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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DM_Jeff" data-source="post: 2008608" data-attributes="member: 3687">The Slayers Guide to Centaurs 32-full-sized pages, $7.99, written by Matthew SprangeFollowing on the heels of the previous slayers guides, this one covers Centaurs. For reasons that I find important, this is a great undertaking. Truly becoming part DM`s sourcebook and part player`s guide, as even more than gnolls and bugbears, players have and will continue to play centaur PC`s in D&D.  A wise move was to have Anne Stokes continue to do cover design and art, it gives the series a distinct look and her work is very good. Interior layout remains the same as the others (crisp, clear and well organized, why fix what isn`t broken?) and the interior artwork and cartography are still way above most small press offerings. Also keeping with the series, there are various shaded areas that offer roleplaying commentary in the form of documents, letters, and the like from fantasy adventure characters and their experiences with centaurs, which I feel helps with flavor and switches from just the textbook presentation of hard facts with how these are seen from a characters perspective, and I applaud that.In the beginning we get an introduction to Centaurs, their physiology, habitat, society (full differences between male and female centaurs, beyond the obvious), and their relations with other races. More so than the other guides, the text is even meatier, taking bold strides to add flavor and substance to these creatures above and beyond a stat block (centaur funerals, their outlook on keeping the balance, and their special sixth sense). A wealth of roleplaying material comes up in the differences between the sexes, and the sections “Into the Minds of Centaurs” and their special in-tune ways with the woodlands. Druidic life and religion is covered in detail, an important part of the centaur culture.Next section covers Methods of Warfare where we learn the tricks and ideals of centaur combat. Their preferred arms and equipment, archery and their use of charge tactics and more are covered. Following this is a brief section on roleplaying with centaurs (short in that much of the info deemed worthy roleplaying material shows up in the first section already). Centaur names are examined as well as advice for players who have characters who will be interacting with centaurs, and advice for helping DM`s play them more effectively.Towards the end we are treated to a section with scenario and plot hooks, good launching points for DM`s to flesh out to full adventures, and then a beautiful section on centaurs as Player Characters. Along these themes, a centaur village named Lanhyd is offered for the DM to use, populated with some interesting centaur NPC`s, and both a map and image version (both crisp and very well done) to accompany it.At the end of the book we get full Centaur d20 stat blocks to help the DM populate a village or create a war party or whatever. Village leaders, druids, males females, young, etc are all detailed with good detail and faithful attention to d20 mechanics.DM`s and players looking for tons of crunchy bits won`t find that here in the form of stats. There are no feats, prestige classes, spells, or weapons. While it would be nice to have these, for creative DM`s who can get more out of book than numbers this excels, using their space to give us mental exercises with their ideas instead of just hard game data. As playtesting of the hobgoblin guide shows below, there is more than enough good reading to help a DM and players fully realize the potential of Centaurs in their D&D game.-Jeff Ibach</blockquote>

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