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Beneath the Waves is the first supplement out for Kenzer & Company's Kingdoms of Kalamar boxed set. It details the Merfolk society living off of the city of Ehzhimahn (pg 42, Sourcebook of the Sovereign Lands), but the 56 page book is a stand-alone setting that can be brought into almost any fantasy campaign.

The book is several sections, but I will lump them into four categories. Setting, Characters, Plot(s), and Props. The setting is in the Geography Lesson which describes the Merfolk city of Neasquatila, goes somewhat into Merfolk life, and rounds out the nearby human city of Ehzhimahn. The characters are in Kenzer's (or Shadis's) excellent Good, Bad and Ugly format, where you get a list of the NPCs with a picture, a summary of their skills, talents, motivation and weaknesses, a longer written description and a couple of lines to give the NPC stats in the AD&D format. Plots are in Kenzer's Bait, Snare and Bag format. Bait gives you what to hook the PCs into the adventure with, Snare is the conflict within the adventure and Bag is the full story of the adventure. And finally, what I call props encompass new magic items, spells, random encounter tables, etc.

_Major Strengths_

Beneath the Waves is very versatile. You can plop this Merfolk city down in any fantasy game with a minimum of conversion hassle. Hard stats are given in AD&D format (hp - 50, Thaco 9, etc.) but every NPC and Bait, Snare, and Bag adventure is written up in non specific roleplaying terms.

As for Bait, Snare, and Bag, for me the 16 pages devoted to these adventure frameworks are the heart of the book. There are 83 different adventures ranging from introductory "go find the merchant a rare and valuable fish" one nighters to "stop the horrible menace from the deep" campaigns. There are an incredible number of options available for the gamemaster in these adventures. Verying power levels and varying settings gives your party something to do everytime they go near this region.

_Major Weaknesses_

The one thing that I disliked about Beneath the Waves is it's lack of individual character. In this case versatility also refers to generic. There was too much of a "standard fantasy setting" in it's pages for my tastes. It does help the game be useable anywhere, but the setting could just as easily be talking about a city on the other side of the desert, instead of the Merfolk society under the waves. John Josten did make an effort to play up the differences in an underwater society, but only one page was truly devoted to the subject, and the merfolk come across as no more than humans with funny feet.

_Other comments_

$9.95 recommended retail. That makes it one of the least expensive books on the market. But in matters of appearance, you get what you pay for. Aside from the NPC portraits there is little artwork and the layout and fairly small font did not help in reading the book.

There are a three maps but they don't add a lot to the overall look. The map of the nearby human city was okay, but the map of the whole region was generic and the map of the Deep Stalker colony was downright ugly. There were no maps or artwork about the merfolk city of Neaesquatila.

If you are the type of person who buys based on looks, you will probably pass this book on by without a second glance, missing out on the good deal of information within it.

_Summary_

Beneath the Waves, the Kenzer and Co supplement detailing Merfolk society, is a solid product at an excellent price. The content is mostly general in nature allowing you to use if for almost any fantasy game but it does include some specific stats for AD&D. Information dense, but not very pretty, it is worth picking up if you have a spot in your campaign for merfolk or undersea adventures.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Beneath the Waves. Game Master's Workshop Volume 1
Author: John Josten Category: game Company/Publisher: Kenzer & Company Cost: $9.95 Page count: 56 ISBN: unknown Capsule Review by Allan Seyberth on 11/29/98. Genre tags: Fantasy Generic	Beneath the Waves is the first supplement out for Kenzer & Company's Kingdoms of Kalamar boxed set. It details the Merfolk society living off of the city of Ehzhimahn (pg 42, Sourcebook of the Sovereign Lands), but the 56 page book is a stand-alone setting that can be brought into almost any fantasy campaign. The book is several sections, but I will lump them into four categories. Setting, Characters, Plot(s), and Props. The setting is in the Geography Lesson which describes the Merfolk city of Neasquatila, goes somewhat into Merfolk life, and rounds out the nearby human city of Ehzhimahn. The characters are in Kenzer's (or Shadis's) excellent Good, Bad and Ugly format, where you get a list of the NPCs with a picture, a summary of their skills, talents, motivation and weaknesses, a longer written description and a couple of lines to give the NPC stats in the AD&D format. Plots are in Kenzer's Bait, Snare and Bag format. Bait gives you what to hook the PCs into the adventure with, Snare is the conflict within the adventure and Bag is the full story of the adventure. And finally, what I call props encompass new magic items, spells, random encounter tables, etc. _Major Strengths_ Beneath the Waves is very versatile. You can plop this Merfolk city down in any fantasy game with a minimum of conversion hassle. Hard stats are given in AD&D format (hp - 50, Thaco 9, etc.) but every NPC and Bait, Snare, and Bag adventure is written up in non specific roleplaying terms. As for Bait, Snare, and Bag, for me the 16 pages devoted to these adventure frameworks are the heart of the book. There are 83 different adventures ranging from introductory "go find the merchant a rare and valuable fish" one nighters to "stop the horrible menace from the deep" campaigns. There are an incredible number of options available for the gamemaster in these adventures. Verying power levels and varying settings gives your party something to do everytime they go near this region. _Major Weaknesses_ The one thing that I disliked about Beneath the Waves is it's lack of individual character. In this case versatility also refers to generic. There was too much of a "standard fantasy setting" in it's pages for my tastes. It does help the game be useable anywhere, but the setting could just as easily be talking about a city on the other side of the desert, instead of the Merfolk society under the waves. John Josten did make an effort to play up the differences in an underwater society, but only one page was truly devoted to the subject, and the merfolk come across as no more than humans with funny feet. _Other comments_ $9.95 recommended retail. That makes it one of the least expensive books on the market. But in matters of appearance, you get what you pay for. Aside from the NPC portraits there is little artwork and the layout and fairly small font did not help in reading the book. There are a three maps but they don't add a lot to the overall look. The map of the nearby human city was okay, but the map of the whole region was generic and the map of the Deep Stalker colony was downright ugly. There were no maps or artwork about the merfolk city of Neaesquatila. If you are the type of person who buys based on looks, you will probably pass this book on by without a second glance, missing out on the good deal of information within it. _Summary_ Beneath the Waves, the Kenzer and Co supplement detailing Merfolk society, is a solid product at an excellent price. The content is mostly general in nature allowing you to use if for almost any fantasy game but it does include some specific stats for AD&D. Information dense, but not very pretty, it is worth picking up if you have a spot in your campaign for merfolk or undersea adventures. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Beneath the Waves. Game Master's Workshop Volume 1