18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Left wanting, September 9, 2005
This review is from: Five Nations (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement) (Hardcover)
At first, I was skeptical about the Eberron setting, but after trying it out - it was enjoyable, albeit different. I was looking forward to this book to find out more information to use in a campaign. Unfortunately, the book is mostly filled with the same information from the ECS presented in a different format. Sure, they include 1 prestige class per nation and some NPC stats and monsters - but the world was left just as vague. The power group and cultural information is definitely a plus to have - no other books have successfully detailed this before. Thrane was the most underdeveloped portion of the book though and if you want information on specific portions of the landscape, you'd be better off making it all up. Of the nations, Aundair and Breland are the only ones that have decent details on the geography. Bottom line: good for skimming, but no real meat to pour through anyway.
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Additional Eberron Material, September 12, 2005
This review is from: Five Nations (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement) (Hardcover)
I guess the days when you buy a campaign set and everything is included are long gone. "Eberron: Five Nations" is a new, hardcover supplement for the Eberron campaign setting and provides some additional meat to that campaign. It would have been great for this to be included all in the original campaign but such is life in RPGs. This supplement specifically covers what has become known as the five nations. A detailed history explains how these were once united into one kingdom with a tradition of choosing a new successor to the throne. But when five rulers chose to ignore the rules of succession a hundred years war erupted, tearing the lands apart into the five distinct kingdoms of Aundair, Breland, Mournland, Karrnath, and Thrane.
Each of these five lands are covered in the book with a detailed map, information about it's people, notable places, groups, and social structure. There are also adventure hooks provided for each region that the enterprising DM can use to build scenarios from. For example in Aundair players can traverse the Crying Fields which, during full moons, becomes haunted with undead. Encounter tables are provided as the players can run into some of the most dreaded forms of undead including wraiths, specters, vampires, shadows, even liches.
The book provides several new prestige classes like the Knight Phantom, Dark Lantern, and Cyran Avenger. The Knight Phantoms are wizard knights that are similar to the Eldtritch Knights found in the DM's guide. They are known for riding upon phantom steeds. The Dark Lanterns are the spies and assassins for the crown of Breland. They have a unique blend of fighting, stealth, and diplomacy skills, perfectly suited for missions of espionage. They gain the slippery mind skill which allows them an extra save to escape from charm/mind control spells. The Cyran Avenger is kind of an Avenging Ranger class whose combat proficiencies are combined with hunting and tracking skills. The Cyran Avenger gains a benefit called an Avenging Strike that can be performed on any creature that has harmed an ally of the Cyran Avenger. This strike provides extra damage to the attack.
There are also the ubiquitous new monsters and such. Like most WOC it has top production values; the art is uniformly good throughout and book the book is bound very well. The information is maybe a bit superfluous however. It provides added depth but it's not required reading. Eberron definitely has a different feel than The Forgotten Realms though and if you're looking for a different campaign than Forgotten Realms, then Eberron is a good choice.
Reviewed by Tim Janson
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cool new book for Eberron detailing the Five Nations, August 21, 2005
This review is from: Five Nations (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Supplement) (Hardcover)
Firstly the book looks nice; the artwork is on par with what you would expect from an Eberron book.
The new prestige classes look kinda cool.
The 5 facts every *insert nation here* citizen knows is cool flavour.
The Five Nations are explored in some detail; Aundair, Breland, Cyre/The Mornland, Karrnath and Thrane.
The book begins with an introduction which outlines the origins of the nations and the last war. It then moves into a chapter on each of the nations, so there are like, 5 chapters Scoob.
The nation by nation layout of chapters would great if there was a way to cross reference stuff (EG. an index...)
Each of the nations is provided in some detail, people, places, the locals, adventuring in country and power groups too. A number of chapters include prestige classes and Chapter 3 has The Lord of the Blades, picture, stats and all. (I must say I was a bit disappointed by that, I mean either keep him a mysterious figure or make him unique, he does not even use a unique weapon for example, however his armor additions are kind of cool.)
I enjoyed the chapter on Karrnath; the political aspects of this nation are intriguing.
However for all its good stuff, the book does have some basic failings
NO INDEX! This is the worst of the books flaws.
*Start Rant*
Why of why, release a reference book but don't include an index!
Did you not learn your lesson from Sharn: City of Towers, where the author put an index(es) on his website as they were not printed in the book?
*End Rant*
The prestige class divided by country chapter is a different alternative to the usual style of presentation (eg all in one chapter) however it seems to work in this book.
It is a little thin (only 160 pages and some of the pages at the back are advertisements!) Don't try and sell me more stuff, make the book I bought better (EG. AN INDEX!!!!!)
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