Hollowfaust: City of Necromancers A D20 System supplement from Sword and Sorcery Studios Rating: (4 out of 5 hearts) by Jean-Michel

"Hollowfaust, City of Necromancers" is the second sourcebook centered around a city on the continent of Ghelspad in the Scarred Lands setting.

The city was built at the foot of a volcano and its population was destroyed when the volcano errupted during the Titanswar. After the conclusion of the war, a group of necromancers established themselves in the city's ruins, excavating the corpses left after the disaster and using the necromantic energies surrounding the ruins to further their experiments. They started clearing out the ruins. Refugees seeking solace in the harsh post-Titanswar world found their way to Hollowfaust, and the necromancers accepted them in. A symbiotic arrangement evolved where the citizens provide goods, foods and an elite armed force for the necromancers while the necromancers provide security. Although the necromancers are the absolute rulers of the city-state of Hollowfaust, the requirements of the city's survival in a dangerous environment led to the creation of a just system of ruling. The people of Hollowfaust are probably the most comfortable in the Scared Lands. Because the necromancers use skeletons and other undead constructs to handle most forms of menial labour, the civilian population is free to pursue other personal activities. The undead militia provides the greatest bulk of Hollowfaust's army. This successful organisation of the city assured its survival of three sieges by Titanspawn forces.

The citizens of Hollowfaust are constantly in contact with undead patrols and workers; such proximity to death has led them to develop a very dark sense of humour. Indeed, the ubiquitous reminder of eventual demise led Hollowfaust's citizens to develop a very permissive "live for the moment" attitude. One of their favourite entertainment is terror, and a few theatres provide shows to scare the populace. Each citizen is given a curfew token that insures that the undead guardians leave them alone. Visitors are better off respecting the curfew, because the undead patrols arrest anyone found walking around after dark without the token. Better not mess with the undead patrols as they are reputedly unreliable in accepting surrender.

Hollofaust's laws states that when anyone, citizen or visitor, dies in the city, that person's remains become the property of the necromancers. The necromancers pay well for the remains of unusual or powerful creatures (or adventurers) and many adventurers get rich that way.

This book describes the history and the current state of affairs of the city in a lot of detail. The city's legal system is exhaustively described because it is quite possible that visitors will have to face its representatives at some point. The civilian population's activities, customs, religious practices and regular hang-outs are well described. The necromancers, who live in the Underfaust separated from the civilian population, are divided into seven guilds. Each guild and the life of a necromancer are well fleshed out, pun intended.

A small chapter gives a few sketches of potential adventures in Hollowfaust. The last chapter offers new spells, most of which are from the school of necromancy and are unique to Hollowfaust's libraries. Some interesting new magical items found in Hollowfaust are also described.

The appendix contains the descriptions of five new prestige classes specific to the denizens of Hollowfaust. The Animator specialises in the animation and control of corporeal undead. In Hollowfaust, they are the guild responsible for the creation and maintenance of the undead minions. The Mourner is a member of the guild named the Chorus of the Banshee. They perform the ceremonies that help the citizenry cope with sorrow and loss. The Shade-Touched are most likely rogues who develop special powers by turning their necromantic potential inwards. The Speaker of the Dead specialise in raising noncorporeal undead and communicating with them. They are often called upon in Hollowfaust to put distressed or troublesome spirits and ghosts to rest. The Unfailing are the bodyguards of Hollowfaust's necromancers. They are extremely resistant and, at higher levels, keep fighting to protect their charge even if slain. The rest of the appendix describes the undead minions and constructs of Hollowfaust's necromancers, as well as fauna (living or not) of the area.

Although this book is excellently made and a must for anyone running a campaign or interested in the Scarred Lands setting, it will not be that useful otherwise. While the book describing Mithril provides readers with a big city that can be adapted to most settings, this one describes a unique, strange surrounding that strongly reflects the particularities of the Scarred Lands setting. The quality of the material and of the story development justifies a rating of at least four hearts even if the book is not really intended for the widest audience.

Weaknesses: Some glitches slipped in: the end of a boxed text regarding the sewers is missing on page 59, two columns on page 108 were inverted, the Unfailing prestige class is given a d1 as hit die and I'm pretty sure it should read d10 (but… who knows). I only looked closely at the stats of one NPC, Yaeol, a 15th level cleric with a wisdom score of 15. That should technically make it impossible for him to cast all the spells above 5th level listed in his spell per days. If there is a mistake here, there could be more in other characters' stats.


New Rules:

New Feats: Icy Calm, Dire Threats

New Magic Items: Armor: Warded Armor. Weapons: Chardun's Razor, Disruption Bolts, Ebon Blade, Maleficent Blade, Marrow Dagger, Wraithbane Dagger. Ring: Animator's Band. Staff: Ebon Staff

Wondrous Items: Amulet of Undeath, Badge of Bone Sovereignty, Bottle of Penance, Demonskin Mask, Hollowfaust Breathing Scarf, Sorcerer's Hand, Vampiric Scabbard. Arfifact: Nemorga's Wrath

New Spells: Arcane Healing, Animate Vermin, Bone Construct, Bone Weapon, Cadaver Dance, Essence Flare, Essence Shift, Phantom Wounds, Soul Exchange, Spectral Hydra, Troll's Blood, Undead Familiar, Wraithtouch

New Prestige Classes: The Animator, The Mourner, The Shade Touched, The Speaker of the Dead and The Unfailing.

New Monsters: Blood Wraith, Bonewrack Dragon, Flense Drake, Ash Golem, Osseous Calabra, Fire Spitter Ratman, Risen, Superior Skeleton, Sapheral's Kite, Spectral Revenant, Weran.


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