In Short
This book could best be described as a hodge podge of material that didn't make it into the core book. Equipment, spells, factions, monsters, this book has a little bit of everything. While it's focused on the Hand of Fate, or GM, the book includes plenty of information that is useful to players are folk who just want to read more about the Zir'an world.If you want a book that adds on to just about everything in the SoZ core book then you'll be very happy with this product. Those who don't like additional crunch probably wont take a lot away from here, though Chapter 3 is useful for everyone.
The Physical Thing
SoZ: Hand of Fate Book is a softcover book retailing for $21.99. 110 pages of material can be found between its covers. Paper quality is above average and the book is bound well. The interior is black and white with art pieces ranging from average to great. This book contains a good index, which is unusual for a book of its size and cost.I'd say my biggest complaint about the book is that the layout makes it feel cluttered at times. There are lots of new rules, powers, and other add ons here and it is often the case that the reader will move from one group of things to another that isn't all that logically related to what they were reading.
The Ideas
This book expands on just about everything in the SoZ corebook. The real gems of this book, however, are the bits on Conspiracies and Antagonists. The core book didn't have enough precreated badguys for my taste, and the Hand of Fate Book really helps with that.
Under the Cover
Here's a chapter by chapter breakdown of what you're getting. Chapter 2 of the book can be downloaded for free from the Paragon Games website, so try it out.Chapter 1: Running the Game
This chapter includes fairly standard, but good, GM advice. It includes discussion on the themes of Zir'an, such as adventure, and provides a bunch of plot hooks to help get the creative juices flowing. Basic guidelines for city construction are also presented. Sample cities are also included, with just enough detail to provide an outline for the HoF to create her own material. 18 pages.
Chapter 2: Environment
This is probably not what you think. It has standard rules for environment, such as Heat and Cold exposure, but also includes other adverse conditions such as Electricity exposure. Drugs, different types of vehicles, destroying objects, tracking, chase scenes, and a few other rules are included as well. It feels less like a chapter on environmental effects and more of a list of general additions to the core book. 18 pages.
Chapter 3: Conspiracies
Mook rules, NPC grunts, and a wealth of different organizations spanning the world of Zir'an. This was my favorite part of the book because it gave me lots of neat adversaries to throw a monkey wrench in the characters' plans. Most groups get a page and a half to two page writeup including stats. 30 pages.
Example: L.A.O. is an organization detailed in this chapter. A rebellion centered in Arivonne, these pilots and saboteur are tired of the influence Ianu Voss exerts over Arivonne and are ready to take a stand for their homeland. They're “peaceful” terrorists, however, with a strong “good guy” vibe to them. They destroy the wheels of industry but endeavor never to harm an innocent nor to lose one of their own agents. Enough detail is provided to give the HoF several ideas for adventure, an example L.A.O. NPC is provided, and like the rest of the product this entry is enough empower the HoF without overwhelming them with detail. In my campaign I used this organization when the PCs visited Arivonne in an adventure showing the evils of Ianu Vossan control over Arivonne.
Chapter 4: Magic
New Rune Magic and Shadow Magic spells, several items of power, and new rules for using Rune Magic. New runes include, among others, Phase Shift, Deathlight, and Braintap. Shadowmages get the Warp Cardinal. While a few of these abilities are ho-hum, such as a spell that creates a diffuse glow, there's more good here than bad. It's a host of nifty goodies, coming in at 18 pages.
Chapter 5: Antagonists
Shadekin, Zombies, Giant Plants, Evil Fish, this is your standard list of monsters. While I didn't find any of them to be incredibly interesting, it's nice to have them and many of them can easily be inserted into lost ruins. Now, keep in mind i've read tons of Dungeons and Dragons monster entries over the years so this stuff just isn't that interesting to me anymore. Still, a few pages on undead including zombies and ghosts isn't very interesting at this point. Though, I do admit, Cannibal Yaks are a monster that i've never seen in another product. They're an offshoot of the normal happy yak-things, and the two page spread of one of them with a dumb smile and the other eating a person... well, you've just got to see it. I would rather have had more flavorful monsters, but the book goes between the standard old stuff we've seen and a few entries that are just too strange. 24 pages.
My Take
In my SoZ campaign i've gotten a good deal of use out of Chapter 3. I suspect that many people will also find Chapter 1 to be useful. Chapter 2 is useful, but very situational since being electrocuted isn't a common event. The rules for chases and such might be very useful to a GM, however, depending on what sort of game they're running. Chapter 4 is mostly a player goodies chapter, though the runes are interesting and could be a lot of fun to spring on players if they haven't read this book too.I would give this product a higher review if the material wasn't so broad and unfocused. I'm not sure “a little bit of everything” is as helpful as a whole book of something more specific would be, but given the short run of the product line this is a matter of taking what we can get. In addition, some of the material in the book is really for Players and not the Hand of Fate. New spells, items, and other such goodies are really the realm of players and did not interest me as the Hand of Fate.
I like this product. While it does have the feel of a publication containing the leftovers that didn't make it into the SoZ core book, that's ok. The material presented is interesting and adds quite a few tools for a GM to work with.
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