FictionalReality-MAGAZINE-17, Fictional Reality Gaming -Magazine

FictionalReality-MAGAZINE-17

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FictionalReality-MAGAZINE-17, Fictional Reality Gaming -Magazine

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Table of Contents
RPG Reviews
Green Ronin
www.greenronin.com
Creatures of Freeport
2
Excelsior Entertainment Supplement
www.excelsiorentertainment.com
The Lunar Voice #1
45
Dezzavold
3
49
Mutants & Masterminds Character Folio
5
Miniature Reviews
Reaper Miniatures
Mutants & Masterminds Annual
5
54
Thieves’ Quarter
7
www.reapermini.com
Dark Age
Trojan War
9
66
Modern Magic
10
www.dark-age.com
Pulp Figs
Badaxe Games
www.badaxegames.com
Grim Tales
68
www.pulpfigures.com
Adiken
11
69
BlackWyrm Games
www.blackwyrm.com
The Algernon Files
www.adiken.com
Hasslefree
12
70
www.www.jenova.dk/hassle/front.htm
Armorcast
Bastion Press
www.bastionpress.com
Into the Blue
71
www.armorcast.com
Eastern Front Studios
13
72
RPG Objects
www.rpgobjects.com
Modern Backdrops
www.easternfront-studios.com
Magnificent Egos
15
72
www.magnificentegos.com
Maidenhead Miniatures
Legends of Excalibur
16
77
Privateer Press
www.privateerpress.com
Iron Kingdoms Character Guide
www.maidenheadminiatures.com
Thunderbolt Mountain
18
www.thunderboltmountain.com
Crocodile Games
78
Visionary Entertainment
www.visionaryentertainment.com
Everlasting: Codex of the Immortals
79
www.crocodilegames.com
Battle Reports
Warmachine
www.privateerpress.com
Infantry Battle: Cygnar versus Menoth
21
Armitage House P ublishing
www.tccorp.com/armitage
Delta Green: Denied to the Enemy
22
81
RPG Adventures
Mongoose Publishing
www.mongoosepublishing.com
Judge Dredd d20 - The Stiffy Block Wars
Chronopia
www.excelsiorentertainment.com
Firstborn versus Crystal Lotus Elves
24
87
20 Questions
Reaper Miniatures
www.reapermini.com
Q & A with Ed Pugh
Wizards of the Coast
www.wizards.com
d20 Modern - Return of the Rat King
Game/Product Reviews
Green Ronin / Humanhead
www.greenronin.com
Dracula’s Revenge
32
94
Tournament Report
Confrontation
Infantry Battle
39
98
F luid Entertainment
www.dundjinni.com
Dundjinni
ADVERTISERS INDEX
VBAM Project
www.vbamgames.com
Victory by any Means
39
Great Canadian Miniatures IFC, 97
Luftwaffe 1946
35
Zombiesmith
4
Fantization
43, 65
Excalibur Miniaturen
6
Hirst Arts
51
42
BYMTL
8
Reaper Miniatures
55, 95
Reaper Miniatures
www.reapermini.com
Warlord
Pinnacle / Great White
14
Kryomek USA
62
RPG Objects
17, 33
Dark Age
67
42
Crocodile Games
20
Magnificent Egos
74
Hasslefree Miniatures
23, 38, 93
Majestic 12 Games
78
Mongoose Publishing
27
Privateer Press
84
Cover art by Marcin Rado Kurczewski
www.rkgalery.com
Warzone GTS
30, 58, 86, 98 Dark Basement
88
1
Terrain Workshop
Fantasy Buildings p2
RPG Reviews
BASICS
Creatures of Freeport
is a full size
softbound book by Graeme Davis and
Keith Baker and published by Green
Ronin Publishing. It’s a supplement
for Green Ronin’s Freeport d20 Sys-
tem setting for Dungeons & Drag-
ons® edition 3.5. The book describes
in detail around a dozen and a half
monsters (depending on how you
want to count them) that can be found
in the Freeport area. These monsters
cover a surprisingly large range of
types from the sea, the surrounding forest and “ visitors” to Free-
port. The book is 95 pages long and divided into sections to
cover the entries which for the most part take three to six pages to
cover each monster type (verses the one page normally found in
books of this type). The cover art is a very nice full color action
drawing and the pictures that go along with each entry are also
well done pen and ink drawings.
in question. It’s a section that will help enhance role playing and
in my opinion brings a lot of character to the encounter. The next
really cool section is called “ Uses” . This section goes into the
detail about how this creature (or parts of it) can be used. Uses
includes such things as obvious as extracting their poison, but
also goes into more exotic used s such as creating minor artifacts
or wondrous items from the creature. Some of the creatures can
be used as advanced familiars, be used to make enhanced spell
components or potions, or even to make special armor or weap-
ons. I enjoyed this section of the entries so much that I found
myself wishing that something similar existed for all the other
monsters in our repertoire. But then the size of our books would
probably triple in volume and weight.
The next section of the monster entry is “ Adventure Hooks” .
Usually each entry had at least three or four adventure hooks that
involved that specific monster in some way. For people looking
for adventure ideas, side adventure ideas, or campaign ideas, the
book is almost worth getting just for these adventure hooks. See-
ing that in total there are almost sixty different adventure hooks
in the book, you are sure to find at least a handful that will wet
your whistle. As with the “ Uses” section, it would be really cool
to have a section like this for many of the monster sources that
already exist, especially for monsters that are rare. I guess hav-
ing adventure hooks for a common skeleton or goblin might be a
little over the top, but for more exotic monsters it’s a great idea.
The book does not simply concentrate on giving the stats for a
variety on things to kill, but also presents with each entry
“ Knowledge” details for GM’s to give to players and explicit
details on how the creature could be used (such as in being used
as an advanced familiar, using it’s body parts to make magic
items, to enhance magic items, etc). Plus there are a ton of ad-
ventures hooks sprinkled throughout the book (normally three to
four for each monster). The book’s retail price is $19.95 USD.
Another section that some of the entries include is a sample NPC.
In all, there are five sample NPC’s given in the book that range in
challenge rating from six to eighteen. Of course NPC’s are not
appropriate for all of the monster types (for instance the useful-
ness of a swarm of vermin has its limits as a NPC), but for the
more intelligent and potentially deadly monsters, having sample
NPC’s is a neat idea.
BETWEEN THE COVERS
When I first looked at the tables of contents, my fist reaction was
“ Hmmm, a monster manual with less than a couple dozen
choices. How good can it be?” Well, I can say that I was suitably
surprised. What it lacks in quantity it surely makes up for in
quality. There are seventeen actual monsters (or entries) listed in
the table of contents, but in the back there is a chart that lists all
the monsters in the book by challenge rating and there are forty-
three listings on the table (many of the entries give a number of
variations of the monster type, plus there are appendices with
more monsters).
The end of the book has three appendices that cover, in order,
Animals, Vermin, and the Challenge Rating table. The Animal
appendix has stats for seven different animal types and the Ver-
min section includes stats for a variety of vermin that account for
almost a fourth of the monsters found on the CR table. So a little
less than half of the monsters found on the CR table are actually
listed in the first two appendices which helps to explain the why
the list seems to be longer than you would expect by looking at
the table of contents. The last appendix, as previously men-
tioned, is the Challenge Rating table, something every book of
Monsters should be required to include. I was very happy to see
it here. They even added at the bottom the five NPC’s listed in
order of Challenge rating, another great idea that should immedi-
ately be mandated by law!
The monsters range in challenge rating from a sixth, to a respect-
able twenty. But the majority land in the two to five range, with
several at seven and several more at twelve. As for alignments,
all the non-lawful alignments are at least represented, but the vast
majority of the creatures are Neutral. For having so few actual
monsters, the types represented are quite varied. You have
Plants, Undead, Fey, Animal, Magical Beasts, Humanoid, Out-
sider, Elemental and even vermin. Quite an array for the number
of entries I’ d say.
VALUE
I thought this book was well done and has incorporated new ideas
in detailing monsters that I would love to see implemented else-
where. There is a cost of doing this of course and that is space
and if you are willing to pay for the pages containing the extra
But I haven’t yet touched on what impressed me most. Each en-
try goes into a very detailed description of the required skill
checks and the knowledge that can be obtained about the creature
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information. For me, the answer is a resounding “ Yes” . Al-
though all the information will not be used all the time, it’s really
nice to at least have it available for those of us that are detailed
oriented. I could even see that coming up with books that cover
the “ Uses” , “ Adventure Hooks” , and “ Sample NPC’s” , as three
different stand alone books to cover already existing monsters in
other books might be a neat idea (how’s that for a hint?). The
main downside to the book is in the lack of quantity of monster
types but as I said before, I think the quality of what is in the
book makes up for that. The other downside is that above chal-
lenge rating seven or so, the available monsters are VERY lim-
ited. As such I would have to say that for running games with
higher level parties, the book may have more limited usefulness.
However, as an idea book, I think the book is really great for any
level. For people running campaigns in the Freeport setting, the
book is even more valuable since it will help develop the charac-
ter of the setting. Many of the monster descriptions and the his-
tories relate directly to the history and setting of Freeport. Plus,
being a coastal city, there is an emphasis on sea creatures and
sea-going creatures.
go out and get Plot & Poison as well (trust me; it will save you
some grief). Other books that are recommended (but not nearly
as critical) are
Corwyl: Village of the Wood Elves
and
Bow &
Blade: A guidebook to the Wood Elves
. These books help fill out
the entire picture of the situation between these two races and
their four hundred year long conflict. They even, on occasion,
reference books in the Freeport Series by using things introduced
in those books. All this can be taken in one of two ways. The
first way is “ Wow, how much do I have to spend to use this book
the right way?” The second way is that Green Ronin is doing a
good job at fleshing out this world. When I read the opening
paragraphs of this book and realized that to do it right I would
need to get at least three other books, I have to admit I first fell
into the “ First” way. However, I now think that the setting has
been well thought out and very well put together. Well enough in
fact that I think its cool how they all tie together so well. I mean
you can only cover so much in 96 pages, so if you want a well
conceived and detailed setting; you of course will need more than
one book. Anyway, a long story short, I have now moved into
the “ Second” way.
I give the book high marks and think its well worth the cover
price, and I would love to see other monsters fleshed out with as
much detail as you find in
Creatures of Freeport.
BETWEEN THE COVES
The general organization of the book is very good. First you start
with the history, then new rules, followed by a detailed descrip-
tion of the city. The chapter on the city is rightfully the longest
chapter in the book. After the city comes a chapter detailing the
Queen’s Fortress which is the largest structure in the city. After
that, there is a short chapter on the outlying regions and then the
appendix.
Review by Clay Richmond
BASICS
Dezzavold: Fortress of the Drow
is a
96 page D&D supplement written by
Christina Stiles and Steven Trustrum.
The book is published by Green
Ronin Publishing and is one of their
latest additions to their
Races of Re-
nown
series. It’s a full sized soft
bound book with a very nice cover
that gives a pretty good flavor of
what you find between the covers.
Interior art varies in quality from ba-
sic pen and ink drawings to very intri-
cate black and white drawings, to rough hand drawn maps. But
on the whole, I found the interior art to be a cut above average.
The book’s retail price is $19.95 USD.
The history between the cities of Corwyl (wood elves) and Dez-
zavold (Drow) I found to be intriguing and filled with possible
angles for an adventure, or even better a campaign. There are
enough characters and shifting alliances over the years that for an
imaginative GM, “ anything is possible” . For instance, there is a
race introduced in
Plot & Poison
called the Drey that make the
Drow look like sorority sisters. They first come in to help some
Drow kill some other Drow, then the end up turning on their em-
ployers and taking the whole farm for themselves (and oh by the
way, the city of Dezzavold is still ruled by these nasty ladies even
though they make up only 5% of the population). Then there are
the serpent people (a race introduced in the Freeport series) that
form a mysterious small minority in the city. Of course there are
Dwarves and lots-o-slaves that can fill in any needed holes in any
adventure.
The main premise of the book is to detail out the Drow city of
Dezzavold. The city is not a large city; in fact you may consider
it as being a large town. The population is like 6,250 and the
army consists of around five hundred soldiers (and that’s after
counting mercenaries). The book ends by briefly touching on the
outlying regions, but I imagine, as I will discuss below, that these
areas are mostly covered in another book.
After the history comes the new rules section. Here two new
core classes are introduced. These classes are for below ground
denizens of, so as you might guess, they would normally be bad
guys (one is especially evil while the other is more “ difficult to
be good” ). For anyone doing an adventure of campaign in this
setting, they are probably assured of bumping into NPC’s in these
classes. After the new core classes we have four new prestige
classes. Again all four are very usable and I can easily see GM’s
working all these into the adventure or campaign as NPC’s (three
on the bad guy side and one on the good guy side). I actually
found these prestige class descriptions (as well as the classes
themselves) to be better than what I’m used to, I mean these pres-
Beside the requisite D&D books that you always need to use with
supplements of this sort; you will also need
Plot & Poison: A
guidebook to the Drow
also put out by Green Ronin. Although
you could conceivable do without it by “ filling in the holes”
where needed, I don’t see it being worth the effort. Bottom line
is that if you are going to use this book, I highly recommend you
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