" If, on the other hand, you're looking for a one shot adventure, and your group happens to be riding through a desert, this book should give you a breather before your next big story. "

      Title: Gary Gygax's Necropolis by Necromancer Games

      Format: Adventure set for the D20 crowd

      Reviewing Monkey: Chimpan-A

      The Hype: One or two of you D&D players out there may have heard of this Gary Gygax guy. Apparently he wrote a book or two for the game. Including an adventure or three. That was all a while ago, and Dungeons and Dragons has changed since then. For those of you wishing to recapture some of that feeling, here's an adventure taken back from the old days and brought into the modern 3rd edition rules.

      What This Monkey Thought...

      Story and Drama: The story for Necropolis centers on an Egyptian theme (go figure…). Apparently a while back some evil dude tried to bring Set down to the world for the causing of doom and destruction among the people. Osiris actually stepped up to the plate and put the boy down, entrapping him in a tomb- the tomb that this adventure revolves around coincidentally. Somewhere in the back, while reading through this book, you can see the strains of an epic tale of betrayal and corruption. What you end up with instead, though, is a detailed list of how to run the encounters this adventure presents. The twists and turns in the plot are practically non-existent, with only a few exceptions that aren't really all that surprising in the first place. Really, despite the size of this book, there's not a whole lot of plot involved, it's really a whole lot of dealing with eventualities, and that's under another category. 2 out of 5

      Layout and Presentation: You can read through this book in the order that the adventure runs, and that is a good thing. Although a lot of the reference material, such as maps and character stats are found in the appendices in the back of the book. It makes for a lot of flipping to the back, which is an annoyance. The artwork is fine to good, with nothing really standing out as bad or detracting from the feel of the book. 3.5 out of 5

      Playability: Though the book is huge, the adventure feels really short. It is entirely conceivable that your party can make it through this adventure in the course of a night (if they're incredibly impatient, buff, or both)…especially since most of the adventure consists of killing the appropriate baddy. Although there are a few points given for having situations it's possible to talk your way out of, and having greater rewards for doing so. This is essentially a simple adventure, although I will say that it's at least got some thought put into it. It won't be a disappointing journey for your group of adventurers but, unless you add in some heavy twists, neither will it likely be a heavy favorite.

      Desired Content: Well, the book contains everything you need to put run the adventure, so that's to the good. Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot of setting info, so keeping your players in the region becomes an exercise in developing a setting. And if you're doing that anyway, then you might as well just make adventures for your homemade setting and throw this book out the window. If, on the other hand, you're looking for a one shot adventure, and your group happens to be riding through a desert, this book should give you a breather before your next big story. 3 out of 5

      The Verdict:

If you're really stuck between adventures and just need something to take up some time, this can be a nice relaxing breather for you. This book has a rather robust size to it, and may take your group a couple of nights to finish. However, the story isn't tight enough and there isn't enough side information to really keep the campaign going in the area. Use it if you need a quick adventure, otherwise don't bother.

      The Good: A coherent, cohesive adventure.

      The Bad: Rather lacking in the plot development area, not particularly intriguing.

      The Overall Ugly: Not particularly worth the $30.00 they charge, unless you're really stuck for an adventure.

      What it's Worth: I'd say 20-25 for the quality hardcover.