James Wyatt (1) (1968–)

Janik Martell has lived a quiet life the last three years, publishing papers based on his discovery of the important ancient city of Mel Aqat, while doing his best to forget what happened there and the betrayal of his wife. An urgent letter from an old comrade, an intriguing prophecy from the young Keeper of the Silver Flame herself, and a chance at revenge motivate him to return to Xen'drik.

This is another great installment to the series, which makes sense as James Wyatt was one of the author's of the 'Eberron Campaign Setting' and key supplements 'Sharn: City of Towers' and 'Five Nations' as well as others. He wasn't going to mess up any details or fail to take advantage of key elements of the setting.

Janik Martell is an Indiana Jones type of scholar, muscling through the jungles of Xen'drik with the same ease that he translates ancient tablets and argues the influence of the serpent cults on modern religion. It's all in a day's work. His friends Mathas Allister, an old elf wizard, and Dania ir'Vran, a fighter recently called to be a paladin of the Silver Flame, filled archetypal roles as well, but expanded well beyond it. They had shared jokes and a history that made the adventure more entertaining. A fourth member of their party is the dwarven artificer Auftane Khunnam who is recruited to replace the role that Janik's wife Maija.

This is Eberron so there were airships, intrigue, hidden motives, and untrustworthy allies. The race to beat the Order of the Emerald Claw to Mel Aqat and the greater battle that awaited there was not only fun, but journeying is the best time to let characters open up about their pasts and let the reader into their interior lives. 'In the the Claws of the Tiger', like 'Orb of Xoriat', rises above its status as a promotional tie-in.

The War-Torn

Next: 'Blood and Honor'

Previous: 'The Orb of Xoriat'… (mere)

The Last War is what defines Eberron. The campaign setting has a lot going for it, but the century-long conflict that divided the human kingdom of Galifar is the intended backdrop for 90% of the action. 'The Forge of War' gives an in-depth look at the events of the war and gives plenty of adventure ideas and twists on an Eberron campaign. I liked the emphasis on setting adventures in Khorvaire's 'past' rather than always starting a few years after the war's end.

The book is structured so that the bulk of it is a detailed overview of what happened during the war, the main battles, the shifting alliances, and the conceit is that this section of 'The Forge of War' is taken, with scholarly commentary, from a standard text on the history of the war. For the most part, it worked. It tended to get a little dry and monotonous, a little more color would have been appreciated.

My biggest complaint with the Eberron manuals is that its clear that the Campaign Setting and "core" supplements like 'Five Nations' were deliberately kept brief so there would be enough content to make up yet another hardback manual. This isn't unique to Eberron, of course, but since this is the only setting I've explored this thoroughly it s frustrating. 'The Forge of War' doesn't contain any blow-by-blow adventure for immediate game use, it has very few new items or monsters or prestige classes. It is an excellent source of background information on the setting and that is it.

I liked it, but others might be disappointed.… (mere)