Ydars
Explorer
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]WARNING: this review contains SPOILERS!![/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The Prince of Darkness is the latest supplement for the “Dragon Warriors” RPG, that was first released in the 1980s by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Dragon Warriors is a mechanically “streamlined” fantasy RPG that is distinctive because of its setting: the Land of Legend. Legend is loosely based on the medieval world in the 11th-14[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]th[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif] centuries, but distorted by magic and fey creatures. It is a world of cobwebbed forests and desolate, haunted moors; a place where valiant Knights ride forth from their keeps to do battle with the evil that lurks in the shadows and in the wastes between Kingdoms. I love the world: it is like a much more accessible version of “Mythic Europe” from Ars Magica (I think Legend actually inspired Mythic Europe, since it came first) but Legend is MUCH less historical and academic feeling than its counterpart: it feels a bit Arthurian but without becoming too “Pendragon”.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The Prince of Darkness is a 90 page adventure for 4-6 player characters of 4th-6[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]th[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif] Rank (the DW equivalent of level) . The adventure is set in Glissom, a fief in the extreme north of Ellesland: a large island that is the rough equivalent of Britain in the Land of Legend.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The adventure is a revision of one that was originally published in Book 5 of Dragon Warriors “The Power of Darkness” in the 1980s, but a number of changes have been made to make the adventure more balanced and playable. For example, there is no longer any rotting food left in the King's Tower and this is fortunate since that clue once derailed this adventure when I ran it in about 1987. Indeed Prince was my least favourite DW adventure when it first came out in the 1980s but it now contains 30 pages of new material describing the the fief of Glissom in some detail, and this opens up the whole adventure and makes it a far better scenario than the original. The slight tweaks also remove some of the problems that the original had and leaves the GM free to revel in the whole atmosphere of the adventure, which was always an enormous strength of this work.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The book opens by considering how The Prince of Darkness can be integrated into “Sleeping Gods” or “The Elven Crystals”campaigns (also sold by Magnum Opus Press). It then describes some of the history of the fief and focuses on the City of Glissom itself: a full page map is included, as is a discussion of the law and its enforcement in the fief. I really like this new section: Glissom has true Dragon Warriors feel, which is grim and gritty without descending into the depths, as WHFRP does. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]There then follows a discussion of religion in Glissom, which is centered around Druidic practices and the worship of a sacred heath-fire. Notable locations in the city are then covered briefly (3-4 pages) and the description turns to locations outside the city. The first location is the village of Rosmuileann, and a full page map is again provided. The narrative then focuses on the Reivers, who are lawless and violent people who live in the wilds of Glissom and terrorize and raid the fief, almost unchecked by the forces of law. The Reivers are great and many of the plot hooks use them to get the PCs travelling across Glissom before the adventure proper, begins. I really think they work because after the adventure's end I can see them filling the power vacuum in Glissom, creating material for a new cycle of mayhem.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Several important Reiver leaders are considered, and their strongholds briefly discussed. Finally, a few legendary locations and artifacts are mentioned, though not in any great detail, as teasers for the GM's imagination.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The book then turns to plot hooks, and most of these revolve around the PCs encountering and building up a relationship with Doron: who is actually the heir to the throne of Glissom. This was a real weak point in the original story, as there was no "[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]player buy-in” but the plot hooks all now focus on the PCs adventuring with the ne'r do well Doron. There are 4 pages to this section and over twenty different plot hooks are explored, many of which use Reivers. The book then turns to the adventure proper.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The story of the Prince of Darkness centers around a Darkness Elementalist who is plotting to take over the Fief of Glissom, has killed the King and is using his body as an undead puppet ti usurp Doron's inheritance and take over the Fief. The adventure pits the party against this evil spell-caster and sends them off on quest to prove that he murdered the King. This quest starts with the PCs sent north where they encounter a Vampire Innkeeper. This is one of the best scenes in the book: the innkeeper has rigged the Inn with beds that drop into his “killing rooms” below in the basement, to try to take the PCs down one by one. One of the major problems with this scene has also been ironed out: the PCs could, in the original version, jump out of the windows. Now the Inn is high up and a jump is not advisable. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]If they survive, the PCs must pass through an elf infested forest to plumb the depths of an ancient buried catacomb. The Elves in DW are soul-less and capricious Fey who will slaughter humans on a whim. I love them and and like many DW monsters, they really help to differentiate this game from other more generic FRPGs. The catacombs are one of my least favourite bits because a few of the monsters (a huge giant preying mantis) feel a bit out of place, and when I ran this in the past, I re-skinned them.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The PCs then pass across the mountains, facing frost giants and other terrible dangers. Finally they confront the servants of the Sleeping God Balor, frozen in his terrible city of ice and discover how the Elementalist who killed the King has endangered the whole of the Northlands, as his allies in Nem attempt to reawaken the Demon Lord himself. This last section is also very good and plays well, with great atmosphere as the PCs cross the frozen lake, the wind howling around them, to approach the frozen city of Nem and its sinister inhabitants. There is a very dangerous section at this point where you can have a TPK if the PCs don't respond to the foreshadowing correctly: Balor's head is sticking up out of some ice and fills a whole chamber in the lost city. If the PCs approach, his breath can drag them in and once he opens his eye it is “good-night Vienna!”[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The adventure ends when the PCs return to Glissom with evidence of the spell-caster's dastardly plan and either slay him or drive him off. As mentioned earlier, the real improvement in this version is how the Reivers react to the power vacuum: by invading, kicking off the potential for many future adventures.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Overall, the writing in the new sections at the beginning is excellent and engaging and makes the adventure much more playable. Glissom is no longer just a blob on the map and you come away feeling like you could base a series of adventures there. The Reiver Lords are particularly well conceived and really spice up Glissom, opening the possibility for long-term play here involving all manner of intrigue and byplay. One slight fly in the ointment is the use of language in some places, which seems slightly too flippant and off the cuff for my liking, but the content is generally sound and exciting and this is a minor quibble.
Artwork is similar in style to that found in the core rulebook (gritty, black and white with a tinge of menace) and really sets the tone of the adventure very well.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Overall, I would give Prince of Darkness an 8 out of 10, even though I have the original adventure. The new sections really add an extra dimension to play in this part of the world of Legend and the price ($12.95) is OK for something of this quality and length, though it should probably be lower.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]
The book is available in both hardcopy
see [/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/publisher.php?qsPublisher=11[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]and PDF formats
see [/FONT]http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=65385
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]For further information about the Lands of Legend see Magnum Opus' page on the Mongoose website
[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/publisher.php?qsPublisher=11[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]
or their own homepage (Magnum Opus Press).
Note that a lite version of the Dragon Warriors game is available on from the former of these two sites.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]For a fan-created repository of information, including many non-canon entries and material, see the DW Wiki here [/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]http://dragonwarriors.wetpaint.com/whatsnew[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]There is also a free fanzine called Ordo Draconis that can be downloaded from the Mongoose and Magnum Opus sites, or from RPGNow.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The Prince of Darkness is the latest supplement for the “Dragon Warriors” RPG, that was first released in the 1980s by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Dragon Warriors is a mechanically “streamlined” fantasy RPG that is distinctive because of its setting: the Land of Legend. Legend is loosely based on the medieval world in the 11th-14[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]th[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif] centuries, but distorted by magic and fey creatures. It is a world of cobwebbed forests and desolate, haunted moors; a place where valiant Knights ride forth from their keeps to do battle with the evil that lurks in the shadows and in the wastes between Kingdoms. I love the world: it is like a much more accessible version of “Mythic Europe” from Ars Magica (I think Legend actually inspired Mythic Europe, since it came first) but Legend is MUCH less historical and academic feeling than its counterpart: it feels a bit Arthurian but without becoming too “Pendragon”.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The Prince of Darkness is a 90 page adventure for 4-6 player characters of 4th-6[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]th[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif] Rank (the DW equivalent of level) . The adventure is set in Glissom, a fief in the extreme north of Ellesland: a large island that is the rough equivalent of Britain in the Land of Legend.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The adventure is a revision of one that was originally published in Book 5 of Dragon Warriors “The Power of Darkness” in the 1980s, but a number of changes have been made to make the adventure more balanced and playable. For example, there is no longer any rotting food left in the King's Tower and this is fortunate since that clue once derailed this adventure when I ran it in about 1987. Indeed Prince was my least favourite DW adventure when it first came out in the 1980s but it now contains 30 pages of new material describing the the fief of Glissom in some detail, and this opens up the whole adventure and makes it a far better scenario than the original. The slight tweaks also remove some of the problems that the original had and leaves the GM free to revel in the whole atmosphere of the adventure, which was always an enormous strength of this work.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The book opens by considering how The Prince of Darkness can be integrated into “Sleeping Gods” or “The Elven Crystals”campaigns (also sold by Magnum Opus Press). It then describes some of the history of the fief and focuses on the City of Glissom itself: a full page map is included, as is a discussion of the law and its enforcement in the fief. I really like this new section: Glissom has true Dragon Warriors feel, which is grim and gritty without descending into the depths, as WHFRP does. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]There then follows a discussion of religion in Glissom, which is centered around Druidic practices and the worship of a sacred heath-fire. Notable locations in the city are then covered briefly (3-4 pages) and the description turns to locations outside the city. The first location is the village of Rosmuileann, and a full page map is again provided. The narrative then focuses on the Reivers, who are lawless and violent people who live in the wilds of Glissom and terrorize and raid the fief, almost unchecked by the forces of law. The Reivers are great and many of the plot hooks use them to get the PCs travelling across Glissom before the adventure proper, begins. I really think they work because after the adventure's end I can see them filling the power vacuum in Glissom, creating material for a new cycle of mayhem.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Several important Reiver leaders are considered, and their strongholds briefly discussed. Finally, a few legendary locations and artifacts are mentioned, though not in any great detail, as teasers for the GM's imagination.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The book then turns to plot hooks, and most of these revolve around the PCs encountering and building up a relationship with Doron: who is actually the heir to the throne of Glissom. This was a real weak point in the original story, as there was no "[/FONT][FONT=Times New Roman, serif]player buy-in” but the plot hooks all now focus on the PCs adventuring with the ne'r do well Doron. There are 4 pages to this section and over twenty different plot hooks are explored, many of which use Reivers. The book then turns to the adventure proper.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The story of the Prince of Darkness centers around a Darkness Elementalist who is plotting to take over the Fief of Glissom, has killed the King and is using his body as an undead puppet ti usurp Doron's inheritance and take over the Fief. The adventure pits the party against this evil spell-caster and sends them off on quest to prove that he murdered the King. This quest starts with the PCs sent north where they encounter a Vampire Innkeeper. This is one of the best scenes in the book: the innkeeper has rigged the Inn with beds that drop into his “killing rooms” below in the basement, to try to take the PCs down one by one. One of the major problems with this scene has also been ironed out: the PCs could, in the original version, jump out of the windows. Now the Inn is high up and a jump is not advisable. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]If they survive, the PCs must pass through an elf infested forest to plumb the depths of an ancient buried catacomb. The Elves in DW are soul-less and capricious Fey who will slaughter humans on a whim. I love them and and like many DW monsters, they really help to differentiate this game from other more generic FRPGs. The catacombs are one of my least favourite bits because a few of the monsters (a huge giant preying mantis) feel a bit out of place, and when I ran this in the past, I re-skinned them.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The PCs then pass across the mountains, facing frost giants and other terrible dangers. Finally they confront the servants of the Sleeping God Balor, frozen in his terrible city of ice and discover how the Elementalist who killed the King has endangered the whole of the Northlands, as his allies in Nem attempt to reawaken the Demon Lord himself. This last section is also very good and plays well, with great atmosphere as the PCs cross the frozen lake, the wind howling around them, to approach the frozen city of Nem and its sinister inhabitants. There is a very dangerous section at this point where you can have a TPK if the PCs don't respond to the foreshadowing correctly: Balor's head is sticking up out of some ice and fills a whole chamber in the lost city. If the PCs approach, his breath can drag them in and once he opens his eye it is “good-night Vienna!”[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]The adventure ends when the PCs return to Glissom with evidence of the spell-caster's dastardly plan and either slay him or drive him off. As mentioned earlier, the real improvement in this version is how the Reivers react to the power vacuum: by invading, kicking off the potential for many future adventures.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Overall, the writing in the new sections at the beginning is excellent and engaging and makes the adventure much more playable. Glissom is no longer just a blob on the map and you come away feeling like you could base a series of adventures there. The Reiver Lords are particularly well conceived and really spice up Glissom, opening the possibility for long-term play here involving all manner of intrigue and byplay. One slight fly in the ointment is the use of language in some places, which seems slightly too flippant and off the cuff for my liking, but the content is generally sound and exciting and this is a minor quibble.
Artwork is similar in style to that found in the core rulebook (gritty, black and white with a tinge of menace) and really sets the tone of the adventure very well.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Overall, I would give Prince of Darkness an 8 out of 10, even though I have the original adventure. The new sections really add an extra dimension to play in this part of the world of Legend and the price ($12.95) is OK for something of this quality and length, though it should probably be lower.[/FONT]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]
The book is available in both hardcopy
see [/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/publisher.php?qsPublisher=11[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]and PDF formats
see [/FONT]http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=65385
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]For further information about the Lands of Legend see Magnum Opus' page on the Mongoose website
[/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/publisher.php?qsPublisher=11[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]
or their own homepage (Magnum Opus Press).
Note that a lite version of the Dragon Warriors game is available on from the former of these two sites.[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]For a fan-created repository of information, including many non-canon entries and material, see the DW Wiki here [/FONT][FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]http://dragonwarriors.wetpaint.com/whatsnew[/FONT]
[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]There is also a free fanzine called Ordo Draconis that can be downloaded from the Mongoose and Magnum Opus sites, or from RPGNow.[/FONT]
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