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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="poilbrun" data-source="post: 2009325" data-attributes="member: 532">The modern genre for the D20 system is on its way. With Call of Cthulu d20 and the upcoming d20 Modern by WotC, Spycraft is one of the game that will bring this genre to life. And quite frankly, it does it well.First impressionThe book is beautiful. The cover is silver and black, with the name of the product in green. The art depicts a man holding a gun with silencer, already putting you in the mood for the gun. The inside of the book is black and white, a silvery ink is often used which gives it a good look.At 34.95$, the book may be a bit expensive, but compared to other books this size, the price is near the same.Chapter by chapter descriptionIntroduction: 3 pages. The introduction includes an overview of the genre, a description of the game and the usual "What you need to play" part. An overview of the book is then given, as well as a list of the differences between Spycraft and other D20 games. The introduction ends on a table of common terms used in the game.Agent Creation: 25 pages. After an introduction on how to define your agent's personality and a description of the character sheet, the creation of the creation of the agent rule-wise begins with the various options specific to Spycraft agents. A description of abilty scores follows.Departments: as the only playable race of the game is human, the race selection has been replaced by the selection of the department in which your agent was trained, each similar to a race in other D20 game. An interesting new bonus is introduced: a bonus either to a saving throw or to a skill that goes up as you gain levels (+1 at level 1 that becomes +2 at level 4, +3 at level 8,...). Other bonuses include ability modifiers, extra class skills, extra budget points, extra vitality or wound points, extra equipment or extra skill points. Furthermore, every department offers a free feat that must be choosed in a specific lists. It is unclear whether this feat replaces the feat everyone gets at first level or not.Classes: Spycraft introduces 6 new classes that replace the classes found in the Player's Handbook.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Faceman: the typical agent, think James Bond. Specialized in disguise and infiltration, this is the guy supposed to do the talking. He gets abilities such as extra languages, being able to get information on NPC's simply by looking at them or improvements to his ability to disguise.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fixer: the rogue of the game, he is specialized in breaking and entering. He gets abilities such as being able to requisition items in the field without any penality, Evasion, Sneak Attack or Uncanny Dodge.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Pointman: the jack-of-all-trade, he is good at helping the other members of the group. He has few class skills, but an ability he gets at 1st level enables him to select 6 cross-class skills to become class skills. Other abilities include Assistance, which helps reduce the amount of time it takes for a teammate to use one of his class skills, and Lead, which enables the whole party to use the result of the pointman to a skill roll for the entire group.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Snoop: he is specialized in data gathering and analyzing, as well as in computers and cryptography. His ability include never to completely miss a Search check, the ability to ask a hint about a clue to the Game Control (the DM) or having a backdoor in a computer system, enabling him to get information from that system easily.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Soldier: specialized in fighting, the soldier gets ability such as bonus feats, damage reduction and bonus to his use of armors.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Wheelman: a vehicle specialist, he is also very good during fights. He gains extra gadget points (see below) to buy or modify a vehicle, access to specific maneuvers during chases or bonuses to his mechanics skill.</li> </ul>Furthermore, this chapter introduces either new game mechanics or mechanics that were used in other D20 game, but not in D&D.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Action Dice: at the start of every game session, a player receive a number of dice that enable him to modify their die roll, to transform a threat into a critical, or a number of other effects. The number and type of dice varies as you go up in levels (you start with 3d4 at level 1 and finish at 6d10 at level 20).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Vitality/Wound points: similar to the system used in Star Wars and other D20 games, this system gives each agent a number of vitality points that represent his luck, endurance and training, and woundpoints representing his toughness.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Defense: similar to the system introduced in Star Wars. An agent's AC depends on a bonus to his defense dependant on class. Armors also sometimes give bonus to defense, but their main advantage is that they give damage reduction.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Initiative Bonus: a bonus added to the agent's initiative rolls.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Budget Points: each agent receives a number of budget points that enable him to select "normal" gear at the start of a mission.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Gadget Points: similar to budget points in that they enable an agent to select gear at the beginning of a mission, they are specific to gadgets, which are described later in the book (and in this review).</li> </ul>Skills: 30 pages. After explaining the mechanics used for skill checks (identical to other D20) games, this chapter gives a description of every skill, as well as a description of critical successes and failures for each skill. It also introduces skills not found in the Player's Handbook such as Boating, Bureaucracy and Driver.Feats: 26 pages. This chapter lists all the feats available to agents. The feats are divided in various feat trees.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Combat feats: this tree is then divided in Basic, which concerns combat fundamentals, Melee, which focuses on the use of melee weapons, Ranged, which focuses on the use of firearms, and Unarmed Combat Feats, which focuses on combat without any weapon.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Chase feats: focuses on driving and piloting.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Covert feats: focuses on stealth and subterfuge.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Gear feats: contains new equipment options.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Skill feats: contains feats that improve skills.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Style feats: focuses on savoir faire and personal wealth.</li> </ul>Finishing Touches: 7 pages. This chapter includes all the little touches that bring your agent to life. It includes a new game concept, Backgrounds.Backgrounds are bought with skill points. The more skill points you invest in backgrounds (to a maximum of 5), the more dangerous it is. What is the point in spending skill points for this will you ask me. Simple. Each time a background comes into play, you gain a number of experience points (that goes up as you go up in level) more or less large whether the background is the focus of the mission or just plays a minor role. Of course, the more skill points you invest, the more the background is dangerous, and the more XP it gives. The background options include amnesia, debt, hunted, hunting,...The chapter then deals with action dice and the description of the agent.Gear: 50 pages. This chapter is divided in two parts, the first one dealing with the mechanics, the second one being a list of gear for your agent. There are three types of budget that enable an agent to get gear:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Budget Points: they enable you to get normal equipment. An agent has a personal budget that enables him to get equipment that remains with him from mission to mission and a mission budget that is defined by the difficulty of the mission plus the budget modifiers an agent gets as bonus from his class. All the equipment acquired using missions budget must be returned at the end of ths mission.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Gadget Points: they enable the agent to get special equipment and vehicles. The number of Gadget points is calculated using the number given for each type of mission according to its difficulty and the bonus given by the class of the character.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Field Expense: this represent cash that an agent gets to spend on the field.An interesting mechanic is introduced that enables an agent to sacrifice a part of the XP he'll get at the end of the mission to receive more funds.</li> </ul>The rest of the chapter is devoted to the various types of equipment available (weapons, protective gear, other gear, gadgets, vehicles).Combat: 27 pages. This chapters include the mechanics used in combat, from the attack roll to the use of action dice in combat, passing throught the various actions available during combat. The chapter ends with a 3-page example of combat.Chases: 15 pages. This chapters begins with the basics of a chase and then deals with a step-by-step desciption of a chase, including the various mechanics used and a list of maneuvers available to agents, some of them limited to agents who belong to the wheelman class. After the beginning of the chapter, which deals with car chases, a description of other chases is given with modifications specific to other vehicles. The chapter ends with a 2-page example of a chase.Tradecraft: 25 pages. This chapter answers the questions "What is a spy?" and "How does a spy work?". It begins with a definition of espionnage, then follows with a desciption of mission and their threat code (in short, the importance of the mission and the resource allocated to deal with it), the means to resolve a mission (in general, during combat, and the way to deal with authorities) and the way of investigating. It then deals with the various tools available to agents, such as favor checks (which enable an agent to ask help from various sources, such as his agency or a government), education checks (which are used to simulate whether an agent knows something even if the player doesn't) and inspiration checks (which are used by players when they need some help to be put back on track). The chapter ends on travel, with a description of the various means of transport. A useful table listing flight travel time is given, but it unfortunately lacks many places in the world where an agent might want to go.Control: 52 pages. This chapter deals with game mastering. It is divided in numerous parts, including setting DC for checks, use of Action Dice by the GC, Encounters, Environment, Scenery, Traps & Alarms, Poisons & Diseases, Rewards (XP & other rewards), and a method to design new gadgets. It then includes rules for gambling, and rules to create the mastermind and its organization. The system seems to be well-thought, but only after some use will it be clear whether they are good or not. Several examples are then given of threats created using this system. The chapter goes on with advice to design a serial (= campaign) and the various genres (historical, paranormal,political,...) and rules for creating NPCs, as well as a system to determine how an NPC reacts to the agents' actions. The chapter then ends with advice on running serials.End: 11 pages. The book ends with 2 pages on spy jargon, a bibliography, a 5-page index, the OGL and a character sheet.ConclusionThis book is a must-have for anyone willing to play a modern game. Even if some modifications need to be done if you do not want to play a game in the spy genre, this book is full of interesting parts for modern play. Some mechanics might even be useful for non-modern campaigns.</blockquote>

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