By Dressi
I own a copy of this… and i own a copy of the Ultimate Alien Anthology. I may say that in spite of standard opinion… the littler Alien Anthology is still something i use rather often. Why?
Alien Anthology has assorted species that you could use, more than sufficient for any crusade that i would write. Granted i do like the more spectacular selection the Ultimate Alien Anthology offers, the littler version has more than sufficient for me and more than I’ll in all likelihood ever use. It also has creatures, non playable species that the Ultimate Alien Anthology doesn’t have. It also has guidelines on how to create your own creature and descriptions of creature attainments and feats. Granted the Ultimate Alien Anthology has 180 species, pretige clases, new accomplishments and feats, it doens’t have predators, herd animals, vermin and scavangers.
Don’t misunderstand, the Ultimate AA is a very very good resource for any GM, right up there with the Arms and Equipment Guide. The Ultimate AA lists out the species like they do in the book, with personality desriptions, sample names, adventurer types and whether or not Force users subsist amid the species, which the Alien Anthology doesn’t. But if you are running an adventure and need a preditorial cat, the Ultimate Alien anthology will tell you how to hunt one, which speices hunt them, which prestige class to get to tame then, feed them, hunt them, breed them… but won’t tell you a thing genuinely telling you what a preditorial cat is. It has speices ranging from the Space Slug to the Vornskr. And there aren’t any repeats either… those brought up in the RCR are not in the AA, creatures cited in the Power of the Jedi, Darkside, NJO or other source books are not in the Alien anthology. So is it still worth getting? Yes. I use it more oftentimes than my Ultimate Alien anthology because it is smaller, having little impact to navigate, requiring little effort to read, has more assortment (not just playable species) and still a huge selection of playable species.
If you are a GM you must own this and the Ultimate Alien Anthology. It perhaps a syndication ploy, but it is still a critical piece of my venture writing.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Wait for the Ultimate Alien Anthology
By Scott Owen
If I could describe the Alien Anthology in one word, it would be “utilitarian.” Granted, there is a whole lot of info here in regards to a wide range of races, most of which are suitable as PCs. There is likewise a nice division on creatures and creature creation which encompasses with regards to 1/3 of the book (actually, I found this to be the most utile part).
However, I walked away from this book sentiment decidedly unimpressed. Perhaps it was the art and layout. The book is so neat and “clean” that it’s practically sterile, and comes off sentiment rather bland and uninspired. You unquestionably don’t see the level of quality that was heaped on similar productions such as the Dark Side Sourcebook or the Revised Rulebook.
Furthermore, I was hoping to see much more attention committed to species-specific feats, equipment, and prestige classes. There just isn’t much of that to be found here.
In short, it’s my opinion that any potential buyer will be best off waiting for the release of the Ultimate Alien Anthology. The Ultimate book supposedly won’t have any creatures, which may still prompt you to buy the original, but it promises to have a much more comprehensive list of races, gear, feats, and prestige classes.
At basi I was tempted to rate this book at a 2, but I’m going to give it a 3 because of the magnificent creature division and because there actually is a lot of info to be found here. This book is unquestionably the 1987 Honda Civic of Wizard’s Star Wars line- it gets you where you need to go, but it does so with a minimum of style and flair.
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The Star Wars Monster Manual