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This book is part of a series, each one of which gives extensive details on a particular. If you are thinking this sounds like a 32 page version of a Dragon Magazine “Ecology of…” article, you’d be right.

The Slayer’s Guide to Troglodytes starts with bold strokes, assuring us that trogs “have rarely been treated with the depth and detail such a race deserves and have been relegated to the rather dull roll of simple bad guys.” Presumably, this book will change all that. Let’s see how well it did.

About half of the book describes the physiology and society of troglodytes. This material alternates between the sterile and the puerile. Much of it is as a dry as a scientific textbook and the rest of it is terribly preoccupied with troglodyte mating and reproduction. We find out that trog men have no time at all for women, except when they want to get it on. “Matings,” we are told, “are always initiated by the male. Eating to their fill…triggers a completely instinctual mating frenzy in which the satiated male goes into passionate throes, coupling with as many females as he can reach before the fit subsides.” This type of detail shows all the maturity of a 14 year old, but even that might have been forgiven if any of this tripe was actually useful to the GM. Sadly, for all the pages dedicated to exploring troglodyte society, the picture that emerges if of almost no help to a GM looking for ideas.

This flaw is glaringly obvious later in the book, where adventure ideas are presented. Most of the hooks are simply trog variations of classic adventure set-ups (scout the stronghold, destroy a trog tribe, etc). The author, however, clearly felt the need to justify the earlier sections, so one extended hook has the PCs hired by a sage to mount an anthropological expedition to trog country. The PCs thus need to investigate trog mating rituals and other secrets of their society. If that’s the best way Mongoose can come up with to employ this material, I’m afraid I must question the usefulness of this line of products.

The potential saving grace of this book is the crunchy bits. Some wicked prestige classes, funky feats, or uniquely troglodyte magic items would have been most welcome. The pickings, however, are slim. There is one prestige class, the Crafter. Why this class was chosen I honestly couldn’t say. Crafters are the trogs who make stuff basically. The class only has five levels, and they feature such powers as a bonus to profession (mining) checks and a limited ability to forge magic weapons. While this is (as near as I can tell) supposed to be a prestige class, the requirements are limited to statistics so a trog with no class levels at all could qualify. This is markedly different than how prestige classes work in the D&D rules, where characters must usually be at least 5th level to qualify for a prestige class. Again, such an oversight could have been forgiven if the class itself was interesting, but we are told that crafters “remain at the rear unless absolutely needed” in combat and the rest of their functions amount to background fluff that didn’t really need to be codified in a class. I would much rather have seen a Priest of the Lizard Toad prestige class or the like.

The back of the book has the two most useful sections. One provides a variety of stats for trogs with assorted character levels. That I can use in my game. The other is a description of a shrine that’s been taken over by trogs. Here is something concrete that could be dropped right into a campaign. Unfortunately, although a map is provided, the text provides a general overview without breaking the place out location by location. This rather large oversight makes referencing a pain in play.

Physically, the Slayer’s Guide to Troglodytes is average. It’s certainly better looking than many d20 products, but compared to really professional companies the art and design are mediocre at best.

In summation, I found the Slayer’s Guide to Troglodytes to be a disappointment. It did not live up to the promises of the introduction, instead providing a lot of ill-conceived fluff with very little play value. Lastly, I must mention that over three of the 32 pages are devoted to dreadful fiction vignettes. This type of thing can be used to good effect (witness Adventure) but those here are poorly executed. A fourth page is lost to the Open Game License itself. With so many good d20 products to choose from, I can’t recommend you spend $9.95 on this one.

The Slayer's Guide to Troglodytes
The Slayer's Guide to Troglodytes Capsule Review by Vecna Jr. on 05/12/01 Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 3 (Average) A disappointing book that doesn't deliver what it promises. Product: The Slayer's Guide to Troglodytes Author: Mike Major Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Mongoose Publishing Line: d20 Cost: $9.95 Page count: 32 Year published: 2001 ISBN: SKU: MGP0004 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Vecna Jr. on 05/12/01 Genre tags: Fantasy	This book is part of a series, each one of which gives extensive details on a particular. If you are thinking this sounds like a 32 page version of a Dragon Magazine “Ecology of…” article, you’d be right. The Slayer’s Guide to Troglodytes starts with bold strokes, assuring us that trogs “have rarely been treated with the depth and detail such a race deserves and have been relegated to the rather dull roll of simple bad guys.” Presumably, this book will change all that. Let’s see how well it did. About half of the book describes the physiology and society of troglodytes. This material alternates between the sterile and the puerile. Much of it is as a dry as a scientific textbook and the rest of it is terribly preoccupied with troglodyte mating and reproduction. We find out that trog men have no time at all for women, except when they want to get it on. “Matings,” we are told, “are always initiated by the male. Eating to their fill…triggers a completely instinctual mating frenzy in which the satiated male goes into passionate throes, coupling with as many females as he can reach before the fit subsides.” This type of detail shows all the maturity of a 14 year old, but even that might have been forgiven if any of this tripe was actually useful to the GM. Sadly, for all the pages dedicated to exploring troglodyte society, the picture that emerges if of almost no help to a GM looking for ideas. This flaw is glaringly obvious later in the book, where adventure ideas are presented. Most of the hooks are simply trog variations of classic adventure set-ups (scout the stronghold, destroy a trog tribe, etc). The author, however, clearly felt the need to justify the earlier sections, so one extended hook has the PCs hired by a sage to mount an anthropological expedition to trog country. The PCs thus need to investigate trog mating rituals and other secrets of their society. If that’s the best way Mongoose can come up with to employ this material, I’m afraid I must question the usefulness of this line of products. The potential saving grace of this book is the crunchy bits. Some wicked prestige classes, funky feats, or uniquely troglodyte magic items would have been most welcome. The pickings, however, are slim. There is one prestige class, the Crafter. Why this class was chosen I honestly couldn’t say. Crafters are the trogs who make stuff basically. The class only has five levels, and they feature such powers as a bonus to profession (mining) checks and a limited ability to forge magic weapons. While this is (as near as I can tell) supposed to be a prestige class, the requirements are limited to statistics so a trog with no class levels at all could qualify. This is markedly different than how prestige classes work in the D&D rules, where characters must usually be at least 5th level to qualify for a prestige class. Again, such an oversight could have been forgiven if the class itself was interesting, but we are told that crafters “remain at the rear unless absolutely needed” in combat and the rest of their functions amount to background fluff that didn’t really need to be codified in a class. I would much rather have seen a Priest of the Lizard Toad prestige class or the like. The back of the book has the two most useful sections. One provides a variety of stats for trogs with assorted character levels. That I can use in my game. The other is a description of a shrine that’s been taken over by trogs. Here is something concrete that could be dropped right into a campaign. Unfortunately, although a map is provided, the text provides a general overview without breaking the place out location by location. This rather large oversight makes referencing a pain in play. Physically, the Slayer’s Guide to Troglodytes is average. It’s certainly better looking than many d20 products, but compared to really professional companies the art and design are mediocre at best. In summation, I found the Slayer’s Guide to Troglodytes to be a disappointment. It did not live up to the promises of the introduction, instead providing a lot of ill-conceived fluff with very little play value. Lastly, I must mention that over three of the 32 pages are devoted to dreadful fiction vignettes. This type of thing can be used to good effect (witness Adventure) but those here are poorly executed. A fourth page is lost to the Open Game License itself. With so many good d20 products to choose from, I can’t recommend you spend $9.95 on this one.

The Slayer's Guide to Troglodytes