Quote from: jrientsThe front half of the Eberron Campaign Setting does an awesome job of weaving setting info into the chargen rules.  I love it when fluff is well integrated with crunch.

Agreed.

 I don't even run D20 and I bought a copy of that puppy.
 
Also, LOVED that there were trains in a setting like that . Don't ask me why - I just got a kick out of that.


- Ed C.

I'll have to agree with Pundy, the new WFRP books just tread the fine line between flavor and usefulness, without going into the nether realms of purple prose exposition or micromanagement.

The Iron Kingdom books aren't as streamlined, but the fact that the main inventor is also one of the main artists has a huge effect on the presentation and just helps you get into the spirit. About the best art direction I've seen recently.

Speaking of artists-writers, the Artesia RPG is rather decent, too. It gets some minus points for the lack of a decent primer, but the detailed descriptions of the nations are very well done.

Finally I have to give a nod to Underground, which introduced us to "hypertext" in printed books, i.e. colored text that was further explained in sidebars. Very neat and gave you a good insight into the ghoulish superheroic post-war pop culture of this unique setting.

Hm? No love for Ptolus here?

Quote from: Dirk RemmeckeHm? No love for Ptolus here?

 Only if my store sells a copy.

 That puppy is TOO intimidating for many customers. You're plunking down close $120  with no idea if it will really "work" for your group or not. PLUs, the binding and the thickness of the hardback is kind of unwieldy.

Oh and pity the poor playing greoup that says "Lets leave the town for awhile" after their GM has shot his weekly paycheck to purchase that tome of Monte Cook-it-must-be-goodness.

 It literally is almost a doorstop of a book.
 Its a brick.


- Ed C.

Quote from: KoltarOnly if my store sells a copy.

That puppy is TOO intimidating for many customers. You're plunking down close $120  with no idea if it will really "work" for your group or not. PLUs, the binding and the thickness of the hardback is kind of unwieldy.

Oh and pity the poor playing greoup that says "Lets leave the town for awhile" after their GM has shot his weekly paycheck to purchase that tome of Monte Cook-it-must-be-goodness.

The shops here in Berlin seem to fear the same thing. And their answer is to not carry it. I frequented three different shops the past year and I haven't even seen that monster.

QuoteIt literally is almost a doorstop of a book.
 Its a brick.

Now I know. Last week I was in London and the friendly staff at Forbidden Planet let me even open the shrinkwrap so that I could check what that fuss was all about.

(I couldn't reach a verdict about its quality or usefulness because of the sheer volume of material. Though I believe that in, what, 700 pages there must be at least some content I would want to use. But then, shelling out £64 just to find that was out of the question.)

(Five years ago I wouldn't have thought twice and bought that thing unseen.)

I've had a little time browsing through Ptolus. Wasn't too excited. Yes, it's a rather thorough book, but all the detail is irrelevant if you have to integrate it into another culture. Way too much work for slightly-non-standard worlds.

If you want to talk about city books, Five Fingers is my new yardstick.