arnon
Explorer
Forge of Shadow is a supplement for the excellent Midnight setting about a small, yet very important, city: Steel Hill (or Cruach Emyn). The main purpose of the book is to describe the city of Steel Hill, but in doing so the authors also give us dozens of possible adventures ideas.
Art: The cover art is as dark and brooding and fits well with the book and its contents, and the interior art is excellent as well. The maps of the different wards and of the whole city are nice and clean, and not overly complicated.
The book has four chapters:
Chapter 1 divides the city into three general areas, with each area containing several wards. Each ward is mapped and detailed, with enough distinct and interesting locations such as the Jolly Orc Taver, Ironhammer Foundry, and the Garden of Death, and personalities to go along to provide any DM with enough ideas to run his party through the dirty and dangerous streets and alleys of Steel Hill.
Chapter 2 goes outside the wall and describes the immediate surrounding area. Chief among these places are the iron mines (ever hungry for more slave labor) and Tarish (the town at the base of the mines catering to those who can), with the authors describing the politics of the Great Mine and Tarish (and their relations with the authorities in Steel Hill) as well as giving ideas on possible adventures in the mines. I also love Morgatha's Cave (and Morgatha herself is excellent as well), and the Ancestor Stones.
Chapter 3 is all about politics and intrigue: who’s against whom, who’s betraying who and who is working with whom (at least, until they get what they want). And that’s just the Shadow’s minions. Also described are several resistance forces and local legends that could be real… or not. As with every book in Midnight, everything is left purposefully gray in order to allow the DM to run amuck.
Chapter 4 gives us a more detailed look at the important characters in Steel Hill including their stat blocks and personalities. This chapter goes hand in hand with the previous chapter, since it describes some personalities that were already discussed, but goes more deeply into their reasoning of why they act in certain ways. Also provided here are the forces that are in order in (and around) Steel Hill including numbers and examples of a typical individual from among the ranks.
The Appendix includes two new Prestige Classes (both for evil characters), one of them created especially for the forces of Steel Hill: the Blood Rider; a new monster; and a template for a Shadow Servant, those evil individuals who have given their souls to Izrador.
The book is very well written, and the authors have managed to capture the dark spirit of Midnight and put it into this book. It’s interesting how every time I read it I get new ideas for adventures to run. Intrigue plays an important part in Steel Hill as the various factions vie for control and power giving DMs plenty of ground to play around in, fertile with mistrust and paranoia (exactly what a Midnight adventure should have).
In short, this is a very good supplement for Midnight. And with a few modifications Steel hill could be dropped in another campaign and easily provide a dangerous and gritty city to run around in.
Art: The cover art is as dark and brooding and fits well with the book and its contents, and the interior art is excellent as well. The maps of the different wards and of the whole city are nice and clean, and not overly complicated.
The book has four chapters:
Chapter 1 divides the city into three general areas, with each area containing several wards. Each ward is mapped and detailed, with enough distinct and interesting locations such as the Jolly Orc Taver, Ironhammer Foundry, and the Garden of Death, and personalities to go along to provide any DM with enough ideas to run his party through the dirty and dangerous streets and alleys of Steel Hill.
Chapter 2 goes outside the wall and describes the immediate surrounding area. Chief among these places are the iron mines (ever hungry for more slave labor) and Tarish (the town at the base of the mines catering to those who can), with the authors describing the politics of the Great Mine and Tarish (and their relations with the authorities in Steel Hill) as well as giving ideas on possible adventures in the mines. I also love Morgatha's Cave (and Morgatha herself is excellent as well), and the Ancestor Stones.
Chapter 3 is all about politics and intrigue: who’s against whom, who’s betraying who and who is working with whom (at least, until they get what they want). And that’s just the Shadow’s minions. Also described are several resistance forces and local legends that could be real… or not. As with every book in Midnight, everything is left purposefully gray in order to allow the DM to run amuck.
Chapter 4 gives us a more detailed look at the important characters in Steel Hill including their stat blocks and personalities. This chapter goes hand in hand with the previous chapter, since it describes some personalities that were already discussed, but goes more deeply into their reasoning of why they act in certain ways. Also provided here are the forces that are in order in (and around) Steel Hill including numbers and examples of a typical individual from among the ranks.
The Appendix includes two new Prestige Classes (both for evil characters), one of them created especially for the forces of Steel Hill: the Blood Rider; a new monster; and a template for a Shadow Servant, those evil individuals who have given their souls to Izrador.
The book is very well written, and the authors have managed to capture the dark spirit of Midnight and put it into this book. It’s interesting how every time I read it I get new ideas for adventures to run. Intrigue plays an important part in Steel Hill as the various factions vie for control and power giving DMs plenty of ground to play around in, fertile with mistrust and paranoia (exactly what a Midnight adventure should have).
In short, this is a very good supplement for Midnight. And with a few modifications Steel hill could be dropped in another campaign and easily provide a dangerous and gritty city to run around in.
