Rating: 
Summary: This book is all you need for great custom AD&D characters.
Review: If you like playing AD&D and want to get away from the plain old fighter, why not make a pugilist, who fights with martial arts better blind than seeing! Or making a priest who can fight with arquebuses with a +5 proficiency! This book is all you need to shape the AD&D world to your liking.
Rating: 
Summary: Utter rubbish
Review: I`ve played AD&D for many years and I must say that this is one of the worst books I`ve ever seen published by TSR. The massacre they`ve done with those subabilities is downright silly.In my opinion it`s nothing more than an excuse for some minimaxing. The new character point system - well, I really need to say a few words about this.Halflings with detect magic innate ability, getting extra points for not using certain armor types - that is really absurd.This also goes for the new mastery rules.(In fact this mastery stuff is a much more complicated question.If you use PHB rules that only fighters can specialize and,hence, become masters with a weapon, you get vastly more powerful fighters in comparison to other warriors.But if you allow all warriors to become masters, then the balance is shifted to the other side.Not to mention what happens if you use that absurd optional rule that ALL classes can specialize in a weapon). The only reason I gave this book one star is the new proficiency system.I think it`s much more logical than the old one - the checks don`t depend solely on the abilities anymore. All in all - look at the title.
Rating:
Summary: Utter rubbish
Review: I`ve played AD&D for many years and I must say that this is one of the worst books I`ve ever seen published by TSR. The massacre they`ve done with those subabilities is downright silly.In my opinion it`s nothing more than an excuse for some minimaxing. The new character point system - well, I really need to say a few words about this.Halflings with detect magic innate ability, getting extra points for not using certain armor types - that is really absurd.This also goes for the new mastery rules.(In fact this mastery stuff is a much more complicated question.If you use PHB rules that only fighters can specialize and,hence, become masters with a weapon, you get vastly more powerful fighters in comparison to other warriors.But if you allow all warriors to become masters, then the balance is shifted to the other side.Not to mention what happens if you use that absurd optional rule that ALL classes can specialize in a weapon). The only reason I gave this book one star is the new proficiency system.I think it`s much more logical than the old one - the checks don`t depend solely on the abilities anymore. All in all - look at the title.
Rating:
Summary: Utter rubbish
Review: My gaming group owns two different copies of this book. One is a first printing and the other is a second printing, both in hardback. The second printing is more concise than the first, but there are still plenty of ambiguous paragraphs where you simply hand the book to a lawyer and ask for an interpretation. But it's still better than the first printing of the book, which we use under the short leg of the table. There are more errors, omissions, and conflicting passages than in the US tax code. Example: first printing does not give a limit to the number of points that can be gained from taking disadvantages. Second printing, if you read far enough, eventually says that the limit is 15 points. When this discrepency was found, half of our group had used one printing and the other half had used the other, and the differences in the characters created was fairly extreme. Despite the problems, we still use Skills and Powers more than the Player's Handbook, mostly because of the ability to customize the characters with different abilities. One note however, when customizing wizards and clerics, I've found that you're better off using Spells and Powers as your primary source. The updated psionics chapter was a nice touch, and I realize it was meant for Dark Sun more than anything else, but it would have been nice if they had updated to a system that was still mostly compatible with the Monstrous Compendium entries, as opposed to having to completely revamp a psionic creature so that it is consistent with our psionicist PC before being able to use it.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than 2nd Edition, but could have been more.
Review: My gaming group owns two different copies of this book. One is a first printing and the other is a second printing, both in hardback. The second printing is more concise than the first, but there are still plenty of ambiguous paragraphs where you simply hand the book to a lawyer and ask for an interpretation. But it's still better than the first printing of the book, which we use under the short leg of the table. There are more errors, omissions, and conflicting passages than in the US tax code. Example: first printing does not give a limit to the number of points that can be gained from taking disadvantages. Second printing, if you read far enough, eventually says that the limit is 15 points. When this discrepency was found, half of our group had used one printing and the other half had used the other, and the differences in the characters created was fairly extreme. Despite the problems, we still use Skills and Powers more than the Player's Handbook, mostly because of the ability to customize the characters with different abilities. One note however, when customizing wizards and clerics, I've found that you're better off using Spells and Powers as your primary source. The updated psionics chapter was a nice touch, and I realize it was meant for Dark Sun more than anything else, but it would have been nice if they had updated to a system that was still mostly compatible with the Monstrous Compendium entries, as opposed to having to completely revamp a psionic creature so that it is consistent with our psionicist PC before being able to use it.
Rating:
Summary: better than 2nd eddition
Review: skills and powers is never seen on the web. all you see is every thing written in the old rules. people should wise up and start using s&p. also advise combat & tactics, spells & magic and high level campaigns. these books will enlighten your adventures. tsr should star writing their adventures in this style. loose the old stuff. sorry bad speller and grammer
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: Skills and Powers lets you expand your Dungeons and Dragons character as far as your imagination will let you. It lets you customize your character just the way you want it. It gives new rules, better equipment lists, and many new races for you to base a character on. All in all, a great book!
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: Skills and Powers lets you expand your Dungeons and Dragons character as far as your imagination will let you. It lets you customize your character just the way you want it. It gives new rules, better equipment lists, and many new races for you to base a character on. All in all, a great book!
Rating: 
Summary: A must for experienced AD&D players
Review: This book completely revolutionizes the character creation process, and alters character level awards with a new system of character points which can spent to improve almost any aspect of a character, instead of the old "one proficiency slot every three levels". It lets players customize their characters to great detail, allowing for greater diversification over the four classes. The only things keeping it from getting five stars for AD&D is that the system takes a few hours to get used to, and the rules, in my view, short-change the single-class fighter. Otherwise, it's a great book for any gamer.
Rating:
Summary: Good way to define and expound one's Character and Campaign
Review: This Book is great, yes there are errors but that is to be expected in a large book. You have to push past all that look too the content. This book has so many possibilities that every time you create a character you can make it different. Also it has great spells for priest and Wizard a like. Advisory to GM's I being a player and a Fledgling GM have found with skills and Powers you can Minmax a character fairly quickly. You can also personalize a character too where they are completely different and unique. Lets face it, new players want to play characters that are unique and have depth. This book is a must for all it's aspects from armor info, crit tables and extra combat rules. ENJOY!!!!
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