Forest Encounter – Alex Drummond

I like fantasy architecture. I stud my worlds with impossible structures weaved out of dream-stuff and fancy. And the cyclopean trees of elven forests are among my favorites. It would have been almost unthinkable for Legends & Labyrinths not to include an illustration like this… and, thankfully, Alex Drummond delivers something that is both fanciful and feyish; beautiful and mysterious.

The Adjudicator – Viktor Fetsch

This illustration (which I adore) came very close to being the class illustration for the rogue.

As you know, the rogue was instead illustrated by Bonnie Tang. This piece is now likely to find its home on page 10, where it will hopefully encourage people to occasionally think outside of the traditional fantasy box as they read about “Step 8: Character Description”.

This is somewhat ironic, because the reason I ultimately chose not to use this image for the rogue was because I wanted the class illustration to inside the box — to remain essentially true to the “core conception” most people have for the classes. (On the other hand, the class illustrations are a little rebellious in other ways: Staying within the box, but also trying to find ways to reinvent the box and keep it fresh.)

On page 86 of the Black Book Beta, there’s a sidebar entitled “What Type of Action Is It?” If you’re so inclined, I’d like to get your feedback on it.

For certain activities and abilities, the type of action is defined. (For example, it requires a standard action for a cleric to turn undead.) But at other times, the DM will have to make a judgment call about what type of action is required to carry out a particular intention. Here are some rules of thumb you can use:

• Any action which doesn’t require an action check is probably a move action.

• If it involves moving through space or traversing a given distance, then it’s probably a move action even if it does require an action check.

• If it’s any other action requiring an action check, then it’s probably a standard action.

• Full actions should be used for anything which feels like it should take more time or involves multiple steps. (But, when in doubt, default to a standard action.)

• Actions which could be resolved in the blink of an eye (like dropping something held in your hand) are probably a free action. But if executing the action is non-trivial, makes a substantial contribution to the battle, or just feels like something which should be limited in its repetition you can probably go ahead and bump it up to a swift action or move action.

Immediate actions should generally be reserved for specific special abilities because being able to act out of turn is a major advantage. However, if an action is immediately reactive by necessity (like catching someone as they fall past you) it may be appropriate to make an exception.

Legends & Labyrinths eschews a lot of the specific guidelines that you’d find in an advanced 3rd Edition rulebook, so this type of general advice — aimed at giving the DM widely applicable guidelines on how to make rulings — is, I think, necessary. The question is: Does this feel on target to you? Does it match your gut feeling for what different actions represent in the 3rd Edition ruleset?

Mountain Temple – Alex Drummond

Like Drummond’s Dove City, this is another vista designed to draw your eye and your imagination into the realms of fantasy: It makes you want to walk that long, jack-knifed road of dust-swept rock.

It’s also a radically different type environment, which was something else I was keeping firmly in mind while looking for art. Legends & Labyrinths is a radically inclusive game — pulling influences from every corner of the world; every nook of myth; and every aspect of fantasy. I wanted the art to reflect that by taking you to verdant forests; steaming  jungles; underground caverns; icy glaciers; and dark coasts.

Tagline: Compared to the first installment, Passage Through Shadow works even better as a basic story and premise and has solved many of the problems which flawed the first. However, there are still some significant flaws – particularly in the first of the two scenarios.

Note: This product is a module. In the following review there will quite likely be spoilers of various sorts. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Those of you reading my review of the first installment of this adventure trilogy (Darkness Revealed 1: Descent into Shadow) know that I had two main problems with it: First, although the basic conceptual idea and story were excellent they were adapted into module form in a sub-standard fashion. Second, the design principles behind the color insert sections were extremely flawed and had the potential to ruin the gaming experience if used in the manner intended. The overall product was salvageable simply because the basic conceptual idea and story were excellent – although requiring slightly more work than should be needed, you can transform what is a fairly railroaded set of adventures into an excellent set of first-condition adventures.

Darkness Revealed 2: Passage Through Shadow, happily, is an improvement. The basic conceptual idea and story remain excellent, drawing the PCs into an even higher echelon of the Trinity universe. The color sections, while still possessing some doozies, are much more reliable. And, although the first adventure still possesses some flaws, the second is really excellent.

Like the first, the value for $15.95 compared to the $20 and $30 products emerging from other publishers is fantastic. Highly recommended.

THE COLORED SECTIONS, REDUX

Okay, the weakest part of this product remains the colored sections. Designed to be handouts to the players they still possess the physical flaw of being located in the middle of vast tracts of GM-only information – meaning that only by tearing your book into pieces or by expensively color copying will you really find value here.

Fortunately, however, you’re never going to want to give these handouts to your players, so that basically solves your problem. The first color section is definitely the worse of the two, among its faults:

1. Presented as a mission briefing for the character’s new assignment it contains memos of people discussing the character’s arrival at their new assignment.

2. The entire course of the investigation is telegraphed and revealed: Basically the players know exactly where they’re supposed to be looking and, generally, what they’re supposed to be looking for. Why? Because the colored section gives briefings on all the important areas… and only the important areas. More general information, like floor plans, would be more appropriate than secret communications which should, rightfully, be discovered during gameplay.

3. A central question of the PC’s investigation should be, “Is Basel, the location of our assignment, involved in this conspiracy plot?” This is rendered into a no-brainer, however, because on pg. 13 of the handouts we read a “Huang-Marr Project Briefing” recovered from “Aesculapian databank [Basel]”.

4. Another central question is whether or not high-ranking officials are involved or not. Again, pg. 13 not only gives that away – it gives a list of names!

5. I have serious suspension-of-disbelief problems where a funeral for one of the NPCs in the first adventure is interrupted as dissidents stomp all over his grave… AND NO ACTION IS TAKEN TO STOP THEM.

The second color section errs far less (largely because the GM is instructed in the text of the adventure to reveal certain sections only at certain times during the game). The only serious problems are:

1. At the beginning of the adventure the PCs have no idea they will eventually end up on the orbital station Eyrie. For some reason, however, their briefing file contains an extensive report on the station.

WHAT HAVE THEY FIXED?

The most noticeable problem they fixed is that the adventures no longer seem too brief to consume an evening of gaming. One reason which may be trotted out for this is that this book only contains two adventures, instead of three. More essential in my mind, however, is the fact that they’ve fixed a more pressing problem: The plots are no longer railroaded. Railroaded plots take longer to explain (because you not only need to express initial conditions, but also exactly how the adventure will progress at each step), and tend to have gaping holes in their design (because they require leaps of PC intuition that, in my experience, rarely happen at the scripted moment).

The first adventure still suffers from this slightly (the most telling example being that the adventure assumes that the PCs will make no concerted effort to get in touch with their major lead at the clinic they’re visiting until he comes into work the night after they arrive), but the second avoids it completely.

So they’ve fixed my major beef with the first product, which is that the mysteries don’t operate as mysteries.

CONCLUSION

In addition to solving the problems of Descent into Darkness, Passage through Shadow has all of its strengths: A strong story, great artwork, high production values, an attention to detail, and focus on PC involvement. Not only that, but if you’re the kind of GM who likes to have your PCs operating at the highest levels of the campaign world, then the Darkness Revealed trilogy is definitely an elegant way of going there – the first volume lets the PCs into this rarefied world by a lucky break, and the second expertly develops that break into major sociopolitical importance (a key sign of how effective this volume was, is that when the PCs meet and work with the Orgotek Proxy it seems like a natural result of the events which have transpired – unlike many such cases where PC-involvement with important setting figures seems forced and artificial).

So that’s my conclusion: Although it still needs some minor work and modification, I definitely recommend it, particularly since it only costs $15.95. Excellent product.

Style: 4
Substance: 4

Author: Bruce Baugh and Richard E. Dansky
Company/Publisher: White Wolf
Cost: $15.95
Page count: 120
ISBN: 1-56504-752-4
Originally Posted: 1999/01/24

Read the review of Darkness Revealed 3: Ascent Into Light

For an explanation of where these reviews came from and why you can no longer find them at RPGNet, click here.