Despite four different campaigns, three completely different worlds, two systems and a dozen different players, there is one set of books that I find myself peering through every week of game preparation, the Bits of series by Tabletop Adventures.
Each book is filled with descriptive passages for dungeon masters to liven up their adventures. Good DMs, especially Iron DMs, know how important it is to create an immersive world with vividly described scenes. Each book in the series is focused on a particular setting. The 10th book in the series, Bits of the Wilderness, Into the Mountains, contains 160 passages to bring your adventure to life.
There are 100 bits, which are small descriptions of various scenes and imagery that PCs may encounter in a mountain setting, whether it’s climbing the mountain or hiking through them. I must have read 500 to 600 of these passages and the writing still feels fresh. There are also 60 Shards, which are longer passages of up to two or three paragraphs. These are divided into categories such as weather or season to help navigate through the book. Not resting on previous success, a newer feature, kits, are also included. These are similar to the Bricks from the Bits of Darkness pieces. These elaborate pieces of imagery detail mountain range settings from various altitudes.
The 65 page PDF is very well organized with bookmarks and sub-bookmarks. At the end of the book, there is a section where the bits are laid out on cards and can be printed out for easy reference in game.
For the Dungeon Master
Some of the best pieces of writing I have read in this series has been the writing and Into the Mountain is no exception. My favorite shards are those that incorporate rolls for the players to make into the scene, making them more lifelike.
The Iron Word
With the success of other books such as the Mother of All Tables, It is good to see Tabletop Adventures continue this series. Bits of Wilderness: Into the Mountain contains mounds of creativity and freshness and, as the others in the series, will find itself as one of the most useful resources in your game preparation collection.
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