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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2008919" data-attributes="member: 172">Wonders Out of TimeWonders Out of Time is a "vignette book" for a d20 system fantasy game by Eden Studios. In this context a "vignette" is a short scenario, location, or NPC that can be inserted in an ongoing campaign. All of the vignettes in Wonders Out of Time are related to an ancient empire called the Merthian Empire.A First LookWonders Out of Time is a 48-page staple-bound soft-cover book priced at $9.95, though 2 pages are ads and the inside covers are not used. This gives a price per page of 21 cents. This is fairly standard for products in this price range, and somewhat better than Eden's own Akrasia: Thief of Time, which runs 28 cents per page.The cover of the book is color, with a painting by Paul Harmon depicting some adventurers confronting constructs in Roman-style armor. I am not impressed by the somewhat simplistic nature of the paintings.The interior art is black and white, and provided by veteran gaming artist Kieran Yanner. His works are mostly inks with gray tones, and are generally very nice. Eden's layout is nice, compact, and readable, using a relatively small typeface. Combined with the price per page ration, Wonders Out of Time delivers a decent value based on quantity of content alone.A Deeper Look(Warning: This section contains some spoilers regarding material in the book.)As mentioned, Wonders Out of Time is a sourcebook that provides short scenarios and locations called vignettes. The vignettes all center around an ancient empire called the Merthian empire. The Merthian empire is modeled after Rome, and is assume to have existed 1000 years before the campaign time. Of course, if you already know what precursors there were to your current campaign, the material in here may take some retooling to use unless your version of a precursor empire was also Roman in nature.The book is organized into 8 chapters plus an appendix. The first chapter is introductory material outlining rest of the book. The second chapter is entitled the Mertians, and discusses some aspects of this ancient empire. The third through eighth chapters are the individual vignettes. The appendix contains new rules items such as creatures and magic items.The second chapter details the nature and the history of the Merthians and their empire. As mentioned, they are where a fantasy society largely modeled after Rome, with references to fantasy elements added. The Merthians practiced a strange brand of sorcery called Red sorcery. The chapter provides nuggets of information that characters might know with a successful knowledge (history) check.The vignettes all center around remnants of the Merthian empire, most of them now occupied by other threats like goblins and dire animals. They are a few hazards left behind by the Merthians. For example, there are animated skeletal hands called bone guardians and a very fast construct called a royal golem.The vignettes are designed for a variety of levels, thus there is likely to be one that you can drop in at any point in a campaign. The vignettes are linked to details of the Merthian history and culture. For example, the Merthians are rather particular that there must always be an even number of doors facing a given cardinal direction in a building. Players armed with this knowledge can use it to uncover the existence of a secret door.The vignettes have clues and bits linking one another. For example, the first vignette contains a secret other-planear sanctuary that can only be reached by performing a certain ritual. The existence of the sanctuary and the means to get to it are in another vignette.The rules material in the back contains creatures and magic items from the merthian empire that you can use in your game, as well as a new prestige class called the centurion knight.The creatures include three new constructs and two new undead creatures. Bone guardians are animated skeletal hands. Bronze warriors and royal golems are two warrior shaped constructs. Ghostly sentries resemble ancient Merthian soldiers, but have a strength drain attack. Shackled spirits are an incorporeal undead creature held in some ancient bond; they are more plot device than creature as they cannot really be hurt and can only be dealt with by volunteering to take its place or removing the curse that binds it.The creatures are basically sound ideas, and seem to have fewer problems than those in Akrasia: Thief of Time. But they do have some technical problems. For example, bone guardians are assigned an arbitrary, incorrect HD type, and some (unintelligent) constructs are given skills.Most of the new items look to be workable. One new item type is a little questionable. Bloodscrolls teach characters Merthian blood magic. By sacrificing 2 hp per spell level permanently, the character can learn a spell they can cast for free 1 time per day.ConclusionIf you have a need for a lost ancient culture and you players are the factoid-collecting sort, this could make a nice addition to your game. However, the vignettes are pretty strongly linked to the details of the Merthian empire itself, so if you have a different background you need to work in, it may be difficult to make meaningful use out of the books adventure, as without the cultural references, they are pretty sketchy and plain.Although the format and details of the creatures are better than they were in Akrasia: Thief of Time, but they still do not follow many conventions of d20 system fantasy creatures.-Alan D. Kohler</blockquote>

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