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<blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2011640" data-attributes="member: 18387"><p>[g]Serpent Kingdoms (aka how all the scaly races relate to Lizardfolk)[/g]</p><p></p><p><em>“They said he would come from the north. A man of great strength, a conqueror. One who would make himself king by his own hand. One who would crush the snakes of the earth.” “Snakes?! Did you say snakes?!” – Conan, the Barbarian</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>“Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” – Indiana Jones.</em></p><p></p><p>Snakes is the name of the game in the Wizards of the Coast Forgotten Realms Campaign Accessory: Serpent Kingdoms. And holy carp! This book rocks my socks! You would think that a book about serpent people in the Forgotten Realms would be the dumbest idea since the Time of Troubles. You would expect a book that was terribly executed and filled with so much munchkin crunch that you could throw out your box of grape nuts. But in fact Wizards of the Coast has actually turned out a really nice and usable sourcebook. </p><p></p><p>The first question when I look at a book is always “Does something I already own do what this book does?” Well, ok, thats really the second question. The first is "Does it look cool?" And indeed it does. Some don't break for the old book look of the Forgotten Realms line, but I do. And the art on the cover is quite nice depicting snakey people doing snakey things. These questins are quickly followed by another: “Is there another book available that does what this book does but better?” As far as I can tell, the answer for both these questions is no. Part of this might be because it IS a Forgotten Realms accessory (and probably the only one thats gonna be published on this topic in this edition.) and so no one else can really make this book. But as a sourcebook on all things scaly, I cannot think of another book that provides as much as this one. The real treat (or the gnashing of teeth depending on your OGL/d20 outlook) of this book is that the authors pretty much stick to the scaly things that are Wizards of the Coasts intellectual property. We are given major sections devoted to the Yuan’Ti, Nagas, and Sarrukh, an elder race of Faerun that made most of the other mean lizards. Obviously the Nagas are in the SRD. How Mongoose got away with making a book on Yuan’Ti I will never be able to fathom. Most of the info in these chapters is dedicated to the Forgotten Realms version of the creature. Among these chapters are two others. One devoted to Lizards, the other devoted to “Hidden Folk.” </p><p></p><p>In the lizard section we are given more information on the Asabis, Firenewts, Khaastas, Lizard Kings (Jim Morrison would be proud), and a section on Troglodytes and Trens. The hidden one section covers the lizards that hide. That would be the Ophidians, and the Pterafolk. </p><p></p><p>At this point you are probably saying to yourself “wow, what a lousy review, he left out the Lizardfolk.” No I didn’t. That’s right, there is no section on the Lizardfolk. At first I was disappointed about this too. But then I realized two things. The first is that Mongoose has a book on Lizardfolk and this one won’t really get in the way. The second is that the Lizardfolk are between the lines. If you read about the Yuan’Ti, you read about the Lizardfolk, if you read about the Nagas, you read about the Lizardfolk. What happens if you read about the Ophidians? That’s right, you get more info on the Lizardfolk. Comprende? Trust me, while they don’t have a section, the Lizardfolk are talked about enough. Besides, they got their day in Races of Faerun, if you look there you get a 2 page spread on everyone’s favorite lizards. Sweet! So, all in all we get 62 pages of background on the different reptile races and how they relate to Lizardfolk. </p><p></p><p>On to the monster section! There are some really cool monsters in this book! (or you may find them incredibly cheesy as is the case with the fandom of RPGs these days) But I think for the most part the monsters kick ass and don’t even think twice about it. You get a bunch of Naga and Yuan’Ti variants, a golem (made of snakeflesh none-the-less), some dinosaurs (Stegosaurus! Yay!), and monster entries for all the races discussed in the book. Spiffy! But the place where the book excels is in the snake section. (Yeah, the reptile house is always my favorite part of the zoo too) My absolute favorite is the Amphisbaena. It’s a Large 2 headed sidewinder that can turn itself into a hoop to better travel long distances!(?) How cool is that! The other is the apparently ubiquitous (well in a sense) Deathcoils. This is a snake that would make Thulsa Doom (the James Earl Jones variant) proud. The Mlarraun is neat. When it is targeted by a spell, this spitting snake hardens and goes to sleep. So it is sort of a possum/armadillo sort of snake. This little torpor has some neat results! The thing is that a lot of these are in the Tome of Horrors by Necromancer Games. Some people have bad blood over that, but those who do are missing out on some really cool versions of the same thing. Only in d20 would yhou have this many choices. Then there are the “normal” snakes of Faerun. We get the Dung Snake, the Glacier Snake, Reed Snake, Sewerm, Tree Python, and the Whip Snake. So with this in mind we can be rest assured that our Tome of Horrors snake table has not yet experienced overlap. But yeah, the snakes are a real treat. By far the coolest humanoid is the Tren, a hybrid of Troglodyte and Lizardman that picks the most powerful aspects of both races. Oh and the Lizard Kings are pretty cool too, cause they are part fiend. </p><p></p><p>Then we hit the 42 pages of place description. (Notice we have not even gotten to the crunch yet?) This covers everywhere the lizards live. And more. Not much to say here, but if you are a realms fan, you most likely will be happy, unless you are that guy that puts his hopes too high and then blame Wizards for all the problems in gaming when they don’t meet your expectation. If you hate the realms, and you are just looking for crunch, forget about it. If you just hate the realms why are you reading this?</p><p></p><p>After this there are 8 pages on how to run the Yuan’Ti as bad guys behind the bad guys. Interesting. Think onions. YMMV. </p><p></p><p>In the next 23 pages are feats, equipment, magic items, spells, and prestige classes. There are some cool general feats like charm resistance, charm immunity, petrification resistance, and petrification immunity. The rest are great for snakes and lizards. The equipment has some cool stuff, my favorite being the Manyfang Dagger. You get 13 spells. The Prestige classes are mostly for Yaun’Ti with one for Yuan’Ti and their servants. However, the coolest I think is the one that does not have a race requirement. It’s the Serpent Slayer. This one is well balanced and very cool. </p><p></p><p>Then we get 4 short adventures that look pretty cool. I really like the location thing that Wizards is doing these days and I hope they keep it up. An appendix with a scaly timeline, deity descriptions, and a racial traits table follows this. </p><p></p><p>12.5% of this book is crunch. 87.5% is fluff. This is a good direction for Wizards and other publishers to follow. Over all I would rate the portability of the book at about 42% if you are good at porting locations and adventures. If not then it drops to the crunch base of 12%. As a snake and lizard sourcebook for Forgotten Realms this book is unsurpassed. Its generic appeal is limited as there is not much crunch. However, since it is a campaign accessory for the Forgotten Realms, I am going to count this as an asset. This book is a great purchase for the DM that runs in the realms and is a decent purchase for someone looking for a fluff heavy sourcebook on scaly things.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Messageboard Golem, post: 2011640, member: 18387"] [g]Serpent Kingdoms (aka how all the scaly races relate to Lizardfolk)[/g] [i]“They said he would come from the north. A man of great strength, a conqueror. One who would make himself king by his own hand. One who would crush the snakes of the earth.” “Snakes?! Did you say snakes?!” – Conan, the Barbarian “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” – Indiana Jones.[/i] Snakes is the name of the game in the Wizards of the Coast Forgotten Realms Campaign Accessory: Serpent Kingdoms. And holy carp! This book rocks my socks! You would think that a book about serpent people in the Forgotten Realms would be the dumbest idea since the Time of Troubles. You would expect a book that was terribly executed and filled with so much munchkin crunch that you could throw out your box of grape nuts. But in fact Wizards of the Coast has actually turned out a really nice and usable sourcebook. The first question when I look at a book is always “Does something I already own do what this book does?” Well, ok, thats really the second question. The first is "Does it look cool?" And indeed it does. Some don't break for the old book look of the Forgotten Realms line, but I do. And the art on the cover is quite nice depicting snakey people doing snakey things. These questins are quickly followed by another: “Is there another book available that does what this book does but better?” As far as I can tell, the answer for both these questions is no. Part of this might be because it IS a Forgotten Realms accessory (and probably the only one thats gonna be published on this topic in this edition.) and so no one else can really make this book. But as a sourcebook on all things scaly, I cannot think of another book that provides as much as this one. The real treat (or the gnashing of teeth depending on your OGL/d20 outlook) of this book is that the authors pretty much stick to the scaly things that are Wizards of the Coasts intellectual property. We are given major sections devoted to the Yuan’Ti, Nagas, and Sarrukh, an elder race of Faerun that made most of the other mean lizards. Obviously the Nagas are in the SRD. How Mongoose got away with making a book on Yuan’Ti I will never be able to fathom. Most of the info in these chapters is dedicated to the Forgotten Realms version of the creature. Among these chapters are two others. One devoted to Lizards, the other devoted to “Hidden Folk.” In the lizard section we are given more information on the Asabis, Firenewts, Khaastas, Lizard Kings (Jim Morrison would be proud), and a section on Troglodytes and Trens. The hidden one section covers the lizards that hide. That would be the Ophidians, and the Pterafolk. At this point you are probably saying to yourself “wow, what a lousy review, he left out the Lizardfolk.” No I didn’t. That’s right, there is no section on the Lizardfolk. At first I was disappointed about this too. But then I realized two things. The first is that Mongoose has a book on Lizardfolk and this one won’t really get in the way. The second is that the Lizardfolk are between the lines. If you read about the Yuan’Ti, you read about the Lizardfolk, if you read about the Nagas, you read about the Lizardfolk. What happens if you read about the Ophidians? That’s right, you get more info on the Lizardfolk. Comprende? Trust me, while they don’t have a section, the Lizardfolk are talked about enough. Besides, they got their day in Races of Faerun, if you look there you get a 2 page spread on everyone’s favorite lizards. Sweet! So, all in all we get 62 pages of background on the different reptile races and how they relate to Lizardfolk. On to the monster section! There are some really cool monsters in this book! (or you may find them incredibly cheesy as is the case with the fandom of RPGs these days) But I think for the most part the monsters kick ass and don’t even think twice about it. You get a bunch of Naga and Yuan’Ti variants, a golem (made of snakeflesh none-the-less), some dinosaurs (Stegosaurus! Yay!), and monster entries for all the races discussed in the book. Spiffy! But the place where the book excels is in the snake section. (Yeah, the reptile house is always my favorite part of the zoo too) My absolute favorite is the Amphisbaena. It’s a Large 2 headed sidewinder that can turn itself into a hoop to better travel long distances!(?) How cool is that! The other is the apparently ubiquitous (well in a sense) Deathcoils. This is a snake that would make Thulsa Doom (the James Earl Jones variant) proud. The Mlarraun is neat. When it is targeted by a spell, this spitting snake hardens and goes to sleep. So it is sort of a possum/armadillo sort of snake. This little torpor has some neat results! The thing is that a lot of these are in the Tome of Horrors by Necromancer Games. Some people have bad blood over that, but those who do are missing out on some really cool versions of the same thing. Only in d20 would yhou have this many choices. Then there are the “normal” snakes of Faerun. We get the Dung Snake, the Glacier Snake, Reed Snake, Sewerm, Tree Python, and the Whip Snake. So with this in mind we can be rest assured that our Tome of Horrors snake table has not yet experienced overlap. But yeah, the snakes are a real treat. By far the coolest humanoid is the Tren, a hybrid of Troglodyte and Lizardman that picks the most powerful aspects of both races. Oh and the Lizard Kings are pretty cool too, cause they are part fiend. Then we hit the 42 pages of place description. (Notice we have not even gotten to the crunch yet?) This covers everywhere the lizards live. And more. Not much to say here, but if you are a realms fan, you most likely will be happy, unless you are that guy that puts his hopes too high and then blame Wizards for all the problems in gaming when they don’t meet your expectation. If you hate the realms, and you are just looking for crunch, forget about it. If you just hate the realms why are you reading this? After this there are 8 pages on how to run the Yuan’Ti as bad guys behind the bad guys. Interesting. Think onions. YMMV. In the next 23 pages are feats, equipment, magic items, spells, and prestige classes. There are some cool general feats like charm resistance, charm immunity, petrification resistance, and petrification immunity. The rest are great for snakes and lizards. The equipment has some cool stuff, my favorite being the Manyfang Dagger. You get 13 spells. The Prestige classes are mostly for Yaun’Ti with one for Yuan’Ti and their servants. However, the coolest I think is the one that does not have a race requirement. It’s the Serpent Slayer. This one is well balanced and very cool. Then we get 4 short adventures that look pretty cool. I really like the location thing that Wizards is doing these days and I hope they keep it up. An appendix with a scaly timeline, deity descriptions, and a racial traits table follows this. 12.5% of this book is crunch. 87.5% is fluff. This is a good direction for Wizards and other publishers to follow. Over all I would rate the portability of the book at about 42% if you are good at porting locations and adventures. If not then it drops to the crunch base of 12%. As a snake and lizard sourcebook for Forgotten Realms this book is unsurpassed. Its generic appeal is limited as there is not much crunch. However, since it is a campaign accessory for the Forgotten Realms, I am going to count this as an asset. This book is a great purchase for the DM that runs in the realms and is a decent purchase for someone looking for a fluff heavy sourcebook on scaly things. [/QUOTE]
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