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In Short
Sharn: City of Towers presents a highly detailed fantasy city blending modern and renaissance elements into a unique landscape. Sharn is a frequent setting for adventurers in Eberron, due largley to its status as the ideal port to sail from to reach mysterious Xen'drix. Built on the ruins of an even older city utilizing special air-based magic, Sharn extends from underground caverns to mile high floating residences for the right. Adventure can be found around every corner, and the Sharn Inquisitive is sure to report on any interesting goings on the next week.
Know that I have run several Eberron campaigns, one of which was located exclusively in Sharn and another (the current one as of this writing) which is heavily focused around Sharn.
The Physical Thing
This 192 page full color hardcover offers an excellent value for the price. Not only is the book jam packed with great ideas but the presentation is beautiful. Maps of the city, scale layouts of some buildings and streets, full page comic book style art pages at the start of every chapter, excellent use of formatting to aid presentation, this book has top notch production values. An inspiring music CD is included as well.
While the book has no index it does have a detailed table of contents that makes navigating easy. Those who would like an index can view one here: http://www.bossythecow.com/sharnindex.htm
The Ideas
There was a big ole' city way back when. It was destroyed. The current Sharn was built on top of it, and it was built up. Thanks to its location on a manifest zone linked to Syrania (plane associated with air), air magic works exceptionally well and many of Sharns innovations cannot function outside of this region.
Neighborhoods are more vertically oriented, and while the districts of the city are different on every level they still maintain some of their atmosphere. Class based distinctions in the city are stark, with the rich living at the top and the poor at the bottom or even below.
Like the Eberron setting itself this product was designed with adventure in mind. The city guard is corrupt, there are a variety of criminal organizations, the Dragonmarked Houses are up to things here and there, corrupt politicians advance their own agenda, Warforged hide under the powerful watch of racist cogsworkers. Every city block at every level has something for everyone. While every city has the potential for grand adventure, this product throws out so many cool hooks that its very easy for a DM to keep players entertained
Under the Cover
Chapter 1 A Visitor's Guide 26 pages.
This chapter covers the basics of life in Sharn, from population of the city to weather to the role the Dragonmarked Houses play in the city. It also defines terms used later in the book. Each of the subdistricts presented in Chapter 2 include bios that discuss the types of services available. For example: Average trades (20), indicating that there are 20 average trades belonging to that sub-district. This chapter defines thoat entries.
What else? Holidays, festivals, sports, where to go to get what service, etc. I think you get the idea, this is a useful chapter giving an overview of how things work in the city.
When i'm running an Eberron campaign that uses Sharn extensively I don't usually refer to this chapter. I created a calendar which incorporates the holidays and such listed, but beyond that most of this info is either specific or of a nature that you're likely to remember without any trouble. For example, knowing that an Art Dealer is an Exotic Trade only available in the rich parts of the city doesn't normally require reference. How taxes work, when one of the PCs is trying to start up a business in Lower Sharn, might be something you'd want to flip to.
While this chapter is certainly important I rarely refer to it before or during a session.
Chapter 2 Life in Sharn 72 pages.
This is the guts of the book and it is beautiful. It starts out with the basics, discussing how to get around in Sharn and precautions against falling. The book then moves onto a district by district breakdown providing an incredible amount of flavor and detail while still leaving plenty of room for the individual DM to add and tweak as they like.
Effectively Sharn is broken down into large districts which extend from the Cogs up to the tops of the highest skyscrapers. Each of these districts is broken down into subdistricts, listed by their elevation.
For example: The Central Plateau is the heart of Sharn where most of the really important folk live, where government offices are located, and where the upper scale merchants can be found. The Highest Towers is a district at the very top of the Plateau. The listing tells us it is a Civic District, the types of buildings found there (Council Hall, Upscale Services (75)), a two sentence description for “First Impressions” of the District, the average Social Class (Upper class).
After this information is presented the entry discusses important people and places in the district. One of the especially cool ones for Highest Towers is the entry on Airship Docking Towers, which describe the docks at the top of Lyrandar Tower in the district.
Other than these well put together district entries sidebars introduce minor rules, important NPCs, and other useful tidbits. For example, one entry entitled Calling In A Favor discusses how members of Dragonmarked Houses can use the Favored in House feat to benefit themselves while in Sharn.
While running a campaign I refer to this chapter extensively. Before any session involving Sharn I look again at the districts the characters are most likely to be in, and during pauses in the session I might reference them again just to keep the unique details of the areas in mind. These entries are well written and make it very easy to come up with material for a session. Pick a district you'd like to set an adventure in and the product provides you with a bunch of different ideas that are likely to add twists and turns to what you've already dreamed up.
Chapter 3 Power and Politics 18 pages.
This chapter discusses both internal and external politics between Sharn and a number of groups. The city is principally run by a council, but the Lord Mayor (appointed by the King of Breland) also carries strong political power and occasionally finds himself at cross ends with the council.
The Dragonmarked Houses are discussed, especially those that have an important role in the city. Other noble families are also mentioned. One particularly nice sidebar in this chapter called “I, Spy?” discusses a variety of ways to easily create intrigue adventures and introduce characters to the political side of Sharn. Intrigue is a theme in the Eberron setting since the Last War only ended five years ago, and this chapter plays that up.
The chapter also discusses how Sharn deals, politically, with most of the other powers in the world. For DMs wanting to bring some travel to their game having a foreign power as a political nemesis could work out nicely.
While running my campaigns I rarely refer to this chapter. This chapter is very useful when initially designing a campaign, or before you first introduce the city. Its also great if you're looking to add new intrigue to the game or just want to add an extra level to the existing villains. In my experience, however, it is rarely used between sessions.
Chapter 4 Law and Order 20 pages.
What are the laws of Sharn, anyway? Who has rights? How does the Watch operate, and how do they deal with the powerful threats that tend to creep up in any fantasy world? This chapter answers all of those questions.
The chapter starts off with a discussion of heroes and the law, specifically why there can be adventures and problems for characters to solve when there is such a large legal force in Sharn. The simplest answer provided is that the Watch is largely corrupt, easily bribable, and doesn't go everywhere. That some adversaries would simply be too much for the Watch, and that they wouldn't want to risk their own people if they could avoid it, also provides good reason for the Watch to work with adventurers.
In actual play I refer to this chapter often while preping an adventure. Dealing with the various law enforcers in Sharn is going to be a common occurrence for almost any adventurer, and this chapter helps me to keep that in mind. Remembering which guards are particularly bribable, what sorts of other legal organizations might want to involve the characters, and what the punishments for various crimes are is useful stuff to keep in mind.
Chapter 5 Guilds and Organizations 12 pages.
Adventurers Guilds, Wizards Guilds, Dragonmarked Organizations, and a host of Criminal Organizations round out this chapter. One of the nice things the writers do while presenting these groups is they clearly list the normal benefits members receive as well as the general difficulty in joining the organization.
How are they? They're fun! Each one has a ton of adventure hooks built right in. For example, the Boromar Clan is the largest criminal organization in Sharn and is basically a halfling run mafia. However, a newer organization known as Daask with its own unusual motives has recently begun to challenge the Boromar Clan for control of the criminal underworld in Sharn.
The entry on the Boromar Clan includes prominent NPCs, about a page on the nature of the Clan, and how and why someone might want to join. Each of the NPCs is given about a paragraph, and an average Pickpocket belonging to the group is statted out for easy use.
I use this chapter every few sessions because I want the characters in my games to always be presented with organizations they may wish to join. Its really easy to build plot hooks around these groups, and any Sharn campaign will encounter these groups. Unless your game avoids Rogues, Wizards, Mercenaries... you get the idea.
Chapter 6 Heroes and Magic 16 pages.
This chapter is all about Sharn focused mechanics. Prestige Classes, Feats, special equipment, and all the bells and whistles you would expect are found here. What I like about these items is that, for the most part, they're very Sharn focused. For example, several of the feats and items only work well in a manifest zone linked to Syrania. While they will function in Sharn, they're unlikely to function much of anywhere else in Eberron.
The Prestige Classes include the Cannith Wand Adept (Artificer specializing in getting the most out of wands), the Citadel Elite (the King's special agents), and the Sharn Skymage (gives up spellcasting progression for flying abilities). On the whole i'd say that most players and DMs will only be particularly interested in the Citadel Elite, as the other two Prestige Classes are very narrowly focused.
Its a nifty chapter for what it is, but in actual play I very rarely touch it. I have used the Citadel Elite to try to tempt the interest of one of my current players (they're just cool), but I didn't find the magic items or spells to be interesting enough to incorporate into my existing campaigns (so far). I like having lots of organizations in my campaign, and the Prestige Classes are well presented so they may at least serve as additional groups to work with or against the PCs.
Chapter 7 Monsters and Encounters 14 pages.
What does this have? NPC Artificer progression and monsters. I always have trouble trying to figure out what to say about monster entries in the back of gaming books. I don't find the monsters, on the whole, to be Sharn specific and there isn't much in the way of hooks for these critters. I wish they had had entries more along the lines of those in the Monster Manual Three, so they would be better tied to the world.
In the campaigns i've been involved in I haven't used any of the material presented in this chapter. The monsters didn't interest me, and when I use NPCs I either build them out ahead of time or go with general level appropriate values and abilities on the fly. So the Artificer NPC progression hasn't been useful so far either. However, I can see some potential with the monsters introduced here to generate fun and interesting adventures. Any one of them could be the target of a Sharn Inquisitor article.
Chapter 8 A Sharn Campaign 5 pages.
This chapter presents final words on how the D&D rules may need to be adjusted for a Sharn campaign, such as how wealth is acquired. Interesting random events to help a DM generate adventure hooks and a table of interesting corpses a character might stumble upon are also presented.
In actual play I never touch these five pages. They may be worth reading the first time to consider things like wealth acquisition in a city based game, or to generate ideas for a session thanks to the idea tables, but that's it.
My Take
This is a fantastic city setting book. The art and writing are very in tune with the feel of Eberron and its no wonder that so many campaigns are set in and involving Sharn. The city was clearly designed with the adventurer in mind, and there are so many hooks here a person could run a dozen campaigns without rehashing any material.
I have had a lot of fun with Sharn in my games thanks in part to the well detailed organizations. That many of these groups are either criminals, corrupt, and/or power hungry makes it really easy to create nefarious plots for the PCs to foil.
Believe it or not, the height of the city has been a lot of fun too. Leaping off a rising platform to land on a pegasus drawn aircoach to arrest the occupant is just awesome pulp action stuff, and the way the city was physically designed provides for lots of nifty scenes.
If you like Eberron and would like to run a city based campaign, or just want to run a few sessions in a big city, you can't go wrong with Sharn. However, if you're only interested in Eberron on the larger scale or are looking for a fantasy city that can exist in any fantasy setting this book is probably not for you. Sharn: City of Towers is a narrowly focused on the city and fully incorporates Eberron setting material at every turn.
Of course, if you just want a fun book to read full of neat places and fantastic locales this is a great choice. The writing is sharp and the ideas are interesting.
In play i've gotten a ton of fun out of this product, and if I could go back i'd happily buy it all over again.
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