Alemdar – Political Machine Boss by Cliff Dunn is a role playing game supplement published by ZealZaddy for use with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
The supplement is available as a 13 page Pay What You Want PDF from DriveThruRPG. One page is the front cover, one the front matter, one the Contents and one the Open Game License.
The first two pages of content are taken up by some links to Free City of Vadashar material, a sidebar, Welcome to the Free City of Vadashar, that is duplicated from other supplements and gives background and history of the city, and some details on using Alemdar in a non-Vadashar or a Vadashar campaign.
Alemdar: Boss of the Free City’s Political Machine gives an extensive history of the elderly NPC, who over the years has served three kings, through the Interregnum and dictatorship and the current Patrician. It starts with details on how Alemdar’s parents arrived in the city, working in the Grand Caravanserai and the Bourse, and how Alemdar took over his father’s business. A taste for politics resulted in Alemdar being bought out by his brother-in-law and Alemdar entered public life. Alemdar is able to learn what people want and how to get them it which allows him to connect with his constituents, other political bosses and various leaders.
Wards: What is it Good For? looks at Alemdar’s voting coalition in the Assembly of Provosts and how some wards are organised, which in some cases, due to various changes over time, have such a small population that one wealthy individual can buy the ward. Like a Ward Boss looks at Alemdar’s behaviour and his major allies across the city, followed by his stats.
There are two adventure hooks, one which involves the Unrevealed Peace mentioned in Gangs of Vadashar and the other at a confrontation engineered by Abazion from Abazion: Manipulator, Demagogue, and Rabble-Rouser.
Alemdar – Political Machine Boss in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Contents is to a similar level of depth and is hyperlinked. Navigation is good. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of colour stock illustrations. Presentation is good.
Those familiar with other entries in this series will know just how detailed the NPC descriptions are, covering their life history, connections to others and hooks. Using Alemdar in another city will need tweaking; how easy it is will depend on how similar the political system is to that of Vadashar. Alemdar is a powerful, well-connected NPC with a lot of influence, but he also has the best intentions of others at heart. He would make a good friend and a bad enemy. Alemdar – Political Machine Boss can be found by clicking here.
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