People of the River

The Sellen River cuts across eastern Avistan, all the way from the Lake of Mists and Vales in the north to Star Bay in the Inner Sea 1200 miles to the south. It passes through (or forms the borders of) numerous lands along its way. Amongst them are Numeria and the River Kingdoms, which are the main topic of People of the River, the latest release in the Pathfinder Player Companion line. It provides new options for players making characters from these lands, and also provides some rules and information regarding rivers in general.

The River Kingdoms are actually a grouping of numerous small kingdoms. Combined with Numeria, they make for a large amount of material for this one small book to cover. Not surprisingly, it can't cover them all and there are several River Kingdoms that get no more than a sentence or two of mention. As a Player Companion book, it also devotes a large amount of space to game options, like new traits and archetypes, further limiting just how much it can cover about these locations. In my review of the recent Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars, I stated that that book does a great job at describing what it is like to adventure in Numeria, but gives little information about what it's like to live there. Somewhat unfortunately, this book doesn't really fill in that gap. Players without much pre-existing knowledge of the lands covered in People of the River will come away from the book with only a smattering more knowledge than they started with. However, they will come away with several new options to consider for their characters, and for many players, that may well be more than enough.

Mummy's Mask - Secrets of the Sphinx

I've never made any secret of not being a big fan of dungeon crawls. They tend to limit the amount of roleplaying that is possible and often end up being repetitive as the PCs move from room to room, killing one monster after another before finally reaching the end. However, that doesn't mean that dungeon crawls can't be good adventures or that I never use them in my own games. I actually end up using quite a few, as dungeon crawls are signature parts of fantasy roleplaying, and done well, with a good game master, they can be a lot of fun. Secrets of the Sphinx by Amber E. Scott is an example of a dungeon crawl done well. It wraps together an interesting storyline with a compelling cast of characters (and lots of opportunity for roleplay with those characters), and places it all down in a setting that is more than just a static collection of locations and rooms.

The adventure also advances the plot of the Mummy's Mask Adventure Path in one of the most significant ways so far, leading at last to a confrontation between the PCs and one of the key antagonists. It's the first adventure where the PCs will feel that they've achieved a major accomplishment at the end of it.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

Knowing What's to Come: The Fascination with, and Fear of Spoilers

Note: There are no actual spoilers in this article.

A few weeks ago, the Doctor Who world was rocked with the news that the scripts for the first five episodes of the new series had leaked online. Not long afterwards came the news that an unfinished version of the first episode had also leaked (through the same source as the leaked scripts). Indeed, it turned out that it wasn't only the first episode, but the first six! (Note: The preceding links go to news articles, not places where you can download the leaked items.) This isn't the first time that mess-ups like this have happened with Doctor Who. Just last year, many people who had preordered the DVD release of the second half of Series 7 received their copies before the final episode had aired on television, and way back in 2005, the very first episode of the rebooted series, “Rose”, leaked online in advance of airing. However, I don't think there's ever been a Doctor Who leak of this magnitude before.

Following the news of the leaks, fandom responded in a couple of ways. Many people immediately guarded themselves against the possibility of spoilers, informing people through social media not to give away anything or face the penalty of unfollowing or defriending. On the other side of the table were those who immediately sought out copies of the leaked material or, failing that, knowledge of what was in them. In short, some people absolutely did not want spoilers, and some people absolutely did.

Of course, the search for spoilers (and the avoidance of them) is nothing new. Spoilers can show up all over the place, sometimes where you least expect them. Messageboards like Gallifrey Base have entire sections devoted to people discussing spoilers, but they also require that spoilers stay limited to those locations and that they not spread into other sections so that those who don't want to be spoiled won't suddenly find themselves spoiled. I, myself, am very much on the side of those who don't want spoilers. I want to be surprised by new episodes when they first air. Yet the events of the last couple of weeks have led me to question myself about exactly why I don't like spoilers. Exactly what harm do they do? Do they really “spoil” my or other people's enjoyment? I haven't asked these questions in order to convince myself or anyone else to seek out and embrace spoilers. Rather, I simply seek understanding. And this goes well beyond just Doctor Who spoilers. It includes spoilers for anything and everything.

Risen from the Sands

This year's Free RPG Day took place on the 21st of last month. Like most years, Paizo released a short adventure for it. This year's is Risen from the Sands by Rob McCreary (the pdf is available for free at the link). It's a short dungeon crawl playable in just a few hours (probably only one session for most groups). Set in Osirion, it works well as either a one-off adventure or as a brief interlude in an ongoing campaign.

There's not really anything about Risen from the Sands that makes one go “Wow!” It's a straight-forward adventure that's not particularly original and has nothing that really makes it stand out from other adventures. However, there's nothing particularly bad about the adventure either. It does its job and it does it competently. With a skilful GM, it will provide a few hours of fun for any group.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

Doctor Who Series 8 Trailer

The BBC have released the first full-length trailer for the new series of Doctor Who and the first trailer to show us any significant amount of Peter Capaldi in the role. There was actually another teaser trailer last week, but computer troubles (resulting in my computer giving up the ghost last week and me needing to get a new one) meant I never actually posted about that one. However, since I posted the previous ones (here and here), I should probably post that one too.



I will admit, I haven't been fond of these teaser trailers. They show virtually nothing (not that I want major spoilers in a trailer) and don't really raise anticipation much. However, that last one is an improvement on the second, which was an improvement on the first. But now the full-length trailer:



Now, this is a lot more like it! It gives a much better feel for what to expect without giving too much away. I really like Capaldi's reserved approach to the role (in the little we see here). It adds a sinister edge to the Doctor (which the trailer really emphasises) and makes a stark contrast to Matt Smith's much more manic Doctor. This trailer has made me very eager for August 23rd to get here already! 

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition) Basic Rules

In my May Round-Up, I noted that the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons finally had release dates, starting with the Starter Set in July. That set is already available at select stores and will be in wide release on July 15. What I didn’t know at the time, though, was that Wizards of the Coast would also be releasing a free pdf of the game’s basic rules (you can download it here). Although I stated that I wouldn’t be switching to the new game (I’d be staying with Pathfinder), I did say that I might pick up the rules at some point. Well, with a price point of free, there really wasn’t any reason not to. So I downloaded them.

I haven’t changed my mind about sticking with Pathfinder, and my reasons are the same as I stated before. However, I will say that I like what I see in the new D&D, and if this had been 4th Edition, I might have stuck with the game at the time. One of the things that turned me away from 4th Edition was the radical departure from so many of the things that made D&D identifiable uniquely as Dungeons & Dragons. After downloading the D&D Basic Rules, I first skimmed quickly through the book just to get an overall feel of how it looked, and right away, I could see things that looked like D&D. It was a good first sign, and it held up upon reading thoroughly.

Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars

I’ve always been a fan of mixing science fiction and fantasy. I’m well aware, however, that it can be a bit of a controversial topic amongst science fiction and fantasy fans, many of whom, while enjoying both, prefer that each be kept separate. The way I look at it, though, is most science fiction contains quite a few things that are fantastical—often outright impossible—but merely presented under the guise of science instead of magic, yet accomplishing pretty much the same thing magic does. Mixing science and magic allows you to explore both in new and different ways.

Despite my love of mixing genres, I’ve surprisingly never paid much attention to Numeria, the area of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting where, long ago, a spaceship from another world crashed, and people have been trying to uncover its secrets ever since. Perhaps it’s because the books published so far have paid little attention to the area as well, and other, more-developed areas of Golarion have simply grabbed and held onto my attention. Whatever the case, the publication of Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars reminded me of this land’s existence and I eagerly dug into the book to learn more about it.

Numeria is a land where the high-technology of robots and lasers clashes with the very low-technology of barbarian tribes. There’s actually quite a lot of material to squeeze into Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars, as the various Kellid tribes that inhabit the region are not a unified people, and on top of that, there is the Technic League (a group that wants, and mostly has, a monopoly on the control and distribution of technology recovered from the crashed ship) and the crashed ship itself to describe, along with the various alien creatures, mutant beasts, and robots. Overall, Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars does a very good job of getting all this information in there and providing GMs with a compelling setting and hooks for many amazing and outlandish adventures.

June Round-Up Plus To Be Takei

June was a very busy month for me—in the non-virtual, non-internet world, that is. Consequently, it was a very slow month here on Of Dice and Pen. I was only able to get a few things posted, but July looks to be a quiet month, so I envision much more productivity here.

I did, however, get three Pathfinder review posted: Occult Mysteries, Shifting Sands, and Blood of the Elements. Coming soon, you can expect to see reviews of Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars and Secrets of the Sphinx, the fourth part of the Mummy's Mask Adventure Path.

June also saw the final couple episodes of Cosmos: “The World Set Free” and “Unafraid of the Dark”. It's only been a few short weeks, but I already miss seeing new episodes each week and writing about them. As I've said before, I think it's amazing that a science series has gotten such a high-profile showing, and I wish more science and documentary shows could receive the same treatment. Of course, just because they're not high-profile doesn't mean we can't seek them out and watch them. There are lots of options out there, and many very good ones, including Carl Sagan's original Cosmos series.

In the realm of science fiction/fantasy documentaries, here's one about Star Trek actor and LGBTQ icon and activist, George Takei: To Be Takei. I'm really quite excited to see this one, as George Takei is a fascinating and funny man.

And this Kickstarter for The Great Kingdom, a documentary about Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, the creators of Dungeons & Dragons, looks like it could be interesting. (Edit: Something weird was happening with the embedding of the preview for The Great Kingdom, so I've removed it. You can watch the preview at the site linked.)

But back in the realm of pure science fiction and fantasy, the exciting news is that Doctor Who will be returning on August 23, as reported in this post.

Have a great July everyone!