The Shadowfell - Gloomwrought and Beyond (4e)
The Shadowfell is a dark reflection of the natural world¸ a haunting plane where fear and death rule. Yet¸ within the gloom are countless lures for adventurers seeking fortune¸ glory¸ and more. Just don't get caught alone at night! This set is for Dungeon Masters interested in taking their heroes on excursions to the Shadowfell¸ as well as Dungeon Masters looking for a sinister setting in which to run thrilling urban adventures. A 128-page book presents the fully detailed city of Gloomwrought¸ complete with location descriptions¸ maps¸ quests¸ and game statistics for monsters and villains. It also includes provides information on other locations heroes are likely to visit beyond the city's dark walls. In addition¸ the set contains a 32-page book of encounters set in Gloomwrought and beyond¸ two sheets of monster and villain tokens¸ a foldout battle map¸ and a deck of 30 cards that DMs can use to add suspense to any Shadowfell-based adventure. *** Product History The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond (2011)¸ by Andy Clautice¸ Erik Scott de Bie¸ and Matt Goetz¸ is a planar Campaign Guide for D&D 4e. It was published in May 2011. Continuing with the Shadows. In 2010¸ Wizards of the Coast totally revamped their 4e product line. They'd cancelled all their existing series for Essentials (2010)... but now Essentials had theoretically run its 10-book course. Fortunately¸ Wizards had plans for a new sequence of books in early 2011: a set of books all talking about the shadows. It started with Heroes of Shadow (2011)¸ continued with The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond (2011)¸ and thereafter ran through Encounters' "Dark Legacy of Evard" (2011) and Free RPG Day's "Domain of Dread: Histaven" (2011). The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond ¸ which is a DM's Campaign Guide for the Shadowfell¸ was also a nice complement to the earlier planar manuals: Manual of the Planes (2008)¸ The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos (2009)¸ and The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral Sea (2010)¸ leaving only a book on the Feywild to fill out the World Axis. Within the Points of Light world¸ Shadowfell would have been a nice companion to "Gazetteer: The Nentir Vale"¸ but unfortunately that book had disappeared from Wizards' schedule late in 2010. Components: Thinking Inside the Box. Shadowfell was something new for the mainstream 4e line: a boxed set. This was probably a result of the changing landscape brought about by Essentials. Of the 10 releases in the Essentials line¸ 6 of them were boxes¸ while before that you had to go back to 4e's D&D Roleplaying Game Starter Set (2008) to find a box. Madness at Gardmore Abbey (2011) would also appear in a box later that year¸ while two other 2011 books would be slipcased. With all that said¸ most fans felt the Shadowfell box was pretty flimsy¸ nothing like the sturdier Essentials boxes of 2010. It included a 128-page Campaign Guide¸ a 32-page Encounter book¸ a poster map of Gloomwrought¸ monster counters¸ and a 30-card deck of Despair cards. Components: A Token Effort. Monster tokens were another idea that had originated in Essentials - appearing in the Dungeon Master's Kit (2010)¸ Monster Vault (2010)¸ and the Starter Set (2010). This was their first appearance outside of the Essentials line proper. Components: In the Cards./i> Chris Perkins requested a Shadowfell deck of cards¸ something to add a "fun¸ random element" to the game. Greg Bisland came up with the Fear Deck¸ modeled after Ravenloft's Tarokka Deck¸ which first appearing in Forbidden Lore (1992). It eventually became Shadowfell's Despair Deck. The deck cleverly mixes the themes of the Shadowfell with the mechanics of 4e to produce a vivid roleplaying aid. Players draw cards while in the Shadowfell¸ leading to ap