From Stone to Steel

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

Has anyone checked out this sourcebook yet and/or can recommend it? I am a sucker for equipment guides, but I'd like to know how solid the mechanics are in it, if the history write-ups are accurate, what the PrCs are like, etc. I saw it at the FLGS yesterday, and was taken aback by how hefty it is, and couldn't glean too much from a quick thumbing-through.

 

[Crothian]

It's a good book, a lot bigger then I expected (350 pages about!!). I haven't read through it all yet but it has been good. I really like that they have prestige classes for the different time periods that was genius.

 

[bwgwl]

i haven't had a chance to more than skim through it so far, but it looks excellent.

besides just having stats for various types of weapons and armor, it has a few "period" prestige classes, feats, and discussions on using different types of materials to make arms with.

it has a lot of good information on historical settings that don't normally get a lot of coverage -- Stone Age, Bronze Age, Native American, African, etc. this book's a fantastic resource for someone building a campaign that's not necessarily based on feudal Western Europe.

i've talked to the author a little; he seems very knowledgeable on the subject. he said he spent a year doing research for this book. i'll see if i can get him to come over and post on this thread.

 

[jaerdaph]

I picked this up last Thursday at my FLGS. It's absolutely an amazing piece of work. It's well researched, well written and a great resource. It's very enjoyable to read as well. It's definitely going to be one of those "must have" d20 classics like Tome of Horrors, Nyambe, and Occult Lore. I was surprised I hadn't heard much buzz on it until I saw this post tonight. I hadn't even heard of it until it caught my eye in my FLGS - it's a whopper of a hard cover so it's hard to miss. I started looking it over, and by the time I got to the Iron Age, I was at the check out counter

For those who haven't heard of it, From Stone to Steel is a collection (perhaps study would be a better word) of real world weapons and armor from the stone age to the Renaissance (as well as the influence these items had on their respective cultures and history). It also includes a few historical PrCs, rules variants and a section on materials and use in a fantasy campaign setting. The author, Aaron Stimpson, did an *amazing* job. Here's a link at Monkey God Enterprises with some PDF pages of the table of contents for each chapter and the index:

http://www.monkeygodenterprises.com/stone.htm

This book is destined to be a d20 classic.

Edit: I also want to give a shout out to Jim Branch, the artist who did the wonderful interior art detailing the weapons and armor.

 

[Psion]

It's pretty nice. I haven't taken a close look at the weapons. It does do some things that would be considered variant, like specific location injuries and festering wounds. Mechanics wise, the classes seem decent; the only problem I have noted is that some class ability descriptions seem to be lacking some details. (For example, there is a meditation ability, but the book gives no idea of what the condition of meditation is like or how long you have to meditate to reap the rewards.)

 

[Synicism]

IMO, this is what the Arms & Equipment Guide should have been. This is the best-researched equipment book I've seen since GURPS: Low Tech. It's a great tool for GM's who are designing their campaigns because it provides historical contexts for the use of different weapons. Some of the rules mechanics are interesting, like having a skill called "Fencing" that's used to perform various special combat maneuvers. But it's a good, solid book that makes a good deal of sense.

And it looks right impressive, too.

 

[fusangite]

I just saw a copy the other day. The book is fabulous. It is vastly better than the Arms & Equipment guide and it gives very helpful campaign flavour information -- what weapons were favoured by the East Slavs in the early medieval period, for example.

The book is actually filled with very useful well-researched information, not the crappy made-up quasi-magical items and unnecessary prestige classes I was expecting. The book is a very useful tool for making your campaign historically and culturally accurate if that's your thing.

 

[Gothmog]

I picked it up last week from my FLGS. So far, I like this book, though I am a little disappointed in it. It ONLY has weapons and armor. I was hoping there might be an equipment list in each chapter that also covered what sorts of mundane items would have been available in each period, how common they were, and their costs. Still, it is based on real-world cultures, so that is a big plus IMO, since it doesn't try to invent silly weapons and armor like Arms & Armor did. Its better than the Arms & Equipment Guide, but probably won't see as much use as Mongoose's Ultimate Equipment Guide at my table.

 

[Iron_Chef]

I already have the Arms & Equipment Guide ($26.95), Arms & Armor ($25), and the Ultimate Equipment Guide ($34.95), so I just can't see justifying spending the $39.95 on From Stone To Steel. The other books barely get enough use IMC to make their investment worthwhile, and I don't see this item doing even as well as those for my group.

It's not only a case of coming to the table too late (long after everybody else's books came out) but the huge price tag and the limited usefulness of most of the material to me. I don't play Stone Age, Native American, African, Bronze Age or whatever time period, so most of the book is completely useless to me. That, and there is no other equipmenmt listed, makes for a big minus IMO. Additionally, the interior art doesn't get me excited to use any of the items depicted; it's serviceable, but nothing to write home about. I was bored flipping through it; nothing caught my eye, unlike the other books mentioned (which all have their shortcomings--some more than others--so don't get me wrong).

From Stone To Steel is okay, but not something I'd ever consider spending $40 on unless I didn't have the other books mentioned or had a special need for items for other time periods beyond the standard medieval. I'm glad the book is available for those who want its specialized material, but again, it's not something I see most gamers needing as a "must have" book, contrary to what some other posters are loudly proclaiming in this thread. Not only that, but this thread needed a divergent opinion other than "It's amazing!" I'm gonna level up in Devil's Advocate now, I think.

PS: I also didn't think Nyambe or Occult Lore were "must haves" and don't own either. I had no interest in Nyambe's setting (not that it isn't well-written), and was not impressed with Occult Lore in the least. The only "must have" books are the three core rule books, LOL. Everything else is going to be hit or miss depending on the needs and interests of the individual gamer. One person's trash is another's treasure, as the old saying goes.

 

[paulewaug]

darn it,
my FLGS was Supposed to be ordering me a copy and I haven't heard them about it coming in yet, I guess I need to be giving them a call!

I am excited to get this book and can't waite to check it out.

At a hefty 350 pages I can't imagine how big it would have been if they had tried to do everything found in a culture in there as well, (maybe they will do a "culture book" but this one should have all I need. )

I can make up "mundane" stuff, my pcs probably couldn't care less about something that they can't use to kill the bad guy or put on to keep from loosing their precious hit points

I had bought the Ultimate Equipment Guide but was dissapointed that it was IMO kind of a borring read, no commentary on the items just basically the stats. One thing I am looking forward to in "S-2-S" is the research on what and why. When I saw this book was coming out and read about how detailed it was I took the not-so-Ultimate-Guide back and placed my order.

BTW, no disrespect meant towards "Ultimate" I was just hoping for more "Info"
I agree it gets spendy to buy All the books but I am Picky!
YMMV