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Actually, there isn't much to give a happy review of the product for Dungeons and Dragons. Here is what the product contains:

1. An overview of how a member of each race taking a particular class. I thought that a Dwarven wizard would be unnerving, but a Half-Orc wizard takes the cake, plus one or two different life paths (class variants) for the character in question.
2. Rules to generate where you came from.
3. Rules on generating your family.
4. Life paths and professions for your character.
5. An Alignment questionaire (remember E. Gary Gygax's on the web?).
6. Naming conventions in D&D. Note if I was playing in the Wild West, the guideline of not using conventional names would be relaxed.

And that's it. The product is very scant on character development. The book should have been a masterpiece on building a D&D character, but it isn't. They could have added more options -- like personality.

They should have included Advantages and Disadvantages, personality options, wealth options, and more. Thus more ways you can make your characters more unique. After all, a character should be more than figures written on a piece of paper. I am somewhat satisfied with the product but felt that I have been gyped out of 16 dollars. The book should have cost 5 or 7 dollars in commensurate with the material therein. I give the style of the product a 3, and the substance a 1. It really needs more.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money)

The Hero Builder's Guidebook
Author: Ryan Dancy and others Category: game Company/Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Line: Dungeons and Dragons 3e (D20 System) Cost: $16.95 Page count: 30 Capsule Review by Elton Robb on 12/05/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	Actually, there isn't much to give a happy review of the product for Dungeons and Dragons. Here is what the product contains: 1. An overview of how a member of each race taking a particular class. I thought that a Dwarven wizard would be unnerving, but a Half-Orc wizard takes the cake, plus one or two different life paths (class variants) for the character in question. 2. Rules to generate where you came from. 3. Rules on generating your family. 4. Life paths and professions for your character. 5. An Alignment questionaire (remember E. Gary Gygax's on the web?). 6. Naming conventions in D&D. Note if I was playing in the Wild West, the guideline of not using conventional names would be relaxed. And that's it. The product is very scant on character development. The book should have been a masterpiece on building a D&D character, but it isn't. They could have added more options -- like personality. They should have included Advantages and Disadvantages, personality options, wealth options, and more. Thus more ways you can make your characters more unique. After all, a character should be more than figures written on a piece of paper. I am somewhat satisfied with the product but felt that I have been gyped out of 16 dollars. The book should have cost 5 or 7 dollars in commensurate with the material therein. I give the style of the product a 3, and the substance a 1. It really needs more. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 1 (I Wasted My Money)

The Hero Builder's Guidebook