Midnight: The Crown Of Shadow 
asked by nat on November 13, 2006 6:50 PM
An adventure set in the Midnight campaign setting for the d20 System, a world where evil rules and darkness has fallen across the land, where heroes are condemned and the elder races are hunted to the brink of extinction. In this scenario, the heroes must face off against the creatures of shadow, striving to bring light to a world dominated by the forces of evil.
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CROWN OF SHADOW is a campaign for low-level characters that is set in the world of MIDNIGHT. MIDNIGHT is a dark world where the forces of evil have won and the heroes are the hunted. Both the use of magic and reading are capital crimes, as is the possession of weapons or armor. Even food is scarce. Orcs are the elite fighting forces of this world and the only clerics left pray to a dark god enthroned in his dark tower. Humanity is being ground into the dust, halflings are universally enslaved, the dwarves are losing a war of attrition and even the elves are being driven back. In short, it is a world in need of heroes.
The world of MIDNIGHT differs from standard high fantasy sufficiently that players would benefit from a campaign that would take them across the entire world, to see how each group under the Shadow is resisting and what price they pay for doing so. They should meet all of the surprises that MIDNIGHT has in store and get a sense for the corruption of their world, the better to motivate their struggle against it. CROWN OF SHADOW is that campaign, a story arc that takes the PCs through the lands of the dying dwarves, crushed humans, subversive river gnomes, and the vanguard of the elves. The PCs will experience almost all of the twists of MIDNIGHT and see all the major locations; in that sense, it serves almost as a gazetteer for the players. I'll admit that the "crown of shadow" is quite the macguffin, but the campaign is about the journey not the destination.
CROWN OF SHADOW is designed for 1st level characters and can run them as high as 5th level. This campaign is designed for the 1st edition of MIDNIGHT and uses 3.0 rules, but I didn't find any problems using this with MIDNIGHT 2nd edition or 3.5 rules. There are 7 chapters of action, plus an epilogue which follows the conclusion fo the story. The booklet itself is very readable - I particularly appreciated the synopsis at the beginning of each chapter to keep track of what should be happening. Each chapter also has subsections to keep all the information organized.
I thought CROWN OF SHADOW was a well presented campaign. In fact, it should be indispensable as a resource for any MIDNIGHT campaign even if the material isn't directly used. The challenges seem well designed, with some good combats, some puzzles, and social interaction. I would highly recommend it.
The world of MIDNIGHT differs from standard high fantasy sufficiently that players would benefit from a campaign that would take them across the entire world, to see how each group under the Shadow is resisting and what price they pay for doing so. They should meet all of the surprises that MIDNIGHT has in store and get a sense for the corruption of their world, the better to motivate their struggle against it. CROWN OF SHADOW is that campaign, a story arc that takes the PCs through the lands of the dying dwarves, crushed humans, subversive river gnomes, and the vanguard of the elves. The PCs will experience almost all of the twists of MIDNIGHT and see all the major locations; in that sense, it serves almost as a gazetteer for the players. I'll admit that the "crown of shadow" is quite the macguffin, but the campaign is about the journey not the destination.
CROWN OF SHADOW is designed for 1st level characters and can run them as high as 5th level. This campaign is designed for the 1st edition of MIDNIGHT and uses 3.0 rules, but I didn't find any problems using this with MIDNIGHT 2nd edition or 3.5 rules. There are 7 chapters of action, plus an epilogue which follows the conclusion fo the story. The booklet itself is very readable - I particularly appreciated the synopsis at the beginning of each chapter to keep track of what should be happening. Each chapter also has subsections to keep all the information organized.
I thought CROWN OF SHADOW was a well presented campaign. In fact, it should be indispensable as a resource for any MIDNIGHT campaign even if the material isn't directly used. The challenges seem well designed, with some good combats, some puzzles, and social interaction. I would highly recommend it.
reviewed by h2o on November 23, 2006 9:58 AM