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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silveras" data-source="post: 2010989" data-attributes="member: 6271">Welcome to my first review ! First, my biases. I love domain-level gaming, especially the Birthright style, so I come to this review with a mix of high expectations and predisposed to like the subject. Other than those, I have no biases; I am just a gaming consumer -- although I did get to help in the playtest of the Birthright computer game, if that matters to anyone. OverallFields of Blood is better than Good, but not quite Superb. It is very strong on content, offering a good mix of options in a number of inter-related areas without spending too long on any one of them. Most importantly, I have not found any serious fractures in the systems (as I did with AEG's Empire and Mongoose Publishing's Book of Strongholds & Dynasties). ContentDomain Rulership: The core of the book, this section sets the stage for the parts that follow. The early part of the book includes discussions about how culture and governing style affect the realm, which is an element missing from most of the other books of this type. A good range of domain actions, and a reasonable limit on how many may be conducted, is provided. It is nice that, while the Regent usually determines what the people do, the DM can over-rule some of the actions on behalf of the populace. What is missing from the actions, however, is interactivity. The Espionage actions are the most telling examples; they amount to playing craps on a political scale. You pay the requisite fee to start (i.e., "place your bet"), then make 1 or more rolls of the dice. Results range widely, from no effect to wildly successful, and the consequences range as well ... from the enemy having no idea what just happened to knowing exactly what occurred and who made it happen. Sadly, though, there is almost nothing you can do to sway the odds. Only one type of Guild offers modifiers to these rolls, and there is only one feat offering any bonuses here. A system using opposed skill checks (allowing a rival (N)PC domain to "fight back"), for example, would have been appreciated. What I would also have liked to see is more interaction between the Guilds and the ruler. The Guilds are generally treated as just another type of improvement to build; a system where they could compete for the ruler's favor and/or support or oppose individual projects would be more to my taste. Resource Management: This section is well-developed, and offers players a variety of means to enhance the production in each land are they build on. One element that detracts here is that the provided record sheet is too small; most major settlements will need more than the one line given them on the form. In point of fact, most settlements probably will each need to have a small 3x5 record to cover the improvements made there. Mass Combat: The unit definition rules are complex, if you are building soldier-type units. Most monsters convert directly from their D20 stats with some simple math, but soldiers have several options to work with, and it may take some time to get used to the system. Many monster units have been pre-statted in the appendix. This helps a bit in putting the more difficult conversions in easy reach, but it means that the soldiers of your realms are going to require some significant prep work before you can use them, as practically no "soldier" type units are provided "out of the box". However, the system gives you a high degree of customizability, so you can build practically any unit you need. Troop movement is integrated with the domain descriptions and resource management rules. The types of hexes and their state (governed, explored, or wild) makes them more or less expensive to move through, representing the difficulty of supplying troops on the move. The system is counter-based, reminiscent of the older Battlesystem game. Formations (blocks of units) have effects, both good and bad, on the units that make them up, the difficulty of getting units to act cohesively is demonstrated in the command rules, and there are a good range of commands (unit actions) that can be used. The "Alternate Fresh Units" action allows the owner to rotate the wounded out of the front lines and put the fresher units there, which is most useful with the Formations that can be created. The inclusion of a "Quick resolution" system is welcome, as it gives options to those who do not wish to play out the battles fully. Presentation Style: Stylistically, the book works well. The elements are laid out in a step-by-step fashion. You have to understand how to describe a realm before you can talk about ruling it, which you need to do before you can talk about arming it, which in turn you need to understand before you can talk about taking it to war. However, this also tends to scatter some information; the upkeep costs of population centers are on a separate table from the production modifiers, and the build/upgrade prices are in a third table. One consolidated table would be helpful, especially if you have an existing game world to convert to these stats. The tone is good, mostly matter of fact with a couple of sardonic asides to keep things light. A long-running, linked series of examples show the content of each chapter at work. This is very helpful in putting everything in context; Strongholds & Dynasties offered examples, but none related to each other, and a lot of the impact was lost. Having a sustained example means that the system also gets a "reality check" as it is being written. The liberal use of sidebars to explain why things have certain values, and what you can do to change them, makes the system adaptable. While many GMs would be likely to do so anyway, it helps to have some guidance on what some changes might affect. Editing/Proofreading: This is somewhat of a weak area. There are several places where a sentence was clearly partially revised but not completed, resulting in extra words or missing words. Similarly, the conversion to the revised D&D seems rushed, as some things were updated in one place but not another (notably, the Call Lightning spell has the shorter revised casting time in the spell summary, but has the longer casting time in the text of the example of its use on the battlefield. ValueAt $30.00, the book feels a little flimsy. The paper is light, and covers curl easily. However, appearances can be deceiving; of 176 pages, 169 provide content and 4 more provide copyable sheets for use in the game. The artwork is generally well-done, but tastefully small -- most pages have at least 1 column of text. Summing UpOverall, Fields of Blood is the most comprehensive and stable of the recent "domain management" books. While there are places that could use some expansion, the core hangs together solidly enough that you can feel comfortable making changes on your own.</blockquote>

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