Publisher: Autarch
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Lairs & Encounters Review: A Must-Have Supplement for Sandbox Fantasy RPGs
If you are a fan of sandbox fantasy RPGs, you will love Lairs & Encounters, a supplement for the Adventurer Conqueror King System (ACKS). This book provides you with everything you need to create and explore monster lairs, tame and train monsters, and even create your own unique monsters. In this Lairs & Encounters review, I will give you an overview of the contents of the book and tell you what I think.
What is Lairs & Encounters?
Lairs & Encounters is a 256-page hardcover book that contains 10 chapters, plus an introduction, an appendix and an index. The book is designed to be used with the ACKS system, a fantasy RPG that emphasizes sandbox play, domain management, and emergent storytelling. However, the book is easily compatible with other fantasy RPGs based on the same basic rules, such as Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Old School Essentials, and so on.
The main goal of Lairs & Encounters is to provide you with tools and resources to populate the wilderness with monster lairs, and to make them more dynamic and interesting. The book also offers new rules and systems for taming and training monsters, and for creating your own custom monsters. The book is full of examples, tables, maps, illustrations, and tips to help you create and run your sandbox fantasy RPG campaigns.
What are the contents of Lairs & Encounters?
The book consists of 10 chapters, each covering a different aspect of monster lairs and encounters. Here is a brief summary of each chapter:
- Chapter 1: Monster Lairs. This chapter presents the rules for populating the wilderness with monster lairs, taking into account the terrain, the settlements, the density and the reconnaissance. In addition, it provides a table to determine the type and number of monsters in each lair, and a series of tips to make the lairs more interesting and varied.
- Chapter 2: Lair Maps. This chapter contains 36 lair maps ready to use, one for each type of terrain. The maps are scaled 1:100 and show the size, shape, entrances and exits of the lairs. Each map also has a legend that indicates the possible obstacles, traps, treasures and monsters that can be found inside.
- Chapter 3: Specific Lairs. This chapter contains more than 165 detailed monster lairs, one for each main monster in the ACKS system. Each lair has a description of its location, its history, its inhabitants, its defenses, its goals and its treasures. Each lair also has a color map that shows its internal layout and points of interest.
- Chapter 4: Treasure Maps. This chapter contains 6 treasure maps to hand out to the players when they find clues or information about possible hidden lairs. The maps are drawn in antique style and show the approximate location of the lair relative to known landmarks. Each map also has a brief description that provides further details about the lair and its treasure.
- Chapter 5: New Monsters. This chapter presents 30 new monsters to add to the bestiary of the ACKS system. The new monsters are inspired by different mythologies and cultures of the real world, and include creatures such as the amphisbaena, the bloodhound, the chaos nightmare, the death steed, the desert ghoul, the fierce beast, the draugr, the faravahar, the witch, the khepri, the kraken, the leyak, the rakshasa, the sphinx, the yali and many others. Each monster has a complete sheet with its statistics, its special abilities, its behaviors and its treasures.
- Chapter 6: Monster Skills. This chapter provides skill scores for all monsters in the ACKS system, based on their physical and mental characteristics. Monster skills are useful for determining their abilities in situations other than combat, such as pursuit, interrogation, intimidation, negotiation and so on.
- Chapter 7: Monster Proficiencies. This chapter introduces monster proficiencies, which are specialized skills that some monsters possess thanks to their nature or their experience. Monster proficiencies are similar to player character (PC) proficiencies, but are specific for monsters and do not follow the same rules of acquisition and progression. Some monster proficiencies are: climate adaptation, ambidexterity, learning, art of war, hunting, camouflage, construction, stealth, engineering, instinct, language, magic, medicine, mimicry, navigation, concealment, detection, lockpicking, writing and many others.
- Chapter 8: Young Monsters. This chapter presents the rules for creating young monsters, which are smaller and less powerful versions of adult monsters. Young monsters are useful for adding variety to monster lairs, for creating adventures suitable for lower level PCs and for allowing PCs to raise or train monsters as pets or allies.
- Chapter 9: Taming and Training Monsters. This chapter presents a complete system for taming and training monsters, with details on lifespan, roles, tricks, trained and untrained value, supply cost, training period and trainability modifier of every monster in the game. The chapter also provides examples of tamed and trained monsters for different purposes, such as riding, guarding, hunting, warfare and so on.
- Chapter 10: Monster Creation. This chapter presents a complete system for creating your own unique monsters. In ACKS Player’s Companion we gave you the mechanics to create new character classes and new balanced spells; now we bring our same rigorous attention to balance and customization to monsters. The chapter guides you step by step in creating your monsters, from choosing the concept to determining the statistics, the special abilities, the behaviors and the treasures. The chapter also includes a series of random tables to generate monsters quickly and easily.
Why should you buy Lairs & Encounters?
Lairs & Encounters is a book that offers a lot of value for sandbox fantasy RPG fans. Here are some of the reasons why you should buy this book:
- It gives you a lot of content to enrich your campaigns. With Lairs & Encounters, you will never run out of ideas for monster lairs and encounters. You will have hundreds of ready-made lairs to use or modify, dozens of new monsters to challenge your players, and tools to create your own custom lairs and monsters. You will be able to create a more diverse, dynamic and immersive wilderness for your players to explore.
- It enhances your gameplay experience. With Lairs & Encounters, you will be able to add more depth, variety and fun to your gameplay. You will be able to use monster skills and proficiencies to make your monsters more realistic and interesting, use young monsters to adjust the difficulty level and the tone of your adventures, and use taming and training monsters to give your players new options and rewards. You will be able to create more memorable and engaging encounters for your players.
- It is compatible with other fantasy RPGs. Although Lairs & Encounters is designed for the ACKS system, it is easily compatible with other fantasy RPGs based on the same basic rules. You can use the book with any game that uses hit dice, armor class, saving throws, attack throws, damage rolls, treasure types, etc. You can also adapt the book to other systems with minimal effort, as the book provides guidelines and examples for doing so.
Conclusion
Lairs & Encounters is an outstanding supplement for sandbox fantasy RPGs that provides you with everything you need to create and explore monster lairs, tame and train monsters, and even create your own unique monsters. The book is well written, well organized and well illustrated. The rules are clear, consistent and easy to apply. The content is creative, varied and fun. The book is compatible with other fantasy RPGs based on the same basic rules.
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