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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2010066" data-attributes="member: 9860">This is not a playtest review.Allies & Adversaries is a collection of mid to high level NPCs from Bastion Press, under the Legends Collection series.Allies & Adversaries is a 32-page full-colour softback product costing $14.95. The layout is attractive with a standard font size, but large margins. On the left hand side of each page is an illustration taking up about 3/4 of the page, whilst the right hand page is all text - one character per two pages, giving 15 characters in total, plus credits and OGL. The artwork by Jason Engle is exquisite - probably the best I've seen in any d20 product so far. The writing style is average, tending to be a bit nebulous. Editing seems good.Each character has some brief roleplaying notes, a non-standard stat block (containing errors) and a background history. CRs range from 10 to 20, races are mainly human and elf (no halflings, half-orcs or gnomes - not attractive enough for the book I guess), and cover most of the core classes and some of the prestige classes from Core Rulebook II. There is no listing by level, CR, race, and no index.One of the advertised advantages of the product is the setting neutral backgrounds. I am fairly sceptical of claims like this as either the background ends up being bland (as is the case with many of these characters), or its just not a lot of use (take Uthmar the Barbarian whose "first campaign outside the Icy Desert was against the Southern Empire" and who "has conquered all the lands above the Crown Mountains". I have neither icy desert, southern empire, nor Crown Mountains in my campaign and its just as hard to change these details as it would have been if Uthmar had come from Anauroch, warred against Amn, and conquered all the lands north of the Spine of the World).Conclusion:With its broken stat blocks, nebulous text, and high price for the number of pages, I cannot recommend this product. None of the characters stand out as colourful in personality or original in concept. If you like great art, or want a cool picture for your human or elf character, this might be worth a look, but the art is not enough to fix a mediocre game product.</blockquote>

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