From
the Hintherdale and the North Star Region with their high, rugged mountains in
the north, the lands of Easten Faraway stretches over a thousand miles to the
south of the untamed frontier of the Buckwild and the lush Silver Woodlands
beyond. Underneath, an extensive network of caves and caverns, connected by
tunnels and in some places, the extensive mines of iron, gold, and silver—and even
of adamantium and mithril, form the Underworld. Dug by Purple Worms, Deep
Gnomes, and Duergar, the Underworld is heavily populated by Drow and rife with
a variety of fungi. There are strange areas here and there also, known as
Otherlands, such as Fey crossings and Shadow crossroads. Over time, going back
thousands of years, the surface lands of Easten Faraway are settled by the Jötunn
giants, by Dragons, and by High Elves, Mountain Dwarves, and Dragonborn. All
left their mark and warred with themselves and each other. The Jötunn by the shattered
rocks from other regions and huge thrones built from rocks, and also by the
Three Swords, one hundred feet tall blades driven into the ground. The Dragons
by the absence of Elemental Dragons, destroyed or driven out during the Second
Winter War. The High Elves, Mountain Dwarves, and Dragonborn by numerous
magical portals found across the region, some of which still operate today and
lead to places far away and far beyond. Their Golden Age ended millennia ago,
and in more recent times, following the Second Winter War, the region’s biggest
volcano, Ilde Volcano, erupted, reducing its surrounding region to ash, killing
over a thousand people, and triggering an earthquake that shattered parts of
the Underworld; the Grey Pestilence spread like plague across the lands, only
ending with quarantine and the burning of the dead; and the Silver Woodlands were
burned by a rare Red Dragon before it was felled by an arrow to the eye. Although
the lands of Easten Faraway have been subject to invasions from other lands and
across the sea, the most recent threat came from below, when bloodthirsty Drow
captured and sacrificed victims from the surface world to their goddess, the
Spider Queen. Only with great personal sacrifice by the Winterhold Guards of the
town of Winterhold, immolating themselves and the invaders in the town hall. It
is an event that is still recognised today.
This setting is presented in The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway. Published by Midnight Tower following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it is a campaign setting based on the authors’ homebrew campaign world, influenced by Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. Designed for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, it presents the setting, its geography, history, legends and lore, religion and gods, culture, and a whole lot more. Throughout, it is peppered with plot hooks, almost one every two pages or so, but it also covers a lot of information about the setting in a fashion that never threatens to overwhelm the reader. So, it starts off with its calendars and time, geography and climate, flora and fauna, and languages pronunciation. None of these are extensive chapters, but it is enough. The history chapter is much longer and gives a good feel for how the region came to be like it is now. There is a timeline, but a more detailed one might have been helpful. The chapter on legend and lore details three fantastic locations that adventurers would have to quest for to find. They include the Ancient Temple of the Valkyria, only found by the brave and true of heart, most notably by paladins dedicated to her, who must pass the Sacred Trials that test their strength, wisdom, and valour, but which is said to hold treasures donated by faithful paladins over the years, thus attracting the attention of adventurers. Ilde Volcano is a prominent landmark in Eastern Faraway, known for the destruction above and below ground with its last major eruption, including the nearby Ice Dragons Peak and Drakenberg Castle and secret subterranean prophetic carvings, whilst some caverns, like those of the secretive Dragonborn, remained untouched. The Silent Woods are perhaps the strangest location in Eastern Farraway, a maze of tangled, burned trees, brought about by a giant conflagration laid as curse upon two feuding brothers for their greed. These are described in some detail, but the Game Master will need to develop them further to be playable locations.
The influence of Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore upon the setting primarily shows in the choice of dominant pantheon, which is Norse, with gods such as Odin, Freyr, Hela, Loke, Thor, and Tyr. Their worship is detailed in turn as is that of several other gods not tied to the pantheon. Other links include the creation of Midgård upon Yggsdrisal, which includes the Prime Material Plane along with the Feyworld and the Shadowfell. This is simply part of the background and surprisingly, The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway does not emphasise this aspect, whereas another fantasy setting might have done. The result is more a fantasy setting in which the Norse gods are worshipped, but which the peoples of Eastern Farraway are not the Vikings that you might expect. Another way in which it shows is in one of the setting’s two new Player Character species of the Norn. They are statuesque nomads living in the very far north, distant descendants of Val’kÿrian, goddess of battle and mercy, who value truth, honour, and loyalty. They have proficiency with the Survival skill, saving throws versus exhaustion, have advantage on first strikes daily, and wolves and ravens are always friendly to them. In some ways, they are the closest that the setting gets to actual Vikings. The other species is the Mist Elf, who live high in the mountains and are often called Mountain Elves. Curiously, unlike other Elves, they dream and sleep, and tend to be philosophers, poets, and writers. Consequently, they need to sleep at a third (if not half!) of the day, but can see through mist and fog, can communicate with others through their dreams, and if reduced to zero Hit Points, there is a slight chance that they will fade into the Ethereal Plane from whey they will return stabilised.
In addition to the two new species, The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway details a new Player Character Background, that of the Messenger, who carries letters and other communiques across the land, whilst new adventure trinkets replace those from the Player’s Handbook for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition with more appropriate to the setting. Magical items are rare in Eastern Faraway, so adventurers and others often wield ‘Expertise Weapons’, whether Clanforged, Moors Birch, Strike Arrows and Bolts, Iron Oak, or Darksteel Blades. They typically grant a bonus to hit and/or damage, whilst the Staff Sling (or Goosegirl Sling) is used by Halflings and Gnomes and can double range or increase damage depending on the type of ammunition used. Darksteel is found in the Underworld and is so light that a two-handed weapon can be used in one hand! Heirloom items are magical and rare, dating back to the Golden Age, like the Belt of Thor’s Might, Horn of Summoning the Fallen, and Khali-Di-Zar’s Hammer. These are wondrous and require attunement and their powers can be unlocked at First, Third, and Fifth Level. For example, the Belt of Thor’s Might has twelve charges that refresh daily and the user can expend them to do a shattering strike, and he also learns the Shocking Grasp cantrip. He can also expend charges to cast spells such as Heroism, Thunderous Smite, and Witch Bolt, increasingly more powerful at tiers one, two, and three.
Chapters also present the nature of magic in Eastern Farraway, the region’s factions and organisations, politics and government, and more. It notes that magic is rare, and in the case of warlocks and sorcerers, deeply mistrusted. As noted above, magic items are rare and most are relics of the Golden Age. The supplement gets down to specific details of specific regions, looking in turn at the North Star Region in the north, Buckwild in the south (the default starting point for any campaign in Eastern Farraway), and then, surprisingly, the Underworld. In every case, there is a short history of each location, its important people and NPCs, and points of interest. For example, the Underworld chapter describes the city of Myl Argoth, the largest Drow settlement in Eastern Farraway, a Drow matriarch and assassin who resides on the surface and is in charge of negotiating mining rights with the surface authorities, and a Drow cultist who worships Selene rather than the Spider Queen. Locations detailed include the Spider Queen’s Bone Cathedral, built from the bones of her enemies (the bones of Drow are incorporated into ceremonial buildings, weapon hilts, jewellery, and the like), whilst the Duskryn Arena, once a religious site, is now where fights, duels, and executions are staged. All three region write-ups give flavour of how each feels content as well that the Dungeon Master can use. New monsters in The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway include Gonks, known for their conical felt hats which make them look like mushrooms and for protecting forests and farmsteads, and Jötunn.
This setting is presented in The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway. Published by Midnight Tower following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it is a campaign setting based on the authors’ homebrew campaign world, influenced by Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. Designed for use with Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, it presents the setting, its geography, history, legends and lore, religion and gods, culture, and a whole lot more. Throughout, it is peppered with plot hooks, almost one every two pages or so, but it also covers a lot of information about the setting in a fashion that never threatens to overwhelm the reader. So, it starts off with its calendars and time, geography and climate, flora and fauna, and languages pronunciation. None of these are extensive chapters, but it is enough. The history chapter is much longer and gives a good feel for how the region came to be like it is now. There is a timeline, but a more detailed one might have been helpful. The chapter on legend and lore details three fantastic locations that adventurers would have to quest for to find. They include the Ancient Temple of the Valkyria, only found by the brave and true of heart, most notably by paladins dedicated to her, who must pass the Sacred Trials that test their strength, wisdom, and valour, but which is said to hold treasures donated by faithful paladins over the years, thus attracting the attention of adventurers. Ilde Volcano is a prominent landmark in Eastern Faraway, known for the destruction above and below ground with its last major eruption, including the nearby Ice Dragons Peak and Drakenberg Castle and secret subterranean prophetic carvings, whilst some caverns, like those of the secretive Dragonborn, remained untouched. The Silent Woods are perhaps the strangest location in Eastern Farraway, a maze of tangled, burned trees, brought about by a giant conflagration laid as curse upon two feuding brothers for their greed. These are described in some detail, but the Game Master will need to develop them further to be playable locations.
The influence of Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore upon the setting primarily shows in the choice of dominant pantheon, which is Norse, with gods such as Odin, Freyr, Hela, Loke, Thor, and Tyr. Their worship is detailed in turn as is that of several other gods not tied to the pantheon. Other links include the creation of Midgård upon Yggsdrisal, which includes the Prime Material Plane along with the Feyworld and the Shadowfell. This is simply part of the background and surprisingly, The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway does not emphasise this aspect, whereas another fantasy setting might have done. The result is more a fantasy setting in which the Norse gods are worshipped, but which the peoples of Eastern Farraway are not the Vikings that you might expect. Another way in which it shows is in one of the setting’s two new Player Character species of the Norn. They are statuesque nomads living in the very far north, distant descendants of Val’kÿrian, goddess of battle and mercy, who value truth, honour, and loyalty. They have proficiency with the Survival skill, saving throws versus exhaustion, have advantage on first strikes daily, and wolves and ravens are always friendly to them. In some ways, they are the closest that the setting gets to actual Vikings. The other species is the Mist Elf, who live high in the mountains and are often called Mountain Elves. Curiously, unlike other Elves, they dream and sleep, and tend to be philosophers, poets, and writers. Consequently, they need to sleep at a third (if not half!) of the day, but can see through mist and fog, can communicate with others through their dreams, and if reduced to zero Hit Points, there is a slight chance that they will fade into the Ethereal Plane from whey they will return stabilised.
In addition to the two new species, The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway details a new Player Character Background, that of the Messenger, who carries letters and other communiques across the land, whilst new adventure trinkets replace those from the Player’s Handbook for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition with more appropriate to the setting. Magical items are rare in Eastern Faraway, so adventurers and others often wield ‘Expertise Weapons’, whether Clanforged, Moors Birch, Strike Arrows and Bolts, Iron Oak, or Darksteel Blades. They typically grant a bonus to hit and/or damage, whilst the Staff Sling (or Goosegirl Sling) is used by Halflings and Gnomes and can double range or increase damage depending on the type of ammunition used. Darksteel is found in the Underworld and is so light that a two-handed weapon can be used in one hand! Heirloom items are magical and rare, dating back to the Golden Age, like the Belt of Thor’s Might, Horn of Summoning the Fallen, and Khali-Di-Zar’s Hammer. These are wondrous and require attunement and their powers can be unlocked at First, Third, and Fifth Level. For example, the Belt of Thor’s Might has twelve charges that refresh daily and the user can expend them to do a shattering strike, and he also learns the Shocking Grasp cantrip. He can also expend charges to cast spells such as Heroism, Thunderous Smite, and Witch Bolt, increasingly more powerful at tiers one, two, and three.
Chapters also present the nature of magic in Eastern Farraway, the region’s factions and organisations, politics and government, and more. It notes that magic is rare, and in the case of warlocks and sorcerers, deeply mistrusted. As noted above, magic items are rare and most are relics of the Golden Age. The supplement gets down to specific details of specific regions, looking in turn at the North Star Region in the north, Buckwild in the south (the default starting point for any campaign in Eastern Farraway), and then, surprisingly, the Underworld. In every case, there is a short history of each location, its important people and NPCs, and points of interest. For example, the Underworld chapter describes the city of Myl Argoth, the largest Drow settlement in Eastern Farraway, a Drow matriarch and assassin who resides on the surface and is in charge of negotiating mining rights with the surface authorities, and a Drow cultist who worships Selene rather than the Spider Queen. Locations detailed include the Spider Queen’s Bone Cathedral, built from the bones of her enemies (the bones of Drow are incorporated into ceremonial buildings, weapon hilts, jewellery, and the like), whilst the Duskryn Arena, once a religious site, is now where fights, duels, and executions are staged. All three region write-ups give flavour of how each feels content as well that the Dungeon Master can use. New monsters in The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway include Gonks, known for their conical felt hats which make them look like mushrooms and for protecting forests and farmsteads, and Jötunn.
The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway comes to a close with several pages of adventuring material. This starts with five adventure seeds—in addition to the plot hooks liberally scattered throughout the book. They include being accused of theft by a wily trader, but it is all a scam, investigating a haunted mill and confronting a ghost, and finding out why several people have quietly walked out of their homes in the middle of the night and then disappeared, and more. Some of them are easier to use than other and some will require fleshing out. The ‘The Thieves’ Guild’s Lair’ is a fully detailed and mapped location, ready to use bar a hook for the Player Characters to attempt to infiltrate it. Lastly, ‘Before the Times of Heroes’ is a short starting adventure set in Buckridge, a village in the default starting region of Buckwild. The Player Characters are all teenagers and Commoners, not yet having had the chance to advance to First Level and acquire the details, abilities, and trappings of a Class. They are asked by a local apple farmer to find two barrels that appear to have gone missing on his two-day journey to the village. In the course of their investigation, the Player Characters will come to the aid of a local woodland creature, find the missing barrels, and confront the thieves responsible. As a reward, they will be introduced to several NPCs who each offer them a chance to learn and train in a particular Class. The Player Characters will then return their home village at the start of the Hunter’s Moon Trilogy.
Physically, The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway is very well presented. It looks and feels very much like a book for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. It is well written, the maps are good, and the artwork is excellent.
At first glance, it is not easy to identify why play in the setting of Eastern Faraway because The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway does not give the potential purchaser and Dungeon Master a strong or immediate selling point have that sets it apart from other settings for Dungeon & Dragons, Fifth Edition or that she can use as a pitch for her players. Yet the setting of Eastern Faraway does have one, and that it is a traditional Dungeons & Dragons-style fantasy setting offering all of the adventure that you would want without being radical or overwhelming either the Dungeon Master or her players with an abundance of lore. From its origins as a homebrew campaign, it is clear that a lot of love has gone into the setting and a lot of work in making the setting of Eastern Farraway engaging with The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway.
Ultimately, it is this accessibility that is the selling point to The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway. It presents a traditional Dungeons & Dragons-style fantasy setting with some Norse flavour, some mysteries, and some tensions, and makes it easily accessible, effectively uplifting its homebrew origins to professional standard. Overall, The Adventurer’s Guide to Eastern Farraway is a solid introduction to and overview of the Eastern Farraway setting.
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