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The Book Itself
The version of API Europe that I am reviewing is a pdf copy. It has 91 pages including the cover, and it has a black and white interior. The cover sticks to API’s usual skyline in flames, and the cover symbol is 12 stars circled around a blood splat. This cover is a play on the flag of the European Union. Third Eye Games has also built a steady base list of artists for its books; all which provide good to excellent artwork. In previous sourcebooks for API I had felt certain art too dark for a pdf or print product and coming out hard to see. With Europe I did not notice this problem.
Chapter Breakdown
Prologue: Fiction Piece (Pages 3-7)
The book begins with a short story entitled “Get Your Hands Off My Clock!” Like most API fiction it is entertaining and helps to get the “feel” of API across to the reader. In this story a rather large demon seems to be about to destroy Big Ben in London. An API cell has shown up along with an agent from America to try to stop this skyscraper sized monstrosity. Ignoring orders that the beast is not to be harmed the agents take matters into their own hands and the beast, all the agents, and a large portion of the locals in the area are transported to the monster’s home dimension.
The story is actually the lead in to the adventure at the back of the book. This is something I have occasionally seen in RPGs and I love the idea. Linking the beginning fiction with the ending adventure always seems to tie the book together in a way that I believe many overlook. I will get to the adventure later in the review.
Chapter One: Europe At a Glance (Pages 10-23)
API’s Canada sourcebook did a wonderful job of putting the regions characteristics in a nutshell; API’s Europe follows this same format. The first chapter goes into details about Europe and is written with a feeling that the author has done much research over Europe or has lived or visited there repeatedly. London gets the biggest portion of the chapter due to it being the birthplace and main HQ for API.
On top of the chapter being like a small tourist book, there are also numerous API setting specific details given. For example, the London Eye ferris wheel is a city wide mind wiping device for API, the ravens around the Tower of London are part of a mystical ward, and Paris, France is the seat of power for the Taylari Vampires. The chapter is full of information for the major parts of Europe, from Spain to Greece to the Vatican City. Each has small snippets of ideas for adventures or information on API in that area. The chapter is by no mean exhaustive in its descriptions, but it gives enough information for GMs to be able to start off on their own ideas.
Chapter Two: Inside The Company (Pages 24-37)
Where the first chapter was mainly factual information with a bit of game ideas here and there, Chapter Two is mostly about the local game setting history. Europe is the birthplace of API and is where the Circle of Ten first fought and defeated the Rat Queen. This has made London the main world headquarters for API. The section goes into the general history of API in Europe. This history begins with Circle of Ten’s constant battle against a group known as the Knights of Solomon; the Knights causing the Great Fire of London just to try to wipe out API. API survived, but because of the fire many deals were cut that still hold to today. Oaths were made with the Centaurs to control the Fauns that had taken over the city and API became allies with the Rosicrucians to help fight off the attacks and ploys of Solomon’s Knights.
The next section goes into the importance of Oaths (a new path of magic) to the London HQ. The London base has been the keeper of oaths for API, due to the large amount of Oath usage in the area. There are agents known as Oathkeepers whose use of the Path of Oath allow them to sanctify the oaths given to or by API agents.
Next is the description of some of the London HQ. The main facility is hidden underneath St. Paul’s Cathedral; however, most of API’s facilities are spread across the city as a way to keep the entire structure from falling at once and to be convenient to agents across the city. The Circle of Ten also has King Arthur’s round table in the HQ. It is a magical construct created by Merlin used to calm the debates made by those who sit at it. Rumor also has that the London HQ has an area known as the Trove. This area is said to house all of the magical devices that API encounters and experiments with.
The chapter finishes with how the various demon races are seen in this area. Some interesting differences between North America and Europe are: Burners are not respected in Europe, Carriers are turned a blind eye and their illegal status often ignored, and Spectrals are abundant due to all the wars and death in Europe over time.
Chapter Three: Allies and Enemies (Pages 38-51)
Chapter Three is all about the major factions in Europe dealing with API. They are:
- The Rosicrucians – A sect with roots in ancient Egypt. They are the masters of magical history and power while blending it with faith and scientific knowledge. They are allied with API in hopes that it will protect them from the Knight’s of Solomon.
- The Collegium Arcanis – This is a joint effort between API and the Grand Lodge in Vienna. The Collegium Arcanis’ purpose is to train those found by API to be “gifted” in the magical arts or psychic capabilities.
- The Inner Cabinet – The Inner Cabinet is a group of like minded members of European government. They are officials who want to circumnavigate the laws of API and make their own pacts and oaths with demons in hopes of personal gains. Many an illegal demon has made their way into Europe safely because of the Inner Cabinet.
- The Knights of Solomon – The Knights were formed in the Middle East in ancient times. They hate all demon races and believe in human supremacy. They have been at odds with API and the Roscrucians for years, and while a current sort of alliance has been set between them, the Knights are simply biding their time for when they can exert their power. It should be said that at one time the Knights were seen as heroes by most, but with humans as a whole now being more knowledgeable and understanding of demons, the idea that all demons deserve to die has died away.
- The 7 Keys – In World War Two Sgt. Grace in the British Army discovered a power demonic intelligence within a German bunker. The demon had been placed in a box that was supposed to protect its captors, but had been flawed in its making and had allowed the demon to destroy them. When Sergeant Grace and his men found the box, the demon exerted control over them as his minions. The demon gave them supernatural powers which caused them to rise in power and become prominent figures in their societies. Grace created a new box and tricked the demon into it, locking the demon away while still giving Grace and his men their powers. 7keys are needed to unlock the box and the families of the original squad have them, passing the power of the demon down generation to generation.
- The Greyfire Club – A group of rich high society explorers started by Lucas Greyfire in 1921. They travel all over the world looking for adventure and secrets of the past. The problem is they don’t follow API law and have a habit of causing a lot of trouble for API agents.
Chapter Four: Mechanical Wonders (Pages 52-75)
This chapter contains all of the rules added for API Europe. It begins with a detailed discussion on Oaths and how they work and what happens if one breaks the oath. This leads into new magic which is the Path of Oaths and new spells for the Path of Fortune. Next are a few new equipment items ranging from Demon Scanners to an Enhanced Monocle that can be used as a microscope. There are also rare artifacts such as the sword Caliburn and The Golden Mask of Nephanta.
Next are some monster write-ups for enemies the players may encounter in Europe such as the basilisk and unicorns. This leads into the last of the section which gives write-ups for the new playable demon races. They are:
- Chiron – These are your basic Centaurs. They are the lords of the forests that they are linked to, and due to a pact with API are now the slave lords over the Fauns.
- Fauns – Fauns are Satyrs and the slaves of the Chiron. They have the ability to play music that brings out the base instincts of its listeners.
- Hidden Folk – These are Elves, but unlike the Elves of most stories, these have been locked away in a Limbo Dimension by a pact. The Hidden Folk have recently found a loophole in the pact and discovered they can get their souls out of this dimension and back to Earth; however, they must find a person with Elf blood to possess their body. The longer the Hidden Folk resides in the body the more it alters to the appearance of a Hidden Folk. The possessing spirit of the Hidden Folk destroys the original spirit, so if the Elf leaves the body it will be a burned out vegetable.
- Morgane – 9-12 foot tall, impossibly thin, androgynous demon race that feeds on souls and can see the life connections between individuals. They have the ability to alter these connections making loved ones hate each other or loving siblings become rivals. Oh yeah and they must feed upon souls to stay on Earth.
Adventure: Elsewhere? (Pages 76-82)
As I said before the adventure is linked to the opening fiction of the book. This is a great idea as it seems to bind the book together in a nice way. In the adventure it is up to the party to travel to the native dimension of the demon to restore Big Ben back to London and to find out what happened to the original agents and citizens who were dragged into the dimension. Without spoiling anything, the adventure seems to flow naturally and leads the players into several diverse situations. There are few places where things could get railroad without a creative GM, and the book itself keeps reminding you that a specific item is the player’s main (if not only) way home. That being said I cannot explain enough how much the fiction and adventure being tied together make the flow of the sourcebook so good to me.
The book finishes with a API Europe specific field report sheet for adventure logs and assignments. There is then a two page index which seems to cover everything; though, I did not use it. Finally the book ends with several pages of ads ranging from t-shirts to Third Eye Games website to upcoming releases, including the new setting Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade which uses the same system as API.
Overall
API Worldwide Europe continues the string of great sourcebooks for API. On top of the feeling of a small regional history lesson, the book also gives wonderful adventure ideas and setting history to really fill out the world of API. My only complaint is that I would like to have seen a lot more races in this book. I felt that was one area that could have given the impression of the dimensional hub Europe is suppose to be, instead we got some good races, but they were all linked to ancient ideas. I had hoped for a good mix of the classic and the modern.
Ratings
Style gets a 4. API has a good group of artists and their work goes from the good to excellent. There were a few places where there was some grammatical mistakes or XXX page reminders; however, it was not abundant like some products I have seen.
Substanceis getting a 4. This is a point lower than I usually give for Third Eye Games’ products and feel I should fully explain why. First, as I review more, my idea of what an average product is has moved. Second, I feel like3EGs really missed an opportunity with only 4 additional races in this product. However, 3EG’s favor tying the opening fiction with the ending adventure was a great idea, and the feel of setting and history is remarkable.
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