The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Counter Collection I: The Usual Suspects is a welcome product. For your $13, you get eight sheets of full-color counters that cover the most common creatures in a D&D campaign and a brief module in the style of Dungeon Magazine's Side Trecks. If you are keen on spending the money on miniatures, or the time needed to paint them, then this substitute will be well worth the money that you spend on it.

The Counters

The counters depict the common monsters of most D&D games: humans, demi-humans, goblinoids, lizardmen, undead, kobolds, dragons, mind flayers, medusae, and beholders. Horse-drawn carts and horses are also included in sufficient numbers for most occassions. While the dragon counters are nice, the size of the counters--4"x2"--indicate the dragons that belong at the higher end of a campaign. (We're talking about Smaug and his ilk, not a little hatchling.) Dragon encounters now run the gamut of levels, and I prefer to've seen that variety in the counter sheets: Small/Medium sizes, Large sizes, etc. (The same, by the way, applies to other usual monsters that now come in a variety of sizes.)

The instructions for the counters are on the back cover, and are as simple and straightforward as it gets. Each of the counters has an arrow pointing to one edge; the arrow means "This Edge Forward". While facing isn't such an issue in D20 gameplay, most people still prefer to know (roughly) which end is up. Monster counters have a box in the bottom right corner; use this box to number your monster for ease of book-keeping. (Orc 1 is over there about to get hacked by El Ravager, Orc 2 is about to be wasted by Knuckles' Crossbow of Slaying, Orcs 3-10 just got fried by Teflon Billy's fireball, etc.) The monsters are not labelled because a GM may decide that an NPC is in disguise as a monster, or a monster shape-shifted into another form, etc.

Character counters have a line at the bottom; this is where the GM or the player writes the character's name. Each of the default PC races has one counter with this feature on it. (Those who feel ambitious can convert monster counters into character counters by retrofitting that name strip.) As with the monster counters, these counters do conform to the conventions for size representation as spelled out in the D20 System Refernce Document.

The sheets are scored sufficiently to get the counters out with a bit of care and patience. Put them in a box or a bag and you are ready to make long and extensive use of them. Or, if you wish, use them as master sheets; make personal copies, keep these as the originals, and use the copies for your gameplay needs. (It may be more expensive than just buying another copy of the collection, but that depends on how you go about it.) There is just no way to go wrong here. I want to see what the next volume will contain.

The Company of Snule

This is a brief module, in the vein of the Side Trecks in Dungeon Magazine, that can be played on its own or as part of a larger adventure. The PCs get involved in the dealings of a well-known crime boss--Snule--in the realm, as he executes an element of his agenda. The default hook is that the PCs act (for whatever reason) to act against the river raiders in area, but there is plenty of room for whatever the GM has in mind so long as it gets the PCs to the site of the adventure: a deserted boathouse.

The rest of the eight pages cover the encounter key for the site, the stats for the NPCs, and the wealth of backstory and setting history that puts the adventure into its proper context. (I've no quarrel with this; smart or canny PCs will learn this information if they are willing and able to gleen it, and it adds to the verisimlitude of the campaign.) The action of the adventure is a simple search and rescue of a noblewoman in distress, which isn't a bad thing because it lets the GM and the players focus on the gameplay (in both respects) and not on keeping the plot complexities clear. The fights are mean, but nothing that the intended party--four 5th-7th characters--can't take.

It's a nice bonus, and an adventure that a GM can use or ignore as they wish. I like it.

Conclusion

Eight sheets of gameplay-ready full-color counters featuring most of the common races in a D&D campaign? A short bonus module that's good enough to use, yet no need to use it if a GM doesn't want to? That's a good deal to me. Go pick up a copy and check it out for yourself.

Counter Collection I: The Usual Suspects
Counter Collection I: The Usual Suspects Playtest Review by Bradford C. Walker on 16/10/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) If you have neither the cash nor the patience to collect and paint miniatures for your D20 fantasy gaming, then this is definitely a product for you. Product: Counter Collection I: The Usual Suspects Author: *Todd Secord ( The Company of Snule), Claudio Pozas (counter art)* Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Fiery Dragon Productions Line: Sword & Sorcery Cost: $12.95 (US) Page count: 8 (module) 8 ( counter sheets) Year published: 2001 ISBN: 1-58846-172-6 SKU: WW16040 Comp copy?: yes Playtest Review by Bradford C. Walker on 16/10/01 Genre tags: Fantasy	Counter Collection I: The Usual Suspects is a welcome product. For your $13, you get eight sheets of full-color counters that cover the most common creatures in a D&D campaign and a brief module in the style of Dungeon Magazine's Side Trecks. If you are keen on spending the money on miniatures, or the time needed to paint them, then this substitute will be well worth the money that you spend on it. The Counters The counters depict the common monsters of most D&D games: humans, demi-humans, goblinoids, lizardmen, undead, kobolds, dragons, mind flayers, medusae, and beholders. Horse-drawn carts and horses are also included in sufficient numbers for most occassions. While the dragon counters are nice, the size of the counters--4"x2"--indicate the dragons that belong at the higher end of a campaign. (We're talking about Smaug and his ilk, not a little hatchling.) Dragon encounters now run the gamut of levels, and I prefer to've seen that variety in the counter sheets: Small/Medium sizes, Large sizes, etc. (The same, by the way, applies to other usual monsters that now come in a variety of sizes.) The instructions for the counters are on the back cover, and are as simple and straightforward as it gets. Each of the counters has an arrow pointing to one edge; the arrow means "This Edge Forward". While facing isn't such an issue in D20 gameplay, most people still prefer to know (roughly) which end is up. Monster counters have a box in the bottom right corner; use this box to number your monster for ease of book-keeping. (Orc 1 is over there about to get hacked by El Ravager, Orc 2 is about to be wasted by Knuckles' Crossbow of Slaying, Orcs 3-10 just got fried by Teflon Billy's fireball, etc.) The monsters are not labelled because a GM may decide that an NPC is in disguise as a monster, or a monster shape-shifted into another form, etc. Character counters have a line at the bottom; this is where the GM or the player writes the character's name. Each of the default PC races has one counter with this feature on it. (Those who feel ambitious can convert monster counters into character counters by retrofitting that name strip.) As with the monster counters, these counters do conform to the conventions for size representation as spelled out in the D20 System Refernce Document. The sheets are scored sufficiently to get the counters out with a bit of care and patience. Put them in a box or a bag and you are ready to make long and extensive use of them. Or, if you wish, use them as master sheets; make personal copies, keep these as the originals, and use the copies for your gameplay needs. (It may be more expensive than just buying another copy of the collection, but that depends on how you go about it.) There is just no way to go wrong here. I want to see what the next volume will contain. *The Company of Snule* This is a brief module, in the vein of the Side Trecks in Dungeon Magazine, that can be played on its own or as part of a larger adventure. The PCs get involved in the dealings of a well-known crime boss--Snule--in the realm, as he executes an element of his agenda. The default hook is that the PCs act (for whatever reason) to act against the river raiders in area, but there is plenty of room for whatever the GM has in mind so long as it gets the PCs to the site of the adventure: a deserted boathouse. The rest of the eight pages cover the encounter key for the site, the stats for the NPCs, and the wealth of backstory and setting history that puts the adventure into its proper context. (I've no quarrel with this; smart or canny PCs will learn this information if they are willing and able to gleen it, and it adds to the verisimlitude of the campaign.) The action of the adventure is a simple search and rescue of a noblewoman in distress, which isn't a bad thing because it lets the GM and the players focus on the gameplay (in both respects) and not on keeping the plot complexities clear. The fights are mean, but nothing that the intended party--four 5th-7th characters--can't take. It's a nice bonus, and an adventure that a GM can use or ignore as they wish. I like it. Conclusion Eight sheets of gameplay-ready full-color counters featuring most of the common races in a D&D campaign? A short bonus module that's good enough to use, yet no need to use it if a GM doesn't want to? That's a good deal to me. Go pick up a copy and check it out for yourself.