Privateer Press blasts its way into the D20 marketplace with a module of surpassing quality and a setting whose merest hints are inherently intriguing.
Review Originally Published May 21st, 2001
When The Longest Night, Book One of Privateer Press’ Witchfire Trilogy, showed up in my mailbox it immediately drew my attention:
First, it was 64 pages for $9.95 – which, if the material inside was of any quality at all, would make it a fairly great value in the D20 marketplace.
Second, the book’s artwork and layout were extremely slick. In fact, of all the first-time D20 publishers, I would have to say that Privateer Press has put together the best-looking inaugural product so far. (For those of you who don’t care what a product looks like, consider: If someone’s willing and capable of putting together a visually appealing product, it vastly increases the chances that they cared enough to make the actual meat of the product worth biting into.)
Finally, the first page I flipped open to was page 11 – which features a great picture of an “industrial steamjack” (which is also found in the background of the back cover). For lack of a better description, a steamjack is basically a steampunk mecha.
Admittedly, this last element made me more than a little skeptical of the book’s claim that the DM could “easily replace the names of gods, locations, and the like” in order to use the adventure in any campaign world. But it did leave me seriously intrigued about the Iron Kingdoms setting which Privateer Press is introducing here.
SETTING
Warning: This review will contain spoilers for The Witchfire Trilogy. Players who may find themselves playing in this adventure should not read beyond this point.
The first dozen pages of The Longest Night present the merest inklings of the Iron Kingdoms setting, with most of the focus being set upon Corvis – the city in and around which the adventure takes place. A few highlights:
The Iron Kingdoms are most notably set apart from other fantasy settings by their possession of steam technology. The most impressive display of this technology is the steamjack: A robotic entity (which looks a lot like a heavy gear to me, but I’m biased) which is powered by steam and given a brain by magic, and on which the rapid growth of the Iron Kingdoms has been built.
The Kingdom of Cygnar, in which the city of Corvis is to be found, was founded roughly 400 years ago at the end of the Orgoth Empire. Little is known of the Empire, but its ruins and relics can still be found throughout the Iron Kingdoms. Cygnar was ruled by a tyrant as recently as a few decades ago. Fortunately, the tyrant (Raelthorne) was overthrown by Leto, his younger brother. Unfortunately, Raelthorne escaped – and many of his cronies have simply slipped through the cracks.
Corvis, itself, is a port city built upon the junction of two major rivers. It is also built in the middle of a swamp, which has given it a unique architecture: Instead of building out, the city has built up. The lowest levels of the city (the Undercity) have actually sunk beneath the swamp itself, creating a series of what are essentially urban dungeons in which a wide variety of creatures can be found. At the highest levels the rich and powerful can be found, and inbetween is everyone else.
The Longest Night gives us only the meresting inklings of what the complete Iron Kingdoms setting will hold, but what’s here is extremely intriguing: First, Staroscik has laid out a geography which makes it easy to justify dungeon complexes and ruins: Either they’re sunken catacombs beneath the city, or ruins of the Orgoth Empire, or the remnant of a resistance movement. Next, he gives you a number of different places from which to spice an adventure – villains who escaped with Raelthorne’s rule, ancient imperial relics, and so forth. Finally, he wraps all of this up into a great fantasy setting, which is given a very unique character through the light application of a few steampunk elements – not enough to overwhelm the traditional fantasy atmosphere, but more than enough to add a little excitement.
ADVENTURE
Ten years ago a coven of witches in Corvis was executed, with the town universally condemning them to death. The truth, however, was that the trial was the machination of a corrupt politician – Magistrate Borloch — who had first used the coven to gain power and then set them up in order to cover his own back. Actually, there is a deeper truth: Borloch himself had been manipulated by the mage Vahn Oberen. Oberen had set the entire chain of events in motion so that he could act as the witch’s executioner, chopping their heads off with the arcane Witchfire – a blade which would allow him to steal the sorcerous powers of the witches.
Unfortunately for Oberen, things didn’t go exactly according to plan: He did execute the witches, but was knocked unconscious by the powerful forces flowing into him. Borloch rushed the mage away before his identity could be discovered, and Father Dumas, the head of the local church who was seeing to the burial of the witches, unwittingly entombed the Witchfire with them.
Fast forward ten years: Alexia Ciannor, Dumas’ nieceand the daughter of one of the coven members, was only a young girl when her mother was executed. Now, however, she is a powerful sorceress in her own right – and hungry for revenge.
The PCs get involved when Alexia starts stealing corpses, and Father Dumas asks them to find out who’s doing it. The PCs will eventually figure out that the corpses are the jurors from the trial of the coven ten years ago (Alexia is practicing her abilities to create the undead and getting some of her revenge at the same time). This will lead them to the crypt in which four of the witches were buried (the fifth, Alexia’s mother, and the Witchfire are entombed at the Church in Corvis – a warning against all others who would practice witchcraft). There they will learn that Alexia has raised them as well (she is attempting to bring the entire coven back to “life”). This will eventually take them to Alexia’s hideout in the Undercity, but she will escape – leading them to the abandoned Fort Rhyker, where Alexia has slowly been creating an army of undead. The adventure wraps up when Alexia marches her undead forces against the city of Corvis, using them as a distraction so that she can strike at her mother’s tomb – raising her from the dead and seizing the Witchfire. Oberen will attempt to seize the Witchfire at this time, as well, and the PCs will be decisive in determining which of the two sorcerors end up with the blade.
(The reason the adventure is called The Longest Night can be found in the timing of Alexia’s attack: She chooses to strike during the Longest Night Festival – so called because it takes place during an eclipse which blackens the sky for an entire day.)
WEAKNESSES
The biggest problem I found in the adventure was in the initial investigation sequence (during which the PCs are attempting to figure out the identity of the person stealing the corpses). Staroscik needs to strew around a lot more clues in this section if he seriously expects PCs to figure out what’s going on (without, of course, having the DM lead them by the nose from one clue to another). Here’s a rule of thumb that’s always served me well in designing mystery scenarios: Assume that the PCs will miss one clue in three, and you’ll probably have your bases covered. Staroscik, on the other hand, seems to assume that the PCs are going to track down every single bread crumb he plants. He’s wrong, and quite a few playing groups are going to find themselves wandering around without a clue (pun intended).
The only other problem with the adventure’s structure is to be found immediately after the PCs return from the tomb of the first four witches. Staroscik points out that the PCs will have probably figured out that Alexia is somehow involved in all of this (although his exact reasoning here is a little vague – again, more clues are necessary). He then proceeds to stonewall them from actually going after Alexia (the guard will ignore their accusations, Father Dumas will oppose them, etc.) – forcing them to simply follow her until she can lead them to her secret hide-out.
First off, stonewalling the PCs is just not cool. And, furthermore, there’s no need to do it here. If the PCs do go after Alexia, then they can still end up in her secret base by having her take them there. What’s really annoying is that Staroscik actually sets up all the pieces to make this work (including an escape plan for Alexia once they’ve reached her secret base beneath the city), but encourages DMs to stonewall their PCs anyway. Silly and clumsy.
My biggest gripe (as opposed to a serious problem) with The Longest Night is the lack of steamjack stats. This is a major oversight, not only because they seem to be pushed as one of the really unique elements of the setting, but also because Staroscik uses one in the course of the adventure. Although the oversight can be worked around, it shouldn’t have to be.
The only other problems are nothing more than nitpicks, really: The map of Corvis provided (which is done in a historical style – which is to say that it’s more a picture of the city with certain locations keyed) doesn’t seem to really match the description in the text (and a number of locations are left unkeyed). Some boxed text didn’t get boxed (but should obviously be read outloud to the PCs). The maps of Fort Rhyker are very confusing and need to be puzzled out to a degree because the relationships between staircases are not immediately apparent (each floor and section of the fort is printed on a completely separate page). At one point Staroscik claims that a protection form evil spell will prevent Alexia from entering an area – but Alexia’s write-up lists her as neutral, not evil. Minor typos. That type of thing.
STRENGTHS
All right, before I nitpick the product to death, let’s take a look at the strengths of The Longest Night (which are considerable):
First off, as I note above, the setting is extremely well-designed. And, surprisingly, the city of Corvis and its surroundings can be easily included into any generic fantasy world. Removing the steam technology (which is really the only potentially jarring element of the adventure) can be accomplished by simply ignoring it whenever it’s included. (On the other hand, you could include Corvis as a city in which this new technology is just now being pioneered.) Staroscik makes this an even more attractive proposition by loading the city, even in its brief coverage here, with elements and adventure seeds which go far beyond the scope of this single adventure.
Second, the adventure itself – like the setting – can easily be incorporated into campaign setting. Corvis provides a distinct backdrop for the adventure, but Staroscik is careful to keep the structure of the adventure separate from the backdrop – so replacing Corvis with any other city of your choosing is easily accomplished.
And, of course, the adventure is worth playing. Despite a handful of minor structural flaws (which are easily fixed – increasing the number of places a clue can be found and ignoring Staroscik’s advice to stonewall your PCs should take you all of about five minutes), The Longest Night has a great plot, set-up, and cast of characters. It is also an adventure which hits a lot of different notes: You’ve got an investigation, an urban dungeon, a wilderness dungeon, a fortress, and a siege by the undead.
The Longest Night is also distinguished by the simple care with which it has been crafted: For example, Staroscik is careful to provide insight and support into multiple solutions for any problem – including non-combat solutions – looking at not only the short-term, but also the long-term impacts they will have on a game. Perhaps the best example of this is to be found when the PCs enter the tomb of the four witches, in which a tribe of gobbers has taken up residence. This is the same tribe of gobbers which assaulted the caravan the PCs were guarding at the beginning of the adventure – and Staroscik draws a number of different ways in which they can be linked, taking a minor background element and suffusing it throughout the adventure as a whole.
CONCLUSION
The Longest Night is an excellent adventure for any campaign world, and the quality and care which has been shown here is more than sufficient to draw me back for the next two parts in the trilogy.
The strengths of this product have also left me looking forward to Privateer’s release of Corvis: A Guide to the City of Ghosts later this summer. The Iron Kingdoms setting is truly fascinating, and even if I don’t run a campaign there full time, I’ve got my fingers crossed that Privateer will keep walking a fine line which will allow me to incorporate Corvis into another campaign world with relative ease.
And, god help me, I’m even keeping one eye open for their release of the Monsternomicon. Their promise of “unique and useful D20 creatures”, in combination with the monsters shown in this book, have me pleasantly intrigued. (Besides, they actually managed to find a half-way decent name for a monster compendium – and I didn’t think that was possible any more).
In short, to return to the product I’m actually supposed to be reviewing, The Longest Night has left me seriously impressed. You should check it out.
Style: 5
Substance: 4
Title: The Witchfire Trilogy: Book One – The Longest Night
Authors: Matt Staroscik
Company: Privateer Press
Line: D20/Iron Kingdoms
Price: $9.95
ISBN: 0-9706970-0-7
Production Code: WF001
Pages: 64
For the record, although I never wrote a review of it, the Monternomicon is one of my favorite and most-used bestiaries. Privateer Press knocked it out of the park with that one. (I haven’t checked out the 5E version, but have little doubt it’s still worth checking out.)
Oddly, my strongest memories of The Longest Night — which I never found the opportunity to run — ended up being the awkward railroading and undercooked clues, with the result that for many, many years I’ve had a kind of “meh” opinion of the module. I suspect it was because I ended up thinking deeply about those elements of the adventure in a way that ended up fundamentally affecting my thinking on adventure design. (You can see the dawning of the Three Clue Rule peeking out up there. And Alexia was something I was thinking about when writing The Principles of RPG Villainy.)
Rereading my review, however, my focus has apparently done a disservice to the rest of the module in my memory. Maybe I should take the time to finally check out the rest of the trilogy.
For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.
