Last week I reviewed the core book in the Dungeons & Dragons Essentials line, Wizards of the Coast’s new series of rulebooks and compendiums that provide everything a new player needs to get into D&D. That first book provides an awesome starting point for everything that is D&D, but this week’s book, Heroes of the Fallen Lands, takes things a step further by elaborating on some specific options for character creation, as well as details on possible abilities and gear that could pop up in your adventuring.
Heroes of the Fallen Lands opens very similarly to the way the Rules Compendium does. There is an introductory chapter about roleplaying in general that would be a great welcome for newcomers to the gaming genre. A chapter about the basics of Dungeons & Dragons follow this one, providing a fantastic overview of how gameplay in D&D works, with details about types of skill checks, die rolls, and more. All of this ground was covered in the Rules Compendium but is a welcome addition here, as it’s a good refresher before the book unveils some finer details and broader options. The next two chapters are about character creation and understanding powers within the game. These are essential primers for what the rest of this book will be about.
That is the point where Heroes of the Fallen Lands really kicks into gear. The rest of the book is divided into big chapters about character classes, character races, skills, feats, and gear and weapons. Rather than pour everything into one massive tome, this book tackles roughly half of the class and race options, leaving the remainder for Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, another book in the Essentials line.
The chapter on classes begins with an overview of the classes being covered here: the cleric, the fighter, the rogue, and the wizard, truly four of the most popular and iconic classes in fantasy gaming. Each class specific section is packed with information, beginning with a description of the class in general and then delving into details about not only how to create a character of that class but also how to diversify that character into specific archetypes. Every character type described is accompanied by loads of details about class oriented skills, bonuses, roleplaying options, and more. You can read about how to make your Fighter into a Slayer or your Rogue into a Thief, and you’ll have all the necessary info at your fingertips.
The character races chapter is organized similarly but is much shorter. Once again, Heroes of the Fallen Lands takes on just a portion of the options in the game and leaves the rest for the next volume in the series. The races represented here are the Dwarf, Eladrin, Elf, Halfling, and Human. All the pertinent information about playing as any of these races is presented here clearly and in a well organized manner, accompanied by illustrations and charts for most of the stats you’ll need for your character.
Skills and Feats are discussed in the following two chapters. They begin where the Rules Compendium left off and provide an expanded description of different types of skills, what specific skills do and how they work, and how to choose and add feats to your character. These sections are not necessarily directly tied into the specific races and classes presented earlier in the book. The information here is good stuff for any and all characters, and it’s useful reading for every Dungeons & Dragons player. The final chapter, Gear and Equipment, also addresses general issues that would be good reading for everyone. It begins with information about characters’ equipment at level 1 and goes on to talk about more advanced goodies, including magical items.
The folks at Wizards of the Coast were not kidding when they called this series Dungeons & Dragons Essentials. These are well designed, convenient, and enjoyable books that every D&D player should own and read. Start with the Rules Compendium and then move on to Heroes of the Fallen Lands. These two volumes will take you a long way toward being an informed and skilled player, and the forthcoming Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms looks like it will guide you the rest of the way in.
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