So now we come to the second Jakandor sourcebook,
Jakandor, Isle of Destiny, which focuses on the Charonti, the post-apocalyptic society of mages which, er...
Wait, so this really isn't available on DriveThruRPG? The other two books have been up for sale for five years now, but this one isn't? I mean, I can understand getting them mixed up; the titles are similar enough that when I picked up all three sourcebooks a few years ago at a convention, I came back to find that I'd actually bought
Jakandor, Island of War twice. Ironically, it was
Isle of Destiny that I'd overlooked. I think. It was a little while ago.
Either way, this book is the counterpoint to the previous one. Whereas the last sourcebook focused on the Knorr, giving only a brief booklet to showcase the Charonti (pronounced "sha-RON-ty"), that dynamic is now reversed, and we get the Charonti's side of the story.
Somewhat like the Knorr, the Charonti are also a post-apocalyptic people. Once a great magical society, a plague has decimated them, and they've lost most of what they've attained. It's only since the Knorr came to Jakandor (which the Charonti have long inhabited) that they've started to get their act together, uniting now that there's a common threat. With a heavily stratified society, one which sees undeath (if properly managed) as an exploitable resource similar to technology, and a, shall we say,
strained religious tradition, the Charonti aren't your typical D&D wizard empire.
A major reason for that is just how limited the Charonti's magic is. If you're used to thinking of wizard nations in terms of
Netheril: Empire of Magic, then you're in for a surprise here. The Charonti are, in many ways, a society defined by what they've lost (and are now trying to recover). As the book tells us, spells over 3rd level are virtually unknown, and even the spells that they have recovered are sharply limited in terms of how many there are. Don't think you can go into this campaign setting rolling on the starting spell tables in the
Wizard's Spell Compendium; even most of the PHB is going to be off-limits here.
Compounding this is the restrictions given via the kits. The Charonti's caste system expects wizards to specialize in a single magic school, and the associated kits (and the campaign does make it clear that the kits are what really drive the flavor Jakandor; you really can't not have one if you want to buy into the premise of the setting) make it very clear that you can
only learn spells from that single school. Sure, you gain one or two other minor benefits for doing so, but these are nowhere near enough to make up for how onerous that limitation is (and the kits also come with special drawbacks also). I mean, a Sandman (i.e. graduate of the college of Illusion) has eidetic memory, but is also mistrusted by people who
don't cotton to having everything they say and do recorded when in a Sandman's company. So your illusionist can be an outcast in addition to being largely ineffectual.
Now, there is a kit for generalist mages (the Dilettante), but they're near the bottom of the Charonti's social ladder, as specialists are the ones who are held up as responsible wizards who serve society. And, of course, Dilettantes have a % chance to learn new spells that's rather, shall we say...punishing: [(class level x 10) / spell level]. Compare that to the normal % chance you have based on your Intelligence. Ouch!
It's not all bad news if you want to be an arcane spellcaster. There's a selection of "elder spells" that any specialist can learn, one that's expanded from the usual "school of Lesser Divination" (which here is just part of the college of divination). Likewise, there are several new spells which make life easier for a wizard, such as
protection from interruption, giving you a chance to successfully get a spell off even if something disrupts your casting. Even better is
nefti's spell recall, which lets you cast it to regain another spell of the same level, enhancing your versatility. Things like these are supposed to make playing a wizard challenging rather than an exercise in frustration...though I wonder how well that works in actual play.
There are also divine casters here, but as noted the Charonti are something of a post-religious society. Kits denote various faiths, but all of them have fairly muted sphere selections. Pantheists, for example, who find meaning in all religious traditions, have access to every sphere...but only minor access. Philosophers start with minor access to the All and Divination spheres, and at each level gains either minor access to a new sphere or major access to a sphere that he already has minor access to. There are a few others, but you get the idea. And of course there are are some rogues kits (and one fighter kit), but they're also fairly pigeonholed in what they allow for.
The main thrust of a Charonti campaign, besides their ongoing war with the Knorr, is raiding old ruins to find lost magic. In that regard, I think that being generous is the way to go here; if I were running a Charonti campaign, I suspect that I'd want the players to be finding at least a couple new spells with every outing. Of course, I also suspect that this is the sort of campaign that most lends itself to the old "adventuring parties in the form of small armies" style of play. You'd want to have quite a few wizards in the party to make sure the various spell schools were represented, some fighters to protect them, a rogue with the Chirurgeon kit, and a priest or two, just to make sure all the bases were covered. Characters should make a name for themselves early on as the guys who are extremely competent/lucky for how successful they are.
I should mention again the use of necromancy here. As noted, this isn't done with any sort of malicious intent; indeed, the Charonti see death – or at least, the death of their own citizens – as being something of a waste; the body decays, and the spirit is lost to the realm of supernatural agents (i.e. gods and various angels/demons/etc.). Far better for them to be put to good use serving society! They've even developed special spells/items for this, and the undead they make aren't simple zombies or skeletons. There's something to be said for the amorality of this, as evidenced by how many Internet discussions there've been about why animating the dead is considered to be an evil act in mainstream D&D.
So what's the final verdict on
Isle of Destiny, at least for me?
Ironically, my take on this is the same as it was for the previous Jakandor product: that this is probably one of the best books I don't care for. It's just that it's for completely different reasons.
The Charonti almost seem like a deliberate attempt to avoid the usual D&D clichés. They're a wizard society that isn't drunk on power. They rely heavily on undead, but aren't depraved about it. They hate and war with a society of magic-scorning barbarians, but for reasons more substantial than mere arrogance/prejudice. Throw in the not-inconsiderable pages spent on telling us about their culture and society, and it looks like a surefire recipe for an intriguing campaign.
The issue, or at least what I think the issue will be for a lot of players, is how flat the power-curve is. For all that I've heard people complain about munchkins, min-maxers, and other overpowered players, the shift of the game has been a (mostly) straight increase in power across the editions, particularly for casters. This is a book that dials those limitations up significantly, and so anyone who finds the normal AD&D 2E constraints on casters to be unpleasant will be particularly uncomfortable with what's here. Even non-casters will likely chafe at a few of the burdens they're saddled with (though not nearly as much).
While I personally think that limits help very much to define the feel of a setting (just look at Dark Sun), that's not a positive if the feel of the campaign is one that you don't find yourself liking. The Charonti are a society that needs dynamic heroes, but the game rules here seem like they're in place specifically to keep the PCs from being too effective. I can't see that as being anything except frustrating for a lot of players.
But maybe I'm not giving
Isle of Destiny an entirely fair shake. The final Jakandor supplement is supposed to have a more practical focus, putting the first two into actual play. Let's see if that one can put a more entertaining spin on things.
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