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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Seriously crunchy, 16 Jul 2005
This book is so crunchy it should have a crisp, honeycomb centre and be sold by Cadburys. If you are looking for flavour or colour on how elves tie up their hair while going to war, forget it. This book is a DMs manual on how to design a campaign (or parts thereof) around a militaristic setting. And what's wrong with that?Chapter 1 introduces the ideas of what the shape of a "war" campaign might be like, and how normal aspects of a campaign (like handing out treasure) might need to be changed. Chapter 2 is about how to design "war" adventures using a flow chart system, how to quickly design an army, battlefields and their associated hazards. It also introduces the victory point system, whereby the characters can influence the outcome of the battle (as much as the DM allows, anyway) through their own actions. These two chapters are the best, setting out the most thoughful and novel parts of the book. Chapter 3 digs a bit deeper, setting out possible battlefield encounters and possible units that could be met. Chapter 4 contains a large number of specific rules for the battlefield, where the might differ from standard rules. For example, it has stuff on siege engines, massed archery (a la Agincourt), leader "auras" which allow leaders to give allies bonuses in certain circumstances, and rules for decorations and rewards. The fifth and sixth chapters have rules for characters, setting out new uses for skills, new feats and prestige classes, "teamwork" benefits which allow a practiced team to carry out specific manoeuvres that may give then certain bonuses or abilities (like Evasion, for example), new spells and magic items. Finally, it also has an appendix, detailing different armies and their organisation. As stated above, this is a fairly rules heavy book. It's also not very "in character", as it deals explicity with the nitty-gritty of designing and balancing encounters, adventures and campaigns and as such addresses the DM directly. It is entirely generic, so its not world-specific. Personally, I think its very good. There is lots in here that a DM can take away even if warfare is not going to be a big deal in the campaign. And if you do want to set a campaign around characters fighting a war, I would say its invaluable.
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by Chris Sims
by Wizards Team
by Andy Collins
by Jennifer Clarke Wilkes
