Experts: A Comprehensive D20 Sourcebook for Fantasy Role-Playing Games [Paperback]

Experts, by Varhola, Knorr, and the SGDG, expands the world of TSR's Dungeons and Dragons and all related role-playing games by covering the unexplored and under-exploited of the professional non-player characters (NPCs) who make the background of every adventure, mission, and campaign.
For the gamesmaster (GM), this tome gives new ideas for adding depth and colour to the setting where the player characters (PCs) are based and to where they adventure. By listing more than 25 new NPC expert classes and over 50 new NPC skills, a GM can design any number of unique NPCs to service his/her world of play.
For the player, a greater choice of secondary classes and skills will increase the excitement of the game. Most players will find that achieving the goal of becoming a successful expert will be as challenging as achieving success in the main classes. From my own experience, when I created a wizard character I randomly selected that the PC's secondary class was that of Merchant. I spent as much time acting as a go-between for PC-PC, PC-NPC, and NPC-NPC negotiations as I did battling monsters and villains. Currently in Living Greyhawk I play a wizard who tries to make a living as an alchemist in the city of Greyhawk but occasionally takes adventures to acquire fresh spell components.
For the students of serious history, Varhola, Knorr, and the SGDG have written a text that amounts to a Cliff's Notes summary of life in Mideval Europe, Africa, and Asia. The book is replete with historical tie-ins and useful information (such as the list of medicinal herbs of the Mideval world on page 85).
For those who play non D&D role-playing games, such as World of Darkness, Traveller, or Deadlands, because the authors dedicated their efforts to elucidate the non-magic-using expert and profession classes, the ideas in this book can be used in any role-playing setting, including Sci-Fi, Modern Day, and Mideval/Fantasy genres.
Whether you are a player, an independent GM with a weekend club, or a member of a seasoned organization, I feel you will find Experts an essential supplement to the TSR's Players' Handbook and Dungeonmaster's Guide.

If your game group wants more choices in character types and skills, if you want to whip up an instant population of craftsmen before or even during the game, if you want more depth in the nonplayer characters (NPCs) you play, or if your players' visits to towns and cities have become a long, non-roleplaying chore, then this book is for you. This volume is packed with an incredible wealth of gaming aids and ideas. Everything is here to let you, for example, quickly look up an exact remedy and price from the town herbalist or alchemist, play a prerolled Sage or Craftsman instantly, set up your own specialist Expert in a few minutes, set up a Guild, let a player train/practice in a craft or play an unusual Expert, or determine whether a city even has certain Experts available.

The book outlines five broad types of Experts (Craftsmen, Scholars, Entertainers, Professionals, and Tradesmen) and under them, details 28 types of Expert: Alchemists, Physicians, Courtesans, and more. Many, such as the Armorer, Physician, or Sage, would usually act as "services" in town; some could be important NPCs, such as the Steward of the local castle; others, such as the Guide, the Artificer, and the Slaver, could easily become the center of new adventures. A great amount of supplementary and background material supports these Expert types: medieval work area and laboratory descriptions, a whopping list of about 110 new skills, three new feats, and Guildmasters (as a new prestige class) and their guilds (including several tables for quick random generation of guild structures and availabilities in any given town/city). Table contents include effects of unsound construction, ship design flaws, sages' libraries, herbal remedies (with availability and properties), mineral availability, device complexity, Experts as spell casters, Experts' prices per level, and more. A second prestige class, the Militiaman, is also offered, and suggestions are given on use of the various Experts' materials as part of a campaign or for player character use.

The 28 ready-to-go NPC Experts (one of each kind) have enough background and personality to get going the moment you need them, without being so detailed as to require major rewrites for your campaign. The worst you'd need might be a name change for the person, their city of origin, or their god. A few of these characters have enough back story (ranging from humorous to sinister) to potentially springboard some side-quests for the Dungeon Master. Linked to several of these NPCs are some of the book's 17 brand-new magic items (all items are tied to the Experts theme, such as the Everfull Brewpot, Fireseal Wax, and the Mini Mecha Golem); these could be easily written into side-quests as well.

This book has now been revised and reissued as Experts 3.5; both book are highly recommended, whichever one you can lay your hands on.

This d20 system publication provides the DM or player with a huge store of Expert character classes and sample NPCs for use in fantasy games. Alchemists, blacksmiths, shipwrights, sages... the people that make a town or city more real. New d20 skills and feats help you work out PC interactions when they need an Expert's services - or if you have a PC who wants take a few levels of the Expert class. Highly recommended.

NOTE: As of August 2005, Experts has been superseded by the new Experts v.3.5 (ISBN # 0972251197), also available at Amazon. All the same great stuff, updated for the latest d20 rules, with a lot of new material. Skills, feats, new prestige classes, and some new scenarios to boot. Go get that one!

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