There's a section on my old World Of Greyhawk maps called The Land Of Black Ice. Maybe some of you grognards will recognize it. It's such a wonderfully evocative name and concept that I've been fascinated by it since I was about 12; I even hijacked it into my very first attempt at a homebrew world, when I was about 13. I've wanted to build a campaign around it for years, but it's always given me trouble.
See, the name calls forth images of a fantasy Ice Age: cave-halflings, woolly mammoths, shamans, and stone-age hunter-gatherers fending off the forces of darkness with inadequate tools and poorly-understood magic. And the problem with that is that it doesn't fit well with any version of D&D; in order to evoke the proper feel for an Ice Age campaign, I have to deny options (particular classes, tools, spells, skills, etc.) to my players, and no player likes having their toys taken away.
Cavemaster solves this problem. Rather than shoe-horning the Ice Age into a pre-existing rules-set by taking things out, Cavemaster evokes its primitive setting by providing a game with multiple options, powered by rules that help you get INTO character before you even HAVE a character.
The game makes the Stone Age into a compelling, viable fantasy setting, and is nearly flawless in its game design. Well worth the asking price.
I'm gonna go start planning out my "Time Of The Black Ice" campaign, powered by Cavemaster!
Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!] |