Customer Reviews

Player's Option: Skills & Powers (AD&D Fantasy Roleplaying Rulebook, 2154)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My gaming group owns two different copies of this book. One is a first printing and the other is a second printing, both in hardback. The second printing is more concise than the first, but there are still plenty of ambiguous paragraphs where you simply hand the book to a lawyer and ask for an interpretation. But it's still better than the first printing of the book, which we use under the short leg of the table. There are more errors, omissions, and conflicting passages than in the US tax code. Example: first printing does not give a limit to the number of points that can be gained from taking disadvantages. Second printing, if you read far enough, eventually says that the limit is 15 points. When this discrepency was found, half of our group had used one printing and the other half had used the other, and the differences in the characters created was fairly extreme.

Despite the problems, we still use Skills and Powers more than the Player's Handbook, mostly because of the ability to customize the characters with different abilities. One note however, when customizing wizards and clerics, I've found that you're better off using Spells and Powers as your primary source.

The updated psionics chapter was a nice touch, and I realize it was meant for Dark Sun more than anything else, but it would have been nice if they had updated to a system that was still mostly compatible with the Monstrous Compendium entries, as opposed to having to completely revamp a psionic creature so that it is consistent with our psionicist PC before being able to use it.

This book gives some interesting rules variations, but not all of them make sense. There are point-based character creation rules, which allow characters to pick and choose the abilities for their race and class. It also presents the newer edition of the Psionicist class also published in the Dark Sun game. But there are a number of flaws with the new systems.

For example, you can shift the focus of your attributes. Using the rules in this book, you can create a fighter who can comfortably (without encumbrance penalties) carry something several times heavier than he could ever lift.

For another thing, the Psionicist presented in the end of the book is totally incompatible with the point-based creation system in the beginning. I feel that if TSR were giving us a new way to play the game, they should have made all the new material fit together.

The book also presents a new way to learn and improve non-weapon proficiencies. But this new system makes starting characters almost totally helpless. Starting proficiency rolls are now more likely to be 8 or 9 for a character's best abilities. "Character Points" are awarded over the course of the campaign, but a player must devote them almost entirely to proficiencies if he wants to become as competent as characters were under the old system.

It was fun to make up characters in this new system, but playing those characters is another matter. Like most AD&D supplements, I'm sure future books will ignore these rules completely. So, unless you or your DM feel like doing a lot of adapting of future supplements, this book won't be very useful.

This is one of the best AD&D books ever created because now you can choose what Abilities you want priority with The new Sub-Abilities Rules. In this book we also have a new System, The Character Point's (CP's). With The CP's we can buy Racial and Classial Abilities. For a example, a Wizard spending 15 CP's can use Armor, and the unspend CP's can be used in Weapon and Non-Weapon Proficiency and much more. If you want more realistic and Exciting for your Campangain This is The Perfect Book for you, GET IT!

This somewhat essential book is great, but the use of this book can ruin your campaign. Use this book wisely, and it is a very good expantion book. What I reccommend: Don't buy it until you have the basics down.

I`ve played AD&D for many years and I must say that this is one of the worst books I`ve ever seen published by TSR.

The massacre they`ve done with those subabilities is downright silly.In my opinion it`s nothing more than an excuse for some minimaxing.

The new character point system - well, I really need to say a few words about this.Halflings with detect magic innate ability, getting extra points for not using certain armor types - that is really absurd.This also goes for the new mastery rules.(In fact this mastery stuff is a much more complicated question.If you use PHB rules that only fighters can specialize and,hence, become masters with a weapon, you get vastly more powerful fighters in comparison to other warriors.But if you allow all warriors to become masters, then the balance is shifted to the other side.Not to mention what happens if you use that absurd optional rule that ALL classes can specialize in a weapon).

The only reason I gave this book one star is the new proficiency system.I think it`s much more logical than the old one - the checks don`t depend solely on the abilities anymore.

All in all - look at the title.

This book completely revolutionizes the character creation process, and alters character level awards with a new system of character points which can spent to improve almost any aspect of a character, instead of the old "one proficiency slot every three levels". It lets players customize their characters to great detail, allowing for greater diversification over the four classes. The only things keeping it from getting five stars for AD&D is that the system takes a few hours to get used to, and the rules, in my view, short-change the single-class fighter. Otherwise, it's a great book for any gamer.

This book seems to be a great help in Character genarations as well as helping a DM have a wealth of information at his or her fingertips. The only drawback of making the "too powerful" characters can easily be avoided by a good DM or just by asking the group if they want to lay down some rules to avoid such characters.

This book will expand your character and make him/her really powerful. This is a wonderful book that answers some questions you may have about the Players Handbook.

Seems like you either LOVE this book, or you HATE it. It is one of the few supplements that has anything on Psionics, which is rather nice since I am a Psionicist in in a Greyhawk (not Dark Sun) campaign. However, no matter what your view on the book, you have to be careful not to allow super characters. Also, you might want to take a look at Player's Option: Combat and Tactics.

This is one of the best AD&D books ever created because now you can choose what Abilities you want priority with The new Sub-Abilities Rules. In this book we also have a new System, The Character Point's (CP's). With The CP's we can buy Racial and Classial Abilities. For a example, a Wizard spending 15 CP's can use Armor, and the unspend CP's can be used in Weapon and Non-Weapon Proficiency and much more. If you want more realistic and Exciting for your Campangain This is The Perfect Book for you, GET IT!