Reviews for Heroes of the Fallen Lands: An Essential Dungeons & Dragons Supplement

The average rating for Heroes of the Fallen Lands: An Essential Dungeons & Dragons Supplement based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-04-06 00:00:00 Marco Bigoni [Classes: Chapter 4 of HOTFL covers four basic classes, most with a few variations for theme or flavor. Each class writeup includes advice on customization and role-playing, which is pretty well-done overall (although I wish they covered more than a few specific race-class combos for each). Each class covers its Heroic (1-10), Paragon (11-20), and Epic (21-30) tiers. The Heroic tier typically covers the core expected options for the class; the Paragon tier focuses on a thematic Paragon Path and general improvements; and the Epic tier defaults to a dull and generic (if effective) "lndomitable Champion" Epic Destiny, alongside several stronger class-specific powers. Pretty much every level gives you something, which is a noble idea, but many of the improvements are just minor stat bumps or upgrades of lower-tier features and powers, which can get dull. The classes are: - Cleric: This comes with a default "Warpriest" build, and two domains you can choose from (Storm and Sun). The Paragon Path is the "Devout Warpriest". This class was honestly kind of a disappointment - while it functions in its "leader" role, it's less interesting than the Fighter (in martial terms) or the Wizard (in magical terms). (Maybe they had no choice but to do that, for niche protection, but other editions somehow managed to make the cleric more exciting.) They try their best to tie the cleric's powers to their faith, and make them sound cool, but unfortunately it doesn't quite work. It also doesn't help that the Cleric's range of power choices is noticeably limited compared to other editions of D&D; one suspects that the Cleric (and the Wizard, later) had versatility removed for balance reasons. The two domains improve things a little, adding some much-needed flavor, with the Storm Domain essentially turning you into Thor and the Sun Domain making you even better at boosting allies and hindering foes; but the result is still the least exciting of the four classes. - Fighter: This comes with two builds, the "Knight" (defense-focused) and the "Slayer" (offense-focused). The "Knight" (which expects you to use longsword or warhammer) is the less interesting of the two, though it fills an important niche with its focus on attracting, blocking, and resisting enemy attacks. The Knight's Paragon Path is the "Stalwart Knight". The "Slayer" (which expects you to use greataxe or greatsword) has features reminiscent of D&D's classic Barbarian class, and is the choice for players who want to get into the fray and kill things. Their Paragon Path is the "Mythic Slayer". Both builds seem a little light on powers, but they get lots of other upgrades as they level. The Knight works in 4E's tactical focus, but comes off a little bland otherwise; however, the Slayer works in a more general sense. - Rogue: The default build here is the iconic "Thief". This class focuses heavily on mobility and striking vulnerable targets, just as you'd expect of the archetype. Of the writeups in the book, this is the one that does the best job of selling 4E's tactical movement, with its fun descriptions of their various "trick" options. Their Paragon Path is the "Master Thief", and both their Paragon and Epic tiers emphasize stealth. No serious complaints here. - Wizard: The Wizard's default build is the "Mage", which initially specializes in one of three schools of magic (Evocation, Illusion, or Enchantment). This section is notable for having more detail about 4E's default setting; in fact, the class overall has the most flavorful writeup, including history for a number of spells. The result is that even when the powers are bland, the flavor makes up for it. As with the Cleric, the Wizard has notably fewer spell choices than in other editions, split between spellbook and at-will options. Their Paragon Path is the "Enigmatic Mage", which gives them a little more flexibility. The schools give you some minor bonuses at Heroic tier and a few neat school-exclusive spells (associated with specific legendary wizards) at Paragon tier. Races: Chapter 5 contains five character races - Dwarves, Eladrin (which fill the niche of other editions' high elves), Elves (essentially wood elves), Halflings, and Humans. Each section is mostly about background and role-playing suggestions, with less than a page of game stats. It's very welcome, and also gives the writers the opportunity to talk about the default 4E setting. Probably the most interesting chapter of the book to read. Feats: Chapter 7 covers feats, which are closer to 3E's approach than 5E's, focused on specific situational bonuses and additional combat options (though less complex than in 3E). The "Divine Devotion" category is the most flavorful, with each representing dedication to a specific deity. Equipment: Chapter 8 covers gear and magic items. The lists are much slimmer than in other editions, and the magic items are honestly pretty dull overall, even if the level system is promising from a balance standpoint. (hide spoiler)]

Review # 2 was written on 2021-01-30 00:00:00 Deborah Capanna Oh man, a review of a 4e Essentials product - the "alternate" players handbook no less (one of two anyway). It's been enough years now that the old controversy that this book (and its companion, Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms) generated in the D&D community, while not forgotten, is no longer really relevant. After all, pretty much the whole world has moved on to 5e and couldn't care less about 4e. But it's because of that lack of emotion over it that it can now be reviewed in a more objective manner. Overall, I'm not entirely sure who the target audience of this "reboot" really was. Officially, it was for new and returning players to the 4th edition of the D&D game. But Essentials came out at the end of 4e's lifespan so it couldn't really achieve this goal. Further, new players would likely be confused as to what books to buy and would likely just go for the traditional Player's Handbook. As for returning players, WotC was probably talking about Pathfinder players and that ship had already sailed. In the end, Heroes of the Fallen Lands completely failed in its goals. But does that actually mean it's a bad book? Well, once you take away its marketing failures, what you're left with for 4e players and DMs is 5 new classes based on a very different structure than had been utilized at that point, lots of new (and better organized) feats, and a few magic items. The core of the entire thing is really the five new classes: Two versions of the fighter (knight and slayer), Wizard, Cleric, and Rogue. None of these follow the AEDU structure of the previous PHBs - they resemble more of their historical roots. It's also clear that a lot of 5e class design came from the Essentials classes. Despite the fact that they are so different structurally, these are good classes. Easier to pick up and play without any level of system mastery, the essentials classes don't rise to the peaks of power of their PHB counterparts, but they are consistently good with few lows. Most of them probably are not quite as fun to play for 4e veterans, but still interesting enough. The lack of paragon path selection is unfortunate for these classes though and there is only one epic destiny included in the book. Outside of the classes, the feats in this book are excellent - many of them are almost required for characters (PHB or Essentials) as they are quite powerful. There are not very many of them though meaning that if you are playing a character beyond the heroic tier, you're going to need at least the PHB to continue. Overall, despite its failure at all of its marketing goals, D&D Essentials is actually still pretty cool. Humorously, if 4e would have began with the structure as set forth in Essentials, it probably would have been more successful, if not quite as interesting. As a single book, Heroes of the Fallen Lands has lots of cool stuff, but is frustratingly light in places preventing it from reaching greatness.