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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Simon Collins" data-source="post: 2009341" data-attributes="member: 9860">Beware! This review contains major spoilers.This is not a playtest review.Urban Blight is the first in Mystic Eye Games' Foul Locales series containing plug-in locations. This one details 19 urban locations.Urban Blight is a 128-page softcover book, coming in at $16.95, comparatively good value for content volume. This assessment is enhanced by the good use of font size, small margins and lack of white space (in fact, sometimes the lack of white space, particularly around sidebars, makes it look a little cluttered). The mono art is mostly well done, particularly that by Eric Lofgren, and the cover art makes good use of light and atmosphere. Maps are nicely presented, mainly 1 square to 5 feet, though lacking compass direction and sometimes seeming a little spartan. Writing quality is average and editing fairly poor, and errors are fundamental (such as the title spelling of 'Cemetary' on one of the maps).The introduction at the beginning of the book gives a good overview of how to use the book. It is a series of locales with NPCs and adventure hooks, not a book of complete adventures, nor are all (or any) of the locations all to be used in the same city. Each locale has the following information: brief description, keyed location description with accompanying maps, NPCs and creatures, varying special items, feats, spells or prestige classes linked to the location, adventure hooks, advice on integration, and sidebars covering miscellaneous information. Each locale is coded as to its use - e.g. shop, residence, etc, and its appropriate city location - from impoverished through to wealthy sectors. The ELs of the nineteen locations run from 3 to 17 with eleven in the 6 to 12 range.The locales are:* Below The Slaughterhouse - sewers beneath a slaughterhouse with dire rats, ghouls and diseases.* Caught In Time - shop selling timepieces, run by a gnome, with various magical clocks and traps.* The Dancing Bull - dockside tavern that acts as a front for a slaving operation.* Doctor Modar - backstreet vampire quack's surgery, specialising in magical face and skin grafts. * Flavour Country - sweet shop specialising in hiding magical items in confectionery.* Forgotten Pains - torture for cash shop, run by a half-dragon expert at extracting information.* High Marsh Cemetery - cemetery and mausoleum haunted by a ghost and a vampire.* Icons By Demand - shop fronting a thieves guild contact, specialising in breaking into noble houses.* Rahit's Furniture Bazaar - safe house for assassin cabal including shadow stalker prestige class* Sar-Ra-Tu's Gaming House - gambling, drinking, gladiators, dogfighting, cockfighting, a lottery and massage parlour* The Shard - library run by a vampire and staffed by lesser undead, with secret evil laboratory* Tannen's - occult and arcane shop with a powerful antimagic shield* Traces - 'virtual reality' battles with illusionary monsters at a price* The Traps Of Fengarus Clelt - wizards manor, home of vengeful mage who sends deadly gifts to those he hates.* Tomb Of Amir Hamma - arabian-style tomb 'haunted' by two villainous half-brothers.* Volio's Leather Goods - leather shop dealing in all types of skins, aided by local necromancer and ghouls.* The Bridge - mini locale involving a disguised bridge.* The Well - a mini locale involving the well of the title, disease and an ooze.* The Travelstead Library - books with hooks.Conclusion:A useful book if you need a location or three in a hurry for a city-based adventure. Richly detailed NPCs, a wealth of hooks, and  a range of city settings and encounter levels are the best features of this book. The adventure locales themselves are interesting (and sometimes unusual). All the creatures used in the locations are from Core Rulebook III but sidebars do introduce a few new items, feats, spells, etc., and a prestige class.Overall, a book of interesting locations with a good level of detail, easy to drop into most city adventures. My only disappointment was the quality of the writing and editing which, while not poor, never rose much above average. This meant the setting descriptions lacked some flavour and atmosphere.</blockquote>

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