Review: Open Game Table

When I today crawled out of bed I found my copy of “Open Game Table – The Anthology Of Roleplaying Game Blogs, Volume 1” in my mailbox. And I have to admit it looks great in print! The faux tome cover has a certain steampunk feel to it, which I like very much and the quality of the printing is top notch.

The approx. 140-page book is available from Lulu and Amazon.com for just $22.95. And the book you’ll get for your hard-earned money is worth every cent, you can trust me with that! Jonathan Jacobs and his assistant editors and the members of the judging panel have chosen only the best of the best roleplaying blog posts.

The translation from the blog posts to the book format works surprisingly well and if you want to check out the original posts, you can just point your browser at the URLs provided. The appendix of the book also contains a list of all members of the RPG Bloggers Network, so you get a good starting point if you want to delve into the world of RPG blogs yourself.

The “Open Game Table” contains ten chapters and a foreword written by Wolfgang Baur (www.koboldquarterly.com):

• Chapter 1: Play Style
• Chapter 2: Game Play
• Chapter 3: Characters & Players
• Chapter 4: Monsters & NPCs
• Chapter 5: Encounters, Settings & Location
• Chapter 6: Adventure Design
• Chapter 7: Campaign Setting Design
• Chapter 8: Classes, Action & Equipment
• Chapter 9: RPG History & Commentary
• Chapter 10: The RPG Tool Box

Especially Chapter 8 is a bit heavy on D&D 4th Edition material, so if you don’t play the latest edition of D&D you wont get too much out of this chapter but the rest of the book contains great articles that can be used with every roleplaying game. But if you are using D&D 4th Edition you get a complete class, a warlock pact variant and rules for firearms and additional ranged weapons!

One of my favorite articles in the book is Berin Kinsman’s “Get Your Dice Off My Lawn!” on page 110. It’s a very humorous posts that I actually missed when it was posted at his blog. And there are a lot of other articles that I never read on the web although I try to keep up with things on the forum. So even if you read the RPG Bloggers Network member blogs from time to time, you should get this book.

If you want to spend $22.95 on any RPG book this year, make sure it’s the OGT. You’ll never get so much RPG goodness in one book for less money! And don’t forget to spread the word and tell your friends, family, neighbours etc. about it. The more copies Jonathan can sell the higher the chances are, a Volume 2 will see the light of  day! So, don’t hesitate and order your copy now!