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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8778625" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/Q99fFt7.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> <img src="https://i.imgur.com/y34Gktn.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />I know I said I’d do the World of Aetaltis Gamemaster’s book next, but figured to share my thoughts on Heroes of Thornwall as this one’s freshest in my mind. It is in fact the first product made for the World of Aetaltis, originally existing as a Pathfinder product back around 2014-2015 for free. It was a huge tome, standing at 163 pages with top-quality artwork. Now it’s been updated to 5th Edition.I rate this book a lot higher than the Aetaltis corebooks, in that I think it hits on one of the author’s and setting’s strengths via a specific theme and feel: <a href="https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/define-hearth-fantasy-for-me.786379/" target="_blank">hearth fantasy.</a>Thornwall is a settlement of three and a half thousand people in the hinterlands of Agthor, surrounded by a magically-regenerating circular hedge that is the byproduct of ancient fey magic. The product’s goal is meant to evoke the cozy feel of those idyllic “starting towns” in so many fantasy novels and RPGs which often serve as the protagonist’s home, and the book’s settings and mechanics reinforce this strongly. Thornwall isn’t exactly a city brimming in intrigue or danger, but a little over 60 homes and buildings are detailed with various characters, their families, their duties and trades in the town, their relationship with other people, and what they’re likely to make of the PCs as professional adventurers. A few major NPCs even have boxed text dialogue that reads like entries from a novel in detailing their backstories or how they may likely interact with the PCs. As for how adventurers may interact with or impact the economy, like finding someone willing to buy the weird art they found in a dungeon or build them a magic weapon, there are characters who can serve those purposes. Like an eccentric merchant with a family member in the big city who likes the weird stuff adventurers find, or a dwarven apprentice brimming with talent who can learn magical craftsmanship over the course of the campaign.There’s also a huge list of goods and services that promises authentic price guidelines on 1200-1300s medieval European items for the various people the PCs can visit in Thornwall. Ever wanted to know how much a bushel of milled grain costs? Got you covered! Or how much you can sell that fox pelt at the rural trading post? There’s a table for that, too!There are many Sidequests where the party can help out locals, sometimes mundane things like replacing a faulty bell for the town guard, while some have higher stakes such as harvesting some unique plant growing in the nearby dungeon for the herbalist helping resolve a duel nonviolently between an ornery elder farmer and a passing merchant. There’s a few unusual ones like finding a way to sanctify a hidden holy relic which during a certain time of year summons ghostly fey to plague townsfolk with exhaustion from being so frightful. A lot of these Sidequests are rather noncombative in nature, and accomplishing them* can earn PCs Goodwill. Goodwill is a metagame resource which can be spent for various benefits in town, like getting a discount when shopping, being forgiven for a minor transgression, having a specific character perform a Boon for the party depending on their capabilities (every stat block has a sample Boon), and so on.*and other actions which can affect the party’s social standing.Although it is meant as a “starting town” for greater adventures the PCs will go on, the amount of time and investment characters can pour into Thornwall make it feel more appropriate as a sort of central base of operations. It can easily make a short campaign if combined with the other large adventure Defenders of Dunbury Castle, and easily accomplishes the goal of giving something the PCs to fight for. Barring a few exceptions, almost every NPC including generic stat blocks are good-aligned. There are some bandits and a power-grubby Warden who seeks to have the current Forester (think park ranger) replaced by a puppet, but when it comes to the main threat it is the outbreak of goblins in the nearby dungeon. The PCs are meant to be heroes in the classic fantasy sense of the word; humans and the allied races may have wicked beings among them, but overall the community they’re fighting for is worth saving against a great evil that seeks no quarter.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/fs7wzBx.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The Temple of Modren is a modestly-sized 27 room dungeon, once dedicated to the god of the forge and now an outpost for goblins that are led by an orcish wizard seeking to summon a more powerful monster. Heroes of Thornwall notes that the adventure was designed for convention play and balanced for 4-8 1st level characters. I find that range strange, as the maximum recommended size is literally twice the number of the minimum and would thus play very differently. The Temple has mostly goblins as enemies with a fair bit of traps, and there are some goblins with different enough stat blocks or special abilities to allow for some variety in a few of the encounters. The final battle against the orc wizard takes place on a platform suspended over hot lava and he has a magic staff which he can use to summon skeleton minions. There is one encounter I find problematic, but I feel it’s better saved when I talk about the Endrori and major villains of Aetaltis in the post discussing the Gamemaster’s Guide.Thoughts So Far: Overall, I rate Heroes of Thornwall quite highly, and would consider snatching the Goodwill rules for other campaigns. It sets out to capture a certain feel and populates a rural woodland town with plenty of interesting people gaming groups will be inclined to grow attached to and protect.I do feel that the product is a tad too detailed at times when it comes to the “mundanities” of things. There are so many different types of noncombatant stat blocks that feel like padding. In many cases I feel that existing fractional CR NPC stat blocks such as the Commoner, Guard, and the like serve the purpose well enough. I don’t see why we need a Lumberjack as their own stat block when you can have the book just as easily go “use the stats for a Commoner but raise their Strength to 14 and give them an axe weapon with which they are proficient.” The sheer amount of goods and services on sale may be fun for DMs who want increased verisimilitude, but many may be just fine with the abstracted nature of the PHB’s lifestyle expenses or winging it instead.</blockquote>

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