Review of Nobles, Knights, and Necromancers By Hero Games
-== What is it? ==-
Nobles, Knights, and Necromancers (NKN) is a villains books for Fantasy Hero. The focus of the book is on humanoid adversaries where Monsters, Minions, And Marauders focuses more on classic fantasy monsters. It was written by Steve Long and published in September 2006 by Hero Games.
NKN has a color cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is 8.5†x 11†and is 175 pages in length. I am reviewing a print copy that I bought. I have used some of the underlying plot threads in my Fantasy Hero campaign but I have not used any of the entries directly as written. When doing reviews I always read the product cover-to-cover.
-== What I Like ==-
NKN is split into three sections. The first covers Lords Of Evil (aka mastermind type villains), the second covers Fiendish Organizations, and the last covers Solo Adversaries.
The Lords Of Evil section is not bad. Most of the entries have useful bits and are well developed. I think the artwork by Sam Kennedy for Thorg Split-Chin is excellent.
The Fiendish Organizations section in NKN is very well done. I particularly like the Baragon Coven, Kal-Turak’s Lieutenants, and the Sarresharan Regency. The Sarresharan Regency section is particularly rich with plot seeds. For GMs running a campaign with court politics this section would be well received.
-== What I Don’t Like ==-
The Solo Adversaries section in NKN is very hit or miss. There are some great entries but there are some not so good ones as well.
The artwork in NKN is extremely hit or miss. I like the work from Sam Kennedy but many of the pieces are not that great and some are very poor. The cover is just a collection of interior pieces by Mack Sztaba that have been colored and put into a police lineup.
-== Summary ==-
NKN is a book that has some nice material for GMs running a campaign with a heavy humanoid influence. I did not find a ton of value in the product but I did enjoy reading the entries and using some of the juicier bits for my campaign. If you can find NKN used or for a good price AND you are running a humanoid centered campaign that I would buy it.
You can get copies of the book at Amazon for $26.99 at this
I give it 6 out of 10 paws.
