There are a lot of campaign settings around, some great, some good, some just okay. A campaign setting should be judged not just by its uniqueness and depth of display, but also by its usefulness to a dungeon master. In this, the Echoes of Heaven Campaign Setting really shines. The 207 page book is laid out much like many other campaign books:
Chapter One details the "Mortal Realm", where the game takes place.
Chapter Two details the various races.
Chapter Three gives you a detailed history of the realm.
Chapter Four is the "Gazetter of Belkanath", Belkanath being the name of the land where all the adventures take place.
Chapter Five described all of the Power Groups.
Chapter Six described the various religions.
Chapter Seven describes life in Belkanath.
Chapter Eight is full of miscellaneous goodness. It describes various magic items and metals. It talks about the "ulcers" and plagues that infect the land.
Appendix 1 contains an extensive history of a land called "Ludremon".
And Appendix 2 contains rules and system particulars unique and useful to the setting.
Rather then tell you all about all the lands and peoples and magic etc.( you should buy the book for that), let me tell you what I found interesting, the things that, to me, stood out. Echoes of Heaven is full of a number of unique and useful ideas. It is also well written. This is probably due to the fact that the author is also a skilled short-story writer. I’ve been told he is a Writers of the Future winner. That writing skill is on display throughout.
1) Ulcers.
This is one of the most useful ideas I've ever come across in a campaign book. Due to a "sundering" or breaking up of the celestial world after a war in heaven, the evil angels (who then become demons) are separated from the righteous angels. They are separated into a place called "hell", the righteous angels into “heaven”. Between heaven and hell is the mortal realm. Pretty basic, pretty predictable, right? Well this is where the fun begins.
The demons, when they are able to influence mortals to give in to sin, are able to create tears in the fabric between hell and the mortal realm. These "ulcers" are in effect evil planer openings that allow the influence of those demons to puss and fester into the mortal world. Not just that, but each ulcer is unique to the demon and the mortal or mortals involved in its creation. Natural law in those ulcers ceases to exist. Anything that's possible in the mind of the mortal or a demon is possible in that ulcer. For a DM, these ulcers provide a plausible excuse to create or have their players interact with almost anything. Many campaigns in Belkanath revolve around these ulcers. The manifestation of an ulcer begins quiet subtly, but if not destroyed quickly, an ulcer can become an almost unstoppable force. Entire groups and religions have grown up around these ulcers and the threats and the powers they represent.
2) Divine Spark and Eternal Taint.
During the War in Heaven, some people and some races volunteered to fight on God's side, some did not. Those that did were rewarded with a "divine spark". What does this mean? It means that those with the divine spark are bigger, stronger, and smarter than those without the spark. For example, a dwarf with the spark is closer to an ideal dwarf than a dwarf without the spark, more "dwarvish" if you will. These are called "High Dwarves". You also have High Men and High Elves in contrast to normal men and elves. This is a cool idea that allows for more variety and diversity in characterization while still allowing a DM to stick with typical D&D characters.
The Eternal Taint works the same way but in reverse. Through embracing sin you gain the taint. This lessens you as a typical character, but also connects you with dark forces. There is then the possibility of gaining powers from those forces. All of the typical races can gain the taint through evil, unlawful actions.
Another cool thing, is how the sparks and taints play in proximity to the different ulcers. The spark may weaken you or give you more strength near a certain ulcer, same with the taint. Again, this is another neat way to introduce a lot of possiblities and variety into the game.
3) The Gazetter.
Almost every "Campaign Setting" or "World Book" describes various lands, kingdoms, and cities. Echoes of Heaven is no different. But what I really liked about the Gazetter section, is that much of the explanation focuses on each individual kingdom’s conflicts or personality as it relates to the other places and kingdoms. This makes it very easy for a DM to know how certain characters are likely to be treated when they interact with other characters from different places. In addition, many of the kingdoms, places, and cities are in close proximity to expanding ulcers. The gazetter tells you how that influences that place. Again, this makes the DM’s job easy, because the conflicts are right there for their players. The DM doesn't have to dream those conflicts up, but can get right into playing. Of course other campaign books talk about places and conflicts. Echoes of Heaven just seems to do it really well.
4) Adventure Seeds and World Seeds.
This is another really useful idea. Throughout the book, set off in boxes, are what the author calls "Adventure Seeds". These are the hooks related to various places, characters, and groups in the book. The author says that the adventure seeds will never change or be messed with in future products and the DM can play them out without any worries. These are different than "World Seeds". World Seeds are ideas or adventure hooks that will be expanded upon in the future. You can play against them or change them if you want, but, if you do, you will be in conflict with the adventures and expansions that follow. This impressed me because an author really has to have things thought out to be this helpful. And I hate it when I make stuff up and play out an adventure, only to have a company release new stuff that then doesn’t fit what I’ve done at all. This won’t happen with Echoes of Heaven. I appreciate that the author did this.
5) Racial Deadly Sins.
Due to the sundering, the breaking up of heaven into three separate spheres, all of the mortal races have now been exposed to evil and can now be influenced by sin. Based on the typical characteristics of a given race, that race will be more likely to be attracted to a certain deadly sin. This then leads to resistance checks during the game. I really like this. Other RPGs (World of Darkness and Kult come to mind) often require characters to play weaknesses as well as strengths. This is something that has been, for the most part, lacking in D&D. This deadly sin idea takes care of that in the Echoes of Heaven. It leads to more realistic, well-rounded characters.
6) So far I've mainly talked about game ideas and devices. The cool thing, of course, is the world itself. At 207 pages, the book is big enough, and the writing is concise and good enough, that it covers a wide diversity of lands and peoples. And it covers them well. Its got a lot of style and depth. I don't know what else to say here, except check it out. This was no quick, deadline assignment. You can tell a lot of thought and feeling went into its creation.
What I Didn’t Like:
To be honest, not much. The map and map sections in the book are in color, the other art just black and white. I usually like as much colored art as I can get. But with Echoes of Heaven it really didn’t bother me that much, because I was too busy thinking of all the cool ideas. There is a current thread running over on the messageboards right now called “Freaking Awesome 3rd Party Books That Don't Get Enough Praise.” I’m about to go add Echoes of Heaven to the list. It’s a well thought-out, well-written product. It filled my mind with all kinds of possibilities. And that, in my estimation, is what a good RPG product is all about.
NOTE: I don't know if a print version is available or not. The author was selling the pdf at a local convention and I picked it up. It should be available at RPGnow (or better yet, the EnWorld Shop) and other such places. And it's pretty cheap too. Another added bonus.
Ulric
Chapter One details the "Mortal Realm", where the game takes place.
Chapter Two details the various races.
Chapter Three gives you a detailed history of the realm.
Chapter Four is the "Gazetter of Belkanath", Belkanath being the name of the land where all the adventures take place.
Chapter Five described all of the Power Groups.
Chapter Six described the various religions.
Chapter Seven describes life in Belkanath.
Chapter Eight is full of miscellaneous goodness. It describes various magic items and metals. It talks about the "ulcers" and plagues that infect the land.
Appendix 1 contains an extensive history of a land called "Ludremon".
And Appendix 2 contains rules and system particulars unique and useful to the setting.
Rather then tell you all about all the lands and peoples and magic etc.( you should buy the book for that), let me tell you what I found interesting, the things that, to me, stood out. Echoes of Heaven is full of a number of unique and useful ideas. It is also well written. This is probably due to the fact that the author is also a skilled short-story writer. I’ve been told he is a Writers of the Future winner. That writing skill is on display throughout.
1) Ulcers.
This is one of the most useful ideas I've ever come across in a campaign book. Due to a "sundering" or breaking up of the celestial world after a war in heaven, the evil angels (who then become demons) are separated from the righteous angels. They are separated into a place called "hell", the righteous angels into “heaven”. Between heaven and hell is the mortal realm. Pretty basic, pretty predictable, right? Well this is where the fun begins.
The demons, when they are able to influence mortals to give in to sin, are able to create tears in the fabric between hell and the mortal realm. These "ulcers" are in effect evil planer openings that allow the influence of those demons to puss and fester into the mortal world. Not just that, but each ulcer is unique to the demon and the mortal or mortals involved in its creation. Natural law in those ulcers ceases to exist. Anything that's possible in the mind of the mortal or a demon is possible in that ulcer. For a DM, these ulcers provide a plausible excuse to create or have their players interact with almost anything. Many campaigns in Belkanath revolve around these ulcers. The manifestation of an ulcer begins quiet subtly, but if not destroyed quickly, an ulcer can become an almost unstoppable force. Entire groups and religions have grown up around these ulcers and the threats and the powers they represent.
2) Divine Spark and Eternal Taint.
During the War in Heaven, some people and some races volunteered to fight on God's side, some did not. Those that did were rewarded with a "divine spark". What does this mean? It means that those with the divine spark are bigger, stronger, and smarter than those without the spark. For example, a dwarf with the spark is closer to an ideal dwarf than a dwarf without the spark, more "dwarvish" if you will. These are called "High Dwarves". You also have High Men and High Elves in contrast to normal men and elves. This is a cool idea that allows for more variety and diversity in characterization while still allowing a DM to stick with typical D&D characters.
The Eternal Taint works the same way but in reverse. Through embracing sin you gain the taint. This lessens you as a typical character, but also connects you with dark forces. There is then the possibility of gaining powers from those forces. All of the typical races can gain the taint through evil, unlawful actions.
Another cool thing, is how the sparks and taints play in proximity to the different ulcers. The spark may weaken you or give you more strength near a certain ulcer, same with the taint. Again, this is another neat way to introduce a lot of possiblities and variety into the game.
3) The Gazetter.
Almost every "Campaign Setting" or "World Book" describes various lands, kingdoms, and cities. Echoes of Heaven is no different. But what I really liked about the Gazetter section, is that much of the explanation focuses on each individual kingdom’s conflicts or personality as it relates to the other places and kingdoms. This makes it very easy for a DM to know how certain characters are likely to be treated when they interact with other characters from different places. In addition, many of the kingdoms, places, and cities are in close proximity to expanding ulcers. The gazetter tells you how that influences that place. Again, this makes the DM’s job easy, because the conflicts are right there for their players. The DM doesn't have to dream those conflicts up, but can get right into playing. Of course other campaign books talk about places and conflicts. Echoes of Heaven just seems to do it really well.
4) Adventure Seeds and World Seeds.
This is another really useful idea. Throughout the book, set off in boxes, are what the author calls "Adventure Seeds". These are the hooks related to various places, characters, and groups in the book. The author says that the adventure seeds will never change or be messed with in future products and the DM can play them out without any worries. These are different than "World Seeds". World Seeds are ideas or adventure hooks that will be expanded upon in the future. You can play against them or change them if you want, but, if you do, you will be in conflict with the adventures and expansions that follow. This impressed me because an author really has to have things thought out to be this helpful. And I hate it when I make stuff up and play out an adventure, only to have a company release new stuff that then doesn’t fit what I’ve done at all. This won’t happen with Echoes of Heaven. I appreciate that the author did this.
5) Racial Deadly Sins.
Due to the sundering, the breaking up of heaven into three separate spheres, all of the mortal races have now been exposed to evil and can now be influenced by sin. Based on the typical characteristics of a given race, that race will be more likely to be attracted to a certain deadly sin. This then leads to resistance checks during the game. I really like this. Other RPGs (World of Darkness and Kult come to mind) often require characters to play weaknesses as well as strengths. This is something that has been, for the most part, lacking in D&D. This deadly sin idea takes care of that in the Echoes of Heaven. It leads to more realistic, well-rounded characters.
6) So far I've mainly talked about game ideas and devices. The cool thing, of course, is the world itself. At 207 pages, the book is big enough, and the writing is concise and good enough, that it covers a wide diversity of lands and peoples. And it covers them well. Its got a lot of style and depth. I don't know what else to say here, except check it out. This was no quick, deadline assignment. You can tell a lot of thought and feeling went into its creation.
What I Didn’t Like:
To be honest, not much. The map and map sections in the book are in color, the other art just black and white. I usually like as much colored art as I can get. But with Echoes of Heaven it really didn’t bother me that much, because I was too busy thinking of all the cool ideas. There is a current thread running over on the messageboards right now called “Freaking Awesome 3rd Party Books That Don't Get Enough Praise.” I’m about to go add Echoes of Heaven to the list. It’s a well thought-out, well-written product. It filled my mind with all kinds of possibilities. And that, in my estimation, is what a good RPG product is all about.
NOTE: I don't know if a print version is available or not. The author was selling the pdf at a local convention and I picked it up. It should be available at RPGnow (or better yet, the EnWorld Shop) and other such places. And it's pretty cheap too. Another added bonus.
Ulric
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