Paizo's take on the planes offers a different look at the well known "Great Wheel" cosmology of 3.x Dungeons and Dragons. The Great Beyond expands upon the cursory descriptions given in the campaign guides for Golarion fleshing out the structure of the planes and the denizens that reside there.
Perhaps the biggest drawback to this book is that it is simply too short to give a proper treatment to all the major planes (much less important/notable demiplanes) and the inhabitants within. As a result while the descriptions of the planes do a good job evoking how a given plane looks and feels there are two things lacking: actual planar traits and statistics for common denizens of that plane. Both of these require additional books not necessarily needed for play (GameMastery Guide and Bestiary 2) to add mechanical support to the descriptions provided. There are a few creatures provided (roughly one for each major plane that hasn't gotten some love from Bestiary 1) so the game master does have something to go on if they don't own Bestiary 2. The GameMastery Guide I believe contains the actual mechanics for planar traits so unless the game master has some 3rd Edition D&D references to fall back on (again requiring additional books) they will have to improvise planar traits. This might be a plus to some game masters/players but may also be a minus for others.
That being said, the book does a good job with a small page count on detailing all the different planes including maps and describing major/notable locations within them. Also described are the denizens and their governments (if any) that control the planes. From a setting perspective these could keep a campaign going for years without ever returning to the material plane. Story hooks are also sprinkled amongst the descriptions giving characters interesting reasons to go to many of the different planes (other then just that planes are generally awesome to explore!).
The book does take some time to describe some esoteric planes like the Dimension of Time and the Dimension of Dreams which opens the door for some very unusual game types. While not really up my personal alley for things I'd want to game about there inclusion is an thoughtful step to think outside of the box. This is a trait that Paizo seems to have in droves and while it doesn't always hit the mark with me I cannot fault that they take the risk/effort to try and implement new takes in what would otherwise be a bland fantasy knock off of D&D (also a variation of existing fantasy settings not that this is a bad thing in and of itself!).
One final issue that is entirely out of Paizo's hand is the missing "iconic" planar creatures from D&D such as slaads and aasimars. These are likely missing because they are licensed creations of Wizards of the Coast and as a result not part of the OGL/SRD. This books (and the Bestiaries to support it) have provided interesting monsters in their stead but I still found myself missing the slaads when reading about the Maelstrom.
So to sum up the big problem with this book is that it's too small. It just doesn't benefit much from being one of the short little booklets that Paizo puts out on a regular basis. The production values are the usual quality one would expect from Paizo though so as long as the reader doesn't mind referencing other books for their crunch. I'd rate this a 6 out of 10.
Available in: Physical* and PDF
Links: Paizo, Amazon, Noble Knight
Up Next: The Inner Sea World Guide (Pathfinder)
Saturday, April 23, 2011
D & D Gazetteer
The D & D Gazetteer is an early product for Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition. It introduces players to the world of Greyhawk. As the title implies it is designed to give dungeon masters and players alike a brief taste of the variety of nations, places, and powers that abound in Greyhawk.
While I love settings Greyhawk is not one that I am all the familiar with despite the references to it throughout 3rd Edition D & D. Part of this reason may owe to the fact that as the RPGA Living World very little material was published for the settings and rather players affected the world. As a result this provides an interesting background for where some of the more famous spells of D & D got their names.
As a setting itself this does not feel terribly unique, however oddly this might be because this was one of the earliest settings so while a reader may be more familiar with Forgotten Realms or Golarion it's more likely that those worlds are cribbing off Greyhawk then the other way around (especially so for Golarion of course). Despite that generic feel and the tiny amount of space given for each local the gazetteer does a good job laying out possible adventuring ideas and story hooks. In the end it leaves a lot of room to play in allowing for more an easier sandbox approach. Granted for people with extensive collections from earlier D & D may have access to far more detailed information on Greyhawk that fills out the world more but armed with just the gazetteer there is lots of space to do whatever the players or dungeon master desires.
Overall I'd rate this a 5 out of 10. It's not terribly inspiring or exciting but the production values are decent (especially for an early 3rd edition product) and the world is certainly ripe for exploration and adventure.
Available in: Physical*
Links: Noble Knight
Next up: The Great Beyond (Pathfinder)
While I love settings Greyhawk is not one that I am all the familiar with despite the references to it throughout 3rd Edition D & D. Part of this reason may owe to the fact that as the RPGA Living World very little material was published for the settings and rather players affected the world. As a result this provides an interesting background for where some of the more famous spells of D & D got their names.
As a setting itself this does not feel terribly unique, however oddly this might be because this was one of the earliest settings so while a reader may be more familiar with Forgotten Realms or Golarion it's more likely that those worlds are cribbing off Greyhawk then the other way around (especially so for Golarion of course). Despite that generic feel and the tiny amount of space given for each local the gazetteer does a good job laying out possible adventuring ideas and story hooks. In the end it leaves a lot of room to play in allowing for more an easier sandbox approach. Granted for people with extensive collections from earlier D & D may have access to far more detailed information on Greyhawk that fills out the world more but armed with just the gazetteer there is lots of space to do whatever the players or dungeon master desires.
Overall I'd rate this a 5 out of 10. It's not terribly inspiring or exciting but the production values are decent (especially for an early 3rd edition product) and the world is certainly ripe for exploration and adventure.
Available in: Physical*
Links: Noble Knight
Next up: The Great Beyond (Pathfinder)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Masks of Nyarlathotep
Masks of Nyralathotep is a world spanning adventure set in the classic era of Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu. This is probably considered one of the legendary adventures for CoC and with good reason. It provides a myriad different ways for the investigators to go insane or die and isn't that what Call of Cthulhu is all about? The fact that this is the 4th reprinting is probably a good indicator of the success but let's dig into what this is all about. The over-arching plot throws investigators looking into a death of their good friend on intercontinental dash to stop plans to bring Nyralathotep to Earth.
While ostensibly an adventure Masks is written up and organized differently then standard adventures. Rather then moving from one plot to another there are simply locations. Other then the initial starting location (New York) there is no pre-determined order for where investigators should go. This provides for an amazing amount of re-playability which is rare for adventures. The locations are globe spanning (5 of 7 continents get in on the action) and all have at least one link to the others meaning there aren't any dead ends to trap players (barring their natural tendency to wander completely off course and end up in Oxford of course).
Each section of the book covers one location and all the places and peoples of interest within it. At the beginning of the section they list all the clues that are available, who they are from, and where they lead so the keeper can have an easier time and knowing where they may want to point investigators who have lost their way. The general descriptions of the locations are quite detailed and help to give a good feel of what life might have been like the in them during the 1920s.
In terms of deadliness and SAN-loss induction this adventure provides many opportunities for both. It may be nearly impossible for the initial party to survive the entire campaign intact. It might even be unlikely that anyone from the initial group even makes it to the end as fairly quickly the investigators find themselves in nasty situations. I'd probably recommend that keepers preface players with some idea of how nasty this adventure can be (especially for those less familiar with CoC) or there might be some rather surprised players!
Overall I'd give this a 8 out of 10. There are some very compelling areas to investigate and great support for a non-linear adventure. It may feel a bit strange for the keeper if they are unfamiliar with adventures laid out as such (it was for me). It certainly provides a wealth of story to work with and gives the investigators chance to do major things to thwart a dark god.
Available in: Physcial*
Links: Amazon, Noble Knight
Next up: D & D Gazetteer (D & D 3.0) or The Great Beyond (Pathfinder)
While ostensibly an adventure Masks is written up and organized differently then standard adventures. Rather then moving from one plot to another there are simply locations. Other then the initial starting location (New York) there is no pre-determined order for where investigators should go. This provides for an amazing amount of re-playability which is rare for adventures. The locations are globe spanning (5 of 7 continents get in on the action) and all have at least one link to the others meaning there aren't any dead ends to trap players (barring their natural tendency to wander completely off course and end up in Oxford of course).
Each section of the book covers one location and all the places and peoples of interest within it. At the beginning of the section they list all the clues that are available, who they are from, and where they lead so the keeper can have an easier time and knowing where they may want to point investigators who have lost their way. The general descriptions of the locations are quite detailed and help to give a good feel of what life might have been like the in them during the 1920s.
In terms of deadliness and SAN-loss induction this adventure provides many opportunities for both. It may be nearly impossible for the initial party to survive the entire campaign intact. It might even be unlikely that anyone from the initial group even makes it to the end as fairly quickly the investigators find themselves in nasty situations. I'd probably recommend that keepers preface players with some idea of how nasty this adventure can be (especially for those less familiar with CoC) or there might be some rather surprised players!
Overall I'd give this a 8 out of 10. There are some very compelling areas to investigate and great support for a non-linear adventure. It may feel a bit strange for the keeper if they are unfamiliar with adventures laid out as such (it was for me). It certainly provides a wealth of story to work with and gives the investigators chance to do major things to thwart a dark god.
Available in: Physcial*
Links: Amazon, Noble Knight
Next up: D & D Gazetteer (D & D 3.0) or The Great Beyond (Pathfinder)
Damnation View
Damnation View is the first story book for the metaplot of Cthulhutech specifically the year 2086. It provides several different plots covering the different styles of gameplay that Cthulhutech supports.
The book first part of the book gives an overview of the year 2086 including what is trendy in popular culture, what's going on in tech research, and a timeline which incorporates the adventures covered later in the book. From there on out it's 4 major plot arcs.
The first covers the situation in Asia, specifically China although what goes on there will have ramifications for the entire continent. This scenario is aimed towards mecha/Engel pilots on the main front as events get a bit exciting. Readers will notice very quickly that the scenario is such that while players can participate they can't really change the outcome of the scenario. On this I am torn. On the one hand the players are just a handful of people in a very large and complex situation so their involvement can be fairly explained as, at best, only be able to slightly affect the war especially since this is early in the metaplot. Also, being that this is metaplot it has to have a forced outcome or else future metaplot won't make sense. Still the way it's presented makes it feel more forced then it probably could have been.
The second scenario is aimed towards NEG agents/police investigator types although it has a few areas that would allow a mecha pilot to have a little fun as well. It follows the machinations of Esoteric Order of Dagon as they attempt to locate their sleeping leader, Cthulhu. The premise is pretty cool and can allow for some great investigations by the players and it certainly leads on a wild ride. The ending felt unsatisfactory to me. While several of the scenarios end with nominal losses for humanity this one felt especially unfair as it's noted if the players seem to be getting an upper hand to dump in reinforcements. Oh, and if they somehow get through those it doesn't really matter because the EOD will succeed somewhere else anyways. Again while understanding the needs of the metaplot my thoughts would lean to designing a scenario where the outcome does not have to be pre-ordained in such a way where the GM is basically declaring player defeat regardless of what they do. It feels quite disempowering to know the result would be the same if the characters had just decided to go to the bar and drink the night away!
The third scenario deals with a cult dedicated to Shub-Niggurath and the efforts of the Eldritch Society to thwart it. I thought this scenario was interesting in that it laid out an enemy for the tagers other then just straight up waves of Dhohanoids and their mortal lackeys. If there is one really, really controversial section of this book it comes up here as the creatures the characters will face have a save or become a sex slave power. It's fair to say that due to this the players and GM should probably discuss what they are comfortable with before delving into the scenario although with a game where sanity and the horrors of war and the universe are big themes this should probably be done regardless. Beyond that wrinkle the scenario this one feels less heavy handed then the previous although the solution is rather set in stone. The upside is that the expected outcome is actually good for the players if they survive.
The final scenario is another one for mecha/Engel pilots. This time they're taking on the Migou and going back to Alaska with some additional twists thrown in. Again the results are pre-ordained but this one, like the first scenario, didn't feel quite as heavy handed. It's possible that due to nature of military scale operations that having a scenario where the characters are just participants is more believable and it's easier to accept that they can't single-handedly change the outcome of the war. On smaller scale it feels like possible victories are being snatched away.
Overall this feels like a 6 out of 10. Production values are fantastic as usual. The art is great, the fiction is entertaining. As mentioned many times above the big drawback is that all the scenarios are entirely railroaded. Better options might have been to give scenarios where each scenario could have multiple outcomes that could affect later scenarios by increasing/decreasing opposition forces, adding or removing allies or equipment, etc rather then completely forcing one result with no room for variation. With gamers variation has to be expected and players can generally sense a railroad. This will cause the GM extra work to smooth out these issues. The book does provide some non-scenario material in updated EOD mecha and new player options for occupation and the scenarios are a pure gold for a GM who likes taking ideas and crafting their own tale anyways.
Available in: Physical* and PDF
Links: Amazon, Noble Knight, DriveThrupRPG
Next Up: Masks of Nyarlathotep (Call of Cthulhu)
The book first part of the book gives an overview of the year 2086 including what is trendy in popular culture, what's going on in tech research, and a timeline which incorporates the adventures covered later in the book. From there on out it's 4 major plot arcs.
The first covers the situation in Asia, specifically China although what goes on there will have ramifications for the entire continent. This scenario is aimed towards mecha/Engel pilots on the main front as events get a bit exciting. Readers will notice very quickly that the scenario is such that while players can participate they can't really change the outcome of the scenario. On this I am torn. On the one hand the players are just a handful of people in a very large and complex situation so their involvement can be fairly explained as, at best, only be able to slightly affect the war especially since this is early in the metaplot. Also, being that this is metaplot it has to have a forced outcome or else future metaplot won't make sense. Still the way it's presented makes it feel more forced then it probably could have been.
The second scenario is aimed towards NEG agents/police investigator types although it has a few areas that would allow a mecha pilot to have a little fun as well. It follows the machinations of Esoteric Order of Dagon as they attempt to locate their sleeping leader, Cthulhu. The premise is pretty cool and can allow for some great investigations by the players and it certainly leads on a wild ride. The ending felt unsatisfactory to me. While several of the scenarios end with nominal losses for humanity this one felt especially unfair as it's noted if the players seem to be getting an upper hand to dump in reinforcements. Oh, and if they somehow get through those it doesn't really matter because the EOD will succeed somewhere else anyways. Again while understanding the needs of the metaplot my thoughts would lean to designing a scenario where the outcome does not have to be pre-ordained in such a way where the GM is basically declaring player defeat regardless of what they do. It feels quite disempowering to know the result would be the same if the characters had just decided to go to the bar and drink the night away!
The third scenario deals with a cult dedicated to Shub-Niggurath and the efforts of the Eldritch Society to thwart it. I thought this scenario was interesting in that it laid out an enemy for the tagers other then just straight up waves of Dhohanoids and their mortal lackeys. If there is one really, really controversial section of this book it comes up here as the creatures the characters will face have a save or become a sex slave power. It's fair to say that due to this the players and GM should probably discuss what they are comfortable with before delving into the scenario although with a game where sanity and the horrors of war and the universe are big themes this should probably be done regardless. Beyond that wrinkle the scenario this one feels less heavy handed then the previous although the solution is rather set in stone. The upside is that the expected outcome is actually good for the players if they survive.
The final scenario is another one for mecha/Engel pilots. This time they're taking on the Migou and going back to Alaska with some additional twists thrown in. Again the results are pre-ordained but this one, like the first scenario, didn't feel quite as heavy handed. It's possible that due to nature of military scale operations that having a scenario where the characters are just participants is more believable and it's easier to accept that they can't single-handedly change the outcome of the war. On smaller scale it feels like possible victories are being snatched away.
Overall this feels like a 6 out of 10. Production values are fantastic as usual. The art is great, the fiction is entertaining. As mentioned many times above the big drawback is that all the scenarios are entirely railroaded. Better options might have been to give scenarios where each scenario could have multiple outcomes that could affect later scenarios by increasing/decreasing opposition forces, adding or removing allies or equipment, etc rather then completely forcing one result with no room for variation. With gamers variation has to be expected and players can generally sense a railroad. This will cause the GM extra work to smooth out these issues. The book does provide some non-scenario material in updated EOD mecha and new player options for occupation and the scenarios are a pure gold for a GM who likes taking ideas and crafting their own tale anyways.
Available in: Physical* and PDF
Links: Amazon, Noble Knight, DriveThrupRPG
Next Up: Masks of Nyarlathotep (Call of Cthulhu)
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