SRD 3.5 Revised (Full) Bundle

[Mark]

[imager]http://www.enworld.org/shop/images/engs/product380/cmgspl35bun_med.jpg[/imager]This huge Bundle includes the SRD 3.5 Revised Basics, Spells, and Magic Items, the SRD 3.5 Revised Monsters, the SRD 3.5 Revised Creature Stat Blocks, the SRD 3.5 Revised Psionics Rules, the SRD 3.5 Revised Divine and Epic Rules, AND the SRD 3.5 Revised Spells Bundle!
The latest upgrade (which uses the most recently available SRD 3.5) of the Basics, Spells, and Magic Items includes the Psionics Rules, the Divine and Epic level rules, and a new spellbook for the Adept, PLUS the revamped table of contents and spellcaster cross referenced index (all spells listed alphabetically divided in rows and sub-divided alphabetically again, cross-referenced in columns by the spellcaster class to which each spell is available, and additionally indexed with the spell school, subschool, and descriptor). That entire spell index is super-hyperlinked to the included spellcaster class PDFs which have all also been reformatted and upgraded.

The most recent addition to the monster section is the 569 page PDF with all of the creatures formatted as STAT BLOCKS. This does not replace but is in addition to the completely reformatted (using the latest SRD 3.5 source material) standard format SRD 3.5 Revised Monsters PDF.

Furthermore, every PDF in the bundle is easily linked from a newly added super-index page which is only two clicks away from any page in any PDF in the bundle! All PDFs and the index page also have a link to the Creative Mountain Games website and an easy-click customer service link to use for feedback or to contact CMG for help while using the reference materials.

No laptop DM, or anyone who does preparation for their games on their computer, should be without these handy reference PDFs. All have Precision Bookmarks *AND* an extensively hyperlinked Tables of Content! The bookmarks and links don't just take you to the page but to the exact location of the appropriate entry. These PDFs have been compressed to increase speed during reference usage. With Creative Mountain Games' products, customers can count on revisions to PDF products (as necessary) and new additions with those revisions.

So here's the tally on what you get in this Bundle...

The SRD 3.5 Revised Basics, Spells, and Magic Items (475 page PDF)
The SRD 3.5 Revised Monsters (standard format - 578 page PDF)
The SRD 3.5 Revised Creature Stat Blocks (569 page PDF)
The SRD 3.5 Revised Psionics Rules (319 page PDF) NEW!
The SRD 3.5 Revised Epic Rules (302 page PDF) NEW!
The SRD 3.5 Revised Divine Rules (55 page PDF) NEW!
The SRD 3.5 Revised Adept Spells (69 page PDF) NEW!
The SRD 3.5 Revised Assassin Spells (30 page PDF)
The SRD 3.5 Revised Blackguard Spells (22 page PDF)
The SRD 3.5 Revised Bard Spells (137 page PDF)
The SRD 3.5 Revised Cleric Spells (188 page PDF)
The SRD 3.5 Revised Domain Spells (189 page PDF)
The SRD 3.5 Revised Druid Spells (151 page PDF)
The SRD 3.5 Revised Paladin Spells (40 page PDF)
The SRD 3.5 Revised Ranger Spells (47 page PDF)
and the SRD 3.5 Revised Sorcerer and Wizard Spells (332 page PDF)!

This bundle of sourcebooks is available at the EN World GameStore.

 

[William Ronald]

Plexus SRD Revised- Bundle by Creative Mountain Games
http://www.creativemountaingames.com


Reviewed by William Ronald
Rating 4 out of 5 stars


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First, a disclosure. While I did not work on this product, I have performed some proofreading and other work on Creative Mountain Games products in the past. Additionally, I received a review copy of the product. I thought it would be best to begin this review with this disclosure, although my past work with CMG does not bias me for or against the product. However, I think highly of the SRD Revised- Bundle although there is room for improvement.

Plexus SRD Revised - Bundle is a package of 2 PDF files (SRD Revised, Basics, Spells and Magic Items and Plexus SRD Revised Monsters). Both products, which update the System Release Document for D20, can be purchased separately. The products comply with the Open Gaming License, so obviously not everything that is in the new Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 Revised Core Rule Books are in the SRD. (For example, mind flayers and intellect devourers are not part of the Plexus SRD Revised Monsters.)

As both documents are PDF files, requiring the use of Adobe Acrobat Reader, it is very easy to use the bookmarks to find relevant information. With a few mouse clicks, I was able to access skills, character classes, and slightly renamed spells in the Basics, Spells, and Magic Items PDF. (Although the spells in the 3.5 D&D Players Handbook are part of the SRD, not all the names are part of the SRD. Thus, a 9th level spell in the Player's Handbook associated with a wizard in WotC's World of Greyhawk setting becomes Mage's Disjunction. Same abbreviation, but the Plexus SRD uses a different name to respect a trademark property.)

Thus, it is easy for people using the Plexus SRD Revised to create new D20 products to go to the relevant sections. If I was designing a new magic item, and needed to figure out the cost formula, a few clicks on the Plexus SRD Revised -Basics, Spells and Magic Items will get me the exact information that I need. Similarly, I can look up any monsters on the SRD, skills, classes or prestige classes. The Plexus SRD rates very highly in terms of both content and an easy to use format.

The information in the Plexus SRD is presented in any easy to read format. It is organized in a format similar to the Players Handbook and the Dungeon Master's Guide. The effort to organize the SRD into PDF files with easy to access sections is a great bonus to players, DMs, and game designers. Although the files lack the art work and some of the content of the core rules books, the Plexus SRD is a very good update of the SRD. All the information is in an easy to read format, and I found no errors in the presentation.

There are some ways that the Plexus SRD Revised Bundle could be better. On a technical issue, there were a few times when I clicked on part of the Magic Items section and received an error message. A page that I clicked did not appear. I do not know if this was due to a problem with my copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader or the file itself. Fortunately, closing the file and reopening the file solves the problem. To avoid this error, just scroll through the magic item basics section. (I have informed Creative Mountain Games of the possible error in their files. To quote Mark Clover of CMG, they are keeping track of potential errata for FREE revisions.)

Creative Mountain Games has promised to provide free updates to anyone who purchases the Plexus SRD Revised Bundle or the two other SRD updates. I think this is a great benefit to customers, as more information will be released for the SRD. Perhaps future versions could include some CMG artwork.

There are several ways that the product could be improved. A table listing monsters by CR would help Plexus SRD Revised - Monsters. Similarly, the Plexus SRD Revised - Basics, Spells and Magic Items could benefit from charts showing class skills and non-class skills, as well as some other charts. (I am uncertain if some of the charts in the PHB, DMG, and Monster Manual are part of the System Release Document from WotC.) However, it should be possible to create charts that duplicate their work while not including those items that are not part of the SRD. CMG has promised to have free revisions of the Plexus SRD - Revised and its constituent parts.

Also, although both the Plexus SRD Revised Monsters and Plexus SRD Revised Basics, Spells and Magic Items have color covers, there is no other artwork. This is pretty much a bare bones product.

Is the Plexus SRD Revised Bundle a replacement for the new 3.5 Dungeons and Dragons core rule books? No. However, the product suceeds in presenting the SRD in an easy to use format for gaming publishers and gamers alike.

Overall, I consider the Plexus SRD Bundle to be a good product - and a good buy for a PDF product at a cost of $5. I think the product will be useful to game designers as well as players. I suspect that the Plexus SRD Bundle will likely only become more valuable as CMG includes free updates.

 

[William Ronald]

I am going to check on whether the problem I encountered was due to my own copy of Adobe Acrobat.

 

[CCamfield]

For a product which is evidently the 3.5 SRD converted to PDF format, it would be nice to see some acknowledgement of that, and maybe more comparative stuff between using a text version of the SRD and a PDF. I mean, how hard would it have been to CHECK whether the tables you mention are in both or not?

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Having just reviewed Mark Clover's PDF product, the Plexus - SRD Revised Bundle product, I wanted to share with other gamers just how useful this release is. SRD's have been refreshed and released all over gaming creation before - we've seen it, and it does indeed have a marketable need, because of the unfriendly nature of WotC's separate Rich Text format documents and the lack of searchability.

Mark has, as others have, put together a friendly, searchable, easy-to read document. Fonts are standard, but easy on the eyes in a screen environment, and print well when needed. The addition of the individual spell lists come in quite handy when playing a given spellcasting class character, as well as their bookmarking for quick jump-reference. Many PDF's do not break along certain sensible lines, but the Plexus SRD Revised does - very much along the lines of RHB/DMG all in one, and the Monster Manual in the other document.

The only problems I have with this product are:

1) I wished to see the electronic linking taken even further. While the individual spell bundles were indeed bookmarked well, the main Basic SRD was not similarly bookmarked with its spell lists.

2) The spell lists of the prestige classes were not included in the basic SRD. While they are included in the class descriptions, they are not added in with the other core class spell lists, which would have added to its usability.

3) What I am about to suggest next is a minor point, and I would imagine VERY time-intensive, but it would have enhanced the usability even further to have "return bookmarks" on each spell description's name, to allow the user to click there and return quickly to its position in the spell list. This CAN be done by using Acrobat's "back to previous view" feature", but again, a minor advantage to the gamer who wished to flip back and forth between each spell in a level list, and its description.

SUMMARY: A strong product, one which finds plenty of use if you need a computer "desk reference" for the 3.5 core rules.

 

[DeadlyAccurate]

For writers and even DMs and players, this is an excellent product. You might think that buying the SRD would be silly, but that's only until you find yourself writing a big adventure for which you're required to use the SRD. Only then will you appreciate the hard work Creative Mountain Games put into making the SRD easy to read and navigate.

The bundle pack includes each class's individual spell list, the cleric's domain spell list, monsters, and everything else as separate PDFs. To take the wizard's spell list as as example, everything is bookmarked. You'll find the list of spells listed by school, by level, and alphabetical. So if you need to know how Ice Storm works, you can just look it up alphabetically, but if you need a 4th level spell or an abjuration spell, you can also find them that way. For writers and DMs, it's an easy way to select the spells they want. Players will also find it an easy way to find the spells they need and print out only the spells their characters know.

One of the PDFs include has all the creature stat blocks in easy-to-copy blocks, so you don't have to key them in by hand, or copy them in their SRD format and do a lot of editing. Very nice. I also originally did not realize that PDF includes a handy list of the creatures by CR and by subtype. So when you need more creatures for that dungeon set in the fire planes, or another CR 6 monster to round out the encounter, you can quickly find them.

For writers who must adhere to the SRD, this product is worth every penny. For DMs writing or modifying your own adventures, you'll probably find the ability to quickly find, copy, and paste in the monsters, treasure descriptions, NPCs' spells, and more to be worth the cost of the bundle pack. Even players who enjoy playing spellcasters will find the spell lists an invaluable timesaver.

Overall, I am very pleased I purchased this product. It's become an invaluable timesaver.

 

[Crothian]

SRD 3.5 Bundle

There are items that are designed for use at the gaming table on a laptop. I’ve seen more then a few of these but none have been as useful or as well organized as this SRD bundle by Creative Mountain Games.

Creative Mountain Games has been around for a while putting out quality, but usually small pdfs. This is not small but is quality and lives up to the standards they have set. The pdf comes in a large file that is a little under fifteen megs in size. Inside one will fine thirteen different pdfs with a few almost five megs in size but most of them under a meg.

All the pdfs are book marked and hyper liked. It makes these very easy to use and to locate whatever one is looking for. Also, with the pdfs different files it would be easy to say print out the bard spells for the bard in a party to use. The layout on all of these is well done and makes them very easy to read. The tables are all well done and easy to read and scan fast without loosing ones place or getting confused. There is no art or borders on any of the pdfs. That makes these easy to print if one wants to do that, however it is obvious that the design of these was to be used from a laptop at the gaming table.

There is a pdf devoted to the spells of each class including the Assassin and Blackgaurd Prestige Classes. Each has a full color cover that really fits the class. First there is a table of contents, then there is a listing of the spells by level and they are given a short description. This is just like they do in the Players Handbook. Then all the spells are listed in alphabetic order. The format on these is followed by all of the spell pdfs and it is simple and works very well. There is also a pdf devoted to just the domains and the domain spells. There is also an index pdf which is linked to all the other pdfs. There are pdfs for monsters one with the normal format and one with stat blocks, and a huge pdf with pretty much everything else in it. It has classes, skills, feats, magical items, the rules, etc.

Basically, this is the SRD in neat and easy to use format. If anyone has access to a computer or vven better laptop when gaming and finds that they are constantly looking things up in books, then this item is designed for you. It will take a little while to get used to where everything is but with the hyper links nad book marks nothing takes a long time to find.

 

[Trainz]

This is a complete PDF compilation of the SRD 3.5 that is, quite simply, invaluable. So far I have been either using the raw PDF, or the very useful Sovelior Sage online version. But CMG has turned the SRD into a very easy and *quick* to use reference. The usefulness of this product to adventure designers is quite obvious, but as a DM, I always create my adventures in Word which I then print in draft and bring to my game sessions. Cut-and-pasting from CMG's SRD bundle as greatly cut down on my preparation time.

I was weary that searching through such a big archive of information would be clunky, but I quickly found out that is not so. The bookmarks guarantee quick access to any section of the SRD. It is arranged like this, with appropriate collapsable sub-menus:

Primary PDFs:

• Basics, Spells & Magic Items
• Creature (Stat Blocks)
• Monsters (Standard Format)

Spells PDFs

• Assassin Spells
• Bard Spells
• Blackguard Spells
• Cleric Spells
• Domain Spells
• Druid Spells
• Paladin Spells
• Ranger Spells
• Sorceror & Wizard Spells

There are two things that are particularly very useful to me from the Bundle:

First, the fact that critters are arranged in stat block and standard format. I make use of both formats, and not having to rearrange data is a big time saver.

Second, the dragons are listed in stat block format for every age category. Preparing a dragon encounter takes time, and it is very difficult to simply wing it on a DM's whim: not anymore. Personally, this feature itself has made the Bundle quite valuable to me, and has transpired directly in my games.

This PDF contains a lot of data that has been compiled, arranged, and edited for the easiest access and best visualisation possible, and frankly the ammount of work behind such a task is unfathomable. I always contemplated doing something like that, and even started doing it once with monsters; I got as far as the letter B. That Creative Mountain Games has done it all for me is something I am very grateful for.

I thus highly recommend it and gave it the best note possible: this is one product that will always be useful.

 

[Mark Chance]

Ye Gawds! This rawks!

Not too long ago, I was bouncing from window to window to sort through all of the various RTF documents of the SRD downloaded from the WoTC site. I got to thinking: "Man, this is a pain the keister. If only there were a quicker way to do this."

Then, BAM!, like a bolt from the heavens while I was bored and browsing at RPGNow, I stumbled upon Creative Mountain Games's SRD 3.5 Revised. Seeing that the price had been slashed down to about $15, I put my credit card to work. A few mouse-clicks later, I had the entire 3.5 d20 SRD on my computer.

I say the following without an ounce of hyperbole: With CMG's SRD 3.5 Revised on my laptop, my life is now as good as it can possibly get.

So, what is it that I purchased for about $15 that has transformed my already pretty wonderful life into a state of perfect bliss? Well, read on, O gentle seeker.

CMG's SRD 3.5 Revised includes 17 PDFs, all fully table-of-contented. Every table of contents includes links to each entry. Want to find grig, sprite? Open up the Monsters PDF, click on S, click on sprite, and, BAM!, there it is. Sixteen of the PDFs present the entire 3.5 SRD in all of its fluff-text-free greatness. You get:

* Monsters: Every OGL monster in the SRD. Of course, all of the monsters are listed alphabetically. This PDF also includes how to read a stat block; complete information about types, subtypes, and special abilities; how to improve monsters; monster feats; and using monsters as races. The only things missing are the psionic monsters from the new psionics handbook.

* Creature Stat Blocks: Yes, that's right: Stat blocks for every single OGL monster in the SRD, including variants and dragons of all types at every age category. That's 500 electronic pages of stat blocks ready to cut-and-paste into your homemade adventures. These stat blocks also include a brief description, and the monster's data for environment, organization, treasure, and advancement. The only things missing are the psionic monsters from the new psionics handbook.

The organization of this PDF takes the cake. Not only are the monsters listed alphabetically, but the table of contents also breaks down the monsters by type and CR. The only way this could be better was if it also listed the monsters by environment. This PDF also includes all of the information about types, subtypes, and special abilities; how to improve monsters; monster feats; and monsters as races.

* Basics, Spells, & Magic Items: Every bit of the SRD from the PHB and DMG is in this PDF. This includes the chart for ability bonuses, how to make magic items, player classes, NPC classes, prestige classes, charts for wilderness encounters, all of the combat rules, and more. How wonderful is that?

* Spell PDFs: There are separate PDFs of the spells for adepts, assassins, blackguards, bards, clerics (and another for domain spells - but unfortunately not the extra domains included in the Divine PDF), druids, paladins, rangers, and sorcerers/wizards. Each of these PDFs' tables of contents allows you to access the spell by level, by level, and alphabetically, all depending on where you point and click.

* Psionics: All of the newly revised psionics rules from the SRD are here. This includes psionic races, psionic classes and prestige classes, the basics of how psionic powers work, psionic skills and feats, all of the psionic powers themselves, psionic monsters, and psionic items. It would be nice if this PDF were broken apart and integrated into the Monsters, Creature Stat Blocks, and Basics PDFs as appropriate, but this is a minor issue at best.

* Divine and Epic: These two PDFs aren't really 3.5, but do lay out the SRD material from Deities & Demigods and the Epic Level Handbook. This material is certainly handy to have, especially the extra domains included in the Divine PDF.

Even after considering all of the crunchy goodness of the preceding 16 PDFs, there still remains that seventeenth PDF:

* The Index PDF: This is the coup de grace. It is a single page with 16 little pictures, one for each of the other PDFs. Want to access the Creature Stat Block PDF? Click on its picture. Done with the Creature Stat Block PDF? Go back to its cover, click on the CMG logo in the top right corner, and, BAM!, you're back in the Index PDF, ready to access any of the other documents, all of which also have the point-and-click-to-return-to-the-Index feature. As my favorite evil Republican would say while tenting his fingers, "Excellent."

This one $15 purchase provided me with an easy-to-use, well-organized SRD, plus relieved me of any desire to go out and buy the 3.5 Monster Manual and new psionics rules. So, to sum up, this product rawks! It is truly a gift from the gawds themselves. The only thing I can think of it that would improve it would be for the psionic monsters to be included in the Creature Stat Blocks PDF and for this same PDF to also list monsters by environment.

No, that's not quite accurate. One other thing that would be great is if each PDF included some appropriate theme music as well, but that's probably too much to ask for.

 

[Wystan]

CMG-SRD Bundle

(This was received as a reviewers copy)

I will grade the bundle as a whole as I have looked at the bundle and have seen the use that it has and the quality that can be expected from CMG.

1. Art: I have to say that the art mostly looks like old recycled religious paintings. Now I need to point out that this in no way detracts from the rest of the review, but I think it may have looked better with a bunch of art similar to the DND PHB (Dungeons and Dragons Players Hand Book). I will not score the art.

2. Ease of Use: These are a dream to find what you are looking for and indexed nicely. The only problem I can forsee is that since it is designed for screen use you would never print these. Since I play at a low tech game these are of slightly less use to me. I can however see the advantage of being able to search for any type of item that you need. Grade - 5

2. Layout: The layout is clean, however I feel that in some cases there is too much white space used on the pages. In some of the spell PDF's it would have saved pages and made it seem fuller (yes, even with less pages) to remove the blank spaces as much as possible. Grade - 4

3. Value: This is an amazing product, and the base price of $19.95 gives you more than the standard books would give you for 90-100$. You get most ofthe spells, monsters, classes and features and have it all linked and sorted. Grade - 5

I enjoyed looking over this product, and can see myself using it on a regular basis.

Critical Hits: Gets all the information in the right place, your hands.
Critical Miss: Update the art

Overall: 4.67 (5)