Today we have the pleasure of bringing you a review of The Curse of BloodStone Isle, a new setting for D&D 5e. I want to thank Mark Rein-Hagen for letting us read a copy of his work in preview. If his name is not new to you, it’s more than normal. We’re talking about the author of Ars Magica, Vampire: the Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Wraith the Oblivion and many other successful games.
Considering that he also helped with the concept and design of Mage: the Ascension, we’re talking about the father of the entire World of Darkness. We won’t hide from you that our expectations were particularly high. To find out if they were met, you only have to read this review of The Curse of Bloodstone Isle. Meanwhile, those who want to join the bakers can visit the Kickstarter page of the project. The first goal has been reached, but there are still stretch goals to be unlocked.
Review of The Curse of BloodStone Isle: for the Players…
We talk about Dungeons & Dragons, but The Curse of BloodStone Isle is presented as 5e compatible. This is because it focuses primarily on setting and storytelling, as indeed could be expected from Mark Rein-Hagen. In the two manuals, rules are just a few, and almost exclusively for NPC or the stat bloc of the creatures. Considering that both manuals has more than 250 pages, we are talking about a lot of material to read. For the rest, the D&D 5e core manuals are all the mechanical support you need.
The Player’s Gazetteer is the manual suitable for the players. It is a first-person account by Adzquille, a chronicler who explores the island in its entirety for the first time. His narrative always remains in-character, as if it were a true travelogue accompanied by notes and simple illustrations. The touch of Mark Rein-Hagen is evident to anyone who knows his work; in each chapter are often included excerpts of other writings, riddles, myths, legends. It’s a style often found in World of Darkness manuals, which helps you quickly immerse yourself in the setting. There is also a glossary that explains the typical expressions of BloodStone.
… And for the Storytellers
The Game Master Cyclopedia is obviously the manual reserved for storytellers. As substantial as the Player’s Gazetteer, where the Gazetteer sows the seeds of doubt, the Cyclopedia provides a solution. All background is clarified, and converted into concrete hints for adventures. Certainly less fluent than the previous manual, it is however an enormously valuable resource for DMs.
The Curse of BloodStone Isle chooses an unusual horizontal format, but it that takes advantage of a beautifully designed layout; this, too, helps you get into the mood of the setting right away. The illustrations don’t show all the same quality, but I couldn’t say that the inconstancy is an issue. Considering that the product exceeds five hundred pages total, the accuracy is tremendous: the work Mark has done is monumental!
The Atmosphere
But let’s get down to business. What to expect from The Curse of BloodStone Isle?
Given the author’s career, it’s more than fair to expect horror overtones and plots that blend with ancient mythologies. And fortunately, this is exactly what we can find. As usual, this review is spoiler-free; but we can give you a few hints.
“BloodStone is hard to get and hard to leave.
You have to pay to enter, but you must pray to leave.”
With these words The Curse of BloodStone Isle is introduced; certainly a worthy introduction. The island is shrouded in a storm driven by a malevolent will, which makes any attempt to reach it almost impossible. The same storm seems from time to time to take it away from its place in the universe, transporting it to other planes to welcome, or to capture, new unwitting creatures. And it is not the only scourge that plagues the island’s inhabitants.
Time passes differently on BloodStone than in the rest of the world, slowing down or jumping forward suddenly. Nonetheless, the chronology drawn is very precise, allowing you to trace various eras and identify key turning points in its history. This precision allows for a great variety of playable themes. The sense of horror is always suffused in every aspect of the setting of course, but the ways of declining it are varied: from the classic exploration of an exotic location to the pirate adventure, from the political intrigue to the aberrant horror of ancient vampires on the prowl. Moreover the shadow of a cumbersome past looms over every single scenario, ill-suppressed horrors are always ready to make their appearance in every scene.
Review of The Curse of BloodStone Isle: the Setting
The Curse of BloodStone Isle is full of advice on how to make the most of the setting, as well as on how to make the most of the narrative. It gives tips certainly useful for those who have a first approach to the hard work of the storyteller, but can offer excellent support even to those who are more experienced. Both manuals are divided into chapters and each chapter is dedicated to a geographical area with its own characteristics. While players are recommended to read only the Gazetteer, the storyteller is advised to read the Cyclopedia in parallel, following each chapter of the first one.
Nothing is Left to Chance
Each region, and therefore each chapter, has a strong characterization. Free Boot Landing is the port where the characters dock once they emerge from the storm enveloping BloodStone, where a solid military settlement tries to control the flow of visitors. The BoneDust Dunes offer a highly inhospitable and barren environment, inhabited by nomadic tribes living on the shells of giant turtles. Instead the Blight Fens are much more lush but equally inhospitable to life, with lethal miasmas plaguing a swampy environment. The Smugglers Cove is certainly not free of dangers that consume the body and mind, but the activities of the pirate crew that inhabit the place are even more important. BleakStone City offers the intrigue and decadence of what was once BrightStone city; a place to constantly watch your back.
Finally, the Kra Mountain. Where all the knots come to a head, where the NightQueen reigns over the vampires, the CroneCrow scourges the island with the malevolent energy of the storm and the forces that currently reign over the continent collide, while a rift opened in the heart of the earth sends a hellish terror upon it. In a scenario that leads to desperation, Mount Kra allows the narrative to be taken to the next level.
Contents
As anticipated, each chapter of The Curse of BloodStone Isle deals with a specific region of the island, with its own peculiar characteristics. In the Player’s Gazetteer you’ll find Adzquille’s travel diary, detailing descriptions from the perspective of someone setting foot on the island for the first time. Accompanied by a chronology of the major events in the region, you can find a description of the main playable locations and the most influential NPC and a summary of the most important factions. Also the hazards in which the traveler may incur are recounted, again in the particular style of the author. All this is accompanied by riddles, songs and prophecies.
The Cyclopedia instead tells the behind-the-scenes story. It explores the themes and atmospheres of the various regions, tells the most hidden parts of their history, and explains how to make the most of them for effective storytelling. All the secrets of the locations, NPCs, even the solutions to riddles are presented to the narrator in a precise manner; you can also find a number of adventure cues that, when combined, allow The Curse of BloodStone Isle to become a single adventure module that can power an entire campaign. Here there are a lor of mechanical notes, such as NPC stat block, some tables, and an interesting point affiliation system, which allows you to associate your characters’ actions with one of the three great pirates that have shaped the island’s history.
Conclusions of the Review of The Curse of BloodStone Isle
Summarizing this review of The Curse of BloodStone Isle, it must be acknowledged that Mark Rein-Hagen has done a sumptuous job. This work is impressive in ambition and size; it’s not easy to find settings that manage to have such a clear overview while going so deep into detail. You will face an island where nothing is left to chance, where ancient and horrible disagreements take shape in twisted machinations. The sense of an adverse fate is looming, but it doesn’t take away from the pleasure of playing.
What the author proposes is certainly not of an “easy” game. The narrator will have to do a job that should not be underestimated, and make the best use of the author’s advice to keep the right mood at the right level, without overdoing it but not letting it disappear. But if your table loves a game focused on the mystery and on the horror that constantly hounds the characters, immersing in an intense and even strong atmospheres when necessary, surely The Curse of BloodStone Isle is for you. And for the record, Mark is already working on the manual that will expand the setting: beyond the island there is a whole continent to discover.
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