Ptolus vs WLC vs The Shackled City vs Five Fingers: Port of Deceit

Anyone have them all or has reviewed them? If so, what did you think about them? Strengths? Weaknesses? I know it's an odd request for such disparate products but I'm debating which one to purchase for my first 2007 RPG supplement. I'll buy the others later in the year.

Thanks in advance. Happy New Year, y'all!

Just off the top of my head, although there is easily enough content to go from levels 1 to 20 in Ptolus (probably enough to do it two to three times, actually), it's not spelled out as adventures for each level like they are in Shackled City. OTOH, the city is naturally spelled out in much greater detail, allowing freeform play and the ability to easily hook all sorts of other adventures into the setting.

I don't have any of them but Five Fingers: Port of Deceit, but let me tell that it is a very pretty book and a good read... but it is also for the Iron Kingdom setting so it might have some weird, non-traditional D&D ideas in there (Gobbers, Steamtech, etc).

There's a "What is Ptolus" thread still on this page at the time of this writing that you should check out; it has some viewpoints and a link to a review:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=183719

I have a review of Shackled City here... click on my reviews at left. Make no mistake. They are different sorts of product. Shackled City, though it contains a complete city, is about the adventure. Ptolus is about the city, definitely more suitable if you want to spin your own city tales.

Five Fingers is a great book! The references to IK steam technology are actually very few. There are more references to neighboring countries/kingdoms that are potentially more problematic than that issue, but still workable for a non-IK setting.

The book is mostly fluff with great details on the city, including a heavy focus on the "High Captains" and their intricate thieves guild like activities, and political manuevering. This city could work well for the closest city to Freeport on the mainland in that setting, or even passable for Sasserine in the newest adventure path.

You could definitely run a full campaign here, but there are no adventures in the book besides numerous hooks.
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Shackled City is NOT a city sourcebook if that is what you are looking for. The small city of Cauldron is detailed somewhat though: A passable campaign indeed, but easily my least favorite of the three AP's so far.

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I don't have Ptolus, but from what I understand ( I'm sure I'll be corrected if wrong ) it is WAY more than just a city, really a high magic setting book with quirks that in some cases may be harder to reconcile than a lower magic setting with technology like the IK. Ptolus has technology ( fire arms etc... ) too judging by my experience with the Banewarrens module.

Ptolus is no more high magic than the PHB. In fact, it's designed to directly emulate the PHB and DMG in that regard. There are fewer omg uber NPCs in Ptolus than, say, Waterdeep, although both share the "metropolis with a big freaking dungeon underneath" space in the genre.

There is technology (guns, smoke bombs, cannons, hot air balloons, compasses, clocks), but it's a core part of the setting that knowledge of technology, including how to simply repair it and keep it operational, is slipping away as chaos rises and order recedes from the world. A group that dislikes technology in their D&D could make it something that only a handful of NPCs use and that PCs cannot buy. Conversely, it's not hard to increase its presence in the setting for groups that want more of it. (I like a little black powder in my fantasy, myself.)

I have them all except WLC and love each of them for what they were designed to do.

Ptolus is designed to be the pentultimate D&D urban setting, taking full advantage of all the rules and providing unparalleled GM support. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the book and I think its outstanding! (Expensive but outstanding!)

Five Fingers is designed to provide IK players with gritty, nasty and almost totally despicable city that showcases the settings strengths ... namely extremely well written, evocative and detailed backgrounds, plot hooks and overall great campaign & adventure idea's & fluff.

Shackled City is an excellent all around campaign book that focuses the party on the fate of the city of Cauldron, and provides good - excellent adventures that can take the players from 1st to 20th level.

What type of city / adventures were you looking for?

Devyn said:

Ptolus is designed to be the pentultimate D&D urban setting

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What would be the ultimate D&D urban setting? I can't think of anything Ptolus would be second to off the top of my head.

ColonelHardisson said:

What would be the ultimate D&D urban setting? I can't think of anything Ptolus would be second to off the top of my head.

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Good point. Bad choice of words on my part.

Devyn said:

Good point. Bad choice of words on my part.

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Oh. I actually thought you might have preferred another city. I could imagine someone saying they preferred, say, Bluffside or the City State of the Invincible Overlord to Ptolus, based purely on personal taste.