So what is the Carnival of Swords? It’s part sourcebook, part adventure, a so called “Adventurer’s Guide” if you will.
The first 38 pages detail Old Coryan, a city that is huge by most fantasy standards, coming in at almost 34,000 citizens. Within the pages you’ll read about the history of the city, how it’s gone through many hands, and how it has rituals and ties to older, darker religions that have been submersed into the mainstream religion. Part of me likes this idea that the local religions are doing things without being aware of their true significance. How often do those practicing the Christian Faith, for example, add their own elements to it? Spirits and Demi-Gods become Angels and Saints and the true history is lost. In a FRPG however, those spirits and demi-gods still have power and must be appeased, thus the Carnival of Swords is held, an event that is more symbolic than actual, but the blood cost was paid long ago and must be maintained through the ritual.
In addition to the details on the Carnival itself and its true purpose, there are several elements that’ll fit into any standard fantasy campaign. How many cities don’t have a Red Lantern Street where all the earthly pleasures can be sampled? What ancient city doesn’t have it’s fallen ancients like the Black Sorcerer, a ghost who can be conjured up and controlled by those who know his name and the proper rituals to control him? What old time fantasy city doesn’t have old favorites like The Maze, a place where buildings work to trap the explorer, or a Dock Town where trouble travels easily?
In many ways, reading about Old Coryan is like readinb about Lankhmar or Sanctuary from Thieves World series. There are numerous NPCs and locations that the GM can lift almost whole cloth without effecting the background and relations of the characters to the city. There are however, many instances in which the characters are indeed tied to others and have numerous references to other elements, such as religion or race, that tie directly into the Arcanis setting.
The adventure itself, the Carnival of Swords, has something unique to the Arcanis line, the hard and soft points. The hard points are vital encounters that the players must go through in one form or another, while the soft points are optional encounters that help flesh out the adventure and provide additional details to characters who may have missed some element, or may not have the skills/abilities necessary to do everything on their own. This insures that if the party is capable and is aware of their environment, they may skip soft points in their entirety without affecting the flow of the module.
The characters find themselves in the old capital of the Coryani Empire during the Carnival of Swords, a festive time. Things in the world however, are not right and the characters become enrolled with a murder that pits old grudges against the Emperor. The party has to go through some role playing, puzzle solving, and good old fashion monster bashing prior to gaining the opportunity to save the Emperor’s life.
In addition to the city sourcebook and the adventure, the book contains numerous goodies to hold off those players demanding more material from their products. Appendix I includes several organizations, among which the Sword Template is found. This is the possessing power of the Horned King’s minions. The bad news is that it’s not in standard format. The worse news is that it doesn’t’ include a CR modifier. Other factions include members of the various guilds, gangs and factions found throughout the city, providing quick statistical information at a glance.
Appendix II provides the monster and racial stats for the Ghost Scale Ss’ressens, a race of lizards. Appendix III is another gem that can be lifted whole as it provides rules and information for several different tournament games like archery, log pounding, and wrestling.
Appendix IV includes several new magic items This includes all the items mentioned in the adventure itself like the Flask of Omlas, an Elorii Artifact, as well as the Sarishan Stone, an item capable of summoning fog and monsters to stalk that fog, as well as pocket assassins, miniature constructs designed to kill. The bad news is that there are no rules on how to make such items for your own characters with the proper feats. No market price, no caster level, no prerequisites.
Appendix V brings the Research Skill into the D20 game as a class skill for wizards, sorcerers, clerics, and bards. The time taken to do the research varies depending on the DC of the object being researched and if you have a Knowledge Skill, you gain a 2 synergy bonus to the roll when looking up information.
Text to white space ratio is perhaps too good. I had to stop frequently and rest my eyes. The problem becomes evident more so when reading text that moves to the interior of the page. This is great news for those who loved tightly packed products. Game stats are boxed for easy reference, important locations are highlighted with larged, bold text.
Art is top notch and gives the city its own personality. The interior map of the city is an overview, as if seen by a person and is top notch. The interior covers are both used with the front one showing an overhead with various locations noted with a key. The rear cover details the locations relevant to the adventure itself and are easy on the eyes and very readable.
The problem with Carnival of Swords is the setting. There are several nationalities and powers native to the Arcanis setting that don’t receive any explanation on how they work in other settings or what, if anything, they should be substituted with.
The adventure itself, while offering a lot of freedom, sometimes goes a little too far to box players into certain patterns. For example, when doing research on the Horned King, the party may be tempted to steal some of the tomes, which they’ve been guided not to do. If they do, two pit fiends come in and carry the character away for torture. Even more amusing is the pit fiends are given stats. Lets be serious, in an adventure for 1st-3rd level character, that’s no reason at all to put the stats in there if they’re going to be included at all.
My last complaint about the adventure is that its too epic in scope. After you save the Emperor at 1st level, what do you do for an encore? While it’s great that the players have an opportunity to effect the campaign setting so much, there should be some “official” version of how the adventure ended. I know I’m not the only one who hates running what you think is a standard module one way and then finding out in future supplements that it was a key encounter.
The tightly packed text, great art, and impressive tribute to the old cities of fantasy stand out. The price is more than fair for the page count.
Carnival of Swords is perfect for the Arcanis GM looking to start a new campaign in a rough and rowdy city and provides a great starting adventure to get the characters into the action. Those not using Arcanis still get the city and all of its NPCs, magic items, monsters, and other goodies but they’re going to have to work a little harder to make it all work out for them.
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