WHAT IS IT?
Classic TSR region supplement covering three Viking-like nations in the north of Mystara.
AAAAAAAH-AH
So Vikings. There's a strange thing happening in my my project to review all of the items in the TSR gazetteer series (for more on that see here). I find myself encountering and thinking about my gaming bias. For example, I'm not fond of jokey versions of real world things which pop up throughout the Ierendi book. And I talked about my feelings about elves when I reviewed Alfheim, and we'll see that again when I hit the hobbit book, GAZ8: The Five Shires. Today's entry with its adaptation of the ancient and rich culture of the Norse (in the broadest sense) confronts a basic problem I have. Vikings make me go meh. I've picked up a number of Viking supplements and games over the years: Rolemaster's Vikings, Vikings: Nordic Roleplaying for RuneQuest, Rune, Ultima Thule: Mythic Scandinavia. And I appreciate the deep history of those peoples- with fascinating tales and a much more complex relationship to their neighbors than simple tales of pillage would suggest. D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths remains one of my favorite books- mythic ideas that informed my vision of fantasy for years. And I love Thor from Marvel, especially when it ventures into the epic. But Vikings in my games...not so much. My favorite vikings would be these.
VALHALLA, I AM COMING
That being said I enjoyed reading through GAZ7: The Northern Reaches. As you might guess, it is Viking book for Mystara- something it explicitly addresses in the introduction, a first I think for the series (breaking the fourth wall?). It is a fantastic treatment of those elements in a mish-mash which ignores the various differences often lumped together under the 'viking' term. As usual you have two divergent approaches to the gazetteer series. The first would be for those TSR aficionados or those playing in Mystara campaign- what does the book offer for their play. The second would be more my approach: is the book an amusing read and more importantly what can I steal from it to use in my games? I know the series sometimes gets a bad rap for certain tics (like third person narrator text before sections). But the useful stuff in these books makes working through those tics valuable.
THE BOOK ITSELF
Ken Rolston returns to the series (he also did the excellent GAZ2: The Emirates of Ylaruam). You may know his name from his work on Morrowind, Paranoia and a host of other gaming legends. This time he's joined by Elizabeth Danforth, one of my favorite illustrators, as co-writer. We get another excellent Clyde Caldwell cover and Stephen Fabian interior illustrations. I have to admit that this is one of the few gazetteers I've only seen in pdf format- so I can't comment on the quality of the map- which has the hex version on one side and a great hall on the other. The supplement includes four pages of cardboard stand-ups to help simulate that hall. Probably the most notable shift in this gazetteer is the splitting of the interior booklet into two separate booklets: a 64-page DM book and a 32-page player book. Other items in the series have had pull-out sections, but this one finally formalizes the split. That's a great move- and some of the earlier booklets could have benefited from this approach.
THE DM BOOK
After offering some general comments on real world vikings (including a bibliography), the booklet heads into the history of the region. It provides details on the three kingdoms of the Northern Reaches- sharing common cultural traits but with differing rulership and history. Vestland is the northernmost of these, situated on the mainland and having a strong feudal monarchy. They have a more dangerous and frontier lifestyle- facing monsters like trolls at regular intervals. Just to their south lies the the Soderfjord Jarldoms (so just above Ylaruam). The Jarldom has a war leader, but is nominally ruled by a council and by the agreement of the various jarls throughout the territory. The third nation, Ostalnd actually lies on a set of rich and fertile islands off the coast. The Ostlanders once ruled Vestland, but lost control of it. Ostalnders seem to the most classic vikings, with a life of raiding and piracy. They trace their rulership to King Cnute (a pretty literal lift from rw history). I wish I knew more about far Northern European history and culture, as I'd probably be better able to pick out which details have been drawn from which cultures (Norse, Lapp, Icelandic, Finn, etc). After the general history, the book spends 4-5 pages on each nation in turn describing politics, current events, cultural roles, and key themes. These sections are really well done- and compress the information tightly,. GM's skimming through these few pages should be able to come up with at least a half-dozen interesting hooks immediately for each.
The Northern Reaches also spends time considering the significant non-human groups within the region. While the other gazetteers covered covered those before, that's been in passing, representing foreign interests, or as factions within the power structure (ala Glantri). Dwarves get particular attention, with a section of emigres from Rockhome and on a new group of dwarves, the Modrigswerg. These exiles answer to darker powers. They're wild, passionate and unpredictable dwarves, much more akin to those shown in Der Ring des Nibelungen. The GM's encouraged to create an air of threat and mystery around them. Around four pages cover this new group, with suggestions for unique magic and traits. Finally, two monstrous humanoid races get a more civilized write up, the trolls and the gnolls. The cultural details and npcs suggested here make them more than just battle fodder.
Next the book details the people and relationships of the Court of Cnute in Ostland. Rather than detail all of the important NPCs across the region, it focuses here as a detailed and concrete example. Those of the Northern Reaches worship figures from the Norse Pantheon, with Odin in particular regard. In fact tension between court and priests shows up as one of the main levers for conflict. It took me a bit to reconcile the actual use of the Norse names, but apparently in Mystara, a number of the Immortals go by those names. I'm unsure exactly how that works- it had been my impression that the Immortals were ascended figures in the world- somewhat different from conventional multiversal gods. The discussion of the Court covers the key figures, detailed discussion of the physical settlement itself, and an outline for how a campaign could be run there.
The second half of the DM book, pages 37-59, covers specific adventures in the North. The first nine+ pages provide extensive discussion of the Falun Caverns, an underground complex for exploration. It includes a ton of detail, from artifacts to the cultural history of the kobolds. Several other scenarios follow, each with a great deal of detail. The book avoids story “seeds,” instead giving a DM fewer scenarioes, but with those fairly developed and ready to play. The section next offers four pages on running a Northern Reaches campaign. This includes discussion of the new options presented in the Players Book, population distributions, new magic, travel and even otherworld realms (like Asgard). Finally the last page of the booklet offers a conversion guide to AD&D- a slightly condensed version of the one presented in GAZ6: The Dwarves of Rockhome. The rules notably suggest ways in which this material could cross-over into the other TSR realms such as Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk. That cross-over could be figurative, using this region material for a like place there or literal with adventurers passing through gates like the World Ash to reach other lands.
THE PLAYERS BOOK
The smaller 32-page players book follows the design used previously in the series- taking a lighter shade of the primary accent color as a screen behind the text, in this case a shade of rust. It's a decent visual cue- but the split between it and the stark white of the watermark on the page causes some problems in a couple of places. The first eight pages of the booklet cover “What Everyone Knows” about the different nations and the culture of the Northern Reaches. This is presented as first person narration from several different characters. Most of the time that doesn't get in the way- the perspective isn't intrusive. But in many cases, I'm not sure what this approach gains. Most importantly, it does offer the non-mechanical basics players need to run characters from there. It does assume that you have players willing to read through that amount of dense material- which isn't always the case.
The mechanics of character creation comes next, pages 9-22. The classics mechanics are covering- rolling methods, Northlander names, and statsus for example. But The Northern Reaches also adds several new concepts and different takes on older concepts. Skills reappear here- but with a much less fuzzy approach. Specific skills common to the region appear under each characteristic; other can be chosen but the book offers a fairly definitive lists. Classes gain different background skills and the rules for skill use have again been consolidated and tightened here. PCs can gain or lose reputations based on the interventions of Skalds, a nice nod to the setting. The book offers ootes on obtaining dominions for higher level characters are given. An entirely new concept is the idea of players rolling for background incidents- rolls on the Afflictions & Accidents, Important Past Experiences, Character Building and Combat Experiences table help flesh the PC out- mostly in the form of stat bonuses or penalties. But the lengthiest treatment is given over to the idea of PC Traits. I've you've played Pendragon or early Ars Magica, you'll recognize this approach. Twelve trait pairs are given, with the player assigning scores to each of these- that score representing where the character lies on the continuum. These traits include Loyal/Unreliable, Peaceful/Violent, Cautious/Reckless, among others. Rolls are made against traits to see if a player undertakes or avoids a particular action. There's also a system for generating these traits for NPCs (with national, class & alignment modifiers). The trait concept is interesting, and for some DMs might be worth taking out into Mystara more broadly. But your reaction will largely depend on how you & your group feel about mechanics for personal decisions- rolling for what could be important choices- without any other benefit. Other systems (Exalted for example) offer less intrusive takes on this. For my two cents, I like the idea of having something that helps a player recall their character's distinct approach, but I don't care for that having a mechanical impact.
The rest of the Players Book covers Northmen Clerics, with lots of details on the different Immortal Cults of the region. It offers some nice notes about the role and rituals of clerics in the setting, and how those differ. Each cult has some specific benefits and abilities, including unique spells. The various clerical magic discussion then moves over to the idea of Rune Magic, which is another clerical resource. This offers a number of new spells, plus a set of 24 example runes with their various powers and effects described. The system's interesting, but a fairly radical shift from standard D&D magic.
OVERALL
So I'm not interested in Skyrim, primarily because of the Norse-esque setting. It doesn't grab me. But I had a really good time rereading this supplement. It gave me a number of ideas, and certainly made me think I could do something in that genre. There's a lot to like here- though the Players Book has a lot of mechanics which are less interesting to me. In the DM Book, the adventure section feels a little bloated. I would have liked to see more background and NPCs, especially for the other two major nations. Still I enjoyed and got a lot more out of this than some of the other Viking supplements I've read, like Ivinia and GURPS Vikings. And I suspect I'll be tracking down some more history of the region, to help me put everything in context. Bottom line: a great gazetteer for people who love Mystara and a good gazetteer for GM's looking for Norse-esque fantasy material.
I want to point out the image of the Northern Reaches map here is taken from the excellent Mystaran map resource at mystara.thorf.co.uk.
ROOM TO THINK
I'm going to take the long way around to my point. I'm always wondering about the question of imaginative space in stories and at the gaming table. Can I- when I'm running a game- really create a world the players can think about, imagine themselves in, and create stories for? I mean obviously when I'm at the table they can have to do that on call- with various levels of restraint and success. But is that the same thing as choosing an action from a limited palette (ala choosing a move in a board game, selecting a menu option in a video game) or do they visualize the story? When people talk about games which are “railroady” that's what I picture. Those games which don't allow that sense of having one's own room in the story- either in table execution or imagination.
CLOSING DOWN
I've said before that some settings don't appeal to me because they close off the imaginative space. For example, White Wolf's original WoD metaplot and presentation didn't seem to me to open up possibilities. Instead may supplements closed them down. I think that's the danger in advancing a game line- especially where the material covers background details or history. Sure I like more stuff, more ideas- but I want those to be interesting and not invalidate my own conceptions. Or if they do, they do so in a way that opens up more room for me to come up with stories.
IS THAT WHAT IT SAID?
I've been reviewing the TSR gazetteer series for a couple of purposes. On the one hand, there's a nostalgia factor that ties into the new OSR games, with some people going as far as crafting amazing Mystaran supplements. On the other these are supplements I had around and in hand in the early days of building my campaign world. I've used bits and pieces from them more or less literally over the years- but in several cases after one read. So what I actually used at the table were the details and concepts that stuck fast in my head. What's been amazing in the rereading is how different the books are than I recall them. Many concepts I was pretty sure I'd drawn from a particular supplement- but on rereading, it isn't there. I've constructed another story in my head about the book- and rereading hasn't negatively affected that. Instead it has pointed out some stuff I missed in the first reading that fits well with the later stuff I came up with.
LOOSE PREP
As with many GMs, when I think about my game I just spin and freewrite about my campaigns: I sketch out ideas, make lists of words, come up with seeds for scenes, chart out some connections between materials, outline outstanding plots, come up with concrete details, and make some notes about which NPCs would be cool to pull on stage. Often, that's all that I will go into a session with. If I plot, I'll usually make a list of scenes which I can picture happening if the players go the way I expect and if nothing changes. Ideally, the players will deviate from that, forcing me to come up with new connections and ideas.
That level of improvisation means that much of my game world exists as a wave-function, the Schroedinger's Cat of setting. I imagine that's true for most GM's game worlds. Until the players actually look at something, it doesn't exist, the wave function hasn't collapsed into something they can interact with. That isn't to say that it can be 'anything' when it collapses due to observation. Odds and reasonableness impact it. And the collapse has to fit with previous observations of related material. That's part of the toughest job for the GM- revealing a seamless world, where the examined pieces fit together easily. But often I don't have things figured out until the players ask me. There's just too much to know. But I trust myself and my instincts to come up with an answer, a response that fits, makes sense, and is fair. But I know that some players don't like playing where they sense the GM doesn't have a net. I've been lucky in that my players haven't been that way- there's generally shared trust.
So, from threads and bits I like to fill things in and put together stories- and the players & I lob that back and forth to create unexpected things.
JUST FOLLOW
Which brings me to the incident that brought this to mind. The other day on G+ I saw Ken Hite mention a horror movie called Yellowbrickroad. The imdb synopsis:
“1940: the entire population of Friar, New Hampshire walked up a winding mountain trail, leaving everything behind. 2008: the first official expedition into the wilderness attempts to solve the mystery of the lost citizens of Friar.”
Interesting, I thought to myself. A couple of people commented that they hadn't liked it so much, but I thought why not? Eventually the disc arrived from Netflix. Now I should mention here that I like horror movies- but I have a couple of problems with them. First, I have a pretty low suspension of disbelief, which means that it is pretty easy to get me sucked into a film, provided you keep at least a modicum of acting and production value. Second, if a horror film offers imaginative space- for me to come up with stuff in my head, then I'm right there creeping myself out. So I'll admit that The Ring and The Grudge (American and Original) freaked me out and cost me sleep. There's the moment in The Grudge when the haunting moves beyond the house- and my brain went "holy sh*t...no it can't do that...". The original version of Pulse (Kairo) is another another one, plus many others. And films with that “found footage” approach really get under my skin- so Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity kept me up many more nights than probably anyone else in our group.
So I started watching Yellowbrickroad...
btw, spoilers ahead...
And it has some little creepy set bits: the way he gets the file, the movie theater scene, the music playing in the woods. It mixes standard camera work with 'found-footage' and some interesting effects (like a slide show for one sequence). It layers on the creepiness as the group heads into the woods, getting farther and farther away from civilization. And I'm watching this on my couch, in my house, eating crackers, middle of the day. I've paused several times to stop and move laundry along, make coffee, etc, but the movie's still managed to raise my anxiety level up.
And then there's a brief flash of violence.
It doesn't come out of the blue exactly, but it snaps (literally and figuratively) the characters and film in a new direction. And it absolutely freaked me out. I suspect if anyone else had been watching it with me, my reaction wouldn't nearly have been so profound. And I likely wouldn't have immediately turned the DVD off.
Which is what I did.
And here's the thing. I haven't yet finished watching it- but I've been thinking about how this film is going to play out. I've imagined scenarioes, explanations, stories, scenes and awful dooms for these characters. And that's almost been more fun than actually going back and watching the rest of it. But in some ways it has been a great exercise- an interesting GMs tool that's got be thinking about horror games and how to structure them. So I put that out there as a recommended tactic for GMs needing to recharge your batteries. Find a film, TV show, graphic novel, or book you don't know that much about in a genre you like, read a chunk of the way through it- until you hit something significant and then put the thing aside for a week. Let it work its way into your mind, imagine the possibilities, especially for the characters that you like, come up with cool and different ways the story could go...good endings, bad endings, and everything in between.
That sense of wonder- that sense of possibility, control, and surprise: ideally that's what your players ought to be feeling between sessions.
WHAT IS IT?
Supplement covering dwarves and their nation within the Mystara setting.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, STOUT?
Would it be too much if I said that Dwarves get the short end of the stick in fantasy rpgs? This week I continue with my tour of the gazetteer series with GAZ6: The Dwarves of Rockhome. Like the previous volume, GAZ5: The Elves of Alfheim, it focuses on a race and a nation. My perspective on dwarves may seem a little odd, given that I may have bad-mouthed elves a little bit in my last review. Dwarves, I think, more than elves get stuck with a few fairly limited cultural and physical traits. I've certainly seen more and wackier variants on elves in various rpgs than I have of dwarves. They also have the problem of a “close cousin” in the form of the gnome. I've talked before about my dislike for gnomes- and often when they're placed in a fantasy context, they simply take up roles normally associated with Dwarves (tinkers and gadgeteers).
Dwarves get stuck with a good deal of baggage, with one of the most common tropes being their decay and extinction. Some of that comes from Tolkien's world, and his original Northern European sources. So in many settings we have dwarves broken and divided- having been overrun by the forces of darkness or chaos which have exploded up through their ancient holds. Warhammer borrows a little from this approach for example. Two of my favorite game depictions of Dwarves use this approach. The Mostali of Glorantha are clearly shattered and declining, though they keep on. I love them because they can actually be read as a metaphor for rules-lawyers. The recent CRPG Dragon Age also has the Dwarves in decline, holding onto only two of their old places and those beset by darkness. What I love about Dragon Age is the awful and severe caste/class system presented and the horrible Machiavellian maneuvers among the nobility. One reason I really like The Dwarves of Rockhome is that the Dwarves aren't fallen- they aren't in decline. Instead they're a potent and powerful force, with some structural limits to that power, that offers a vibrant option to the human world.
For more on Mystara and the Gazetteers, see here.
THE PRODUCT ITSELF
Aaron Allston, author of the really excellent Karameikos volume, returns to pen this one. Like Alfheim, we get a nice dense 96-page booklet. As with the others products in the series, the overall design is excellent. The amazing Stephen Fabain with amazing illustraiotns of people and places. The additional images showing layouts and machines are equally excellent. A couple of design points bear mentioning. The enclosed map is once again double sided, on a slightly different and sturdier paper than the previous ones. One side shows the map of Rockhome as a whole, plus cross-sections of some features, and city maps for upper and lower Dengar. The reverse side has graphics for modular city blocks, in two sizes. I'll come back to that. Interior folio cover is the only odd bit for me in the whole thing. On the previous series entries, this has offered additional maps or the like, a kind of pseudo-screen. Instead here the “Outsiders Perspectives on...” sections have been printed. Usually these are in the booklet or even a pull-out section. Bizarrely, the text blocks are printed in dark pink ink on a pink background- really, really hard to read.
In past reviews, I've walked through the book fairly thoroughly. However, my head cold this week suggests I approach this more generally. The booklet's broken into three relatively equal parts: the Players' Section, the Gazetteer Section and the Adventure Section. Like the Elves of Alfheim, Rockhome offers a nearly platonic group of Dwarves. Sure- there are a few shifts (no inherent racial antipathy towards the Elves for example). But overall you get an incredibly solid, clean and useful treatment of this race.
PLAYERS' SECTION
This is useful for both DMs & Players. The former may want to make copies to hand out for the latter. I half expected this to be a pull-out section, but I don't think that would work. This material needs to come before the rest. Instead you'd need a seperate booklet (which they do in some of the latter gazetteers). The Dwarves of Rockhome have a pretty awesome history, with nice ties back to the world of Blackmoor. Dwarves are divided into different clans, each with a different approach to life, different focus and different ideals. That's a classic approach- and mirrors how they set things up in Ylaruam, Alfheim and Glantri: developing interesting and dynamic internal relationships within the power groups of the nation.
Unlike Alfheim, Rockhome takes on the race-class question a little more directly. It introduces rules for dwarf-clerics, a new class which players can take from the beginning. The rules offer other new options- including an even more expanded discussion of the idea of skills presented in earlier gazetteer volumes. That makes sense, as dwarves might have to rely on those abilities more than others. Several options and ideas for dwarven items and armor, lifestyle, politics and roles are discussed in depth. Options for dwarven craftmagic and science are given, allowing players- high-level players to make things. The player section ends with a discussion of dwarven cities and settlements which are all built using some basic block layouts. The blocks shown on the back of the pull out map can be arranged and rearranged in different patterns, and the book talks about how those function and gives several examples. It reminds me of ICE's approach to Moria, but ever better and more clearly done here.
GAZETTEER SECTION
This opens with an even deeper treatment of dwarven history. We have racial animosity with the orcs, but not the elves. My favorite bit from the whole thing is the concept of Denwarf, an immortal-created guardian set to rule the dwarves in the early days who stepped down eventually but may return. It is a great detail- with some interesting tensions. Several cities and sites are describe din detail along with their block arrangement. These are really well done- and the breakdown of clan influences in each settlement offers a great hook for the GM. Twelves pages of NPCs- well described with motivations and personalities offer rich opportunities to the DM. They also confirm the classic dwarven approach to names- solid and serious like Barad rather than anything lighter. A treatment of monsters, including some new ones rounds this out.
ADVENTURE SECTION
This spends some time considering the three major approaches GMs will likely have toward Rockhome: passing through, one or more dwarf PCs, or an entire dwarven campaign set here. I expect the last is a rarity, but the book really offers the tools to pull that off- with tons of individual stories and an exciting overall story arc. It talks about what makes a dwarf and adventurer, and what their clan and people then means to them. And as a dwarf rises in rank and role, how dwarven politics might impinge on their life.
Probably the most interesting section appearing here are solid rules for adapting the Gazetteers to AD&D. I expect this was an attempt to open up the line to more gamers. I can't comment on the mechanics given, it only takes up a little more than a page, but it shows how TSR was evolving. The section ends with 16 pages of adventure seeds and ideas. Three major and extended adventures are plotted out- broken down by level. Then it gives several pages of smaller stories, with level suggestions. There's great ideas here- easily adapted by any DM.
OVERALL
I think you have two potential audiences for this. If you're a Mystaran DM (or a D&D Dwarven player) then you really ought to pick up this book. It is really well-written and a pleasure to read through. On the other hand, if you're a general fantasy rpg GM looking to drop a Dwarven nation into your campaign setting, then this is an excellent choice. There's mechanics here- but far more is giving over to cultural, society and adventure ideas. That's actually the way I ended up using this material in my own campaign. I'd had a place marked on the map as “Dwarven Lands” for several years. While they'd met Dwarves, I'd never really done anything with them. Finally I sat down and decided to, with some easy changes, just drop Rockhome into the game. Ironically, within a few sessions I wiped out the country, but that's another story...
WHAT IS IT?
Sourcebook for Elves in the classic D&D setting of Mystara.
INTO THE WOODS
The Gazetteer series now makes a significant turn- moving from nations and adventure settings to a deep treatment of particular Mystaran races. For more on Mystara and the Gazetteer series, see here. I don't know if it is deliberate, but on the printings I have of GAZ5: The Elves of Alfheim (and GAZ6: The Dwarves of Rockhome) the usual “GAZX” listing doesn't appear on the upper left hand corner of the cover. I suspect the intent might have been to sell this supplements as a more general “Elf” sourcebook for gamers playing in D&D. That's important because, of course, this was a system that IIRC first presented the race=class concept. I guess readers understand what that means- but I hadn't realized until recently that it was a significant bone of contention for both players in the old editions and some working with recent OSR systems.
I remember reading the D&D rules, but I was deep into AD&D. The idea that players choosing a Dwarf or Elf (and I think a Hafling as well) end up stuck with that as their class as well bothered me. It made a certain amount of sense- players gravitated to certain archetypes when playing those races (or vice versa). But at the time I felt they'd removed some player freedom in favor of simplicity. At that age it hadn't the implications of all members of a race having a specific class or concrete racial trait hadn't occurred to me. Perhaps I assumed those rules only applied to adventurers. But a supplement dealing with the Elves as a nation and a people has to wrestle with those questions. It has to support the original presentation and rules from the system, back up that explanation, and at the same time make sense. Elves of Alfheim has to offer options for Elf players, just as some of the previous volumes allowed characters from those nations some new options and details.
PRESENTATION
The Elves of Alfheim keeps much the same format as the previous books, but with a longer 96-page interior booklet. The tri-fold cover has a color hex map showing Alfheim in relation to its neighbors. The interior of the folder has a fully annotated and highly useful map of Alfheim Town- with the conventional and arboreal layers shown. Some past gazetteer city maps have been clunky, more rough shapes than anything. This gives a rich location which the DM could easily use and put into play. Smartly, one panel has a detailed layout of Embassy Row, the area most given over to foreigners. That area offers the most adventure opportunities within the city. The large fold out poster map has the usual hex map of the kingdom, but that takes up only a quarter of one side. The rest of that side gives a color coded map of Alfheim Town, already covered in the screen. For DMs planning on making that city the cornerstone of a campaign that's great, but if not then it feels like a duplication. Three insets on that side offer illustrations of what settlements in the tree-tops look like. They're western European buildings, but perched on limbs. I'm used to a more “tribal” or “primitive” approach to those treeborne settlements from other sources (such as Everquest). There's also a nice example of how one maps an Elven Town by charting trees. The flip side of this poster map is disappointingly blank.
BOOKLET
The booklet follows the same text design as before, done with three columns. The font size (except in certain places) feels larger and more open than in the early gazetteers which felt cramped. The previous volume GAZ4: The Kingdom of Ierendi moved to open things up, but Alfheim dials that back a bit. The pages look right, with a solid balance to white space to text. Some pages have an iconic watermark of a tree, but that's colored lightly enough that it doesn't affect legibility. Stephen Fabian provides more excellent art here- great evocative images and superb shots of NPCs. Some of the Elf clothing and feature designs echo Elfquest, while some feel more like Tolkien. There's other art in the booklet- location diagrams, heraldry, and maps- which I assume comes from the cartography team of Dave Sutherland and Dennis Kauth. The material is written by Steve Perrin (of Runequest fame) and Anders Swenson.
A SIDEBAR ON WHY I DON'T LIKE ELVES
It has been said within our group that I have a bias against Elves. I don't think that's necessarily true. But I do have an objection to some common and unquestioning presentation of Elves in games. In particular I dislike a default mode of racial arrogance and superiority. Some players love the Elves, but then have trouble defining what makes them great (or interesting or cool). Claiming inherent nobility or a superior connection with nature doesn't really do it. That's a value statement rather than concrete or specific evidence. And I've often seen players fall back to a sense of inherent superiority and the dismissal of other races based on Elves just being better. Oddly, this feeling comes from watching players many years ago and not recently. Much like my bias against Haflings, it arises from my early play experiences. So I guess I have to learn to overcome my upbringing.
Consider that Dwarves and Haflings have some “cultural” and physical character traits that can easily be grasped and played out at the game table: height, temper, love of material goods, etc. What do Elves have? If you have war-avoiding Elves, passivity isn't a fun thing to play, and if they go to war when provoked then that really isn’t a limitation or hook for play. Fragility, for Elves with a CON penalty, also doesn't seem like something fun to play. So the fallback personality & conflict trait can arrogance or superiority. And that's something that can gate on other players. What I guess I've objected to in the past has been a player fetishization of the Elves without any depth to that. There are traits that ought to define the Elves: extended lifespan, magical aptitude, and connection with nature. The question is how to put those into play in an good way at the table- how can players (and DMs) make Elves more than humans with pointy ears and self-proclaimed coolness.
THE BOOK ITSELF: HISTORY
After some brief comments about how DMs and players might use this supplement, Elves of Alfheim launches into a fairly comprehensive history of the peoples and their migrations. I particular like that the book takes time to address existing material. It mentions supplements useful in developing this volume and discusses the implications of the quests from CM7: The Tree of Life. In considering the history, Alfheim establishes a basic fact with heavy implications: only six full complete generations of Elves have lived and died since the beginning of the history given. That chronicle begins with the World of Blackmoor. Previous gazetteers have integrated details from that history (in particular Glantri) but none has really built and extended ties to that time. From the Alfheim book, we get a more complete picture of how the collapse of Blackmoor, the shifting of the poles and so on impacted the races of the world. There's an amusing detail in the path of Elvish migrations on the map, one that might be seen as prophetic. The map given clarifies that Mystara is simply a version of our world with the continents slightly shifted and turned on their side. The Elves migrate from their homelands after the fall of Blackmoor up into pseudo-North America, closer to the “Midwest.” They next leave that land to head to the Sylvan Realm which looks at lot like Seattle. Finally they make their last major shift and end up in New England. So we get TSR (Lake Geneva), WoTC (Seattle), and then Hasbro (Rhode Island). Perhaps I'm reading too much into that, especially from a book published in 1988. Also notable in the history are the Drow...sorry, I mean the Shadow Elves. They're dark skinned elves who live underground and resent their above-ground cousins. They get their own GAZ later in GAZ13: The Shadow Elves.
CULTURE
The next sections (pages 10-38) cover all of the major touchstones of Alfheim society: the way of the Elf, economics, politics, geography, environments, and a detailed treatment of Alfheim City. This is all well-written and very Elf-y. I suspect reader and DM's reactions will depend on how much the expect and enjoy a classic and middle-of-the-road treatment of the Elves. If you were to imagine a standard game treatment of Elven society, Alfheim would be close to that. There are a few distinctions worth noting. Primarily, the classic Tolkien derived tension between Dwarves and Elves isn't present. Also there's the division of the Elves into different clans. That touch adds a good deal of color to them, and is something I borrowed for my campaign Elves. One odd bit does call Elven society “classless,” and then gives a breakdown of the classes and hierarchy within it. This is a contradiction worth exploring- a distinction between how they see themselves and how they actually are. I like the ideas about wild magic and places, and the discussion of sacred trees. That Elves approach war as they would a hunt is also a useful concept. Perhaps because I've seen all the radical, diverse and different treatments of Elves in other games, this still feels vanilla. I played Rolemaster with its dozen+ Elves, some of them pretty crazy. Some of the Forgotten Realms and Dark Sun treatments stick in my head as well. But vanilla's my favorite flavor of ice cream, a delicious default, so that's worth considering.
NPCS
Next comes a presentation of the notable NPCs of Alfheim- one of my favorite and among the most useful sections of the book. This runs from page 39-44 and 53-62. Elvish and non-Elvish characters are covered- with a brief stat block. Most of each entry covers the personality, goals, and history of that character. I love this kind of material and it doesn't disappoint. I think the best compliment you can give game material is that you're imagining stories from it as you read. In most cases stories using the NPC sprang to mind immediately. Two previous gazetteers took the time to present important NPCs (Karameikos and Glantri). That makes them more useful to a GM considering running a campaign set in or passing through Alfheim. On the race=class question which the book thus far avoided- it stays the course with all of the Elvish NPCs listed with the Elf class.
PLAYERS
The middle eight pages of the booklet are a pull-out section for players. Two pages present narratives from outsiders on how they see Alfheim, and a third page offers a glossary of Elvish terms. The remaining five pages offer guidelines for creating an Elf character. This material covers both Alfheim and non-Alfheim Elves (mentioning two other Elvish groups which have appeared in Mystara material). The rules offer some suggestions for playing Elvish personality quirks (laziness/efficiency, clan focus, used to magic, spendthrift). Mechanically, the most important addition is the reutrn of the idea of skills, first presented in Karameikos and inconsistently treated throughout the series. The rules for skills have been consolidated and Elves now begin with a Tracking skill. Each clan has a signature skill as well.
MAGIC
Elves in D&D top out at 10th level, but can train with a human to go above that as a warrior. Alfheim presents a new system allowing Elves to now do the same with magic. Essentially they can train in Alfheim with a Treekeeper and learn higher level spells. The rules presented on pages 63-71 go over how to split these levels and experience. They also break down a new list of Elvish spells and offer four pages of spells, many of them new and many of them simply adapting over other spells (especially Druidic ones). The magic section covers a number of other secrets as well, which makes it more of a DM resources rather than something for a player to read through.
CAMPAIGNS
The last part of the book considers campaigning in Alfheim. Three pages cover the general considerations for building such a campaign. I especially like the idea of working with the players and having them define their family and friends as resources for story elements. For DMs just starting out or trying to figure out how to build such a centrally located game, the discussion will prove helpful. Of course after the general discussion the book gives seventeen pages of more specific adventures. There are some new monsters and a couple of pages of seeds for stories. But the book also includes six more fully defined adventures- with scenes, NPCs and twists (and nice connections to material & characters presented earlier). That makes this book especially useful for a Mystara DM.
OVERALL
I think you have two ways of considering The Elves of Alfheim. On the one hand, it works quite well as the sourcebook for Elves in the Mystara setting. You have an interesting, fun and rich take on the culture- without any artificial need to shock, darken or make the Elves eXtreme. They fit with the relatively lighter tone of the whole setting. There's a simplicity there that allows the DM more room than something highly specific or off-the-wall might. These stories and incidents rely on classic story tropes and motivations, which can make for some really excellent campaigns. On the other hand for DMs looking for a new take on the Elves, it may not be as useful. Or it might be if all you've been over-saturated with books offering a new take on Elves as psionic, spike-limbed hermaphrodites. I think there's enough in the way of good ideas to be borrowed (as I have done in my campaigns) to make this another gazetteer worth recommending. And I say that despite my bias against Elves.
WHAT
IS IT?
Region
sourcebook covering a island confederation dedicated to "adventure"
in the Mystara setting.
ON
FIRST LANDING
I
continue my reviews of the entire classic D&D
gazetteer series.
After a series of really strong entries in the series, we come to a
weaker one. GAZ4:
The Kingdom of Ierendi feels
like a throwback. Instead of the focused setting building of the
previous three entries, Ierendi presents classic adventures and story
seeds. Not that this is a bad approach, but it doesn't quite fit with
the other books. It offers adventure sandbox- with the cultural
details purely as flavor. The material on all levels depicts Ierendi
more as a place for PCs to go to or through rather than come from.
Again that isn't bad- just different. Still there's a great deal of
inspiration- general and specific- to mine. I like the idea of a set
of islands as a former fantasy penal colony. I've certainly used
that. For more on the Mystara and gazetteer series in general, please see here .
PRESENTATION
Once
again we get a tri-fold screen, with interior panels featuring a
castle and a diagram of one of the key islands. There's also a color
mini-hexmap showing Ierendi's relation to its neighbors. The fold-out
hexmap enclosed shows all of the Ierendi island chain. It also has a
decent and useful map of the City of Ierendi, with insets showing
some of the port defenses. On the reverse side, it has a black &
white hex sheet (strangely with black as the background). This is
intended for use with the sheets of counters included with the
supplement. These cover ships and navies from across the area so that
DMs can set up grand sea-based battles.
The
64-page booklet follows the same basic design as the three previous
series entries. However, there's a greater use of white space here,
and the font size has clearly been increased a point or two.
Strangely, after the density of the other volumes, that actually
makes this seem more empty- even though it is easier to read. Cylde
Caldwell provides
another signature cover, and Stephen
Fabian provides
interior illustrations. These are mostly atmospheric scenes from the
various islands, plus a handful of NPC faces peppered throughout the
book. Ierendiuses
a good deal more boxed text than the other books- mostly to mark out
all of the suggested adventures. The center of the booklet is a pull
out section for the players, intended to offer a “tourist brochure”
for anyone thinking of heading there. Anne
C. Gray wrote
this, as well as several other D&D books.
THE
BOOK ITSELF
The
booklet opens with a brief description of the contents, followed by
the key background points for the nation: history, timeline,
geography, key people, government, and economy. Ierendi has a strange
layered history- beginning with conflicting stories of the origin.
The Makai are described as aboriginal natives, but the “Islanders”
seem to be the more dominant group. They claim to be the original
settlers- exiled criminals from the Five Shires (covering in GAZ8:
The Five Shires ).
Those original criminals are said to have numbered eleven humans,
four haflings, three dwarves, and five elves...which must have made
for an odd culture. These criminals survived and flourished. When
word got back to the Shires, they sent ships to stake a claim to the
lands. However the exiles (along with the native Makai) managed to
fight them off. The true stories a little more complicated- involving
the Thyatian Empire who controlled the Shires at the time of
colonization. It was a more formal penal colony (ala Australia), set
free by a rebellion which established a monarchy. They managed to
fight off Thyatian Naval forces with the aid of a local secret
magical chantry located on Honor Island. That power keeps Ierendi as
one of the most important naval forces in the world- hence the
inclusion of the various naval game bits in with the
supplement.
Ierendi
is made up of a number of islands, with a wide range of climates and
terrain. That gives the DM a great deal of range to run in. Volcanic
activity and magic can, of course, be used as an excuse for
strangeness in the area. Ierendi also differs in being ruled by an
“Adventurer King and Queen" elected in a competition every
year. A council exists as well to advise- and there exists a kind of
hereditary noble class on the island, with a hand in the Navy, the
Royal Brigade, and the tourism industry- that being a key source of
revenue for the nation. That's an interesting twist- and given the
heavy use of magic for things like transport, it actually makes
sense. And tourism was a historically important source of revenues
and interaction- the Greeks toured the Ancient Pyramids, just as
modern tourists do today (though perhaps with less creature
comforts). The Ierendi book only offers a single page of key NPCs,
six characters. It seems like an oddly truncated entry in the book-
but the focus here is on session seeds and adventures. Ierendi
society presents a strange mix of “Islander” traditions mixed
with what I can only call “Adventurer” culture. It is a classic
fantasy feudal society, with those rulers chosen yearly in a
tournament. Some of the implications of that kind of power transition
are mentioned, but only a little. The focus of the society is on
tourism, with the wealth of that any local food plenty making this a
tropical paradise.
All
of this material is covered in the first 17 pages. There are some
interesting ideas there, and more than any of the previous books, the
ideas seem aimed at offering DMs ready quick adventures. Several
boxed story seeds appear within this section alongside, the societal
discussion. It is worth noting that there's a significant section on
The Eternal Truth, the religion of Ylaruam presented here (covered
in GAZ2: The Emirates of Ylaruam ).
It is odd and given more space than some of the more related material
on Ierendi. the section depicts the faith as militant, joyless and
demanding. That presentation's somewhat at odds with that of the
earlier gazetteer. There's certainly historical evidence for greater
militancy among Muslim groups outside of the Middle East, and I
wonder if that's the analogue source for this. Perhaps it draws on
the nature of Islamic trade groups in places like the Pacific.
Whatever the source, it just stuck out for me. Finally there's almost
nothing offered on making up a character from Ierendi, compared to
the material given in the other books.
The
middle of the booklet has two different pullout sections. One offers
a tourist guide to Ierendi, which- while more than a little goofy-
will be useful for DMs using the nation "as is." The other
provides four pages on Ierendi's military, in particular the Navy. It
presents more detailed ship rules and naval combat options, intended
to complement and expand the rules given in the Dungeons
& Dragons Set 2: Expert Rules .
There's some basic discussion of the different port capacities across
the nations of Mystara, a combat resolution table, and a sea battle
chance event table. The rules aren't deep- and while they have a
wargamey feel to them, they aim to give a DM tools to play out such a
battle, rather than to simulate precisely these kinds of
conflicts.
The
rest of the booklet (19-28, 37-64) covers each of the major islands
in turn. Though it varies from section to section, each has between
1/3 to 2/3 of the material devoted to adventures from seeds to
dungeon locations. That's quite a shift from the other books which
focused on background and mostly offer plot seeds (often a linked
series) in a chapter at the back.
THE
ISLANDS
Ierendi
Island: The
largest island, and the one which most holds to the social material
presented earlier in the book. The material focuses exclusively on
Ierendi City, rather than the island as a whole. That's useful since
adventures will probably use this place as a hub. The details here
again play into a looser and more wacky kind of campaign: magical
P.I.'s, a formal Adventurers' Club, and royal postings for
quests.
Safari
Island: A
nature preserve, wilderness tour and theme park. The parks offer
arenas for adventurers- with spectators able to observe through
well-protected galleries. Weapons give are non-lethal, with a
Lazer-Tag like belt registering damage done and taken. Two separate
adventures are presented with maps, one involving Lizard Men and the
other Hill Giants.
Alcove
Island: A
pirate nest among the islands. While people have now settled here,
pirate still hide among the lagoons and there's a secret port for
them here as well.
Utter
Island: A
deliberately creepy place, it is the home of a group of genetic
albino humans who have lived here for generations. They have a unique
Immortal patron, but are otherwise pretty normal. The presentation
seems aimed at making the PCs nervous.
White
Island: A
difficult to access island of white stone, it has a small Druidic
abbey. Legends surround the local white birds and apes, and the
practices the Druids undertake to keep an ancient evil from
returning.
Roister
Island: An
island exclusively settled by the Makai natives. It seems set up
purely to provide a backdrop for adventures involving the
Makai.
Aloysius
Island: A
former penal island, host to sickness carrying mosquitoes (oddly
called mau-mau). The recent discovery of mineral resources there have
made it a target of increased settlement and development, despite the
risks.
Elegy
Island: Site
of ancient Makai burial grounds and ceremonial markers.
Fletcher
Island: A
loose take on Fantasy
Island (complete
with Mr. Coarke who spins the illusions). Ugh. (*Yes, they make a
"The Carpet, the Carpet!!!" joke. )
Honor
Island: The
second largest of the island descriptions, Honor is home to a secret
cabal of mages. They're the secret behind Ierendi's naval success.
They jealously guard their knowledge of their existance, with a
chantry in the heart of a volcano. That actually conceals a passage
to the Plane of Fire- with elementals and mages exchanging
information and resources.
OVERALL
The
weakest of the gazetteers so far, The
Kingdom of Ierendi still
offers much for a DM. It adds some interesting color to the setting-
and some global material in the naval discussion. It does raise the
goofiness bar a little- if you like more staid and serious settings,
then Ierendi may be well out of your comfort zone. I'm a little
surprised at the absence of any West World references
in the adventure theme park section. For my own campaign, I took some
of the key concepts and changed them up signifjncaitly. Ierendi
remains a naval power, an island nation, and a former penal colony.
I've played up the tensions its existance creates between several
different powerful kingdoms who see it as their “property.” I
used the Honor Island concept, although that particular chantry was
destroyed in an earlier campaign. I also think of Ierendi as a much
larger set of island, dozens and dozens of them, some of them with
magical micro-climates. Perhaps the biggest change came in my
conception of the rulership of the nation. Given that our game world
leans more towards fantasy combined with steampunk and swashbuckling,
I ported over the concept of Al
Amarja from Over
the Edge to
here. So Ierendi City is a kind of strange crossroads of magic and
conspiracy, the 'Casablanca' of my game.
THE GAZETTEERS IN REVIEW
GAZ1: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos
GAZ5: The Elves of Alfheim
GAZ6: The Dwarves of Rockhome
I'd put together this guide over on RPGGeek a while back, and forgot to cross-post it then.
Below is a guide to the various lines of GUMSHOE products, arranged by date of initial publication. I've provided a brief description of the premise and what new ideas this iteration brings. As well, you'll find a link to the core book for the system, reviews for that core book, and links to other products in that line. In the case of Trail of Cthulhu, I've provided a link to the Gamer's Guide to that RPG.
Pelgrane Press has used their GUMSHOE rpg engine across a number of game lines. The mechanics of that system uniquely focuses on mysteries and problem solving. Not a generic system, GUMSHOE instead has a set of base mechanics and ideas tweaked, shifted and added to for each version- aiming to offer the best genre emulation.
For more game overviews, see the RPG System Metageeklist.
System: GUMSHOE
GUMSHOE is a ability-based system, with characters being defined primarily by the abilities they possess. Characters have two types of abilities: investigative and general.
Investigative abilities include fields of knowledge such as Ballistics, Forensic Anthropology, and Streetwise. These have a rating which serves as a pool for use of that ability. Possessing at least a one rating shows the character has expertise. When a player uses that ability to examine a scene, they do not have to roll. Instead, if there are core clues present which can be found by that means, they locate them. Points may be spent from an investigative ability to gain additional or extra information, at the GM or player's suggestion.
General abilities cover areas where players can risk failure- Athletics, Health and Shooting for example. Use of these abilities is uncertain and success or failure can have a dramatic impact on the story. General abilities also have a rating which represents a pool. To make a test, players roll 1d6. If they wish they may make a spend from the relevant ability's pool and add that to the roll. Players must meet or beat a difficulty set but not revealed by the GM. General ability pools require special circumstances to refresh (end of a story, time in a hospital, etc).
Review: GUMSHOE: RPGs I Like
The Esoterrorists
Premise: Players take the role of agents for the Ordo Veritas, a benevolent conspiracy. They battle against the Esoterrorists, a network of radicals and maniacs dedicated to breaking down the membrane between this world and the supernatural outside. They do this by crafting terror and manifesting otherworldly creatures. They operate like a terror network, with a focus on fear and publicity.
System Additions: This book sets up the basic GUMSHOE rules, with expert agents operating in a modern setting. Pelgrane plans to publish a second, revised edition of this game.
Core Book: The Esoterrorists
Additional Products: The Esoterror Fact Book, Profane Miracles, Albion's Ransom: Little Girl Lost, Six Packed, The Book of Unremitting Horror
Core Book Reviews: The Esoterrorists: RPGs I Like and Review Of The Esoterrorists By Pelgrane Press
Fear Itself
Premise: Players take the role of characters, perhaps victims, in a modern horror setting of slashers, creatures and maniacs. Fear Itself aims to simulate modern pop horror, especially cinematic horror of movies like The Ring, Pulse, and House of Wax.
System Additions: The list of abilities has been modified to reflect the lower relative skills of characters in this setting. The rules also include very basic psychic powers- with dangers associated with those. Characters can start from a list of stereotypes, and/or choose special Risk Factors- drives which explain why the character remains in the story rather than fleeing. Additional rules for stability appear as well.
Core Book: Fear Itself
Additional Products: The Book of Unremitting Horror, Invasive Procedures
Core Book Review: Fear Itself: RPGs I Like
Trail of Cthulhu
Premise: Investigators against the Cthulhu Mythos. Adapts the key ideas of Lovecraft's work and the rpg traditions established by Call of Cthulhu into GUMSHOE. ToC notably moves the timeline forward, setting the game generally in the 1930's, rather than 1920's.
System Additions: Retooled ability sets to fit the genre. The rules offer two approaches to campaigns and mechanics, Purist versus Pulp, with the latter offering the players more of a fighting chance. Characters now have Drives which guide their behavior and choose a Occupation to start. Occupations determine starting abilities, credit rating and special talents. Stability has now been paired with Sanity as two distinct abilities. Those rules, including madness mechanics, have been expanded.
The rules offer a significant discussion of the Cthulhu Mythos, followed by an extensive bestiary for creatures from there and elsewhere. Rules for setting-specific magic and tomes appear as well.
Core Book Reviews: Hiking with Cthulhu, Trail of Cthulhu: RPGs I Like, A perfect marriage of setting & rules, and My Profane Thoughts
Trail of Cthulhu: System Guide for New Gamers
Share A Game - Trail of Cthulhu
Mutant City Blues
Premise: An event ten years ago resulted in 1% of the population gaining super powers. Players take on the role of officers with powers dealing with "heightened" crime and criminals. A predictable structure and pattern to the superpowers allows for investigations based on meta-forensics.
System Additions: An extensive set of super-powers, some of which operate as investigative and some as general abilities. Unlike other superhero games, powers must be chosen along certain lines. These lines make up "The Quade Diagram" a resources for players to figure out which powers associate with which evidence. Other abilities and rules focus on the police procedural nature of the game.
Core Book: Mutant City Blues
Additional Products: Hard Helix, Brief Cases
Core Book Reviews: Mutant City Blues: RPGs I Like
Ashen Stars
Premise: A far-future sci-fi setting in which players take the roles of "Lasers," freelance law enforcers. These operate in the Bleed, a region of space once controlled by an empire known as the Combine, now left to its own devices. Navigating between disparate planetary cultures and races, the Lasers balance ethics and the need to make a buck. Moves the idea of mysteries forward more broadly to problem-solving.
System Additions: Several alien races with special talents provided. Alien specific abilities and psionics, as well as an ability list tuned to the sci-fi setting. Cyberware and biological implant rules. Extensive systems for spaceship combat. Notes on handling improvised investigations.
Core Book: Ashen Stars
Additional Products: Dead Rock Seven
Core Book Reviews: Review & A Couple of Thoughts, Ashen Stars - A review, and Stars Like Ash
Lorefinder
Premise: Not a stand-alone core book, Lorefinder adds elements of GUMSHOE's investigative rules to the Pathfinder system.
System Additions: Character creation within Pathfinder; drives for PCs; and new skills, feats and magic
Core Book: Lorefinder
Core Book Reviews: Is that GUM on my Pathfinder’s SHOE? Or, can an “old” dog learn new tricks?
Night's Black Agents
Note that the final version of this game has not yet been released. A pre-order is available, allowing purchasers a pdf version of the rules without art or layout.
Premise: Players take the role of spies who have been "burned" by their company. The reason: their discovery of a massive vampiric conspiracy behind the scenes. Now the PCs must remain alive while striking back at the monsters.
System Additions: Highly tailored set of abilities for the genre- with new ideas and uses for abilities. Rules for using investigative abilities and general and vice versa. Benefits for high level purchases of general abilities. Role specific talents. Mechanics for trust, contacts, networks and betrayal. Now options for cinematic combat. Chase rules. Vampire and conspiracy construction toolkit.
Core Book: Night's Black Agents
Core Book Reviews: I'm a secret agent there's nowhere you can hide and Tinker, Tailor, Vampire, Spy
WHAT IS IT?
Classic D&D region sourcebook covering a Magocracy in the Mystara setting.
GREATER THAN THE BORROWED PARTS
Though the Red Wizards of the Forgotten Realms setting get more attention and have lasted longer, Glantri's IMHO the more interesting and playable nation of mages. The third in the gazetteer series (see here for more on the series as a whole), Glantri is essentially the Western European analogue within the Mystara setting. But- and I may sound stupid saying this- I didn't really get that until I went back to reread the series. Other entries, GAZ1: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos and GAZ2: The Emirates of Ylaruam for example, wear their sources on their sleeve. The Principalities of Glantri conceals that beneath details of magic and the melting-pot background of nation. It is a country of immigrants, powerful noble families here having united under the banner of magical superiority. Only those possessing sorcerous skills have rank or power here. Each family borrows from a particular culture (German, Spanish, Italian, Scottish, etc) but that always felt like a surface trapping when I read the book. As a whole, Glantri feels most like France, with the different provinces sharing a common heritage, but with distinct expressions of identity and a strong independent streak. In rereading I spotted more of the literal borrowings, but they still work. For all that it riffs on those European stereotypes, GAZ3: The Principalities of Glantri manages to elevate those ideas and do something new with them.
The Principalities of Glantri remains my favorite of the gazetteers, with Karameikos coming in a close second. I've used ideas from it more than any other volume in the series. And I've only really only presented surface elements. We've had a few sessions skirting Glantri, but I've used characters from there, with their distinctive approach to magic and the cultural ideas. That's trickled down and informed other parts of my setting.
THE BOOK ITSELF
GAZ1: The Grand Duchy of Karameikos presented a small nation, with two distinct cultural groups, and a focus on local NPCs. GAZ2: The Emirates of Ylaruam compressed a large number of cultural groups, essentially a sub-continent, into one country and focused on ideas and themes. GAZ3: The Principalities of Glantri again takes a large and diverse cast of cultures and brings them together, but with a tight focus on noble family. Beyond that, Glantri organizes itself very differently from the previous two volumes. Larger than the last two, 96 pages instead of 64, it presents a structure for a specific campaign. Glantri presents the tools for a DM to run a full party of mages from apprenticeship through adult adventuring life. That campaign has the characters uncovering the secret behind the power and powers of Glantri itself, the Radiance. Despite its difference, this approach still fits with the rest of the line.
It isn't surprising that Glantri- in some ways the most full-fleshed and developed of the gazetteers- comes from Bruce Heard, product manager for at least the early line. His name appears on most of the significant Mystara products in one way or another. The Principalities feels like something that the author has run and played with, rather than a product created to fill a niche ("OK we've got a Hobbit place on the map, who wants to do that?"). Heard's name also appears on the later version of Glantri- Glantri Kingdom of Magic- when TSR brought the setting up into AD&D 2e. I dislike that later product intensely, in great part because I like the material here so much. Instead of adding to it, that knocks down and ravages it in the name of change. Eventually I'll get to a review of those products after I've worked through all of these.
Besides the change in length, Glantri only has a couple of other minor changes to the physical design of the series. The main saddle-stapled booklet comes with a folio cover as usual. Instead of the tri-fold of the first two, this cover is a bi-fold. The two interior pages have location maps- one a common Wizard Keep and the other The Great School of Magic. The latter's a little disappointing, because it doesn't really look all that grand. It would be a few more years before we saw epic mage locations like those of Ars Magica, Harry Potter and Redhurst, so that can be excused. The enclosed poster-sized map is the first in the series printed on front and back. One side shows the hex-grid map of the Principalities, plus three inset map locations that are OK, but not great. However the reverse side offers a really awesome map of the City of Glantri- wonderfully laid out with canal waterways. Three inset images present details of the harbor and special buildings. This is one of my favorite city maps. It is interesting and useful- I can imagine running a chase using it.
The booklet sticks to the same three columns with tiny text of the previous two volumes. Some of the pages have a watermark, but those with illustrations or colored sidebars don't. Stephen Fabian provides the excellent art- there's a nice mix of images for key NPCs and illustrations of material discussed in the text. This book, more than the previous two, relies on narration and stories. We get tales from newcomers and foreigners, as well as testimonials from important NPCs. Just about every major section has some kind of game fiction dialogue. These are very targeted, with the narrator describing a particular event, person or institution. I'm often pretty negative about game fiction fluff- but here it works well. It sets the tone of the material and offers some insights on presenting the ideas to the players.
WHAT IT OFFERS
The Principalities of Glantri provides some of the same basic material as the previous two entries in the series: history, economy, geography and so on. But the actual execution of that material, as I mentioned above, is in the form of first and third person narratives. The stories say as much about the narrators as they do about the topics. The author also sets up the gazetteer explicitly as a campaign from the outset, discussing how the pieces presented fit into that. But even if you're not planning on running a Glantri-mage centered game, the material still works. I can attest to that, having adapted the ideas across years of my house campaign and across several different systems. DMs should be aware of a couple of important structural restrictions right off the bat. Dwarves are welcomed in Glantri, but mostly because of their desirability for magical experimentation (i.e. they can survive longer). Second, and perhaps more importantly, clerics of any kind are illegal within the lands. That's an interesting distinction- and offers some insight into a world where ascended Immortals take the place of gods.
I don't want to dwell on the specifics of the chapters- they thoroughly covering important aspects of life in this nation. That's tough to do given the diversity of peoples here. The DM will have to do some serious filling in of details of normal life, since the focus stays on the elite of the country. Different family lines govern each Principality, each with a distinct origin and cultural background. While they share a common adherence to the magocracy, they are (of course) at each others throats. That makes Glantri an interesting and highly political setting. A number of the families don't even come from this world originally. Most of the material presented in the first third of the book focuses on setting up those different families and their personalities for the players.
THE FAMILIES
House of Sylaire aka d'Ambreville: "Mutant Werewolves of Averoigne"- I mention them first both because they're the most powerful and also because they have the strongest tie to classic D&D history. Veteran players may recognize them from the module X2: Castle Amber (Château d' Amberville). They came to this world from that one. They're also a lift from both Edgar Allen Poe stories and from Clark Ashton Smith's stories of Averoigne. CAS remains my favorite old-school fantasy author, and it is interesting to see how his weird fantasy ideas translate into a game more heavily influenced by the likes of Vance, Tokien and Howard. As you might imagine, the d'Ambreville borrow from French cultural traditions.
House of Crowngaurd aka McGregor: "Chauvinistic Scots of Chaos"- another family who came here from the same world as the d'Ambreville. Heavily invested in necromancy, they are governed by a leader who has converted himself into a lich through the powers of Radiance (a concept I'll come back to).
House of Igorov aka Gorevitch-Woszlany: "Expansionist chaotic vampires"- another family with necromancy in its blood. Trace their family line back to the Traldaran's of Karameikos. As you can imagine, they come off as very Transylvanian.
House of Linden aka Vlaardoen: "Vengeful Followers of the Fame"- a family descended people originally from another world, their fellow refugees went on to found one of the two great empires in Mystara, Alphatia. They seem to be borrowing from the Dutch, but those connections are pretty light.
House of Ritterbeg aka Von Drachenfels: "Warmongering Military Technocrats"- The military backbone of the nation, and one borrowing heavily from Prussian and German cultures.
House of Silverston aka Aendyr: "Sneaky Alphatian Imperialists"- Rivals of the Vlaardoens they descend from more recent exiles from the Alphatian Empire. They don't borrow distinctly from a single culture.
House of Singhabad aka Virayana: "Lawful Pacifists of Ethengar"- They originally come from the nomadic peoples of Ethengar (covered in GAZ12: The Golden Khan of Ethengar). They have the most tolerance for clerics.
House Sirecchia aka di Malapietra: "Poisonous Thyatian Machiavellians"- They come from the other major empire of Mystara, Thyatis. However they have a more classic Renaissance Italian feel to them- which differs slightly from how the Empire ends up portrayed in the later boxed set Dawn of the Emperors: Thyatis and Alphatia. In fact, they have more in common with the presentation of Darokin (GAZ11: The Republic of Darokin) the nation of merchants.
Clan of Alhambra aka Belcadiz: "Proud Elven Swashbucklers"- This Elvish family doesn't come from the Elves of this continent, but rather from a land far away. They're short, hot-tempered and based on Spanish themes.
Clan of Ellerovyn aka Erewan: "Tree-Loving Elven Ecologists"- This Elvish family, on the other hand, comes originally from Alfheim (covered in GAZ5: The Elves of Alfheim). They're more classically 'Elfy'.
So you can see Glantri bursts with ideas and plots. Several excellent sections break down those families, provide insight on their relations and describe the major NPCs of each. That material bleeds over into the other major power-players in the lands- guilds, brotherhoods and secret societies.
LIVES AND ADVENTURES
The middle third or so of the booklet (running from page 38 to 63) covers Glantri City and the Great School of Magic. While the various provinces have their own towns, villages, and castles, Glantri city is the hub. Most campaigns will begin there, and it alone could offer the background to many sessions worth of gaming. This chapter breaks down the city by neighborhoods, provides a calendar of festivities, and outlines the laws, atmosphere and daily life of the city. All of it is great and useful information, well-presented. More than any other GAZ in the line, Glantri brings to life a city with rich detail for the DM to draw from. On the other hand, I'm a little surprised in going back how little information the booklet actually gives for the Great School of Magic. It offers some mechanics and details (tuition costs, some feat-like bonuses which can be picked up, and graduation tests) but it seems a little bit of a missed opportunity. That may be in hindsight, given other more famous magic schools which popped up. Still the ideas given are excellent and fun.
The last third of the booklet offers substantial DM tools and mechanics. First, it provides a toolbox for creating new spells and magic items. Such things cost gold to create- representing resources invested in the project. Next, the book explains the secret of the Radiance, magical energy present in Glantri and tied to the Immortal Rad. The secret's in the name and ties back to elements from the Blackmoor background. This section provides some ideas on how the players might learn these secrets, harness spells from the Radiance and even change the course of history. That's, however, optional to the setting and feels a little unnecessary. Beyond that, the section offers new seven secret crafts (with new spells): alchemy, dragon magic, elements, illusions, necromancy, runes, and witchcraft. These offer some great ideas for a GM wanting to expand high-level magic in their campaign. Finally, the booklet finishes with a list of adventure seeds, broken down by level. Many of these are linked- given the GM the skeleton of a long-term campaign in this region.
OVERALL
I love this book. a DM could easily run a campaign just using the stuff given here. That economy is admirable- a booklet which offers in 96 pages what many books would have needed twice that to do the same thing. There's little waste here. There are a few goofy things- like the Scottish Liches and the Apocalypse Now references in the adventure section. But it offers a wealth of ideas, cultures and peoples. Most of all they're fun- even when they're a little sinister. Even the bad guys here have to function in cooperation with the other families, making it both more real and more interesting than the Red Wizards of Thay ever were to me. I've used the ideas, families and characters from this supplement for years. My players know those family names and can remember the distinctive traits of many of those lines. I count that as the mark of great source material- when it creates fun and memorable moments at the table.
