I was most interested in the Broken Isles as a setting rather than a source of crunchy rules, but picked this up in the Broken Isles bundle. The Players' Guide details the four great tribes and nonhuman races of the Broken Isles, gives player background for the geography and past of the islands (history is not a word much applicable to this region), describes class modifications and equipment, and not least, how adventurers who may have great tribal distrust or blood feuds can be expected to work together.

The tribes are each very different and have specific philosophies, ways of life and (naturally) feats and equipment choices. The diversity of culture is possibly a bit excessive for groups living on the same island and speaking the same language, but it gives strong direction to human characters.

Avadnu doesn't use the standard PC races but instead has the violent skarren, rare guardian zeidians and small nomadic ngakoi (I have to approve of a PC race that goes around with two of its eyes sewn shut). Each of the nonhuman races, also described in Denizens of Avadnu, has a specific relationship to humans in general and the four tribes individually that differs in interesting ways from the role that they play in the wider world.

The Broken Isles doesn't use the cleric class and groups spellcasters as shamans - a term that is broader, but in some ways more defining than a character class in the mechanical sense. The role of shamans in the setting and the various adjustments that have been made to accomodate the lack of a cleric's abilities are mentioned throughout the text - summaries would have been useful, as this is the most radical change made to the class structure and it's not the easiest task as a player to grasp all its implications.

There are a few general feats (notably to reduce the penalties of poor weapon materials) and numerous tribal or racial feats that give some quite remarkable abilities

For me, the setting has more new names for weapons than it really needs and would have been that much easier to take in if a sword, a dagger or a double-headed axe was named as such. There are certainly a lot of spiky-looking blades which was perhaps the point of the weapons expansion. Not all the new weapons are illustrated. There is a system for weapons of different materials - no doubt necessary, and it seems workable mechanically. Different tribes and races have access to different weapon materials which is an evocative touch. Armour benefits from the presence of hard-shelled creatures that provide new chitin-based armour types.

The new non-decimal range of ceramic currency is a plain headache, especially since most of the tribes don't even use it. Apart from the dubious virtue of introducing the currency system of the wider world for later reference, I would have been much happier to see equipment prices in barter units.

A lot has been made of the art in this setting. To be perfectly honest, it's appropriate and professional but doesn't knock my socks off by the standards of print products. I would have liked to see one really good picture highlighting the differences of a skarren (especially the eyes) or a zeidian. The PDF is cleanly edited, well bookmarked and features separate printer-friendly and map files.<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: The different viewpoints of each tribe and race are well described.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>