The Last Days of Constantinople

[KDLadage]

updated on 22-NOV-02

I have to almost apologize for my original review of this book. Although the production values are excellent and the artwork is fair to good, the book itself seems to have been written by someone that had not even read the Player's Handbook. In fact, after any amount of time passes working with this book, it is almost apparent that the writer had never played Dungeons and Dragons.

Classes are wrong. Skill Points are miss-assigned. It is really bad, once you take the time to look it over. However, the adventure itself (and the maps) are worth a few bucks if you do not mind having to re-make every single character... (perhaps a few minutes up at Jamis Buck's web site... nah.) Still, the book also suffers from another major fault: it isn't fantasy.

Now, in and of itself, this is not a bad thing. But the product never really spends any time explaining exactly how this can be used with Dungeons and Dragons. How would you fit in magic -- the game seems to (almost) ignore this topic. How would you deal with non-humans in this decidedly historical scenario? No time spend here either. It would make the start of a wonderful campaign -- especially one using a world view much akin to Harn. But as heroic fantasy with real magic and clerics that pull from the power of their Gods and 'alien' races running about, it seems like the square peg in the round hole after you get a long hard look at it. There is, however, one redeeming feature that saves this book from "Abysmal" hell. This is the only book by this publisher that does not feature some over-endowed, half-naked bimbos on the cover.

 

[trancejeremy]

As the title suggests, Last Days of Constantinople is an adventure set in Constantinople, AD 1453, just before it's fall to the Turks. Essentially, the characters are hired by an agent of the Pope to travel to Constantinople to rescue (if she exists) the Empress of Byzantine. After getting on a ship and running the blockade (which is apparently a true historical event), the PCs are involved in a series of intrigues in a soon to be dying city. They must then escape.

It's puzzling that the author happens to have a PHD, but cannot figure out the d20 rules (which are designed for relatively small children). Most characters have wrong hit points/hit dice listed. Many characters have stats that would make a dragon envious, for instance, the madam of the brothel the characters visit has a Charisma of 32. Characters often have far more feats than they should. And he was sloppy - many of the main NPCs have skills listed, but no skill ranks. Many characters don't have proper challenge ratings.

Aside from the problems they had with the system, it's sort of a really depressing module. Essentially, everyone in it gets killed, or impaled on a stake to die horribly. Or in the case of women, gang raped and then killed/impaled on a stake. (Yet despite this, the NPCs who do this are all either Lawful Good or Neutral Good...funny definition of good...). I guess history is remarkably blood thirsty and gorey, but I'm not sure it's good gaming material. It's also very very weird, if not a bit immature, with the main location in the place being a brothel (although that's not bad in of itself, it's handled somewhat 12 year boy-ishly), one of the main NPCs being an incontinent Eunuch who must wear a diaper, an intelligent LG crocadile living in the cities sewers.

That said, it is a very interesting module. And it's certainly a change of pace. And physically, the modules is quite decent. For $10, it's 48 pages, with fairly large text but very little margins. There is a lot of open gaming content (OGC) in the form of NPC stats (albeit really screwed up ones), new weapons (gunpowder weapons & greek fire), a table to see what effects prayer has, and a very simply honor/glory system. The cover is a bit odd, with a guy in a robe standing in front of an obviously computer rendered temple. The interior artwork is somewhat crude in places, with some extremely silly pictures (like of the smiling camel) and some apparently real period artwork. It has a fair amount of maps, some of which are abstract, some of which are well done.

So, to sum up, it's definitely not worth the cover price ($10), but is maybe worth half of that if you have an interest in history, and probably not worth buying at all if you don't.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Historical adventure.

 

[Simon Collins]

Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
This is not a playtest review.

Price: $9.95
Page Count: 48
Price per page: About 21 cents per page
Designed for Character Level: 1st - 3rd

Format: Softcover

External Artwork: An interesting pastiche of images with a central image of a Byzantine palace beneath a night sky.

Additional Page Use: Both inside pages are blank. The first two pages and the last page contain OGC and OGL information.

Internal Artwork: The black and white images run from appalling to average. Nothing to write home about.

Maps: The maps are basic and generally serviceable, but the main map of the city lacks a scale.

Text Density: Density is average, and there are no great amounts of white space, but the frequent sidebars with large graphic margins decreases the amount of actual text.

Text Style: The text is clear and engaging and, though my knowledge of Byzantine history is minimal, the author seems to know his Byzantine history, using language to create the feel of the period.

The Adventure:

Its April, 1453. The Ottoman Empire is about to crush the last remaining bastion of the Roman Empire, the Byzantine city of Constantinople. The Turkish army has laid siege to it and are about to storm the walls. Within the city are the Emperor and supposedly his new wife. The PCs are charged with the task of rescuing the young empress, as part of a scheming papal legate's bid for power.

After a short introduction, the module launches into Part One: Byzantine Background. Subjects covered include The Turks (far more advanced technologically and culturally than their enemies), Magic (feared and abhorred, all magic-users face death at the hands of the mob, even for raising the dead), Good and Evil (each side is both good and evil depending on perspectives and behaviour rather than alignment), Prisoners of War (who are generally put to death), The Power of Prayer (which can have actual game effects using icons or requesting the intercession of saints), Impalement (a horrific torture method whose main proponent is Vlad the Impaler, an ally of the Turks), Money (still using Roman terms), Food and the Byzantines (the Byzantines had table manners we would recognize today, unlike the rest of mediaeval Europe), Weapons and Equipment (including sections on Greek Fire and the Turks secret weapon, the Great Cannon, plus a sidebar on Arquebuse and Light Cannon), Clothing (men wear their hair long to distinguish themselves from the shaven eunuchs and criminals), and Plague and Pestilence (bubonic plague is still a regular occurence).

Part Two: The Mission, describes the PCs' meeting with the papal legate who plans to sneak the PCs through the Turkish sea blockade, in order to rescue the empress from the clutches of the Turks and certain death. Various options are given for the reality of the empresses presence in the city - everything from false rumour of her presence to kidnapping by a traitorous priest. There is also a sidebar with new rules for gaining Honour and Glory by the PCs actions, since XP means little when faced with likely death within the besieged city.

Part Three: The Voyage, discusses the corrupt captain and sailors aboard the galley that will attempt to break through the blockade and includes options if caught by the Turkish warships blocking the sea route to the city.

Part Four: At Constantinople, begins with details of how to enter the city and a sidebar on random encounters in the four main sub-sections - the city, the palace, the trench raid, and the Turkish camp. The module goes on to describe the house of the PCs first contact in Constantinople - actually a brothel. Various NPCs and the setting of the high-class whorehouse are described. The next sub-section details the Palace of the Emperor, including a rather unpleasant servant who the PCs will have to find a way of dealing with as he presents some awkward roleplaying opportunities due to his huge ego and his empty promises of help. Various advisers, bodyguards, and the Emperor himself are detailed. The PCs are offered a job to kidnap the Emperor and remove him to safety by one of the Emperor's advisers, even though this is against the wishes of the Emperor himself. The next subsections, In The Palace and Secret Exit, detail the geography of the palace and a possible escape route for the PCs if they go through with any of their possible missions or just decide to escape. One of the options given at the beginning of the adventure is that the Empress has been kidnapped by a traitorous priest, and this idea is followed up in the sub-section, The Lair of Phocas. The priest Phocas is actually a demonologist who has a secret room beneath his church. The Empress could be being held here, and there is some advice on tying in this plotline with the kidnap of the Emperor. Phocas may approach the PCs in order to attempt to bribe them to open the gates to the Turks as part of this more complex plotline. Optional missions are also detailed where the PCs are asked to launch a disruptive raid on the Turkish trenches, or foil a Turkish plot to undermine (literally) the city walls. Some details of the Turkish camp are also given in case the PCs try to launch an attack directly against the Sultan leading the Turkish forces, or are captured by the Turks at any time. Finally, there is an overview of the final Turkish assault and destruction of the city, climaxing with the disappearance of Christian clerics into the wall of the Orthodox Hagia Sophia church. Various options for escaping the city or witnessing the climactic miracle are given.

The module ends with some historical notes regarding the authenticity of the setting, locations, NPCs and the climactic miracle.

The High Points: This was a superb adventure with a real historical feel to it. However, the ideas behind the adventure could easily be changed to reflect a more standard fantasy setting. The module implies orcs could replace the Turks, and the level that the adventure is designed for would minimise any over-powerful effects of magic. The restrictions on magic for the PCs could be relaxed slightly with no great loss, though the NPCs would still have to be restricted in high-level magic use. The complex intrigues, doomed setting, and colourful NPCs could also easily convert to a more standard fantasy adventure. The text is engagingly written and there is plenty of advice throughout the adventure for avoiding railroading the PCs.

The Low Points: That said, all the stats and rules in this adventure would have to be rewritten, or seriously amended. The use of the D20 rules is absolutely appalling. New rules introduced such as the Glory/Honour system and the Prayer Effects are weak and unbalanced. Most of the interior artwork is mediocre.

Conclusion: This module needs a fair amount of work to make it useable. However, if you're willing to put in that work (revamping stats, maybe changing names and the magic restrictions to reflect your campaign setting), then the adventure itself is an excellent one, even better if the players are unaware of their Byzantine history. Personally, I am less concerned with the revamping, which I feel I can fairly easily do, than with the excellent plot, setting, and intrigue. Therefore I am giving this a Good rating, but would give a major word of warning to those seeking to spend their money on something immediately usable.

 

[billd91]

OK, I'll admit, their grasp of the 3E D&D rules is a bit iffy. Their NPCs really don't add up according to the rules. But the Last Days of Contantinople, I think, delivers on the setting score very well. The location has been well researched and the situations presented are well put together and interesting.
This may have limited appeal for players looking to insert this into a campaign since it is limited to a particular historical time-frame. But I think it would do well as a one-shot adventure or as a boilerplate for similar scenarios in other campaign worlds. I also happen to have a special soft spot for history adapted for gaming. I have copies of most of the AD&D Greenbooks put out by TSR.
The NPCs in the Last Days of Constantinople are well thought out, even if they don't conform too well to the rules. That will only take a little editing, in the grand scheme of things.

 

[jkantor]

This is "immediately useful" - if you use it as it's designed to be - as a d20 historical scenario. It's only if you want to warp it (I'm sorry - adapt it) to D&D that it would take any work.

d20 is not synonymous with D&D.

 

[Simon Collins]

jkantor

Perhaps I should clarify - the revamping required is going through the stat blocks with a fine toothcomb to correct mistakes and ignoring the weak use of the d20 rules, nothing to do with converting it to a D&D scenario.

Simon Collins