"The Reed Richards Guide to Everything" is a compilation of optional, expanded and variant rules for the Marvel Super Heroes Adventure Game, which uses the company's card-based SAGA system. In addition to new rules, there is plenty of information on how things work in the Marvel universe and how this might be reflected in play.
TSR's Marvel website features an online preview of the book, giving away a couple of sample chapters.
The origin of the book's name is immediately apparent when you browse it. Each double-page spread is divided into two sections: at left there is a Daily Bugle column by Reed himself discussing a given topic, and at right there is a page of related rules and/or information. Some topics, namely Battle Tactics and Super-Science, are given several pages of text. There is also a full-color spread in the center of the book offering examples of the events on the Fate Cards; otherwise the book is in black-and-white (unlike the Roster Book series). The layout is very clear and everything is easily readable.
The Guide covers a great deal of subjects useful to Narrators and players. Just to name a few: Armor, Bases, Disasters, Falling Objects, Goons, Knockback and Sidekicks. Many entries clear up questions arising from the rules in the basic set; rules for building gadgets and falling were two areas left virtually unexplained, for example. There is also a new, completely random method for creating heroes, and guidelines for creating alien heroes from established races such as the Kree or Skrull.
I haven't had a chance to playtest the new material, but it looks and feels good. The book clarified a few topics which fortunately hadn't yet popped up in my campaign, preventing any problems nicely. And the background information on the Marvel Universe is a joy to read, Reed's columns being quite funny on occasion. By the way, it is worth noticing that all the stuff in this Guide is optional. A Narrator can include all of it, none of it, or only the bits he likes in his games.
Overall, this supplement seems an almost-essential purchase for Marvel SAGA players, and I think even those who use other game systems would benefit from reading it, at least if their campaigns are close to the style of Marvel comics.
Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)
