City of Dreams by Darrin Drader and Robert J Schwalb is a role playing game supplement published by Schwalb Entertainment for use with Shadow of the Demon Lord. This is part of the Lands in Shadow series that details areas of the official Urth setting.
This is a 17-page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $3.49 but was purchased at a reduced price during a sale. Around three quarters of a page is the front illustration and Credits and one page is ads.
The introductory paragraphs explain that Edes was once a centre of high culture, learning and the arts, but has recently fallen into decay.
A City of Fog explains that the city is blanketed year-round in fog. It is also famous for its unusual distractions, which includes all types of entertainment and drugs, but that recently the influence of the latter has become more severe, with much of the population addicted to lotus blossom.
The Refuge of the Intelligentsia explains that the city started as a fortified camp and became a refuge against jotuns and, later, artists and thinkers fleeing the Witch-King and Men of Gog. It became a more cosmopolitan city-state, unlike the chaos of Set or the destruction of Lij.
A Neutral State explains that the city avoided getting involved in conflicts, instead offering gifts and tribute. However, a pirate fleet operating out of the Pirate Isles made Edes borrow money from Kem and the Vault in order to finance a fleet, whose repayment affected the economy.
Seeds of Decadence states that the city has always been home to the strongest drinks from the continent and drugs from as far away as the Pirate Isles, the Kingdom of Sails and Eremeä, with most residents addicted to one thing or another.
A New Confederacy explains that Edes joined the Confederacy of Nine Cities reluctantly and at the last minute, and only after it became obvious that the Empire had problems.
The Lotus Blossom Crisis explains that lotus blossoms never really took off originally, because of expense, but recently they have become more cheaply and more readily available, as well as stronger. A sidebar explains the effects and references the Demon Lord’s Companion.
A Faded City-State gives an update on the current state of the city within the Confederacy. The city’s autarch has not been seen in years, with his wife apparently running the city. A sidebar explains that some spells referenced come from Occult Philosophy and Demon Lord’s Companion.
Dreams and Nightmares has some current factions of the city; the Lamplighters, who are much diminished and acted as the guard as well as lighting lamps, the Wakened, who seek to stop the city’s decay, the Dream Merchants, drug dealers now dominated by a goblin clan who supply lotus blossom, the Dreamlost, those of the city who are addicts, and the Opportunists, low-lives taking advantage of the city’s problems.
Into the Gloom gives details of various locations in the city, accompanied by a map. The city is more extensively detailed than many in the series, and includes a d20 table of interesting sights.
Adventure Ideas has six brief adventure hooks for Edes.
Finally, Characters from Edes has a new d20 table of background events for characters hailing from the city.
City of Dreams in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and is long enough with enough different sections that these would have been useful. Navigation is poor. The text maintains a two-column full colour format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a number of colour illustrations, up to half a page in size, which appear to be custom. Presentation is very good.
This is one of the more fully-detailed city supplements in the Lands in Shadow range, covering far more of the city than some do, with more locations detailed, more factions and more general details. There are ample adventure hooks, not just those listed at the end, but scattered throughout, as the city is undergoing a great deal of drug-induced turmoil, providing a host of potential enemies and problems. If there’s one problem, and this is related to a common problem for the setting, it’s that the location of the city isn’t given. It’s located in the Confederacy, which narrows the location to a chunk of the continent, but not in more detail than that. City of Dreams is one of the better supplements describing the Confederacy and it can be found by clicking here.
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