Midnight

Rating:
Summary: Best for a long time
Review: After going through several campaign settings, buying books, reading and then failing to get really excited about DMing them, I was oh so happy to finally stumble upon Midnight...I was on the verge of getting the 3e setting for DragonLance when the FFG site threw up the Midnight setting. Searched around and downloaded the free tasters and bought the book....and was not disspointed.

...though my players are having a bit of tough time adapting.

No cash, no your elf can't trot into town to go shopping, no the dwarf can't either, no sorry you can't run around town waving your longsword or wearing chainmail... in fact where did you get that Chainmail, PHP shopping list...ha forget it.

Midnight makes everything about staying alive an adventure, from eating to shopping. A real gritty world where the Characters need to do a lot more than roll dice to role play.

The rules themselves are good, containing an interesting twist on magic, the total removal of divine casting for good aligned characters and introducing new races, classes and heroic paths.

Over all great stuff, the only thing really missing was flaura and fauna, with magic and food eaqually rare characters will need to break out the herbs and go hunting a lot. It would have been nice to see this explored, hopefully we'll see region specific expanions that cover this in future.

While there are presenltly around 8 Midnight books on the market, my biggest worry is that it will go the way of DragonStar and be farmed out to a smaller firm to support and then die....it's too good a system to be allowed to suffer that fate!

Rating:
Summary: Not very sustainable in the long run
Review: Due to a recent attack against me by the fan site that supports this line, at which point I had concerns for my personal safety, I would not reccommend parents buy this product for minors.

While I find the main book for this line very well done, and the setting is definately very interesting, I find it difficult to maintain player interest for long campaigns due to the dark nature of the setting. And having them succeed, well...pretty much negates the setting in some ways.

For someone looking for something different, I would say this may be what you are looking for. I would make sure your players are ready for the change, however, or they will grow quickly tired of having to fight for every inch. As for the supporting material...I found only the player's guide and the magic book to be of real help.

Rating:
Summary: Great campaign setting
Review: Having actively DMed with many campaign worlds over the past 25 years I have to say that the Midnight setting is the best, most well-thought out world to be released in many years.

How to describe it to the uninitiated? Think of it as a "what if" Middle Earth setting where Sauron wins, and the world is all but conquered. The authors unashamedly took that core concept and built an amazing, dark world where the dwarves are locked in a never-ending war of attrition in their mountain fortresses, doomed to lose; the elves remain free in their enormous forest home, but it is slowly and inexoribly being burned away by orc legions; halflings serve only two purposes--slave labor and food; gnomes are river traders allowed to remain free only as long as they serve the needs of their orc and legate masters; and the human lands are subjugated by legates and traitorous nobles.

You won't find standard half-orcs and half-elves in Midnight. Only the fey (non-human) races can interbreed, so we instead get elflings (jungle elf/halfling mix), dwarrow (gnome/dwarf mix), and dworgs (orc/dwarf mix).

This is a low-magic world, for reasons I leave a mystery so that players may discover it in their own time. Any use of magic unsanctioned by the dark god Izrador is punishable by death. Openly carrying weapons or wearing armor is punishable by death. In fact, just about every crime is punishable by slavery, torture, death, or some combination of these. It's not a happy place.

Players may have a tough time adapting to a world where gold is just another rock and food & water is the greatest commodity. They are more likely to be chased out of town by a mob than cheered for killing the local orc garrison (the orcs will only return to punish the townspeople once the "heroes" have left). Magic items are few and far between, but those that they do find have interesting powers. A new type of magic item, called a covenant item, provides new powers based on the experience level of its owner. Great touch and a great opportunity for DM creativity.

While to many it may seem like there's no sense playing in a world where the heroes can't win, the real fun is in making an impact in even the smallest of ways, slowly learning the "big picture" about the world, and hoping that the next battle will be the one to turn the tide in favor of the forces of good.

Midnight can make good players and DMs great. Give it a try, you will not be disappointed!

Rating:
Summary: Dark fantasy the right way
Review: I hardly ever write reviews of books, especially RPG books, but feel compelled to put in a good word for Midnight. This work is a well thought-out campaign setting that is done right. I was looking for a setting that held the same feel as an Elric or Fafhrd & Grey Mouser grit, grime and hopelessness story, and am truly satisfied with Midnight. Pick it up, it's worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Dark fantasy the right way
Review: I hardly ever write reviews of books, especially RPG books, but feel compelled to put in a good word for Midnight. This work is a well thought-out campaign setting that is done right. I was looking for a setting that held the same feel as an Elric or Fafhrd & Grey Mouser grit, grime and hopelessness story, and am truly satisfied with Midnight. Pick it up, it's worth it.

Rating:
Summary: A rather original setting
Review: This has to be one of the most original settings for D20 that I've every seen. Though not entirely unique (for example the sorcerer class is replaced with a class called "channelers" can anyone say "Wheel of Time!"?) the setting is over all something new. The first few pages of the book are full color glossed pages which adds to it's good look,while the "meat" of the book is uncolored. The art work,while not spectacular,is quite good over all and in fact is one of the best I've seen on non-in-house D20 (ie in house meaning what is published by WOC themselves) material to date. The lay-out of the book is well done,and the condition and make of the book are good too. My one complaint about the setting is that I feel they may have tried to cram too much into it,with a new an interesting magic system,heroic paths that each character may follow some of which have psionic powers,and several new races it's all quite alot to throw into one book to say the least. Over all though an above average setting with a unique an dark premises that brings out the hero in us all.

Rating:
Summary: A rather original setting
Review: This has to be one of the most original settings for D20 that I've every seen. Though not entirely unique (for example the sorcerer class is replaced with a class called "channelers" can anyone say "Wheel of Time!"?) the setting is over all something new. The first few pages of the book are full color glossed pages which adds to it's good look,while the "meat" of the book is uncolored. The art work,while not spectacular,is quite good over all and in fact is one of the best I've seen on non-in-house D20 (ie in house meaning what is published by WOC themselves) material to date. The lay-out of the book is well done,and the condition and make of the book are good too. My one complaint about the setting is that I feel they may have tried to cram too much into it,with a new an interesting magic system,heroic paths that each character may follow some of which have psionic powers,and several new races it's all quite alot to throw into one book to say the least. Over all though an above average setting with a unique an dark premises that brings out the hero in us all.

Rating:
Summary: Best Setting in Years
Review: To agree with the former review, yes, there is a lot crammed into this book, but it is mostly flavor text. Most of the gritty rules are already referenced in the PH, DMG and MM, so that left plenty of room for the writers to go wild. The setting is a clever blend of Middle Earth and Martin's books, so that some of it seems very famililar (end of the Third Age, orcs, elves, etc) but the real twist comes with Izrador (not unlike Sauron). This diety of evil controls the world now after being thrown down from heaven (the Sundering) but in turn, the good gods can no longer touch the world either. Evil rules, the Dark One has spread his fingers across the land, and the rule is to obey or die.
Right from the start, EVERYTHING seasoned players are used to in a typical D&D campaign are turned on end. Gold is rarely used in commerce, quality items are very hard to fine, magic is ancient and rare, weapons and armor are illegal and punishable by death, civilization is mostly ruled by orcs, pockets of deep, distant lands crawl with trapped demons, and one by one the major races are dying. Soon, Izrador will rule all, and in time he will regain enough power to take revenge on his celestial brothers.
That is, unless the champions of the earth can stop him, which is where the players come in. The earth, in a last ditch effort to preserve itself, embues certain men and women with powers above the norm. Nothing flashy, just bonuses here and there that replicate what you might find in the core rule books. The feel, flavor and nature of the campaign is about as far from Greyhawk, the Realms, and Dragonlance as you can get. Very well balanced and lot of fun, this is a setting for players and DM's who want some dark fantasy, and aren't afraid of the dark themselves.