Thieves' World Players Manual--got it woot!

[Liberator]

I picked it up last night as my LGS didn't have the Blackmoor book...and this baby was just sitting there...like she knew I was gonna drop by.

So...I'll give a little mini-review/overview.

First off, it's a nice book. Nice to hold. Know what I mean? Some books don't have a good 'feel' to them. This one, has a nice feel. The cover feels right, and the weight is just right. Ok...that's starting to sound crazy.

It's got a lot of background info on the city, and the cultures in it.

This must have been a real challenge to write, because of the way the setting has been treated in the books. No one single author wrote all of them, so you have just a huge mash of different ideas to try to fit into one setting.

At first glance, looks like it's pretty well done.

They have a new magic system. Based on 'Mana'. Again, with all the different books, you had LOTS of different styles of magic. This should be a fun chapter to read! I'm a big geek for the magic systems.

New Classes: Assassin, Godsworn, Initiate, Mage, Noble, Priest, Ranger, Savant, Survivor, Witch

Prestige Classes: Acolyte of Lizzene, Blue Star Adept, Caronnese Merchant, Cirdonian Caravan Master, Crime Lord, Gladiator, Hazard Mage, Healer of Meshpri, Hell Hound, Irrune Raider, Mistress of Red Lanterns, Msrevadan Sailor, Nisibsi War Witch, Raggah Horsemaster, Rankan Legionairre, Sacred Bander, S'Danzo Fortune teller, Spellmaster

So..yah...LOTS of prestige classes....

Some new feats, skills, and spells...which I haven't really looked at yet. Also a good section on all the gods of Sanctuary.

Overall, looks like a solid book. Some nice artwork in there too (cover art: James Ryaman, Interior: Ilya Astrakhan, Toren Atkinson, Kent Burles, Johathan Krita, Pat Loboyko, Manoel Moreita and Mike Vilardi...for those of you interested)

It's updated for 3.5 btw.

I'm now looking forward to Shadowspawn's Guide to Sanctuary and the Thieve's World Gazetteer.

As I read more this weekend, if I have time, I'll throw more out.

[jimbojones1971]

I look forward to hearing more. I've been waiting for this to come out for quite a while.

[Future Villain Band]

It looks like I can definitely play David Drakes' character from "Votary," which remains one of my favorite of the Thieves' World stories.

Question: Is it like Black Company in that they stat up a lot of the protagonists, and give a summary of the books? It sounds like it isn't...

--Eric

[Erifnogard]

Question: Is it like Black Company in that they stat up a lot of the protagonists, and give a summary of the books? It sounds like it isn't...

--Eric

No there isn't any of that in this one, this is purely the player's handbook for the line. They also don't reprint anything from the D&D handbook unless it has significantly changed. I wouldn't be surprised if the Guide to Sanctuary has lots of statted up npc's and book summary stuff though. I think Black Company must have been a 'all in one book' deal whereas this feels more like a long term supported line.

[Future Villain Band]

No there isn't any of that in this one, this is purely the player's handbook for the line. They also don't reprint anything from the D&D handbook unless it has significantly changed. I wouldn't be surprised if the Guide to Sanctuary has lots of statted up npc's and book summary stuff though. I think Black Company must have been a 'all in one book' deal whereas this feels more like a long term supported line.

Hmm, that potentially changes things for me. BC was the perfect licensed supplement.

I'll have to wait to see what's in the other books before I commit.

--Eric

[Patrick O'Duffy]

Hmm, that potentially changes things for me. BC was the perfect licensed supplement.

I'll have to wait to see what's in the other books before I commit.


Shadowspawn's Guide to Sanctuary has something like 60-odd NPC writeups from both eras, while the Thieves' World Gazetteer has a detailed breakdown of history and events from the anthologies.

The big difference between Black Company and Thieves' World is that the BC novels have a tighter, more consistent focus than the TW stories, which feature lots of overlapping sets of information, style, tone and characters. You can do Black Company justice in one (large) book by keeping the book focused on that singular set of storydata; Thieves' World needs a bigger, more detailed development, and that really mandated three full books.

(Four, of course, when you count the adventure Murder at the Vulgar Unicorn.)

[Joe_G_Kushner]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the next sourcebook. I'm curious to see how the characters are statted out, especially the 'epic' ones like Shadowspawn and Tempus.

[Maester Luwin]

I can't wait for this book! My Game of Thrones campaign just started & I'm really looking forward to it but the Thieve's World books were some of first I ever read so they hold a special place in my heart. It will be nice to walk the streets of Sanctuary again! Maester Luwin

[Quasar]

Does the players manual have a pullout map? or has that been kept for one of the other books (the guide to Sanctuary?)?

[Julius Sleazer]

Who's publishing this?

[Quasar]

Green Ronin.

[Maester Luwin]

Does the players manual have a pullout map? or has that been kept for one of the other books (the guide to Sanctuary?)?

No I do not think there will be a pullout map in the Player's Manual. Although there will be an updated city map that shows the changes in the ciy from the Rankan Era to the Irrune Era. Maybe in a later source book. Maester Luwin

[atonal chaotic]

If one is interested in Thieve's World for non-d20 systems, is the Player book still worthwhile? Or is it mostly prestige classes, spells and feats?

[Liberator]

If one is interested in Thieve's World for non-d20 systems, is the Player book still worthwhile? Or is it mostly prestige classes, spells and feats?

Well.....it depends on what the Gazeteer and other books have in them. It's pretty much d20 focused and puts an emphasis on classes and spells and such.

What system are you thinking of?

[Liberator]

No I do not think there will be a pullout map in the Player's Manual. Although there will be an updated city map that shows the changes in the ciy from the Rankan Era to the Irrune Era. Maybe in a later source book. Maester Luwin

No pull out map. Pretty much half page sketch maps like you'd get in some of the novels.

[Patrick O'Duffy]

If one is interested in Thieve's World for non-d20 systems, is the Player book still worthwhile? Or is it mostly prestige classes, spells and feats?

The Player's Manual is primarily rules-focused, yes - although there's a lot more to that than 'prestige classes, spells and feats', such as new base classes, cultural backgrounds, combat modifications, a new magic system and so on.

If you're going with a non-d20 system, the upcoming Shadowspawn's Guide to Sanctuary is probably a better bet, since that has an in-depth look at Sanctuary and details on lots of NPCs. (Plus rules, of course, but not as many as the core book.)