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Category:Game Books

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A list of books used in wargames and tabletop games. Including both core books and [[Splatbook]]s.

Category:Game Books

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A list of commonly used books in wargames and tabletop games. Including both core books and [[Splatbook]]s.

Weapons of Legacy

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'''Weapons of Legacy''' refers to both a [[splatbook]] for [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]] and the concept it was created to promote and support. In a nutshell, Weapons of Legacy was an attempt to offer an alternative to the "Christmas Tree/MagicMart" style of D&D, where characters would have to increasingly replace their magical weapons (or other items, but mostly weapons) with newer and more powerful versions as they gained levels in order to stay combat viable. The WoL system attempted to offer an approach more readily seen in other media, including videogames, where characters could have unique magical weapons that grew in power alongside their wielder through the performance of various magical rituals to provide them with the requisite boosts.

Unfortunately, the published weapons are quite lacking in quality and aren't worth what you give up. Some argue that the actual underlining system is fine and can be used to build ''good'' options, but that depends on learning a subsystem to chuck out half of it. One particular knock against WoL is that the Ancestral Relic feat from ''[[Book of Exalted Deeds]]'' did what the book tried to do but better within a single page. The feat allowed characters to sacrifice treasure at full value (instead of selling it for half) to add its value to their favorite item.

[[Category:Game Books]]

Warriors of Heaven

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'''Warriors of Heaven''' is a 1999 [[splatbook]] for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 2nd edition. Like its counterpart, [[Guide to Hell]], it is a [[plane]]-focused splatbook that, for some insane reason, wasn't marketed with the [[Planescape]] brand, causing it to be mostly overlooked.

This book is a player-centric expansion upon the [[Upper Planes]] and the [[angel]]s that dwell there, providing new [[magic]] spells for priests and wizards, expanded [[aasimar]] material, and not only expanded lore, but also full PC writeups, for the full range of Celestial creatures! That's right, this book lets you '''play''' an [[Aasimon]], [[Archon]], [[Asura]], [[Eladrin]] or [[Guardinal]]!

One unusual element of lore introduced in Warriors of Heaven is that only Aasimons, Archons and Asuras are created from the souls of Upper Planar Petitioners; Eladrin and Guardinals, despite often being considered the ascended souls of elves and animals, are actually entirely seperate species who dwell on the Upper Planes, marry, have children, and ultimately die, just like mortals do!

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]] [[Category: Planescape]]

Van Richten's Guide

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'''The Van Richten's Guides''' are a series of monster-related sourcebooks written for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] and connected to the setting of [[Ravenloft]].

From an in-universe perspective, the Guides are, as their title says, treatises on monster-hunting written by the esteemed Dr. [[Van Richten]], the most prolific and well-educated monster hunter in all of the [[Demiplane of Dread]]. At some point, Van Richten disappeared, after which his legacy was taken up by the [[Weathermay-Foxgrove Twins]]. In addition to completing and publishing his own unfinished notes - the Guides to the Fiend, Vistani and Witch - they went on to create their own guides, which they published under the same name for legacy purposes and to ensure they would reach their target audience.

On the meta-level, each Guidebook examines a single creature type and expands upon it to make it both a better fit for Ravenloft's purported "Gothic Horror" goal (even if, in practice, it leans closer to [[Castlevania]] amongst most people who actually play it), providing an exhaustive examination of tactics that can be used to run that monster or fight that monster, variant "salient abilities", unique weaknesses, lore, and other aspects that flesh them out.

Van Richten wrote and published on his own the following books for the [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] system:
* Guide to [[Vampire]]s
* Guide to [[Lich]]es
* Guide to [[Ghost]]s
* Guide to [[Therianthrope|Werebeasts]]
* Guide to [[Fiend]]s
* Guide to the [[Mummy|Ancient Dead]]
* Guide to the [[Golem|Created]]
* Guide to the [[Vistani]]

These books were later reprinted in "collected editions" by the Weathermay Twins, known as the Van Richten's Monster Hunter's Compendiums. The third and last of these volumes also included the otherwise unprinted "Van Richten's Guide to [[Witch]]es", which, as the name suggests, examines [[Witch]]es, [[Warlock]]s and [[Hag]]s.

The Weathermay-Foxgrove Twins wrote two guides completely of their own for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3rd edition which saw print; one for the [[Walking Dead]] and a second for the [[Shadow Fey]]. A third guidebook, dedicated to "The Mists", which focused on anomalous and eerie entities born from the reality-binding vapors that wreathe the land, in addition to covering Outlanders (humanoids from other worlds brought amongst the ignorant natives of the [[Demiplane of Dread]]) and anomalous reality-zones that one might encounter whilst enveloped by the Mists, was completely written up... but, [[White Wolf]] lost the license before they could officially print and sell it. The PDF was set free onto the internet, and is now hosted on, amongst other things, the [[Fraternity of Shadows]] website.

Looking into adapting content found in these guides to later editions? Note that not everything written by White Wolf & Sword&Sorcery for 3-3.5e was converted entirely everything from the 2nd Edition, and- more intriguingly, the powers Liches are privy to in Guide to the Lich are still, 3.5 canon, such as the salient abilities Liches gain are in Monsters of Faerun, though only a small excerpt. Please note, that these make both liches and vampires essentially epic-level threats, whom are more dangerous depending on their personal holdings and age- a vampire patriarch for example, is essentially a demigod immune to sunlight, and probably only beatable if they gained additional weaknesses over their long-term existence, they can even fully heal themselves once per day through the use of their alternate form ability, which has an additional form of their choosing- essentially their second Castlevania Dracula Form- limited to no CR or cap or anything. They can even cheat themselves into becoming this strong. If you've ever heard of the epic-questline, the Quicksilver Hourglass in 3.5, a quest where you have to stop members of the Union of Eclipses using a deific artifact to age the world to death and rule the remainder, then failure would result in vampires like this popping up all over the material plane. Bullet dodged.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category: Ravenloft]] [[Category: Game Books]]

Ulraunt's Guide to the Planes

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'''Ulraunt's Guide to the Planes''' are a series of 3rd party [[splatbooks]] for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] released on the Dungeon Master's Guild. As their name suggests, they are an unofficial attempt to be a [[Planescape]] analogue for 5th edition, with each sourcebook examining one of the planes of the 5e [[Great Wheel]] in greater detail, offering in general advanced details and maps on the location, details on native creatures, new monsters, new playable races, and new subclasses. Currently, only two sourcebooks have been released for this series; one for the [[Shadowfell]], and one for [[Acheron]].

One thing that fa/tg/uys should keep in mind before reading these books; due to the restrictions on DM's Guild content, these splats not only use 5e lore as their base, but explicitly use the [[Forgotten Realms]] as the "default setting" of 5e, so they will incorporate a lot of Realms-specific lore into their planar overview, such as explicitly connoting the Shadowfell with the Fugue Plane of [[Kelemvor]] or featuring lore and stats for [[Obould Many-Arrows]] as a demigod servitor of [[Gruumsh]].

==Guide to the Shadowfell==
The first chapter is all about the Shadowfell as a whole, and expands upon the material from the Dungeon Master's Guide.

The second chapter deals with locations of note. It examines '''Gloomwrought''' (the unofficial Shadowfell capital in the [[World Axis]]), '''Evernight''' (the Shadowfell reflection of [[Neverwinter]] from 4th edition), and '''Thultanthar''' (the capital of the Shadovar [[shade]] empire, introduced in the 3e [[Forgotten Realms]]).

Chapter 3 examines '''Domains of Dread''', looking at the Shadowfell's association with the [[Demiplane of Dread]] by updating four of these shadowy mini-hells. This chapter contains five domains; three of them "classic" domains from the original [[Ravenloft]] setting (the Burning Peaks, Har'Akir, and Markovia) and two carried from the [[World Axis]]; Monadhan (realm of traitors) and Sunderheart. Surprisingly, in contrast to the locales from the 2nd chapter, none of these have any connection to the [[Forgotten Realms]].

Part 2 is '''The Fugue Plane''', which covers chapters 4 and 5; this is an extended examination of the realm of [[Kelemvor]] and how the dead are sorted for dispensation into the rest of the multiverse in the [[Forgotten Realms]] cosmology.

Part 3, spanning chapters 6 through 12, is '''Deities and Other Powers''', which is self-explanatory. Here, you'll find [[Dendar]] the Night Serpent; [[Jergal]], [[Kelemvor]], [[Kezef]], [[Mask]], [[Shar]] and [[Vecna]], all fleshed out in greater details.

Part 4 is '''Character Options'''. Spanning chapters 13 through to 17, it provides four new races ([[Dhampir]], [[Hagspawn]], [[Krinth]] and [[Shadar-Kai]]), new subclasses for all of the PHB classes, the [[Vistani|Vistana]] background, new spells, and new mythic options (the authors for this series having also written the current definitive book on epic-level play for 5e).

Finally, part 5 is the '''Bestiary''', divided into two parts; chapter 18 is vanilla monsters, and chapter 19 is unique monsters.

===Subclasses===
* [[Barbarian]]: Path of the Anguished
* [[Bard]]: College of Mourning
* [[Cleric]]: Twilight [[Cleric Domain]]
* [[Druid]]: Circle of Nightmares
* [[Fighter]]: Obeah Knight
* [[Monk]]: Way of Gravelight
* [[Paladin]]: Oath of Debauchery
* [[Ranger]]: Redeemer, Venator
* [[Rogue]]: Shadowdancer
* [[Sorcerer]]: Grave Magic, Vampiric Bloodline
* [[Warlock]]: The [[Dark Powers]], The [[Undead]]
* [[Wizard]]: School of [[Shadow Magic|Nethermancy]]

==Guide to Acheron==
Because there's a large body of [[Planescape]] lore to draw upon, and even the 3e [[Manual of the Planes]], this book is relatively simple compared to its predecessors.

Part 1 covers '''Acheron''' itself in greater detail, with extended exposes on each of the four layers; Avalas, Thuldanin, Tintibulus, and Ocanthus.

Part 2 is the obligatory '''Dieties and Other Powers''' section. It expands upon [[Bane]], the whole [[Orc]]ish pantheon ([[Gruumsh]], [[Bahgtru]], [[Ilneval]], [[Luthic]], [[Shargaas]], [[Yurtrus]]), the [[Goblinoid]] pantheon ([[Maglubiyet]], [[Bargrivyek]], [[Grankhul]], [[Hruggek]], [[Khurgorbaeyag]], [[Nomog-Geaya]]) and the [[Duergar]] "pantheon" ([[Laduguer]] and [[Deep Duerra]]) before finishing off with [[Urdlen]], the only evil member of the [[gnome]] pantheon.

Part 3 is the '''Character Options'''; playable [[bladeling]]s and [[spriggan]]s (here a [[gnome]] subrace), subclasses for all of the PHB classes ''plus'' the [[artificer]] and [[Blood Hunter]], spells, mythic options, and special materials.

Finally, Part 4 is the '''Bestiary''', with common monsters, unique monsters, war mounts and war machines.

===Subclasses===
* [[Artificer]]: Stormsmith, Surveyor
* [[Barbarian]]: Path of Metallurgy
* [[Bard]]: College of Martial Cadency
* [[Blood Hunter]]: Order of the Warmonger
* [[Cleric]]: Domination [[Cleric Domain]]
* [[Druid]]: Circle of Warshaping
* [[Fighter]]: Eternal Blade
* [[Monk]]: Way of Ferrous Esotericism, Way of the Long Blade
* [[Paladin]]: Oath of Fulmination, Oath of Unity
* [[Ranger]]: Steel Warden
* [[Rogue]]: Ghost Walker
* [[Sorcerer]]: Atrophic Magic, Battle Soul
* [[Warlock]]: The Tyrant
* [[Wizard]]: Daggerspell Magic

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]
[[Category:DM's Guild]]

Tome of Magic

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'''Tome of Magic''' is the name of two [[Dungeons & Dragons]] [[splatbook]]s; the first published for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 2nd edition by [[TSR]], the second published by [[Wizards of the Coast]] for [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]]. Both share the common theme of seeking to expand upon the presence of [[magic]] in the D&D game, but they do so in different ways.

==AD&D Tome==
In [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], the Tome of Magic is a setting-neutral sourcebook for [[Wizard]]s and [[Cleric]]s - the [[Forgotten Realms]] had multiple splatbooks that served a similar role; Pages from the Mages, Wizards and Rogues of the Realms, Warriors and Priests of the Realms, and Secrets of the Magister. It provided an assortment of new spells and magical items for both classes, as well as three large indexes of spells covering all of the splatbooks to that point, but also introduced several new rules.

For wizards, those new rules were the new [[kits]] of the [[Wild Mage]] and the [[Elementalist]].

For clerics, those new rules consisted of three new spellcasting systems - Quest Spells, Faith Magic, and Cooperative Magic, as well as an assortment of new [[Cleric Domain|Priest Spheres]]: Chaos, Law, Numbers, Thought, Time, Travelers, War and Wards.

==3.5 Tome==
In [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]], the Tome of Magic was a way to introduce three new alternative types of [[magic]]; completely new systems, each with its own signature class, as well as appropriate new [[Prestige Classes]], magical items, monsters and sample organizations.

The first of these three new systems was ''Pact Magic'', exemplified by the '''[[Binder]]''' class. This is generally considered the best of the systems added, being unique, flavorful, relatively easy to understand, and with solid mechanics.

The second new system was ''[[Shadow Magic]]'', exemplified by the '''[[Shadowcaster]]''' class. This is considered more ambitious than Pact Magic, and not as functional, but better than the last one.

The last new system was ''Truename Magic'', exemplified by the '''[[Truenamer]]'''. Sadly, this is considered the absolute worst of the systems introduced in this book, being considered underpowered and overly complex.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Realms of Chaos

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If you were looking for the article on the hellish [[plane]] of [[Chaos]] in [[Warhammer Fantasy]], see '''[[Realm of Chaos]]'''.

The '''Realms of Chaos''' duology is pair of [[splatbook]]s for early-edition [[Warhammer Fantasy]], [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]] and [[Warhammer 40,000]]] that examines in greater detail the nature, stats and lore of the forces of [[Chaos]]. It also introduced the new pseudo-gameline [[Path to Glory]], which allows you to play a [[Chaos Champion]] seeking to ascend to the ranks of the [[Daemon Prince]]s. The duology consists of ''Slaves to Darkness'' and ''The Lost and the Damned''.

==Slaves to Darkness==
Introduces [[Chaos]] as a whole, focuses on [[Khorne]] and [[Slaanesh]].

Contains the following elements:
* Base mechanics for all [[Daemon]] type units.
* Stats for all Daemons of Khorne and Slaanesh.
* Flavor and mechanics for Daemonic Names.
* Stats for basic "human" Chaos followers.
* Mechanics for [[Path to Glory]], including general Chaos Rewards, god-specific rewards for Champions of Khorne and Slaanesh, and mechanics for becoming a [[Chaos Spawn]], [[Daemon Prince]] or Skeleton Champion.
* Rules for playing Chaos Champions in [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]].
* New Chaos-related Magic
* [[Chaos Blade]]s
* [[Daemon Weapon]]s
* Mechanics for Chaos Worshippers and Daemons in Warhammer Fantasy battles.
* An examination of Chaos in the [[Warhammer 40,000]] universe.
* An introduction to the [[Illuminati]] and the [[Sensei]].
* Mechanics for daemonic summoning and possession in 40K.
* Mechanics for Chaos Renegades, the 40K equivalent of Chaos Champions, including a 40K version of Path to Glory.
* An examination of the Traitor Legions, the Ordo Malleus and the Grey Knights.
* New 40K units and wargear, including complete army lists for the [[World Eaters]], [[Emperor's Children]], [[Black Legion]], and [[Ordo Malleus]]/[[Grey Knights]].

==The Lost and the Damned==
Expands upon the material from ''Slaves to Darkness'', focusing on [[Nurgle]] and [[Tzeentch]].

Contains the following elements:
* New magic and mechanics for [[Chaos Champion]]s of [[Nurgle]] and [[Tzeentch]].
* Flavor and mechanics for Chaos Monoliths.
* An examination of the spoken and written language of Chaos.
* Guide to creating lesser powers of Chaos.
* The sagas of Lothar Bubonicus and Werner Flamefist, Chaos Champions of Nurgle and Tzeentch, who were played by the team that worked on the book.
* Lore and mechanics for [[Beastmen]], [[Centaur]]s, [[Minotaur]]s and [[Dragon Ogres]], including playing Champions of each race in the Path to Glory.
* Rules for playing [[Undead]] Chaos Champions.
* An examination of the [[Eye of Terror]], [[Daemon World]]s and Chaos Cults in the 41st Millennium.
* History of the [[Emperor]] of Mankind and the [[Horus Heresy]].
* An examination of the [[Star Child]].
* Expanded details on the [[Sensei]], including how to use the Path to Glory rules to play a Sensei warband bringing hope and salvation to the galaxy.
* New mechanics for [[Nurgle]] and [[Tzeentch]] forces in a [[Warhammer Fantasy]] or Warhammer 40k chaos army.

[[Category:Game Books]] [[Category: Warhammer Fantasy]] [[Category: Warhammer 40,000]]

Player's Guide to Faerun

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The '''Player's Guide to Faerun''' was a [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3.5e [[splatbook]] that expanded upon some of the material in the 3.0e [[Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting]]. It is '''not''' a replacement for or upgrade from a previous book like the [[Expanded Psionics Handbook]] was. Its most memorable contribution to the game was its variant rules for playing [[Drow]], [[Duergar]], [[Svirfneblin]]s, and [[Planetouched]] without any level adjustment, tucked away on the very last two pages of the appendix. These variant rules became so well-known that they became frequently mistaken for actual distinct races in their own right, and to this day, still show up in fan-made enumerations of playable races in Third Edition. Aside from that, the book was mostly full of fluff and bullshit about the different regions of Faerun and the "Cosmology of Toril", many pages of region-specific feats that no one ever used because no one gave a fuck about Faerun's region system, and the usual amount of prestige classes, magic items, and other crap. No playable races or base classes were included.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]] [[Category: Forgotten Realms]]

Monsters of Faerun

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'''Monsters of Faerun''' was the first hardback [[Splatbook]] written for [[Dungeons and Dragons]] Third edition. It was preceded by three other splatbooks - the [[Living Greyhawk Gazetteer]], [[Hero Builder's Guidebook]], and [[Sword and Fist]] - but they were all paperback.

It's basically a second Monster Manual, written before WotC realized that they could just keep adding Roman numerals after the words "Monster Manual" instead of giving each one its own unique special snowflake name. Despite focusing on creatures from [[Forgotten Realms]], it is not, technically, a Forgotten Realms book; The first of those (for 3e, anyway) would not be published for another four months. It includes somewhere around 140 to 150 monsters, and did not give any of them PC stat blocks or level adjustments; however, quite a lot of them would be reprinted as PC races in later splatbooks.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Known World Gazetteers

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The '''Known World Gazetteers''' were some of the earliest [[splatbook]]s for [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Set in the [[Mystara]] setting, each was a supplement for the BECMI rules (aka "Basic D&D) which examined a particular region of the Mystara world and fleshed out the native races and cultures. In TSR's numbering scheme, they were usually designated by the prefix GAZ(number); the exception to this is the splat "Dawn of the Emperors: Thyatis and Alphatia", which is generally accepted as part of the Known World Gazetteers, but is not numbered as such, even though it came out before The Shadow Elves and The Atruaghin Clans.

Many of the Known World Gazetteers focused on pastiches of real-world human cultures, which was kind of the norm for both Mystara in particular and D&D in general at the time. Still, a significant minority did provide other kinds of cultures, from the [[magocracy]] of Glantri to the [[demihuman]] nations of Alfheim, Rockhome, the Five Shires, Thar, and the realm of the Shadow Elves.

==GAZ1: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos==
Written by Aaron Allston in 1987. The book describes the feudal nation of Karameikos, designed to be a good starting place for player characters. The book covers the history, politics, society, economy, and geography of Karameikos, plus rules for generating local characters and their knowledge of the land.[1] The Grand Duchy of Karameikos features an extensive collection of detailed NPCs. The gazetteer includes maps and descriptions of several cities and villages, and a number of adventure scenario suggestions.

==GAZ2: The Emirates of Ylaruam==
Written by Ken Rolston in 1987. The book describes the desert nation of Ylaruam, a land similar to the medieval Islamic empire at its height. The book covers the history, land and ecology, economics, society, with a sample village, rules for dervishes (desert druids), guidelines for creating Ylari characters, and suggestions for campaigns and adventure scenarios. The Emirates of Ylaruam features a detailed desert village.

==GAZ3: The Principalities of Glantri==
Written by Bruce Heard in 1987. The book describes the land of Glantri, a country ruled by and for magicians. The book covers the history, geography, and economy of Glantri, with a special focus on the ruling families, their personalities, and intrigues. The Principalities of Glantri also describes Glantri City in detail, and includes many new spells.[1] The book includes sections on living in the city and what it is like at night.

The Gazetteer describes the nation's cultural and geographic background, adventures for Glantri, and its special features, including the fantasy city of Glantri City and variant magic systems. The nation's economy is explicitly developed in accordance with the dominion rules from the D&D Companion Set, and the nation's armed forces are also described in War Machine terms (the D&D Companion Set's mass-combat system). The origins, objectives, and main personalities of each aristocratic house and clan struggling for control of Glantri's Council of Princes are described, along with the number of votes it controls in the council. The book presents the city's assortment of guilds and brotherhoods, such as Beggar’s Court, the Elven Liberation Front, the Free Fundamentalist Farmers, the Monster Handler's Syndicate, and the Thousand Fists of Khan, each with conflicting interests and political machinations. The Gazetteer offers an elaborate view of the magic-user's career, focusing on enrollment in the Glantrian School of Magic, which permits a magic-user character to learn new skills, like quick spell-casting and the ability to combine spells. The Gazetteer also provides player character (PC) spell-casting specialties: The Seven Secret Orders of the Great School of Magic are the Alchemists, Dracologists, Elementalists, Illusionists, Necromancers, Cryptomancers (runemasters), and Witches.

==GAZ4: The Kingdom of Ierendi==
Written by Anne Gray McCready in 1987. The book describes the island realm of Ierendi, a pirate-ridden archipelago that tries to appear as a tropical paradise. The book covers the history geography, economy, government, and important personalities of Ierendi and describes the 10 major islands.[1] The gazetteer also includes simple naval battle rules, ship counters, and a map, as well as a simple board game for resolving large naval conflicts. Plot outlines for all levels of play are sprinkled liberally throughout the text.

==GAZ5: The Elves of Alfheim==
Written by Steve Perrin in 1988. The Elves of Alfheim describes the elven forest nation of Alfheim, and covers its history, geography, economy, politics, important personalities, its capital city, and its forest denizens. It includes comprehensive rules for elf characters, new monsters, and seven mini scenarios.

==GAZ6: The Dwarves of Rockhome==
Written by Aaron Allston in 1988. The book describes the dwarven realm of Rockhome, and features new rules for dwarven characters, including dwarven clerics, plus information on the history, society, technology, politics, and important personalities of Rockhome and details its capital city of Dengar. Guidelines are included to convert it to AD&D, and also included are three miniscenarios and additional scenario suggestions.

==GAZ7: The Northern Reaches==
Written by Ken Rolston in 1988. The guides Helfdan Halftroll, Onund Tolundmire, Saru the Serpent, and Dwalinn the Dwarf take the reader on a tour of the Northern Reaches. The accessory describes the three Viking-style lands of Ostland, Vestland, and Soderfjord. The thirty-two page Players Book gives an overview of the Northern Reaches, and contains rules for Northman characters, including optional rules for character personality traits, and two new classes; the Wise Woman and the Godi (a priest of Odin, Thor, Loki or Hel). The sixty-four page DM Book contains the history, geography, nations and governments, rules, and nonhumans of the Northern Reaches, three scenarios, rules for adapting the setting to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, an epic campaign outline, and a new system of clerical magic: runes.

The gazetteer also includes a large color map and cardstock cutouts for constructing scale model Viking buildings. The complete 3-D card village can be assembled and used as the setting for two of the detailed adventures.

==GAZ8: The Five Shires==
Written by [[Ed Greenwood]] - yeah, the [[Forgotten Realms]] guy - in 1988. The book describes the land of the halflings, or Hin, as they call themselves. The 24-page "Player's Booklet" gives an overview of the Shires and their inhabitants, with rules for high-level halflings and new spells. The 72-page "Dungeon Masters Booklet" gives a more detailed description of the Shire's history, climate, geography, government, defenses, religion, and "The Pirate Life". The gazetteer also includes a section on "Campaigning in the Five Shires", encounter tables and suggestions for adventure scenarios, and rules for adaptation to AD&D.

==GAZ9: The Minrothad Guilds==
Written by Deborah Christian and Kim Eastland in 1988. The Minrothad Guilds are fictional seaborne merchants, and the book covers life, society, and politics in their lands. The Minrothad Guilds describes the great trading guilds of the D&D world and their island homes. The 32-page "Player's Booklet" outlines the operation of the guilds, including their laws and rigid caste system. The 64-page "Dungeon Master's Booklet" covers the guilds' overall history, government, and relationship with pirates. The gazetteer also describes trade in the D&D world, and includes rules for adaptation to AD&D.

==GAZ10: The Orcs of Thar==
Written by Bruce Heard in 1988. The Orcs of Thar covers the fictional Broken Lands that are inhabited by humanoids such as orcs, goblins, and bugbears. The "Player's Guide" is written for those who want to play orc player characters, and includes a description of the orcish view of the world, an overview of the Broken Lands, character creation rules, and "Thar's Manual of Good Conduct". The "Players' Guide" provides the history of the various humanoid races as seen through their own eyes, and describes the situation in the Broken Lands with an account of the ten tribes, their beliefs, and the areas they inhabit. It includes rules for generating humanoid player characters such as [[kobold]]s, [[goblin]]s, [[orc]]s, [[hobgoblin]]s, [[gnoll]]s, [[bugbear]]s, [[ogre]]s, and [[troll]]s. Tables and suggestions for generating height, physical appearance, outlook, and various skills are available to add depth to the characters. "Thar's Manual of Good Conduct", a guide to portraying characters' obnoxious behavior and battle-lust, comes as part of the "Players' Guide" but is intended to be pulled out of the booklet, cut up, and stapled into a smaller booklet.

The booklet covers orcish shamans, important humanoid leaders, campaigning in the Broken Lands, and an adventure scenario. The gazetteer includes rules for adaptation to AD&D, and rules for a simple orc-conquest boardgame. The "Dungeon Master’s Booklet" gives the “real” history of the humanoids and details on the major NPCs in the Broken Lands. It includes new rules for playing shamans and wiccas as character classes, as well as nonhuman spell-casters described in the D&D Master Set, clerics and magic-users of the humanoid races. The "Dungeon Master’s Booklet" provides information about the best way to stage and present humanoid adventures, along with adventure outlines. It presents details of the orcish city Oenkmar, allowing humanoids and humans to explore, and lists the rules for tlachtli, a ball game played in Oenkmar.

The board game included is called Orc Wars, and is set in and around the Broken Lands and features a power struggle to become the top humanoid.

==GAZ11: The Republic of Darokin==
Written by Scott Haring in 1989 . The fictional Republic of Darokin specializes in land-based guilds, and the accessory covers life, society, and politics in their lands. The gazetteer describes a plutocratic republic ruled by a council of merchants. The 32-page "Player's Guide" gives a brief overview of the land, with rules for Darokinian player characters and a Merchant character class, and includes guidelines for trading and a map of the Known World's main trade routes, imports, and exports. The 64-page "Dungeon Master's Guide" contains background material on Darokin's history, climate, geography, economy, society, and places of interest. The gazetteer also includes rules for adaptation to AD&D, a map of the city of Darokin, a large color map, and cardstock miniatures of merchants' wagons.

==GAZ12: The Golden Khan of Ethengar==
Written by Jim Bambra in 1989. The gazetteer describes the land and people of the Ethengar tribes, who resemble the Mongols at the time of Kublai Khan. The 32-page "Player's Guide" gives a brief overview of the land, and includes rules for Ethengar player characters and a shaman character class. The 64-page "Dungeon Master's Guide" contains background information on the Ethengar tribes' history, politics, and leaders, including the Golden Khan and his court. The gazetteer also covers the geography of the steppes, the humanoids and other monsters that live there, and adventure scenario suggestions, as well as rules for adaptation to AD&D, and a large color map.

==Dawn of the Emperors: Thyatis and Alphatia==
Written by Aaron Allston in 1989. Dawn of the Emperors is a campaign setting in the world of the GAZ series, and describes the two warring empires of Thyatis and Alphatia.

The 32-page "Player's Guide to Thyatis" describes an expanding, eclectic empire reminiscent of the Roman that reserves its highest regard for warriors; this book includes character creation rules for Thyatian player characters.

The 32-page "Player's Guide to Alphatia" describes a chaotic, bizarre, and ancient empire where magic-users reign over all non-magical folk; this book includes rules for Alphatian character creation, and for making magic items.

The 128-page "The Dungeon Master's Sourcebook" includes a history and atlas for each of the two featured empires, plus details of disputed territories, campaign and adventure scenario suggestions, and rules for conversion to AD&D.

==GAZ13: The Shadow Elves==
Written by Carl Sargent and Gary Thomas in 1990.The gazetteer describes the region deep beneath the Broken Lands, where the underground shadow elves live. The 64-page "DM's Guide" describes the locations found on the large color map, and also includes new rules for shamans, plus miniscenarios. The 32-page "Player's Guide" contains rules for creating shadow elf player characters. The gazetteer is adaptable to AD&D 2nd Edition rules.

==GAZ14: The Atruaghin Clans==
Written by William W. Connors in 1991. The book describes the territory of the Known World/Mystara known as "the Atruaghin Clans", which are a society loosely based on American Indian tribes.

The publication consists of two booklets, a fold-out map and a cardboard cover. The 64-page booklet "Player's Guide" describes the realm of the Atruaghin Clans within the D&D world for the players. After the introduction, the book is divided into the following sections: The Story of Atruaghin, Character Generation, Shamani, Spell Descriptions and sections on the individual tribes (Children of the Horse, Children of the Bear, Children of the Turtle, Children of the Tiger, Children of the Elk). The second 32-page booklet ("Referee's Guide") is for the DM. It contains information on the history timeline, the Immortals ("Gods") involved in the Clans' history, some Non Player Characters, sections on "Totem Magic", on "Atruaghin's Mystical Conveyor" and a note on how to adapt the content to 2nd Edition AD&D.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]] [[Category: Mystara]]

Elminster's Candlekeep Companion

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'''Elminster's Candlekeep Companion''' is a [[splatbook]] for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] from the DM's Guild that seeks to expand the [[Forgotten Realms]] setting by focusing, as its title suggests, on ''Candlekeep''; the massive fortress-library on the Sword Coast made famous as the childhood home of your player's character in the legendary [[Baldur's Gate (Games)|Baldur's Gate Duology]]. Seeking to be a definitive guide to Candlekeep, it also includes the first ever attempt at creating a comprehensive map of the fortress-library in its entire history as a D&D element.

The book itself consists of 6 chapters, plus a short introduction that provides 5 essential facts to understand about Candlekeep and a short history of the fortress-library.

==Chapter 1: Player Options==
The book begins with four new sublasses for players.

The ''College of Destiny'' for [[Bard]]s is a bardic archer whose subclass features revolve around prophecy and manipulating fate.

The ''Prophecy'' [[Cleric Domain]] is for clerics who strive to see, understand and even control the future. Like the [[Oracle]] from Pathfinder, [[cleric]]s who take this domain must take one of several flaws in exchange for their [[diviner]]-like array of subclass features.

The ''Way of the Avowed Preserver'' is the obligatory "Candlekeep [[Monk]]" class, representing the mystical fighting style developed by the Avowed to protect Candlekeep from those who would destroy it.

Finally, the ''Academic Lore'' tradition for [[wizard]]s is an attempt to create a fresh slant on the "generalist wizard" that hopefully isn't as humiliating to the [[sorcerer]] as the Loremaster from Unearthed Arcana.

==Chapter 2: The Library Fortress==
This chapter presents a general overview of Candlekeep, such as requirements for entry, major locations, and expanded details the monastic order known as the Avowed, the custodians of Candlekeep who represent a syncretic alliance of the faiths of [[Oghma]], [[Deneir]], [[Milil]] and [[Gond]].

==Chapter 3: The Great Library==
This chapter is a more in-depth look at the Great Library of Candlekeep, focusing particularly on its rules, and the books contained therein.

==Chapter 4: Candlekeep Adventures==
As the title suggests, this is all about adventures relating to Candlekeep, whether the players come here from elsewhere or find adventure within the walls! Subchapters are also devoted to the famous Prophecies of Alaundo and ties into the official adventure "Descent into Avernus".

==Chapter 5: Magic Items and Spells==
The title of this one says it all. Naturally, there's a big focus on magical books, tomes and grimoires.

==Chapter 6: Friends and Foes==
This bestiary chapter is divided into two subchapters:
The first section is devoted to new monsters; these consist of the ''Glowglobe'' (an animated glowing crystal ball meant to provide a safer alternative to candles), ''Tome Guardian'' (a scholarly earth elemental covered with transcriptions from its favorite books), the ''Bookworm'' (a magical and dangerous version of the traditional library pest), and ''Miiyrm, the Sentinel Wyrm'' (the ghost of a [[Metallic Dragon|Silver Dragon]] compelled by magic to defend Candlekeep).

The second section is an assortment of new generic NPC statblocks; the Seeker, the Renowned Scholar, the Bard of Destiny, the Cleric of Prophecy, the Avowed Preserver, and the Loremaster Wizard. All four of the latter statbllocks are NPC versions of the subclalsses introduced in the first chapter.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]] [[Category: Forgotten Realms]] [[Category: DM's Guild]]

Dungeon Survival Handbook

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'''The Dungeon Survival Handbook''', also known as '''Into the Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook''' is a [[splatbook]] printed in 2012 for [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]]. In a nutshell, it is a reiteration of the earlier [[Dungeon Survival Guide]], but this time actually attempting to be a game-based splatbook rather than the more "infotainment" type slatbook of its predecessor. It combines assorted material for players who want to build dungeon-delving specialist - or dungeonborn! - PCs and material for DMs wanting assistance in understanding how to make dungeons for their own games.

==PC Content==
The first chapter of the book aims at dungeon-delving or dungeonborn PCs. In addition to formally granting player race status to the [[goblin]] and [[kobold]], as well as bringing back the long-forgotten [[svirfneblin]], this first chapter contains 7 new character themes - the vengeance-craving Bloodsworn, the Deep Delver, the Escaped Aberrant Thrall, the Trapsmith, the Treasure Hunter, the Underdark Envoy and the Underdark Outcast - and an assortment of new skill powers and class powers, grouped under seven different rough themes:
* "Fear of the Dark" - powers developed to counter (or take advantage of) the darkness below the earth.
* Secrets of the Deep Guides - powers honed by a dedicated group of professional [[Underdark]] and [[dungeon]] delvers.
* Shadows of the Ziggurat - powers gained from a twisted structure built around a rift in reality.
* Seekers of Lost Lore - powers trained by those who explore dungeons for the lost secrets of the past.
* Thieves' Guild of Maelbrathyr - powers honed by the deadly thieves of Maelbrathyr, a cursed city dragged into the [[Underdark]] by [[Torog]].
* From the Vault of the Drow - powers developed by the drow.
* Battle Tactics of Cor Talcor - powers learned from the brutal tutelage of a dwarf warrior school.

==Neutral Content==
The second chapter covers an array of dungeon-related topics that are of interest to both players and DMs. It discusses successful tactics for dungeon-delving, lists the various kinds of dungeons an [[adventurer]] is likely to encounter - from the humble cave, mine or crypt to floating castles, prisons and the labs of magic-users, examines some of the more common monsters to be found in dungeons, and concludes by providing mechanics for a number of new alchemical items and physical tools of particular interest to dungeon delvers.

This chapter also examines eight famous dungeon-based modules from D&D's past, both from the "in universe" perspective of their place in the [[Nentir Vale]] setting and their meta-history, with many of the dungeon entries also featuring player-based material, such as a background tied to that dungeon. The dungeons covered in this book consist of:
* [[Castle Ravenloft]]
* [[Ghost Tower of Inverness]]
* [[The Lost City]]
* [[Pyramid of Amun-Re]]
* [[White Plume Mountain]]
* [[Tomb of Horrors]]
* [[Temple of Elemental Evil]]
* [[Gates of Firestorm Peak]]

==DM's Content==
The last chapter of the book is dedicated to the DM, providing advice on various topic relating to dungeon-delving. It examines how to involve players in a dungeon-delve, outlines how to craft a dungeon-centric adventure, discusses a list of the most prominent dungeon-makers in the D&D world, and concludes with some new mechanics, in the form of unique special rewards that can only be won by entering dungeons - which is basically a way to bring back older "gamebreaker" spells such as Wish.

This is then followed by two appendixes; one on building your own dungeons and one on running random dungeons.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Dungeon Survival Guide

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'''The Dungeon(eer's) Survival Guide''' is a quasi-[[splatbook]] released by TSR-then-[[Wizards of the Coast]] for [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. It's a purely fluff-centric book, and is thusly technically edition-neutral, similarly to such splatbooks as [[Elminster's Forgotten Realms]], [[Grand History of the Realms]] or [[Menzoberranzan: City of Intrigue]].

[[Douglas Niles]]' original 1986 "Dungeoneer's Survival Guide" assumed first edition. The 2007 "Dungeon Survival Guide" remake assumes [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]], most notably by having "in universe" flavored sidebars narrated by various 3e iconic characters.

This splatbook is an informative guideline to the concept of [[Dungeon]]s; it covers, in brief, the basic concept, essential gear for the would-be dungeon-delving [[adventurer]], a basic analysis of different dungeon environments, a summary of dungeon hazards (from [[monster]]s and [[trap]]s to other environmental nastiness), and the kinds of treasure that dungeon-delving can produce.

Niles' original brought Proficiencies into this game. The critics considered this a ''much'' more useful splatbook than - say - ''[[Unearthed Arcana]]''.

Niles' book had a DM section, detailing how the Underdark came to be and the mutual interactions of those civilisations down-under. Much of it was a sketch of a sample Underdark, the "Deepearth". Lacking a clear theme, by contrast with those dungeons noted in 2007, it never caught on as an adventure-setting in its own right. Unless ''[[Bloodstone Pass|Mines of Bloodstone]]'' counts.

The bulk of the 2007 book is taken up with a list of various famous dungeons from throughout D&D's history up until that point, covering each of the following dungeons in brief with a couple of simple survival tips.

The basic idea for this book was taken and reworked in [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]] as the [[Dungeon Survival Handbook]], a return to Niles' vision aimed at actual players and Dungeon Masters rather than the "tie-in fiction/infotainment" splatbook we got in 2007.

==List of Canonical Dungeons (as of 2007)==
* The [[Underdark]]
* [[Castle Greyhawk]] - specifically referring to 3e's [[Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk]] module.
* Castle [[Ravenloft]] - specifically referring to 3e's [[Expedition to Castle Ravenloft]] module.
* The [[Keep on the Borderlands|Caves of Chaos]]
* The [[Demonweb Pits]] - specifically referring to 3e's [[Expedition to the Demonweb Pits]] module.
* The Dungeon of the Slave Lords - from [[Scourge of the Slavelords|A4: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords]].
* Firestorm Peak - from [[The Gates of Firestorm Peak]]
* The [[Forge of Fury]]
* The [[Ghost Tower of Inverness]]
* [[Against the Giants|The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl]]
* [[Against the Giants|The Hall of the Fire Giant King]]
* The [[Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan]]
* The [[Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth]]
* The [[Pyramid of Amun-Re]]
* Slaughtergarde - from The [[Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde]].
* The [[Sunless Citadel]]
* The [[Temple of Elemental Evil]] - specifically referring to 3e's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil module.
* The [[Tomb of Horrors]]
* [[Undermountain]] - specifically referring to 3e's [[Expedition to Undermountain]] module
* [[White Plume Mountain]]

We understand [[Rappan Athuk]] or, for that matter, Castle [[Blackmoor]] not being here, as third-party product. (But where's [[Night Below]]?)

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Draconomicon

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The '''Draconomicon''' can refer to one of four sourcebooks for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] which, as the title suggests, focus on examining the [[Dragon]]s of D&D. The first Draconomicon was a [[Forgotten Realms]] splatbook for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] - in fact, it was literally the first book to be published with the FOR coding. The second Draconomicon was printed for [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]]. In [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]], the Draconomicon was revived as a series of [[splatbook]]s; two volumes were printed, focusing first on the [[Chromatic Dragon]]s and then on the [[Metallic Dragon]]s. It's possible that the [[Catastrophic Dragon]]s and [[Linnorm|Scourge Dragons]] may have had their own Draconomicon (either shared or one for each of them), but if it was planned, it was cancelled when Mearls took over as leader of D&D and slowly scrapped 4e to bring out [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]]. As a result, Catastrophic Dragons are only detailed in the [[Monster Manual]] 3 and in a pair of articles in [[Dragon Magazine]] issues #424 and #425, whilst the Scourge Dragons have never seen the light of day.

==Faerunian Draconomicon==
The [[Forgotten Realms]] Draconomicon was, like its predecessors, basically a Big Book o' Dragons for DMs, but with a lense specifically on the dragons of faerun, rather than the more setting neutral stance that its first successor would take.

This Draconomicon was divided into nine chapters.

'''Chapter 1''' is titled "Reference". This chapter talks about various aspects of dragon-dom within Faerun; the list is ''long'' and covers many different sub-topics:
* Debates on the origin of dragons.
* Theories of draconic evolution and a draconic evolutionary family tree.
* Dragon interactions with magic.
* Future developments of draconic evolution.
* Draconic history.
* Customs and social mores based on species.
* Interspecies relationships.
* Religion, including a detailed list of the [[Dragon Gods]] in the Forgotten Realms.
* The history of draconic holy wars.
* The dragon belief in the Twilight of their Gods.
* The phenomena of dragons being worshipped by other races.

'''Chapter 2''' is titled "Geography". It's basically a "where do dragons live?" chapter, examining each species' general preferences and the specific regions of the Realms where those dragons have been reputedly sighted.

'''Chapter 3''' is where the focus of each chapter starts getting obvious. Titled "Dragon Psychology", it's all about the quirky aspects of the dragon mentality; hoard-gathering, reproduction, activity cycles, "rogues" (dragons of non-standard alignment), the draconic influence on the ecosystem, the Ptarian Code of Honor (plus the Talons of Justice, a silver dragon organization dedicated to living by that code), and a brief summary of dragon/humanoid relations.

'''Chapter 4''' is all about "Roleplaying Dragons". Despite this name, it's actually focused more on dragons from a mechanical perspective. Aging, disease, food requirements, breeding, the trials of trying to raise dragon hatchlings, and so forth.

'''Chapter 5''' covers the Faerunian "Dragon Hall of Fame".

'''Chapter 6''' is all about "New Dragon Species". It covers chromatic dragon crossbreeds, mercury dragons, dracohydras, steel dragons, and yellow dragons.

'''Chapter 7''' is all about "Magic", specifically covering spells and magic items used by draconic spellcasters

'''Chapter 8''' is the "Hunter's Guide". It's simple basic advice presented as an in-universe guide to hunting dragons.

Finally, '''Chapter 9''' is titled simply "Miscellaneous Information". It covers the draconic afterlife, dragons traveling to other [[plane]]s, [[Spelljammer|spelljamming dragons]], and the Draconomicon as an in-universe magical grimoire.

This book concludes with four dragon-centric adventures; "The Millennium Dragon", "Invitation to a Robbery", "The Servants of the Verdant Cloud", and "Draco Holy Wars".

==3e Draconomicon==
This version of the Draconomicon is broken up into 5 chapters and 2 appendixes. Like many 3e [[splatbook]]s, it's useful to both DMs and players.

Chapter 1 is '''All About Dragons''', and is an in-depth biology textbook-style examination of draconic physiology, their life cycle, psychology and society, both in general and focusing specifically on the [[Metallic Dragon]]s and [[Chromatic Dragon]]s. It includes an extended primer on the Draconic language and 3e religion writeups for the [[Dragon Gods]].

Chapter 2 is '''A DM's Guide to Dragons'''. This covers a variety of subtopics, including how to use dragons in your campaign, tips on running a dragon encounter, and a plethora of new mechanical goodies for dragon NPCs; feats, spells, magic items and [[Prestige Classes]], culminating in mechanics for Advanced Dragons. It contains the following PrCs:
* Bloodscaled Fury
* Disciple of Arshardalon
* Dispassionate Watcher of Chronepsis
* Dragon Ascendant
* Elemental Master
* Hidecarved Dragon
* Sacred Warder of [[Bahamut]]
* Unholy Ravager of [[Tiamat]]

Naturally, this means that Chapter 3 is '''The Player's Perspective'''; advice on battling dragons, new feats, new spells, new magic items. It includes the new [[Cleric Domains]] Domination, Dragon, Glory, Greed and Wealth, and an assortment of new [[Prestige Classes]], detailed below. The final segment examines the various ways of including dragons in an adventuring party, examining their advantages & disadvantages before discussing them as mounts, cohorts, special mounts and familiars before touching upon them as player characters. Surprisingly, this book does ''not'' contain rules for using dragon races-as-classes; that kind of awesomeness was relegated to [[Dragon Magazine]], with issue #320 having rules for [[Metallic Dragon]]s and being followed up by rules for [[Chromatic Dragon]] PCs in issue #332.
* Dracolyte
* Dragonkith
* Dragonrider
* Dragonslayer
* Dragonsong Lyrist
* Dragonstalker
* Hoardstealer
* Initiate of the Draconic Mysteries
* Platinum Knight
* Talon of Tiamat

Chapter 4 is the inevitable '''New Monsters''' chapter, featuring the following new beasts:
* Abyssal Drake
* [[Dracolich]] template
* Draconic Creature temlate
* [[Dragonkin]] monster/PC race
* [[Dragonnel]]
* Elemental Drake (Air, Earth, Fire, Ice, Magma, Ooze, Smoke, Water)
* [[Faerie Dragon]]
* [[Fang Dragon]]
* Spiked Felldrake
* [[Ghost|Ghostly Dragon]] template
* [[Golem]] (Dragonbone, Drakestone, Ironwyrm)
* [[Half-Dragon]] (Half-Dragons for [[Oriental Dragon]]s, [[Gem Dragon]]s, and the [[Planar Dragon]]s introduced here)
* Hoard Scarab
* Landwyrm (Desert, Forest, Hill, Jungle, Mountain, Plains, [[Swamp]], Tundra, [[Underdark]])
* [[Planar Dragon]]s (Battle, Chaos, Ethereal, Howling, Oceanus, Pyroclastic, Radiant, Rust, Styx, Tarterian)
* [[Shadow Dragon]]
* Skeletal Dragon template
* Squamous Spewer
* Storm Drake
* [[Vampire|Vampiric Dragon]] template
* [[Zombie|Zombie Dragon]]

Chapter 5 is '''Sample Dragons''', and has a fully fleshed out and statted up series of dragons, consisting of one dragon from each of the age categories for each of the [[Chromatic Dragon]] and [[Metallic Dragon]] species.

Appendix 1 is '''The Dragon's Hoard''', which consists of assorted mechanics and rules to make it both easier to generate a dragon's hoard and to create more variety in the hoard's contents, as well as using it to generate plot hooks or setting development. It ends, of course, with some sample hoards.

Appendix 2 is an '''Index of Dragons''', which is exactly what its name suggests; a list of every single dragon-typed monster, both "true" and "lesser", as well as an identification of where it hails from, listing both official splatbooks and 3e edition-centric issues of [[Dragon Magazine]] at the time of printing.

==4e Draconomicons==
Unlike their 3e counterpart, the 4e Draconomicons were strictly DM-centric. They both had roughly the same sort of outline, with each divided into 4 chapters that were broken up into sub-topics, although their base content differed.

===Chromatic Draconomicon===
Chapter 1 is '''Dragon Lore''', and like its namesake in 3rd edition, it's essentially a biology textbook on dragons. It covers draconic origins within the [[World Axis]] cosmology, anatomy, psychology, sociology, language and religion, as well as taking an in-depth look the distinct sub-breeds of the book's focus dragon family. This means that whilst the basic points are repeated between the Chromatic and Metallic Draconomicons, the precise execution differs, since each family has distinctive psychological traits and an outlook on society, religion, etcetera. One thing that both share in particular is that the Religion sub-chapter doesn't convert the [[Dragon Gods]] to 4e; that kind of hyper-focused deity goes against 4e's design style. Instead, it examines their relationship with the gods of the [[Dawn War]] pantheon... although some of the old Dragon Gods do slip in as dragon-focused Exarches. This Draconomicon restores [[Aasterinian]], [[Astilabor]], [[Chronepsis]] and [[Falazure]].

Chapter 2 is '''A DM's Guide to Dragons'''. In this chapter, DMs are presented with guides to running combat and social encounters with dragons, a number of chromatic dragon-focused adventures, advice on using chromatic dragons as [[adventurer]] patrons, advice on designing a draconic hoard, a collection of chromatic dragon-related artifacts, several rituals created by dragons, the use of dragon body parts as ritual components, and a list of famous chromatic dragons from the [[Dragonlance]], [[Forgotten Realms]] and [[Greyhawk]] settings.

Artifacts featured in this book consist of:
* Illthuviel's Blackened Heart
* BLue Orb of Dragonkind
* Spear of Urrok the Brave
* Unconquered Standard of [[Arkhosia]]

Chapter 3 is '''Dragon Lairs''', and is exactly what it says on the tin; an assortment of chromatic dragon lairs fleshed out for use in your 4e campaign.

Finally, Chapter 4 is all about '''New Monsters''', broken in to several categories (detailed below), plus the Draconic Creature and Dragonguard templates and a variety of Alternative Powers for Chromatic Dragons, including mechanics for Polychromatic Dragons (halfbreeds of two different Chromatic strains).

''Chromatic Dragons:''
* Brown Dragon
* Gray Dragon
* Purple Dragon
* Chromatic Wyrmlings (Black< Blue, Brown, Gray, Green, Purple, Red, White)

''[[Planar Dragon]]s:''
* [[The Abyss|Abyssal Dragons]] (Frostforged Wyrm, Deathmask Dragon)
* [[Astral Sea|Astral Dragons]] (Battle Dragon, Pact Dragon)
* [[Elemental Chaos|Elemental Dragons]] (Blazewyrm, Dragon Eel, Tempest Dragon, Pyroclastic Dragon)
* [[Feywild]] Dragons ([[Faerie Dragon]], Mirage Dragon, Wretch Dragon)
* [[Shadowfell]] Dragons (Blight Dragon, [[Shadow Dragon]])

''[[Undead]] Dragons:''
* [[Dracolich]] (Bone Mongrel, Stoneborn, Icewrought, Dreambreath)
* [[Wraith|Draconic Wraith]] (Wyrm Whisp, Soulgrinder]]
* [[Zombie|Draconic Zombie]] (Winged Putrescence, Rotclaw, Deathless Hunger, Rancid Tide)
* [[Skeleton|Skeletal Dragon]] (Razortalon, Bonespitter, Siegewyrm)
* [[Vampire|Vampiric Dragon]] (Thief of Life, Bloodwind)

''Other Creatures:''
* [[Abishai]] (Wrack, Storm, Inferno)
* Draconic Parasite (Hoard Scarab, Swarmtongue)
* [[Dragonborn]] (Sellsword,, Exemplar of Tiamat, Fire Adept, Bloodreaver, Warmaster, Annihilator)
* [[Dragonspawn]] (Greenspawn Sneak, Brownspawn Marauder, Bluespawn Stormlizard, Greenspawn Razorfiend, Grayspawn Fleshtearer, Purplespawn Nightmare, Redspawn Devastator)
* [[Drake]] (Ambush, Portal)
* [[Kobold]] (Hobbler, Wyrmwarped, Dragonkin)
* Living Breath
* Squamous Thing

''(Chromatic) Dragon Hall of Fame:''
* Ashardalon
* Cyan Bloodbane
* Dragotha
* Gulgol
* Nefermandias
* Rime
* Tiamat
* Zebukiel

===Metallic Draconomicon===
Chapter 1 is '''Dragon Lore''', and like its namesake in 3rd edition, it's essentially a biology textbook on dragons. It covers draconic origins within the [[World Axis]] cosmology, anatomy, psychology, sociology, language and religion, as well as taking an in-depth look the distinct sub-breeds of the book's focus dragon family. This means that whilst the basic points are repeated between the Chromatic and Metallic Draconomicons, the precise execution differs, since each family has distinctive psychological traits and an outlook on society, religion, etcetera. One thing that both share in particular is that the Religion sub-chapter doesn't convert the [[Dragon Gods]] to 4e; that kind of hyper-focused deity goes against 4e's design style. Instead, it examines their relationship with the gods of the [[Dawn War]] pantheon... although this one does have some new "Dragon Gods", which are dragon-focused Exarches; Athearsauriv, Edarmirrik, Thurkeavaeri, and Vivexkepsek

Chapter 2 is '''A DM's Guide to Dragons'''. In this chapter, DMs are presented with a guide to including metallic dragons in their world - including using them as patrons or in other roles, running combat and social encounters with metallic dragons, metallic-centric adventures and campaigns, metallic-founded organizations, and metallic-based artifacts.

Organizations featured in this book consist of:
* The Blood of Barastiss
* The Guardians of the Gates
* The Grand Assemblage of the League of Eternal Discovery
* The Solemn Order of the Knights of Saint Vercesien the Gold

Artifacts featured in this book consist of:
* Blood of Io
* Seal of the Lawbringer

Chapter 3 is '''Dragon Lairs''', and is exactly what it says on the tin; an assortment of metallic dragon lairs fleshed out for use in your 4e campaign.

Finally, Chapter 4 is all about '''New Monsters''', broken in to several categories (detailed below), plus rules for changing dragons from Solo monsters to Elite monsters and assorted Alternative Powers for metallic dragons.

''Metallic Dragons:''
* Brass Dragon
* Bronze Dragon
* Cobalt Dragon
* Mercury
* Mithral
* Orium
* Steel
* Metallic Wyrmlings (Adamantine, Brass, Bronze, Cobalt, Copper, Gold, Iron, Mercury, Mithral, Orium, Silver, Steel)

''Hollow Dragons''

''Other Creatures:''
* [[Couatl]] (Rogue Serpent, Redeemer)
* [[Draconian]]s (Adamaaz, Aurak, Baaz, Bozak, Ferak, Kapak, Kobaaz, Sivak)
* [[Drake]] (Liondrake, Vulture Drake)
* Drakkensteed
* [[Kobold]] (Dragonkin, Wyrmguard)

''(Metallic) Dragon Hall of Fame:''
* Andraemos
* Bahamut (Platinum Dragon, Old Man with Canaries, Aspect of Bahamut, Kuyutha the Exarch)
* Jalanvaloss
* Niflung
* Silvara
* Valamaradace

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Creature Crucible

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The '''Creature Crucible''' series was a set of four [[splatbook]]s released for the BECMI ruleset of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Similar in nature to [[The Complete Book of]] [[Humanoid]]s, although actually predating that book, each of these splatbooks provides mechanics and setting information relating to an array of new monstrous PC options, a departure from the [[Human]]/[[Elf]]/[[Dwarf]]/[[Halfling]] core of BECMI. Alongside the new races, each also examined a new region of [[Mystara]] particularly associated with those races; in this, they were something of a side-branch of the [[Known World Gazetteers]].

==PC1: Tall Tales of the Wee Folk==
This was essentially the BECMI [[Fey]] sourcebook, examining the various [[fairy]] races. It contained lore and mechanics for the following races, marking it as the largest of the Creature Crucibles:
* [[Brownie]]
* [[Centaur]]
* [[Dryad]]
* [[Faun]]
* [[Hsiao]]
* [[Leprechaun]]
* [[Pixie]]
* [[Pooka]]
* [[Sidhe]]
* [[Sprite]]
* [[Treant]]
* [[Wood Imp]]
* [[Woodrake]]

It also includes new spells taught amongst the more magical breeds of [[fey]], some new fey-related equipment, new skills, an expose on the Dreamlands (a magical, primeval region of forest that is effectively the capital of the fey's presence on [[Mystara]]), and an assortment of adventures aimed at fey PCs.

==PC2: Top Ballista==
This splatbook focuses on the Flying City of Serraine, a magical city crafted by [[Mystara]]n [[Gnome]]s and turned into a roaming beacon of magical learning and development. This was the book that brought the gnome race from [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] to BECMI, with the following collection of new races:
* [[Faenare]]
* [[Gnome]]
* [[Gremlin]]
* [[Harpy]]
* [[Nagpa]]
* [[Pegataur]]
* [[Sphinx]]
* [[Tabi]]

It also includes new mechanics for crafting mad science gizmos (ironically less obnoxious than those given to the [[Tinker Gnome]]s of [[Dragonlance]]), new magical items common in Serraine, new rules for flying the [[magitek]] biplanes that protect Serraine from invaders... yes, Mystaran skygnomes ''are'' competent, and the obligatory new skills and new adventures to take advantage of what its added.

==PC3: The Sea Peoples==
As is name implies, this book focuses heavily on adventuring underwater, and has the largest array of new rules and rule modifications of any book in the series. It also has the smallest number of new PC races, consisting of:
* [[Triton]]
* [[Merrow]]
* [[Aquatic Elf]]
* [[Kna]]
* [[Kopru]]
* [[Nixie]]
* [[Sea Giant]]
* [[Shark-kin]]

The obligatory new skills, new gear and undersea adventures are, of course, included, as is an expose covering the vast underwater areas of Mystara inhabited by these creatures.

==PC4: Night Howlers==
The last of the Creature Crucibles, Night Howlers is also the most unusual; it's a guide to the [[Therianthrope]]s of [[Mystara]], including their history on that particular world and full rules for playing shapechangers!
* [[Werewolf]]
* [[Werebat]]
* [[Werebear]]
* [[Wereboar]]
* [[Werefox]]
* [[Wereseal]]
* [[Wereshark]]
* [[Weretiger]]
* [[Wereswine]]
* [[Wererat]]

This book also includes two new monsters ([[Lupin]]s and [[Chevall]]s), an assortment of new therianthrope-related magical items, a mini-gazetteer on "The Valley of Wolves" - a werewolf nation, and details on the small group of [[Mystaran Immortal]]s who have portfolios connected to werebeasts; [[Kaladan]], [[Koryis]], [[Mrikitat]], [[Ruaidhri Hawkbane]], [[Leo Variantia]], and [[Zirchev]].

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]] [[Category: Mystara]]

Blackstaff's Tome of Wizardry

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'''Blackstaff's Tome of Wizardry''' is a [[splatbook]] for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] that seeks to expand the [[Wizard]] class with a whopping ''31'' new subclasses to represent different arcane traditions. It also includes new character personalizing tables to reflect your wizard PC's belief in the ultimate source of magic and how they first became a wizard, a plethora of new spells to supplement each subclass, and a 5e conversion of the [[Guardinal]] race of [[Celestial]]s, which has been missing in action since the end of 3rd edition.

==School of Alchemical Artillery==
This is a unique blend of an [[alchemist]] and an [[evoker]], focusing on utilising arcane magic combined with alchemical formula to a maximise their abilities to unleash a strong offense from a long range.

At 2nd level, the Alchemical Artillerist gains the features '''Alchemical Expert''' (free proficiency in Arcana and Alchemist's Supplies) and '''Siege Artillerist''' (by using alchemical supplies as a material component, the Artillerist can cause a spell to deal double damage to objects and structures) - this latter feature can only be used Intelligence modifier times per day, with all uses recharging on a long rest.

At 6th level, they gain the feature '''Fog of War'''. By including alchemical supplies as a material component to any spell that has an area of effect, they can cause a spell to create a short-lived cloud of smoke in the targeted area; it's the same size as the original spell's area and is Heavily Obscured for the first turn and Lightly Obscured for the second turn, dissipating entirely on the third turn. Like the Siege Artillerist feature, an Alchemical Artillerist can only invoke this feature's benefits a number of times per day equal to their Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1), and they recharge it by completing a long rest.

10th level brings with it the '''Intensify Elements''' feature; once per short rest, by including alchemical supplies as a material component in any spell that does Acid, Cold, Fire or Lightning damage, the Artillerist can treat all damage die rolls of 1 as 2s instead.

Finally, 14th level gives them the '''Concentration or Dilution''' feature. This power can be invoked once per day when casting a damage-dealing area-of-effect spell; the caster can choose to either Concentrate the spell (halve the affected area, but all targets save with Disadvantage) or Dilute the spell (double the affected area, but all targets count as Resisting the damage done).

==Arcane Experimenter==
One of several subclasses in this splat that technically harken back to the "generalist" wizard of old, the Arcane Experimenter is a "practical" wizard who, as their name suggests, is constantly experimenting with new ways to cast or manipulate magic, and goes into battle to test out their latest formula. The result is a [[wizard]] subclass with a set of almost [[fighter]]-like focus on a unique set of spellcasting tricks.

At 2nd level, the Arcane Experimenter gains the '''Experimenter's Kit''' (free tool proficiency in Alchemist's Supplies) and '''Arcane Superiority''' - this is basically access to a unique set of spellcasting tricks using the mechanics for the Maneuvers system possessed by the Battlemaster [[Fighter]]. The Experimenter starts with 3 Arcane Maneuvers (see below) and 4 Superiority Dice, which are d6s. They gain a bonus Arcane Maneuver at levels 6, 10 and 14 (which is also when they can trade out one of their old Maneuvers), and a bonus Superiority Die at levels 7 and 15.

6th level gives them the feature '''Prepared Superiority''', which means they regain a superiority die when they roll a natural 20 on an Intelligence save or ability check, or when they use up all of their highest spell slots (this only works once per long rest, though) in addition to regaining superiority dice by taking a rest.

10th level follows up with '''Improved Superiority''', which upgrades the value of the Experimenter's superiority die to D8s - this feature is then gained again at level 10, when it bumps them up to d10s.

Finally, 14th level is when they gain the feature '''Relentless''', which means they automatically regain a superiority die whenever they roll iniative but have none available.

===Arcane Maneuvers===
'''Arcane Stability:''' If you are required to make a Constitution saving throw to maintain your concentration, as a reaction, you can expend one superiority die and add twice the number rolled on the superiority die to your saving throw. You apply this bonus after you roll the die, but before the outcome is determined.

'''Experimental Formula:''' When you cast a spell that requires a saving throw, as a reaction, you can expend one superiority die and increase the spell save DC by half the number rolled on the superiority die (rounded down). You apply this bonus before the saving throw is rolled.

'''Imbued Alacrity:''' When you roll initiative, as a reaction, you can expend one superiority die and add the result of the superiority die to your initiative score. In addition, you gain bonus movement for the first round of combat equal to 5 feet x the result of the superiority die roll.

'''Occult Insight:''' When you make an Intelligence check, as a reaction, you can expend one superiority die and add the number rolled on the superiority die to your check. You apply this bonus after you roll the die, but before the outcome is determined.

'''Power Surge:''' When you hit a creature with an attack, or it fails a saving throw against a spell you cast, as a reaction, you can expend one superiority die and deal force damage equal to the result of the superiority die. If the spell affects more than one creature, you choose which creature takes the additional damage. At 11th level this additional damage becomes 2x the amount shown on the superiority die.

'''Spell Dispersal:''' If you are required to make a saving throw against a spell or magical effect, as a reaction, you can expend one superiority die and add the number rolled on the superiority die to your saving throw. You apply this bonus after you roll the die, but before the outcome is determined.

'''Weave Ward:''' If you are hit by an attack whilst not wearing armor, as a reaction, you can expend one superiority die and add the number rolled to your AC until the end of this turn. If the attack still hits, you take half damage instead. You can apply this bonus after the die is rolled, but before the outcome is determined.

==School of Astromancy==
This is a practitioner of magic drawing from the powers of the stars and planets... in [[Warhammer Fantasy]] terms, this is a wizard who practices the Lore of the Heavens.

Their level 2 features are '''Star Sight''' (gain Darkvision 30 feet that ignores magical darkness; if they already had Darkvision, it increases by +30 feet) and '''Reactive Levitation''' (after casting a spell, the astromancer can hover a foot off of the ground until the end of their next turn as a bonus action).

Level 6 grants '''Power of the Stars''', which is Resistance to Radiant damage and the ability to change a spell's damage type from Fire or Lightning to Radiance 2/day.

Level 10 grants '''Radiant Cuirass''', which lets the astromancer expend a spell slot as a bonus action to manifest a magical forcefield that lasts for 1 minute, grants an AC bonus equal to half the spell slot's level, and when the astromancer is hit by a weapon attack from a visible creature within 60 feet inflicts 1d6 Radiant damage on the assailant.

Level 14 grants '''Master of Gravity''', which adds the spell Reverse Gravity to the astromancer's spellbook for free, lets them cast it without needing to spend a spell slot 1/day, and grants them a Fly speed equal to their movement speed whilst they are under the effects of the Reverse Gravity spell.

==School of Battlemagi==
You might be thinking that this is a revamped [[warmage]], right? Nope! Instead, it's a revival of the [[swordmage]], attempting to be more faithful to its unique 4e depiction as opposed to the older, [[Forgotten Realms]]-centric [[Bladesinger]].

A battlemage starts at level 2, gaining a bonus proficiency (Martial Weapons) and the feature '''Imbue Mageblade'''. By spending an hour with a chosen martial melee weapon, the battlemage can forge a mystical link with it, creating an imbued mageblade (it doesn't have to be a slashing weapon, though). An imbued mageblade uses the battlemage's Intelligence modifier for attack and damage rolls, can be summoned to hand as a bonus action, functions as an Arcane Focus for spellcasting, and counts as a Magic Weapon for dealing with damage resistance/immunity. A battlemage can only have one mageblade at a time, but can freely trade out whenever they like by just performing the ritual with their new weapon of choice.

The '''Kinetic Shield''' feature lets a battlemage use their Reaction when struck by a weapon attack to reduce the damage they take by an amount equal to their Proficiency bonus; once invoked, the shield lasts until the end of the battlemage's next turn, and it blunts any attacks that hit the battlemage so long as it's active. This feature can be invoked a number of times per day equal to the battlemage's Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) and recharges on a long rest. The problem is that the splatbook screws up informing ''when'' you get this ability; the table of features-by-level says it's not gained until level 6, but the feature's writeup says you get it at level 2!

A definite level 6 feature is '''Spell and Blade''', which lets a battlemage make a melee weapon attack as a bonus action after casting a cantrip.

Level 10 sees the battlemage gain the feature '''Kinetic Augmentation''', which lets them spend a bonus action to make a Dash that doesn't provoke opportunity attacks the turn after their Kinetic Shield was activated.

Finally, at level 14, they gain the feature '''Kinetic Assault''', which can be used once per day. Like Kinetic Augmentation, this feature can be used the turn after Kinetic Shield was activated (nothing explicitly prevents you from using them both!) - it lets the battlemage take a second action which can only be used to make an attack or cast a spell, and this explicitly ''can'' be used to cast two 1-action spells in a single round! This doesn't overlap with Action Surge (for battlemage/[[fighter]] multiclassed characters) or with any other ability that allows the battlemage to cast multiple spells in a single round.

==School of Binding==
As you can probably tell from the name of this one, it's an attempt to bring back the spirit of the [[binder]]. These specialist [[conjurer]]s have unique subclass abilities that focus on their ability to summon forth a planar entity - an [[angel]], [[guardinal]], [[demon]] or [[devil]] - and physically bind it into their flesh in the form an enchanted tattoo.

The level 2 features for this subclass are '''Planar Contact''' (gain 2 languages of your choice from a list of Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, Sylvan, and also gain Proficiency with Artisan's Tools: Tattooing Needles) and '''Align Contact'''. The latter is the central feature for the subclass, and allows the binder to meld a spiritual partner - either an [[Angel]], a [[Demon]], a [[Devil]] or a [[Guardinal]] - with their spirit by using the gylphs tattooed on their flesh as a focus, which they can do as part of completing a long rest (yes, this means the binder can swap between planar allies by taking a long rest). In addition to being a requisite for the higher leveled features, the planar contact gives the binder Advantage on any Intelligence checks relating to the contact's "meta-species", its home plane, and any other topic that the DM judges is reasonable for it to be relatively well-informed on.

At 6th level, the binder can invoke the '''Be My Guide''' feature once per day as a bonus action. Once invoked, this power lasts for a number of rounds equal to half the binder's Wizard level (minimum of 1), and grants a bonus based on which kind of planar being is bound to them:
* Angel: The binder sprouts glowing wings of light, gaining a Fly speed that is double their normal Movement speed and shedding light in a 40ft radius (20ft bright, then 20ft dim).
* Demon: The binder can use a bonus action after dealing damage with a spell to make a claw attack; this is a melee weapon attack that the binder has Proficiency in, which keys off of Intelligence, and does 2d6 damage. This attack can be used as part of the bonus action to invoke Be My Guide.
* Devil: When the binder casts a spell that has a duration on a creature, that creature becomes the target of ethereal imps, causing all attacks against the target to gain Advantage. With a multi-target spell, only one creature is affected, but the binder can change which creature is plagued by the imps at the start of each of the binder's turns.
* Guardinal: The binder gains Resistance to Lightning Damage, Immunity to Magical Sleep, and gains temporary HP equal to its Wizard level whenever it reduces a creature to 0 hit points whilst Be My Guide is invoked.

At 10th level, the binder can invoke the '''Guard My Back''' feature once per day as an action. Once invoked, this power lasts for a number of rounds equal to half the binder's Wizard level (minimum of 1), and grants a bonus based on which kind of planar being is bound to them, as well as granting the binder half cover due to the appearance of a ghostly fascimile of the binder's planar contact in an unoccupied space adjacent to the binder for the duration of this feature:
* Angel: The binder gains Advantage on saves against spells.
* Demon: The binder gains +1 AC and inflicts magical slashing damage equal to half its Wizard level on creatures that attack it.
* Devil: The binder is Resistant to damage caused by spells.
* Guardinal: Animals will not initiate combat with the binder (unless the binder attacks them first), the binder can Speak With Animals at will for the duration of this ability, and the binder regains 5 hp at the start of any turn in which the binder has less than half its hit point total remaining.

Finally, at 14th level, the binder can invoke the feature '''By My Side!''' once per day as an action. This most drastic power releases the binder's planar ally from its binding tattoo, summoning the creature to an unoccupied space within 30 feet designated by the binder. Obviously, using this feature means that the binder can't use ''Be My Guide'' or ''Guard My Back'', if they haven't used those powers already! The precise creature summoned depends on the kind of planar ally that the binder had invoked; it acts on its own initiative and makes its own decisions (but considers the binder an ally), and it lasts for 10 minutes, or until the summoned creature reaches 0 hit points, or the binder uses an action to dismiss their ally. Once this power has been invoked, the planar ally is freed; the binder can't gain any of their subclass features until they complete a long rest and recreate their binding tattoo.
* Angel: [[Couatl]]
* Demon: Barlgura
* Devil: Barbed Devil
* Guardinal: Musteval

==School of Dimensionalism==
This the long-forgotten [[Dimensionalist]] brought back into 5th edition! These are specialist [[conjurer]]s who focus on manipulation dimensional barriers and portals, rather than summoning monsters.

At level 2, the Dimensionalist gains Proficiency in Arcana, doubles their Proficiency bonus for Intelligence checks relating to the [[plane]]s and other planar knowledge, and gets the feature '''Dimensional Pocket'''. This gives the wizard a personal [[Bag of Holding]] that nobody else can access, which contains an area of cubic feet equal to the wizard's Intelligence modifier. They can toss something into this pocket or withdraw it from the pocket as an action, and it can't be used to contain living creatures.

From level 6, once per short rest, the Dimensionalist can use an action to open a '''Dimensional Tear''', flooding a 15ft cone with raw elemental energy that does their choice of either Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder, Necrotic, Poison or Radiant damage (1d6+the dimensionalist's Wizard level) to anything caught in the area of effect. Targeted creatures are allowed to make a Dexterity save against this effect, halving the damage taken on a successful save.

From level 10, the Dimensionalist can use the ability '''Dimensional Slip''' at will. This is done as a Move action, and lets the Dimensionalist phase partially out of reality before moving; they count as moving through difficult terrain, but whilst moving in this way, they ignore all non-solid obstacles, creatures and terrain features as well as not provoking opportunity attacks. Once the Move action ends, the Dimensionalist fully materializes back in reality.

Finally, at level 14, the Dimensionalist gains a ''Demiplane Refuge'''; this is 20ft square cube demiplane whose gravity, lighting and atmosphere are controlled by the Dimensionalist, and which only they can access. They can enter or exit this demiplane as an action, and whilst they can't hide there forever (they still get hungry and thirsty), it can be use as a safe haven.

==Elemental Traditions==
Obviously, these are the [[elementalism]] subclasses; you couldn't expect a splatbook like this to lack something as obvious yet untapped as that! This book handles each form of elementalism as its own distinct subclass.

===School of Aeromancy===
This is the '''Air''' [[Elementalist]], obviously. Aeromancers gain only four features:
* '''Adept of the Wind (2nd level):''' Free Proficiency in Acrobatics, +5 feet movement speed, treat the spells Wind Walk and Wind Wall as Wizard spells.
* '''Wind Lift (6th level):''' Gain Levitate as a bonus spell, and when casting Levitate, you can target a second target within 10 feet of the first target. Additionally, the Aeromancer gains Advantage on Concentration checks made to sustain Levitation so long as they're not levitating themselves.
* '''Breeze Walk (10th level):''' For 1 minute after casting any wind-based spell of 1st level or higher, the Aeromancer gains +10 feet movement speed, immunity to difficult terrain, immunity to falling damage, and immunity to being knocked prone.
* '''Wings of Wind (14th level):''' Twice per day, as a bonus action, the Aeromancer can sprout wings of cloud and wind that grant them a Fly speed of 40 feet for 1 hour or until dismissed as a bonus action.

===School of Floralmancy===
Naturally often confused with [[druid]]s, floramancy wizards hearken to Chinese Elementalism, being the '''Wood''' [[Elementalist]] subclass.

At 2nd level, the Floramancer gains the features '''Nature Savant''' (free Proficiency in Nature, Advantage on Nature checks made to identify plants), and '''Nature Magic''', which adds the following spells to the wizard spell list for them: barkskin, commune with nature, detect poison and disease, druidcraft, grasping vine, locate animals or plants, plant growth, protection from poison, speak with plants, spike growth, thornwhip, transport via plants, tree stride, and wall of thorns.

At 6th level, the Floramancer gains the '''Plant Camouflage''' feature, which is central to their further subclass features. This power can be used a number of times per day equal to the Floramancer's Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1), with all uses being recharged on a long rest. When triggered, the Floramancer sprouts various plant growths from their body, which lasts for 10 minutes and grants them Advantage on Stealth checks made to hide in, quote, "any natural terrain brimming with plantlife".

At 10th level, the Floramancer gains the '''Thorns''' feature, which upgrades Plant Camouflage by letting the wizard choose to manifest defensive thorns whilst transformed. If they do, then whenever the Floramancer is targeted by a melee attack, the attacker takes 2d6 Piercing damage, which counts as Magical for damage resistance/immunity purposes. This damage increases to 4d6 at level 14.

Finally, at 14th level, the Floramancer gains the '''Photosynthesis''' feature; when using Plant Camouflage, by spending 10 minutes or longer in direct sunlight, the Floramancer no longer requires food or drink for the day. Additionally, if they are reduced to zero hit points whilst both using Plant Camouflage and in direct sunlight, the Floramancer automatically stabilizes. Finally, once per day, whilst transformed and in direct sunlight, the Floramancer can heal 1d4 hit points per minute - if reduced to 0 HP whilst transformed and in direct sunlight, this ability automatically triggers if it hasn't already been used for the day.

===School of Geomancy===
As you can probably tell, this is the '''Earth''' [[Elementalist]]. Like the Aeromancer, it has only 4 subclass features:
* '''Geomancer's Knowledge (2nd level):''' When in rocky terrain, gain Advantage on Stealth checks and Concentration saves. Additionally, add bones of the earth, earthquake, magic stone, and meld into stone to the Wizard spell list.
* '''Stoneform (6th level):''' Twice per day, as an action, the Geomancer can enter stoneform. This state lasts for 1 hour, or until the Geomancer dismisses it as a bonus action, or the Geomancer is knocked unconscious, drops to zero hit points, or dies. In stoneform, the Geomancer gains +2 AC, Immunity to Poison damage, and Resistance to nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage, but they suffer Disadvantage on Dexterity saves and lower their movement speed by -10 feet.
* '''Protection of the Earth (10th level):''' After exiting stoneform due to either voluntarily dropping the form or time expiring, the Geomancer gains temporary hit points equal to their Wizard level + their Constitution modifier.
* '''Master Geomancer (14th level):''' The number of times per day that the Geomancer can use stoneform is increased to 2 + their Intelligence modifier (minimum 2+1 - aka, 3/day). They can also spend 2 uses of stoneform to instead transform into an Earth [[Elemental]], using what is basically the Wild Shape rules from the 5e [[Druid]].

===School of Hydromancy===
No prizes for guessing that this is the '''Water''' [[Elementalist]], unfortunately. This one only has 4 subclass features too:
* '''Affinity for Water (2nd level):''' Gain a Swim speed of 30 feet and the ability to breathe both air and water.
* '''Liquefy (6th level):''' Once per short rest, as an action, a Hydromancer can touch a single non-magical inanimate object that weighs less than 30 pounds and fits into a 1ft cube and transform it into water.
* '''Geyser (10th level):''' Once per day, as an action, a Hydromancer can summon a 5ft-wide geyser of boiling hot water from any spot they choose within 60 feet. Any creature in the affected area when the geyser materializes takes 4d8 bludgeoning damage and is pushed 10 feet away from its center. A summoned geyser's area cannot be re-entered until it vanishes, along with any water created by it, within 2d4 hours of being summoned.
* '''Fountain of Youth (14th level):''' The Hydromancer becomes immune to aging and its penalties, as well as immune to poison damage, disease, and the Poisoned condition.

===School of Pyromancy===
Yes, this is the '''Fire''' [[Elementalist]]. Pat yourself on the back. Its the only official "Elementalist subclass" in the book that has two 2nd level features instead of one, apart from the Floramancer.

Those 2nd level features are '''Fire Savant''' (halve the time and cost to copy any fire, flame or heat-related spell into your spellbook) and Fireshaper (the pyromancer can manipulate any non-magical flame no larger than a 5ft cube within 60 feet as per the Control Flames cantrip, but this ability uses a bonus action and "is not considered a spell").

At level 6, the Pyromancer gains '''Heart of Fire''', which gives them immunity to mundane flames and heat, including no longer suffering exhaustion from nonmagical heat, as well as Advantage on saves against magical fire and heat.

10th level brings the feature '''Heat Channeling''', which can be used once per short rest. As a bonus action, the pyromancer can siphon in ambient heat (which extinguishes any natural flames within 10 feet) to empower their spellcasting, allowing them to add bonus damage equal to their Wizard level to any fire or heat based spell they use, presumably as part of that same turn, because the book doesn't clarify.

The pyromancer's ultimate (14th level) feature is '''Piercing Flames''', which means they ignore Fire Resistance with their spells and their fire/heat spells can still inflict damage (albeit only equal to their Intelligence modifier) on creatures that have Fire Immunity.

==School of Emomancy==
No, this is not connected to bad 90s [[bard]]ic traditions. Emomantics, as they call themselves, are a variant form of [[enchanter]] who specialize in using their magic to manipulate and control emotions in themselves and others. This one comes with an "authorial sidebar" noting that, despite having a better reputation than [[necromancer]]s, [[enchanter]]s are actually pretty damn creepy if not evil when you think about it.

Emomantics start by gaining free Expertise in Insight at 2nd level, along with the feature '''Sense Emotions'''. This feature can be used Intelligence modifier times per day (minimum 1), and it takes an action to activate it; once activated, the emomantic can sense all strong emotions within a 20ft radius until the end of their next turn.

Level 6 brings the emomantic '''Emotional Stability''' (Immunity to Fear, Advantage on saves vs. Charmed), whilst level 10 brings them the power to project '''Irresistible Emotions''' (once per short rest, the emomantic can designate a single creature to suffer Disadvantage on saves against any emotion-manipulating spell the emomantic casts on that creature).

Finally, at level 14, the emomantic gains the power of '''Emotion Overwhelming'''; they can broadcast a 30ft aura of intense positive or negative emotions as an action once per day, inflicting all creatures within the aura with either Advantage or Disadvantage on all saves and skill checks for 1 minute (in case it ain't obvious; positive emotions grant Advantage, and negative ones Disadvantage). Creatures that don't want to be affected by the aura can resist it with a Charisma save.

==School of Ferromancy==
Despite not being placed under the Elemental Traditions section for whatever reason, this is effectively the '''Metal''' [[Elementalist]], with magic focusing on manipulating metal and magnetic fields.

At level 2, ferromancers gain '''Bonus Proficiencies''' (all metal weapons and metal armor, plus add Heat Metal to their spellbook for free - they can't cast it until they have level 2 spell slots, though) and '''Magnetic Ward'''. Once per day, as a reaction, the ferromancer can surround themselves with a magnetic forcefield for 1 minute, during which time they reduce all damage from weapon attacks by an amount equal to their Intelligence modifier (minimum 1, as usual) - if this somehow causes an attack to deal negative damage, you don't get healed, smartass, so don't even try to claim it. At 10th level, the ferromancer can use this ability once per short rest instead, which is a nice little upgrade.

At level 6, the ferromancer's '''Static''' feature causes any creature that fails a saving throw caused by one of the ferromancer's spells to build up an ambient static charge that lasts for a number of rounds equal to the ferromancer's Intelligence modifier (yeah, minimum of 1; you really had to ask?) - during this time, if the static-imbued creature gets within 5 feet of one or more creatures also affected by static, then all of the triggering creatures take 1d6 Lightning damage.

Level 10 brings the simplest of the ferromancer's features, '''Breach Armor''', which gives them Advantage on weapon and spell attacks directed against creatures wearing metal armor or made of metal, like [[golem]]s.

Finally, level 14 gives the ferromancer the ability to erect a '''Magnetic Field''' once per day as an action. The Magnetic Field is a 20ft aura centered on the ferromancer which lasts for 1 minute. Any creature that either enters the field for the first time or starts their turn there whilst wearing metal armor, wielding metal weapons, or just carrying at least 30lbs of metal, takes 1d6 Lightning damage - 2d6 if they're under the effects of Static - and treats the aura's area of effect as difficult terrain.

==School of Fleuremancy==
Arguably, this school is best summarized as the '''Light''' [[Elementalist]]; it's a wizard who focuses on mastering the powers and applications of radiant energy.

Fleurmancers get one of the most overloaded level 2 bonuses of any wizard subclass in 5e; free proficiency in Investigation and Perception, Light and Dancing Light as bonus cantrips known that don't count against the total amount of cantrips the wizard can know, and the feature '''Dazzling Display'''. This feature can be used once per short rest as part of casting any spell with a "visible effect", and it lets the fleurmancer designate the target (or one creature in the area of the effect); the designated target must succeed on a Constitution save against the fleurmancer's spell DC or be blinded until the end of their next turn. Creatures with Sunlight Sensitivity suffer Disadvantage on this save.

At level 6, they can use '''Displacement''' as a reaction to being attacked Intelligence modifier times per day (uses recharge on a long rest). The triggering attack, and any other attacks made against the fleurmancer that require visual targeting until the end of the fleurmancer's next turn, are made with Disadvantage. This is a visual illusion effect, so it has no effect on creatures that don't use vision to see (aka Blindsight) or which can see through illusion (Truesight).

At level 10, they can throw up a '''Prismatic Shield''' as a reaction to being targeted by a spell that has a saving throw once per day; this grants the fleurmancer Advantage on the save, and if the save is successful, the fluermancer both takes no damage from the spell (regardless of normal effects) and regains a charge for Displacement. This ability can be used on area-of-effect spells, but if so, only the fleurmancer benefits from the Advantage effect, not any allies.

Finally, they gain '''Intensity''' at level 14, which can be invoked once per day to impose Disadvantage on a creature's saving throw against a spell that involves light or color as prominent elements.

==School of Golemancy==
This is a wizard focused on the arts of crafting [[golem]]s; it has no direct precedents amongst the "core eight" schools of magic, but is arguably closest in thematic elements to the [[necromancer]].

At level 2, they gain the features '''The Basics of Crafting''' (free proficiency with Mason's, Smith's and Woodcarver's Tools, add Mending as an extra cantrip that doesn't use up your maximum cantrips list) and '''Prototype Golem'''. This is the core feature of the subclass; a personal pet in the form of... well, a [[golem]], duh! This has some fairly complex rules, but what it boils down to is that the golem has a telepathic link to its creator, it acts on its own turn and initiative in combat, its stats scale with the golemancer's level, it can be healed with Mending, and if destroyed, it can be rebuilt by working on it over a long rest.

At level 6, '''Advanced Programming''' boosts the golem's armor and damage output, gives it Proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, and gives it two skills of the golemancer's choice.

At level 10, '''Adaptable Build''' lets the golemancer install one of three advanced abilities in their golem as part of a long rest; it can only have one at a time, but it can swap them out as part of a long rest. These options are ''Hostility Confrontation Matrix'' (gain a Slam attack that is extra effective against inanimate objects), ''Arcane Hardened Chassis'' (damage resistance to non-magical weapons and to acid, cold, fire and lightning), and ''Prescient Defense Measures'' (so long as the golemancer is within 30 feet, they can transfer half their damage taken per attack to their golem and the golem can use its reaction to boost the golemancer's AC).

Finally, level 14 gives them '''Spell-Powered Golem''', which lets them store a 4th level or lower spell in their golem, which can be activated whenever the golemancer decrees. Until it's activated, the golem gains magic resistance, its attacks count as magical, and it regenerates 5 HP a turn.

==The Green Star Adept==
A blast from the past, the Green Star Adept first appeared in the Complete Arcane as a [[gish]]-themed prestige class that slowly transformed the character into a living golem of luminescent green "star-metal". It was widely considered terrible. This subclass is basically a 5eification of that original prestige class, and preserves the original concept: you're a wizard who seeks to fundamentally empower yourself with magical energy by ingesting alchemical formulas based around the viridian-hued star-metal left behind by the Green Star of Alhazarde.

At level 2, the Green Star Adept first begins consuming their '''Green Star Admixture''', which makes their unarmored AC equal 13 + Dexterity modifier and causes their unarmed attacks to deal 1d4 damage. This damage increases to 1d6 at 6th level, 1d8 at 10th level, and finally 1d10 at 18th level. They also gain the feature '''Star Expert''' at this level, which gives them Advantage on any Intelligence check relating to the sky, as well as the ability to cast Dim Light in a radius of 5 feet from the green crystal-like slivers of star-metal growing from their flesh.

At level 6, the advancing transmutation of their body gives them '''Jade Skin'''; they can now add their Intelligence modifier to Strength and Constitution saves, and get to make a Constitution save (DC equal to the modified damage) against critical hits; if successful, they downgrade the critical hit back to a normal hit.

By level 10, the transmutation of their body has turned them into a living '''Arcane Focus'''; they always count as having a spellcasting focus, and spells with a range of "melee" gain bonus damage equal to the Green Star Adept's unarmed attack damage. Also, once per short rest, they can cast a "self" targeting spell with a +1 spell slot level bonus - that is, they can cast, say, a level 3 spell with the potency of a level 4 spell without having to actually use a level 4 spell slot to do it.

Finally, by level 14, the Green Star Adept has attained '''Emerald Perfection''', gaining a sizable list of [[golem]]-like powers: they no longer need to eat, drink, breathe or sleep, and are immune to poison damage, disease, and exhaustion. They're also impervious to the Deafened, Incapacitated, Petrified, Poisoned, Stunned and Unconscious conditions.

==Guild Wizardry==
As the name suggests, this is a more "generalist" wizard archetype, specifically focused on representing a wizard who belongs to an established wizard guild that has a sufficiently formal hierarchy to allow for beneficial studies and social connections.

A Guild Wizard gains 3 features at level 2; '''Guild Proficiency''' is simple and straightfoward - they gain Expertise in the Arcana skill. '''Battle Wizard's Grimoire''' can be used Intelligence modifier times per day (recharge on a long rest) to reroll spell damage dice up to the Guild Wizard's Intelligence modifier as a bonus action. Finally, the most complex feature is '''Arcanist's Privileges'''; the Guild Wizard can copy a bonus spell into their spellbook for half price whenever they gain new spells, and they gain a bonus to Charisma checks against other spellcasters equal to half their Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1)... but they are also expected to pay a monthly membership fee of 10 gold pieces and to spend at least 1 day per month in downtime assisting their guild in some way - if they fall behind on these, then they lose the benefits of this feature until they get back in good graces. At 14th level, the Guild Wizard no longer needs to spend this extra downtime or pay this fee, presumably because they're now a bigwig in the guild in some way or just have veteran's privileges.

6th level gives them the benefits of '''Signature Training'''; when the Guild Wizard uses their action to cast a 3rd level or higher spell prepared from their spellbook, they can use a bonus action to cause each creature in a 10ft cube around the Guild Wizard to be forced to pass a Wisdom save (DC = spell save DC) or be either Charmed or Frightened (Guild Wizard's choice) until the end of the Guild Wizard's next turn. This ability can be used once, and then recharges the next time that the the Guild Wizard makes an ability check for initiative.

10th level provides the Guild Wizard with its most complex feature; '''Spellpool'''. In short, as part of preparing their spells for the day, the Guild Wizard can perform a 1 minute ritual to attune a spellcasting focus to their guild's spellpool; they can have multiple "treated" foci at a time, but such a focus only works for the wizard who prepared it in the first place. Once they have an attuned focus, they can attempt to borrow spells from the spellpool, which requires an Arcana check (DC 20 + spell's level, +5 if the spell isn't on the Wizard's spell list) - this is made with Disadvantage if attempted on a plane where their guild doesn't have any local institutions! If successful, the wizard "trades" a spell of the same level or higher (which is placed into the spellpool in payment, which means that the Guild Wizard can't prepare that spell themselves) and adds that chosen spell to their spellbook, allowing them to prepare it for that day's assortment of spells - the next time that they take a long rest, the "borrowed" spell returns to its original owner and the traded spell given as payment comes back. There's no limit to how many spells a Guild Wizard can trade for at a time, but a separate Arcana check (and "payment" spell) is required for each one.

Finally, at level 14, they attain the coveted title of '''Master of Wizardy'''; when targeted by a "half-damage on successful save" spell, the Guild Wizard can use their Reaction to spend a 1st level or higher spell slot as part of their saving throw to completely nullify any damage they take - ''if'' they pass the save, that is! If the incoming spell was 5th level or lower, and the Guild Wizard successfully saves, they can bounce the spell right back at its original caster as part of the same Reaction. This feature can only be used once per day.

==School of Hedge Magi==
In comparison to the Guild Wizard, the Hedge Mage is a self-taught practitioner of the arcane arts who, in many ways, exemplifies the [[adventurer]]-[[wizard]], with a focus on self-reliance and versatility.

At level 2, the Hedge Mage gains '''Favored Enemy'' (as per the [[Ranger]]) and '''Hedge Spellcasting''', which has two methods of use. ''Hedge Defense'' lets the Hedge Mage spend a spell slot as a Reaction when they or an ally within 30 feet is targeted by a spell (the spent spell-slot has to equal the level of the incoming spell) to gain Advantage on the save. ''Hedge Offense'' lets the Hedge Mage burn an extra spell slot of the original spell's level when casting a spell on their enemies to impose Disadvantage on the save - when used on a spell that targets multiple creatures, the Hedge Mage can affect a number of targets equal to their Intelligence modifier.

At level 6, they gain '''Improved Arcane Recovery''', which adds their Intelligence modifier to the number of spell slots regained when using Arcane Recovery.

At level 10, '''Intuitive Synergy''' means that the Hedge Mage and long-term allies (anybody who's been traveling with the Hedge Mage for at least a week) within 60 feet who are aware of the Hedge Mage can add the Hedge Mage's Intelligence modifier to their initiative rolls.

Finally, at level 14, they gain '''Hedge Reliability'''; when initiative is rolled, the Hedge Mage regains expended spell slots equal to their Intelligence modifier... but can '''only''' use these regained slots for their Hedge Spellcasting feature. Any remaining recovered slots are lost when the fight is over.

==School of Incantation==
This is another blast from the past, in the form of the [[Metamage]] - or, as it's known in the [[Forgotten Realms]], the Incanter. This is a wizard focused on manipulating the raw magical potential in themselves and others, making them masters in augmenting and suppressing spells and a real nightmare for other wizards to face. Mechanically, this is actually quite simple, compared to its past incarnations.

The Incanter's 2nd level features are '''Spell Savant''' (gain Proficiency in Arcana, you can make a DC 10 + spell level Arcana check as a free action to identify a spell being cast) and '''Augment Magic''' (use a bonus action to bump up a spell's effective spell slot for free Int modifier times per day).

At level 6, '''Weavemaster''' lets the Incanter apply a free +1 spell slot level bonus to a casting of Dispel Magic or Counterspell once per shorto rest.

Level 10's '''Body to Mind''' lets the Incanter spend Hit Dice during a short rest to regain spell slots equal to the Hit Dice - for example, spend 3 HD and you can gain 1 3rd level slot, 3 1st level slots, or 1 1st and 1 2nd level slot.

Finally, level 14 gives them the '''Magic Resistance''' feature, which is simply Advantage on all saves against spells or other magic effects.

==School of Jaunting==
Self-admittedly described in the book as a strange blending of the "surface traditions" of the [[Dimensionalist]], [[Chronomancy]] and the "Translocation" aspect of [[Conjurer|Conjuration]], Jaunters are wizards specialized in manipulating space and time to unparalleled extents.

'''Yesterday's Preparations''' is the first of the Jaunter's 2nd level features, and lets them summon a single nonmagical item of their choice to hand for 1 minute.

'''Empowered Conjuration''' lets the Jaunter cast a conjuration spell with its base level spell slot, but gain a +1 slot level boost. This is their second 2nd level feature.

The 6th level '''Tesseract''' is the most complicated subclass feature that this class has. Using this feature lets the Jaunter designate two points that are both within 30 feet of the wizard; these points become the epicenters of 5ft squares in which space is twisted, so anything in one square is treated as being adjacent to the other. This can be used to move quickly between the two points or make attacks with increased coverage. The effect lasts until the end of the Jaunter's next turn, but they can spend an action each turn to sustain the effect.

10th level's '''Strange Eons''' lets the Jaunter change the duration of a non-instantaneous or Concentration spell being cast within their line of sight into a Concentration spell, which the original caster is responsible for sustaining.

Finally, 14th level's '''Master of Time and Space''' lets the Jaunter regain a spell slot that was used to cast a Conjuration spell with a Concentration duration if that spell expires due to reaching its maximum time instead of due to the Jaunter's Concentration being broken.

All of these features can be used a number of times per long rest equal to the Jaunter's Intelligence modifier, with a minimum of 1/day.

==School of Kinetics==
Overlapping to a degree with the [[psion]], the Kineticist, as you can probably guess from the name, is focused on using magic to manipulate space and to move objects. Basically, this school specializes in telekinesis, teleportation and other forms of advanced movement alteration.

Their 2nd level features are '''Spell-Powered Avoidance''' (movement increases by +5 feet, casting a spell lets the wizard move 5 feet without provoking an opportunity attack as a reaction) and '''Stronghand Magic''' (gain a suped-up Mage Hand that can reach 60 feet and carry 20 pounds as an extra over-the-limit cantrip).

6th level brings with it '''Evasive Manuever''', which lets the Kineticist cast Misty Step as a Reaction to being targeted by a spell attack or area of effect spell; a melee attack or touch spell misses automatically, whilst a ranged spell suffers Disadvantage on its attack roll, unless the caster chooses to switch to a different target, which they can do for free. This power can be used once per short rest.

At 10th level, the Kineticist gains '''Transportative Assault''', which has two effects. Firstly, when the wizard casts Misty Step, they can also teleport one creature within 5 feet at the same time. Secondly, whenever the wizard teleports itself or another creature to within 5 feet of an enemy, the teleported creature can make a melee attack as a reaction.

Finally, the 14th level climax feature is '''Innate Transportation''', which is actually a mess of smaller features all jammed together:
* The Kineticist's Mage Hand can now wield a single light melee weapon; it can be commanded to attack as a bonus action instead of moving it, and it has the same proficiencies, attack bonuses and damage bonuses as the Kineticist.
* The Kineticist's Mage Hand is transported with them whenever the Kineticist casts a teleportation spell.
* The Kineticist can cast Misty Step for free 2/day and Dimension Door for free 1/day.

==School of Lunar Magi==
Arguably a specialized splinter school of the Astromancer, the Lunar Mage is, as the name implies, a wizard who focuses on drawing magical energies directly from the moon.

The costs and benefits of this are spelled out with the 2nd level features; '''Radiance of the Night''' lets the Lunar Mage learn ''any'' spell that does Radiant damage, no matter what spell list it belongs to, as well as giving them the ''Sacred Flame'' cantrip for free. In comparison, '''Lunar Link''' ties the Lunar Mage's inherent magical strength directly to the moon; their spell save DC increases by +1 during the Full Moon, but is penalized by -1 during the New Moon - at all other times in the lunar cycle, it stays at its normal value.

6th level gives them the feature '''Moon Shadows''', which can be used once per short rest. The description contradicts itself, first saying you need to be within 60 feet of a beam of moonlight to be able to use the feature, but then saying you can use it even during the day. What it does is let you create a kind of magical illusory field around either yourself (gain Advantage on a Stealth check) or around a small item or a single willing Medium-or-smaller creature (the target becomes semi-invisible; creatures must make a Wisdom save vs. your spell save DC to be able to see it).

10th level comes with '''Lunar Retribution''', which can be used as a Reaction to being hit by a melee attack Int modifier times per day. When used, the assailant takes Psychic damage (1d8 + your Int modifier), which is doubled if the triggering hit was a critical hit.

Finally, the 14th level feature is quite simple; '''Radiant Mastery''' means that the Lunar Mage can reroll any damage dice for a Radiant-typed attack that do 1 or 2 points of damage, although the second result stands.

==School of Mentalism==
You might think that this is a [[psion]] using a wizard's chassis and... well, you're not exactly ''wrong'', but in fact these sub-specialist [[enchanter]]s are actually a [[Mentalist|real old-school wizard subclass]] from back in the days of AD&D. This version openly admits that it straddles the line between the wizard and the psion.

Mentalists gain a vastly increased affinity for mindfuckery magic. This is symbolized by their first 2nd level feature, '''Whisper Magic''', which gives them Vicious Mockery as a free cantrip, halves the gold & time it takes to add spells that do Psychic damage to the spellbook, and lets them learn any spell from any spell list that does Psychic damage.

Their other 2nd level feature, '''Tendrils of Doubt''', further showcases how good Mentalists are with fucking around with their enemies' minds; any creature that takes Psychic damage from a Mentalist suffers Disadvantage on attack rolls against both the Mentalist and one other creature of the Mentalist's choice until the start of the Mentalist's next turn.

At level 6, the '''Bond of the Mentalist''' gives the wizard telepathy with a range of 30 feet, with this range increasing by +30 feet at 11th and 17th levels.

'''Demoralizing Onslaught''', the Mentalist's 10th level feature, lets them change the damage type of a spell into Psychic damage once per day.

Their final feature is 14th level's '''Guileful Retort''', which lets the Mentalist use a Reaction when they take damage from an enemy attack to cast Vicious Mockery on the triggering enemy. This can be done Int modifier times per day.

==School of Nethermancy==
This is the iconic practitioner of [[Shadow Magic]], brought forth into 5th edition at long last.

Like many [[wizard]] subclasses, one of the Nethermancer's 2nd level features tweaks the spells they can learn. '''Umbral Insights''' lets the Nethermancer halve the time and gold it normally requires to transcribe a spell into their spellbook if the spell in question does any of four things:
* Create magical darkness.
* Deal Necrotic damage.
* Teleport the caster.
* Conjures or summons creatures.

It also gives the Nethermancer darkvision 120 feet that works even in magical darkness as an added bonus.

The other 2nd level feature is '''Casting Shadows'''; when in dim light or darkness, the Nethermancer gains Advantage on Intimidation checks and doesn't need Verbal components for any Wizard spell of 5th or level.

6th level grants the feature '''Step into Darkness'''; this not only adds the spells Darkness and Misty Step to the Nethermancer's spellbook for free, but if the Nethermancer starts in an area of dim light or darkness and then Misty Steps to another area of dim light or darkness, they can both Hide as part of the same action and regain the spellslot they used to cast Misty Step. This can be done 3 times per short rest.

10th level's '''Unraveling Shadows''' empowers any spells that deal Necrotic or Psychic Damage, meaning that the Nethermancer can designate a single target when they cast spells that do those damage types; if the target has Damage Vulnerability to any damage type, it gains Damage Vulnerability to the triggering spell, but if they don't have that trait, then the spell simply does bonus damage equal to the Nethermancer's Intelligence modifier against that designated target.

Finally, at 14th level, the Nethermancer gains '''Conjured Gloom''', which can be used to empower a Conjuration spell that summons or creates creatures in either or both of two ways. Firstly, the Nethermancer can cause the space in which each creature first appears to become heavily obscured by magical darkness until the end of the Nethermancer's next turn. Secondly, the Nethermancer can infuse the creature(s) with shadow energy; they gain +15 temporary HP, Advantage on Stealth checks, Darkvision +60 feet, and Sunlight Sensitivity.

==School of Puppetry==
This is a variant Golemancer (see above) who focuses on animating small but more versatile puppets to serve their will, rather than the more traditional big hulking [[golem]].

Obviously, the 2nd level features for this subclass are what imbues the Puppeteer with their iconic puppets in the first place. '''Magic Marionettes''' lets the Puppeteer craft Small Constructs in the form of puppets during their downtime, which also gives them free proficiency with the Tinker's Tools; there are four different kinds of magic marionette, each of which requires a certain level before the Puppeteer can create them, as well as its own specific amount of time and money to build. The four types are ''Basic'' (2nd level, 2 hours, 50 GP), ''Swift'' (6th level, 2 hours, 100 GP), ''Sturdy'' (10th level, 4 hours, 250 GP) and ''Imbued'' (14th level, 4 hours, 500 GP). A damaged puppet can be restored as part of a rest, costing 1 copper piece per HP for a Basic, 5 silver pieces per HP for a Swift, 1 gold piece per HP for a Sturdy and 5 gold pieces per HP for an Imbued. A destroyed puppet can't be fixed, but the Puppeteer can salvage materials equal to half the puppet's original construction value from the wreckage to put towards building new puppets. In comparison, '''Magic Strings''' is the feature that lets the Puppeteer actually control its creatures; the wizard can project intangible and invisible (except to creatures with Blindsight) strings up to 30 feet, which can be used to link the Puppeteer and a puppet. Whilst linked, the Puppeteer can sense whatever the puppet senses, and can use their actions to control it: spend an Action to make the puppet Attack, Disengage, or Dodge; spend a Bonus Action to move the puppet, and spend a Reaction to let the puppet do... well, whatever a Reaction could be used to do.

Puppeteers actually gain a ''third'' level 2 feature; '''Spell Delivery''' lets the puppet act as the delivery point for spells of a certain level, based on the Puppeteer's own level; by default, they can only channel Cantrips for their wizardly master, but this improves to 1st level spells at 6th level, 3rd level or lower spells at 10th level, and 5th level or lower spells at 14th level.

At 6th level, the Puppeteer gains the '''Improved Strings''' feature; they can now control their puppet out to a distance of 40 feet, the puppet now has its own Move action, and the Puppeteer can spend their Bonus Action to make the puppet Attack, Disengage or Dodge, as well as their Action.

10th level brings the feature '''Cohesive Puppetry'''; the Puppeteer can now control their puppet out to a distance of 50 feet, and can cast 2 spells in a single turn once per day by using the Spell Delivery feature - that is, the second spell must be cast by the puppet, and so it's got to be of the appropriate level!

Finally, 14th level's '''Traverse the Strings''' not only increases the distance of the Magic Strings to 60 feet, but lets the Puppeteer spend an Action to switch places with a controlled puppet - in other words, the Puppeteer teleports to where the puppet was, and the puppet teleports to where the Puppeteer was. This can be done Intelligence modifier times per day.

==School of Reanimation==
The specialist [[necromancer]]s are particularly focused on the idea of how necromancy can be used to restore life to the fallen, and thusly specialized in necromantic healing, lifeforce manipulation, and the creation of [[revenant]]s, [[homunculus|homunculi]] and [[Flesh Golem|flesh golems]].

Its first 2nd level feature is '''Student of the Body''', one of the most overloaded features in the splatbook; the Reanimator gains Spare the Dying, False Life and Find Familiar as bonus spells, can have [[familiar]]s with the [[Construct]] type instead of the normal types, gains Proficiency in Alchemist's Supplies and Medicine, and doubles their Proficiency bonus in Medicine checks made on Beasts, Constructs, Humanoids or Undead.

The other 2nd level feature is '''Alchemical Vitalism'''; if the Reanimator has access to a vial of water and their alchemist's supplies, they can transform that vial into a curative admixture by spending a 1st level or higher spell slot in a process that takes 10 minutes. The Reanimator can produce up to 2 curative admixtures per "mixing session", but can only have two at a time - if they make a 3rd vial, the oldest vial reverts to plain water. The vials also lose their potency after 8 hours. A curative admixture is basically a homebrew potion of healing, and can be used either directly by a creature, or applied to a creature within 5 feet of whoever's carrying the admixture; this can be done as an action or a bonus action, but either way the target creature heals (2 X spell slot level) HP - they can also burn their Reaction to spend 1 Hit Dice for additional HP recovered.

6th level's '''Reanimated Servant''' is the most complex feature in the Reanimator's subclass! The nutshell version is that it lets the Reanimator take the corpse of a Large or Smaller Beast or Humanoid of Challenge Rating 2 or less and turn it into a [[Flesh Golem]] style bodyguard. The Reanimator can only have one such servant at a time, and if it's destroyed, the Reanimator can either replace it with a new one or patch it up (requires either a Revivify spell or spending a long rest working with alchemist's supplies to physically patch it up). Oh, the Reanimator also gains Animate Dead and Revivify as bonus spells when they gain this feature.

10th level's '''Energies of Life''' gives the Reanimator two more bonus spells (Modify Memory and Reincarnate) as well as upgrading their Alchemical Vitalism feature; they can now have 3 curative admixtures at once, and a creature that uses one of these admixtures gains both temporary HP equal to the Reanimator's Int modifier and a bonus to melee weapon damage rolls equal to their current temporary HP total.

The final feature, 14th level's '''Improved Servant''', upgrades the stats of the Reanimated Servant in various ways, making it closer in potency to an actual [[Flesh Golem]].

==School of Runecraft==
[[Rune]] magic has appeared in D&D more than once - just check out the [[Runemaster]], [[Runecaster]] and the [[Runepriest]]. The Runecrafter differs from all of those in that it focuses on inscribing enchanted runes into their flesh as magical tattoos, scars or brands, giving them a number of unique innate magical abilities depending on which runes they choose to adorn themselves with.

This is hands-down the most complex subclass in the splatbook, because it revolves around the aforementioned runes, which each provide both a permanent passive effect on the Runecrafter and a unique ability when actively invoked.

At 2nd level, the Runecrafter gains the features '''The Basics of Runecraft''' (free proficiency with mason's tools and calligrapher's supplies) and '''Runic Tattoos'''; the Runecrafter chooses 3 runes, which are tattooed onto them. This means these runes are '''permanent'''; you can swap a rune out at levels 6, 10, and 14, but otherwise, you're stuck with them, so pick carefully! Tattooed runes grant the Runecrafter their associated permanent bonus, and can be "activated" as a Reaction to trigger their Activated bonus for 1 minute. A Runecrafter can Activate their runes only Intelligence modifier times per day.

At 6th level, the Runecrafter gains '''Runic Inscription'''. This gives them a 4th Runic Tattoo, and lets them create a Runic Marker once per day by spending 10 minutes to place it on a physical object or surface. The Runecrafter can activate the Runic Marker as an Action or Bonus Action, causing it to grant the chosen Rune's Active Bonus to all creatures within a 20ft sphere for 1 hour.

10th level's '''Runic Mastery''' lives up to its name; the Runecrafter gains a 5th Runic Tattoo, can activate them +1 time per day, and can share the benefits of an activated Runic Tattoo with a creature within 30 feet. Also, if they have activated a runic tattoo with an associated damage type, the Runecrafter can empower a single damaging spell or attack to deal bonus damage of that associated damage type equal to the Runecrafter's Wizard level to 1 target of the triggering attack - doing this requires spending one of the Runecrafter's daily "runic tattoo activations", however.

Finally, at 14th level, '''Runic Absorption''' gives the Runecrafter a 6th Runic Tattoo as well as a new special kind of rune tattoo; the Rune of Absorption. When the Runecrafter is targeted exclusively by a spell (so no area of effect spells!), they can spend one of their runic tattoo activations as a Reaction to try and absorb that spell. This will only work if the spell's level is equal to or less than 1/3r of the Runecrafter's Wizard level (rounding down). If this power works, the Rune of Absorption captures the spell, negating its effects and storing its energy within the rune; the Runecrafter can use an action to convert this stored energy into spell slots on a 1-for-1 level basis (so, if you absorb a 3rd level spell, you can convert it into a 3rd level spell slot, a 2nd and a 1st level spell slot, or 3 1st level spell slots). If you don't convert this energy, it dissipates harmlessly when you take a long rest.

==School of Scrymancy==
These are the self-described spies of wizardry, and more or less what you get when you blend a [[rogue]] and a [[diviner]]... only, y'know, without being a simple [[Arcane Trickster]].

For its 2nd level features, the Scrymancer gains '''Eyes That See''' and '''Stealthy Casting'''. The former is fairly unimpressive; you just gain Faerie Fire as a bonus spell. But the latter is a lot meatier; proficiency in Stealth, the ability to make Stealth checks as part of casting a spell to keep all creatures with a passive Perception lower than your result from noticing that you cast anything, and the ability to cast non-damage-inflicting spells whilst invisible ''without breaking invisibility''.

6th level's '''The Power of Sight''' is a weirder affair. When you use a Divination spell to, quote, "detect a creature you wouldn't otherwise be able to see or hear", you gain a glimpse into their mind; this gives you Advantage on Persuasion, Intimidation and Deception checks against that creature until you either target a new creature with a Divination spell in the same manner or 8 hours have passed.

10th level brings '''Your Sight is Mine'''; Intelligence modifier times per day, when a creature fails its save against a spell that you cast, you can burn a Bonus Action to force the creature to make a Constitution save or be Blinded for 1 minute... or until it passes one of its end-of-its-turn saves against the effect, whichever comes first.

Finally, the 14th level Scrymancer gains the featrue '''Eyes of the Magi'''; once per short rest, after casting a Divination spell, you gain Truesight 60 feet and Advantage on Perception checks for 1 minute. You can only give this bonus to another creature whilst it's active by touching that creature, but only one of you can benefit from it at a time.

==School of Soulbinding==
Arguably a specialist form of [[necromancer]], the Soulbinder uses ritual magic to bind a portion of their own life force into chosen items, creating powerful arcane focuses that can also be used as separate wellsprings of vital energies - just the thing to make the Soulbinder a little bit harder to kill than the average wizard! Any resemblance to [[lich]]es is, of course, 100% intentional, although the basic concept is pretty old.

Naturally, their foundation feature is 2nd level's '''Soulbond''', which lets them create a Soulbound Object (Soul Object, for short). This has to be a non-magical inanimate object, and because the Soulbinder's various features generally require them to be in contact with it, it's probably best to choose something practical to carry or wield, like a ring, a bracelet or a necklace. A Soulbinder can only have one Soul Object at a time, and it requires a 24 hour long ritual to attune themselves to it; regardless of what the base object was, once it becomes Soulbound, it has an AC of 10 + the Soulbinder's Int modifier, a damage threshold equal to their Proficiency Bonus, and hit points equal to 1/2 the Soulbinder's HP maximum. It can only be damaged if targeted by an attack, damaging abilities, or spells... but if it ''does'' get damaged, the only way to fix it is for the Soulbinder to touch it and spend Hit Dice, just as if they were trying to heal up themselves, and if it's destroyed, the Soulbinder immediately gains 2 levels of Exhaustion... yes, this '''can''' kill them! If they survive its destruction, the Soulbinder can create a new Soul Object by performing the ritual again, and this is the only way to change what counts as their Soul Object. A Soulbinder treats their Soul Object as an Arcane Focus, and if somehow separated from it, can intuitively sense which direction it lies in and how far away it is, though nothing more specific than that.

Their other 2nd level feature is '''Damage Dispersion''', which lets them push some or all of the damage from an attack to their Soul Object once per short rest.

'''Arcane Power Pool''', gained at 6th level, lets the Soulbinder drain the hit points from their Soul Object to empower their spellcasting; spending Soul Object HP equal to the spell's level lets them impose Disadvantage on the save against that spell for 1 creature. The Soulbinder can extend this effect to penalize multiple creatures, if the spell targets multiple creatures, but the HP cost must be paid in full for each creature - so, if you want to use this feature on a 3rd level spell targeting 3 creatures, you need to spend 9 of the Soul Object's precious hit points to give Disadvantage on the save to all three of them.

'''Vitality Infusion''', the 10th level feature, lets the Soulbinder drain HP from their Soul Object to heal themselves. In addition to restoring the Soulbinder's own hit points on a one-for-one basis, draining and spending 5 hit points from the Soul Object in one hit can be used to cure the Soulbinder of the Poisoned condition or any disease.

Finally, '''Life Surge''' causes the Soulbinder's Soul Object to shatter and pour its stockpiled life energy into the Soulbinder should the [[wizard]] die as a result of being reduced below 0 hit points and failing 3 death saving throws. Assuming that the Soulbinder survives the 2 levels of Exhaustion they gain from the Soul Object breaking, they are restored to life with hit points equal to those possessed by the Soul Object before it shattered.

==Symbarch Teachings==
The only tradition in this splatbook that's super-connected to the [[Forgotten Realms]] (albeit the [[Metamage]] debuted in an FR splatbook), this represents a wizard who practices the unique magical style/tradition passed down by the Simbul, the Witch-Queen of Aglarond and one of the [[Seven Sisters]]. The book also contains a page-long summary of the Simbul's history in the Forgotten Realms.

From 2nd level, a Simbarch (as these [[wizard]]s are called) can use '''Minor Synosdweomer''' (as a bonus action, spend 1 Hit Die and a spell slot; you regain HP equal to the Hit Dice rolled + 2 X spell slot's level) once per short rest and '''Silver Fire''' (spend a bonus action when making a spell attack roll on your turn to gain Advantage on the roll; if the spell hits, the target takes extra damage equal to your Proficiency bonus from your spell attacks for the next minute; this effect ends if you are incapacitated, the target is killed, or you use this feature on a new target) a number of times per day equal to their Intelligence modifier.

From 6th level, Simbarches can craft a '''Spell Matrix''' by performing an hour-long ritual that requires an arcane focus and a diamond worth 300 gold pieces (which is consumed). The ritual transmutes the arcane focus into a "Matrix Focus", which has its all its old powers, plus some new ones: the simbarch can now perform a 10 minute ritual requiring the matrix focus to choose spells equal to or less than their proficiency bonus with a casting time of 1 action; by expending Hit Dice equal to the number of spells chosen, the chosen spells are imbued into the matrix focus. So long as the simbarch has the matrix focus to hand, they can expend 1 Hit Dice as a bonus action to cast one of the spells contained within the matrix. Spells remain bound up in the matrix focus until either the simbarch changes them out with a new attunement ritual, or they take a long rest, but the matrix focus remains permanently empowered.

10th level brings with it the power of the '''Major Synosdweomer''', which can be invoked a number of times per day equal to the Simbarch's Intelligence modifier. This can be done as a bonus action when the simbarch uses their Action to cast a spell; the simbarch can then touch a creature and heal it (spell level)d4 hit points.

Finally, at 14th level, the simbarch learns how to transform into a '''Spellfire Tempest''' once per short rest. When this is done, the Simbarch gains Fly (40 feet) until the end of its next turn, is healed of one effect that could be cured by Greater Restoration, and if they inflict damage with a spell before the end of their next turn, the simbarch can reroll damage dice equal to their Intelligence modifier.

==School of Voidmancy==
Voidmancers are [[conjurer]]s who focus on studying the dark void on the edge of reality from whence [[aberration]]s hail - essentially, the "safer" margins of the [[Far Realm]] - and who learn to gain heightened mental power from doing so without going nuts in the process.

Voidmancers start with a nameless 2nd level feature that gives them free Proficiency in Arcana, doubles their Proficiency bonus on Arcana checks relating to Aberrations, and lets them learn the spells Armor of Agathys, Arms of Hadar, and Hunger of Hadar. They also gain the 2nd level feature '''Whispers from the Void''', which can be invoked Intelligence modifier times per day to gain a +2d4 to the results of a Skill check.

6th level gives them the feature '''Mental Discipline and Fortitude''', which lets them reroll a failed Wisdom or Charisma save once per day (2/day from 10th level, 3/day from 14th level).

10th level gives them the '''Secrets of the Void''', which lets the Voidmancer alter the range or area of effect of a spell by +/-50% (their choice) once per day. Obviously, this doesn't work on spells with a range of Self or Touch.

Finally, the aptly named '''Screaming into the Void''' is their 14th level subclass capstone feature; Resistance to Psychic damage and Immunity to the Stunned condition.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]] [[Category: DM's Guild]]

Psionics Handbook

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The '''Psionics Handbook''' is a [[Dungeons and Dragons]] [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|Third Edition]] [[splatbook]] that adds a [[psionics]] system to that version of the game along with two new base classes (the [[Psion]] and [[Psychic Warrior]]) and four prestige classes (Metamind, Pyrokineticist, Slayer, and [[Soulknife]]), which is probably the lowest number of prestige classes found in any Third Edition splatbook. It was the second hardback splatbook released for that version of the game (the first being ''Monsters of Faerun'').

For some insanely idiotic reason, in addition to a ''psionics'' system, it also added a completely separate ''psionic combat'' system, which nobody really understood or gave a shit about because it required more math than [[anal circumference|FATAL]] and the Apollo missions put together. Here's a small excerpt: "The attacker sets the defender's will save DC with a d20 roll modified by two additional components: the attacker's appropriate ability modifier and the DC modifier. The attacker's ability modifier depends on the specific attack mode used. The DC modifier is determined by the defense mode raised by the defender, if any, which is found by cross-referencing the attack mode and defense mode on Table 4-1..." nigga shut the fuck up, nobody's going to keep track of all that shit. After 3.5e was released, one of the first things that WotC did was replace the ''Psionics Handbook'' with the ''Expanded Psionics Handbook'', which got rid of psionic combat, much to everyone's relief.
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[[Category:Roleplaying]][[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Game Books]]

Veins of the Earth

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{{Game Infobox
|name = Veins of the Earth
|type = Setting
|publisher = Lamentations of the Flame Princess
|system = Lamentations of the Flame Princess
|authors = Patrick Stuart, Scrap Princess
|year =
}}
'''Veins of the Earth''' is a setting for ''[[Lamentations of the Flame Princess]]'', written largely by Patrick Stuart with "additions" and art by Scrap Princess. It's basically the ''Lamentations'' riff on the Underdark, with a focus on realistic-but-still-playable adventure gaming in caves, and the usual ''Lamentations'' focus on bastardry, cannibalism, and getting the PCs tangled up in the game deadlier than adventuring: politics.

==Pariahs of the Earth==
After a meditative opening on caves and how humans think of them, the first section centers on a bestiary of underground (or semi-underground) critters. Some of them are pretty rad, like that colony of spiders operating a giant spider-shaped web-mech, doglike predators whose faces are brilliant, blinding spotlights, or the packs of cave tortise-raptors that spend a lifetime slowly scraping lichen off the cave walls, ignoring PCs when encountered in small groups, only to suddenly burn a century of calories in a half-hour trying to run down and devour a party if they outnumber them, dropping dead if they fail. Some are classic ''Lamentations'' overcooked ideas, like the tachyon troll that shows up injured and needs to be attacked to full health in order to become whole and stave off paradox, or the silicon-based tourist mechs from the center of the earth who somehow can't notice that their attempts at communication are occasionally killing people and blow up for a TPK if attacked. Special mention to the knotmen, a messed-up and horrible culture of people whose ancestors sold their souls for fortune, and who now keep their kids around as an insurance policy, horrible knots appearing in their flesh whenever they try to deny that their culture is the awful nightmare it plainly represents.

Notably, the statblocks provided are abstracted, but information provided includes how the creature sounds, smells, and whether or not it is blind in order to properly interact with later rules on cave adventuring.

==Cultures in the Veins==
Excepting the knotmen, these are all takes on the "classic" cultures of the Underdark.

The [[drow| aelf-adal]] are refugees from nightmares who once escaped and tried to take over the world, only to be beaten back. They desperately hate all other forms of life, but are hesitant to try to kill them all since they know they're products of dreams and aren't sure if they'd survive that genocide, so they mostly settle for plotting the reversal of the world down in the dark.

The [[dao| deep janeen]] are decadent, evil genies of elemental earth who are flighty and artistic, occasionally stopping adventurers to ask them to review the dungeon they just traversed. They are also insanely dangerous to talk to, but just as dangerous to try to ignore once you have their interest.

The [[derro| dErO]] are heavily based on the original Shaver stories, and do a good job of simultaneously being horrible, scary, and kind of funny in a black comedy sort of way. They behave schizophrenically, they utilize clever but twisted machines that may or may not often backfire, they do horrible things for pointless reasons in infinite feedback loops they're too stupid or crazy to notice, and they take pills that let them hear the players and GM talking, but cause them to suffer for metagaming if they at all acknowledge what they've heard. This can happen to PCs who unwisely try their drugs.

The [[duergar| dvargir]] are actually pretty much like their normal counterparts in many ways, save that they're even-more focused on working for its own sake; their totalitarian culture literally worships the concept of work and their behavior is diagrammed in an algorithm on one page, representing their computer-like mindset. One of their pictures implies they may be the only culture down here to master gunpowder, and they have a form of carbide electric lights that're also ecologically-unfriendly.

[[Elemental| Substratals]] are what you get when you cast a summoning spell for earth elementals too close to the source of all Earth, and therefore pull something a bit too powerful and conscious for your own good. The party has basically just performed an alien abduction by accident and derailed the plot by getting pulled into earth elemental politics.

The [[svirfneblin| gnonmen]] are an interesting meditation on what kind of "good" race could survive in such a harsh, alien environment so inimical to life, and an oddly-hopeful little section after like half a book's doom and gloom. They revere light, life, and action, and focus on the now, refusing to let themselves be ground down into despair.

==Light and Dark==
In a place of total darkness, light is everything. It provides a lot of additional rules for cave adventuring long-term, including simplified exchange rates (1 sp = one hour of light = 1 lume) for lantern fuel of various kinds, advice for how to run and describe adventuring in dark places, rules for handling darkvision/infravision (here's what it can actually do and help with, here's what it ''can't''), initiative rules based on who has light sources (blind creatures don't need light to function, but sight has some advantages so they ''always'' go after sighted targets with light sources in combat), and lots of neat ideas for cool light sources that call to mind an adventuring party whose lamps are as diverse as their races and classes.

Also has rules for what to do when things go ''totally'' to shit and the party has to make its way in total (not ''near'' total, total) darkness. They are harsh and unforgiving, though not unsurvivable. In what will be the start of a trend, [[Constitution]] suddenly becomes the most important stat in the game, because someone needs to save vs. every ability score, and if Constitution blows then all fails are cumulative instead of the first bad result happening.

==Encumbrance, Exploration, Climbing and Travel==
Rules for scaling and travelling through caves, including climbing checks (using the same save system as searching in the dark), emphasis is placed on quick calls and ease of use. Also why even the duergar usually don't wear plate mail down here.

==Generating the Veins==
A system for mapping and generating caves, with emphasis on making it feel like an actual cavern rather than a cave-themed building. Also, rules for generating hex-maps of different kinds of caves criss-crossing each other, including weird and cool variations like fungal blooms, war-caves carved by two different sides in conflict, and gigastructures made by some lost civilization. Lots of detailed random generators here. Really good; just don't want to get bogged down with reporting every piece of a vast section.

==Items, Treasure, and Spells==
Big random tables again. Much like the monsters in the first section, they run the gamut from cool and thematic to "''Lamentations'' gonna ''Lamentations''."

==Madness & Change==
Opens with a rant on how the inevitable result of cave-based exploration is cannibalism and how nice he's being by downplaying the characters' caloric needs, ignoring that he's ''also'' downplaying how much efficient packing can do to prevent this sort of thing. 'Cause ''Lamentations'' gonna ''Lamentations''. That said, the simplified hunger/starvation rules are at least easy enough to implement.

The other section includes physical mutations and mental instabilities on the same table (and various methods for how they happen, from the reasonable to the cruel), plus hypothermia rules for if you swim in an underground river and climb out without much chance to make a fire and warm back up.

==Appendix==
Goes into detail on earlier things, like different ways to describe different kinds of darkness and set mood, the written language of the knotsmen (it's awful just like they are), and the ''really'' detailed rules for cave generation on the micro and macro level. It also has a few other setting bits that didn't fit in anywhere else. (Why, exactly, people would hoard the knowledge that you can use poop instead of blood to generate light with luminol is an obvious question, but the answer is probably "'Cause ''Lamentations'' gonna ''Lamentations''.")

==Finale==
The book outright recommends you strip it for parts rather than use it as is. And there are some fine parts in there, though most of them will probably work better when you clean away the ''Lamentations''.

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Game Books]]
[[Category: Lamentations of the Flame Princess]]

The Book of Weeaboo Fightan Magic

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[[Image:The Book of Weeaboo Fightan Magic.jpg|thumb|right]]

Sometimes called ''Tome of Battle: Nine Euphemisms for My Dick'', '''''The Book of [[Weeaboo]] Fightan Magic''''' is the nickname given to ''The Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords'', one of the more famous (or infamous) ''[[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]]'' (3.5) [[splatbook]]s. It introduced three new classes, [[Crusader]] (baby's first [[paladin]], for the gamer who wanted to stab shit instead of playing support), [[Swordsage]] (which is probably the biggest source of the book's reputation), and [[Warblade]], (which is, essentially, the [[fighter]] only comically better in every way) and a wide variety of abilities referred to as Stances and Maneuvers, which basically function as spell-substitutes for martial characters. Each of these abilities are all grouped into schools called Disciplines. This was supposed to lessen the power gap between martial and magical characters, which had the unfortunate side-effect of rendering all existing fighting classes kind of irrelevant (Not that they weren't already). Whether this is the fault of the authors or of [[CoDzilla|the system they were working in]] is debatable. Either way, gee, thanks [[Monte Cook]]!

[[skub|Opinion is divided]] on the quality of the content of the book itself. Some believe the Stances and Maneuvers systems are interesting and worthy additions to the game, whereas others consider them to be bizarre and illogical, comparing them to some of the ridiculous techniques seen in Japanese [[anime]] and manga. This comparison is what resulted in the book being assigned its nickname, which has indeed become so pervasive that even many who ''like'' the content call it Weeaboo Fightan Magic.

Everyone agrees, however, that it makes [[munchkin]] [[wizard]]s extremely angry, and anything that makes those guys all [[butthurt]] can't be ''all'' bad.

==Misnomer?==
Of course, the people who complain about the book and the way it approaches swordfighting and martial arts as feeling too much like anime...need to actually read a historic swordfighting manual. Intricate and complicated techniques are very common in swordfighting regardless of the culture. In fact, German Longsword fighting was a very technical and at times esoteric discipline. This one style alone features complex training exercises, mental conditioning and yes, complicated techniques with very fancy names. These said techniques ranged from basic but tricky concepts (back or "false" edge cuts), to difficult but effective techniques with very "anime" purposes behind them (the master strikes where you are trained to "attack and defend yourself in a single motion") to the outright bizarre ([[meme|unscrewing the sword's pommel and throwing it at the enemy).]] In other words; the concept isn't entirely "weeaboo", it's just a way of translating the complexities and intricacies of real life sword fighting. True, this book adds actual mystic elements to martial arts... but it's a Fantasy setting anyways. Regardless of what culture you're from if such a thing is accessible then you are going to take advantage of it.

None of the maneuvers are that game breaking. You gain only one save or die maneuver at level 17 (almost twice as long as it takes the spellcasting classes) which not all of the classes can use. Even that's peanuts compared to all the shenanigans a good Wizard or CoDzilla can do. As for the fact that it renders the Fighter and Monk obsolete, well... they were already very low tier to begin with, and it goes to show how shit the Monk was when they are made useless by the addition of ONE FEAT. If anything, this is actually one of the more balanced supplements, at least when compared to everything else in 3rd edition.

TLDR: It doesn't make the martial classes more powerful than the core rulebook's spellcasting trinity (Wizard, Druid, Cleric), it doesn't even really level the playing field. It just narrows the gap to something more reasonable.

==Pathfinder==

If you're a [[Pathfinder]] player, then 3PP Publisher Dreamscarred Press has ported Tome of Battle to Pathfinder, under the name of '''Path of War'''. Included in the base book are three classes: Warlord (Better Cavalier with no mount), Warder (Better Paladin with no alignment restrictions), and Stalker (Ninja done right). There's also a supplement called '''Path of War: Expanded''' which brings in three more classes: Harbinger (An edgelord's wet dream), Mystic (Sort of a Sorcerer/Crusader hybrid) and the Zealot (TOUGH dudes who hook into the [[Psionics]] system that Dreamscarred Press also ported). There are further supplements that provide new classes like the Medic (Mundane Healing that actually works), Rajah (A heavily support-based combatant by using the [[Incarnum|Akashic]] system) and the Edgelord Archtype for Harbinger (they knew exactly what they were doing). Thankfully, these books also include [[Archetype]]s that allow some of the classes to also take a slice of that Weeaboo Fightan Magic pie, though none of them ever reach the sheer breadth of abilities that the full classes do.

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]
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Splatbook

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A '''Splatbook''' is a non-core sourcebook for an RPG that provides additional rules and material that can be used with the main system. An example of a well-known splatbook is [[the Book of Weeaboo Fightan Magic]].

The [[White Wolf]] community is often cited as the origin of the term. The names of the supplemental material books for [[World of Darkness]] would vary depending on which branch of the game they were for ([[Vampire: The Masquerade|clanbooks]], [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse|tribebooks]] --say that three times fast!-- , [[Mage: The Ascension|tradition books]], etc.), but they still all followed the same naming conventions of [SOMETHING]books. On Usenet newsgroups, these came to be known as "*books", after the asterisk's function as a wildcard character in computing. Common CIS slang calls these "splats", because they (kind of, sort of, if you squint) look like star-shaped splatters of paint, slime, blood, or some other slightly viscous fluid.

Splatbooks tend to be known for contributing to [[CoDzilla|Power creep]]. In order to make the new books more popular and desirable, they often contain significantly more powerful classes, feats, etc. than the core books for the respective system. Since later splatbooks would need to 'compete' not only with the existing core rules, but other splatbooks, later releases may include even more powerful rules. Players obsessed with splatbooks are usually either interested in [[Powergamer|the mechanical advantages]], or in playing a special snowflake character that isn't available in the core book.

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[[Category:Game Books]]
[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Gamer Slang]]

Races of X

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The '''Races of X''' were a series of [[splatbook]]s for [[Dungeons & Dragons]] 3e. As their name suggests, each book in the series examines a select group of races centered around a common theme, with extensive cultural writeups of the more prominent races and smaller sections on lesser races, alongside new feats, spells, gods and other crunchy bits.

==Races of Ansalon==
Races of Ansalon is a [[splatbook]] examinning the many, ''many'' races indigenous to the [[Dragonlance]] setting. Divided into race-focused chapters, each contains a brief history, common traits, an extended writeup of the different subraces, a guideline to the race's status in the various eras of Krynn's history, and race-based alternative class features. Individual chapters may house other segments as well.

The ''[[Human]]s'' chapter divides the myriad human cultures into two categories; Civilized and Nomadic. It also features a subchapter on Ithin'Carthians, the bizarre foreign human-offshoot race first introduced as the Tarmaks, or "Brutes", in the Age of Mortals splatbook.

The ''[[Dwarves]]'' chapter covers all four species of Krynnish dwarf - Hill, Mountain, Dark and Gully - and also covers the [[Half-Dwarf]] race. It features the unique subchapter, "The Golden Hammers", which covers the elite fighting force of the dwarves and comes with a membership prestige class.

The ''[[Elves]]'' chapter mirrors the Dwarf chapter; it covers all five elf races (Kagonesti, Qualinesti, Silvanesti, Dargonesti and Dimernesti, or Wilder Elves, Wood Elves, High Elves, Deep Elves and Shoal Elves), and the [[Half-Elf]] race. It features the unique subchapter, "The Kirath", which represents the elite scouting organization of the Silvanesti, complete with roleplaying and mechanical guidelines, as well as variant class features for [[fighter]]s, [[ranger]]s and [[rogue]]s who belong to its ranks.

The ''[[Gnome]]s'' chapter, lof course, focuses on the infamous [[Tinker Gnome]]s of Krynn, including their "Mad Gnome" and Wild Gnome cousins and their Half-Gnome progeny. It features a new prestige class, the Gnomish Tinker, and also rules for building Gnomish Contraptions.

The ''[[Goblin]]s'' chapter covers all three [[Goblinoid]] species native to Krynn; standard goblins, [[bugbear]]s and [[hobgoblin]]s, as well as [[Half-Goblin]]s and the Sikk'et Hul Freedom Fighters faction.

The ''[[Kender]]'' chapter covers all three branches of the family; True, Afflicted and Half-Kender. It also features three kender racial prestige classes - Belladonna's Eyes, the Nightstalker and the Handler - and rules for rummaging into a kender's pouches and seeing what turns up.

The ''[[Minotaur]]s'' chapter covers both the true minotaurs and the more savage Thoradorian Minotaurs. It also has rules on belonging to a Minotaur Legion.

The ''[[Ogre]]s'' chapter is quite large; in addition to full PC writeups for [[ogre]]s, [[Half-Ogre]]s and [[Irda]], it also examines the other branches of the Krynnish ogre family tree - the [[Athach]], the [[Ettin]], the [[Giant]], the [[Hag]], the [[Oni|Ogre Mage]] and the [[Troll]] - and covers the Ogre Slaver prestige class.

The final chapter, titled simply "Other Races" is a grabbag of lesser races - [[Centaur]]s, [[Kyrie]], [[Phaethon]]s, [[Thanoi]] and [[Ursoi]] - as well as the Elder Phaethon Prestige Class, alternate class features for the aforementioned races, and a general listing of feats, armor, weapons, gear & special items, magic items and artifacts connected to the various races.

==Races of Destiny==
Races of Destiny is part of the "corebook" Races of X line, and is focused on [[Human]]s and human-descended races.

This book contains information on the following races:
* [[Human]]
* [[Half-Elf]]
* [[Half-Orc]]
* [[Illumian]]
* [[Aasimar]]
* [[Doppelganger]]
* [[Half-Ogre]]
* [[Mongrelfolk]]
* [[Sea Kin]]
* [[Sharakim]]
* [[Skulk]]
* [[Tiefling]]
* [[Underfolk]]

It also features the following Prestige Classes:
* Chameleon
* Loredelver
* Menacing Brute
* Outcast Champion
* Scar Enforcer
* Shadow Sentinel
* Urban Soul

Not every race in the book was eligible for any of these prestige classes. Aasimars and Tieflings, for example, got screwed. There was also very little information regarding exactly which races were "human enough" to qualify for the human-only classes. Illumians, Mongrelfolk, Sea Kin, Sharakim, Skulks, and Underfolk were all given the Human subtype to help with that, but subtype isn't the same thing as race, and the prestige class requirements said race rather than subtype, proving once again that 3E rules are a design clusterfuck.

The book also contains the deities [[Urbanus]] and [[Zarus]] (as well as the whole Illumian racial pantheon), a variety of feats, racial substitution levels for Half-Elf [[Bard]]s, [[Fighter]]s & [[Ranger]]s as well as Half-Orc [[Barbarian]]s, [[Druid]]s and [[Paladin]]s, skills, [[magic]] spells, [[psionic]]s, and information on running a "Campaign of Destiny".

==Races of the Dragon==
Races of the Dragon was one of the "corebook" Races of X splatbooks. As its name suggests, it focuses on races tied to [[dragon]]s because, hey, dragons are [[awesome]].

The first chapter of the book focuses on the [[Dragonborn]] of [[Bahamut]], the weird religiously-motivated transformed humanoid dragons that were subsequently dumped for the [[Nentir Vale|Nerathian version]] in the next edition.

The second chapter covers [[Spellscale]]s, who never caught on because they're kind of like you threw a mixture of [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|draconic sorcerer]] and [[elf]] into a blender with just a sprinkle of [[kender]] for flavor]].

The third chapter, regarded by many as the best, focuses on [[kobold]]s, transforming them from a joke race into fucking [[Pun-Pun]] and causing endless amounts of [[skub]] over whether or not dragonwrought Kobolds counted as true dragons.

Chapter four, last of the racial chapters, covers the "Dragon-Descended"; [[Half-Dragon]]s and [[Draconic]]s. Aka the dragon-touched races that nobody plays due to [[Level Adjustment]].

Chapter five is all above dragon-themed prestige classes, with the Disciple of the Eye, Dracolexi, Dragon Devotee, Dragonheart Mage and Singer of Concordance.

The sixth chapter is all about character options; skills and feats, mostly, but also racial substitution levels for "Dragonbloods" (any of the races in the book or which has the Dragon type)) of the [[Cleric]], [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Sorcerer]] or [[Paladin]] classes, as well as Kobold [[Fighter]]s, [[Ranger]]s and [[Rogue]]s, as well as Spellscale [[Bard]]s.

The seventh chapter is the obligatory new [[magic]] and [[psionics]] material.

Chapter eight, focused on equipment, contains new armor materials, special substances & items, wondrous items, and draconic grafts for [[fleshcrafting]].

Chapter nine talks about running campaigns focused on playing draconic races.

For appendices, there's a primer on the Draconic language and a detailed writeup of the draconic deities:
* [[Aasterinian]]
* [[Astilabor]]
* [[Bahamut]]
* [[Chronepsis]]
* [[Falazure]]
* [[Garyx]]
* [[Hlal]]
* [[Io]]
* [[Lendys]]
* [[Tamara]]
* [[Tiamat]]

==Races of Eberron==
Races of Eberron is one of the three "Races of X" splatbooks that focus on providing greater lore and mechanical support for the native races of a particular setting - in this case, [[Eberron]] itself. Unlike ''Races of Faerun'' and ''Races of Ansalom'', and following more in the pattern of ''Monsters of Faerun'' and ''Drow of the Underdark'', it was released as a mainline, "Greyhawk with the serial number filed off" book, rather than an Eberron book. Whether this was intentional or a fuck-up on WotC's part is unknown.

The first half of the book focuses on Eberron's races; [[Warforged]], [[Shifter]]s, [[Changeling]]s and [[Kalashtar]] all have their own dedicated chapters, whilst the fifth chapter covers Eberron's particular take on the [[Dwarf]], [[Elf]], [[Drow]], [[Gnome]], [[Goblinoid]], [[Half-Elf]], [[Half-Orc]], [[Halfling]] and [[Orc]] races.

The second half is crunch-focused; new feats, racial substitution levels, racial prestige classes, equipment, [[magic]] and [[psionics]].

There are two prestige classes for each of the four Eberron-unique races, consisting of:
* Atavist
* Cabinet Trickster
* Moonspeaker
* Quori Nightmare
* Reachrunner
* Recaster
* Reforged
* Spellcarved Soldier

==Races of Faerun==
Races of Faerun is one of the three "Races of X" splatbooks that focus on providing greater lore and mechanical support for the native races of a particular setting. The very first of its kind, it covers the many different races of the [[Forgotten Realms]].

The first chapter focuses on the [[Dwarf]] race, which is divided into Arctic Dwarf, Gray Dwarf, Shield Dwarf, [[Urdunnir]] and Wild Dwarf races.

The second chapter is the [[Elf]] races; Aquatic, Moon, Sun, Wild and Wood, as well as their cousin-species the [[Avariel]] and the [[Drow]].

Third chapter is [[Gnome]]s; [[Svirfneblin|Deep Gnomes]], Forest Gnomes and Rock Gnomes.

Fourth chapter is the [[Half-Elf]] chapter, introducing new variants for half-elves with aquatic elf or drow parentage.

Fifth chapter covers both [[Half-Orc]]s and [[Orc]]s, with stats for Gray Orcs, Half-Orcs, Mountain Orcs and Orogs.

Sixth chapter covers the [[Halfling]] race, which is divided into Lightfoot, Strongheart and Ghostwise ethnicities in Faerun.

Seventh chapter is all about the different [[Human]] ethnicities of Faerun.

The eighth chapter is the [[Planetouched]]; in addition to the iconic [[Aasimar]], [[Genasi]] and [[Tiefling]] trinity, it introduced the [[Fey'ri]] and the [[Tanarukk]] races. Of most note is that it's literally the only sourcebook with Genasi PC stats; they didn't even make it into the later "Races of Destiny" splat, which was all about human offshoots!

Finally, chapter 9 covers "minor races", which consist of [[Aarakocra]], [[Centaur]]s, [[Goblinoid]]s, [[Kir-lanan]]s, [[Lizardfolk]], [[Therianthrope|Lycanthropes]], [[Shade]]s, [[Wemic]]s and [[Yuan-ti]].

The book finishes with an Appendix, which covers new racial equipment, feats, magic items, monsters, prestige classes and spells. The prestige classes consist of:
* Battlerager
* [[Bladesinger]]
* Breachgnome
* Elven High Mage
* Great Rift Skyguard
* Orc Warlord
* Spellsinger
* Warrior Skald
* Warsling Sniper

==Races of Stone==
Part of the "core" branch of the Races of X series, Races of Stone focuses on those races with a particularly strong connection to the earth.

In other words, this is the sourcebook for you if you want to play a [[Dwarf]] or a [[Gnome]]. It also introduced the [[Goliath]] race, and a small smattering of unique races. With the traditional array of new prestige classes, skills, equipment, [[magic]], [[psionics]] and campaign tips, it's a solid entry.

The first chapter, which focuses on the dwarves, is pretty straightforward. The most unique new thing in this chapter is a new version of the [[Morndinsamman]], presumably based on the [[Greyhawk]] version of the pantheon, consisting of the following deities:
* [[Moradin]]
* [[Hanseath]]
* [[Laduguer]]
* [[Mya]]
* [[Roknar]]
* [[Tharmekhul]]
* [[Thautam]]
* [[Valkauna]]

The second chapter, focused on [[Gnome]]s, likewise creates a whole new gnomish pantheon:
* [[Garl Glittergold]]
* [[Callarduran Smoothhands]]
* [[Gelf Darkhearth]]
* [[The Glutton]]
* [[Rill Cleverthrush]]
* [[Sheyanna Flaxenstrand]]

The [[Goliath]] chapter is completely new material, although it also presents them with their own racial pantheon who never appeared again in any subsequent edition:
* [[Kavaki]]
* [[Kuliak]]
* [[Manethak]]
* [[Naki-Uthai]]
* [[Theleya]]
* [[Vanua]]

The fourth chapter, "Other Races of Stone", is the smallest of them all; aside from two new gnome variants (Chaos and Whisper) and a new dwarf variant (Dream), it houses only two races; the [[Feral Gargun]] and the [[Stonechild]].

The chapter on Prestige Classes is quite large, containin the following:
* Battlesmith
* Blade Bravo
* Cragtop Archer
* Dawncaller
* Deepwarden
* Divine Prankster
* Earth Dreamer
* Goliath Liberator
* Iron Mind
* Peregrine Runner
* Runesmith
* Shadowcraft Mage
* Stoneblessed
* Stonedeath Assassin
* Stonespeaker Guardian

By comparison, the following chapter on Character Options (skills, feats and racial substitution levels) is quite small.

The seventh chapter focuses on equipment and magic, including new mounts, systems for ancestral weapons, and new systems for magic forges and rune circles, to let dwarves have some of their more distinctive magical styles.

The book ends with a chapter on running campaigns centered around "races of stone", including how to ssemble the group, adventuring in dwarven & gnomish communities, and some unique holidays & monsters.

==Races of the Wild==
Part of the "core" branch of the Races of X series, Races of the Wild focuses on those races that have a particularly close connection to nature.

Which means the first chapter, of course, is all about the [[Elf]]. As with the [[dwarves]] and [[gnome]]s in "Races of Stone", a new iteration of their racial pantheon, the [[Seldarine]], was presented, possibly based on [[Greyhawk]] lineup:
* [[Alobal Lorfiril]]
* [[Corellon Larethian]]
* [[Deep Sashelas]]
* [[Elebrin Liothiel]]
* [[Hanali Celanil]]
* [[Lolth]]
* [[Sehanine Moonbow]]
* [[Vandria Gilmadrith]]

Surprisingly, the [[Halfling]]s made it into this book as the second chapter; WoTC probably couldn't think of anywhere else to put them.

Chapter three introduced the [[Raptoran]]s, whilst chapter 4 completed the racial line-up with [[Catfolk]], [[Centaur]]s, [[Gnoll]]s and [[Killoren]].

Like all of its kind, Races of the Wild featured racial prestige classes:
* Arcane Hierophant
* Champion of Corellon
* Luckstealer
* Ruathar
* Skypledged
* Stormtalon
* Whisperknife
* Wildrunner

And it then completed its collection with new skills, feats, racial substitution levels for elves ([[Paladin]], [[Ranger]], [[Wizard]]), halflings ([[Druid]], [[Monk]], [[Rogue]]) and raptorans ([[Cleric]], [[Fighter]], [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Sorcerer]], new weapons, armor, gear, [[magic]], [[psionics]], and tips on running campaigns focused on the races of the wild.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Psionics

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'''Psionics''' is similar to [[magic]], in that it is the ability to do shit that the laws of physics say you shouldn't, but is considered more inherently "science fictiony" than magic, which is seen as the realm of fantasy. See, back when fantasy and science fiction were first getting divorced, serious people thought psionics might be real science, and there were millions of bucks available for anyone who could give [[Team Yankee]] an espionage edge over the Soviets. Those millions of bucks over fifty years came up with jack shit, but by then everyone from [[Star Wars|Jedi]] to [[Anne McCaffrey|dragon-riding girls]] had psychic powers and they're not gonna let real science stop 'em from being [[awesome]].

The general definition of psionics is that it is a power that stems from the user's mind, and as such it tends to focus more on mental effects; telepathy, mind control, hallucinations/illusions and so forth. However, in "softer" settings, taking inspiration from the real-world belief in telekinesis (the ability to move physical objects by willpower alone), psionics can get much more flashy, until the border between it and regular magic boils down more to semantics than anything else.

==Dungeons & Dragons==
Psionics has a long tradition in [[Dungeons & Dragons]], and two of its most iconic [[aberration]]s, the [[Aboleth]] and the [[Illithid]], are defined by their connection to it (or to magic, depending on edition). However, it's long been the black sheep, to the point that [[Gary Gygax]] himself thought that it was a bad idea to include it.

Seriously, long-running consensus on /tg/ is that Dungeons & Dragons' psionics is cursed - that these books are not RPG supplements, but grimoires of a sadistic cult, playing with your emotions, and to have any D&D psionics book present in the room will ensure you always roll poorly. Another common opinion is that psions in D&D are overpowered. This stems time and time again from game designers trying to make psychic powers something different than spellcasting, and fucking up the game design doing it. But despite all the bitching, Third Edition psionics is still ten times easier to understand than how wizards worked, and not as powerful as a cleric abusing the shit out of using turn/rebuke undead attempts as fuel.

Psionics were the focus of one of the most significant changes between 3E and 3.5 (with [[D20 Modern]] between the strange middle of the two). In contrast to the previous edition, 3.5e psionics are essentially just a casting system that uses Power Points instead of [[Vancian Casting]], and have a side focus on a “psionic focus” resource that makes you pick between remaining focused to get passive bonuses and expending the focus to get temporary bigger bonuses and/or perform unique actions at the cost of losing the passive bonuses till you spend the actions to regain your focus. Unlike previous attempts, 3.5 Psionics are well received by people who actually read the rules, but are often wrongly accused of being overpowered by people who missed the (admittedly not very prominent) rule that you can't use more PP than your level on a power. If people say they like psionics, odds are they're refering to this version.

Ironically, 4th edition D&D actually had the easiest, simplest, most well-integrated psionics system seen in D&D to date. In 4e, psions are still mechanically different, but not to game-tangling extents: psionic classes don't get Encounter powers. Instead, they get a much larger array of at-will powers and a level-determined amount of "power points". Psionic at-wills feature a mechanic called "Augmentation", where a PC can spend some of its power points to buff up the effect. Psionic powers also place much heavier emphasis on the Psychic and Force damage types, making them much harder to resist for most critters.

Traditionally, D&D psionics was divided into six psionic schools, in a repeat of the magic system:
* '''Clairsentience''' covered psionic powers that related to expanded sensory perception. A Psion specializing in this discipline is known as a '''Seer'''.
* '''Psychokinesis''' covered psionic powers that physically affected the world. A Psion specializing in this discipline is known as a '''Kineticist'''.
* '''Psychometabolism''' covered psionic powers that modified and mutated the body in various ways. A Psion specializing in this discipline is known as a '''Egoist'''.
* '''Psychoportation''' covered psionic powers relating to manipulating space. A Psion specializing in this discipline is known as a '''Nomad'''.
* '''Telepathy''' covered psionic powers relating to direct mental communication. A Psion specializing in this discipline is known as a '''Telepath'''.
* '''Metapsionics''' covered... well, basically a grab-bag of various powers that didn't mesh into any of the others. Later versions changed this to '''Metacreativity''', focused on making and changing stuff with ecotoplasm. A Psion specializing in this discipline is known as a '''Shaper'''.

Dungeons & Dragons initially introduced psionics as just "inherent powers", special abilities you could get if you had really, really lucky rolls. AD&D 2nd edition introduced the first ever psionic class, the ''Psionicist'', which was all about growing in psionic powers. 3rd edition renamed the Psionicist to just the [[Psion]] and introduced further psionic classes, many of whom were just specific flavors of psionicist or "psychic versions" of existing classes, like the [[Soulknife]], [[Erudite]], [[Wilder]] and [[Psychic Warrior]]. 4th edition divided psionics up between three classes - the [[Psion]], [[Ardent]] and [[Battlemind]] - although the [[Monk]] was also considered to use the "Psychic Power Source".

Where magic is affiliated with a great number of magical substances, psionics are affiliated with crystals. The origin for this is uncertain. It's either a holdover from [[Dark Sun]] where crystals associated with the psionic [[Thri-kreen]] are nearly as potent a material as iron, but far less scarce, and/or new age mysticism's use of crystals.

==Green Ronin's Psychic's Handbook==
People who preferred [[Grognard|the old way of doing things even if they weren't as good]] generally didn't like the 3rd edition psionics and its bodybuilding telekinetics; in 2004 [[Steve Kenson]] and [[Chris Pramas]] responded to this audience with the Green Ronin published Psychics Handbook, taking the general concept of 2nd edition psionics and updating it for 3rd edition D&D and its derivatives. it presents one class, 6 prestige classes, an advanced class for D20 Modern, about 45 skills and almost 50 feats.

==D20 Modern==
[[D20 Modern]] includes Psionics in its core rulebook, albeit as a variant. This is expanded on in [[Urban Arcana]]. This is the first time Psionics appeared under [[Open Gaming License]], which may be why the 3.5 incarnation was OGL, since it's clearly derived from this sytem. They're a cross between 3E and 3.5 psionics, using many of fixes of 3.5 psionics but still requiring various attributes for each discipline. Augmenting powers is completely absent from this incarnation and, like spells, powers scale naturally with manifester level.

* '''Telepath''' has a bunch of mental powers and gets extra PP from its Charisma. It is, oddly, the only one of the four to get bonus power points for high attribute score, which may be an oversight. Until the final D20 Modern book, ''Dark Matter'', they had virtually no options for offensive powers, especially against mindless creatures like undead or robots, and even with it they're very dependent upon hitting a low will save to be useful in combat. Their sole offensive options beyond that are summoning a gun to shoot people with (this power is not on their table, but does say it's a telepath power in the text) and weak telekinesis. Their power list is the most focused attribute wise, as aside from five exceptions based on wisdom (one a cantrip, and one utter crap) all their powers with saving throws are based on Charisma and others are based on Dexterity or Constitution. They're also the only one with fifth level powers. Qualifying at the earliest possible opportunity requires at least one level in Charismatic Hero due to requiring three skills no other base class has and no occupation offers as bonus skills (let alone all three at once).
* '''[[Battlemind]]''' is a combination of Psychic Warrior and Soulknife. Since magic items are rare and not expected in D20 Modern, full BAB is rare, and hiding your weapons is more of a concern, mindblades are actually quite decent. Their power list most focuses on buffs, but is very scattered in attribute dependencies. Qualifying at the earliest possible opportunity requires three levels in Strong Hero, due to to a BAB +3 requirement and needing max ranks in Jump, which no other base class has for some inexplicable reason.
* '''Psionic Agent''' was introduced in ''Urban Arcana'' and focuses on movement powers. They otherwise depend on shooting stuff. ''Mostly'' dexterity based, but wants wisdom and intelligence as well for some important powers. Qualifying at the earliest possible opportunity is the most flexible, as it can be done with 1:Fast Hero 3, 2: levels in a combination of Fast Hero and Strong Hero, or 3: a non-charismatic hero, non-smart hero with a starting occupation of military, criminal, adventurer, scavenger, impoverished, on the run, or slave.
* '''[[Mesmerist]]''' was introduced in ''D20 Past''. They only get a fraction of the normal psionics progression and no other class abilities. Supposedly for low psionics games, this class is [[Truenamer]] tier broken since it doesn't actually say what powers it can take as powers known (the example character pulls from the telepath list, but WotC example characters are wrong, often blatantly, more than they are right.). Due to identical skill requirements, it requires Charismatic Hero for earliest entry.

Psionics are also referenced in ''D20 Future'' and ''D20 Apocalypse'', but only as special abilities of aliens and mutants. There's a handful of new powers and feat support in ''d20 [[Dark Matter]]'', but no new classes. Unlike casters, there is no Psionic Prestige Class to continue advancing after hitting level 10. This role is instead filled by the ability to multiclass and stack power point progression, but it's not as nice a deal since you don't get as many extra castings (four levels of Archmage doubles your casting slots. Four levels of an extra psionic class doesn't even give you an extra casting of a 5th level power.) and don't increase your caster level. Despite this problem and the all attributes thing they're still casters in a system where, despite the many nerfs they got, casters are ''still'' king.

==Pathfinder==
[[Pathfinder]], of course, has its own "psionic system", which it tries to differentiate by using real-world beliefs in psychics and occultism. The end result for all of them but [[Kineticist]] was just another set of Vancian magic spells with some components swapped around and using under-supported, proprietary spell lists. One major weakness of the system is that all of these classes (except Kineticist because that doesn't actually cast and ''maybe Mesmerist'' because it can remove conditions, fear included, from itself as a swift action and has plenty of non-casting options) can be shut down by giving them a non-harmless emotion effect, allowing even the most basic fear effect to shut them down. It was introduced to the world in the Occult Adventures sourcebook, which was followed by the far-shorter Occult Bestiary, for more psionic-focused enemies, Occult Origins, for how to work psionic stuff into [[Golarion]], and Occult Realms, which does largely the same.

*The '''[[Kineticist]]''' draws upon an innate ability to manipulate one or more elemental forces and energies through the power of their will.
*The '''[[Medium]]''' communicates with the spirits of the dead and allows them to possess their body in order to gain temporary powers drawn from the spirit.
*The '''[[Mesmerist]]''' is a specialist psychic who focuses on mind-controlling powers powers exclusively, essentially a psionics-fueled enchanter & illusionist.
*The '''[[Occultist]]''' seeks out relics imbued with strong psionic resonance and uses these as a medium to draw upon and channel psionic energy; without these totem-implements, they're all but powerless.
*The '''[[Psychic (Pathfinder)|Psychic]]''' is essentially the Pathfinder version of the [[Psion]]: a master of various psychic powers that derives their strength from a fundamental discipline, functioning somewhere between a psionic sorcerer and a specialist wizard.
*The '''[[Spiritualist]]''' is similar to the Medium, in that its powers stem from a psychic connection to the dead. However, the Spiritualist has a singular bonded spirit, a Phantom, and this entity can carry out most of the fighting for them, using the Spiritualist as a battery to enhance its abilities.

{{Pathfinder-Classes}}

However, for those who want the more classic 3.X Experience, 3pp producer Dreamscarred Press also ported forward the Psionics system, with a few new bits. The biggest changes here are the total destruction any remnants of non-transparency between psionics and normal magic beyond their separate knowledge skills and counterspelling nobody uses anyways, replacing XP penalties (which no longer exist in PF) with negative levels on yourself, and ditching the convention of giving names to powers that are the same name as a spells but with ", psionic" tacked on in favor of unique names. This type of psioncs is ''technically'' canon in [[Golarion]], as there's a handful of mentions from back when Pathfinder was third party supplements for 3.5.
*The '''[[Psion]]''' is still here and the primary casty-type with Wizard-tier Discipline specializations. Generalist option has been added, which gives up discipline access (without Expanded Knowledge) in exchange for bonus feats (which explicitly can be used for Expanded Knowledge, though still carry the penalty of being behind in level). No longer gets a psicrystal at first level, instead it gets a feat that can pick any psionic feat, including the one that gives you a psicrystal (a slight tweak that makes them more customizable). Further books added variant specializations akin to what Wizards sub-schools got, with the generalist getting a (much nerfed) version of [[Erudite]].
*The '''[[Wilder]]''' is also a caster, but a much more offensive sort who has to balance how they use their surges and the risk of Psychic Enervation.
*The '''[[Psychic Warrior]]''' is a mid-tier Psionics character, who blends together Fighter-Tier feat availability with psychic focuses based on how you want them to work.
*The '''[[Soulknife]]''' is kinda Psionic in name only. The blade itself is their sole power, and then they get Blade Skills (talents) that give their blades new uses and perks. Thankfully they have an archetype giving them limited Psionic powers.
*The '''Dread''' is a class based on being big and scary and touching things in order to inflict all sorts of conditions on them.
*The '''Marksman''' is a low-tier Psionic class that focuses more on shooting things like a Ranger.
*The '''Cryptic''' is the Psionic [[Rogue]], only with strange ways to mess with people by screwing with reality in small ways.
*The '''Aegis''' is kind of like the opposite number to the Soulknife: rather than making weapons, these guys make suits of psionic armor (available in either barely-there skin, average armor, or heavy behemoth armor) and selecting a set of mods to give their armor special functions.
*The '''Tactician''' is a psionic mastermind, a combat leader with better powers. They focus on gathering allies into a collective consciousness and spreading out bonuses and benefits to the members when necessary.
*The '''[[Vitalist]]''' is the answer to anyone complaining that Psionics has shit healing. Like the Tactician, they work based on a collective and spread out any heals among the party. Unlike most healer classes, they're actually quite acceptable at things other than healing. Psionics makes it really easy to get powers from another list and one options built into the class focuses on vampiric healing.

Also introduced was the "seventh path", a new discipline to address the lack of a necromancy counterpart.
* '''Athanatism''' covers psionic effects that deal with spirits and ghosts, essentially psionic necromancy. A psion specializing in athanatism is known as a '''Conduit'''.

==Warhammer 40k==
[[Warhammer 40,000]] is ''the'' premier /tg/ example of the "psionics is just space magic!" design. Psionics in the 40kverse derives from the ability to mentally tap into the Warp, a parallel universe of pure, unbridled emotional energy, where thought and matter are interchangeable. As <s>all</s> ''most'' minds are inherently linked to this dimension, psykers just have the ability to exploit that link, psionics consists of either using the Warp as a way to directly connect to and influence the minds of others, or drawing Warp energy into the material universe and using it to temporarily rewrite the laws of reality.

The similarities to magic are actually admitted to and even lampshded; using magical trappings can help focus the mind and make it easier to work psionics, whilst "sorcery" is a real thing -- it amounts to psionics and bartering with (or enslaving, for the stronger casters) [[daemon]]s and using them as batteries of psionic energy.

In practice, actually using psionics in 40k is generally a bad idea. Any potential upside of using a psyker's powers has to be weighed against the very real possibility of making things worse. Psykers are regarded less as beings and more as unexploded ordinance by both humans and orks, while the eldar are trained from infancy to wall off their powers. The Tau do not have psykers on account of them being soulless weeaboos.

==Star Wars==
The Force in [[Star Wars]] is just a fancy name for psionics. Ironically, although treated like magic, it functions more like classic psionics; Force Users predominantly produce mental effects (the famous "Jedi Mind Trick" is basically a psychic Charm Person spell) and telekinesis, although there are more [[cake|exotic powers]] as well - most of these tend to be Dark Side, though.

==Star Trek==
Ironically, despite the vast amount of weird space shit that pops up in [[Star Trek]], psionics isn't very common. Vulcans have the ability to telepathically probe and manipulate minds through a meditative trance that requires physical contact, the infamous "Vulcan Mind Meld", whilst Betazoids are characterized as a telepathic species, although half and occasionally even quarter Betazoids are empathic (emotion sensing). Other noteworthy telepathic species include the Talosians and the Ocampa.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category: Roleplaying]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Monster Mythology

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'''Monster Mythology''' is a splatbook for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]. The 4th of the "Dungeon Master's Guide Reference" series of books, Monster Mythology was the second of two books expanding upon the [[God]]s of D&D; in contrast to its precursor, "Legends & Lore" (also known as "Deities & Demigods"), which had covered gods of various real world polytheistic faiths as well as several fantasy series deities, Monster Mythology focused on the gods of the [[demihuman]]s, the monstrous humanoids, and the various sapient monsters.

Aside from some rules on things like non-human priest mechanics, mostly, Monster Mythology was a [[Monster Manual]] style guide to the faiths of the non-human races, covering a wide array of monstrous deities in some...sometimes convoluted pantheon divisions.

==The [[Seldarine|Gods of Elves]]==
* [[Corellon Larethian]] - God of [[Elves]]
* [[Sehanine Moonbow]] - Elven Goddess of the Moon and the Underworld
* [[Aerdrie Faenya]] - Elven Goddess of the Air and Weather
* [[Erevan Ilesere]] - Elven God of Mischief and Trickery
* [[Fenmarel Mestarine]] - Elven God of the Wilderness
* [[Hanali Celanii]] - Elven Goddess of Love and Beauty
* [[Labelas Enoreth]] - Elven God of Time and Longevity
* [[Solonor Thelandira]] - Elven God of Hunters
* Lafarallinn - Elven Hero-God of Mercy, Repentance and Battling Evil

==The [[Morndinsamman|Gods of Dwarves]]==
* [[Moradin]] - God of [[Dwarves]]
* [[Berronar Truesilver]] - Dwarven Mother Goddess
* [[Clangeddin Silverbeard]] - Dwarven God of War
* [[Dugmaren Brightmantle]] - Dwarven God of Scholars
* [[Dumathoin]] - Dwarven God of Secrets and the Earth
* [[Muamman Duathal]] - Dwarven God of Change, Exploration and the Surface
* [[Vergadain]] - Dwarven God of Merchants
* [[Abbathor]] - Dwarven God of Greed
* Gnarldan Steelshield - Dwarven Hero-God of Sacrifice and Heroic Last Stands

==The Gods of Gnomes==
* [[Garl Glittergold]] - God of [[Gnome]]s
* [[Baervan Wildwanderer]] - Gnomish God of the Wilderness
* [[Baravar Cloakshadow]] - Gnomish God of Illusions and Deceit
* [[Flandal Steelskin]] - Gnomish God of Mining and Smithing
* [[Gaerdal Ironhand]] - Gnomish God of Protection and War
* [[Nebelun]] - Gnomish God of Inventions and Trickery
* [[Segojan Earthcaller]] - Gnomish God of Earth
* [[Urdlen]] - Gnomish God of Evil and Greed

==The Gods of Halflings==
* [[Yondalla]] - Goddess of [[Halfling]]s
* [[Arvoreen]] - Halfling God of Protection and War
* [[Brandobaris]] - Halfling God of Adventure and Trickery
* [[Cyrrollalee]] - Halfling Goddess of the Home
* [[Sheela Peryroyl]] - Halfling Goddess of Nature and Weather
* [[Urogalan]] - Halfling God of Death
* Kaldair Swiftfoot - Halfling Hero-God of Curiosity, Adventure and Heroic Rascals

==The [[Goblinoid]] Gods==
* [[Gruumsh]] - God of Orcs
* [[Bahgtru]] - Orcish God of Brute Strength
* [[Ilneval]] - Orcish God of War
* [[Luthic]] - Orcish Mother Goddess
* [[Shargaas]] - Orcish God of Darkness and Thievery
* [[Yurtrus]] - Orcish God of Pestilence and Decay
* Gerdred - Orcish Hero-God of "Proper Orcyness"
* [[Maglubiyet]] - God of [[Goblinoid]]s
* [[Khurgorbaeyag]] - God of [[Goblin]]s and Goblinoid Warfare
* [[Nomog-Geaya]] - God of [[Hobgoblin]]s
* [[Bargrivyek]] - God of Goblinoid Unity
* [[Hruggek]] - God of [[Bugbear]]s
* [[Grankhul]] - Bugbear God of Stealth
* [[Skiggaret]] - Bugbear God of Fear
* [[Kurtulmak]] - God of [[Kobold]]s
* [[Gaknulak]] - Kobold God of Traps and Ambush
* [[Kuraulyek]] - God of [[Urd]]s
* [[Meriadar]] - God of [[Mongrelfolk]] and Good [[Goblinoid]]s
* The Stalker - Mysterious god that is propitiated out of fear, for it seeks to devour all goblinoids

==The Gods of the [[Underdark]]==
* [[Lolth]] - Goddess of [[Drow]]
* [[Kiaransalee]] - Drow Goddess of [[Undead]] and Vengeance
* [[Vhaeraun]] - Drow God of Rebellion
* [[Zinzerena]] - Drow Goddess of Assassins & Rebels
* [[Laduguer]] - God of [[Duergar]]
* [[Diirinka]] - God of [[Derro]]
* [[Diinkarazan]] - Mad, Failed God of Derro
* The [[Elder Elemental Eye]] - Mad God of the Elements
* [[Jubilex]] - God/[[Demon Prince]] of [[Slime]]
* The Dark God - Lost God of Oblivion and Entropy
* [[Ilsensine]] - God of [[Illithid]]s
* [[Maanzecorian]] - Illithid God of Knowledge and Philosophy
* [[Psilofyr]] - God of [[Myconid]]s
* The [[Great Mother]] - Goddess of [[Beholder]]s
* [[Gzemnid]] - Beholder God of Obfuscation and Gas
* [[Callarduran Smoothhands]] - God of [[Svirfneblin]]

==The Gods of the [[Giant]]s==
* [[Annam]] - God of [[Giant]]s
* [[Stronmaus]] - Giantish God of the Sun, Skies and Weather
* [[Hiatea]] - Goddess of [[Firbolg]]s and [[Voadkyn]]
* [[Grolantor]] - God of Hill Giants, [[Ogre]]s and [[Ettin]]s
* [[Iallanis]] - Giantish Goddess of Love, Forgiveness, Mercy and Beauty
* [[Karontor]] - God of [[Fomorian]]s and [[Verbeeg]]
* [[Memnor]] - Giantish God of Pride and Giant Supremacy
* [[Skoraeus Stonebones]] - God of Stone Giants
* [[Diancastra]] - Giantish Goddess of Trickery, Wit, Impudence and Pleasure
* [[Baphomet]] - God/[[Demon Prince]] of [[Minotaur]]s
* [[Kostchtchie]] - Would-be Usurper God/[[Demon Prince]] of Frost Giants
* [[Vaprak]] - God of [[Ogre]]s and [[Troll]]s
* [[Yeenoghu]] - God/[[Demon Prince]] of [[Gnoll]]s
* [[Gorellik]] - Fallen God of Gnolls

==The Gods of the Seas and Skies==
* [[Deep Sashelas]] - God of Sea Elves
* [[Demogorgon]] - God//[[Demon Prince]] of [[Ixixachitl]]
* [[Eadro]] - God of [[Locathah]] and [[Merfolk]]
* [[Jazirian]] - God of [[Couatl]]s
* [[Koriel]] - God of [[Ki-rin]]
* [[Panzuriel]] - God of Evil Aquatic Creatures
* [[Persana]] - God of [[Triton]]s
* [[Quorlinn]] - God of [[Kenku]]
* [[Remnis]] - God of Giant Eagles
* [[Sekolah]] - God of Sharks and [[Sahuagin]]
* [[Surminare]] - Goddess of [[Selkie]]s
* [[Syranita]] - Goddess of [[Aarakocra]]
* [[Trishina]] - Goddess of Sea Elves and Dolphins
* Water Lion - Mysterious aquatic deity of unknown nature
* Stillsong - Mysterious aerial deity of unknown nature

==The Gods of the Scaly Folk==
* [[Blibdoolpoolp]] - Goddess of [[Kuo-toa]]
* [[Laogzed]] - God/[[Demon Prince]] of [[Troglodyte]]s
* [[Merrshaulk]] - God/[[Demon Prince]] of [[Yuan-ti]]
* [[Parrafaire]] - [[Naga]] God of Guardianship
* [[Ramenos]] - God/[[Demon Prince]] of [[Bullywug]]s
* [[Semuanya]] - God/dess of [[Lizardfolk]]
* [[Sess'innek]] - Usurper God/[[Demon Prince]] of [[Lizardfolk]]
* [[Shekinester]] - Goddess of [[Naga]]s
* [[Io]] - God of [[Dragon]]s
* [[Aasterinian]] - Draconic God of Messengers
* [[Bahamut]] - God of [[Metallic Dragon]]s
* [[Chronepsis]] - Draconic God of Time and Fate
* [[Falazure]] - God of [[Dracolich]]es
* [[Tiamat]] - Goddess of [[Chromatic Dragon]]s

==The Gods of the Dark Folk==
* [[Cegilune]] - Goddess of [[Hag]]s
* [[Kanchelsis]] - God of [[Vampire]]s
* [[Mellifluer]] - God of [[Lich]]es
* [[Squerrik]] - God of [[Wererat]]s
* [[Balador]] - God of [[Werebear]]s
* [[Ferrix]] - Goddess of [[Weretiger]]s
* [[Daragor]] - God of [[Werewolf|Werewolves]] and Evil Werecreatures
* [[Eshebala]] - Goddess of [[Werefox|Foxwomen]] and Evil Werecreatures

==[[Archfey|The Sylvan Gods]]==
* [[Titania]] - Goddess of the [[Fey]]
* [[Oberon]] - God of the [[Fey]]
* [[Caoimhin]] - God of [[Kilmoulis]]
* [[Damh]] - God of [[Satyr]]s and [[Korred]]s
* [[Eachthighern]] - God of [[Unicorn]]s and [[Pegasus]]es
* [[Emmantiensien]] - God of [[Treant]]s
* [[Fionnghuala]] - Goddess of [[Swanmay]]s
* [[Nathair Sgiathach]] - God of [[Faerie Dragon]]s
* [[Skerrit]] - God of [[Centaur]]s
* [[Squelaiche]] - God of [[Leprechaun]]s
* [[Verenestra]] - Goddess of [[Nymph]]s, [[Sylph]]s and [[Dryad]]s
* The [[Queen of Air and Darkness]] - Goddess of Evil Fey

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Lords of Madness

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'''Lords of Madness: The Book of [[Aberration]]s''' is a [[Splatbook]] for Dungeons and Dragon 3.5 edition. The book goes into great detail about the fluff of several of the game's most famous aberrations and introduces some new ones, as well as introducing some new [[Prestige Classes]] for fighting against aberrations, and tons of useful stuff for DMs wanting to run aberration-based campaigns.

== Chapter 1: What is an Aberration? ==

Discusses what defines an aberration and where they come from.

== Chapter 2: The Deep Masters ==

All about [[Aboleth]]s. Includes new variants of the aboleth: amphibious aboleth, uobilyth (aerial aboleth), and stygian aboleth. Also has a prestige class specifically for aboleths called the aboleth savant which specializes in the creation of magical aboleth glyphs, several feats for aboleths, and a short sample aboleth adventure ''The God in the Lake''.

== Chapter 3: The Eye Tyrants ==

All about [[Beholder]]s. Includes the elder orb beholder variant, and the infamously overpowered beholder mage class, several beholder feats, magic items made for beholders, plenty of fluff, and two short adventures: ''Sekarvu's Lair'' and ''Cult of the Hungry Eye''.

== Chapter 4: The Mind Flayers ==

[[Illithid]]s! Includes magic items for illithids and the sample adventure ''The Lair of Sarkt''.

== Chapter 5: The Slave Takers ==

A chapter about the [[Neogi]] a race that mostly only apears in the [[Spelljammer]] setting. Includes the stats the standard neogi adult, neogi spawn, and neogi great old master, and also includes several neogi variants, dwarf neogi, neogi defiler, neogi slavemaster, and neogi sorcerer. Also include the adventure ''Wreck of the Mindspider''.

This chapter made adult neogi player characters an official thing.

== Chapter 6: The Eaters ==

On the [[Grell]]. Includes stats for the standard grell, grell philosopher, grell hatchling, grell juvenile, and grell patriarch, as well as grell magic items, and the adventure ''Sangkon Bhet''.

== Chapter 7: The Wearers of Flesh ==

The first appearance of a new aberration race called the [[Tsochar]]i. Includes the stats for standard tsochar and toschar strand, and also tsochar spells and items, and the adventure ''The House of Deros Frist''.

== Chapter 8: New Monsters ==

Even more awesome and terrifying aberrations for players to encounter.
* [[Beholder]]kin
** Hive Mother
** Director
** Eye of the Deep
** Overseer
** Spectator
* Cildabrin: an aberation resembling both a giant spider and a giant scorpion.
* Shadowcloak elder: A more powerful variant of the [[Cloaker]]
* Elder Brain: The final stage of the illithid life cycle and rulers of illithid society.
* Elder Eidolon (template): A powerful construct build in ancient times based on another monster. Includes the Elder Eidolon Kraken as an example.
* Gas Spore: A floating [[Fungus]] that mimics the appearance of a [[Beholder]].
* [[Gibbering Mouther]]
* Half-Farspawn (template): A hybrid of a outsider from the [[Far Realm]] and a more familiar monster. Includes the Half-Farspawn Grey Render as an example.
* Hound of the Gloom: A large tentacled dog monster that may be related to the [[Displacer Beast]].
* Illithidae: These creatures are to illithids what normal animals are to humans. These are monsters distantly related to illithids that came with them from the same world. All of them have several psionic abilities.
** Embrac: A large lumpy sack of flesh with many legs, eight tentacles, and a beak like mouth.
** Kigrid: A cat like monster with red eyes that are placed underneath its jaws.
** Saltor: A small ape-like scavenger with a beard of tentacles. They are capable of speech and able to use weapons and tools.
* [[Illithid|Mindflayer]]
** Alhoon (template): not even a proper template, but some tips for grafting the Lich template onto an illithid, which you normally can't do because only humanoids can become liches
** Ulitharid: A more powerful varient of the illithid with six tentacles instead of four.
** Vampire Illithid: An undead illithid that drinks blood. They are not true vampires and lose their intelligence, becoming feral.
* Psuedonatural creature (template): A horrifying outsider from an alien plane that resembles a more familiar creature. A more powerful version of this template previously appeared in the [[Epic Level Handbook]]. Includes the Psuedonatural Hippogryph as an example.
* [[Psurlon]]: A race of psionic abberations resembling worms with many legs and eyes. This book makes some changes to their origins, which have varied over the editions they appeared in.
** Average Psurlon
** Elder Psurlon
** Giant Psurlon: A psurlon with a mutation that causes it to grow larger than normal, but does not gain the abilities of an elder.
* Shaboath: A construct created by an aboleth made of water and slime that takes the form of a several liquid tentacles.
* Shadow creature (Template): A monster from the plane of shadow that is a counterpart of something from the material plane. Includes the Shadow Choker as an example.
* Silthilar: It looks like a monster with four upper limbs ending in long spines, and four lower limbs ending in hands, and a head of tentacles, but it actually is a swarm of tiny creatures sharing one mind. These creatures once were a race that had mastered the art of [[Fleshcrafting]] but when they accidentally unleashed a plague they escaped by shattering their bodies and minds into pieces. Surprisingly, they actually are usually Chaotic Good.
* Urophion: A [[Roper]] that has undergone the same process used to turn humans into illithids.
* Zeugalak: A strange quadruped with stinger tail and a three tentacled mouth. It uses electric attacks, and when hit with electricity it takes no damage and can teleport to the source of the attack. It likes to catch natural lightning bolts to teleport into the sky and feather fall back down.

== Chapter 9: The Aberation Hunter ==

Discusses how to fight the various kinds of aberrations. Describes gods worshiped by aberrations and their cults: [[Ghaunadaur]], The [[Great Mother]], [[Ilsensine]], [[Mak Thuum Ngatha]], [[The Patient One]], and [[Tharizdun]]. Lists several feats for those who fight aberrations, and those with aberration blood, or have been influenced by aberrations in some way. Also includes several new [[Prestige Class]]es.
* [[Abolisher]]: One who fights to exterminate all aberrations for the sake of protecting nature. Although isn't required that the player be a [[Druid]], it is designed to work best if the player is one. Can join the Circle of the True.
* [[Darkrunner]]: Specializes in surviving and exploring underground. Works well with the [[Ranger]] class. Must join the Darkrunner Guild.
* [[Fleshcrafter]]: A spellcaster that specializes in [[Fleshcrafting]]. You modify your familiar and gain great skill in grafting.
* [[Keeper of the Cerulean Sign]]: Specializes in protecting the world from aberrations and cultists who worship them. Skilled at infitrating cults and makes heavy uses of the spell ''Invoke the Cerulean Sign'', which weakens aberrations. This class is difficult to qualify for without multiclassing except as a [[Bard]]. They do not have an organization, but are friendly with both the Circle of the True and the Topaz Order.
* [[Sanctified Mind]]: Specializes in fighting against evil [[Psionics]] users. It can work with either divine caster classes or manifesting classes and can gain the abilities of either as it levels up, but most of the class's own abilites are focused on melee combat, and you must have at least some psionic ability. You are taught by the Society of the Sanctified Mind.
* [[Topaz Guardian]]: Specializes in fighting against aberrations, with a special hatred for monsters that enslave humanoids with magic. Works best with the [[Paladin]] class. Must Join the Topaz Order.
The chapter also lists several spells, including some that previously apeared in the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] and several new magic items and grafts. The book concludes with describing several organizations that fight against aberrations.
* Circle of the True: Dedicated to protecting nature from the aberrant. Most members are Abolishers.
* The Darkrunner Guild: Profits off of exploring the underground. Most are Darkrunners.
* Society of the Sanctified Mind: Dedicated to fighting evil psionics users. Is affiliated with the church of [[Saint Cuthbert]].
* The Topaz Order: Fights against mind controlling aberrations. Many of them are Topaz Guardians. Affiliated with the church of [[Heironeous]].
[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]

Incarnum

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'''Incarnum''' is a [[Dungeons and Dragons]] 3.5e magic system that earned the title of "Most Confusing System Ever."

OK, so this is how it works: you have a bunch of mystical energy constructs called Soulmelds that sit where your magic items go, except you can't have more than one per item slot (which they call Chakras) unless you take a feat, and they don't stop you wearing magic items most of the time.<br>
You then have two non-exclusive ways of charging these up: you can put points of magic gunk called Essentia in them to increase properties of your Soulmelds like DCs and bonuses, or you can bind them to a chakra (sometimes you can choose from a bunch of chakras for one soulmeld, unless you're a Totemist which has a special chakra that isn't actually a body part that turns the energy thing into a monster body part like claws), which does stop you wearing a magic item, but it becomes about as strong as a magic item. (At high levels of Incarnate, or other soulshaping classes if you take the appropriate feats, you can bind them to the heart and soul chakras, which replace the vest and robe/armor slots and are correspondingly more powerful.)

You can redistribute the invested essentia each turn between anything that uses essentia, granting you a great deal of versatility. That is, unless you take a feat that you can invest essentia into, in which case any essentia you apply is added all day (because fuck you, that's why). You are limited to the amount of essentia you can invest in each of these things by your Constitution modifier or an arbitrary number based on your level, whichever is lower, which keeps you from pumping your entire essentia pool into one ability and doing that over and over.

The purpose of the Essentia casting system was to make a unique magic system for D&D, unlike the standard Vancian magic, the spontaneous casting of sorcerers/bards, the at-will casting of Warlocks, the horribly broken skill-based casting of truenamers, the pact magic of binders, the item-based casting of artificers or the PP-based system of psions. The result is this mass (and mess) of rules. Once you get used to it, it's is not as unwieldy as it looks, and totemists are among the most thematically awesome classes in the game. "What's the scariest thing you ever ran into? Yeah, I can do that too."

Astute players might notice that most soulmelding classes can emulate magic items, making them potentially a decent user of Vow of Poverty. Very astute players will [[Fail|ignore this temptation regardless]]. [[Gestalt]]s surprisingly well with Druid, since they can't have non-passive magic items anyways.

Balance wise, Incarnum leaves a lot to be desire. Power is all over the place, with Totemist a pretty solid combatant with enough versatility to be relevant beyond that, and Soulborn a solid canidate for [[Samurai|second worst]] player class in the game. Incarnum, as a whole, is most effective at higher levels: the ability to replace magic items is more relevant, feats are more common, and the restrictions on essence/chakra investments more open.

One thing that gets Incarnum noticed is that you can get surprisingly far into progression through feats alone, and pick up some interesting tricks for otherwise "mundane" characters with them. This makes incarnum feats worth a note in most optimization handbooks, especially for classes that get few features ([[Commoner]], [[Fighter]]), or little support for them and for [[Epic6]].

==Eberron==
In Eberron, incarnum is native to Xen'drik, though they've spread to [[Shifter]]s, who have learned a great deal about it. It's origin is unknown, but it is thought to be as old as "normal" magic and was either a: taught at the same time the dragons taught "traditional" magic b: A leftover of the [[Quori]] invasion that destroyed the giant empire c: it's a native giant tradition and/or d: the incarnum using races are descendants of the giants. Setting creator Keith Baker doesn't use Incarnum, but agrees that the fluff of it using one's own "soul energies" matches the [[Blood of Vol]]'s mantra of unlocking the power in their own blood.

==Pathfinder==
While Incarnum, like all of the other 3.5 subsystems, didn't carry over to Pathfinder, 3PP Publisher Dreamscarred Press and author Michael Sayre brought it back as '''Akashic Mysteries''' and gives it a near-east sort of feel. While the system itself is very similar, there are a few notable differences. The terminology is changed, in some instances significantly (chakras are now mapped to equipment slots such as Belt instead of Waist) and in others less so (such as using "essence" instead of essentia). Veils (soulmelds) no longer prevent you from equipping magic items, and many of the veils include abilities that Incarnum was lacking in, including AoE and healing options. The classes are also notably different.

*The '''Daevic''' is in many ways an akashic [[Paladin]]. Rather than casting holy magic though, daevics are influenced by a specific emotional passion (like a Daeva, geddit?), gaining certain benefits depending on what they focus on. Wrath daevics are damage dealers, while Desire daevics fight at range and have some enchantment spell-like abilities. Daevics also inherit the Totemist's not-body-slot through the Blood Chakra, which can manifest into a variety of special effects.

*The '''Guru''' is a mid-casting debuff class similar to a monk. While not focused on unarmed combat, they have the ability to inflict all sorts of penalties with essence-infused strikes. They also gain unique abilities based on their '''philosophy''', essentially a class path akin to an oracle mystery.

*The '''Vizier''' is the Akashic equivalent to a wizard, with a focus on using magic items as if he were arcane himself. His school focus, however, boils down to three ideals: Crafting, Intimidating, and Coordinating.

There's also three new akashic races that each have packets of abilities turning them into a different subspecies. The core three are gamla (camel), sobek (crocodile), and suqur (hawk), but the packages also allow for rhino, elephant, vulture, tiger, and other bestial humanoid types.

Dreamscarred also released a follow up class by author Anthony Cappel.

*The '''Rajah''' is a class that blends together Akashic and [[Weeaboo Fightan Magic|Path of War]] by being a party buffing combatant. They introduce a special discipline (which uses Essence to power it in the way Sleeping Goddess does with Psionic PP and lets you fire lasers with Strength) and a new slot called the Title, which you can bestow upon allies and buff them up. Extremely powerful in combat and pushes even the higher power levels of Path of War.

'''Lost Spheres Publishing''' also has several classes and options using the akashic subsystem and written by the original Akashic Mysteries author, taking the flavor in a planar direction and significantly refining and expanding the options available.

*The '''Eclipse''' is essentially an akashic shadow dancer. It has the lowest number of binds of any of the akashic classes but very powerful class features. It can create a shadow clone called an ''occultation'' and channel its attacks and veil powers through the occultation. It also gains the ability to wear its occultation as magic armor, turn its occultation into traps, or make and control multiple occultations. Starts with a darkvision feature that can be invested with essence to improve its functionality.

*The '''Nexus''' gains a warlock-like blast called a ''planar detonation'' and a set of class features called ''convergences'' that give it various abilities tied to a particular plane. The first two convergences are always a defensive ability, typically energy resistance, and a modification to the shape and damage type of their planar detonation. They get a full 10 veil binds but no unique bind, and their veil sets (thematic groupings of veils/soulmelds with built in synergies) are tied to planes like Heaven, the Hells, or the Underworld.

*The '''Radiant''' is an akashic healer that can invest essence into allies to give them buffs and then withdraw the essence to remove negative status effects. Very effective buffing and condition removal but reliant on its veils for its healing.

*The '''Zodiac''' is basically a summoner/binder/fighter hybrid that summons celestial beings called "constellations". Constellations come in armor, champion, equipment, and weapon forms. The armor and weapon forms of constellations are typically a suit of armor or specific weapon that gets automatic upgrades and can be enhanced by investing essence. Equipment forms are a unique magic item that can also be improved by investing essence, and champions are companion creatures (NPCs and animal companions) that can unsurprisingly be improved by investing essence. Zodiac also picks two ''orbits'' or paths that determine some of its class features. Solar zodiacs gain bonus feats and act as akashic fighters, while lunar zodiacs gain veilweaving and a unique list of support and control veils.

Lost Sphere's campaign setting, '''City of 7 Seraphs''', also includes new veils and options for the original three classes (daevic, guru, and vizier).

*Daevics get the Knowledge passion, which gives them an "eidetic cache" they can store information or even spells in. Splits into Education and Secrecy.

*Gurus get the Shanti philosophy which maps their nonlethal motif up to 11. Capstone is an ability that turns weapons which strike the guru into non-magical tools.

*Viziers get the path of the scholar which gives them the ability to scribe and use scrolls, basic knowledge, and a capstone called Akashic Records that gives them a personal library demiplane containing every scroll or book they've ever read.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Game Books]]

Heroes of Horror

2020-10-17T19:06:59Z

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Heroes of Horror is a [[splatbook]] for Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 that is full of useful content and advice for running horror themed adventures. It has new rules, character classes, prestige classes, spells, feats, items, monsters, and more. It's worth checking out if you are running a horror adventure even if you aren't playing 3.5. Although the book does have some good ideas in it, it's obvious that the writers didn't really understand how to make things scary.

==New Demigod==
The book introduces [[Cas]], the moose-headed demigod of spite. Why? That's not scary. There are so many other gods in D&D that are a lot scarier and this was all they could come up with?

==New Rules==
The book adds several new optional rules for running horror games. One of theses new mechanics is taint, which represents evil as a force that warps places and living things. Physical taint is represented by the corruption score, and mental taint is represented by the depravity score. It's largely based on the taint mechanic found in the 3rd Edition [[Oriental Adventures]] that's largely there to recreate the one found in [[Legend of the Five Rings]]. It also has optional rules for how characters may react to horrifying scenes or situations.

==New Classes==
There were only two new basic classes introduced here, but holy shit, did they end up finding a niche. [[Archivist]] is one of the rare few Tier 0 classes, and basically is a "divine-oriented wizard", including the need of a prayerbook (aka divine spellbook) to keep up with their spells. [[Dread Necromancer]] is objectively the best "true" necromancer type class in 3rd Edition, and possibly of any other edition as well.

These two classes alone made Heroes of Horror a pretty decent purchase, and introduced the optimization boards to months of fun stuff. Dread necro isn't broken without effort to do so, but when paired up with the Ur-priest and True Necromancer prestige classes, it becomes a thing of unholy beauty.

===[[Prestige classes]]===
* [[Corrupt Avenger]] : One who has become obsessed with vengeance against a specific organization or creature type. The higher their corruption, they more powerful spells they gain from this class. If the corrupted avenger is a fallen paladin, they get some extra abilities depending on how many paladin levels they have. To qualify for this class, the character must have moderate taint.
* [[Death Delver]] : One who has developed a fascination with death. The character gains divine spells and abilities mainly relating to death. At tenth level, the character gains the ability to cheat death exactly 9 times. To qualify for this class, the character must have had a near death experience. Notable in that it's one of the few ways for good-aligned characters to rebuke undead.
* [[Dread Witch]] : A spellcaster who specializes in causing fear and powering themselves up using their own fear. To qualify for this class, the character must have failed a saving throw against a fear effect.
* [[Fiend-Blooded]] : A spellcaster who draws power from their fiendish ancestry. It is easiest for a sorcerer to qualify for this class and is one of the best prestige classes for a sorcerer.
* [[Purifier of the Hallowed Doctrine]] : A divine spellcaster who specializes in purifying the world of taint. To qualify the character must be able to turn undead.
* [[Tainted Scholar]] : An arcane spellcaster who gains power from forbidden knowledge. The higher their corruption and depravity, the more powerful they become. They can increase the power of their spells by paying hitpoints to use their own blood as a spell component. A character must have moderate or higher depravity to qualify. Up there with Beholder Mage, Illithid Savant and Ur-Priest in terms of sheer ability to break the game when optimized, due to being able to substitute their Taint score for their main casting stat. Since, if you are clever, it is possible to start with a massive taint score, and there are ways to negate the downsides of Taint, this class is an example of something that is flavorful and balanced right up until the point that the munchkin finds it, at which point it becomes cheese of the strongest variety.

==New Monsters==
The book introduces several new monsters. It is a bit disappointing that the book didn't have more. Most of them are actually not that scary and some are completely forgettable. Several of them probably would have been more appropriate to put in different books. Of these monsters, only the cadaver golem and the bloodrot appeared in 4th edition, and none have returned yet for 5th, though a few of them do have fans who would like to see them come back.
* Bane Wraith: A more powerful [[Wraith]] that loves to get revenge on people by murdering all of their friends and family. It can use illusions to appear to be a living person. It can read people's minds to find out who their loved ones so it can hunt them all down. Humanoids it kills come back as regular wraiths.
* Bloodrot: A liquid undead resembling an [[Slime|Ooze]] formed from the remains of somebody who died from being melted in acid. It infects enemies with a magical disease called blood fever that is difficult to cure and can hide inside of the bloodstream of anybody who is infected. Those infected with blood fever will also attract more bloodrots to them since they can also sense the location of infectees over long distances. Like many oozes, they can also split into smaller bloodrots when hit with piercing or slashing weapons. It reappeared in 4th edition, but without any of its unique mechanics.
* Bog Imp: Lawful evil [[Fey]] creatures that lives in swamps that have the ability to make people sink into the swamp and drown just by looking at them. Elves who are killed this way turn into new bog imps. They look suspiciously similar to the gremlins from the movie Gremlins.
* Boneleaf: An [[aberration]] that resembles a plant. It has razor sharp leaves and can lure people towards it with illusions. Multiple boneleaves in an area are actually parts of the same entity connected by underground nerves, so what one boneleaf learns, all the ones connected to it also learn. One of the more forgettable monsters in the book, as there are tons of other monsters in the game that can do the same things a boneleaf can and it doesn't stand out from them. An aberration that spreads itself over a large area like a plant is a great concept and sounds like it could be a big threat, but the boneleaf doesn't live up to that potential.
* Corruption Eater: An aberration resembling a ghoul with a tongue covered in small mouths and barbed tentacles in place of arms. It drains the corruption score of those it hits with it's bite attack, and it has a breath weapon that can increase the target's depravity score which it can only use after draining enough corruption. It is vulnerable to attacks by enemies that have zero corruption and depravity.
* Taint Elemental: An [[Elemental]] made of taint. It's attacks can greatly increase the target's corruption score.
* Dusk Giant: Dusk giants are man eating [[giant]]s that change size depending on how much flesh they have recently eaten and get more befit from eating intelligent creatures. They can grow up to 20 feet tall when well fed, and shrink down to just over 6 feet tall when starving. Their magical abilities also increase when they are well fed, and they always are surrounded by an aura of shadow that darkens bright lights and causes despair. You might want to use this monster if you want to run an Attack on Titan inspired game.
* Cadaver Golem: Similar to a [[flesh golem]] but more intelligent. It can gain new skills and abilities by adding new body parts to itself. The cadaver golem later appeared in 4th edition, but no longer could gain skills and abilities from assimilated flesh.
* Grey Jester: Because no book of horror monsters is completed without a killer clown. A grey jesters is an evil fey creature that can permanently steal all joy from anyone who laughs or otherwise feel good in it's presence, and may turn them into slaves called bleak ones if they have less than or equal hit dice than the grey jester. If it can't make you laugh with it's performance it can instead force you to laugh with the Tasha's Hideous Laughter spell which it casts by touching you with it's hands or the scepter it always carries.
* Phantasmal Slayer: A ghostly creature that looks like the viewer's worst fear. Anybody who sees a Phantasmal Slayer is affected as though hit by the phantasmal killer spell. It's touch can cause the victim to instantly drop dead from fear.
===Templates===
* Tainted Minion: If a humanoid's corruption score becomes too high, they drop dead and rise as a tainted minion.
* Tainted Raver: If a humanoid's depravity score becomes too high, they are driven permanently insane and become a tainted raver. They are [[Angry Marines| always angry, all the time]]
* Unholy Scion: If you want the villain of your campaign to be the Antichrist, this is the template you should apply to them. They are pure evil before they are even born yet. The mother of an unholy scion is permanently under the scion's control by an effect similar to the charm person or charm animal spell, even while the scion is still a fetus inside of them. The scion can also see through their mother's senses and use it's spell like abilities through them similar to a wizard's familiar. It also gains claw attacks and several spell like abilities depending on how many hit dice it has. This is the only one of the templates in the book that can be a player character, not that you are likely to find a DM who would let you.

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]

Exploring Eberron

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'''Exploring Eberron''' is an [[Eberron]] [[splatbook]] released by [[Keith Baker]] for [[Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition]] in August 2020. It is intended as a companion for "Eberron: Rising From the Last War", WoTC's official 5e campaign guide for the setting, although its own canonicity is... hard to place.

==Chapter 1: Discovering Eberron==
Talks in detail about Eberron's ancient and recent history, fleshes out what Cyre was like before the Mourning, expands upon the Last War, and talks about both Eberron's approach to magic and its relationship with [[artificer]]s.

==Chapter 2: Races of Eberron==
Expands upon five major races unique to Eberron; [[Changeling]]s, [[Kalashtar]], [[Shifter]]s, [[Warforged]], and the [[Elves]] of Aerenal.

==Chapter 3: Faiths of Eberron==
Talks more about religion and how it works in the Eberron world, expanding upion the role of the divine and the place of [[aasimar]]s in particular before generally expanding upon the Silver Flame, the Blood of Vol, the Sovereign Host, the Dark Six, the Cults of the Dragon Below, and other "unusual" faiths of the setting.

==Chapter 4: Uncharted Domains==
Expands upon four particular regions of Eberron glossed over in the official book; the monster nation of [[Droaam]], the fledgling goblin nation called the Heirs of Dhakaan, the Mror Holds, and the Thunder Sea.

==Chapter 5: Planes of Existence==
Expands upon the planes unique to the [[Orrery]], the defining cosmology of Eberron.

==Chapter 6: Character Options==
New backgrounds, new racial profiles, new racial feats, and new subclass options.

'''Aasimar:''' Eberron's unique cosmology leads to a few unique aasimar subraces.
::''Court Aasimar'' are born to elven parents, gaining +1 Dexterity, the Fey Ancestry and Trance traits, Elvish as a bonus language, and the trait '''Guidance from the Past'''; this only becomes available from 3rd level, and lets the aasimar spend an action to gain Advantage on all Wisdom checks and saves for 1 minute 1/day.
::''Seeker Aasimar'' draw power from blood - theirs, and that of those around them, living manifestations of the Blood of Vol's creed.
::''Fernian Aasimars'' are connected to the plane of Fernia; they use the stats of Scourge Aasimar, except they replace Celestial Resistance and Light Bearer with the traits '''Fernian Resistance''' (Fire and Necrotic), '''Shroud of Flame''' (Radiant Consumption does Fire damage, not Radiant), and '''Spirit of Fire''' (can cast Produce Flames cantrip with Charisma).
::''Mabaran Aasimars'' likewise are connected to the plane of Mabar. They use the stats of Fallen Aasimar, except they replace Healing Hands and Light Bearer with '''Consuming Touch''' (1/day, as an action, make a melee spell attack (Charisma); target takes Necrotic damage equal to your level, you regain HP equal to half damage inflicted) and '''Herald of Doom''' (you can cast Toll the Dead with Charisma).

'''Aereni Elves''' gain +1 to either Int or Wisdom, Expertise with one skill or tool proficiency granted by race, class or background, and a Cleric or Wizard cantrip of their choice.

'''Ruinbond Dwarves''' are aberrant-tainted dwarves from the Mror Holds, causing them to be born with "assimilated" aberrant symbionts and, optionally, further mutations. Dwarves with this subrace gain +1 Cha and the racial traits '''Personal Symbiont''' (you can cast 1 cantrip with Charisma from the following list, which you can change after completing a long rest, but only whilst you have the physical mutation embodying it exposed: Acid Splash, Guidance (Self Only), Infestation, Light, Mage Hand, Poison Spray, Ray of Frost) and '''Symbiont Mastery''' (you gain a bonus "magic item attunement slot" which can only be used with items that have Symbiotic Nature - also, you can freely end your attunement to such items after a long rest).

'''Dhakaani''' are the [[goblinoid]]s of Eberron, gaining unique abilities compared to the "common" goblinoids offered by Volo's Guide. Basically, they're variant statblocks to replace the generic 5e [[Hobgoblin]], [[Goblin]] and [[Bugbear]] with ones more rooted in Eberron lore.
::''Ghaal'dar'' are the Eberronian [[hobgoblin]]s; +2 Constitution, Medium, Base speed 30 feet, Darkvision 60 feet, with the racial trait '''Discipline''' (Advantage on saves vs. Charm). They have to take one of two subraces, representing their racial castes; Guide or Soldier. Both subraces get a variant of the canon hobgob's "Saving Face" trait which only applies to two rolls instead of Saving Face's three.
:::Guide: +1 Int or Cha, '''Lead by Example''' (Saving Face, but only for ability checks and saving throws) and '''The Guiding Arts''' (free proficiency in 2 of the following skills: History, Medicine, Performance, Persuasion).
:::Soldier: +1 Str or Dex, '''Strength in Unity''' (Saving Face, but only for attack rolls and saving throws), and '''The Arts of War''' (free proficiency in 2 of the following sills: Athletics, Intimidation, Perception, Survival).
::''Golin'dar'' are the Eberronian [[goblin]]s; +2 Dexterity, Small, speed 30 feet, Darkvision 60 feet, and the Lightfoot [[Halfling]] ability '''Naturally Stealthy'''. They too have a pair of subraces; Artisan or Kesh'dar.
:::Artisan: +2 Intelligence, free proficiency with one artisan's tool.
:::Kesh'dar: +1 Wisdom, '''The Silent Arts''' (Expertise with Stealth).
::''Guul'dar'', the Eberronian [[bugbear]]s, are characterized by their bravery, and are almost mechanically identical to the core version, except they can swap their +1 Dexterity for +1 Constitution and trade '''Sneaky''' and '''Sneak Attack''' for '''Brave''' (Advantage on saves vs. Fear) and '''Stand by the Strong''' (if an ally within 30 feet fails a save vs. Fear, you can spend your Reaction to let them reroll that save).

'''Gnolls''' on Eberron are not the mindless monsters of 5re lore, but a fully sapient and rational people who have turned their backs on their demon worshipping past. The WotC book acknowledges this, but doesn't make them playable. This book amends that mistake. Gnoll PCs get +1 Constition, +2 Strength or Dexterity. They are Medium with base speed 30 feet and Darkvision 60 feet. Their racial traits are '''Bite''' (can do 1d4+Str bonus Piercing damage with unarmed strikes), '''Hunter's Senses''' (free proficiency with either Perception, Stealth or Survival), and '''Rampage''' (if you make a bite attack or reduce a creature to 0 HP, you can spend a bonus action to move up to half your speed and make either a weapon attack or a bite attack).

'''Artificer:''' This class gains a couple of new infusions, as well as two new subclasses.
::The '''Forge Adept''' practices a tradition developed by the ancient Dhakaani, focusing on augmenting weapons and armor, and learning how to wield a piece of their soul as a weapon. They gain free proficiency with smith's tools, and the bonus spells Armor of Agathys, Shield of Faith, Spiritual Weapon, Warding Bond, Beacon of Hope, Remove Curse, Death Ward, Fire Shield, Banishing Smite and Wall of Force. Their Battle Ready feature (3rd level) grants them both Proficiency with Martial Weapons and the ability to use Intelligence for attack & damage rolls with magic weapons. Their other 3rd level feature, Gaal'Shaarat, lets the artificer create a bonus infused simple or martial melee weapon that grants a +1 bonus to attack & damage rolls (increasing to +2 at 8th level and +3 at 13th level) and has the "return when thrown" power. The gaal'shaarat only functions for the Forge Adept. At 5th level, they gain the Extra Attack feature. At 9th level, they gain Runes of War, which is a 30ft aura from the artificer that can be activated as an action Int modifier times per day, which lasts for 1 minute and gives all selected creatures within its area of effect +1d4 Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning or Thunder damage with their weapon attacks. Finally, 15th level gives them the Perfect Weapon feature; at the start of each turn they can lower their gaal'shaarat's to hit and damage bonuses to boost their AC (+1 AC per -1 to both attack roll and damage roll), and after completing a long rest, they can apply either of two bonus enchantments to their gaal'shaarat; Resistance to Psychic Damage + Immunity to Charm and Fear, or +1d6 Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning or Thunder damage.
::The '''Maverick''' is a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none artificer whose chaotic experimentation has imbued them with spellcasting abilities beyond those of the common artificer. The Maverick's enhanced spell list goes beyond the normal "bonus spells" class feature. Instead, they start with the 3rd level features Arcane Breakthroughs (choose either [[Bard]], [[Cleric]], [[Druid]], [[Paladin]], [[Ranger]], [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Sorcerer]] or [[Wizard]]; you can learn these spells as if they were artificer spells...and you get another class's spell list to play with at levels 5, 9, 13 and 17 - also, you gain a bonus spell memorization slot for 1st through 5th level spells that can only be filled by one of these bonus spells) and Cantrip Specialist (you gain +1 cantrip, and can swap out one of your known cantrips as part of a short rest). At 5th level, they gain Cantrip Savant (+1 to attack rolls and spell save DC with artificer cantrips or Breakthrough cantrips, increases by +1 at 9th and 15th level, can replace a cantrip as an action 1/day). At 9th level, they gain both Superior Breakthroughs (an Arcane Breakthroughs bonus spell can be cast with a +2 slot level bonus Int modifier times per day) and Work in Progress (1/rest, you can use an action to swap out one of your prepared spells). Finally, 15th level brings with it the Final Breakthrough (a second bonus Arcane Breakthrough spell slot, plus a bonus spell slot for 5th level artificer spells).

'''Bard:''' College of the Dirge Singer. Despite the name's association with bardic [[necromancer]]s, the Eberronian dirge singer is a military morale booster and oral historian, in a tradition created by the Dhakaani goblinoids. Its 3rd level features are Broad Inspiration (Guidance as a bonus cantrip, can grant Bardic Inspiration to two creatures within 60 feet by spending a use as a bonus action, Bardic Inspiration die remains d6 at 5th level and becomes a d8 at 10th level and a d10 at 15th level) and Keeper of History (gain Proficiency in either History or Performance - if already proficient in both, then gain Proficiency in either Arcana, Intimidation or Persuasion, and also gain Expertise in either History or Performance). 6th level brings with it the Commanding Voice (when an Inspired ally attacks, you can spend a reaction to grant it an extra attack with Inspiration). Finally, 14th level brings with it the Master Commander feature (you can use Countercharm as a bonus action, Countercharmed allies gain +d4 to their ability check or saving throw).

'''Cleric:''' The Mind Domain is a blending of divine magic and [[psionics]], and is associated with deities of the cerebral or the insane. The [kalashtar]] [[Path of Light]], and its dark counterpart the [[Path of Inspiration]] are associated with this domain, but so are the [[Cults of the Dragon Below]]. Its 1st level features are Flash of Insight (can reroll an ability check result, before learning if it succeeds or fails, 2/short rest) and Psychic Force (cleric spells and cantrips you cast can change Radiant damage for Psychic Damage). Their 2nd level Channel Divinity is Psychic Feedback (if a creature within 30 feet has to make a Wisdom save, use your reaction + Channel Divinity to impose Disadvantage - also, inflict Psychic damage equal to half your cleric level if the check wasn't prompted by a spell you cast). 6th level grants the feture Gestalt Anchor (when you're conscious, you and allies within 10 feet gain +2 to Int, Wis and Cha saves). 8th level grants the Potent Spell feature. Finally, at 17th level, they gain Bend Reality (grant an ally within 30 feet a nat 20 on a failed save 1/rest).

'''Druid:''' Circle of the Forged. As the name implies, this is primarily a Circle associated with [[Warforged]] [[druid]]s, who seek to find a way to assume animal form whilst retaining their nature as living constructs. However, other races have also learned from their experiments, seeking to blend artifice and primal magic to become mechanical animals. Druids of this Circle can shapeshift into CR 1 or less creatures from 2nd level, and from 6th level their Wild Shape CR limit becomes "1/3rd Druid Level, rounded down" - they don't follow the normal table. Their 2nd level feature is Skin of Steel (in Wild Shape, you look like a warforged version of an animal, but this gives you +2 AC, Advantage on saves vs. Poison, Resistance to Poison, Immunity to Disease and Magical sleep, and don't need to eat, drink, breathe or sleep). 6th level brings with it Elemental Fury (when you enter Wild Shape, choose either Acid, Cold, Fire or Lighting; your first melee attack of each turn can be imbued with that energy by spending a spellslot; it does +d6 damage per slot level, up to +5d6, and the target then falls afoul of a 5eification of a 4e style ongoing effect depending on which damage type you used). 10th level brings with it Adamantine Hide (Wild Shape gains Resistance to Nonmagical Physical Damage, plus you can shift to Wild Shape as a reaction to damage and thus take the damage from your beast form), and 14th level brings Constructed Perfection (Wild Shape grants Immunity to Charm, Fright, Paralsysis, Petrification, Poisoned and Poison Damage).

'''Monk:''' The Way of the Living Weapon is a collection of different martial arts traditions developed by nonhuman races of Eberron to better exploit their natural weaponry in combat. The Forged Heart was developed by [[Warforged]], the Nightmare Shroud by [[Kalashtar]], the Traveler's Blade by [[Changeling]]s, and the Weretouched by [[Shifter]]s (obviously). Mechanically, this gives the player the option to choose one of these four styles as the basis for their 3rd level feature (Martial Discipline) and their 17th level feature (Perfect Form). All Monks on this subclass gain the 3rd level features Fists of Bone and Steel (martial arts damage die with unarmed strikes is d6 at 3rd level, d 8 at 5th, d10 at 11th and d12 at 17th) and utable Strike (unarmed strikes can do slashing, bludgeoning or piercing damage as you choose), the 6th level feature Manifest Blow (After each long rest, choose either Magical Bludgeoning, Magical Piercing, Magical Slashing, Cold, Lightning, Necrotic, Psychic or Thunder; your first attack on each turn does +1d6 damage of that type), and the 11th level feature Reflexive Adaptation (can spend 1 ki point to add +1d20 to an Athletics or Acrobatics check, Manifest Blow increases to +2d6). A character doesn't have to take the same substyle for both Martial Discipline and Perfect Form, and a sidebar talks about how to flavor characters who take this path and either take the techniques not associated with their race, or just take the class without being one of those four races.

==Chapter 7: Treasures==
New magical items; common, Dhakaani, dragonmarks, miscellaneous and symbionts.

==Chapter 8: Friends and Foes==
A brief assortment of new monsters for the Eberron setting.

[[Category: Eberron]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Epic Level Handbook

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The Epic Level Handbook was a [[Splatbook]] for [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]] that gave rules for over level 20 play as well as many suggestions for Dungeon Masters wanting to run games over level 20. For several reasons, the book was a big disappointment.

==Epic Levels==
Unfortunately, just as how 3rd edition had serious balance issues in the normal levels, the Epic Level handbook was also extremely poorly balanced and gave very disappointing abilities to several classes. See the page for [[Epic Levels]] for the full details.

==Monsters==
Most of the monsters in this book have been forgotten in later editions but there were a few good ones.
* Abomination: The discarded mistakes of gods.
** Anaxim: A battle robot built by a god and thrown away due to it's ridiculously bad design. Look like something a [[Tinker Gnome]] would make if they tried to construct an evil robot and ended up giving it too many weapons and then tried to turn it into a helicopter. Can summon iron golems. Challenge Rating 22.
** Atropal: A stillborn god fetus returned as an undead. One of the few monsters in this book to appear in later edition. Can summon nightcrawlers Challenge Rating 30.
** Chichimec: Born from gods of air and sky. Except for a visible tail, it appears to be made entirely out of a large number of bird or bat wings stuck together. Can summon elder air elementals. Challenge Rating 21.
** Dream Larva: Born from gods of dreams. The first time you see on it looks like your worst fear, which may cause you to die of fright. If you survive this it looks like an eight-armed demon made of worms. Can summon nightwalkers. Challenge Rating 31.
** Hecatoncheires: Born from proto-deities in the early multiverse. Has fifty heads and one hundred arms that each hold a sword or a boulder and stands on tentacles instead of legs and wears plate armor. Has one hundred attacks per round. Can summon another Hecatoncheires. Challenge Rating '''57'''. [[What]]
** Infernal: The child of a god and a demon or devil. Can summon balors or pit fiends depending on its alignment. Challenge Rating 26.
** Phaethon: Born from gods of fire. Can summon elder fire elementals. Challenge rating 34.
** Phane: Born from gods of fate or time. Can summon copies of its enemies from the past that are two levels lower. Challenge rating 25. Phanes reappeared in 4th edition with different abilities, though still time related.
** Xixical: Born from gods of evil, chaos, or ice. Can summon white dragons. Challenge rating 36.
* Behemoth: An outsider in the form of a giant animal. Strangely the only examples are Behemoth Gorilla (Challenge Rating 19) and Behemoth Eagle (Challenge Rating 18), and it doesn't have any template rules for making behemoths out of other animals.
* Brachyurus: The common ancestor of all wolves. Challenge Rating 23.
* Colossus: Colossal sized constructs similar to golems but way bigger.
** Stone Colossus: Challenge Rating 24.
** Flesh Colossus: Challenge Rating 27.
** Iron Colossus: Challenge Rating 33.
* Devastation Vermin: Colossal sized vermin.
** Devastation Centipede: Challenge Rating 39.
** Devastation Spider: Challenge Rating 41.
** Devastation Scorpion: Challenge Rating 42.
** Devastation Beetle: Challenge Rating 50.
* Advanced Dragon: New rules for dragons above great wyrm size.
* [[Epic Dragon]]s
** Force Dragon: Breaths force and is immune to force effects. Its body is covered in crystal scales that bend light, which make it harder to see as it gets older, and completely invisible at great wyrm size. Challenge Rating 13-59
** Prismatic Dragon: Has the prismatic spray spell for it's breath weapon and is immune to all light based attacks and also has a number of powerful light based powers and attacks. Challenge Rating 14-66.
* Primal Elementals: Colossal sized elementals of all four of the standard elements. All of them are Challenge Rating 35.
* Genius Loci: A living piece of landscape. When tricking your players with monsters like mimics isn't enough, it is time to trick them into walking into a place where everything is part of a monster. Challenge Rating 30.
* Gibbering Orb: Possibly the common ancestor of both [[Beholder]]s and [[Gibbering Mouther]]s. Has the gibbering attack of the gibbering mouther, plus several nasty eye rays and can extend mouths from its body on the end of pseudopods to bite from a distance. Challenge Rating 27.
* Gloom: A monstrous humanoid assassin that can step through shadows, walk completely silently, and has some abilities of the [[Rogue]] class. Challenge Rating 25.
* [[Golem]]:
** Mithral Golem: Challenge Rating 21.
** Adamantine Golem: Challenge Rating 25.
* Ha-Naga: Like [[Naga]]s but way bigger and nastier. Loves to cause the downfall of civilization and then live in the ruins left behind. Challenge Rating 22.
* Hagunemnon (Protean): The ultimate shapeshifter. They are constantly changing shape and copying parts of bodies of other creatures. They are racist against any creature that can't shapeshift. Challenge Rating 29. (They're also taken from the [[Approved literature#Science Fiction|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]] radio series, which is probably a bonus)
* Hoary Hunter: Icy fae creatures that hunt down targets to take them back to their realm as prisoners. Any blow from its sword that crits, knocks out, or would kill its target traps the victim inside of the sword. If you manage to kill it, it will come back to hunt you again, but will bring a buddy with it. You must escape from it five times before it will leave you alone. Challenge Rating 25. Rides on an icy horse called a Hoary Stead (Challenge rating 9)
* Hunefer: The [[Mummy]] of a demigod that want to reclaim its divine power, but likely never will. Challenge Rating 25.
* Lavawight: A skeleton with flaming hair and most of it's flesh replaced with magma. Has the infamous Blazefire ability, which can inflict damage that can't be healed by anything, thus rendering your character permanently crippled. Challenge Rating 23.
* Legendary Animal: Another giant animal type that looks like it should be a template but isn't. Examples are legendary bear (Challenge Rating 9) and legendary tiger (Challenge Rating 10).
* LeShay: Described as being to elves what elves are to humans, but more so. Basically a race of [[Mary Sue]]s then? They are survivors from a civilization that was erased from history. Challenge Rating 28.
* Living Vault: A powerful construct designed for containing and protecting valuable magic item. It can imprison foes inside of itself. Challenge Rating 33.
* Mercane: A race of tall blue-skinned beings who travel the multiverse as merchants. Challenge Rating 5.
* Mu Spore: A walking mushroom with a giant mouth on top that breaths deadly spores. Challenge Rating 21.
* [[Neh-thalggu]] (Brain Collector): A powerful incorporeal aberration from the Far Realm that often allies with [[Illithid]]s. It has the ability to teleport people's brains out of their skulls and into itself. Looks like a big yellow tentacle monster that walks on twelve spider legs. Challenge Rating 26.
* Prismasaurus: A dinosaur with the abilities of the prismatic spray spell. Why did we need this when the book already had the prismatic dragon? Challenge Rating 28.
* Ruin Swarm: A swarm of insects of biblical proportions. Challenge Rating 23.
* Shadow of the Void: An incorporeal undead made of freezing black flames. Those it kills turn into Winterwights.
* Shape of Fire: An incorporeal undead made of extremely hot flames. Also has the terrible Blazefire ability that Lavawights have. Those it kills turn into Lavawights.
* Sirrush: A cat like monster covered in silvery scales instead of fur. Challenge rating 24. Sometimes has 3 heads and Challenge rating 28.
* [[Slaad]]:
** White Slaad: The evolved form of a death slaad. Challenge Rating 21.
** Black Slaad: The evolved form of a white slaad. Challenge Rating 25.
* Tayellah: A gargantuan three-headed cat monster: Challenge Rating 24.
* Thorciasid: Human sized insect creatures that drain abilities and energy with a touch. Challenge Rating 22.
* Elder Titan: Bigger titans. Challenge Rating 30.
* Elder Treant: Bigger [[Treant]]s. Challenge Rating 25.
* Umbral Blot (Blackball): A [[Sphere of Annihilation]] with a mind of its own. Challenge Rating 32.
* Uvuudaum: A bizarre creature that has 8 human like arms but no legs and giant spike where it's face should be. Challenge Rating 27.
* Vermiurge: Looks like a giant scorpion but with wings and an extra pair of pincers. Is always surrounded by a swarm of bugs. Challenge Rating 24.
* Winterwight: A skeleton with cold flames for hair and most of it's flesh replaced with ice. Challenge Rating 23.
===Templates===
* Demilich: The next stage in the evolution of a [[Lich]]. It is reduced to a single body part (usually a skull)) encrusted with gems that can trap souls inside of them. Challenge rating +6.
* Paragon: An infamously powerful template. Represents a perfect example of the base creature's species. Challenge Rating +18, +16, or +12 depending on the base creature's HD.
* Pseudonatural Creature: A horrific tentacle monster that has taken on a form resembling a more familiar creature. Challenge Ratting +16, +13, or +10 depending on the base creature's HD. A less ridiculously powerful version of this template was later included in the 3.5 edition book [[Lords of Madness]]
* [[Worm That Walks]]: An evil wizard or sorcerer whose spirit possesses the worms that fed on their corpse. Challenge Rating +3.

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]

Epic Level Handbook

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Environment Book Series

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The '''Environment''' series were a series of [[splatbook]]s for [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]] that focused on different types of environment.

==Frostburn==
''Frostburn'' focuses on taiga and tundra environments as well as supernaturally cold planes. On the crunch side, it adds a bunch of ice themed abilities.

Mechanically it is notorious for introducing the Shivering Touch spell, which does 3d6 (~10.5) points of dexterity damage that stacks with itself for a third level spell. This spell is absolutely bonkers since enemies rarely have that high a dexterity score, and even ones that do will rarely survive multiple hits from it.

Frostburn is home to the following player races:
* [[Dwarf]] subrace: Glacier Dwarf
* [[Elf]] subrace: Snow Elf
* [[Gnome]] subrace: Ice Gnome
* [[Halfling]] subrace: Tundra Halfling
* [[Neanderthal]]
* [[Uldra]]

It's also home to the following monsters:
* Branta: A large, horse-like tundra herbivore with twin nose horns.
* Chilblain: An icy [[aberration]] vaguely resembling a [[scorpion]] made of ice.
* Dire Animals: Dire Polar Bear, Gylptodon, Megaloceros, Smilodon, Woolly Mammoth, Zeuglodon
* [[Domovoi]]: A small, [[brownie]]-like fey that inhabits humanoid homes to share their hearths. Taken from a Russian house sprite. Also a PC race.
* Dwarf, Glacier
* Dwarf, Midgard: A magical branch of the [[dwarf]] family tree, basically a more "mythically accurate" version of the Nordic dwarf. No PC stats are given, but their main abilities are the ability to lay a powerful Curse once per year, and to shapeshift into a single specific Small animal, and they are typed as Native Outsider rather than humanoid.
* [[Elemental Weird]]: Ice Weird, Snow Weird
* Entombed: An undead creature created from somebody killed by magical cold attack, encasing them in a protective shell of ice.
* [[Frost Folk]]: A human offshoot who struck a bargain with a dark entity of the cold, granting them protection against the cold and the ability to use it as a weapon. Also a PC race.
* [[Genie]], Qorrashi: A icy brach of the genie family, believed to be an arctic branch of the [[djinn]] family.
* Frostfell Ghost: A unique template for arctic ghosts.
* [[Frost Giant]]: Three new statblocks based on the iconic icy giant [[viking]]s of D&D.
* Goblin, Snow: A variant [[goblin]] adapted for life in the arctic. Also a PC race.
* [[Golem]], Ice
* Ice Beast: A magical construct consisting of an ice sculpture of an ordinary monster animated by magic.
* Ice Toad: A species of giant toad magically adapted to life in the arctic, imbued with the ability to radiate lethal cold.
* Icegaunt: A sapient undead that arises from the freeze-dried corpses of those who died in the arctic. Essentially the Ice [[Mummy]] as its own creature.
* Malasynep: An [[aberration]] that resembles a prehistoric, carnivorous whale, but one able to swim through ice and snow as well as water.
* Marzanna: A unique strain of [[hag]] native to the Frostfell.
* [[Neanderthal]]
* [[Orc]], Snow Shaman: An [[orc]] spellcaster native to the Frostfell.
* [[Slime|Pudding, White]]: An arctic-adapted version of the Black Pudding.
* Raven, Giant
* Rimefire Eidolon: A bizarre [[fey]] created from the remnants of the frostfell goddess Hleid, resembling a chunk of ice radiating freezing blue fire that walks about on many tentacles.
* Rusalka: A [[nymph]]-like aquatic [[fey]], the spirit of frostfell rivers, lakes and streams. Basically an arctic [[dryad]], but for water rather than trees.
* Shivhad: An enormous [[aberration]] that resembles a nightmarish, [[hydra]]-like mishmash of arctic king grab and a nest of lampreys.
* Snowcloak: A two-headed, manta ray-like [[aberration]].
* Spider, Snow: Assorted arctic-adapted giant spiders.
* Spirit Animals: Nature spirits of animals, what did you think they were?
* Tlalusk: A bizarre, six-legged, horned, tusked, alien-looking tundra herbivore.
* [[Uldra]]
* Urskan: A race of armor-wearing warlike humanoid polar bears.
* Vodyanoi: A male aquatic [[fey]] that inhabits the rivers and lakes of the frostfell.
* Winterspawn: Powerful undead wrriors that wield weapons of enchanted ice and which can employ freezing magic against their foes.
* [[Yeti]]
* [[Yuki-onna]]
* Animal, Arctic: Caribou, Arctic Fox, Sea Otter, Penguin, Seal, Walrus

==Sandstorm==
''Sandstorm'' focuses on badlands, desert, and wastelands. Unlike Frostburn, there's not that much fire or extraplanar material. On the crunch side, the book adds a bunch of sand based stuff and heat themed abilities that focus on impeding and exhausting enemies instead of just making them burn. Refreshingly, Sandstorm doesn't focus much on the pseudo-Egyptian pyramids that seem to dominate "desert" adventures.

Sandstorm is home to the following new PC races:
* [[Dwarf]]: Badlands subrace
* [[Elf]]: Painted subrace
* [[Half-Orc]]: Scablands subrace
* [[Asherati]]
* [[Bhuka]]

It's also home to the following new monsters:
* Ashen Husk: Undead created from those who died of thirst in the desert.
* [[Asherati]]
* Ashworm: Desert-dwelling cousin of the purple worm.
* [[Bhuka]]
* Camelopardel: A magical hybrid of giraffe and panther, a benevolent creature that can be thought of as the desert [[unicorn]].
* Chekryan: Mutated, psionic descendants of giant desert [[scorpion]]s.
* Crawling Apocalypse: Gargantuan undead sand-swimming mummified octopuses, created as weapons of war in an ancient war.
* [[Crucian]]: Armor-plated desert-dwelling humanoids. Also a PC race.
* Cursed Cold One (Gelun): Cursed undead that require so much warmth that only the heat of the desert day gives them respite from being frozen solid in blocks of ice.
* Desert Devil (Araton): A strain of [[devil]] surrounded by a perpetual personal sandstorm that constantly flays them to the bone, with only their regeneration keeping them alive.
* [[Dinosaur]]: Protoceratops
* Diprotodon: A giant marsupial, and a distant ancestor/cousin of the wombat.
* Dire Animal: Dire Hippo, Dire Jackal, Dire Puma, Dire Tortoise, Dire Vulture
* [[Dragon]], Sand: Adapted into 4e as the [[Chromatic Dragon|Brown Dragon]].
* Dry Lich: A desert-spreading [[cleric]]al or [[druid]]ic [[lich]] variant.
* Dune Hag: A [[hag]] native to the deserts, a cousin of the more well-known Annis Hag.
* Dunewinder: Giant predatory armor-plated worms, believed to be desert-dwelling cousins of the [[remorhaz]].
* Dustblight: Grotesque humanoid aberrations that feel on blood.
* Dustform Creature: Unique construct/undead hybrids created from the dust of long-decomposed creatures.
* Dust Twister: A desert-dwelling [[elemental]] of sand and wind, said to be the spawn of a [[jann]] and an air elemental.
* Forlorn Husk: Another undead monster created from those who died of thirst whilst lost in the desert.
* Giant Banded Lizard: An enormous predatory lizard. Basically an adaptation of the titular B-movie monster from "The Giant Gila Monster".
* Half-Janni: A template representing the hybrid offspring of mortals with the desert-dwelling lesser [[genie]]s known as [[jann]].
* Ironthorn: A predatory tree that feeds by impaling creatrues on its myriad lethal thorns.
* [[Therianthrope|Lycanthrope, Werecrocodile]]
* Marruspawn: Jackal-like humanoids created by the long-extinct culture/race known as the Marru, who used [[fleshcrafting]] to engineer living weapons to fight the bloody internecine wars that ultimately destroyed them.
* [[Mephit]]: Glass, Sulfur
* Mirage Mullah: [[Fey]] guardians of desert oases, renown for their cruelty.
* [[Ooze]]: Brine, Lava
* Porcupine Cactus: Cacti that explode in deadly showers of seeds and thorns when disturbed.
* Saguaro Sentinel: The [[treant]] of the desert, an enormous and sapient self-propelled cactus.
* Sand [[Golem]]
* Sand Hunter: Bizarre magical beasts that resemble a hybrid of lizard and jackal, with each pack having a shared group consciousness.
* Scarab Swarm, Death: A swarm of undead, flesh-eating scarab beetles.
* Scorpion Swarm
* [[Sphinx]]: Canisphinx, Crocosphinx, Saurosphinx, Threskisphinx
* Thunderbird: An enormous bird with elemental control over storms.
* [[Troll]], Wasteland
* Tumbling Mound: A desert-dwelling variant of the [[Shambling Mound]], seemingly made up of dried brush (or "tumbleweed").
* Waste Crawler (Anhydrut): An [[Inevitable]] resembling a cross between a scorpion and a flame-throwing tank that exists to keep [[mage]]s from destroying the deserts.
* Animals: Camel (Dromedary, Two-Humped, War), Hippopotamus, Horned Lizard, Jackal, Serval (Savannah Wildcat), Vulture
* Vermin: Brine Swimmer, Giant Ant Lion, Giant Termite

==Stormwrack==
''Stormwrack'' focuses on aquatic adventures, be they lake, sea, river, ocean or the plane of water. The part most people care about however is the ship-based stuff, with rules for alternate types of ships and naval combat.

Stormwrack is home to the following new PC races:
* [[Dwarf]] subrace: Seacliff
* [[Gnome]] subrace: Wavecraft
* [[Half-Elf]] subrace: Half-[[Aquatic Elf]]
* [[Halfling]] subrace: Shoal
* [[Aventi]]
* [[Aquatic Elf]]
* [[Darfellan]]
* [[Hadozee]]

And to the following new monsters:
* Amphibious Creature Template
* Anguillian: Aquatic aberrations that resemble vaguely humanoid abyssal eels.
* [[Aventi]]
* Blackskate: A vaguely manta ray-like undead crafted from the amalgamated detritus of the ocean floor.
* Caller from the Deeps: A monstrous and malevolent [[elemental]] from the blackest depths of the ocean that exists to consume life and light, using hypnotic melodies to entice its prey.
* Crab, Monstrous
* [[Darfellan]]
* [[Dinosaur]]: Archelon, Ichthyosaur, Mosasaur, Plesiosaur
* Dire Animal: Dire Barracuda, Dire Eel
* [[Aquatic Elf|Elf, Aquatic]]
* [[Golem]], Coral
* [[Hadozee]]
* Hammerclaw: Giant lobsters that can generate deadly sonic bolts.
* Hippocampus: Sea-dwelling magical beasts that resemble a horse version of a [[merfolk]]; fin-hoofed horse from the waist up, giant fish from the waist down.
* Leech, Giant
* [[Nereid]]: [[Nymph]]like water [[elemental]] fey, sort of a [[dryad]] of the seas.
* Ramfish: A giant fish with huge horns, which it uses to headbutt things to death.
* Scyllan: A bizarre [[fiend]] resembling a giant mixture of human and octopus.
* Seawolf: An aquatic version of the [[werewolf]].
* Sisiutl: Strange aquatic creatures that look like a two-headed giant sea snake - but with a human face at the conjunction of the two necks. Can shapeshift into self-propelled war canoes.
* Swarm: Jellyfish, Leech, Piranha
* Uchuulon (Slime Chuul): The result of an [[illithid]] trying to cerebromorphize a [[chuul]].
* [[Yugoloth]], Echinoloth: An aquatic yugoloth that consists of little more than a maw on legs surrounded by hooked tentacles.
* Animal: Albatross, Barracuda, Eel, Otter, Sea Lion (as in the pinniped, not the mer-lion), Seal, Snapping Turtle, Stingray
* Water-Adapted Vermin & Animals: General Rules, Monstrous Diving Spider, Sea Snake

==Cityscape==
''Cityscape'' focuses on urban adventures. It includes how to distinguish cities from each other, locations within cities, who lives in cities, and how the surrounding area effects a city as well as what to do on an "adventure" in the city. On the mechanical end, there's intrigue focused spells and character options.

Cityscape houses only new monsters; even the God of Cities, [[Urbanus]], actually debuted in [[Races of X|Races of Destiny]]. New monsters present in this splatlbook consist of:
* Siege [[Golem]]
* Cesspit [[Ooze]]
* Ripper (a repugnant [[aberration]] akin to a monstrous, vaguely humanoid insect that feeds on urban humanoids)
* Sepulchral Thief (a new template for a special kind of undead [[rogue]])
* Pest Swarm (urban animals conglomerated into a deadly swarm)
* Zeitgeist (a [[fey]] embodiment of a city's soul)

The most notorious crunch is the Primary Contact feat, which gives a free skill rank even if would put above the maximum for your level. This is the lone early entry method in 3E that allows bypassing skill requirements, even if it only reduces them by 1. Since it has to come at a feat level and only advances one skill, it's limited in use to classes that require specific number of skill point (generally 7 or 10) in ''one'' skill or in a build that somehow gains a general bonus feat the things you can actually do with it are somewhat limited. It's more flexible when retraining rules or the (far cheeseier) embrace/shun the darkness loop are abused to allow it to be taken at any level.

==Dungeonscape==
''Dungeonscape'' focuses on subterranean adventures, including those in stereotypical dungeons. There is also advice to building better dungeons.

Uniquely, Dungeonscape has no new PC races and only two new monsters - both of them recreations of obscure old-school beasties; the ''Ascomoid'' (a giant killer puffball fungus) and the ''Rot Grub Swarm''. It does have five new templates for monsters (Acidborn, Dungeonbred, Guardian, and Hivenest for general monsters, and Sentry Ooze for [[slime]]s). It does have a new standard class in the [[Factotum]], though.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Elder Evils

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[[Elder Evils]] are ancient evil beings of immense power whose existence threatens the world. Some Elder Evils are gods, while others are merely god like beings, such as extremely powerful [[Fiend]]s and creatures of the [[Far Realm]]. The concept of Elder Evils was first talked about in the book [[Lords of Madness]], which lists five beings of immense power that are respected by the Aboleths as the closest thing they have to gods. Later, the [[Splatbook]] Elder Evils went into detail about how to use Elder Evils in a campaign. Elder Evils are also mentioned in 4th and 5th edition.

=3rd Edition=
==Lords of Madness==
While most [[Aboleth]]s do not worship gods, there are five godlike beings that they pay respects to, which are described in the book [[Lords of Madness]].
* [[Bolothamogg]], Him Who Watches from Beyond the Stars: A primal force that keeps the multiverse separated from the outer dimensions.
* [[Holashner]], the Hunger Below: A gigantic centipede squid thing that eats its way through the material plane, leaving behind a black substance that can be compressed into Bilestone, a substance that debilitates non-aberrations.
* [[Piscaethces]], The Blood Queen: The origin of aboleths. She wanders throughout the multiverse spawning new aboleths. If she were to ever return aboleths would see it as proof that the multiverse isn't infinite.
* [[Shothotugg]], Eater of Worlds: A mass of liquid that travels between worlds, poisoning and parasitizing them and slowly changing the laws of the multiverse as it does so.
* [[Y'chak]], The Violet Flame: A pillar of violet flames concealing a form so horrifying it would destroy anyone who looked at it (a relative of [[Pale Night]] maybe?). It encourages mortals to worship evil gods and may be responsible for the creation of many of those gods.

==Elder Evils (the book)==
The book Elder Evils was released near the end of 3.5 edition as a tool for dungeon masters wanting to end their current campaign and switch to 4th edition, similar to how [[The Apocalypse Stone]] was released to give DMs in 2nd edition a way to end their campaigns before switching to 3rd. The Elder Evils described in the book are entities with the potential to end the world, and thus end the campaign if the players fail to stop them, or act as a satisfyingly epic final boss for the players. The book instructs the DM on how to base a campaign around stopping one of these beings. The book does not describe every detail of the campaigns like most books, but instead gives a general outline of the plot, plus the stats for major enemies the players will encounter, and details of the final dungeon, and what adjustments to make if the campaign is set in [[Faerun]] or [[Eberron]]. Many of the Elder Evils are not statted, as they are too powerful when fully unleashed for the players to stop, but instead only have stats for an aspect of them that the players can defeat.

===[[Atropus]]===
Known as The World Born Dead, Atropus is a moon sized undead creature that is as old as creation and desires the end of all life. It destroys worlds by crashing on them and then draining them of all positive energy. Atropus cannot be destroyed, but the players can drive it away. As Atropus approaches the world necromancy spells become more powerful and the dead begin to rise as undead spontaneously. Atropus itself has no stats, but the Aspect of Atropus is a CR 23 undead. Atropus is also infested with many kinds of undead, including famine spirits, advanced deathshriekers, rage winds, angels of decay, nightcrawlers, nightwalkers, nightwings, dread wraiths, and a single dread boneyard. Atropus is also a very hostile environment with no atmosphere unless it is about to collide with the world, and has a variety of effects that harm the living and boost the undead.

In the suggested campaign, Caira Xasten (human, level 5 bard, level 5 rogue, level 10 [[Ur-Priest]]) wants to attract Atropus to destroy the world to get revenge on the gods, blaming them for the death of her husband who was killed by a falling meteorite. To do this she and her cult first seek out a book about Atropus, then try to obtain the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] in order to learn the ''apocalypse of the sky'' spell which she will attempt to cast on a large city to attract Atropus with the mass death. Meanwhile, the world is also invaded by a powerful general of [[Orcus]] who also wants to summon Atropus named Gorguth ([[Bodak]], level 2 ranger, level 1 fighter, level 9 blackguard), who rides on a powerful construct named Skyshadow and leading his own army of the undead to cause mass death. After failing to stop either one of them, the players then must travel to Atropus and battle against a variety of undead monsters until they find and defeat the aspect of Atropus, which will cause Atropus to retreat.
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File:Map of Atropus's Face.jpg|so big that his face has a travel map.
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=== [[Father Llymic]] ===
Father Llymic is an entity from the [[Far Realm]] that sleeps in an icy prison that melts in darkness and thickens in sunlight. It wants to remake the world to be more hospitable to itself and its children, which it then creates by [[Nurgle|spreading a plague that]] [[Plaguebearer|turns the infected into creatures like itself]] [[Gellarpox Infected|known as brood spawn]]. The more people Father Llymic infects, the more he comes out of his sleep, and as it awakes the sun starts to go out, and darkness spells grow stronger while light spells weaken. He is called Father Llymic because he often projects an illusion of a friendly old man. Its true form is a massive demon like creature with scythes for arms, three eyes, and skin covered in icy crystal, with a CR of 18. Beings converted into brood spawn gain similar features.

In the suggested campaign, the player are sent to investigate the disappearance of a caravan that was attacked by a tribe of barbarians that worship Father Llymic. After this a huge glacier and icy weather spreads down from the mountain where Father Llymic is imprisoned and strange ice monsters start attacking people. Soon whole towns and villages are transformed into brood spawn as the weather gets worse and worse while the sun gets darker and darker. The players must travel up the mountain while battling through mad cultists and many kinds of brood spawn to face and defeat Father Llymic.

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===[[The Hulks of Zoretha]]===
The Hulks of Zoretha are five giants made of stone from another world that plan to exterminate all life on this plane to make room for them to repopulate it with their own kind. As they awaken, the moon turns red, causing people to experience uncontrollable rage. Four of the hulks are female and are each associated with a different element while the last one is male and has wings. They are also completely indestructible as long as they are asleep. All of them are CR 16.

In the suggested campaign, Soelma Nilaenish (elf, level 7 wizard, level 10 loremaster, level 1 rogue) hires the party to recover a copy of the Zoretha Scrolls, then later hires them again to protect the scrolls. She then travels with the party to stop the leader of the cult of Zoretha, Janwulf the Soulbiter (ice giant, level 11 bard). But after Janwulf is defeated Soelma betrays the party and takes control of the cult herself. Soelma is in fact horribly depressed and wants the world to be destroyed, while the old leader of the cult, Janwulf actually had no interest in waking up the hulks and just wanted power. The party then stops Soelma from completing the ritual to wake up the hulks but the moon doesn't return to normal and the whole world is at war. A single cultist escapes from the players and finishes the ritual to wake up the hulks and the players must then destroy them.

===The Leviathan===
An immense sea monster personifying primal chaos that will destroy the world if it ever wakes up. As it gets close to awakening, the world is affected by extreme weather. The Leviathan does not have stats, as it is too big for the players to fight, but the players may battle against aspects of the leviathan, which are CR 16, or an advanced aspect, which is CR 20.

In the suggested campaign, the players save a port town from a disaster and are sent to investigate the cause of the strange weather. The party then encounters an defeats a cult that worships the leviathan, but their leader, a mysterious man named Enshaddon, escapes. Enshaddon is actually an advanced vampiric [[Ixitxachitl]] with 16 cleric levels named Axihuatl. He is a worshiper of Demogorgon and wants to partially wake up the leviathan using a shard of chaos in order to flood the world. After the players first disrupt his plans, he sends Marcus Hape (human, level 4 rogue, level 4 assassin, level 4 thrall of Demogogon) to kill them. With the help of a sage named Mytus who provides the players with magic and equipment for underwater travel, the players attack a temple located in a hollow spine on the leviathan's back and interrupt Axihuatl's ritual to wake up the leviathan, causing him to lose control of the beast. Axihuatl then allies with the players because he does not want the leviathan to completely destroy the world. They must then travel deeper into the temple and throw the shard of chaos into a pit at the bottom to put the leviathan back to sleep.

=== [[Pandorym]] ===
In ancient times, a group of wizards wanted to blackmail the gods. So they summoned a powerful eldritch abomination from "the space 'between' the planes" named Pandorym, contracted it to destroy all the gods, immediately sealed it away before it could do so by imprisoning its mind and body separately, and used the threat of its reunification as the divine blackmail. Fortunately the wizards didn't implement a deadman's switch or anything, so the gods smote their stupid asses when they heard their first demands and wiped the group from the face of history. If made whole, Pandorym will first take revenge on the descendants of the wizards that imprisoned it, then kill all the gods as it was contracted to do. If the contract's completion doesn't return it "home", it'll destroy the universe out of frustration/boredom.

Pandorym's mindless body resembles a huge [[Sphere of Annihilation]] that moves towards anyone that tries to control it, which is kept in an unknown extradimensional prison. Pandorym's mind is sealed within a large near-indestructible crystal and is immensely powerful even without its body; the tiny leakage through the crystal is enough to corrupt nearby high level characters and obliterate the minds of weaker-willed folks, a small "fragment" of its mind is a ''CR 25'' Psionic threat, and the fully released mind is an unstatted behemoth that only divine intervention could stop...

...so far, so first-edition [[Tharizdun]]. It's unfortunate that Pandorym's sign interferes with the planar connections of the world (via a sky-spanning glyph) and makes conjuration+divine magic increasingly difficult as its mind gains influence. Presumably its fully released mind would completely block the world off and make divine intervention near impossible.

In the suggested campaign, Tune Majii (human, Level 2 bard, level 2 wizard) hires the player to find her missing father Lucather (quell, level 8 enchanter, level 10 loremaster), who has become enslaved to Pandorym. Meanwhile, the gods begin sending their mortal followers warnings that somebody is trying to unleash an unimaginably powerful evil. This person turns out to be the [[Inevitable]] named Obligatum VII (kolyarut, level 3 [[Hexblade]], level 5 [[Occult Slayer]]), our wiki's literal poster child of [[Lawful Stupid]]. Obligatum VII wants to release Pandorym because the poor old eldritch abomination entered into a bad-faith contract and ''must'' receive rightful legal remedy for the indignity, [[Lawful Stupid|regardless of the god-ending possibly-universe-ending consequences]]. The players will have to travel to the prison where Pandorym's mind is kept and defeat Lucather and Obligatum VII before they can smash the crystal open with Obligatum's adamantine sword. If the players succeed, they may have to travel to [[Mechanus]] and prevent Obligatum VIII's creation (who'd start this shit all over again).
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=== [[Ragnorra]] ===
Ragnorra is an entity of corrupted life that wants to remake all life to fit her own ideals of what life should be. She travels between worlds in the form of a red comet, which crashes down on the world and begins spreading her skin and nerves over the planet, warping all creatures into aberrations. As Ragnorra gets closer to landing, positive energy spells become stronger but also cause gross blemishes, Ragnorra's spores start to fall from the sky that turn things into swarms of pests, living things gain healing abilities but are slowly corrupted into aberrations, and eventually even the dead start rising as aberrations, while undead are forced to flee unless they are underground. When Ragnorra crashes onto a planet she is reduced to a fraction of her full size but is still gargantuan size and has is CR 19 in both her initial form after landing, and her True Mother form taken when she merges with the neurotangle.

In the suggested campaign, a cult that worships Ragnorra called the Malshapers attempts to attract Ragnorra to the player's world using kidnapped people and other stolen living entities as bait to guide her on her path to the world. The leader of the cult is Irthicax Vane ([[Zenythri]], level 17 monk), whose world was destroyed by Ragnorra and once fought against her, but eventually went mad and turned to worshiping her, though the players may be able to convince him to help stop her. As Ragnorra approaches, mysterious springs with healing properties start popping up everywhere that are controlled by the Malshapers. Swarms of vermin begin appearing in cities, and in response to this undead beings start showing up to fight them. As the red comet continues to get closer the undead all start leaving. While the players are investigating to see if the undead are planning anything, they get repeatedly attacked by low level rogues sent by the Malshapers. Then an [[Aboleth]] mage with the ability to breath air falls from the sky and enslaves the risen corpses of the Malshapers. Then Ragnorra crashes into the earth and creates an enormous crater full of aberrations and corrupt flesh. The players must travel across this crater to reach the center and confront Ragnorra. Once she has transformed into her True Mother form, the players must defeat her by breaking her connection with the planet, and thus forcing her to leave.

Getting her to crash into Atropus above might make for an interesting campaign.
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===[[Sertrous]]===
Sertrous was a powerful [[Obyrith]] that was killed in the distant past, but whose spirit clings to life in his severed skull. He was first killed for refusing to serve [[The Queen of Chaos]] but his spirit escaped to the material plane where he possessed a snake an made it into his new body. After he sent armies of snakes and monsters to attack mortals because he was jealous of the worship the gods received from them, he was then killed again by a Solar named Avamerin, but not before Sertrous revealed the secret that divine magic is possible to gain from any kind of faith, not just faith in a god. Avamerin at first didn't understand what Sertrous had said and shared the words with others, and when godless clerics started appearing as a result he was punished by being demoted to a Planetar. Avamerin then turned on his god and began working to bring Sertrous back to life. Avamerin now leads a cult of heretical [[Yuan-ti]] called The Vanguard of Sertrous that claims Sertrous is the true creator of the Yuan-ti. As Sertrous gets closer to returning to life, encounters with snakes and snake-like monsters become more and more frequent. Sertrous does not have stats because he is nothing but an immobile skull, but the players may fight against a CR 23 aspect of Sertrous.

In the suggested campaign, the players are hired to find out why a merchant has cut contact with his business partners and discover that he has fallen under the sway of a group of Yuan-ti who are lead by somebody named Seghulerak (Yuan-ti abomination, level 10 cleric, level 5 thaumaturgist) and do not worship the traditional Yuan-ti gods. Seghulerak and the Vanguard of Sertrous seize control of a major Yuan-ti city and start setting up ''serpentgates'' in temples around the world from which to launch invasions. The players investigate an infestation of snakes and interfere with the creation of one of these gates. The players eventually makes their way to the city where the Vanguard of Sertrous is based after many battles against Yuan-ti and other snake monsters and defeat Seghulerak, but her body vanishes when she is killed, leaving behind a pile of dead headless snakes. After some investigation the players learn about the Serpent Reliquary, an extradimensional temple that is the true base of the Vanguard. The players locate the portal the Reliquary and defeat Seghulerak again. After this they meet Avamerin, who will try to trick the players into leaving by lying that Sertrous never existed and this was all a test by the gods. If the players attack and defeat him, he is transformed into the aspect of Sertrous which the players must destroy. If the players are dumb enough to fall for his trick, he might send them to a layer of the abyss disguised as their home.

===[[Kyuss]], The [[Worm That Walks]]===
The Worm That Walks is an evil demigod named [[Kyuss]] that wants to conquer the world and bring about the age of worms to become a full god. As he gets closer to escaping his prison, the world becomes infested with giant centipedes and other worm-like monsters. [[Kyuss]] was once a prophet of an evil god who attempted to ascend to godhood by sacrificing all of his followers and transforming into a great monster made of worms, but he got stuck between mortality and godhood and trapped inside an obelisk. The Worm That Walks is a CR 20 aberration.

In the suggested campaign, Edwin Tolstoff (human lesser worm that walks, level 3 necromancer, level 3 cleric, level 10 true necromancer), escapes from his prison by having his grandchildren kill their mother and release him, causing spawn of Kyuss to start appearing. Edwin wants to release Kyuss from his prison because he hates being a worm that walks and hopes that Kyuss will either kill him or restore his humanity. The players are called to solve a murder mystery, whose culprit is a wererat named Draen, who works for Katarin Tolstoff. After solving this mystery, people are kidnapped and the players track them down to find an [[Avolakia]] who is turning his captives into spawn of Kyuss. Though the players defeat him, people continue disappearing all over the nation. When the party's spellcaster visits a local wizard's guild, they find that it has been ransacked and most of the wizard transformed into undead by Edwin. The most notable item he has stolen is a [[Well of Many Worlds]]. The Herald of Kyuss (Avolakia, level 8 cleric) working for Edwin then poses as an NPC ally the players know and tells them that a wizard named Emirikol the Chaotic is planning to destroy the universe by putting a [[Sphere of Annihilation]] into the well. This is a trick by Edwin to give him the chance to steal a Talisman of the Sphere from Emirikol while the players are fighting him. But Edwin is unable to find a sphere of annihilation, and so anonymously hires the players to go to the [[Tomb of Horrors]] and secretly follows them so that he can steal the sphere from the tomb. The players then must chase him to Wormcrawl island to stop him from using it to break Kyuss's prison. When he reaches the obelisk he completes the ritual and places the sphere of annihilation into the well of many worlds, creating a black hole and releasing Kyuss. The players will have to defeat Kyuss and stop the black hole from destroying reality if it isn't stopped by divine intervention. If you don't have the [[Exemplars of Evil]] book, which includes the stats and description of Edwin's grandchildren and Drean, it suggests replacing Edwin with a different villain. The book also suggests combining this plot with the [[Adventure Path]], ''Age of Worms'' from [[Dungeon Magazine]], which also features Kyuss.

===[[Zargon]]===
Zargon is an ancient evil who once ruled over [[Baator]] as the father of the [[Baatorian]]s before Asmodeus and his [[Baatezu]] strutted in and slapped their dicks on the table. Although he was defeated by Asmodeus, he could not be killed even by the gods and was imprisoned on the material plane. His horn is nearly indestructible and he will regenerate from it if the rest of his body is destroyed. Now he has given up on reclaiming Baator and wants to conquer the mortal world. As he gets closer to awakening the world is affected by extreme weather, including rains of slime that pollute water sources with a contagion that can turn people into [[slime]]s called Whelps of Zargon. Zargon is only CR 16, though according to the fluff he is capable of killing gods due to them being vulnerable to his powers.

Dorn (Cynidicean, Level 1 rogue, level 3 fighter, level 3 ranger, level 7 thrall of Juiblex), the son of Zargon's high cultists, flees from Cynidicea, only to be captured by gnolls and rescued by the party. Zargon begins to wake up as his cultists dig him up. Dorn then gets captured by the cult of Juiblex who tortured and eventually brainwashed him into joining them. The players are then hired by an archeologists named Vanessa (Tiefling, level 7 [[Archivist]], level 7 [[Entropomancer]]) to take her to Cynidicea. However she gets separated from the party on the way and finds her way to Cynidicea alone, where she ends up joining Zargon's cult. The awakening of Zargon attracts the attention of [[Juiblex]], who sends Dorn to make an alliance with Zargon. [[Zuggtmoy]] attempts to stop Juiblex by having their own cult frame the Juiblex's cult for murders, which the party investigates. Vanessa convinces Dorn to take control of Zargon's cult with her, and they sacrifice Dorn's father to speed up Zargon's revival. Several factions try to manipulate the players into leading them to Zargon's resting places and the players must play them against each other to find out about Zargon and where to find him. The players eventually make it to Zargon's tomb just as he is fully revived and defeat him and his cultists and ooze servants. But in order to destroy Zargon permanently, they will have to throw his horn into the Eye of Zargon deep underground.

==Dragon Magazine==
Two more being described as Elder Evils appeared in [[Dragon Magazine]].

Zurguth, The Feasting Vast is mentioned in the article Ecology of the Kaorti, in issue #358. Zurguth is an extremely powerful monster of the [[Far Realm]] in the form of an ocean of flesh. It accidentally created the [[Kaorti]] just by looking at a group of wizards who entered the Far Realm.

===[[Shothragot]]===
Shothragot is detailed in issue #362, in an article written similarly to a chapter of the Elder Evils book. Shothragot is an avatar of [[Tharizdun]] sealed beneath the temple of the Elder Elemental Eye, who works to free Tharizdun from his prison by collecting the 333 gems of Tharizdun. Shothragot itself is too big for the players to defeat and so doesn't have stats. Instead, the players must enter inside of Shothragot and fight the Essence of Shothragot, which is CR 22. As Shothragot gets closer to completing its goal the sky is covered in a Seal of Binding, similar to the one produced by Pandorym.

=4th Edition=
{{Dnd-stub}}
During 4th Edition, several of the Elder Evils were adapted by Dragon Magazine as potential sources of power for [[Warlock]]s. See [[Starspawn]] for details.

The 4th edition version of the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] describes the [[Tsochar]] god [[Mak Thuum Ngatha]] as an Elder Evil. And [[Kyuss]] gets 4th edition stats in Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead.

=5th Edition=
Zargon the Returner was listed as a possible patron for great old one warlocks in the Players Handbook. Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes describes the Elder Evils as the source of monsters known as [[Star Spawn]] and it includes a list of Elder Evils, which include both the elder evils from Lords of Madness, a few from the Elder Evils book, and some new ones.

* [[Ityak-Ortheel]], the Elf-Eater
* [[Dendar]], the Night Serpent
* [[Borem]] of the Lake of Boiling Mud
* [[Kezef]], the Chaos Hound
* [[Zargon]], the Returner
* [[Carmnod]], the Unseen
* [[Holashner]], the Hunger Below
* [[Piscaethces]], the Blood Queen
* [[Shothotugg]], the Eater of Worlds
* [[Y'chak]], the Violet Flame
* [[Bolothamogg]], Who Watches from Beyond the Stars
* [[Hargut]], of the Gray Pestilence
* [[Haask]], the Voice of Hargut
* [[Ragnorra]], the Mother of Monsters
* The Hulks of [[Zoretha]]
* [[Kyuss]], the Worm That Walks
* [[Tharizdun]], the Elder Elemental Eye
* [[Atropus]], the World Born Dead
* [[Pandorym]], the Utter Annihilation
* [[Haemnathuun]], the Blood lord
* [[Maram]] of the Great Spear
* [[Tyranthraxus]], the Flamed One
* [[The Queen of Chaos]]
* [[Father Llymic]], the Alien Thought Given Flesh

{{Template:D&D-Nonhuman-Deities}}

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]

Demihuman Deities

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'''Demihuman Deities''' is a [[splatbook]] for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 2nd Edition tied to the [[Forgotten Realms]] campaign setting. It is, at least spiritually, a successor to the earlier [[Monster Mythology]] splatbook, in that it examines the gods of assorted [[demihuman]] pantheons in greater detail, providing an outline of each god's personal stats and information on their priesthood, including holy ceremonies, sacred days, religious apparel, and major centers of worship in the Forgotten Realms. In contrast to its precursor, which covered all of the sapient non-human races of [[Dungeons & Dragons]], ''Demihuman Deities'' concentrates on just the [[demihuman]] races - [[Dwarves]] (plus [[Duergar]]), [[Elves]] (plus [[Drow]]), [[Gnome]]s and [[Halfling]]s.

==[[Seldarine|Drow Pantheon]]==
* [[Eilistraee]]
* [[Ghaunadaur]]
* [[Kiaransalee]]
* [[Lolth]]
* [[Selvetarm]]
* [[Vhaeraun]]

==[[Morndinsamman|Dwarven Pantheon]]==
* [[Abbathor]]
* [[Berronar Truesilver]]
* [[Clangeddin Silverbeard]]
* [[Deep Duerra]]
* [[Dugmaren Brightmantle]]
* [[Dumathoin]]
* [[Gorm Gulthyn]]
* [[Haela Brightaxe]]
* [[Laduguer]]
* [[Marthammor Duin]]
* [[Moradin]]
* [[Sharindlar]]
* [[Thard Harr]]
* [[Vergadain]]

==[[Seldarine|Elven Pantheon]]==
* [[Aerdrie Faenya]]
* [[Angharradh]]
* [[Avachel]]
* [[Corellon Larethian]]
* [[Deep Sashelas]]
* [[Erevan Ilesere]]
* [[Falarathael]]
* [[Fenmarel Mestarine]]
* [[Hanali Celanil]]
* [[Khalreshaar]]
* [[Labelas Enoreth]]
* [[Lashrael]]
* [[Rillifane Rallathil]]
* [[Sehanine Moonbow]]
* [[Shevarash]]
* [[Solonor Thelandira]]
* [[Zandilar]]

==Gnome Pantheon==
* [[Baervan Wildwanderer]]
* [[Baravar Cloakshadow]]
* [[Callarduran Smoothhands]]
* [[Flandal Steelskin]]
* [[Gaerdal Ironhand]]
* [[Garl Glittergold]]
* [[Nebelun]]
* [[Segohan Earthcaller]]

==Halfling Pantheon==
* [[Arvoreen]]
* [[Brandobaris]]
* [[Cyrrollalee]]
* [[Sheela Peryroyl]]
* [[Tymora]]
* [[Urogalan]]
* [[Yondalla]]

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category: Forgotten Realms]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Complete Book Series

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'''The Complete Books of D&D''' were a series of [[splatbook]]s for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] and [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]], which expanded upon player options in various ways.

In AD&D, the original Complete Books were released as part of the Player's Reference series, divided into the "Complete (Class)'s Handbook" titles, which looked at that specific class, and the "Complete Book of X", which focused on races. After the Player's Reference releases finished, further entrants were released as part of the Dungeon Master's Reference series and the Campaign Reference Series.

In 3e, the books were simply titled "Complete X", with "X" standing for whatever kind of character class or archetype they were focused on detailing. The initial wave of books were 3.5 translations of "class splatbooks" from 3.0, but these were followed by a mixture of new ideas & sequels to the previous books.

==AD&D Books==
===The Complete Fighter's Handbook===
''The Complete Fighter's Handbook'' was divided into five chapters.

Chapter 1, '''Character Creation''' is first and foremost a simple, easy to understand guide to creating your [[Fighter]]. It also includes expanded rules for using skills to create armor, bows & arrows, and weapons.

Chapter 2, '''Warrior Kits''' adds the following new [[kits]], and examines how kits interact with the various [[multiclassing]] rules, as well as how to abandon a kit (for plaers) and how to modify or create fighter kits (for DMs).
* [[Amazon]]
* [[Barbarian]]
* Beast-Rider
* Berserker
* [[Cavalier]]
* [[Gladiator]]
* Myrmidon
* Noble Warrior
* Peasant Hero
* Pirate/Outlaw
* [[Samurai]]
* Savage
* Swashbuckler
* Wilderness Warrior

Chapter 3, '''Role-Playing''' is, well, all about how to roleplay fighters. It details certain archetypical (in [[Gygax]]'s eyes, at least) fighter personalities and looks extensively at how to run a warrior campaign, including the level of magic in the world, how many types of warrior exist in the world, and campaigns focused on the archetypes covered in the previous chapter on [[kits]]. It ends with brief notes on running a military campaign and the differences between a campaign and a mini-series.

Chapter 4, '''Combat Rules''' is perhaps the most stereotypical of the chapters; page after page of rules for upgrading combat, such as ambidexterity, style specialization, martial arts and exotic melee manuevers, all with the trademark convoluted mechanics of [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]]. It's the longest chapter in the book.

Finally, Chapter 5, '''Equipment''' is all about new gear and new rules relating to gear, such the effects of armor, wearing piecemeal armor, and so forth.

===The Complete Thief's Handbook===
''The Complete Thief's Handbook'' was divided into eight chapters.

Chapter 1 is '''Role-Playing Thieves''', a basic section explaining the various backgrounds a thief could have as well as some sample motivations and stereotypes with which to base a thief around.

Chapter 2, '''Proficiencies''', introduces a whole slew of non-weapon proficiencies for the Thief to look into as well as how to use them.

Chapter 3 is the obvious '''Thief Kits''', which adds the following new [[kits]], and examines how kits interact with the various [[multiclassing]] rules, as well as how to abandon a kit (for plaers) and how to modify or create fighter kits (for DMs).
* Acrobat
* Adventurer
* [[Assassin]]
* Bandit
* Beggar
* Bounty Hunter
* Buccaneer
* Burglar
* Cutpurse
* Fence
* Investigator
* Scout
* Smuggler
* Spy
* [[Swashbuckler]]
* Swindler
* Thug
* Troubleshooter

Chapter 4, '''Thieve's Guild''', introduces the prospect of a Thieve's Guild in the setting and how to build one and how it can interact with the larger setting. It also includes rules about joining or even running a guild of their own.

Chapter 5, '''Tools of the Trade''', goes over not only the special skills available to the Thief, but also the various mundane and magical tools available to either go about their business or cover their tracks.

Chapter 6, '''The Arts of Deception: Classic Cons''', is a mostly RP-based chapter, focused upon a few classic tricks a Thief can use for their own schemes.

Chapter 7, '''New Rules for Thieves''', introduces few extra rules to work with: Poisons, knocking out targets, and ways to make lock-picking harder.

Chapter 8, '''The Thief Campaign''', focuses on how to run a thief campaign, including the level of magic in the world, the various ways thieves and their guilds interact with the campaign, and a few sample ideas of hooks for a thief campaign.

===The Complete Priest's Handbook===
The ''Complete Priest's Handbook'' covers not only the priests themselves, but also various ways to fit religion into campaigns. This book spans five chapters

Chapter 1, '''Priests, Gods, and the World''', explains various key facets of mythologies, namely how gods come to be, their present existence, and their influence on mankind, and how to fit this into your setting.

Chapter 2, '''Designing Faith''', is the most in-depth of the chapters, as it explains everything about priesthoods in both fluff and crunch. Not only is there a whole section dedicated to the various duties and rituals a priest may be expected to carry out, but it also has various rules on how to put together sub-classes of the Priest that can differ quite drastically from the Cleric or Druid. The biggest part of this is the rather dizzying list of sample priesthoods to make, each with differing Spheres of Influence to work with and differing powers as opposed to just Turning Undead.

Chapter 3, '''Priest Kits''' adds the following new [[kits]], and examines how kits interact with the various [[multiclassing]] rules, as well as how to abandon a kit (for plaers) and how to modify or create fighter kits (for DMs).
* [[Amazon]] Priestess
* Barbarian/Berserker Priest
* Fighting-[[Monk]]
* Nobleman Priest
* Outlaw Priest
* Pacifist Priest
* Peasant Priest
* Prophet Priest
* Savage Priest
* Scholar Priest

Chapter 4, '''Role-Playing''' covers a decent number of topics; from typical personalities to story hooks and even how to have a priest interact with their god(s).

Chapter 5, '''Equipment and Combat''', obviously gives a few options for items, but the only major combat options are just reprinted Wrestling/Martial Arts rules reprinted from '''The Complete Fighter's Handbook'''.

===The Complete Wizard's Handbook===
The ''Complete Book of Wizards'', as you might expect, is all about the [[Wizard]]. It spans 9 chapters in length.

Chapter 1, '''Schools of Magic''' talks about the eight schools of magic in D&D. It discusses the benefits vs penalties of specialization and provides mechanics on how to abandon a school.

This is followed by chapter 2, '''Creating New Schools''', which is all about how a DM can create entirely new forms of magic. Everything from naming it to defining its ethos to figuring out what races would likely be allowed to use it.

Chapter 3 is the self-explanatory '''Wizard Kits''' title, which is all about new kits and how to make your own. It introduces the following new kits to D&D:
* Academician
* [[Amazon]] Sorceress
* [[Anagakok]]
* Militant Wizard
* Mystic
* Patrician
* Peasant Wizard
* Savage Wizard
* [[Witch]]
* [[Wu jen]]

Chapter 4, '''Roleplaying''' covers a vast array of sub-topics around its theme; iconic wizard personalities, character backgrounds, logical non-adventuring-based careers for the wizard, some example wizard-focused adventures, the "how much magic is in your world?" and campaign variations for all-wizards, single wizard kits, restricted schools and restricted levels.

Chapter 5, '''Combat and the Wizard''' looks at how wizards fight, covering the different combat categories of spells mostly.

Chapter 6 is self-explanatory; '''Casting Spells in Unusual Conditions'''. This lets you know how being underwater, on another plane, or physically impaired in some way should affect your casting efforts.

Chapter 7 is '''Advanced Procedures''', and is the obligatory new rules systems for wizards. It covers playing 20+ level wizards, creating 10th level or higher spells, new rules for adjudicating illusions, and a system of spell research so your wizard PCs can create their own magic.

Chapter 8 is '''New Spells''', because you knew this was coming.

Finally, chapter 9 is '''Wizardly Lists''', a grab-bag of random lists that provide fluffy inspiration for wizards. There is a new table of [[familiar]]s here, though, which can replace the normal table for Find Familioar checks.

===The Complete Psionics Handbook===
Comparatively easy to outline, and with a title that has been reused more than some, the original Complete Psionics Handbook was, as its name suggests, the first major update of [[psionics]] since they had first appeared as a sub-system in the original [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 1e [[Player's Handbook]].

The book itself was divided into an introduction, 9 official chapters, an unofficial 10th chapter introducing new psionic monsters, and a set of appendices that provided a summary of all the psionic powers in the book, an index of them, and an update of all the psionic creatures from the earlier Monster Compendiums.

The introduction covers, in brief, what the purpose of this book is - introducing the [[psion]]icist as a full-fledged character class instead of just making psionics a "secondary trait" - and the difference between [[psionics]] and [[magic]].

The very first chapter is an exhaustive examination of the [[Psion]]icist class; requirements, level-restrictions, [[multiclassing]], proficiencies, etcetera. It also included the Wild Talents system, which allowed for members of other classes to possess psionic powers themselves without devoting themselves exclusively to psychic arts.

The second chapter is Psionic Combat, an exhaustive and controversial new combat subsystem. Why was this so bad? Read the [[Psion]] page.

Chapters three through eight cover different categories of psionic power, with an ssortment of new Sciences and Devotions for each. In order, they go Clairsentience, Psychokinesis, Psychometabolism, Psychoportation, Telepathy and Metapsionics.

Chapter 9 is all about running a psionics-heavy campaign.

The Monsters subchapter introduced the [[Baku]], [[Brain Mole]], [[Cerebral Parasite]], [[Intellect Devourer]] (Larval & Adult), [[Shedu]], [[Su-Monster]], [[Thought Eater]] and [[Vagabond]].

===The Complete Book of Dwarves===
The ''Complete Book of Dwarves'' was the first of its ilk to focus on a race rather than a class, expanding upon how to make a more distinctive [[dwarf]] character. Although, like all of the racial books, it was somewhat hindered by the default assumptions as to what a race ''was'' in AD&D, it still strove to present as much useful information as possible.

Ironically, although its successor would go down in infamy for blatant racial supremacist overtones, the writing in this one is pretty arrogant too.

This splatbook was divided into 11 chapters:

Chapter 1 is ''The Creation of Dwarves'', literally a glorified creation myth. At 5 pages long, it's the shortest chapter in the book.

Chapter 2 covers ''Dwarf Subraces''; in addition to the now-iconic trinity of Hill Dwarf, Mountain Dwarf and [[Duergar]], it also covered Deep Dwarves (non-evil [[Underdark]] dwarves, which is one of the many ways in which Duergar struggled to gain an identity for themselves), Sundered Dwarves (those clans who have lost their traditional identity and no longer fit the standard mold) and Gully Dwarves (a wretched, [[goblin]]-like breed introduced in [[Dragonlance]]).

Chapter 3, ''Your Life as a Dwarf'', covers all the bits on dwarf culture; clans, loyalties, world view, crafts, humor, wealth, individualism, emotions, attitudes toward other races, war, isolationism, hearths, diet, clothing, and music & singing.

Chapter 4 is ''Character Creation''; rules for creating a dwarven PC from any of the subraces in the 2nd chapter.

Chapter 5 is ''Proficiencies'', all about new weapon and non-weapon proficiencies. The most unique addition here is new skill proficiencies to build upon the dwarf's traditional gimmick of being able to sense things when underground, in a cave or in a dungeon.

Chapter 6, ''Dwarf Kits'', is all about race-restricted [[kits]]. Because dwarves are one of the [[multiclassing]] races, this is actually one of the longest chapters in the book. It provides the following kits by class:
* Dwarf Fighter Kits:
** Animal Master
** Axe for Hire
** Clansdwarf
** Hearthguard
** Battlerager
** Highborn
** Outcast
** Rapid Response Rider
** Sharpshooter
* Dwarf [[Cleric]] Kits:
** Crafts Priest
** Pariah
** Patrician
** Ritual Priest
* Dwarf [[Rogue]] Kits:
** Diplomat
** Entertainer
** Locksmith
** Pest Controller
* Dwarf Fighter/Cleric Kits:
** Champion
** Temple Guard
** Vindicator
* Dwarf Fighter/Rogue Kits:
** Ghetto Fighter
** Trader
** Vermin Slayer
** Wayfinder

Chapter 7, ''Role Playing & Personalities'', is just a list of example dwarven personality archetypes: the Decadent, the Glory Seeker, the Grumbler, the Hoarder, the Optimist, the Paragon, the Phobic, the Pragmatist and the Statesman.

Chapter 8, ''Mining'' is... well, what do you think it is? A new rules system for creating and running your own mine.

Chapter 9, ''Equipment'', looks at some uniquely dwarven weapons, some dwarven war machines, and has rules for smelters to go along with the earlier chapter on mining.

Chapter 10, ''Dwarf Strongholds'', is a do-it-yourself guide to designing a dwarven stronghold. With a sample one for reference.

Finally, chapter 11 is the self-explanatory ''Designing Dwarf Campaigns''. Complete with the importance of myth and the gods, the races of the world, wars & conflicts, and creating new [[kits]].

===The Complete Bard's Handbook===
The Complete Book of Bards was, in its way, one of the more experimental of the Complete Books, being full of new optional rules and ideas to make the [[bard]] class more fun.

The very first chapter is '''Character Generation''', which even opens with an admission that the standard dice rolling mechanic for character generation makes you extremely unlikely to qualify for a bard, what with the need for being an [[Alignment|Any Neutral]] [[Human]] or [[Half-Elf]] with [[Dexterity]] 12, [[Intelligence]] 13 and [[Charisma]] 15. The rest of this chapter breaks down and simplifies the rules for creating a bardic character, as it was considered one of the more complex characters of AD&D.

The 2nd chapter is the obligatory [[Kits]] chapter. It even presents the original PHB bard in kit format, as a True Bard, in order to make it easier to understand which features a given kit retains in common and which are unique. Aside from the True Bard, the kits presented consist of the following:
* Blade (bards that make a show of weapon-skill and stunts)
* Charlatan (bards specialized in deceiving others, [[gnome]]s can take this kit to 6th level)
* Gallant (romantic warrior type; sort of a bardic [[paladin]])
* Gypsy-bard (nomadic tribal performer with some very [[/pol/]] overtones, [[elves]] can take this kit to 9th level)
* Herald (bards that use their social skills to aid nobles, all [[demihuman]]s can take this kit to 6th level)
* Jester (bards specialized in amusing through buffooner, [[gnome]]s and [[halfling]]s can take this kit to 15th level and 8th level respectively)
* Jongleur (bards specialized in juggling and acrobatics, [[gnome]]s and [[halfling]]s can take this kit to 9th level and 12th level respectively)
* Loremaster (bards specialized in chronicling and historical knowledge, [[elves]] can take this kit to 12th level)
* Meistersinger (musicians with an affinity for the wilderness, which gives them authority over animals; [[elves]] can take this kit to 15th level)
* Riddlemaster (bards that entertain with the use of riddles, rhymes and puzzles, [[gnome]]s and [[halfling]]s can take this kit to 8th level and 9th level respectively)
* Skald (warrior-poets, [[dwarves]] can take this kit to 12th level)
* Thespian (professional actors & mimes)

Chapter 3 expands on the bardic class options. One of the longer chapters in the book, it opens with the idea of [[Demihuman]] bards; whilst demihumans are barred from the "True Bard", this section not only confirms that the previous Kits chapter provided variant bards open to certain demihuman races, it also provides four 15th level demihuman-exclusive variant/kit bards - the [[Dwarf]] Chanter, the [[Elf]] Minstrel, the [[Gnome]] Professor and the [[Halfling]] Whistler - as well as explaining how dwarf/gnome/halfling "demi-bards" have their magic affected. It also provides a list of new [[multiclassing]] options for demi-bards, and rules for humans dual-classing into or out of the bard class.
* Dwarf: [[Fighter]]/Chanter or [[Fighter]]/Skald
* Elf: [[Mage]]/Minstrel, [[Thief]]/Gypsy
* Gnome: [[Illusionist]]/Professor, [[Thief]]/Professor, [[Thief]]/Jongleur
* Half-Elf: [[Fighter]]/True Bard, [[Fighter]]/Blade, [[Fighter]]/Gallant, [[Fighter]]/Skald, [[Ranger]]/True Bard, [[Ranger]]/Meistersinger, [[Mage]]/Loremaster, [[Mage]]/Riddlemaster, [[Cleric]]/True Bard, [[Druid]]/Meistersinger, [[Thief]]/True Bard, [[Thief]]/Gypsy, [[Thief]]/Jongleur, [[Thief]]/Thespian
* Halfling: [[Thief]]/Jongleur

Chapter 4 compiles all of the non-weapon proficiencies in easy-to-read tables, so a player can more easily pick them, and adds a number of new bardic NWPs, such as acting, chanting, crafting instruments, crowd working, and so forth.

Chapter 5 examples the bard's common abilities - picking pockets, detecting noise, climbing walls, reading languages and using written magical items - in greater detail.

Chapter 6 examines the bard's relationship with magic, such as using bardic perfomance types in lieu of spell verbal components. It also includes some new bard-developed spells; Alter Instrument, Sound Bubble, Silence 15' Radius, Improved Magic Mouth, Instant Audience, Wall of Sound, and Conjure Cabinet, as well as new bardic magical items and some older magic items that bards tend to favor.

The 7th chapter looks at music in more detail, covering its place in history, listing myriad musical instruments, and providing a glossary of sound.

Chapter 8 is all about role-playing bards better, as well as examining new rules for applying the Reputation, Fame and Infamy mechanics to bardic PCs, and how to run bardic performances.

Chapter 9 is "Comrades", examining bardic colleges, patrons and followers.

An appendix provides a translation of the original bard, that weird [[Fighter]]/[[Thief]]/[[Druid]], to the AD&D 2e mechanics.

===The Complete Book of Elves===
Without a doubt the most ''infamous'' of the Complete Books line, the ''Complete Book of Elves'' is a racial splatbook for [[elf]] characters that got hit with so much elven love at the cost of hypocrisy and blatant stupidity that it would become memetically infamous.

How bad was it? Eventually, the author would post a ''formal apology for writing it'' on the internet!

Spanning 13 chapters, plus an appendice with monster stats for the [[Avariel]] and [[Cooshee]], this book covered a ''lot'' of ground.

The first chapter was, as with its [[dwarf]] predecessor, a 4-page creation myth. This was followed by chapter 2; '''Variations on a Theme''', which examined all of the different elf breeds - Aquatic, Dark, Grey, High, and Sylvan, as well as taking a look at [[Half-Elves]] and finishing with an examination as to which of the aforementioneds breeds the elves of [[Al-Qadim]], [[Dark Sun]], [[Dragonlance]], [[Forgotten Realms]], [[Greyhawk]], [[Ravenloft]] and [[Spelljammer]] fit into.

If you're curious; Sylvan Elves are what we now call Wood Elves, whilst Dark Elves are [[Drow]] and Grey Elves were a kind of uber-elite, uber-asshole version of High Elves who're such douchebags they actually make slaves of other elven races.

Chapter 3, '''Physical Attributes''', takes a long look at the various physical characteristics of elves, such as their stages of life, their supernaturally keen vision, and their interfertility. It also covers elven music, for some reason.

Chapter 4, '''Mental Attributes''', does the same thing for elven mentalities, icluding outlook, emotion vs. logic, generational splits, and attitude towards other races.

Chapter 5, '''Elven Society''' is a comparatively brief chapter on the day-to-day workings of elven civilization; language, livelihood, rituals and holy days.

Chapter 6, '''Elven Myths''', recounts 5 elf morality tales.

Chapter 7, '''The Death of Elves''', is a brief chapter looking at how elves regard death by accident/violence and how they honor their dead.

Chapter 8, '''ELven Dwellings''' is... well, you can probably figure it out; a look at the distinctive city-building styles of grey, high and sylvan elves.

Chapter 9, '''Optional Rules''', is a grab-bag of new rules; letting elves progress like humans do, giving them no level limits but doubling the EXP cost of levels after their "maximum", the new Bladesong Fighting Style, new rules for archery stunts, rules for arrow breakage/loss, and rules for using bows as melee weaplons.

Chapter 10 is '''Character Creation & Kits'''. Next to chapters 2 and 3, this is the longest chapter in the book. It covers PC stats for all of the elven subraces, and a bevvy of new elven [[kits]]. It even includes the first ever "race-only" kit, the Undead Slayer, which can be taken by an elf of any class.
* Elf [[Cleric]] Kits:
** Herbalist
* Elf [[Fighter]] Kits:
** Archer
** Wilderness Runner
* Windrider
* Elf [[Mage]]/[[Thief]] Kits:
** Elven Minstrel
** Spellfilcher
* Elf [[Gish|Fighter/Mage]] Kits:
** [[Bladesinger]]
** War Wizard
* Elf [[Fighter]]/[[Thief]] Kits:
** Huntsman
* Elf [[Fighter]]/[[Mage]]/Thief Kits:
** Collector
** Infiltrator

Chapter 11, '''Elven Equipment''' is an assortment of new elf-made items, ranging from weapons to luxury goods.

Chapter 12, '''The Magic of the Elves''' is an assortment of elf-invented spells and magical items, and rules for artificial limbs.

Finally, chapter 13 is '''Elven Campaigns'''. The suggested examples are the elf-dominated world, the human-dominated world, an elf vs dwarf campaign, a world where the evil races rule, an aquatic campaign, or a campaign focused on half-elves and their direct progenitors.

===The Complete Book of Gnomes & Halflings===
The last of the [[demihuman]] racial splatbooks in this line, the ''Complete Book of Gnomes & Halflings'' was the only one of its ilk to function for two races at the same time. Arguably the shortest of them all, it consisted of ten chapters; 5 for each race.

'''Myths of the Gnomes''' is, despite its name, mostly focused on the small gnomish pantheon: [[Garl Glittergold]], [[Baervan Wildwander]], [[Callarduran Smoothhands]], [[Flandal Steelskin]], [[Segojan Earthcaller]] and [[Urdlen]].

'''Gnome Subraces''' provides complete mechanical rules for creating a [[gnome]] PC. It houses stats for the original "rock gnome" race, as well as the newcomer "forest gnome" race, the [[svirfneblin]] and the [[Dragonlance|Krynnish]] [[Tinker Gnome]].

'''Gnomish Culture''' covers various cultural aspects of gnome society; festivals, the importance of fire, marriage & family, food & drink, humor, magic, warfare, and so fourth.

'''Gnome Character Kits''' is the second mechaniclly-focused gnome chapter, and provides... well, what it says; new [[kits]] for gnome characters:
* Gnome [[Fighter]] Kits:
** Breachgnome
** Goblinsticker
* Gnome [[Thief]] Kits:
** Mouseburglar
** Tumbler
* Gnome [[Illusionist]] Kis:
** Imagemaker
** Vanisher
* Gnome [[Multiclassing]] Kits:
** Buffoon (Thief/Illusionist)
** Stalker (Fighter/Thief)
* Gnome [[Cleric]] Kits:
** Rocktender
** Treetender

'''Granitehome''' depicts a typical gnomish village, a perfect launching pad for gnome PCs, an inspiration for DMs to design their own, or just a place to drop into your campaign.

'''Myths of the Halflings'' is, again, actually focused mostly on [[Yondalla]] and her other halfling-focused deities. It does also cover the halfling folk-hero Littleman and a general history of their race.

'''Halfling Subraces''' covers the three iconic halflings from the [[Player's Handbook]], the [[Kender]] of [[Dragonlance]], the Rhulisti of [[Dark Sun]], and the Furchins of [[Spelljammer]]. Some basic lore is provided, but the focus in on PC stats.

'''Halfling Culture''' examines what halflings think, do and feel; what village life is like, family structure, norms & tabboos, and of course the big reason why most halflings are homebodies and a few become PCs.

'''Halfling Character Kits''' is, again, the other crunchy chapter in this book, with new class [[kits]] for halfling PCs:
* Halfling Fighter Kits:
** Archer
** Forestwalker
** Homesteader
** Mercenary
** Sheriff
** Squire
** Tunnelrat
* Halfling Thief Kits:
** Bandit
** Bilker
** Burglar
** Smuggler
** Urchin
* Halfling Fighter/Thief Kits:
** Cartographer
** Trader
** Traveler
** Halfling Cleric Kits:
** Healer
** Leaftender
** Oracle

'''Lindendale''' depicts a typical halfling village, a perfect launching pad for halfling PCs, an inspiration for DMs to design their own, or just a place to drop into your campaign.

===The Complete Book of Humanoids===
This entry into the Complete Books series focused on "Humanoids", that nebulous term that basically meant "humanoid races which aren't [[demihuman]]s and so are usually presumed to be evil". Spiritual successor/brother to "The Orcs of Thar" for [[Mystara]] under the Basic/Expert D&D line, it was all about ading new races to the classic line up.

That's right kiddies, playable orcs, goblins and the like were a thing ''long'' before [[Warcraft]] came along.

This book was divided into seven chapters, not counting the introduction:

Chapter 1, "Humanoid Characters", was all about the mechanics of playing huanoids and how to feature them in campaigns, with four specific campaign models: "A Friend In Need" (the humanoid PC was rescued by the human/demihuman PCs and is owed loyalty), "Is A Friend Indeed" (the reversal; the human-kin were saved by the humanoid), "Hello Again" (the humanoid is a human-kin PC who fell afoul of Reincarnate) and "All That Glitters" (the humanoid PC is a hireling who forms a bond with the party). Ironically, the simple idea that, maybe, humanoid races in your setting are NOT handled the same way as in standard D&D settings never comes up - it would be a long time before D&D would be that open-minded.

Chapter 2, "Humanoid Races", lists the various new races made playable in this book:
* [[Aarakocra]]
* [[Alaghi]]
* [[Beastman (D&D)|Beastmen]]
* [[Bugbear]]
* [[Bullywug]]
* [[Centaur]]
* [[Fremlin]]
* [[Giant]]-kin, [[Firbolg]]
* [[Giant]]-kin, [[Voadkyn]]
* [[Gnoll]] and Flind
* [[Goblin]]
* [[Hobgoblin]]
* [[Kobold]]
* [[Lizardfolk]]
* [[Minotaur]]
* [[Mongrelfolk]]
* [[Ogre]] and [[Half-Ogre]]
* [[Oni|Ogre Mage]]
* [[Orc]] and [[Half-Orc]]
* [[Pixie]]
* [[Satyr]]
* [[Saurial]]
* [[Swanmay]]
* [[Wemic]]

Chapter 3, "Humanoid [[Kits]]", introduces new subclasses for humanoid members of the Warrior, Wizard, Priest and Rogue classes:
* Tribal Defender
* Mine Rowdy
* Pit Fighter
* Saurial Paladin
* Sellsword
* Wilderness Protector
* Hedge Wizard
* Humanoid Scholar
* Outlaw Mage
* Shaman
* Witch Doctor
* Oracle
* War Priest
* Wandering Mystic
* Scavenger
* Tramp
* Tunnel Rat
* Shadow
* Humanoid Bard

Chapter 4, "Humanoid Proficiencies", as the name sugests, provides a list of new "humanoid appropriate" nonweapon proficiencies.

Chapter 5 is "Role-Playing Humanoids", which provides extended roleplay tips on a humanoid. Limited by the presumptions of D&D at the time, but still interesting, including examining tribal life, social & racial disadvantages, humanoid trait and campaign complications.

Chapter 6, "Superstitions", ties into the frequently primitive status of humanoids, examining all of the different superstitions and how to use them in play.

Finally, chapter 7, "Arms and Armor", talks about how the new races interact with existing armor & weapons, and introduces new humanoid weapons.

===The Complete Ranger's Handbook===
Because the [[Ranger]] was seen as one of the more complicated classes of the time, the Complete Ranger's Handbook devotes most of its 10 chapters into detailing and expanding upon its rules and how those rules interact with the core rules of AD&D.

Chapter 1, ''Character Creation'', looks at the basic mechanics of becoming a ranger. Chapter 2, ''Ranger Abilities'', expands upon the individual special abilities of the Ranger class. Chapter 3, ''Followers'', is the first touch of new rules, as it allows rangers to have animals as followers as well as the normal [[demihuman]]s.

Chapter 4 is, of course, the obligatory ''[[Kits]]'' chapter. Alongside the new kits, there are rules on acquiring them, abandoning them, creating new kits, rules for [[multiclassing]] and dual-classing rangers, and "demi-rangers" - that is, mechanics to allow for [[dwarf]], [[gnome]] and [[halfling]] rangers. This mostly amounts to mandating they take a specific kit (Guardian, Mountain Man or Warden for dwarves, Forest Runner, Pathfinder or Stalker for gnomes, and Explorer, Feralan or Sea Ranger for halflings), restricted environments, lesser tracking, and altered access to magic. There's an even an optional rule for multi-classed ranger-[[druid]]s.
* Beastmaster
* Explorer
* Falconer
* Feralan
* Forest Runner
* Giant Killer
* Greenwood Ranger
* Guardian
* Justifier
* Mountain Man
* Pathfinder
* Sea Ranger
* Seeker
* Stalker
* Warden

Chapter 5 covers ''Proficiencies'', both clarifications and modifications to old ones, and a selection of new ones. Chapters 6 and 7, ''Magic and Equipment'', are full of new spells and items, both mundane and magical.

Chapter 8, ''Role-Playing'', is all about roleplaying advice; it covers demographics, how one becomes a ranger, comon traits of the classical ranger, a look at daily lives for rangers, the typical ranger's personality, and how they handle gaining experience.

Chapters 9 and 10 follow in this vein. Chapter 9 examines how rangers feel about religion, including their interactions with [[druid]]s and [[cleric]]s. Chater 10 examples forgatherings, the ranger get-togethers where multiple rangers spend some time hanging out to exchange ideas, barter for supplies, participate in contests of skill, catch up on gossip and just generally blow off steam by hanging around like-minded souls.

The book concludes with an appendix that examines the AD&D 1st edition Ranger, or rather how to handle rangers in that particular rule set.

===The Complete Paladin's Handbook===
Much like its [[Ranger]] counterpart, the Complete Book of Paladins is first and foremost concerned with examining the rules and flavor of the [[Paladin]] to make it easier for players to understand. It spans 9 chapters, with an appendix for AD&D 1e Paladin rules.

The first two chapters, Character Creation and Paladin Abilities, look deeper into the crunch of making a paladin and its inherent abilities.

Chapter 3, Ethos, looks at the paladin's most infamous trait: the long and byzantine list of behavioral restrictions they were forced to undergo as part of their mandated "Knight in Shining Armor" character theme. This is perhaps the least-liked chapter in the book, as this is where the whole thing of paladins being encouraged to be dicks to non-good party members springs from. It also examines mechanical side-effects of the mandated "chivalric" behavior of the paladin, and how to deal with the inevitable behavioral violations.

Chapter 4 covers [[kits]], as usual. It also examines abandoning kits, creating new kits, and mechanics for both demipaladins - [[demihuman]] [[multiclassing|multiclassed]] [[fighter]]/[[cleric]]s who gain limited paladin-like abilities as a result of their combination of devotion and martial talent - and for dual-classed paladins... which basically amounts to "Paladins can only dual-class as [[Cleric]]s".
* True Paladin: Your "standard" paladin.
* Chevalier: Basically an alternate name for the [[Cavalier]], this is a paladin who emphasizes the "[[knight]]" aspect by coming from noble stock.
* Divinate: A paladin who serves as the military branch of a church.
* Envoy: A paladin diplomat and representative.
* Equerry: A paladin specialized in mounted combat.
* Errant: A wandering paladin who has no ties to a singular landed authority, but seeks to do good wherever s/he roams.
* Expatriate: An exiled paladin who still seeks to do good, usually fleeing a corrupt government or church.
* Ghosthunter: A paladin specialized in slaying the [[undead]].
* Inquisitor: A paladin specialized in battling evil [[mage]]s.
* Medician: A paladin with training in the healing arts.
* Militarist: A paladin who focuses on their martial skills first and foremost, usually a member of an army.
* Skyrider: An Equerry specialized in riding flying mounts, such as the [[pegasus]] or [[hippogriff]].
* Squire: A rookie or underling paladin.
* Votary: A more fanatical and self-righteous form of the Divinate.
* Wyrmslayer: A paladin specialized in fighting [[dragon]]s.

Chapter 5 covers various old and new non-weapon proficiencies. Chapter 6 is a mixture of new equipment and examination of why paladins are so associated with particular pieces of equipment. New magical gear is part of this chapter, as you'd expect.

Chapter 7 is devoted to roleplaying, with lots of basic assumptions about the paladin's nature and role given it is so pigeonholed into the Arthurian Shining Knight model. It includes examples of how a paladin may have been risen to their rank and routine activities. It even provides a look at things like marriage and and courtly love, the paladin's personality, and how they keep themselves financially solvent.

Chapter 8 is devoted to examining faith and the precise relationships that could exist between the religions in a DM's setting and the paladins of that same setting.

Finally, chapter 9 is devoted to Orders; organizations of paladins. Sample orders are provided, and there is also an examination of how the DM can make their own.

===The Complete Druid's Handbook===
One of the shortest Complete Books at a mere 6 chapters long, the Complete Book of Druids is brief and to the point.

The very first chapter is Druid Charcters. It examines druidic organization, a basic summary of the mechanical side of creating a Druid PC, mechanical rules for druids from specific regions (Arctic, Desert, Gray - aka, Underdark, Forest, Jungle, Mountain Plans and Swamp), and the rules for multiclassed and dual-classed druids. Amusingly, it even has a section lampshading that a high-leveled dual-classed druid tends to have an unfair advantage in the duels that decide political rank.

The first chapter also has an expanded set of sub-mechanics to running farms under AD&D rules. Which gives you some idea of just how druids were perceived in AD&D.

A very large sidebar in the first chapter addresses the idea of non-human druid PCs. It references the four races given access to that class in the Complete Book of Humanoids - the [[Alaghi]], [[Centaur]], [[Saurial]] and [[Swanmay]] - and gives the author's opinion on other races:
* [[Dryad]]s can become 4th level Forest Druids; [[Half-Dryad]]s can become 7th level or higher Forest Druids.
* Sylvan [[Elves]] can achieve 12th level as Forest Druids and tke the Herbalist Kit. [[Drow]] cannot become druids, but [[Half-Elf|Half-Drow]] can become Gray Druids. Elves may have access to a druid-like priest kit.
* [[Giant-kin]], specifically [[Firbolg]]s and [[Voadkyn]], can become 7th level Forest Druids or have a druid-like cleric kit.
* [[Halfling]]s did originally have the ability to become 6th level druids in AD&D Original Edition, with [[Unearthed Arcana]] giving them a higher level, and they have the Leaftender [[cleric]] kit. The end result, the author argues, is that 2e halflings should be able to reach 8th level as Forest or Plains Druids.
* [[Lizardfolk]] can reach 7th level as Jungle or Swamp Druids.
* [[Satyr]]s and [[Half-Satyr]]s, like their dryad relatives, can only be Forest Druids; pure satyrs max out at 4th level, and half-satyrs at 6th level.

Chapter 2 is, of course, the mandatory [[kits]] section.
* Adviser: A druid who provides counsel to a ruler, ala Merlin.
* Avenger: A militant druid who seeks to actively root out and destroy threats to the wild.
* Beastfriend: A druid who feels a particular empathy for animals over plants or humanoids.
* Guardian: A territorial druid who takes a specific region under their charge due to its resources requiring prolonged care and attention.
* Hivemaster: A Beastfriend specialized in insects and arachnids.
* Lost Druid: A druid whose former territories were maliciously destroyed, resulting in the druid turning to dark magic and seeking vengeance.
* Natural Philosopher: An intellectual druid who is as much a scholar of the wild as they are a protector.
* Outlaw: A druid who hails from a region whre evil has taken over, leading to them becoming militant in their drive to restore the balance.
* Pacifist: A non-violent druid who seeks to preserve intelligent life and seek diplomatic solutions over violence.
* Savage: A druid from a particularly primitive, Stone Age type background.
* Shapeshifter: A druid who focuses on mastering the shapechanging powers of their class above all else.
* Totemic Druid: A druid who forms an almost priest-like bond with a specific totemic beast.
* Village Druid: A relatively urban druid, who lives amongst villagers in order to keep them safe in return for their following the druidic codes.
* Wanderer: A nomadic druid who roams the land constantly instead of taking a singular territory.

Chapter 3 examines the greater druidic order, the assumed mystery religion to which druids belong, their equivalent of the typical [[cleric]] church. Sub-aspects of this chapter include branches, membership, moving up or down in the ranks, conducting the duels that they use to settle disputes, and the existence of the malevolently anti-civilization Shadow Circle.

Chapter 4 talks about role-playing druids, examining things like their world-view, how their particular religion does or doesn't match up with the existence of nature-invested deities, interacting with other people, daily routines for druids, ceremonies, and just other tips to make your druid character deeper and more interesting. There are even some sample druid personality types and druidic campaigns.

Chapter 5 is the obligatory Druidic Magic chapter, with new spells and magical items.

Finally, chapter 6 examines sacred groves - the catch-all phrase for any druidic equivalent of a holy site slash temple, complete with the possible magical powers that such a place could possess.

===The Complete Barbarian's Handbook===
Whilst the [[Barbarian]] is iconic to [[Dungeons & Dragons]] in the modern era, the truth is that the raging, near-naked warrior with a big axe of 3e was almost as much a 3rd edition invention as the [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Sorcerer]]. There was a "Barbarian" class in AD&D, but it differed in some very marked ways from its 3e progeny - called the "Barbarian Fighter", it was a warrior class with enhanced mobility and some baked-in cultural assumptions, but completely lacking the now-iconic Rage mechanics.

The AD&D concept of a Barbarian was strictly tied to [[Conan the Barbarian]]: a "primitive" warrior hero from a rugged region whose dominant culture was pre-Iron Age. Thus, this book is a double-duty book, covering variant [[fighter]]s and [[cleric]]s hailing from those "savage" cultures that rely on hunter-gathering lifestyles and have no capacity for blacksmithing. It has acquired a certain... [[/pol/|unsavory cast in modern times]].

The first chapter is Character Creation. Here, were presented with the Barbarian class (a variant [[fighter]]) and the Shaman class (a variant [[cleric]]). They are hardier and more mobile than their mainstay counterparts, and possess a knack for wilderness survival, but lack access to armor outside of the leather & hide group, whilst shamans have restricted spellcasting and turn undead capabilities.

Chapter 2 is Special Characteristics, which examines the underlying socio-cultural elements used to define "barbarians", such as a cultural aversion to magic, examples of "talismans" (the shamanic version of holy symbols), interaction with the concept of money, language, strongholds, followers, and general behavioral quirks.

Chapter 3 is the inevitable [[kits]] chapter, divided into Fighter Kits and Cleric Kits. It also addresses the idea of demi-barbarians - barbarians of the [[dwarf]] or [[elf]] races - and rules for dual & multiclassed barbarians. Barbarians & shamans can only dual-class or multiclass into each other
* Brushrunner: A plains barbarian fighter specialized in hunting food by running it down, making him incredibly fast even by barbarian standards, but restricting his armor usage.
* Brute: The most savage and low-cultured of the barbarian fighters, this is your standard pulpy caveman type.
* Forest Lord: A barbarian fighter with a totemic allegiance to a specific kind of animal, giving him some minor druidic abilities. Basically, this is the kit for if you want to play [[Tarzan]].
* Islander: A barbarian fighter hailing from an aquatic culture, who is thus used to surviving and fighting on boats or in the water. More magical than some, he has innate shapechanging abilities and the ability to create his own magical weapon.
* Plainsrider: A barbarian fighter from the plains and deserts specialized in mounted warfare and archery.
* Ravager: The most stereotypical of barbarian fighters, a muscular behemoth whose berserk fury is his deadliest weapon.
* Wizard Slayer: A barbarian fighter specially raised and trained to combat wizards and other practitioners of dark magic.
* Dreamwalker: A barbarian shaman specialized in the spiritual world, which is touched upon by dreams.
* Flamespeaker: A barbarian shaman who has a unique reltionship with fire.
* Medicine (Wo)Man: A barbarian shaman specialized in healing and counseling others.
* Seer: A barbarian shaman specialized in divination and omen-reading.
* Spiritist: A barbarian shaman specialized in communing with and currying favor with the animistic spirits of the world.
* Witch(wo)man: A barbarian shaman based on your standard pulp fantasy voodoo priest.

Chapter 4 is an examination of proficiencies, listing all of the old ones that barbarians can access or which may need special rules, as well as a number of new proficiencies.

Chapter 5 is all about weapons and equipment, starting with answering the question of "so, why doesn't my barbarian want to learn how to use the more durable and sharper iron axe instead of his old flint axe?"

Chapter 6 looks at Barbarian Cultures in more detail, aiming to provide players & DMs with a better guide to fleshing out the societies from which barbarian PCs and NPCs come from.

Chapter 7 looks at how to roleplay a barbarian, including just why your "primitive" character is running around with more advanced cultural characters.

===The Complete Ninja's Handbook===
The [[Ninja]]: the [[weeaboo]] [[thief]]-[[assassin]], a figure of fascination amongst the budding weeaboo culture even way back in the 70s, before anime existed in America and peoples' only exposure was badly translated kung fu films. So, you can be damn sure that the Ninja got its own Complete Handbook for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]], even if it was the last of the official line.

This book was something of a follow-up to the original 1e [[Oriental Adventures]], and even took many elements straight from that [[splatbook]].

The first chapter is dedicated to the Ninja as its own class, a sub-group of [[Rogue]] alongside the [[Thief]] and the [[Bard]].

The second chapter is the obligatory [[kits]] chapter:
* Stealer-In: This is the standard or basic ninja.
* Shadow Warrior: A ninja that is more adept at combat, at the expense of their thievery skills. Only humans, dwarves and half-elves can take this kit.
* Intruder: This is a ninja specialized in espionage, specifically in the arts of sneaking into places where they shouldn't be.
* Consort: A ninja specialized in social missions.
* Pathfinder: Ninjas specialized in survival in the wilderness. Only humans, half-elves and halflings can take this kit.
* Lone Wolf: The ninja equivalent of either a ronin, a clan exile, or else the last survivor of a destroyed clan.
* Spirit Warrior: A ninja who has mastered a number of unique magical techniques, giving them access to specialist spells. Only humans and half-elves can take this kit.

Chapter 3 covers Shinobi. Hilariously, the book itself acknowledges that these were the same thing in real life. Here, "shinobi" covers a number of class kits representing members of ninja clans who aren't actually members of the ninja class, but who've still picked up some basic tricks. This is basically a work-around for the silly rule that ninjas can't multiclass or dual-class.
* Shinobi Fighter
* Shinobi Ranger
* Shinobi Mage
* Shinobi Illusionist
* Shinobi Priest
* Shinobi Thief
* Shinobi Bard

Chapter 3 also covers the idea of "Spies", which are basically ninjas with non-weeaboo cultural trappings.

Chapter 4 is the obligatory assortment of new ninja-themed nonweapon proficiencies, as well as new combat subsystems to make martial arts viable. This comes with even more subsystems like finding a martial arts master and getting them to teach you.

Chapter 5 follows it up with new ninja gear, from weapons and armor to other things, like eggshell grenades.

Chapter 6, Country and Clan, is a basic shorthand guide to medieval Japanese culture, in order to create a more "authentic" background for ninjas.

Chapter 7 is Playing the Ninja, the roleplaying chapter which opens up by telling you that you should give every effort to make your character appear to NOT be a ninja, as disguising your true nature is more historically accurate.

Chapter 8, Campaigning the Ninja, is a DM's chapter focused on how to incorporate ninja PCs and NPCs into their campaign.

Finally, the 9th chapter provides sample ninja NPCs and ninja organizations to incorporate into a DM's campaign.

===The Complete Book of Villains===
As its name suggests, the Complete Book of Villains was a DM's toolbook designed to help the DM come up with better villains in their games more easily. Officially classified as DMGR6, it covered a wide array of topics.

Chapter one, Defining Your Villain, is all about the basics; occupation, objective, motive, personality, attitudes & behaviors, tastes & preferences, surroundings, history, network, appearance, abilities & alignment, and so forth.

Chapter is the self-explanatory Henchmen, Flunkies & Lackeys chapter.

Chapter 3 is about designing villainous organizations.

Chapter 4 is a guide to introducing your villain, whilst chapter 5, titled "Delivering the Goods" is tips on roleplaying villains and describing the shit they get up to.

Chapter 6 examines the difference between monsters and villains, and how to use the former as either villains or as henchmen.

Chapter 7, "Advanced Villains", is about more prolonged and unusual uses for villains, such as the recurring villain, the rival, the mythic/symbolic vilain, and the faceless villain.

Chapter 8, "Creative Villainy", covers new ways to incorporate villains into your game.

Chapter 9 covers a number of sample villains.

Chapter 10 is an assortment of general ideas for generating villains.

===The Complete Book of Necromancers===
Unlike the other books in the series, which were Player's Handbook Reference, this was part of the Dungeon Master's Reference sub-line, with the code of DMGR7. As its name suggests, this book focuses on [[Necromancer]]s - as that's a role shared between the [[Wizard]] and the [[Cleric]] (the latter referred to in-book as "Death Priests"), this book uniquely covers both classes at the same time.

Officially, this is for Dungeon Masters, but really, most of it is more useful for players.

The very first chapter, '''Necromancers''', breaks them down piece by piece over several subchapters. Firstly, it looks at how to build a necromancer by the rules for making PCs (we did tell you that the audience for this was mixed). Secondly, it provides a number of new necromancer [[kits]], which we'll examine below. Thirdly, it brings up several [[kits]] from earlier in the Complete lineup ([[Wizard]]s and [[Sha'ir]]s), with particular attention paid to two; the [[Witch]] and the Ghul Lord, discussing why they "fit" with the necromancer archetype. Finally, it provides a number of new nonweapon proficiencies; anatomy, necrology, netherworld knowledge, spirit lore and venom handling.
* Archetypical Necromancer: This is your stereotypical evil wizard who employs the darkest of necromantic arts; [[Clark Ashton Smith]] is upheld as the iconic depictor of this kind of necromancer, with gamers being pointed to his loathsome villain protagonists Mmatmuor, Sodosma, Vacharn, Vokal, Uldulla, Nathaire, Abnon-Tha, Narghai and Vemba-Tsith. This kit's gains access to the special powers covered in the "Vile Pacts & Dark Gifts" subchapter, but suffers from the punitive maladies detailed in the third chapter.
* Anatomist: A surgeon turned necromancer, anatomists range from legitimate healers to mad scientists out to build [[Flesh Golem]]s to sadistic vivisectionist-torturers. They gain increased proficiency with knives, and can even learn to wield a cutlass and short sword, have increased proficiency with the healing skill, and can perform autopsies. The downside is that they need to perform regular dissections of corpses, or they lose their kit bonuses until they catch up on their studying backlog.
* Deathslayer: These are vengeful wizards who seek to destroy the undead, turning to necromancy for the better ability to fight, outwit and understand their quarry. They get to pick a single "greater" undead ([[Banshee]]), [[Mummy]], [[Ghost]]/Spectre, [[Lich]] or [[Vampire]]); against that one type of undead, the Deathslayer is resistant to their mental attacks, and has an increased chance to hit with their own attacks and with their spells. The downside is that their obsession with fighting "The Enemy" is so strong it functions as a Geas.
* Philosopher: More of a mad loremaster than anything, the Philosophical Necromancer studies the dark arts for the sake of '''Knowing'''. They have the knowledge abilities of a Sage in their specialty fields (necromancy, necromantic magical items, the netherrealms), an increased chance of [[psionics|wild talents]], and a +30% chance to learn Necromancy spells (which stacks with their base specialist bonus). The downside? Even worse combat skills than a normal wizard, a high chance of being insane, and a -30% penalty to learning non-necromancy spells.
* Undead Master: A true pulp-style "Dark Mage", this Necromancer/Conjurer/Enchanter hybrid can learn Enchantment spells (normally forbidden to them), as well as Conjuration spells, and can command undead and non-[[angel]] outsiders as if they were [[Cleric]]s. The downside is that they can't cast Transmutation, Illusion or Divination spells, and they're even worse at melee combat than the Philosopher.

The second chapter, '''Dark Gifts''', is a grab-back of a subtopics. It first looks at dual-classed necromancers (Fighter, Cleric, Thief and Psionicist), examining what you need to do in order to qualify for these hybrids and character choices that will make you stronger. The next topic, Wild Talents, looks at the likelihood of necromancers having innate [[psionics]] and provides a new pair of tables for generating necromancer-appropriate wild talents. This is then followed by the much more interesting topic "Vile Pacts & Dark Gifts"; eerie, strange, magical abilities that you can give a necromancer to strengthen its feeling as a master of dark arts and bargaining with unholy beings, such as shapeshifting in an animal's form, animating the dead with a touch, regenerating like a [[troll]], being able to innately command the undead like a cleric, or being immune to non-magical weapons... naturally, the book strongly suggests that DMs should keep this good stuff for their NPCs. It then concludes with examining necromancers coming from outside of the [[demihuman]] ranks - this was the edition when only humans were PHB-compatible with the specialization. Particular attention is paid to [[Drow]], [[Dragon]] and [[Githyanki]] necromancers. The chapter ends with rules for [[undead]] necromancers.

The third chapter is '''The Price'''; a brief examination of the presumed social stigmas that necromancers will face, and punitive rules for necromancers being affected with deformities, diseases, madness and curses as a result of their dark studies - unlike the "Vile Pacts" segment, DMs are encouraged to use these on players, ''especially'' if they beg for a Vile Pact of their own.

Chapter four is '''The Dark Arts'''; this talks about the typical spell selection of a necromancer, discusses the three "schools" of Necromancy - White, Gray and Black, and of course finishes with the inevitable array of new spells. White Necromancy is described as "spells that restore or fortify the living body & life force, spells that draw from the caster's own life force, and spells that ''disable'' the undead". Gray Necromancy covers all those spells about raising and controlling the undead. Black Necromancy is specified as "spells that bring death, physical injury, or spiritual annihilation in an excruciating and terrifying manner", and the book encourages the DM to amp up the creepiness of spells like Death or Finger of Death in order to justify them being more evil than Chain Lightning and Disintegrate. It even goes so far as to recommend DMs incorporate the Powers Check mechanics from [[Ravenloft]] as a punitive measure for casting Black Necromancy spells!

The fifth chapter is '''Death Priests''', and begins our look at the necromancer as seen through the lens of an evil [[cleric]]. Subtopics include new varieties of deity whose clergy count as Death Priests (the God of the Dead, the Goddess of Murder, the God of Pestilence, the God of Suffering, and the Lord of Undead), and this is then followed by the 6th chapter, '''The Priest Sphere''', which is new cleric spells for these types.

Moving on, we come to the seventh chapter, '''Allies''', which covers apprentices, henchmen, [[familiar]]s, [[undead]] servitors, and several secret societies: the Cult of Worms, the Scabrous Society, the Cult of Pain, and the Anatomical Academy.

Chapter eight is '''Tools of the Trade'''; poisons, potions, magical items and tomes of necromantic lore.

Finally, we close on chapter 9; '''The Campaign'''. This consists of a detailed adventure site in the form of the island-prison of a [[lich]] and the necromancer's academy she has founded to free herself, some necromancer-themed adventure hooks, and full NPC stats for the various named necromancers who have shown up as references in the book and who appear on the titular island.

===The Complete Spacefarer's Handbook===
Whilst the Player's Reference line of Complete Books ended with the Complete Book of Ninjas, the concept would be revived again for three new books, the Complete Campaign References. This three-book line would take the basic concepts seen in the Player's Reference books and apply them to more specific settings.

The first such book, the Complete Spacefarer's Handbook, was a tie-in to the then-nascent [[Spelljammer]] setting. Due to the dearth of content at the time of its release, this was the largest of the three Complete Campaign References to be released.

Chapter 1: Groundlings in Space helps players and DMs with campaigns set on any of the AD&D campaign worlds to convert their characters and campaigns to the SPELLJAMMER setting. It provides a groundling's-eye view of adventuring in space, suggests several methods for integrating groundling characters into the SPELLJAMMER setting, and explains how the inhabitants of the standard AD&D campaign worlds view spelljamming.

Chapter 2: New Spacefaring Races presents several new player-character races for SPELLJAMMER campaign players, along with a long look at the older races. These new nonhuman races are much more alien than those previously described for the AD&D game.
* [[Dracon]]: [[Centaur]]-style, vaguely draconic-looking [[lizardfolk]].
* [[Giff]]: Mercenary hippo-folk with a love of guns.
* [[Grommam]]: Gorilla-people.
* [[Hadozee]]: Chimpanzee-people with patagia, which let them glide like flying squirrels.
* [[Hurwaeti]]: [[Gnome]]-like scaly humanoids.
* [[Lizardfolk]]: Smarter than the standard groundling variety.
* [[Rastipede]]: [[Centaur]]-esque bugpeople with a long tradition as dubious merchants.
* [[Scro]]: Intelligent, disciplined, organized space orcs.
* [[Xixchil]]: Mantis-folk with a culture based on [[fleshcrafting]].

Chapter 3: Spacefarer Kits defines several new character kits unique to the SPELLJAMMER setting. Spelljamming characters can now be Corsairs, Arcanists, Astrologers, or Salvagers. As with kits from the PHBR series, these kits are optional; DMs may choose to include or exclude specific kits from their campaigns.
* Corsair: A warrior kit that represents a roving, semi-official agent of their native government who is, basically, a legalized pirate.
* Crusader: A warrior kit that represents a militant religious warrior, charged with using spelljamming to spread their church's authority across the stars.
* Frontiersman: A [[ranger]] and [[fighter]] kit representing a space-faring explorer and potential settler.
* Marine: A [[fighter]] trained as a member of a space navy's military forces.
* Merchant: A [[fighter]] who seeks to acquire profit through trade, studying the combat arts mostly to defend themselves against brigands.
* [[Arcanist]]: ''Not'' to be confused with the shitty Arcanist of the [[Ravenloft]] setting; the Spelljammer arcanist is a mage-turned-trader, a wizard who plies the spacelanes in pursuit of arcane knowledge and trinkets. As a kit, this can be taken ''with'' normal wizardly specializations.
* Astronomer: A wizard dedicated to studying the mysterious of space, making them fonts of space-relatred lore.
* Geomancer: Despite its name, ''not'' an [[elementalist]]; geomancers are wizards who study the nature of planets, making them more adept at surveying worlds from orbit.
* Imposter: An [[illusionist]] who uses their magical skills and personal charimsa to deceive and beguile those around them, letting them create fictitious personas to pass themselves off as.
* War Mage: A warrior-wizard who has an increased aptitude for martial weapons and greater skills at piloting spelljammers in combat.
* Astrologer: A clerical version of the Astronomer.
* Diplomat: A clerical negotiator, who uses their priestly skills to act as intermediary.
* Evangelist: A cleric dedicated to spreading their faith across the stars.
* Medicus: A cleric focused on the arts and sciences of healing, as adept at using non-magical curatives as wielding healing spells.
* Missionary: A more subtle, but impactful, version of the Evangelist.
* [[Aperusa]]: You know how AD&D has a [[Gypsy]] class/kit for thieves? Meet the Spelljammer version. People try to forget that this ever existed.
* Courier: A rogue or a bard who makes a legitimate(ish) living by carrying verbal messages across the stars.
* Harlequin: A traveling performer of the stars, a bard (or more rarely a thief) who makes a living as a clown or jester.
* Privateer: A space pirate.
* Salvager: The lowliest rogues of the spaceways, a scavenger who seeks out derelict ships to plunder whatever valuables remain in the floating wreckage.

Chapter 4: Role-Playing offers a number of new spacefarer personalities. Like the kits, the concept of personalities comes from the PHBR series and is completely optional.

Chapter 5: Spacefaring Proficiencies describes new nonweapon proficiencies for your spelljamming campaign. These proficiencies can be taken by spacefaring characters as well as groundling characters who have traveled in space for a while.

Chapter 6: Spacefaring Logistics discusses some of the practical issues involved in traveling through wildspace and the phlogiston. It describes how to deal with supply problems in space and lists several new pieces of equipment especially designed for SPELLJAMMER campaigns.

Chapter 7: Spacefaring Organizations describes 16 spacefaring organizations that your characters may join—or oppose. We offer some insight into the purposes of these organization and explain how they fit into the complex political web that stretches across the spheres.

Chapter 8: SPELLJAMMER Campaign Design is for the DM, although players may read it. It explains the various ways to set up a SPELLJAMMER campaign and describes how to apply AD&D game rules in space. This section includes a review of various spells from many AD&D products, noting how spell effects change in the SPELLJAMMER setting.

Chapter 9: Strongholds in Space modifies and adds to the Castle Guide so that your player characters can build fortresses and attract followers.

===The Complete Book of Gladiators===
The second last splatbook of its ilk to be covered, The Complete Gladiator's Handbook (CCR2) wasn't an official part of the original complete books set, but a thematic tie-in based on [[Dark Sun]] and its creation of the [[Gladiator]] class.

One of the shorter books, the Complete Gladiator's Handbook consisted of the following chapters:

Character Creation: New [[kits]], a basic guideline to arena managers, a brief overlook of the usefulness of [[necromancer]]s to gladiatorial arenas, and brief stats & outlines of renowned Athasian gladiators.
* Beast Trainer: A gladiator who tames beasts, either for the benefit of the arena or to serve alongside them in the pit.
* Blind Fighter: A gimmicky gladiator who specializes in fighting whilst blinded.
* Arena Champion: A gladiator who strives to be the best of the best in their native fighting pit.
* Convict: A convicted criminal forced into the gladiator's life, giving them access to a mixture of warrior and rogue abilities.
* Professional Gladiator: A gladiator who chose to pursue the life of a fighter-entertainer, and consequently is much admired.
* Jazst: A theatrical gladiator who relies on an acrobatic fighting style that combines dancing and dual-wielded razors.
* Montare: A gladiator specialized in mounted or chariot combat.
* Reaver: Gladiators who specialize in killing and/or capturing monsters for the arena.
* Gladiatorial Slave: A slave who has been raised as a gladiator since they were a child.

Gladiator Abilities: An examination of the gladiator's unique armor optimization and unarmed combat abilities, as well as new non-weapon proficiencies.

Combat: New Athasian weapons and armor, new combat subsystems, including unarmed combat tricks.

Arenas of Tyr: A guide to the most famous gladiatorial arenas of the [[Dark Sun]] world.

The Gladiator Campaign: How to run a campaign focused on the gladiator class.

Running Tournaments: New rules for running gladiatorial tournaments.

===The Complete Sha'ir's Handbook===
The last of the Complete Books to ever be released for AD&D, CGR3 - the Complete Sha'ir's Handbook - was, much like its Gladiator counterpart, released as a tie-in to a setting line as opposed to a general splatbook. In this case, it was a retread of the Complete Wizard's Handbook for the [[Al-Qadim]] setting covering not only the famous [[genie]]-binding [[Sha'ir]], but also the [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|Zakharan Sorcerer]] and the [[Elementalist]].

Much like the Complete Gladiator's Handbook, the Complete Sha'ir's Handbook is short; a mere four chapters.

Chapter 1, The Wizards, looks at the three Zakharan [[mage]] subclasses in greater detail. This chapter expands upon the mechanics presented in the Arabian Adventures corebook, and can be divided into three sub-chapters; one for each of the wizard types. The Sorcerers sub-chapter examines how Zakharan Sorcerers handle being able to master two elements simultaneously, their ability to use elemental matter as a substitute for material components, how to apply the "acquire apprentices" mechanics to sorcerers, and rules for conducting a Sorcerous Duel. The Elemental Mage sub-chapter contains rules for "devotion", the mechanics by which an elementalist can attempt to earn public good-will to offset the shoddy reputation their ilk has (and which can be an easier way to earn XP), and mechanics for playing as one of the Unseen; an elementalist who can disguise who they are by feigning the abilities of non-wizard [[kits]]. Finally, the Sha'ir sub-chapter focuses on gens; expanding on just what a sha'ir needs to do in order to maintain the services of a gen, fleshing out how "spell-fetching" works, mechanics for seeking rituals that will permanently alter and augment gens, and rules for independent, free-willed gens who no longer serve a sha'ir. It also includes a segment expanding on the crafting of genie prisons.

Chapter 2 is, of course, the requisite [[Kits]] chapter:
* Astrologers are wizards that study the unique mystical properties of the stars, allowing them to craft "hanging" spells that they can tap so long as a designated constellation is visible in the sky.
* Clockwork Mages, or Mechanicians, are a proto-[[artificer]]; clockwork-fascinated wizards who can't cast spells directly, but instead craft enchanted devices which produce the effects of spells - or, more accurately, they can produce clockwork based [[construct]]s.
* Digitologists are wizards obsessed with mathematical formulas; by working to understand the way in which mathematics and magic can be linked, they can convert spell formulas into complex equations. This means they must spend more time memorizing their spells per day, and makes their spells slower to cast, but it allows them to wield much more potent magic than their level would normally let them cast.
* Ghul Lords are the Zakharan form of [[necromancer]], a sorcerer-like breed who draw their power from the [[Energy Planes|Negative Energy Plane]] rather than the [[Elemental Planes]]. This manifests in the form of being able to use Manipulations - spell-mimicking effects fueled by hitpoints and which require nonweapon proficiency slots to learn - plus the ability, from 10th level on, to [[Turn Undead]] as if they were a [[cleric]] 3 levels lower. The drawback is that their spells are inherently spooky, which means people don't like them. Like, at all. Also, they can only cast a select handful of necromantic spells, they lose 3 points of Charisma at character creation, and from level 3 onward they lose 1 point of Strength or Constitution each time they gain a level, until one score drops to 5 - at which point the drain stops, but they lose another 2 Charisma.
* Jackals are the precursors to 3e's [[Spellthief]]; conniving and sneaky wizards who, rather than studying books and scrolls, actually drain spells from the minds of other wizards and use them for themselves.
* Mageweavers are another form of proto-[[artificer]]; they are artisans focused on the arts of weaving and spinning, who learn to bind magic into the silk and cloth they work. They can't cast spells of the higher level, but instead have a much larger pool of low-level spells per day, which they cast by weaving into scarves and tapestries, from which they can then draw the power, like cloth versions of spell scrolls.
* Mystics of Nog forsake the traditional art of spellcasting to instead channel magical energy directly into their bodies, turning them into a kind of wizard-[[monk]] hybrid.
* Spellslayers are wizard-[[assassin]]s specialized in slaying other wizards, possessing a unique perspective of [[Abjurer|Abjuration]] magic which enhances their ability to disrupt and deaden spells or spellcasting, at the cost of being unable to cast spells themselves.

Chapter 3 covers Sorcerous Societies, the various mage's guilds and arcane brotherhoods found throughout Zakhara. It also provides some information on how to craft your own sorcerous societies.
* The Brotherhood of the True Flame is an order of evil fire mages who seek not only power over all non-mages, but to stamp out all kinds of magic other than fire elementalism.
* The Constellation is one of the largest groups of Astrologers in Zakhara.
* The Cult of Sand is a benevolent and relatively young order of sand (earth) elementalists, which mostly seeks to refine its mastery of elemental magic and to oppose the actions of the Brotherhood of the True Flame.
* The Hands of Badiat abd Ala'i is a sha'ir society dedicated to loyally serving and aiding the cause of genies, seeking to gain the favor of geniekind and, from it, greater power. They tend to ignore the fact that many genies are, frankly, assholes.
* The Mechanician's League, as its name suggests, is the premier society of clockwork mages in Zakhara.
* The Red Eyes are a mad cult of human [[Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)|sorcerers]] (in the Zakharan sense) who seek domination of the world and the destruction of all other humanoid races.
* The Sea's Children are the largest organization of sea (water) elementalists & sorcerers in Zakhara, with little defining them beyond that fact.
* The Servitors of the Zephyr are a secretive order of wind elementalists turned spies, dedicated to preserving "the balance" (read: the status quo) throughout Zakhara.
* The Society of the Shifting Sands is an order of mage-archaeologists dedicated to unearthing the secrets of the ancient ruins and lost civilizations hidden in the wastes of Zakhara. As such, they are the most prominent of the "any wizard accepted" sorcerous societies in Zakhara.
* The Spellslayers is the evil, anti-mage cult to which most of the spellslayers of Zakhara belong.
* The Viziers are a young and secretive society, open only to childless female sha'irs. They are dedicated to gathering information and concocting webs of seduction, manipulation, deceit and murder, so that their society may seize control over Zakhara.

The final chapter is an assortment of new spells and non-weapon proficiencies.

==3E Books==
{{dnd-stub}}

===Complete Adventurer & Scoundrel===
The '''Complete Adventurer''' was part of the original quartet of 3e Complete Books, alongside Complete Arcane, Complete Warrior, and Complete Divine. As the last of this first wave, it succeeded both ''Song and Silence'' and ''Masters of the Wild''. It was succeeded/complemented by ''Complete Scoundrel''.

The first chapter introduced three new classes to 3.5: the [[Ninja]], the [[Scout (D&D)|Scout]] and the [[Spellthief]].

The 2nd chapter was filled with a wide array of new [[Prestige Classes]]:
* [[Animal Lord]]
* [[Beastmast]]
* [[Bloodhound]]
* [[Daggerspell Mage]]
* [[Daggerspell Shaper]]
* [[Dread Pirate]]
* [[Dungeon Delver]]
* [[Exemplar]]
* [[Fochluan Lyrist]]
* [[Ghost-Faced Killer]]
* [[Highland Stalker]]
* [[Maester]]
* [[Master of Many Forms]]
* [[Nightsong Enforcer]]
* [[Nightsong Infiltrator]]
* [[Ollam]]
* [[Shadowbane Inquisitor]]
* [[Shadowbane Stalker]]
* [[Shadowmind]]
* [[Spymaster]]
* [[Streetfighter]]
* [[Tempest]]
* [[Thief-Acrobat]]
* [[Vigilante]]
* [[Virtuoso]]
* [[Wild Plains Outrider]]

The third chapter expanded upon the descriptions and uses of the skills from the [[Player's Handbook]], and combined it with a vast array of new feats.

The fourth and fifth chapter were the inevitable array of new equipment and new spells, respectively.

Finally, chapter six, the last in the book, provided mechanical guidelines to building your own organizations for players to join, found or run afoul of, and provided a multitude of examples:
* Blacklock Loreseekers
* The Bloodhounds
* Coillege of Concrescent Lore
* Daggerspell Guardians
* Dragonblade Ninja Clan
* Eyes of the Overking
* Greyhaunt Investigators
* League of Boot and Trail
* Nightsong Guild
* Order of Illumination
* Shadowmind Guild
* Talespinner's League

The last of its ilk to be published, the '''Complete Scoundrel''', continues the focus on generalist and "skill monkey" classes from ''Song and Silence'', but drops all support for nature-themed classes.

===Complete Arcane & Complete Mage===
As can be inferred from their titles, this duology (Arcane came first, Mage came second) focuses on [[arcanist]]s. They are the successors to [[Tome and Blood]]. Although the precise array of material differed between the books, both expanded on options for players and DMs alike when it came to arcane spellcasters.

'''Complete Arcane's''' first chapter provided three arcane classes - the [[Warlock]], which was new; the [[Warmage]], reprinted from the [[Miniatures Handbook]]; and the [[Wu Jen]]; returning from [[Oriental Adventures]] alongside all of its spells.

Its second chapter was an array of [[Prestige Classes]]:
* [[Acolyte of the Skin]]
* [[Alienist]]
* [[Argent Savant]]
* [[BLood Magus]]
* [[Efficy Master]]
* [[Elemental Savant]]
* [[Enlightened Fist]]
* [[Fatespinner]]
* [[Geometer]]
* [[Green Star Adept]]
* [[Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil]]
* [[Mage of the Arcane Order]]
* [[Master Transmogrifist]]
* [[Mindbender]]
* [[Seeker of the Song]]
* [[Sublime Chord]]
* [[Suel Arcanamach]]
* [[Wayfarer Guide]]
* [[Wild Mage]]

Chapters 3 and 4 are, of course, an array of new arcanist-focused feats and new spells.

Chapter 5, magic items, contains the expected new magical items and ger enchantments, but it also looks at some variant rules; new alternative materials to use in place of potions and scrolls, a new "magic item" in the form of Contingent Spells, and a short examination of spellbooks, including mechanics for using, constructing and protecting them.

The 6th chapter of Complete Arcane is devoted to Arcane Monsters, featuring the Effigy Creature (a kind of [[Construct]] based on an animated clockwork automaton), the return of the [[Elemental]] [[Grue]]s, an ultimate form for standard [[elemental]]s in the form of Elemental Monoliths, and new creature templates for the Pseudonatural Creature (an animal corrupted by exposure to the [[Far Realm]] and the Spellstitched (an [[undead]] augmented by the painstaking inscription of magical runes onto its body).

Finally, chapter 7 dedicates itself to arcane campaigns. It looks at how different kinds of [[arcanist]] are likely to be perceived in the "standard" D&D world and offers tips on how to handle an arcane-heavy campaign, particularly given the various utility options that arcanists have.

In comparison, '''Complete Mage's''' first chapter examines the fundamentals of magic; what is its nature, what defines it compared to divine or innate magic, typical traits and motivations of specialist wizards, common character archetypes for arcanist PCs, and how an arcanist can stand in for a warrior, [[Skill Monkey|expert]] or healer class role.

The second chapter provides assorted new variant class features to add a more "arcane" feel to your characters and a ''massive'' array of feats. One unique type of feat introduced here that would be expanded on later was the Reserve Feat. Reserve Feats gave casters an at will ability if they had a sufficiently powerful spell prepared, but not cast.

Chapter 3 is more [[Prestige Classes]]:
* [[Abjurant Champion]]
* [[Eldritch Disciple]]
* [[Eldritch Therge]]
* [[Enlightened Spirit]]
* [[Holy Scourge]]
* [[Lyric Thaumaturge]]
* [[Master Specialist]]
* [[Nightmare Spinner]]
* [[Ultimate Magus]]
* [[Unseen Seer]]
* [[Wild Soul]]

Chapters 4 and 5 are the obligatory new spells and magical items.

And finally, chapter 6 examines running "arcane adventures", which is basically adding a more overtly magical theme to your standard adventure.

===Complete Divine & Complete Champion===
The priestly counterpart to the Complete Arcane & Complete Mage, this duology focuses on divine magic users. They are the successors to ''Defenders of the Faith''.

The first of the two, '''Complete Divine''', features the [[Favored Soul]], [[Shugenja]] and [[Spirit Shaman]] classes, an array of new divine [[Prestige Classes]], new feats, rules for epic-level divine characters, holy relics, new magic staves, an expanded look at gods from the corebook and other [[Greyhawk]] deities that didn't make it there, the Divine World (all those niggly little details about fleshing out your gods and religions), and the inevitably new [[Cleric Domain]]s and spells.

'''Complete Champion''', on the other hand, examines the corebook deities churches in more detail, provides divine magic-flavored alternative class features, covers an enormous array of new feats and spells, details divine PC organizations and [[Prestige Classes]], new divine magical items, and guidelines to creating divine quests and sites.

===Complete Psionics===
A complement to 3.5's [[Expanded Psionics Handbook]], which itself replaced the [[Psionics Handbook]], the Complete Psionics offers new classes ([[Ardent]], [[Divine Mind]], [[Lurk]], and the "variant Psion" [[Erudite]]), psionic monster classes for the [[Duergar]], [[Gith]], [[Half-Giant]] and [[Thri-Kreen]], a new race (the [[Synad]]), new [[Prestige Classes]], new feats, new psionic powers, new monsters, and some general character options for making psionic characters feel more at home in your setting. Psionics fans hate it since it was clearly made by people who didn't understand the system nor particularly liked it, while contradicting the fluff and existing rules at random. To make the book even more worthless, anything actually worth using from it was released for free as a preview, and that’s not an exaggeration, as [[Soulknife|Soulbow]] and [[Erudite]] were both released for free and were easily the best parts of the book. This disdain was responsible for spawning the superior third party ''Hyperconscious'' and Dreamscarred Press.

===Complete Warrior===
One of the first of its line to be released, and succeeding ''Sword and Fist'', the Complete Warrior focuses on martial characters; it introduced the [[Hexblade]], [[Samurai]] and [[Swashbuckler]], as well as [[Variant Class]]es for non-magical [[Paladin]]s and [[Ranger]]s. It follows this up with warrior-themed prestige classes, new feats and skills, rules for "[[Familiar|Guardian Familiars]]", and a guide to fantasy warfare, complete with a small pantheon of completely new war/martial virtue-focused deities. As one of the earliest books for 3.5, and one focused on martial characters at that, it is notoriously underpowered with Samurai in particularly being considered the worst player class ever published in third edition, rivaled only by [[Truenamer]] which is unplayable in the sense that it doesn't work. One thing that is well regarded is the introduction of Tactical Feats. Tactical Feats, instead of making a character better at a single thing they could already do, give a set of three new abilities that could be performed in combat.

[[Category: Dungeons & Dragons]] [[Category:Game Books]]

Book of Vile Darkness

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'''The Book of Vile Darkness''' is a term from [[Dungeons & Dragons]] that can refer to either of two things; an in-game magical item, or a pair of [[Splatbook]]s that exist for [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]] and [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition]]. In case its edgy name didn't give it away, it's all about the EVIL side of things, with a goodly counterpart in the [[Book of Exalted Deeds]].

==The Magical Item==
The Book of Vile Darkness has shown up in multiple editions of D&D, and is essentially a compilation of notes and musings on the nature of evil by some of the most wicked and profane beings in the [[Multiverse]]; [[Vecna]] is usually described as one of the first editors to craft the Book of Vile Darkness. In general, it's of great use to an evil spellcaster (or at least a [[cleric]]), but is hazardous to the body, mind and soul of anyone who isn't evil.

==3e Splatbook==
Released for 3.0, the Book of Vile Darkness was a sourcebook on evil, containing a mixture of [[Monte Cook|the authors']] personal musings on the nature of evil and how to use it in your games of [[Dungeons & Dragons]], either as adversaries for your party or by running an evil PC campaign yourself, and mechanical support for that goal in the form of new rules, equipment, systems, monsters, gods, etc.

The book is widely regarded as something of an eye-roller, as it handles its themes clumsily at best. It was, however, the original splatbook for 3e to feature many classic "villainous" monsters, such as [[Demon Prince]]s and [[Archdevil]]s. The book has some serious balance issues.

Some alternate options for bestow curse are presented. While most are pretty nasty social penalties and not really of note since the ''default'' options include "do nothing half the time", it also has "Target is rendered sterile." Since curses are relatively easy to remove (just cast the opposite spell), this tends to be an ''advantage'' to most [[Adventurers]]. The disease Festering Anger is also introduced which damages Constitution in exchange for an increase in Strength with no ceiling. It's as easy to break as ''healing the constitution damage'' (a mere second level spell, [[Archivist|or first if you know what you're doing]]). This can reach insane levels with Cancer Mage, a [[Prestige Class]] that doesn't take penalties from disease and was printed in '''the same exact book'''.

The first chapter is titled, simply '''The Nature of Evil''', and it talks a lot about what evil "is" in the context of D&D. It lists specific evil acts, details "evil" fetishes or addictions (with mechanical traits to add), lists several unique "vile gods" ([[Karaan]], [[Rallaster]], [[The Patient One]], [[Scahrossar]], [[The Xammux]], [[Yeathan]]), two new "vile" races ([[Vashar]], [[Jerren]]), and an overview on creating villains and malign sites, with examples of both.

The second chapter is dedicated to '''Variant Rules'''; possession, sacrifices, curses, diseases, "The Calling" (a justification for an evil creature to be mysteriously augmented by the powers of darkness), "Dark Chant" (an unholy litany that the undead can use to hinder turning spells), "Dark Speech" (a system for a language of pure evil that can have mystical effects when uttered), using souls and liquid pain as power, creating hiveminds, the new mechanic of Vile Damage, a list of "evil weather" (violet rain, green fog, plague of nettles, rain of blood, rain of frogs/fish), and possible lingering effects of evil.

The third chapter is all about '''Evil Equipment'''; torture devices, execution equipment, trapped armor & equipment, alchemical & quasi-magical items, drugs, poisons, and evil material components for spellcasting. It's kind of weird to have execution equipment here; after all, lawful good societies execute people too, and Fiendish Codex 2 even listed performing an execution as a ''lawful'' act, not an evil one.

Chapter four is all about the '''Feats''', and needs little further explanation.

Chapter five is for '''[[Prestige Class]]es''', introducing myriad ways for beings to tap into greater power from unholy sources:
* [[Cancer Mage]]: A mystic who seeks to explore the magical powers in disease, spreading plague and pestilence as weapons.
* [[Demonologist]]: A [[Conjurer]] who has focused on the futile art of mastering and subjugating [[demon]]s.
* [[Diabolist]]: A malevolent spellcaster who barters their soul to the Nine Hells of [[Baator]], hoping to master infernal magics and ultimately become a powerful [[devil]] themselves.
* [[Fiendish Disciple]]: A servitor of a specific [[archdevil]], who gains unique powers depending on which of the Nine that they serve. In the book, this is treated as a set of separate (but thematically identical) prestige classes, representing disciples of [[Asmodeus]], [[Baalzebul]], [[Dispater]], [[Mammon]], and [[Mephistopheles]].
* [[Lifedrinker]]: A [[vampire]] who has learned to draw ever-greater magical power from the blood they ingest, imbuing themselves with pronounced spellcasting abilities.
* [[Mortal Hunter]]: A dark parody of the [[Ranger]], Mortal Hunters are fiends who have trained themselves specially to hunt down and assassinate mortals, allowing them to remove those who stand in the ways of their masters' plans.
* [[Soul Eater]]: A monster that has transformed itself into an abomination that devours the souls of living beings in order to fuel its own might.
* [[Demonic Thrall]]: The [[Abyss]]al counterpart to the Fiendish Disciple, a Demonic Thrall is a devout worshipper of a specific [[Demon Prince]] who gains powerful abilities in emulation of their master. Demon Princes granted thralls in this book consist of [[Demogorgon]], [[Graz'zt]], [[Juiblex]] and [[Orcus]].
* [[Ur-Priest]]: An arch-blasphemer who hates the gods so much that they learn methods of secretly leeching away divine power from them to serve their own needs.
* [[Vermin Lord]]: A mage who seeks to master the power that comes from controlling and communing with invertebrates; insects, arachnids, and all other squirming lowly beasts.
* [[Warrior of Darkness]]: A warrior who seeks to enhance their physical might by augmenting themselves with vile alchemical reagents and black magic rituals.

Chapter 6 is all about the '''Magic'''; new spells, new magic items, and new malevolent artifacts.

Chapter 7 is devoted to '''Lords of Evil''', covering several [[Archdevil]]s and [[Demon Prince]]s. It also briefly covers how to handle clerics sworn to a specific archfiend. The archfiends covered in this chapter are:
* [[Demogorgon]]
* [[Graz'zt]]
* [[Juiblex]]
* [[Orcus]]
* [[Yeenoghu]]
* [[Bel]]
* [[Dispater]]
* [[Mammon]]
* [[Belial]] and [[Fierna]]
* [[Levistus]]
* The Hag Countess
* [[Baalzebul]]
* [[Mephistopheles]]
* [[Asmodeus]]

Naturally, chapter 8 follows this up with an assortment of new wicked monsters:
* [[Demon]] (Mane, Rutterkin, Bar-lgura, Babau, Shadow Demon, Chasme)
* [[Devil]] (Kocrachon, Ghargatula)
* [[Eye of Fear and Flame]]
* [[Kython]] (Broodling, Juvenile, Adult, Impaler, Slaymaster, Slaugtherking) Not to be confused with [[Kyton]]s. Kythons are a race of monsters who were created by demons trapped on the material plane in an attempt to make more of themselves. They somewhat resemble xenomorphs.
{{Sick}}
* [[Vaath]]: An extremely sadistic fiendish reptile/insect creature from [[Carceri]]. It paralyzes prey and then uses the extendable second mouth on its head to dig into the prey's flesh and consume their organs, choosing to consume organs that won't kill the prey immediately, so that they will suffer as long as possible. [[Grimdark|While it is eating, it telepathically makes everybody nearby it taste whatever it tastes, including the victim.]]
* [[Vilewight]]: A more evil version of a [[wight]] with long claws and exposed intestines that have transformed into tendrils with mouths on them. They can fire beams of negative energy, infect people with a disease that makes you unable to see living things, drain energy, and transform people they kill into regular wights.
* Creature Templates:
** Bone: A template for making a skeleton that retains the intelligence and abilities it had in life.
** Corpse: A template for making a zombie that retains the intelligence and abilities it had in life.
** Corrupted: A creature that has been mutated into a more monstrous version of itself due to exposure to sheer evil.

Finally, it ends with an appendix discussing how to handle evil PCs, specifically addressing a singular evil PC, an evil party, and how to run an evil campaign.

==4e Splatbook==
Much like its 3e counterpart, 4e's Book of Vile Darkness was a sourcebook on evil in [[Dungeons & Dragons]], divided into two physical splatbooks. The DM's book is full of advice for DMs on how to use evil or to run evil campaigns, complete with monsters, cursed items and other foulness to use against players. The Player's book, in comparison, is all about new PC goodies for malevolent (or at least seriously antiheroic) PCs, including character themes and [[Paragon Path]]s.

The '''Dungeon Master's Book''' opens with the chapter ''Evil Unearthed''. Fairly brief, this describes the history of the in-game Book of Vile Darkness, and briefly touches upon the nature of evil - not by attempting to strictly define things as evil, as was the case in 3e, but more examining general traits of evil.

The second chapter is ''Evil Campaigns'', which covers all of the issues from a DM's perspective on creating evil adventurers and running campaigns that either feature them or which are directly evil in nature, including the tricky issue of "how do you motivate an evil PC" and "what do they actually want to do". It closes with two sample campaigns that, whilst perhaps not requiring truly evil PCs, do feature a theme of battling true evil and arguably requiring some moral ambiguity; War for Hell, in which the party becomes caught up in open civil war in Baator, and Hunger of the Nine-Tongued Worm, in which the party must battle the [[tsochar]] before they can unleash [[Mak Thuum Ngatha]] on the [[World Axis]].

Chapter three, ''Vile Encounters'', opens with a discussion on how to impress upon players that they are fighting truly evil forces. This then segues into a number of new "vile themed" terrain features, followed by mechanics for cursing players and several sample curses. It finishes up with unnatural and evil-touched plagues (resurrecting some from its 3e counterpart), and an assortment of vile-themed traps and hazards for dungeons.
* Vile Terrain: Agony Amplifier, Carnage Stone, Festering Corruption, Forgotten Soul, Green Fog, Hellfire, Larvae Pool, Lingering Evil
* Curses: Accumulated Years, Misery Eternal, Sentient Tumor, Tomb King's Wrath, Werewolf Lycanthropy
* Vile Diseases: Deathsong, Demon Fever, Faceless Hate, Melting Fury, Psychic Parasites, Scarlet Plague
* Vile Traps & Hazards: Crypt Thing, Death Mold, Far Realm Anomaly, Glyph of Changes, Iron Boot, Lunacy Mist, Mirror of Life Trapping, Rot Grub Pit, Symbol of Death

Chapter four gives its identity away with its title: ''Villains and Monsters''. The bulk of it is advice on how to create and run different kinds of villain for your D&D campaign. It follows it up with several new monster themes, for customizing monsters for a specific role, a couple of new beasties to boot, an d some sample villainous organizations.
* Monster Themes: Chaos Beast, Devotee of Darkness, Doomdreamer, Maenad, Moilian Dead, Slave to the Nine Hells
* Monsters: Fallen Angel (Winter, Sorrow, Death), [[Hordeling]], Wrath Devil, Nhagruul Dragonspawn, Filth Hag, [[Tsochar]] (Parasite, Wearer of Flesh, Worm Servant, Noble)
* Vile Organizations: Chosen of the Sun (mad fanatics who commit atrocities in pursuit of stamping out evil), Dark Brotherhood (cult of [[Tharizdun]] that believes "Good" is a cosmic mistake), Disciples of Nhagruul (guardians of the Book of Vile Darkness who seek to use it to unleash an apocalypse), Kargatane (a lich's secret police that seeks immortality through transformation into vampires), Servants of Xopos ([[Slaad]] cultists who seek to facilitate wide-spread infection of mortals with larval slaadi).

Chapter five, ''Dark Rewards'', is all about potential magic that stems from a place in the darker parts of the multiverse; cursed items, unholy blessings, and twisted magical items.
* Cursed Items: Berserk Weapon, Boot of Many Steps, Cloak of Poison, Cursed Weapon, Potion of Delusion
* Divine Boons: Asmodeus's Dread Authority, Bane's Battle Acumen, Gruumsh's Bloodthirsty Wrath, Lolth's Fickle Favor, Tharizdun's Madness Spiral, Tiamat's Insatiable Greed, Torog's Inescapable Suffering, Vecna's Dark Secret, Zehir's Shadow Cloak
* Sinister Items: Bracers of Suffering, Flesh-Eating Rod, Girdle of Skulls, Midnight Blade, Obsidian Wand, Ring of Domination, Serpentine Knife of Zannad, Skull of Terror

Finally, the book closes with its sixth chapter, ''The Vile Tome'', a mini-campaign in which the party crosses paths with the Book of Vile Darkness and is given a chance to disrupt it, or even destroy it. This chapter also features the mechanics for the Book of Vile Darkness as a 4e artifact.

The '''Player's Book''', unlike its DM's counterpart, is not broken into nice, neat chapters. Instead, it opens with an immediate introduction that discusses the realities of playing an evil PC from a player's perspective - in particular hammering the point that this is ''not'' an excuse for the player to be a dick to the rest of the players or to the DM. It then examines some evil adventuring party archetypes, followed by individual "villain protagonist" archetypes, and other tips on creating villain PCs from scratch.

The next segment examines the different Power Sources in a [[World Axis]] campaign - Arcane, Divine, Martial, Primal, Psionic and Shadow - and these sources color the attitudes, behaviors, goals and desires of villainous PCs. This segment also expands the list of the [[Primal Spirits]] with the addition of Gnaw; the shunned and feared patron of scavengers, detrivores and vermin.

From here, the book presents several new villainous character themes; the Cultist, the Disgraced Noble, the Infernal Slave, the Reaver and the Vile Scholar.

Naturally, the next section is devoted to evil [[Paragon Path]]s, in the form of the Blood-Crazed Berserker, Contract Killer, Demonologist, Idol of Darkness and Vermin Lord, before ending with an [[Epic Destiny]], in the Exemplar of Evil.

It finishes its list of content with an assortment of new feats.

==Differences Between Versions==

As might be expected by the tonal differences between 3rd and 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons, the two Splatbooks are entirely different entities. The contrasts are so numerous, it could be argued that the two products are related by title much more than content. Without having to read both, though, a brief analysis could be thus:

* [[Monte Cook]] authored the 3rd edition book, and the imagery includes [[Promotions]] with approximately 7 female nipples throughout.

* Robert J. Schwalb wrote the 4th edition book, and it doesn't include Cancer Mages or any mentions of bestiality.

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]

Book of Exalted Deeds

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The '''Book of Exalted Deeds''' is a term from [[Dungeons & Dragons]] that can refer to either of two things; an in-game magical item, or a [[Splatbook]] for [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]]. It is the good counterpart of the [[Book of Vile Darkness]]

==The Magical Item==
It works the same way as its evil counterpart. A book that grants power and knowledge to its reader but only if they are of good alignment and will harm the reader if they are evil.

==3e Splatbook==
Released for 3.5 edition Dungeons & Dragons. Like the ''Book of Vile Darkness'' it has a warning that it is meant for a mature audience because it deals with the topics of ethics and morality in a serious manner. Also like the ''Book of Vile Darkness'' it isn't completely successful at this and also has several major balance issues.

Chapter 1 of the book discusses the nature of good and gives advice on how to roleplay good aligned characters. It also lists archetypes of good characters and gives a sample of character of each of those archetypes. Rather hilariously, the sample redeemed villain character is a good [[Illithid]]

Chapter 2 is about variant rules that can be used by good characters. One seriously imbalanced rule is Voluntary Poverty, which restricts the player from owning magic items or keeping any wealth they don't need in exchange for bonuses which aren't anywhere near enough to make up for it. Except that in a few hedge cases, such as [[Druid]] and [[Totemist]] (which can't normally use most items when shapeshifted and can't use magic items in the same slots as their Incarnum stuff respectively), where the bonuses stack when magic items shouldn't. The chapter also lists a few obscure gods of good: [[Ayailla]], [[Chaav]], [[Estanna]], [[Lastai]], [[Phieran]], [[Valarian]].

Chapter 3 includes a variety of weapons for good characters to use. One hilarious thing it includes are Ravages and Afflictions, which are supposed to be less evil alternatives to using poisons, but some of the descriptions of what they do actually sound worse that just using poison, for example Raging Desire causes insatiable sexual desire while preventing any possible fulfillment of that desire.

Chapter 4 is a long list of feats for good characters.

Chapter 5 contains '''22''' new prestige classes.
* [[Anointed Knight]]
* [[Apostle of Peace]]
* [[Beloved of Valarian]]
* [[Celestial Mystic]]
* [[Champion of Gwynharwyf]]
* [[Defender of Sealtiel]]
* [[Emissary of Barachiel]]
* [[Exalted Arcanist]]
* [[Fist of Raziel]]
* [[Initiate of Pistis Sophia]]
* [[Lion of Talisid]]
* [[Prophet of Erathaol]]
* [[Risen Martyr]]
* [[Sentinel of Bharrai]]
* [[Skylord]]
* [[Slayer of Domiel]]
* [[Stalker of Kharash]]
* [[Swanmay]]
* [[Sword of Righteousness]]
* [[Troubadour of Stars]]
* [[Vassal of Bahamut]]
* [[Wonderworker]]

Chapter 6 contains magic spells and items. Introduced here is the concept of Sanctified Spells. These spells can be prepared by any prepared spellcaster capable of casting [good] spells (spontaneous spellcasters are, as typical for a 3.0 publication, screwed for no real reason) and have good effects in exchange for some kind of penalty when the spell expires. Most of the time this is just easily healed ability damage, though the highest level ones have special penalties. Since Sanctified spells can be used by any prepared caster of good alignment, they are often mentioned as an option for obscure, poorly supported, casting classes like [[Adept]], [[Healer]] or [[Wu Jen]]. Outside of this niche, the most notable is Luminous Armor and its Greater counterpart, which are basically just improved and highly visible versions of Mage Armor which are actually Abjuration spells (and thus eligible for use with the Abjurant Champion Prestige Class).

Chapter 7 is about Celestial Paragons, extremely powerful good aligned outsiders that could be called [[Archangel]]s including the Celestial Hebdomad, 7 archons that each are each the protector of a different layer of [[Celestia]], Talisid and the Five Companions, an adventuring party made up of one of each kind of [[Guardinal]] except for Musteval, and the Court of Stars that rules over the [[Eladrin]].

Chapter 8 list a variety of good monsters. It introduces the Deathless, a creature type that is similar to undead but with many of their traits reversed, as they are powered by positive energy instead of negative.
* Aleax (Template): A construct created by a good aligned god sent to punish a mortal that has done something to upset them. It looks like a clone of the intended victim with glowing eyes. If it successfully kills its target their soul is sent to the god that sent the Aleax who will then offer them a chance to redeem theirself.
* [[Archon]]:
** Owl Archon:
** Sword Archon:
** Throne Archon:
** Warden Archon:
* [[Asura]]: A chaotic good celestial resembling an angel with flaming wings
* [[Bariaur]]: A celestial resembling a centaur but with the features of a ram or goat instead of a horse.
* Crypt Warden: A skeletal deathless that protects the tombs of saints and heroes.
* [[Eladrin]]:
** Coure:
** Firre:
** Shiradi:
** Tulani:
* [[Guardinal]]
** Equinal
** Musteval
** Ursinal
* [[Hollyphant]]: A powerful celestial that normally looks like a tiny elephant with wings, but make it mad, and it will turn into a bat winged humanoid mastodon.
* [[Leskylor]]: A magical beast resembling a blue furred tiger with wings, which sometimes also has three heads.
* Moon dog: A celestial dog that acts like a good counterpart of the yeth hound.
* Quesar: A construct resembling a shining humanoid created by angels
* [[Rhek]]: Lawful good humanoids with rhinoceros like features.
* Sacred Watcher (Template): A ghostly deathless that returns from the dead to continue protecting somebody.
* Saint (Template): A mortal who has become like a celestial through living a life dedicated to good.
* Sanctified Creature (Template): A creature that has been transformed into a good version of itself by the effect of the spell ''Sanctify the Wicked''. It loses many of its abilities in exchange for new good ones.
* Divine Wrath Swarm: A swarm of animals sent by a god to punish mortals.
** Apocalypse Frog Swarm: A swarm of frogs sent as a warning to evildoers that a far worse punishment will be coming soon.
** Bronze Locust Swarm: Fine constructs resembling locusts that spit divine fire and have jaws made of adamantine.
** Deathraven Swarm: A swarm of silver-eyed ravens that can instantly kill anything they wound and are sent to kill only the most evil of people. For some added horror, they also have a rule for pecking their victim's eyes out.
** Sunfly Swarm: Shining dragonflies from the planes of good.

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]

A Red and Pleasant Land

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{{Game Infobox
|name = A Red and Pleasant Land
|picture = [[Image:aredandpleasantland.jpg|300px]]
|type = [[Setting]]
|publisher = Lamentations of the Flame Princess
|system = Lamentations of the Flame Princess
|authors = Zak S.
|year =
}}
'''A Red and Pleasant Land''' is a setting for [[Lamentations of the Flame Princess]], written by Zak S. The setting describes Voivodja, the Land of Unreason, a chessboard-like country inspired by ''Alice in Wonderland'' torn by a war between four different vampire houses. It's a pretty weird setting, in case you didn't figured it out by now.

==The Land of Unreason==
Voivodja looks like a giant chessboard: ruins and forest neatly divided in squares by rivers. Note that beyond the exotic factor, this fact has a major importance: your main enemies (or allies) are going to be vampires... which cannot cross running water.

Upon the squares of the chessboard the players will mostly find abandoned buildings, weird gardens, or hidden human villages. It is mostly a white canvas for the GM to draw upon, alongside some interesting random encounters and a fucked-up bestiary

The most important places in Voivodja (and the ones which are actually described in details in the book) are the castles of each of the two main vampire houses, Castle Cachtice and Castle Poenari. Speaking of which...

==The Vampire Houses==
As mentioned before, four different vampire houses are waging war across Voivodja. At the beginning of the game, only the Red King and the Heart Queen are openly at war. The two other factions are neutral, and will only pick side once the PCs show up and get involved in politics. This is supposed to be a major point of the setting, so you get some write-up on their leaders and organisation, as well as stats for most of their members.

The houses are as follow:

* The house of Vlad Vortigen, the Red King. You can guess who he's based upon. Has three wives, and of course each has her own agenda.
* The house of Elizabeth Bathyscape, the Heart Queen.
* The house of the Pale King and his Mad Hatter.
* The house of the Colorless Queen of Nephilida, the Half-Drowned Isle.

[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Game Books]]
[[Category: Lamentations of the Flame Princess]]

==The Alice==
The Alice is a new character class for LotFP. The Alice is a variant of the Specialist (though with weaker stats and skills at first level) with some gimmicks.

Their main gimmick is called Exasperation, and allows them to roll once every real-time hour on a random-effect table. It ranges from a secret door conveniently appearing out of nowhere to a sympathetic talking object or animal helping the Alice. Note that every effect is strictly beneficial, despite this being LotFP.

Upon gaining a level, the Alice must roll on a random-bonus table. Some bonus are more powerful than other, but once again everything is strictly beneficial.

Ravenloft Gazetteer

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The '''Ravenloft Gazetteers''' are a series of five sourcebooks for the [[Dungeons & Dragons]] setting of [[Ravenloft]]. Released for its 3rd edition imprint, each expands upon select parts of the Core of Raveloft, providing expanded details useful to both players and dungeon masters bout those regions, alongside an assortment of mechanical goods such as statistics for notable figures, new spells and magic items, and new monsters. Whilst more Gazetteeers beyond the first five were planned, in order to begin expanding upon more isolated places in the [[Demiplane of Dread]], the loss of the Ravenloft license by [[White Wolf]] led to the cancellation of the series.

This page will list all of the material covered in each gazetteer, consisting of domains, sidebars by domain, magic items, monsters, Who's Doomed, and anything else of note.

==Gazetteer I==
Domains Covered: Barovia, Hazla, Forlorn, Kartakass

===Barovia===
* Dread Possibility: The Tomb of Leo Dilisnya
* The Stone Circles of Barovia
* Bitterblot and Vistan's Tears
* Secret Society: The Dawnslayers
* [[The Morninglord]] Revisited
* Dread Possibility: The Resurrection of [[Erlin]]
* Secret Society: The Red Vardo Traders
* Lyssa von Zarovich
* Secret Society: The Ba'al Verzi
* Strahd's Choking Fog
* Secret Society: The Keepers of the Black Feather

===Hazlan===
* Dread Possibility: The Black Spire
* Quovusp Root and Poppies
* [[The Lawgiver]] Revisited
* Secret Society: The Iron Inquisitors
* Dread Possibility: The Lodestone
* Dread Possibility: The Double-Dealer

===Forlorn===
* Plants of Forlorn
* Dread Possibility: The Black Grove
* The Forfarian Pantheon
* Dread Possibility: The Wild Hunt
* Dread Possibility: Time and Tristenoira

===Kartakass===
* Secret Society: The Howling Clan
* Meekulbern and Nightblight
* [[The Ancestral Choir]]
* Kartakass in the Spirit World
* Meistersinger Contests
* Secret Society: The Brotherhood of Broken Blades
* Dread Possibility: The Crystal Club

===DM's Appendix===
* Prestige Class: The [[Herald of Dawn]]
* [[Cleric Domain]]s: Bindings, Mora, Salvation
* New Spells: Control Shape, Create Faux Henchman, Create Goblyn, Ground Fog, Mimic Mortal, Misty Summons, Strahd's Baleful Attractor, Wolfsong
* Magic Items: Arawn's Cauldron, Arcane Grounding Rods, Ba'al Verzi Dagger, Bright Blade, Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, Horn of the Sacred Groves, Icon of Ravenloft, Orb of Augmentation, Vat of the Living Clay
* New Monsters: Lycanthrope - Werefox, Undead Lake Serpent, Strahd Undead, Dire Raven, Silver Fox, Zombie Wolf

====Who's Doomed====
* Tristen ApBlanc, Darklord of Forlorn
* Eleni of Toyalis, Heir to the Red Wizard
* Madame Eva
* Hazlik the Red Wizard, Darklord of Hazlan
* Inajira, the Pariah Fiend, He-Who-Deceives
* Tara Kolyana
* Harkon Lukas, Darklord of Kartakass
* Jacqueline Montarri
* Count [[Strahd von Zarovich]], Darklord of Barovia

==Gazetteer II==
Domains Covered: Darkon, Necropolis, Lamordia, Falkovnia

===Darkon===
* Wellsprings of Silence and Terror
* Dread Possibility: Twin Shadows
* Dread Possibility: Whistling through the trees
* Spuma Vitae and Somnos Berries
* The Crimson Death
* Secret Society: The Dark Delvers
* Claimed by Darkon
* Secret Society: The Fraternity of Shadows
* [[The Eternal Order]] Revisited
* The Church of [[Ezra]] Revisited (Darkonese sect)
* Dread Possibility: The Blind Eye (Overseer deity writeup)
* Secret Society: The Kargat
* Vampiric Thralls

===Necropolis===
* The Shroud
* Necropolitan Amaranth
* The Eternal Order Revisited (Necropolis sect)
* Dread Possibility: The Old Ways
* Secret Society: The Unholy Order of the Grave
* Dread Possibility: The Halflings' Secret

===Lamordia===
* Blistercap Poison
* Dread Possibility: The Smothering of Reason
* Secret Society: The Syndicate of Enlightened Citizens
* Dread Possibility: The Wolves of the Sea
* Secret Society: The Seekers of the Spark
* Dread Possibility: The Crusade of Ivan Dragonov

===Falkovnia===
* Medicinal Herbs and Abfalduz
* Peacebonding
* Falkovnian Talons
* Dread Possibility: The Shadow Cities
* Dread Possibility: The Central Prison
* Dread Possibility: The Feeding Houses
* Dread Possibility: The Morfenzi Murders
* Dread Possibility: Selberhas Aerie
* Secret Society: The Veiled Palm

===DM's Appendix===
* New Spells: Bone Seizure, Create Quasimancer, Corpse Whisper, Death Sight, Eyes of the Undead, Locate Mark, Reanimate, Steal Vitality
* New Magic Items: Anvil of Darkness, Talon Bracers, Falkovnian Talon Armor, The Rift Spanner,
* New Monsters: Corvus Regis (King's Raven), Zweifalk, Dread Golem adjustment, The Green Maiden, Lycanthrope - Sea Stalker, The Slain, Necropolitan Ghoul/Shadow/Skeleton/Wight/Zombie, Vassalich

====Who's Doomed====
* Azalin, Darklord of Darkon
* Death, Darklord of Necropolis
* Vlad Drakov, the Hawk, Darklord of Falkovnia
* Ebb
* Gondegal, the Lost King, the Knight of Falkovnia
* Lady Kazandra
* Vladimir Ludzig
* Victor Mordenheim and his Monster, Adam; Darklords of Lamordia

==Gazetteer III==
Domains Covered: Dementlieu, Mordent, Richemulot

===Dementlieu===
* Dread Possibility: It Came From The Sea
* Dapplewort
* Secret Society: L'Ordures
* The Obedient
* Secret Society: La Societe de Legerdemain
* The Church of [[Ezra]] Revisited (Dementlieu Sect)
* Dread Possibility: Helene the Traitor
* Dread Possibility: Chantreaux's Crusade
* Dread Possibility: Something in the Water

===Mordent===
* Dread Possibility: Smythe's Secret
* A Nice Cup of Wraithroot Tea
* Dread Possibility: The Discarded Mortality of [[Strahd von Zarovich]]
* The Lost Families of Mordent
* Dread Possibility: The Sinister Gallery
* Common Mordentish Funeral Customs

===Richemulot===
* Probing the Mists of Time
* Former Darklord: CLaude Renier
* Secret Society: The Echansons Heresy
* Rongeise Steel and Bladewights
* Secret Society: The Cult of Simon Audaire
* Secret Society: La Serrure et Cle
* Dread Possibility: The Corrupted Sanctuary
* Tinctnoire Manor

===DM's Appendix===
* The Church of [[Ezra]] (expanded history & structure)
* New Feats: Improved Supernatural Resilience, Greater Supernatural Immunity, Voice of the Spirits
* New Prestige Classes: [[Grimetrekker]], [[Lamplighter]], [[Stage Magician]]
* New Monsters: Tweaked Wererat Abilities, Aberrant Wererat variant

====Who's Doomed====
* Dominic d'Honaire, Darklord of Dementlieu
* The Living Brain, Rudolph von Aubrecker
* Alanik Ray
* Lord Wilfred Godefroy, Darklord of Mordent
* Lord Jules Weathermay, Ruler of Mordent
* Jacqueline Renier, Darklord of Richemulot
* Dread Possibility: The Becoming Plague

==Gazetteer IV==
Domains Covered: Borca, Invidia, Verbrek, Valachan, Sithicus

===Borca===
* Hellspouts
* Borca in the Spirit World
* Former Darklord: Camille Boritsi
* Secret Society: The Ermordenung
* The Church of [[Ezra]] Revisited (Borcan Sect)

===Invidia===
* Hermitshawl
* Former Darklord: Duke Nharov Gundar
* Secret Society: The Sons of Gundar

===Verbrek===
* Dread Possibility: The Brood of the Purple Moon
* Moonflowers
* Former Darklord: Nathan Timothy
* [[The Wolf God]] Revisited
* Secret Society: The Woodcutter's Axe
* Wolves at the Door
* A Town Without Pity
* Secret Society: The Duskpeace Outcasts

===Valachan===
* Lilies of Eternal Slumber
* Shallow Feeding and White Fever
* [[Yutow]]
* Secret Society: The Cat's Claws
* Dread Possibility: The Cat of Felkovic
* Dread Possibility: Something in the Water
* Dread Possibility: The Tales of Ages
* Dread Possibility: Curing White Fever

===Sithicus===
* The Guilt of Sithicus
* Trekking Through Sithicus
* Ashen Fever
* Former Darklord: [[Lord Soth|The Black Rose]]
* The Bitterkinder
* Sithican [[Vampire]]s
* The Inconstant Moon: Nuitari
* Dread Possibility: The Blessed Knight
* Secret Societ: The Wanderers

===DM's Appendix===
* Poison Politics (new poisons and poison creation rules)
* New Feats: Catr's Eyes, Sympathetic Spell
* New Prestige Classes: [[Master Poisoner]], [[Moonchild]]
* New [[Cleric Domain]]: Slaughter
* New Magic Items: Baron's Arm, Periapt of Intimidation, Tasting Cup, Vital Venom
* New Monsters: Lycanthrope - Werepanther, Salt Shadow

====Who's Doomed====
* Gabrielle Aderre, Darklord of Invidia
* Malocchio Aderre, the Dukkar
* Ivana Boritsi, Darklord of Borca
* Azrael Dak, the Sorrow of Sithicus
* Ivan Dilisnya, Darklord of Borca
* Inza Magdova Kulchevich, Darklord of Sithicus
* Alfred Timothy, Darklord of Verbrek
* Baron Urik von Kharkov, Darklord of Valachan

==Gazetteer V==
Domains Covered: Nova Vaasa, Tepest, Keening, Shadow Rift

===Nova Vaasa===
* Dread Possibility: The Clinic for the Mentally Distressed

===Tepest===
* Goblin Traps
* Fairy Stools and Wichtingourds
* [[Belenus]] Revisited and the Tepestani Pantheon
* Dread Goblins

===Keening===
* Bone Powder
* Waspsting Moss and Trollflesh
* Black Troopings
* Walking Among The Dead
* The Dawning Scream
* Dread Possibility: The Pool of Memory, Imago Toadstools, and the Riddle of the Locust King
* Rutternettle, Minstrel of the Widderribhin

===The Shadow Rift===
* The Mists of Shadow
* Dread Possibility: The Marsh of Melancholy
* Climbing the Darkenheights
* Plants of the Shadow Rift
* Magic in the Shadow Rift
* The Church of [[the Spider Queen]]
* Searching the Shifting Sands

===DM's Appendix===
* The Church of [[the Lawgiver]]
* New Prestige Classes: [[Tepestani Inquisitor]], [[Zelldrow]]
* New Cleric Domains: Bindings, Scrutiny, The Weave
* New Spells: Befoul, Black Blood Frenzy, Mass Black Blood Frenzy, Cuckoo's Egg, Dead MIan's Tell, Hag's Blessing, Rotted Warning, Weave's Bounty, Wicked Permancy
* New Magic Items: Hands of Power (Four-Fingered, Many-Fingered, One-Fingered, Three-Fingered, Two-Fingered, Unfingered), Regalia of Arak
* New Monsters: [[Shadow Fey|Arak]] - Gwytune, The Avanc, Goblin Beast, Scourged, Widderibhinn

====Who's Doomed====
* Othmar Bolshnik, Prince of Nova Vaasa
* Gwydion the Sorcerer-Fiend, Darklord of the Shadow Rift
* Sir Tristen Hiregaard/Malken, Darklord of Nova Vaasa
* Lady of the Lake, Darklord of Castle Island
* Loht, Prince of Shadows
* Maeve the White Lady, Faerie Queen
* The Three Has, Darklords of Tepest
* Tristessa, the Queen of Black Tears, Darklord of Keening
* Wyan of Viktal

[[Category: Ravenloft]] [[Category: Game Books]]

Ravenloft Gazetteer

2020-10-17T18:59:55Z

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