The Witch Fire Trilogy Book One "The Longest Night" is an adventure/source book created under the D20 License for use with Dungeons and Dragons. The adventure takes place in a land called "The Iron Kingdoms", a place where magic and technology (of the steam punk variety) go hand in hand.
If you are not a fan of steam punk (like me) don't worry because by the time you finish reading "The Witch Fire Trilogy; Book One The Longest Night" you will be (like me). In any case the steam punk element is very low key and therefore pretty easy to ignore if you do not wish to incorporate it into your game. The way it's handled however is really cool, much of the technology it seems is also powered by an equal degree of magic. The great "Steam Jacks" which can be seen loading ships on the docks of Corvis are given intelligence through the use of spells. Pistols (which are rare by the way) also incorporate some form of magic in order for them to function (for instance firearms do not use gunpowder but magical blasting powders which can only be created by skilled alchemists).
The adventure; I won't go into detail about the adventure so as not to spoil it for anyone but I will say that it is part mystery part dungeon which involves witches, a sword and lot's of undead! The adventure is broken down into acts with helpful advice and a recap at the end of every act, it is aimed at begining level characters (1-3 level) . There is something for everyone to do as well and there is something for every type of player (problem solving, dungeon exploring, roleplaying ect...)so everyone gets a chance to shine. At first my only dislike were the maps only because I don't like computer generated charts but having reread the material a few times I've come to appreciate them. They are exactly what they need to be; easy to read, well laid out and they also fit with the overall mood and asthetic of the story.
One of the things I liked most about the adventure was the advice of the author to let the players adventure around Corvis (the city the adventure is set in) and to not be so linear in the presentation of the story, don't worry about getting from point A to point B give the characters some freedom to roam about, there are plenty of things to do. The writing seems more personal than most products I've come across, it's almost like having a fellow DM sitting across the table from you advising you every step of the way.
The source material; The source material is enough to work with for the adventure but not enough if you want to go adventuring outside of Corvis right away which is okay because there is much for the characters to do within the city as well as it's nearby environs.
Basically the Iron Kingdoms were ruled long ago by a race of men called "The Orgoths", these people were pretty nasty but they were eventually defeated by the people of the realm. Not long ago The Iron Kingdoms were ruled by an equally nasty king (Raelthorne the Elder) but his younger brother (Leto the Younger) managed to free the kingdom from him. Raelthorne escaped and hasn't been heard from since.
With Leto on the throne the kingdom is safer than it used to be (as long as you stay on the roads and don't go strolling through the forests). Outside of the main adventure material there is also enough source material to keep your players busy until part 2 of the trilogy.
Some of the new monsters are very interesting, the lake squid being one of them and the way undead skeletons are handled is another (some types are less intelligent than others and some can even say a word or two!). There is also info for merchants, thugs and thieves and varying challenge ratings for each (for instance you may run into a thug with a challenge rating 1(green) or 3(experienced), stats are provided for each.
The illustrations are top quality as well, each one of the drawings helps add to the overall mood of the story. The hand drawing of Corvis is beautiful (you can also download it from privateerpress.com) and the drawings of the npc's are excellent as well. In future products I would like to see more illustrations of the city and the forms of dress of it's inhabitants.
I was about to give the content a rating of meaty but I decided that the source material was meant to be more for the city of Corvis than for The Iron Kingdoms, in that respect (and taking the price into account) the source material does it's job.
The style rating is well deserved, the book is clearly written, well laid out with some great illustrations.
A little about me; I've been gaming for over 15 years. I have at one point or another read every type of rpg there is. I very rarely buy material for my games unless it's for "Harn", "Jorune" or "Empire of the Petal Throne". This review is my first and I hope it is helpful.
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