Books published by Media Lab Books

In a game packed with infinite possibilities, what are GMs to do when their players choose what they have not prepared?As every GM knows, no matter how many story hooks, maps or NPCs you painstakingly create during session prep, your best-laid plans are often foiled by your players' whims, extreme skill check successes (or critical fails) or their playful refusal to stay on task. The Game Master's Book of Random Encounters provides an unbeatable solution. This massive tome is divided into location categories, each of which can stand alone as a small stop as part of a larger campaign. "Taverns, Inns, Shops & Guild Halls" section includes maps for 19 unique spaces, as well as multiple encounter tables designed to help GMs fill in the sights, sounds, smells and proprietors of a given location, allowing for each location in the book to be augmented and populated on the fly while still ensuring memorable moments for all players. Each map is presented at scale on grid, enabling GMs to determine exactly where all of the characters are in relation to one another and anyone (or anything) else in the space, critical information should any combat or other movement-based action occur.Perhaps more useful than its nearly 100 maps, the book's one-shot generator features all the story hooks necessary for GMs to use these maps as part of an interconnected and contained adventure. Featuring eight unique campaign drivers that lead players through several of the book's provided maps, the random tables associated with each stage in the adventure allow for nearly three million different outcomes.The book also includes a Random NPC Generator to help you create intriguing characters your players will love (or love to hate), as well as a Party Makeup Maker for establishing connections among your PCs so you can weave together a disparate group of adventurers with just a few dice rolls.Locations include taverns, temples, inns, animal/creature lairs, gatehouses, courts, ships, laboratories and more, with adventure hooks that run the gamut from frantic rooftop chases to deep cellar dungeon-crawls, with a total of 97 maps, more than 150 tables and millions of possible adventures. No matter where your players end up, they'll have someone or something to persuade or deceive, impress or destroy.

All scales, fins and feathers considered, thereΓÇÖs so much to explore when it comes to the endlessly exciting and dramatically diverse inhabitants of the wizarding world!From Acromantulas to Thestrals, this beautiful book details every monster, beast or creature that has ever appeared in any official Harry Potter book, film, or theatrical production. The Unofficial Harry Potter Bestiary includes more than 200 fascinating, magical creatures in all, with each entry providing a number of important classifications, including first appearance in Harry Potter lore, location, disposition, physical appearance, attack abilities, defenses and intriguing story facts. We''ve also included rich descriptions for each entry, detailing each creature''s history (or biography, in the case of specific creature characters), habitat and impact on the various stories from throughout the Wizarding World.So feed your inner magizoologistΓÇÖs hunger for knowledge, learn more about these incredible creatures (including stories about them passed down through generations by historians and mythologists) and discover how to spot them in the wildΓÇöor even your own backyard.

This fun, fascinating book examines the basics of real-life spycraft, written by a former SAS and MI6 operative.