101 Magic Weapons has weapons that will be useful to many different characters, across many different classes and alignments. Some of them are quite fitting for a character type while others seem to fill a niche that I'm not familiar with. The book is very well laid out and quite attractive. The table of contents at the front of the book is easy to read. This book is a great resource, either for when you're looking for that perfect magic weapon, or searching for ideas that you haven't had, yet. The pages are landscape oriented, so it's very easy to use this book as a reference on the computer.

If you're struggling with how to be a Fixer or Mastermind in a game of Leverage, this book is definitely for you! Again, just like the other supplement, Hackers, Hitters & Thieves, this book provides some wonderful discussion on the Roles and how they apply to a game and what they can do. It also provides additional options to make your characters a bit more fun, giving them more power to change situations in the Job.

But where this book shines is in the sections with additional discussion of the Mastermind and being the Fixer. Incorporating ideas from the community, there are several suggestions that really shine and can significantly add to the experience of playing the Mastermind and Fixer.

If you're looking for more ways to work with your Hitters, Hackers or Thieves, this is definitely a book you'll want to pick up. Each section is clearly organized with new information, new rules and new ideas.

Each section has a different flavor that gels with the type of character it's discussing. That hint of personality really adds to the way this book reads, making the experience more than slogging through yet another sourcebook. This book was fun to read, with lots of cool information about what it means to be a Hacker, Hitter or Thief, as well as some notable things from the past that have to do with each Role.

There is really nothing negative to say about this book. It's full of great ideas that pump me up to play Leverage more than the corebook did. The additional rules are very much bolt-on and aren't going to change the way the game plays, but definitely will give your group more options to enjoy the game.

If you're a Leverage player, get this book. You will be glad you did.

While heist stories really aren't my thing, I wanted to see what Cortex Plus could do on the action side of things.

The game is solid. Each character is based on a combination of Traits (think Abilities in typical fantasy games) and Roles (how good they are at the different jobs in the team). This is a little too much like classes for my tastes, but it works here and they have some great discussion on how a character fits into a team with different mixes of Roles.

There are two things about this game that really shine, to me. The first is the Recruitment Job. It takes place at the end of character creation and is meant to help build the characters, who have been individuals until this point, into a working team. Each character gets a moment to shine and all the other players get to witness that.

The second part is the Experience system. I absolutely love the way it's done, here. Each job gets a title and that title is listed on the "Record". During game sessions, a player can make a Callback to a specific job, having a quick flashback to a lesson learned and then explains how that lesson helps them get out of the predicament in which they find themselves. And it gives a bonus! And you can spend these jobs for permanent increases to your character! This is actually my favorite part of the system.

If you like Heist stories, I suggest you give this game a shot. It's solid and looks like it really supports what a Heist is about.

When you grab this game (and you really should) be prepared for an adventure-filled ride! This game lets you play your favorite Marvel heroes and fight against the worst Marvel villains. That has been something that I have wanted to do, every now and then.

This game uses the Cortex Plus system, which continues to mature as presented in this book. This system flows much more quickly than in the previous Cortex Plus games I've experienced. The system also has quite a few dice tricks that players can mess around with, during the game, tweaking their chance of success and the degree of said success. It's very fun and engages the player that much more. It adds a bit of strategy to your attacks that I haven't seen in the other Cortex Plus games.

When you snag this book, be prepared to read and re-read the rules sections, as the rules presentation hits fast and hard. I couldn't help but think that the system was being downloaded to me as I read through each section. The rules are separated and presented in a way that I believe will be easy for most people to understand, but it does move from one rule to the next with little time for you to absorb what you've just seen. So, yes, you'll likely want to read the rules section, then go back and skim over it again. However, this isn't a big chore, since only about half the book touches on the rules.

This book is over 200 pages, yes, but the system is only about 120 of those. The rest is the introductory Event along with quite a few character Datafiles. This makes me happy on two different fronts. One, I love rules systems that don't drone on and on. And the second part, all the datafiles for the Marvel characters, lets me read up on all those wonderful heroes, without having to go out and buy comics. I finally understand what my comic-book-fan friends are talking about!

I did have a couple of complaints with this book. The first was the section on character generation. This book assumes you'll be playing one of Marvel's characters through the Events. While they do present rules to make you own, they're more of a suggested guideline and there is no discussion, that I saw, of how to incorporate your characters in the Marvel universe.

My second complaint was at how large and complicated the Event creation process is, as presented in the book. Creating an Event, as they suggest you do it, seems like it's going to take about as long as creating a stereotypical fantasy campaign. I will say that, while you're reading that section, it'll be easy for you to distill the essential elements of the Event and dramatically shorten the process, but I think it would have been good to have more of that discussed in the book, as well.

All in all, this is another great Cortex Plus game from the awesome team at MWP. Thanks, guys!

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The first thing I'm going to say about this game is that it's GUMSHOE. I really, really like GUMSHOE. It's a wonderful system that really supports the style of games I like to run and play. So, as soon as I saw there was a new GUMSHOE game out, and that it was space opera, I was as giddy as a school girl and had very high expectations for this game.

After reading the game, I'm very please with it. But it didn't meet all my expectations.

The positive aspects of this game are many. It's GUMSHOE, so I know I already like the system. However, a few additional character traits have been added that I think will make for a few more interesting twists during game play. I like the addition of Drives in this game. I see them as adding an extra dimension and direction to the characters, one that I've not seen in the previous GUMSHOE games I've played. The Reputation score is also very intriguing and I'm excited to get my hands in there and tinker with that system and see how it works.

The only real negative aspect I saw in the game was the space combat. In theory, I like the process of setting a goal to achieve through combat and having all your exchanges add points towards achieving that goal. But, in this case, it felt like that system was just another step back from the action. It seemed like another layer of insulation between the characters and the players. Personally, I feel it is going to require a bit of tweaking and testing before I'm happy with how that runs in the game. And, I don't feel space battles really fit with the flavor of the rest of the game.

Even so, this is a wonderful book and if you're a fan of GUMSHOE, you really need to pick this one up. The sections on running the game have been the most helpful of any GUMSHOE game I've read. The setting is extremely interesting and has just enough detail to get my imagination going and enough blank spaces for me to insert my own creations. Wonderful job!

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Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not a huge fan of d20. But I must say this is a great class!

The first thing that jumps out at me is the wonderful character art at the beginning, and the stylish and attractive background. It's very well done and really makes the document fun even before I get to reading it. And once I started reading it, it only got better. This class is presented in a way that gives enough information to start my imagination churning, but doesn't go so far as to provide too much information to squash the awesome ideas it spawns in my brain. While some parts are pretty technical, I find that's just an element of the game it's made for.

One of the things that has me most excited about the Pyromancer, is the end goal. I'm a big fan of classes that present a big change when you reach level 20. Instead of being just "better", the character actually undergoes a change and becomes something more than he was before. I really think this class would be a lot of fun to play.

I really enjoy tools that make my life easier as a GM, and I think this is a great tool. It's apparently based on a real life science, psychometrics, something that I know nothing about. But, it dumbs it down enough that I get a general idea of what it is and how it's used to classify different personality types. One of the things that I'm really excited to experiment with from this generator, is the Communication Style. I think it's a great tidbit to help add depth to your NPCs and to make them each a little more unique. This document is short and easy to read.

The text was easy to read, but there were a few errors which jumped out at me. It also has enough complication to it that, if you want to jump in and use ALL of the options to generate NPCs, that I would have a tough time getting it all to work. But, this looks like a great product with some basic information to start with and has some more complicated parts to slowly add in once you've got them more committed to memory.

The calendar is nothing fancy. It's a calendar. It has the holidays listed on it in a nice light blue to separate them from normal days of the week.

The pictures, on the other hand, make this a good product. The models are not super-models, but real women that I'd expect to find walking down the street (albeit, with a bit more clothing on). The costumes are fun and attractive and the poses are good. February is my favorite. :D

For people who like these sort of calendars (as I do), this is a good product.

It seems this product is geared primarily towards people who want to print the calendar and mount it on their walls. It would be nice for a more digital-friendly version, such as desktop backgrounds with the picture and calendar combined into one. I, personally, would find that version more useful.

I am a big fan of the Smallville Roleplaying Game. So, I've been waiting (somewhat) patiently for a couple months for this book to drop. It is well worth the wait.

The book is separated into chapters that deal with different parts of the game and characters and how to change those parts to suit a different feel that you may be wanting, or to add in some additional options to how those current mechanics work. I found some of the options more useful than others, but that's not to say other people will be interested in the same options I am. I'm going to go through each chapter and briefly discuss what it does and what I really liked about it, as well as didn't like.

EXPANDING ANTAGONISTS: I found that this chapter has some wonderful discussion on what a villain is, what their purpose in the story is and it also discussed some Villainous Archetypes that you can use to give more focus to your villains. The chapter then talks about how to have a villain played at the table as a Lead.

What I Liked: The Archetypes for the villains are really great. There are just enough options that you can cover quite a few villain types while not having so many that you feel overwhelmed. The discussion is such that, while they do have something of a mechanical implementation to the Archetypes, you don't have to use them this way. Simply writing the Archetype down in your notes and keeping that in mind will help you give extra direction to your villain's actions and goals.

What I Didn't Like: The discussion on using a villain at the table as a Lead was good, but it had me scratching my head a little. I saw this potential in the game from the start and thought it was pretty well spelled out. There was some great tips for people who are playing villainous Leads at the table. This is not a bad part of the book, but it was rehashing ground I thought was pretty well understood in the first place.

EXPANDING PATHWAYS: This chapter is absolute gold if you're like me and want to hack this game to run a different story. It starts out discussing how to bring a new Lead into a story that's already running. Then, it gets into the nuts and bolts of the Pathways system and how to change it up. The last part of the chapter has rules on creating quick Features and finished up with a list of Distinctions all noted with which book they're in along with a page number.

What I Liked: The discussion on hacking up Pathways is gold. It actually goes deep into how it works, talking about total die steps given and when to give die steps. I found it much easier to understand how to hack it up once I had a greater understanding of how it worked. The example given is top notch and really showcases the flexibility that Pathways can give you.

What I Didn't Like: Again, there's not much to dislike about this chapter. The only thing I'd say is that the discussion for bringing in new Leads seemed a bit long for me. That may be because I've never really had to bring in a new Lead.

EXPANDING PLAY: This section has a lot of great advice for Watchtower, discussing what Watchtower's role in gameplay is and gives some tips on how to properly push Leads to act. It touches on Watchtower's toolbox and then goes into Sideline episodes.

What I Liked: The discussion on how to properly push Leads, when to keep pushing and when to stop pushing, is wonderful. Often times I find myself presenting a situation and hoping that the Leads pick up on it. This doesn't always happen. Pushing that situation at them until it causes bickering between the Leads and finally leads to a Challenge is the right way to go about this, and this is presented in a quick and easy to read way in the book.

What I Didn't Like: I've never really liked the idea of a Sideline episode. I'm not one of those players or GM s who enjoys taking a break from the groups characters to take a look at other characters in the world. Granted, Sidelines aren't presented as something that must be done, and they do go through a good list of when they think a Sideline episode would be good. The rules for how to run a Sideline confuse me a bit, as well. There is no discussion that I saw on how long a Sideline episode should take.

EXPANDING DRIVES: The Drives section deals with the Values and Relationships that all Leads have in Smallville. In this section, they show how to use different Values and also how to change up the Value system to give your games a unique feel. They also provide a quick list of Values that they think would work as substitutes. For Relationships, they discuss having a Relationship with an Organization and also with a Title or Office. They also present a way for re-targeting your Relationships.

What I Liked: All the variations for the Values and Relationships are well thought out and presented. They all have their place in different types of games using the Smallville RPG. There's nothing that really stands out as superb in this section, because everything is written with the same high quality.

What I Didn't Like: Everything I saw in this section is wonderful.

EXANDING ASSETS: Assets are one of my favorite parts of the game. They are so simple, yet so powerful in giving your characters interesting and unique ways of interacting with the game world. So, naturally I was looking forward to this part of the book the most. And it delivers. It starts out with Distinctions and gives to new Benefits and two new Drawbacks: Grant, Use & Exacerbate, Shift. Then you get some new Distinctions, including specific fighting styles. Next, it looks at Abilities and some different ways to use them, including starting with more than a single Special Effect. Gear also gets the same treatment.

What I Liked: Everything in this section is superb, but I especially like the Integrated Gear option. This is a great way to build machines that are made up of several items of Gear and really add a different feel to how the gear is used. They give an example Combat Suit. Yes, it's power armor! And it looks great and makes me want to run a futuristic military game.

What I Didn't Like: This is another chapter that was all win for me.

EXPANDING RESOURCES: Resources in Smallville have always intrigued me, but I've never seen them used to great effect in the game. This section provides some great ways to use them differently, including Sacrificing them, changing their Specialties and Re-targeting them.

What I Liked: The Sacrifice mechanic is very interesting and I'm glad to see it. The fact that you can get rid of an Extra or Location that isn't quite doing it's job for you anymore is awesome.

What I Didn't Like: I would have liked some more discussion on how to make Extras and Locations more applicable in gameplay. They're always such an interesting part of character creation, but I've never seen them used to good effect during a game.

The last section of the book is EXPANDING THE STORY SO FAR, which adds and updates characters from the show for the game. As I'm not a fan of the show, this section held no interest for me. I skimmed through it anyway, and there are some interesting tidbits and plot ideas in the episode summaries that I may go back and yank for my own games.

There are also CASEFILES between every section of the book, detailing people and places of interest from the show. I also started reading these with little interest, but again I found great plot hooks and ideas that I can reskin and pull into my own games.

If you like the Smallville RPG and want to get more out of your game, I cannot recommend this book enough.

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Short and sweet, this document jumps right into the material after an interesting bit of fiction. The idea of Fleshgrafts is very cool and allows for a different type of enemies. The enemies created using Fleshgrafts are not monsters, but definitely monstrous, which may give the players pause when dealing with them. There are also some great possibilities for PCs with Fleshgrafts.

My only complaint is with the last NPC included. Most of the flavor text for the NPC says it's a girl, the portrait looks like a girl, but a couple times in the fiction it's referenced as a male and in the stats it's listed as a male. Just a minor quibble, and it in no way affects the usability of the NPC.

This is a wonderful collection of adventures for Mutant City Blues! The adventures that are provided are interesting and well presented. This book also serves as an example of how you can effectively create your own adventures for MCB. This is well worth the buy.

I wasn't thrilled with this game. This game is basically an exercise in group storytelling and has very little of what I would consider a game. It does a good job of what it does and is very well put together.

There is no conflict in the game. There is no suspenseful action or possibility of failure. It consists of creating a scenario and asking the other players what happened. They each create a scene to tack onto what you've said, and you decide which you like best and the game moves on. If you like that sort of thing, you'll love this.

This Technical Readout contains stats for several mechs and vehicles that are being tested using new technologies. The information is presented in character as a report to a leader regarding the research. It's a fun read with some interesting observations on each battle machine. This is a good solid product. It loses a star as the book notes that these machines are of limited usefulness. They are rare and shouldn't be used much in games, if at all. They will serve as objectives and the occasional smash and grab scenario, but other than that they're just fun to read and look at.

I'll preface this by saying I love space opera. I love stories like Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War books. I've wanted to play a game, for so long, of a spaceship crew, going from place to place, looking for work and dealing with the problems they invariably get themselves into. I think I've found that game. Bulldogs! appears to be, in every way that matters, the game I have been looking for. Halleluiah. I cannot WAIT to play this game with my group!

To start, this version of the game runs on FATE. According to the book, there have been some changes made from core FATE, but as I'm not an expert on the system, I don't know where they are. But I will say that the system, as presented, seems to support fast paced action. There is a bit more crunch when dealing with things like combat, so I expect that the game will slow down a bit during combat. This is generally the case in most systems.

The presentation of the setting for Bulldogs! is a quick read and fun to go through. There is an interesting mix of scifi races and racial tension already built into the game. This should make for some wonderfully tense scenes, as the group of characters consists of individuals from every race. The characters in the game are all down on their luck spacers, who've joined a freight company and are running ships through the galaxy that really shouldn't be running at all.

The book also has a wonderful section for the GM, giving advice on how to set up adventures, create conflict and all the other general bad-assery that should be in a GM's toolbox. The book is organized and well laid out. It's a very fun read.