Trickstergod
First Post
eryndel said:
But I've already answered this question, like a million times! Agh!
Of course, most everybody knows what I'm going to answer with. Amongst the Scarred Lands books I've read, The Faithful and the Forsaken is easily the worst of the bunch, for a number of reasons.
All right, first off, the book offers absolutely no help for anyone wanting to run a game where the PC's, as opposed to Vladawen, raise up their dead god. It goes so far as to put in print that only Vladawen could do it. All the plot hooks involved in it involve the characters being on the sidelines.
It's filled with poorly explained history. What is it, seven perfect rulers? Each of them immortal? Then why'd they stop ruling? Why didn't the first few do something when the last one started causing trouble? It's not that I believe that explanations couldn't be offered up, merely that they weren't. As it is, many of the ideas lack needed support to not make them come off as just silly, or dumb.
It also eliminates the unique setting element of the forsaken elves, more or less, and replaces them with the not so bad, but already done, high elves. The forsaken elves epitomized some of the themes of the Scarred Lands in my opinion, to a degree - that of faith, above all else, even when that god is dead and gone and there's little advantage to be taken from continuing that faith. But held onto all the same. And in that book? Poof. Essentially gone.
It's also repetitive and unoriginal. The Shining Horde? I liked that write up the first time I read it. With the Eternal Isle. Not to mention the idea of the Scarred Lands being presented as little more then a pitstop, not the center of the setting, isn't how I like my campaign settings written.
The mechanics, as per usual, are garbage. All right, a bit harsh - they're not always garbage. But in this book, they are. They show ignorance of some of the "Why's" behind some of the mechanics and sometimes ignorance of the mechanics themself. There's a reason Paladins use Charisma instead of Strength for their class abilities; the White Fist is ignorant of that and horrifically front-loaded and overpowered to boot. The Celestial Weaver just shows ignorance of the mechanics themself - Craft Wondrous item already does what one of the class abilities for the prestige class claims to let the feat do. That's just the tip of the iceberg. I also believe the Once-Charduni feat to be a huge mistake. I think it all well and good that a non-Lawful Evil charduni might have a different ability score array that isn't exactly advantageous, but that doesn't need to be simulated with a feat, especially for essentially a PC race.
Which brings me to the charduni, of course, who, as written, contradict previously established Scarred Lands material - that of how all eight gods must be respected, or else they're going to mess you up both left and right. Explained well enough, but as the book itself didn't do it, a flaw.
As to what I would do to change it, the easiest change would just be a minor blurb explaining that the charduni can't get away with ignoring the major eight except for Chardun, just like Mithril or the like can't, and how that because they've ignored them all the same, it's the primary cause of all their suffering and will be until they begin giving proper respect to all the gods, as opposed to getting back into Chardun's good graces.
As for the forsaken elf half of the book...I wouldn't change it so much as discard it in its entirety and replace it with something else. The history? No perfect rulers, no ocean-spanning magic wars between asaatthi and high elves, no announcements of, "Hey, I'm your new god, guy." None of that. The section on the new empire, gone entirely. I wouldn't neglect what might happen were That Which Abides resurrected, but it would focus on ideas, what might happen, and most importantly, that the PC's could be playing a central role in it. Ideas for how to run a campaign focusing around a forsaken elf trying to resurrect his god, as opposed to playing wetnurse to Vladawen. It would also expand upon, as opposed to change, the forsaken elf realms from the Termana hardcover. It would support the book more.
Oh, and the mechanics would all get a thorough scrubbing.
I could go on and on. But I already have, in reviews, in other threads, other messageboards. As it is, I've still gone on rather lengthily. Anyway, off with me, for now.
