By Andrew Garbade, Guest Reviewer and Editor, d20 Magazine Rack
The Mini Slayer’s Guide to Winter Wolves, written by Jonathan M. Richards and distributed by Mongoose Publishing, is available as a PDF document for $5 (US). The Slayer’s Guide series of products takes a specific creature species and provides “exhaustive” information about their society, habitat, methods of combat, and more. A sample lair is also included, as well as adventure hooks for GMs who want to include new twists into their games.
While Mongoose has published many fine d20 products in the past few years, this one is not up to their usual high standards. A few issues really disappointed me with the document – foremost is the poor implementation of the PDF format. None of the various electronic options, hyperlinks, thumbnails, etc., are used in the file. Needless to say, for anyone to have a real chance at enjoying the Guide, printing is a requirement. Not so fast... Further complicating the matter is a border along the edge of the pages which causes havoc when printing. The border itself is well done, but it has nothing to do with the product’s content. It is just filler material, and I generally don’t appreciate being forced to waste paper and ink on “fluff.”
Another problem with the Guide is the dismal quality of the interior artwork . Rick Hershey, credited with Interior Illustrations, is a fine artist whose work has appeared in various publications throughout the industry, including other Mongoose products. That said, the artwork in the Guide is consistently blurry and of poor quality. It honestly seems as if the artwork was created in one medium, scanned into a computer, copied and enlarged in another program, then pasted into the document. There is only one diagram inside the entire Guide, the Winter Wolf lair, that is presented in a clear and distinct manner.
Beyond the presentation quality of the document, the detailed information found in other Guides just isn’t there. Only one truly original idea is put forth in the entire product, while the rest of the data could just as easily be about Worgs or Dire Wolves living in a winter climate. Much of the Guide is a basic expansion on the entry found in the WotC Monster Manual, not a truly “exhaustive” take on the creatures. All is not lost, however, as the various adventure hooks are original, and most present a few different twists for GMs looking to run games in tundra or winter locations.
The lack of detailed combat tactics provided in the product was especially disappointing. As one of the top predators in tundra environments, I expected much more than a few short paragraphs, and the lack of specifics about their relationship with Frost Giants is just puzzling. The statement that such intelligent and evil creatures function in combat much like a “normal wolf” demonstrates the overall ‘focus’ of this section. There is virtually nothing describing how Winter Wolves use their surroundings in combat, and their tactics apparently consist of the typical ‘en masse’ charge toward their prey, rather than calculated and/or coordinated assaults.
Another serious detriment to the product is that only 2 pages (out of 23) are considered Open Content. The little OGC included are just stat blocks derived from generic information freely provided in the System Reference Document.
Mongoose generally offers high quality products that provide new and original material for GMs and gamers, but this product falls far short. Offering little in the way of creativity or new ideas for gaming, the Slayer’s Guide to Winter Wolves is not worth the time and effort to download and print. Although the ideas for new adventures are interesting, they alone are not enough to recommend this product. In this world of so many unique, useful, and exciting ideas d20 supplements, save your $5 and spend it elsewhere.
To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.
