Let me start this review by briefly summing up my experiences with D&D 3rd Edition, as these will undoubtedly colour my opinion.
I've run (and played) D&D for more than one-and-a-half year now. During these campaigns and one-shots, the setting was always home made. Apart from the three core rulebooks, I've only read Monsters of Faerûn, and the Psionics Handbook. As such, I can't really compare this book to other D&D supplements. While I like the sturdiness and consistency of the d20 system, I've found that I can't be bothered with all the modifiers and the highly detailed combat. I don't really have a head for rules. Therefore, while the statistics and 'crunchy bits' found here did seem balanced, I could be wrong.
Burok Torn is the first sourcebook I've read, and it was just about what I'd expected it to be: inspiring in some places, while a bit bland and too generic in others.
On with the review now. Burok Torn is a supplement for the Scarred Lands line by Sword & Sorcery Studios. It details the titular dwarven stronghold and its history, and in a lesser degree the dark elven city of Dier Dendral. The text on the back claims the book's generic enough to be used in every campaign, not just in Scarred Lands specific ones. While it certainly helps to know something about the default setting, I've found this statement to be true. I have no knowledge of the Scarred Lands beyond the introductions on the gods and the titans and yet this supplement was easily understandable.
There are quite a few references to other Sword & Sorcery Studios products, but most are negligible. Where this is not the case, the relevant portions are often copied in the text (with one notable exception, which I'll cover later).
Presentation
Burok Torn is a 112 page perfect bound supplement with black-and-white interior. The last four pages are occupied by the Open Gaming License and three pages of advertisements. While I'm okay with ads, I expect them to be readable — and these aren't.
The full colour cover by Christopher Moeller is very appropriate, depicting a number of dwarves assaulting a number of fell beasts. It's a competently done piece of art, with effective use of the palette. Unfortunately, the interior art isn't as uniformly good. The artists are Chris Curtin, Talon Dunning and Steve Ellis — most of the pictures aren't credited individually, however. Fortunately, Dunning's signature is easily recognizable, and I like his art. His depictions of the classes are a joy to behold. On the other hand, it's a pity his full-scene illustrations are somewhat cluttered. Of the two remaining artists, one works with sharp line art. It's a bit edgy, but good. The last artists' crayons are rendered blurry in the printing process, and are a bit uninspired.
The layout is very pretty. The page borders, adorned with a Scarred Lands pattern, are a bit large. The main text is of a standard size in an easily readable font. The lay-out guy, Ron Thompson, has judiciously made use of sidebars to break up the text — a bit too judiciously perhaps. Sometimes different portions of text, most of them in-character, are in a different font. These remain reasonably legible.
The maps and other graphics in the book are very good and rather complete. Yet I miss a large 'overview' map of Burok Torn and its surroundings.
The text is well written. However, large portions of it are in-character, which may sometimes confuse upon first reading. All in all, the presentation is good, although the layout is a bit busy.
Contents
After the run-of-the-mill Table of Contents, Foreword and Intro, the first chapter is appropriately called City Under Siege. It tells the turbulent story of Burok Torn and includes a timeline up until 150 years After Victory (in the Scarred Lands, that is present day).
The second chapter, The Dwarves of Burok Torn, is to me the most useful chapter. It discusses Burok Torn and its inhabitants in great detail. What do they do? How do they live and what are their pastimes? How is their stronghold laid out and how do they defend it? Many imaginative elements were devised here, including the home of the king that is actually part of their god's plane, an underground cascade that drops 900 feet downwards and a ring of forges that serves double duty as the cities last line of defence.
Of Gods and Kings, the third chapter, continues in the same vein and tells us about the government of the city, both past and present. Each dwarven king gets a write-up and the current council-members are detailed here as well, including statistics.
After these excellent sections the authors turn to the dark elves (dendrali) and their moving city of Dier Dendral in The Enemy Under Scarn. As the title suggests, the dark elves aren't exactly the friendliest of neighbours. The chapter includes race statistics, write-ups of the kings, descriptions of the city and its inhabitants. In other words: this is the dark elven version of chapter two and three, although a bit more brief (about two-thirds of the dwarven section). The vast majority of the chapter is written in-character by non-elven sources. This may, as I mentioned earlier, be a bit confusing upon first reading.
The 'crunchy bits' are delivered in The Mysteries of the Mountains. Four new prestige classes are presented here:
- Rune Master: working with runes, this spell caster can store multiple spells in advance, and cast them as if reading them from a scroll.
- Iron and Stone Guardsman: At least three levels of Dwarven Defender are necessary to apply for these dwarven elite troops. Stone Guardsmen are troops charged with patrolling the mountains outside of Burok Torn. The Iron Guard is the personal guard of the royal family and has a supernatural bond with it.
- Tattoo Adept: This racial (dark elven) prestige class presents a counterpart to the dwarven rune master. A tattoo adept is a master in casting spells through tattoos. Too bad the feat Inscribe Magical Tattoo from Relics & Rituals (which is gained at first level) isn't copied here, denying access to the class to all but those who have that book.
New feats (Inscribe Rune and Permanent Rune) are also given, as are new spells and Dendrali-specific tattoos.
Two Adventures are given in chapter six. They are rather complete, with a challenge outline and creature statistics. The first adventure draws the player characters into the dwarven community and lets them earn a measure of respect. It also tells the characters (and the dwarves from Burok Torn) an important part of the history, which was so well described in the first chapter. The second adventure builds upon the first: in it, the characters must save the royal family from the villain of the first adventure. Although it can be played separately, its effect will greatly be diminished.
The appendix, Monsters from the Depths, is as you've guessed the monster section. Three new monsters and a template are introduced.
- Cairn Hunter: poisonous underground watchdog, bred by the dwarves as sentinel.
- Sentinel Dendral and Spire Dendral: large sentient pieces of rock, these creatures make up part of the city of Dier Dendral and its defences.
- Nalthalite: this template describes dark elves that give up their life in order to become partly golem, in order to become more like their god. Of course, this template works just as well on non-dark elves. Where was this book when we had our main villain have a techno-implant-makeover?
Conclusion
Burok Torn certainly has its moments. It's very complete (maps, statistics, descriptions) and thus very playable; it's generic enough to be used in almost any D&D campaign.
However, perhaps because of this generality, there is little that really makes it stand out. My main issue is with the dark elves: they feel like an opportunity missed. While not as powerful as those in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (they have a +1 level adjustment instead of a +2), these elves are still the evil, hateful elves that we know so well from the Realms. Sure, they have a different origin and an interesting history, but the end result is a bit bland. Oh well, maybe it's just me.
For the completeness and the variety of material (races, prestige classes, spells, artifacts, history, etc.) the book gets a 4 for Substance. There was just too little ground shaking stuff here, and some minor mistakes (no map, missing feat). The Style rating also gets a 4: the layout is bit too busy, the artwork a bit too uneven.
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