The City of Ravens Bluff by Ed Greenwood
AD&D Forgotten Realms Campaign Expansion
The Wizards of the Coast $24.95 (Can $32.95)
“The City of Ravens Bluff” is a new Forgotten Realms sourcebook that deals with the Living City of RPGA convention fame. This 160-page book has a soft cover, and comes with a detailed color map of the city that can be pulled out.
Included in this tome are such topics as the history of Raven’s Bluff and its predecessor Sarbreen, details of daily life; wizards and magic, monsters, secret societies, guilds, knightly orders, noble families, merchant houses, city government, and a ton of other stuff too numerous to list here. Also included is a walking tour of the city, complete with maps and a commentary on various sights along the way.
I was very impressed with this product from the first moment I opened it up. It appears to have all the info you will ever need to know to play, DM, or create a campaign centered in the Living City. The type in this book is very small, which reminded me of the “Faiths and Avatars” supplement, another product I consider to be of high quality. And, as was the case in Faiths and Avatars, the small type means that this book is crammed full of useful details.
I found the history of Ravens Bluff to be especially helpful for bringing the city into sharper focus. After playing in the Living City campaign for several years now, I’m so glad to finally understand what was going on at those various interactives I’d attended over the years. And I liked the way this section in particular takes the recent happenings of the city and put them into perspective with the city’s past history.
I also really enjoyed the walking tour to be found in the second half of the book. It was great fun looking up the various landmarks of my character’s life, such as her place of employment. The details included in this section will be an invaluable aid to roleplaying my character, because they make her and her city seem so much more real and tangible.
As for the overall appearance of this product, aside from a somewhat large top margin decorated with an ornate border, the over-abundance of artwork that used to plague many TSR products is largely missing here. The artwork that is used compliments the text well and is largely useful. I especially liked the maps in the walking tour section, and the badges that have been designed for the noble and merchant houses.
To be honest, I thought the price for this sourcebook was a bit steep at first glance. However, I was reminded by my fellow gamers that one of the things WOTC felt they needed to do when they bought TSR was increase product prices, since they considered the amount charged before to be too low. And besides, there’s a lot of bang for your buck here. As a whole, I’d say that “The City of Ravens Bluff” is well worth the money and a definite must-have for anyone who plays, or wants to play, in a Living City campaign. There is enough information included here for a thousand adventures. Enjoy!
- Erica Woollums