Author: Doulgas Niles, Stan!, Steve Miller
Category: game
Company/Publisher: TSR/WotC
Line: Dragonlance
Cost: $6.99
Page count: 337
Capsule Review by Steve A. Pickios on 07/09/99.
Genre tags: Fantasy

I must admit before beginning the review proper, that the elven prince Gilthanas was (and remains)my favorite character from the original Dragonlance setting. That may color my opinions herein.

Anyway, "The Odyssey of Gilthanas" is a hybrid of three distinct products: fantasy novel, fantasy RPG supplement, and rules for a card game. TSR has decided to lump them all together, perhaps to test the viability of the format in the market. I happen to enjoy all 3 of the components so I had no problem buying it, but I can't imagine a casual fantasy reader shelling out 7 dollars plus tax for what amounts to a 225 page novella really. Oh well, I'll attempt to critique the 3 parts seperately.

THE NOVEL:

Recounts the travels and tribulations of the aforementioned Elf Prince while he scours the face of Ansalon searching for his lost love, the dragon lady Silvara. To be sure, this is not going to set the literary world afire (to be honest in the face of gamer ire, Tolkien really didn't set the literary world afire; I never find any mention of the fantasy/sci fi genre in any professor's western literary canon)but it is a rahter pleasant, mostly light-hearted read. The character of Gilthanas has mellowed considerably from his days in the War of the Lance (DL Chronicles) but he is no less interesting. His remorse at having given Silvara the boot, and his seemingly never-ending quest to find her sheds quite a bit of light on the inner character. If ever Gil does decide to return to Qualinesti to become King (and I'm not saying whether he does or not at the end of this book) he'd be pretty damn good. Game refs should learn from this romance, you don't have to have kissy-smoochy as part of the game if you want to add a little passion to your play-sessions. Perhaps the characters search for a lost love. Pining for a lost love and all that, makes for good character development.

Seeing as how there are 3 distinct authors it should come as no suprise that the book feels a little disjointed. Gilthanas and assorted friends bounce from one side of Ansalon to the other and I would hazard a guess that each author wrote a few chapters and then combined them to form a whole. Despite this the story-line does not suffer. Like Homer's "Odyssey" each chapter presents a new milieux of adventure. Bringing me to the next part of the review:

THE SUPPLEMENT:

Approximately 80 pages in the back of the book give gaming detail to the destinations of Gilthanas. Secrets and adventure hooks are provided, most of which are excellent. Any DM or Narrator worth their salt (the game is adaptable to AD&D and SAGA, though a ref in any system could convert the settings) should find several campaigns worth of ideas here. I can't go into too much detail without giving away too much of the novel, suffice to say the ideas are plentiful and fun. The Garden of Stone Roses (formerly a great English band, what happened to them?) is intriquing, with all the foliage being carved from stone, try to imagine that. Raekel's Pit and the demon-children that emerge from it. The Footprint of Chaos, as wide as several football fields, fog all around so you can't see the bottom. Great imagery for gaming.

One complaint I have has to deal with the seeming self-censorship many game companies place on themselves when their ideas may seem too fantastic. The reasons for the existence of the Footprint of Chaos are much less interesting and bizarre then they rightfully should be. Sometimes I wish game designers would just go nuts with the fantasy in a fantasy game world.

THE CARD GAME:

"Dragon Wars" is a short little card game explained in 5 pages at the end of the book. In short: take a regular deck of cards, remove the jokers (useless) and spades (dragons). Each player gets a dragon (spade card) and the number of the card represents the hit points the dragon has. The other cards represent attacks (clubs), defense (hearts), or either (hearts). Players receive a hand of 5 cards each and the first player determines if she wants to attack another player. Combining cards of a like set equals greater numbers (if you have the 3 of clubs and the 9 of clubs you may add them together in your attack). Defenders may do the same with their hand. It's a fun little card game, my wife and I played it and enjoyed it. Just enough strategy to keep the mind active on a rainy Sunday, not enough to give you a headache.

SUMMARY:

Overall this is a nice addition to any gamer's library. For the cover price, if you are a fantasy role-player/novel reader, this is a pleasent diversion that can add a lot of ideas for future campaign play. Dragonlance fans should rest assure that the product is quality and adds to several recurring characters personalities in a positive way. There was only one table and it's a TSR product, that in itself speaks of its quality.

Recommended.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)