Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn


Book Description

Welcome to Tal'Dorei, a fantasy-filled continent brimming with grand tales of heroes and adventure - and eagerly awaiting your own epic stories. Soar on a skyship from the metropolis of Emon to the distant haven of Whitestone, venture into wilderness rife with terrifying monsters and wayward mages, and uncover magic items that range from simple trinkets to the legendary Vestiges of Divergence. The hit series Critical Role first explored this continent through the epic adventures of Vox Machina. Now the world moves on in their wake. This campaign setting is newly revised and expanded to cover the exciting conclusion of the Vox Machina campaign and the characters lives in the years following. Let your footsteps, too, shape the fate of Tal'Dorei and perhaps the wider world of Exandria.This definitive, art-filled tomb is revised and expanded, containing everything you need to unlock the rich campaign setting of Tal'Dorei and make it your own:- A guide to each major region, with story hooks to fuel your campign- Expanded character options, including 9 subclasses and 5 backgrounds- Magic items such as the Vestiges of Divergence, legendary artifacts that grow in power with their wielders- Dozens of creatures, including many featured in the Critical Role campaigns- New lore and updated stat blocks for each member of Vox Machina




The Games: A Global History of the Olympics


Book Description

“A people’s history of the Olympics.”—New York Times Book Review A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year The Games is best-selling sportswriter David Goldblatt’s sweeping, definitive history of the modern Olympics. Goldblatt brilliantly traces their history from the reinvention of the Games in Athens in 1896 to Rio in 2016, revealing how the Olympics developed into a global colossus and highlighting how they have been buffeted by (and affected by) domestic and international conflicts. Along the way, Goldblatt reveals the origins of beloved Olympic traditions (winners’ medals, the torch relay, the eternal flame) and popular events (gymnastics, alpine skiing, the marathon). And he delivers memorable portraits of Olympic icons from Jesse Owens to Nadia Comaneci, the Dream Team to Usain Bolt.




Reborn


Book Description

"Reborn: The Pacers and the Return of Pro Basketball to Indianapolis" is the riveting story of the formation and formative years of the Indiana Pacers, who opened for business in 1967 and awakened a slumbering city. It traces the events that enabled Indianapolis to become a charter member of the American Basketball Association and reveals the diligent effort, exceptional talent and dumb luck that got the team up and running -- and winning -- in two electrifying and tumultuous seasons." -- back cover




Critical Role: Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting


Book Description

"Critical Role has taken the roleplaying world by storm and now you can join the adventure! Until now, the wondrous and dangerous lands of Tal'Dorei have been the sole stomping grounds of the show's adventuring company, Vox Machina. But now, you can explore these realms in a tome from the pen of Game Master Matt Mercer himself! Will you find one of the revered Vestiges of Divergence or perhaps discover part of the Chroma Conclave's legacy? Can you help the Ashari in their sacred charge to prevent the elemental vortices from overwhelming the world, or will you find yourself embroiled in the machinations of the Clasp? This setting book takes an in-depth look at the history, people, and places of Tal'Dorei, and includes new backgrounds, magic items, and monsters for the Fifth Edition rules"--Provided by publisher.




Designing Games


Book Description

Ready to give your design skills a real boost? This eye-opening book helps you explore the design structure behind most of todayâ??s hit video games. Youâ??ll learn principles and practices for crafting games that generate emotionally charged experiencesâ??a combination of elegant game mechanics, compelling fiction, and pace that fully immerses players. In clear and approachable prose, design pro Tynan Sylvester also looks at the day-to-day process necessary to keep your project on track, including how to work with a team, and how to avoid creative dead ends. Packed with examples, this book will change your perception of game design. Create game mechanics to trigger a range of emotions and provide a variety of play Explore several options for combining narrative with interactivity Build interactions that let multiplayer gamers get into each otherâ??s heads Motivate players through rewards that align with the rest of the game Establish a metaphor vocabulary to help players learn which design aspects are game mechanics Plan, test, and analyze your design through iteration rather than deciding everything up front Learn how your gameâ??s market positioning will affect your design




The Wonder Crew


Book Description

The Wonder Crew presents the fascinating story of how the salty coach of the Annapolis crew team, Coach Richard Glendon, seized the sport of rowing first from the Ivy League schools and then the imposing British with a new style both uniquely American and very much his own. Glendon took a group of young midshipmen with humble origins and dominated a sport once the domain of the privileged. After stunning the Ivy Leagues in race after race, the US Naval Academy team won a shot at the Olympics. Their task was nearly impossible: for hundreds of years, the British Navy ruled the world and their supremacy of the seas naturally made them dominant in the sport of rowing. With the hopes of a nation, Navy went into the heart of Europe and in thrilling fashion defeated the heavily favored Brits to win the gold medal in 1920. With Glendon's new American style, the US won Gold for forty straight years, the longest winning streak in any single sport in Olympic history. Rich in history, with brave characters, American ingenuity, and dramatic training and competition, Susan Saint Sing's The Wonder Crew is the first comprehensive account of the 1920 Olympic Navy crew team and their inspirational coach who forged the dramatic story of their quest for Olympic gold.




The Beijing Olympiad


Book Description

The stage is set for the Beijing Olympiad to be the greatest mega-event, sporting or otherwise, in history. Still, the issues taxing many minds include whether the Beijing Games will be successful; whether they will be wrought with and wrecked by troubles; and who they will benefit. What value will the 2008 Games be to the people of China? Will they mainly serve the purposes of the dominant political, economic and cultural groups at and between the local, regional and global levels of modern social life? The Beijing Olympiad examines these among other questions, providing a range of original insights of interest to an array of scholars, researchers and students from Sports Studies to Sociology, Politics, Economics, International Relations and Legal Studies.




Aktion Magazine 01


Book Description




Notes By The Editors


Book Description

'The Editor of Wisden is an important personage. It is he who decides the policy of the Cricketers' Bible and cricketers the world over look to him to give a lead on all controversial problems. His is, therefore, no easy task, but Wisden has been fortunate in its editors'. That was written in 1933, and it is still true. The heart of the Almanack is the section entitled Notes By The Editor. The editor's opinions can change careers, laws – indeed every part of the game. This anthology is a brief dip into the half a million words or so that make up the annual Notes as the editors take a view of what really matters – the spirit in which cricket is played and how to keep it relevant and popular. And, of course, the weather. Throughout the Notes the Editors retain their sense of optimism and fervent love of the game, even when dealing with difficult issues such as bodyline or match-fixing, and they express their views succinctly and stylishly. As John Woodcock wrote in 1983, 'the game is never quite the same from one season to the next' and nor, indeed, are the Notes. However, as this anthology shows, the Notes are always stimulating and firmly expressed, providing an important insight into the cricket of the day.




Sport and American Society


Book Description

A special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport, this collection of provocative essays explores the many faces of sport in America. Drawing upon insights from anthropology, history, philosophy and sociology and with reference throughout to politics and economics, the contributors outline the story of how American sport has contributed to a climate of insularity, exceptionalism and imperialism, from a symbolic rejection of British rule and British sports to the current status of all-American sports such as baseball and basketball in the face of globalization.