Fantasy Tools - Maurice Stephen on Disk 974

             Reviewed on a 486sx by James Judge

Fantasy Tools is a set of tools that are designed to help a
Dungeon Master run a game of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. They all
run in Windows 3.1 and need 2megs of memory and the file
VBRUN100.DLL to run.

The set of tools is split into ten small programs, which are
outlined below with a quick description...

ATTACK - Works out to hit values and experience gained.
CHARGEN - Generates characters.
CLASSES - Gives class information.
DADOS - Rolls 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 20 & 100 sided dice for you.
EQUIPMEN - Equipment lists.
PRIESTSP - Priest spell information.
PROFICIE - Gives proficiency information.
RACES - Gives information on all the different races.
SCORES - Ability scores tables.
WIZARDSP - Wizard spell information.

All of the programs follow the same interface with you selecting
certain options (if the program is interactive - some, like the
RACES program, are just lists and tables) using check boxes and
slide bars. You then click on your desired action (ie ROLL) and
the computer does all the hard work for you.

The programs are designed to make running an AD&D game easier, and
I don't doubt that it does go some way to stop that pesky ten
sided dice rolling underneath the radiator. However, the real
point of these tools seems, to me, to be a bit vague. In all
truthfulness there's nothing extra that these tools add and, for
the majority of the time, the lists and tables are copied from the
official rulebook.

Oh, you'll still need a copy of the rulebook if you want to run an
AD&D game, which includes all the necessary tables and lists, as
well as instructions on doing everything these programs do, so
with the investment in the rulebook and a good set of dice the
usefulness of these tools become even less apparent.

The last question mark I've found with these programs is that the
only really useful one is the character generator which, for lazy
DMs/players, can sometimes be a bit of a bugbear, so this is ideal
to speed this along. However I believe that the majority of RPGers
will prefer to roll their own dice and do everything 'hands on'
instead of just accepting whatever is spat out on the computer
screen (or printed out, as there is a print option).

If the set of tools were complete (the version I was looking at
was cut down dramatically) and was public domain then I'd
recommend for any DM to get these just in case they find
something useful. However, as this version is limited and the full
version costs $30 I feel that this is an expensive luxury which,
when all is said and done, just rewrites parts of the rulebook and
takes away some of the hands-on aspect of running an AD&D game.
Also if you have adapted the rules for your own purposes then
these tools will serve little purpose.

No, I feel that an extra $30 on top of the œ15 odd you initially
spent on the rulebook is a bit much. A little bit of patience and
a long stick to fish the dice from underneath the radiator are
all that's needed to make this set of tools redundant.

If you're really interested in one of the programs get the set,
otherwise there is little here to recommend for either a beginner
DM or a veteran (who'll know everything off by heart, anyway).










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