Beware! Spoilers ahead.
This is not a playtest review.
Brotherhoods is an accessory for 0one Games' Arthad campaign setting, and deals with the semi-religious organisations of Arthad known as Brotherhoods, giving background detail on the fallen gods of Arthad and the magical power of harmony left over from their demise.
Brotherhoods is a 2.74 MB .pdf file, is 42 pages long, and costs $5. This is fairly average for its size and type in terms of content volume. It boasts a printer-friendly page design, having got rid of the thick full colour margins of previous releases. Artwork is similar to previous releases, an unusual cartoonish style that remains evocative and mature. The art is mono, except for the front 'cover'. The maps, as always, are first class - I'm really looking forward to 0one's upcoming map accessory. These maps are their own stimulus for GM descriptions, with torchlight effects, shadows, luxurious colour, and detailed furnishings. These reflect 0one's head guy Mario Barbati's previous 'life' as an architect. I understand the maps go through a series of detailed procedures, from CAD drawing through 3D rendering with additions in Photoshop and finally by an illustrator. The attention to detail shows. Unfortunately, this attention to detail is sadly lacking when it comes to the text. 0one (an Italian company) seem to have a new English proofreader for this product. Now either he didn't do his work, or wasn't allowed to, because the English in this product 'sucks big time'. No, really, the product is practically unreadable in parts - "The Harmony has endless way to manifest itself. All theorists used to call this 'source', which is every strong concentration of Harmony". The writing style itself would probably be OK, even pretty good, but these blunders have ruined what would otherwise be an interesting accessory. The English editor in previous releases wasn't great, but this is truly appalling.
After beginning with some flavour text and advice on using the book with other settings than Arthad, the accessory takes a look at the ancient gods of Arthad, most of whom were killed in the Godswar. Only two survive - Zadrak, the Dark God, and Savanah, the goddess of love. However, the after-death essence of many of the ancient gods still clings to hidden and forgotten places, and also provides a mystical power called Harmony that allows members of Brotherhoods to create their magics. The following gods are given an overview only - a bit of history and information on present day worship:
* Galinor, God of Light
* Savanah, Goddess of Love
* Arabitas, God of the Sword
* Szazir, God of the Axe
* Vitheder, God of Souls
* Kadram, God of Intrigue
* Zadrak, God of Evil and Deception
* Xagon, God of Death
* Demexa, Goddess of Madness
* Hissyam, God of Serpents and Venom
* Kremalka-Kaan, Demon God of Vengeance
* Avranis, God of War
Each god also has a Knowledge (Ancient Gods) skill check DC, as some gods have been forgotten since their demise in the godswar, and all knowledge of the ancient gods is waning.
There follows a somewhat philosophical treatise (or 'treat' as the accessory amusingly misnames it) on the mystical power of Harmony (similar to Divine Magic). Its description makes me think of a kind of magical version of The Force, since it is stronger in different people and places, can be used for evil or good, and requires practice to use/perceive it. However, it differs in origin as Harmony is said to be the left-over essence of the dead gods. There is a table outlining Harmony strengths in different places.
A harmony-user that does not currently belong to a Brotherhood is known as a Stareg. These loners vary considerably in motivation, from hermitic to power-hungry. Mystics, normally an NPC class, use Harmony only for healing and are pacifists, but use a d10 die for healing spells.
Eight Brotherhoods are described. The Brotherhoods are organisations consisting of Harmony users that generally have a monastery as a base. Before the main descriptions of the Brotherhoods, there is a useful section on creating your own Brotherhoods, giving advice on coming up with the origins, duties and rites, monastery, appearance and personality of the clerics, domains, symbol, favored weapon, and [granted] power, of a Brotherhood - this template is also used to describe the eight Brotherhoods in the accessory:
* The Brotherhood Of Black Vengeance - a Brotherhood imbued with the power of the Demon God of Vengeance, Kremalka-Kaan. They seek to destroy all vestiges of the gods of light. A map of the monastery is given along with a template for a demon of vengeance, applied to those beings who come into contact with a claw of the deceased demon god.
* Brotherhood Of The Branch - originating with a magical branch infused with the essence of dualistic nature deities, there is also a sidebar describing the Arillin tress that are infused with this godly essence. Many of the Brotherhood are druids.
* The Sisterhood Of The Burning Ice - a neutral sisterhood dedicated to balance. The sisterhood always travel in pairs, usually two women of opposing personalities. There is a map of the monastery.
* The Brotherhood Of The Dream Walkers - a Brotherhood who meets and has its monastery in the realm of Dream, but walk the face of Arthad alone, giving prophecies to those in need. Basic rules for acting in the realm of Dream are given, which will be expanded in a future product.
* Brotherhood Of The Rainbow - members of this Brotherhood strive to attain physical, mental and spiritual perfection, progressing along different paths which correspond to the colours of the rainbow. There is a map of the monastery.
* The Scarlet Rose Brotherhood - dedicated to the neutral god of war, Avranis, called to war by the mystical change in the colour of roses. They have a fearsome and bloodthirsty reputation.
* Brotherhood Of The Severed Skull - a brotherhood that searches for the other half of a mystical skull, in the hopes of finding the answer to the meaning of life (did nobody tell them its 42?). Has a map of the monastery.
* Brotherhood Of The Sword - blacksmith warriors, the Brotherhood of the Sword is sworn to destroy the Brotherhood of Black Vengeance. A map of the monastery is given.
The final section introduces 6 new harmony-related feats, a new skill - Knowledge (Ancient Gods) and 18 new Brotherhood-related spells. There are also tables showing the favored weapon and domains for the eight Brotherhoods. There is a note referencing four other Brotherhoods that have been released in other products.
Conclusion:
It pains me to see such an interesting concept with great maps and unusual artwork ruined by bad editing. This product is still worth getting if you can wade through the language barrier, particularly if you intend running an adventure or campaign in the David-Gemmell-influenced world of Arthad. But you'd have to have a fairly high pain threshold. The concepts themselves don't easily integrate with standard d20 fantasy campaign worlds, but could be used to give ideas for religious or semi-religious organisations.
My strong advice to 0one - get a decent editor right away (or maybe let him do his job).
