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The Ebon Mirror (TEM) is a module for players of 8th to 10th level by Keith Baker from Atlas Games and part of their Penumbra line for Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition (3e). It is a very deep adventure with many interesting takes on and lots of useful information for the DM. The whole module relies on slow discovery by the player characters, so if there is a possibility that you might play in this module, please read no farther. The following review will contain spoilers and lots of them.

There has been a trend lately to longer modules, and this is Atlas Games's contribution to that trend. The module is 96 pages, comparable in size to "The Tomb of Abysthor" by Necromancer Games and twice the size of the last two modules of WOTC's Adventure Games line. Presumably longer modules make more money and are more likely to be bought, since Dungeon modules are always going to be cheaper but are limited in size.

What's the Module About?

The player characters are hired to transport a magical trunk filled with curses to a remote village, Shareth-En-La. The headquarters of a sect devoted to destroying cursed and frivolous magical items is located there, and the characters are to be paid handsomely for their services. They have a few encounters on the way seemingly unrelated to the adventure, though their actions can have repercussions later. Close to Shareth, the characters discover the wreck of an opulent wagon and discover half of a magical rod. Once they touch the rod, the wagon vanishes and the characters may continue on their way.

Unbeknown to the player characters, they have entered a mirror realm: spells work as their opposites or contrary to their caster's wishes, useful magical items are now cursed and vice-versa, undead are saintly defenders of good, humans and their compatriots are twisted forces for evil, and humanoids are gentle and good. The players only learn this over stages as they attempt to finish their original mission. They must contend with the sacred undead, evil humans who worship the same gods, now grown evil, the suspicion of the good orcs and goblins, and bloodthirsty elf barbarians led by maniacally devious halflings.

Eventually, they reach the village of Shareth-En-La and must convince the suspicious council to let them speak to the leader, Osai-En-La. While they are resolving this, a concealed human assassin strikes, killing most of the council. The characters gain a cryptic prediction from Osai, and then must flee the village when an unstoppable invasion force of evil elves and halflings appears. While escaping, they must defeat their evil doubles and resolve the inherent problem of the Mirror World to reach their world.

Wacky Mirror Worlds

The premise of mirror worlds has been used to good effect in many areas. A good example is Star Trek, where the idea pops up infrequently and always makes for an interesting episode. Keith Baker has obviously paid attention when this trope is used and has gone out of his way to reverse as many 3e themes as he can. Goblins are clever inventors, Orcs are noble and learned and create magical items, and Ogres are peaceful giants and farmers. Elves are bloodthirsty barbarians, halflings are grim tacticians and warriors, gnomes are beast-like trackers, and dwarves are primitive shamans. Humans appear exactly the same, but all are xenophobic schemers. Blink dogs have become huge malevolent beasts for the elves, and the changes go on.

The origin of this mirror world is the half-orc sorceress Charra Lyn, who believes she can overcome her failings by banishing her orc half to another dimension. She has inadvertently created the mirror world, and it reflects her own nature. Unlike what many would suspect, it is her human half that is evil and domineering, and her orc half that is gentle and good. The entire adventure is essentially a struggle between her two halves, and the PCs have the opportunity to tip the balance one way or the other or preserve the balance. The module makes clear that the best result is preserving the balance.

I found this enormously refreshing. Most fantasy literature seems very concerned with purity, and Tolkien for example is very clear that the Dunedan mixing with the Middle Men has made them weaker. In this module, having a mixed nature is ultimately shown as a sign of strength. The mirror world is so strange precisely because it is not mixed: Charra's human half and orc half are constantly at odds.

Another worthy aspect of the mirror world is how things are changed, but not always to their polar opposite. In fact, many of the changes were very interesting. For example, ghouls in the mirror world still feed on dead flesh, but they only eat evil characters, and their touch can induce euphoria that prevents one from taking hostile action. All the undead have fast healing, because they are suffused with positive energy. Gnomes are now feral, while dwarves are extremely superstitious primitives who study the dark arts. This creativity is another excellent aspect of this adventure.

One final aspect of the module is also noteworthy. When the module is over and the PCs deliver their wares to the real Shareth-En-La, they make a surprising discovery. Osai is now an orc, and everyone seems to think this was always the reality. Only the characters and Osai know the truth. This technique of having some small element of the mirror world persist in the prime world is frequently used in these stories, and I was pleased to see a little homage to this in TEM.

DM Aids

Keith Baker went out of his way to provide the DM with many aids to running this module. Anytime the characters could disrupt parts of the plot, he provides an explanation. For example, it is possible (though unlikely) that the characters attack and kill the woman who wishes to hire them. She is an experienced agent and wizard, and she has a special item she can activate at her death. It geases the characters to deliver the items to her superiors in Shareth, because her mission is more important than her life. The PCs could of course get this curse removed, but it is another indication of how serious the agent is about her business. Another example is the sudden assassin attack in Shareth. The assassin strikes because she believes the PCs have come to aid her in wiping out the goblinoids. Should the PCs ally with her, the module is not ruined. The plot changes a bit, but the PCs will still have much the same things to complete. He also took the time to explain in a lot of detail how the mirror world affects spells and magic items. It is very thorough and covers many spells directly and gives advice on how to handle unexpected spells and magic items. The author has anticipated many of the twists and turns that could occur in the module and he prepares the DM for them. This aspect of the module is outstanding.

Layout and Appearance

In general, there was a lot of art, and it was well-done. The cover art by Lee Moyer is artistically done, but it strangely features one of the characters from the mirror world (a paladin vampire - remember, undead are holy in the mirror world) standing in front of an ebon mirror. This scene never takes place in the module. (This may have been done on purpose. The author deliberately includes a small obsidian mirror in the chest the PCs must transport to throw them off the scent if they know the name of the module.) The interior art is better, and Steve Sanders did an excellent job of showing the undead and their strange characteristics in the mirror world. The other art was also good. One strange thing is that there are pictures of the same characters by different artists, and they actually don't look that much like. It might have been better to have a little less art.

The layout I would judge as broadly unsuccessful. One good thing was the contents section, which was very clear. The appendices were clear and there is a detailed listing of d20 game content. Unfortunately, Atlas Games seems to have an inordinate fondness for sidebars, to the extent that sometimes there is only a little main text sharing two pages with three or four sidebars. It made it hard to read and impeded understanding when one turns the page. This was exacerbated by the huge font they decided to use in the main text. Of the three other Atlas Games products I own (Three Days to Kill, Maiden Voyage, and Touched by the Gods), this shared the largest font with Maiden Voyage. When I compare this with the font in WOTC modules in general, it is comparable to the difference between 12 or 14 point and 8 point. This really means that you have to flip pages more often when running combats and that you aren't getting as much as you think in a 96 page book. If smaller fonts and smaller sidebars had been used, I think this module might have fit in 64 or 72 pages and might even have been more readable, because battle and location descriptions wouldn't have spread over many pages. I don't pretend to understand the economics of printing modules, but I'm curious why Atlas Games went with such a large font that increased the page size so considerably.

Conclusion

This module is very interesting and deep, and provides a good mix of investigation and combat. Most parties will spend a fair amount of time trying to figure out what is going on, but the module is extremely well-structured to account for that and is filled with tips to help the DM along. If you are interested in modules that deal with mysteries and magical situations, this is definitely a module you should pick up. Playable modules don't get more imaginative than this.

Ratings

The ratings were difficult for me to decide on. For Style, the artwork was good and clear and displayed scenes from the module well. On the other hand, the overflowing love of sidebars and the rapid font changes detracted from the visual look and reading comprehension of the module. So I gave it a 3. For Substance, I liked what was in the module. The plots and characters were interesting and the explanation of the effects of the mirror world were thorough and sometimes quite innovative. The problem was that there could have been more in the module, and the large font made it seem like you were getting more for your money than you actually did. So it gets a 5 for what's there, marked down to a 4 because it doesn't have as much information as the size and price would lead you to believe.

Addendum

The chest of cursed items is available at www.atlas-games.com, along with a list of all their current Penumbra products. Unfortunately, it isn't available as I write this review, so I can't go into more detail.

The Ebon Mirror
The Ebon Mirror Capsule Review by James Landry on 07/09/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A very creative and well-put together adventure that should challenge players in many ways. Too bad there wasn't more of it. Product: The Ebon Mirror Author: Keith Baker Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Line: D&D 3e (Penumbra) Cost: 16.95 Page count: 96 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 1-58978-010-8 SKU: AG3211 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by James Landry on 07/09/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	The Ebon Mirror (TEM) is a module for players of 8th to 10th level by Keith Baker from Atlas Games and part of their Penumbra line for Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition (3e). It is a very deep adventure with many interesting takes on and lots of useful information for the DM. The whole module relies on slow discovery by the player characters, so if there is a possibility that you might play in this module, please read no farther. The following review will contain spoilers and lots of them. There has been a trend lately to longer modules, and this is Atlas Games's contribution to that trend. The module is 96 pages, comparable in size to "The Tomb of Abysthor" by Necromancer Games and twice the size of the last two modules of WOTC's Adventure Games line. Presumably longer modules make more money and are more likely to be bought, since Dungeon modules are always going to be cheaper but are limited in size. What's the Module About? The player characters are hired to transport a magical trunk filled with curses to a remote village, Shareth-En-La. The headquarters of a sect devoted to destroying cursed and frivolous magical items is located there, and the characters are to be paid handsomely for their services. They have a few encounters on the way seemingly unrelated to the adventure, though their actions can have repercussions later. Close to Shareth, the characters discover the wreck of an opulent wagon and discover half of a magical rod. Once they touch the rod, the wagon vanishes and the characters may continue on their way. Unbeknown to the player characters, they have entered a mirror realm: spells work as their opposites or contrary to their caster's wishes, useful magical items are now cursed and vice-versa, undead are saintly defenders of good, humans and their compatriots are twisted forces for evil, and humanoids are gentle and good. The players only learn this over stages as they attempt to finish their original mission. They must contend with the sacred undead, evil humans who worship the same gods, now grown evil, the suspicion of the good orcs and goblins, and bloodthirsty elf barbarians led by maniacally devious halflings. Eventually, they reach the village of Shareth-En-La and must convince the suspicious council to let them speak to the leader, Osai-En-La. While they are resolving this, a concealed human assassin strikes, killing most of the council. The characters gain a cryptic prediction from Osai, and then must flee the village when an unstoppable invasion force of evil elves and halflings appears. While escaping, they must defeat their evil doubles and resolve the inherent problem of the Mirror World to reach their world. Wacky Mirror Worlds The premise of mirror worlds has been used to good effect in many areas. A good example is Star Trek, where the idea pops up infrequently and always makes for an interesting episode. Keith Baker has obviously paid attention when this trope is used and has gone out of his way to reverse as many 3e themes as he can. Goblins are clever inventors, Orcs are noble and learned and create magical items, and Ogres are peaceful giants and farmers. Elves are bloodthirsty barbarians, halflings are grim tacticians and warriors, gnomes are beast-like trackers, and dwarves are primitive shamans. Humans appear exactly the same, but all are xenophobic schemers. Blink dogs have become huge malevolent beasts for the elves, and the changes go on. The origin of this mirror world is the half-orc sorceress Charra Lyn, who believes she can overcome her failings by banishing her orc half to another dimension. She has inadvertently created the mirror world, and it reflects her own nature. Unlike what many would suspect, it is her human half that is evil and domineering, and her orc half that is gentle and good. The entire adventure is essentially a struggle between her two halves, and the PCs have the opportunity to tip the balance one way or the other or preserve the balance. The module makes clear that the best result is preserving the balance. I found this enormously refreshing. Most fantasy literature seems very concerned with purity, and Tolkien for example is very clear that the Dunedan mixing with the Middle Men has made them weaker. In this module, having a mixed nature is ultimately shown as a sign of strength. The mirror world is so strange precisely because it is not mixed: Charra's human half and orc half are constantly at odds. Another worthy aspect of the mirror world is how things are changed, but not always to their polar opposite. In fact, many of the changes were very interesting. For example, ghouls in the mirror world still feed on dead flesh, but they only eat evil characters, and their touch can induce euphoria that prevents one from taking hostile action. All the undead have fast healing, because they are suffused with positive energy. Gnomes are now feral, while dwarves are extremely superstitious primitives who study the dark arts. This creativity is another excellent aspect of this adventure. One final aspect of the module is also noteworthy. When the module is over and the PCs deliver their wares to the real Shareth-En-La, they make a surprising discovery. Osai is now an orc, and everyone seems to think this was always the reality. Only the characters and Osai know the truth. This technique of having some small element of the mirror world persist in the prime world is frequently used in these stories, and I was pleased to see a little homage to this in TEM. DM Aids Keith Baker went out of his way to provide the DM with many aids to running this module. Anytime the characters could disrupt parts of the plot, he provides an explanation. For example, it is possible (though unlikely) that the characters attack and kill the woman who wishes to hire them. She is an experienced agent and wizard, and she has a special item she can activate at her death. It geases the characters to deliver the items to her superiors in Shareth, because her mission is more important than her life. The PCs could of course get this curse removed, but it is another indication of how serious the agent is about her business. Another example is the sudden assassin attack in Shareth. The assassin strikes because she believes the PCs have come to aid her in wiping out the goblinoids. Should the PCs ally with her, the module is not ruined. The plot changes a bit, but the PCs will still have much the same things to complete. He also took the time to explain in a lot of detail how the mirror world affects spells and magic items. It is very thorough and covers many spells directly and gives advice on how to handle unexpected spells and magic items. The author has anticipated many of the twists and turns that could occur in the module and he prepares the DM for them. This aspect of the module is outstanding. Layout and Appearance In general, there was a lot of art, and it was well-done. The cover art by Lee Moyer is artistically done, but it strangely features one of the characters from the mirror world (a paladin vampire - remember, undead are holy in the mirror world) standing in front of an ebon mirror. This scene never takes place in the module. (This may have been done on purpose. The author deliberately includes a small obsidian mirror in the chest the PCs must transport to throw them off the scent if they know the name of the module.) The interior art is better, and Steve Sanders did an excellent job of showing the undead and their strange characteristics in the mirror world. The other art was also good. One strange thing is that there are pictures of the same characters by different artists, and they actually don't look that much like. It might have been better to have a little less art. The layout I would judge as broadly unsuccessful. One good thing was the contents section, which was very clear. The appendices were clear and there is a detailed listing of d20 game content. Unfortunately, Atlas Games seems to have an inordinate fondness for sidebars, to the extent that sometimes there is only a little main text sharing two pages with three or four sidebars. It made it hard to read and impeded understanding when one turns the page. This was exacerbated by the huge font they decided to use in the main text. Of the three other Atlas Games products I own (Three Days to Kill, Maiden Voyage, and Touched by the Gods), this shared the largest font with Maiden Voyage. When I compare this with the font in WOTC modules in general, it is comparable to the difference between 12 or 14 point and 8 point. This really means that you have to flip pages more often when running combats and that you aren't getting as much as you think in a 96 page book. If smaller fonts and smaller sidebars had been used, I think this module might have fit in 64 or 72 pages and might even have been more readable, because battle and location descriptions wouldn't have spread over many pages. I don't pretend to understand the economics of printing modules, but I'm curious why Atlas Games went with such a large font that increased the page size so considerably. Conclusion This module is very interesting and deep, and provides a good mix of investigation and combat. Most parties will spend a fair amount of time trying to figure out what is going on, but the module is extremely well-structured to account for that and is filled with tips to help the DM along. If you are interested in modules that deal with mysteries and magical situations, this is definitely a module you should pick up. Playable modules don't get more imaginative than this. Ratings The ratings were difficult for me to decide on. For Style, the artwork was good and clear and displayed scenes from the module well. On the other hand, the overflowing love of sidebars and the rapid font changes detracted from the visual look and reading comprehension of the module. So I gave it a 3. For Substance, I liked what was in the module. The plots and characters were interesting and the explanation of the effects of the mirror world were thorough and sometimes quite innovative. The problem was that there could have been more in the module, and the large font made it seem like you were getting more for your money than you actually did. So it gets a 5 for what's there, marked down to a 4 because it doesn't have as much information as the size and price would lead you to believe. Addendum The chest of cursed items is available at www.atlas-games.com, along with a list of all their current Penumbra products. Unfortunately, it isn't available as I write this review, so I can't go into more detail.