Splatbooks are sourcebooks devoted to a particular facet, character class, or fictional faction in a role-playing game, providing additional background details and rules options. For example, a "swords and sorcery" fantasy game might offer splatbooks for each of the races in the setting: humans, dwarves, elves, and others.
A sourcebook is a collection of writings on a subject that is intended to be a basic introduction to the topic.
In role-playing games (RPG), a character class is a job or profession commonly used to differentiate the abilities of different game characters. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also detail aspects of background and social standing, or impose behavior restrictions. Classes may be considered to represent archetypes, or specific careers. RPG systems that employ character classes often subdivide them into levels of accomplishment, to be attained by players during the course of the game. It is common for a character to remain in the same class for its lifetime; although some games allow characters to change class, or attain multiple classes. Some systems eschew the use of classes and levels entirely; others hybridise them with skill-based systems or emulate them with character templates.
A political faction is a group of individuals within a larger entity, such as a political party, a trade union or other group, or simply a political climate, united by a particular common political purpose that differs in some respect to the rest of the entity. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, "parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. Members of factions band together as a way of achieving these goals and advancing their agenda and position within an organisation.
The first game to use such books was Dungeons & Dragons, though not described as "splatbooks". The term originally rose to describe the sourcebooks published by White Wolf Game Studio for its World of Darkness games. Many of these books were titled using similar patterns: clanbooks in Vampire: The Masquerade, tribebooks for Werewolf: The Apocalypse, tradition books for Mage: The Ascension, and so forth. In newsgroups, these were called *books (the asterisk on a computer keyboard being used as a wildcard character). Since the asterisk is also known as a "splat", this gave rise to the term "splatbook". [1]
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997. It was derived from miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail serving as the initial rule system. D&D's publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry.
World of Darkness is the name given to three related but distinct fictional universes created as settings for supernatural horror themed role-playing games. The first was conceived by Mark Rein-Hagen, while the second was designed by several people at White Wolf Gaming Studio, which Rein-Hagen helped to found. The first two World of Darkness settings have been used for several horror-themed role-playing games that make use of White Wolf's storyteller/storytelling system, as well as Mind's Eye Theatre, a live-action roleplaying game based on the core games. The third, Monte Cook's World of Darkness, created by Monte Cook based on the first two World of Darkness settings, includes only a single product.
Vampire: The Masquerade is a tabletop role-playing game created by Mark Rein-Hagen and released in 1991 by White Wolf Publishing as the first of several Storyteller System games for its World of Darkness setting line. It is set in a fictionalized "gothic-punk" version of the modern world, where players assume the roles of vampires, who are referred to as "Kindred", and deal with their night-to-night struggles against their own bestial natures, vampire hunters and each other.
This term was subsequently used retrospectively for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books such as The Complete Book of Dwarves and Complete Arcane, or the numerous Codices for Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 . By extension, the term "splat" is used for the character class described in a splatbook.
A codex, in the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop wargame, is a rules supplement containing information concerning a particular army, environment, or worldwide campaign.
Warhammer 40,000 is a miniature wargame created by Rick Priestley and produced by Games Workshop. The first edition of the rulebook was published in October 1987; the latest edition is the eighth, which was published in June 2017.
Talisman: The Magical Quest Game is a fantasy-themed adventure board game for two to six players, originally designed and produced by Games Workshop. From 2008 to 2017 Fantasy Flight Games produced Talisman under license from Games Workshop.
Warhammer is a tabletop miniature wargame with a medieval fantasy theme that simulates battles between terrestrial armies from different factions. The game was created by Rick Priestley and sold by the Games Workshop company. The first edition was released in 1983. The eighth and final edition was released on 10 July 2010. The game is no longer supported by Games Workshop, with players able to use their models in Warhammer Age of Sigmar instead.
Oriental Adventures is the title shared by two hardback rulebooks published for different versions of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game. Each version of Oriental Adventures provides rules for adapting its respective version of D&D for use in campaign settings based on the Far East, rather than the medieval Europe-setting assumed by most D&D books. Both versions of Oriental Adventures include example campaign settings.
Dragonlance Adventures is a 128-page hardcover book for the Dragonlance campaign setting for the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is a role-playing game sourcebook, first published in 1987. It details the Forgotten Realms setting and contains information on characters, locations and history, and sets specific rules for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The latest edition was published in 2008 by Wizards of the Coast, for use with the 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons rules.
Lejendary Adventure is a role-playing game created by Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, and creator of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.
In many works of modern fantasy, elves are depicted as a race or species of pointy-eared humanoid beings.
A dwarf, in the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game, is a humanoid race, one of the primary races available for player characters. The idea for the D&D dwarf comes from European mythologies and J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), and has been used in D&D and its predecessor Chainmail since the early 1970s. Variations from the standard dwarf archetype of a short and stout demihuman are commonly called subraces, of which there are more than a dozen across many different rule sets and campaign settings.
A character class is a fundamental part of the identity and nature of characters in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A character's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses are largely defined by its class; choosing a class is one of the first steps a player takes to create a Dungeons & Dragons player character. A character's class affects a character's available skills and abilities. A well-rounded party of characters requires a variety of abilities offered by the classes found within the game.
The barbarian is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The class was introduced as early as 1985 and went through a number of evolutions in subsequent editions of the game.
The wizard is one of the standard character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes.
Sources and influences on the development of Dungeons & Dragons include fantasy fiction, mythology, and wargaming rules, among others.
Michael Mearls is a writer and designer of fantasy role-playing games (RPGs) and related fiction. He is the senior manager for the D&D research and design team. He led design for the 5th edition of the game. He also worked on the Castle Ravenloft board game, and various compendium books for 3rd and 4th edition D&D.
The Complete Book of Dwarves is a supplemental rulebook for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1991 by TSR, Inc. It contains a variety of information useful to playing dwarf characters in the game, including information on strongholds, dwarven subraces, character "kits", role-playing, mining, and more. The book was later reprinted in November, 1993, with a slightly different cover.
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay or Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play is a role-playing game set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting, published by Games Workshop or its licensees.
A tabletop role-playing game is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a set formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.
The Expert Set is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1981 as an expansion to the Basic Set.
Dungeons & Dragons retro-clones are fantasy role-playing games that seek to emulate editions of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) no longer supported by Wizards of the Coast. They are mostly made possible by the terms of the Open Game License and System Reference Document, which allows the use of much of the proprietary terminology of D&D that might otherwise collectively constitute a copyright infringement. While these rules lack the name D&D or any of the associated trademarks, their intent is to have a playable experience similar to those older editions.
Dwarves is a supplement for fantasy role-playing games published by Mayfair Games in 1982.
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