In the interest of full-disclosure, I have a credit, which relates to a Telmori homeland Jeff used for inspiration for his Pralori homeland, but otherwise the credit is flattering.
Blood over Gold is 136 pages and perfect-bound. The cover art is particularly striking showing the tower and flaming guardian of the City of Fay Jee and can set the atmosphere of the town in play.
The focus of the campaign setting is the Trader Princes: noble houses that once grew fat controlling the trade route between Dragon Pass and Ralios while the oceans were closed. With the opening of the oceans, the houses have found their traditional income drying up, and need to seek new approaches to survival. The setup has the heroes recruited by House Caroman, who hold the city of Fay Jee, as troubleshooters whose mission is to help the house restore its fortunes. There are plenty of opportunities for different types of adventure within this setting from city adventures in Fay Jee, wilderness adventures looking for opportunity and profit, and political intrigue among the great houses. That variety gives this setting the legs for a long campaign.
Deep Forests and Rushing Rivers
The first chapter opens with a primer on Wenelian history. This land
has been a battleground between east and west many times and it shows
both in its ruins and fragmented politics. It follows with sections
on geography and history. Boats are a big thing in Wenelia, with the
waterways providing a primary axis of transport, and this section
provides information on canoes and jhoraz boats. A comprehensive
gazetteer and map goes a long way to demonstrating why this is such a
good area for adventure with a myriad of human and non-human
polities, such as the elves of the Arstola Forest or the dragonewts
of Ryzel, ancient ruins like Erenplose, and wilderness. It concludes
with a section on the outsiders who threaten Wenelia, such as the
Wolf Pirates and kingdom of Smelch.
The People of Wenelia
This chapter covers the major human cultures of Wenelia: Trader
Princes, Wenelians, Pralori Hsunchen, and New Coast Islanders. Each
culture has a HeroQuest homeland, but also has an extensive write up.
The Trader Princes are a Western culture of lords, knights, and
sorcerers worshipping the Ashara Church of Saint Caselain, a mix of
Malkioni saints and the misapplied worship of Heortling deities as
saints. This section also describes a trader prince house and lists
the prominent houses. The Wenelians are an Orlanthi culture, familiar
from supplements like Thunder Rebels, but also have unique features.
Unlike their Dragon Pass cousins, there is a greater focus on mixed
magic with both animist practices and theist cults holding sway. The
section includes background on the different Wenelian groupings,
including the clans local to Fay Jee, heart of the campaign. The
Pralori are the primitive elk people of Pralorela to the west of the
setting. This is the first official treatment of a `hsunchen' people
and the chapter includes information on the Pralor animist practice.
The Islanders are the inhabitants of the many coastal lands and
islands left after the sinking of Slontos. The chapter concludes with
new keywords: Boatman, Fisherman, Foot Soldier: Watch, Herder, Trader
Prince Noble and Muleskinner.
Welcome to Fay Jee
The tower depicted on the cover of the book lies within Fay Jee, the
burning ball of flame is the guardian being for the city. Fay Jee is
something of an unlucky town, sacked, destroyed and rebuilt many
times most recently on `That Day' by Harrek the Berserk and his Wolf
Pirates. Built from the ruins of the Tower of the False Sun, which
stood here in the Darkness, its streets are still haunted by the
ghosts of the slaves that built it. It is also a diverse place, both
from its local origin and because it is a port, and so benefits from
all the traffic (and danger) from the newly opened oceans. Characters
from across the lozenge can literally step of the boat here. The
chapter covers the city's history and citizenry as well as providing
a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood description of the city. The chapter
ends with a description of the cities immediate surroundings.
House Caroman
The meat of the narrator characters for the book lies within this
chapter on the Trader Princes of Jay Fee: House Caroman. House
Caroman has significant troubles: they recently broke off from House
Jhoraz but the parent house is not happy about the split and wants to
re-absorb them; some of the clans of the Wenelian League, who fall
under the influence of the House, are growing fractious, with the
warlord Greymane always hovering in the background; and pirates
remain a threat to the city. Yorge duDerysi, leader of House Caroman,
is ailing and none of his sons seems fit to take his place. Enemies
gather without and within as the succession of power looks difficult.
This section describes the structure of the house, its various
divisions or `chambers' and their relation to each other a who's who
of House Caroman and rounds out with House Caroman's nemesis, Prince
Barthol of Jhoraz.
Shadows over Fay Jee
The final third of the book is the campaign material that takes the
players from tyro trouble-shooters to captains of the house. Four
watershed adventures provide pillars of the campaign and occur at key
points in the players' journey. Along with this are a selection of
story seeds, adventure hooks, and outlines that the narrator can use
to weave more tailored episodes. The campaign has three distinct
phases as the heroes rise in the ranks of the house, gaining them
greater influence and exposing them to a greater danger, culminating
in a set-piece life or death struggle.
Is it any good?
Blood over Gold may be the finest supplement produced for HeroQuest
so far. Certainly it is the one that most fulfils the promise that
you could pick up HeroQuest and this book and start playing. Set in a
new region of Glorantha it escapes the burden of weight of prior
information, making it very accessible. In addition the port of Fay
Jee allows characters from any existing homeland to enter the game,
giving rich choices to the players. If I was to recommend a book to
new HeroQuest GMs this would be it, and I suspect it will bring many
happy hours of play to Gloranthan gamers. Certainly our play with the
game so far has been rich and entertaining.
This is a campaign setting in full: background, setting, and characters and allow narrators and players to create their own adventures, with off-the-shelf scenario material to provide groups with a route through the setting. It is an ideal combination for HeroQuest meeting the needs of those who prefer a more freeform style of play as well as those who prefer a linear story style. Comparisons with the seminal RuneQuest supplements Griffin Mountain and Borderlands are apt: it has the campaign setting feel of Griffin Mountain and the drama of the storyline of Borderlands.
Editing and art are excellent and it is truly a high-quality product worthy of the highest standards of the Gloranthan franchise. The artwork is, to my mind, the best we have seen in a HeroQuest product. Besides the great cover, the book is rich with evocative interior illustrations and beautiful maps.
This product is a testament to Moon Design's decision to go with higher-page counts, because it has made the campaign setting in a book possible, breathing new life into HeroQuest gaming.
Any quibbles?
One could always wish for more, but practical restrictions on page
count practically prevent. I might have liked more detail on the
narrator characters outside House Caroman: the chiefs of the Wenelian
League, the members of House Jhoraz, and some of the residents of the
city, beyond the one liners most get. The New Coast itself seems
underused in the scenario material presented in the book, areas like
Ramalia, Handra and Kaxtorplose seem open to wider exploitation. But
this is not criticize the material given, but only to say it is so
good that I wished for more.
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