Minrothad Guilds disappoints

Review: Minrothad Guilds (Gaz. 9) by Deborah Christian and Kim Eastland.  Published in 1988.

Minrothad Guilds is another island nation.  The brief description in Module X1- describes Minrothad as a syndicate, closely aligned with The Empire of Thyatis. Gaz. 9 has some good information about the naval trade between nations.  The back of the fold-up map that comes with the Gazetteer shows the naval trade routes.  It also has an attempt at more naval rules and naval trade rules.  Whereas some supplements are guilty of being too vague, Minrothad makes detail decisions that I don’t like.  Although it never says so directly, Minrothad is run like a large business.  Think the stereotypical 1960s corporation that had many different branches.  So there are lots of restrictions and heavy government/guild domination of many aspects of life.  I think Gaz. 9 would have been better if it had more fully embraced this corporate model.  Lots of interesting adventures could flow from that idea.  (Or in the alternative if Gaz. 9 had been comprised of several rival guilds that hate each other and are scheming against each other- that also would have been a rich source of adventure)  The description in Gaz. 9 is a bit more muddled and is not satisfying.  It is in the middle between the rival guilds that hate each other and the super-corporation model.  It comes across as illogical in places   The heavy-handed fascist-like government is obnoxious.  So in the end it has some ok ideas but the execution of those ideas could be better.  Recommended for collectors only.  2 out of 5 stars.