Midnight: Forge Of Shadow

Rating:
Summary: An excellent detailed view of an entire city
Review: Forge of Shadow is an incredibly detailed look at a whole city. Filled with gritty details of a conquered city, this book allows you to generate dozens if not hundreds of plot hooks and storylines. It is complete with descriptions of city districts, organizations, locations (`The Burning Elf' is my favorite) and personalities. In some ways it reminds me of the Freeport setting- dark and gritty, but under a unified oppressive yoke. While meant for the Midnight setting, I don't see why this can't be adapted to any other setting. If you want dark brooding city adventures, this is a must-have.




Rating:
Summary: Not much to work with
Review: I don't find this book worth the cover price, especially not with a new edition coming out soon. The authors try to portray gritty reality, but it comes off sounding like some sort of dime store novel. I found it to be overly dramatic, and very limiting on the GM. The NPCs are pretty much unbelieveable, and the product itself is lightweight. At least it's not as overpriced as some of the other products. Not reccommended.

Rating:
Summary: Izrador, or Isengard?
Review: This is the second release of this line since it's come under a new developer, and frankly, I think FFG needed to end the line if they weren't interested in producing it in house. The writing is flat and listless, and the feats and prestige classes are unbalanced. The authors seem to be trying to create a whole book out of what should be a small area in a main book, and I'm wondering why the push for all these new books, if a new edition of the main book is forthcoming. This information could have easily been put in there, instead of a freestanding item. A waste.