Book of Challenges: Dungeon Rooms, Puzzles, and Traps (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying) [Paperback]

Daniel Kaufman (Author), Gwendolyn F. M. Kestrel (Author), Mike Selinker (Author), Skip Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2002

Danger Around Every Corner and Behind Every Screen!

The greatest threat to any adventuring party is a devious Dungeon Master. This book is spring-loaded with ideas, both subtle and sinister, that will ensure every gaming session is appropriately hazardous, including:

Over fifty encounters designed to be dropped into any campaign.
Scalable scenarios that can be pitted against characters from 1st to 20th level.
Advice for creating your own deceptive and deadly situations.
Dungeon Masters who want to keep their players on their toes will be inspired by the invaluable material within these pages.

To use this accessory, a Dungeon Master also needs the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

DANIEL KAUFMAN has written numerous articles for TopDeck magazine and has had Star Wars Roleplaying Game adventures published in Star Wars Gamer and on the Wizards of the Coast website. He lives in Washington state.

GWENDOLYN F. M. KESTREL recently contributed to both Magic of Faeren and Defenders of the Faith for the new edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game. She lives in Washington state.

MIKE SELINKER has designed dozens of products. Selinker's puzzles appear regularly in Games Magazine, the New York Times, and Dragon Magazine. He lives in Washington state.

SKIP WILLIAMS is a senior designer for the Wizards of the Coast roleplaying games division. His most recent credits include the latest edition of the D&D Monster Manual, and the D&D adventure Deep Horizon. He lives in Washington state.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast; First Printing edition (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786926570
• ISBN-13: 978-0786926572
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #274,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Gaming > Dungeons & Dragons

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good idea seeds, not much else, January 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Book of Challenges: Dungeon Rooms, Puzzles, and Traps (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying) (Paperback)

I purchased this book hoping that I would be treated to something along the lines of an updated Grimtooth's. What I got was a mixed bag of good advice for building your own traps and challenges, coupled with traps that fell far short of that advice. Some of the challenges are so poorly worded that you have to read them two or three times to figure out what the text is actually describing. The figures vary from very well annotated to not anontated at all. The solutions to the puzzles are frequently ones that even experiences D&D gamers would never think to try, because they suggest utilization of abilities in a manner other than they were intended. Setting all of that aside, there is a bigger problem: most of the traps make no sense. Who would have built such ludicrous mechanisms? Who would have populated them with such an odd assortment of creatures? How do such creature survive if they depend upon PC adventurers wandering into these traps as their sole means of food?!? Aargh. It comes down to this: if you were a wizard powerful enough to build some of these traps, you would have used your powers to build better ones. Summary? Good advice, but I wouldn't bother with the traps.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful for beginner DMs, November 5, 2002

By 

Robert Nephew (Oklahoma City, OK United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Book of Challenges: Dungeon Rooms, Puzzles, and Traps (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying) (Paperback)

A seasoned DM probably wouldn't get much out of this book, but for those just starting out, it provides a lot if inspiration for building memorable games.

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars poor, March 31, 2003

By 

Forrest B. Crock (norfolk, va United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Book of Challenges: Dungeon Rooms, Puzzles, and Traps (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying) (Paperback)

this book turned out to be nothing of what i expected. i expected it to be a book of traps and various kinds of challenges in it, to give ideas to DM's who need a little help from time to time (as we all do). instead, what i got was a book that has four examples of particular challenges for various level of characters. i thought this limited the use of the book tremendously, and hence has been the book that i least spent time reading and using.