As some of you may have noticed if you’re reading this, I began reviewing products from the French d20 “Archipels” product line several months ago. These products are sent to me by Oriflam for review. This review concerns the “Manuel du Héros” (Hero’s Manual), a 128 page softcover book subtitled “Player’s Guide”. This book is the player companion to the DM oriented “Carnets de Voyage” reviewed elsewhere.
Before I go into more detail, I should start by saying that in the crunch vs. fluff debate, I’m rather the kind of guy who leans heavily on fluff. That’s not to say I don’t like crunch, but I dislike crunch disconnected from background fluff, if you get my meaning. So it was with a certain apprehension that I received this latest book featuring new races, prestige classes, feats and more crunch besides. As will become apparent, I was more than pleased with what I read...
The book starts with 12 page introduction to the “Archipels” setting. It is beautifully done. It reads easily, it’s a nice overview, enough to tickle your appetite without revealing too much, and at the same time it constitutes an indispensable “what every character knows” that has been too long in the waiting. In other words, as a GM it’s all you need to tell your players to read to get them hooked and ready to play.
The next (and largest) section of the book covers characters and character options. The first chapter covers races : the classic D&D races and 9 new ones specific to the setting. The D&D races are described in terms of how they fit in the setting. This is actually very nice because you see where “Archipels” really shines : the bitter and homeless mercenary elves, the gipsy halflings and their boat towns, the mechanistic dwarves, etc. They all have a legitimate place in “Archipels” rather than just being dropped there coz’ everybody likes ‘em. Optionally you can even modify some of the racial perks to fit the setting even better.
The new races are a mixed bag. It’s nice to at last have a full description of the Bolds, of whom the kobolds are but a sub-race, and more hints as to the important role they play in the setting. The Salines and the Tehanis are both aquatic races, noticeably different from each other and interesting. The Dryads are a vegetal race passing off as human to further their nefarious purposes. Unfortunately, the goblinoid propositions are a little less savoury. Although including Orcs as a player race is understandable and makes sense in the setting, the Gnogres and Mhödos are less convincing and look more like last minute additions. The Gobzantis (Nicegobs) are pretty lame and probably a joke, although not a very funny one even when you know the French AD&D inspired comic Kroc. Is that 9 ? Nope ! I’m forgetting the Awakened Automata. Although an interesting concept, I can’t help but think it makes a pretty unplayable race... Mechanically, the races seem balanced enough for my tastes.
The next chapter covers classes. It starts with a quick overview on classic classes and how they fit. It’s a useful and often overlooked thing to do, and I found especially interesting the focus on monasteries and knightly orders in the setting. Helps you avoid the generic paladin syndrome !
Then come Prestige Classes. Do you know I am sick to death of Prestige Classes ? When I first got into 3E I thought it was a really neat concept, but the more supplements I read, the more disgusted I got with it. It just seemed like an excuse to include more mechanics, and certainly not a means to enhance settings and roleplaying as seemed to be the original intent. Thankfully, Oriflam did not fall into that trap. The 14 PrCs presented here all sprout from an in-world concept and present mechanics to enhance that concept rather than the other way round. The classes are either 5 or 10 levels and seem balanced overall although I should point out that I have not playtested them yet and that I’m unlikely to spot an unbalancing effect unless it’s fairly obvious. A few of them seem better suited to NPCs than PCs. The PrCs included are the Elfin Gunman, the Inventor, the Smuggler, the Nemedian Hussard, the Inquisitor, the Invenchanter, the Abyssal Summoner, the Halfling Marine Sprite, the Soldier-Monk, the Mystic, the Dragoneer Pilot, the Free-Kargirian Pirate, the Runic Lord, and the Thalaturgist. It’s a nice balance overall between sneaky, combatant and magic-using classes. A few of them are below par in my opinion and I can’t see a player picking them, but overall the fit the setting nicely and enhance character development the way they should.
The next chapter describes a new concept for “Archipels” that is quite clever and could very easily be used in any d20 game. It’s called “Heroic Archetypes”. Basically what it is, is an often archetypal character concept that you pick at creation. The archetypes presented are things like “Brigand with a heart of gold”, “Brute”, “Fatal Beauty”, “Tough Guy”, “Weasel”, “Street Kid”, etc. Besides the roleplaying crutch it may provide, each archetype features an advantage and a disadvantage that come into play. For example, if your archetype is “Tough Guy”, once per adventure, you can fight until the last, literally, ie. You can go on fighting until you reach -10 hit points. On the other hand, you don’t always measure the danger you’re in and the DM can only announce half the amount of damage you actually endure, keeping the other half secret a number of times per adventure equal to your level. The advantages and disadvantages are on the whole interesting and I find the idea both clever and simple in its execution. Apart from a couple of excessively “comic relief” oriented archetypes, I’d use it if I was starting a new campaign now.
Next come the feats, 42 of them. Publishing original feats three years after 3E came out is quite a feat (pun intended), but overall, Oriflam succeeds here as well. Many feats are sea-oriented, which is fitting considering the maritime setting, but a good many of them are social in nature or linked to bloodlines. Good concepts, simple mechanics on the whole, so fairly good stuff. Thank god there are only a few combat oriented feats in there.
Beyond the character section the reader finds a collection of rules, equipment, pre-generated characters and spells. All of these are interesting and well suited to the setting, once again. The rules mainly concern mechanic and how to design the gizmos that are prevalent in “Archipels”. The equipment is fun and sometimes wacky but overall nice and interesting. The pre-gens are pre-gens, nothing special about ‘em. Finally, the spells (about 25 of them) are all related to the sea and navigation. They complement the naval rules found in “Carnets de Voyages” nicely. This chapter ends the book with 3 new domains (Love, Sea, The Abyss) and a number of new familiars. Then there’s the OGL and then a new setting specific character sheet.
As I mentioned above I dislike excessive crunch and I expected having a hard time reading this book. After having read it, I’ll rate it a 5, the first in the game line so far from the products I’ve reviews. Truth is, this is everything that a player’s book to a setting should be. The crunch is good and fitting, the fluff is important and full of flavour. I’m still not keen on the overall look and illustrations, but I guess that’s more of a taste issue than anything else, and it’s very secondary for me. So if you intend to play or run Archipels, you could do a lot worse than spend the 24 EUR this product costs. In fact, my recommendation would be that this needs to be one of the first products you pick up. It helps make sense of the product line in a similar way the “Carnets de Voyages” did, but it’s a lot clearer and better organised, and more useful for the average campaign.
