Huge City of Arches Update!

Love the work you’ve put into the City of Arches, Mike. And really enjoy finding all the little connections to Ruins of the Grendleroot.

This sounds great. One thing I would love to see if an area where people can share what they have made for City of Arches. For example, I have been running my campaign here for almost two years and I would love to share what I have created and also learn from others.

I’m very excited to run with this for one of my next campaigns. Here’s some thoughts and notes I had going through it so far. Pg 4 - “All races are welcome” - to future proof it, consider in the text of this paragraph adding in the various other terms that 5e variants are replacing ‘race’ with. Pg 5 - Using Adventure Hooks - this idea is great. No notes! Pg 6 - Intro Scenario - I like this as a level 1 scenario AND intro to the city. The Arch Awakens - when I read the part about the stirges coming through and attacking, I immediately pondered “wait, what happens to beasts and other low Int creatures who come through the portals?”. I figure the players would ask that question too. You prompt that they are ‘in a frenzy’, but I’m curious how to explain this to the players as being “that’s just how these stirges act" or how most low Int creatures act? Golgoron Arrives - last paragraph - reference to “Kaluvon” on line four, probably should be Golgoron Aftermath - 2nd last paragraph - ends with typo “at the later in this book” Pg 8 - Adventure Hooks Everywhere - I really like this note/flag coming up early. For the actual Hook execution, I wish more sourcebooks would do something like this. I do think the ‘hook’ paragraphs need a visual marker to make them stand out from the rest of the content. Even just a space if the hook is followed by more text that isn't a new heading. Politics - Two “Golden orgs”, Golden Council and Golden Knights - I can tell them apart, but I know my players are going to spend a non-zero amount of time mixing them up. I’d rename one in my game just to keep them straight. Hook. Councilwoman Irva Mentra - consider replacing Councilman/woman with a gender-neutral term. My city just uses Councillor. Pg 9 - Simple Yet Manipulatable Politics - these two paragraphs do so much work to set the stage / tone. The Golden Knights versus the Black Hand - last line has a typo “out all-out war” The Golden Throne versus the Cult of the Nameless King - first line references ‘castes’. Only time that word is used in the book, I’m assuming you are using it as a synonym for economic class. Since it carries some cultural baggage, and isn’t used elsewhere, recommend using something else. Economics - I think you can push the decolonization and drop the “civilized” from “agrarian towns and cities”. Pg 10 - Your Keys to the Worlds Beyond - Again, really want to say these miniature advice block are doing good work. Pg 11 - Queen Karsara - Having the monarch as a quest-giver at potentially lower levels is an excellent idea. And the twist of having her unknowingly watched by her guards/spies is a great way to bail out Tier 1 characters who are about to get the Queen killed. Pg 12 - A Secret for Every Location - more praise, these opening italicized section are exactly what I’d want to use in my game. Pg 37 - Cult Fanatic - Is the Divine Shield in the Armour Class flavour or is an ability missing? Divine Blessing grants the fanatic advantage on spell attacks, but none of the spells they know use attacks, only saves.

Awesome work mike

Thank you!

Awesome updates, Mike! Love the updated trade dress, GM & Design notes, and I especially love the "Revealing Secrets" section on p. 10... super helpful, and one of the places I spend a lot of time prepping... thanks for keeping it 'Lazy' for us! Amazing work!

Let's GO! City of Arches is freaking awesome. Thanks for the update, Mike!

Looks wonderful.