 Goto [ Index ] |
Chapter One (8 pages) is a very brief overview of the history of the colonies, pre-1775. The start of colonies, major conflicts and events are all given a brief glimpse.
Chapters Two through Fourteen are each dedicated to a single colony, and follow a straightforward format. A quick fact box covering the first settlement (and founding date), the capital of the colony, it's main economic source, major native tribes, and the governor in 1775. Roughly two pages are given to a timeline for the colony, along with paragraphs covering geography, more detail on society and politics, major locations, and roughly a page devoted to "mysteries" (be they strange places or monsters). In total, each colony has between four and six pages worth of material. The history feels good and well researched, but I'm no American history scholar so I'm not the best judge for that sort of thing.
The mysteries are brief and tend to focus on more localized spooks and monsters; a clever GM could turn them into globe spanning menaces, but as presented the various entities feel more intended as something small and limited. Anachronisms such as the Mothman or the lizard man of Singleton's Crossroads are mentioned, but the author acknowledges that people in 1775 hadn't heard of such thing. It still feels well researched, but I think it's fair to say that supernatural elements aren't intended to be a major focus of this book.
In Chapter Fifteen (8 pages) we get some more information on the Algonquian and Iroquian peoples, along with the various tribes that make up these groups. I know that a person could devote several books to each of the tribes involved, and so trying to cram a lot of information into just 8 pages is a bit of an impossible task, but at the same time there's simply not much information here. The Nipmuc get three sentences, the Shawnee and Cherokee get two paragraphs, the Abenaki get two sentences, and so on. And yet, this chapter still feels better researched and more respectful than stuff in Deadlands or Rifts: Spirit West. A case of "the food is good, but the portions are way too small".
Chapter 16 (10 pages) is titled "A Surprise for General Gage" and serves as a decent little adventure that could probably be played out in a single four hour session. While it's the start of a larger campaign, it could easily serve as a standalone adventure and the larger Flames of Freedom campaign could be played without this adventure. It’s a good adventure, but it doesn’t appear to be an essential one. Also, there's very little tying it to the Colonial Gothic system if groups prefer another set of game mechanics. I will add that three pages are devoted to maps, and as I've said before in reviews, maps in adventures are always welcomed by me.
Wrapping up the book are a two-page glossary, and a two-page bibliography. I think fans of this time and setting will probably find both to be excellent additions.
Style: Other than one trivial mistake (in the adventure section, naturally), the editing of this book is much improved over the core rules and no errors really jumped out at me. The use of clip art from the time still makes for an excellent addition, layout is crisp and clean, organization is good. I'll go with a just over the line 4 with this one, and accept that I'm feeling generous. It's style is really quite basic, but it's also simultaneously professional looking and helps establish a different “feel” for the game, and a 3 just doesn't feel right to me.
Substance: I'm torn. There's a lot of individual factoids in every sentence of every page, but there's not a lot of breadth given to any single thing. On the flipside, I'm really glad to not be facing "Gazetteer One: the Native Tribes of Northwestern Virginia - Spring, 1775 edition" with the premise that there'll be dozens more gazetteers in the future covering things to minute detail. When I earlier said "the food is good, but the portions are way too small", I suppose that could be extended to pretty much everything in the book. In the end though I'm going with a solid 4 here. There's a lot of history to digest, some stuff on strange things in the various colonies, and a decent little adventure that doesn't take up too much space. And while this book covers a lot of material the core book does (e.g. Maryland, or the Shawnee), none of it seemed to be repeated between the two. It seems to me the core book tends to focus more on “playability”, while the Gazateer tries to add more history.
Conclusion: It's short, but it's also sweet, and works well for people who just want a general gaming book on the American colonies with no game mechanics or stats to deal with (the adventure in the back being the one exception to this). It's also probably an essential book for people wanting to make their Colonial Gothic games seem that much more realistic and grounded in history, without having to go do a bunch of research work on their own. It’s a good addition for fans of the time period and Colonial Gothic in particular.
