Heroes of Battle (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Rules Supplement) [Hardcover]

David Noonan (Author), Will McDermott (Author), Stephen Schubert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2005

The essential handbook integrating war and battlefield action into D&D® play.

Heros of Battle™ provides everything one needs to know to play a battle-oriented D&D campaign. Players can build military characters with new
feats, spells, uses for traditional spells, and prestige classes. Information is
given on tools specific to the battlefield, including siege engines, weapons,
magic items, steeds, and other exotic mounts. Battlefield terrain aspects are
discussed with plenty of illustrative maps and new rules. Specific types of
battlefield encounters are discussed in detail, and the book provides specific
detail on designing battlefields.

DAVID NOONAN is an RPG designer/developer at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Recent credits include authoring Complete Divine™ and co-authoring
Races of Stone™ and Unearthed Arcana™.

WILL McDERMOTT, former editor-inchief of Duelist and TopDeck magazines,
has written a number of articles for Dragon® Magazine, but is known
primarily for his fiction in the Magic: The Gathering™ universe, including
the novels Judgment and The Moons of Mirrodin.

STEPHEN SCHUBERT is a freelance writer whose previous credits include
articles in Dragon Magazine.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

DAVID NOONAN is an RPG designer/ developer at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Recent credits include authoring Complete Divine™ and co-authoring Races of Stone™ and Unearthed Arcana™.

WILL McDERMOTT, former editor-in chief of Duelist and TopDeck magazines, has written a number of articles for Dragon® Magazine, but is known primarily for his fiction in the Magic: The Gathering™ universe, including the novels Judgment and The Moons of Mirrodin.

STEPHEN SCHUBERT is a freelance writer whose previous credits include articles in Dragon Magazine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078693686X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786936861
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,960 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #52 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Gaming > Dungeons & Dragons

More About the Author

David Noonan's most recent credits include the D&D accessories Stronghold Builder's Guidebook and Hero Builder's Guidebook and the Urban Arcana Campaign Setting.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally have a name for it..., May 25, 2005

By 

Wilder "nizkateth" (ME, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heroes of Battle (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Rules Supplement) (Hardcover)

I have been running adventures for D&D for years that follow more the style of game represented herein, not delving into dungeons on a regular basis but rather encounters in the world. A battlefield campaign is a great idea and Wizards did an excellent job of giving guildlines and rules for running these. The section on victory and recognition points, as well as promotion and decorations is by far my favorite out of this book. While not terribly large for a hard-back this book is packed with information ranging from the 60-minute army to a few new prestige classes (all five-level and very useful) and some new magical items and weapon/armor properties.

If you want to run a game of D&D that doesn't focus on crawling around in ancient ruins or goblin-holes all the time, but instead focuses on the glory and frightfulnes of war and surface skirmshes then this will be an excellent adition to your gaming books.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile investment, October 12, 2005

By 

Anglobotomy (Las Vegas, Nv United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heroes of Battle (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Rules Supplement) (Hardcover)

I give this 5 stars because its one of very few DnD books by Wizards of the Coast that's come out in the past two years that I read from cover to cover. It interested me. A lot of the other titles they've released lately have been the sort of material you pick and choose; sometimes avoiding large sections of altogether, like the race books they released earlier this year. So I guess I'm rating in comparison to other DnD books.
It's not the most amazing or ground-breaking stuff, but it's a different take on the game than most of us choose to use. I guess it was inspiring to me. I've been DMing now for about 20 years, and though I've done a lot of what's in this book on my own at times, I really enjoyed reading it, and I think this book needed to be produced for those who want to run a battle based campaign and didn't know where to start.
A warning, though. If you're looking for feats, races, classes, prestige classes, etc.... this is not that type of book. That being said, I'm glad. Most other DnD books of late have been only those things with a little fluff to make it all part of a theme. This book is good for any DM.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A creative and insightful resource for D&D, February 26, 2006

By 

B. Allen-Trick "Meatrace" (Madison, Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heroes of Battle (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Rules Supplement) (Hardcover)

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks there's nothing more epic and exciting in a RPG than war. Well this book does a pretty good job of laying the groundwork for a campaign based around battles. It's not all straightforward battlefield stuff either, a lot has to do with different tactics during war.
Things like cutting the enemy's supply lines, battlefield espionage, siege weapons, arrow volleys, etc. It also has what is definitely the best and simplest system for battlefield morale that I've seen (and it's compatable with the D&D miniatures rules) and explains how Leadership and one's rank in the military play into things.
Most of the feats and prestige classes are boring (though the combat medic is excellent) and some of the spells are very interesting. Overall it is an excellent resource.
The only reason I am giving it 4 stars is that it's all very situational, and in a standard campaign none of this will get used. For a campaign that involves medieval warfare and big battles, it earns its pricetag, which I can say for less and less of WoTC's product line of late.