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| Evocative artwork as expected from City of Mist books |
TL;DR: 'Shadows & Showdowns' delivers a great package for the MC of a City of Mist campaign. It contains a great mix of material to support, expand and sustain extended play. The artwork is excellent and the material sparks ideas and opportunities to build upon.
Son of Oak fixed their communication and sorted their planning and finances. With this release, they have delivered an excellent product that will help MCs to run a better campaign. The Campaign Book', 'Shadows & Showdowns', is a 312-page full colour hardcover with stunning genre appropriate artwork. It is split into four main sectors:
a) 'If dreams could kill'- expanded character tools
b) 'Overlooked attractions'- locations to drop into your game
c) 'Don't believe the Truth'- details of the Avatars who are the movers and shakes in the City.
d) 'Suits unveiled'- background on the Mist and its Gatekeepers.
Lots to look at, so let's drop in. 'If dreams could kill' starts by discussing how to create unique themekit, a template or blueprint for a theme. This is a short outline of the elements that a theme contains. It's nothing that you couldn't get from studying the existing themes, but it's useful as a quick reference and guide. There are also four new Mythos themes and two Logos themes to expand the options in the core book. The Logos themebooks are 'Struggle' (a character with some kind of personal challenge) and 'Turf' (a connection to a place or organisation that you lead). The Mythos themebooks bring the power of conjuration (summoning or creating beings or objects), a fated destiny, access to an enclave, or a familiar to aid you.
Whenever I look at themebooks, I start to think about how I could recreate a specific character, often from the Marvel Netflix series (which are my go-to reference points for the game). What I like about the themebook approach is that there are different ways to build a specific character depending upon the focus that you want to give them.
It's a shame that these new themes aren't also available as theme cards or stand-alone playbooks like those created as extras for the initial release of the game. I guess the sales of the extras weren't as strong as Son of Oak hoped.
There's a good guidance piece on converting existing mythic personages into characters for use with a City of Mist campaign. This suggests focusing on three key features that define the character and make it unique, and then works up two examples (Puss in Boots, and the New Year). A selection of legendary archetypes (for example a knight/warrior) linked to fictional/mythic examples are given, with suggested themes to use. This ties nicely to an overview summary on quick character creation.
The section rounds out with an extensive selection of Mythos & Logos theme kits to draw upon, followed by examples and discussion on how to address veteran characters and how to use extra themes through season finales or moments of evolution, or as transient benefits (for example, an ally gained against a particular opponent who may need more development than just a single tag).
There are some great examples of Relics, themes that could serve a character, or as a Macguffin, or assist an enemy. Similarly, examples are given for familiars All-in-all, a useful chapter for both the MC and players.
Chapter 2- 'Overlooked attractions' is probably the most useful section of the book as it provides a wide selection of locations and NPCs to drop into a game. As an MC, these are gaming gold-dust. They both spark ideas and give ways to answer player questions. The examples are broken into categories;
- Accommodation
- Contacts
- Information
- Meeting places
- Recovery
- Rivals & troublemakers
- Security
- Shopping
- Street encounters
- Transportation
- Workshops
The third chapter is called 'Don't Believe The Truth' and details the Avatars who are the movers and shakers in the City. They can be used as antagonists or patrons, or both. Their history is outlined along with the resources and objectives of the group. The Key Avatars are described in depth. with bios, motivations and the resources that they can bring to play. These assets include their allies and minions, key locations and the related dangers and themes. These are presented as a set of interlinked pyramids in a similar way to those used for cases.
It's fair to say that the various council members do not see eye-to-eye and will manoeuvre against each other while also working to prevent the emergence of new Avatars that may upset the status quo. Except when new blood presents an opportunity to undermine their rivals.
The final chapter provides plenty of information on the Gatekeepers and Agents who work for them. These are the allies of the Mist, who exist in a state of tension with the Avatars of 'The Truth' and could be an existential threat to any Mythos who goes too far. I'm not going to discuss this in any depth as it is potentially a major spoiler for canon campaigns. That said, there is enough here to turn a traditional City of Mist game on its head and run a crew dedicated to suppressing the actions of emergent mythic beings and concepts.
The chapter rounds out with a discussion of what the Mist is. A variety of options are given, but its left for the MC to decide what their reality is. The published material combines two of these theories.
The book ends with appendices providing indexes of the Mythoi, Dangers and themekits that it contains, followed by a list of Kickstarter backers.
To conclude; 'Shadows & Showdowns' delivers. It contains a great mix of material to support, expand and sustain a City of Mist campaign. The artwork is excellent and the material sparks ideas and opportunities.
Recommended.
My original City of Mist review can be found here.
31 October 2021
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