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| Freeport: The City of Adventure | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Format: Full Color Cover, black and white Interior, hardcover Page Count: 155 pages Genre: sourcebook Campaign Setting: Freeport Developer: Green Ronin Publishing Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing Authors: Chris Pramas and Matt Forbeck Product Code: GRR1007 |
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| Overall rating: 3/5. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maybe it was the hype. Maybe I was just expecting too much. And the fact is I've always liked Chris Pramas' work. But Freeport: City of Adventure doesn't live up to the vision I had of it. Yes, it has some cool ideas. Yes, it has some cool characters. Yes, it has some cool story twists. But no, this pirate campaign setting is not worth the price of admission. If you really need a pirate fix, save your money and go see Pirates of the Caribbean. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| The first three chapters provide background information and history on the city. We're also introduced to some of Freeport's residents. From "God Squad" leader Asha Sante, who valiantly tries to weed out the evil cultists that pop up all over the city, to the mad fire spectre Kothar the Accursed, a pirate whose fiery execution at sea turned him and his crew into undead horrors threatening any ship flying Freeport's colors. DMs looking to run full-scale adventures will want to read through these chapters. The average player can skip them without too much concern. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chapter four, a Freeport Gazetteer, takes up the bulk of the book. It provides details of the different sections of town and primary hot spots in each. Each section also offers a "story hook" for Dungeon Master. This section details the different organizations at work in Freeport. Learn about the Esoteric Order of Starry Wisdom, who established the Wizard's Guild in Freeport while searching for a relic dedicated to their diety known as the Crawling Chaos. And don't forget to stop by the Dead Pelican for a meat pie, so long as you don't mind a little cannibalism. The chapter offers a few nice maps detailing important buildings and locations and provides more NPC stats. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| One of the most amusing would be "Emperor" Oswald, the King of Beggars. An impoverished, delusional beggar himself, Oswald fancies himself the rightful "emperor" of Freeport. His comic antics and charismatic demeanor earn him free meals at almost any restaurant in town and something akin to respect from even the nobles of the city. Seen as harmless, lighthearted entertainment by most city dwellers, some wonder what would happen if the emperor every tried to actually test his power. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chapter five is simply a series of suggestions for dungeon masters on how to get the characters to Freeport in the first place and ideas on what to do once they are there. Its not until we get to Chapter six that we get to what players really want: NEW STUFF. Unfortunately, with all the buildup to what a great adventure Freeport is, we only get two new prestige classes: Pirate and Crime Boss. There is a new NPC class for cultists, but no new classes for players. There are a few new feats, but nothing that will get player's chomping at the bit to use them. Not surprisingly, most of the new spells revolve around water (Shipwrack, Swim, Vise of the Deep, Wall of Water, etc). There are also some new magic items and rules for using firearms. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| The binding in my copy started pulling away the first time I read it (not a good sign). Most of the black and white artwork is generic and really only serves to break up long text passages. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Freeport has enough interesting locales and personalities in it to make it a not-so-nice place for characters to visit, but I wouldn't want to run a long-term game there. And considering the price tag, one might consider just docking in a cheaper port. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Return to Bards and Sages | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| NOTE: The price of this book has come down since I wrote this review. If you can get it under $20, it may be worth your while. New rating 3.5 based on the lower pricing. Newer versions of the book are also better built, and don't seen to have the problem of early versions (binding pulling away) |
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| Go to the next Review | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reviewed by Julie Ann Dawson | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Originally reviewed for Gaming Frontiers Magazine | ||||||||||||||||||||||