Champions Of Order, available currently in PDF form with a full physical release coming later this year, is a great resource for those looking to expand upon the options available to players. As well as offering up new mechanics for the Archetypes available in the Core Rulebook, Champions Of Order also delves into the Lumineth Realm-lords and subfactions for many of the other forces of Order.
The Lumineth Realm-lords take centre stage as part of this book as one of the newest factions to make its name in The Mortal Realms. You'll be able to rock out all of your strangely-helmeted Aelves including the Alarith Stonemages and Scinari Cathallar. You can even crush things under your mighty hammers with the Alarith Stoneguard!
Each of these new Archetypes comes with their characteristics arranged and plenty for you to get stuck into which Skills, Talents and Equipment you want to take. As I mentioned above, this isn't the only way to make characters in Soulbound but it is a very easy way for you to sit down and make a Soulbound hero. It seems to hit the nail on the head when it comes to the flavour of each Archetype and give you a good basis from which to build, especially in such a vast and varied world as The Mortal Realms.
In addition to the new Archetypes for the Lumineth Realm-lords, many of the other factions also get themselves new Archetypes to build off. The Daughters Of Khaine get the Khainite Shadowstalker (as seen in Warcry), the Fyreslayers can access the Grimwrath Berserker, the Idoneth Deepkin can draw on the power of the Isharann Soulrender and the Kharadron Overlords get the tinkering of the Aetheric Navigators.
The Stormcast Eternals can also field the Knight-Zephyros and the Sylvaneth can call on the deadly claws of the Spite Revenants! Each of these help to fill out the various factions of the Grand Alliance Of Order and provide you with a different way to approach crafting your Soulbound Binding.
There are a bunch of pre-made characters included in the back of the book if you're so inclined. If you've moved on from the Starter Set recently and want to change things up then you could very easily use one of these as a different jumping-off point.
Even the different armies of the Stormcast Eternals have varying character traits and ways of battling which mark them out as different from the others. For example, maybe you want to be part of the Hallowed Knights? They get "Only The Faithful" which allows them to take a Miracle Of Sigmar to use in battle. Want to summon down crackling lightning? They got you!
Maybe you want to be one of the Lumineth of Ymetrica? They have "Contemplation Of The Peaks" where you use patience and stoicism to go last in the first round of combat but then first in every subsequent round. It all allows you to play around with the different characters available to you and make a Soulbound who is distinctly different from others. This means that even if you have multiple Kharadron Overlords in a Binding, they could come from different ports and all have unique outlooks on life.
For those who are new to roleplaying or want a little more help with the purpose behind your Binding then you can also roll up reasons why you joined the Soulbound, your Short and Long Term Goals and more. All of this is very, very helpful to new players and for those roleplayers like me who sometimes need a little help when working out the best way to approach a character.
Again, all of this is something that you could come up with based on the information in the Core Rulebook but I think it's good that we now have tables and charts to refer to. I see these parts of the Champions Of Order book in very much the same light as Xanathar's Guide To Everything. It's not all essential information but it's enough to help add more character and depth to your heroes from the very beginning of your campaign.
I also wanted to note a small section given over to Reforging of Stormcast Eternal in Champions Of Order. Reforging is probably one of the most interesting parts of being a Stormcast Eternal and I like that more time has been given over to dealing with this process, how it could affect the group and what might change once your Stormcast Eternal returns. The Reforging Flaws table is just a small portion of what's offered as part of this section of the book.
I haven't had a good chance to read through the different offerings here but there is plenty there to keep cunning spellcasters and priests intrigued I don't doubt. I was happy to see that most of the colours of magic were covered and there is enough to make Lumineth Realm-lords feel like they aren't getting short-changed.
If your Kharadron Overlord player is still working out what else they can tinker with then I would also make sure to delve into the equipment section too. Again, there isn't a vast array of new options here but it's enough to help build on what's in the Core Rulebook.
New Archetypes
First up, we'll take a look at the new Archetypes available in Champions Of Order. You have a lot of choices when it comes to making a Soulbound character and can very easily craft yourself a freeform hero which doesn't adhere to one of the prescribed Archetypes. However, if you want to make things easier you can choose from a mostly preset theme based on the various units that exist within the tabletop miniatures game.The Lumineth Realm-lords take centre stage as part of this book as one of the newest factions to make its name in The Mortal Realms. You'll be able to rock out all of your strangely-helmeted Aelves including the Alarith Stonemages and Scinari Cathallar. You can even crush things under your mighty hammers with the Alarith Stoneguard!
Each of these new Archetypes comes with their characteristics arranged and plenty for you to get stuck into which Skills, Talents and Equipment you want to take. As I mentioned above, this isn't the only way to make characters in Soulbound but it is a very easy way for you to sit down and make a Soulbound hero. It seems to hit the nail on the head when it comes to the flavour of each Archetype and give you a good basis from which to build, especially in such a vast and varied world as The Mortal Realms.
In addition to the new Archetypes for the Lumineth Realm-lords, many of the other factions also get themselves new Archetypes to build off. The Daughters Of Khaine get the Khainite Shadowstalker (as seen in Warcry), the Fyreslayers can access the Grimwrath Berserker, the Idoneth Deepkin can draw on the power of the Isharann Soulrender and the Kharadron Overlords get the tinkering of the Aetheric Navigators.
The Stormcast Eternals can also field the Knight-Zephyros and the Sylvaneth can call on the deadly claws of the Spite Revenants! Each of these help to fill out the various factions of the Grand Alliance Of Order and provide you with a different way to approach crafting your Soulbound Binding.
There are a bunch of pre-made characters included in the back of the book if you're so inclined. If you've moved on from the Starter Set recently and want to change things up then you could very easily use one of these as a different jumping-off point.
Subfactions Rules & Roleplaying Hooks
As well as the new Archetypes for the various factions, the designers have also put together a number of Subfactions that help to make your characters feel a little more unique. Much like Backgrounds in games like Dungeons & Dragons, the Subfactions presented for each Grand Alliance give you small bonuses which give you in-game benefits and also provide you with more roleplaying cues.Even the different armies of the Stormcast Eternals have varying character traits and ways of battling which mark them out as different from the others. For example, maybe you want to be part of the Hallowed Knights? They get "Only The Faithful" which allows them to take a Miracle Of Sigmar to use in battle. Want to summon down crackling lightning? They got you!
Maybe you want to be one of the Lumineth of Ymetrica? They have "Contemplation Of The Peaks" where you use patience and stoicism to go last in the first round of combat but then first in every subsequent round. It all allows you to play around with the different characters available to you and make a Soulbound who is distinctly different from others. This means that even if you have multiple Kharadron Overlords in a Binding, they could come from different ports and all have unique outlooks on life.
The Binding, Purpose & Reforging
Another of the questions often asked when diving into a roleplaying game is "why are we together?". Champions Of Order builds on the information from the Core Rulebook with tables given over to who forged your Binding and more. Maybe it wasn't Sigmar who put you on the path of being a Soulbound? Maybe Morathi, Alarielle or even someone like Nagash had a hand in turning you into Soulbound!For those who are new to roleplaying or want a little more help with the purpose behind your Binding then you can also roll up reasons why you joined the Soulbound, your Short and Long Term Goals and more. All of this is very, very helpful to new players and for those roleplayers like me who sometimes need a little help when working out the best way to approach a character.
Again, all of this is something that you could come up with based on the information in the Core Rulebook but I think it's good that we now have tables and charts to refer to. I see these parts of the Champions Of Order book in very much the same light as Xanathar's Guide To Everything. It's not all essential information but it's enough to help add more character and depth to your heroes from the very beginning of your campaign.
I also wanted to note a small section given over to Reforging of Stormcast Eternal in Champions Of Order. Reforging is probably one of the most interesting parts of being a Stormcast Eternal and I like that more time has been given over to dealing with this process, how it could affect the group and what might change once your Stormcast Eternal returns. The Reforging Flaws table is just a small portion of what's offered as part of this section of the book.
New Talents, Miracles, Spells & More!
As if that wasn't enough, Champions Of Order now comes with entire sections given over to loads of new Spells, Miracles, Talents and Equipment that can be useful for your Soulbound. As well as some new options which apply to the previously covered Order factions, much of the space is also dedicated to the Lumineth Realm-lords once again.I haven't had a good chance to read through the different offerings here but there is plenty there to keep cunning spellcasters and priests intrigued I don't doubt. I was happy to see that most of the colours of magic were covered and there is enough to make Lumineth Realm-lords feel like they aren't getting short-changed.
If your Kharadron Overlord player is still working out what else they can tinker with then I would also make sure to delve into the equipment section too. Again, there isn't a vast array of new options here but it's enough to help build on what's in the Core Rulebook.
Worth Picking Up?
Once again, I'd say yes. I think that Cubicle 7 has done a pretty good job with Champions Of Order. If you've dived into the Starter Set and are eager for more then I would recommend picking up the Core Rulebook and Champions Of Order at the very least. As a player and Gamesmaster, you'd have access to plenty of ways to make characters and enough tips and tricks to tell intriguing stories. If you were going to go the extra mile then I'd also recommend the Bestiary as it's effectively a brilliant Monster Manual to complete the initial line-up.
If I was to comment on what I would have liked to see more of, I'd say that more artwork would be great. I think the balance was struck really well in the Bestiary and it would have been neat to see more artwork in the book to illustrate the various subfactions. Also, maybe another Archetype (making it two) would have been neat for the different Order factions. Making a character is pretty easy in Soulbound but a few more quick and easy options are always welcome.
As a big bundle of new options for players, I see Champions Of Order as another great pick for Soulbound. It delivers when it comes to new options and could also be fun for more experienced players looking for new spells, talents and endeavours to play out in between their grand adventures.
With Champions Of Order, we also get a look at what's coming out in the near future. Death and Destruction are also in the works from Cubicle 7 meaning that we're going to get Archetypes for Orruks, Vampires and more in the future! I wonder if they'll take some time to deal with the Seraphon soon...
As a big bundle of new options for players, I see Champions Of Order as another great pick for Soulbound. It delivers when it comes to new options and could also be fun for more experienced players looking for new spells, talents and endeavours to play out in between their grand adventures.
With Champions Of Order, we also get a look at what's coming out in the near future. Death and Destruction are also in the works from Cubicle 7 meaning that we're going to get Archetypes for Orruks, Vampires and more in the future! I wonder if they'll take some time to deal with the Seraphon soon...
Review originally posted by me via OnTableTop.
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