Book Description
The second in a series of essential titles for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.
This slip-covered gift set contains three supplements that expand the core race options for the
D&D roleplaying game: Races of Stone™, Races of Destiny™, and Races of the Wild™. Choosing a race is one of the most fundamental steps in creating a character, and for the first time the supplements that focus on this important area have been collected in one set.
Customer Reviews:
Good source books.......2007-09-16
This a good set of books for experienced played who want more information about how different races work. The addition of other races a player can use is also handy. They are really nice source books.
Race Series.......2007-02-22
This box set of books is good for any player who wan'ts to make more specialized characters.
Great Resource.......2006-03-21
These books are just an awesome resource for players. They give a little more information on typical life for the races (even humans, go figure). They also have some new subraces and some new prestige classes as well as racial feats and a few more tactical feats. Just an all around good resource for tweaking characters.
D&D Race Series Collection.......2006-03-08
This is a excellent collection, it has all the information you need about the core races, plus some new ones. Great deal rather then buying them individually. A must for D&D Players and DM alike.
Book Description
A new D&D sourcebook detailing various races that dwell in wilderness.
Races of the Wild provides Dungeons & Dragons® players with an in-depth look at races that live in the wildest areas of the D&D world. There is extensive information on the classic races of elves and halflings, including new rules, information for interaction, new spells, and new magic items attuned to each race. In addition to information on the two major races, a new race is introduced. There is expanded information on sub-races, along with a wealth of cultural information and new prestige classes, feats, equipment, spells, and magic items.
Customer Reviews:
Ick.......2007-08-20
Read J.R.R. Tolkiens The Simillarion if you want a way cooler history of the Elves & other fantasy races. This book is kinda wimpy. The editor must of had the day off because the writing goes on and on and is a rehash from previous sections of the book. The basic design/typeography/illustrations are below meager for a rich fantasy book.The illustrations are not that good. WOTC got a sweet deal by hiring cheap illustrators to push this book out the print shop.
It works on some levels.......2007-08-08
I'm a recent Halfling convert, so I didn't like what they did to Halflings by basiclly turning them into Kender Gypsies. Whatever! What it does do is help to explain how the wild races live freely and differently than those city bound folk. Good selection of prestige classes and new feats.
Races of the Wild: A Race Guide for Dungeons and Dragons.......2007-05-16
Great alternative class features for halflings and elves. Raptorans pretty much "pwn". You will FAIL your WILL SAVE if you try to resist this book.
Good if your DM let you use it..........2006-12-06
I agree that this book is good for beginners and just another book for veterans, but you can find some interesting things inside that you can certanly use for your character.
Particularly a feat called Woodland Archer.
Useful and pretty cool........2005-09-25
I've used the weapons and culture discriptions in both a game I'm DMing and a game I'm playing, though I have yet to use the new bird-race yet. The flying thing is a little complicated, and their culture makes it harder to use them accordingly as a PC. I may put them in a game some day though.
Book Description
The Blood of Dragons Flows through Your Veins
In ages past, dragons ruled supreme. Now their distant scions, the races and individuals who carry their blood, live among the great empires of the world, where they forge their own glorious legacies. You can be among them. Embrace your draconic heritage, and the spoils of the world can be yours!
This supplement for the D&D® game provides detailed information on the psychology, society, culture, behavior, religion, and folklore of the dragonblooded races, including kobolds and half-dragons. This book introduces two new player character races: the dragonborn (existing characters reborn in a new draconic form to combat and destroy the spawn of Tiamat) and the spellscales (artistic, philosophical beings with a penchant for sorcery and a thirst for new experiences). It also provides new prestige classes, feats, spells, magic items, equipment, and guidelines for crafting adventures and campaigns involving dragonblooded races.
For use with these Dungeons & Dragons® core books
Player’s Handbook™ Dungeon Master’s Guide™ Monster Manual™
Customer Reviews:
Kobolds get some culture.......2006-10-29
The highlight in this work is the nice elaboration of kobold culture. It helps show why the scaly, little munchkins are so interesting.
The rest of the book is fairly lackluster.
A new look on kobolds.......2006-07-06
This is a great supplement on dragonic characters. While not too impressed with the spellscales and reborn dragon like creatures, I really enjoyed the handling of kobolds and their options. All in all, if you are an avid collector like me you will want this book for your collection. If you are not avid, then I would suggest hoarding your money :)
Give this book a courtesy flush.......2006-03-26
Remember how freakin' cool Lords of Madness was? The aboleth, the illithids, the FLESHWARPER? Even had "Innsmouth look"-style feats, so you could get your Call of Cthulu on with your 7th level druid what with the tentacles and the pseudonatural wild shape and all! MAN, it was COOL! Well, I felt great about finally getting Races of the Dragon, all hoping it would be half as awesome as Libris Mortis or Complete Adventurer and everything.... And... about half-way through this book I felt like I had just found a turd in my green salad.
Everything magical is devoted to the Sword-of-Shanarra ripoff sorceror class, (and not a thing for wizards, HELLO???), the fleshgrafting rules contradict the rules in EVERY other book with Flesh grafting (Fiend Folio, Libris Mortis and Lords of Madness if you're counting), and the new races are just plain STUPID. And I do mean STUPID: "Hey, look at me, I'm a 'spellscale,' I LOOK like a freackin' purple elf with some painted junk on my face." But you know, for those of you who always wanted to play a kobold, now you get your shot, 'cause hey, they rack up in here, man, let me tell you. Oh yeah, and the art's not worth much, either. Don't even bother with the feats, they reek, too; MAYBE the spellcaster tactical feat that lets you do the really obvious "This time for sure!" spell-casting to hit a critter or overcome SR. It doesn't take a whole lotta brainpower to make the sorceror even dumber, and they did that much right.
One good thing, an EXCELLENT thing, in fact: 7 new Power Word Spells. Of course, there are problems here, too. "Power Word: Pain" is, technically speaking, broken as hell: 1st level wizard spell that does 1d6 + 1d6 / round to one target; up to 4d4 rounds depending on current HP much like all Power Word spells. That's only first level if the damage is nonlethal, buddy; 2nd or 3rd at least.
I'll let people take any of them, though, if they also spend spell slots on "Mighty Wallop" and "Greater Mighty Wallop", though -- I kid you not there are spells with those names in there. If you can cast either of them without laughing, you DESERVE "Power Word: Maladroit", too. I guess these guys wanted to make up for the purple painted elves by using a fancy word for "Clumsy." All in all, the weakest effort I've seen out of WotC so far, even worse than Weapons of Legacy. If you want to spend money on a D&D book, get Lords of Madness or Sandstorm, instead.
Races of the Dragon is great but not cream of the crop........2006-03-23
Races of the dragon had some great content. The Dragonborn of Bahamut were great. Great information on kobolds, although if you have dragon or dungeon magazine all of this information kind of feels like it has been covered before. The book is great as a player resource if a DM allows the books use in thier campaign. Overall, it was a great resource for WotC's 'Year of the Dragon' releases.
Who wants a bunch of ugly-looking lizards?.......2006-03-22
As far as style goes, I found this pretty boring from what I saw in the bookstore. Glad I never bought it, Races of Eberron is much better, as it has three great races (fourth isn't so hot) including one Living Construct type.
In fact, from Races of Eberron I made one Changeling Druid who has near complete Cold Adaptation and Heat Adaptation (from environment series), and a Warforged Monk which was effective against lycanthropes.
What can Races of the Dragon possibly give you? Flying creatures? Firebreathing creatures? You could be better off with weaked-down angel or better yet just a birdfolk race (like Raptorans in Races of the Wild, which by the way also has more variety with its Catfolk). As for firebreathing, a feat could probably give you the whole fire-eating/fire-blowing act and save you the whole freakish thing of having weird blood.
Book Description
A new D&D sourcebook detailing the major races of the Eberron™ world.
Races of Eberron provides Dungeons & Dragons® players and Dungeon Masters with an in-depth look at the new races of the Eberron™ Campaign Setting, including changelings, the kalashtar, shifters, and the warforged. The book includes extensive information on each race, plus new race-related feats, prestige classes, spells, and equipment. In addition, this book highlights the other major races of the Eberron world, including elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs, and drow.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent resource.......2007-06-28
Races of Ebberon is an excellent resource for the Dungeons & Dragons Ebberon campaign setting. It gives players more backround information on the various races and power groups to take role-playing to a new level. This book also introduces new feats and spells to take your character in new directions.
Great material but not worth a separate book.......2007-01-07
The Races of Eberron supplement is well-written, well-organized, and contains a relatively extensive set of information for anyone interested in incorporating the new races presented in theh Eberron Campaign Setting into any generic campaign. The information is complete, and the book does include feats and other means of specialization for each race that cannot be found in the Campaign Setting.
Depsite all of these plusses, though, the supplement suffers from trying to fill a niche that has already been filled. I had a chance to read both of this product and the Campaign Setting before I purchased them, and though I did purhcase both I feel a bit ripped-off. Like I said, there is enough new content in the Races of Eberron supplement that it was worthy of purchase, but this book is another entry on the list of Wizards' attempt to make us buy the same material twice. It's a frustrating trend that I see developing.
Like I said, the book is worth buying, but it gets four stars because I do not feel that the new information is worth the full price of admission. I would buy the Campaign Setting first because for $10 more you get a great deal more material that you can also integrate into any generic campaign with a bit of imagination.
A product for both those who own Eberron and those who don't fails to please everyone........2006-09-15
This product details the four new races introduced in the Eberron Campaign Setting (hereinafter "ECS"): the Kalashtar, the Changeling, the Warforged, and the Shifter. While it clearly has a strong Eberron focus, the stats for these races along with their feats from the ECS are reproduced here for any DM who wants new races without having to purchase the ECS. Discussion on inserting these races into more traditional fantasy worlds is presented as well.
The book falls flat in a variety of ways, however. The racial write ups are the height of bland, saying very little that a person of average intelligence would not naturally realize. While there are occasional gems in the race write ups, such as the discussion of different philosophies among the changelings, even those interesting bits of insight are repeatedly used until the reader is tired of them. The racial setting material adds extremely little to the Eberron setting, though it may be of more use to a reader who is completely unfamiliar with Eberron.
New feats, spells, prestige classes, substitution levels, and other mechanical additions are presented. They're a mixed bag. Many of the feats and prestige classes do a good job of expanding on the potential conceptual focus of the existing races. The racial substitution levels are likely the best part for many gamers, though some of them do very little to change the base class.
Great Book! For Eberron..........2006-01-29
If you are playing the Eberron campaign it will really help you get into the head of those races you are.
Great Acessory!!.......2006-01-29
Races of Eberron has added depth to the new races presented in the campaign setting plus offers insight into the standard races from the PHB and their culture (per the Eberron Setting). It also offers new spells and racial feats.
Races of Eberron is great for those playing in the Eberron campaign setting or looking to spice up another setting.
Book Description
A new
D&D sourcebook detailing various mountain-dwelling races.
Races of Stone provides
Dungeons & Dragons® players with an in-depth look at races that live on, under, or around mountains in the D&D world. There is extensive information on the classic races of gnomes and dwarves, including new rules, information for interaction, new spells, and new magic items attuned to each race. In addition, there are new races, over 20 new prestige classes, over 40 new feats, new equipment, and new magic items.
Customer Reviews:
Great Supplement!.......2007-07-20
There are some neat feats and build variations in this book. I also like the in depth description of dwarven culture. Oh, I'm sure the gnome and goliath are good too, I just haven't read them yet.
Races of Stone: Really cool!!.......2006-01-29
Races of Stone brings insight into the lives and social structures of dwarves and gnomes. It also offers the same insight new races such as the goliaths that are great for pcs and npcs alike. This book offers great information for both players and DMs.
Fluff anyone?.......2006-01-04
This book is pretty pathetic. There are a few feats and a few prestige classes I might use in it, but its mostly a waste of time. The only thing I think that stands out for me are the racial substitution classes. The new race, the Goliath (can anyone think of a better name? Yeah, just about anyone could)is a waste of time.
I've seen where you can get all three of the race books in one box set. I can't imagine the shock of the buyer after picking up these three books and realizing how much money he wasted. I bought this one used for $7, so I figure its worth that much for the pictures and little I'll use.
Not enough races of stone.......2005-10-08
This is a somewhat typical WOC title. It tries to flesh out something and bring something new to the table. It focuses on 2 main D&D races and introduces a 3rd. You get dwarves, gnomes and the new goliaths.
While not a huge fan of dwarves or gnomes, it was nice to see a newly fleshed out race. The sections are formulaic, as most WOC books are. There sections on life, habitat, more gods for an already crowded pantheon. But face it, everybody in a pantheistic universe, is going to have their own god of something. However a little gem appears in there, a dwarven language section. It's only a page long, column style, with one work and its equivolent. Could be more, but I've learned to take what I can get.
I did enjoy the section on the goliaths. I like them. It was a nice change from the established races, complete with the same sections as dwarves and gnomes. I just felt as it was new and not something we've read before it had a fresh perspective. It gives a goo frame work on how they work, live, play (include game mechanics for playing goatball) and move around as a good nomadic people do. The sample settlements helped me as I was able to have a nice village to stumble into for my game and a larger place down the way to send them to.
Unfortunately the monster's section was too sparse. A lot more could've gone in there as most places of stone, are usually mountains. Although I found the dire eagles a nice toy to pair with a hill giant attack.
There are sections on prestige classes as usual. I didn't find any to grab my interest, nothing I'd wanted to put a few levels of my regular classes off for. The magic items didn't interest me too much either I'm afraid. It happens.
Overall, it's a useful book. If you can, borrow and use it, it'll probably be better that way.
Dwarves and Gnomes would be pleased...This one's a gem........2005-01-09
While Races of Stone isn't quite on par with say Libris Mortis: The Book of the Undead or Frostburn, it is certainly one of WotC's best 2004 releases. Considering some of the dreck that saw print last year (Player's Guide to Faerun, Planar Handbook, Complete Divine) I would say this was one of my favourites. Of course, it basically boils down to whether or not you like Dwarves and Gnomes (I do) or have use for a new mountainous race called Goliaths (I can take them or leave them).
The breakdown of the three races in terms of culture, philosophy, religion, history and so forth can add a nice touch to your characters (or your campaigns), particularly if you're building only on what you have from the core books. The assortment of Prestige Classes and Feats is relatively good, but you'll probably come away with the sense that the Goliaths receive just a bit more attention than our traditional rocky friends.
There's been much debate over the newcomers in the Races series and most of it deserves saying. While I don't mind the Goliaths (in fact, I might use them in upcoming campaigns) I feel that their presence ate up space that could have given a bit more depth to the Dwarves and Gnomes. (This problem, which isn't quite so noticeable in this volume, returned with a vengance in the follow-up: Races of Destiny, in regards to the book-hogging Illumians.)
All said Races of Stone is, if you'll pardon the expression, solid as a rock. It gave me great hope for the other books in the series and, indeed, hope for the future of WotC's products. While I can't say that hope lingered long, I still feel Races of Stone is a strong addition to the D&D library and I'm glad it's on my shelf. If Races of the Wild is as good as this one I'll be most pleased.
Book Description
A new sourcebook detailing humans, half-breeds, and exotic almost-human races for the D&D game.
Races of Destiny provides Dungeons & Dragons players with an in-depth look at humans, half-orcs, half-elves, and other "almost human" exotic races that populate the D&D world. Often more strange or bizarre than completely distinct races, these half-races showcase the unusual combinations of abilities and cultures possible in a fantasy setting. This sourcebook includes brand new races, new rules, feats, spells, and magic
items attuned to each race. The book contains material for players and DMs alike, including new prestige classes, rules for interaction between races, and a wealth of cultural information.
Customer Reviews:
The D&D world expands again.......2007-03-23
WOTC offers more options for your PCs. The races books are a must have for Living Greyhawk writers and DMs but for everyone else its a nice to have if you play any of the races of destiny but if your more into dwarves and elves than you can skip this book for now.
A few gems, but not worth the money.......2005-01-11
Were there some gems? Certainly. Were those gems worth what I paid? NO. (And, I bought it here with a significant discount). Far too much 'fluff", and hardly any crunch. Tons of fluff on humans and half-races; which is non-campaign specific, and thus nigh worthless to many.
One new race which is complex, came out of nowhere, and is nigh incomrehensible. Why?
I do love the human destiny feats. These were a long time due, IMHO. Some PrC's of interest, a couple spells, and another feat or two. Hmm, that's maybe a chapter.
But, oh WotC, WotC- ye fooled me once now. No longer will I buy without a careful lookie-loo. You need to remember you have a core of loyal customers that will often pre-order and buy any core material you come out with. You can't abuse that trust. I think you did so with this book.
Should you buy it? Well, the gems are there. If you have one guy in your group with deep pockets, and he takes advantage of the deep discount here- then sure, your group should have one to share. But it is hardly a "must buy".
With some work..........2005-01-03
The first section of this book, a discussion of human culture is an interesting and well thought out essay about humans in the fantastic culture of a D&D world. This part of the book shines in being useful to everyone and I was excited because humans are often overlooked for these sorts of manuals.
The second section does the same for Half-elves and Half-orcs but without the excitement or engaging writing of the human section. I think (in my opinion) the trouble here is the brevity of this section and focusing on both races. As primary core rules races, this was disappointing.
Consider the next section, which covers a new human variant race, the illumians. This is the largest section of the book focused on one topic and the work here is excellent, but since this is a variant, and a new addition that is not nearly as important as the core information, why spend the pages they did on all this information when they skimped on so many other things? This for me is the most disappointing aspect of this book. The new race is certainly interesting but it takes away from the books focus, which should be on the expanding of options to established parts of the game.
The following section skims some other races and gives almost no more detail than the monster manual already has and really seemed uninspired.
The feats are interesting and useful for players. The racial themes are expanded and aided by these choices.
The prestige classes are all interesting but suffer from the problem of being too narrow for entry. Each one is so devoted to a specific class or race or place that they must undergo a lot of changes to be useful to most campaigns. I will be using several, but only with considerable adaptation.
The spells generate some interesting ideas for city themed play, but barbaric humans are almost entirely overlooked here (as in the rest of the book).
Finally, the section on cities. This added almost nothing to the worth of the book. I appreciate DM'ing advice but this information rehashed what tons of other books have already done (as well as a free web enhancement right on the Wizard's site).
Overall, I feel the book is worth buying, and as usual, you can tell the authors really enjoy their work and care about what they are doing. I don't really agree with all the choices as being the best for their consumers, but the quality of what they do produce is excellent.
70% great, 30% unusable for newbies, 50-50 for older gamers .......2004-12-30
Races of Destiny is the second book in the series, which started with Races of Stone, and which will be continued by Races of the Wild. This book presents humans, along with half-orcs and half-elves, and also a brand new race, the illumians.
For most players and DMs the chapter on humans, half-elves and half-orcs will not have too much to offer (this is the weak point of the book). However, those who are new to the D&D game, and especially young gamers will find it interesting and useful.
The next chapters offer more for players and DMs alike. The new race, the illumians are really interesting, and I just know that most players will create at least one illumian character to find out the unique versatility of the race.
The chapter on other races is a matter of taste, if you like exotic races, you will like it, if you do not like them, you will find it unuseful.
Prestige classes, new feats and spells are pretty good, and useful. Together with the chapter on illumians, these chapters will be the only ones that older gamers will use.
The chapter on medieval fantasy urbane settings is mostly for new DMs, but it can give new ideas even for veteran DMs. One should never be too old to learn.
Overall, this book is more useful for new gamers, but old gamers will also find interesting things among the pages. It is very difficult to write a fantasy handbook that addresses new and old gamers alike, and this book is a good example of a half-success.
look hard before you buy.......2004-12-26
Races of Destiny is the newest offering from WOC. It contains information on playing humans, half orcs and elves, a new race of humans the llumians and information on new feats,spells and prestige classes.
The first 30+ pages are on the humans. I was expecting more than a primer on humans, such things like that they play games and have a larger variety of troops than some of the other races. I was looking for more cultural things like some of the items from the old al qadim setting like not sitting in front of someone with your soles of your feet facing your host, or not eating with your left hand. There was none of that. The next 15 or so pages deals with the half orcs and half elves and their outlooks and physicology.
The Illumians are the next 70 or so pages and actually they look somewhat interesting. They are humans with more advantages. They have sigils which gives them more abilities or protections or something. If you are looking for something new for your campaign they might do the trick for you.
The feats that are listed are primarly focused to the races and some looked interesting like roof stride which allowed you to move along roofs at a higher rate of speed.
The spells looked interesting at first but didnt seem as well thought out after thinking about it. There are insignia spells which could be used for city guards or milita. The insignia spells are simple spells with the ability to be cast on multiple people at the same time. There is a spell that gives +1ac bonus plus a +1 fort save. The problem is that the spells only last minutes per level, not some that I would see would be particulary useful in a search pattern. Another spell creates a mazelike enviroment for some body invading the city to confuse and split them.
The prestige classes arent very exciting, of them the urban soul looked somewhat interesting and I might use it with several changes.
The most disappointing part was the city section at the end, again I was expecting more than was delivered. It was mostly a series of tables that could either be random or picked. I was again looking for more color that could be used in making each city more unique.
There is also a section on some of the other races such as assimars, teiflings, half-ogres.
This book in my opinion is very weak, the illumians are the most interesting part of the book. There are a couple of feats and some spells that I would use but for you folks take a long look before you buy this
Book Description
Discover the Diverse Denizens of the Realms
Encounter reclusive avariel, arrogant Calishites, noble centaurs, and bold Rashemi. From the steppes of Thay to the shores of Evermeet, the inhabitants of the Realms are as distinct as the regions from which they hail, whether hero, henchman, villain, or villager. With complete information about the noteworthy races, subraces, and ethnicities scattered throughout Toril, Races of Faerûn offers a detailed look at the many and varied peoples who inhabit the
Forgotten Realms game setting.
* 80 new feats
* 26 new magic items
* 8 new monsters
* 9 new prestige classes
* 13 new spells
To use this accessory, you also need the
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual.
Customer Reviews:
Almost got it right........2005-10-23
This book is quite useful.
It expands on some races and reintroduces some old classics. like the Winged Elf, the water elf, the Wemic, and the centur.
However it also just copies the entries for dark elves and planetouched races basically straight from the Forgotten realms campaign settingbook.
They could have used the space a little better instead of repeating races that 97% of us have access to. (If you have an interest in this book then its pretty much fact that you already have the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting).
Some of the region feats are nice and the a couple of the prestige classes are going to appeal to my players so for that regard it was worth the purchase price.
Summing up it gathers all the races from the Realms campaign setting and adds in some new ones. Mixes in some new feats, some old ones tweaked and a few prestige classes.
Races of Faerun.......2005-09-20
This book contridicts the Forgotten Realms book written by Ed Greenwood. The elves inpertcular.
The book is put together well, but WoC should get their sources straightened out before they publish them
Helpful and informative, BUT.......2004-09-14
It should be called SOME of the Races of Faerun. The book offers a great deal of information, however it leaves gaps here and there just so it can fill them through another volume. For the price tag of this book I feel it is a bit incomplete. It could contain a lot more info on a lot more races. If you're only looking for general information on the most prominent races of Faerun, this is for you. However it should not be considered THE source of info, as it is anything but complete and thorough.
A necessary book for the lover of Faerun.......2004-03-18
This book is a great resource for any lover of Faerun and the Forgotten Realms. The background on the human subraces adds some great flavour to the Forgotten Realms! The feats and prestige classes are good. And the information about the different races of Faerun is also very helpful (particularly about the planetouched - tieflings, genasi, and aasimar).
Critical info for Faerun.......2004-02-13
Well, this book covers many races for Forgotten Realms. It also adds in a few interesting feats and a few items. It gives much greater depth to all the races already covered in FRCS. However, there is one problem here- if the race already had it's base stats covered in FRCS, only the extra "fluff" is here, none of the "crunch". This means you'll need both books, and note that Race of Faerun is 3.5 and FRCS is 3.0, so there's a little problem here. I'd have prefered a bit less fluff, and the basic race stats redone for all.
However, there are also quite a few interesting new races here, some which were only covered lightly in another supplement. For instance, there are complete rules for playing a Shade or a Wemic.
There is also a lot of background fluff on the various human "races'. This may thrill you or bore you- depending.
Anyway, if you play in the FR, at least one of your group should get this book.
Book Description
Some have lived in the world for millennia. Some have conquered continents. Some have gained great fame in magic, sacrifice or heroism of ages past. Some have lived in obscurity throughout the ages. Some wait in hatred amongst dark caverns for their time to ravage and rule the lands. Some dwell in peace deep in hidden valleys and on forgotten plateaus. Some walk openly among the known people, and some walk hidden. They are races of myth and lore. They are tribes, civilizations, outcasts, and abberants. Their time is now.
FFG is proud to present the second core book in the Legends & Lairs line of d20 System material. Mythic Races provides payers with 30 new detailed cultures for character creation. Each race is beautifully illustrated and details their history, gods, special skills, feats, equipment, and new prestige classes. These races range from the familiar to the alien, and all can be easily introduced into any campaign, making use of level modifiers to maintain game balance.
Customer Reviews:
Just what I was looking for!.......2007-08-24
I've searched everywhere in bookstores throughout my city trying to find this book but no one had it! I got the best price around and the book was in excellent condition!
A nice addition to any campaign setting........2003-05-21
Let me start off by saying that this book was a pleasant surprise. I decided to purchase it based off of the previous review of the book, and I can say I was not disappointed. Here are the highlights:
Fairies: If you're looking for a good race of fae without all the hassle involved in using Savage Species, this is the one. +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -4 Str, -2 Con. Key racial abilities: Natural Invisibility, Faerie Fire, and Spell Abilities (8 total). ECL +3
This race also includes dark fairies: the unseelie!
Luminous: A race of Positive Energy emitting humanoids. These beings make awesome clerics and paladins. +2 Wis, -2 Cha. Key racial abilities: Poison Immunity, +4 saves v.s. Necromancy magic, produces own body light equal to a torch at will, and enhanced turning. No ECL modifier!
Mhuinntirs: Shapechanging humaniod jaguar people (think Aztecs). In jaguar form: +4 Str, +6 Dex, +4 Con and +1 AC bonus! Speed 40 feet, climb 20 feet. +2 bonus to Spot and Track checks, bite and claw attacks, plus new feats just for this race. ECL +2
Niomus: My personal favorite. Bat-winged human-like race. Wings fold down and can be covered by a cloak or robe to fool on-lookers! +2 Int, +2 Cha, -2 Str (due to hollow bones). Key racial abilities: fly 50 feet, cold resistance 5, +2 bonus on Jump, Search, and Spot checks. ECL +2
Quissen: think desert reptile men. Warrior race created by wizard with artifact. +2 Con, -2 Cha. Key racial abilities: Darkvision, +4 bonus on Hide in desert terrains, +2 on Climb checks (clawed hands and feet), and thick scale natural armor bonus +2. ECL +1
Uthuk Y'llan: 6 to 7 feet tall, 200 to 300 pd humanoids with tatoos, ritual scars, and bone spurs. Eyes glow when enraged! +2 Con, +2 Str, -2 Int. Key racial abilities: +2 on Intimidate checks, they have an herbal root that when chewed causes them to go berserk! I using this race for my next character, an all-out brawling streetfighter type.
Anyway, there are many other very good races to choose from: Risen Demons, Stonegrunts, Pevishan, Tremen, etc... My only complaint is that there are a few lame races that are just core race rip-offs, or just bad choices for adventurers, but these make up only a moderate portion of the book.
Overall, this book has some really good, refreshing choices that can add a lot to your enjoyment of the game.
Well Done Mystic Flight Games.......2003-02-09
A well put together book of races, with each race having at least one racial prestige class. I have found the book useful and informative.
Not as helpful as I hoped.......2002-12-04
This book does have lots of new races. But when you start to really take a look at them, they start to seem very similar to one another. I run a 3rd Edition D&D game and play in both d20 StarWars and D&D. I thought I would use this as a resource to create interesting new PCs and NPCs. But I have found that I barely open the book since I purchased it. Very disappointing.
Now for something COMPLETELY Different.......2001-10-05
I had a high level of expectation for this product after seeing their fine Blue Planet system. I was not disappointed.
Contained in this 170 (reasonably priced) hardcover is:
* 30 New Races
* 31 Race Specific Presitge Classes
* 13 New Feats (mostly Race Specific, but easily adaptable)
* New Spells
* A Wealth of Background information to make each race unique.
Some examples of the fine work found in Mythic Races:
* Animen - A race of Humanoids with Animal heads (and a hidden animal nature)
* Athathi - A race of (VERY) well designed Humanoid Felines.
* Eleti - For the Necromancer in the Party... a Race of Undead... with a twist.
* Faeries - Finally a well designed Faery race (for those of you who like your fantasy with wings).
* Luminous - A race of beings composed of pure energy... great alternative for Paladins.
* Mhuinntirs - A race of Shapeshifters. The focus here is felines, but could easily be adapted for other animal types.
* Rhonians and the Rhoode - An Avian race and an Anphibian race that live in a strange symbiotic society
* Risen Demons - EASILY the best thing in the book, the opposite of Fallen Angels... two presitige classes are presented.
* Tremen - That's TREE-MEN... VERY COOL
And obviously there is a LOT more. All of the races are easily adaptable and a lot of the races I didn't mention are Warm and fuzzy in a halfing kind of way... but others are savage, brutish or horrible in some way... What thy ALL have in common is excellence of execution...
Bravo Fantasy Flight... Now I'm just waiting on the Sea-Farers guide...
Customer Reviews:
Excellent, but..........2005-02-12
I absolutly loved this book. I've always loved "half-breeds", so when I saw this book I quickly bought it. I wasn't dissapointed. The art was great (with the exception of Makbin), the writing was wonderful and it also offered quite a bit of "crunchy" parts as well.
Pros:
The layout was wonderful and the writing was well-written and interesting. Though not as entertaining as a novel, I enjoyed reading this book- it was interesting and well written. The art is also great, if slightly comic-booky in style. The races written up are interesting, albeit strange and exotic- but that's the way I like them. The info on half-breeds in society is helpful. All in all it's a great book, but...
Cons:
As the previous reviewer stated, quite alot of the races are crosses between nature friendly humanoids and nature "monsters". There's also quite alot of elf half-breeds. The races listed are also extremely exotic and strange- so if you don't like bizaare stuff then this book isn't for you. I was expecting stuff like orcs/dwarves and that sort of thing, not things like halfling/blink dogs, elf/naga or elf/giant eagles. Still, I was fine with that-I loved it actually, but it wasn't what I was expecting. Bastards and Bloodlines still has some or the more "normalish" half-breeds, too, though.
This my own personal pet-peeve, but it seemed to me like alot of the half-breeds parents got together, had a baby, and then seperated and abandoned the child to one of the parent races. One of the reasons that I love half-breeds is that the idea that two unlike races can fall in love and marry and have a half-breed child is interesting and has great story and roleplaying oppurotunity. A treant that fell in love with an elven druid and worked hard to win her heart, overcome elven resistence and established an area to ensure peace for their children and their lives is much more interesting then "a treant and an elf have a baby and then abandon each other and their child".
Still, this book is great, and has very little flaws.
Art: 9- the art in this book was great, if slightly comic-bookish. I dislike Makbin (one of the artists) but otherwise the art was good.
Writing: 10- it was extremely well-written, with very minor flaws.
Playability: 9- if you ever need a resource for half-breeds, this is the book for you. One of my players begged for me to "magically change" his half-elf into a Decataur, they loved it. I've also dropped in a couple Half-breed NPC's in the campaign, and they made the game much more interesting and fun.
All in all, a great book, and if your even remotely interested in half-breeds, this is your book- buy it now!
Another solid effort from Green Ronin Publishing.......2003-08-05
Having enjoyed their Master Class books, I decided to give one of the Races of Renown books a try.
Now, my understanding is that Green Ronin is prohibited from using any race-related material already published by Wizards of the Coast, so I avoided the books on orcs, whom I already know quite well, and drow, who I scarcely ever use, and went for what promised to be the most original book, this one.
This book really is original, providing some unique half-breed races, along with balanced rules for creating you own halfbreeds, either as races or templates. A few of the half-breeds use rules that make them a little to easy to abuse, particularly the Wyrd, an ogre mage/elf cross, but for the most part they're fair and balanced and, most importantly, playable.
There's only one real flaw with this book, and that's a definite trend towards a lot of nature-focused half-breeds, combining various fey creatures with various woods-friendly humanoids. The results are always interesting (I have a player who now wants to play a woodwose), but perhaps a trifle repetitive. Since I generally run a very nature-focused game, I don't have a problem with it and the book doesn't lose any stars.
The feats and items sections are interesting as well, providing rules for making new race-specific items along with a few new examples, and feats that take advantage of the mixed heritage of the book's races.
The prestige classes are adequate but, in my opinion, underpowered. Since they only take up a scant eight or nine pages, again, the book loses no marks with me for this. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go look at the Green Ronin web-site and see if any other books catch my eye.
Book Description
Your Planar Adventures Begin Now! The latest book in the critically acclaimed Races of Renown series fully details aasimar and tieflings, as well as half-fiends, half-celestials, and many of their cousin races. If you've been looking for an easy way to integrate planar elements into your campaign, look no further. Aasimar & Tiefling is your one stop shop for planar adventuring, and includes: Seven new planetouched races, including the jinx, nergaz, and silvan. A complete rules system for creating your own planetouched races. Full PC write-ups for cambions and nephilim. Dozens of ancestry feats, which allow planetouched characters to gain some of the spell-like, supernatural, and extraordinary abilities of full-blooded outsiders. A bevy of planar prestige classes (such as the Astral Reaver, Planomancer, Warrior Maiden of the Valkyrie, and Xen Chi Mystic) that includes Epic-level progressions. Dozens of new spells, including adaptation, magma burst, and SharaA's scornful subjugation. New magic items, like the staff of chaos, planar chronometer, and chime of dismissal. Planar perils, a collection of new monsters like the chaos horror, fundamental gel, and organ thief. Bursting with new rules and options, Aasimar & Tiefling gives you all the tools needed to build and play planetouched characters and to take your campaign to the planes.
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Books Index
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Races of the Dragon (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement)
Player's Handbook II (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
Complete Adventurer: A Guide to Skillful Characters of All Classes (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement)
Spell Compendium (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
Complete Divine: A Player's Guide to Divine Magic for all Classes (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement)
