Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Review and Commentary On The Storyteller's Thesaurus By James Ward From Troll Lord Games

Grab it Right Over
HERE
This book is a thesaurus by James Ward And Anne K. Brown aimed at the creation of adventures, locations, items, etc. for any role playing game. This book is built to be supplement & system agnostic. The idea is to match words, thoughts, and ideas with other key elements for the creation of story lines and adventures.
 Right now this product on sale and not quite as pricey as its been in the past. The book is well laid out and has some interesting ideas on game design as well. The content is bit on the thin side but its ideas are solid.

 The book's Rpgnow description : 
Writers, game designers, teachers, and students ~this is the book you’ve been waiting for! Written by storytellers for storytellers, this volume offers an entirely new approach to word finding. Browse the pages within to see what makes this book different:
  • Entries arranged in chapters by topic. Find everything you need to design a character, scene, or setting all in one place—no need to hunt through pages of alphabetical listings!
  • Words that are crucial in fantasy, history, and horror. No other thesaurus names weapons, armor, magical items, mystical creatures, symbols, treasures, and descriptive terms essential for any genre.
  • Usage notes and writing tips to clarify and expand. The authors draw from decades of work to target areas of concern for beginning writers as well as experienced authors.

Let this book inspire new characters and develop original settings and locales. You’ll be amazed at how quickly new ideas form as you browse. The Storyteller’s Thesaurus just might be the cure for writer’s block, dull prose, and stale ideas ~ pick up this book and let your world expand!

 Using the 
Storyteller's Thesaurus 
For Your OSR gaming 

Storyteller's Thesaurus
Many of the ideas here are worth incorporating into  adventure creation or campaigning. The ideas here are very well thought out and solid. The words, phrases, thoughts here are interesting and inspiring. But the product needs a bit more meat for the bone. The body of the work and system is enough for the entry price and I think if you need to get an adventure going quick and fast this might be up your alley.
Having seen some of the ideas and used them in at least four different games. This is product is a good cure for the DM's road block and mind set issues that can come up from time to time. Ninety nine point nine percent of this material is usable with the retroclone games on the market and is easily incorporated into the design of any old school adventure or campaign
 All in all its a good system agnostic product and one that makes a great little addition to the DM's toolbox. Mr. Ward does a nice job with material I simply wish there had been some additions to it. Such as even more more detail on the phrases and ideas and incorporating them into a story structure or adventure frame work. 
I loved the The Storyteller's Thesaurus but my only complaint is that I wanted more of it. This is great product if your having issues with ideas and need a great injection of inspiration. 

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