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The Good: The support here does a great job of enabling a sandbox campaign by serving as a valuable resource in play. Monsters from the books can be found here, and since every NPC of note is detailed it's easy to take their general stats and use them for similar NPCs as needed. The bios are well written and do a great job of reminding the reader who a given person was and what they were up to. For those unfamiliar with the books this is still a valuable resource, though this reviewer recommends reading the novels before delving in to preserve all the surprises.
The Bad: This book is much less necessary than Your Story, and those with little interest in the setting could easily skip it – though having a huge collection of NPCs close at hand is nice. The artwork doesn't always match up to the book descriptions of characters as well as I would like.
The Physical Thing
At $39.99 this 272 page full color hardcover showcases the very highest production values. Excellent editing, formatting, and writing come together to create an easy to read product that's easy on the eyes. While I admit that the art bugs me a little in how it depicts the setting, there's no doubt that it's quality and does a good job of illustrating the many odd entities that exist in the Dresdenverse.Under the Cover
I've enjoyed The Dresden Files RPG quite a lot, in part because the way the system is designed encourages group collaboration in setting creation. Once the group has built the setting, heroes, and antagonists, it's time to start adventuring. For a truly fun sandbox game, this means keeping up with the players as the spur action onward. With FATE this is usually pretty easy, but with this game it can be a little more challenging because the setting has such a rich mythology. Every type of vampire, werewolf, and other creature has its own strengths and weaknesses. Keeping all this straight in my head can be challenging at times, despite being a big fan of the series. This is where Our World shines.With this book at hand it's easy for me to make a few bookmarks and easily engage the mechanics at the depth I prefer. Knowing that there are trolls living under the bridge and that the characters will soon encounter them is one thing, but statting them is different. I can come up with reasonable stats on my own without any trouble, especially for relevant Skills and the like. However, guessing at an appropriate number of Stress boxes is harder and knowing which supernatural perks they'll be bringing to the fight adds a bit more. Further, many supernatural entities have specific vulnerabilities and those are essential to bring into play to make sure that research and preparation are rightly rewarded – just as they are when Harry does the same in the book series.
Making frequent use of Our World during play, then, has made it easy for me to access all of the depth of the core game while keeping my personal time investment to a minimum. I don't want to have to design all of my own adversaries, and when I think to myself “I want a bad guy kinda like a more extreme Morgan” then it's much easier to look up Morgan and make a few tweaks than it is to create a new Wizard from scratch even if I'm glossing over the finer details.
Each NPC receives a full stat block, including Aspects, along with a bio that can be anything from half a page to several pages. These entries are extremely comprehensive and it's clear that the writers have engaged in painstaking effort to make certain that every detail corresponds to the books perfectly. My players had a great time just looking over the entries, especially for that hadn't read certain books for years. As a general setting guide and book companion this tome can serve admirably.
While the vast majority of the book is composed of example NPCs and all of the NPCs from the books, there is still plenty of attention paid to the general setting. Whether you're a newcomer to the Dresdenverse or an old friend, it's nice to have a run down on what exactly we know about different factions and entities based on the stories so far. To build on this, the book offers some details on the Chicago of the book series. With these two resources at hand, those completely unfamiliar with the books who don't care to spend the time reading them can still access the setting and start playing with it immediately.
Our World takes the Dresden Files setting and truly makes it ours – all of ours – by providing careful detail and support for every aspect of the setting.
My Take
I find this to be a fantastic product as both an expertly researched book series companion and RPG play aid. The setting is told through the people in it, for the most part, and the people are memorable. At the table I've found the book to be useful time and again, and I highly recommend it to any Dresden fan considering a campaign based in this creative setting.Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.
