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Message: <blockquote data-quote="geoffrey d`glanville" data-source="post: 2096852" data-attributes="member: 29329">The Slayer`s Guide to DuergarHi!That`s a little discussion about a Slayer`s Guide by Mongoose Pub., this time for the Duergar.First, the hardware.The Cover was done rather nicely by Anne Stokes, a 4.2 out of 5.10, evocative and somehow threatening.The Cover Layout is not bad, 3.2, but nothing special.The Inner Layout of the book is also down the middle, 3.1.The Duergar Illu on the inside front cover is good, as ususal, by Chris Quilliams, the eyes of the Duergar were especially nice here, 3.9.The SGtD features 16 b/w illus by David Griffith, which were mostly quite O.K., 3.3.The Paper Quality of this product is O.K., 3.1.Price/Page is very bad, 9.95$ / 32 pages is 31.1 cents per page, making this seemingly cheap product quite expensive, if you see it from this point of view, 0.5.Then, the Inner Values.The Intro chapter was quire boring to read, as with most SG`s, 2.4.The Grey Boxes of this one were actually quite well written and not without style, 4.0, 1.5 pages.Duergar Physiology (3.6/3p) is not a bad chapter and brings to the reader most of this race`s physical peculiarities in a decent manner; could have been better, though.A Soul in the Shadows: The Powers of the Gray Dwarves - Blood of Stone, Bones of the Earth - The Dying of the LightHabitat (3.7/1p) again is aspiring, but way too short.Duergar Society (3.9/4p) is a good chapter, extensive and profoundly written. Especially the chapter about the Duergar religion was nice to read.The Duergar Mindset-Mining, Murder and Misogyny - Duergar Religion-A Life of ServitudeNext up is Warfare in the Dark, which is one of the best chapters in the book, 4.0/4p.Interesting to read, it gives off a few new ideas while staying largely true to the known Duergar stereotypes.Weapons and Armor - The Twin Faces of War - Ambush - Assassination - The Power of Dark FaithRoleplaying with Duergar is also a strong chapter in the thin book, featuring interesting crunch, 4.5/9p.While nice ideas are there how to include Duergar into one`s campaign for the benefit of all, it also features nice crunch in the way of two PrCs which are quite interesting to play in my eyes; especially the Stonecaller was nice, also its limitation that you can only add another Stonecaller level each intime year; nice story angle.Duergar in your Game - Duergar as Player Characters - Duergar Feats - Duergar Prestige ClassesThe Mines of Verhaven then is a relatively nicely done Duergar stronghold that is good to use in one`s campaign, but it lacks a map, which was not nice, 3.8/5p.History of the Area - The Duergar Colony - Verhaven - Duergar DefencesFinally the usual Duergar Refence List rounds up this Slayer`s Guide, a little bit uninspired. 2.7/2p.The overall Writing Style of the books is not bad, 3.7.The Crunch/Fluff Ratio is quite good for that type of product, a little bit more crunch would have been good, 4.7.Price /Value is mediocre, 2.4. For 9.95$ you get a pretty flappy book about the Duergar, that, while being relatively inspired, lacks the necessary depth and page-size to impress fully.The fact that this is the only single-tome book about the Duergar (to my knowledge) is very likely the biggest asset of the book.Published in 2002, this is a 3.0e book, which hardly matters in this case. Note that this tome is relatively surely going to be published by Mongoose Pub. in a second hardcover Slayer`s Guide Compendium II.Overall, a 3.4 product, three mediocre stars here on EN World.</blockquote>

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