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I'm reading the Forgotten Realms Novels- #202 The Howling Delve by Jaleigh Johnson (Dungeons 2)
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<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 8372881" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p><strong>#135 The City of Ravens by Richard Baker (Cities 1) </strong></p><p><strong>Read 13/8/21</strong></p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]142187[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>So, I read this one in a day- that's the first time that I've done this, although there's a few of the others that I've read previously that I got through in 24 hours, so...</p><p></p><p>I enjoyed it, and that's not to say that it's perfect- or brilliant. What it is, is a rollercoaster, or else there's just always something else going on that caused me to want to turn another page, just one more chapter.</p><p></p><p>There's an entire campaign worth of stuff in here- our guy Jack Ravenwild is in the middle of a burglary (with Anders, northern barbarian) when we meet him. Then there's a recovery job- an ancient tome that's passed through several folk's hands over the centuries and is finally located in the tower of a necromancer. Jack, of course, gets the book- this time with the help of Tharzon, a cool dwarf. The mystery book is about creating shades (shadow simulacra), remember this.</p><p></p><p>Jack's patron who wants the book is Elana/the Warlord- she's the big bad, although Jack doesn't know this at first.</p><p></p><p>Then there's the Mask Game, in which Jack assumes the persona of a lord and with the help of Illyth, a real lady, seeks to solve the mystery. Which they do, although the duo are also present when one of the players goes tonto and tries to kill the aristocracy of Ravens Bluff. Note, Jack has also been investigating this- in his spare time. Oh, and Illyth and Jack solve the riddle.</p><p></p><p>Then there's the secret tomb of some Dwarven brewmaster- Jack ventures there, with his friends again. Then there's the laurel and hardy Knights of the Hawk who are seeking to arrest Jack because he's consorting with the Warlord (see above). Then there's the shadow versions of Jack, and others, that keep popping up throughout the city to bring chaos.</p><p></p><p>Jack takes a good long while to work out who's to blame for these nasty shadow-creatures, which is odd because he must remember who he gave the book to, Elana = the Warlord.</p><p></p><p>Then there's a drow version of a mythal, and as it turns out the Warlord is the long lost relation of... oh god, is there really more of this.</p><p></p><p>But as it turns out Jack is one of the few folk in Raven's Bluff who can wield magic as easily as blowing his nose, and so is immune to all of the mythal's power- in fact, he can wield it.</p><p></p><p>Then there's a couple of the brothers from the first burglary that are still in pursuit of Jack.</p><p></p><p>Then there's a bit in a prison that no-one can escape from in which Jack wastes away for a few days until the Warlord, who looks like the mayor of Ravens Bluff (or is the mayor of Ravens Bluff) just turns up and takes Jack away- easy as.</p><p></p><p>And then there are ropers.</p><p></p><p>And then there's a Deep Dragon.</p><p></p><p>And then there's a drow swordmaster, a tuigan barbarian, a shou/wa high level wizards, and a necromancer with a mouse familiar.</p><p></p><p>And then there's, well... there are lots more cool things.</p><p></p><p>It's like all of the plots at once, just everything- all of the cool things that you could possibly pack into 312 pages of fantasy fiction.</p><p></p><p>And so, it's shiny- by which I mean there's no shortage of action, and cool places, and groovy adventurers, and nasty villains, and... there's just a metric naughty word ton of D&D stuff in here.</p><p></p><p>But there's idiocy too- like Jack not knowing who's sending the shadow creatures, after he delivers the book to Elana/the Warlord. There's an entire city (Raven's Bluff) that is happy not to get involved (much) in any of the above plots, the city's authorities seem to be very passive. Except for the laurel and hardy Knights of the Hawk.</p><p></p><p>There's a lot of other bits of silly.</p><p></p><p>There's a lot of Jack talking to himself- because he has no-one else to talk to in order to tell us the plot, or add a bit of backstory- big chunks of text.</p><p></p><p>There's a lot of Jack, he must be on every page.</p><p></p><p>So, hardly a classic- but there's lots of stuff to steal from this one, point of fact there's enough adventure in here for a party of 4 PCs to have fun for 20-30 sessions of D&D, possibly level 5 to 9. There's a hefty-ish module in here, and a city guidebook to fill out the hardback.</p><p></p><p>It's great, but flawed.</p><p></p><p>Read.</p><p></p><p>Stay safe and well.</p><p></p><p>Cheers goonalan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 8372881, member: 16069"] [B]#135 The City of Ravens by Richard Baker (Cities 1) Read 13/8/21[/B] [ATTACH type="full" width="212px"]142187[/ATTACH] So, I read this one in a day- that's the first time that I've done this, although there's a few of the others that I've read previously that I got through in 24 hours, so... I enjoyed it, and that's not to say that it's perfect- or brilliant. What it is, is a rollercoaster, or else there's just always something else going on that caused me to want to turn another page, just one more chapter. There's an entire campaign worth of stuff in here- our guy Jack Ravenwild is in the middle of a burglary (with Anders, northern barbarian) when we meet him. Then there's a recovery job- an ancient tome that's passed through several folk's hands over the centuries and is finally located in the tower of a necromancer. Jack, of course, gets the book- this time with the help of Tharzon, a cool dwarf. The mystery book is about creating shades (shadow simulacra), remember this. Jack's patron who wants the book is Elana/the Warlord- she's the big bad, although Jack doesn't know this at first. Then there's the Mask Game, in which Jack assumes the persona of a lord and with the help of Illyth, a real lady, seeks to solve the mystery. Which they do, although the duo are also present when one of the players goes tonto and tries to kill the aristocracy of Ravens Bluff. Note, Jack has also been investigating this- in his spare time. Oh, and Illyth and Jack solve the riddle. Then there's the secret tomb of some Dwarven brewmaster- Jack ventures there, with his friends again. Then there's the laurel and hardy Knights of the Hawk who are seeking to arrest Jack because he's consorting with the Warlord (see above). Then there's the shadow versions of Jack, and others, that keep popping up throughout the city to bring chaos. Jack takes a good long while to work out who's to blame for these nasty shadow-creatures, which is odd because he must remember who he gave the book to, Elana = the Warlord. Then there's a drow version of a mythal, and as it turns out the Warlord is the long lost relation of... oh god, is there really more of this. But as it turns out Jack is one of the few folk in Raven's Bluff who can wield magic as easily as blowing his nose, and so is immune to all of the mythal's power- in fact, he can wield it. Then there's a couple of the brothers from the first burglary that are still in pursuit of Jack. Then there's a bit in a prison that no-one can escape from in which Jack wastes away for a few days until the Warlord, who looks like the mayor of Ravens Bluff (or is the mayor of Ravens Bluff) just turns up and takes Jack away- easy as. And then there are ropers. And then there's a Deep Dragon. And then there's a drow swordmaster, a tuigan barbarian, a shou/wa high level wizards, and a necromancer with a mouse familiar. And then there's, well... there are lots more cool things. It's like all of the plots at once, just everything- all of the cool things that you could possibly pack into 312 pages of fantasy fiction. And so, it's shiny- by which I mean there's no shortage of action, and cool places, and groovy adventurers, and nasty villains, and... there's just a metric naughty word ton of D&D stuff in here. But there's idiocy too- like Jack not knowing who's sending the shadow creatures, after he delivers the book to Elana/the Warlord. There's an entire city (Raven's Bluff) that is happy not to get involved (much) in any of the above plots, the city's authorities seem to be very passive. Except for the laurel and hardy Knights of the Hawk. There's a lot of other bits of silly. There's a lot of Jack talking to himself- because he has no-one else to talk to in order to tell us the plot, or add a bit of backstory- big chunks of text. There's a lot of Jack, he must be on every page. So, hardly a classic- but there's lots of stuff to steal from this one, point of fact there's enough adventure in here for a party of 4 PCs to have fun for 20-30 sessions of D&D, possibly level 5 to 9. There's a hefty-ish module in here, and a city guidebook to fill out the hardback. It's great, but flawed. Read. Stay safe and well. Cheers goonalan [/QUOTE]
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