Review of Savage Swords of Athanor (Part 2)
Coninued directly from my last post:
The next section is devoted to monsters and treasure of Athanor. This section runs from page 18 through 34. There are quite a few dinosaurs in Athanor along with a few familiar creatures such as the Anhkheg, dragons, and stirges. The rest are creatures unique to Athanor such as the tunnel stalker which is a large slug-like creature with a mass of tentacles with barbed stingers that it uses to attack prey. Overall, there are 32 monsters detailed. Next up are some technological artifacts from the ancients. Here you’ll find things like laser and needler guns as well as things as a technological invisibility cloak. The rest of the section details summoning and binding elemental spirits and random encounter tables for each terrain type.
The next major section is dedicated to describing the campaign world of Athanor. Here you’ll find what you’d expect such as a history, climate, and religions. The city-state of Zamora is also detailed with a map of the city, a overview of 12 important taverns, the great houses that are involved in the higher level business and politics of the city-state, important organizations, individuals and places of note, adventure seeds, and plot point ideas.
The final section of the book has a hex map of Athanor and a map key. It is presented sandbox style to give the game master some flexibility in the explorations of the world.
Overall, Savage Swords of Athanor is a solid contribution to old school gaming. It presents planetary romance with a high level of fidelity to the genre. On my initial assessment, I was a little disappointed not to see any art to help define the setting. However, the rules and flavor text are well done and evocative. I admit to not being well schooled in the works of planetary romance, much to my dismay. However, this work gives me cause to be excited about the genre and seek out some of the literary inspirations. At first, it may seem like three classes is not enough to give the flexibility needed to create the depth desired for a wide range of character types. However, when utilized in combination with the skills, it provides and enormous amount of flexibility and tailoring. I heartily approve of this approach. Being an old school 1e AD&D guy, it took me aback at first, but I’m actually in favor of fewer classes now days. I’m also not a huge fan of skill systems. They can be very limiting just like narrowly defined classes. However, I find the approach detailed here fresh and inventive. I might add a few of my own to the list, but the slection is pretty broad and allows for the creation of characters that would model such classes as assassin, thief, or cleric. Again, nicely done. I found the setting information very well done. None of the major personages are stated out, so that makes it great for game masters to customize to taste.
Finally, for those folks that want something different while still maintaining a certain level of familiarity, I’d highly recommend giving Swords of Athanor a look. Even if you’re not a fan of the genre, the rule variations are worth checking out. While I would have liked a little more in the way of illustration, it is not a detriment. I give Swords of Athanor 4.5 out of 5 stars. For $8 USD, it is definitely money well spent. Go check it out.
The next section is devoted to monsters and treasure of Athanor. This section runs from page 18 through 34. There are quite a few dinosaurs in Athanor along with a few familiar creatures such as the Anhkheg, dragons, and stirges. The rest are creatures unique to Athanor such as the tunnel stalker which is a large slug-like creature with a mass of tentacles with barbed stingers that it uses to attack prey. Overall, there are 32 monsters detailed. Next up are some technological artifacts from the ancients. Here you’ll find things like laser and needler guns as well as things as a technological invisibility cloak. The rest of the section details summoning and binding elemental spirits and random encounter tables for each terrain type.
The next major section is dedicated to describing the campaign world of Athanor. Here you’ll find what you’d expect such as a history, climate, and religions. The city-state of Zamora is also detailed with a map of the city, a overview of 12 important taverns, the great houses that are involved in the higher level business and politics of the city-state, important organizations, individuals and places of note, adventure seeds, and plot point ideas.
The final section of the book has a hex map of Athanor and a map key. It is presented sandbox style to give the game master some flexibility in the explorations of the world.
Overall, Savage Swords of Athanor is a solid contribution to old school gaming. It presents planetary romance with a high level of fidelity to the genre. On my initial assessment, I was a little disappointed not to see any art to help define the setting. However, the rules and flavor text are well done and evocative. I admit to not being well schooled in the works of planetary romance, much to my dismay. However, this work gives me cause to be excited about the genre and seek out some of the literary inspirations. At first, it may seem like three classes is not enough to give the flexibility needed to create the depth desired for a wide range of character types. However, when utilized in combination with the skills, it provides and enormous amount of flexibility and tailoring. I heartily approve of this approach. Being an old school 1e AD&D guy, it took me aback at first, but I’m actually in favor of fewer classes now days. I’m also not a huge fan of skill systems. They can be very limiting just like narrowly defined classes. However, I find the approach detailed here fresh and inventive. I might add a few of my own to the list, but the slection is pretty broad and allows for the creation of characters that would model such classes as assassin, thief, or cleric. Again, nicely done. I found the setting information very well done. None of the major personages are stated out, so that makes it great for game masters to customize to taste.
Finally, for those folks that want something different while still maintaining a certain level of familiarity, I’d highly recommend giving Swords of Athanor a look. Even if you’re not a fan of the genre, the rule variations are worth checking out. While I would have liked a little more in the way of illustration, it is not a detriment. I give Swords of Athanor 4.5 out of 5 stars. For $8 USD, it is definitely money well spent. Go check it out.
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