MEG Hal
First Post
Here is a review of Bluffside: City on the Edge, I am glad people are starting to write reviews for it, Psion has done one here at ENWorld for it as well. Click here for the review!
Bluffside review at Mortality
- Thread starter MEG Hal
- Start date
A good review but for a person that had 'issue' with the text in Bluffside...damn that web site font was hard. Maybe I am getting old but it was small and seemed to bleed into the background!Leopold said:
Leopold
NKL4LYFE
THG Hal said:
I think you are getting old, maybe rename youself Wrinkled Hand of Evil, or Age Spotted Hand of Evil
.
BUT THE REVIEW WAS GOOD!!!!!!
good reivews were always a plus..i will take your word on it hal as my 500/25 vision must now refocus..oh the optomitrist is gonna hate me tommorow!
MEG Hal
First Post
For my friend Leopold :
"Bluffside – City on the Edge
Thunderhead Games presents their first major setting in the form of Bluffside, a city literally on the edge. This metropolis, which lies on top of a 500-foot cliff, is superbly detailed and ready to drop into any d20 fantasy world. Better yet, make it the focus of a new d20 city campaign. Over 140 pages of extensive information provide you with everything you need to run adventures in and around Bluffside.
First and foremost, Bluffside is designed to be completely modular and adaptable to ANY campaign. Everything is simply presented as is, and the GM is free to include, exclude, or modify any part of it to fit his or her game. The eight districts of the city can be used all together as one massive urban area or used separately as smaller separate communities. Over 100 "places of interest" detailed throughout the book help make the city feel real.
Right away we’re given the history of Bluffside and how it came to be as it is now. The timeline presented is nicely detailed and extends back over 1300 years, so there’s plenty of history for inventive GMs to build on. Current information is also provided, including the population, racial distribution, power structure, and religions of Bluffside.
After the preliminary info, we dive right into the heart of the city and the districts that make the whole. Each section starts with a wonderful map of that district alone, aiding in identification of points of interest -- not to mention making the use of a district as a stand-alone community incredibly easy. The Old City is the first, and it includes embassies, palaces, tribunals (courts), nightclubs, inns, gardens, museums, nobles’ estates, and more. It even depicts the family crests for the major nobles --very cool. The Miner’s District is next, and it’s also loaded with locations such as guild houses and the Great Furnace. The rest of the districts follow -- the Temple District, Military District, Wizard District, New City, Sordadon (a harbor district that floats at the base of the bluff), and even the Undercity and its extensive sewer system.
The greatest part about the descriptions of the points of interest is that each and every one includes the owner or prominent resident (stats for each NPC are found in a massive 30-page appendix), and at least two plot hooks for adventures and intrigue. No matter where the PCs go, there will always be something happening. Not only that, but also many places list "regulars," NPCs who are likely to be found there at any given time.
After the magnificently detailed districts, there’s even more great information: guilds and secret societies in the city, to stir up even more ideas to throw at your players. Areas outside Bluffside also get their due, so the PCs won’t be cooped up inside the city all the time. One more chapter is devoted (pun intended) to the religions found in Bluffside. The pantheon presented is detailed enough to use as is for natives of the city, but left “generic” enough to be replaced or modified to fit into an existing campaign with deities already in place.
Several appendices finish off the book, but they make up almost 40% of the book -- because they’re packed with goodies. The first one is the NPC appendix mentioned earlier. The second lists new creatures found in and around Bluffside. The third contains the stats for many of the guards and soldiers from various locations around town – presumably in case there is some sort of… altercation involving the PCs. Appendix 4 provides information on new races presented in the book (the Dragori, the Nevae, the Sel’varahn, the Sixam Ieuna, and the Steam Gnomes). The races might cause some adaptability problems, but resourceful GMs should be able to get around that by substituting something in their place if necessary. New prestige classes follow, including a Mountain Ranger, a Cat Burglar, an Explorer, and a Tunnel Fighter. Over 20 new spells also have an appendix, and there are some new pieces of equipment and several rather interesting magical items here as well. The appendices close with a few new feats and the list of Domains that go with the gods presented in the Religion chapter.
The full color cover has a beautiful depiction of Bluffside and Sordadon, and the black & white interior art is plentiful and generally appealing. A few are a bit small, and others appear not to have made the transition to print all that well, but overall the art is enjoyable. The text is another matter, however. They used a small typeface (my guess is 10 pt. or less) for the main paragraph text, and an even smaller size (8 pt?) for OGC details and a significant portion of the appendices. They did alleviate that deficiency somewhat by breaking the text into three columns (I can’t imagine what it would be like with two), so it’s not as bad as it might seem. Unfortunately, other than the art and the page borders, they did nothing else to "polish" the look of the book as a whole. It struck me as spartan, but it does get the job done.
Despite my issues with the text, it’s a brilliant book. The maps are marvelous -- the pull-out poster map is devoid of labels so the GM can decide exactly what to divulge to the players. Also, throughout the book, every point of interest is labeled with a letter-and-number code so you can quickly and easily identify which district it’s in ("OC" = Old City, "TD" = Temple District, etc.). Those labels correspond to the individual district maps, with arrows homing in on the exact building to which the text is referring. Well done.
Future developments for Bluffside include supplements for each district and an official netbook created by players and GMs that will feature their visions of the city, to make it truly theirs. Free downloads and extras are already available to purchasers of Bluffside at Thunderhead Games’ website.
Overall, this is an astounding book. It’s 144 pages of ONE city. One. Anyone using this city in their game will never run out of things to do in their campaign. I recommend that you check it out (and take it TO the checkout). You won’t be disappointed.
Content/Value: 9
Originality/Creativity: 9
Adaptability/Flexibility: 9
Breadth/Depth: 10
Quality/Appeal: 8
Overall: 9
Kithmaker
Added: May 29th 2002
Reviewer: Kithmaker
Score: 4.5 stars out of 5
Related Link: Thunderhead Games
Hits: 49
Language: eng"
:"Bluffside – City on the Edge
Thunderhead Games presents their first major setting in the form of Bluffside, a city literally on the edge. This metropolis, which lies on top of a 500-foot cliff, is superbly detailed and ready to drop into any d20 fantasy world. Better yet, make it the focus of a new d20 city campaign. Over 140 pages of extensive information provide you with everything you need to run adventures in and around Bluffside.
First and foremost, Bluffside is designed to be completely modular and adaptable to ANY campaign. Everything is simply presented as is, and the GM is free to include, exclude, or modify any part of it to fit his or her game. The eight districts of the city can be used all together as one massive urban area or used separately as smaller separate communities. Over 100 "places of interest" detailed throughout the book help make the city feel real.
Right away we’re given the history of Bluffside and how it came to be as it is now. The timeline presented is nicely detailed and extends back over 1300 years, so there’s plenty of history for inventive GMs to build on. Current information is also provided, including the population, racial distribution, power structure, and religions of Bluffside.
After the preliminary info, we dive right into the heart of the city and the districts that make the whole. Each section starts with a wonderful map of that district alone, aiding in identification of points of interest -- not to mention making the use of a district as a stand-alone community incredibly easy. The Old City is the first, and it includes embassies, palaces, tribunals (courts), nightclubs, inns, gardens, museums, nobles’ estates, and more. It even depicts the family crests for the major nobles --very cool. The Miner’s District is next, and it’s also loaded with locations such as guild houses and the Great Furnace. The rest of the districts follow -- the Temple District, Military District, Wizard District, New City, Sordadon (a harbor district that floats at the base of the bluff), and even the Undercity and its extensive sewer system.
The greatest part about the descriptions of the points of interest is that each and every one includes the owner or prominent resident (stats for each NPC are found in a massive 30-page appendix), and at least two plot hooks for adventures and intrigue. No matter where the PCs go, there will always be something happening. Not only that, but also many places list "regulars," NPCs who are likely to be found there at any given time.
After the magnificently detailed districts, there’s even more great information: guilds and secret societies in the city, to stir up even more ideas to throw at your players. Areas outside Bluffside also get their due, so the PCs won’t be cooped up inside the city all the time. One more chapter is devoted (pun intended) to the religions found in Bluffside. The pantheon presented is detailed enough to use as is for natives of the city, but left “generic” enough to be replaced or modified to fit into an existing campaign with deities already in place.
Several appendices finish off the book, but they make up almost 40% of the book -- because they’re packed with goodies. The first one is the NPC appendix mentioned earlier. The second lists new creatures found in and around Bluffside. The third contains the stats for many of the guards and soldiers from various locations around town – presumably in case there is some sort of… altercation involving the PCs. Appendix 4 provides information on new races presented in the book (the Dragori, the Nevae, the Sel’varahn, the Sixam Ieuna, and the Steam Gnomes). The races might cause some adaptability problems, but resourceful GMs should be able to get around that by substituting something in their place if necessary. New prestige classes follow, including a Mountain Ranger, a Cat Burglar, an Explorer, and a Tunnel Fighter. Over 20 new spells also have an appendix, and there are some new pieces of equipment and several rather interesting magical items here as well. The appendices close with a few new feats and the list of Domains that go with the gods presented in the Religion chapter.
The full color cover has a beautiful depiction of Bluffside and Sordadon, and the black & white interior art is plentiful and generally appealing. A few are a bit small, and others appear not to have made the transition to print all that well, but overall the art is enjoyable. The text is another matter, however. They used a small typeface (my guess is 10 pt. or less) for the main paragraph text, and an even smaller size (8 pt?) for OGC details and a significant portion of the appendices. They did alleviate that deficiency somewhat by breaking the text into three columns (I can’t imagine what it would be like with two), so it’s not as bad as it might seem. Unfortunately, other than the art and the page borders, they did nothing else to "polish" the look of the book as a whole. It struck me as spartan, but it does get the job done.
Despite my issues with the text, it’s a brilliant book. The maps are marvelous -- the pull-out poster map is devoid of labels so the GM can decide exactly what to divulge to the players. Also, throughout the book, every point of interest is labeled with a letter-and-number code so you can quickly and easily identify which district it’s in ("OC" = Old City, "TD" = Temple District, etc.). Those labels correspond to the individual district maps, with arrows homing in on the exact building to which the text is referring. Well done.
Future developments for Bluffside include supplements for each district and an official netbook created by players and GMs that will feature their visions of the city, to make it truly theirs. Free downloads and extras are already available to purchasers of Bluffside at Thunderhead Games’ website.
Overall, this is an astounding book. It’s 144 pages of ONE city. One. Anyone using this city in their game will never run out of things to do in their campaign. I recommend that you check it out (and take it TO the checkout). You won’t be disappointed.
Content/Value: 9
Originality/Creativity: 9
Adaptability/Flexibility: 9
Breadth/Depth: 10
Quality/Appeal: 8
Overall: 9
Kithmaker
Added: May 29th 2002
Reviewer: Kithmaker
Score: 4.5 stars out of 5
Related Link: Thunderhead Games
Hits: 49
Language: eng"
Last edited:
Similar Threads
