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True20 Expert's Handbook was the first of three supplemental books to be used in conjunction with the True20 core rules, and it shows to a certain extent with regard to how the book was approached from a "rules addition" perspective.

The Book Itself

True20 Expert's Handbook is a 96 page paperback printed in black and white. A quick flip through shows much of every page devoted to text explaining how the game works, interspersed with B&W art. I might as well get this out of the way now - I DO NOT LIKE Kent Burles art, which is unfortunate for me as he is the sole interior artist.

The print is a shade on the small side, but that allows for that much more information to be presented.

Chapter Breakdown

Chapter One: Expert Creation

The chapter begins with a number of possible sample backgrounds to help develop Expert characters, as well as three new modified Expert Role variants: Intellectual, Specialist and Survivor. These all seem to be reasonable variants yet none of them particularly screamed out to me for a given character concept, despite less than subtle hints; the art that accompanies the Intellectual seems to indicate that it would be well suited for a Sherlock Holmes-style Expert, while that for Survivor an Indiana Jones-style Expert.

Chapter Two: Skills

As the bread and butter of the Expert is having a large number of Skills, this chapter gives further ideas of how to best make use of said Skills by presenting additional ideas for Checks as well as Challenges.

The additional material seems geared toward any number of genres, which makes this particularly useful for not just Expert characters.

Chapter Three: Feats

Chapter Three isn't fooling around: there are over 150 new Feats, both General and Expert specific. Most of the new Feats are geared toward a particular sort of character concept, and making that concept work the best way possible. For example, say you want your character to be able to influence large groups of people. There are 15 Feats that fit the bill, and most of them serve as prereqs for the more powerful ones - in addition to other Skill reqs.

The Feat listing is somewhat daunting during an initial page through and really requires one to sift through the summary chart to get an idea of what sorts of capabilities have been opened up for your character.

Chapter Four: Optional Rules

The title of this chapter seems somewhat strange given how much of True20 seems to be devoted to "optional rules," but it does present other ways of looking at the system which may better fit a particular campaign style/genre.

"Skill Groups" allows for a little more genericized purchasing of Skill Ranks; "Complex Skill Checks" are along the lines of the Skill Challenges from D&D 4E, where multiple successes are required to accomplish various tasks; and "Skills As Progressions" provides for a method of advancing Skills without having to muck about with the use of Skill Points.

Chapter Five: Equipment

The equipment section provides for a great deal of tools-of-the-trade for those looking to work around the edges - and perhaps outside entirely - of the law. Most of it could be adapted to any number of campaign styles/genres.

Chapter Six: Allies and Adversaries

The chapter is divided largely into two sections, with the opening section on how to create Organizations for use in a given campaign world, with the amount of detail as to the various "whys" of system choice that I have come to expect from True20.

The second division of the chapter is largely devoted to the creation, use and ways to disable/get around Traps.

Overall

The inclusion of the Feats make this an invaluable resource for both players and GMs alike. As with the True20 core rules, not everything presented is designed or intended to work together, so some care is needed when introducing this to an ongoing campaign or when taken into consideration for a new campaign.

Style: 4

Substance: 4