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[COMPLETE] Looking back at the limited series: Player's Option, Monstrous Arcana, Odyssey, and more!
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<blockquote data-quote="Alzrius" data-source="post: 8681463" data-attributes="member: 8461"><p>Oh my eyes have seen the coming of the glory of the Cord...ell, I mean, as Bruce brings us what is easily the best (and final) entry in the "Strongholds" mini-series: <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17289/Bastion-of-Faith-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>Bastion of Faith</em></a>.</p><p></p><p>The only entry to be perfect-bound instead of stapled, and lacking a poster map for some reason, this book takes full advantage of the fact that its focus is one that lends itself – more than either of its two predecessor supplements – to being useful to characters beyond its main focus. Religious faith might be the <em>raison d'etre</em> of clerics (and druids, though it should surprise no one that they get zero coverage here), but there's room for it in the life of every PC, and <em>Bastion of Faith</em> makes sure to lean into this, without letting it detract from its overall focus.</p><p></p><p>But I'm getting ahead of myself; let's back up and talk about the eponymous bastion. In a sharp break from the previous supplements, this one grounds itself firmly in a particular campaign world: that of Greyhawk. It's not <em>so</em> firm that it places itself in a specific city (though it nods more in the direction of the Free City than elsewhere, going so far as to offer an explanation for how it can be there when previous supplements never mentioned it; that being that it's the previous temple, under new management who's given it a new mandate), and it has some advice for placing it in other campaign settings, but the default is very much Greyhawk specific.</p><p></p><p>How specific, you ask? Well, rather than being some sort of ecumenical force, or being dedicated to a never-before-mentioned deity, the Bastion of Faith (yes, that's the in-character name of the place) is dedicated to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greyhawk_deities#H" target="_blank">Heironeous</a>. And I don't mean that his name is used as some sort of placeholder, the way a lot of Greyhawk deities were in the D&D Third Edition <em>Player's Handbook</em>. No, this guy gets a full deity write-up in the <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17569/Faiths--Avatars-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>Faiths & Avatars</em></a> format, including new spells, magic items, and information on his specialty priests, called gloryaxes. That last one always reminds me of the old <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100922112027/http://enworld.org/forum/blogs/erik-mona/" target="_blank">"Who the Hell is Erik Mona"</a> story (scroll down to find it), which is rather appropriate, since he's one of the people credited with "Design and Editorial Assistance" here.</p><p></p><p>But make no mistake, this is Bruce Cordell all the way; in fact, this is Cordell at his Cordelliest. For instance, <em>this</em> is where he flat-out names his personal campaign setting in which his cross-linked products reside as being "Neverness." It's literally one of the campaign settings listed in those aforementioned alternatives of where you can put the Bastion, and it makes sure to say that there's also a noted den of thieves and college of wizardry in the bastion's town of Stormport. It also mentions a martial academy, but alas, that one never materialized.</p><p></p><p>What <em>does</em> materialize here are the numerous links we've come to expect, and not just to the Den and the College. Both of those books have established NPCs of theirs make guest appearances here, but it doesn't stop there. The White Kingdom (from Wolfgang Baur's "Kingdom of the Ghouls" in <em>Dungeon</em> #70, which came out that same year) got a name-drop here. There's a single <a href="https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Teeth_of_Dahlver-Nar" target="_blank"><em>tooth of dahlver-nar</em></a> under examination as well (remember that from the <em>Book of Artifacts</em>?). It even references several prominent Greyhawk NPCs from <em>WGR4 The Marklands</em> (which, for some reason, has been removed from DriveThruRPG) and even one from <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17024/The-Rogues-Gallery-1e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>The Rogues Gallery</em></a>! (And if my knowing that sounds impressive, a lot of Greyhawkiana is actually spelled out in a list of references in the book itself.)</p><p></p><p>Honestly, I'm a little amazed that the crusaders who bedevil the undead PCs on the lowest level of the <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17286/Reverse-Dungeon-2e?affiliate_id=820" target="_blank"><em>Reverse Dungeon</em></a> don't come from here. That seems like a natural point for a crossover.</p><p></p><p>But it's not just a question of lots of little links for D&D aficionados. Much like <em>College of Wizardry</em>, this book presumes that PCs will be part of the Bastion's hierarchy, outlining not only the grounds and major NPCs (complete with a who's-who list and maps), but also detailing the process of joining the temple and the various ranks and positions that can be obtained. The difference is, as mentioned before, that this time the book goes out of its way to talk about "affiliates," i.e. thieves, fighters, and mages, can join. Their process of becoming part of the Bastion's community is given almost as much of an overview as that of priestly characters, and moreover the book is smart enough to talk about Bastion priests can be "confirmed" (i.e. live-in) or "affirmed" (i.e. adventuring) characters, while affiliates are either "attached" or "detached," which are the same status with different titles.</p><p></p><p>And there's still more! The Bastion, you see, isn't just any old temple of Heironeous, instead hiding a secret: it's where Ferrante, the saint and prophet who founded the faith (and is, insofar as I know, original to this book) is buried! Only a select few members of the Bastion know this, and treat it as a secret society. Of course, not even <em>they</em> know the real truth: that, after fighting against a champion of Hextor (the evil god of war and tyranny who's Heironeous's brother), Ferrante succumbed to temptation and turned to evil, before being smote by Heironeous himself. Should the sealed casket he's contained in ever be opened, the damage that the truth would do to Heironeous' faith would be devastating, to say nothing of what would happen when Ferrante rises from it...</p><p></p><p>All of that, and I'm still glossing over details. For example, Hextor gets his own <em>Faiths & Avatars</em>-style write-up, just in case you want to turn the place into a Bastion of Evil. There's a section on how the Bastion is handing out "favors" (e.g. coupons worth a certain amount of gp that can be redeemed for spellcasting services), which have started to become a parallel economy to gold coins. There's an entire chart of glyphs that can be used to modify the <em>lesser</em>/<em>greater glyph of warding</em> spells. Plus, did I mention that one of the new spells presented here is <em>miracle</em>? Everyone thinks that the clerical equivalent of <em>wish</em> is a product of Third Edition, but nope! It originated here! (Though honestly, I find the <em>personal savior</em> spell to be slightly more evocative for what it can do.)</p><p></p><p>This is, in other words, probably as good a location sourcebook as your going to get. It takes what's possibly the most accessible premise for making a location important to your gaming group (since they need to get healing and <em>resurrection</em> spells from somewhere), fleshes it out masterfully, offers ways it can be used as a source of adventures (both by handing out quests, which are "obediences" from the abbot who runs the place, and because it has its own dark secret waiting to be unleashed), and has methods of incorporating the entire party beyond simply clerics.</p><p></p><p>Really, the only complaint I could conceivably make here is that this eschews the idea of domain play, in that the characters are never assumed to take control of the place nor expand on what's here. But even then, I can't hold that against the book; that's what I <em>wish</em> it did, to be sure, but it was quite clearly never its intended focus. Instead, it's a well-rounded and thoroughly grounded home base/source of adventures for your entire party, integrating well with a classic setting while still being easily used in almost any other campaign you might be running. After several imperfect entries among the "Strongholds" books, this one is a tip-top way of closing out the series.</p><p></p><p>Every character should have some of <em>this</em> old-time religion.</p><p></p><p>[MEDIA=youtube]N61LHFFfiik[/MEDIA]</p><p></p><p><em>Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.</em></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Alzrius, post: 8681463, member: 8461"] Oh my eyes have seen the coming of the glory of the Cord...ell, I mean, as Bruce brings us what is easily the best (and final) entry in the "Strongholds" mini-series: [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17289/Bastion-of-Faith-2e?affiliate_id=820'][I]Bastion of Faith[/I][/URL]. The only entry to be perfect-bound instead of stapled, and lacking a poster map for some reason, this book takes full advantage of the fact that its focus is one that lends itself – more than either of its two predecessor supplements – to being useful to characters beyond its main focus. Religious faith might be the [I]raison d'etre[/I] of clerics (and druids, though it should surprise no one that they get zero coverage here), but there's room for it in the life of every PC, and [I]Bastion of Faith[/I] makes sure to lean into this, without letting it detract from its overall focus. But I'm getting ahead of myself; let's back up and talk about the eponymous bastion. In a sharp break from the previous supplements, this one grounds itself firmly in a particular campaign world: that of Greyhawk. It's not [I]so[/I] firm that it places itself in a specific city (though it nods more in the direction of the Free City than elsewhere, going so far as to offer an explanation for how it can be there when previous supplements never mentioned it; that being that it's the previous temple, under new management who's given it a new mandate), and it has some advice for placing it in other campaign settings, but the default is very much Greyhawk specific. How specific, you ask? Well, rather than being some sort of ecumenical force, or being dedicated to a never-before-mentioned deity, the Bastion of Faith (yes, that's the in-character name of the place) is dedicated to [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greyhawk_deities#H']Heironeous[/URL]. And I don't mean that his name is used as some sort of placeholder, the way a lot of Greyhawk deities were in the D&D Third Edition [I]Player's Handbook[/I]. No, this guy gets a full deity write-up in the [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17569/Faiths--Avatars-2e?affiliate_id=820'][I]Faiths & Avatars[/I][/URL] format, including new spells, magic items, and information on his specialty priests, called gloryaxes. That last one always reminds me of the old [URL='https://web.archive.org/web/20100922112027/http://enworld.org/forum/blogs/erik-mona/']"Who the Hell is Erik Mona"[/URL] story (scroll down to find it), which is rather appropriate, since he's one of the people credited with "Design and Editorial Assistance" here. But make no mistake, this is Bruce Cordell all the way; in fact, this is Cordell at his Cordelliest. For instance, [I]this[/I] is where he flat-out names his personal campaign setting in which his cross-linked products reside as being "Neverness." It's literally one of the campaign settings listed in those aforementioned alternatives of where you can put the Bastion, and it makes sure to say that there's also a noted den of thieves and college of wizardry in the bastion's town of Stormport. It also mentions a martial academy, but alas, that one never materialized. What [I]does[/I] materialize here are the numerous links we've come to expect, and not just to the Den and the College. Both of those books have established NPCs of theirs make guest appearances here, but it doesn't stop there. The White Kingdom (from Wolfgang Baur's "Kingdom of the Ghouls" in [I]Dungeon[/I] #70, which came out that same year) got a name-drop here. There's a single [URL='https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Teeth_of_Dahlver-Nar'][I]tooth of dahlver-nar[/I][/URL] under examination as well (remember that from the [I]Book of Artifacts[/I]?). It even references several prominent Greyhawk NPCs from [I]WGR4 The Marklands[/I] (which, for some reason, has been removed from DriveThruRPG) and even one from [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17024/The-Rogues-Gallery-1e?affiliate_id=820'][I]The Rogues Gallery[/I][/URL]! (And if my knowing that sounds impressive, a lot of Greyhawkiana is actually spelled out in a list of references in the book itself.) Honestly, I'm a little amazed that the crusaders who bedevil the undead PCs on the lowest level of the [URL='https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17286/Reverse-Dungeon-2e?affiliate_id=820'][I]Reverse Dungeon[/I][/URL] don't come from here. That seems like a natural point for a crossover. But it's not just a question of lots of little links for D&D aficionados. Much like [I]College of Wizardry[/I], this book presumes that PCs will be part of the Bastion's hierarchy, outlining not only the grounds and major NPCs (complete with a who's-who list and maps), but also detailing the process of joining the temple and the various ranks and positions that can be obtained. The difference is, as mentioned before, that this time the book goes out of its way to talk about "affiliates," i.e. thieves, fighters, and mages, can join. Their process of becoming part of the Bastion's community is given almost as much of an overview as that of priestly characters, and moreover the book is smart enough to talk about Bastion priests can be "confirmed" (i.e. live-in) or "affirmed" (i.e. adventuring) characters, while affiliates are either "attached" or "detached," which are the same status with different titles. And there's still more! The Bastion, you see, isn't just any old temple of Heironeous, instead hiding a secret: it's where Ferrante, the saint and prophet who founded the faith (and is, insofar as I know, original to this book) is buried! Only a select few members of the Bastion know this, and treat it as a secret society. Of course, not even [I]they[/I] know the real truth: that, after fighting against a champion of Hextor (the evil god of war and tyranny who's Heironeous's brother), Ferrante succumbed to temptation and turned to evil, before being smote by Heironeous himself. Should the sealed casket he's contained in ever be opened, the damage that the truth would do to Heironeous' faith would be devastating, to say nothing of what would happen when Ferrante rises from it... All of that, and I'm still glossing over details. For example, Hextor gets his own [I]Faiths & Avatars[/I]-style write-up, just in case you want to turn the place into a Bastion of Evil. There's a section on how the Bastion is handing out "favors" (e.g. coupons worth a certain amount of gp that can be redeemed for spellcasting services), which have started to become a parallel economy to gold coins. There's an entire chart of glyphs that can be used to modify the [I]lesser[/I]/[I]greater glyph of warding[/I] spells. Plus, did I mention that one of the new spells presented here is [I]miracle[/I]? Everyone thinks that the clerical equivalent of [I]wish[/I] is a product of Third Edition, but nope! It originated here! (Though honestly, I find the [I]personal savior[/I] spell to be slightly more evocative for what it can do.) This is, in other words, probably as good a location sourcebook as your going to get. It takes what's possibly the most accessible premise for making a location important to your gaming group (since they need to get healing and [I]resurrection[/I] spells from somewhere), fleshes it out masterfully, offers ways it can be used as a source of adventures (both by handing out quests, which are "obediences" from the abbot who runs the place, and because it has its own dark secret waiting to be unleashed), and has methods of incorporating the entire party beyond simply clerics. Really, the only complaint I could conceivably make here is that this eschews the idea of domain play, in that the characters are never assumed to take control of the place nor expand on what's here. But even then, I can't hold that against the book; that's what I [I]wish[/I] it did, to be sure, but it was quite clearly never its intended focus. Instead, it's a well-rounded and thoroughly grounded home base/source of adventures for your entire party, integrating well with a classic setting while still being easily used in almost any other campaign you might be running. After several imperfect entries among the "Strongholds" books, this one is a tip-top way of closing out the series. Every character should have some of [i]this[/i] old-time religion. [MEDIA=youtube]N61LHFFfiik[/MEDIA] [I]Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.[/I] [/QUOTE]
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