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Long before #DnD was a gleam in Dave Arneson's eye, there were German folk tales of treasure hunters delving into ancient dungeons - and this book has dozens of such tales!
I've got mail!
An anthology of thirteen stand-alone adventures set in wondrous lands for the world's greatest roleplaying …
I really do appreciate that the authors were trying to explore settings with a different perspective than the pseudo-European/North American cultural base used for most #DnD settings.
But since this 224 page book is split up between 13 adventures and 15 cultures, the glimpses we get of each culture is so frustratingly brief. As someone who wants their settings to come with lots of details, this would make it difficult for me to bring the cultures in question truly come alive. In lieu of further detail, it might have helped if they had spelled out which culture each setting is based on - in some cases it was fairly easy for me to guess, but in others I was unsure.
I also have to admit, I prefer running campaigns where the PCs largely stay in one particular region rather than traveling around - and when they do travel around, there …
I really do appreciate that the authors were trying to explore settings with a different perspective than the pseudo-European/North American cultural base used for most #DnD settings.
But since this 224 page book is split up between 13 adventures and 15 cultures, the glimpses we get of each culture is so frustratingly brief. As someone who wants their settings to come with lots of details, this would make it difficult for me to bring the cultures in question truly come alive. In lieu of further detail, it might have helped if they had spelled out which culture each setting is based on - in some cases it was fairly easy for me to guess, but in others I was unsure.
I also have to admit, I prefer running campaigns where the PCs largely stay in one particular region rather than traveling around - and when they do travel around, there should be a good reason for why they are doing all this traveling. The 13 adventures in this book do not really have any real connection to each other than their presupposed home base (the Radiant Citadel) - the PCs just show up in some place for whatever reason the GM come up with, and solve some local problem.
Still, the brief glimpses I get of all these worlds are intriguing. And I am curious if any of the original authors have developed their miniature settings further on the Dungeon Master's Guild - I would certainly take a closer look! #ttrpg
When it comes to picking #Italian books for improving my skill with the language, obviously I had to include a #ttrpg book in the list.
Especially since I have already read the English translation. And I really appreciate the folkloristic aspects of this setting, although I am less enarmored of using #DnD for the system.
This book by @hellcowkeith@dice.camp is not a book that focuses on a specific topic and covers that topic in detail, like the assorted 3.5 books for Eberron did. It is best to see it as a collection of essays on a variety of niche topics - some of which are very niche, such two minor gnome subcultures.
Some of the chapters are broader in scope, and personally I found the chapter on the Overlords, The Dark Six, and the lore and folk-lore about undead the most useful. As an amateur folklorist, I especially appreciated the last one - to run good adventures about monsters, you should not only contemplate their stats, but also what the people within the world know about them, and what kinds of stories they tell.
Fans of Keith Baker's previous work will find plenty to like here, but I see this work to be more for …
This book by @hellcowkeith@dice.camp is not a book that focuses on a specific topic and covers that topic in detail, like the assorted 3.5 books for Eberron did. It is best to see it as a collection of essays on a variety of niche topics - some of which are very niche, such two minor gnome subcultures.
Some of the chapters are broader in scope, and personally I found the chapter on the Overlords, The Dark Six, and the lore and folk-lore about undead the most useful. As an amateur folklorist, I especially appreciated the last one - to run good adventures about monsters, you should not only contemplate their stats, but also what the people within the world know about them, and what kinds of stories they tell.
Fans of Keith Baker's previous work will find plenty to like here, but I see this work to be more for completists rather than a "must have" for Eberron fans.
Still, I suspect that Keith Baker's next work - "Frontiers of Eberron: Quickstone" will be more to my liking, since it is a more focused work on a specific topic and region. And as it happened, it is out right now - so excuse me while I download it. 😉
The people know a strange legend of the Sibyl. Sybylla or the Sibylle is known to them as a great prophetess who is doing penance in an old tower for her sins. The most abominable monsters are in this tower, for example snakes, lizards, newts, turtles, and all kinds of vermin. The people - at least those who have not received an education on this matter, imagine turtles as flying monsters.
[...]
Then, finally, a turtle flew after [the duke of Lichtenstein] in order to tear him apart. However, it had no power over the fleeing man, as he had already passed the boundary [of the Sibyl's realm].
— Schlesische Sagen 1 - Spuk- und Gespenstersagen by Richard Kühnau (Schlesische Sagen, #1)
One evening, a man from Deutsch-Petersdorf went home from Wichstadtel on the so-called "Scheibenweg" road. Suddenly, he saw a barrel with fiery eyes in front of him. He turned around and wanted to go back to Wichstadtel, and then he saw the monster before him once more...
— Schlesische Sagen 1 - Spuk- und Gespenstersagen by Richard Kühnau (Schlesische Sagen, #1)
Erik: You descend into a 30-foot-wide mining tunnel, with wooden beams reinforcing the walls and ceilings. You don’t see any traps, but a reptilian face with large eyes peeks out from behind a mine cart. At a closer look, it’s a kobold in a leather miner jacket.
Valeros (Luis): I’ll follow Merisiel down the ladder.
Kyra (Jessica): Me too.
Erik: As the sound of your footsteps on the iron ladder echoes through the mine, the kobold jumps out in panic! She takes a few steps further into the mine, then stops, as if she’s more frightened of whatever is deeper in than of you.
Kyra (Jessica): Oh no! Poor kobold!
Merisiel (Shay): Can someone calm her down? I’m terrible with people!
Valeros (Luis): I have a +3 Diplomacy. I’ll call out to her.
Erik: What do you say?
Valeros (Luis): “Hello friend! Don’t be scared, we’re here to help!” I rolled a 15 on my Diplomacy check.
Erik: Okay! The kobold seems startled, but then runs to you for safety. “Oh! Thank Torag you’re here!”
— Pathfinder Player Core by Logan Bonner, Mark Seifter, Jason Bulmahn, and 1 other
I realize hardly any veteran #ttrpg player reads "Examples of Play" anymore, but I am impressed here. The authors nicely set a tone of: "People who look different are people, too!" - even people who would have been designated cannon fodder in earlier editions of #DnD and #Pathfinder .
Well done, Paizo. Well done. The "evil races" whom it was okay to kill on sight was always highly problematic, and I am glad that this game is moving away from it.
Enter the Kingdom of Brancalonia, a land full of pitfalls and money-making opportunities. Create your …
I've became interested in the world of Brancalonia as a quirky, folklore-themed #ttrpg setting when it was first released. And now that I've actually started to learn #Italian , my attention has increased - my plan is to read the Italian-language originals of these books once I'm a bit firmer in the language.
Still, I'm not quite happy with the rules for this setting. I mean, I do understand why they picked the 5E version of #DnD , but limiting character growth to 5th level doesn't really make for a great fit. I'd rather use an entirely different rule system that's a better fit for lower-powered protagonists, such as #WFRP , instead of trying to turn the D&D rules into something they are not.
Dark perils and great deeds await! Welcome to Faer#65533;n, a land of amazing magic, terrifying …
While I haven't really done much with the Forgotten Realms #dnd setting in a while, it's 3E version of the campaign setting remains my favorite. Mostly because I am a really big fan of hyper-detailed settings, and the 3E version delivers that - covering all the regions of mainland Faerun in depth.
Though it also had some good setting changes from 2E that, while not as apocalyptic as the 2E "Time of Troubles" or the 4E "Spellplague" - certainly made the world more interesting. The Empire of Shade were a good villain for those who thought that the Zhentarim had grown stale, and the attempt by the Red Wizards of Thay to become a magical merchant empire provided some good story potential. For as long as it lasted, anyway...
Still, even if you play in later, post-Spellplague eras, the 3E and earlier material doesn't cease to be useful.
Birthright was another one of those #dnd settings that fall under "great concept, bad rules". The idea of player characters starting out as the rulers of their own domain was and is awesome (although I've grown a bit leery about the whole "Divine Right of Kings" thing - but I can let that slide for a good story). However, the rules for managing domains and fighting armies were a mess, and would involve more spreadsheets than I want to bother with for recreational gaming.
If I were to run a #ttrpg campaign in this setting, I'd probably use @GregStolze@mastodon.social 's Reign (with bits of Wild Talents thrown in for the birthright powers) - rules for running domains (or "companies") are integrated into the ruleset from the start, and they are also much more scaleable - if you plan to conquer all of Anuire, this should be much less of a …
Birthright was another one of those #dnd settings that fall under "great concept, bad rules". The idea of player characters starting out as the rulers of their own domain was and is awesome (although I've grown a bit leery about the whole "Divine Right of Kings" thing - but I can let that slide for a good story). However, the rules for managing domains and fighting armies were a mess, and would involve more spreadsheets than I want to bother with for recreational gaming.
If I were to run a #ttrpg campaign in this setting, I'd probably use @GregStolze@mastodon.social 's Reign (with bits of Wild Talents thrown in for the birthright powers) - rules for running domains (or "companies") are integrated into the ruleset from the start, and they are also much more scaleable - if you plan to conquer all of Anuire, this should be much less of a headache.
Although I'd have to re-read the assorted magic rules of Reign to see if they have something similar in mood to what *Birthright offers (which is mostly D&D magic, but with some significant thematic differences from more "standard" campaign settings).
The early #d20 era of #dnd was wild. #TTRPG publishers would create a setting or a supplement on pretty much any conceivable topic and rush it to market, causing a massive glut of products. And, as a result, the quality of these products was... variable.
I've never really investigated how Hamunaptra: Egyptian Adventures rates in this regard, but the boxed set is still among my belongings.
The Midnight #ttrpg setting for #dnd had an interesting premise: "What if Sauron had won the War of the Ring"? And I actually played a short campaign in it.
But ultimately, I found it too depressing - I prefer settings where there is actual hope. Heck, even Call of Cthulhu offered chances of victory, however temporary they might be - and an opportunity to escape the horrors, however brief.
