The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Firstly, I would like to thank Otherworld Creations for giving me the opportunity to review this product. For this purpose, I received a courtesy copy of the supplement.

Acceptance of Fate is a D&D supplement set in the world of Diomin. It provides an adventure for characters of level 7 to 10, as well as new material for the campaign world of Diomin. This adventure is part three in a series, but I was assured that completion of the first two was not a prerequisite in running the third.

I would like to address, in order, the areas of presentation, scenario content and campaign content (or extras). I think this gives a good picture of what a prospective buyer stands to gain from picking this book up.

The book is 77 pages long, a perfect bound paperback with a cover color and black and white interior art. The front cover is impressive, showing three adventurers wielding either swords or magic. The dress of these characters immediately gives one the impression that Diomin is not your average campaign world. One of the characters, in particular, is dressed in an exotic fashion, and wears face paint. Overall, the effect is impressive and interesting. The back cover is much less impressive. This is where you find the first of many, many typos, in the description of the scenario itself. I saw this when first looking the book over, and hoped it was not a portent of things to come.

Inside the book, the art covers an incredibly wide range of quality. The maps are good, and provide a decent amount of detail. Some of the art, the sketches of the NPCs in particular, and just beautiful. They are really great pictures, and I plan on using them to depict NPCs in my own game. Other pictures are just awful. Page 22 depicts…something…that is just plain bad. The rest of the art is somewhere in between. I would have to say that the average art outnumbers the good art, but the quality of the good art makes up for it.

The scenario is another mixed bag. This adventure is supposed to be easily playable, even if you haven’t run the first two parts. In the Introduction, we get an overview of the first two parts of the trilogy, and this option becomes increasingly remote. The world of Diomin is incredibly complicated and political, and adds entire new races to D&D. None of these political factions or races are explained, or even described. This review clearly assumes that you read, if not played, the first two parts of the trilogy. On the “plus side” Diomin seems like a world with a rich and involved history. However, if you are not already familiar with this history, running this adventure may prove a challenge.

Act One begins with an overview for the chapter, stating the overall intent of the act. I actually like this, as it helps the DM to focus on what he wants to get out of this act while reading through it and preparing. The writing in the scenario is extremely detailed. Often, this is a boon, as it provides the DM with a lot of flavor and background information. At other times, the writing contradicts itself, making it confusing to read. This appears to be consistent for Acts throughout the scenario.

Encounters are well thought out and the stat blocks look well done. The author did not skimp on detail when preparing the encounters. If the encounters have any flaw, it is that some of them, and one in particular, rely on railroading the PCs to move the plot along. Of course, I’m not saying that I’ve never had to railroaded my players for the very same reason, but when one purchases a commercial product, one expects the writing to be better than average. Otherwise, why not just write your own adventure, and for free? The author relies heavily on railroading in Act One, but does a much better job of avoiding it in Acts Two and Three.

Unfortunately, even the good parts of this scenario are marred by really poor editing. Typos and bad grammar abound. This is particularly distracting when it happens in the read-aloud sections. At least one read-aloud section seems to be completely missing. The read-aloud section on page 34 is completely confusing, and therefore useless (at least to me). Again, I make spelling and grammar mistakes all of the time, but I don’t try to publish them professionally.

Finally, we get to a section where this supplement really shines: the extras. This supplement provides a new Cult for the Diomin World: The Ebon Teeth. The history and organization of this cult is well thought-out and entertaining. The practices and preferred methods are described in great detail. There is even a useful progression chart that shows the typical class progression for a member of this cult, including reasons for each step (for example, where training for a multi-class steps comes from) I can definitely see using this cult in another game setting.

Act Two uses a mechanic that puts an interesting spin on the Gather Information skill. The version and veracity of any rumor you hear depends on where you hear it. This may seem like common sense, but setting down guidelines for it makes it easier to be descriptive that just asking your player to “roll Gather Information, DC 15”. This is actually presented as part of the scenario, but I’ve included it with the extras, as it is so useful and easily portable.

The rules for Spirit Tech didn’t impress me, but are an integral part of the scenario, and so a prospective DM should look them over before trying to run the scenario. Spirit Tech binds human spirits to Spirit Tech devices, providing power to make the item magical. The plausibility of importing Spirit Tech into another campaign really depends on the game and the DM.

In closing, Acceptance of Fate is an average supplement that is really hampered by poor editing. I would recommend it to anyone who has run the first two parts of the trilogy, or who is running D&D in the Diomin campaign world. I feel that it would have little appeal to anyone else.

Acceptance of Fate
Acceptance of Fate Capsule Review by Tom Bisbee on 11/05/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 2 (Sparse) A Fantasy Supplement for Diomin that features some good features and some terrible editing. Product: Acceptance of Fate Author: Chad Justice Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Otherworld Creations Line: Diomin Cost: 15.95 Page count: 77 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 0-9705312-2-2 SKU: Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Tom Bisbee on 11/05/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	Firstly, I would like to thank Otherworld Creations for giving me the opportunity to review this product. For this purpose, I received a courtesy copy of the supplement. Acceptance of Fate is a D&D supplement set in the world of Diomin. It provides an adventure for characters of level 7 to 10, as well as new material for the campaign world of Diomin. This adventure is part three in a series, but I was assured that completion of the first two was not a prerequisite in running the third. I would like to address, in order, the areas of presentation, scenario content and campaign content (or extras). I think this gives a good picture of what a prospective buyer stands to gain from picking this book up. The book is 77 pages long, a perfect bound paperback with a cover color and black and white interior art. The front cover is impressive, showing three adventurers wielding either swords or magic. The dress of these characters immediately gives one the impression that Diomin is not your average campaign world. One of the characters, in particular, is dressed in an exotic fashion, and wears face paint. Overall, the effect is impressive and interesting. The back cover is much less impressive. This is where you find the first of many, many typos, in the description of the scenario itself. I saw this when first looking the book over, and hoped it was not a portent of things to come. Inside the book, the art covers an incredibly wide range of quality. The maps are good, and provide a decent amount of detail. Some of the art, the sketches of the NPCs in particular, and just beautiful. They are really great pictures, and I plan on using them to depict NPCs in my own game. Other pictures are just awful. Page 22 depicts…something…that is just plain bad. The rest of the art is somewhere in between. I would have to say that the average art outnumbers the good art, but the quality of the good art makes up for it. The scenario is another mixed bag. This adventure is supposed to be easily playable, even if you haven’t run the first two parts. In the Introduction, we get an overview of the first two parts of the trilogy, and this option becomes increasingly remote. The world of Diomin is incredibly complicated and political, and adds entire new races to D&D. None of these political factions or races are explained, or even described. This review clearly assumes that you read, if not played, the first two parts of the trilogy. On the “plus side” Diomin seems like a world with a rich and involved history. However, if you are not already familiar with this history, running this adventure may prove a challenge. Act One begins with an overview for the chapter, stating the overall intent of the act. I actually like this, as it helps the DM to focus on what he wants to get out of this act while reading through it and preparing. The writing in the scenario is extremely detailed. Often, this is a boon, as it provides the DM with a lot of flavor and background information. At other times, the writing contradicts itself, making it confusing to read. This appears to be consistent for Acts throughout the scenario. Encounters are well thought out and the stat blocks look well done. The author did not skimp on detail when preparing the encounters. If the encounters have any flaw, it is that some of them, and one in particular, rely on railroading the PCs to move the plot along. Of course, I’m not saying that I’ve never had to railroaded my players for the very same reason, but when one purchases a commercial product, one expects the writing to be better than average. Otherwise, why not just write your own adventure, and for free? The author relies heavily on railroading in Act One, but does a much better job of avoiding it in Acts Two and Three. Unfortunately, even the good parts of this scenario are marred by really poor editing. Typos and bad grammar abound. This is particularly distracting when it happens in the read-aloud sections. At least one read-aloud section seems to be completely missing. The read-aloud section on page 34 is completely confusing, and therefore useless (at least to me). Again, I make spelling and grammar mistakes all of the time, but I don’t try to publish them professionally. Finally, we get to a section where this supplement really shines: the extras. This supplement provides a new Cult for the Diomin World: The Ebon Teeth. The history and organization of this cult is well thought-out and entertaining. The practices and preferred methods are described in great detail. There is even a useful progression chart that shows the typical class progression for a member of this cult, including reasons for each step (for example, where training for a multi-class steps comes from) I can definitely see using this cult in another game setting. Act Two uses a mechanic that puts an interesting spin on the Gather Information skill. The version and veracity of any rumor you hear depends on where you hear it. This may seem like common sense, but setting down guidelines for it makes it easier to be descriptive that just asking your player to “roll Gather Information, DC 15”. This is actually presented as part of the scenario, but I’ve included it with the extras, as it is so useful and easily portable. The rules for Spirit Tech didn’t impress me, but are an integral part of the scenario, and so a prospective DM should look them over before trying to run the scenario. Spirit Tech binds human spirits to Spirit Tech devices, providing power to make the item magical. The plausibility of importing Spirit Tech into another campaign really depends on the game and the DM. In closing, Acceptance of Fate is an average supplement that is really hampered by poor editing. I would recommend it to anyone who has run the first two parts of the trilogy, or who is running D&D in the Diomin campaign world. I feel that it would have little appeal to anyone else.