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The massive
collection of the first Act of the Zeitgeist AP clocks in at 559 pages, 1 page
front cover, 1 page editorial, 6 pages of ToC, 1 page back cover, 1 page SRD,
leaving us with 549 pages of content.
So
let's...wait. Let me get this straight - this is the compiled version of the
first 5 Zeitgeist-adventures PLUS Crypta Hereticarum, Player's Guide and
Campaign Guide; It also includes (with 2 hick-ups) cleaned up nomenclature
regarding elves/eladrin high/wood elves that resulted from conversion. All of
these components are simply glorious - 5 stars + seal of approval badassery in
its truest form. I've also reviewed all of the modules, so if you require
details, please check those out.
The book
also contains "Seas of Zeitgeist", which provides the quick and dirty (imho VERY BAD)
naval combat rules of "Admiral o' the High Seas" for the AP -and
constitutes the one component of the AP I don't love o death. In design
philosophy quite remote from Pathfinder, it pales before Paizo's naval combat
rules and especially before Frog God Games' superb "Fire as SheBears", which I will use to provide proper naval combat rules for this AP.
Beyond these, item-cards, a metric ton of maps, hand-outs and supplemental
information help running this beast.
Conclusion:
Wait, what?
Well, production-wise, this killer tome is a layered pdf that can be made
printer-friendly, the maps can be made player-friendly if they aren't already.
The writing by Ryan Nock, Matthew J. Hanson, Jacob Driscoll and Thurston
Hillman is superb. The book comes extensively bookmarked for your convenience.
I will cut
this review far shorter than the page-count would suggest since I've already
covered the constituent pdfs. This is the most ambitious AP you can buy and
also the most intelligent - with a focus on a complex weave of narratives,
deceptions and espionage, it cannot be compared to any other AP in scope and
focus and is ambitious to an unprecedented level. The story is so compelling,
diverse and challenging, it is bound to become a legend, far surpassing even
War of the Burning Sky and similar epics with its daunting focus on smarts and
roleplaying over killing everything that moves. The sheer amount of glorious
mini-games and decisions make Deus Ex run to the corner and cry itself to sleep
and apart from the subpar naval rules, there is NOTHING on can truly complain
about - and honestly, these are easily replaced.
Now if you
are a new DM, first master something less demanding - Zeitgeist is intended for
experienced dungeon masters and the amount of plots, characters, etc. you have
to juggle is significant. However, this also makes the AP exceedingly cool,
challenging and SMART. This is a thinking man's AP, one that dares to assume
that its audience is intelligent and capable -and I *love* it for that. In fact,
the *only* reason I'm not running this AP RIGHT NOW is that I'm waiting for it
to finish. This may very well be one of the best APs ever written, depending on
your taste, possibly the best.
It is to my
eternal regret that I cannot comment on the premium hardback edition in color -
my meager funds do not allow me to get this book as per the writing of this
review. That being said, this is still a milestone for storytelling in a
d20-based system, the first AP to reach the narrative complexity and depth usually
reserved for legendary CoC/ToC/etc.-campaigns. If am of the firm belief that
this tome belongs into a DM's arsenal and that running this, will one day be a
kind of rite of passage. If you thought the "War of the Burning Sky"
was good - it has NOTHING on Zeitgeist. My final verdict will come as no
surprise, seeing how the first 5 installments were the first ever AP to succeed
at such an unbroken string of superb ratings from yours truly; it will clock in
at 5 stars, seal of approval, nomination as a candidate for my top ten of 2014
and a shed tear of longing for the physical book. If you can, get this NOW!
This book is available here on OBS for PFRPG!
If you prefer 4th edition, here's that one!
Endzeitgeist
out.
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