User:Squeamish Ossifrage/D&D Sourcing

Checked works

 * Adventures Unlimited [full run]
 * Ares [full run]
 * Backstab 0, 1–6 (French)
 * d6 Magazine [full run]
 * The General (Avalon Hill) [vol. 1–20, per index; not bothering after that]
 * Guild Adventurer [full run]
 * Heroes (Avalon Hill) [full run]
 * Shadis 1–9, 14, 19.5, 22, 24–29

Missing works

 * Fenix (Askfageln) (Swedish)
 * GameMaster Publications 4 [DL12, B/X1, N3, I8, M2], 5 [Dungeoneer's Survival, Wilderness Survival, Immortals Rules]
 * Shadis 10–13, 15–18, 18.5, 19, 20, 20.5, 21, 23, 30–52

Birthright
[review is mostly of the product line in general] Campaign setting based on politics and land holding. Bloodlines are heirs to divine essence distributed across the land when most of the gods sacrificed themselves in a cataclysmic war Realm-building allows tracking of morale, economics, the status of various temples and guilds System is too complex and time consuming, "the rules invoke images of players sitting around a table with accounting forms and copies of the Fiscal Year '95 tax codes." Ruins of Empire: setting background, "tough reading"; system for army-scale combat is adequate Blood Enemies: most important monsters; serves to provide additional world background but not realistic opponents for most games Sword and Crown: Adventure, in theme for the setting

The Complete Book of Humanoids
Layout like other Complete books Presents rules for 25 humanoid races, including centaurs, goblins, kobolds, lizardmen, minotaur, orcs, satyrs... Includes kits Roleplaying tips Generally positive review, useful to some players and most GM but lack of any aquatic races is a shortcoming

The Complete Druid's Handbook
artwork is mediocre many of the optional rules are unnecessary 7/10

The Complete Fighter's Handbook
Book contains options for specialization, new combat rules, guides for role-playing the class Mostly useful for dedicated fans of the class Reviewer would have preferred the expanded rules to work like the Mostrous Compendium in binder form

The Complete Psionics Handbook
Generally positive review Book describes the psionicist class and the roles of psionics in 2nd edition D&D Psionic combat rules are "a confused hodgepodge" but better than 1st edition Chapter describing how to integrate these rules into existing settings seemed rushed and incomplete

The Complete Thief's Handbook
[See Blackburn in Shadis 4 under Complete Fighter]

Dark Sun Campaign Setting
(as in, the 2E box set, but probably campaign setting article too) Rereleased as a box set with a GM screen, a cloth map, a starting adventure ("Mystery of the Ancients"), "The Way of the Psionicist", "The Age of Heroes" (rules adjustments), and "The Wanderer's Chronicle" (worldbook) Higher ability scores, widespread psionics, changes to available races; divine magic is elemental, arcane magic damages the land (notes the Preserver/Defiler option) Reviewed as a good alternative to normal settings, but essentially functions as a stand-alone game. Way lacks descriptions of some powers and so is incomplete

Dragonlance: The Fifth Age
NOTE TO SELF: This is the weird SAGA system spinoff thing System is based on an 82 card deck, divided into 9 suits Encourages improvisation, limited by its lack of a skill system

Dungeons & Dragons Master Rules
Generally positive review map is useless and American-centric (per this British review!) "predictable, but not unuseful" approach to high level play

Elminster's Ecologies
(released in French as Les Carnets d'Elminster) "halfway between a monster manual and a biology book" [mi-chemin entre un manuel des monstres et un livre de biologie] function for the Realms as the Michelin guide does for food praised the depth of the work and its organization, divided by region to make it easier to use what is needed considered the poor quality of some artwork the only detracting factor 9/10

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
(2nd edition) French edition by Jeux Descartes praises the richness of the setting and the adaptation to 2nd edition without compromising that 8/10

Lankhmar: City of Adventure
"superb product" even if not using the Lankhmar setting because of the detailed city and city generation rules would need some modification to the game itself to fully represent the setting of the books

Planescape Campaign Setting
[but probably also useful in the actual campaign setting article] translated to French by Jeux Descartes under license Most innovative and original campaign setting extends the idea (from Ravenloft) that campaign settings can be more than just kingdoms and continents basic description of Sigil here 10/10 review

Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix
provides more inspiration than just a collection of monsters praises DiTerlizzi's art 7/10

Unearthed Arcana
(the AD&D book) provides new options such as spells and races in general represents an increase in power risks becoming as different from base AD&D as AD&D from the original game

B1: In Search of the Unknown
Lacks a plot, but flexible module that is a "pivotal piece of role-playing history" Groups of humanoid monsters in self-contained sections of a dungeon

B2: The Keep on the Borderlands
Retrospective review, over fifteen years later. "Designed [for] beginners", "quaint", but among the best Basic modules to revisit for nostalgia.

CA1: Swords of the Undercity
Short length may not be a good value for its cost Poor editing; pregenerated characters aren't the level the module claims to be for Based on one of Lieber's stories [ED: WHICH??] and may be familiar to the people most likely to play it

DL10: Dragons of Dreams
part of the Dragonlance "phenomenon" opinions based on previous DL material focus on illusions and dreams has a "strange quality" DL6 split the story into two paths; DL7–9 was one, and this is the start of the other

I1: The Dwellers of the Forbidden City
Maps are difficult to use Society of the titular city is unbelievable "ill-conceived" and "disorganized"

I7 Baltron's Beacon
"lost art of the dungeon adventure" positive review, despite some editing and poor artwork but inferior to I6 (Ravenloft!)

L1: The Secret of Bone Hill
Valuable as a method of providing a town as a "home base" for low-level adventurers Background material is poorly organized and out of order Introduced as the first of a series (EDIT: continued in The Assassin's Knot) and doesn't appear to stand on its own well.

T1–4 The Temple of Elemental Evil
mixed review T1 components feel dated, poorly edited remainder of the module is effectively "one huge dungeon", although a very well designed one

X10: Red Arrow, Black Shield
"sprawling romp of an adventure" focuses on tactical mass combat and strategic warfare elements (from Dungeons & Dragons Companion Set and Battlesystem continuation of X4 Master of the Desert Nomads and X5 Temple of Death

Elminster: The Making of a Mage
provides some of the history of Elminster without revealing all his secrets 8/10

I, Strahd
faux autobiography largely avoids kitsch explores "the Romanesque, if not Romantic, side of the vampire" [le cote romanesque, sinon romantique, du vampire] in the tradition of Stoker's Dracula 8/10

Champions of Krynn
Similar to Pool of Radiance and Curse of the Azure Bonds Improved graphics, better load times, less onerous copy protection 9/10

Hillsfar
Review of the Amiga version Play is hampered by loading times associated with frequent disk access, does not use the resources of the Amiga well Replayable with different classes Inferior graphics and gameplay to Heroes of the Lance. 6/10

Imagine
Launched by Don Turnbull (via TSR UK) over Gary Gygax's objections to a UK based magazine Staff were mostly new, intended to make the title independent in tone Had to compete with White Dwarf as the important UK mag Little support from TSR US including no advance notice of products

Topics
Need to come back to Shadis 7, 8 for a articles on the anti-RPG movement GameMaster Publications 3 has a large religion in D&D article