IronWolf
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Let me say that I am not really a Forgotten Realms fan. I have some of the FR products (2E), but never liked it much. I also think one of the main authors is a real jerk, from his days as the TSR online rep. So I am probably a bit biased against this. However, this product almost makes me wish I were a Forgotten Realms fan. Really impressive job, all in all.
Lords of Darkness is a soft cover book, 192 pages and $29.95. At first glance, that seems a bit pricey, but the book features a plastic cover, and all the pages are in color. There's quite a bit of artwork, unfortunately done in the 3e style, but competently done. As a package, the whole thing is pretty slick. Almost like a cofee table book. (Has that same smell, too.)
The content of the book is pretty impressive as well. Lords of Darkness is basically a sourcebook that describes several 'evil' organizations, varying from cults to races to the rulers of countries. Each group gets from 12-20 pages devoted to it, consisting of a description of it's history, aims, membership, important members, etc. There is also information on what a typical member of the group would be stat wise, and many groups feature their own prestige class. (Many of the prestige classes are 5 level classes).
The major groups detailed are: The Church of Cyric, The Cult of the Dragon, Surface Drow, The Night Masks (Vampires), Red Wizards of Thay, The Shades (evil wizard types), and the Zhentarim.
Each major organization also has it's own location detailed - often a base or hideout, but in some cases just a location the group has some interest in, like a archaelogical site. These can probably be used for dungeon crawl adventures.
Prestige classes, include the Darkmask (sort of drow ranger/rogue/cleric), the Spur Lord, the Thayan Knight, the Zhentarim Skymage, and the Entropist. I was sort of disappointed that there was no Fire Knife prestige class (I know them from the old PC games...).
There are also 22 minor organizations, which get a smaller (2-3 page) description each, some just an overview, some fairly detailed (and with a map).
Lastly, there is an appendix featuring new magic items, new spells, some new feats, and some new drugs. A couple of the feats seem borrowed from other d20 products. There is a feat based on Tattoo magic (from Rituals and Relics), and one on fighting like a soldier (from DLOM/SovStone). It's a shame they just didn't use the rules from those books, but I guess WOTC prefers not to.
The real strength of the book is the text itself. Most of it is very interesting. I'm not sure how useful this book would be for non-FR DMs (I only have it as part of a lot I bought...). While some of the organizations can be transferred to almost any campaign world, a fair amount of the book is FR only (like the Red Wizards of Thay). Some of the prestige classes could also be used, but they aren't all that great or spectacular. Neither are the spells, and much of the magic items are a bit overpowered for non FR campaigns.
So, a more accurate rating would be about a 3 or so for non FR DMs, but I would think this product would be great for those who are into the FR.
Lords of Darkness is a soft cover book, 192 pages and $29.95. At first glance, that seems a bit pricey, but the book features a plastic cover, and all the pages are in color. There's quite a bit of artwork, unfortunately done in the 3e style, but competently done. As a package, the whole thing is pretty slick. Almost like a cofee table book. (Has that same smell, too.)
The content of the book is pretty impressive as well. Lords of Darkness is basically a sourcebook that describes several 'evil' organizations, varying from cults to races to the rulers of countries. Each group gets from 12-20 pages devoted to it, consisting of a description of it's history, aims, membership, important members, etc. There is also information on what a typical member of the group would be stat wise, and many groups feature their own prestige class. (Many of the prestige classes are 5 level classes).
The major groups detailed are: The Church of Cyric, The Cult of the Dragon, Surface Drow, The Night Masks (Vampires), Red Wizards of Thay, The Shades (evil wizard types), and the Zhentarim.
Each major organization also has it's own location detailed - often a base or hideout, but in some cases just a location the group has some interest in, like a archaelogical site. These can probably be used for dungeon crawl adventures.
Prestige classes, include the Darkmask (sort of drow ranger/rogue/cleric), the Spur Lord, the Thayan Knight, the Zhentarim Skymage, and the Entropist. I was sort of disappointed that there was no Fire Knife prestige class (I know them from the old PC games...).
There are also 22 minor organizations, which get a smaller (2-3 page) description each, some just an overview, some fairly detailed (and with a map).
Lastly, there is an appendix featuring new magic items, new spells, some new feats, and some new drugs. A couple of the feats seem borrowed from other d20 products. There is a feat based on Tattoo magic (from Rituals and Relics), and one on fighting like a soldier (from DLOM/SovStone). It's a shame they just didn't use the rules from those books, but I guess WOTC prefers not to.
The real strength of the book is the text itself. Most of it is very interesting. I'm not sure how useful this book would be for non-FR DMs (I only have it as part of a lot I bought...). While some of the organizations can be transferred to almost any campaign world, a fair amount of the book is FR only (like the Red Wizards of Thay). Some of the prestige classes could also be used, but they aren't all that great or spectacular. Neither are the spells, and much of the magic items are a bit overpowered for non FR campaigns.
So, a more accurate rating would be about a 3 or so for non FR DMs, but I would think this product would be great for those who are into the FR.
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