[RPG]: Power of Faerûn, reviewed by Joe_G_Kushner (4/4)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12214.phtml

Joe G Kushner's Summary:

A solid book useful for any D&D campaign that strives to reach past limits of dungeon crawling and move into courts and cathedrals.

Go to the full review for more information.

[capnzapp]

Hello,

You wrote "the game mechanics fall flat more often than not". Could you provide examples?

WotC products often revolves around crunch, not fluff, so this is important for me.

[guessmyname]

Originally Posted by capnzapp

You wrote "the game mechanics fall flat more often than not". Could you provide examples?

While I agree that the book has some goodness in it, for me the biggest downside was its reliance on outside material. The military chapter is awesome, if you have Heroes of Battle. The section on churches needs Complete Divine to really be useful, and even then it's poorly organized. The merchant chapter requires the business rules from DMG2.
There's more than enough here that I use the book regularly, but be warned: it'll make your head hurt. Why?
"The person at the top -- the queen, empress, or Grand High Sceptanar -- won the right to rule by force (though invasion and conquest, usurping the throne, murder and manipulation, or public single combat) or inherited it, usually from someone or the decendant of someone who took power by force."
Tell me you can understand that, tell me with a straight face, and you're a better liar than me.

[Eryops]

Originally Posted by guessmyname

There's more than enough here that I use the book regularly, but be warned: it'll make your head hurt. Why?
"The person at the top -- the queen, empress, or Grand High Sceptanar -- won the right to rule by force (though invasion and conquest, usurping the throne, murder and manipulation, or public single combat) or inherited it, usually from someone or the decendant of someone who took power by force."
Tell me you can understand that, tell me with a straight face, and you're a better liar than me.

Haven't read the book, but that statement tells me that a person in power (examples of titles) got there through force (several examples listed) or inheritance (this time giving a brief explanation). Maybe not well laid out, but my logic circuits picked it up easily enough...

[johnnype]

I actually liked this book more than I thought I would. The chapter on Religion is actually fun to read (which is more than I can say of 90% of RPG material out there). The section on interfaith conflict, the Church of Amaunator and the Sunlord Daelegoth Orndeir is my favorite in the book so far.

The books organization made a lot of sense to me and I hope to see something similar in this months Moonsea release.

[Joe_G_Kushner]

Off the top of my head for example, there's a PrC that's missing it's hit dice. Ah, here's John Cooper's notes. The man is an editing mecahnic machine.

"p. 42, Sothillis, male elite ogre mage sorcerer 12/legendary leader 5: AC should be 22, not 23 (-1 size, +5 natural, +8 +4 mithral shirt). Ditto with his flat-footed AC.
pp. 59-60, Sunlord Daelegoth Orndair, male elite fire genasi cleric 10/sunmaster 10/evangelist 5: Initiative should be +8, not +3 (+4 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative). AC should be 24, not 20 (+3 maximum Dex while wearing a breastplate, +7 +2 breastplate of command, +4 +2 blinding mithral heavy shield). Touch AC should be 13, not 9. Flat-footed AC should be 21, not 20. I don't think his "Ref +7" is correct, since he gets +3 as a Clr10 and +4 from Dex; that's +7 right there - surely 10 levels of sunmaster (from Lost Empires of Faerûn) and 5 levels of evangelist (from Complete Divine) should grant some extra Reflex bonuses? (Even if both prestige classes provide poor Reflex saves, that would be +3 and +1, respectively, bring the Sunlord's total up to +11.)
pp. 99-100, Erthaer Javilarhhsson, male ghost (augmented elite Illuskan human) ranger 13/dread commando 5: His "Senses" line reads "Spot +23, Listen +23" but under "Skills" they're both listed at +31.
pp. 121-122, Imvaernarho, male red great wyrm, advanced: Will save against his frightful presence should be DC 51, not DC 41 (10 + 1/2 HD + Cha bonus = 10 + 30 + 11).
pp. 124-125, Mhair Gulzabban, male Calishite human wizard 15: Melee touch attacks for the spells shocking grasp and vampiric touch should be +5 melee touch, not +10 (+7 BAB, -2 Str); they're not ranged touch attacks, where the +10 touch attack would be correct.
p. 125, Sharaera Duthtue, female moon elf wizard 12: The save DCs given for her spells are all one point too high; they should be at DC 14 + spell level, but they're all listed as if they're DC 15 + spell level. "Immune" line should include "oil of taggit poison" since all five of the Company of the Cloak have built up an immunity over the past few years. Also, her "Combat Gear" line should include the 2 potions of cure serious wounds listed under "Possessions."
p. 126, Horlo Aumrabbar, male Tashalan cleric 13 of Mask: Should have 3+1 6th-level spells prepared, not 2+1 (2+1 as a Clr13, +1 bonus spell for having Wis 22), and 4+1 5th-level spells, not 3+1 (3+1 as a Clr13, +1 bonus spell for having Wis 22). Turn undead should be "(5/day, +4, 2d6+15)," not "(5/day, +5, 2d6+15)" - he has a +2 Cha bonus, and gains +2 for having 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion).
p. 127, Omskilar Rethwood, male Tethyrian human fighter 14: Grapple attacks should be at +19, not +16 (+14 BAB, +5 Str)."

[vitus979]

Originally Posted by johnnype

I actually liked this book more than I thought I would. The chapter on Religion is actually fun to read (which is more than I can say of 90% of RPG material out there). The section on interfaith conflict, the Church of Amaunator and the Sunlord Daelegoth Orndeir is my favorite in the book so far.

Add me to the list of pleasently surprised. The generalities of this book can be used in nearly any fantasy setting, giving it a cross-platform appeal rarely seen in WotC material in my experience. This is probably my favorite FR purchase since Magic of Faerun way back in 3.0.

[bobrunnicles]

oil of taggit poison

Is that a poison for killing lame robot dogs from the original BSG? Oh wait, that would need to be DAGGIT poison. My bad.



Otherwise I thought this was a great book and a nice addition to the line.