" Serious Role-Players (you know, the ones who dress up in all black and refuse to be called by anything but there character names for the session) may find the lack of any kind of plot to be disturbing, but those who can cut loose will find it a nice break from the an intensive campaign. "

      Title: Munchkin Master's Guide by Steve Jackson Games

      Format: Roleplaying book under D20

      Reviewing Monkey: Chimpan-A

      The Hype: Munchkin was once just a term for players who were too obsessed with power playing and manipulating the rules in their favor. Then it was a card game which poked fun at the fantasy role playing world. And now it's a D20 compatible roleplaying game…and believe me, when I use the term roleplaying, I use it very loosely. This is the book to help you keep those surly players in line, or at least give you help in organizing them into a more effective looting battalion.

      What This Monkey Thought...

      Story and Drama: Once upon a time, a 4th level warrior with a +3 broadsword took a swing at an orc with fourteen hit points. He got a 10 and hit, thus killing the orc. His triumph was celebrated with a +4 keg of beer down at the local watering hole. Yes, friends, that's about the extent of the drama in this book. It mostly consists of straight anecdotes and amusing examples of situations. Of course, being munchkins, why the hell do you care about the story? Exposition's only good for telling you who to kill for their shiny bits. Nobody cares about your silly stories; just tell me how far away the orcs are and what I find on their bodies. 2 out of 5 (5 out of 5 for munchkins)

      Layout and Presentation: This book is only about 50 pages long. Therefore they go through a lot of information very quickly. Things tend to jumble together and be a little indistinguishable. Luckily there are lots of tables, and those are easy to find. And really, all those words just delay you in your search for things to kill and loot! The artwork is the same charming munchkin artwork that those familiar know and love (and those unfamiliar should get to know and love). I could tell you how the book is laid out, but the tables are in the back, and that's the important part. 4 out of 5

      Playability: This book contains a lot of useful information for fledgling GMs, and lots of useful little tables. The information on the tables should be used at your own risk, for although it's hilarious, some of it may make very little sense. Of course, you're playing munchkin, so I wouldn't worry about that part too much. Really, the rules are there for your use and abuse. How bad they are depends on you. Nothing in here is unworkable or unusable. And most of it is damned funny. Next time you're players are starting out in a bar, try using the bar table. Maybe then you too will see Gollum walk into the bar and ask "Have you got any Guinesssssss?" 5 out of 5

      Desired Content: This book is all about teaching you how to run a munchkin game. It doesn't get into any kind of rules on how the game is played, that's for other books. It gives a few new classes (read: new people to kill) and tips on using them, and a bunch of new magic items (read: new shinies to loot). It's really quite short, but they honestly didn't need any more information. If you can't run a Munchkin game at this point, then you're obviously thinking too hard. 4 out of 5

      The Verdict:

I think this book says it best: "If you're not killing stuff… lots of stuff… and taking the stuff that belonged to the dead stuff, then you're not playing Munchkin." This is a hilarious read, and gives great info if you plan on running a munchkin game. Serious Role-Players (you know, the ones who dress up in all black and refuse to be called by anything but there character names for the session) may find the lack of any kind of plot to be disturbing, but those who can cut loose will find it a nice break from the an intensive campaign. This book will help make sure your players are getting what they expect out of Munchkin. And give you many a laugh to boot.

      The Good: Much Hilarity, many useful little tables.

      The Bad: I'd say no plot, but who cares? It's got shiny things to loot!

      The Overall Ugly: Utterly hilarious and worth a read just for the sake of reading it.

      What it's Worth: 10 bucks.