Publisher: BRW Games

Adventures Dark and Deep Book of Lost Lore: a review

If you are passionate about old-school role-playing games, especially those based on the first edition of the most famous fantasy role-playing game in the world, then you can’t miss Adventures Dark and Deep Book of Lost Lore, a supplement that offers new options to create and customize your characters, including new races, new classes, new spells, new magic items and much more. In this review I will tell you about the content of the book, its style and quality, and I will give you my personal opinion on this supplement.

The content of the book

Adventures Dark and Deep Book of Lost Lore is a supplement for the role-playing game Adventures Dark and Deep, which is based on the first edition of the most famous fantasy role-playing game in the world. The book contains 128 pages divided into 10 chapters, each of which deals with a different aspect of character creation and customization.

The first chapter introduces new playable races, including centaurs, dark half-elves, forest gnomes, half-orcs and wild dwarves. Each race has its own physical, cultural and psychological characteristics, as well as specific bonuses and penalties. The chapter also provides rules for managing relationships between different races and their reactions to each other.

The second chapter presents new playable classes, including the musical bard, the cheerful jester, the wise scholar, the wicked blackguard, the holy paladin and the lone ranger. Each class has its own special abilities, its minimum requirements and its level progression. The chapter also includes rules for multiclassing and dual-classing.

The third chapter expands the options for magic classes, adding new spells for each level and for each school of magic. The spells are inspired by literary or mythological sources, such as the spell “Ring of Gyges” that makes the wearer invisible, or the spell “Zeus’ Lightning” that throws a powerful lightning bolt at a target.

The fourth chapter introduces new magic items, including weapons, armor, rings, amulets, wands, staffs and potions. The magic items are described in detail, with their properties, effects and limitations. Some magic items are linked to specific races or classes, such as the “Dwarven Sword” that gives a bonus to dwarves who use it.

The fifth chapter deals with non-combat skills of characters, such as oratory, language knowledge, survival ability and manual dexterity. The chapter proposes an alternative system based on skill points, which allows players to choose the skills they prefer for their characters.

The sixth chapter offers optional rules to manage combat in a more realistic and dynamic way. The chapter includes rules for movement in combat, for multiple actions, for serious wounds and for special maneuvers such as disarming, unbalancing and grappling.

The seventh chapter provides optional rules to manage treasure in a more varied and interesting way. The chapter includes rules for random treasure generation, for valuation of precious items and for trade of magic items.

The eighth chapter presents optional rules to manage character alignment in a more flexible and nuanced way. The chapter includes rules for determining alignment based on character actions, for consequences of alignment on relationships with other characters and for alignment changes.

The ninth chapter introduces optional rules to manage the power level of characters in a more balanced and customized way. The chapter includes rules for creating higher-level characters, for reducing or increasing the challenge level of opponents and for modifying game parameters such as hit points, damage and saving throws.

The tenth chapter contains appendices with summary tables, character creation sheets, tips for the master and bibliographic references.

The style and quality of the book

Adventures Dark and Deep Book of Lost Lore is written in a tone that recalls the style of the classic manuals of the first edition of the most famous fantasy role-playing game in the world. The language is clear and fluent, with an appropriate use of technical terms and abbreviations. The book is well organized and easy to consult, with a detailed index and internal references.

The illustrations are in black and white and have a retro flavor but at the same time evocative. The illustrations are consistent with the content of the book and contribute to create the right atmosphere for the game. The graphics are simple but neat, with a hardcover that fits well with the style of the book. The book is available both in PDF format and in hardcover format at a reasonable price.

My personal opinion

Adventures Dark and Deep Book of Lost Lore is a supplement that impressed me positively for its richness of content and its fidelity to the spirit of the first edition of the most famous fantasy role-playing game in the world. The book offers a series of interesting and original options to create unique and adventurous characters, including races such as centaurs, dark half-elves and forest gnomes, and classes such as musical bard, cheerful jester , wise scholar and wicked blackguard. The book also contains dozens of new spells and magic items , some of which are inspired by literary or mythological sources. The book also presents some alternative systems to manage combat and treasure, which can add variety and challenge to the games.

The book is written in a clear and fluent way, with a language that recalls that of the classic manuals of the first edition. The illustrations are in black and white and have a retro flavor but at the same time evocative. The graphics are simple but neat, with a hardcover that fits well with the style of the book. The book is available both in PDF format and in hardcover format at a reasonable price.

Adventures Dark and Deep Book of Lost Lore is a supplement that I recommend to all fans of old-school role-playing games, especially those who love the first edition of the most famous fantasy role-playing game in the world. The book offers a great amount of useful and stimulating material to create memorable characters and live exciting adventures. The book is also a tribute to the fantasy and creativity of Gary Gygax, the father of fantasy role-playing game, to whom the book is dedicated.

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