Colonial Gothic: The Philadelphia Affair
The Philadelphia Affair is part 2 of the Flames of Freedom campaign for the historical fantasy horror game Colonial Gothic written by Richard Iorio II and published by Rogue Games.
By Aaron T. Huss
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The Philadelphia Affair is the second part of the Flames of Freedom campaign moving the action of the Revolutionary War from Boston to Philadelphia. The book is actually a 2-part publication with an extensive gazetteer on colonial Philadelphia followed by the actual campaign content. It should be noted early that while The Philadelphia Affair ties into the storyline from Boston Besieged, it is by no means designed as a prerequisite to running this module.
CONTENT
The History of Philadelphia is an overview and gazetteer of colonial Philadelphia from its first beginnings to its current status during the Revolutionary War. This historical representation really touches base on a lot of different aspects and groups within Philadelphia that can be used directly within the campaign or used to create your own adventures placed within Philadelphia. It essentially performs double duty acting as a setting guide and a campaign guide.
Hell Hath No Fury is the actual campaign module for Flames of Freedom. I will say no more than that.
OVERALL
The Philadelphia Affair is, so far, my favorite adventure module for Colonial Gothic as it really captures the appeal of the setting. Better yet, it has an excellent build-up from beginning to end that really keeps you intrigued with “what’s going to happen next?”
RATINGS
Publication Quality: 9 out of 10
The Philadelphia Affair is an excellent looking book and extremely easy to read. There is a good collection of artwork and only a handful of editing issues here and there, though nothing that inhibits reading the content. To add a bit more value to the gazetteer, a map of Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War is included. Not that I would expect any less given the Boston Besieged book, it’s still an added bonus in my opinion.
Storyline: 10 out of 10
The Philadelphia Affair has an extremely climactic storyline that starts as something rather mundane and builds into an extraordinary finale. I will not spoil what happens during the storyline, but rest assure you will not be disappointed by the end of this stage of the campaign. Saying anymore than that would be giving away too much.
Desire to Play: 10 out of 10
For starters, if you plan of playing the Flames of Freedom campaign starting in Boston Besieged, moving to The Philadelphia Affair is almost a given. However, you can easily start the campaign here, skipping Boston, or even use this as a launching point for your own campaign. In other words, it is written to be tied in with Flames of Freedom while being flexible enough to be usable as-is outside of the campaign. But with an ending like it has, why would you want to stop there?
Overall: 10 out of 10
Not only do I like the direction of the Flames of Freedom campaign, I think it really, truly represents the design of Colonial Gothic with all manner of historical fantasy horror. If you enjoy the game and want to run a campaign (or even just an interesting adventure), then The Philadelphia Affair is a definite must. My only complaint (and it’s not one that warrants a reduction in rating), is that the release schedule is too far between books. But please keep in mind that a high-quality gazetteer for a colonial city takes a lot of time and shouldn’t be rushed.
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