Savage Species: Playing Monstrous Characters (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement)
by David Eckelberry, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Rich Redman, Sean K Reynolds
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Book Summary Information
Author: David Eckelberry, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Rich Redman, Sean K ReynoldsEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-02-14
ISBN: 0786926481
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Book Reviews of Savage Species: Playing Monstrous Characters (Dungeons & Dragons Supplement)
Book Review: Not Bad, but room for improvement
Summary: 4 Stars
As a DM, I have been waiting for this book with a mix of dread and barely contained excitement. I tore open the box when it arrived, and was soon eagerly devouring it's contents. Like all the 3rd Edition books, this is a well presented tome, with stunning interior art, and oodles of brilliant ideas. It details how character ECL's are worked out, and also presents a way to 'break down' any monster into a monster charactern class, allowing a player to play a monster from first level, as well as allowing DM's to create weaker versions of their favourite beasts, so they can use them in lower level campaigns, or as variants. Examples of many Monster Manual critters dealt with in this way form a huge part of the book.
There is also a whole bunch of new feats, all geared towards the monstrous PC, as well as new spells and items.
A number of new monster templates add even more to the DM's arsenal (a gelatinous, winged Purple Worm anyone?), and there are well written guide lines as to how to apply them.
So, why only four stars?
Sadly, the book is rather badly organised, seeming to jump around in no appreciable order. It is also riddled with printing errors (though I assume that these will vanish from later versions). Also, I am not too convinced about how well some of the monstrous character classes would actually balance in a campaign. In theory they look great, but I can't help but feel that they will be either a little to powerful, or a little too weak. (I haven't had chance to try 'em out in my campaigns yet, so I may be wrong there).
There is no support for epic level play, but the rules are fairly easy to incorporate, so that's no biggie.
Overall an excellent buy (especially if your a D&D nut like me). However, if you like to keep things simple, or if your'e looking for a book that does all the hard stuff for you, look elsewhere - this is a trove if inspiration, but it assumes that you are going to be prepared to do some heavy work and that your are more than a little open minded. :)
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