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The Phelan sourcebook for Ironclaw

ISBN 0-9704583-3-9, 128 pages, $12.95

This supplement describes the Phelan lands in the northwest part of Calabria (the island on which Ironclaw is set). They control about a fifth (maybe a sixth) of the island. The political boundaries are pretty flexible and tightly contested in some places.

The Phelan are obviously very heavily influenced by the real-world Celts. I'm no expert on the Celts, so I can't tell you which words are made up, and which are taken from reality, so I shan't attempt to judge the "accuracy" of it... only the quality of the supplement for gaming purposes.

First, the quality- it's a very professionally designed package. In fact, I'd say it's better laid out and edited than the rulebook for Ironclaw itself. The art is very nice (albeit all black & white except for the cover) and generally quite appropriate to the section in which it appears.

In fact, it would be easier to list the things I didn't like than those I did; my major complaints are the lack of an overall map of the area (the Ironclaw book has a map of Calabria, but it lacks any political boundaries and doesn't show any of the Phelan settlements) and the lack of stats for one NPC from the included adventure. But I can mostly make a map myself from the descriptions, and the NPC who got forgotten isn't all that major (but I wanted to look at her stats and lo- she didn't have any).

Okay, what you get:

An introductory comic which is basically a ‘prequel' to the included adventure.

Historical background... how the Phelan came to Calabria, their wars with the current inhabitants, how they split into 6 tribes, and how one tribe declared itself independent and became the house Bisclavret from the main rulebook.

A general overview of their culture... the Phelan are almost all Wolves, and maintain a "low-tech, low maintenance" culture of their own. The tribes are ruled by leaders chosen for their competence, not because of their family line, advised by Druids and occasionally mocked by Fools. This is a pretty detailed and lengthy write-up. The appendix includes such details as their calendar and holy days, and a pronunciation guide for their language.

Short but well-written descriptions of how each of the tribes vary (Bisclavret is left out, having already been described), their leader, and a brief description of how their holdings are laid out.

Suggestions for Phelan characters, including a new player Race (Ravens are very different from the other races, in that they have almost no humanoid characteristics and are basically just very smart birds). There are new Gifts, Traits, Careers, Skills, etc. A few new pieces of equipment, and even a page listing a bunch of example names for PCs, separated by gender.

There is a writeup of Druid magic, which uses basically the same system as the other kinds of magic from Ironclaw, just new and different sorts of spells. A cute addition is two spells which can only be cast by female Druids. An appendix also has a writeup for a minor magic list which the PCs might learn about during the adventure, but probably won't.

There are a bunch of new Atavism powers, many of which are restricted to certain races. For example, the "Salmon Leap" requires you to either possess the Quickness Trait or belong to a Race which applies to the Jumping skill. This somewhat reduces the problem that some people had with characters using Atavism to produce powers totally unassociated with their animal ancestors.

There is a writeup of a class kind of unique to Phelan- the Fool. These people are expected to keep the royalty humble, goad warriors into acting bravely in battle, and ruin the morale of enemies with their mockery. A cute touch is that a Fool's Body Trait actually works against him, much like a high Mind trait interferes with Atavism. Fools should ideally be small and agile. Their abilities aren't quite magical, but come close.

There is also the included adventure, which is about 30 pages long and consists of several loosely-tied encounters. The adventure seems quite well written, and has a lot of suggestions for arranging a suitable amount of combat while still having challenges that can't be solved by brute force. The stats for Jilleen the Raven are missing, but since her role is small, it's not too much of a loss. The authors also like to twist some of the basic stereotypes, so the adventure isn't completely predictable. It is also written in such a way as to act as a good introduction to Phelan culture, including their legal system, the role of Druids, Ravens, etc.

Finally, you get a short chapter of five ‘Adventure Seeds'.

Overall, a very high quality supplement. Better done than the rulebook itself, in my opinion. The volcabulary would take awhile to learn (bunne-do-at, flesc, lorica, nasc-niad, the craoiseach and the gae bolga are all commonly worn or used by the Phelan warrior class; there's a nice pic of an armored warrior identifying each part), but it lends a bit of authenticity to the setting, I think.

Phelan supplement for Ironclaw Kiz
Item type: RPG Product Name: Phelan supplement for Ironclaw Author: Jason Holmgren and others Company/Publisher: Sanguine Productions Ltd. Line: Ironclaw SKU: Cost: 12.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 0-9704583-3-9 Ratings: Style 5 (Excellent!) Substance 5 (Excellent!) Review type: Capsule Review	The Phelan sourcebook for Ironclaw ISBN 0-9704583-3-9, 128 pages, $12.95 This supplement describes the Phelan lands in the northwest part of Calabria (the island on which Ironclaw is set). They control about a fifth (maybe a sixth) of the island. The political boundaries are pretty flexible and tightly contested in some places. The Phelan are obviously very heavily influenced by the real-world Celts. I'm no expert on the Celts, so I can't tell you which words are made up, and which are taken from reality, so I shan't attempt to judge the "accuracy" of it... only the quality of the supplement for gaming purposes. First, the quality- it's a very professionally designed package. In fact, I'd say it's better laid out and edited than the rulebook for Ironclaw itself. The art is very nice (albeit all black & white except for the cover) and generally quite appropriate to the section in which it appears. In fact, it would be easier to list the things I didn't like than those I did; my major complaints are the lack of an overall map of the area (the Ironclaw book has a map of Calabria, but it lacks any political boundaries and doesn't show any of the Phelan settlements) and the lack of stats for one NPC from the included adventure. But I can mostly make a map myself from the descriptions, and the NPC who got forgotten isn't all that major (but I wanted to look at her stats and lo- she didn't have any). Okay, what you get: An introductory comic which is basically a ‘prequel' to the included adventure. Historical background... how the Phelan came to Calabria, their wars with the current inhabitants, how they split into 6 tribes, and how one tribe declared itself independent and became the house Bisclavret from the main rulebook. A general overview of their culture... the Phelan are almost all Wolves, and maintain a "low-tech, low maintenance" culture of their own. The tribes are ruled by leaders chosen for their competence, not because of their family line, advised by Druids and occasionally mocked by Fools. This is a pretty detailed and lengthy write-up. The appendix includes such details as their calendar and holy days, and a pronunciation guide for their language. Short but well-written descriptions of how each of the tribes vary (Bisclavret is left out, having already been described), their leader, and a brief description of how their holdings are laid out. Suggestions for Phelan characters, including a new player Race (Ravens are very different from the other races, in that they have almost no humanoid characteristics and are basically just very smart birds). There are new Gifts, Traits, Careers, Skills, etc. A few new pieces of equipment, and even a page listing a bunch of example names for PCs, separated by gender. There is a writeup of Druid magic, which uses basically the same system as the other kinds of magic from Ironclaw, just new and different sorts of spells. A cute addition is two spells which can only be cast by female Druids. An appendix also has a writeup for a minor magic list which the PCs might learn about during the adventure, but probably won't. There are a bunch of new Atavism powers, many of which are restricted to certain races. For example, the "Salmon Leap" requires you to either possess the Quickness Trait or belong to a Race which applies to the Jumping skill. This somewhat reduces the problem that some people had with characters using Atavism to produce powers totally unassociated with their animal ancestors. There is a writeup of a class kind of unique to Phelan- the Fool. These people are expected to keep the royalty humble, goad warriors into acting bravely in battle, and ruin the morale of enemies with their mockery. A cute touch is that a Fool's Body Trait actually works against him, much like a high Mind trait interferes with Atavism. Fools should ideally be small and agile. Their abilities aren't quite magical, but come close. There is also the included adventure, which is about 30 pages long and consists of several loosely-tied encounters. The adventure seems quite well written, and has a lot of suggestions for arranging a suitable amount of combat while still having challenges that can't be solved by brute force. The stats for Jilleen the Raven are missing, but since her role is small, it's not too much of a loss. The authors also like to twist some of the basic stereotypes, so the adventure isn't completely predictable. It is also written in such a way as to act as a good introduction to Phelan culture, including their legal system, the role of Druids, Ravens, etc. Finally, you get a short chapter of five ‘Adventure Seeds'. Overall, a very high quality supplement. Better done than the rulebook itself, in my opinion. The volcabulary would take awhile to learn (bunne-do-at, flesc, lorica, nasc-niad, the craoiseach and the gae bolga are all commonly worn or used by the Phelan warrior class; there's a nice pic of an armored warrior identifying each part), but it lends a bit of authenticity to the setting, I think.

Phelan supplement for Ironclaw