Stormhaven: City of a Thousand Seas/Dungeon Magazine Issue 92 -- May 15, 2002
Welcome to The Critic's Corner. This review is for Stormhaven: City of a Thousand Seas by Patrick Younts. Stormhaven is a 64-page supplement that retails for $14.95 and is the second book in Mongoose Publishing's Cities of Fantasy series.
Stormhaven is a city that exists where none should, in the middle of the open seas. Built upon a disk of preternatural stone supported by four massive pillars, this city lives on two levels, a floating city below and one on top of the great disk. The versatility of this book is incredible. Not only can it be used in any fantasy d20 campaign, it can also be used in just about any setting or gaming system period.
Stormhaven jumps right in with an overview of the city. Its history, guilds, government, laws, trade relations, military, festivals and holidays, diversity of religion and use of magic are all touched upon. The bulk of this book is filled with well-described locales and prominent NPCs associated with them. Stormhaven itself is divided into two sub-cities, Upside (on top of the disk), where the affluent and long established businesses exist, and the Driftdowns, the floating city beneath the disk where the more common and poor folks live.
The final two sections of Stormhaven give a GM the tools to really make the city come alive for his characters. "Sailors, Soldiers and Scoundrels" gives you the movers and shakers of the Stormhaven. Five diverse and formidable NPCs are fully detailed and ready for use. Five different organizations including the various Watches, an organized crime syndicate, and a list of guards and bodyguards that are available for hire round out this section. "Sailor's Tales and Glittering Gold" presents three adventuring hooks, two new spells, two new feats, and three new magic items. All of these are well balanced and provide some great new material to throw at your players.
In conclusion, Stormhaven is a valuable resource for any GM who runs a nautical campaign or is looking for something very different to thrust his players into. I urge you to add this one to your library. I don't believe you will be disappointed.
The Critic's Rating: (maximum 5 pts for each category)
Amount of Open Game Content: 4.5
d20 Compliance: 5.0
Originality: 5.0
Playability: 5.0
Value for the dollar: 5.0
Overall Rating: 4.90
Final Grade: A+
Dungeon Magazine Issue 92
My second review is for Dungeon Magazine 92 from Wizards of the Coast. Dungeon consists of independent adventures ranging from 1st level to 20th level. Dungeon has long been a cornerstone magazine for quality adventures and the tradition continues under the d20 rules system.
After opening with a brief editorial and letters sections, the fun really starts. "Interlopers of Ruun Khazai" is an adventure for four 13th level characters. Players make a trip to the Astral Plane in order to find powerful magic inside a lost githyanki outpost. This is an excellent story that will test the mettle of any player. It does require some extra work on the part of the DM due to the NPCs and pacing of the plot. If everything is done properly, your players will talk about this one for years. "Interlopers" does use elements from Manual of the Planes and Stronghold Builder's Guide, but it is not necessary to own them prior to running this adventure.
"Critical Threats" is a one-page article that outlines a NPC that would make the perfect villain. Lord Flame is a Flamebrother salamander that was thrown into the Material Plane and is now the leader of a tribe of orcs and resides in a dormant volcano. This is an excellent write-up to use for creating a behind-the-scenes villain for a lower level party.
"The Swarm" is an adventure for four 1st level characters and introduces a new monster known as the hive spider. Since goblins are prominently featured, a dwarven PC is highly recommended due to his racial bonuses. This is an adventure that can be challenging but livable, or result in total party kill fairly quickly depending on how the dice fall and how good the DM is. The story itself is a variation of the classic family feud theme where the sons must deal with an old enemy of their father's.
"Return of the Blessed Damozel" is a side trek story for four 11th level PCs. Set in an urban location, the players must save a young man's soul from eternal damnation by helping him break free from a street gang that he is involved with. The leader of the gang, a rakshasa, will stop at nothing to prevent this from happening. If the party succeeds, they now have an enemy who stalks and harries them relentlessly. This sets the stage for many adventures to come.
"The Razing of Redshore" is an extremely challenging adventure for four 20th level characters. This story is designed to be a lead-in to the upcoming Epic Levels Handbook. Key elements include a sperm whale druid who is terrorizing a town, a secret cabal of assassins, and a kraken guarding a major artifact. This is a good adventure and worth the purchase price of the magazine itself.
The flip side of Dungeon is the latest issue of Polyhedron (May 2002). Besides an editorial, you also get the latest d20 news, what products and releases are on the horizon, some RPGA articles on this year's Winter Fantasy, and a brand new d20 Spelljammer supplement written by Andy Collins.
Spelljammer: Shadow of the Spider Moon is more of a miniature Player's Handbook for Spelljammer than anything else. It is comprised of 5 distinctive chapters outlining characters, space and spelljamming, equipment and magic, the Spider Moon setting, and enemies. Twenty-eight pullout tokens are also included for your new Spelljammer campaign.
The chapter on characters outlines the differences in your typical character races now that they are in a space setting. For example, dwarves tend to be bald and clean-shaven out of remembrance to lost homeworld. Gnomes are the pack rats and scavengers, saving every scrap of metal to use in the future for something. Each of the core classes has a role of sorts in the Spelljammer setting, especially the paladin. In addition to the core prestige classes, this article offers the prestige classes of Master Scavenger, Planetary Explorer, Spelljammer Ace, Stellar Corsair, and Storyteller. Two new skills and sixteen new feats finish the chapter.
Chapter two examines space and spelljamming. Spelljamming ships are propelled by magical thrones called helms. Everything you need to know to navigate is here. Ship combat, tactics, maneuvering, and crew size are also addressed. Ship descriptions, including those of the various spacefaring races are detailed with full color artwork. I like the elven Arrowing, the Drow Deathspider, and illithid Dreadnaught.
Equipment and magic are addressed in chapter three. The addition of firearms is one of the most dramatic changes in the equipment when compared to the "standard" fantasy setting. Some spells react differently in this setting such as discern location, which also indicates the planet on which the subject lies. Magic items tend to be skewed towards the setting with items like a floatanchor or lifejammer helm.
Chapter four details the star system for the Shadow of the Spider Moon setting. A large diversity of races and monsters can be found in the many planets that are a part of this system. Fire elemental creatures, dragons, dinosaurs, aquatic races, fey and even Drow all have niches in these worlds.
Enemies of the races that fight for freedom round out this article. Mind flayers are most definitely the scourge of the spaceways. Their purpose is conquest and few are in a position to stop them. The Drow are new to space but have quickly adopted an expansionist attitude. Yuan-ti scheme to rebuild and reclaim their ancient empire, while the Formian have become the Borg of the D&D Spelljammer worlds; you either fight them or you are destroyed. There are other races that pose a threat, of course, but not to the degree that these four do.
In conclusion, Dungeon Magazine 92 is an excellent resource that is a steal for its price of $5.99. GMs stand to gain much from this issue. The new Spelljammer rules alone are worth the purchase price. By all means, buy this magazine while it's still available on the shelf.
The Critic's Rating: (maximum 5 pts for each category)
- Amount of Open Game Content: 0.0
- d20 Compliance: 5.0
- Originality: 5.0
- Playability: 5.0
- Value for the dollar: 5.0
Overall Rating: 3.90 (Open Content score pulled the average down.)
Final Grade: A+
