Book Description
A silly, sly, and slapstick take on the holiest of seasons! Listen as these wacky guys chase those Yuletide blues away with this hilarious spoof of Hanukkah, Kwanza, and an obscure little holiday called Christmas. This troupe has toured the world, and they always play to a sold-out house. Listen in as these wacky guys describe the word "theological" as an oxymoron, muse about God's sense of humor, and sing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" to the baby Jesus. 1 compact disc.
Customer Reviews:
Almost As Funny as Seeing Them In Person.......2000-06-21
The Reduced Shakespeare Company is one of the funniest entertainment we have around. They have a great mix of intelligent and slapstick comedy, and never take themselves too seriously. They are hilarous to see live and to listen to!
Book Description
Complete Champion focuses on the divine champion and provides new rules options for characters who enjoy battling for a cause, defeating foes with divine magic, and going on quests that mean more than simply defeating the bad guy and grabbing the treasure. Complete Champion also helps Dungeon Masters run quest-themed campaigns and adventures.
In addition to providing various archetypes for characters, Complete Champion includes new feats and prestige classes. This book features dozens of deity- and belief-themed organizations, turning religion and holy (or unholy) power into something characters of all classes can use.
Customer Reviews:
Good for "core pantheon" campaigns.......2007-09-16
All in all this isn't a bad book, it just lacks a certain level of applicability to any campaign not using the "core" deities as detailed in the PHB. More or less all of the fluff and a good deal of the crunch in this book seems to take that as a given. All in all I have been impressed with the Completes series - I was dubious of the "second round" but after Mage and Scoundrel I was generally impressed. This one seemed a far cry in utility compared to the others in the series. It has a handful of useful rules items, but all in all this isn't a great book.
Quite Useful For 3.0/3.5e Greyhawk Campaigns..........2007-09-13
Complete Champion works best if you're campaign is set in Greyhawk and/or prominently features the core 3.0/3.5e D&D gods. It's also the most DM-centered of the "Complete" books, which are generally thought of as extensions of the Player's Handbook (PHB). While there are new feats, prestige classes (11 of them, actually) and spells, the rules for creating church affiliations and holy sites take up quite a bit of the book. While players might join one of these organizations, it's the DM who'll get the most out of this information.
Affiliations were introduced in the Player's Handbook II (PHBII) as a way of providing rules and benefits for characters belonging to various organizations. You don't need the PHBII, however, as rules for building your own church affiliations are provided in the Complete Champion. Affiliations are useful because they provide criterion for characters to rise up in the ranks of a given organization (in this case, a church) and provide increasingly valuable benefits for doing so. While all the churches presented in the book are of non-evil Core/Greyhawk deities, there are brief descriptions for the evil Core/Greyhawk deities, as well. Furthermore, rules are given to allow you to create a church affiliation for nearly any deity you choose based on their prominent domains.
Among the usual selection of feats are a new type called Domain Feats. These feats, which can be taken by any character, are each based on one of the core domains from the PHB such as Air, Destruction and Travel. These Domain Feats provides an ability, often only usable once per day, based on the powers associated with the specific domain. This provides a fun, if not always balanced, way to provide non-divine classes with the blessing of a deity, which I like, but there's certainly nothing to keep a divine class from taking these feats as well.
Many of the prestige classes are based on the Core/Greyhawk deities, as well. Pelor has the Shadowstriker and the Shadowspy which are both tied to a Pelorian church affiliation called Pelor's Shadow Guard. While this might sound counterintuitive for a sun god, the description of the affiliation does a great job at explaining how these prestige classes came to be. There's also a prestige class for Hextor (Ordained Champion) and another (The Sancctified One) which can be taken by Ehlonna, Kord, Olidammara or Wee Jas, providing differing abilities for each.
The new spells favor the cleric, but there's quite a few new things for paladins, druids and blackguards as well. There's even a few new spells for Adepts (the NPC class), which is something I haven't seen in a while. On average, the spells are 2nd-4th level spells, but clerics receive a few 5th-7th level spells, too.
Of the new items presented I particularly enjoyed the special holy symbols. These are masterwork holy symbols that each have special powers relating to the Core/Greyhawk deity they represent. There's quite a bit of variety here and these items are relatively inexpensive having more value in terms of status than monetary worth.
The final chapter covers divine quests and holy sites. Again, this is probably more befitting a DM than a player. While players who worship a certain deity will certainly want to visit the holy site and gain the favor of their gods, this material is better served in the DMs hands. Still, these can add a fun touch to any Greyhawk campaign.
Overall, I think this is a great book and I intend on using the church affiliation rules to build my own churches and expand those of the other deities in my Greyhawk campaign. If you're running a 3.0/3.5e Greyhawk campaign or favor the Core deities, this book can definitely help mesh the rules and rewards of belonging to a church to the concepts and flavor of serving a deity. If you don't have any use for the Core/Greyhawk gods, then this book will be of significantly less value to you and I suspect that may be why it's received such low ratings overall. I'm sure I'd like it a lot less if it featured Forgotten Realms or Eberron deities, for example.
So, if you like the Core/Greyhawk deities and want to find ways to make them more interesting to their followers, pick up Complete Champion right away. Otherwise, you'll probably be disappointed. But me? I think it's quite good.
It's not too bad, but not as good as most........2007-08-23
I was a little disappointed that this book wasn't more like the Complete Scoundrel. I thought it would be the Scoundrel's complete opposite, much like the Book of Vile Darkness and the Book of Exalted Deeds.
It is ok.......2007-07-19
While I really enjoy the concept of the domain devotion feats, there just did not seem to be very much to this book. They have interesting variants, but I wish they had more prestige classes in it.
Shadowstrikers!.......2007-06-30
I quite like Complete Champion, which offers more depth on the major D&D religions, some cool feats and alternative class features, spells, and magic items. I didn't think too much of the prestige classes, but I rarely find prestige classes very compelling. Then again, I thought the "Shadowstrikers" have a very cool flavor: sort of a military alliance between the churches of Pelor and Heironious out to save the world. The Summon Holy Symbol and Metal Fang were a couple of handy spells that, upon reflection, should've come out years ago. The new feats include Domain Feats, each one associated with a particular domain that the cleric has to have to take it. The new reserve feat associated with healing (Touch of Healing) could revolutionize how some parties approach healing between battles: so long as you keep a 2nd level or higher cure spell in reserve, you can slowly heal your buddies up to half their total hp without casting a spell or expending a charge off a wand. (The feat is particularly useful for druids and bards.) The Holy Warrior feat is a personal favorite (constant boost to damage, but you need access to the War domain). An earlier review suggested that the book is only helpful for paladins: I couldn't disagree more. There is a divine-style alternative class feature for every class: the ones for ranger I thought were cool, and there are options for fighter and monk that enable them to align their weapons/unarmed attacks without needing a cleric to cast Align Weapon. Most of the magic items work for anybody, although some are only for druids, clerics, or paladins. The rules for joining church organizations, whether or not you're a cleric or paladin, have some neat little benefits: I thought the 1st rank benefits for followers of Moradin (+5 movement for only 500 gp and some easy criteria) is a good example of something any dwarf would appreciate. All in all, I really liked it.
Book Description
Everything a player needs to know to play evil or morally ambiguous characters in the Forgotten Realms setting. Champions of Ruin™ is a comprehensive guide to playing evil characters in the Forgotten Realms setting. Many aspects of play are covered: vengeance, ambition, evil vs. evil, corruption and
moral failure, loyalty and betrayal. The book also discusses types of evil- lawful, chaotic, and neutral-as well
as morally ambivalent characters such as anti-heroes and rogues. Elder evils of extreme power are discussed along
with tools, feats, spells, evil places and planar touchstones, and guilds and organizations that evil characters can
join. Two new races are also introduced.
Customer Reviews:
JUST SAY EVIL!.......2005-06-24
Champions of Ruin is the newest sourcebook for Forgotten realms. A 160 page book detailing everything you ever wanted to know about playing an evil PC. The book introduces new races, spells, feats, and magic items. The new races are nothing to write home about, with the best being probably the Drow/Demon halfbreed called the Draegloth. Myself, I'm a little sick of Drow...Curse Salvatore for making them so popular and romantic!
The feat section is pretty nice with several new and interesting feats for evil characters tapping fighters, clerics and spellcasters with some interesting feats. There are also over 30 new spells in the book. of course the main thing that players are probably interested in is the new prestige classes. The book has some great new prestige classes that detail how to create the class, it's various features, and advice on playing these characters. Other chapters cover things such as evil places such as temples, shrines, etc...There's a chapter on various evil NPCs as well.
The art is pretty good throughout and I think the book is a welcome addition to DMs and players.
Evil on Faerun just got smarter, meaner and stronger.......2005-05-31
Champions of Ruin is Wizard's newest book in the Forgotten Realms product line. The contents of the book can be combined perfectly with the info found in Lords of Darkness, and the book is also the - dark - twin of Champions of Valor, a sourcebook Wizard's will publish at the end of this year.
The book is nicely edited, and - as usual with Forgotten Realms products - beautifully illustrated.
The book has the usual chapters (like new races, magic, feats, prestige classes and magic items for evil), and also describes evil organisations, places and NPCs (both "normal" level, and epic NPCs). It also includes ideas for using the contents of the book in an evil campaign, or simply in a normal campaign.
The book adresses mostly the Dungeon Master, but players will also find interesting things within. Most probably a player will not want to buy the book for him/herself, especially as knowing the contents of the product too well may ruin the excitement of the game.
Book Description
Everything a player needs to know to play truly heroic characters in the Forgotten Realms setting.
Champions of Valor is a comprehensive guide to playing valiant heroes in the
Forgotten Realms setting. The counterpart to Champions of Ruin, Champions of Valor covers what it means to be valorous in the
Realms. The book describes several good-aligned guilds and organizations that characters can join, as well as the benefits for doing so. In addition, the book presents an array of new spells, feats, and prestige classes appropriate for heroes of valor, and opens up new opportunities for adventure, fame, and glory for truly heroic characters.
Customer Reviews:
A Waste of Money and Printing Ink.......2006-03-21
I wanted to like this book, really. I thought it was supposed to be a Book of Exalted Deeds for the Forgotten Realms, sort of like how Champions of Ruin was a Book of Vile Darkness for the Realms. And surely, surely it'd have something usable for all classes, right?
I was so completely and utterly wrong. I'm so glad this was purchased with a gift certificate.
First, the introduction points out that it's for "valorous" heroes...not necessarily good, as they define "valorous" to mean "fights evil things", which can be stretched to include evil priests fighting other evil priests. Granted, there isn't much of that, but there's more about Neutral characters and organizations than I think appropriate.
Second, while there is a great deal of useful information for paladins, I challenge you to find anything for a good rogue. At all. No feats, no substitution levels, nothing. It's terribly disappointing.
Now, there are a few good things. There is a plethora of substitution levels, which are used to differentiate members of a class in an organization from those who aren't. This is a nice use of them, and it's a real shame that half of these are paladins of one form or another. The fluff's nice, and I hear a lot of people like the information on the various horse breeds in the back.
On the other hand, this continues the use of the fat, bloated, 4-page prestige class format, as well as the fat, bloated, corpulent magic item description format. Because there's nothing more useful than two pages of history for a +3 outsider bane greatsword, and I just so need fully half of the prestige classes in the book devoted to characters with flying mounts.
Bottom line, this has very limited utility and portability. It's great if you're playing a paladin in the Forgotten Realms who wants a flying mount, but if not, try and convince your friend to buy it. Don't waste your money.
Who told you that being good is not revarding?.......2005-12-06
Champions of Valor is the counterpart of Champions of Ruin, a Forgotten Realms supplement published by Wizards during the summer. Champions of Ruin is not needed to use this book, however.
This book presents the reader with several options for valiant characters in the Forgotten Realms. New spells, feats, substitution levels, organisations are all included to give your character an edge.
However, this book is something more than just "new rules for good characters". This book is only worth something if "you take it seriuosly", in other words, DMs should take care and require a considerable effort of role-playing from characters who use this book. Being valiant is not equal to getting a +2 sacred bonus on your AC, it means that you take part in an organisation, you help the poor, accept missions where you risk your life for free, etc.
This book has much to offer for players, but also for DMs who wish to create a good aligned NPC. I would say it is mostly for experienced DMs and players, beginners should be cautious about incorporating the contents of this book into the game before getting at least some experience with role-playing.
As usual for Forgotten Realms products, it is beautifully illustrated and edited. The cover picture is quite unique, I did not like the picture first, but now I think that it was a good choice to reflect the contents of the book.
Book Description
After escaping those who killed his siblings, Young Auron, a rare, defenseless gray dragon, fears he might be the last of his breed. Armed with nothing but his claws and a boundless determination to survive, he sets off in search of his kind. But to find other dragons-or, at least, find out who's killing them off-Auron will have to search a world of mercenary elves, vicious humans, and dangers of all kinds. Finding allies in the strangest places-and himself along the way-Auron is on the trek of a lifetime.
Customer Reviews:
A credit to the Genre........2007-05-22
I have to tell you, E.E. Knight is one of my favorite new authors. I picked up "The Way of the Wolf" as a book to bide some time on a boring air flight.Now,five books later I am still vastly entertained with everything I've read. After sliding through the Vampire Series, I knew about the Dragon books for a while. I usually only read books of fantasy from authors who have a lot of mileage, like Tolkien or Clark Ashton Smith, for example. And Dragons only interest me very little.However, the Vampire series was so good, my curiosity got the better of me, so I obtained a copy of Dragon Champions.Not only was the plot, story, and animal characterization very well conceived,the perspective is quite original.Well done.
I dare you!.......2007-04-04
I'm not big into epic fantasy, though I loved Robin Hobb's Mad Ship trilogy and a few others. I picked up Dragon Champion because I had seen it several times on my way to another shelf to pick up my usual fare of dark/urban fantasies and paranormal thrillers. I opened it, planning to satisfy my curiosity and put it back, but it was not to be.
This dragon snatched me into his world so easily I didn't realize it had happened till two hours later when I came to myself, sitting on the floor under the shelf from which I'd taken the book. Dragon Champion is a fierce, haunting tale of terrible loss, self-sacrifice and heroism. The end gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes. There is so much I love about this book I dare not share it here and spoil your enjoyment. So, go pick it up...I dare you to read the first few pages and put it back on the shelf.....I dare you!
A Great Story.......2007-01-31
Dragon Champion is not a cliche fantasy, which is one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much. It is told from the viewpoint of a dragon who thinks in very human ways, and learns from his experiences that instinct and violence are not the answer if there is to be a future for his species. The book starts out rather slow, to be honest, but stick with it, it gets much more in depth and faster-paced. Auron (the dragon) meets interesting characters and builds relationships with others not of his race, learning that the myths passed down by dragons about hominids are not unbiased.
A reviewer said Auron was pure evil; and in the beginning he seems to be more vicious and animalistic than is comfortable to the human mind, but the changes he undergoes just provides more for the story line and shows how far AuRon has come in the end. A must read for dragon lovers.
very slow developing story.......2007-01-27
I found myself flipping through many pages of, to me, unnecessary descriptions, plot lines, dialogue, etc. Auron is a dragon who has no qualms about killing and eating "hominids", including humans, although that may change in future books. He does change from a young, self absorbed dragon into a more mature and thoughtful entity as he becomes an adult. I'm not sure if I will buy the next book, still thinking it over.
Actually, he did "adopt" an orphan human girl, whom he took care of for many years and loved. He meets her again many years later, along with a dwarf whom he also befriended, and even managed to make life a lot better for the "blighters", a sort of ape like hominid. He also manages to avert a disastrous war of extermination by a human who wants the earth to be populated only by humans. In doing so, he also manages to free captive dragons used in the war and rescue females and their egg clutches. All in all - a fair story if you are really a dragon person.
A refreshing and ambitious novel.......2007-01-02
I have to say that initially I was not interested in reading this book at all. I am a fan of the author's Vampire Earth series, however, and so I decided that since I like those so much, this can't be that bad.
What I found, was that the author has done a remarkable job of writing from the perspective of a dragon in such a way that it is both believable and entertaining. A lot of the book focuses on the need to hunt, the need to eat, etc. I think that as the dragon is a predatory creature, these little actions helped keep the reader remembering that this is not a human, it may know how to talk, but its motives are decidedly different.
There is a message here as well, that to succumb to instinct is to lose the intellect, and without intellect we are just beasts. Those who are beasts get replaced and those with the will shall survive.
Average customer rating:
- A Fine Addition to the 'Ravenloft' Campaign
- Very good sourcebook. One of the best
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Champions of the Mists (AD&D Fantasy Roleplaying, Ravenloft Setting)
Willam W. Connors
Manufacturer: TSR Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0786907657 |
Customer Reviews:
A Fine Addition to the 'Ravenloft' Campaign.......2000-10-21
This supplement to the Ravenloft campaign contains new character kits and game statistics for famous characters from the Ravenloft novels and the campaign book Domains of Dread.
Character kits include temporary conditions kits (a lot can happen to you out on the Demiplane of Dread) and adventuring kits for adoption by both existing and newly created characters. The kits consist of the following: Accursed, Cold One (a horrid aftermath of an undead encounter), Eremite (a wizard kit in which spells are brewed, not spoken), Fugitive, Ghostwatcher, the Green Hand (for priests of Osiris), Invisible (a rogue kit for agents of a secret order), Knight of the Shadows (a Ravenloft avenger class kit), Monster Hunter, Order of the Guardians (a monastic priest kit), Pistoleer, Psychic, Redeemed (for the once-evil character), and Spiritualist (a wizard kit).
Ravenloft heroes provided in this book illustrate some of the above character kits, and are of various good and neutral alignments; the author gives notes or "adventure hooks" on how to use each hero to create adventures, or just trouble, in your own campaign. The heroes are Brother Dominic, Ivan Dragonov the monster hunter, Gondegal (formerly the conqueror of Arabel in the Forgotten Realms campaign, now trapped in Ravenloft), Hermos the man-giant, Tara Kolyana the anchorite, the married spiritualists Hilda and Friedrich Kreutzer, Alanik Ray (Ravenloft's answer to Sherlock Holmes), the druid and dancer Larissa Snowmane, and the bitter, obsessed George Weathermay.
A fine addition to the Ravenloft campaign.
--Sharon Daugherty for Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine
Very good sourcebook. One of the best.......1999-01-15
This is a great book for Ravenloft Dungeon Masters. It has lots of important NPCs and it also presents major changes on some well known characters. It also presents some new Character Kits. Very good acessory for a complete Ravenloft campaing. Be prepared to meet some of the most fierce fighting man and women that walk through the Land of Mists
Average customer rating:
- At Last - An ORIGINAL Story!
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Champions of Appledore
Dawnay
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0027893553 |
Customer Reviews:
At Last - An ORIGINAL Story!.......2003-02-26
My children (8 and 9 years old) and I LOVED reading this book together. It is imaginative, exciting, and hilarious. The story is long enough to be satisfying, unlike many children's chapter books. There are plenty of adventures, mishaps galore, and goofy little rhymes my kids still laugh about. How does a quiet country town rid itself of both ravenous wolves and pantry-raiding polecats? Find a copy of this book anywhere you can and learn how. I highly recommend this chapter book for reading alone or reading aloud.
Customer Reviews:
Other Books.......2007-09-03
Superhero rpg that probably takes about the longest time of any of them. Not for the easily bored.
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- The Right Attitude to Rain: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel (Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries)
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- The Usual Rules: A Novel
- Theros Ironfeld (Dragonlance Warriors, Vol. 4)
- This Rock: A Novel
- Those Bones Are Not My Child: A novel
- Tomato Red
- Turkey--Bright Sun, Strong Tea: On the Road with a Travel Writer
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