovering the old Star Wars comics I read years ago.

I'll even give it the (mostly) safe for kiddies endorsement, since there's no egregiously bad content (harsher swearing is censored out, which may vex some readers, and much like the Shadowrun of old, any stronger swearing used in universe is replaced with a proxy).

The d100 system is flexible, and doesn't feel overly simplistic, which is one of my gripes with several systems. On the other hand, while it is slightly more complex than some, it's certainly manageable.

Seriously, if you want a good sci-fi game for a low price, look no further. Fully illustrated and well written, Battlelords is an amazing find.

It is perhaps fitting that Novus's name almost makes one think of "novice", since it is very much geared towards a novice group, in a good way.

My one gripe about Novus is that it's nothing I haven't seen before. It feels like a crossbreed of d20 and Earthdawn, and I'm not sure I like all the d20 elements I see (at least it does use 2d10 dice with exploding and "imploding", which makes the probability curve change a lot, meaning I don't have my normal d20 gripe), but at the same time it deals away with the worst and most encumbering parts.

While it's a tad generic, that can be an upside, since it makes Novus very easy to imagine used for various settings. The point-based character system is a boon to its simplicity and flexibility, and the use of background systems, which at first earned a slight cringe (due to association with typically random-generation heavy works), wound up actually working to permit a truly flexible and dynamic character.

I felt the non-Vancian magic (which sounded a little much like Earthdawn with the talk of matrixes, but still better than d20) added a lot to the setting. Even though point-based magic is a mite sketchier on balance, it feels more natural to me.

With Novus, the keyword is flexibility. It's not a 500-page tome that has all the stuff put straight down in stone. I wouldn't constrain it to being a beginner's game, but as the cover on the back says, it "tried to make a fun and flexible game", and I can definitely see it being used as a fun and flexible game.

Oathbound Seven is a new take on Pathfinder gaming that allows any Pathfinder character to be imported relatively easily (and without the general gripes I have in such settings, since the process makes sense, and seems to show good amounts of thought).

Stylistically, I'd describe it as the SLA Industries of fantasy gaming, only less (to some degree) depressing. I enjoyed reading it a lot, and it has rich flavor text backed up by (somewhat overpowered) mechanics, however, with the setting, insanely overpowered heroes make sense (after all, the setting is basically a breeding ground for insanely overpowered heroes) without posing the immortal question of how every town is in trouble when adventurers are super-powerful and none of the monsters are a threat to them, because the heroes are literally super powerful, as is everything in the world.

It has a unique system, and it's a lot of content (including decent, sometimes superb art), and its price is certainly very decent for the amount of content that is presented in it, so I'd recommend Oathbound Seven to anyone running Pathfinder who wants a little excitement in their game.

I love quirky/abnormal systems, and when I heard of the PITCH system, I was intrigued.

I've heard of coin tosses in games before, but never incrementing up on values of coins. I'm not 100% sure of all the strengths and merits of the system, because my head isn't as familiar with coins as it is with dice, but it sounds cool, and the only gripe I have with it is this:

At one point I read (and this may actually be paraphrased, but the result's the same) "Toss 1c8 1c4 times". This means tossing 4 coins a number of times indicated by 3 coins, each of which has a value of its own. So you'd be tossing 4 to 36 coins [for a result of 8-128, I think, if my base-2 head is working] (at least if I understood the system correctly, since the coin toss, as I understand it, gives a chance of each number from the maximum to the minimum). I recognize that this is not terribly hard, but it would put the PITCH system well into the world of Shadowrun, where players must carry around a ton of pieces. This isn't necessarily bad, and I admit that the coin system is ingenious, and carrying 36 coins is no feat, but you'd want to keep each of the 4 types of coins separate (well, three, if you're not counting unmarked). The math could also be hard to do later on in caffeine-fueled gaming sessions (though I'm not necessarily the best to ask, since math ain't my forte).

The Chronoplex setting is basic, but shows promise, though it hurts my head like no tomorrow. All in all, I'd say it's good, and a refreshing break from the norm (throwing coins is admittedly very fun, and feels like a relaxing break from dice at times) though it's not for every gamer just based on the time it takes to count so many varying pieces.

Ah, Eclipse Phase stuff. Small disclaimer here: I love Eclipse Phase.

I find Eclipse Phase to be increasingly versatile every time I read another supplement for it. I love the universe background. Great art, great writing, if you're a science-fiction fan you can't go wrong with Eclipse Phase.

This is a decent product, but it could be improved upon in a few ways.

A) Don't just Google. While there are a lot of games in here, all categorized correctly (to the best of my knowledge), they're almost all big-name things, or top hot games. Games like "The New Epoch", which has undoubtedly one of the best steampunk/clockwork settings, are overlooked.

B) In depth explanation of style. Seeing D&D in a list with a game like Shadowrun doesn't really tell me much more than genre, and while it is just a "Guide to Genres", there's a difference in playing style between the two, with D&D being a slow, chip-away-the-hp thing and Shadowrun being more of a "one shot one kill" thing (though, admittedly, that is kind a Cyberpunk mainstay compared to a fantasy mainstay).

C) The links don't seem to work for me (assuming they are indeed links, and not just underlined blue text), and I'd like to see something like pricing on the list. Also, a lot of things you can get here on DriveThruRPG/RPGNow are listed as "Out of Print", which is technically true, but not very helpful in the light of the fact that there is a way to acquire them.

I will admit (in my evil lazy ways) that I do not always keep up with the newsletter here. Mostly on account of being busy. However, I have to say that I now regret that, and, indeed, so should you, if you happen to also have followed in my ways of folly.

It's $2, which goes to toys for children, and it's also really, really funny, with awesome advice.

Get kids toys and get this product.

I normally sit back on art, since my knowledge in that field is mostly technical (I know how to use Photoshop and Illustrator, and a lot of the principles of composition and design), but I lack most any real creative skill, and my drawing of anything more than the most simple object becomes a major ordeal.

However, there are times when I see something that I feel a need to comment on.

I like the art in this. I'm not a "Anime" guy, but I do hang around, and I don't really discriminate based on artistic medium.

Anyway, I got sidetracked. The reason I'm writing this review is to give advice.

1. Bundle in a .zip. You can include a .txt file (or most anything, really), and everyone will be able to read the license, without having to figure out how to get the images from a pdf (since the license does say you can use them in a web application).
2. While I like analog coloring, it should be even, or shaded. White space in an image that has no reason for white space is bad. Similarly, over-bright colors are oftentimes best replaced by a slightly less saturated color (the green as seen on the cover), to look more vibrant (yes, believe it or not).
3. Anime is traditionally associated with computer-based line graphics. This can be simulated easily even in a program like Inkscape (which is free and open source), just by setting the program up to trace the image into a more anime-esque one. It will keep the lines and color, but make it look more like a traditional cel or CGI image. It won't look exactly like it, but instead of looking like it was drawn with colored pencils (Ok, my lack of art lore is showing here, since I'm pretty sure this isn't actually drawn with color pencils, but can't think of what it would be drawn with), it'd look like the sort of thing that you could actually animate, and the lines could be made more crisp.

Of course, remember, I'm trying to give constructive advice here. Now, I'm off to the actual review.

It's some well-drawn images, and you can see from the preview whether or not it'd be useful. I like the persona that these create, if not the actual appearance. The only thing weighing them down is that they are a little pricey for only being able to be used on a character sheet profile image or as a handout. If there were paper miniatures included (basically scaled down versions with an appropriate template for cutting), I'd say that these were a bargain, but as is they're good.

Warrior, Rogue, and Mage plays a generic class system without classes. Your character is your own.

I'd compare the system a little to the Fable series. You build up a character who can fight, sneak, or cast, and sorta use that the best you can. I'm butchering the description, but my point is this:

If you wanna try something quick, and play a character that's exactly the one you have in mind, WRM is great!

Plus, it's free, so it's not like you have to play it if you get it. So get it.

I actually really like the Starship Troopers game. I felt it was a refreshing break from the d20 norm.

Starship Troopers includes enough fluff to let a non-loremaster into the game just by a glance through the rulebook (or reading select parts to him), while also letting you go through a fair amount of situations.

All in all, the thing about Starship Troopers is that you can play almost any game, but you will almost always play the same character. It's pretty much mandatory to start as the same class (depending on how much the person running the game sticks to the rules), but the uniformity feels almost refreshing. You're a soldier of the future. Not an uncultured barbarian, not a squishy mage. You're a soldier, and you're putting those playthings behind you, and killing some bugs.