David Noonan (1)

'Shadows of the Last War' had the party exploring the Mournland and tracking down more pieces of the mysterious schema. 'Whispers of the Vampire's Blade'...oddly takes a break from the main quest and sets the party on a side-mission to track down a defected agent of the Brelish Secret Service.

Reading the adventure, of course, it was all smooth transitions and flawless leaps from mage-bred horses to airships to ballrooms to speeding trains with climactic battles at each switch. The descriptions really didn't match the illustrations, which is a fine tradition in modules, but we got a good laugh at the 'nondescript' coach we were meant to follow.

A lot of the problems fall on me as the DM, but other than the masque scene, every encounter ended in near-disaster and, until they forgot entirely about the main quest, they were confused about what the hell they were doing NOT hunting what they had been hunting from day one. I didn't have an answer for them other then that airship battles were cool.

Your mileage may vary.

Next: 'Grasp of the Emerald Claw'

Previous: 'Shadows of the Last War'… (mere)

Another Eberron handbook, another decent source of information. This one is set up so it can serve equally as a handbook for players wanting more information on traveling in Khorvaire or across Eberron and as a source for DMs looking to get their players moving.

'Explorer's Handbook' goes in depth into how the various modes of transportation - airships, lightning rail, wind galleon - work, not just how much they cost. There are plans for the different ships, cabins, decks and how a character can operate them. This is a huge improvement on the sketchy details provided in the Campaign Setting

Transportation can be a serious problem with campaigns, but this book turns them into opportunities for additional interaction with guilds and organizations like the Dragonmarked houses and other more supernatural encounters. Locations covered in the book are divided into three sections : Starting Points, Midpoints, and Destinations. These are not as full of detail as I would have liked. Overall, a good addition to the supplements.… (mere)

This book goes into great detail on the roleplaying and practical aspects of being a Dungeon Master - it is not an expansion of rules or a replacement for the first Dungeon Master Guide. It goes into far greater detail than that volume on topics like how to understand the different types of players (why they are the way they are and how to motivate them, or otherwise work with them, in your campaign), how to design richer urban environments (cities, towns, and regional characteristics based on realistic ideas rather than random tables), and provides insight into magic and how to work it into your campaign. It also comes with a detailed example of an urban setting, the 'Saltmarsh', which is worth reading through even if you have no intention of using it. The descriptions of all aspects of the Saltmarsh are quite detailed and could easily be adapted in whole or in part into any number of urban environments in your own campaign.

While some of the content in the book will sound somewhat old hat to an experienced Dungeon Master, I'd be willing to bet that there is still a good deal of useful information in this book for everyone. I've not met many people who could not benefit in some way from an alternate point of view, and if you can be openminded to new ideas then you may find a reasonable amount of useful information in this book. At the very least this material should inspire some new ideas in the creative reader, and will certainly be a solid reference book for those who are looking for a good starting point to build quality DungeonMaster skills.

Like all information (printed or otherwise), depending on what you want from this book you may or may not find it useful. There is very little rule-based information, so don't worry about having to alter rules to suit your preferred version of the game - this book is all about general concepts and being creative to make a richer campaign for everyone. I have been playing D&D off and on since the late 1970's and I still found a good deal of useful insight here. I prefer a roleplaying oriented game where rules are used to enhance the experience of play, maps are hand drawn, and homemade props are common over a game where complex rules can become intrusive, cartoonish (and expensive) maps are required, and rapid advancement/power gain is the primary focus. I bought this book because I wanted some insight into how other people have resolved various issues and problems with the game and those who play it (especially the latter since online MMOs and console games have radically changed the expectations of the player base). I also wanted to read someone else's thoughts on how to develop more complex and interesting urban settings, both as a base for the party and a source of adventure that was not the standard dungeon crawl, and I found what I was looking for in this book.… (mere)