Customer Reviews

Midnight: Forge of Shadow: A Sourcebook for Steel Hill [d20 system]

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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.

Forge of Shadow is a sourcebook/slash adventure novel for Fantasy Flight's outstanding Midnight RPG setting. I've raved in previous reviews about how outstanding the Midnight setting is and Forge of Shadow is no different. This sourcebook takes the players to Cruach Emyn, known as Steel Hill. Once the site where great weapons were forged in the battle against the hordes of the Dark Lord Izrador, it has now been corrupted and fallen under the control of the Shadow. The former ruler, Lady Eden, found herself betrayed by her own subjects led by Aushav Falan, now known as the Traitor Prince of Steel Hill and the new ruler.

Steel Hill is an important location for both the forces of the Shadow and those free peoples struggling against his tyranny. Slaves now work day and night in the mines to supply iron to equip Izrador's legions of orcs and other minions. The free peoples of Aryth will do anything to wrest control of the region or, at the very least, do what they can to hinder the mining and forging operations. Steel Hill and its surrounding areas, including the mines are described in great detail. Individual maps of each city ward are included as well as entire area maps. The maps detail the important buildings and locations that PCs can visit if they come to Steel Hill such as Inns, Taverns, Guard outposts, brothels, etc. Notes are also included on the system of law and justice, such as it is, in Steel Hill. Justice usually comes at the point of an orc-held sword in the city and visitors are advised to not step out of line. Other buildings are placed on the map as blanks allowing the DM to create Steel Hill in their own way.

The source book also provides large number of adventure hooks and details on areas that the DM can uses to create their own adventures. Enough detail is given in the book to provide weeks of adventures in and around Steel Hill. Notable characters and troop types are described in full. As in their other products, the characters in Steel Hill are well designed and fleshed out for the DM. Among the new material in the book are two new prestige classes although they are designed for the forces of shadow and thus would work best as NPCs. There is the Blood Rider prestige class. The Blood Riders are the elite forces of Steel Hill who are mounted forces that have such abilities as the Deadly Charge allowing them to do triple damage with this mounted charge. The other prestige class is the Sword Brothers, those who wield unholy blades and protect the temples of Izrador. There are also few feats, spells, and a new monster.

Steel Hill is another well-written sourcebook for Midnight. Midnight's unique, wholly evil and desperate setting continues to set the bar high for fans of fantasy RPGs. When you read through the Midnight material you truly feel immersed in the setting the writers/designers have created. The art throughout the book is very good as always. Another wonderful supplement!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Foge of Shadow is a supplement for the excellent Midnight setting about a small, yet very important, city: Steel Hill (or Cruach Emyn). The main purpose of the book is to describe the city of Steel Hill, but in doing so the authors also give us dozens of possible adventures ideas.

Art: The cover art is as dark and brooding and fits well with the book and its contents, and the interior art is excellent as well. The maps of the different wards and of the whole city are nice and clean, and not overly complicated.

The book has four chapters:

Chapter 1 divides the city into three general areas, with each area containing several wards. Each ward is mapped and detailed, with enough distinct and interesting locations such as the Jolly Orc Taver, Ironhammer Foundry, and the Garden of Death, and personalities to go along to provide any DM with enough ideas to run his party through the dirty and dangerous streets and alleys of Steel Hill.

Chapter 2 goes outside the wall and describes the immediate surrounding area. Chief among these places are the iron mines (ever hungry for more slave labor) and Tarish (the town at the base of the mines catering to those who can), with the authors describing the politics of the Great Mine and Tarish (and their relations with the authorities in Steel Hill) as well as giving ideas on possible adventures in the mines. I also love Morgatha's Cave (and Morgatha herself is excellent as well), and the Ancestor Stones.

Chapter 3 is all about politics and intrigue: who's against whom, who's betraying who and who is working with whom (at least, until they get what they want). And that's just the Shadow's minions. Also described are several resistance forces and local legends that could be real... or not. As with every book in Midnight, everything is left purposefully gray in order to allow the DM to run amuck.

Chapter 4 gives us a more detailed look at the important characters in Steel Hill including their stat blocks and personalities. This chapter goes hand in hand with the previous chapter, since it describes some personalities that were already discussed, but goes more deeply into their reasoning of why they act in certain ways. Also provided here are the forces that are in order in (and around) Steel Hill including numbers and examples of a typical individual from among the ranks.

The Appendix includes two new Prestige Classes (both for evil characters), one of them created especially for the forces of Steel Hill: the Blood Rider; a new monster; and a template for a Shadow Servant, those evil individuals who have given their souls to Izrador.

The book is very well written, and the authors have managed to capture the dark spirit of Midnight and put it into this book. It's interesting how every time I read it I get new ideas for adventures to run. Intrigue plays an important part in Steel Hill as the various factions vie for control and power giving DMs plenty of ground to play around in, fertile with mistrust and paranoia (exactly what a Midnight adventure should have).

In short, this is another very good supplement for Midnight. And as another reviewer has written, with a few modifications Steel hill could be dropped in another campaign and easily provide a dangerous and gritty city to run around in.

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.

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.