Drew
Explorer
Murchad's Legacy
Murchad’s Legacy has a neat concept: An original campaign setting designed to incorporate the rules and concepts in the D&D core rulebooks into a fantasy setting in a logical and cohesive manner. In other words, if it’s in the core rules, it’s woven into Murchad’s Legacy (with a few exceptions.) The campaign setting has a built-in metaplot, which is designed to motivate the PCs into action. If the players don’t do something to stem the approaching tide of evil, bad things will happen to the general populace of the Empire of Remaria.
My usual caveats before we start. First off, I like to write nice, thorough reviews. If you’re just interested in a quick review, please feel free to skip to the section titled Conclusion below. It gives you the jist of how I felt about this product, and why I rated it as I did. Otherwise, read on for the full, meaty review! Second, I did receive a free copy of this PDF for review purposes.
(Note: Throughout this review, I often refer to Murchad’s Legacy as a “book.” While this it technically a misnomer, I find it less awkward than saying product or PDF all the time.)
Contents
Murchad’s Legacy is a big (258 pages in the main PDF) product. Included in the download is the main campaign book, as well as a file containing graphics of the flags of the various nations and an assortment of maps. The layout is standard for a PDF, and everything is bookmarked for ease of use. The art in Murchad’s Legacy varies from good to great. The Elmore piece on the cover is particularly effective at giving this book an air of “legitimacy” that some small press d20 PDF products lack. There have been some criticisms of the fairly plain layout of the book, but I didn't find it detracted from my reading experiance at all. Things could have been spruced up with a little color or a little more art, but I can't really deduct any points for the lack of "flash."
The main book details the lands and cultures of the Empire of Remaria (usually referred to as “The Surrounding Lands.”) Included is the expected assortment of feats, magic, and prestige classes as well as new rules and rules variants for playing in the setting. Also included is the Campaign Tracker, a simple tool for keeping tabs on the events of the metaplot and how the PCs are affecting things. The book also contains a few sample adventures.
I liked the overall tone of Murchad’s Legacy, which is very conversational and easy to read. The designers often come right out and tell you why they chose to do something a certain way. This is great for the DM because, if you don’t agree with the reasoning of a certain rule, you don’t have to second guess the designers before you houserule.
Review
This setting reads like a well-crafted homebrew campaign fleshed out to be used by others. It’s as if a couple of talented DMs got together, compared notes, and put everything on paper for others to use. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Murchad’s Legacy came about in just this fashion. I envy the players of such a well planned campaign.
Anyone that owns a Player’s Handbook will find the Empire of Remaria familiar ground. Within (and outside of) its borders, there is a place for humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings. The standard half races (half-elves and half-orcs) are available races, but the book cautions DMs to use them sparingly to preserve their rarity. Gnomes are mentioned in the history of the setting, but for some reason the authors have decided to eradicate the race in a grand cataclysm. If the authors find gnomes uninteresting, or don’t think they fill an appropriate niche, that’s fine. Wouldn’t it have been better, however, to alter gnomes to better fit the setting, rather than just handwaving them out of existence? And, if you don’t like them, why have them in your setting at all (even if they are just a footnote in history)? Then again, maybe I’m just a gnome-lover…The race section does contain a good example of how Murchad’s Legacy incorporates typical D&D clichés in a clever fashion: Dwarves are distrustful of magic because they suffered a tremendous defeat at the hands of wizards.
In addition to the standard races, the book gives us two more that could be appropriate to player characters in Murchad’s Legacy: Dark elves and orcs. Orcs in the Surrounding Lands play a key role, so it’s appropriate that they are included as a playable race. The orcs presented here are a little tougher than their Monster Manual brethren. They lose the -2 Wis penalty and gain a couple of skill bonuses, all without a level adjustment. This may bother some balance-minded DMs, although I think that Murchad’s Legacy orc PCs probably play just fine. Dark elves, on the other hand, are significantly different than the Drow elves familiar to most D&D gamers. Their backstory is cool, and I like the role they play in the setting. Their stats are a little wonky, though. I’m not sure that they earn the +1 LA the book gives them. I also don’t care for the rule that caps their maximum strength at 16. To me, it feels a little too second edition, and it doesn’t really jibe with the standard rules as written.
The classes section gives the DM advice on how the standard D&D classes fit into the campaign setting. I particularly liked the way religion is depicted in the cleric description. There are a myriad of gods and higher powers in the Surrounding Lands, many of which are organized into small cults and mystery religions. This not only gives cleric PCs a wide variety of powers to choose from, it also gives the DM a near endless supply of morally ambiguous organizations to use as enemies and allies. Druids also get their own niche in the religion of the world, helping them fit in with the campaign setting better than they do in the core rules. All of the core classes get at least a nod as to how they fit into the big picture of the world.
As one would expect, the book contains a number of new prestige classes unique to the setting. To their credit, the designers went with a “less is more” philosophy, creating only one prestige class for each major culture of the world. This follows the original design intentions for prestige classes as presented the 3E DMG, and I think that it adds to the setting. Most of the new prestige classes are pretty good. My favorite is probably the Homefront Guardian, a halfling assassin with loads of roleplaying flavor. Another good one is the Stargazer, which probably would not have worked as a generic class, but here shines as a prestige class customized to the world.
There are new spells presented for each of the core spellcasting classes. There is nothing particularly innovative here, but neither is there anything obviously broken. Spells like Lineride help reinforce the unique flavor of Surrounding Lands druids, while the humorously named Die You Misbegotten Putrid Cult Worshipping Pagan Orc Filth help to reinforce the flavor of the setting. (In this case, the hatred the people of Launhym harbor for orcs.) It’s worth noting here that Murchad’s Legacy does include rules for guns and gunpowder. Guns haven’t gained widespread usage in the world, primarily because of the proliferation of spells like Detect Gunpowder and Detonate Gunpowder. It was these spells that lead to the above mentioned dwarven massacre that fed the dwarven dislike of magic. Carrying a gun in Murchad’s Legacy is not generally a good idea. The book makes it clear that most people fool enough to arm themselves with renaissance weapons are setting themselves up to get blow up.
I must admit that I find it a little strange that the designers would bother to introduce firearms, and then come up with so many ways to punish anyone that takes them. Firearms aren’t really meant for PCs, it seems, but rather play a key role in the history and culture of the dwarves. The story of the dwarves’ reliance on technology and the consequences of that reliance is pretty cool, though, so I’m willing to accept the apparent contradiction of introducing weapons likely to kill their wielders. Besides, I can imagine a stubborn dwarven warrior armed with twin muskets and a “wizards be damned” attitude would be a lot of fun to play.
One of Murchad’s Legacy’s main strengths lies in the depth of the setting. The designers went to great lengths to give players an opportunity to really tie their characters into the lands and cultures of the Surrounding Lands. There are a number of new feats included to help characters identify with their culture of origin. Characters from Launhym, for example, can take a feat that grants them a +1 to saving throws as well as a bonus to hit when using a longbow. The feat also gives them a penalty to certain skill checks when dealing with people who have the Calisian cultural feat, representing the racial animosity between the two nations. For those players not interested in immersing themselves in the minutiae of the setting, the authors offer a couple of suggestions for origins outside of the Surrounding Lands.
I noted when reading through Murchad’s Legacy that the designers do occasionally use roleplaying elements as a balancing factor. This is generally considered to be one of the design taboos of 3E, but the book does make sure to back up most of these roleplaying penalties with a tangible, in-game consequence. I think that roleplaying penalties probably work a little better in Murchad’s Legacy because the setting has so many cultural and roleplaying elements built into the rules. It’s easier for the DM to enforce the cultural bias against Calisians, for example, because the book gives him the tools to do so.
There are a number of really cool aspects of this book that I don’t have room to include in this review. The rules for language “accents”, for example, which are a simple way for players to more deeply immerse themselves in the setting. I also liked the flavor behind the term “witching hour,” and the subsequent Teleport fix associated with it.
Metaplot
There is a metaplot built into Murchad’s Legacy. Basically, orc armies are set to invade and the king is in way over his head. If the PCs don’t do something…bad things will happen. It’s really as simple as that. I’ve been leary of other products with overarching plots, but there is no railroading here. If you wanted to, you could probably run a campaign in the Surrounding Lands and, with some modification, ignore the metaplot altogether (or at least relegate it to the background.) It’s also nice to note that nothing is set in stone. The book gives suggestions for the motivations and alignments of the key NPCs, but it leaves the ultimate decision up to the DM.
Conclusion
Murchad’s Legacy is a rich, deep setting using the common elements found in most generic D&D campaigns. There isn’t a lot here that’s truly original, but that wasn’t really the aim of the designers. What we have here is a book that presents a very clever and well designed D&D setting that uses all of the generic ingredients presented in the core rules. Almost everything here fits in with the “big picture” in a logical manner. The designers tried to appeal to all different kinds of gamers. For those that want depth and roleplay opportunities, those options are there, but the beer and pretzels gamer can still play a human barbarian and fit right in.
There isn’t a whole lot in the way of new rules presented in the book, but what is here adds to the setting and supports the background information. In other words, nothing struck me as needless filler. There were a few rules decisions I didn’t completely agree with, but nothing was obviously broken or poorly designed. The book contains a nice metaplot that works as a skeleton on which the DM can build a campaign, or basically ignore as he sees fit.
If you’re looking for something more exotic than the traditional D&D fare, you’ll probably be better served looking elsewhere. If, however, you want a clever setting that interjects the familiar rules with a great deal of “fluff,” Murchad’s Legacy is more than worth the download.
Andrew Branstad
Murchad’s Legacy has a neat concept: An original campaign setting designed to incorporate the rules and concepts in the D&D core rulebooks into a fantasy setting in a logical and cohesive manner. In other words, if it’s in the core rules, it’s woven into Murchad’s Legacy (with a few exceptions.) The campaign setting has a built-in metaplot, which is designed to motivate the PCs into action. If the players don’t do something to stem the approaching tide of evil, bad things will happen to the general populace of the Empire of Remaria.
My usual caveats before we start. First off, I like to write nice, thorough reviews. If you’re just interested in a quick review, please feel free to skip to the section titled Conclusion below. It gives you the jist of how I felt about this product, and why I rated it as I did. Otherwise, read on for the full, meaty review! Second, I did receive a free copy of this PDF for review purposes.
(Note: Throughout this review, I often refer to Murchad’s Legacy as a “book.” While this it technically a misnomer, I find it less awkward than saying product or PDF all the time.)
Contents
Murchad’s Legacy is a big (258 pages in the main PDF) product. Included in the download is the main campaign book, as well as a file containing graphics of the flags of the various nations and an assortment of maps. The layout is standard for a PDF, and everything is bookmarked for ease of use. The art in Murchad’s Legacy varies from good to great. The Elmore piece on the cover is particularly effective at giving this book an air of “legitimacy” that some small press d20 PDF products lack. There have been some criticisms of the fairly plain layout of the book, but I didn't find it detracted from my reading experiance at all. Things could have been spruced up with a little color or a little more art, but I can't really deduct any points for the lack of "flash."
The main book details the lands and cultures of the Empire of Remaria (usually referred to as “The Surrounding Lands.”) Included is the expected assortment of feats, magic, and prestige classes as well as new rules and rules variants for playing in the setting. Also included is the Campaign Tracker, a simple tool for keeping tabs on the events of the metaplot and how the PCs are affecting things. The book also contains a few sample adventures.
I liked the overall tone of Murchad’s Legacy, which is very conversational and easy to read. The designers often come right out and tell you why they chose to do something a certain way. This is great for the DM because, if you don’t agree with the reasoning of a certain rule, you don’t have to second guess the designers before you houserule.
Review
This setting reads like a well-crafted homebrew campaign fleshed out to be used by others. It’s as if a couple of talented DMs got together, compared notes, and put everything on paper for others to use. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Murchad’s Legacy came about in just this fashion. I envy the players of such a well planned campaign.
Anyone that owns a Player’s Handbook will find the Empire of Remaria familiar ground. Within (and outside of) its borders, there is a place for humans, elves, dwarves, and halflings. The standard half races (half-elves and half-orcs) are available races, but the book cautions DMs to use them sparingly to preserve their rarity. Gnomes are mentioned in the history of the setting, but for some reason the authors have decided to eradicate the race in a grand cataclysm. If the authors find gnomes uninteresting, or don’t think they fill an appropriate niche, that’s fine. Wouldn’t it have been better, however, to alter gnomes to better fit the setting, rather than just handwaving them out of existence? And, if you don’t like them, why have them in your setting at all (even if they are just a footnote in history)? Then again, maybe I’m just a gnome-lover…The race section does contain a good example of how Murchad’s Legacy incorporates typical D&D clichés in a clever fashion: Dwarves are distrustful of magic because they suffered a tremendous defeat at the hands of wizards.
In addition to the standard races, the book gives us two more that could be appropriate to player characters in Murchad’s Legacy: Dark elves and orcs. Orcs in the Surrounding Lands play a key role, so it’s appropriate that they are included as a playable race. The orcs presented here are a little tougher than their Monster Manual brethren. They lose the -2 Wis penalty and gain a couple of skill bonuses, all without a level adjustment. This may bother some balance-minded DMs, although I think that Murchad’s Legacy orc PCs probably play just fine. Dark elves, on the other hand, are significantly different than the Drow elves familiar to most D&D gamers. Their backstory is cool, and I like the role they play in the setting. Their stats are a little wonky, though. I’m not sure that they earn the +1 LA the book gives them. I also don’t care for the rule that caps their maximum strength at 16. To me, it feels a little too second edition, and it doesn’t really jibe with the standard rules as written.
The classes section gives the DM advice on how the standard D&D classes fit into the campaign setting. I particularly liked the way religion is depicted in the cleric description. There are a myriad of gods and higher powers in the Surrounding Lands, many of which are organized into small cults and mystery religions. This not only gives cleric PCs a wide variety of powers to choose from, it also gives the DM a near endless supply of morally ambiguous organizations to use as enemies and allies. Druids also get their own niche in the religion of the world, helping them fit in with the campaign setting better than they do in the core rules. All of the core classes get at least a nod as to how they fit into the big picture of the world.
As one would expect, the book contains a number of new prestige classes unique to the setting. To their credit, the designers went with a “less is more” philosophy, creating only one prestige class for each major culture of the world. This follows the original design intentions for prestige classes as presented the 3E DMG, and I think that it adds to the setting. Most of the new prestige classes are pretty good. My favorite is probably the Homefront Guardian, a halfling assassin with loads of roleplaying flavor. Another good one is the Stargazer, which probably would not have worked as a generic class, but here shines as a prestige class customized to the world.
There are new spells presented for each of the core spellcasting classes. There is nothing particularly innovative here, but neither is there anything obviously broken. Spells like Lineride help reinforce the unique flavor of Surrounding Lands druids, while the humorously named Die You Misbegotten Putrid Cult Worshipping Pagan Orc Filth help to reinforce the flavor of the setting. (In this case, the hatred the people of Launhym harbor for orcs.) It’s worth noting here that Murchad’s Legacy does include rules for guns and gunpowder. Guns haven’t gained widespread usage in the world, primarily because of the proliferation of spells like Detect Gunpowder and Detonate Gunpowder. It was these spells that lead to the above mentioned dwarven massacre that fed the dwarven dislike of magic. Carrying a gun in Murchad’s Legacy is not generally a good idea. The book makes it clear that most people fool enough to arm themselves with renaissance weapons are setting themselves up to get blow up.
I must admit that I find it a little strange that the designers would bother to introduce firearms, and then come up with so many ways to punish anyone that takes them. Firearms aren’t really meant for PCs, it seems, but rather play a key role in the history and culture of the dwarves. The story of the dwarves’ reliance on technology and the consequences of that reliance is pretty cool, though, so I’m willing to accept the apparent contradiction of introducing weapons likely to kill their wielders. Besides, I can imagine a stubborn dwarven warrior armed with twin muskets and a “wizards be damned” attitude would be a lot of fun to play.
One of Murchad’s Legacy’s main strengths lies in the depth of the setting. The designers went to great lengths to give players an opportunity to really tie their characters into the lands and cultures of the Surrounding Lands. There are a number of new feats included to help characters identify with their culture of origin. Characters from Launhym, for example, can take a feat that grants them a +1 to saving throws as well as a bonus to hit when using a longbow. The feat also gives them a penalty to certain skill checks when dealing with people who have the Calisian cultural feat, representing the racial animosity between the two nations. For those players not interested in immersing themselves in the minutiae of the setting, the authors offer a couple of suggestions for origins outside of the Surrounding Lands.
I noted when reading through Murchad’s Legacy that the designers do occasionally use roleplaying elements as a balancing factor. This is generally considered to be one of the design taboos of 3E, but the book does make sure to back up most of these roleplaying penalties with a tangible, in-game consequence. I think that roleplaying penalties probably work a little better in Murchad’s Legacy because the setting has so many cultural and roleplaying elements built into the rules. It’s easier for the DM to enforce the cultural bias against Calisians, for example, because the book gives him the tools to do so.
There are a number of really cool aspects of this book that I don’t have room to include in this review. The rules for language “accents”, for example, which are a simple way for players to more deeply immerse themselves in the setting. I also liked the flavor behind the term “witching hour,” and the subsequent Teleport fix associated with it.
Metaplot
There is a metaplot built into Murchad’s Legacy. Basically, orc armies are set to invade and the king is in way over his head. If the PCs don’t do something…bad things will happen. It’s really as simple as that. I’ve been leary of other products with overarching plots, but there is no railroading here. If you wanted to, you could probably run a campaign in the Surrounding Lands and, with some modification, ignore the metaplot altogether (or at least relegate it to the background.) It’s also nice to note that nothing is set in stone. The book gives suggestions for the motivations and alignments of the key NPCs, but it leaves the ultimate decision up to the DM.
Conclusion
Murchad’s Legacy is a rich, deep setting using the common elements found in most generic D&D campaigns. There isn’t a lot here that’s truly original, but that wasn’t really the aim of the designers. What we have here is a book that presents a very clever and well designed D&D setting that uses all of the generic ingredients presented in the core rules. Almost everything here fits in with the “big picture” in a logical manner. The designers tried to appeal to all different kinds of gamers. For those that want depth and roleplay opportunities, those options are there, but the beer and pretzels gamer can still play a human barbarian and fit right in.
There isn’t a whole lot in the way of new rules presented in the book, but what is here adds to the setting and supports the background information. In other words, nothing struck me as needless filler. There were a few rules decisions I didn’t completely agree with, but nothing was obviously broken or poorly designed. The book contains a nice metaplot that works as a skeleton on which the DM can build a campaign, or basically ignore as he sees fit.
If you’re looking for something more exotic than the traditional D&D fare, you’ll probably be better served looking elsewhere. If, however, you want a clever setting that interjects the familiar rules with a great deal of “fluff,” Murchad’s Legacy is more than worth the download.
Andrew Branstad
