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57 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Deceptive waste of shelf space, October 26, 2007
This review is from: Dungeon Survival Guide (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying) (Hardcover)
As a veteran gamer, I pre-ordered the Dungeon Survival Guide long before it was published. Based upon the name, I expected something between the classic Dungeoneer Survival Guide of 1st Edition, and Cityscape - a book exploring new mechanics of the Dungeon setting. What I received was a sad disappointment.
This book was mostly a compendium of comments about a number of different modules and adventures that have been published by TSR and WotC over the years. Each dungeon adventure is given a 2-page summmary, with a few highlights of the adventure and general description of the setting and purpose. It has absolutely no new rules, no new insights, or no new real material at all. For a veteran gamer, the book is a complete waste.
The Dungeon Survival Guide is actually aimed at novice players, probably to get them interested or excited about playing D&D. It is full of lavish illustrations, many from the adventures in question. But the book is short - only about 60 pages. Why this book was hardbound is a mystery to me.
Since I've been gaming for over 30 years, I hardly qualify as a novice gamer. I cannot tell whether this book would entice a novice into the game, but I doubt it. A new gamer is more enticed by a good gaming group and perception of fun than a "best-of" list of dungeon adventures.
If you're a veteran gamer, skip this book. If you're a novice gamer, skip this book and buy a Player's Handbook or some dice. Either will suit you better in the long run.
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34 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I bought a catalog, October 27, 2007
This review is from: Dungeon Survival Guide (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying) (Hardcover)
I should have looked harder before buying this thing. Based on the title, I thought it would be like the old Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, probably not the best book ever, but at least with some useful content.
Instead it's a few pages of generic information about dungeon dressing (like what materials walls and floors might be made of) followed by a bunch of 2 page "ads" about other Wizards products. If they'd even included someone else's adventure I might feel a little better about this. As it is I feel like I spent my money to buy a hardcover version of their adventure catalog.
My advice is to avoid this one completely unless you are a hardcore completist.
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23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Great Potential, Poorly Executed, October 29, 2007
This review is from: Dungeon Survival Guide (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying) (Hardcover)
First off, I need to say that I had very high hopes for this book. The flyer I saw this spring with the picture of the purple worm (see Amazon's cover) was fantastic! The description went into detail about how the book would outline dungeons--I was personally looking for a way to use the book in campaigns.
Another part of what drew me to the book was a blurb on the Wizards of the Coast website (the publisher) they stated that "We wanted to do something along the lines of the Practical Guide to Dragons, but written to our usual college-age audience instead of to young readers. We brainstormed a whole series of these kinds of books, and the dungeon theme screamed to be the first one we tackled."
With that in mind, I expected the "manuscript" style book that would explain from an observer's point-of-view exploration of a dungeon. The result is a catalog of past adventures that are no longer published pastiched together with art from previous D&D books. (most of the artowrk is available on the D&D website for free.) It's like a too-brief, badly edited yearbook of adventure modules!
In addition, WOTC changed the cover art to a black-lacquered watermark--with a barely visible illustration. The book looks nothing like the "Practical Guide..." series and nothing like their other source books. Save your cash and buy the Dungeonscape or Dungeoneer's Survival Guide (used).
This is terrible!
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