Goodman Games Dungeon Alphabet

[JoeGKushner]

Review of The Dungeon Alphabet - RPGnet d20

I liked it as a nodd to old school art. Hell, I wish Goodman would do an art book for it.

But as I note in my own review, "If the reader is looking for a massive reference work, AEG's Toolbox and Ultiamte Toolbox are far more useful for such utility. "

 

[catsclaw227]

I have AEG's Toolbox, Mother of all Treasure Tables, Mother of all Encounters, and the "Bits of..." series of books from TableTop Adventures.

These books really scratch my itch for campaign ideas and encounter "dressing".

I was looking at this book, and was expecting something like the aforementioned books above. I am glad that I didn't pull the trigger. Funds are light these days and I need to be frugal with my purchases.

 

[Treebore]

I haven't picked it up yet, but that contradicts the impression I have from the Grognardia review:

"The book presents us with 26 entries -- one for each letter of the alphabet -- each of which is ostensibly connected to some topic pertaining to dungeons, such as altars, doors, oozes, or traps. Each entry is a brief, two or three paragraph, meditation on the topic in question, providing both practical advice on using the subject matter in designing a dungeon and "philosophical" musings on the whys and wherefores of doing so. It's a potent combination and Curtis's writing is straightforward without being vapid and detailed without being pedantic. Each entry is rounded out with a random table of some kind to jumpstart one's imagination about the topic (such unusual jewel properties or thirty results of a pulled lever)."

Well I say "pretty much" because that is pretty much what it all is, tables. Now "M" for magic gives a few paragraphs about magic and then on the next page give you a full page table using 3d20 to determine random magic items and effects. So yes, there are paragraphs given per entry, but realize that the two things that take up the vast majority of space in this book is the art and the various tables. Written paragraphs are very much the minority in this book. I would guess that a full 40% of the space in this book is the art, then close to 40% is tables, and the remaining 20, maybe 30% is the written word. This is including the Forward and the Introduction.

Which would be fine if I liked the info in the tables, but I don't. I am spoiled by Ultimate Toolbox and the others.

I have been accused of being a Goodman Games fan boy in the past, so rest assured, I would like to be more positive about this book. I really like Joe G, Harley, and the rest of the people involved at GG. However I cannot be any more positive about this book, the only thing I like about it is the art. Beyond that I'll be looking to UT and other books, not this one.

I am glad its not the original price it was going to be. If I had paid close to $20 for this instead of about $9 I would be angry.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

Thanks for the perspective! I'd read many of the original Dungeon Alphabet posts at Society of Torch, Rope, and Pole and really liked them, so the idea of collecting them in a book with some other stuff seemed like pure win - interesting that that other stuff winds up overshadowing the original essays so much that someone who comes to it fresh hardly notices them.

But it's all good: any fan of random tables and Goodman Games is a friend of mine, preferences within that niche notwithstanding! (Do you have the Judges Guild PDFs like Castle Book and Ready Ref Sheets, and Kellri's free CDD#4? Some of my faves are in there.)

 

[Grimstaff]

As Jim said, this is 100% inspirational text, aimed at developing "old-school" feel in your games. This is something to read, absorb, admire, for the active Gamemaster who wants to provide a compelling atmosphere and environment for their table.

The heart of the book is the Alphabet itself: "A is for Altars", for instance, followed by some evocative prose on Altars and what they offer to enhance your dungeons.

Attached to each alphabetized subject entry are two tasty side-dishes: an awesome piece of old-school art and a random table.

As the gamemaster absorbs the text of these subjects (while admiring the cool art), he or she is inspired to work them into his or her own dungeons.

Consider it the "Art of War" for old-school DMs, short and sweet and powerful, as opposed to a toolbox.

 

[Treebore]

As Jim said, this is 100% inspirational text, aimed at developing "old-school" feel in your games. This is something to read, absorb, admire, for the active Gamemaster who wants to provide a compelling atmosphere and environment for their table.

The heart of the book is the Alphabet itself: "A is for Altars", for instance, followed by some evocative prose on Altars and what they offer to enhance your dungeons.

Attached to each alphabetized subject entry are two tasty side-dishes: an awesome piece of old-school art and a random table.

As the gamemaster absorbs the text of these subjects (while admiring the cool art), he or she is inspired to work them into his or her own dungeons.

Consider it the "Art of War" for old-school DMs, short and sweet and powerful, as opposed to a toolbox.

Well, like I said, if I had not already bought other books, especially UT, I may like the content of this book. However I own UT, I use UT, so I am not inspired by anything in this book. I found nothing in this to be terribly inspirational, or original.

 

[jdrakeh]

Thanks for the heads-up, Treebore. Most of the glowing praise I've read made this book seem like an excellent reference work, but now it's sounding like anything but. Looks like I'm better off sticking to the Toolbox books.

[Edit: This actually reminds me very much of my experience with another Goodman Games product, The Random Esoteric Creature Generator for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and Their Modern Simulacra. For all of the rave reviews, it was pretty much just a collection of random roll monster attribute tables, the likes of which are entirely commonplace in fantasy RPGs.]

 

[Nikosandros]

Well, like I said, if I had not already bought other books, especially UT, I may like the content of this book.

I have a tangentially related question. If I get UT, would there be any reason for getting Toolbox also? Or is all the content of the latter included in the former?

 

[Treebore]

I have a tangentially related question. If I get UT, would there be any reason for getting Toolbox also? Or is all the content of the latter included in the former?

UT is the better buy, far more tables, lots of cross over from Toolbox, but UT is edition neutral, where as Toolbox is not.

 

[jdrakeh]

UT is the better buy, far more tables, lots of cross over from Toolbox, but UT is edition neutral, where as Toolbox is not.

True, but Toolbox is pretty close to being system neutral. To wit, before UT came out, I used Toolbox with AD&D, BD&D, and Tunnels & Trolls for quite a few years.