The Inside Scoop on Gaming

After the exuberance of my last review, I've vowed to tone it down a bit. Unfortunately, the product I'm reviewing this time around is al Malik Fiefs, another strong product from a company known for such things. (Maybe I should review Mechwarrior, 1st editon next time…)

Al Malik Fiefs is the second in Holistic Design's Imperial Survey books, following the Hawkwood Fiefs. This one sticks to the same format, barring some slight changes, and is again narrated in-character by a member of the Emperor's Questing Knights.

Content:

I imagine that each House's worlds have a different feel to them, and this book makes that apparent. Where Hawkwood Fiefs gave us a sci-fi/dark ages feel, a sense of a feudal post-historic setting, this book differs in tone. Al Malik Fiefs gives us not the obvious Dune/Arrakis feel that one might assume from the presence of so many desert worlds, but a different animal entirely. The al Malik fiefs seem to capture a pulp barbarism and super science feel. Where the Hawkwood worlds were wooded and somewhat civilized, here we find Coyote Men, lost cities of vicious, inbred Changed, and mountain men descended from Vladimir, the first Emperor.

It's an Edgar Rice Burroughs touch that I hadn't really thought of for the al Malik worlds, but it suits them. It steers the game away from easy comparisons to Dune (and why not…the two are nothing alike) and accentuates the fact that in the large space of the Known Worlds, a GM can capture any genre he wants.

Also, this book plays up the coherent history of the al Malik. More than any other House in the Known Worlds, the al Malik have a vibrant past beginning with Munir ibn Tarif and leading to the current Duke, Hakim. The narrator of this volume captures that feel wonderfully, even going so far as to sprinkle the volume with examples of the Graceful Tongue, the al Malik house language. While flowery and a bit tricky at times to navigate through, without it this book wouldn't have been the same.

There are also maps of each world, discussion of the Shantor and Ur Ukar, and the presence of some very positive figures in the Church (an addition I like very much).The maps of the solar systems present in the first book are gone, replaced with simple linear maps showing the distance between and the order of the various planets and jumpgates. Once again, there are stats for various creatures the players may encounter.

My only real complaint about al Malik Fiefs is a small one…in the main rulebook, a planetary tech level of 7 is considered very, very rare. In this book, Criticorum has a tech level of 8 and the rest have tech levels of 6 or 7. While I understand that the al Malik are the most technologically industrious of the Houses, tech levels equal to that of the Second Republic or Vautech seem a bit extreme, and don't appear to match the descriptions of the various worlds.

While the maps have changed, it's one I can forgive…this book is overflowing with text, stretching from the interior front cover to the interior back cover. There is no dead space in this book.

Everything Else:

This time around Leif Jones handles the art chores, and while it's a minimal presence in the book, the art is extremely well done. I didn't catch any editing errors, so if they're in there they must not be too glaring to throw off the rhythm of my read.

Overall:

Everybody knows I'm a big fan of Fading Suns, and I felt that this was another solid product for the game line. I believe most GM's will get a lot of utility out of it…while it describes the worlds in detail, there's nothing in the book that conflicted with my current campaign, which is set in the al Malik worlds. This is a book to pad out what the prospective GM has already got, not to dictate the every bit of minutae about a world.

Hopefully, Holistic will attempt to continue to create a different "flavor" with each House, as they've done here and in Hawkwood Fiefs.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

al Malik Fiefs: Imperial Survey 2
Author: Rustin Quade Category: game Company/Publisher: Holistic Design, Inc. Line: Fading Suns Cost: $6.95 ISBN: 1-888906-17-0 SKU: FS238 Capsule Review by Eric Brennan on 11/05/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Horror Far_Future Post-apocalypse Gothic	After the exuberance of my last review, I've vowed to tone it down a bit. Unfortunately, the product I'm reviewing this time around is al Malik Fiefs, another strong product from a company known for such things. (Maybe I should review Mechwarrior, 1st editon next time…) Al Malik Fiefs is the second in Holistic Design's Imperial Survey books, following the Hawkwood Fiefs. This one sticks to the same format, barring some slight changes, and is again narrated in-character by a member of the Emperor's Questing Knights. Content: I imagine that each House's worlds have a different feel to them, and this book makes that apparent. Where Hawkwood Fiefs gave us a sci-fi/dark ages feel, a sense of a feudal post-historic setting, this book differs in tone. Al Malik Fiefs gives us not the obvious Dune/Arrakis feel that one might assume from the presence of so many desert worlds, but a different animal entirely. The al Malik fiefs seem to capture a pulp barbarism and super science feel. Where the Hawkwood worlds were wooded and somewhat civilized, here we find Coyote Men, lost cities of vicious, inbred Changed, and mountain men descended from Vladimir, the first Emperor. It's an Edgar Rice Burroughs touch that I hadn't really thought of for the al Malik worlds, but it suits them. It steers the game away from easy comparisons to Dune (and why not…the two are nothing alike) and accentuates the fact that in the large space of the Known Worlds, a GM can capture any genre he wants. Also, this book plays up the coherent history of the al Malik. More than any other House in the Known Worlds, the al Malik have a vibrant past beginning with Munir ibn Tarif and leading to the current Duke, Hakim. The narrator of this volume captures that feel wonderfully, even going so far as to sprinkle the volume with examples of the Graceful Tongue, the al Malik house language. While flowery and a bit tricky at times to navigate through, without it this book wouldn't have been the same. There are also maps of each world, discussion of the Shantor and Ur Ukar, and the presence of some very positive figures in the Church (an addition I like very much).The maps of the solar systems present in the first book are gone, replaced with simple linear maps showing the distance between and the order of the various planets and jumpgates. Once again, there are stats for various creatures the players may encounter. My only real complaint about al Malik Fiefs is a small one…in the main rulebook, a planetary tech level of 7 is considered very, very rare. In this book, Criticorum has a tech level of 8 and the rest have tech levels of 6 or 7. While I understand that the al Malik are the most technologically industrious of the Houses, tech levels equal to that of the Second Republic or Vautech seem a bit extreme, and don't appear to match the descriptions of the various worlds. While the maps have changed, it's one I can forgive…this book is overflowing with text, stretching from the interior front cover to the interior back cover. There is no dead space in this book. Everything Else: This time around Leif Jones handles the art chores, and while it's a minimal presence in the book, the art is extremely well done. I didn't catch any editing errors, so if they're in there they must not be too glaring to throw off the rhythm of my read. Overall: Everybody knows I'm a big fan of Fading Suns, and I felt that this was another solid product for the game line. I believe most GM's will get a lot of utility out of it…while it describes the worlds in detail, there's nothing in the book that conflicted with my current campaign, which is set in the al Malik worlds. This is a book to pad out what the prospective GM has already got, not to dictate the every bit of minutae about a world. Hopefully, Holistic will attempt to continue to create a different "flavor" with each House, as they've done here and in Hawkwood Fiefs. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

al Malik Fiefs: Imperial Survey 2