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The WitchFire Trilogy, Part 1:The Longest Night

The WitchFire Trilogy, Part 1:The Longest Night Capsule Review by Oni no Won on 02/04/01
Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)
Steampunk meets fantasy
Product: The WitchFire Trilogy, Part 1:The Longest Night
Author: Matt Staroscik
Category: RPG
Company/Publisher: Privateer Press
Line: D20 system
Cost: $9.95
Page count: 64
Year published: 2001
ISBN:
SKU:
Capsule Review by Oni no Won on 02/04/01
Genre tags: Fantasy
This module is part adventure and part source material. The player characters are put through an adventure in the city of Crovis. It gives a brief history of the Kingdom of Cygnar, one of the Iron Kingdoms, and the city of Crovis, which is part of Cygnar. The story is interesting. It is centered around a young girl who witnessed her mother's execution for witchcraft when she was just a child and wants to bring her back. She is willing to do anything to accomplish that goal including invading the city with a horde of undead. The adventure is very well thought out and was fun to read. It is great for beginning DMs and players alike.

For the players, the module is made for 1st to 2nd lvl characters. They will get to experience a little of everything about role playing. They will get to explore the city, ineract with NPCs, solve a mystery, use their character's skills, and combat. For the DM, this module is very well organized. The author has thought out all the possible outcomes for certain situations and shows the DM how to handle each of the possible outcomes. While the adventure is linear, it is flexible enought for the PCs to stary from the story for a while.

The layout of the book is very well organized. The artwork done by Brian Snoddy and Matt Wilson is very good. The artworks do a good job of conveying the "atmosphere" of this adventure such as the picture of an adventurer on a boat being attacked by a giant squid; the scene of a dozen skeltons working the field as the PCs get closer to a fort; and the scene depicting several guards and a wizard holding back a horde of skeletons trying to cross a bridge. The maps and potraits of characters and monsters are also of good quality. The cover art is exceptional! It is this artwork that caught my attention and got me interested enought ot look over the module.

The world setting (technology:steam and gunpowder-like mixed with fantasy) clinched the sale. Oh yes, back to the organization. There is a table of contents on the 3rd page. The module is divided into "Acts". The intro introduces the reader to a general overview of the Iron Kingdoms, the city of Corvis, and its immediate surroundings. The appendices give descriptions and stats of monsters unique to this land and key NPCs. On the sides of certain pages, there are extra info pertaining to this land such as the law in Corvis, Steam power, firearms, and religion.

The Bad: The city map could have been more detailed. The city map is very small although if one goes to the website, "Privateerpress.com," he/she can download a larger map. Just enough info to get started in the city is given. One has to wait until after the trilogy is finished to get his/her hands on the City of Corvis sorce material. Until then, the author gives enough adventure "hooks" to keep the DM and PCs busy until part 2 comes out. The biggest complaint: there was no stats for the sword, WitchFire! I would have loved to see the full capabilities of that sword.

The Good: Good story, great layout, and exceptional artwork. Best of all, the price. For $9.95, you get 64 pages of high quality material. I would highly recommend it to all especially beginning players and DMs.

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