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Review of The Last Days of Constantinople
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Disclaimer
I: I have seen in reviews that the content had "spoiler"
ascribed to it. I feel that if you are reading a review, you invite
that upon yourself. If you don't want "spoilers," why would
you read a review of a product you do not own? I will not use the phrase
of "Contains Spoilers" in my reviews, if you want a non-biased
review that doesn't reveal content-look elsewhere.
Disclaimer II: The majority of this review is opinion; your actual enjoyment of this product should vary accordingly. |
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"...
In the early evening, Giustiniani comes to the group with orders to
condcut one of the nightly raids against the Turkish trenches, to sow
as much confusion as possible, seize useful items (especially food),
and destroy seige equipment. Most importantly, the cannon, which have
been doing great destruction to the city walls, and lie beyond the range
of any of the defenders' weapons need to be put out of action. ..."
(pg. 32)
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WARNING SHOT: "... and they all die," is how I try to play a joke on people reading books that I've never read, telling them some fabricated ending... Unfortunately, the way Last Days of Constantinople is structured, that very joke is becoming character reality. |
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Last Days of Constantinople is a d20 system adventure designed to kill-er, challenge, a party of 1st to 3rd level adventurers. High on historical detail, Last Days of Constantinople channels some of the d20 system effectively into the historical world but fails to capture the heroic elements that make the engine run. It's hard to be a hero, while feeling that your created character is about to be doused with Greek fire. Last Days of Constantinople is set before the fall of the great city in 1453, and uses the historical record of Pope Nicholas V sending supplies and reinforcements (at the last moment) to the city as the basis of the adventure. This sets up a futile struggle for the characters as the fight their way in, and most will never live to see beyond the city walls again—should the adventure go as planned. As it lacks both an index and adventure synopsis to help the referee wade through the historical morass, Last Days of Constantinople is a difficult adventure to follow; I felt lost in detail as I was reading through the adventure's "segments," not knowing what was the intended overarching goal of the adventure. While the adventure's detail was good at invoking a sense of place, the wonder and splendor of the setting gives way to forced actions and nihilism. The adventure is more war-gaming missions and scenarios than an attempt at a fun D&D-style city-based romp. As the adventure wears on, the characters are expected (even commanded) like common troops, and are expected to see the siege through to the last. Events within the city may allow the opportunity for disserting, but the character's fleeing within sight of the wall gets arrowed in the back-by the defenders of the city. Last Days of Constantinople's structure offers little in the way of hope of continuing the adventure. The plotting of the story aspect is rough, and seems to just be ticking off a scorecard as the miniatures move around the battle board. Also, there are no details on how to move this scenario into a more fantastical realm, one that would feature elves, dwarves, and etc. This isn't bad for those wanting to keep the adventure's setting intact, but as the weight of impending doom is occurring, I'd rather have my players playing characters they'd like too, as opposed to just being rendered into cannon fodder as they try to heroically defend Constantinople's walls. Overall, Last Days of Constantinople is a difficult adventure to play, let alone read. I feel that the missing heroic aspects greatly weakened a strong setting that would have been excellent to adventure in. |
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