I was hesitant to purchase this product because it didn't look like much effort was put into the cover design... However, this is a really good OSRIC reference book that incorporates SOME of the UA book materials and SOME of the OA materials. I would have preferred to see 2 books: one that is an OSRIC conversion of UA and a second that is a conversion for OA. However, I do love the Samurai, Ninja, and the Knight... It is just that this could have been better if it was more focused as a straight conversion of one book instead of condensing and combining two.

WHAT WORKS: A very creative martial arts system layered onto Fate, providing some good mechanical depth. Lots of optional rules that you can take or leave as you see fit. Great examples. Very pretty production values. Enough setting to get you going without overly detailing it.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: If one isn't into the setting, then I don't think the rules are enough to sell one on it. I always prefer a random adventure generator.

CONCLUSION: One other thing I didn't mention is the Lifepath Generator, which I have already as a Kickstarter backer. I love Lifepaths, and that's another nice piece to the game, one I would probably use in most games. It is still distinctly Fate while feeling notably different from other Fate games, such as Dresden Files or Agents of SWING, and that's a good thing. I don't remotely regret backing this Kickstarter, thanks to both the turnaround time of the product and the quality of it, and can't wait to see what's coming in the line (well, I know Mass Combat Rules are coming, and that's awesome). In the aftermath of the extremely successful Fate Core Kickstarter, folks have been concerned that there's becoming a D20-like glut of cheap cash-in products, but I really don't believe that's the case here. A lot of care and effort went into the book and it shows. If you like martial arts films and you aren't already deeply locked into Wu Xing or Feng Shui, try Tianxia...it's like Fate kicked you in the mouth.

For my full review, please visit http://mostunreadblogever.blogspot.com/2014/06/tommys-take-on-tianxia-blood-silk-jade.html

Tianxia is a rules-light to rules-medium Wuxia game that introduces the genre in a friendly, easy-to-learn fashion. The book is written well, with a clear language devoid of unnecessary flourish that could distract of obscure the information needed to run the game, something that I certainly find to be very helpful.

The game itself applies minor rules adjustments and a fully formed Martial Arts system on top of the FATE Core rules in a relatively seamless manner, and feels like a system that was intended to work with FATE from the get go rather than being welded on forcibly. Fans of the FATE Core system will find this to be very easy to learn.

Fans of the genre will find that Tianxia covers all the bases when it comes to Wuxia. There’s a little lack of emphasis on the tone and themes of Wuxia in the book, but that’s a minor nitpick on my end as I wish it was brought up a bit in the start of the book rather than at the end with the GM chapters.

There’s an awful lot of mechanical support for GMs, from a campaign creation worksheet, to an adventure menu and pre-generated characters and antagonists to work with.

As a relatively new person to FATE, I feel that I’ll need to get a couple of test sessions to really get comfortable with the combat system to find out the true extent of the various Techniques in the Kung Fu system of Tianxia, but from what I’ve seen they’re certainly formidable.

Overall, Tianxia is a great start to a Wuxia RPG. There’s enough to run a campaign, but plenty of white space around for GMs and the authors to add on new elements. If you’re a fan of Wuxia, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t pick this up for your collection.

If you're interested in checking out an in-depth 5 part study of Tianxia, check out my blog: http://philgamer.wordpress.com/category/roleplaying-games/tianxia/

As a Kickstarter backer, I am entirely satisfied and then some. The loose pastiche of cinema, folklore, and history is absolutely perfect for my needs. Highly recommended!

http://www.teilzeithelden.de/2014/04/23/rezension-tianxia-blood-silk-jade/

Mit diesem Spiel hat es ein weiteres Kickstarter-Projekt erfolgreich bis zur Umsetzung geschafft. In diesem Settingband für Fate Core bereisen die Spieler als Kung-Fu-Künstler, wohlhabende Händler oder warmherzige Mönche die gefährliche Grenzprovinz des Reiches. Zahlreiche Abenteuer in rechtlosem Raum erwarten die Männer und Frauen des Grenzgebietes. Zu ihrer Verteidigung können sie auf mächtige Kung-Fu-Techniken zurückgreifen. Techniken, bei denen selbst Bruce Lee oder Jackie Chan der Atem stocken würde. Willkommen zu Tianxia: Blood, Silk & Jade.

Inhalt

Mit Tianxia erscheint für Fate Core bereits das zweite Wuxia-Setting. Tianxia entführt uns nach Shenzhou, einem fiktiven Staat, der dem imperialen China nachempfunden ist. Aus mystischer Sicht existieren drei große Religionen innerhalb des Reiches: Der Legalismus, der dem Konfuzianismus nachempfunden wurde; die Jünger Bodhisattvas, die den Buddhismus als Vorbild haben sowie die Anhänger des Tao, die, wenig überraschend, ihre Wurzeln im Daoismus haben. Die Vorstellung der einzelnen Religionen wurde auf wenige Grundprinzipien beschränkt, um Gläubigen der echten Religionen nicht versehentlich auf die Füße zu treten. Ebenso wie sein Vorbild aus der realen Welt, ist Shenzhou ein Kaiserreich. Zahlreiche Handelswege durchziehen das Land, um kostbare Waren, wie zum Beispiel die Namen gebenden Handelswaren Seide und Jade, in die Hauptstadt zu transportieren. Die Rolle der Frau ist im Vergleich zur historischen Vorlage wesentlich liberaler. Frauen können die gleichen Aufgaben übernehmen wie Männer und auch homosexuelle Partnerschaften werden allgemein akzeptiert.

Das Reich besteht aus insgesamt neun unterschiedlichen Provinzen, aber nur die Provinz Jiangzhou wird in dem Settingband näher besprochen. Dieses wilde und gesetzlose Gebiet ist durch den schwunghaften Handel ein sehr attraktives Pflaster für allerlei Volk. Auf den Lebensadern, dem Seidenfluss und der Jadestraße, gibt es großen Bedarf an abenteuerlustigen Männern und Frauen. Große Handelsketten, verschlagene Diebesbanden, mysteriöse Kulte und verschwiegene Kampfkunstschulen bilden ein explosives Gemisch, das nur auf die Einmischung vorlauter Spieler wartet.

Die Beschreibung Jiangzhous vermittelt die Situation in der Provinz recht anschaulich, jedoch bleiben die Ausführungen sehr vage. Lediglich Bao Jiang, die größte Stadt der Provinz, wird detaillierter beschrieben. Die beschriebenen Charaktere sind glaubhaft und immer mit etwas Hintergrund versehen. Insgesamt wird eine glaubhafte Welt umrissen, die aber leider etwas zu vage gehalten ist, um ohne viel Vorbereitung ins Spiel einsteigen zu können.

Die Charaktererschaffung hat nur wenige Neuerungen gegenüber Fate Core zu bieten. Zum einen beginnen die Charaktere durch einen gestiegenen Grundwert an Schicksalspunkten das Spiel etwas mächtiger. Zum anderen erhalten sie Zugang auf die neue Fähigkeit Chi, die die mentale Ausgeglichenheit eines Charakters beschreibt.

Es ist jedem Charakter mit Chi möglich, eine Chi-Rüstung, eine Art übernatürlichen Schutzpanzer, zu erschaffen, der physischen Schaden vom Charakter abhalten soll. Dies ist ein Automatismus, der zu Beginn jeder Auseinandersetzung als freie Aktion ausgeführt werden darf. Es ist natürlich auch möglich, Charaktere ohne Kenntnis in Kung Fu zu erstellen, dies ist aber ausdrücklich nicht empfehlenswert. Je besser ein Charakter in den Kung-Fu-Künsten bewandert ist, desto höher ist sein Jianghu–Rang, ein grober Maßstab, an welcher Position der Charakter in der Hackordnung der Provinz steht.

Ein besserer Kung-Fu-Kämpfer kann seine Gegner davon abhalten, gegen ihn zusammenzuarbeiten, er erhält freie Anwendungen auf seinen Kung-Fu-Aspekt und erschwert es seinen Gegnern, eine Chi-Rüstung zu entwickeln.

Eine besondere Erwähnung verdienen auch die Kung-Fu-Regeln von Tianxia. Für einen Punkt des Grundwertes darf der Charakter einen Kung-Fu-Stil wählen und seine erste Technik erhalten. Durch die Ausgabe weiterer Schicksals- oder Stunt–Punkte können weitere Techniken gekauft werden. Hat ein Spieler alle sechs Techniken seines Stiles als Stunts erlernt, kann er während eines bedeutenden Meilensteins auf die Erhöhung eines Grundwerts verzichten, um die Meisterschaft eines Stils zu erlangen und damit die dazu gehörige geheime Technik zu erlernen.

Bemerkenswert ist auch, wie ein eigener Stil gewählt wird. In einer Art Baukastensystem kombiniert man ein Element mit einem Tiersymbol. Jedem Element und jedem Tier sind jeweils drei Techniken zugeordnet. Als Elemente existieren Wald, Geist, Eisen, Blitz, Stein und Sturm. Stilgebende Tiere sind Kranich, Drache, Affe, Phönix, Schlange und Tiger. Der daraus gebildete Aspekt darf durchaus poetischer formuliert werden, solange die Herkunft noch erkennbar ist. Der Stil Waldaffe darf also durchaus auch mit einem poetischen Titel wie zum Beispiel Der Affe steigt auf den Baum umschrieben werden. Auch weitere Besonderheiten wie z.B. Letzter Überlebender der Sturmdrachen-Schule können einzelnen Stilen in der Kampagne eine besondere Rolle einräumen. Zu diesen gewöhnlichen Techniken kommen für jeden Stil noch eine weitere geheime Technik sowie noch ein paar verlorene Techniken hinzu. Gerade diese verlorenen Techniken können unabhängig der gewählten Stile erlernt werden und dienen der weiteren Individualisierung der Charaktere. Nach der Vorstellung einiger beispielhafter Charaktere widmet Tianxia dem Spielleiter ein ausführliches Kapitel. Hier wird erklärt, wie die im Fate Core beschriebenen Grundregeln zur Kampagnenerstellung auf Tianxia umgestaltet werden. Als Beispiel werden einzelne Kernthemen des Genres hervorgehoben. Auch der Umgang mit Niederlagen verdient ein eigenes Kapitel. Ein Kapitel über die mögliche Opposition sowie eine Liste mit Inspirationsquellen aus Film und Literatur runden den Spielleiterbereich ab.

Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis

Für 15 USD erhält man einen liebevoll gestalteten Settingband, der gemeinsam mit dem Fate Core–Grundregelwerk zu vielen spannenden Geschichten einlädt. Neben der liebevollen Aufmachung, stimmungsvollen Grafiken und dem oben beschriebenen Inhalt bleiben kaum Wünsche offen. Insgesamt ist das Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis ein Vergleich auf Augenhöhe. Es werden zwar keine Informationen verschenkt, aber der Leser wird auch nicht über den Tisch gezogen.

Erscheinungsbild

Der Band präsentiert sich ansprechend. Der Hintergrund ist schlicht und zugunsten der Lesbarkeit wurde auf eine aufwändige Hintergrundgrafik verzichtet. Die Kapiteleinstiegsseiten werden hingegen durch einen roten, edel gehaltenen Hintergrund hervorgehoben und mit schönen Zeichnungen untermalt. Randinformationen werden entweder in einem dunklen Grau oder dunklem Rot präsentiert. Aspekte werden im laufenden Text rot dargestellt und fallen daher sofort ins Auge. Insgesamt sind die Texte sehr gut zu lesen, nur die Kapiteleinstiege sorgen durch ungünstige Kontraste ab und an für Lesefrust.

Die Qualität der Zeichnungen ist überdurchschnittlich und fängt den Geist des Settings sehr gut ein. Dabei ist der comichafte Stil das ausschlaggebende Merkmal. Damit ist deutlich zu spüren, dass das Setting sich selbst nicht so ernst nimmt, sondern vielmehr kinoreife Aktion und Spaß in den Vordergrund stellt.

Das Inhaltsverzeichnis ist voll verlinkt und auch in der Datei zur Navigation hinterlegt. Leider gilt dies nicht für den Index und auch im Text angesprochene Verweise sind nicht verlinkt.

Insgesamt ein sehr gelungener Band, der leider noch nicht vollständig im medialen Zeitalter angekommen ist.

Fazit

Mit Tianxia bekommt man ein solides Wuxia-Setting ohne große Schnörkel. Die Welt ist liebevoll gestaltet, die Regelerweiterungen sinnvoll, ohne übermäßig kompliziert zu werden, und der Schauplatz bietet Zündstoff für viele spannende Geschichten. Die grafische Aufmachung ist sehr gut, die Illustrationen stimmungsvoll und inspirierend. Technisch patzt die PDF-Datei leider, indem Seitenangaben im Text und im Index nicht verlinkt wurden.

Wie bei den meisten Fate Core–Settings, ist ein direktes Losspielen nicht möglich, da die Kampagne auf die Charaktere zugeschnitten sein sollte. Im Spielleiterbereich befinden sich aber genug Ideen, mit denen eine Kampagne in Gang gebracht werden kann.

Leider wird zu keiner Zeit die Aussprache der Wörter lautmalerisch dargestellt, weshalb je nach Aussprache die einzelnen Begriffe sehr ähnlich klingen. Gerade bei Namen wie Shenzhou, Jiangzhou und Jianghu ist die Verwechslungsgefahr schon sehr groß.

Für die Zukunft sind zusätzliche Materialien geplant. Im Rahmen der Kickstarter-Kampagne wurden bereits einige Bestandteile wie ein Lifepath Generator erstellt und befinden sich bereits im Test. Weitere freigeschaltete Stretch Goals sind Settingbände zu den nördlichen und südlichen Provinzen sowie ein Sonderband für ein spezielles Kung-Fu-Magiesystem. Es bleibt also spannend in der Welt von Tianxia.

Für Fans des Genres lohnt sich Tianxia auf jeden Fall, aber auch Genreneulinge können durchaus einen Blick riskieren.

Jack Norris's write-up on running villainous player characters and campaigns is wonderful stuff, particularly for someone like me who enjoys super-hero comics, but has read only a modest selection. He discusses the kinds of possible PC villains and why you'd want to run them - and maybe, in some cases, why you wouldn't. He also gives various suggestions on how to get villains together, how to run a such a game in a rewarding way, and how bring the campaign to a satiisfying end. There are probably many ways to play PC villains badly, but Norris gives some great advice on how to run them well.

There is a really cool selection of characters in this supplement, too, with a wide range of backgrounds, power sets, and power levels (PL6 all the way to PL15). Each is evocative. I found myself asking of each character, "What sort of team would this person be on?" or "What kind of team would oppose them?" and lots of themes came to mind. Speaking as a GM, alll of these would make great NPC's.

I like vigilance press products, not least because they usually give value for money - Crime and Punishment comes with Herolab files for both Mr Crime and Mr Punishment as well as for enhanced minions and includes print out stand up figures for both Crime and Punishment (but not the enhanced minions - given the amount of white space on that page, that seems a lost opportunity).

I must admit this seems less value than their recent previous packages - out of ten pages you get a cover and backpage, a second print of the characters as shown on the cover (together), a contents page and open licence leaving only six pages of actual content. Individual pictures of each character is shown beside their write ups taking up another page of space (so why the reprint of the cover picture on page two?) - the write ups are of level 7 characters which would seem to limit their inclusion in higher level games but in usual Vigilance Press fashion notes are included about using Mr Crime as a master criminal behind the scenes and using Mr Punishment to torture.

Good points as always is the well thought out characters and the included extras, the bad, and for once I do think there are some bad aspects to this product, is that too much of the book is taken up with repeating the same character pictures in the same pose instead of using the space to detail more about using a master criminal or expanding on the plot use or even including pictures of the enhanced minions (Pl 3 and 4) - Over all I'm glad I bought it and from any other independent publisher this would probably be fine but for me this package isn't up to Vigilance Press's usual high standards. This package feels rushed out and lacks that "Wow, you must buy this NOW!" feel as a result.

Artwork is good but not worth reprinting four times (if you include their use on the figures), the write up of both Crime and Punishment is good and well thought out (they immediately put me in mind of Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar from Neil Gaiman's "Neverwhere"), the plots and the extras are always welcome, however the notes on master criminals and torture are way too brief and should have been expanded.

I've given 4 stars out of 5 because this really is a missed opportunity.

Having been an avid and loyal customer to Vigilance Press for some time, I was already very eager to see what they had to bring to the FATE Core community. Add in the fact that I am a very passionate individual when it comes to Wuxia style fiction, I had some reservations as FATE had yet to really delve into such a realm and this would be among the first settings to do so.

Immediately upon opening the pdf for review, I was absolutely amazed with the Typography, Layout, and upon delving into the fiction and details behind the world I was absolutely blown away. Everything is explained in fine detail, and even if the style is a bit foreign for some people it becomes fairly fluid to pick up on. Stat blocks for key individuals are laid out with relative art that lives up to and exceeds expectations.

Among my favorite mechanical bits involves the translation of flavor of common elements within Wuxia (Flashbacks and Montage being among the most common) into the FATE system. It is very clear that great lengths were put into the detail and precision of each use of the mechanics to reflect the style of the setting, and is a prime example that many other authors should strive to live up to.

Going further into the book one can find details on how to assemble their own personal style by combining extremely accurate Elements and Body (Stances), each with their own mechanical and flavorful alternatives. Even beyond that are examples on how to build each one with appropriate mechanical explanations and even ways of explaining lost styles and techniques as they relate to the history of the already rich world.

By the very end of the book, a well layed out collection of example characters and play are provided that can provide the much needed insight for both players and game masters alike. For Game Masters, there is a complete Bestiary, collection of tips for running games and how to sustain various parts of the world. There is enough material here to really get into a one-shot that can flourish into a full on campaign. Optional rules abound, with optional check-lists to help put together entertaining and fulfilling conflicts for the players to run through.

Having been one of the investors for the Kickstarter Campaign I am absolutely thrilled with the amount of content this setting provides and will be a foundation to which can act as inspiration for just about any game placed within the world or to provide a reference on how to truly embody the Wuxia genre!

We have had a lot of fun with the game, especially one shots!

Another great product from Vigilance Press!

I got the Black Chapter after I bought the Oktobermen. I enjoy the characters and like how they are linked to the Oktobermen.

The Library section is a great source for creating an 'agency' that the characters can work with or against, depending on how you use the book.

More Hero Lab files! Always a bonus... Just wish they had put the artwork into the Hero Lab files and completed the Personal Tabs.

I enjoyed listening to the Vigilance Press podcast of Beacon City so I bought the book & pdf so I could see the character stats.

I like the book. The artwork is well done and the physical book is nice. The quality of the physical book surprised me a little. I am used to smaller publishers delivering 'cheap' books. Not this one!

The characters are very well thought out and they all come with a good background story. I really like the relationship diagram in the beginning. It shows you how they feel about each other. A big help when the GM is using them in the story.

As a bonus, you get the Hero Lab files for the characters. (I love Hero Lab. It is a great product too). I only wish that the Hero Lab files were completely filled out. (The Personal tab has the artwork but the rest of it is at defaults. Not a big issue, just wish it was complete. I am a little picky about my players filling out all fields on all of the tabs.)

In all, this is a great addition to any Mutants and Masterminds collection, especially if your game has any kind of a mystic vibe.

Yet another excellent product from Vigilance Press - In the company's ongoing tradition of giving excellent value for money you get the write up and stats of this conman Shaman and his restrained (for now) demonic companion, you get separate pictures to show players, you get the cardboard cut out figures and you get the Herolab stats - the high quality of both the characters they design and the value for money their products give puts Vigilance Press products up there with Green Ronin products themselves.

Some products you buy for completion sake, this is definitely a product that both GM and players will enjoy and should make for a fun evening of play.

I gave a negative review of this series. I have come to regret this choice the more I reviewed this product. I now feel I should update my conclusions and try to be a more informative reviewer for my readers and not vent my financial venom into the RPGNow community.

I will list my negative conclusions, all of which one might have immediately upon purchasing the product and after an initial review. My reactions were this. Too expensive. I write it out into two paticular paragraphs which I will now repost.

"I have to say I was highly disappointed by this product. I have been really craving new Icons products, and this does fit that bill... but is highly expensive for what you end up getting. Each of these products are about 50 to 70 pages and they charge top dollar for everything you get. Each installment covers about ten archetypes... tells some general things about it... comic world examples... aspects... and 1 character example. For this they charge 8 to 10 dollars each. That means for the complete set of 40 archetypes and characters covered over lets say 240 pages you are going to play $34."

"Now compared to some text heavy systems like D&D and Hero, this really isnt a lot. If you compare this to the Icons Villianomicon, my golden standard on this line which is sold for just $10 dollars and covers 51 characters, you see why this is so painful in comparison. Not to mention that all of the Field Guides (and Villianomicon as well, unfortunately) do not use any of the new and wonderfully utilitarian rules used introduced in Great Powers."

Now this may have felt right when I wrote it then... unbudgeted money is hard to come by sometimes. ICONS is a wonderful rules light RPG and many of its products seem to have a lower price tag. This means that... for me... everything in the ICONS series that I have an interest in, I own. Try saying that with one of the big boy systems. Can't do it. All those huge volumes of books with dense blocks of game statistics to chew through right in the middle of combat or an intense roleplaying scene. Not ICONS... which fits the storyteller's hands like silk gloves... minimalistic and smoothe and airey even.This is why this product kind of dinged me kind of hard.

Now I have read of the books, and the more I do the more I have come to enjoy this product. At the time, I just wanted ICONS stuff. Give me scenarios, characters, vehicles, base aspects. I wanted all of that... like a sugar addict in a brightly lit mall candy store. This book is a little light on this aspect, and yet so much more.

As it lists in its description, the author, a bonafide doctor of the subject of superheroes, lists different archetypes all comic book characters fall into. He offers a traditional explanation and suggests where to draw inspiration for aspects and even important tips on the archetype mentioned. Each one has a prim example rolled up so you see what an Animal Hero would look like up against a Woman Warrior. Also the author sneaks in his own world around the book. He offers a glossary of terms and some new powers, etc. So I would consider this work more of a guide to an outlined superhero rpg setting. The academics are fun considering how candy coated ICONS can get sometimes. Someone new to this system could purchase these books and then attach an interesting scenaro or two... and have a very functinal world outlined with very broad strokes painting a very unique, yet faithful setting. This aspect of these books took me a bit to discover.

So changing my conclusions before. This book has a lot to offer and is unique in the ICONS series. I highly recommend it and continue to find reading it pleasurable and useful. The cost was kind of steep for me but with all things considered I am glad I aquired it and believe you will too.

I gave a negative review of this series. I have come to regret this choice the more I reviewed this product. I now feel I should update my conclusions and try to be a more informative reviewer for my readers and not vent my financial venom into the RPGNow community.

I will list my negative conclusions, all of which one might have immediately upon purchasing the product and after an initial review. My reactions were this. Too expensive. I write it out into two paticular paragraphs which I will now repost.

"I have to say I was highly disappointed by this product. I have been really craving new Icons products, and this does fit that bill... but is highly expensive for what you end up getting. Each of these products are about 50 to 70 pages and they charge top dollar for everything you get. Each installment covers about ten archetypes... tells some general things about it... comic world examples... aspects... and 1 character example. For this they charge 8 to 10 dollars each. That means for the complete set of 40 archetypes and characters covered over lets say 240 pages you are going to play $34."

"Now compared to some text heavy systems like D&D and Hero, this really isnt a lot. If you compare this to the Icons Villianomicon, my golden standard on this line which is sold for just $10 dollars and covers 51 characters, you see why this is so painful in comparison. Not to mention that all of the Field Guides (and Villianomicon as well, unfortunately) do not use any of the new and wonderfully utilitarian rules used introduced in Great Powers."

Now this may have felt right when I wrote it then... unbudgeted money is hard to come by sometimes. ICONS is a wonderful rules light RPG and many of its products seem to have a lower price tag. This means that... for me... everything in the ICONS series that I have an interest in, I own. Try saying that with one of the big boy systems. Can't do it. All those huge volumes of books with dense blocks of game statistics to chew through right in the middle of combat or an intense roleplaying scene. Not ICONS... which fits the storyteller's hands like silk gloves... minimalistic and smoothe and airey even.This is why this product kind of dinged me kind of hard.

Now I have read of the books, and the more I do the more I have come to enjoy this product. At the time, I just wanted ICONS stuff. Give me scenarios, characters, vehicles, base aspects. I wanted all of that... like a sugar addict in a brightly lit mall candy store. This book is a little light on this aspect, and yet so much more.

As it lists in its description, the author, a bonafide doctor of the subject of superheroes, lists different archetypes all comic book characters fall into. He offers a traditional explanation and suggests where to draw inspiration for aspects and even important tips on the archetype mentioned. Each one has a prim example rolled up so you see what an Animal Hero would look like up against a Woman Warrior. Also the author sneaks in his own world around the book. He offers a glossary of terms and some new powers, etc. So I would consider this work more of a guide to an outlined superhero rpg setting. The academics are fun considering how candy coated ICONS can get sometimes. Someone new to this system could purchase these books and then attach an interesting scenaro or two... and have a very functinal world outlined with very broad strokes painting a very unique, yet faithful setting. This aspect of these books took me a bit to discover.

So changing my conclusions before. This book has a lot to offer and is unique in the ICONS series. I highly recommend it and continue to find reading it pleasurable and useful. The cost was kind of steep for me but with all things considered I am glad I aquired it and believe you will too.

I gave a negative review of this series. I have come to regret this choice the more I reviewed this product. I now feel I should update my conclusions and try to be a more informative reviewer for my readers and not vent my financial venom into the RPGNow community.

I will list my negative conclusions, all of which one might have immediately upon purchasing the product and after an initial review. My reactions were this. Too expensive. I write it out into two paticular paragraphs which I will now repost.

"I have to say I was highly disappointed by this product. I have been really craving new Icons products, and this does fit that bill... but is highly expensive for what you end up getting. Each of these products are about 50 to 70 pages and they charge top dollar for everything you get. Each installment covers about ten archetypes... tells some general things about it... comic world examples... aspects... and 1 character example. For this they charge 8 to 10 dollars each. That means for the complete set of 40 archetypes and characters covered over lets say 240 pages you are going to play $34."

"Now compared to some text heavy systems like D&D and Hero, this really isnt a lot. If you compare this to the Icons Villianomicon, my golden standard on this line which is sold for just $10 dollars and covers 51 characters, you see why this is so painful in comparison. Not to mention that all of the Field Guides (and Villianomicon as well, unfortunately) do not use any of the new and wonderfully utilitarian rules used introduced in Great Powers."

Now this may have felt right when I wrote it then... unbudgeted money is hard to come by sometimes. ICONS is a wonderful rules light RPG and many of its products seem to have a lower price tag. This means that... for me... everything in the ICONS series that I have an interest in, I own. Try saying that with one of the big boy systems. Can't do it. All those huge volumes of books with dense blocks of game statistics to chew through right in the middle of combat or an intense roleplaying scene. Not ICONS... which fits the storyteller's hands like silk gloves... minimalistic and smoothe and airey even.This is why this product kind of dinged me kind of hard.

Now I have read of the books, and the more I do the more I have come to enjoy this product. At the time, I just wanted ICONS stuff. Give me scenarios, characters, vehicles, base aspects. I wanted all of that... like a sugar addict in a brightly lit mall candy store. This book is a little light on this aspect, and yet so much more.

As it lists in its description, the author, a bonafide doctor of the subject of superheroes, lists different archetypes all comic book characters fall into. He offers a traditional explanation and suggests where to draw inspiration for aspects and even important tips on the archetype mentioned. Each one has a prim example rolled up so you see what an Animal Hero would look like up against a Woman Warrior. Also the author sneaks in his own world around the book. He offers a glossary of terms and some new powers, etc. So I would consider this work more of a guide to an outlined superhero rpg setting. The academics are fun considering how candy coated ICONS can get sometimes. Someone new to this system could purchase these books and then attach an interesting scenaro or two... and have a very functinal world outlined with very broad strokes painting a very unique, yet faithful setting. This aspect of these books took me a bit to discover.

So changing my conclusions before. This book has a lot to offer and is unique in the ICONS series. I highly recommend it and continue to find reading it pleasurable and useful. The cost was kind of steep for me but with all things considered I am glad I aquired it and believe you will too.