Pyramid Review
Heart of the Machine (for Dragonstar)
Published by Mystic Eye Games
Written by Stefon Mears
Illustrated by Ed Bourelle, Brad McDevitt and Jeremy McHugh
Cartography by Ed Bourelle
64-page b&w softcover; $13.99
Although there have been no adventures from Fantasy Flight Publishing for Dragonstar, its d20 System campaign setting that really put Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition into space, the company granted Mystic Eye Games the licence to publish them instead. The first of these was Raw Recruits, an adventure designed to take the player characters from 1st to 4th level as the crew of the Starship Evarstanza, a vessel strangely shaped like a tin opener lying on its side . . .
The second and latest is Heart of the Machine, an adventure designed for 4th-level characters that takes place on a minor world beyond the Outlands of the Dragon Empire. Drelga has a small Imperial population, mostly living around the star port city of Drelandan; that city supports the mining and fishery industries that provides the planet's major exports. The player characters can start the scenario as natives of Drelga, but the adventure set-up works better if they are visiting during a stopover, perhaps while their ship could have its Starcaster (the Dragonstar Campaign Setting's equivalent of the FTL drive) recharged. If the DM has run the earlier Raw Recruits, then this ship could just as easily be the Evarstanza.
[BEGIN SPOILER ALERT!]
Heart of the Machine begins with a young man imploring the party . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: August 29, 2003
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