The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Bill Coffin, author of The Western Empire, The Baalgor Wastelands and other Palladium Fantasy books returns with another gem. Unlike previous books by Coffin, this one doesn't focus on a country or a single race, but uses the Library of Bletherad to touch on everything from magic items, spells, and other planes.

The Library itself is located on the Isle of Y-Oda, claimed by the Wolven Empire and sharing space with two volcanoes. While there are small ports on the island, such as Arrluugra and Bletherad, the details are minor in comparison with the Library itself. This library is a seed library of an older, vaster library which was destroyed by minions of the mad god Chantico. Those who survived the siege crafted other libraries to carry on the knowledge of that first library, but all of those save for that at Bletherad have fallen. The current Library now stands five stories tall with sub levels and a Sphinx as a protector.

The library is home to scrolls, maps, myths, languages, and more knowledge than could ever be fit between one RPG supplement. This allows Bill Coffin to toss in spells, magic items, monsters, and a whole host of interesting tidbits that GMs can run with. Most amusing though, is a more recent publication, The Carbunculum, an adventurer's guide to the Library with such wisdom like, "Do not bother with this section at all", in reference to the Uncatalogued Works of the Library. Other sections read just like they were written by a power mad player so GMs should get a good chuckle out if it all.

Those who remember the old days have formed a guild to hunt down the different cults that worship Chantico. Nothing is black and white however, and these self called Guardians of Bletherad have no official standing and don't really exist. A GM can have great fun by having the players join the Guardians and years latter find out that they were wrong about the cults of Chantico.

Bill Coffin then uses the Library as a framing tool with each section brining in something new to the Palladium Fantasy World. For example, there are many new spells introduced. While the spells themselves are not located at the library, the origins of the types of magic, such as Shadowcasting and Fulmination/Electricity, are. Under each heading, there are different spells. Some of my favorites include the cold spells Chill Blood, Frostbite and Ice Storm. Each spell is fully described and can be used in any Palladium game. I would've loved to see some Rifts specific conversions, but…

Almost all the weapons detailed are new rune weapons save for one old favorite, Deathkiss, a soul stealing bastard sword. Other weapons like Jecetri the Messenger, a throwing knife, and Vagan's Hook, are all detailed with the type of weapon, the damage, alignment, powers, curse, personality, history, and perhaps most importantly, an illustration. If the B stands for Breuax, then he did a great job. Weapons like Ceradze the Hesitant, a scrimitar, and Trigom the Chaotic, have a lot of personality not through their descriptions, but through the visuals.

GMs looking for something to torture players without outside of NPCs who own said rune weapons, should enjoy The Journals of Sir Garrydyn. Here, demon lords, demon types, devil types, and all manner of infernal monsters are detailed for a GM to throw into his campaign. Face Mepheseum, a minor demon lord, or Tentac, a massive floating eyeball with tentacles. Those looking for opponents not so diabolic in nature will enjoy The Brass Menagerie, a book with details on creatures like the Kraken, Amphisbaena (giant two headed snake), and Silodors, winged panthers who battle against the evil Za.

The Heroic Realms section briefly touches on other planes. The maps here are great, but there is so little detail, that I'm hoping that this is just the introduction to something that Palladium will continue with, otherwise five pages of maps will be used only by those GMs with enough time to fill in a whole plane's worth of information.

Other things briefly touched on included different forts such as Fort Ironclaw, a Wolfen stronghold, and Shillendar, an elven stronghold, among others. The Air Galleons of Baalgo get a few pages of information, and those hungry for information on Siege weapons get their share too with rules for Arbalests, Ballistas, Springals, and Catapults, Onagers, and Trebuchets thrown into the fray. Details include apperance as well as various types of load. A flaming bundle on a catapult is impressive, but a heavy catapult load even more so!

The art is up to Palladium's usual high standards. Freddie Williams is coming along nicely as a regular, and Kent Burles masters his genre, regardless of it's kind. The only thing disappointing are the maps which are often chunky and jagged. The Blockhouse Diagram for example, has many irregularities instead of being composed of straight black boxes. One of the maps that should've been in the very first book, Known Ley Lines of the World, is put in a small corner.

The book is a great resource for Palladium Fantasy GMs, or a useful tool for spells and magic items for say, a Rifts campaign undergoing the Siege of Tolkeen.

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

The Library Of Bletherad
Author: Bill Coffin Category: game Company/Publisher: Palladium Line: Palladium Fantasy Cost: $16.95 Page count: 160 ISBN: 1574570471 SKU: 466 Capsule Review by Joe G Kushner on 11/19/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	Bill Coffin, author of The Western Empire, The Baalgor Wastelands and other Palladium Fantasy books returns with another gem. Unlike previous books by Coffin, this one doesn't focus on a country or a single race, but uses the Library of Bletherad to touch on everything from magic items, spells, and other planes. The Library itself is located on the Isle of Y-Oda, claimed by the Wolven Empire and sharing space with two volcanoes. While there are small ports on the island, such as Arrluugra and Bletherad, the details are minor in comparison with the Library itself. This library is a seed library of an older, vaster library which was destroyed by minions of the mad god Chantico. Those who survived the siege crafted other libraries to carry on the knowledge of that first library, but all of those save for that at Bletherad have fallen. The current Library now stands five stories tall with sub levels and a Sphinx as a protector. The library is home to scrolls, maps, myths, languages, and more knowledge than could ever be fit between one RPG supplement. This allows Bill Coffin to toss in spells, magic items, monsters, and a whole host of interesting tidbits that GMs can run with. Most amusing though, is a more recent publication, The Carbunculum, an adventurer's guide to the Library with such wisdom like, "Do not bother with this section at all", in reference to the Uncatalogued Works of the Library. Other sections read just like they were written by a power mad player so GMs should get a good chuckle out if it all. Those who remember the old days have formed a guild to hunt down the different cults that worship Chantico. Nothing is black and white however, and these self called Guardians of Bletherad have no official standing and don't really exist. A GM can have great fun by having the players join the Guardians and years latter find out that they were wrong about the cults of Chantico. Bill Coffin then uses the Library as a framing tool with each section brining in something new to the Palladium Fantasy World. For example, there are many new spells introduced. While the spells themselves are not located at the library, the origins of the types of magic, such as Shadowcasting and Fulmination/Electricity, are. Under each heading, there are different spells. Some of my favorites include the cold spells Chill Blood, Frostbite and Ice Storm. Each spell is fully described and can be used in any Palladium game. I would've loved to see some Rifts specific conversions, but… Almost all the weapons detailed are new rune weapons save for one old favorite, Deathkiss, a soul stealing bastard sword. Other weapons like Jecetri the Messenger, a throwing knife, and Vagan's Hook, are all detailed with the type of weapon, the damage, alignment, powers, curse, personality, history, and perhaps most importantly, an illustration. If the B stands for Breuax, then he did a great job. Weapons like Ceradze the Hesitant, a scrimitar, and Trigom the Chaotic, have a lot of personality not through their descriptions, but through the visuals. GMs looking for something to torture players without outside of NPCs who own said rune weapons, should enjoy The Journals of Sir Garrydyn. Here, demon lords, demon types, devil types, and all manner of infernal monsters are detailed for a GM to throw into his campaign. Face Mepheseum, a minor demon lord, or Tentac, a massive floating eyeball with tentacles. Those looking for opponents not so diabolic in nature will enjoy The Brass Menagerie, a book with details on creatures like the Kraken, Amphisbaena (giant two headed snake), and Silodors, winged panthers who battle against the evil Za. The Heroic Realms section briefly touches on other planes. The maps here are great, but there is so little detail, that I'm hoping that this is just the introduction to something that Palladium will continue with, otherwise five pages of maps will be used only by those GMs with enough time to fill in a whole plane's worth of information. Other things briefly touched on included different forts such as Fort Ironclaw, a Wolfen stronghold, and Shillendar, an elven stronghold, among others. The Air Galleons of Baalgo get a few pages of information, and those hungry for information on Siege weapons get their share too with rules for Arbalests, Ballistas, Springals, and Catapults, Onagers, and Trebuchets thrown into the fray. Details include apperance as well as various types of load. A flaming bundle on a catapult is impressive, but a heavy catapult load even more so! The art is up to Palladium's usual high standards. Freddie Williams is coming along nicely as a regular, and Kent Burles masters his genre, regardless of it's kind. The only thing disappointing are the maps which are often chunky and jagged. The Blockhouse Diagram for example, has many irregularities instead of being composed of straight black boxes. One of the maps that should've been in the very first book, Known Ley Lines of the World, is put in a small corner. The book is a great resource for Palladium Fantasy GMs, or a useful tool for spells and magic items for say, a Rifts campaign undergoing the Siege of Tolkeen. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

The Library Of Bletherad