Showing posts with label eberron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eberron. Show all posts

The Crimson Talisman (Eberron / War-Torn, Book 1) Review

The Crimson Talisman (Eberron / War-Torn, Book 1)
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The Crimson Talisman (Eberron / War-Torn, Book 1) ReviewIt took me a while to finish this book, as another reviewer said, it is boring in many places. The book suffers from several over done cliches. At first everyone and everything is just too mysterious; you have a mysterious cleric leading a boy with a mysterious artifact on a mysterious journey where they meet a mysterious peddler and are chased by a mysterious evil knight.
Later, the book suffers from the "Show me, don't tell me" syndrome. The characters continually repeat the same thing over and over just to remind the reader of certain facts.
The book also fails as a Dungeons & Dragons tie in product. First, a D&D book needs to have reconizable aspects of the game within it. If I am halfway into the book and the Cleric has not cast a single spell, something is wrong here. Secondly, the author did not do his homework where Eberron is concerned. House Orien is a human house, a half elf would not have the Mark of Passage. The creator of Eberron, Keith Baker has pointed this out.
One thing more I would point out, while this book is part of a series of books; Thw War Torn series. They are all stand alone stories with the theme of recovery from the last war. Don't let this book stop you from looking at the other books in this series.The Crimson Talisman (Eberron / War-Torn, Book 1) OverviewThe first book in a series of high adventure novels set in the Eberron™ Campaign Setting.The Crimson Talisman is the first title in a new Eberron™ series that focuses onwar-torn souls that have known nothing but a world in chaos. Each book in thisseries will focus on the aftermath of The Last War, in which every realm ofthe Eberron setting fought a bitter and long-lasting battle.AUTHOR BIO: ADRIAN COLE is currently the Director of College Resources in a large secondary school in Bideford, England. He remains best known for his DreamLords trilogy as well as his young adult novels, Moorstones and The Sleep of Giants.

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Marked for Death (The Lost Mark, Book 1) Review

Marked for Death (The Lost Mark, Book 1)
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Marked for Death (The Lost Mark, Book 1) ReviewMarked for Death is an entertaining and action-packed story--which is exactly what one should expect when reading a novel based in a D&D gameworld. The main characters are well portrayed and the author does an excellent job writing dialogue for the villains--the antagonists have reasonable motivations (and explanations) for their actions which is something you rarely see in a genre novel such as this.
The only flaws in the book are its length and a rough shift in tone from the novel's start to its end. In terms of length, much of the action repeats itself, as other reviewers have noted. In terms of tone, the first (and much stronger) half of the novel feels like the classic western, "The Searchers." This portion is a grim, grounded story that really grabs the reader. In the second half of the story, however, the action goes rather widescreen echoing one of the big action scenes of Attack of the Clones.
The two halves just don't fit well together and I wish that Mr. Forbeck had remained true to the Western feel that he so carefully crafted in the early parts of the story. That said, the good parts of the story outweigh the bad and I see real promise in this series.Marked for Death (The Lost Mark, Book 1) OverviewMarked for Death begins a new epic trilogy set in the world of Eberron, Wizards of the Coast's newest D&D® campaign setting. The Eberron world will continue to grow through new roleplaying game products, novels, miniatures, and electronic games.AUTHOR BIO: Matt Forbeck has written and designed games for more than 14 years, for which he has garnered several awards. His most recent title for Wizards of the Coast was Secret of the Spiritkeeper, the kickoff novel for the Knights of the Silver Dragon™ young reader series for Mirrorstone™ Books.

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Grasp of the Emerald Claw (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Setting Adventure) Review

Grasp of the Emerald Claw (Dungeon and Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Setting Adventure)
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Grasp of the Emerald Claw (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Setting Adventure) ReviewBruce R. Cordell wrote this adventure. I've liked everything written by Bruce R. Cordell (In fairness, there are a few pieces that I don't rave about). This piece is no exception.
This is the conclusion of the story begun in The Forgotten Forge in the Eberron Campaign Setting and continued through Shadows of the Last War and Whispers of the Vampire's Blade. I haven't had the chance to read the last two adventures in this series (much less review them) so I'll review this as a stand-alone piece.
In this series, the characters, working for house Cannith, are trying to assemble four schemas which together compose a powerful artifact called the Creation Pattern, a left over from the Age of Giants. A group called the Emerald Claw is also searching for these schema. So what keeps this from being a standard "MacGuffin" plot?
The Creation Pattern is evil.
After the inciting incident of The Grasp of the Emerald Claw, the enemy possesses all three of the known schema and begins searching for the fourth. The character's must be the first to get to the last schema. It's their only hope to stop the Emerald Claw (and perhaps find the first three pieces). No one realizes that Creation Pattern has plans of its own.
The resulting adventure has the feel of the old pulp adventures. Picture King Solomon's Mines. More accurately, picture Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea meets The Heart of Darkness meets Congo (the novel, not that horrible Laura Linney movie). It is a fun, entertaining romp.
One of the strengths of any Cordell adventure is the level of thought he puts into realistic detail. Ancient traps run out of power over time, character motivations and twists are well drawn and and the ecology of the dungeon holds together. If there is a creature too big to escape the room where it lives (and there is), you know how it got there, why it got there, and what it eats.
My complaints with this module are minor. Some of the dialog or description clunk once in a while. An encounter or two feels forced., but this is nothing that should hamper anyone's enjoyment of the adventure, especially if the DM does his own descriptions instead of reading "boxed text."
My biggest complaint has to do with the climax. This takes place in a interesting looking room. In effect, this is the opposite of the "Steam Factories" you see at the end of so many movies. You know the place. The hero and the villain end up grappling in a factory with no workers that seems to produce nothing but steam. This adds delicious threat to the fight scene, as long as the viewer doesn't think too much about why the factory is there or what it is doing.
As I said, the climax of this adventure takes place in the opposite setting. The room has a purpose, it's filled with stuff, yet accept for the climactic fight, nothing here is dangerous. I think that Cordell had a wonderful opportunity for a rich and dangerous tactical environment and missed it. I would suggest to any DM running this adventure to make this room come to life, it shouldn't be hard to rationalize how. Your game will benefit from it greatly.
I'd recommend this adventure to anyone playing in the Eberron setting. It might not be Cordell's crowning achievement but it's a good, solid module and a step above many of the adventures one sees these days.
Grasp of the Emerald Claw (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Setting Adventure) OverviewThe third stand-alone adventure for the new Eberron campaign setting.This full-length adventure for the newest D&D® campaign setting showcases many of the most unique traits of the Eberron setting. It plays out across the Eberron world and is designed to either be a stand-alone adventure or an immediate follow-up to the first and second published Eberron adventures, Shadows of the Last War™ and Whispers of the Vampire's Blade™.AUTHOR BIO: Bruce R. Cordell, an Origins-award-winning author, has designed over 30 game titles, including the Expanded Psionics Handbook™. He also co-authored Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead™, the Planar Handbook™, the Epic Level Handbook™, and Underdark™.

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Explorer's Handbook (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement) Review

Explorer's Handbook (Dungeon and Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement)
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Explorer's Handbook (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement) ReviewWell, another Eberron book, and another winner.
The artwork in this book is awesome, the cover art, the chapter beginning and pictures throughout are all of consistent high quality.
The content seems to be well laid out, however the lack of index in reference books is becoming frustrating.
The book contains the following Chapters (you will need the TOC as there is no index...)
Introduction
Intro and overview, how to read the stat block etc.
Chapter 1: Travel
Reasons for travel, motivations for travel, (I especially liked the section on travel vs. teleport, which gives a range of situations in which travel not teleport is appropriate.), how to travel, modes of transport, travel encounters
Chapter 2: Tools of the trade
Elemental vessels, everything you wanted to know, how to construct, controlling bound elementals, freeing them and so forth. Airships, attacking airships, elemental landcarts.
Lightning rail, movement of, battles on and a useful lightning railcar map.
Stormships and wind galleons and other vessels.
The chapter then goes on to boarders, forged papers, funded expeditions, organisations and then has...
3 Prestige classes
Cataclysm Mage
A seer like mage who's desire for forgotten knowledge and prophecy leads to great power and greater risk
Thunder Guide
A sort of scout/ranger adventurer
Windwright Captain
Most likely an NPC class as it revolves around piloting elemental vessels.
Chapter 3: Points of Origin
(Containing 4 Map Sites)
Where adventures start, a few adventure hooks, a map of the docking tower at stormhome, a lightning rail station etc.
The Crimson Ship deserves special mention as an inventive and potentially exciting role-play side adventure.
Chapter 4: Midpoints
(Containing 4 Map Sites)
The places along the way, along with many further adventure ideas to go with them
Chapter 5: Destinations
(Containing 9 Map sites)
The final destination of the adventure, described in the chapter are several fairly well detailed locales. The Khyber Dragonshard Cavern, the Shalquar Monastery and Tharkgun Dhak appeal particularly to me.
Appendix: Ancient Treasures
Giant and Dhakaani Antiquities
Magic items from past ages, some cool new items and a new special material (Eldritch whorlwood)
The book is packed with adventure hooks, detailed maps and ideas.
Looks like it will be a fantastic game aid and the artwork is fantastic.
4 stars, possible 4.5, however the lack of index prevents a 5 star rating.Explorer's Handbook (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement) OverviewThe ultimate sourcebook for players wishing to explore the world of Eberron. The Explorer's Handbook showcases the multi-continental aspect of the Eberron setting. The chapter on travel discusses instantaneous and played out travel and provides deck plans for airships, the lightning rail, and galleons, plus other methods of conveyance. A chapter on Explorer's Essentials offers information on travel papers, preassembled equipment kits, how to join the Wayfarers' Foundation, and more.This handbook encourages players to explore the entire world rather thanremain fixed in one region.DAVID NOONAN is an RPG designer/developer at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Recent credits include authoring Complete Divine™ and co-authoringRaces of Stone™ and Unearthed Arcana™.RICH BURLEW is a freelance writer whose previous design credits includeMonster Manual™ III. He was also one of the three finalists in Wizards of theCoast, Inc.'s new campaign setting search in 2002.FRANK BRUNNER has been working in the game industry for four years andhas written several articles for Dragon® Magazine and Dungeon® magazine.

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Races of Eberron (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) Review

Races of Eberron (Dungeons and Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement)
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Races of Eberron (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) ReviewDespite being part of the "Races of" series, this is an Eberron book, but don't let that stop you from buying it because it does provide information on how to introduce these new races into other settings.
The new Eberron setting introduced several new concepts to D&D, including several new races and this book greatly expands upon them.
The Warforged are basically "fantasy robots", and as a living construct they are very different from the "normal" races of D&D. This chapter expands how this very young race lives day to day, their psychology, culture and rather short history.
Next we have Shifters, they are belived to be children of those infected with Lycanthropy (werewolves). As such, they inherit several bestial traits, and this book adds several new ones based on other types of lycanthropes.
The best chapter IMHO, is Changelings, the descendants of Dopplegangers that had infitrated Eberron in the past. There are three basic types of Changelings, Becomers: who maintain a bunch of alternate identites, Passers: Who try to live their life under one identity and Reality Seekers: Who live openly as a Changeling.
Lastly we have the Kalashtar, a psionic race who are actually two beings in one. If you are a fan of the Soul Knife class from the Expanded Psionic Handbook, you will love all the new feats and prestige classes introduced in this chapter.
My one and only complaint of these chapters is the lack of a "How to fight this race" sidebar. In the Eberron setting, you are not just going to be playing these races, you will be fighting them as well. How do you ID an Chageling in disguise?
The next chapter covers the basic races of D&D, but with as they exist in Eberron. If this book is truely considered part of the "Races of" series, it would have been nice if the new races in those books and the psionic races had been included here as well.
Next we have feats, prestige classes and racial substitution levels, and it does include Psionic & Tactical feats and Psionic substitution levels. The book ends with new spells, artificer infusions and psionic powers as well as magic items crafted for these races.
Overall, a very good book, even the matrerial that might not directly fit your world can be adapted to work quite easily.Races of Eberron (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement) OverviewA new D&D sourcebook detailing the major races of the Eberron™ world.Races of Eberron™ provides Dungeons & Dragons® players and Dungeon Masters with an in-depth look at the new races of the Eberron Campaign Setting, including changelings, the kalashtar, shifters, and the warforged. The book includes extensive information on each race, plus new race-related feats, prestige classes, spells, and equipment. In addition, this book highlights the other major races of the Eberron world, including elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs, and drow.AUTHOR BIO: Jesse Decker is a designer for Wizards of the Coast, Inc. whose recent roleplaying game design credits include Races of Stone™ and Unearthed Arcana™. Before joining the RPG R&D team as a designer, Jesse served as Editor-in-Chief of Dragon® Magazine.AUTHOR BIO: Matthew Sernett is the Editor-in-Chief of Dragon Magazine. He has written several roleplaying game books for Green Ronin and Wizards of the Coast, Inc. His recent credits include d20 Menace Manual™.AUTHOR BIO: Keith Baker is the creator and co-author of the Eberron Campaign Setting. A foremost expert on the world of Eberron, he wrote Shadows of the Last War™ and co-authored Sharn: City of Towers™.AUTHOR BIO: Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel is a managing editor for Wizards of the Coast, Inc. In addition to editing several D&D books, she has co-authored Underdark™ and Planar Handbook™, for Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

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Eberron Campaign Setting (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying) Review

Eberron Campaign Setting (Dungeons and Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying)
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Eberron Campaign Setting (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying) ReviewI should start by saying that Eberron did not save D&D for me, but it rather breathed a new, healthy interest into the hobby for myself. I waited for months like many others, listening to the naysayers who were so convinced that it was going to bomb royally, and picked up the book without reading any reviews by others who bought it.
It was everything that I expected, and more. Ranking in at 320 pages, the book is not going to set any records, but the existing detail that was packed into the space is amazing.
The Introduction sets the tone of Eberron nicely, and gives a list of 'Ten Things That You Need To Know About Eberron'. It also gives a list of pulp and film-noir movies like the Maltese Falcon that fit the mood of Eberron nicely.
Chapter One deals with character races, introducing the Changeling (human with a doppelganger ancestor that has the ability to alter her appearence at will), Kalashtar (psionic race, long backgound that I'll have to skip here), Shifter (humans with lycanthrope ancestors, extremely well done), and the Warforged (constructs powered by magic that have souls and intelligence, they were built as elite units during the Last War). The chapter also gives descriptions of the existing races and how they fit into Eberron. Some, like the elves and gnomes, go through a major reenvisioning that I think is definetely for the better.
Chapter Two deals with Character Classes, introducing the Artificer (a type of mage who infuses items with magic, kind of like limited use staves or scrolls, and is very big with crafting items) and giving example characters and backgrounds for each of the other classes. The Artificer is very unique and well-thought out, and fits in well with a party that has a warforged 'tank'.
Chapter Three deals with Heroic Characteristics, describing Action Points (a similar system is found in the SW RPG with Force Points and d20 Modern) and the 70-odd new feats.
Chapter Four introduces us to 8 new prestige classes, actually 12, because one, the Eldeen Ranger is actually five-in-one (its' abilities are adjusted depending on which druidic sect you choose). My personal favorite is the Master Inquisitive, a 5 level prestige class perfectly suited for pulp detectives and some bounty hunters.
Chapter Five deals with Magic and the Planes of Eberron. The beginning of the chapter summarizes nicely what role the magewrights (a new working NPC class of mages, fulfill the low-level industrial uses of magic, like lighting continual flame lanterns in the streets) and the Dragonmarked houses fulfill in everyday life. It also introduces a new concept of 'manifest zones' for the planes. Every so often, one of the planes will stray close to Eberron (all of them are on an 'orbit', remiscent of the planets of our solar system around the sun) and in the area that is affected, certain spells may be extended or maximized for example, and others may be impeded. The chapter ends with numerous new domains and spells, many devoted to aiding or injuring constucts.
Chapter Six details Adventuring Equipment, mainly exotic weapons, weapon/armor materials, and identification documents that most of the upper-class uses while traveling.
Chapter Seven, Life in the World, in easily the longest section at 96 pages. It describes each of the nations of Khorvaire in detail, as well as Aerrnal and the other continents in Ebberon (Xen'Drik, Argonnessen, and Sarlona in case you were wondering). It ends with a timeline of the World, the first dated entry being a whopping 10,000,000 years ago!
Chapter Eight describes the various Organizations of Eberron, along with example characters. I can't say too much without giving some brilliant stuff away, but many of the evil forces in the world have their sticky hands in some high places, to say the least.
Chapter Nine gives you advice on how to Run an Eberron Campaign, ranging from how to get the party together to pulp-noir mission types.
Chapter Ten deals with Magic Items, the most notable being the three types of Dragonshards that make late 1800's-eque technology available in a pulp-fantasy setting. Two new concepts include elemental bound items (which are exactly what they sound like, items that have an elemental bound inside them, giving various bonuses) and warforged components, items that specifically take up slots meant only for the warforged. A mystery surrounds some, since some are tens of thousands of years old and function only on the warforged (who were first produced 30-odd years ago).
Chapter Eleven gives statistics and decriptions for new types of monsters in Eberron, as well as information on how to fit existing ones into your campaign.
The book ends with an example adventure meant for four 1st level characters in the city of Sharn. I don't plan on running it myself, but the overall tone of it looks quite suited for a pulp campaign.
The artwork in the book IMO is well-done, although not all may approve of the new comic book style of some pieces, mainly traditionalists. Some of the artwork, like the overview of the Aundairian countyside on page 140 is awe inspiring, while others like the warforged wizard on 112 I could live without.
I believe that this is best setting sourcebook that I have ever bought for D&D, and would recommend it to anyone that wants to try out a different style of campaign then the straight out genocide of the orcs and goblinoids.
My only drawback about the book is that there is no fold out map. Fortunately, some resourceful people online made one of their own, complete with towns and places of interest.
Keep an open mind while reading this friends, this is brilliance in a bound cover here.
Au revoirEberron Campaign Setting (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying) OverviewAn entirely new campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons® roleplaying game.During the spring and summer of 2002, Wizards of the Coast, Inc., put out a request to the gaming community for proposals for a new D&D game setting. 11,000 proposals and two years of development later, the Eberron Campaign Setting is the result of that search. This brand-new setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game is an avenue for any D&D fan to experience swashbuckling adventure and explore mysterious new territories.Designed to introduce a new, fresh world with unlimited possibilities for exploration, the Eberron Campaign Setting includes everything needed to develop characters and run campaigns in this exciting new arena. It includes new character races, monsters, prestige classes, feats, organizations, and equipment unique to the world, and it introduces a new base class to the D&D game. It contains substantial information on new elements of magic, including spells, domains, items, artifacts, and more. Also included are historical and cultural details of the world, along with extensive illustrations and a wealth of maps that put the setting into vivid context. This title will also include both adventure hooks and a full adventure so that players and Dungeon Masters can immediately begin enjoying everything this rich new setting has to offer.

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