Tombs of Ra

[JoeGKushner]

When looking over some Fast Forward products, I wonder if this is how Ebert feels when he sits down to watch such entertainment as Malibu's Most Wanted. You know the review's gotta get done, but there's some dread building up in you.

And with good reason. Check the price, $24.95 at 128 pages. Not bad, but hey, weren't the last several releases in hardcover for that price and page count? Yes, yes they were. Then surely, the cost must be spent on making sure that the interior art and maps are up to the quality that other companies have right?

Wrong.

The book uses clip art, which isn't necessarily a huge problem if done well and doesn't use the same art that previous FFE books have used. However, that is not the case. Gee, what's that weird looking bat on page 16? Seen him before. How about that guy doing excavation on page 25 under the Tomb Finder PrC? Yup, seen that one real recently in Catacombs. How about some art for any of the new monsters? Nope.

Well then surely they've used this time to educate themselves on the OGL and SRD right? Well, if mentioning Pelor, one of the gods from the Greyhawk setting by name is you're definition of education, then sure. Same thing with their declaration of OGL and PI. “Everything that's OGL is still OGL and everything else private.” followed by “Everything not private in terms of monster, PrC, Feats and Spells is OGL.” Now are they trying to say that all monsters, PrCs, Feats and Spells are OGL? If so, say it properly. How about mention of Tanar'ri? Yeah, they know what they're doing.

Despite these issues, the Tombs of Ra has some strengths to it. It has multiple tombs that are laid out and mapped with encounters and an overall theme that the GM can either use or discard or modify with suggestions from the author. The problem is that the tombs don't follow the one square equal 5' and go with some odd dimensions throughout the book depending on how big the tomb is. They also use a lot of art that has nothing, outside of an Egyptian theme, to do with the subject. Do I need to see two dudes carving a Pharaoh head in the section about the Halls of Wind? Nope.

The book uses the standard two column layout. First page is a black and white reproduction of the cover. Second page, credits. Third page, table of contents, fourth hand fifth page, some really bad fiction. Seventh page and ninth page, introduction. All maps are a little too dark for my taste. The main map has all the locations of the maps labeled. The book is broken down into a logical progression of Outer Valley, Lower Valley, Side Valley and Upper Valley. This allows the GM to use what he needs, when he needs it. The overall theme, an Old God imprisoned, is an interesting idea and a classic of the D&D genre where adventurers often unleash something through their wanderings. It's just that so much of the book could be better, especially for the increase in cost compared to format.

Tombs of Ra pisses me off for a number of reasons. With Orcfast, FFE proved that they could do a good module with good art, layout, format, and understanding of d20 mechanics. Outside of that book, their material seems to suffer their permanent haze that prevents them from achieving a higher level. They're like the B movies of the d20 industry. Some worthy ideas that some fans will love, some utility that'll tempt GMs who want to save time, and a favorite for 'critics' to bash.

Tombs of Ra continues that tradition with some worthy ideas, an intriguing format, increased costs, poor maps and bad knowledge of the OGL again. If the book was in hardcover, this review would probably be a three due to the utility that GMs can gain from the sheer number of tombs but as it stands, two to you Ra.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

This d20 System campaign accessory details the Valley of the Kings, and ancient burial ground for kings, prophets and wise men from all races and cultures. Contained within this book are details on more than thirty different tombs, including the creatures and traps guarding them, as well as rules on how to design the rest of the scores of tombs that populate the valley. Suitable for use as either a linked campaign or individual adventures in any fantasy setting.

 

[JustaPlayer]

Thanks for the review. I was thinking that I might try this product out, but I see that they still suffer the same problems as they did in all other material they put out.

 

[JoeGKushner]

It's a good book for those who want a lot of encounters and because it mentions Pelor, it might be pulped soon. Could be a collectors item.

 

[Arnwyn]

Quote: "The problem is that the tombs don't follow the one square equal 5' and go with some odd dimensions throughout the book depending on how big the tomb is."

This isn't a problem.

 

[JoeGKushner]

For some people, no, it's not a problem. You for example, it doesn't seem to be a problem for Arnwyn.

For others like me who use a battlematt and miniatures and AoO, yes, yes it is a problem. If you're going to use squares, use 1 square = 5 feet. Pretty simple and most publishers seem to be following that pattern no?

 

[Psion]

Treasure Quests: Tombs of Ra

Treasure Quests: Tombs of Ra is a collection of small encounter areas similar to the original Treasure Quests book. Like the original book, there is a unifying backstory, in this case, all areas are separate tombs in a legendary valley. Treasure Quests: Tombs of Ra is published by Fast Forward Entertainment, with writing contributions by Herbert Beas, Jarad Fennell, Jason Hardy, Kurt Hausheer, Fred Jandt, MK McArtor, Gary McBride, W. Jason Peck, Geoff Skellams, George Strayton, and Christopher Trossen.

A First Look

Treasure Quests: Tombs of Ra is a 128 page perfect-bound softcover book priced at 24.99. This is a slightly above average price for a d20 System book of this size and format.

The cover of the book has the FFE signature red-grainy background. The front bears a depiction of an ancient Egyptian style carving of a pharaoh-like man. The cover illustration is by William W. Connors.

The interior is black-and-white. There are no interior artists credited. Many of the interior illustrations are decent quality depictions of ancient Egyptian scenes, some of which have appeared in previous FFE books. Other illustrations, less Egyptian in style, also seem familiar from other products, but are not as good in quality.

The maps are computer generated, similar to most FFE products. The maps do seem better in quality that earlier products, having a slicker look and have scales. For the most part, the maps are simple, but in a few cases where there are unusual features, a small key is added to the map defining the feature (like a false door.)

The interior body text is dense, generally better than the early FFE products. Paragraphs and lines are single spaces, making good use of page real estate. The editing is generally good, but I notices a few errors in labeling. For example, one tomb had an outer and inner part, but both parts were labeled outer on the page. In another instance, the numbers corresponding to the keyed locations on the map were omitted.

A Deeper Look

Treasure Quests: Tombs of Ra is a book in the same vein as the original Treasure Quests book by FFE: a collection of small locations for use with d20 System fantasy games. The backstory is both more extensive and players a bigger role in defining the nature of the area. There is less variety in the encounter locations as most are some sort of final resting place of royalty.

In summary, the backstory is that in ancient times, the gods of good and evil warred on one another. While they had their backs figuratively turned, a mortal grew in power and was able to attain godhood. This new god started his own assualt on the heavens, along with his followers.

He was defeated and punished for his offenses against the gods. Instead of being destroyed, this new deity (by the time frame of the book is called "the old god") was imprisoned in a legendary valley that was used as a burial place for kings called the Valley of the Kings. Several items that were instrumental to his release were scattered about other tombs in the valley, and the gods placed wards and protections on them.

Many years have passed at the time of this book, and most of the gods who were concerned about the entombed god have long since forgotten their concerns in the Valley of the Kings.

While a fundamentally satisfactory backstory, I am bothered by little logical holes in stories like this. In this case, the two that occur to me is: how did the old god manage to attain godhood without the assistance of other deities (an inconsiderable task is most d20 Fantasy campaign settings), and more importantly, if the gods were so concerned that the old god remain imprisoned, why did they put the keys in the valley near the god's tomb? Why not scatter them across the universe? I'm sure there are a variety of suitable explanations for either that a good GM could offer, but taking a hack at either one of these pivotal points would have been preferable.

As this backstory implied, the general theme of the encounter areas in Treasure Quests: Tombs of Ra is a lot tighter than the original Treasure Quests. Most areas are tombs or similar concepts. This may make the areas a bit more redundant than the original Treasure Quests perhaps giving it a bit less utility.

Though the book implies a strong Egyptian theme, some of the individual tombs are not strongly Egyptian in trapping of feel. For example, one tomb was that of a storm giant with a nordic name.

The tombs themselves are a bit heavier on traps compared to the previous voluem, making an expedition into one without a rogue (or two) unwise.

The valley of the kings itself is split into three sections: the lower valley, the side valley, and the upper valley. These three valleys correspond to low, medium, and high level characters, making it easy to pick a section of the book and run characters through a section of tombs appropriate to their levels.

In addition to the tombs themselves, the book provides some supporting features including encounter tables for the three valleys (complete with statistics blocks), new creatures (mainly outsiders such as new demons and devils an the "astral asp" and constructs), and a new prestige class, the tomb finder.

Mechanically, the book lacks many of the problems that plagued earlier FFE books. The tomb finder prestige class seems reasonably balanced and interesting, and uses standard progressions. The creature statistics seem solid and have reasonable CRs for the portrayed abilities. The creature and character stat blocks look like they have few errors; in most cases what deviations from the rules do exist can be attributed to designer license (like giants using templates not normally available to them.)

The old god himself is an unusual case. He is actually statted out in a format that looks very much like that of the Deities & Demigods book, but lacks any of the signature Deity & Demigods mechanics. The one thing that really strikes me as odd is his skills; he does only does not have any of the skills commensurate to his classes and levels, the basic physical skills he does have are not in line with his impressive stats.

Conclusion

Overall, my impression of Treasure Quests: Tombs of Ra was fairly positive. As there is less variety in the types of encounter areas, it doesn't have quire the universal utility as a source of quick drop-in encounter areas as Treasure Quests does, but it has fewer mechanical issues, and playing the tombs as a combined campaign is a little more compelling. You might also find the tombs to be a useful addition to an Egyptian themed campaign, such as that of the Necropolis adventure by necromancer game.

Overall Grade: C+

-Alan D. Kohler

 

[Psion]

I use a battlemat, and so long as I have enough info to draw out on the battlemat, I don't see it as a problem. I think the maps, while not outstanding, do at least that much.