By John Grigsby, Staff Reviewer

Available at FRP Games

Morningstar Campaign Setting (d20)
Retail $30.00 Sale $23.95

Initiative Round
Morningstar is a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting from Goodman Games and a semi-finalist in the Wizards of the Coast setting search that was held last year. This 160-page black-and-white hardcover is written by setting creator R. Scott Kennan. The cover art by Michael Erickson depicts a quintet of adventures coming upon a crystal city in the distance. Tom Galambos, Andy Hopp, Kennon James, William McAusland, Jennifer Meyer, and Scott Purdy contribute to the interior art. Morningstar retails for $30.00.

Morningstar describes the campaign setting that is Thraxis, "a world of eldritch magic, primeval races, and diverse imperial cultures at the height of their achievements, where a dark Prophesy has begun to uncoil" (taken from the Introduction). Unlike, say, the Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk, however, Morningstar presents much more diversity than either of those settings. Though equally rich in history, Thraxis offers some very different options for characters than the standard dwarf, elf, fighter, or wizard.

Thraxis is a world awash in magic, which here is considered a living energy. Rather than serve as a mere background in Thraxis, magic is a way of life, and is used in nearly every aspect of civilized existence. Here, nine empires coexist relatively peacefully, trading with one another for mutual benefit. This does not mean that life is boring, however, for Thraxis also has its enemies. Of late, malevolent forces have begun to stir and strange beings from other places are invading.

The greatest threat of all is the Canticle of the Morning Star, a dark Prophecy that speaks of the end of the great civilizations. The verses number in the tens of thousands, and each time it is thwarted, it adapts. The world itself is Thraxis' enemy, as her great moon's orbit has become disturbed and creates devastating earthquakes and terrifying elemental storms. From deep below, new threats arise as long-forgotten beings once more come into the light. It is a time of adventure and heroism!

Morningstar steps away from the standard D&D convention in many ways, the first being the racial options available to players. On Thraxis, some races are more powerful than others. Morningstar presents two ways of handling this problem; either treating the more powerful races as classes (ala Savage Species), or through the use of level adjustments. Both options are provided for in the text, and the DM should choose which one will apply to his or her campaign. I should note that, unlike Savage Species, a character may freely (and is encouraged to) multiclass before reaching maximum potential in their racial class.

The races of Thraxis are greatly varied, but they do retain some familiarity. Dwarves and elves are present, for example, but the dwarves are divided into four subraces; stonecutter dwarves, flayed dwarves, clay dwarves, and storm dwarves. Each is similar to the dwarves with whom most gamers are familiar, but also vitally different. Likewise, elves are divided into bone elves, briar elves, crown elves, meadow elves, and stream elves.

Where elves and dwarves are known as the elder races, gnomes, humans, halflings, and thull are known as the orphan races. Gnomes don't change much, but halflings now come in four flavors: bloodfed, seaspray, speaker, and true folk. Thull are the missing link between giantkind and evil humanoids. You will also find the bastard races of half-elf, half-orc, and planetouched.

Classes have changed somewhat as well. The artificer serves as a builder of things both magical and mechanical. Instead of spells, the artificer calls upon numina, invisible meta-elemental spirits to aid him in creating item and imbuing them with the proper magics required to make them function. The numina can also endow an object with the power of animation by inhabiting the creation.

Eidolons are akin to paladins in mindset and abilities, feeding on divine energy to perform miracles. There are several differences, however. Eidolons are much less single-minded than paladins are, and may also choose to ally with good or evil. Like paladins, they eventually gain access to divine spells, and they are favored of the deity they worship, providing them with a bonus on saving throws and immunity to disease. They gain several new and exciting abilities, as they increase in level, however.

Prestige classes in Morningstar include the dolphin legionnaire, the inquisitor, the Morning Star Apostle, the mosstrooper, and the ovate. As it should be, these prestige classes exist for a reason, not simply because the idea sounds neat. With the exception of the ovate (which is basically an über-survivalist), the prestige classes fit into a very specific societal niche. Dolphin legions are special aquatic forces of the Bredirian armed forces, inquisitors root out those who jeopardize the stability of the Nine Empires, Morning Star Apostles are rare beings who have survived contact with the Canticle (most touched by the Canticle are destroyed), and mosstroopers serve as the Empress' elite personal guard.

Morningstar also introduces a handful of new feats; Elan, Hard to Kill, Iron Lungs, Rapid Life Cycle, and Seal of Safe Passage. There are also five new metamagic feats; Artful Spell, Flickering Spell, Mage Staff, Minimize Spell, and Paired Spell. The feats seem balanced, and are pretty useful (as opposed to being filler), if somewhat limited in application. Rapid Life Cycle and Sea of Safe Passage are unique to the setting, but the others could easily be adopted into any fantasy campaign.

Magic works somewhat differently in Morningstar, being the result of contrasting planar energies that play over the surface of the world. Because both the world and the moon draw magic into themselves, they have created a rift in the fabric of reality, a sort of magical black hole. From the ethereal, this is seen as an eerie purple corona about a pitch black center. It is labeled "The Wheel." The Wheel is best thought of as a vortex, drawing magic across the surfaces of the worlds and ultimately into itself. This arrangement has some very interesting effects on the cosmology of Morningstar (which is unique and unto itself). Astral and planar travel become very hazardous in the vicinity of the Wheel, resurrection becomes difficult the longer the body and soul remain separated, and summoning is enhanced.

Furthermore, many places in Morningstar have a signature, a descriptor of the types of energies that are strongest there. Spell effects that fall within a region's signature are more powerful and easier to maintain, while other types are weakened (this is called the countersignature). However, these affect more than just spellcasting. They may also have an effect on non-magical skills or the beings that live there. If, for example, the Profane signature of an area reached the maximum (6), the very plants in the region might be changed, spouting vicious blades beneath their leafy veneer and good characters might be sorely tempted by their most base desires. Some signatures occur naturally, while others can be brought to power the machinations of intelligence beings (and likewise laid low through such). The varying signatures and countersignatures in an area (and there may be several of different strengths) are referred to as the spectrum.

Morningstar also offers a small selection of new spells. None are setting specific and only one deserves and real note. Crossbreed is interesting in that it, as the name implies, permits two parent creatures to be crossed with one another. This can lead to some very interesting new monsters, limited only by the DM's fiendish imagination (literally). There are also six new clerical domains: blood, commerce, dream, pleasure, prophesy, and time.

The second half of the book is devoted to the world of Morningstar. First, Brendir (which is assumed to be where the PCs will hail from) is examined in glorious detail. From the geographical overview to the social customs to the NPC capsules of important personages, the DM will not find himself wanting for details on this realm. Laws, peoples, even favored pets can be found here. The realm is richly detailed, which I really like to see in a sourcebook.

The other eight empires are also touched on, though not nearly in as much detail as Brendir is given. Still, there's more than enough here to provide a jumping-off point for adventures in far lands, short Brendir run dry of things to offer (as if). Haseth is a land of gods and demons, Ijanvhul is marked by severe landscapes and fierce storms, Kharkon is a frigid, mountainous land, Kenabu is a realm of contrast with much in common with Africa in the real world, Quetapan is a tropical realm of deeply spiritual people, Xiangur shares much in common with real world China, Ynnidon is a fey land of dreams and nightmares, and Zeikrus is the shared empire of the chromatic and metallic dragons.
Faith and worship is well-defined in Morningstar, with 35 elder gods known within the Nine Empires. Religion works a bit differently in several interesting ways in Morningstar. First, the realms of the gods are not open to visitors. They are not even planes, but rather, extensions of the divine force itself. A deity could never be challenged by mere mortals, even epic-level ones. Secondly, differing faiths are fairly tolerant of one another. Many people of Thraxis adopt an attitude of, "my faith is right for me, but not necessarily for anyone else." This extends even to the gods themselves, as any given pantheon is likely unaware of the existence of the others. The gods also depend on their worshippers to a much greater degree in Morningstar. Finally, most clerics worship an entire pantheon, not an individual deity. They draw their spells and choose domains and favored weapons from all of the gods in the pantheon, not a single entity.

Finally, there is the Canticle. The Canticle is not merely a prophecy, though it is that. It is also a living entity with a will of its own. It is divided into two parts (at least as mortals understand it), the Greater and Lesser Canticle. To greatly simplify the purpose of the Canticle, the Lesser Canticle provides material for one-shot adventures and the Greater Canticle provides goals that can reach across a campaign. This final chapter provides several verses from the Canticle, along with adventure outlines based on those verses.

Critical Hit
At first glance, I wasn't too thrilled with Morningstar, I must admit, but as I've read through it to prepare for this review, I've found the setting fascinating. The campaign is very well-described and offers not only a solid realm in which to place adventures, but also has enough twists to keep it interesting. The idea of using verses of the Canticle as the basis for adventures is delightfully original, and I was very impressed with the way that religion works in Thraxis. I've grown weary of gods that serve as little more than fodder for munchkins.

The variant races are interesting and uniquely original, though I'm not overly thrilled with the use of ECLs as a balancing tool. However, the author has provided a solution for that and it's workable, if a bit gimmicky for my tastes. I would like to have seen more feats and prestige classes that are specific to the setting, however.

The difference in the way that magic works is sure to make the campaign interesting. This is particularly true because it works on both the large and small scale. For example, the whole of Brendis is considered to have a signature of Ordered/Abberant 1, but a small area within that realm could also be Frigid/Profane 2 and the effects of both will apply. The PCs might readily be aware of the signature of Brendis, but may not know that of the immediate locale, which could lead to some very interesting predicaments.

Critical Fumble
A major "oopsie" in Morningstar is that it is never established exactly what classes from D&D are permitted in Thraxis. It is mentioned in several places that feudalism is unknown and was never discovered, so it stands to reason that the concept of the paladin (basically a medieval knight) does not exist, and the eidolon class supports this. There are new cleric domains, so it is assumed that clerics must exist, and the other base classes (with the exception of paladins and monks) are mentioned in various places, so these classes, too, must exist. Nowhere, however, is a list of classes and prestige classes that exist in Morningstar provided. If paladins do not exist, and we must assume that they do not, then can blackguards exist? This is something that really should have been addressed.

The only other significant drawback I can see if that as much detail as there is, it leaves the reader wanting more. Surely there are more prestige classes than have been described here, and I'd like to have seen some setting-specific feats. That isn't to say that there isn't plenty here (there is), but I wouldn't have minded paying a little more for a few more pages.

At $30, the book is fairly priced for the content, but I felt that a good-sized world map was missing. There are some fairly detailed maps within the book, but a poster-sized map would have been very welcome. I also wouldn't have minded seeing a little more color. Almost all books released by Wizards of the Coast (at comparable prices) are in full-color and even campaign books put out by other companies utilize some color pages and pictures. In the case of Morningstar, even the cover seemed a little dull, compared to the bright, eye-catching, colorful covers of some other products.

Coup de Grace
Open Game Content is as good as can be expected, with most all of the mechanics designated as such, along with a sampling of the flavor text. I did notice that a few "common" phrases, such as "Spanless Sea" had been designated as closed content, but it's excusable in the grand scheme of things. The artwork is about average, with some pieces standing out over others, but it is well-placed within the text.

Morningstar lost a few points in Playability simply by virtue of the fact that it is a campaign setting and is primarily aimed at DMs. It would also prove difficult, though not impossible, to add to an existing campaign without losing much of the unique flavor that is the setting. However, that's of small consequence because the campaign is so flavor rich and beautifully defined. One thing is certain, having seen this setting, I'm getting very anxious to see Eberron (the winner of the campaign setting search as chosen by Wizards of the Coast). If it's as impressive as Morningstar, it's going to be nothing short of fantastic!

Review Scores

Overall Total (Does not include OGL Rating): 112 (89%)
Final Grade: A-