I'm a sucker for "savage world"-type settings, so purchased this on a whim when it popped up. Review based on overall impressions after reading through; note that I haven't tried the game system or any of the publisher's other games.

Game system looks fairly streamlined. Skill-based with ability scores, on a d100 scale. There are no "classes", but characters can have "archetypes", which are Civilised, Barbarian, Nomad, or Primitive, and which determine starting skill point allocation. Alternatively, you can assign base skill points yourself and "roll your own". Checks involve rolling against your ability and skill scores with d100, and can be opposed.

The game world has all the standard Conan-type places and races (Cimmerians, Hyperboreans, Picts, Stygia, etc.) albeit set in an early version of "our" world map with areas corresponding to real countries. There is a bit of backstory about the rise and fall of the serpent men, the arrival of Lemurians from another world, and so on, as well as a small gazetteer; it's not particularly original or rich, but provides enough to provoke the imagination and weave stories in the setting. The magic mechanic cleverly represents it as, "things mankind was not meant to know" by ensuring characters slowly lose Empathy/Humanity points for spell casting, which is cool; there's a nice teaser list of spells ("Call Kraken" being my favourite...) and rituals and a separate listing for "true" magic, which is beyond the ability of humans (or should be). There is a list of monsters too, but no sample adventures.

Overall, the product looks pretty good. Text is occasionally clunky (mostly in the setting sections) but generally clear and readable. Art is in colour throughout, and is high quality, but some of it is clearly "stock art" and really doesn't fit the setting at all - there are pictures of elves, dwarves, etc. in standard "medieval fantasy" garb and poses, which is a little jarring. There are also just a few too many references to the publisher's "other system" ("Faeries Wear Boots!" yes! with that annoying exclamation point! all the time!) and some content about the faerie realm which again doesn't really "fit" and may have been lifted straight from the other product.

The biggest thing that keeps me from recommending this product outright is: Primeval Thule. If they are the same price point, I'd have a hard time recommending Beyond the Black Sea over that, simply because Thule is vastly more rich in terms of setting detail and "atmosphere" - this just feels a lot more sparse. However, if you're looking for a "savage world" game & setting all rolled into one, that is quick to learn and doesn't require a bunch of other sourcebooks or systems, or if you're a fan of classless/skill-based systems, it's worth giving Beyond the Black Sea a try.

This product consists of a title and credits page, the overview map in two "sizes", and a brief history of the world (with the occasional reference to places seen on the map).

The small "history" section is fine, no particularly new ideas but a good general concept for a setting. It's the map itself that is the main selling point (if a free product can have a selling point?) of this item. I believe that every great fantasy setting should begin with a map that draws you in, makes you want to learn more, and is labelled with the names of places that you want to roll around on your tongue because they sound good! This is one of those maps - lots of wild open land and ocean full of mysterious places, even though you're only getting a very high level, abstract view. Something about it reminds me of two of my favourite fantasy settings, the Shadow World of Kulthea (originally for Rolemaster) and, in the names/history, the world of Orb, from the Way of the Tiger books - so that's a good sign.

I'm certainly likely to purchase some of the other products to learn more about the world. So, overall, a good way to get people interested and shows promise.

As expected, this PDF book provides details on the "good" deities of the world of Arator, which is the world setting used by Midnight Rise. It starts with a general overview of the pantheon, the history of the gods, and how gods can be born, and die; and then goes on to detailed sections for each of the gods themselves. There is also a section on their mounts at the end - dragon, horse, tiger, etc.

There are only about 5 gods listed, but a huge amount of "flavour" detail is provided for each (along with game stats, for their avatars and specialty priests). The descriptions of the gods' personalities, their worshippers, spheres of influence, temples, etc, are excellent, in that they really help to conjure up the atmosphere of the world setting, and the place that the worship of the deity occupies there.

The writing is straightforward and easy to understand, although slightly amateurish; sentence construction is a little odd and there are some spelling and grammar errors (though nothing that detracts from the enjoyment of the book).

My only real worry (and reason for lower rating) is the artwork. The art is excellent throughout and really brings the book to life. Unfortunately, it is from a large number of sources, and I'm not sure how much of it (if any) is original, nor whether the author/publisher has the rights to the artwork. I certainly recognised pieces from several well-known fantasy artists. I would encourage the publisher to look into this and make sure no copyright laws are being broken!

Otherwise, for the price, this is a great little work, and I enjoyed it.

This is a two-part product really; the first half is a setting guide to the western area of the continent of Jaiman on the Shadow World, and the second half is a set of adventures, locales, and game statistics.

I came to this product as a long-term fan of the Shadow World and TK Amthor's writing, and it doesn't disappoint. There is the usual extension of the "notable world events" timeline, with the focus on the area covered by the sourcebook, and a nice map of the same area (though it might have been better placed at the beginning of the book, and maybe repeated in the middle with the legend added). Discussions of the politics of the area, including the various competing organisations and secret societies, are also a staple of Shadow World books and are included too.

The artwork in the book is excellent; the Shadow World really benefits from the new illustrations (including a Shard...fans, rejoice!) but I'm glad to see that TK Amthor's traditional 3D renders are also still present. The adventures and adventure locations offer a good mixture of challenge levels, avoiding that all-too-common Rolemaster problem of endless near-godlike beings inhabiting every village. Layout and typesetting are good as well, making the text clear and readable in PDF format.

Overall, this book continues the excellent level of quality found in all Shadow World products. My only concern might be that lots of the terminology will be unknown to someone coming to book as their first introduction to Shadow World, but with all the other books available to download too, it's not such an issue. If you want a setting that delivers a huge amount of atmosphere, you can't go wrong here.

The Shaintar Atlas carries off a basic idea very well. The format is as follows: each two-page spread has a colour map of one nation/area of Starfall on one page, and a brief piece of "flavour" text on the facing page giving a quick summary of the area in the map. There's also a nice small piece of 3D art as the endpiece and a map of the whole continent at the front (aside from the cover, I think the endpiece is the only other non-map artwork in the book). There is no statistical or game-related information at all in the product.

The most impressive thing about this book is the presentation. It's wonderful. The print on each page is large and readable, but in an elegant font that really suits the tone, and there is some nice caligraphic text too. The maps are simple and uncluttered but attractive, and each page has a nicely decorated background. I'm sure it would be a bit heavy on ink if you were to print it, but as a PDF it's great - it gives you the same feeling you get from a high-quality sourcebook. This quality of presentation is something that I think other PDF producers should aspire to.

The content itself is good too. There isn't a huge amount of information, but if you're a setting junkie like me, and just like to browse and look at names for inspiration, there's lots of it here. While some of the place names are pretty standard fantasy fare ("Dragon Wood", for example, or "Thunder Peaks") others are more intriguing (fancy a visit to the "Ever-living Jungle" or "Oasis of Flesh"? Thought not, but they sound brilliant). The flavour text is a little stilted at times and there are a couple of formatting errors, but it does a pretty good job of conveying the mood of each area.

Overall, I found this book to be excellent value for money and beautiful to look at, and it's certainly piqued my interest in the setting itself. If you like maps and new fantasy worlds, I recommend it.

This book is a collection of stats and history on some of the major "movers and shakers" of the Forgotten Realms. Primarily, the characters selected are those who feature in the various Forgotten Realms novels, or who are important enough to warrant a mention in them, although some (eg. Durnan the Wanderer) are taken more from FR campaign supplements than fiction.

Each character gets a list of stats, information about friends, foes, appearance, personality, and other such details, along with a brief history (which in many cases is just a summary of the plots of the books the character has appeared in).

You pretty much get what you expect with this product; more info on notable characters of the Realms to use in fleshing out your campaign. There are also a few additional sections discussing the Chosen of Mystra, some new items and spells, and various Heroic groups of the realms (eg. the Knights of Myth Drannor, the Harpers).

So, overall, not a bad product. No earth-shattering new campaign ideas, but some nice information, gathered together in one place.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: - simple, easy to read, good for reference<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: - a bit too focused on characters from the novels, rather than game supplements or rulebooks<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This is a companion volume to "Heroes' Lorebook", and the format is almost identical, so I've "copied and pasted" my review of that tome with minor corrections.

Basically, this is a collection of stats and history on some of the major evil individuals of the Forgotten Realms. Primarily, the characters selected are those who feature in the various Forgotten Realms novels, or who are important enough to warrant a mention in them, although some (eg. Manshoon of the Zhentarim) are taken more from FR campaign supplements than fiction.

Each character gets a list of stats, information about friends, foes, appearance, personality, and other such details, along with a brief history (which in many cases is just a summary of the plots of the books the character has appeared in).

Again, you pretty much get what you expect with this product; more info on notable characters of the Realms to use in fleshing out your campaign. There is some extra supplementary material with new monsters, new items and spells, and notes on major malign organisations of the realms such as the Knights of the Shield or Red Wizards, though much of this has appeared elsewhere before.

So, overall, like the heroes' book, not a bad product. No earth-shattering new campaign ideas, but some nice information, gathered together in one place.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: - simple, easy to read, good for reference<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: - a bit too focused on characters from the novels, rather than game supplements or rulebooks<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This is a strange adventure in many ways. It's for char levels 5-8, and the goal is to rescue a young woodsman who has disappeared in a mysterious forest. The writing is good and the plot is well thought out.

The weird thing is the format. The module basically takes the form of a map of the forest with encounter areas labelled, and then a description of the monsters at each encounter area. And that's about it! Each monster is given a good write-up of how it affects the overall plot and fits into the forest, so it's not just a bunch of random enounters, but it still strikes me as an odd way to write an adventure.

Also, it requires a curious mix of combat skill and diplomacy. As I noted above, there are lots of enemies to fight....but the introduction actually advises the DM not to award experience if the players go out of their way to attack creatures not directly related to the plot! Rather, different possible XP awards for the module are suggested, depending on a variety of diplomatic outcomes based on the players' actions.

I really liked the idea behind this module and the clever construction, but unfortunately, I just don't see it working (though I've only read it, not playtested it yet, I hasten to add). It's too freeform to appeal to dungeon crawlers, but too restrictive for wandering gamers. Interesting concept though.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Original plot ideas and module concept, good standard of writing. Illustrations not bad.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Neither one thing (straightforward adventure) nor the other (description of forest locales).<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>

This book compliments two others, Faiths & Avatars and Demihuman Deities, and has pretty much the same format. All three detail the powers and specialty priests of the Forgotten Realms. This volume describes the demigods of the main Faerunian pantheon, as well as other human-worsipped gods of the Realms including the Mulhorandi (Egyptian), Untheric, and Chultan gods.

I primarily bought this book because I enjoy the whole "backstory" of the Forgotten Realms, and it didn't disappoint. If you ever wanted to know more about obscure deities like Hoar (of the Three Thunders), Gargauth the Outcast, or Sharess, Goddess of Lust(!), then this is the product to buy, as there's more detail about them here than in most other products. There's also a section on some of the major temples of the Realms.

The game mechanics for specialty priests of these gods are also interesting, but probably not as useful unless you still play pre-3rd edition AD&D, whereas the deity descriptions can be adapted for any game system.

Overall, this product is good value for money for any DM running a Realms campaign. The writing is good; the illustrations less so, especially the strange generic "ancient greek woodcut"-type cartouches that pop up all over the place. Unlike another reviewer, I found the text easy enough to read, although the scan isn't perfect.

<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Great campaign info for Forgotten Realms, detailing obscure deities. Specialty priest info for each god.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Illustrations are sporadic and of varying quality.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>