Beware! This review contains spoilers.
This is not a playtest review.
Splintered Peace is a political adventure from Atlas Games. It is designed for 8th-level characters.
Splintered Peace is a mono hardcover 112-page product costing $26.95. It seems a bit of a strange decision to go for hardcover for this kind of product at the page count, but it does allow for a rather nice double-page map of the city to be delivered on the front and back covers of the book (note: the map is not removable). Though the font is larger than standard and there are two pages of ads, the margins are standard and there is little wasted space apart from the ads. Art runs from average to good - the front cover is an evocative piece showing a grieving mother holding her severely injured or dead child in her arms in a bloodstained cobbled courtyard. One of the internal mono sketches shows an artist's view of the town, which complements the standard map well and could be given out to players without issue if photocopied. Writing style and editing are both good.
Marchion is a city torn apart by racism. But when I say racism, I'm talking between elf and dwarf, human and half-orc, gnome and halfling. The city is threatened by an orc horde, and if the city can't heal its differences, its curtains for them, as only a united front will see off the threat. However, the city doesn't seem to be coping well with this challenge and it's up to the PCs to save the day - not by attacking the orc horde (though this may be an issue at some point), but by roleplaying to heal the rifts in Marchion's society.
Chapter One: History (4 pages)
Covers the 250-year history of the city of Marchion, which began as a magocracy on the edge of civilisation and has now developed into a trade hub. Nine adventure plot hooks tied in to the history are given, without giving a direction to how the adventures might progress.
Chapter Two: Politics In Marchion (5 pages)
The council of twelve rules the city of Marchion, though the mayor is also a powerful figure. Other important groups are also discussed - Magistrates, The March (city militia), and the Merchant Guild. The chapter ends with some discussion on elections in Marchion, and the outstanding political issues - race relations, fear of a reinstated magocracy, retaining its independent status, and trade. Three sidebars are also offered - one lists the names of the council members, another discusses the annual Marchion Festival, and the last gives stats for the typical city militia member.
Chapter Three: Important People (25 pages)
The chapter begins with a useful NPC summary table showing the name, race, level/class, home city section, and role in the campaign (e.g. elven supremacist, powerful wizard, etc.). Thirty one NPCs are described (with no stat block, since it is presumed the PCs will not be on a killing spree, or the GM can develop her own). The NPCs range from level 4 to 16 (though many fall into the 7-9 bracket) and cover a wide variety of races and classes. Each gives a brief physical description, but focuses on personality and behaviour, specifically in regard to the racial tensions. Each character gets between half a page and a page to themselves, along with a picture.
Chapter Four: Gazetteer (11 pages)
The chapter begins with a sidebar giving the community stats for Marchion - an unusual aspect is that there are fairly even numbers of the main PC races - from 3,000 humans down to 500 half-elves and all the rest lying somewhere between. The chapter runs through the major sections and important locations in the city. Each location tends to be centred around a race or political faction. Notable locations are Tree Town (popular with elves, but also used as the city park), and Temple District (which includes basic information on the seven gods of Marchion).
Chapter Five: Running The Crisis (3 pages)
This chapter gives a variety of advice for the GM in managing the ongoing racism in Marchion and the characters' reaction to it. It notes the new set of rules for managing attitudes (detailed in Chapter Seven), gives some guidelines as to what constitutes success and failure, shows how to deal with players missing the point of the adventure (given it is not run of the mill hack-and-slash), gives advice on avoiding cliche and boredom by roleplaying the various NPCs fully rather than describing their traits, and offers some help with structuring the adventure given that the events are so dependent on PC actions (with an outline of one possible development of the events). The advice in this section suggests that the 'wandering adventurers' theme will not sit well with Splintered Peace and that characters should already be based in Marchion. This may cause problems for GMs wanting to run this scenario (designed for 8th-level characters) since the PCs are probably either wandering adventurers or already have a base of operations that has a significantly different racial make-up than the unusual one of Marchion. Forward-thinking GMs might have already set up Marchion as the PCs base from earlier levels, or may want to adjust the encounters to be suitable for lower-level characters and start the PCs off in Marchion to avoid these issues, but it is an area the GM will have to seriously consider before running Splintered Peace. The other issue is that the PCs are expected to be proactive and intelligent, and the players are expected to roleplay and face social, emotional, and cultural challenges. The book points out that this may not be every set of players cup of tea, and the GM better be sure her players are able to handle the mature issues raised by the scenario.
Chapter Six: Signs Of The Storm (3 pages)
This chapter provides an introduction to the main adventure. On their way back to Marchion, the PCs find signs of orc raiders. When they return to Marchion, they are welcomed with more than a hint of relief. After a less than stirring speech by the new mayor (the last one died while the PCs were away), some heckling leads to a minor disturbance, alerting the PCs to the growing racial tension.
Chapter Seven: Attitude Rules (5 pages)
This set of rules can be used to measure the current mood of a community. In this case, the rating is twofold - orcophobia (racism against orcs, which begins at 6 in Marchion) and a more general xenophobia (racism between all the other races, which begins at 3 in Marchion). These ratings can be forced up or down by the actions of PCs and NPCs during the adventure. Racial incidents, varying in severity from racial harassment to race riots, increase racial tension, whilst such things as public works, ideas that increase trade, or speaking charismatically for racial tolerance, decreases the rating. The rating defines the number of racist incidents that occur per day (they modify a d20 roll compared to set DCs for each type of incident). They can also be used to ascertain if a random NPC is racist, or act as a penalty to social rolls when characters are trying to communicate cross-racially (see 'NPC attitudes' in Core Rulebook II, p.149). Advice is given on the effects of trade on the attitude rating, as well as the influences of particularly racist NPCs. There is a summary of all the different influences that can affect the ratings and a table allowing the GM to keep track of changes over the weeks, as well as the effects of NPCs, trade, and PC actions. The book notes that these rules can be applied loosely - if a result does not suit the GM, it can be re-rolled.
Chapter Eight: Fighting The Orcs (16 pages)
Despite the focus on roleplaying and political influences, this chapter takes a look at some combat options for PCs. This is essential because the orcs (who have moved to the area due to severe climatic changes in their homeland) have begun to interfere with trade in the area and are furthering the tensions within Marchion itself by restricting access to trade goods. There are plenty of orc tribes in the area immediately to the north of Marchion, most of whom are not allied and are relatively weak. One charismatic orc leader, Kagrak Mage-Eater, has managed to unite two tribes, and threatens to bring more under his banner. Here is the real threat, as Kagrak could eventually unite enough orcs to lead a successful sack of Marchion and it is his tribes that are interfering with the trade routes. The PCs can infiltrate the orcish ribal lands and may find more trouble than they bargained for if they go around slaughtering innocent orcs from the non-aggressive orc tribes. A section covers options for protecting trade along the trade routes through orc-infested lands (and the effects different actions have on sustainable trade). The next section looks at Kagrak's hideout and the possibilities for assassinating him, as well as the development of his plans if the PCs fail to kill him. Once the characters have killed Kagrak, they can begin to undermine, or even ally with, the remaining orc tribes, thus safeguarding the trade routes.
Chapter Nine: Reacting (21 pages)
This chapter looks in more detail at the possible actions that may increase racial tension, and the possible options the PCs have to slow down the effects. The section is split in two - the first part deals with general actions such as racial assaults and murders, segregation, riots, and law enforcement. The second looks at dealing with specific NPCs and their efforts to increase racial enmity. Three specific possibilities are looked at in more detail - a halfling rights march that is a front for a sinister plan by one of the racist halflings described in the NPC section, the complex schemes to fuel general racial tension by a particularly nasty racist gnome, and the possible treachery of half-orcs allying with Kagrak and betraying Marchion. Each possibility is also discussed in terms of what the PCs can do to avert the crises that these actions might cause.
Chapter Ten: Acting (11 pages)
This chapter looks in more detail at the positive things the characters can do to increase racial tolerance and save the city from disaster long-term. This may involve speaking in favour of racial tolerance (or encouraging community leaders to do so), discredting the weak (though honest) mayor and replacing him with someone stronger, and promoting public works (such as building an alms-house, organising the Marchion Festival, or building a way station to protect a trade route). This last option is looked at in some detail, giving advice on how various NPCs might react, and how PCs might acquire the funds and labour to begin such a project, as well as the opposition they might face in doing so. There is even a sidebar with reference to Eden Studios' "Akrasia: Thief Of Time", referring to a goddess whose followers may try to sabotage any project for purely idealistic reasons. The section ends with a short discussion on the aftermath of the PCs success or failure in saving the city from internal or external destruction. There is also an index of NPCs and deities.
Conclusion
This is a brave and worthy attempt to provide a roleplaying-focused adventure dealing with mature issues and taking seriously PC actions and their possible consequences. It is successful in allowing the PCs free reign to affect the ongoing situation, and gives plenty of advice to the GM for dealing with the varied decisions of players and their characters. It also provides some interesting rules for measuring the changing political mood of a community, which could be applied to other political situations than just the one described in Splintered Peace, given some additional work from the GM.
Though stat blocks are generally OK, there are a few minor errors - GMs particularly beware the "Young Black Dragon", which is actually a Young Adult Black Dragon.
The two major issues facing a GM wanting to run Splintered Peace are the importance to the plot of the PCs already being an important part of the Marchion social scene at 8th-level, and the difficulty that some players may have in dealing with the style of play and the subject matter. The first problem needs some serious work by the GM to integrate into an already existing campaign; the detailing of gods and orc tribes exacerbates this factor, though this may be useful for those without a campaign setting yet fully developed. The latter is down to the GM and her knowledge of her players - I would recommend this for experienced GMs and mature players due to the number of NPCs that must be handled, the complex interactions, and the mature theme.
Buyers should note that Splintered Peace is marketed as a city sourcebook and campaign setting. I found it to really be neither (it is not detailed enough to achieve either status), but it is an interesting and unusual political adventure.
