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[Let's Read] Historica Arcanum: The City of Crescent
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8973989" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/RtoO8tu.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>This is our bestiary section, containing 36 humanoid/NPCs, 19 bestial monsters, and 8 djinn who are a new creature type of their own. The descriptive text for this section is written in an in-character format from the perspective of Osman, talking about his research into the world’s people and monstrous folklore.</p><p></p><p>Of the non-djinni monsters, we have 2 aberrations, 4 beasts (all sentient Ninth Life cats), 2 celestials, 1 construct, 2 dragons, 2 fey, 1 fiend, 2 monstrosities, and 3 undead. In regards to Challenge Rating two-thirds of the NPCs range from fractional to 3, with those of 5 or higher representing highly trained individuals and the best of the best within their particular occupations and societies. The monsters are similarly low in CR, fitting comfortably within the bounds of this adventure path, with the Abra dragon as a clear exception in being CR 17.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/9hRFrcs.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The Ottoman Empire has no shortage of skilled warriors and sages to call upon. <em>Armsmasters</em> are veteran soldiers who specialize in firearms, earning their kingdom’s name as the Gunpowder Empire. <em>Bostanji</em> are palace guards who fight with rifled bayonets and wear unique armor that function as breastplates but with a better maximum DEX bonus to AC, and the <em>White Sentinels</em> are guardian eunuchs* of the Harem who have advantage on initiative and can add a d6 to various sensory-related skill checks a limited number of times per short or long rest. The <em>Mansur</em> are the military replacement of the Janissaries that also double as civilian law enforcement, and include pseudo-fighters akin to the Bostanji as well as less powerful Informers with more Roguelike abilities in their role as detectives. <em>Agents of a Certain Society</em> are similarly Roguelike, although their elite <em>Stalker</em> units are specialized in fighting mages, knowing up to 2nd level spells and can attack spellcasters in melee as a reaction when they cast a spell. <em>Avianists</em> are soldiers who train birds for the purposes of scouting and war, and have the supernatural ability to see and hear through the senses of their birds.</p><p></p><p>*One thing to bring up is that the book mentions that Abd-ul Mejid banned the practice of slavery and castrating when he took control. While said eunuchs could be holdovers from the prior ruler and Mejid did ease in more freed people into the Harem, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_Ottoman_Empire#Decline_and_suppression_of_Ottoman_slavery" target="_blank">from what I can tell the banning of slavery IRL came more gradually.</a></p><p></p><p>And the Imperial court has no shortage of covert spellcasters either. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lala_(title)" target="_blank"><em>Lalas</em></a> who tutor the nobility are highly trained wizards whose teachings are supernaturally enhanced, such as better range on the Guidance cantrip and granting advantage on ability checks to an ally for 10 minutes. The women of the <em>Harem</em> count some powerful mages among their ranks. Even the least among them can cast spells as a 4th level caster, their Oracles can reroll die rolls as they can see the fate of others (also doesn’t mention their caster level but can learn up to 2nd level spells), and their Elite Blades have mixed spellcraft and swordplay to be respectable battle-mages.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/LYOoIZn.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>And what of the forces arrayed against them? The <em>Janissary Remnants</em> have their own diversity of talent. Chelebi are the newest recruits, homeless urchins who recently reached adulthood. The more veteran units have a variety of fighting styles via unique special attacks, such as the Thunderbolts who can use Cunning Action and Sneak Attack like Rogues, the Grimms whose strikes can impose the Frightened condition, or the Magnificent and Conquerers whose special attacks can deal double damage or extra d6s respectively against foes already injured. The Humbaraci are in a category of their own, the artillerists and sappers who can lob special AoE grenades.</p><p></p><p>For the Ghost of March’s forces, the <em>Sekban-ı Cedit</em> include a mixture of Fighter and Rogue types, with Musketeers and Blademasters serving as ranged and melee units and the Spies are armed with unique Silent Repeating Handguns. And in being in the Undercity, they have the aid of nonhumans, such as Elven Arcanists who specialize in blasty magic, and Tiefling Dealmakers who are warlocks with a more varied assortment of spells.</p><p></p><p>The remaining NPC stat blocks are a general mix of archetypes. <em>Arcane Researchers</em> are the magewright equivalent of Historica Arcanum, the most minor of magicians who are basically commoners with some appropriate divinations for detecting and identifying magical items, and <em>Devotees</em> are the divine equivalent who learned some beginner-level spells from their faiths. <em>Ephes</em> are violent revolutionary types of various stripes who are basically heavily-armored gunfighters, <em>Kabadayi</em> are honorable gangsters who are NPC Urban Vagabond Barbarians, and <em>Levents</em> are sailors who have a fast climb and swim speed on top of Cunning Action, and can avoid opportunity attacks if they hit a creature in melee. <em>Muneccim</em> (Turkish for “astrologer”) are mages who specialize in deriving magic from the stars and can make use of Zodiac signs much like the Stargazer subclass.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/8ztK1hJ.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>For the monsters not covered in the City of Crescent adventure proper, we have the <em>Nashitat,</em> the good-aligned equivalent to the Naziat who search for the purest of souls to take to the afterlife. They have resistance to all damage and immunity to a variety of conditions. They are primarily spellcasters, having Cleric-like magic up to 5th level.</p><p></p><p>Our two <em>dragon types</em> don’t appear in the adventure at all. The Abra live among the clouds and feed from spell rebounds to repair the tears in reality, and as CR 17 creatures they are basically what you expect from high CR dragons: powerful melee attacks, a frightful aura, a breath weapon that deals fire and radiant damage, the ability to detect and cancel Terrestrial Repercussions from Spell Rebounds, and legendary actions. The Bukre are reflavored pseudodragons, with similar (but not identical) stats and are fond of learning about different cultures and riddles, with many living in the Undercity.</p><p></p><p><em>The Council of the Ninth Life</em> is a guild of intelligent cats. They share among them typical cat-like physical features, Fortunate Soul which lets them reroll a natural 1 as a reaction, and Nine Lives which drops them to 1 hit point instead of 0 if they’d otherwise be knocked out or killed, but each subsequent time it’s used requires an escalating Constitution save to activate. Cat Burglars are basically weak Rogues, Saberpaws can shapechange into larger humanoid-cat hybrids, Cat Spooks have some trickery-related magic, and Cat Officers are more powerful Rogues.</p><p></p><p>The <em>Munqur</em> are evil constructs made by sorceresses of long ago, tasked with finding and stealing the faces of the most beautiful people. Their missions still live on long after their creators’ deaths, and they stitch the faces of their prey in crude robelike cloths. They are melee attackers with a variety of fear-based debuffs, and can restore damage and gain temporary hit points when they wound frightened targets.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/27qAKqD.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p><em>Aychura</em> are undead created when one uses a spell rebound effect on the corpse of a pure soul. Also known as Tall Spirits, they are thin faceless entities with multiple whiplike tendrils they use to strangle people to death.</p><p></p><p>Between the description and image, I’m getting some Slenderman vibes here.</p><p></p><p><em>Ya’is</em> round out our non-djinni monsters, undead spawned from the trauma when a loved one dies. They don’t have much specific to their purpose beyond hating anything that lives, but they are afraid of cats. In terms of stats they are incorporaeal undead with a lot of resistance and immunity to various damage types, can deliver a damaging scream that gives a straight -1 penalty on attacks, ability checks, and saves, and their touch can deal necrotic damage and grant them temporary hit points.</p><p></p><p><em>Djinn</em> are synonymous with the unseen as well as the fear of darkness and the unknown. In Christian communities they are known as demons. Some believe that they were once mortal archmages who were corrupted by gazing upon Al-Ghaib’s secrets, while others claim that they are born from unstable magic. The djinn cannot be trusted when asked themselves, so their origins may as well be a mystery. Even those djinn who aren’t evil tend to act in chaotic and disruptive ways, meaning only the most desperate, power-hungry, and self-assured deign to even call upon them. Before going into their stats we have entries talking about exorcizing djinn, which in addition to the spell there are various ways the exorcism can be made easier or harder. Examples include the use of holy water, protective magic items, and folkloric stuff such as “the promise of a friend” or “blood of an enemy.” Others besides the spellcaster can participate in the ritual with appropriate skill checks, such as praying with Religion or a poem with Performance that can lower the DC for exorcizing the djinn.</p><p></p><p>Additionally, djinn are protective of their true names, and souls who learn them gain power over that particular djinn. Uttering their real name along with an appropriate command can force the djinn to obey on a failed Charisma save, while just saying their name in isolation compels the djinn to listen to the speaker.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/cayOQxc.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>We’ve got eight types of djinn, half of which are CR 1 and the others ranging from 3 to 6. Most of them share some commonalities among stats: they are incorporeal and invisible in dim light and darkness when not possessing someone, can possess someone if the target fails a Charisma save, can impose the Djinnstruck condition on those who contact them in any way, have a touch attack that typically deals non-physical damage types, and can inflict various debuff special attacks. <em>Chor</em> are the offspring of djinn and humans whose burning touch can damage and exhaust, and most religious people learned in arcane matters view their existence as a sin in and of itself. Soul Whisperers are minor djinn who masquerade as voices in people’s heads to subtly influence them; they have minor spellcasting capabilities and once per day can use maddening whispers to djinnstruck and even change a target’s alignment. Shivekar, or Silver Tongues, often take the forms of beautiful women to charm men and get them to do what they want, including a Charming Glance that inflicts…well, the charmed condition, but only on men.* Wicked Shades enjoy spreading fear, which stands in contrast to them often taking the forms of handsome figures and are the kind of djinn the PCs fought on the steamboat at the beginning of the adventure. Horrorists are similar in that they also enjoy spreading fear, but prefer to do it via retelling terrible stories as a special attack which acts like the Enthrall spell but with an open-ended duration of until the story ends. Shamhuresh, or rot bringers, can spread disease with a touch and are one of the more powerful of their kind, specializing in dealing necrotic damage and infection-related debuffs. Nar-As Samum, or the Blazing Rage, are djinni who are powered by fire and anger, whose flaming touch can ignite others. Finally, the Zawbaw’ah are attuned to air, being very fast and can wield lightning.</p><p></p><p>*I do feel a better wording would be “anyone who would be attracted to the djinn,” for a less heteronormative outlook.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/2vXlMl2.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The final chapter of Historica Arcanum doesn’t concern the campaign specifically but is a more general set of guidelines for DMs wishing to make historical fantasy settings of their own with 5th Edition D&D. Covering things broadly and thinly, it illustrates seven steps and common questions to ask, ranging from worldbuilding exercises (how did people deal with war, plague, and famine?), the creation of prominent political factions to center in the campaign, how does magic work and how common/known about are nonhumans, what are the points where the alternate history drifts away from real world history, stuff like that. We also get a new list of more advanced firearms for early 20th Century and beyond here:</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/oRariON.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Wow, these pistols have some mad ranges!</p><p></p><p>Finally the toolbox gives us notes for ten sample time periods, ranging from prehistory to the First World War.</p><p></p><p>If I seem rather brief on this chapter, it’s some pretty generic common-sense advice and things we’ve already heard about in other sourcebooks of that type.</p><p></p><p>Our book ends with a Cookbook of various real-world Turkish food recipes, an Appendix containing The Lies We Told mentioned earlier, and a Bibliography for further historical reading which I’ll repeat here:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> I like how the bestiary has an in-character format while still being informative, as it lends itself well to telling PCs what they’d know about the monsters and characters with proper checks. A lot of the enemies are on the lower end of the CR bend, although that’s to be expected in 5e in general. There is a pretty significant lack of boss-level monsters given the lack of Legendary and Lair Actions, but that’s my only real complaint.</p><p></p><p><strong>Final Thoughts:</strong> Historica Arcanum is an ambitious project that had a lot of love put into it. Metis Media has taken great care to weave together reality and fantasy into an intriguing setting that feels deeper than a thin Hollywood pastiche. This is evident throughout the work: the use of an original soundtrack, bibliography of referenced works, and little cultural shoutouts such as the movie inspiration of Aziz Sefa Bey or Osman talking about his latest painting that was his most famous work in real life being several examples. The adventure has a strong cast of characters, and the interspersing of Side Quest rewards, Profession Downtime, and shops selling unique items encourages characters to do more than the bare minimum of going from one major plot point to the next.</p><p></p><p>And yet, the City of Crescent has many flaws that stand in contrast to the beauty of its work, be it the predetermined railroady sections, the bias for the Ghost of March route, or sections that could’ve been organized better or more clearly. The lack of balance and unclear mechanics in quite a few PC options are another mark against it.</p><p></p><p>There's enough material in it that a dedicated DM who puts in the work will have a unique campaign unlike anything on the 5th Edition market. But it is a lot of work that has to be done in regards to the adventure, and when weighed against the many other campaigns competing against it, it sadly falls short. As far as I can tell this is Metis’ Media’s first tabletop product, and in regards to this it shows: the campaign is very ambitious, but it feels like they bit off more than they can chew when it comes to adventure-writing.</p><p></p><p>Even with that said, I am hoping that they improve. For what I did like in Historica Arcanum I liked a lot, and am looking forward to what they do for Empires of the Silk Road.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 8973989, member: 6750502"] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/RtoO8tu.png[/img][/center] This is our bestiary section, containing 36 humanoid/NPCs, 19 bestial monsters, and 8 djinn who are a new creature type of their own. The descriptive text for this section is written in an in-character format from the perspective of Osman, talking about his research into the world’s people and monstrous folklore. Of the non-djinni monsters, we have 2 aberrations, 4 beasts (all sentient Ninth Life cats), 2 celestials, 1 construct, 2 dragons, 2 fey, 1 fiend, 2 monstrosities, and 3 undead. In regards to Challenge Rating two-thirds of the NPCs range from fractional to 3, with those of 5 or higher representing highly trained individuals and the best of the best within their particular occupations and societies. The monsters are similarly low in CR, fitting comfortably within the bounds of this adventure path, with the Abra dragon as a clear exception in being CR 17. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/9hRFrcs.png[/img][/center] The Ottoman Empire has no shortage of skilled warriors and sages to call upon. [i]Armsmasters[/i] are veteran soldiers who specialize in firearms, earning their kingdom’s name as the Gunpowder Empire. [i]Bostanji[/i] are palace guards who fight with rifled bayonets and wear unique armor that function as breastplates but with a better maximum DEX bonus to AC, and the [i]White Sentinels[/i] are guardian eunuchs* of the Harem who have advantage on initiative and can add a d6 to various sensory-related skill checks a limited number of times per short or long rest. The [i]Mansur[/i] are the military replacement of the Janissaries that also double as civilian law enforcement, and include pseudo-fighters akin to the Bostanji as well as less powerful Informers with more Roguelike abilities in their role as detectives. [i]Agents of a Certain Society[/i] are similarly Roguelike, although their elite [i]Stalker[/i] units are specialized in fighting mages, knowing up to 2nd level spells and can attack spellcasters in melee as a reaction when they cast a spell. [i]Avianists[/i] are soldiers who train birds for the purposes of scouting and war, and have the supernatural ability to see and hear through the senses of their birds. *One thing to bring up is that the book mentions that Abd-ul Mejid banned the practice of slavery and castrating when he took control. While said eunuchs could be holdovers from the prior ruler and Mejid did ease in more freed people into the Harem, [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_Ottoman_Empire#Decline_and_suppression_of_Ottoman_slavery]from what I can tell the banning of slavery IRL came more gradually.[/url] And the Imperial court has no shortage of covert spellcasters either. The [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lala_(title)][i]Lalas[/i][/url] who tutor the nobility are highly trained wizards whose teachings are supernaturally enhanced, such as better range on the Guidance cantrip and granting advantage on ability checks to an ally for 10 minutes. The women of the [i]Harem[/i] count some powerful mages among their ranks. Even the least among them can cast spells as a 4th level caster, their Oracles can reroll die rolls as they can see the fate of others (also doesn’t mention their caster level but can learn up to 2nd level spells), and their Elite Blades have mixed spellcraft and swordplay to be respectable battle-mages. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/LYOoIZn.png[/img][/center] And what of the forces arrayed against them? The [i]Janissary Remnants[/i] have their own diversity of talent. Chelebi are the newest recruits, homeless urchins who recently reached adulthood. The more veteran units have a variety of fighting styles via unique special attacks, such as the Thunderbolts who can use Cunning Action and Sneak Attack like Rogues, the Grimms whose strikes can impose the Frightened condition, or the Magnificent and Conquerers whose special attacks can deal double damage or extra d6s respectively against foes already injured. The Humbaraci are in a category of their own, the artillerists and sappers who can lob special AoE grenades. For the Ghost of March’s forces, the [i]Sekban-ı Cedit[/i] include a mixture of Fighter and Rogue types, with Musketeers and Blademasters serving as ranged and melee units and the Spies are armed with unique Silent Repeating Handguns. And in being in the Undercity, they have the aid of nonhumans, such as Elven Arcanists who specialize in blasty magic, and Tiefling Dealmakers who are warlocks with a more varied assortment of spells. The remaining NPC stat blocks are a general mix of archetypes. [i]Arcane Researchers[/i] are the magewright equivalent of Historica Arcanum, the most minor of magicians who are basically commoners with some appropriate divinations for detecting and identifying magical items, and [i]Devotees[/i] are the divine equivalent who learned some beginner-level spells from their faiths. [i]Ephes[/i] are violent revolutionary types of various stripes who are basically heavily-armored gunfighters, [i]Kabadayi[/i] are honorable gangsters who are NPC Urban Vagabond Barbarians, and [i]Levents[/i] are sailors who have a fast climb and swim speed on top of Cunning Action, and can avoid opportunity attacks if they hit a creature in melee. [i]Muneccim[/i] (Turkish for “astrologer”) are mages who specialize in deriving magic from the stars and can make use of Zodiac signs much like the Stargazer subclass. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/8ztK1hJ.png[/img][/center] For the monsters not covered in the City of Crescent adventure proper, we have the [i]Nashitat,[/i] the good-aligned equivalent to the Naziat who search for the purest of souls to take to the afterlife. They have resistance to all damage and immunity to a variety of conditions. They are primarily spellcasters, having Cleric-like magic up to 5th level. Our two [i]dragon types[/i] don’t appear in the adventure at all. The Abra live among the clouds and feed from spell rebounds to repair the tears in reality, and as CR 17 creatures they are basically what you expect from high CR dragons: powerful melee attacks, a frightful aura, a breath weapon that deals fire and radiant damage, the ability to detect and cancel Terrestrial Repercussions from Spell Rebounds, and legendary actions. The Bukre are reflavored pseudodragons, with similar (but not identical) stats and are fond of learning about different cultures and riddles, with many living in the Undercity. [i]The Council of the Ninth Life[/i] is a guild of intelligent cats. They share among them typical cat-like physical features, Fortunate Soul which lets them reroll a natural 1 as a reaction, and Nine Lives which drops them to 1 hit point instead of 0 if they’d otherwise be knocked out or killed, but each subsequent time it’s used requires an escalating Constitution save to activate. Cat Burglars are basically weak Rogues, Saberpaws can shapechange into larger humanoid-cat hybrids, Cat Spooks have some trickery-related magic, and Cat Officers are more powerful Rogues. The [i]Munqur[/i] are evil constructs made by sorceresses of long ago, tasked with finding and stealing the faces of the most beautiful people. Their missions still live on long after their creators’ deaths, and they stitch the faces of their prey in crude robelike cloths. They are melee attackers with a variety of fear-based debuffs, and can restore damage and gain temporary hit points when they wound frightened targets. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/27qAKqD.png[/img][/center] [i]Aychura[/i] are undead created when one uses a spell rebound effect on the corpse of a pure soul. Also known as Tall Spirits, they are thin faceless entities with multiple whiplike tendrils they use to strangle people to death. Between the description and image, I’m getting some Slenderman vibes here. [i]Ya’is[/i] round out our non-djinni monsters, undead spawned from the trauma when a loved one dies. They don’t have much specific to their purpose beyond hating anything that lives, but they are afraid of cats. In terms of stats they are incorporaeal undead with a lot of resistance and immunity to various damage types, can deliver a damaging scream that gives a straight -1 penalty on attacks, ability checks, and saves, and their touch can deal necrotic damage and grant them temporary hit points. [i]Djinn[/i] are synonymous with the unseen as well as the fear of darkness and the unknown. In Christian communities they are known as demons. Some believe that they were once mortal archmages who were corrupted by gazing upon Al-Ghaib’s secrets, while others claim that they are born from unstable magic. The djinn cannot be trusted when asked themselves, so their origins may as well be a mystery. Even those djinn who aren’t evil tend to act in chaotic and disruptive ways, meaning only the most desperate, power-hungry, and self-assured deign to even call upon them. Before going into their stats we have entries talking about exorcizing djinn, which in addition to the spell there are various ways the exorcism can be made easier or harder. Examples include the use of holy water, protective magic items, and folkloric stuff such as “the promise of a friend” or “blood of an enemy.” Others besides the spellcaster can participate in the ritual with appropriate skill checks, such as praying with Religion or a poem with Performance that can lower the DC for exorcizing the djinn. Additionally, djinn are protective of their true names, and souls who learn them gain power over that particular djinn. Uttering their real name along with an appropriate command can force the djinn to obey on a failed Charisma save, while just saying their name in isolation compels the djinn to listen to the speaker. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/cayOQxc.png[/img][/center] We’ve got eight types of djinn, half of which are CR 1 and the others ranging from 3 to 6. Most of them share some commonalities among stats: they are incorporeal and invisible in dim light and darkness when not possessing someone, can possess someone if the target fails a Charisma save, can impose the Djinnstruck condition on those who contact them in any way, have a touch attack that typically deals non-physical damage types, and can inflict various debuff special attacks. [i]Chor[/i] are the offspring of djinn and humans whose burning touch can damage and exhaust, and most religious people learned in arcane matters view their existence as a sin in and of itself. Soul Whisperers are minor djinn who masquerade as voices in people’s heads to subtly influence them; they have minor spellcasting capabilities and once per day can use maddening whispers to djinnstruck and even change a target’s alignment. Shivekar, or Silver Tongues, often take the forms of beautiful women to charm men and get them to do what they want, including a Charming Glance that inflicts…well, the charmed condition, but only on men.* Wicked Shades enjoy spreading fear, which stands in contrast to them often taking the forms of handsome figures and are the kind of djinn the PCs fought on the steamboat at the beginning of the adventure. Horrorists are similar in that they also enjoy spreading fear, but prefer to do it via retelling terrible stories as a special attack which acts like the Enthrall spell but with an open-ended duration of until the story ends. Shamhuresh, or rot bringers, can spread disease with a touch and are one of the more powerful of their kind, specializing in dealing necrotic damage and infection-related debuffs. Nar-As Samum, or the Blazing Rage, are djinni who are powered by fire and anger, whose flaming touch can ignite others. Finally, the Zawbaw’ah are attuned to air, being very fast and can wield lightning. *I do feel a better wording would be “anyone who would be attracted to the djinn,” for a less heteronormative outlook. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/2vXlMl2.png[/img][/center] The final chapter of Historica Arcanum doesn’t concern the campaign specifically but is a more general set of guidelines for DMs wishing to make historical fantasy settings of their own with 5th Edition D&D. Covering things broadly and thinly, it illustrates seven steps and common questions to ask, ranging from worldbuilding exercises (how did people deal with war, plague, and famine?), the creation of prominent political factions to center in the campaign, how does magic work and how common/known about are nonhumans, what are the points where the alternate history drifts away from real world history, stuff like that. We also get a new list of more advanced firearms for early 20th Century and beyond here: [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/oRariON.png[/img][/center] Wow, these pistols have some mad ranges! Finally the toolbox gives us notes for ten sample time periods, ranging from prehistory to the First World War. If I seem rather brief on this chapter, it’s some pretty generic common-sense advice and things we’ve already heard about in other sourcebooks of that type. Our book ends with a Cookbook of various real-world Turkish food recipes, an Appendix containing The Lies We Told mentioned earlier, and a Bibliography for further historical reading which I’ll repeat here: [b]Thoughts So Far:[/b] I like how the bestiary has an in-character format while still being informative, as it lends itself well to telling PCs what they’d know about the monsters and characters with proper checks. A lot of the enemies are on the lower end of the CR bend, although that’s to be expected in 5e in general. There is a pretty significant lack of boss-level monsters given the lack of Legendary and Lair Actions, but that’s my only real complaint. [b]Final Thoughts:[/b] Historica Arcanum is an ambitious project that had a lot of love put into it. Metis Media has taken great care to weave together reality and fantasy into an intriguing setting that feels deeper than a thin Hollywood pastiche. This is evident throughout the work: the use of an original soundtrack, bibliography of referenced works, and little cultural shoutouts such as the movie inspiration of Aziz Sefa Bey or Osman talking about his latest painting that was his most famous work in real life being several examples. The adventure has a strong cast of characters, and the interspersing of Side Quest rewards, Profession Downtime, and shops selling unique items encourages characters to do more than the bare minimum of going from one major plot point to the next. And yet, the City of Crescent has many flaws that stand in contrast to the beauty of its work, be it the predetermined railroady sections, the bias for the Ghost of March route, or sections that could’ve been organized better or more clearly. The lack of balance and unclear mechanics in quite a few PC options are another mark against it. There's enough material in it that a dedicated DM who puts in the work will have a unique campaign unlike anything on the 5th Edition market. But it is a lot of work that has to be done in regards to the adventure, and when weighed against the many other campaigns competing against it, it sadly falls short. As far as I can tell this is Metis’ Media’s first tabletop product, and in regards to this it shows: the campaign is very ambitious, but it feels like they bit off more than they can chew when it comes to adventure-writing. Even with that said, I am hoping that they improve. For what I did like in Historica Arcanum I liked a lot, and am looking forward to what they do for Empires of the Silk Road. [/QUOTE]
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[Let's Read] Historica Arcanum: The City of Crescent
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