JoeGKushner
Adventurer
Seven Civilizations is the last d20 book from Atlas Games. Written by Rick Neal and Keith Baker, this Penumbra sourcebook weighs in at 96 black and white pages and retails for $19.95, the standard for 96 page books these days. Interior art is black and white and handled by Scott Reeves. Scott has done several books in the d20 line before. His illustration of the cover is typical of his interior work, but without the benefit of color, a lot of it looks muddy and lacks detail. In addition, the art isn’t too functional. For example, we have new weapons like the Wind Lance and Arrow Wand, and while I can picture the Wind Lance, I can’t see how the Arrow Wand itself functions. Illustrations should serve the text, not act as “Dude standing here,” placeholders.
Layout is standard two-column with game details put on gray background. The top of each page has the title of the book, which is wasteful, as it could’ve had the chapter on one side, and the title on another. Each page is bordered by one of Scott’s illustrations, but it’s beyond my ability to tell what it is. In terms of page use, the first page is a black and white reproduction of the cover, another page for credits, and another for the table of contents with the back having an index and an ad for the two player Dungeoneer decks. Interior use is good save for page thirty where they could’ve done something with over half a page of white space.
Now when dealing with culture, how does one integrate it into a campaign without having to do a lot of retrofitting? In most cases, it’s not an issue. For example, the Dragon Kings are of dragon bloodlines and ruled in the long ago past. So long ago as a matter of fact, that their real impact on modern events is largely lost. Options are also present like having them be rulers of another plane to further minimize their effect on the campaign world’s past.
In some instances, this issue is altogether avoided, as the culture described is a hidden one. Take Takalas for example. These gnomes have their own homeland but it’s hidden. Players are more likely to meet the various ‘seasons’ of gnome that are on the road, gathering supplies and materials to make their homeland more vibrant and unique after their age old battle there. They travel on wagons that are much like Dr. Who’s Tardis in that they are much larger on the inside.
Or for those who want something different, Silvergate might be the answer. This is a demi-plane that can only be reached through mirrors. Now for me, this sparks all sorts of ideas. While the demi-plane itself has it’s own ruler and own factions within itself, I seem myself using it for several purposes. For example, the Fiend Folio introduced the Nerra, inhabitants of the Plane of Mirrors. Perhaps this Silvergate moves too close to their own plane and they have their own plans? How about The Complete Book of Eldritch Might with it’s PrC the Mirror Master. Might not such an individual be interested in Silvergate itself?
This isn’t to say that all such civilizations detailed are going to be easy to use. Some like the Mondian Empire require a bit of thought to use. See, this is actually an empire that’s not in the past, it’s not on another plane, it’s not in an isolated location. It’s a thriving community where psions and psychic warriors are given high accolades and the common person is welcome to move beyond their humble origins if they have the talent. In some ways I thought I was reading about the Heralds and their pretty magical horses but it stops short of giving them animal companions.
I like the idea of the Gleaners, individuals that move about the land seeking those with talent. I like the concept of a kingdom where psionics are actually employed and have a PrC, the Mindguard, who continues to advance in his psionic training even as he gains both Prowess, a bonus to manifester checks to overcome power resistance, and mastery, using one less power point than normal.
The only problem is, where to put it? Me, I’m thinking I’ll just forget about Mondian proper and use some of the concepts like the Gleaning and the ideas behind it.
Which is really the value of the book. When I see material like the wildling Tribes, I think, ah, a chance to use were creatures in a way that doesn’t make them isolated. I can then search through my own material, mostly Paradigm’s Slaves of the Moon, and decide how best to augment the details here with it. It acts as a springboard for ideas.
But how is each civilization described them? Each one starts off with some fiction, a viewpoint that’s sometimes of a native, and sometimes of an outsider. It then moves into overview, placement, history, including origin, development and current, locations, personalities, role playing notes, culture notes, things like trade, religion, art, weapons, and finally, adventure seeds. Somewhere through there, we get adventure seeds and locations, usually these are a typical encampment or area within the land. For example, under the Wind Riders, a nomadic group of people, we have a typical encampment map and a map of the Skymap, “a ring of standing stones on a hilltop near the middle of Wind Rider territory.”
While this isn’t a book of crunch ,that doesn’t mean that there aren’t new game mechanics. We have a few new PrCs like the Kylorn Rider, a nomad who masters a flying mount known as a Kylorn. We have new feats that augment a gnome’s innate powers of illusion. We have new monsters, deities and magic items. In short, anything unique to the culture necessary to play is included.
Are these cultures complete in and of themselves? In some places they are a little thin. For example when looking at Mondian, we have no mention made of any psionic class outside of psions and psychic warriors. Would their leader, a queen of upright and moral standing, have perhaps a secret spy network of Soul Knives? Would this greater degree of psionic activity attract psionic monsters? We don’t know.
In the end, Seven Civilizations is about providing you tools to enhance your own role-playing games. By making most of these cultures hidden or otherwise minimized, it limits the amount of game work you have to put into changing your own campaign world. If you’re doing a homebrew, it probably wouldn’t take much work to link this book with others in the Seven Series to flesh out the setting nicely.
Layout is standard two-column with game details put on gray background. The top of each page has the title of the book, which is wasteful, as it could’ve had the chapter on one side, and the title on another. Each page is bordered by one of Scott’s illustrations, but it’s beyond my ability to tell what it is. In terms of page use, the first page is a black and white reproduction of the cover, another page for credits, and another for the table of contents with the back having an index and an ad for the two player Dungeoneer decks. Interior use is good save for page thirty where they could’ve done something with over half a page of white space.
Now when dealing with culture, how does one integrate it into a campaign without having to do a lot of retrofitting? In most cases, it’s not an issue. For example, the Dragon Kings are of dragon bloodlines and ruled in the long ago past. So long ago as a matter of fact, that their real impact on modern events is largely lost. Options are also present like having them be rulers of another plane to further minimize their effect on the campaign world’s past.
In some instances, this issue is altogether avoided, as the culture described is a hidden one. Take Takalas for example. These gnomes have their own homeland but it’s hidden. Players are more likely to meet the various ‘seasons’ of gnome that are on the road, gathering supplies and materials to make their homeland more vibrant and unique after their age old battle there. They travel on wagons that are much like Dr. Who’s Tardis in that they are much larger on the inside.
Or for those who want something different, Silvergate might be the answer. This is a demi-plane that can only be reached through mirrors. Now for me, this sparks all sorts of ideas. While the demi-plane itself has it’s own ruler and own factions within itself, I seem myself using it for several purposes. For example, the Fiend Folio introduced the Nerra, inhabitants of the Plane of Mirrors. Perhaps this Silvergate moves too close to their own plane and they have their own plans? How about The Complete Book of Eldritch Might with it’s PrC the Mirror Master. Might not such an individual be interested in Silvergate itself?
This isn’t to say that all such civilizations detailed are going to be easy to use. Some like the Mondian Empire require a bit of thought to use. See, this is actually an empire that’s not in the past, it’s not on another plane, it’s not in an isolated location. It’s a thriving community where psions and psychic warriors are given high accolades and the common person is welcome to move beyond their humble origins if they have the talent. In some ways I thought I was reading about the Heralds and their pretty magical horses but it stops short of giving them animal companions.
I like the idea of the Gleaners, individuals that move about the land seeking those with talent. I like the concept of a kingdom where psionics are actually employed and have a PrC, the Mindguard, who continues to advance in his psionic training even as he gains both Prowess, a bonus to manifester checks to overcome power resistance, and mastery, using one less power point than normal.
The only problem is, where to put it? Me, I’m thinking I’ll just forget about Mondian proper and use some of the concepts like the Gleaning and the ideas behind it.
Which is really the value of the book. When I see material like the wildling Tribes, I think, ah, a chance to use were creatures in a way that doesn’t make them isolated. I can then search through my own material, mostly Paradigm’s Slaves of the Moon, and decide how best to augment the details here with it. It acts as a springboard for ideas.
But how is each civilization described them? Each one starts off with some fiction, a viewpoint that’s sometimes of a native, and sometimes of an outsider. It then moves into overview, placement, history, including origin, development and current, locations, personalities, role playing notes, culture notes, things like trade, religion, art, weapons, and finally, adventure seeds. Somewhere through there, we get adventure seeds and locations, usually these are a typical encampment or area within the land. For example, under the Wind Riders, a nomadic group of people, we have a typical encampment map and a map of the Skymap, “a ring of standing stones on a hilltop near the middle of Wind Rider territory.”
While this isn’t a book of crunch ,that doesn’t mean that there aren’t new game mechanics. We have a few new PrCs like the Kylorn Rider, a nomad who masters a flying mount known as a Kylorn. We have new feats that augment a gnome’s innate powers of illusion. We have new monsters, deities and magic items. In short, anything unique to the culture necessary to play is included.
Are these cultures complete in and of themselves? In some places they are a little thin. For example when looking at Mondian, we have no mention made of any psionic class outside of psions and psychic warriors. Would their leader, a queen of upright and moral standing, have perhaps a secret spy network of Soul Knives? Would this greater degree of psionic activity attract psionic monsters? We don’t know.
In the end, Seven Civilizations is about providing you tools to enhance your own role-playing games. By making most of these cultures hidden or otherwise minimized, it limits the amount of game work you have to put into changing your own campaign world. If you’re doing a homebrew, it probably wouldn’t take much work to link this book with others in the Seven Series to flesh out the setting nicely.
