gambler1650
Explorer
In my reviews I rarely give 1's, just as I rarely give 5's. While production qualities matter, the content is what determines a final rating. Good pictures or unique ideas won't save a product from a poor review, but it might push a good one slightly higher. Functionality first, then the flash if you please. Price is also generally taken into consideration. A quick summary of my personal ratings:
1 - Lazy, incomplete, shoddy effort. So disgusted I'm likely only to open it again to review it.
2 - Below average. Not completely unhappy I bought it since it probably has some good ideas.
3 - Average/Good. I got approximately what I expected in terms of content and quality. No major flaws and useful.
4 - Very Good. I got more than I expected. Inspired me enough to think about using it down the road.
5 - Excellent. The cream of the industry. I immediately want to use it somewhere. Excellent production values.
(Note: This review was taken from one I did on Amazon.com, and as such doesn't follow my usual format)
This book was another of my large Kalamar and Forgotten Realms purchase last year that ushered in my new era of D20 purchasing. This book initially impressed me more than the Kingdoms of Kalamar sourcebook did. In the end however, it got the same rating, and the same overall impression. It was nice, hung together well enough, and had lots of NPCs that were well detailed. However, numerous irritations and inconsistencies dragged it down. Worse, not one immediate idea for an adventure sprang to mind reading it. By this I mean that I did get general adventure concepts, but nothing that started to flesh itself together. This might be a lack of imagination on my part (I'll not so humbly say that this is unlikely), or more likely the kinds of adventures suggested by this book don't appeal to me.
This book is an exploration of a city in the Kalamar campaign setting, and follows the same feel in that the emphasis is far more on the politics rather than old ruins or monsters. This is fine, but not quite what most people expect from AD&D or fantasy gaming in general. The cover is a very nice picture of a stone and a fire giant fighting while adventurers watch behind small hills, and the city in the background. Unfortunately, that's the last time that these kinds of threats are seen, except in passing. The underground sewers are detailed well, but most areas are given the same "rumors of treasures hidden in the walls" treatment.
So the emphasis is on the people and their interactions. The city overall is one with a very peaceful reputation. You have five main groups: the Castle, the Guilds, the Nobles, the Priests and the common people. The Castle and leaders seem mostly good aligned, with the potential heir being somewhat weak, leading to worries as to what will happen if the Lord dies. The guilds are builders, craftsmen, parcel carriers, etc, and basically well respected. There are one or two evil guildmasters, but very little detailed as to if they have any real plans and how they intend to follow through on the plans. The Nobles are the most interesting group at first, as they're disliked by the commoners and Guilds alike. But rather quickly it's obvious that most follow a pattern.. You have the leader of the house. The heir is almost always a young man or woman who either seeks adventure to make a name, seeks adventurers to provide a power base for when they become the leader, or weak/not interested in the job of being house leader. One or two plots are laid out in fair detail, but they still didn't really grab me, and the sameness of each noble house got monotonous after awhile.
The religions are primarily good or neutral, and the evil religions again follow a pattern of only a few followers that want to expand their powerbase in the city and are preparing to do so. The plans are nebulous and nothing feels 'set in motion'. One religion is truly evil, with some fleshing out of the despicable practices of its leader, but this was only a blip in the monotony. The shady dealings in the city are minimal and glossed over in the chapter devoted to this, because the town watch is so effective. The section on adventures is quite thin, and almost nothing in it really grabbed me.
Another element of this book that I disliked were some writing style choices and inconsistencies.
1. The names were not always consistent between book, glossary (with page number where character is found) and the NPC list.
2. Almost every paragraph had at least one word in quotes, sometimes needed but more than often not.. Example: "If being 'noble' accords him special privileges, he will shamelessly make use of them ... However, he knows very well that anyone who truly believes Talasaarans are 'better' than their fellow Geanavese..." These quotes interrupt the flow of reading for me.
3. The authors use city-wide versions of common words throughout (at least they do explain the meaning) but this is annoying when they're for words like street, corner, avenue, left (sinister) and right (dexter). Again, it breaks up the flow.
4. The walkthrough of the city switches from guide-book style of simple description to actual guide style ("Now, as we go down this street, we decide to turn in the sinister direction and...") multiple times. Combined with huge amounts of quotes and city specific terms, plus including information already mentioned in the rest of the book, this chapter seemed a waste.
5. Sometimes the book goes into great detail about specific plots and plans (well, all of a couple of them), and other times things that it would help the DM to know are merely mentioned and then left alone as something that "No one really knows." This seems inconsistent.
Ok, so lots of complaints.. It still gets a three for the high production quality and the wealth of NPCs and locations included. The nits and sameness drag it down to just average. As in the Kingdoms of Kalamar sourcebook, the world feels as if all these ideas and plots are in stasis or just about to start, and the DM has to set it in motion. The DM will have to do a lot more work than I'd like to detail the plots of the various nobles and evil religions. I suppose it all depends on what you want from your sourcebooks. If you want a fairly detailed geography and set of NPCs but with the plots and interactions left bland and for the DM to flesh out, then this will work for you. If I buy a sourcebook, I want the city to feel alive, with plots (detailed ones) already in motion. If the DM doesn't like them, they can always be changed but at least they'll give an idea of how the area is supposed to feel. As far as I'm concerned, the book would have been a whole lot better if the more or less useless "Guide Book" chapter had been replaced with a mini-adventure or a listing of plots and current events in more detail.
1 - Lazy, incomplete, shoddy effort. So disgusted I'm likely only to open it again to review it.
2 - Below average. Not completely unhappy I bought it since it probably has some good ideas.
3 - Average/Good. I got approximately what I expected in terms of content and quality. No major flaws and useful.
4 - Very Good. I got more than I expected. Inspired me enough to think about using it down the road.
5 - Excellent. The cream of the industry. I immediately want to use it somewhere. Excellent production values.
(Note: This review was taken from one I did on Amazon.com, and as such doesn't follow my usual format)
This book was another of my large Kalamar and Forgotten Realms purchase last year that ushered in my new era of D20 purchasing. This book initially impressed me more than the Kingdoms of Kalamar sourcebook did. In the end however, it got the same rating, and the same overall impression. It was nice, hung together well enough, and had lots of NPCs that were well detailed. However, numerous irritations and inconsistencies dragged it down. Worse, not one immediate idea for an adventure sprang to mind reading it. By this I mean that I did get general adventure concepts, but nothing that started to flesh itself together. This might be a lack of imagination on my part (I'll not so humbly say that this is unlikely), or more likely the kinds of adventures suggested by this book don't appeal to me.
This book is an exploration of a city in the Kalamar campaign setting, and follows the same feel in that the emphasis is far more on the politics rather than old ruins or monsters. This is fine, but not quite what most people expect from AD&D or fantasy gaming in general. The cover is a very nice picture of a stone and a fire giant fighting while adventurers watch behind small hills, and the city in the background. Unfortunately, that's the last time that these kinds of threats are seen, except in passing. The underground sewers are detailed well, but most areas are given the same "rumors of treasures hidden in the walls" treatment.
So the emphasis is on the people and their interactions. The city overall is one with a very peaceful reputation. You have five main groups: the Castle, the Guilds, the Nobles, the Priests and the common people. The Castle and leaders seem mostly good aligned, with the potential heir being somewhat weak, leading to worries as to what will happen if the Lord dies. The guilds are builders, craftsmen, parcel carriers, etc, and basically well respected. There are one or two evil guildmasters, but very little detailed as to if they have any real plans and how they intend to follow through on the plans. The Nobles are the most interesting group at first, as they're disliked by the commoners and Guilds alike. But rather quickly it's obvious that most follow a pattern.. You have the leader of the house. The heir is almost always a young man or woman who either seeks adventure to make a name, seeks adventurers to provide a power base for when they become the leader, or weak/not interested in the job of being house leader. One or two plots are laid out in fair detail, but they still didn't really grab me, and the sameness of each noble house got monotonous after awhile.
The religions are primarily good or neutral, and the evil religions again follow a pattern of only a few followers that want to expand their powerbase in the city and are preparing to do so. The plans are nebulous and nothing feels 'set in motion'. One religion is truly evil, with some fleshing out of the despicable practices of its leader, but this was only a blip in the monotony. The shady dealings in the city are minimal and glossed over in the chapter devoted to this, because the town watch is so effective. The section on adventures is quite thin, and almost nothing in it really grabbed me.
Another element of this book that I disliked were some writing style choices and inconsistencies.
1. The names were not always consistent between book, glossary (with page number where character is found) and the NPC list.
2. Almost every paragraph had at least one word in quotes, sometimes needed but more than often not.. Example: "If being 'noble' accords him special privileges, he will shamelessly make use of them ... However, he knows very well that anyone who truly believes Talasaarans are 'better' than their fellow Geanavese..." These quotes interrupt the flow of reading for me.
3. The authors use city-wide versions of common words throughout (at least they do explain the meaning) but this is annoying when they're for words like street, corner, avenue, left (sinister) and right (dexter). Again, it breaks up the flow.
4. The walkthrough of the city switches from guide-book style of simple description to actual guide style ("Now, as we go down this street, we decide to turn in the sinister direction and...") multiple times. Combined with huge amounts of quotes and city specific terms, plus including information already mentioned in the rest of the book, this chapter seemed a waste.
5. Sometimes the book goes into great detail about specific plots and plans (well, all of a couple of them), and other times things that it would help the DM to know are merely mentioned and then left alone as something that "No one really knows." This seems inconsistent.
Ok, so lots of complaints.. It still gets a three for the high production quality and the wealth of NPCs and locations included. The nits and sameness drag it down to just average. As in the Kingdoms of Kalamar sourcebook, the world feels as if all these ideas and plots are in stasis or just about to start, and the DM has to set it in motion. The DM will have to do a lot more work than I'd like to detail the plots of the various nobles and evil religions. I suppose it all depends on what you want from your sourcebooks. If you want a fairly detailed geography and set of NPCs but with the plots and interactions left bland and for the DM to flesh out, then this will work for you. If I buy a sourcebook, I want the city to feel alive, with plots (detailed ones) already in motion. If the DM doesn't like them, they can always be changed but at least they'll give an idea of how the area is supposed to feel. As far as I'm concerned, the book would have been a whole lot better if the more or less useless "Guide Book" chapter had been replaced with a mini-adventure or a listing of plots and current events in more detail.
