Whether you choose to play a half-dead as one of the most bizarre characters I can imagine, or feel that they will make horrific opposition for your game, this work details a terrifying fate, that of being neither dead, undead or alive… but trapped somewhere in between, a living mind in an undead body. Will madness ensue?

This fate can befall a member of any race, provided it is sentient. As it’s caused by dying while under the influence of dark and necrotic magics, it is a fate which can be held over characters when they encounter a foe capable of casting such magics.

Right out of the box, Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition does a lot for combat on the personal scale, but when it comes to the broader field of battle—when things go macro—the tools to handle a clash of thousands just aren’t there.

Or are they? In Hard Boiled Armies, you’ll find an examination of how to take the existing tools in the game—with just a few additions and changes of perspective—to get right where you need to go for medium- and large-scale military conflicts. And by looking at these existing tools with new eyes, you’ll be able to add large scale battles to your game in a way that feels both fresh and yet completely familiar.

Hard Boiled Armies is available now at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

The Apelord is the first effort of new company ‘One Bad Egg’ and one of the first ‘proper’ 4th Edition D&D products to grace the virtual bookshelves. The Apelord is a new character race, with all the attendant options, but is also comes packaged with some monster ideas, numerous special abilities and a few adventure ideas. In short, it’s like an extended Monster Manual entry, such as were starting to become the norm at the end of 3.5.

Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough