Iron Kingdoms: Full Metal Fantasy Roleplaying Game

Iron Kingdoms is the setting for the Hordes and Warmachine games so it made sense that we would start playing in it.

As a role playing game it's nifty.  The two career systems gives direction but lets you create pretty much any character you could think of.  There's lots of variety and no one class seems to outshine the others.

The game itself seems more focused on combat than anything else (and miniatures of course).  It takes a good game master to remember that his or her players have skills outside of combat.

As a book it's very well laid out.  Things are easy to find, good descriptions and the art is appropriate and good to look at.  Everyone who saw me reading it had to ask about it.  It doesn't fall into the trap that so many first edition rulebooks do in assuming that the reader has never played a role playing game.  Unlike Call of Cthlulu I never felt that the authors looked down on other role playing experiences.

The economics could use a bit of an overhaul.  Pretty much everything is too expensive because, although copper and silver exist, only gold crowns are used.

It could have used a sample adventure here too.  A thread through the whole book, from character creation to adventure, would have added a unifying theme.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Saltwater Aquariums

I've wanted a saltwater aquarium for about 10 years now.  I finally decided to take the plunge.  While I was waiting until the right moment I continued to do research.  Although I'm not a complete idiot this book was helpful in figuring out some of the jargon and steps to get into this hobby.

My biggest complaint about the book is that they refer to the appendix with examples of aquariums.  This appendix does not exist.  I looked for it everywhere and couldn't find it.  The CD that comes with it wasn't that useful either.  I could find all the information online with a much handier graph to let me know compatibilities.  At least they didn't try to put all the information into the book.  It would have been a much more intimidating read.

The God Delusion

I've been hearing things about Richard Dawkins for ages but I've never actually picked up one of his books.  I decided to give one a go and tried The God Delusion.  I may go back and try another, I'm not sure.  The biology stuff was all really interesting but when he turned his attention to philosophy it suffered.

I suppose the book did its job.  I started to question my agnosticism.  It was partly about why he was an atheist and why everyone else should be too.  At the beginning he said that people find him combative and he wasn't sure why.  Now I know.

The Meaning of Everything

For a book about the dictionary this was a lot more exciting than I thought it would be. It's even a book where the ending is clear because, obviously, there is an Oxford English Dictionary. It's also pretty clear why Simon Winchester wrote a book about the dictionary. The man loves words. There's plenty of places where he uses an string of obscure words where there were other, more common, words available. In places I wished he'd chosen to follow the rule of the dictionary himself - no word in the meaning should be more complex than the word being described.

It is an enjoyable read for all that though. I certainly learned more about the English language reading it and I have a greater appreciation to people that put dictionaries together and continue to edit them. The task is enormous.

Forces of Warmachine: Retribution of Scyrah

If all the Forces of Warmachine books are going to be like The Retribution of Scyrah the next year is going to be a long wait! The background in this book is incredible. There's so much detail, from the origin of the Iosans and their gods to why they are joining the war in Immoren. The faction really seems like it belongs, that it's been created out of whole cloth and not just thrown together.

The army itself shows the advantage of creating something all at the same time. It seems to have loads of symmetry and tricks to get it to work together. I can't wait to start fielding this on the tabletop.

The Guide to Owning a Red-Eared Slider

After I'd read Turtles and Tortoises I was pretty sure that I wanted to get him a Red-Eared Slider. They're fairly common, not extremely fussy and still a nice turtle.

The Guide to Owning a Red-eared Slider is exactly what it says it is. It's well-laid out, provides simple, yet good, information. I feel that I can not only make an informed choice of turtle but that we'll be able to take care of it. It gets a 4 from me. Only because I would have liked a little less information on breeding and a little more information on tank set-up.

Turtles and Tortoises

My 5 year old will soon be turning 6 and would like a pet of his own. He's fascinated with turtles and they seem like a pet that he'll be able to look after without too much help from his parents. However, it's still going to be a living creature and I think that if one is undertaking the responsibility of a pet that one should be as prepared as possible. I don't want to just throw a turtle in a tank and hope for the best.

Turtles and Tortoises is a great little book. It's easy to read and packed full of useful information for the beginner. It not only helps with setting up a turtle habitat, but helps in choosing the species and tips for down the road with turtle maintenance. It's a 5.

The Rage: Forsaken Player's Guide

I loved Werewolf the Apocalypse when White Wolf decided to change the World of Darkness and reboot things I hesitated. I still have trouble wrapping my mind around what's expected of characters as Forsaken rather than Garou but reading The Rage, I finally stopped trying to fit Forsaken into what I knew about the Apocalypse but actually read them as Forsaken.

The book is divided into three sections, Tribes, Rules and Setting. The setting was interesting, not sure if it's something I'd incorporate into a game but maybe taking portions of the ideas presented to add colour to NPCs would be fun. The rules sections suffers the problems of all attempts to add merits, flaws and gifts to the main rules. Some of them are too powerful and some try to take the place of something that already works. New Gifts I tend to just toss and new merits and flaws often need pretty good reasoning from my players to make their way into the campaign. The first section was the most useful.

The tribal section did a really good job of not only expanding the information on the tribes but of also filling out the roles of werewolves within the tribes. I could come up with ideas for every tribe and auspice available in the game. Before I was having trouble coming up with one character idea as none of the tribes were very appealing to me. If I were starting a new campaign I'd have my players read this section to just help them come up with ideas.

Unfortunately this book didn't answer some basic questions I had about the world. How does a werewolf choose a tribe? Are the tribes represented fairly equally in any given area? Do the tribes come together for grand conferences when a new werewolf is newly changed. Is a werewolf a Ghost Wolf automatically for a time before choosing a tribe or is there a "grace period" while he or she is initiated into the culture?

The book gave me better ideas on how the world worked, but it didn't give me quite what I expected so I'll give it a 3.

The Vegetable Garderner's Bible

So I have a backyard that's too small to play in but too big to lay vacant. With the prices of everything going up, combined with fond memories of my grandmother, I thought I might start a vegetable garden. After reading Edward Smith's The Vegetable Gardener's Bible I decided that I maybe don't have the best spot after all. I'll certainly check it out in the spring but if I decide to plant anything this year it'll probably just be a few berry bushes in the front garden.

That was the great thing about this book though. It laid out everything you need to know to start a garden from scratch, an extensive index of vegetables and what you need to do to be successful with them and a writing style that makes you believe that you can do it. Even when you live in a northern climate with a shortened growing season. I'll give this one a 4, even if I won't have a garden this Spring.