The Labyrinth Worldbook is Kobold Press's planar setting for Tales of the Valiant or any DnD 5e variant. This is my review of chapter 7: Running Labyrinth Campaigns. There's some very good stuff in this chapter, and not a bit of it belongs in the seventh chapter or in a chapter called Running Labyrinth Campaigns.
I'm convinced that this book (like Labyrinth Adventures) was written in an information silo. One person (the game developer) did the outline, handed it over to the writers, and then stepped into a different dimension, never to be heard from again. From the table of contents, the chapters and even most subheadings have a logical flow. But when you read the text within that framework, you can't help but get the feeling that the author maybe didn't have permission to adapt as the book evolved.
Case in point: We've just read 6 chapters of Labyrinth material, and it's not until chapter 7 that the different types of portals are defined. Obviously that information would have been really useful to have before reading 220 pages of content that throw those terms around.
It's also here that the difference between the term "world" and the term "plane" is explained. Basically, there is no difference, at least in the context of the Labyrinth. Surprise, the book has been using them interchangeably all along. It's great to understand that in retrospect, but it legitimately would have changed my comprehension of the setting to have known it before reading 220 pages of text about it.
That's it.
There are also portal seals for locking a portal, and portal keys for activating a portal.
This section provides a nice way for player characters to interact with the factions of the Labyrinth. When player characters does something that helps or hinders a faction's goal or ethos, their status with that faction increases or decreases.
There are roleplay ideas provided at each faction status level. I often prefer clearly defined benefits, but I do admit that roleplaying inspiration often leads to unexpected and fun results.
Very broadly, even without tracking status points, the system is pretty obvious and simple to use. When a player character has done a bunch of stuff that promotes a faction's agenda, the faction starts doing favours for the player character. Maybe they tell the player character about a secret portal location, or they provide henchmen to help out, or gift them a spell scroll or something. As player characters foil the plans of a faction, the faction becomes increasingly hostile toward them.
I like this system. It's easy to use, it's intuitive. It would have been great information to have back in the Factions of the Labyrinth chapter.
Even more exciting than the faction information is the vile plot twist of void effects. If you weren't already feeling that the Void is the true enemy of the Labyrinth, then this section makes it abundantly clear that the Void is the greatest and most ever-present threat of the setting. It wants to consume everything, and any brief encounter with its dark energies is enough to taint a player character.
You cannot even learn of the Void without losing a part of your soul. That's good stuff.
This is a little like the Sanity mechanic from Call of Cthulhu. When a player character is exposed to the Void, there's a DC for a Charisma saving throw against it. Upon failure, the player character gains 1 level of Void taint.
A player character can withstand up to CHA + proficiency bonus of Void taint before suffering a penalty. There are 2 categories of penalties: Indefinite Dread and Flesh Warp. A d10 table is provided for each category. Indefinite Dread provides roleplay opportunities, while Flesh Warp has both roleplay opportunities and mechanical ramifications.
This makes the Void way more dangerous, and I love this section. I'm very excited to use it, and can only hope that Labyrinth Adventures puts it to good use. In fact, it's silly for me to suggest it wouldn't. Labyrinth Adventures is the campaign companion to this worldbook. Obviously it'll make great use of this mechanic.
(Spoiler: It does not.)
There's some Void hazards at the end of the section, too. They're sort of traps or effects that you can spring on players when they least expect a Void encounter. They seem useful and fun, and I'll probably use a handful of them.
This is an essential chapter, although two-thirds of it should have been placed elsewhere in the book. Read this chapter first, and then go back to chapter 1.
Next up is the final chapter, [Monsters of the Labyrinth]((https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog_labyrinth-worldbook-tales-of-the-valiant-8), and it's a good one!