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BASICS
Streets of Silver is put out by
Living Imagination Inc and is
their first published
Adventure Guide. It is a
softbound book of 311 pages
and comes with a 17” x 22”
color map. It is written for is
the “Twin Crowns” campaign
setting which is also put out
by Living Imagination. The
entire book covers in minute
detail the city of Parma, which
is purported to be one of the
largest (if not the largest) port
city in their campaign world
of Ptalmanar. The book’s
retail price is $29.95 USD
The Twin Crowns Campaign setting strays from the standard D&D campaign
setting a little farther than most, but not so far that this book cannot be easily
used for any campaign setting. The primary differences being the deities (and
their involvement with us mere mortals), some of the races (gnomes and
halflings don’t exists, and there are several new races), and a concept called
“gifts” which is a way to give each mortal five lives (and no more, no matter
what), and an added dimension to magic that is called Rituals. All these
differences are fairly easy to get around if not using the Twin Crowns
campaign setting, but I did find it useful to read their Twin Crowns Primer (a
six page overview available at no cost on their web site at:
http://www.livingimagination.com/pdf/TCPrimer.pdf) to get an understand
some of the things I was reading about.
I have to say that my hat comes off to the authors of this book for a job well
done. The imagination and attention to detail that went onto the creation of
this book in just outstanding. I grant that a large portion of the stuff found in
this book you will never be able to use in a standard everyday role-playing
game (I mean they even tell you the proper way to set a table in Parma), but
the material that you won’t use is still useful in setting the flavor of the place.
Did you know for instance that losing your virginity in Parma is cause for a
public party? And not only that, but it appears acceptable to celebrate this
wondrous occasion more than once?
INSIDE
The book is divided into three main parts. The first six chapters (or 53 pages)
is common knowledge stuff. This is stuff that anyone and their brother can
have access to, and would generally be expected to know after only a short
stay in Parma. Players and GM’s alike are welcome to read this part to their
heart’s content. In addition to the general knowledge stuff, they give you four
new prestige classes (if you want to know what one of them are I give you a
hint, “Pillow Talk” is one of the class features), eleven new rituals (which are
essentially useless if you don’t have the core rules for the Twin Crowns
Campaign setting), a couple new creatures and a couple new magic items.
They also go so far as to give you the crests for each of the half dozen or so
more important families. As far as artwork goes for the book, in general it’s
nothing to get excited over. But I’m very happy to report that they put their
priorities in the right spot and where it needs to be good its very good. The
crests and neighborhood maps are several orders of magnitude higher quality
than everything else.
The second part of the book is only one chapter, but covers over half the
book. This chapter is a building-by-building description of the entire city.
They give you enough detail for each and every building to run an encounter
there without needed to do too much homework. It is organized by
neighborhoods, and there is a neighborhood map that is a blow up of the
neighborhood in question from the larger color map (except these are in black
and white of course). This chapter is semi-common knowledge stuff which
means that players are able to uncover this information with a little bit of
work, or if they get to know the proper people. Players are not supposed to
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read this without the GM’s permission. Presumably sections of this chapter
are doled out as the circumstances dictate.
The last three chapters (90+ pages) cover the really good stuff that is for
GM’s eyes only. This section gives eleven major plot lines, nineteen minor
plot lines, A building by building listing of the city giving who and what
might be encountered in each of the buildings, and the descriptions for over
100 NPC’s (OK… 3 over). I might add that these NPC’s at the back are in
addition to the 40 or so NPC’s sprinkled throughout the previous chapter of
what might be encountered in the specific buildings. All these NPC’s are
done in the “trash compactor” style, but seeing the sheer number involved, I
have to admit that I think doing it that way is better than forcing me to by
another book just for the NPC’s. This section alone would make the book a
nice addition to any DM’s collection.
Overall I think the book is very well organized and easy to follow. But
since it is specifically targeted to be a reference book, I would personally
like to have seen an index in the back. To be fair, the Table of Contents is
pretty detailed, but for building names or NPC names (the ones not in the
last chapter) you are going to spend a month of Sundays flipping pages if
you didn’t put in your notes the page number where you got them from.
VALUE
This book is not for beginners or the faint of heart. Nor is it for GM’s that
want quick or canned campaigns. If you don’t fall in any of those
categories, then this book is a treasure trove. The book is not only busting
at the seams with great ideas for adventures of all sizes; it’s a lot of fun just
to sit down and read.
For me, I liked the style, detail, and ideas enough to give the book high
marks. So much so in fact that I’ll be checking out some of their other
products (including the Twin Crowns campaign setting, they just might
have something there).
BASICS
Spellbound: A Codex of
Ritual Magic is a 128-page
soft cover book with a full
color cover. Inside, the
book has black and white
illustrations. Spellbound is
from Living Imagination,
Inc who also publish
Broadsides! Naval
Adventuring and Streets of
Silver Adventurer’s Guide
– all of these are d20
system books. It has a
retail price of $19.95 USD.
INSIDE
Spellbound consists of five chapters and two appendices. Chapter one
introduces the concept of ritual magic. This is a new kind of magic for the
d20 system. Ritual magic is very different form the normal magic.
The ability to cast rituals depends on the caster’s skill level in ritual skills
rather than his level. There are both divine and arcane rituals – and spell
casters of the appropriate type with the ritual skills may cast the rituals.
There are two new skills, Arcane Ritual and Divine Ritual. Rituals are more
involved then normal spells. They take time to set up and to cast – they are
extremely difficult to memorize, and they are much more powerful than a
normal spell.
The game mechanism for casting a ritual is involved as well. A caster must
first prepare any required material components and then begin the cast. The
caster must make a Ritual check against the DC of the ritual; if the caster