The Inside Scoop on Gaming

October is here, the days wain and the nights loom fearsome.... This can mean only one thing... Monsters!

This on my mind, I drove up to my local gaming store with visions of the new Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual in my head. Alas, the proprietor gave me grave news (no pun intended): The 3rd Ed. Monster Manual is delayed! My hear immediately sank, but the shopkeep patted me on the back and told me not to despair, for he had something that he said was just as good. He then handed me a grey hardback with a familiar hinge-like design gracing the cover. I peered closer, and beheld the title: Sword & Sorcery Creature Collection.

My first thought was akin to "Oh my god, it's a knockoff of the MM! How in blue blazes did they get THIS published without Wizards' 22nd level Copyright Lawyers devouring them whole?"

Then I looked on the back. Oh... The Open Gaming Licence... I'd read about this a while back but it had escaped the Oubliette that makes up my memory. I chuckled to myself. Apparently someone used Wizards' own marketing to one-up them. Good show, who-ever you are! I read the blurb further: "Over 200 new monsters for 3rd Edition rules." Visions of the 1st edition Fiend Folio ran thru my head. This could be both very good and excruciatingly bad. Then my eyes flickered down to the logo bearing the words "Scarred Lands".

So I asked the shopkeep if the main setting book was in stock, and got the full dope on the subject: Scarred Lands is apparently White Wolf's D&D setting, but the Creature Companion is the first book for the setting. Why would a company that prides itself on putting out materials that are so strongly based on setting and roleplay choose to introduce their new setting via a monster manual? So right there, in the store, I sat my butt down and flipped thru it.

About ten minutes later, I plunked down my twenty-five dollars and took it home with me.

Needless to say, I was impressed.

It starts with a preface, explaining about the Open Gaming Licence, and then goes on to a one page introduction intoducing the setting: Inspired loosely by Greek mythology, the world of Scarn is recovering from a war between the nearly all-powerful Titans, and their even more powerful children, the Gods. Instead of being relatively short, though, the war went on for centuries, forcibly changing the face of Scarn forever, so much so that the inhabitants now call their world the Scarred Lands.

The book itself is presented in familiar monster manual style, with the obvious tailoring to third edition detailing the monster's Abilities, skills and Feats. Along with the familiar stat block, a lengthy description of the monter is given, detailing the monster's physical description, historical context within the Scarred Lands, its personality, ecology, and other habits. Next comes the monster's combat info, along with descriptions of its special attacks and defences.

211 pages later, we come to the first of two appendices, which details the gods and Titans of the Scarred Lands, and the second, which is a copy of the Open Gaming Licence itself

The monsters presented in this book are solid, able to be used in any campaign setting with slight modification, and some of them, like the two hundred foot Mithril Golem are downright scary for PCs of ANY level.

The art, like any White Wolf project uses a plethora of talent and runs from the awful (p.119), to the awesome (p.148)., although about 90% of it suits the intended creature quite well.

The only problem I can think of is that this book left me wanting more information about the Scarred Lands and the people and cultures therein. There are entries for elves and dwarves, but these are of the abnormal "forsaken" variety who have abandoned their normal racial natures.

The Good: Excellent challenges for your players, and the beginning of what seems to be a wonderful fantasy setting.

The Bad: a fascinating world has been presented here, and I would have liked to have seen some more information presented. A world map would have at least been helpful in determining adventuring locales, as well as how the various monsters' territories overlap.

The Ugly: the picture of the Sandmasker on page 163.

Overall: This is a great product that delivers what it promises, despite the lack of world info. As it says on the back cover, you need the D&D Player's Handbook to make full use of the book, but hey, that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm not going to tell you to run out and get this book, but it is of very high quality (not counting the five or six bad pieces of art), so if you're interested in a new campaign setting, want new monsters to challenge your players, and/or have the extra $25 worth of mad money, pick it up. You'll be glad you did.

Style: 4

Substance: 4

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Sword & Sorcey Creature Compendium
Author: Sword and Sorcery Studios Category: game Company/Publisher: Sword and Sorcery Studios Line: Scarred Lands Cost: $24.99 Page count: 222 ISBN: 1-56504-487-8 SKU: WW8300 Capsule Review by Scoundrel on 10/14/00. Genre tags: Fantasy Post-apocalypse	October is here, the days wain and the nights loom fearsome.... This can mean only one thing... Monsters! This on my mind, I drove up to my local gaming store with visions of the new Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual in my head. Alas, the proprietor gave me grave news (no pun intended): The 3rd Ed. Monster Manual is delayed! My hear immediately sank, but the shopkeep patted me on the back and told me not to despair, for he had something that he said was just as good. He then handed me a grey hardback with a familiar hinge-like design gracing the cover. I peered closer, and beheld the title: Sword & Sorcery Creature Collection. My first thought was akin to "Oh my god, it's a knockoff of the MM! How in blue blazes did they get THIS published without Wizards' 22nd level Copyright Lawyers devouring them whole?" Then I looked on the back. Oh... The Open Gaming Licence... I'd read about this a while back but it had escaped the Oubliette that makes up my memory. I chuckled to myself. Apparently someone used Wizards' own marketing to one-up them. Good show, who-ever you are! I read the blurb further: "Over 200 new monsters for 3rd Edition rules." Visions of the 1st edition Fiend Folio ran thru my head. This could be both very good and excruciatingly bad. Then my eyes flickered down to the logo bearing the words "Scarred Lands". So I asked the shopkeep if the main setting book was in stock, and got the full dope on the subject: Scarred Lands is apparently White Wolf's D&D setting, but the Creature Companion is the first book for the setting. Why would a company that prides itself on putting out materials that are so strongly based on setting and roleplay choose to introduce their new setting via a monster manual? So right there, in the store, I sat my butt down and flipped thru it. About ten minutes later, I plunked down my twenty-five dollars and took it home with me. Needless to say, I was impressed. It starts with a preface, explaining about the Open Gaming Licence, and then goes on to a one page introduction intoducing the setting: Inspired loosely by Greek mythology, the world of Scarn is recovering from a war between the nearly all-powerful Titans, and their even more powerful children, the Gods. Instead of being relatively short, though, the war went on for centuries, forcibly changing the face of Scarn forever, so much so that the inhabitants now call their world the Scarred Lands. The book itself is presented in familiar monster manual style, with the obvious tailoring to third edition detailing the monster's Abilities, skills and Feats. Along with the familiar stat block, a lengthy description of the monter is given, detailing the monster's physical description, historical context within the Scarred Lands, its personality, ecology, and other habits. Next comes the monster's combat info, along with descriptions of its special attacks and defences. 211 pages later, we come to the first of two appendices, which details the gods and Titans of the Scarred Lands, and the second, which is a copy of the Open Gaming Licence itself The monsters presented in this book are solid, able to be used in any campaign setting with slight modification, and some of them, like the two hundred foot Mithril Golem are downright scary for PCs of ANY level. The art, like any White Wolf project uses a plethora of talent and runs from the awful (p.119), to the awesome (p.148)., although about 90% of it suits the intended creature quite well. The only problem I can think of is that this book left me wanting more information about the Scarred Lands and the people and cultures therein. There are entries for elves and dwarves, but these are of the abnormal "forsaken" variety who have abandoned their normal racial natures. The Good: Excellent challenges for your players, and the beginning of what seems to be a wonderful fantasy setting. The Bad: a fascinating world has been presented here, and I would have liked to have seen some more information presented. A world map would have at least been helpful in determining adventuring locales, as well as how the various monsters' territories overlap. The Ugly: the picture of the Sandmasker on page 163. Overall: This is a great product that delivers what it promises, despite the lack of world info. As it says on the back cover, you need the D&D Player's Handbook to make full use of the book, but hey, that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm not going to tell you to run out and get this book, but it is of very high quality (not counting the five or six bad pieces of art), so if you're interested in a new campaign setting, want new monsters to challenge your players, and/or have the extra $25 worth of mad money, pick it up. You'll be glad you did. Style: 4 Substance: 4 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Sword & Sorcey Creature Compendium