Midnight: Steel and Shadow

by Wil Upchurch, Eric Olson, Iain J. Brogan

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1589942175
• ISBN13: 9781589942172
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
• Length: 62 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 8.6" x 11.0"

Customer Reviews

New ways to fight the Shadow

In the Midnight campaign setting where the dark god Izrador has conquered the lands of Eredane, one of the greatest "switches" players have to contend with is that the possession of arms and armor is punishable by enslavement, death, or whatever other imaginative punishment the orc or legate can come up with. Steel and Shadow is a warrior's sourcebook for DMs and players alike (most Midnight supplements are written for DMs), full of mechanics, new prestige classes and alternative rules. A disclaimer is need here: I do not consider myself a good judge of rules, prestige classes, feats, and actually any other thing that relates to the mechanics of d20; and while I will certainly describe some of these rules here, know that I cannot say if they are balanced or not, just how fitting they are in the world of Midnight. I will focus my review on the content of the book accompanying said rules. As is usual for Midnight supplements it is a 64-page, black and white soft-cover. The front cover of the book depicts two warriors (one of them is clearly a Sarcosan, while the other is probably an Erenlander) fending off an assault of orcs in the woods at night. The painting is nice enough, but I can't say that I really care for it that much. The interior art, on the other hand, is excellent as always, managing to blend both gritty darkness and heroic efforts seamlessly. The book consists of an introduction and four chapters. The introduction tells the story of the armed forces of various cultures in Eredane as they were on the eve of the fall of Eredane, the end of the Third Age; and how a hundred years after the fall of the Shadow upon the land, some of these cultures still resist martially, and how these cultures' warriors had to adapt to the new reality. The introduction, as it should, sets the tone to the rest of the book. Chapter 1 opens up by giving a description of the kind of war each race, due to its distinct location, has to contend with, and what skills and feat are probably most used by warriors of these races. An optional idea given here is that each race trains its warriors a bit differently, so that these warriors will be more effective in their home territory. So for example a dwarven fighting in the Kaladruns will loss Handle Animals, Knowledge (nature), and Ride as class skills, but gain Disable Device, Knowledge (architecture and engineering), and Knowledge (dungeoneering); or that elven fighters could swap proficiency with heavy armor and all shields but gain the woodland stride ability. These small changes can truly make each race's warriors unique and fitting to their own race. A handful of feats are also presented in this chapter, but most of them have to deal with giving the character access to a new mechanic introduced later in the chapter: the Fighting Techniques. Each race gains a number of fighting techniques that may be learned if a character has the appropriate feat, finds a mentor, and spend the time (a month) and XP ne

ARMING YOUR WARRIORS AGAINST EVIL

Steel & Shadow is a supplement designed for warriors in the Midnight campaign setting. In this campaign (and you can read my review of it for more details) the Dark Lord Izrador has ruled the lands of Eredane for 100 years with an iron fist. To keep the people in control, he has made it illegal to carry weapons except for his own forces. But many brave heroes have taken up the banner to battle the dark lord and this supplement is geared towards making fighters tough enough to stand up to the tide of evil they face. The first chapter deals with racial templates and creating characters from the various races of Eredane who have specialized skills to survive and wage war in this harsh world. For example, Dwarven barbarians will lose the Ride & Swim skills but gain the new skills of Escape Artist and Knowledge. Each of the various races have their unique skills especially tailored to the Midnight setting. There are nine new feats included, most of which are called Initiate Feats. These Initiate Feats allow the character to learn a number of different cultural fighting techniques which again, are unique to each race. For example, Elven characters can learn fighting techniques such as the ability to fire their arrows accurately through dense forest, or firing their bow while climbing or from tree tops. Halflings can learn to use their speed and dexterity to dodge and weave in battle, giving them a bonus to their AC. Orcs can learn fighting techniques such as Iron-Handed Grappling and Quick Charge. Each race has about a half-dozen cultural fighting techniques that they can learn. Races have always had their own special modifiers to attributes and abilities, but the inclusion of fighting skills based on race is a welcome and distinctive inspiration. Steel & Shadow also includes several new heroic paths the player can follow, each providing a new skill/ability or increased skill at each level. There are ten new and well-designed prestige classes to choose from. You know YOU'VE been waiting to hear about the prestige classes. Rather than being some bland, generic classes with abilities that seem randomly tossed in, these prestige classes are crafted to fit the Midnight campaign, taking into account the cultural heritage and abilities of the various peoples. The Banishers are a class that specializes in hunting down and taking vengeance upon evil, especially demons and their ilk and they gain special bonuses in combat against these types of monsters. The Durgis Battle Rager is a fearsome fighter with a d12 hit die, who can channel his rage into a frightening fury of destruction who has skills like Whirlwind Charge and Mindless Rage which gives additional attack and defense bonuses. Halflings and Gnomes are the races that have suffered perhaps the most under Izrador. The prestige class Quickjack, is made for these small, nimble characters to best take advantage of their size in battle. They gain abilities like Elusive, Evasion, an