Tag: mtglorwyn

How To Play: Kithkin of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

This article is a part of a How-To series aimed at both players and DMs (or whatever equivalent works for you). You will find role-playing, worldbuilding, and storytelling tips for you to make the most of the kind of game you’d like to play.

If you’re only here to see whether there are game mechanics you can use directly, I’ll save you the time and send you right to the mechanics section.

Last time I presented a quickstart general guide to the setting with its various special features. This article will concentrate on one of the tribes of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, the kithkin. These stocky humanoids are either the plane’s most hospitable all-around good guys, or its furtive distrusting weird little hairless ewoks. It all depends on which aspect of the plane we’re talking about, and to some extent the time period.

Endure card art by Ralph Horsley depicting a bunch of tough-as-nails Shadowmoor kithkin. All rights reserved to Wizards of the Coast and/or other respective owners.

Before we get started I strongly suggest you do some reading both from official sources and this site. The summaries for each aspect of the kithkin – Lorwyn, Shadowmoor, and Eclipsed (the present-day state of the plane, after the fusing of its aspects) – are a good way to start. You can find a list of resources at the end of this article. To keep yourself informed of any further articles please subscribe using the form below:

Contents

  1. Period
  2. Game length
  3. Party setup
  4. Genre and Themes
  5. Mechanics

1. Period

Let’s get this figured out first. When will your game take place? The period will determine a lot, both on the general level and regarding each tribe. We can divide the known history of the plane into the following periods:

  1. Pre-Maralen
  2. Old blocks
    1. Lorwyn block
    2. Shadowmoor block
  3. Post-Oona
    1. pre-Invasion
    2. Phyrexian invasion
    3. post-Invasion (=Eclipsed set)

The time before the Lorwyn block is to a large extent carte blanche. You should adhere to the general principles and laws of the plane, but otherwise you can put a lot of your own stuff into the game. Just don’t mess too much with the balance of the plane (and Oona). Great Auroras happen every 300 years and at any given time only one aspect, Lorwyn or Shadowmoor, is present.

If you choose to play during either of the original blocks, you should take the story into account, but you should be okay running a parallel storyline. Which block you choose makes all the difference, as Lorwyn and Shadowmoor are exact opposites. Characters, kithkin included, will differ dramatically between aspects. Some options will simply not make sense, or be available at all. A game in Oona’s time is actually more true to the original idea of a dual plane with only one aspect active. Is this a plus? That depends. All of the periods have their pros and cons.

Post-Oona the plane goes through some tough stuff, with the Phyrexian invasion of course the worst of it all. The Invasion changed the plane most dramatically, and for the kithkin it means there’s a third subspecies available, the nomads. Also things can get complicated when there are both aspects present at once. Lorwyn kithkin can interact with Shadowmoor kithkin (the latter not very willingly), and players should be ready to have their characters flip into the other aspect, should they go into the wrong part of the plane.

2. Game length

Do you want to run a one-shot, a single adventure, or a sprawling campaign over months of game time and years of real time? Kithkin are a good choice for all of those, because they are easily understood and relatable. Sure, they have thoughtweft and all, but they are still the most humanlike.

With kithkin you should be aware of one thing, and that’s their communality. Kithkin will have lots of relatives, acquaintances, friends, and kinsmen. For a one-shot you probably won’t have to think too much about it. In a longer campaign this might require work both on the player’s and dungeon master’s side. If you want to do it by the book. Which I assume you do, because you’re reading this guide.

3. Party setup

You have a lot of options regarding your party composition, when it comes to kithkin. It of course depends on the era and the aspect you have available, or are aiming to focus on. Your choices include:

  1. All kithkin – the default for Shadowmoor, viable in other eras/aspects, but you’re missing out on the diversity of the plane’s species
  2. Mixed natives with Lorwyn kithkin (or nomads) – the most traditional party setup
  3. Mixed natives and outsiders – possible for later eras, when travel to the plane from other planes gets easier

These three main options leave a lot of space to manoeuvre in. The only restrictive option is a Shadowmoor all-kithkin party, where you probably wouldn’t be able to pull off any deviations. Maybe having a gwyllion join could work, but it’s not easy with the little xenophobes.

A Lorwyn aspected party should be easier to play with, regardless of the party composition. It might get more complicated if you include outsiders (characters from other planes), but that really depends on what you bring.

Whatever the rest of the party consists of, as long as you have at least two kithkin, keep in mind they have the thoughtweft. The original supplement doesn’t provide any guidelines how to handle this, so you have to either improvise, or take some inspiration in my thoughtweft solution a few paragraphs below.

4. Genre and Themes

What genres go well with kithkin?

Kithkin, especially in their Lorwyn aspect, fit nicely into most genres. You can have your classic heroic fantasy, but also stuff like crime and mystery, or even some war epic. If you set your game in the time of the Phyrexian invasion, you’ve got yourself a solid base for a horror game.

Shadowmoor kithkin are special in their paranoia, and so lend themselves especially well to horror games. Imagine a game where something haunts the doun, or stalks your all-kithkin party through the forest. You can play it nicely with the horror in question being a bunch of mischievous fairies, or a particularly playful elemental incarnation.

What themes to include?

As for themes to explore with kithkin, there are few as pronounced as community and belonging. The kithkin are very communal, and they take it to eleven in Shadowmoor. So to portray them right you should have this in mind all the time. The kithkin know each other, and probably have ties of varying warmth with everyone in their clachan or doun. A strong motivation for a kithkin character should be the well-being of their friends, and in better periods this might include members of other species.

Figure of Fable card art by Omar Rayyan depicting a kithkin farmer, and kithkin heroes from both Lorwyn and Shadowmoor. All rights reserved to Wizards of the Coast and/or other respective owners.

Shadowmoor kithkin have to be special again, because they have one additional theme to include, and that is fear. Fear of outsiders, in particular. They view the world in a very insular way, and this makes them very specific in a setting where everyone else interacts. They are very focused on their doun, but there’s not warmth inside their communities. There never is, when the members are gripped with fear and paranoia all the time. Doun above all, but the bonds are harsh and cold.

Regardless of the aspect of your kithkin, there are strong bucolic and rural motifs interwoven into all kithkin. The clachans/douns are canonically the size of really small villages, and the kithkin spend much of their time tending crops and caring for animals. Sure, that’s true for a lot of pre-industrial societies, but in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor kithkin are *the* rustic guys.

Last but not least, we have the kithkin nomads. I have only touched them lightly so far, but they are are not to be omitted. You will encounter nomads only in post-invasion era, i.e. if you’d like to bring Eclipsed to the table. As we know, the nomads are kithkin that severed their connection to the thoughtweft. This must come with a great sense of loss, even if it was to escape the horrors of the invasion. You could and should make use of this in your game, because the nomads aren’t to be simply “clanless” kithkin. They’re the ones who chose to lose their sense of belonging and identity to escape the shared pain.

6. Mechanics

We finally get to the part that you might’ve been waiting for the whole time. How to use kithkin in your D&D game. Sadly the official supplement doesn’t provide much. Or let’s rather say that the solution provided is really bland. But I won’t be reinventing the wheel, so we take the base halfling species and spice it up with some Lorwyn. Or Shadowmoor.

Surge of Thoughtweft card art by Randy Gallegos depicting a group of charging Lorwyn kithkin. All rights reserved to Wizards of the Coast and/or other respective owners.

Lorwyn kithkin

For a Lorwyn kithkin create a small-sized character with ability score increases Dexterity +2 and Charisma +1, basic speed 25 feet. Make them Brave and Nimble, same as a vanilla halfling. Ditch the rest of the traits, because we’re getting thoughtweft.

Thoughtweft lets you feel intense emotions of any kithkin within a mile. You don’t know the location of the kithkin you feel, but you know whether it’s someone close to you (and who). Like a parent, child, sibling.

You can send and receive short sentence (three to four word) messages to and from kithkin within 30 feet of yourself. It is as if speaking out loud, so you can’t send and speak at the same time.

You also gain the Kithkin Ambidexterity trait. As long as there’s another kithkin within a mile of yourself, you get the Dual Wielder feat.

Keep Out card art by Ron Spencer depicting a group of determined Shadowmoor kithkin guarding their doun. All rights reserved to Wizards of the Coast and/or other respective owners.

Shadowmoor kithkin

To create a Shadowmoor kithkin, you will make a small-sized character with ability score increases Dexterity +2 and Wisdom +1, basic speed of 25 feet. You still get the Nimble trait, but you won’t get the Brave trait. Instead you receive 60 feet Darkvision, and mindweft.

Mindweft works as thoughtweft on steroids. You still sense intense emotions of other kithkin in a one mile radius. You can send and receive messages to and from any kithkin within 30 feet, and for members of your doun the range is 100 feet.

You can also use the Help action to aid any kithkin within range (30/100 feet) for a number of times equalling your proficiency bonus each day. In combat this could mean sending information about the enemy from a different perspective, revealing their weak spots. Outside combat you’re like a phone-a-friend.

Shadowmoor kithkin also receive the Kithkin Ambidexterity trait, giving them the Dual Wielder feat whenever they’re within a mile of another kithkin.

Protective Response card art by Gustavo Pelissari depicting a group of kithkin nomads. All rights reserved to Wizards of the Coast and/or other respective owners.

Kithkin nomads

Nomads are also small-sized creatures, and for ability score increase get to choose between Charisma and Wisdom for the +1 bonus. They get the Dexterity +2 as well, and their speed is 25 feet. The rest of the traits depends on the aspect they find themselves in. In Lorwyn they get Brave and Nimble, while in Shadowmoor they retain Nimble and get Darkvision 60 feet.

The nomads severed themselves from the connection with other kithkin. Therefore they have neither Thoughtweft nor Mindweft, and they also lose the Kithkin Ambidexterity trait.

What they get instead is the Closed Off trait, which gives them resistance to psychic damage, and advantage on saving throws against being charmed.

Kithkin nomads, being On the Move most of the time, also receive proficiency in survival.

Aspect Changes

As you all probably know by now, there are two aspects to the plane Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. For most of the plane’s history one has been dominant, but after Oona’s defeat, the aspects can shift and their affected regions migrate.

If you decide to play in such a period and happen to cross into the opposite aspect, native characters change, unless they have the necessary relics to stay in their own aspects. The characters remember nothing of their time in the other aspect, and their personalities change as well. You should have this in mind and prepare at least a rough outline of what would your character be like in the opposite aspect.

Mechanically I would handle it like this: your character retains all of their ability scores, proficiencies, class features, etc. What changes are the character traits. So a Lorwyn kithkin undergoing Eventide would lose the Brave trait, gain Darkvision, and replace Thoughtweft with Mindweft. And vice versa.

Conclusion

There you have it, my guide to playing the kithkin of the dual plane Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. I’ve touched both the fluff and the mechanics, and I believe the guide would help you create a fun and lore-friendly character. If you have any questions you’re welcome to write them in the comments section. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you should consider subscribing, because this is not the last of my Lorwyn-Shadowmoor How To Play articles.

The card illustrations were obtained on Scryfall and all rights to them are reserved to Wizards of the Coast and/or other respective owners.

The author is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or any other party mentioned in the text.

How To Play: D&D Lorwyn-Shadowmoor

Estimated reading time: 15 minutes

This article is a part of a How-To series aimed at both players and DMs (or whatever equivalent works for you). You will find role-playing, worldbuilding, and storytelling tips for you to make the most of the kind of game you’d like to play.

We’ll start with my favourite MtG plane Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. There’s an official D&D supplement called Lorwyn: First Light that came out November 2025. You should therefore be able to use it as a setting for your game of D&D. This guide will obviously be mostly aimed at those playing D&D, but the ruleset will not be rigidly enforced. You should be able to easily adapt the advice written herein to other systems.

Lorwyn-Shadowmoor

Since you want to use this setting, you probably have an idea what’s it about. I won’t be going into long-winded general descriptions here, as I already wrote those elsewhere. In case you’re not familiar with Lorwyn-Shadowmoor and need this before a game you’re about to join, follow the links below. All the links will be also at the end of the article.

Whether you knew what you’re here for or only got a quick idea from the links above, here’s a short outline of what awaits you in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. The plane, part of the MtG multiverse, is a fairy-tale realm heavy on duality. Depending on the period you’re going to set your game in this duality might be more or less pronounced. Superstition, forces of nature, and various virtues also play a large role on what makes the plane unique. Let’s break up the different options you have when preparing a game set in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. But first,

What do you need to play?

Other than the basic stuff needed to play your game system of choice, do you need additional materials? That depends on your playstyle and your ability to improvise.

Since we’re talking MtG, you potentially have loads of cards to use as physical props. If you have a collection, you’re set. If you don’t, you can get most of the cards for a few cents online. You probably won’t be buying Painter’s Servant or Bitterblossom just to use it as a D&D prop, but don’t let anyone stop you if you feel the need.

A random selection of cards from the Lorwyn set. You could build an adventure just by elaborating on this sample.

You can also use the cards to get ideas for your game. Actually it would be wise to at least do a quick flyby of the sets, if you’re not familiar with them. Use Scryfall to look up the cards. Filter out what you seek, for example a monster to put into your game. More advanced DMs can use it to make something in the same vein instead of using the stuff as is, but that’s up to your preference. Many will want to use the exact assets for their games and that’s fine.

Do you need Lorwyn: First Light, the official D&D supplement? That’s a tricky question. If you want to get hold of every possible resource, by all means buy First Light. You might want to check my Lorwyn: First Light review first, so you know what you’re paying for. Have a look and decide for yourself.

A truly valuable resource would be the Planeswalker’s Guide to Lorwyn Eclipsed available for free on the MtG website. While dealing mainly with the most recent events concerning the Lorwyn-Shadowmoor plane, there’s a lot of information, and I would require my players to read through that at the very least.

What else? There’s an unofficial supplement out there, modeled after the semi-official Planeshift resources. You might want to check it out as well. You could definitely read the original tie-in novels, though they are hard to come by. The Lorwyn Eclipsed tie-in stories are much easier to find, and players new to the plane should at least read those.

Choosing an Era

When you think about Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, one of two periods probably comes to your mind immediately. Unless you’re really involved in the lore, it’s either one of the old blocks, or the recent Eclipsed era. If you want to go the “official” route, using Lorwyn: First Light, the choice is made for you. You’re at the end of the timeline, synced with the MtG multiverse (and the various D&D multiverses, I guess). There are other options however, so let’s have a look at all of them.

Pre-Lorwyn Block

This is the period from the conception of the plane until the events described by the Lorwyn and Morningtide MtG sets (the Lorwyn block). At some point, maybe even at the very beginning, the fairy queen Oona started meddling with things and the cycle of Great Auroras began. A lot of characters known from the blocks might not be present, while some probably could. Events described in the flavour texts often happened in this era.

Playing before the Lorwyn block essentially provides you with an almost blank slate for a Lorwyn or Shadowmoor experience. There might have been stories and dramas forgotten to time, that you and your friends could write together. As long as you manage to keep the status quo of Oona’s rule, you shouldn’t have any difficulties. And even then, you could rewrite the story and let it go a different route.

The Old Blocks

Not that different from the previous era, save for the fact that the status quo gets broken, and Shadowmoor lasts a lot shorter than usual. Due to being the focus of the blocks, this era offers the most in terms of existing content. It’s almost 900 cards, not counting the various special editions (that might or might not be considered canon for the plane). There’s plenty of notable characters, a storyline, and therefore a frame upon which you can weave your game.

This comes with pros and cons. It’s great that you can keep up with a story that’s already been written. You can build your own story using the existing one as a scaffolding. It should feel familiar to those who are not entirely new to Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, and perhaps lead to better immersion. On the other hand, your players might be too familiar with the plane, up to a point where it becomes hard to prepare something they won’t see as derivative.

Post-Oona/Pre-Invasion

This was the period that used to be “the present” since Lorwyn-Shadowmoor was forgotten, until the time of the Phyrexian Invasion of the Multiverse. It’s the aftermath of the struggle against the rule of Queen Oona. The Great Auroras effectively stopped, and the plane regained a more or less normal day-night cycle. Lorwyn became the dominant aspect, while pockets of Shadowmoor remained. The transitional period was rough, with towns divided in half between Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, etc., but eventually things stabilized. The aspects still shift, but the changes are local rather than planewide. Eirdu and Isilu, the twin elemental deities from Lorwyn Eclipsed, appeared sometime in this period. Cults revering either of them sprang across the plane. The power balance of Lorwyn got scrambled. Smaller players get to try and carve their portions of the pie. Unfortunately that means Lorwyn elves get to terrorize everyone else.

As with the pre-Lorwyn era, anything that is not covered in detail by any work gives you creative freedom. You know where and when you start, and you know the general direction. Eventually the Phyrexians come, and that’s another interesting era to play in. But unless you want to get there as soon as possible, you have a nice couple of years (about forty, actually) for your campaigns, even if you start right after Oona’s downfall.

The Phyrexian Invasion

One of the most significant events in the MtG Multiverse, the New Phyrexian Invasion didn’t spare Lorwyn-Shadowmoor either. The general mood of this period in the plane’s history will be radically different from what we usually expect from the fairy tale plane. From the view of someone preparing a campaign it is certainly an interesting option. End times are always interesting, and the Phyrexian Invasion surely must have felt like end times all over the planes.

The Phyrexian modus operandi usually consisted of recon and infiltration first, followed by full-scale invasion bolstered by activated sleeper agents from the first phase. The time when Phyrexian spies and emissaries creep into Lorwyn, slowly gaining power, while a select few Lorwyn natives do what they can to prevent them gaining ground seems like a perfect setting for a campaign. It could have covert missions, diplomacy, open clashes with either Phyrexians themselves, or their newly found lackeys.

The Invasion would of course commence when ready, and that’s when what the players managed to do would matter. Every alliance forged, sleeper cell eliminated, artefact obtained, and resource secured, would count towards the successful defense of the plane against the Phyrexian forces. Now would be the time for glorious battles, desperate retreats, and showing off the powers amassed by the PCs. Ideal for a combat-oriented group, but even this period could take a different direction. Also, the early stages could work for a horror campaign, the mostly idyllic backdrop of Lorwyn providing great contrast to the abominations of New Phyrexia.

Post-Invasion

In short the time of Lorwyn Eclipsed (and First Light). The threat of New Phyrexia has been neutralized, although at great costs, and the Multiverse is rebuilding. All the while the planes are dealing with new threats, most of which evade Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. The Multiverse is now riddled with Omenpaths, providing means of interplanar travel for a much wider audience than before. Now anyone can enter one of these portals and get to a different plane. Including Lorwyn.

This period is ideal if your game is to be about outsiders visiting the plane. I didn’t mention it explicitly, but the previous eras work better for natives. With the Omenpaths open however, you can grab your party from Neverwinter and have them stranded on Lorwyn. That was the idea of Lorwyn: First Light, at least in the marketing pitch.

Party Composition

Touched already in previous paragraphs, there is the matter of party composition. The types of characters influence the game every time, but there are a few specifics to Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. Let’s break them down.

Lorwyn-Shadowmoor Natives

The option that might compel MtG veterans the most is an all-native party. Every member was born and raised on the plane, and therefore has extensive knowledge of its workings, at least compared to outsiders. It means that both the DM and the players need to know a lot about Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. That can be daunting for some, but ideally it provides the best immersion. It also saves everyone the trouble of actually making the plane fit together with any established setting. Beware though, that a native party is fully susceptible to aspect changes.

Outsider Visitors

The opposite of this is an all-outsider party. These characters have somehow gotten to the plane, and everything is new and alien to them. Good for introducing players not that invested in MtG lore, you have a lot to offer in this regard. On the other hand, it might be harder to weave complex campaigns with a party that doesn’t have ties to the world. Aspect changes don’t have that much of an effect, at least not on the player characters.

Mixed Origin Party

The middle ground if you want to play the setting, but there’s the one player that insists on playing a dragonborn in every game. Or if you have an established party in a different setting and want to port them to Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. Perhaps one member dies and you offer the player to make a local character as a replacement.

You see the potential, but there are a few caveats. First, if the party leans heavily to either natives or outsiders, the minority might stand out. If one out of five characters is a Lorwyn elf or boggart, there’s the risk of the game focusing too much on this exotic member who’s at home ground. Alternatively the minority might feel overwhelmed by the majority. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do mixed parties, but best keep this in mind.

Situations such as these can of course happen in other settings, for example when there’s a dwarf in an all-human party. Lorwyn-Shadowmoor has one specific, however, unless you set the era to be in the middle of one of the old blocks. And that’s the aspect change.

Aspect of the Plane

When your game is set during the rule of Queen Oona, you don’t have to worry about this much. Unless it comes to either one of the Great Auroras, or Oona’s demise. Both are prime material for a TTRPG campaign and I wouldn’t leave them out unless I wanted only a single short adventure.

In the post-Oona period, when the plane behaves slightly more normally, the standard state is Lorwyn, with pockets of Shadowmoor remaining. The areas change over time, usually not dramatically, but they do anyway. Even more when Eirdu and Isilu, the two cosmic deities are active. An event that might (and probably should) happen in your game is crossing from one aspect to another.

Denizens of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor undergo transformation into their other aspect when crossing between areas of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor. The official supplement offers means to resist this transformation in form of magical talismans, but let’s say these are not so easily obtained. Crossing between aspects of the plane should have this “added value”. This is a thing to consider when planning party composition, because native party members would suddenly change. How big of a deal that is depends on the exact composition. Some combinations might not work at all, so give it some thought beforehand.

Dual Characters

The changing aspects of the plane and its inhabitants mean you should have two different characters ready. One might be your “main” character, but in the event you cross into the other aspect, you should have another personality and possibly a set of stats prepared. I believe for most players this will be something to look forward to, otherwise why play a native, right?

Regardless of party composition the change of aspect would be an interesting twist. Especially when the “new” characters actually have different goals and values now, but you’re in the middle of a quest. There’s lots of space for acting, diplomacy, and fun. Maybe the adventure gets derailed completely due to half of the party changing their minds. Maybe it is the only way the adventure *can* be completed. There are all kinds of possibilities that aren’t present in a game where your bubbly heart of the party can become a paranoid sadist by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Concluding Remarks

Lorwyn-Shadowmoor is a great setting with lots of potential. Its peculiarities make you play differently than you would otherwise. Everything is heavily aspected by both the duality of the plane, and the five-sided cosmology of the multiverse it belongs to. This perhaps makes the setting better suited to longer campaigns, rather than one-shots, unless you play outsiders. Playing natives requires more preparation from both the DM and the players, but the extra effort will be paid off by the uniqueness of the dual characters and environments.

My ideal campaign would start in the Lorwyn block, continue through the Shadowmoor block, then the post-Oona power rearrangement, maybe with some fast forwards. Slowly building up for the Phyrexian Invasion, with a grand finale during the invasion, with a heroic sacrifice against the Etched Host. Then if maybe some characters survived, make them legendary NPCs for the next game, set in the Eclipsed period, with a new party.

With that I will end this first part of several on how to play a TTRPG in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. If you read all the way down here, you hopefully spent a good quarter of an hour with my thoughts. Best you could do is subscribe so you don’t miss out on what comes next!
Also please share your thoughts in the comments. Have you played a game set in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor? Are you planning to? Is there something you would like to see in a guide like this? Let me know and see you next time!

Links

The cards used as illustrations were obtained on Scryfall and all rights to them are reserved to Wizards of the Coast and/or other respective owners.

The author is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast or any other party mentioned in the text.

Lorwyn: First Light review

A review of the new Lorwyn: First Light D&D supplement based on the Magic: the Gathering blocks Lorwyn, Shadowmoor, and the upcoming set Lorwyn Eclipsed.

Estimated reading time: 20 minutes

The long awaited D&D supplement is finally out as of November 18. Since its latest announcement in September I’ve been a bit skeptical, so I waited a day before buying it. But being the Lorwyn fanboy I am, I couldn’t really let is pass.

Since the first announcement during MagicCon: Chicago in February I’ve been working on a series of articles about Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. Mostly they’ve been filled with my predictions and thoughts about how will certain things get handled by the creators.

We will be getting a supplement with lots of lore, stats for various monsters, place descriptions, etc. done by professionals with access to the original notes (hopefully). In the meantime I can offer my take on the already published stuff, and speculations about what will be in the sourcebook. – quote from my first article on D&D Lorwyn

I managed to finish a huge bundle of four (!) articles to this day, with the Shadowmoor Merrows still in the WIP phase. Blame my job, which is completely unrelated, and the oppressive need to provide sustenance and shelter for my family.

With Lorwyn: First Light finished I can compare my speculations with the finished product. This will be a complex review of both form and contents. I’ll take a good look at what First Light provides and what it doesn’t. Can you play a campaign in Lorwyn using the new supplement? How much work is left for the DM after reading it? Let’s get to it!

Form and Format

Lorwyn: First Light is a digital-only release available on the D&D Beyond Marketplace. When bought, you’re not given a download link for a PDF, but instead you can browse the contents on the site. This is probably normal for D&D Beyond, and it shows that I don’t have experience with the site. I have my rulebooks in hardback, and all the 3rd-party stuff as PDFs.

The supplement is divided into four chapters and an introduction. The introduction gives a short, well, introduction to the plane. It provides the basics of geography, cosmology, and history. Chapter 1 lists the character options, while in the second chapter we return to the geography of the plane. Following is the third chapter, the Bestiary, and the last one is called Lorwyn Adventures. We’ll get to each of them in a while.

An advantage of the D&D Beyond treatment is that there are keywords that either link to a relevant source (also on Beyond), or show a pop-up card with a spell description for example. I’m inventing the wheel here, but since I don’t use Beyond, this is our first encounter. It goes without saying that you need access to the linked source on D&D Beyond first, otherwise you’re redirected towards the Marketplace.

Introduction

The introduction gives a short summary of the Lorwyn-Shadowmoor plane, and it does its job quite well, actually. I can imagine someone unfamiliar with the setting getting a nice overview that can be expanded upon in later chapters. It mostly isn’t, but we’ll get to the other chapters later. The basic cosmology of the dual plane is explained, and there’s also a very brief history.

We learn where we are in the timeline, and that the supplement deals with one period only. We’re dealing with a post-Oona, post-Phyrexian period, with no guidelines how to play in different eras. Which makes sense, as it’s intended to be a companion to the upcoming Lorwyn Eclipsed MtG set.

The introduction also states one should receive what’s needed for playing D&D in Lorwyn. That’s quite a statement, it makes one expect a complex guide to the denizens and locales of the plane with all the rules necessary. I should be able to make a character using only this supplement. And get a good enough picture of the plane to run an adventure or campaign, right? We’ll see how it goes in the next chapters.

As a side note, there’s one thing that struck me as intriguing. It is the emphasis on light conditions in the plane and its aspects, Lorwyn and Shadowmoor. This is probably due to the workings of D&D Beyond and its tooltips, but it makes the light conditions really stand out in the text. It’s good to know how much light there is in the environment, but it’s not something I needed from an official supplement. Such things are well within the capabilities of most DMs. Plane specific lore and mechanics are what we expect.

We’re given some of those in the introduction, to be fair. There are short descriptions of the two elemental gods, Eirdu and Isilu. Not much is said about them, but we’re given stats. Sadly in the worst possible way, so we’re to use dragon stats for both of them. And while the Eirdu proxy seems passable, the one supposed to stand for Isilu feels wrong. I’m not going into more detail, as this is a paid product we’re talking about. It just looks as if the team worked on this in the last minutes before deadline and just picked something based on colours.

And another side note, the Marketplace pitch for Lorwyn: First Light mentions “2 new unique magic items”. They are both right there in the introduction, but probably aren’t what you imagine when you see “unique magic item”.

Character options

The first regular chapter is dedicated to character options such as backgrounds, feats, and playable species. According to the Marketplace we should be given 2 backgrounds, 2 feats, 2 new species, and guidelines for playing (sic!) 8 other species. Eight species, that sounds like we’re getting almost all Lorwyn-Shadowmoor tribes, right? One didn’t make it, maybe one of those you couldn’t really play as a PC, like giants or merrow.

backgrounds and Feats

For some reason this chapter starts with backgrounds. We are given two of them, one for Lorwyn, one for Shadowmoor. While the idea is not terrible, they’re extremely bland and generic. They say nothing about your character beyond “you’re at home in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor”. There are so many backgrounds one could fit in here just by looking at some cards.

The feats are not much better. It’s not that they are bad in themselves, it’s just the way they’re presented. Both come with the new backgrounds. We could assume that every Lorwyn-Shadowmoor native has one or the other background (an incredibly boring idea), and therefore one or the other feat. So every Lorwyn denizen could cast Faerie Fire and every being from Shadowmoor can cast Hex. It would be better if those feats were exclusive to the elemental gods’ chosen or something along those lines. And if there were additional backgrounds and feats to choose from.

Species adaptations

What we’re actually given are short descriptions of boggarts, elves, faeries, flamekin, and kithkin. Each tribe is treated differently, some have instructions on how to play them, some only a few terse sentences. Boggarts and elves get the most attention, though their entries are still rather brief. But out of the five (not eight, as advertised) species three actually require you to buy another supplement, because you’re sent to Mordekainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse for the stats. It’s okay for an expansion to require the core rules, i.e. Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, or Monster Manual. It’s not okay to take my money and then tell me to pay more so I can get what I paid for in the first place.

Elves are actually the only adapted species that is different in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor from other settings. I don’t count slapping Darkvision on everything as making it different. There are two lineages, the Lorwyn Elf and the Shadowmoor Elf, that you can choose from. Why the other tribes didn’t get at least this much is beyond me.

To play a kithkin you just create a plain old halfling from the Player’s Handbook. Add Darkvision, if you want a Shadowmoor kithkin. Thoughtweft is mentioned, but never by name (why?), and it has absolutely no in-game effect. There’s even mention of the nomadic kithkin who severed their connection to the thoughtweft after the Phyrexian invasion. You have potentially three subspecies waiting just to be named and described in the laconic manner of First Light. More if you take clachan/doun differences into account. Why was this possible with the elves but not with the kithkin?

Faeries and flamekin are mostly just glorified hyperlinks to Monsters of the Multiverse. Their descriptions are short, both almost exactly a whopping one hundred words. You have no reason to stop there, because you won’t learn much about them.

As I said before, three species are missing. The merrow are found in the third chapter, as unplayable monsters. That was expected, I predicted it in my merrow article, the merrows would be hard to use in a normal campaign. Treefolk and giants are also creatures that would have difficulties fitting in a party, so it’s understandable they are only to be found in the Bestiary. But somehow we were offered 8 playable species adaptations plus 2 new ones. And we received only 5 adaptations.

New Species

The two new species are Changelings and Rimekin. Changelings are a staple of the old Lorwyn block, and while I never took them for something playable, why not? As with everything in First Light the description is terse, but you get the stats and basic idea.

Rimekin are a newcomer from Lorwyn Eclipsed, and it makes sense to see them among the new options. Though they are very much but a recolor of the flamekin, they nevertheless seem playable. One wonders why there’s no option for a cinder. They are mentioned next to the flamekin adaptation, but neither there nor in the new species we are given something to work with should one want to play a cinder.

Geography

The second chapter is called the Lorwyn-Shadowmoor Gazetteer, and provides the descriptions of some of the Lorwyn and Shadowmoor locales. It is one of the better chapters, because it actually delivers what it’s meant to, despite the ever-present brevity.

The settlements each have an overall description with a few prominent characters. There are some issues of scale. We are given rough inhabitant counts for each, but the descriptions evoke much larger settlements. Each location entry also offers three reasons to visit. These serve as adventure hooks mostly, which vary in their quality. Some are good on their own, and I can imagine a nice adventure coming out of them. Some are just curiosities you can add to a real adventure to spice things up a bit.

There are some contradictions between the Gazetteer and older lore, even the Planeswalker’s Guide. These are not critical, but it makes one wonder, what should be canon? Since we’re dealing with a MtG setting, I believe their lore has precedence.

In the Mudbutton Warren entry there’s Auntie Gobgot. And it’s a he. The aunties have always been, well, aunties, i.e. females. They’re supposed to be matrons of the boggarts, old crones smart and mean enough they didn’t randomly die to some example of boggart carelessness. The Planeswalker’s Guide explicitly states the aunties are matrons. Why would anyone need a male auntie is a mystery to me. That’s not even gender equality, that’s uncalled-for disregard.

All in all there are 5 major and 10 minor locations for Lorwyn. Shadowmoor has 4 major ones and 7 minor locales. The “minor” locations get only a few sentences, though we could argue whether they are minor to the setting. The likes of Glen Elendra, Velis Vel, Dark Meanders, or Wanderwine River could play rather important roles in a campaign. It’s not like Lorwyn-Shadowmoor is a huge setting such as the Forgotten Realms. There are exactly 6 known clachans/douns, why not describe all of them? It could take maybe another thousand words to describe all the known locations from the Lorwyn and Shadowmoor blocks. Possibly even less.

Bestiary

In this chapter we should find the various denizens of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor, that don’t belong to one of the playable tribes. Right from the start we are given a short description of faeries, and how we should just use stat blocks from Monster Manual. As in the previous chapter, I have nothing to add, faeries are simply not welcome in this supplement. They’re not my favourite either, but I would expect more space dedicated to one of the pivotal species in the setting. Other than that we are given guidelines on how to adapt scarecrows and treefolk, and the advertised 8 new monsters.

Scarecrows

In my article about Shadowmoor Kithkin I praised the block for the huge amount of scarecrows, and their variety. There were “classic” stick scarecrows, but also several flying types, scarecrows made of body parts (skulkin), and even a giant scarecrow spider. There was ample potential in the 23 scarecrow cards from Shadowmoor and Eventide.

By now you have probably realized that Lorwyn: First Light isn’t too generous with what it offers. How much effort was dedicated to this unique Shadowmoor feature? About 90 words of description, 13 of which make up the sentence telling us to use the scarecrow stat block from Monster Manual. There the description of a scarecrow is twice as long, not counting the stat block itself.

Treefolk

Treefolk suffer the same mistreatment as scarecrows. There are 32 treefolk cards in the Lorwyn and Shadowmoor blocks of yore. First Light managed to give us a condensed description of two sentences per aspect. A total of 156 words, again counting the advice to use a stat block from Monster Manual. This paragraph is more than a third of what we get in the supplement lengthwise.

With treefolk some variety is recognized even in Lorwyn: First Light. To spice things up you get to roll a dice (d4!) and obtain a very short description of the individual. The types are the same as in the Planeswalker’s Guide, but the descriptions even shorter. Perhaps making a table with stat changes depending on the type of tree and aspect of the plane would be more useful?

New monsters

The Marketplace promises 8 new monsters “drawn from Celtic-inspired myth”. The “Celtic-inspired myth” thing is quite unnecessary at this point, but whatever, it’s marketing stuff. They promise giants, faeries, and incarnations of nature. First Light mostly delivers on this promise, as we indeed receive 8 monsters. This time with their own stat blocks, so no more redirection!

We get two giants, one for each aspect. Once again the descriptions look as if the creators had to pay a hundred dollars for every letter. And the 34 giants in the MtG blocks got condensed into two. But no one said we’ll be getting more of them. Both giants are usable and fit into their aspects.

The supplement also provides us with elemental incarnations in the grand total of two. Again, we weren’t supposed to get more, so it’s fair. Here I have to praise Lorwyn: First Light, as the design of the two incarnations is good. Though I suspect the art came first and creatures intended for cards were just given stat blocks. That is fine, even expected. And I understand WotC couldn’t have spoiled too many of the new cards. But still, the Lorwyn and Shadowmoor blocks have 55 greater elementals or elemental incarnations. It’s a bit unsatisfying to get only two. They are something unique to the plane, with wonderfully weird designs. That’s something you could emphasize, not sideline.

Merrows almost get the faerie treatment (we are told to use the Monster Manual stat block), but then we’re given two unique stat blocks. That’s something, though once again I have to question the decisions made. The Lorwyn merrow is given a scepter and a longbow, while the Shadowmoor one doesn’t use weapons. It’s fine to be creative, but why not give them a blade, spear, or staff? The weapons we see merrows most often with? And a blowgun or spinebow instead of a longbow? Spinebows could easily be a new item unique to the supplement. Missed opportunities.

Finally we get two noggles! These charming creatures native to Shadowmoor are depicted on only four cards, and we get two in the adaptation! That’s much more like what I expected. I can’t say anything against these, by now I’m even used to the tight-lipped descriptions. And since we’re not losing unnecessary bandwidth on descriptions, what prevented the creative team from doing the same with bogles, ouphes, duergars, hags, imps, and trolls? You know, the actual creatures “drawn from Celtic-inspired myth”. All of those are mentioned in the Planeswalker’s Guide, so they weren’t forgotten. I hope we’ll see them in Lorwyn Eclipsed at least, along with kelpies, selkies, and pucas.

Adventures

With a bitter feeling I got to the last chapter of Lorwyn: First Light. We were supposed to get two ready-to-run adventures, according to the Beyond Marketplace. When I thought about it, even though the supplement itself is quite subpar, we’re probably paying for the two adventures. Fifteen bucks isn’t bad for two adventures and some fluff and stat blocks on top of that.

Well I don’t know what’s the standard for adventures these days, even one-session ones. But in First Light they amount to one location and two short “adventures” taking place there. I think each of them gives you maybe 2 hours of play, and I’m both being generous and counting all the unrelated banter that’s impossible to keep out of a session.

The “adventures” itself are incredibly simple, essentially just short strings of several combat encounters. There are no decisions to be made, nothing to discover, no opportunities to test the players’ creativity. Just a few fights, that’s all. I could flesh both “adventures” into proper adventures, even stretch them over a few sessions and make them make sense. But I already paid for someone else to do it for me. The stuff presented as adventures in Lorwyn: First Light is akin to something you scribble in your notes a few hours before an unexpected session starts.

The adventures were also meant to fit into the setting of Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. You know, the fabled fairy tale realm full of “Celtic-inspired myth”. Why is there an “expo” in Lorwyn? Did the kithkin get that idea from a memo? Did they also plan a live-stream on Teams for those who couldn’t attend because of scheduling conflicts? And what’s with the “refurbishment company”? Will there be an Extreme Makeover: Clachan Edition? I’ve been doing my best (and often failing) not to sound too dismissive in this review, but this shows either total disregard for the setting, or serious ineptitude. You have the entire Lorwyn-Shadowmoor at your disposal, probably even unreleased lore for Lorwyn Eclipsed, and the best you can do is an expo and refurbishment company troubles?

Conclusion

To conclude I would like to crunch some numbers and do some comparisons. Let’s take a look at Plane Shift. I randomly chose Plane Shift: Zendikar. Released in 2016 it is a nice 38-page PDF of about 12 thousand words. Written by one person and available for free! There are also instances where the author suggests using Monster Manual stat blocks. But each time he provides a lot of Zendikar-specific lore.

The Planeswalker’s Guide to Lorwyn Eclipsed came out in September this year. It was written by a team of three, is full of lore and a little over 12 thousand words. Since it’s an article on the MtG website, it’s also free. There are no rules or stat blocks, of course, but it does what you expect it to do.

Lorwyn: First Light, the product for which you pay 15 dollars is a bit short of 14 thousand words. Made by a team of four designers, one rules developer, four editors, five producers, an art director, a graphic designer, and four consultants. That’s twenty not counting the artists. I suspect most if not all of the art is repurposed from the upcoming Lorwyn Eclipsed set. Not made for First Light exclusively. Save for the one map made by the great Mike Schley. Unfortunately it was used for “adventures” that certainly don’t do it justice.

Make of that what you will. I sincerely hope this was caused by executive meddling and not by laziness or incompetence. Lorwyn: First Light would be fine as a free teaser distributed before the full release of a normal setting book. The missing parts would presumably be remedied by the finished product. Or if it was just another Plane Shift download. Sure, it’s not exhaustive and it often leaves much unfinished, the Plane Shift books are often this way. But they’re all nice gestures from the publisher. This feels like a sloppy cash grab, a weak marketing move to promote the new MtG set among D&D players. There are some chapters that are better than others, namely the new monsters and the Gazetteer, but it’s not enough.

I have been harsh in this review, but I believe my points are clear and sound. If I seem to be nitpicking sometimes, it’s not self-serving. That’s just the thing with every sequel and remake, be it a movie, video game, or setting. There will be fans who have high expectations based on the source material. You can see in my articles that I’ve been hyped for the Lorwyn supplement from the beginning. When I had doubts, it was out of concern for a loved setting, not out of criticism. I am very much looking forward to Lorwyn Eclipsed, and I believe the money I will spend on the pieces of cardboard will bring me much more joy than Lorwyn: First Light. And more resources one could use to run a D&D game on the plane Lorwyn-Shadowmoor.

Finally a disclaimer, as it probably should be present in a review like this. The author is an independent person not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast, or any other figure in the industry. The reviewed product was bought with his own funds and he’s reviewing it in his spare time on his own. All art used in this article belongs to Wizards of the Coast and other respective owners, and was taken from D&D Beyond Marketplace or the Planeswalker’s Guide to Lorwyn Eclipsed.

Feel free to let me know in the comments what do you think about Lorwyn: First Light, or my review. Do you agree with my harsh views, or do you think I’m being too mean, and Lorwyn: First Light is well worth the money?