Introduction To Citybooks:
Citybook VII is the 7th part in the Star Wars Saga! Just kidding, it is the 7th book in a series of books by Flying Buffalo Inc. (who is still in business, and their books are still in print for retail price, as opposed to what people on eBay like to say).
They are part of the “All-system Catalyst series”, a bunch of products FBI put out without specific system information. While this is true, all these products have a distinct Tunnels & Trolls “feel” to them, so if you enjoy T&T, these books will be especially fun (if you run T&T adventures, you’ll really LOVE these books). If a little dose of High Fantasy, and unrealism, isn’t your thing, you might want to pass.
The Citybooks are all, basicly, set up the same. They describe locations (establishments) that you will find in the city, What they are all about, the personalities involved, and a map and key of the location. After each entry you will find scenario suggestions that could take place based around this establishment. With over 25 places described in this particular book, and about 3-5 adventure seeds per, you are bound to find some (probably many) adventures you would like to explore).
Other Citybooks describe different aspects of city life, such as Uptown (high class parts of town), port of call (sea side establishments), ect. They are all a lot of fun, and worth a look a to anyone who wants to run city adventures.
It should also be mentioned that the descriptions, characters, and scenarios, often cross with each other giving a feeling of continuity, and “living” city life. After reading one of these books, you will probably feel like you just walked down the street, and saw all these people interacting with each other.
Kings River Bridge:
This is one of my personal favorite Citybooks. The location is a huge bridge leading from the country side of the river, to the city side. Several establishments have set up shop on either end of the bridge. It really provides a self-contained, original, and fun setting for city-style adventures.
Appearance:
Most people will probably think this book is average in appearance. Those who like older games, will like it a bit more, because it has that “old game” feel to it, without trying. The type is 2 column and easy to read. The interior (black and white) range from fair, to really nice, depending on your preference. Personally, I wish they would have stuck with one illustrator, just to give the book a bit more continuity, as the illustration styles vary greatly.
The cover is really cool, in my opinion. Again, it has that “old” feeling to it. It is also, simplistic, a style of art I really enjoy. There are several little things about it I think are interesting, and the reason I like a lot of FBI products. The goblins don’t look like typical goblins, they have 2 fingers and toes, which, for some reason, just strikes me as neat. Also the 2 moons (ala the T&T world, although FBI will deny it’s intentions) add to the picture. Such un-obvious details as the 2 city guards on the bridge, being totally different builds, and heights just add to the picture, and the whole scene just gives you the feeling of High Fantasy Role-Play. I would love to have this piece hanging on my wall.
Contents:
The book starts with guidelines about how the book (and all citybooks) are set up, and the conventions used to describe things in a non-system-specific way. This is pretty nice, and easily adaptable to any system with a little GM work. I won’t be surprised if upcoming Citybooks include D20 stats at the end, to increase sales.
Next, there is a nice map (FBI makes really nice maps in my opinion, all 3 dimensional overhead views) of the bridge (well, the ends of it anyway, where the shops are located). There are plenty of empty buildings for you to fill in if you like, or you could just make them the residence of unimportant NPCs.
After an overview of the bridge, and how you can use it in your campaign, we get into the shops. They are subdivided into, Community Services (my favorite), Food & Entertainment, Personal Services, Undercurrents, and Bridge Encounters.
Bridge Encounters are laced throughout the book in the form of sidebars. They are personalities that add color (and a sense of life going on) and that you may encounter (or just observe). They include Street thugs, thieves, street gamblers, the old doomsayer, and the like. All very useful people to throw into an adventure as NPCs, again, even if just for color.
There are just to may locations, and personalities, to go into describing every one. I’ll just have to say, they are all worth a read. They are all done by different authors, so they don’t have a hurried, or monotonous feel. Each one is fleshed out and fresh. Even things that appear at first to be boring are pretty neat (I almost skipped reading “The Poets’ Guild Training Centre”, because it sounded dull, but it turned out to be really cool, and a fun (and humorous) read!).
To give a few examples (spoilers here to players), there is a Halfling rat-catchers guild. A group of halflings who have a monopoly over rat catching, and illegal “fight” arenas. They don’t actually do the rat-catching, as they have struck a deal with the golbins who reside underneath the bridge (unknown to the residents). Really a lot more interesting than my brief description makes it sound! The Skazy inflicted (leprosy-like) street cleaner, is actually a spy for a secret society stationed in the city, who disguises himself to appear this way. There is a meat pie shop where all the locals like to eat, but the source of the meat is questionable, if you know what I mean! Again, you can see how this stuff is High Fantasy, if you’re into ultra realism, this book may seem borderline silly. But, if like me, you like a bit of humor, and don’t care for ultra-realism, this is very useful. I should mention that the bridge guards are Trolls from a nearby Troll settlement (again, very T&T), pretty funny stuff involving them.
The Under currents section tells about the local ghost, a legend (well, actually a reality) of the bridge, and the Fizhak’s Waifs, the “orphans” of the city that live in the drainage tunnels below the bridge.
Conclusion:
At $15.00, a fraction of the price of similar game products, for the content, you can’t go wrong with this book. Even if you don’t use it in your campaign, I’m sure you will find it an entertaining read.
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