THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
FOREWARD
I received a copy of
Slavelords of Cydonia personally from Benjamin Durbin, who asked me to write a review. I had not playtested any of the material prior to writing this review.
OVERVIEW
Slavelords of Cydonia is the first supplement to utilize the highly acclaimed
Grim Tales campaign toolkit. The tagline of
Slavelords of Cydonia is “An Epic Adventure Sourcebook for Levels 1 – 20”. The back cover has the following description:
“In a time lost to history, the first Lethid War sundered the Earth and sank mighty Atlantis, the heart of the Sli’ess Empire. The cruel reptilian sli’ess were scattered, their interplanar network destroyed, and their technology lost. Mankind has forgotten the scourge of the
Slavelords, and time has moved on.
Now, thousands of years later, tentacled shapes once again cast their shadows across the stars. The lethid are returning, eager to extract revenge on the Sli’ess Empire. Will Earth be caught once again between evil forces – or are there yet brave heroes to answer the call?”
Slavelords of Cydonia is both an epic campaign as well as a setting sourcebook. The difference between
Slavelords and other lengthy modules or campaign settings is that the world and setting are unveiled throughout the campaign itself rather than from regional descriptions only.
Slavelords of Cydonia is a black and white hardcover with a full-color cover. Weighing in at an impressive 238-pages, it’s actually 24 pages larger than its predecessor. Except for large tables, maps, or illustrations, a 2-column format is utilized throughout the entire book. Quickly flipping through
Slavelords makes one thing perfectly clear: this book is PACKED with info. Of its 238 pages, I would estimate that only 2-3 pages is white space.
After an introduction,
Slavelords is divided into essentially two “halves”. The first half (164 pages), which is divided into five books, detail the campaign itself. The second half (68 pages), which is comprised of seven appendices (A thru G), contains information on the sli’ess and lethid races, new creatures, statblocks, equipment, and even a mass combat system.
INTRODUCTION
Although only five pages, the introduction in
Slavelords of Cydonia contains some fairly important information. After a brief breakdown of how the campaign is organized (which I will go into greater detail below), the author offers some insight about running the campaign in a section called, appropriately enough, “Running a Campaign Book”. The first two lines of this section should be in all caps, underlined, italicized, and in bold:
“
Slavelords of Cydonia is not your standard dungeon crawl. It requires an experienced GM to make the most of the information here.”
Trust me, the author means it (more on this in the campaign section below).
The introduction also contains conversion information for those without
Grim Tales. A table of new feats and a list of talents with a brief description of each is included. While a GM without
Grim Tales still may have to tweak some things here and there, the conversion notes will certainly help. The conversion section also addresses spellcasting in a low-magic setting and what to do with traditional spellcasting classes. While the conversion section is a nice touch, I’m not sure I see too many people using
Slavelords who don’t have
Grim Tales. Even if they don’t,
Slavelords is still perfectly usable with other d20 RPG’s. Regardless, the conversion section is only about three pages long and constitutes an extremely small percentage of the book as whole.
CAMPAIGN
The
Slavelords of Cydonia campaign is comprised of five books:
Book One: Dark Tides
Book Two: The Slave Pits
Book Three: Freedom and Conflict
Book Four: War
Book Five: Endgame
Each book has the following sub-sections:
- Synopsis: Gives the GM an overview of what has happened, what is happening, and what’s going to happen in the campaign.
- Goals: What must happen in order to advance to the next book.
- Key Campaign Points: Things the GM should keep in mind while running this book.
- Setting: Summary of the major players and places in the book.
- Chapters: Each book is divided into chapters according to prominent events within that book.
- Adventures: Each book contains many potential quests that the PCs may or may not participate in (although some are required). Each adventure is essentially an outline (albeit a very detailed one) for the GM to flesh out as he sees fit. The adventures are outlined using the following sections: Dependencies, Locations, Key Actors, Important Background, Details, Facts/Clues, Events, Effects/Awards.
The variety of adventures the GM can choose from within each book is one of the fundamental concepts of
Slavelords. Instead of a linear timeline, the GM is given a variety of possibilities in which to involve the PCs. This gives the GM complete control to tailor the campaign but, as they say, with great power comes great responsibility. The GM must plan well in advance which adventures to use, how they will interact with one another, and the consequences of each on the campaign as a whole.
I can actually see myself using the format of
Slavelords to design my own campaigns. Even if you never play the campaign as written, it’s virtually a campaign building “how-to” guide. The presentation and format of the books and adventures are intuitive and informative and easily adaptable to any campaign under the sun, d20 or not. The format and organization is unique and unlike any other product I have seen. Even if this book detailed the campaign format alone, it would still be highly useful. With
Slavelords, you get the campaign format but also get to see it in use with an actual epic campaign.
Book One starts off with a list of possible adventure hooks for getting the players involved in the campaign. What is notable about
Slavelords is that these hooks are offered in three different eras of play: archaic, modern, and post-apocalytic. The campaign opens with the PCs making their way to a remote valley deep in a jungle. Here they find an expedition investigating some ancient ruins. These ruins contain an inactive portal that leads to Cydonia. Book One ends when the portal is opened and the PCs, willingly or not, step through it.
Book Two begins with the players held in captivity by a mid-ranking sli’ess noble. Through the course of Book Two, they learn about their captors, their language, and Cydonia, all while their sli’ess captor tries to keep the existence of the portal and the origin of the PCs a secret.
Much of Book Two also deals with the players as gladiators in the Arena (which is important in Cydonian society). This is a chapter that I’m especially fond of. Getting the players into the Arena is a bit vague, however (even though the Arena chapter opens with: “At some point in this Book, the PCs are sent to fight in the Arena.” ). Are the players being sent to the Arena as a reward? As punisment? To gain status for the house? There are enough details given, however, for a creative GM to work with.
Anyone interested in running a scenario involving gladiatorial combat (or if you just like movies about gladiators) in ANY type of campaign, you would do well to borrow heavily from this section. Different styles of gladiatorial combat are given, as well as background information on how the Arena is integrated into Cydonia culture, and a TON of opponents for the PCs to battle.
When the secret of the gateway is out is when Book Three begins. A politcal struggle begins over control of the portal. Up until now, the lethid have been secretly using the gateway to infiltrate Cydonia (by implanting themselves in humans on Earth that have been taken prisoner by the sli’ess). The PCs start to undertake missions to learn more about the lethid.
Book Four is aptly titled as the fog of war sets upon Cydonia. This book uses the mass combat rules as detailed in Appendix F. To prepare for the upcoming war with the lethid, the PCs will earn “Victory Points” for sucessfully completing various missions. These missions may entail rescuing various important sli’ess officials, to retrieving important pieces of equipment, or gain control of strategic military installations. As the PCs complete these missions, their status will grow, eventually to the point where they are granted their own units to command in battle. The PCs will be able to “purchase” these units according to the number of Victory Points they earned. Allowing the players to control units within the sli’ess army is another high point of the campaign. Book Four will evoke a feeling of accomplishment but also of importance in the players as they will know that the survival of the sli’ess is in their hands.
Book Five is the culmination of the campaign. After having been slaves, gladiators, political spies, and military heroes, the PCs are finally given their just due. During a medal ceremony, the PCs are told they will not be allowed to return to Earth because they know too much about Cydonia and its military capabilities. To add insult to injury, they are branded, with the blessing of the Emperor, as spies. Would I love to see the look on my player’s faces when this bomb is dropped!!! From here the PCs have a few options, each resulting in a different ending to the campaign, all of which are quite epic and should be accompanied by a John Williams orchestral score.
Overall, the campaign is superb. Each book is well-organized and gives the GM the ability to mold and direct the campaign as he sees fit. The campaign offers immense opportunity for some incredible and cinematic gaming and contains many memorable scenes. Much of the campaign is role-playing heavy but it is certainly not without its fair share of combat.
Slavelords gives all character types a chance to excel during the course of the campaign. However, many of the challenges in the campaign cannot be solved with violence so if you plan on sending a kick-in-the-door style group to Cydonia, be forewarned that the campaign may be short-lived, at least until the players alter their tactics.
Although the campaign is comprehensive, there are a few places where some “leaps” have been made to further the storyline. In such cases, the GM is going to have to fill in the blanks a bit. For example, at the start of Book Two, the PCs begin to learn the sli’ess language. If they accomplish this, they gain Speak Language (sli’ess) as a bonus. Unfortunately, there aren’t really any mechanics to illustrate the learning process. While much of it can be role-played, a table detailing a series of Intelligence checks (perhaps modified by Wisdom, Sense Motive, other Speak Language skills or language talents, etc) would have been helpful. Again, a resourceful GM should be able to create a system that works for him or her.
There are also other areas where the author may assume that the PCs will take a certain course of action. Again, in Book Two, much detail is given on what to do if the PCs escape. Escaping introduces the PCs to many impotant NPCs and could possibly be a hook to get them into the Arena. But what if they never escape or never even try to? This is certainly plausible and the GM may have to alter certain events as a result.
The
Slavelords campaign might also suffer from providing too much information. As the campaign develops, it gets increasingly complex. Cydonian society has many races, opposing factions, political houses, and organizations, each with their own motivations and goals. The GM just have a firm grasp of what’s going on outside of the PCs immediate surroundings as much as what the PCs are interacting with directly. Also, because the PCs can embark upon a multitude of paths to reach the same common end, the GM must be prepared for some quick-thinking and improvising to keep the action flowing. Again, a thorough understanding of the major players involved in each section is a necessity.
APPENDICES
Slavelords of Cydonia contains seven appendices:
- Appendix A: The Sli’ess
- Appendix B: The Lethid
- Appendix C: Bestiary
- Appendix D: Statblocks
- Appendix E: Cydonian Equipment
- Appendix F: Grim Tales’ Mass Combat
- Appendix G: Mouldstone & Mutations
Appendix A details the racial descriptions of the six sli’ess subraces, each of which is based on a different reptile: snake, gecko, chameleon, croc/gator, tortoise, and half-bloods. Also included is information on the sli’ess empire, society and social structure, political system, magic, etc. I almost wonder if this section should come before the actual campaign because I wished I had read it before I started reading the campaign as it gives great insight on understanding the motivations of the sli’ess.
The sli’ess race is well-detailed and in addition to providing a wealth of information for the
Slavelords campaign, also gives GM’s a sinister and scheming race of creatures to introduce into any campaign. One notable section of Appendix A is a new type of magic called Visceral Magic. Practiced by the Red Cadre, a secret relgious sect that worships a shunned deity of blood, visceral magic requires the drawing of fluids from a living creature’s organs. Some new spells are also included relating to visceral magic.
The antagonists of our story, the Lethid, are detailed in
Appendix B. “The lethid are parasitic creatures that devour the brains (and thoughts) of intelligent creatures.” They are equal parts aboleth, mind flayer, Alien facehugger, Ceti eel from the Wrath of Khan, and all Cthulhu - basically a GM’s dream come true.
In addition to a variety of psionic powers, the lethid’s primary ability is to control other living creatures. Some of the lethid do this by burrowing into the brain of the creature (mohldaleth) while others physically attach themselves to the creature (nihileth and rgleth). The advantage of the mohldaleth is that they are undetectable since they control their host from within. It is this method that allows the lethid to infiltrate Cydonia. The slug-like Shibboleth and the True Aboleth round out this fun-loving bunch.
Appendix C lists the creatures of Cydonia. Unfortunately, this section could have benefited the most from additional artwork. Of the 14 new creatures, only two have accompanying illustrations. Most of the new creatures are native animals and beasts of burden on Cydonia although there are some standouts. The colossal Aurag is a flat, tentacled creature that lives under the desert sands. When a creature walks over it, it lashes out with its 100 tentacles to wrap its prey. Once immobolized, its tentacles burrow into the creature’s skin (this seems to be a recurring theme).
All unnamed creatures are listed in statblocks in
Appendix D. This section also lists creatures that have been implanted with a lethid (which adds a template to the host creature).
Appendix E lists new Cydonian equipment. These range from melee weapons used by gladiators in the Arena, crystalline energy weapons, and heavy battle armor. The rules on crystalline technology is the high point of this section. While all crystalline weapons are powered by at least one crystal, more crystals can be added to produce more powerful effects. The primary advantage for adding additional crystals to a weapon is to increase its rate of fire. There are also a variety of crystals that can provide secondary effects by expending an extra charge. For example, a weapon using Crimson crystals may set its target on fire. Melee weapons can also be crystal weapons. Although crystals cannot be added to them, they are made of a specific type of crystal which also adds an extra effect. An Azure melee weapon adds +1d6 electricity damage and the target must make a save or be stunned.
The crystalline weapon technology rules provide a simple method of greatly expanding the already large weapon selection. It also provide the players with a way to improve and customize their weapons instead of being stuck with the same one throughout the course of the campaign.
The Mass Combat system is detailed in
Appendix F. I don’t have much experience running large-scale battles but if I planned to run one, I don’t see myself looking much farther than this. The beauty of the Grim Tales’ Mass Combat system is that it is fast and simple yet powerful and abstract enough to account for many scenarios. The basis of the Grim Tales’ Mass Combat system is the Battle Rating (BR). BR is equal to the unit’s Effective Level (EL), as determined by the superb CR to EL calculation system in Grim Tales. BR is essentially the unit’s “hit points”. At the start of the battle, both sides secretly choose a goal from a list of options, which will determine the difficully of the maneuver and potential casulties. When units go to battle, an opposed roll is made to determine losses on both sides. The system is also highly scalable and can be adapted for any size battle very quickly. At the start of the battle, the players and GM determine the unit size and then adjust the scale of the battlemat accordingly. To top it all off, rules are given for running battles without the use of a battlemat.
Appendix G describes the effects of exposure to mouldstone, which is a radioactive material primarily used to power the gateway to Cydonia in Book One. There are also optional rules for prolonged exposure to mouldstone resulting in physical mutations.
INDEX
At the conclusion of
Slavelords, an index/glossary is provided. As I read through the campaign, this became an extremely valuable tool as the GM can reference and obtain quick definitions of the many new words and NPCs introduced in
Slavelords.
ARTWORK & MAPS
Compared to other products of equal size, the amount of artwork in
Slavelords is on the light side. While I was reading through the campaign, there were a few places that I thought an extra illustration of a certain NPC or race would have been helpful. The lack of an extra picture here or there certainly doesn’t detract from the book as a whole. The overall quality of the artwork is good but nothing extraordinary (although the cover art is superb).
Maps are provided for a variety of locations in
Slavelords. Recurring locations usually appear at the beginning or end of a campaign book while smaller maps will appear in the adventure description they correspond to. This layout does cause some page flipping at times. The cartography is excellent although some maps would really benefit from being a bit larger.
CONCLUSION
Slavelords of Cydonia is an ambitious and innovative work. Badaxe Games has created a unique tome and should be applauded for offering a fresh perspective on the epic campaign.
Slavelords is not the shiniest or prettiest book. It’s also not the easiest to use. It is, however, a product that values substance over style.
While the campaign itself is exceptional,
Slavelords offers much to those who may never run it. The campaign style and format can be used as a template and “how-to” guide for anyone organizing and running their own homebrew campaign. The equipment and creatures can be used in numerous settings and the crystalline technology offers a new and customizable weapon system. The inclusion of a mass combat system is just icing on an already delicious cake.
I would rate
Slavelords a 4.5/5 or 92%. Aside from some minor criticisms, this is an excellent product. 5/5.
