Thieves’ Quarters

From: The Game Mechanics & Green Ronin Publishing
Reviewed by: Ron McClung

Thieves’ Quarter is a new d20 Fantasy City Quarter Sourcebook from The Game Mechanics & Green Ronin Publishing.

If there is any doubt that there is enough d20 Fantasy setting sourcebooks out there, someone is not paying attention.  Thieves’ Quarter is another setting sourcebook that tries to set itself apart.  It is part of the City Quarter series and describes a particular quarter that is dark and dangerous; a wretched hive of scum and… well you know.  It’s put together by two very familiar names – JD Wiker and Christopher West – so I was honored to review their product.

The introduction poses that the book ‘provides a complete mini-setting, full of cruel characters, vicious plots, murder, thievery, and all manner of strange goings-on.’  It attempts to create a city-setting thriving in intrigue and lies.  It also claims to present a realistic criminal organization in the form of the Thieves’ Guild.  I will investigate these assertions in my review.

From the back cover: “ Every city has a dark side…”

Background: Of course, the vast majority of this book is background.  It starts out with a general history and background to a city called Liberty.  Liberty is divided up into 6 districts or quarters.  Each is distinctly different, but the one the book focuses on is the Old Quarter or Thieves’ Quarter. Liberty is a thriving and rich harbor city with a lavish history of swords, sorcery and pirates. From fishing port to pirate hideout to strong trading city of the High Kingdom, Liberty has a long and sorted background for a DM to tap.

The Old Quarter is the most lawless section of Liberty and the focus of this particular book.  The Old Quarter, once the original town of Cove Haven and now known as the Thieves Quarter, is a place that one does not want to be caught in after dark.  Although the populace is not entirely made up of thieves and cutthroats, most would argue that there is a larger percentage of those here than anywhere else in Liberty.

Interesting note here is that at the end of the Introduction is a short treatment on how to link Liberty into the Freeport game setting by Green Ronin.  This city fits really well in that campaign world as a rival to Freeport – both cities having similar backgrounds.

Once the reader is introduced to Liberty, light is shed on the dark shadows of the Thieves’ Quarter and the town is detailed out location by location.  Only the major locations are covered, of course.  It starts out with the Thieves’ Guild and their home, the Blockhouse, the Smuggler’s Warehouse, Bruden Bikcle’s Warehouse (another smuggler), Tymdrin’s House of Fortune (bar and gambling den), and several taverns and inns. Here they accomplish one goal in realism.  In blocked-text, the author explains a more realistic view of taverns and alehouses in the Thieves’ Quarter.  It explains the social significant of taverns in such a place, the abundance of them, and why they are all so small.  I like things like that because it pulls you into to the social structure of a place like the Thieves’ Quarter.

The Place chapter continues on with a layout of the Old Fortress, a site of high adventure and dark secrets.  Serving as a “high class” inn, it once was the pirate stronghold of the original town of Cove Haven.  Also known as Castle Grimjaw, its proprietor Deacon Pryce seems nice enough but has his own secrets himself.  Following the Old Fortress, more locations are described including brothels, Thieves’ Guild safe houses, smiths shops, abandoned buildings, the Liberty Harbor, and the Old Market.

Another interesting place is the Maegrin’s Marvelous Menagerie – a permanent freak show set in the side of the cliff to the north Old Quarter.  Maegrin Crask, the creator and owner of this carnival-like menagerie, exhibits all kinds of creatures “from all over the world.”  However, some are not what they seem and Mr. Crask is more a swindler than great zoo-keeper of the odd and strange.  Tables are supplied for random creatures in the menagerie.

Also of note is the section on Soot Street – the sewers of Thieves’ Quarter.  The sewer is mapped out and a small general encounter table listed.  Soot Street is detailed out in about a page of text, giving the DM enough to work with.  The scary part is that even the dark side of Liberty city has a darker side and Soot Street is it. The Chaos Pit is one of the darkest secrets of Soot Street. It is a gladiatorial pit where desperate men fight each other and other creatures for the promise of money and fame.  This elaborate pit-fighting arena is secretly funded and run by a man named Bolo the Rogue (who’s alter ego is Lord Swiftwater, a noble with considerable access to funds and influence).  It is a place of barbaric entertainment and high-stakes betting.  

From the back cover: “ If you’re looking for great maps and interesting characters, Thieves’ Quarter is the book for you.”

Although the Location chapter introduces many NPCs throughout, the next chapter on People lays out more interesting denizens of the Thieves’ Quarter.  This four page chapter basically presents a few other people that are not directly tired to any particular location but are significant in their own right.  Each is richly described with a personal quote to add spice.  My favorite – “If you’re thinking of double-crossing me, I’ll give you  three words of advice: Don’t fall asleep,” from Rumenera the Rogue Mage.

Adventures:  If the book has not given the reader any ideas for adventuring already, it does supply a four page chapter on plots.  No city the size of Liberty is with out its plots, intrigue and adventure.  The Thieves’ Quarter just so happens to be the center of much that is dark in those realms.  The plots involved syndicates and cults rising secretly within the Thieves’ Quarter.  Also, there is a new drug called Slyss hitting the streets that threatens the peace of Liberty.  On top of all this, the High Kingdom (former rulers of Liberty before it seceded) plots against the city  council to gain more influence and access to the city coffers.

This section gives the DM more then enough intrigue and plot to start a good campaign.  Unfortunately, there is no specific adventure presented, so the DM would have to come up with one on his own.

System: Very little is added to the d20 system by this book, as one would expect.  The NPCs are very well laid out and clear.  The appendix does supply the DM with general encounter tables and accompanying stats for the Thieves’ Quarter, which is handy.

Layout: By far, the layout is one of the better ones I have seen.  It is truly a sharp looking book. From the nice color cartography of the Thieves’ Quarter on the inside cover to the internal art, all is well done. The cartography is astounding – absolutely awesome.  The use of the inside cover for color maps is outstanding.  Each map is rich with detail and clearly drawn out.  This, above anything else, would make Thieves’ Quarter worth the buy.

In conclusion, this is an outstanding book I would recommend to most any D&D player.  It has great plot ideas and great opportunities for intrigue-based games.  It also has great opportunity for other styles of play.  The DM does not have to fit Liberty as a city into his entire campaign and in fact is encouraged to pick and choose stuff out of the book and fit it into his current campaign.  The setting is flexible and contained enough that it can be worked into most any fantasy campaign.

For more details on The Game Mechanics & Green Ronin Publishing and their new d20 Fantasy City Quarter Sourcebook “Thieves’ Quarters” check them out at their website http://www.thegamemechanics.com and at all of your local game stores.

Thieves’ Quarters
From: The Game Mechanics & Green Ronin Publishing
Type of Game: d20 Fantasy City Quarter Sourcebook
Written by: JD Wiker & Christopher West
Game Design by: Wizards of the Coast.
Cover Art by: Jonathan Kirtz
Additional Art by: Toren Atkinson, Clarence Harrison, Pete Schlough, Christopher West
Number of Pages: 80
Game Components Included: One soft cover book
Game Components Not Included: D&D Core Rulebooks
Retail Price: $ 17.95
Item Number: GRR1026
ISBN: 1-932442-18-9
Website: www.thegamemechanics.com
Reviewed by: Ron McClung