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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2009752" data-attributes="member: 18387">I'm going to be blunt with you folks. I'm not much for dwarves, or their kingdoms. Certainly if you're a huge fan of these underground dwellers, you'll find this book very useful. Burok Torn however is more than just a dwarf book. It's also a book about their foes, the Drendali or dark elves. Unlike the drow of yore, dark elves aren't particular well known or feared, save by the dwarves in Burok Torn. The cover art shows a huge monster attacking a flurry of dwarves. The interior artwork is decent, but there's no darn map of the place, no cut away to give you an idea of the size/scope of the mountain. For that unfortunately, you'll have to rely on the Scarred Lands Campaign Setting: Ghelspad. The maps here are decent but again I found this lack of major map quite disturbing. The book is divided up into six chapters and an appendix. The introduction and the preface are both very short. Chapter one gives us a short but informative look at the history of this place and also the relationship between the two important races here, the mountain dwarves and the dark elves. It also tells of the rift that came between them. Chapter two gives us an inside look at both the social and physical structure of the city and its inhabitants. Ranging from their eating habits, to handling clan wars, to even dealing with outsiders and their god, this chapter provides us with a deep insight into the character of the mountain dwarves and their home. Chapter Three gives us a detailed look at the important dwarven personages, ranging from King Thain to his guards and their rune masters. It also gives us a detailed look at the lineage of the kings of Burok Torn.Chapter Four deals with the dark elves. Here we get to see their lives, their own history and also their unending quest to restore their god and also gain revenge for the wrong suffered by them. Also here we see something of their social structure as well as their use in tattoo magic as well as golems they use to keep the city on the move.Chapter Five deals with the prestige classes, magics and tattoes made by the dark elves. I will list the prestige classes, but I will say, I found Iron and Stone guardsman in serious need of reworking. They use an existing Prestige class (dwarven defender) to justify making their own as well as for requirements. The others, rune master and tattoo adept are fine if a little powerful. Also in this chapter are dark elf tattooes that can only be used by dark elves. Prestige classes:Rune Master (powerful spellcaster that uses runes in place of other magics)Iron Guardsman (devoted defender of the king's own family)Stone Guardsman (defender and protecter of Burok Torn)Tattoo adept (dark elven master/mistress of the art of the tattoo)Chapter Six details adventures to be found in the city under siege, ranging from finding out the true history of Bridge of Betrayal, to helping them deal with the onslaught by the Calastians. The appendix details four new monsters and one template.For those of you looking for something to add your campaign, my best bet would be with the spells, possible the prestige classes (though not Iron or Stone Guardsman), and the monsters. The stuff about how to feed an underground populace also might be of interest. Overall I found this book, probably at worst mediocere, at best decent. It's not terrible, but I do think it suffers by a lack of forward thinking on the writers part. That plus the lack of a really decent map, hurts the book. I would say though, if you are running a campaign near this place, not a bad guide.</blockquote>

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