Rynn's World Review

Review of Rynn’s World

Let me preface my review of Rynn’s World by saying a little bit about my background with 40K and my motivations for picking this book up.  First is the fact that I am only casually familiar with the background ‘fluff’ of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.  Second is the fact that I picked up the book as much to enhance my knowledge of Space Marines in preparation for possibly running games of Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader (and now Deathwatch) as I did for just the pleasure of reading the book.  Last is the fact that this is only the third Black Library book that I have read.

Before I get into the actual contents, I want to comment on the format of Rynn’s World.  I assume this is something of a new direction for Black Library and I like it.  The book is an oversized paperback with large font and two pages of color maps in the center.  The large font is especially easy on my aging eyes.  Its size makes the book easy to keep open and read, while still making it small enough to stow in my backpack for the train ride to and from work.

If you are like me and are unfamiliar with the history of the Crimson Fists chapter of the Space Marines, they apparently have a long association with the Warhammer 40,000 game and its fictional universe.  Crimson Fists are even pictured on the cover of the game’s very first edition.  Unfortunately, assuming the reader is intimately familiar with this history did spoil one of the book’s pivotal events for me by revealing it in the overview blurb on the book's very first page!

The book's plot is a classic battle against hopeless odds.  The shattered remnants of the Crimson Fists chapter of the Space Marines attempts to hold out against an overwhelming invasion force of Orks until help can arrive.  One group defends the planet's fortified capital city.  The other group, led by Chapter Master Kantor and feisty, independent Captain Cortez,  attempt to make their way across hundreds of miles of ork-infested terrain and link up with their comrades.

I didn’t go into Rynn’s World with the expectation that I would be reading great literature, but I was still pleasantly surprised with the overall quality of the writing and story.  This is a fairly clichéd pulpy, action story with lots of big guns and explosions, but it is a darn enjoyable and well-written one.  The author does an outstanding job of both humanizing the Space Marines and providing them with individual personalities and motivations.  I actually cared about Captain Cortez and Chapter Master Kantor.  The interplay between the two was believable and they both came across as for more than cardboard cutouts.

I enjoyed Rynn's World quite a bit.  I also feel like I learned a lot about how to portray Space Marines if I get a chance to run a 40K RPG campaign where they play a part.  If I had one complaint it would be that the final climatic battle between the Space Marines and invading Orks takes place entirely 'off camera'.  I was really anticipating the battle between Titans and Gargants and I was disappointed that it was not included.  If you are looking for a solid Space Marine action book, definitely give Rynn's World a look.

Books You Can Use: A World Lit Only by Fire

I am always on the lookout for books that I can use to mine for ideas that I can use in my roleplaying games. I stumbled across Willaim Manchester's A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age while I browsing the bookstore and (since I had a Christmas gift card to burn) I picked it up.

Now, I realize that the book and its author have gotten flamed pretty badly by some historians and reviewers and I am not vouching for its historical accuracy. However, I am DEFINITELY going to use some its descriptions of what life was like in the Middle Ages for my next 4th Edition D&D campaign. Some of the ideas and details that I plan to gleefully use (read that as rip off!) include.

- A land that is heavily forested with only small pockets of open area for fields and towns.
- An illiterate peasantry that never travels far from home and is always one bad harvest away from famine.
- A population that is spread out in lots of little villages that contain only a hundred people or so.
- etc.

So, check the book out and see for yourself. It may not be the best history of the medieval period, but it is definitely an enjoyable read and filled with ideas that you can mine for your own campaigns. I reccomend it!

A Mini-Review of Castle Whiterock

In case you didn't know, Goodman Games will discontinue selling their line of 3.5 D&D products TODAY! Most are available in PDF format for only $2, with a couple of the big boxed sets priced at $5. Included in the sale is the megadungeon Castle Whiterock.

I purchased the PDF of Castle Whiterock from DriveThruRPG. It is delivered as four zipped files. The files include the box and index, adventure books, extras and poster maps. The PDFs are bookmarked and either have no background or include a no-background version for easy printing.

Castle Whiterock is a megadungeon in the classic sense. It contains 15 odd levels of dungeon crawling spread over almost 600 pages of content. The dungeon is spread out over four books that are colored red, blue, green and black (a sort of easter egg for the old BECMI players I assume). I was impressed by the amount of detail the authors included. You get information on everything from how the residents of a particular level respond to the adventurers' incursions to using particular sections of the dungeon as separate adventures.

In addition to the dungeon itself, a gazetteer is included that describes the Kingdom of Morrain and the town of Cillamar that players can use as a base while exploring the dungeons of the Castle. On top of this you get a comprehensive index and glossary, a poster map of Cillamar, player handouts and probably some other stuff I have left out.

I was truly astounded by the amount of content included in Castle Whiterock. And while I have only briefly read through the descriptions of the various levels, the quality of the content also appears to be high. I could not be more pleased with my purchase. Check it out today before it's gone!