For those who didn't read my review of the first book in this series
Rulers of the Sky, the Aerial Adventure Guides are three books that detail the use of air-based games using d20 games. Each book is marketed as being a stand alone product that combined with the other two provides a complete Aerial Setting. The first,
Rulers of the Sky covers the "basics of the aerial adventures", being namely rules. The third -
Monsters, Magic, and Sky Ships is essentially a sourcebook of NPCs and creatures to populate any aerial campaign. This book details the setting more and provides a series of locations that can be used with any fantasy campaign.
Layout and Format
Sellaine uses the same formating that was used in the previous book, a two column spread on each page bordered with artistic clouds and creatures. Again this is a clear format with a frugal use of space to fit as much text on each page. Chapters tend to run into each other but usually these are clearly marked with a break in the text and clear headings.
The artwork is still no better than the previous book with two particular pieces being almost impossible to make out exactly what they are pictures of. However nothing is particularly bad, although I do feel that the cover art has a definite "friend of a friend" look to it.
Content
After an introduction that essentially reiterates that while Sellaine is part of three books it isn't necessary for the reader to purchase the other two, the book continues to revise certain details about the Cloud Realms as briefly touched upon in Volume One. There are some tips about how to integrate the locations and setting into an existing campaign - which does a fairly good job of covering most concerns a DM might have. From "everyone knows about them" to "It's a hidden secret" there is plenty of potential for a creative DM to have players questing to find the Cloud Realms before adventuring and exploring them.
Sellaine
The city of Sellaine is kind of the default Aerial Adventures setting. This chapter provides plenty of history and basic political detailing to allow a DM to start using the setting fairly much straight from the box. The map provided I felt was a bit redundant - there should have been a second map showing the layout of the Spires, and Tradetown areas. While the chapter is not the "intricately detailed setting of Sellaine" promised on the back cover, it is still full of some nice little locations. Sure, Sellaine is not a paticularly original fantasy city, but it is a good default place to start a game in. I'd feel very confident of being able to use it in the case of a bunch of friends showing up and wanting to play an unplanned D&D game. (I suspect they'll all be caught nicely off guard in fact.)
Another little detail that I found good was the use of notations when mentioning NPCs who weren't hugely key - for example "The current head of the guild, Endarus (male elf LN Wiz15) cares little for politics..." In that one sentence the DM has quite a bit of information - including how to use the generic stats provided within the DM's Guide. This is very handy and a good way to save space for more details.
Aerial Gazetteer
After the section on Sellaine the next chapter looks at three locations within the setting that DMs might want to use for adventures. These locations are all relatively modular and can be dropped into any setting - which I agree is a great idea. First up is the generic Necromancer's realm, Dreadfall. While this is a typical "evil" location it is sufficiently detailed to give a DM some inspiration. There isn't really enough to use it straight out of the book - most of the locations will need fleshing out to be used. Places that struck me as being key adventuring locales such as the Skull Shrine really need to have maps made and detailed for adventuring. But most of these places have some descriptions that should help a DM to build a decent map of each location as well as populating it with challenges and monsters.
Fulgash's Tower, the next location, is a nice concept and even has a clearly laid out map - although it is rather small. This is a magical tower that has gone a bit awry and now leans on a 45-degree angle! This means that moving throughout the tower requires constant climbing and dexterity checks when attempting complicated maneuvers. Each room in the tower is detailed and provides a location that would make for a great one-night adventure.
The final location isn't so much a location than a kind of monster. The Wildlands has to be one of the more appealing concepts. Essentially a living ecosystem with a single consciousness that wanders the skylanes this is a section that I felt could have benefitted from more detail. However, with a little work this can provide a great campaign adventure on its own. (Maybe having the Wildlands threatening the continued existence of Sellaine...)
Finally there is a brief discussion of encounters on the Sky Ways - the general lanes used by travellers as well as the not so common. This is a very light chapter that I guess really sets up details for the next book. It presents one NPC/Encounter an Elemental Air Sage who is researching other planes and tends to be a nuisance. At the end of the book is a random encounter table as well as a mention of the random situations meeting such monsters may entail.
Verdict
Considering the previous book did not impress me at all, it was lacking in decent rules and was far too setting biased to be used on its own, I found
Sellain, Jewel of the Clouds a far more satisfying read. Personally it gains nothing from using
Rulers of the Sky and is indeed a decent product on its own. The locations and setting are nicely presented and some are quite inspirational. I again found myself feeling that this would have benefitted more if it had been a part of a large book combining all three products. (Although I have yet to see or read the third volume.)
There were a few gripes, mostly that some great ideas such as Sellaine and the Wildlands were not given more attention. But this again comes down to the choice of presentation. Three small books simply can't compete with one large $25 book. Considering that to purchase all three soft cover books is only 99c less than buying a book like Mechanical Dream (Which is a 280 hardback with full colour inserts...) I still feel that there was a great opportunity here that Goodman Games has missed out on.
Still for those d20 fans who want something a little different to spice up their games, you could do worse. For $11.00 US this book is not that bad a deal. If a little more work had been put into the setting I think I would have had no trouble giving it a 4/5 for substance. However, considering the amount of work a DM still needs to do to make this work as a setting it gets a 3/5. A much better effort than the first book though.
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