Tome of Adventure Design Review

The Tome of Adventure Design is a must-have for any GM's shelf. It's 511 pages of random tables and design advice from Matt Finch, and it works with any fantasy game. When I'm not in the mood to prep, or I have to prep something fast, this is the book I reach for. It's an 18 out of 20, a Hit. And as much as I love a physical book, this is one where I'd point you to the PDF.

What I reviewed

My own print copy of the Revised edition from Mythmere Games, Matt Finch's company. I bought the hardcover for $60 straight from their store, and it came with the PDF. I've used it to prep for years.

Usefulness19/20

For sitting down and designing an adventure, it's hard to beat. It opens with a couple of pages on the principles of adventure design, the elements that make a great adventure, and then it's tables all the way down:

1. Principles and Starting Locations
2. Monsters
3. Dungeon Design, one of the longest chapters: building a dungeon adventure, mysteries and clues, tricks and traps, and much more
4. Non-dungeon adventure design, which covers just about every other environment

Most of my favorite tables live in the Monster and Dungeon chapters. I use the Demonic Hints tables for ideas on hinting that something is more than it looks like, and the Special Attack table to keep players on their toes.

In the Dungeon chapter, my favorite is the Specific Tactical Situation table. A flat room fight is boring. This table gives you ideas to make a fight more interesting, or you can use the result exactly as rolled. The same chapter has a lot of good advice on dungeon map design, plus sections for generating magical symbols, codes and ciphers, and riddles. The trap section is another favorite. Being able to come up with fun, interesting traps in a few minutes keeps my players on their toes.

Layout17/20

It's a gorgeous book, packed with tables and ideas. The index is amazing and lists every table. Finding things isn't easy at first, but after you use it once or twice it comes quickly, and sticky tabs help. I'd love colored page edges for each chapter, though most books don't have that either.

It can feel overwhelming. The outer edge of every page carries a list of prompts, words and phrases like "Problems underfoot" and "A scribe," and I don't really use them. There's almost no art. The focus is on the content, which is what you want from a book like this.

Value19/20

The hardcover is $60 direct from Mythmere, and mine came with the PDF, so you don't have to choose. The PDF on its own is $19.99 on DriveThruRPG. For a book I've used this much, either one is worth it.

Which one you'll actually reach for matters, though. I love physical books, and I'd still almost rather use the PDF. You can search it, which matters in a 511-page book of tables. And when I'm designing, I usually have other books open too, like a monster book and a GM book for treasure. Another big book on the table is a lot. If you're a mobile GM who wants to roll on its tables on the fly, you won't want to carry the hardcover with everything else.

My workaround with the print copy: sit down with the Tome first, build the adventure, then come back with the monster and treasure books to fill it in.

One thing it doesn't have is name tables. For those, Matt Finch wrote a whole separate book, The Nomicon, a system-neutral book of tables for naming people and places. It's next on my list.

Who it's for

GMs who build their own adventures or one-shots, and anyone who needs to prep something fast. If you only run published adventures, it's still useful for quick traps and twists, but it shines brightest when you're starting from a blank page.

The verdict

An 18, a Hit. The Tome of Adventure Design earns its spot on any GM's shelf. Buy the hardcover direct and you get both. If you only want one, the $19.99 PDF is the one you'll use most.