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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DM_Jeff" data-source="post: 2009049" data-attributes="member: 3687">The Hunt: Rise of Evil world book is this DM’s real way to tackle gothic horror using the d20 system.Disclaimer: I work part time for Mystic Eye as a d20 mechanics editor. I did not work in any way on this product. If you haven't picked up a Mystic Eye book in a bit, do so with this one at your local store and you'll see the massive improvements in their work.The Hunt: Rise of Evil World BookBy Doug Herring and Andrew ThompsonCover art by Dave Manuel$19.95 144-page campaign settingISBN: 0-9708265-0-8Introduction: Since their first offering way back when with The Pit of Loch Durnan, Mystic Eye has taken the bold step to release sourcebooks and adventures set not in a typical fantasy environment, but one with many specific and different changes. One might think this could be a death warrant, but the plan seems to have worked. A steady following for the gothic fantasy world of The Hunt: Rise of Evil has emerged as well as folks who carefully ignore the world-specific stuff to make full use of such books as the Nightmares and Dreams monster books and Mystic Warriors in their own campaigns (as I have done). I have been intrigued from the beginning of this world with horrors created by the nightmares from earth, and this sourcebook finally takes the scant knowledge formerly offered and gives everything fans need to roleplay d20 fantasy-horror the right way.Review: The Hunt: Rise of Evil World Book is a 144-page perfect bound d20 campaign sourcebook of fantasy horror. The cover art shows our host, a one-eyed veteran of the macabre known as Dimitri Amadon. Like other Mystic Eye books, it evokes visions of dark terror. The interior of the book is black text on white pages with parchment-colored borders and occasional weathered scroll sidebars. Borders are quite thin; text density is excellent. Page layout is nice and meaty but not crammed. Table rows are highlighted in the parchment-style color and the excellent cartography makes use of a number of shades of this variant. Interior black & white artwork ranges from good to very good. It’s not as plentiful as in some books but I’d wager it’s the best from Mystic Eye yet. The table of contents breaks down chapters and headers within, and in the back a full index helps the reader find anything at a moment’s notice. The layout and presentation knocks the socks off many 3rd party d20 books and is a marked improvement for Mystic Eye. This tome is filled with all you need to play a game in their Gothos world of horror, or to take the many goodies and rules herein and add them to your favorite campaign (and there’s plenty of stealability here). We first get a glimpse into the workings and theories behind this setting. Gothos is a fantasy planet that exists in an alternate dimension to earth. On a regular cycle, Gothos and earth drift dangerously close to one another in their orbits. The nightmares and dreams of folks sleeping on earth are given life and form by an enigmatic being known as Midnar. At the same time, there are the heroes, the Children of the Waking Dream who hunt these horrors, and may even bind with a dreamer on Earth to expand their powers and possibilities (thanks to some neat new rules called dream points, like so many hero points from other games). It takes what is in essence the gaming experience in general and moves it into storybook form with some clever wording, assumptions, and rules! This gives a very personal feel to the setting, like once you sit down to play here, it really becomes yours, more so than many other campaign settings. A timeline is given to help DM’s plan their campaign and give them a sense of history. Regardless, Gothos is caught in a perpetual time frame resembling our late middle ages, giving rise to the trappings roleplayers are familiar with.There’s also extensive differences on Gothos depending on how close to earth the cycle is...meaning different styles of DMing (gothic horror vs. fantasy horror or just downright good old-fashioned D&D fantasy play) is supported depending on the age you set your campaign, ands full help for the DM is provided. Many of the things that make the setting different are not just neat descriptions, they are given life in new rule sets like the aforementioned Dream Points, effecting the mood of an area, elemental affinity for spellcasters, and the like. These are easy to add or delete at your whim, giving some extra crunchy bits for those who like them but easily removed if you find extra rules cumbersome. The rules presented are coherent and add flavor to the game without rewriting or introducing bizarre new formulas or conventions.Magic in Gothos gets its own chapter. Two new types of magic practice are discussed, Blood Magic (increasing powers with personal sacrifice) and Blight Magic (stealing the raw power from the land, corrupting it). There is tremendous flavor built into these and give a good  glimpse into the style of play this campaign tries to capture. The gods of Gothos are more plentiful than I ever imagined. Based after a core mother and father figure from which all others were spawned, the book provides introductory glimpses and necessary game data (domains, alignments, even symbols) for over 25 new gods and goddesses, human, humanoid and monstrous. New domains include Clockwork, Pestilence, Corruption, Smithing and Decay are well done and worthwhile. A special select group of "Pagan Gods" worshiped by druids and the witches of the campaign are detailed as well as a good glimpse into the inner workings of the witches covens that gather across the land. The largest portion of the book is in describing the lands of central Gothos. An overview map showing four continents and many small islands shows the "known world". On each, the different specific kingdoms, territories or lands are named and then detailed each in their own subchapter which follows. As an interesting aside, both Green Ronin’s Freeport and Thunderhead Game’s city Bluffside: City on the Edge are worked into the world map and setting. Also, they have adapted Mongoose Publishing’s maritime rules Seas of Blood as their official seagoing rules which shows very friendly design. They even provide new Gothos ships in stat blocks derived from rules from Seas of Blood. To detail all the countries and areas would be a mission in futility. Suffice to say that each country follows a uniform design, so finding information from section to section is easy and becomes familiar quick. The lands are well thought out and presented, all the basic info a DM needs to get a grasp for the area and its feel are there. As each area is described, we also get a full-page multicolored map of the area blown up from the overview map in the beginning, literally oozing with detail. Again I can’t compliment the time spent on these maps enough, it shows. You can tell the Mystic Eye folks regularly game. Each country or land has details which gamers really need, not filler. For example, every character class has its own section in each land showing the outlook and playability of that class from that culture. Individual important NPC’s are detailed to better give the lands their view, and important places of interest fill out each section. There are 10 lands or kingdoms in all, and they range from borrowing trappings from historical models (like Warkistan, Nord and Romanus) to your expected kingdoms, like Dunreth, to island nations like Gildor and "evil overlord" nations like the Ithganin Empire. Here a DM can find all manner of areas to explain off styles and themes, all the while the players have familiar ideas to build upon during their adventures. Best of all, they all work together to create a cohesive campaign environment, they weren’t created in a vacuum. The Hunt: Rise of Evil World Book also takes a bold step only last followed by the Sovereign Stone game...offering new base character classes for players to use along those in the PHB. Here, the Centurion (a very tightly-focused uber fighter), the Merchant (which is finally presented as a useable PC class, and represents the really serious ones...complete with spell list), the Samurai (which are what you’d expect, but more powerful...intended as NPC’s mostly), the Shaman (which is incredibly well done and flavorful), and the White Witch/Warlock (spellcasters who are a unique combination of cleric and sorcerer). There is a tremendous attention to detail, rules checking, and fine-tuning evident here that deserves applause. Well done.Of course, where would a campaign sourcebook be without that ultimate of campaign-building blocks, prestige classes? Therefore this tome offers NINE new prestige classes for your gaming pleasure: Enforcer: Special agents of a republic that root out it’s foes throughout the lands.Inquisitor of the Pantheon: Holy folk who hunt down heretics, pagans and a special group that polices the Inquisitors themselves.Knights of the Rose: The warriors of the island nation of Gildor make up this paradigm of knightly orders.Lorindwar Bard: Graduates of a famed bard college, a true bard prestige class to be proud to attain.The Officer: A 5-level prestige class that describes the ranking officers in a military unit.Road Warden: A class that make up the brave souls that patrol a land’s highways.The Seeker: Spellcasters of Gildor that specialize in using their powers to tracking down items, people or secrets.The Strictor: This is the prestige class that polices the Inquisitors (above).Swashbuckler: Taking Dumas-inspired PC’s to the heights of romantic swordsmanship.Overall these are put together very well. Like the class section, attention to detail is very good. The classes are purposeful, balanced within the d20 rules, and offer creative and interesting goals for players to work towards.An entire chapter is taken exploring the different ways the d20 fantasy races fit into this unique world.  Many of the individual lands have subraces of humans, giving them different ability score bonuses and penalties, favored classes, and other rules and distinctions. Elves, dwarves, halfling, gnomes, half-orcs are not left out and get full treatment, and the race known as canites (first introduced in Mystic Warriors) make their full appearance here, as well as the werefaynoddin (elven werefox folks). All of this information is vital to portraying your chosen character race with an outlook to fit this setting.The book comes to a close of its chapter with a set of new uses for old skills (hooray) and new feats. They run the gamut from campaign-specific to open. Many modify or tweak existing Rise of Evil powers, abilities or rules. There are also plenty of general feats for all types of characters to enjoy. Many of these are also presented as cultural & regional feats, available only to characters from a certain land if you use the setting. There are also a helping of special divine feats that offer cool powers. All the feats are done well. Some are stronger than others, naturally, but again none of them feel like filler, nor are they carefully named rehashes of familiar abilities seen in dozens of other sourcebooks. Some of the new uses for old skills are of the knowledge variety, plus a new craft and other new skill uses.The book finishes up with some light information on running a Gothos campaign, other d20 game books that will be useful and incorporate well into this setting, a calendar, and an except from Seas of Blood so you can make sense of the new ship stats to be found within.The book does allude many times that what you’re getting here is the core book from which a huge host of sourcebooks will be coming from (many named). We’re reminded of this so much one might get the impression this is the light version, but I need to stress that’s not the truth. This book is packed...jammed with information. It’s all you need to begin and sustain a campaign in Gothos, the add on sourcebooks will be expansions to those with special interests in the lands, religion, characters, etc. within.Conclusion: This is a top-notch campaign sourcebook. Let me just get this off my chest: it kicks d20 Ravenloft's butt in the gothic horror department. It’s meaty, trustworthy in design, and chock full of awesome ideas to steal or use. For horrific campaign with flavor and twists, it’s highly recommended, and as a sourcebook to just steal from it’s just as good.-Jeff IbachIs everyone perfect? No, and that’s why they released a small PDF errata sheet already! Get it at www.mysticeye.com</blockquote>

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