sartar rising, volume ii: orlanth is dead!

Sartar Rising, Volume II: Orlanth is Dead! is the second campaign setting and scenario book in the Hero Wars series. While it is the second book in the campaign, it is the first book with a specific, extended scenario. That scenario occurs only in the final chapter of the book. Before that, the book covers the important events that lead up to this moment. Because the scenario is an extended set of battles in a war, there is a whole chapter on military techniques of the different people involved in the way. There is also a cool “create your clan” worksheet that lets players answer questions together to decide what their clan’s past is and what they hold dear.

The scenario itself is all metaplot, and it is a good example of the limitations of metaplot structures. The story told is a large battle, the last stand of the Orlanthi against the Lunar forces. This is the first battle in the Hero Wars, and it’s the moment the Orlanthi are galvanized and united in rebellion. The battle’s end is predetermined: the Orlanthi will always win the battle no matter what the players do. In fact, every stage of the battle is predetermined and will have the same outcome regardless of the PCs’ actions.

I can see that players could have a great time playing the scenario all the same, but as a GM, I’d have a hard time being invested in this scenario because in the end, it is designed to give information to the players, not probe the characters. There are no meaningful choices for them to make, no meaningful pressures to respond to. For example, at one point the text says, “This is no longer a battle, just a confused melee. Tell the heroes they can fight as long as they wish to. Use a d20 to determine the seemingly random AP opponents bid each round.” Oof, talk about taking the wind out of your sails.

If I were running this scenario, I would want to work through the scenario to focus on personal matters important to the PCs, bringing to a head all the different pressures that were building up in the campaign up to this point so that the battle itself is merely a backdrop to the story the players are telling.

I have not read the third book in the series, but I am intrigued to see where it goes and what the book focuses on. I imagine you can get a good couple dozen sessions between these first two books.