I found the setting to be very engaging and descriptive. It blends nicely the familiar of our own world, the eternal struggle of good vs. evil, and traditional fantasy elements into a cohesive whole. While it bears similarity to traditional fantasy worlds, Echoes of Heaven is also related to ancient and modern Christian roots, with inclusions of God, Angels, Heaven, and Hell. Overall, the flavor of the setting is highly imaginative and should serve to fill a much needed niche for those wishing to tell an epic story of Heaven against Hell along the lines of the movie "The Prophecy" or the comic book "Constantine."

Chapter One: Introduction This Chapter gives a very high overview of the setting, the world the characters inhabit, and the cosmology. These pages should be made available to almost all new players to the setting as it gives a quick and accurate view of the world of adventure as well as key mechanical aspects such as a calendar.

Chapter Two: Races Echoes of Heaven pulls from traditional fantasy elements that most are familiar with and adds unique elements that really tie the races to this specific setting. Each race is tied to a deadly sin (of which there are 5 instead of 7). There are subraces that are favored by the Divine and some favored by the Infernal.

One particularly nice feature is that, barring Divine or Infernal favoring, subraces all share a common set of statistics from the Player's Handbook. This makes it possible to have cosmetic differences without having ideal subraces for each class.

The only thing I found that might be an error was the statistic block on High Men - they don't seem as 'strong' as standard humans, especially compared with the High Elves. This could be easily house ruled I believe or may be adjusted in an errata. Also, some of the tables could be better labeled and referenced in the text.

Chapter Three: History This Chapter gives a detailed history of the world from creation to present day. Sprinkled throughout are Adventure Seeds and World Threads, that give a GM guidance on creating adventures that can be used to customize the setting to his needs or to advance the overall timeline. This unique addition to the book is very helpful to new GMs and those who want to know that their campaigns will not be invalidated by official sources. Throughout this chapter and the introduction are passages that detail how certain creatures in the d20 system were created and are viewed (dragons, hobgoblins, kobolds, etc.) This helps establish Echoes as a new campaign world while maintaining familiar links to engage existing d20 players.

Chapter Four: Gazetteer The different nations are detailed in this Chapter. Each geographic area is richly detailed with notes on religious overtones, economy, and major cities. Color Campaign Cartographer maps accompany each region, giving a good idea of its physical boundaries and layout. I would have liked to see a little more information on each of the major cities, but that could be something done in a supplement either by region or just a city book. Also, some further Adventure Seeds could have given a GM a kick start for starting or holding a campaign in each area.

Chapter Five: Power Groups This is probably one of the most important chapters in the book, and one usually left out by other campaign worlds too easily. This chapter details the main power groups in the setting, with a good amount of background on each. The only thing that would make this chapter better is to treat each organization as an 'affiliation' (in d20 terms) that allow the characters to be more closely tied with an organization and gain benefits and incur obligations.

Chapter Six: Religion This Chapter goes into great detail about the religion(s) of the setting. While there is one Church, there are many factions within it. There is a good deal of background material for different churches, factions, and holy beliefs. Characters will find good information here to guide their role playing, and the standard mechanics of domains and classes is included. Overall, a very thorough chapter that really hits to the heart of the Echoes setting.

Chapter Seven: Everyday Life In this Chapter, we're presented with general campaign setting material to aid the GM in creating a thriving world that comes alive. There is not much else to say, except that the world has been well thought out and includes common terminology that should make it a good fit with existing campaigns as well.

Chapter Eight: Miscellaneous This Chapter is the catch-all for other details of the world, including materials, equipment, and locations. Again, as with other chapters, Adventure Seeds and World Threads are scattered to help the GM in planning a campaign. Of particular note are bonded items. This items are specially crafted items that grow in power with the character. I've always found that those items that a character uses throughout their career are the most treasured, and Echoes of Heaven provides a systematic way to bring this out for GMs. Another aspect to this chapter that makes the setting flexible are Ulcers. Ulcers are on the surface rifts that destroy the standard laws of reality. Therefore, a GM can link in other settings, other genres, etc. into an Echoes campaign with little need to 'explain' it away. This opens up a lot of possibilities to incorporate the setting with others.

Appendix One: This is really the GM Guide for the setting and gives hints at things to come and explains portions of the other material in more detail for the GM. A large number of NPC names are given with classes and levels. However, they are not really fleshed out beyond that. I would have liked to see a few have full stat blocks. In addition, a lot of the NPCs look to be very powerful, which isn't a problem in itself, except that given the nature of the setting, it was surprising to see more than 1 or 2 level 14+ NPC's in each of the major areas. I hope that future supplements or web enhancements will detail a few of the more prominent NPCs in more detail.

Appendix Two: This discusses how Echoes relates to other settings and the base d20 system. Sections are devoted to banned classes, modifications to spellcasting, and necromancy. One thing lacking from this section and others is the addition of any new classes. While not necessary, having a few unique classes to a setting really allows players to immerse themselves. I hope that we see some classes or prestige classes specific to the setting coming with future supplements.

Index Yes! What can I say, I really hate when a sourcebook does not have an index. Echoes of Heaven has a great index.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I particularly like the setting overall and how it blends some of our world with traditional fantasy and epic struggles of good vs. evil to create a rich , dynamic world that should engage players and GMs for quite some time. The inclusion of Adventure Seeds and World Threads are useful for GMs running campaigns as material is released. The setting has a unique take on the basic races by adding Divine and Infernal influences and offers new looks into the formation of common creatures in d20. The writing and artwork are all high quality.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The biggest missing piece to the setting is the lack of new or custom game mechanics such as classes, prestige classes, or feats. While not necessary in a new setting, they do help to frame the setting and add a bit more depth and differentiation. However, both of these can be included in future supplements and should add greatly to the overall quality of the work.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This is an excellent product on several fronts.
The background has obviously had a lot of thought and care put into it, and seems very coherent. The adventure itself has some novel plot ideas (like the 10,000 year gap between parts 1 and 2...) and the Dwarf/Elf etc Campaign Cartographer symbols are worth the price of this complete set by themselves! The product has very high production values and looks fantastic, and i think it will get a lot of use.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Production Values CC3 Symbols <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing comes to mind<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

First impressions are good, the divine aspects are handled in a way that I can deal with which was my initial wory when looking at the system.

I am not a fan of overly interventionist gods, I like modern characterization and the muddy waters of current lit more than the aboslutism of Greek Mythology.

The production value was high, the maps were of the genre... the layout was very readable and the PDF worked on non Adobe PDF viewers, though it displayed best on acroread.

I was impressed enough that I may put this on my late fall schedule to play through. It will make a nice change of pace from my current campaigns.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I liked the adventure organization, a good modern feel, lots of varied encounters... looking forward to running it.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I would have perfered the maps in a less program specific format, like svg or even png.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Superbly written piece of fiction, with a good twist at the end. Can we see more?<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Well written, very engaging. Held my attention from beginning to end!<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Would have liked to see a longer story, or maybe some follow on stories.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Great product. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a new campaign setting or to anyone looking for a great OGL resource to borrow stuff from.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: I really enjoy having the level of detail to read through. You can really get a good feel for how everything is related. I found that having the adventure seeds and world threads being placed in context to the campaign information was very useful. Chapter 8 was a lot of good information and I really like the bonded magic items mechanics.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I think that the product could have really benefited from the inclusion of campaign specific feats and prestige classes. Of course this "oversight" can easily be corrected in later products or as a "web enhancement" type PDF.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

As with the other versions of Echoes of Heaven, the campaign detail is excellent.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The campaign details and the included adventure. The Throne of God gives you a great campaign introduction and kick-off point.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: n/a<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

The Echoes of Heaven Campaign is highly detailed and well done. If you are looking for a new setting...This is it.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The RM specific information was clear and concise.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: n/a<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

Great story. Gives you a taste of what it would be like to adventure in the Echoes of Heaven setting.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Good read like all of Robert's other fiction.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Great product. The symbols are works of art. They really enhance any map that you would use them on.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Everything.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: What's not to like?<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Great item. Clean and well laidout. Fantasic maps and real nice artwork. The index and two tables of contents make it easy to find what you need quickly. The setting and background are detailed and well thought out. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The pdf is easy to use and easy on the eyes.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Could have more color in the pdf.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Excellent product! This symbols set works well in both CC2 and CC3. The symbols are well drawn and will add an extra something to any map.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Simple to use<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Echoes of Heaven is a self-described ?Campaign Setting?. A very apt name as it is full of possibilities for adventures rather than being pages of stats for NPCs or prolific optional rules. I was worried that after reading the intro that the setting would require many changes to the HARP system. I was pleasantly surprised that this was not the case. For example the races are right out of the book (but no gryx) and with some minor interpretative modifications (like detect evil/good and mana sources) magic is also fairly unchanged.

Probably what intrigued me most about this setting is the backstory. The explanation of the cosmology of the Echoes setting I found quite entertaining. The actual history was done more as a story than a dry list of dates and events. These events are the stuff of legend and as such perhaps details are sometimes lacking however I didn?t feel that details were all that important. It kept the feel that the Mortal Realm is indeed the battleground of Good and Evil.

After reading the preview I was worried that the Heaven vs. Hell theme would limit the setting by over simplifying the battle between Good vs. Evil that is much more fundamental in Belkanath. However again this was not the case. Each race has a slightly different church based on its interpretation of the Sundering (when the Mortal Realm and Hell were split from the universal Heaven) as well as different orders within each main church as well as various orders within the church. For example historical Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic knights were all military orders in the Roman church and yet had much different goals, beliefs and methods. There is also the Atavists (essentially druids or pantheists might be a better term) as well as pagans. The interaction between these organizations could be just as varied as any other more ?typical? polytheistic fantasy world.

This is also where ?adventure seeds? and ?world threads? come into play. Seeds are suggestions about possible adventure hooks about events listed on the page. World threads are a ?hands off? warning by the author as more details will come out in further supplements ? which one is sometimes listed. This is helpful as it gives you an idea what to expect in future products.

The gazetteer of the various realms was quite informative. There are pagan raiding societies, halfling realms and even a dwarven/elven kingdom. You are given a brief history and an economic/societal overview. One realm, Ludremon, is gone into more detail later and which was welcome. A ?starter? area if you will. This went into more detail of the cities and listed more important NPC?s for which was listed class and level but no other stats.

There is also a short chapter on bonded items. This is a different way of handling magic items. Rather than attuning to an item and getting all its powers, with a bonded item you only get some at a time and need to do a certain deed to be able to unlock others. The example given is that you get an attunement roll when you successfully get a crit while using the weapon. I like the idea but would tweak the mechanics of it.

Caveat ? there are no specific stats given for NPC?s, no new monsters, spells, items, etc in Echoes of Heaven ? there is a generic layman class only. I don?t count this as an official dislike but more of an irritating yet completely understandable observation. To do so adequately would have added way too many pages to this product and also taken away from several mentioned supplements so I will just accept that fact and wait for more products to be released to see what is added.

Overall I found the product done quite well. It gave enough information for the world as a whole but didn?t go into specific detail. If anything it just made me want to know more.

The Throne of God adventure included is a low level adventure that takes place in Ludremon. It is a good introduction of the players to the setting in which they enter an ulcer (a place where the Mortal Realm is literally turned into a form of Hell) and battle a demon. I found the Teaser chapter (an optional intro for characters) very interesting in which the character are literally there in Heaven when at the Sundering happened only to awaken 10,000 years later in Ludremon. I like this in that the players as well as characters will be entering a completely new setting for the first time. The rest of the adventure continues the theme of getting the players used to the setting and perhaps the system. And as hoped stats for a new undead, a demon and fallen angel were included. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The back-story pretty much had me hooked when I read the introduction an other information posted by the author at the ICE forums.

The book itself it is well laid out and clear. There is even a little humor ? for instance the halfling opinion of dwarven mining as ?turning big rocks into little rocks? or the halfling soldiers in one realm are arguable the best fighters in Belkanath ? to keep things fresh.

Echoes only made use of the HARP base book but alludes to some of the supplements ? usually College of Magics. For example the clerical order spell lists are from the base book only. In the index there is a section letting you know what changes might have to be made to the other supplements but are mostly ?as is?. While I have nearly all the HARP products I count this as a plus for those just getting started. <br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The maps are beautifully done in Campaign Cartographer. However as such the might be a little cumbersome. For instance there is a one-page map of Belkanath as well as another in which you can zoom into greater detail ? smaller cities show up for example. I only have the free viewer and moving the view on the map can be quite slow as it constantly has to redraw the image as you scroll even the slightest bit. I don?t know if the files can be converted to a hi rez pdf or some other format to make them more practical and user friendly.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

The Echoes of Heaven is a campaign setting from Final Redoubt Press. While the book is published under four different RPG systems, this review concerns itself purely with the d20 incarnation. The zipped file is large at just over 41 megabytes. It contains a plethora of files; including The Echoes of Heaven campaign book itself, The Throne of God adventure, as well as quite a number of Campaign Cartographer map files, and a PDF file on how to use them. Finally, it also includes a short PDF preview of the campaign setting, which is slightly odd.

The main campaign setting book has 207 pages in total. This includes a page for the front and back covers each, a page that opens the product, a page for the credits, four pages for the table of contents, five pages for the index, two pages of ads, and a page for the OGL. Likewise, the adventure included with the campaign setting is 55 pages long, with two pages for the covers, one for the opening page, one for the credits, and one for the OGL. Only the campaign setting itself has bookmarks.

Both the campaign book and the adventure have full-color front and back covers. The interior art is done in black-and-white with shades of grey. There are no page borders, but at the top of every page is a header indicating what section of the product you?re in. Neither book has a printer-friendly option, though this isn?t too bad, as the art isn?t plentiful.

The campaign book opens with a section describing several aspects of the product. It talks about their reasons for producing versions of this that use four different RPG systems, for example. It also differentiates between adventure seeds and world threads, which regularly appear as sidebars throughout the campaign setting. Whereas adventure seeds are things which the publishers never plan to expand on, thus freeing up GM?s to come up with their own ideas, world threads are dangling plot hooks that will be resolved in future products. The fact that Final Redoubt Press is giving GM?s this much advanced notice is exceptionally cool.

The first chapter gives an overview of the campaign. It?s here that we start to get an idea of just how massive the scope of this campaign world is. In the beginning, there was only Heaven, with God at the center. When one-third of the Heavenly Hosts fell to evil, the remaining angels, as well as the mortal races living in Heaven, went to war with them. After a thousand years, goodness seemed to be winning?until another third of the Heavenly Hosts became evil. With Heaven about to collapse, five mortal prophets cast a ritual to sunder Heaven, cleaving most of it away to create Hell and the mortal world. It?s now ten thousand years later, and Hell seems to be winning again.

Chapter two covers the PC races of this campaign world. The main PHB fantasy races are mostly here (save for the half-races), and for the most part they have the same stats. In addition to normal, mortal races, there are also versions of each with either the Divine Spark (blessed by angels) or Infernal Taint (corrupted by demons)

Chapter three covers the history of the mortal realm. Of the ten thousand years of history since the mortal world was sundered from heaven, a surprisingly large amount of that is given here. The picture painted is rather apocalyptic, as there are many times when the world has come very close to being destroyed or consumed by Hell completely.

Chapter four covers over forty nations on Belkanath, the continent on the mortal realm where the campaign takes place (the rest of the world remains largely unexplored). Each nation has its name, ruler, government, capital, major towns, resources/trade, population, languages, overview, church, allies, enemies, history, and world threads given.

Chapter five covers power groups; organizations with a large amount of sway. Like virtually all preceding chapters, no game stats are given for any of the eleven groups presented here.

Religion is the subject of chapter six. The five branches (one for each mortal race) of the single Church are covered; each of these worships their respective prophet who helped sunder Heaven. A single church also exists that claims to be the original religion of God as practiced in Heaven. Alongside these are other churches, many of which worship beings such as dragons, demons, or other messianic figures. Each religion gives typical classes of its worshippers, and what domains it offers.

Chapter seven covers life in the mortal realm. This short chapter is largely a primer on feudal life, culminating in a chart on population demographics.

Several miscellaneous topics make up chapter eight. It covers things like new metals, several major relics (no game stats given), and the nature of ulcers. Ulcers are what it?s called when Hell leaks into the mortal realm, trying to corrupt the world with its infernal energies.

Appendix one is an extremely detailed gazetteer of the kingdom of Ludremon. Covering its history, establishments, culture, government, resources, military, fiefdoms, church, politics, geography, and adventure seeds and world threads, this gives you everything you need to start a campaign there.

Appendix two is a brief section, being only two pages long, which covers the mechanics of the setting. It deals with things like banned classes and races, changes to spells (which is largely done as an overview, instead of changes to specific spells, and how much treasure PCs should get.

The Throne of God is the adventure that comes with the campaign setting. It is the first in a series of ten adventures forming an Echoes of Heaven campaign. In this adventure for 2nd-level characters, the PCs are actually there as Heaven is broken. As the massive energies of the spell tear them apart, they reawaken ten thousand years later in the mortal realm, just in time to help stop Hell?s latest incursion into the mortal realm. But that?s only the beginning?

The Echoes of Heaven presents an extremely rich campaign world for gaming in. The campaign world is heavily detailed, and paints a tapestry of a world crying out for heroes. The adventure does a superb job illustrating this, beginning with a bang that promises more great adventures to come. Likewise, the files for the Campaign Cartographer utility are a nice touch.

The downside is in how the campaign book is 95% flavor. GMs looking for new crunch won?t find much here at all. Even the new races are largely drawn from the PHB, and the mechanical changes are simple and over-arching. The adventure does have a few new monsters, but beyond that, there?s little in the way of mechanics that can be cherry-picked for your own campaign here. And of course, you may have a hard time printing out these books in their entirety, as there are no printer-friendly versions.

Altogether, The Echoes of Heaven is a thrilling campaign, filled with incredible evil and incredible promise for those who would be heroes. While it doesn?t offer much in the way of new crunch, the fluff here is truly awe-inspiring; this a world players will love to game in. <br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: This campaign setting was truly vivid in the picture it painted. It had very in-depth detail that was also very evocative. The adventure that comes with the setting is likewise very alluring, drawing you in with its epic scope.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: The product is, perhaps due to being originally written for multi-system publishing, extremely light on crunch, having virtually no new mechanics. While there are a few things like a couple new monsters, new metals, etc., there's not much here to cherry-pick if you don't want to play in this campaign world. Also, it lacks a printer-friendly version.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

Within any group of individuals who have actively served as gamemasters there is frequent debate or just what an ideal "campaign book", "world book", or "resource book" should be. Some prefer a complete product together with large numbers of races, creatures and items unique to that world/setting/campaign allowing them to play right out of the box or at least pilfer for their own campaigns. Others prefer a thinner overlay where the object is more to add flesh and description to the bones of core rule books without wholesale replacement of the races, creatures and item introduced within them. Still others prefer a focus on atmosphere and storyline above mundane rules and numbers. Echoes of Heaven is firmly within this third camp.

Advertised as a "campaign pack" with an accompanying "adventure" the bulk of Echoes of Heaven is pure descriptive text outlining the setting and painting a bold brush outline of the cosmology. Races are described within the book, but merely as representative of the descriptions provided in the HARP rules. Items are as described in the HARP rules. Monsters are, to a very great extent, exactly as in the HARP rules. In others the setting and background in which the characters find themselves in Echoes of Heaven is quite unique. The makeup of those characters, the items that they use and the monsters that they encounter is standard core HARP. This is surely a strength in that it allows the background to be used with the wide variety of rule systems, but also somewhat of a liability for any GM looking to expand the options or variety of his characters, items or monsters. If you don't wish to engage whole-heartedly in playing this campaign as described and detailed these book is not for you.

That being said, there are a few unique twists which can provoke thought. Evil and Good in Echoes of Heaven are not absolutes described in black and white, but merely shade of grey. You can detect some inner evil or a lot of inner evil. You can detect some inner good or a lot of inner good. Each race is also assigned a racial weakness equating to one of the cardinal sins. Elves are very prone to pride and situations involving pride can lead them to evil. Dwarves are prone to greed with that greed leading their downfall in encounters and everyday life. While assigning such weaknesses to an entire race wholesale can be overkill, it also can lead to some greater levels of rollplaying.

The authors, who quite naturally plan to continue on with additional materials for this campaign, also attempt to distinguish between plot ideas and devices that they will pursue in later published materials (identified as world threads) and those which will be left to individual gamemasters (identified as adventure seeds). While nicely and easily defined in specific instances and plot points, in general the system breaks down as the scope is expanded to complete nations, worlds, and groups of people. For example, in the gazeteer section, Ludremon is briefly described in a single page which concludes by stating that there are no "world threads" for this nation and then adds a note that Appendix I provides much more detail on Ludremon. As all gamemasters understand high-level storyline and thread tends to flow easily while it is the creation of background and detail that requires the effort, sweat and time. If the promise to not interfere extends only to high level detailed plot points and not to the nitty gritty layout of cities, NPCs and organizations surely it is weakened and made somewhat redundant.

Finally, I must remark on the items that I will actually find a use for. As a CC2 Pro user I found the inclusion of the actual files and and symbol sets a bargin at the price. While I know that my group will never pursue a long term campaign in Belkanath making nearly all of the descriptive material of limited worth, they will see the symbols and modified maps in other uses.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Without a doubt the Campaign Cartographer bits included in the package. It is also very apparent that this is a labor of love and devotion. The authors are obviously enchanted with the setting and care about it. It is a quality product that deserves attention from those willing to buy in and play it as described.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: As the campaing/setting is nothing that my group will ever run, there is little of use to me other than the CC bits. The portability of any of the detailed printed description and background is very very limited. Not for those looking to hack and slash beyond the symbols and maps. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

I was looking forward to purchasing The Echoes of Heaven Campaign Setting (EoHCS) for Rolemaster (RM) as the author had posted several previews on the official Iron Crown Forums. This approach to writing the product drew me in almost as much as the topic itself. As the author would post topics for discussion, provide sneak peeks, ask for feed back on ideas and provide play by play commentary on some of the good and bad things that happened during the test games. In essence he used the fan base as a member of his staff and it generated lots of posts as well as hype for the product.

One of the first things you will notice when reading the Echoes of Heaven Campaign setting is the artwork and page layout. Ok you will not notice the page layout but that is what is important. The text is in an easy to read, spacing is great it just makes the product a pleasure to read. The artwork on the other hand does reach out and grab you. All most all of the art work is beautifully drawn with little intricate details that bring the subject to life. In the past some of the best and most memorable artwork I have seen comes from the role playing games Warhammer and Warhammer 40K. Some of the works in Echoes of Heaven Campaign Setting have this depth of design, knowledge of topic ability to catch and hold the eye of the reader.

The RM version of The Echoes of Heaven Campaign setting includes a 213 page PDF sourcebook and a free 52 page PDF adventure called the Throne of God (ToG). The campaign book covers a lot of ground, from the formation of the mortal realm, heaven and hell to explaining the present day squabbles of countries, nobility and groups.

. If you have not figured it out by the name the product, the setting is very dependant on religion and religious themes. If you do not like playing in a game that heavily focuses on religion you can still use this setting as it has a dearth of wonderful background material for almost any game world. The GM just needs to do some editing of the material to tweak the EoHCS information to his likening and begin playing.

A general description of the setting chapters are listed below with some comments. For GM?s in the EoHCS various chapters are important game notes for planning an ongoing campaign. The campaign ideas are listed as Adventure Threads and others as World Threads. Adventure Threads are ideas for GMs to explore during their own campaigns. Where as World Thread concepts are going to be revealed in later products and if altered the GM might have to do some fast thinking if running some of the future EoHCS adventures. Chapter 1 The Mortal Realm: This section cover some of the major pieces in the EoHCS such as The Sundering of Heaven, Ulcers, the nature of good and evil and the church. Chapter 2 Races of the Mortal Realm: Gives descriptions on why and how the standard fantasy races are different in EoHCS from RM?s game system. Chapter 3 History of the Mortal Realm: Covers the history of the Sundering of Heaven to the present day. Reading the history brought to my mind many past historical events. I loved how the author rewove many of these events to form the EoHCS mythology. This is a very important chapter for the GM and the players to get the mood and themes of EoHCS. In the future I would like to see a shortened version for players to read so they could get the feel of the setting before the game or campaign begins. Though this is not required if the GM uses the Teaser from ToG Chapter 4 Gazetteer of Belkanath: This is the section that GM?s will be using the most as it contains descriptions of countries, their rulers, forms of government, trade items and trade needs, major towns, population, enemies, a country map with major cities located and a section on the history of the country. In this section occasionally the capital of the government is listed as seasonal. I would have liked to see a notation next to the towns they most likely went to during the major months if the year. So for example in the list of major towns it would say Marksville (1,000) [Winter]. This would say to me that during the winter months the government would most likely be in Marksville. Chapter 5 Power Groups: The major group forces are listed with their various agendas, spheres of influence, group structure and leadership. The powers group chapter provides many good ideas from long running campaign adversaries to simple one shot adventure ideas. Chapter 6 Religion: Religion as I have noted about is a major driving force in the EoHCS setting and this section describes, daily religious life, each races ?Church?, the Atavistic religion and the religions of Daemons and the Great Fiends. Chapter 7 Life in Belkanath: Life in Belkanath describes the daily life of people under the Feudal system of government. This is a well written section about feudal life that can add style and flavor to any fantasy RPG game. Chapter 8: Miscellaneous: This chapters topics are varied as the author ties up all the lose ends that are generated by the first 7 chapters. Appendix 1 Ludremon: Appendix 1 is filled with information for the GM about one of the countries in Belkanath and provides descriptions of towns, rulers, important people, power groups, trade and much more. Where as Chapter 4 the Gazetteer of Belkanath provides an over view of the various countries in Belkanath, Appendix 1 brings the country of Ludremon fully to life. It is a wonderful section to aid a GM in designing his game. One thing I found confusing when reading this section was that groups were listed in this fashion Royal Guard 137(32). After some thinking I figured out that this meant that there are 137 Royal guards and the maximum level is 32nd. Appendix 2 Rules and Systems: This appendix talks about how to use EoHCS with Rolemaster Fantasy Role-playing as well as Rolemaster Standard System. It defines which races and professions are appropriate as well as a small section on how magic is different in EoHCS vs. the standard game system.

The free Throne of God (ToG) adventure might be worth $6-$9 on its own. I know in the past I have paid for many an adventure and later said ?What did I just do? Was I on crack? Boy next time I think about buying an adventure I will just give the money to some homeless guy on the street.? After reading the ToG adventure I said this would be a fun adventure to play in. I could almost picture people at a RPG convention sitting around the table thoroughly engrossed in the adventure. I am not going to say any more about ToG as prospective players as well GM?s might be reading this except sit back and enjoy the ride.

I spent about 10-15 hours reading this setting cover to cover and I can say Echoes of Heaven and The Throne of God are well worth your time and money. It is well written, has interesting ideas, weaves a believable story line and history, can be used with any game system with very little adaptation. The Echoes of Heaven Campaign book is pure information that can be used by in any campaign, in fact I am thinking of dropping the church information into my spacemaster game. The products major fault comes from its main strength the product can be used with any system. The campaign book is almost all setting information and has very few new Rolemaster rulings or adapted Rolemaster rules. I would have liked to see a new spell list, the Layman profession adapted to the bard instead of the category bonus switch of the swashbuckler profession and more RM specific information on the artifacts listed. I guess you could say just more RM stuff. <br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>