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Changeling: the Dreaming has always focussed on the big picture when it came to politics in Concordia. Sure, we knew plenty about High King David and we could find out who was in charge of each of the major kingdoms and political factions, but beyond a couple of sentences in the rulebook or Nobles: the Shining Host we didn't know much about what the kingdoms were really like. Kingdom of Willows is the first of the series of kingdom books that will be to Changeling what the "by Night" series is to Vampire or the "Rage Across" series is to Werewolf.

Willows details the realm of King Meilge, who rules from Maryland to Georgia, North Carolina to Mississippi. Wild mountain country, beautiful grasslands, and stately mansions seem to fit the fae. Willows isn't just about the stereotypical South, though. There's plenty of info on the fae in the modern cities of the South.

Willows is full of plot hooks that should be easy to expand into full-fledged adventures (I did it for the playtest, so it must not be too hard), but doesn't offer any answers for anything but the Big Adventure. The Big Adventure is an overarcing story that will be continued in future Kingdom books: High King David has disappeared and his sword Caliburn has chosen a commoner to quest for the missing High King. Willows provides whodunnit answers, but the Big Adventure falls prey to the shortcoming of all overarcing game supplement plotlines--you don't want to mess with the story! And you certainly don't want to wait for all the books to come out to be able to run the full campaign. The High King David campaign isn't that useful, although I plan to incorporate it into my game. It won't be the center of the character's attention, but it will be important.

An appendix with information on fairy hounds and steeds and a new Nunnehi Kith rounds out the book.

The book's only real shortcoming, the one that detracts from its usefulness, is that it makes reference to southern character and famed "Southern hospitality" and the like, but doesn't explain much about what these things mean. Even the chapter on "How to Tell Southern Stories" tells you to use stereotypes, but to change things around a bit so that characters don't conform wholly to the stereotypes. I'm not from the area detailed in Willows, I'm originally from Texas, in Burning Sands, and I can tell you that a stereotypical Texan doesn't exist in my experience. I suspect the same is true of other states. Besides, how is a stereotypical Mississippian different from a stereotypical Louisiana resident? Or a stereotypical Kentuckian? Aside from the accents, I mean.

Nevertheless, this doesn't render the book useless, just less useful than it could have been. And I can understand that not everything can be fit into 174 pages. I solved the problem by setting my game in West Baltimore, which I can see every week by tuning into "Homicide". Kingdom of Willows is more of a guidebook to the Changelings and politics of the South than to the South itself. Anyone who's going to use this book to run a Southern chronicle should also pick up a Fodors guide for the area they plan to base their campaign in. With such a wide area to cover, Willows can only offer shallow coverage of everything.

If the area appeals to you, I'd recommend picking this up. If you have an established campaign elsewhere and don't plan on using the search for High King David in your campaign, probably the only use you'll find for it is that it continues the "Changeling mural" formed by putting the Changeling books in order on the shelf.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Kingdom of Willows<
Author: Jackie Cassada & Nickie Rea Category: game Company/Publisher: White Wolf Game Studio Cost: $18.00 US Page count: 174 ISBN: 1-56504-720-6 Playtest Review by Kevin Mowery on 07/01/98. Genre tags: none	Changeling: the Dreaming has always focussed on the big picture when it came to politics in Concordia. Sure, we knew plenty about High King David and we could find out who was in charge of each of the major kingdoms and political factions, but beyond a couple of sentences in the rulebook or Nobles: the Shining Host we didn't know much about what the kingdoms were really like. Kingdom of Willows is the first of the series of kingdom books that will be to Changeling what the "by Night" series is to Vampire or the "Rage Across" series is to Werewolf. Willows details the realm of King Meilge, who rules from Maryland to Georgia, North Carolina to Mississippi. Wild mountain country, beautiful grasslands, and stately mansions seem to fit the fae. Willows isn't just about the stereotypical South, though. There's plenty of info on the fae in the modern cities of the South. Willows is full of plot hooks that should be easy to expand into full-fledged adventures (I did it for the playtest, so it must not be too hard), but doesn't offer any answers for anything but the Big Adventure. The Big Adventure is an overarcing story that will be continued in future Kingdom books: High King David has disappeared and his sword Caliburn has chosen a commoner to quest for the missing High King. Willows provides whodunnit answers, but the Big Adventure falls prey to the shortcoming of all overarcing game supplement plotlines--you don't want to mess with the story! And you certainly don't want to wait for all the books to come out to be able to run the full campaign. The High King David campaign isn't that useful, although I plan to incorporate it into my game. It won't be the center of the character's attention, but it will be important. An appendix with information on fairy hounds and steeds and a new Nunnehi Kith rounds out the book. The book's only real shortcoming, the one that detracts from its usefulness, is that it makes reference to southern character and famed "Southern hospitality" and the like, but doesn't explain much about what these things mean. Even the chapter on "How to Tell Southern Stories" tells you to use stereotypes, but to change things around a bit so that characters don't conform wholly to the stereotypes. I'm not from the area detailed in Willows, I'm originally from Texas, in Burning Sands, and I can tell you that a stereotypical Texan doesn't exist in my experience. I suspect the same is true of other states. Besides, how is a stereotypical Mississippian different from a stereotypical Louisiana resident? Or a stereotypical Kentuckian? Aside from the accents, I mean. Nevertheless, this doesn't render the book useless, just less useful than it could have been. And I can understand that not everything can be fit into 174 pages. I solved the problem by setting my game in West Baltimore, which I can see every week by tuning into "Homicide". Kingdom of Willows is more of a guidebook to the Changelings and politics of the South than to the South itself. Anyone who's going to use this book to run a Southern chronicle should also pick up a Fodors guide for the area they plan to base their campaign in. With such a wide area to cover, Willows can only offer shallow coverage of everything. If the area appeals to you, I'd recommend picking this up. If you have an established campaign elsewhere and don't plan on using the search for High King David in your campaign, probably the only use you'll find for it is that it continues the "Changeling mural" formed by putting the Changeling books in order on the shelf. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Kingdom of Willows<