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Liber Castellorum, a supplement for In Nomine from Steve Jackson Games, was both more and less than I expected. I had expected a handful of obligatory introductory pages about tethers (celestial strongholds that link the Heaven and Hell of In Nomine to earth), with the bulk of the book being given over to very detailed write-ups of a number of individual tethers.

The "introductory material" turned out to be both a greater fraction-- more than half-- of the book than I had expected, and also turned out to be quite a bit meatier than I had expected. The material about the theory and practice of tethers, the defenses of tethers, and the seneschals (tether keepers) is both a good read and packed with good information. It fleshes out and explains a lot about tethers which is vague in the main In Nomine book. Why do Superiors really want tethers? What's the difference between weak and strong tethers? How the heck does "Essence flow" fit in with all of it anyway? Now all of that is explained. There is new information as well, new options for creating the tethers. However, Liber Castellorum avoids the pitfall of introducing new and cool stuff that would contradict or invalidate what GMs may naturally have inferred from the main In Nomine rulebook. Unless you've been running a tether-focused campaign, and have devised all of your own detailed rules about tethers, mixing in the new rules from Liber Castellorum not disrupt your existing In Nomine campaign.

The "Castella Mundi" chapter occupies two-fifths of the book, and is a whirlwind tour describing three tethers (a major one, an unusual one, and a "generic" one you could put almost anywhere) for each major Superior of the In Nomine universe. This chapter should be marked "some assembly required." All of the tethers presented in this section provide good ideas, and good foundations on which GMs could build actual campaign settings. However, work will be required for the GM to flesh out and complete any of the tethers if they are to be used as anything more than background color, or as places where PCs visit during "down time" which isn't a part of the main action of the campaign. For a book which got me more excited about a tether-centric campaign, this was a little disappointing. This is particularly true of the "generic" tethers, which are usually given the shortest shrift. Don't get me wrong; the ideas and seeds in this chapter are good, and I would hate to give up any of them. However, it seems to me that there is a place for complete descriptions of tethers (with maps and at least brief descriptions of all the major players), which a GM could then use with a minimum of effort.

The book ends with a few adventure seeds. They fall into that nether region of being too long to be just an adventure "seed," but not long enough to be immediately usable as is. I did find them good reading, and non-obvious sorts of adventures that should help spur a GMs creativity.

The book is written by the usual In Nomine "cast of thousands," most of whose names will be familiar to those who have read earlier In Nomine supplements. The book is well written, and like much of the In Nomine line, is a fun read. The black and white line art is about par for a Steve Jackson Games release; all in all, I liked it better than what I've seen in some of the earlier In Nomine supplements (such as the Revelations cycle).

Is the Liber Castellorum worth it? If you're unsure about what sorts of places make good tethers, and you need ideas to get you started building tethers, then it is definitely worth it to you.. If you (like me) enjoy the In Nomine universe, and like to learn more about how it works, then you will also like this book, even if you currently think tethers are boring. If your campaign is going to center around a tether, or if tethers are becoming (for whatever reason) more important in your campaign, you will find useful rules and ideas here. On the other hand, if you are looking for complete tethers you can plug into your campaign with a minimum of effort, or if you are looking for detailed settings that you can use immediately, then you will be disappointed.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Libert Castellorum
Author: McCoy, Elizabeth (ed) Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Line: In Nomine Cost: $19.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-55634-365-5 SKU: 3313 Capsule Review by R. Knop on 08/28/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern_day Superhero	Liber Castellorum, a supplement for In Nomine from Steve Jackson Games, was both more and less than I expected. I had expected a handful of obligatory introductory pages about tethers (celestial strongholds that link the Heaven and Hell of In Nomine to earth), with the bulk of the book being given over to very detailed write-ups of a number of individual tethers. The "introductory material" turned out to be both a greater fraction-- more than half-- of the book than I had expected, and also turned out to be quite a bit meatier than I had expected. The material about the theory and practice of tethers, the defenses of tethers, and the seneschals (tether keepers) is both a good read and packed with good information. It fleshes out and explains a lot about tethers which is vague in the main In Nomine book. Why do Superiors really want tethers? What's the difference between weak and strong tethers? How the heck does "Essence flow" fit in with all of it anyway? Now all of that is explained. There is new information as well, new options for creating the tethers. However, Liber Castellorum avoids the pitfall of introducing new and cool stuff that would contradict or invalidate what GMs may naturally have inferred from the main In Nomine rulebook. Unless you've been running a tether-focused campaign, and have devised all of your own detailed rules about tethers, mixing in the new rules from Liber Castellorum not disrupt your existing In Nomine campaign. The "Castella Mundi" chapter occupies two-fifths of the book, and is a whirlwind tour describing three tethers (a major one, an unusual one, and a "generic" one you could put almost anywhere) for each major Superior of the In Nomine universe. This chapter should be marked "some assembly required." All of the tethers presented in this section provide good ideas, and good foundations on which GMs could build actual campaign settings. However, work will be required for the GM to flesh out and complete any of the tethers if they are to be used as anything more than background color, or as places where PCs visit during "down time" which isn't a part of the main action of the campaign. For a book which got me more excited about a tether-centric campaign, this was a little disappointing. This is particularly true of the "generic" tethers, which are usually given the shortest shrift. Don't get me wrong; the ideas and seeds in this chapter are good, and I would hate to give up any of them. However, it seems to me that there is a place for complete descriptions of tethers (with maps and at least brief descriptions of all the major players), which a GM could then use with a minimum of effort. The book ends with a few adventure seeds. They fall into that nether region of being too long to be just an adventure "seed," but not long enough to be immediately usable as is. I did find them good reading, and non-obvious sorts of adventures that should help spur a GMs creativity. The book is written by the usual In Nomine "cast of thousands," most of whose names will be familiar to those who have read earlier In Nomine supplements. The book is well written, and like much of the In Nomine line, is a fun read. The black and white line art is about par for a Steve Jackson Games release; all in all, I liked it better than what I've seen in some of the earlier In Nomine supplements (such as the Revelations cycle). Is the Liber Castellorum worth it? If you're unsure about what sorts of places make good tethers, and you need ideas to get you started building tethers, then it is definitely worth it to you.. If you (like me) enjoy the In Nomine universe, and like to learn more about how it works, then you will also like this book, even if you currently think tethers are boring. If your campaign is going to center around a tether, or if tethers are becoming (for whatever reason) more important in your campaign, you will find useful rules and ideas here. On the other hand, if you are looking for complete tethers you can plug into your campaign with a minimum of effort, or if you are looking for detailed settings that you can use immediately, then you will be disappointed. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)

Libert Castellorum