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Sleeping Gods, and the campaign world Legend, I feel, is the real reason why Dragon Warriors shine. In this review I hope to explain why. Needless to say, this review is abound with spoilers.
Summary: Sleeping Gods is a set of seven episodic dungeon-crawls which could be linked together as a campaign. It will bring 1st rank adventurers (competent when compared to the ordinary mortal) to 13th rank heroes (legends of the world). It is tied with a rather loose narrative and gives lots of wiggle rooms for the aspiring GM to add in more adventures between each episode.
The most important thing about Sleeping Gods is that it is, in a way, an interactive cultural and historical lesson. Albion, the kingdom where the players are mostly going about, is based on a feudal system much like the medieval times and its elements are practically abound everywhere in the book. There's also one adventure which would expand the horizon of the characters when they take on an exotic trading voyage.
The Goods: In short, Sleeping Gods is immersive. Small details are everywhere to remind the players of the game world. As Legend is quite similar to our world in some ways, this helps to keep the adventures rooted. The dungeon crawls are reasonably managable and each has their own unique elements.
The second good thing about the campaign is the atmosphere. There is always a sense of danger, the unknown and something familiar. Much of the 'lore' in the campaign are based on our world and remains mostly the same - but the context is different. This is different from just plugging in the names, like what Final Fantasy series did to Shiva.
An over-arching element of the campaign is the cultural and social norms aspect. Most of the time, the adventurers would be under a liege lord. The lord grants them social status, a stable income, boarding and basically, respect from others. In return the adventurers can only keep 10% of the treasures which they have found. This must be most discomforting to an adventurer from the Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk!
To be fair though, the player's liege lord is fair and would grant the loot back to the players as boon, but the emphasis is clear - there's a social norm to follow. Duty and loyalty are common themes throughout.
The Bad: That said, the dungeon crawls' designs belong to the days of yore. One-wrong-step-and-you-are-dead death traps exist (in the first adventure!) but thankfully, their numbers within one dungeon can be counted with just one hand (even if you have your ring finger bitten off).
Each adventure assume the only motivation for the adventurers is to get rich. Details abound as to how much each trinket would fetch the adventurers at the market place. GMs who wish to involve the characters more into the narrative and the dungeons would have to come up with their own hooks.
There are some inconsistencies between each adventures. For example, each monster has a rank-equivalent. This is present throughout the stat blocks. However, the second adventure has that missing; the first adventure has it as the last line of the block while the third places it as the first.
Second, the rules for stat check in Dragon Warriors goes like this: assign the task a difficulty. If the player's stat is above that difficulty, it is an automatic success; if not, he has to roll under it on 1d20. This is used for the first adventure - difficulties for each task are given. However, throughout the other, this is missing. All obstacles more or less have the wording "Roll under stat on a D20".
Quirks: Spot rules abound throughout the book - there's an obscure reference to what would happen to a Sorcerer who has his left hand injured (all Sorcerers are left-handed in Dragon Warriors). This may be all right considering that Dragon Warriors is rules-lite compared to many of its fantasy-based brethren but it can be annoying when you need to look something up.
The second strange thing about the adventures are that while each has a climax which involves an encounter with a demi-god being, it may not happen at all depending on the player's choices. (There is only one "scripted" instance where the players would confront with one of them). This sandbox style may eventually lead the characters doing things which could be totally anti-climatic, unless you railroad them (heaven forbids), think fast or have a back-up plan.
The adventures in detail
The title of the campaign, "Sleeping Gods", actually refers to the various forgotten heroes, demi-gods and deities of Legend. At the point of the campaign, the True Faith (an analog of Christianity) has pretty much spread throughout the world - many old gods and religions were either destroyed or forgotten.
Each adventure typically feature one of those Sleeping Gods; they, however, strangely do not play a big part in the narrative. In fact, players may not even meet them at all if they are too cautious.
1. The King Under the Forest
This has all the vibes of the Arthurian legend; a powerful warrior-king who is kept in stasis by a wizard and would return again when the land has need of him again. The adventurers explore the tomb of the king and may have a chance to become his vassal. The old-school design influences are clear within the first room - death-traps, puzzles which involve trial and error (and probably loss of a few lives) to solve and a tomb which is unlike any real tomb. GMs may wish to rework this adventure a little to fit their tastes - the dungeon crawl may snap some players' suspension of disbelief.
2. A Shadow on the Mist
A much pretty thought-out dungeon crawl than the prior one (as in, it's more logical) and pretty thick with atmosphere. The adventurers are sent into a haunted dell to find the fate of a tax-collector who may have wander into there. There is a chance that the players may never come across the big bad boss in the area, unless they are really doing treasure hunting. Careful players who get in, get to the objective and get out fast would miss the "fun" part.
3. Hunter's Moon
The adventurers and their liege lord are on a sea voyage when a storm wrecks their ship. The ship has to dock to repair, but the cove they have found is near a ruined citadel. The adventurers are dispatched to investigate the building, eliminate all threats and return with treasures (remember, they only get to keep 10%).
The biggest problem with this adventure is that there is an exposition done at the beginning which explain the history of the citadel, and is quite accurate. Players could just say "Right, this citadel belongs to the worshipers of a banished god and they are all dead. Let's go back to sleep" and finish the adventure - there's no compelling need for them to venture in except for treasure-lust.
And as before the players may not run into the demi-god of this adventure; just before the climax, they have a chance to turn back. There might be no exciting ending to this adventure unless the GM has something as back-up.
4. The One-Eyed God
An adventure where the narrative is stronger and much better "scripted" (perhaps that's the politically correct term for railroading?). An assassin has just escaped after an attempt on the adventurers' liege lord, and the players are sent to hunt him down. The assassin's escape route, strangely, is through a barrow. Again, this is one of the case where the adventurers may not meet the aforementioned "sleeping god" unless they are serious pack rats and treasure hunters. The objective (to capture the assassin) has nothing to do with the "sleeping god" in question. GMs are encouraged to be creative.
5. Sins of the Father
A heavily scripted adventure which would eventually led the players to meet one of those "sleeping gods". It also involve a plot-twist and suspicious players may know the answer (thanks to the work of a movie director whose name is best not mentioned). The plot twist is the weakest link in the adventure; the text instructs the GM to cheat if needed to preserve it. Other than this, the adventure is well done and feature many interesting encounters.
6. Mungoda Gold
A departure from the previous adventure, this is an open-ended adventure which puts the adventurers aboard a trading vessel to the a land which parallels Africa. How the entire adventure might go in the latter stage depends on the actions of the adventurers. The highlight of this adventure, however, is on a group of Khitian adventurers -- if I am not wrong, that is the Legend's version of China. Spot rules for tropical diseases and wearing piece-meal armour are included.
7. The Greatest Prize
This is a strange one. The first part is a free-form adventure where the characters have to infiltrate a castle and make a choice - either to ally with the owner, or take it for their own. The second part is a puzzle-based challenge which could be frustrating because there are only a couple of solutions for each of them (think King's Quests).
This is, however, not a climax to the campaign or the sort. As an ending adventure it makes for a rather weak conclusion. It's more of a "the adventurers have reach a higher level of play" as they now owe a castle and could become a force to reckon with.
Conclusion
Irregardless, Sleeping Gods is an enjoyable read and may give some ideas for GMs to chew and think about. There is no need to use all the adventures - the GM can choose to drop one or two out from the arc, or even rearrange them.
The weakest part about Sleeping Gods is the lack of a narrative - it may be very well be its biggest strength as it allows the creative GM to put in one of his own. This makes the dungeon crawls flexible - you can use them stand-alone without the plot elements if you wish to.
Scores
Substance (4/5): The dungeons come with maps and description, and even with red herrings and dead-ends. Cultural information, where applicable, are given and spot rules are provided for special situations. Each adventure is stand-alone and ready for running as "they are", and each has a different feel and favor.
Style (3.5/5) : Evocative illustrations are placed throughout the book and the book, being in an A4 format, makes it easier to read than its original small paperback ancestor.Maps are well drawn, functional and at the same time, stylish. There are a few formatting inconsistencies. An above average production
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