Post by Gilvan Blight on Oct 9, 2006 9:39:50 GMT -5
Quickly: kinda cool but for the old rules.
Summary: similar to the Light Side Sourcebook this book looks at the Dark Side of the Force. It includes a discussion of the Dark Side, a ton of new Dark Side prestige classes, Dark Side (sith) equipment, new DS mobs, DS locations, DS spirits, DS ships and a lot more.
The Good: reading a book about the Dark Side is rather fun. The discussions on the Dark side were well worth reading and every GM should read the chapter about using the Dark Side in your game. Great information on when and how to award Dark Side points. Also good information on running a Dark Side campaign (which I am sorely tempted to do after reading the book).
The Bad: not enough new equipment. The section on equipment is rather sad. It's like a few new peices of armour (actually modifications for existing armour) and some weapons, and nothing that interesting unless you want to play a game on the Sith homeworld. Too many characters. I get bored in all these sourcebooks when I get to the section when they give game rules for a ton of characters from the movies/books/comics. This one was no exception. They just need to put out one big book of characters instead of waisting so much room in every sourcebook on tons of characters I will most likely never use.
The Ugly: it's for the bloody non-revised rulebook. I swear this came out after the revised rulebook, plus the one I read was a 2nd printing. You would think they would update the 2nd printing to the current edition of the rules. What this means is that a lot of the 'meat' will need to be tenderized by converting it over to Revised rules. This means that a GM can't use the book as printed very well unless you want to mix rule systems. The most notable is the fact that scoundrels still have sneak attack, the Dark Jedi get Jedi feats in a specific order (replaced in the new rules with Force Training) and armour gives you defence bonus (which also means that the defence bonus in all the prestige classes is messed up).
Overall: an interesting read, well worth reading just for insight into the Dark Side and how to use it in your campaign. Unfortunately the rules are for an older edition and will need some tweaking before you can toss them into your game. Not a bad book, would have loved it if it was up to date.
Summary: similar to the Light Side Sourcebook this book looks at the Dark Side of the Force. It includes a discussion of the Dark Side, a ton of new Dark Side prestige classes, Dark Side (sith) equipment, new DS mobs, DS locations, DS spirits, DS ships and a lot more.
The Good: reading a book about the Dark Side is rather fun. The discussions on the Dark side were well worth reading and every GM should read the chapter about using the Dark Side in your game. Great information on when and how to award Dark Side points. Also good information on running a Dark Side campaign (which I am sorely tempted to do after reading the book).
The Bad: not enough new equipment. The section on equipment is rather sad. It's like a few new peices of armour (actually modifications for existing armour) and some weapons, and nothing that interesting unless you want to play a game on the Sith homeworld. Too many characters. I get bored in all these sourcebooks when I get to the section when they give game rules for a ton of characters from the movies/books/comics. This one was no exception. They just need to put out one big book of characters instead of waisting so much room in every sourcebook on tons of characters I will most likely never use.
The Ugly: it's for the bloody non-revised rulebook. I swear this came out after the revised rulebook, plus the one I read was a 2nd printing. You would think they would update the 2nd printing to the current edition of the rules. What this means is that a lot of the 'meat' will need to be tenderized by converting it over to Revised rules. This means that a GM can't use the book as printed very well unless you want to mix rule systems. The most notable is the fact that scoundrels still have sneak attack, the Dark Jedi get Jedi feats in a specific order (replaced in the new rules with Force Training) and armour gives you defence bonus (which also means that the defence bonus in all the prestige classes is messed up).
Overall: an interesting read, well worth reading just for insight into the Dark Side and how to use it in your campaign. Unfortunately the rules are for an older edition and will need some tweaking before you can toss them into your game. Not a bad book, would have loved it if it was up to date.