terraleon
Explorer
Disclaimer: I helped generate a portion of the material for this text, providing a few derro items and one of the monsters. However, I did buy my print copy of this book. My PDF was provided by virtue of my patronage.
This is a 3.5 supplement you might just consider for your game, even if you're playing Pathfinder. _Dwarves of the Ironcrags_ hits you right out of the gate with a gorgeous cover by David Wenzel, an artist renowned for his _Hobbit_ graphic novel and several other fantasy works. It evokes something clannish and occult, making it perfect for a supplement about dwarves. Pushing into the book, it's divided into five sections: history and culture, a masonic-like secret society, an allied gypsy culture, dwarven and derro magic and items, and finally, a pile of 10 monsters.
The culture section is solid, providing politics between cantons, motivations, economy--everything you'd want to establish a sense of verisimilitude to adventures set in, or even just passing through the region. I especially like the fact that it discusses the dwarven attitude regarding slavery. That's a topic that was common in the eras many game worlds emulate, but always seems to get a short shrift. The various insignia are a nice touch, too, providing the hooks that help get players immersed in the game.
The detailed secret society goes deep deep deep into the details about a mason-like organization that covertly exists within the dwarven community. It's a great group to build up as either an ally or an enemy, possibly leading to some Dan-Brown-esque adventures. The prestige class is complex, and provides something that's really more like a PrC with multiple paths and options. It's a very cool twist on a PrC concept and interesting for the RP requirements built into it-- it's not a PrC you dip into, that's for certain. Combined with society-specific items, this is what PrCs are meant to be like! Well done!
The Kariv, a clan-based, gypsy-like people are described in the next section. It's refreshing to see a human culture given such solid background. I can easily see playing a rogue, bard, or rakish sorcerer fleeing a bloodfued and playing out the entertaining taboos and societal quirks. There are plenty of options and feats to round out the mechanics and provide the meat necessary to really generate fun characters and exciting NPCs. These guys are definitely making an appearance in the next urban game I run.
Continuing on into the dwarven/derro magic and items, there is a wealth of material here to play with. Twenty different spells and twenty-five different items allow you to really expose not only the interesting bits of dwarven magic, but dip into the strange and macabre handiwork of the insane derro. I'm a little biased here, but I think the insanitech and the rune magic are also worth the price for admission.
Finally, ten monsters fill out the last section--providing templates, hazards, constructs and devils, this has a lot of material to work with and nearly every monster has a gorgeously rendered B&W illustration done by Hugo Solis. His level of detail is lovingly evident in so many of the pictures that you will be holding them up to the table, hands covering the pertinent stat blocks.
This book gives you that great combination you hope for in a supplement-- the right balance of flavor and mechanics that inspire while increasing the entertainment options of your game. If you've got dwarves in your game, you'd be crazy not to pick up this book. And you won't be disappointed if you do.
(I rate it a value of 9 for the money, because it would require some modification to a Pathfinder game, but really, there's soooo much here, that it's totally worth it!)
This is a 3.5 supplement you might just consider for your game, even if you're playing Pathfinder. _Dwarves of the Ironcrags_ hits you right out of the gate with a gorgeous cover by David Wenzel, an artist renowned for his _Hobbit_ graphic novel and several other fantasy works. It evokes something clannish and occult, making it perfect for a supplement about dwarves. Pushing into the book, it's divided into five sections: history and culture, a masonic-like secret society, an allied gypsy culture, dwarven and derro magic and items, and finally, a pile of 10 monsters.
The culture section is solid, providing politics between cantons, motivations, economy--everything you'd want to establish a sense of verisimilitude to adventures set in, or even just passing through the region. I especially like the fact that it discusses the dwarven attitude regarding slavery. That's a topic that was common in the eras many game worlds emulate, but always seems to get a short shrift. The various insignia are a nice touch, too, providing the hooks that help get players immersed in the game.
The detailed secret society goes deep deep deep into the details about a mason-like organization that covertly exists within the dwarven community. It's a great group to build up as either an ally or an enemy, possibly leading to some Dan-Brown-esque adventures. The prestige class is complex, and provides something that's really more like a PrC with multiple paths and options. It's a very cool twist on a PrC concept and interesting for the RP requirements built into it-- it's not a PrC you dip into, that's for certain. Combined with society-specific items, this is what PrCs are meant to be like! Well done!
The Kariv, a clan-based, gypsy-like people are described in the next section. It's refreshing to see a human culture given such solid background. I can easily see playing a rogue, bard, or rakish sorcerer fleeing a bloodfued and playing out the entertaining taboos and societal quirks. There are plenty of options and feats to round out the mechanics and provide the meat necessary to really generate fun characters and exciting NPCs. These guys are definitely making an appearance in the next urban game I run.
Continuing on into the dwarven/derro magic and items, there is a wealth of material here to play with. Twenty different spells and twenty-five different items allow you to really expose not only the interesting bits of dwarven magic, but dip into the strange and macabre handiwork of the insane derro. I'm a little biased here, but I think the insanitech and the rune magic are also worth the price for admission.
Finally, ten monsters fill out the last section--providing templates, hazards, constructs and devils, this has a lot of material to work with and nearly every monster has a gorgeously rendered B&W illustration done by Hugo Solis. His level of detail is lovingly evident in so many of the pictures that you will be holding them up to the table, hands covering the pertinent stat blocks.
This book gives you that great combination you hope for in a supplement-- the right balance of flavor and mechanics that inspire while increasing the entertainment options of your game. If you've got dwarves in your game, you'd be crazy not to pick up this book. And you won't be disappointed if you do.
(I rate it a value of 9 for the money, because it would require some modification to a Pathfinder game, but really, there's soooo much here, that it's totally worth it!)
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