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This book
is 64 pages long, with one page credits...and we actually get MORE out of the
book than its 64 pages. How does that work? Well, let me elaborate.
This pdf is
based on the second edition, primarily the print edition. It has received
pretty much a selection of awards. So why review this now? Because all reviews
I found did not really prepare me for what this book actually brings to the
table.
So let's
start with the obvious: This book is radically and systematically designed to
make use of the features of the physicality of the medium book. The hardcover
comes with a sleeve and on the inside of the sleeve, you get a massive
full-color map that can be found via a secret link if you get the pdf version.
The map, much like the cover image and interior artwork, all adheres to author
Zak Sabbath's unique and distinct style - a style that may polarize, but
personally, I enjoy the somewhat post-punk/post-gothic fantastic anachronism
that depictions of the city as black claws rising from the world conveyed - my
immediate association would be the BLAME manga-series and its sprawling, cruel
structures...but this is no mere quote, it is an aesthetic vision and, as all
good art does, it will not be to everyone's liking.
The book's
structure. Well, on the inside of the sleeves and yes, throughout the book,
would be instructions for charts: The front and back cover, on the inside and
outside, provide charts, with representations of the claw-like sprawling city
structures framed by numbers; by for example dropping dice on these artworks,
you can, for example, determine quick and dirty damage and attacks versus body
parts or use it to jumpstart your imagination in a variety of other ways. One
page away from the inside of the back cover (which btw. contains a gigantic
table), we have a vast selection of professions - similarly, relations between
them can thus be quickly determined. And indeed, while not all such functions
championed by the book can be perfectly translated to all the different systems
out there, I should not be remiss to mention that a significant section of this
pdf is devoted to being basically one of the most amazing GM-aids I have ever
read.
If you have
ever read a fantasy book like Cgina Miéville's brilliant Bas-Lag novels and
wondered how to ever depict a sprawling metropolis like that in your game
without resorting to copious levels of handwaving or gigantic tomes of prepared
material - this book is the answer. the urbancrawling rules are meta and
brilliant: The book sports a vast array of so-called urbancrawling rules that
allow you to almost instantly generate whole neighborhoods, street webs, etc. -
beyond the fantasy metropolis, these tricks can be easily employed in pretty
much any roleplaying context, whether the fantastic hive, a sprawling science-fiction
station, non-Euclidean ruins... generating chaotic street-networks within a few
minutes has been a boon for my own campaign ever since I read the tricks here -
deceptively simple, yes - but oh so effective. And no, I am not going to spoil
the details here. Why? Because I really want you to get this book.
Now, these
urbancrawling rules obviously can only provide the framework for an
enterprising GM to use, but in conjunction with aforementioned graphs and
tables, it becomes more interesting. And if you require a vast array of detail,
fret not, for a significant portion of the book is devoted to gigantic table
upon table of names, professions, goals, names - and tying the NPCs together in
social webs is similarly covered. I tried it. Within 30 minutes with this book,
I can make a moderately detailed series of very professional feeling villages,
neighborhoods and similar settlements. And I suck at drawing maps and am damn
picky. And yes, from looted bodies to fortunes and magical effects, the strange
and uncommon all tap into this massive dressing collection herein.
Now, the
dressing here does tap into the Vornheim setting; the Grey Maze, its sprawling
spires rising from the arctic plane, a city near a forest that should not
exist, of which scholars claim that the trees may be phlegmatic undead; a city
wondrous and vile, near the city of goblins, situated on a hive of stone,
ostensibly the result of legendary medusas once petrifying the flesh of
whatever once was. Here, the church of the god of Iron, Rust and Rain and the
church of the goddess of all flesh exist. It is within this city that the
decadent upper class has taken to the fad of purchasing slow pets, highlighting
their copious surfeit of spare time; it is here that sometimes, there are masquerades;
sometimes, the gates are opened to the wolves. It is common knowledge that the
skin of snakes and serpentine creatures are books that contain ancient secrets
and here, the wyvern of the well can be found - who will unerringly answer ONE
question for any interlocutor. From the granary cats to the grub nagas and
thornchildren, a selection of truly imaginative creatures inhabits this
place...and a selection of superstitions can provide a vast array of different
adventure hooks.
Which
brings me to yet another aspect of the book: You see, Vornheim is ALSO a book
containing three modules.
I'll be
brief, but potential players should still jump o the conclusion. There are some
SPOILERS to be found here.
...
..
.
The most
common would be the House of the Medusa, wherein the PCs have to infiltrate the
house of one of the fabled medusas...oh, and if they kill her, they may
inadvertently de-petrify a significant part of the world, making it flesh once
again...with far-reaching consequences.
The second
module deals with the Immortal Zoo of Ping Feng, a menagerie of strange
creatures gone totally rogue, where the primary antagonist of the book, the
mastermind takes on a form most peculiar - and if the PCs don't want to brave
all those lethal and unique creatures, they should be up to their A-game.
Thirdly, we
have the labyrinthine puzzle-dungeon also known as the library of Zorlac,
basically an interesting infiltration/espionage-scenario at your fingertips...or
a truly strange place to visit and work in.
Conclusion:
Editing and
formatting are top-notch, I noticed no glitches. Layout adheres to a very buy
one-column or two-column standard, with a ton of information on every single
page. The layout is obviously made for the A5-booklet (6'' by 9'') size, though
I'd strongly suggest not printing out multiple pages on one sheet of paper here
- the sheer information density means that the font becomes too small if you
try that here. The pdf-version comes fully bookmarked with nested bookmarks.
The book is incredibly aesthetically pleasing if you enjoy Zak Sabbath's style
of art, with layout using black frames on the pages - so yeah, this is not the
most printer-friendly of books. And while the pdf does an admirable job at
maintaining the raw functionality of the physical dead-tree hardcover, the
sheer switching of sheets of paper takes a bit away from the immediate
functionality when comparing the printed version or screen-version with the
physical hardcover. The hardcover is the preferred version - with nice binding,
sleeves and even the covers having a function...so yeah. If you can afford it,
go for print.
Zak
Sabbath's Vornheim is a piece of art that captured my interest to a higher
extent that many, many books of ten times their page-count and more. As a GM-aid,
this provides some phenomenally-innovative tools of the trade that even veteran
GMs may not necessarily know yet - I learned more from this book's tricks than
from any comparable GM-book, which is a feat in and of itself, considering the
experience I have. While the quick-and-dirty attack-charts or any chart really,
may not be for everyone, I'd be seriously surprised if any GM went into this
book without some seriously cool new tool of the trade.
The city
Vornheim itself represents one of the most evocative settlements I have read in
a long time: Beyond the truly fantastic setting, its unconventional premises
and unfettered, raw collection of absolutely inspired tidbits, the influences
of contemporary weird fiction and the writings of Borges are readily apparent
on every page. The city manages to evoke a sense of wonder only all too rarely
still found among the settings out there - it is phenomenal and I would not
have minded a 500-page tome on the city; it's brevity is almost painful, it's
excellence achingly pronounced, particularly if you've found yourself bored
with standard settlements and most so-called "fantastic" cities and
customs.
The 3
modules contained herein all have different, interesting angles and while I
explicitly remained brief in their descriptions, they similarly...well, are
brief. They are interesting, evocative, inspired...but brief. Oh so brief.
You're
probably seeing where this is going. Vornheim is, in all components of its
content, whether as a GM-aid, as a sourcebook or regarding the modules included,
a truly phenomenal offering; each component shines brightly like a cruel Northern
star - but at the same time, while the components are interconnected, I could
not help but feel like it was buckling under its own ambition - the book is so
jam-packed, it strains at the seams and universally leaves the reader inspired
and wiser, yes - but also wanting more. You will not finish reading this book
and feel saturated. When I came to the end of the setting-section, I was
disappointed I did not get more; the same held true for all other sections.
This book represents a perfect kit to create a glorious city, a sprawling
moloch. It perfectly depicts one of the most unique, fantastic cities I've
read...but it may be, at times, too good, too inspired for its own sake.
I can
absolutely see someone expecting a campaign setting/city-setting wanting more;
I can see those craving adventures wanting more detail; I can see those that
looked for the GM-aid components wanting to receive more dressing, more
details, more tricks...but ultimately, all of these criticisms are not fair. Do
I believe that this, at double the page count, would have been even better?
Heck yes. Do I want a full-blown, massive sourcebook on Vornheim, perhaps a
whole mega-campaign or AP set in it? OH YES. Yes, please. But the thing is -
the book does not *try* to be just a city sourcebook; just some modules, just
some game-aids - while the amalgamation of these components may put a strain on
the reader, they also force the GM's hand.
Vornheim
says: "This is what you can do with the book. Want more? Then strain your
creativity, use your own brain. CREATE." This book, in short, forces the
GM to act, to create. It strips away the pretensions, the excuses we make time
and again and tells us to make its contents our own, make this grey maze our
grey maze. Sure, we may crave just consumption - but this does not try to be
simply consumed - it forces you to create, by virtue of its own brilliance.
All the
accolades heaped upon this book are justified. While the pdf loses a bit of the
impact of its physicality in the electronic version, I still consider this to
be one truly amazing, unique book that should grace the shelves of any
self-respecting GM. It is a brilliant exercise in inspiration, a rallying call
to flex one's own creative muscles - it is, in short, an intoxicating vision.
Get this.
My final
verdict will be 5 stars + seal of approval. And yes, this receives the
EZG-Essential-tag. This belongs into the library of any advanced GM.
You can get this amazing gem of a book here on OBS (great to check if you'd like it)!
The physical version can be ordered here on LotFP's store!
Endzeitgeist
out.
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