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<blockquote data-quote="Desferous" data-source="post: 2009953" data-attributes="member: 28436">Necromantic Lore - Legends and LairsFirst look - At 25 cents a page (63pages for 15 dollars), I really had to think if I could justify buying this bestiary of undead. This turns out to be one of the most costly items I have bought.&nbsp; Wizards of the Coast player soft-covered books are somewhere around 20 cents a page, and Legends and Lairs hardcover books are more like 15 cents a page. &nbsp; &nbsp; The art in this book is good.&nbsp; You get about 1/4 page illustration per page.&nbsp; The artwork is pretty good through out.&nbsp; The artwork won't sell this book on its own, but it is not bad.&nbsp; Every monster is illustrated which is nice.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The layout is standard for Legends and Lairs, very clean and organized.&nbsp; There is a table of contents with the challenge ratings.&nbsp; There is no index or glossary.In Depth - This book is set up like an encyclopedia.&nbsp; There are no chapters.&nbsp; There are something like 36 undead in this book.&nbsp; Roughly, 5 were poor or difficult to use, 12 were really interesting, unique, and looked like they would be fun to use, and the rest were standard fare.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The book starts with a one-page introduction, that I actually found interesting to read.&nbsp; The monsters were designed to fit into various categories.&nbsp; It would have been interesting if they had listed by the categories they used for monster design, but still not a fault, no one else does it.&nbsp; The categories are: grudge monsters - designed to give your party trouble, terrain creatures - designed to fit into various odd locals, chase creatures - designed for your party to chase (either for their benefits or to destroy them), plot creatures - designed to develop an adventure around, flavor creatures - designed to spice up what the party might normally expect, and finally, there is one species, which is available for pc and npc use.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Each entry starts with basic stats, followed by a history/ecology section of about 3 paragraphs or so.&nbsp; After, there is a combat section that gives ideas of how that particular undead deals with encounters and combat and then the special abilities end each entry.&nbsp; Overall, they have done a nice job giving the right amount of useful information on each entry. &nbsp; &nbsp; To be fair, let me give some of the good, typical, and the poor.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Poor - Grave Leech - leeches that make zombies...just seemed hard to use&nbsp; &nbsp; Poor - Fade -&nbsp; I may have been looking at this one the wrong way, but it is a neutral undead that just&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; hides and wants to be left alone.&nbsp; I kept thinking, so what is the point?&nbsp; &nbsp; Typical - Charnel Wagon - Huge wagon of bone for the undead, I could see some people really liking&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; this one.&nbsp; &nbsp; Typical - Famine Haunt - a spirit that has a famine attack, a neat idea but very specialized.&nbsp; &nbsp; Typical - Grim Stalker - a powerful undead to hunt down and kill those who use healing magic, cool &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; and tough!&nbsp; &nbsp; Typical - Spirits - all good aligned, they can all help parties, something neat and specialized.&nbsp; &nbsp; Good - Bonecast - a template for undead with a bad luck aura, after they die, they explode a random&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; effect on those in range.&nbsp; A neat way to spice up the expected.&nbsp; &nbsp; Good - Eternal Confessor - an evil cleric brought back to finish business.&nbsp; This villian could terrorize a&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; party for many adventures. &nbsp; &nbsp; Good - Horrid Murder - an ethereal soul that forms a body out of crows to terrorize the countryside.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Too much fun!&nbsp; &nbsp; Good - Heirloom Wraith - a wraith that hides in an items and comes out a night to murder.&nbsp; Lots of&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; potential!&nbsp; &nbsp; Dhampir- template for a half-vampire that is born of a vampire - Daywalker or Nightstalker - seems &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; well done.Really, it does seem like a well rounded group of undead.&nbsp; Most of the undead seem fresh to me, which is a bonus.&nbsp; Several of the plot creatures are motivated by vengeance, which does get repetitive.Conclusion -&nbsp; This is an expensive but interesting product that is mostly successful.&nbsp; If this had been put into hard -cover format and paired up with draconic lore (I haven't read it) they might have had a 5 star product.&nbsp; The monsters are specialized but if you like using the undead, I would recommend you hide in the store where you make your purchases and read through this some so you can consider if this is the best way to spend your hard-earned dollars.&nbsp; It is a good product, but costly.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Desferous, post: 2009953, member: 28436"] Necromantic Lore - Legends and Lairs First look - At 25 cents a page (63pages for 15 dollars), I really had to think if I could justify buying this bestiary of undead. This turns out to be one of the most costly items I have bought. Wizards of the Coast player soft-covered books are somewhere around 20 cents a page, and Legends and Lairs hardcover books are more like 15 cents a page. The art in this book is good. You get about 1/4 page illustration per page. The artwork is pretty good through out. The artwork won't sell this book on its own, but it is not bad. Every monster is illustrated which is nice. The layout is standard for Legends and Lairs, very clean and organized. There is a table of contents with the challenge ratings. There is no index or glossary. In Depth - This book is set up like an encyclopedia. There are no chapters. There are something like 36 undead in this book. Roughly, 5 were poor or difficult to use, 12 were really interesting, unique, and looked like they would be fun to use, and the rest were standard fare. The book starts with a one-page introduction, that I actually found interesting to read. The monsters were designed to fit into various categories. It would have been interesting if they had listed by the categories they used for monster design, but still not a fault, no one else does it. The categories are: grudge monsters - designed to give your party trouble, terrain creatures - designed to fit into various odd locals, chase creatures - designed for your party to chase (either for their benefits or to destroy them), plot creatures - designed to develop an adventure around, flavor creatures - designed to spice up what the party might normally expect, and finally, there is one species, which is available for pc and npc use. Each entry starts with basic stats, followed by a history/ecology section of about 3 paragraphs or so. After, there is a combat section that gives ideas of how that particular undead deals with encounters and combat and then the special abilities end each entry. Overall, they have done a nice job giving the right amount of useful information on each entry. To be fair, let me give some of the good, typical, and the poor. Poor - Grave Leech - leeches that make zombies...just seemed hard to use Poor - Fade - I may have been looking at this one the wrong way, but it is a neutral undead that just hides and wants to be left alone. I kept thinking, so what is the point? Typical - Charnel Wagon - Huge wagon of bone for the undead, I could see some people really liking this one. Typical - Famine Haunt - a spirit that has a famine attack, a neat idea but very specialized. Typical - Grim Stalker - a powerful undead to hunt down and kill those who use healing magic, cool and tough! Typical - Spirits - all good aligned, they can all help parties, something neat and specialized. Good - Bonecast - a template for undead with a bad luck aura, after they die, they explode a random effect on those in range. A neat way to spice up the expected. Good - Eternal Confessor - an evil cleric brought back to finish business. This villian could terrorize a party for many adventures. Good - Horrid Murder - an ethereal soul that forms a body out of crows to terrorize the countryside. Too much fun! Good - Heirloom Wraith - a wraith that hides in an items and comes out a night to murder. Lots of potential! Dhampir- template for a half-vampire that is born of a vampire - Daywalker or Nightstalker - seems well done. Really, it does seem like a well rounded group of undead. Most of the undead seem fresh to me, which is a bonus. Several of the plot creatures are motivated by vengeance, which does get repetitive. Conclusion - This is an expensive but interesting product that is mostly successful. If this had been put into hard -cover format and paired up with draconic lore (I haven't read it) they might have had a 5 star product. The monsters are specialized but if you like using the undead, I would recommend you hide in the store where you make your purchases and read through this some so you can consider if this is the best way to spend your hard-earned dollars. It is a good product, but costly. [/QUOTE]

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