Unspoken Word #2 "Thieves' Arm" has just arrived in my postbox and though I didn't have time enough to actually read the whole book thoroughly, I'd like to share my first impressions with those of you who did not order it yet [shame on you :)] !
The book itself:
standard size, 64 pages with color back and front cover. nearly every single page features one or sometimes even more b/w illustrations, at most times showing the protagonists described by the accompanying text. the illustrations are well done and evocative, although sometimes a bit too comic-like for my tastes. especially page 55's Jar Eel doesn't match my expectations of a Lunar Heroine at all, and I don't even dare to speak of Krarsht in the background... but that may depend on what you expect, for those who like the sometimes humorous pictures in the late Wyrm Footnotes it should be a job well done.
the cover, which is also featured on Unspoken Word's web site
( http://www.celtic-webs.com/theunspokenword/books/thieves.html ),
is quite good, too. my only gripe here is that it may be misleading, one
could easily take the book for a volume on Ents or elves.
BTW, the cover reminds me of a D20 adventure cover, but I can't
remember which one yet...
the tagline
"gather an army of bandits and outlaws to fight for freedom"
circumscribes the content well, but for me it reads a bit
stiff. but I'm starting to nitpick...:)
the layout is very well done, with dense text but still concise. all
the issues I had with the layout of the prior UW book "Uz - the Trolls of
Glorantha" are gone - no blank spaces on the pages, no "funny" fonts,
and I really like the decision to introduce graphic borders on top
and bottom of the pages, which look better and more "closed" than the side border
graphics from said "Uz" book.
the only page which comes as a "thorn" to the eye is the ad for
"Orlanth is dead", which in a way does not blend in nicely, but the
cover is shown for the first time [IIRC] so this makes it good [really
nice one!].
the content:
[just to prevent of being accused that I passed over something - it's a first impression, no careful reread]
but even now I can say that it's dense, very dense. there so much
useful and game-related information, that it makes some professional
material pale by comparison.
it's best described as worldly equivalent of Issaries' "Storm Tribe":
instead of Gods and their cults, you got thieves and other criminal gangs, their leaders
and members, organization, history and adventure seeds/plot hooks in conjunction
with each gang.
one can easily populate several campaign with all those NPCs, which
all come with complete HW [HQ?] stats.
the format and style of the entries vary with each author, which is
makes a nice variety, but is not too different from each other to
alienate the reader.
in grey boxes which are scattered all through the book myths, tales
and additional background are given which give the average Narrator
plenty of colorful tidbits to include into his own campaign or to
expand them into scenarios of their right.
the book opens with a one-pager by Greg Stafford on Lanbril which kind
of sets the scene for the rest of the book.
then the editors, Mark Galeotti and Simon Bray offer an very promising
story arc to include all the book's content into one huge campaign.
though I found it's focus rather narrow, it's still a nice addition to
the usefulness of the whole book.
Mr. Stafford then gives you a nice two-page gazeteer on the bush range, the
land between Tarsh and Sartar, which many of the plots hook and NPCs
use as background. this is maybe a drawback to some of you, since I
doubt that you can make use of much of the book in a setting other
than Dragon Pass/Sartar/Tarsh.
but, after all, this is where most of us play anyway...
then following are more than a dozen entries, ranging from 1 to 4
pages, each describing said gangs in detail.
there's something in for everybody, from wilderness based outlaws,
city rogues, assassins, robber knights, CANNIBALS [surely of interest
for those who discussed this lately on HeroWars _at_ yahoogroups], a trollkin gang["hated and
loathed by almost all SENSIBLE Uz" :)] to a sinister lunar "anti-terror"
SWAT-team hunting those sartarite rebels, and much more.
also included are short scenarios [in addition to the aforementioned
plot hooks that come with each entry], two full heroquests, one longer
scenario and extensive background material to introduce to your
campaign.
the book closes with "Jaxarte and the Outlaws" by MOB, which I surely
will enjoy as much as I did the ones in TotRM.
conclusion:
well worth every single buck, this rates even higher than the previous
volumes ["Tarsh in Flames" and "Uz"], because its use is not limited
for a Sartarite-based campaign or a Lunar one. it's of immediate use
for every narrator who has his campaign set in Dragon Pass. sure, you
won't use everything in the book, but you don't have too. every
narrator can cook his own meal - all the ingredients are there.
I doubt that many people will play the proposed story arc, but it's great to see
how much how of the authors efforts went into making their book
accessible and useful for actual GAMING, not reading alone.
for those who are Gloranthophiles for at least a decade it could be
compared to "Strangers in Prax" both provide a number of NPCs and
scenario seeds for use.
I like the one on hand much better, because I get more [but also considerably shorter]
entries, so, for me, the "hit & miss" ratio is higher.
As the first UW volume "Tarsh in Flames" "Thieves' Arm" provides something desperately needed for HeroWars/Quest - material of instant use in a game/campaign.
and there's so much material in it, I'll again dive into it right now.
I did not expect the book to be something special, but now you see me pleasantly surprised - a pleasure to read. thumbs up!
for more information on this and previous volumes of UW and ordering see
www.celtic-webs.com/theunspokenword
-- Stefan Mittwoch, 12:28:30
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