Beware! This review contains major spoilers.
This is not a playtest review.
The Taan is a sourcebook on the race of the same name for the Sovereign Stone d20 Campaign Setting.
Price: $19.95
Page Count: 112
Price per page: About 19 cents per page, good value for money comparative to books of similar type.
Format: Softcover
External Artwork: Another nice Elmore piece, showing a group of Taan coming away from a slave raid on a mountain farmstead, building left ablaze in the background.
Additional Page Use: The back page give an overview and introduction to the sourcebook. The inside covers are both blank. The first three pages contain credits and contents, the last five pages have an ad, the OGL and a character sheet reprinted from the campaign sourcebook.
Internal Artwork: The black and white internal artwork ranges from average to good, but with very few Elmore pieces (and not new ones).
Layout: Margins and text density are fairly average. There are occasional fairly large chunks of white space.
Text Style: The book makes interesting reading - its not too wordy, but it definitely benefits from Jean Rabe's writing ability.
Whats Inside:
Chapter 1: Introduction, gives a brief history of Dagnarus, Lord of the Void, and his discovery of the Taan, a saurian, void-worshipping, warrior race, who the Void Lord became a god to. There is also a page of flavour text.
Chapter 2: The Race, begins by describing the fearsome appearance of Taan - seven feet tall, with razor sharp teeth in a predatory muzzle, and covered in ritual scarring. They are saurian in appearance, though with coarse hair. Albino and half-taans are also covered. The chapter finishes with statistics for Taan and Half-Taans that could be used for important NPCs or even for use as player characters. There is also a sidebar concerning the Taan's ability to sense Void magic.
Chapter 3: Taan Society, discusses their rigid social structure - first in general, then in more detail as it runs through the warriors, scouts, assault troops, archers, shamans, taskers, children, nizams (Taan nobles), outcasts, renegades, and slaves. Where relevant, basic stat blocks are given.
Chapter 4: Taan Religion, begins by discussing the rise of Dagnarus as the god of the Taan and the old Taan gods who are still worshipped by those Taan not under the direct influence of Dagnarus (or the shamanic priesthood of the Taan who worship him) or secret rebels in Dagnarus' own Taan forces. Also, three Taan who have been transformed by Dagnarus into undead Vrykyl are presented, with good background information, as well as the leader of the rebels who secretly follow the old ways. Religious practices and ceremonies are covered, as well as sacred relics of Dagnarus, and sacred sites.
Chapter 5: Taan Magic, contains a number of new Void magic spells for Taan use, as well as Taan-specific magic items. However, one of the unusual features of the Taa, is that shamans enchant stones and gems, which the Taan warriors then sew under their skin to provide permanent magical enhancements. Rules for this process, and the modifiers of the various stones used are given in this chapter, including a sidebar on the use of flawed stones.
Chapter 6: Taan Culture, discusses in more detail the beliefs that revolve around stones and gems in Taan culture. The Taan relationship with the Bahk, magic-hungry giants from the lands of the Taan, is also covered, as wells as Taan writing, lost history, legends, their attitude to death, illness and weakness (including three new diseases), duels, their fear of water (and inability to swim), food hierarchy (their beliefs about certain foods being 'strong' - that which has taken bravery to kill - like human warriors), and the language of the Taan (including a short pronunciation guide and glossary). There is also a sidebar on the Zarg Nut Tree which fires spiny nuts at intruders - the Taan love the nuts and warriors prove their prowess by raiding the trees of their nuts.
Chapter 7: Dagnarus' Army, outlines the makeup and organisational structure of Dagnarus' 75,000-strong Taan army, which has been secretly training in Loerem for many years, with more Taan regularly brought through the portal to the Taan's desert world on another continent. Four of the most important Taan nizams are given stats and background. Further discussion outlines the current state of affairs with the army and their human allies in Loerem.
Chapter 8: Skills & Feats, introduces a new skill (Ritual Scarification), and fourteen feats, some Taan-related such as Enchant Stone and Heavy Scarring, as wells as more general ones like Primal Shout and Combat Sense.
Chapter 9: Weapons & Technology, covers new weapons, armour and equipment, as well as discussing art and medicine.
Chapter 10: Prestige Classes, introduces 4 new Taan Prestige Classes: Avenging Hand (Dagnarus' holy warriors), Black Veil Shaman (Dagnarus' inquisitors), Feral Warrior, and Weapons Master.
Chapter 11: Adventure Seeds, gives nine short adventure ideas, some for use with standard characters and others with taan or half-taan characters.
The High Points: This book gives an in-depth and fascinating account of a major race in the Sovereign Stone setting, but it is one that could relatively easily be added to another campaign world, so its usability is high, and well beyond just the setting it was written for. The quality of the writing is higher than in previous Sovereign Press releases and the new concepts it brings such as sewing enchanted stones under the skin and 'strong' food, plus the new weapons, armour, magical items, and diseases make it overall their best product so far.
The Low Points: Its an expensive book for information on just one race (compare its $20 to the $5 for Anubium's The Goy - admittedly pdf, but still). I would have liked to see some more discussion on the uses of Taan and half-Taan as player characters, with some GM advice on the pros and cons of this aspect. The character sheet at the end would have been more helpful if it had been geared specifically towards Taan, rather than giving another generalised sheet.
Conclusion: A much better offering from Sovereign Press, and worthy of attention outside the Sovereign Stone setting. A complex and aggressive saurian society with enough in-depth information to be used in many other campaign settings. Essential reading for Sovereign Stone fans.
